• 

  Court lets walk-out fines against House Democrats stand

  INDIANAPOLIS — House Democrats who had to pay more than $100,000 in fines after they walked out of the Indiana Statehouse won’t get the help they sought from the Indiana Supreme Court.

• 

  10 things to know for Tuesday

  Your daily look at late-breaking Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about across the nation today:

• 

  Husband charged in Archer homicide

  Terre Haute Police have found local reports of domestic violence between a Terre Haute man and his wife, whose body was discovered wrapped in a tarp and dumped in an Ohio ditch.

Liz Ciancone

Search Results

Close Previous Now showing: of Next

Previous Next Close

Discussion

Welcome to our online comments feature. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean. We reserve the right to remove comments that are obscene, racist or abusive and statements that are false or unverifiable as well as posts that are attacking other users. Repeat offenders will be blocked. You may flag objectionable comments for review by a moderator.

comments powered by Disqus

March 15, 2011

MS. TAKES: Reading produced lifetime of happiness

Liz Ciancone Special to the Tribune-Star The Tribune Star Tue Mar 15, 2011, 05:00 AM EDT

TERRE HAUTE — I ran across a bit in my reading which said, “To be conscious of happiness in life is rare. Generally we perceive it in retrospect.”

I’m not sure I agree. If we were unaware of that happiness at the time, we would not have filed it in our memory bank for later retrieval.

It did set me thinking about the joys I have received from reading. Grandma used to spend Sunday mornings reading the funnies to me and Ed while Mom fixed Sunday dinner. I could hardly wait to get to school so that I could read the funnies myself. I had learned to recognize certain words, but I had to wait for first grade before I had formal instruction.

Naturally, I wanted to show off this new skill for Ed, so I took my books home and read the stories to him. I nearly screwed up his education — not because he was dumb, but because he was smart. When he started first grade the next year, he was breezing through the first readers. Although Miss Meeker didn’t believe it possible, Mom insisted that he had memorized the stories I had read to him. When he was given a book I had not had, he couldn’t read a word.

It was years before Ed learned to read easily and he never found the joy in reading that I have.

I remember the happiness I felt when I was first allowed to check books out of the adult section at the Yorkville library.

Mom suggested I start with Mary Roberts Rinehart’s book, “The Circular Staircase.” It was a mystery thriller and I felt I had arrived at adulthood.

Since the Yorkville library was open only a few hours on Saturdays, I would get there when the library opened, load up on books and read all day hoping to take a bunch of books back and get more. My stock rarely lasted through the week, so Mom began screening magazines for suitable reading. She introduced me to Jeeves and Bertie Wooster carried as serials in The Saturday Evening Post. I still own many of the author’s books and they still bring a laugh.

Reading has been my happiness — both alive and in retrospect. I knew it at the time, and I know it still.



Liz Ciancone is a retired Tribune-Star education reporter. Send e-mail to opinion@tribstar.com.

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Copyright 2013 News From Terre Haute, Indiana. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Liz Ciancone

• LIZ CIANCONE: Another beloved dog goes to heaven

  We are short one granddog. This past week, “Indy” could no longer use her back legs and she went to that great dog kennel in the hereafter.

  June 18, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Withdrawn society not very social any more

  My Best Friend and I went out for lunch the other day. It was a sit-down place with our own “server” (in my day I was called “a waitress”) and everything offering personal attention. The manager even came over to ask if everything was all right.

  June 11, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Technology, new fabrics made ironing much easier

  As surely as Tuesday follows Monday on the calendar, ironing day followed wash day on Mom’s housekeeping chart.

  June 4, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Looking back at memories of ‘history’

  I was reading a whodunit the other day. The protagonist was trying to solve the mystery of what had happened to a local citizen soldier who had disappeared during the war.

  May 28, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Smell of fresh air gave way to dryers

  Remember when clean clothes smelled like fresh air and sunshine rather than fabric softener and dryer sheets?

  May 20, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Courts see a different appearance than cops

  Have you ever noticed the transformation between the arrest of an accused lawbreaker and the first appearance in court?

  May 14, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: We always want more than we need

  Washington seems more preoccupied with the unemployment rate than they are about the constant stalemate. Still with thousands out of work and the unemployment rate hovering somewhere between 7 percent and 9 percent, it does deserve more than a passing nod.

  May 7, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Old age is in email of the beholder

  My Best Friend isn’t much for writing letters, so email has opened a new world for him. He can dash off a few words to a high school friend or his college roommate — now living in Florida and Washington State,

  April 30, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: A memory test from the oldtime radio days

  For some reason, I seem to be the go-to source for all sorts of obscure information out at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center.

  April 23, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Friskey no doubt was in favor of gun control

  I once owned a gun. Actually, it was Dad’s gun and I was allowed to use it. He bought an air gun which shot BB’s to protect our home — in a way.

  April 16, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: A robin stops to welcome the spring

  I saw a robin the other morning. It was not the first robin of spring, of course. A few of the more daring robins had opted to spend the winter and, although they looked pretty sorry about it on a few occasions, it was a fairly mild winter.

  April 9, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: The mystery of the small animal mascot

  I hope you won’t think I’m picking on small animals, but I’ve been thinking about Easter and the Easter bunny.

  April 2, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Rising up to defend the poor groundhog

  I read in the newspaper the other morning that Punxsatawney Phil is being hauled into court and charged with falsely predicting an early spring. I am volunteering my services as counsel for the defense.

  March 26, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Keeping eye out for signs of spring

  The problem with expecting a groundhog to predict the arrival of spring is that there are groundhogs scattered all over the country. The Pennsylvania groundhog may not see the same kind of weather as the groundhog out here in Dobbs Park. In this way, false hopes are roused and the groundhog loses credibility as a meteorologist.

  March 19, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Not every other name smells sweet as a rose

  It was either Romeo or Juliet who said, “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

  March 12, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Innocence appreciated when you’re growing up

  I grew up rather stupid. I didn’t realize it at the time. Neither did my teachers who seemed to think I had “promise.”

  March 5, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Years along rivers make them feel like home

  I’ve been following plans for celebrating “The Year of the River” with interest. Rivers have played such a role in my life that I’ve celebrated a good many rivers. The Wabash River is merely the most recent example.

  February 19, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: There are always cat stories to be told

  I was asked the other day why I write about dogs I have known, but never about cats. “What’s the matter?” they asked, “Don’t you like cats?”

  February 12, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Sharing the family history

  My Grandmother lived with us. Ed and I were eager audiences for her family stories about the Cooks. Mom also shared her memories of growing up with three brothers.

  February 5, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Do we want our privacy or not?

  We Americans are a strange bunch. We insist upon our right to privacy, yet we neglect few opportunities to parade our personal business in public.

  January 29, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: The low humor of Mickey Mantis

  I’m told that a pun is the lowest form of humor. I guess that typecasts me! I love them, but then, I like any type of word play.

  January 22, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: For now, justice is served in Bball Hall

  News this past week brought justice of a sort. The folks who decide these things have declined to pick anyone to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame this year.

  January 15, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Well, what would you do with only 1 sock?

  Let me ask you something.

  January 8, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Movie memories don’t include many of the lengthy variety

  There has been lots of reporting lately about how long movies are becoming.

  January 1, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Resist that big ‘let down’ on the day after Christmas

  Today is the big day. That makes tomorrow a sort of let down — rather like “What have you done for me lately?”

  December 25, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: No thanks to getting mags delivered via the Internet

  I am a creature of habit. I like to know what I’m doing and I need to know how to do it. That’s why I am annoyed when corporate America seems determined to drag me, kicking and screaming into the age of Internet.

  December 18, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Everyone has a favorite holiday

  I suppose everyone has a favorite holiday. My guess is that, for most of us, that holiday is Christmas. It's a holiday with a miracle no matter how old we get.

  December 15, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Christmas season puts time back into focus

  It’s a funny thing about time. It can speed along so that you cannot believe that your kids can possibly be old enough to have good sense, or it can drag its heels while you wait for that first grandchild or while you are saving up for something really special.

  December 4, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: The bottom line is what drives ‘Black Friday’ sales

  Why is it called "Black Friday"?

  November 27, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Have we lost the meaning of holiday?

  I’ve been considering a lost-and-found ad to see if anyone knows what’s happened to Thanksgiving.

  November 20, 2012  

• More Liz Ciancone Headlines

© 2013 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. · CNHI Classified Advertising Network · CNHI News Service
Associated Press content © 2013. All rights reserved. AP content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Our site is powered by Zope. Some parts of our site may require you to download the Flash Player Plugin.
Privacy Policy | AP News Registry privacy policy
Terms and Conditions
Advertiser Index

Events by eviesays.com

News From Terre Haute, Indiana 222 S 7th St Terre Haute, IN 47807