december - tampa bay mensa birthdays ... 12/14 susan entringer, suzanne fahy, charles stewart ......
TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to Tampa Bay Mensa!......................................................3December Birthdays.............................................................................. 3Fall Picnic Photos!..................................................................................4For the Good of this Nation..............................................................7Calendar of Events.................................................................................8December 2015 Calendar.....................................................................9Letter to the Editor.............................................................................. 10Mensaversaries....................................................................................... 11Member Book Review......................................................................... 12Statement of Ownership................................................................... 14News & Notes: December 2015......................................................15Cryptopoem............................................................................................ 16Serial Fillers............................................................................................. 18
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Vol. 40, No. 11Vol. 40, No. 11
December 2015December 2015
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Page 2 Tampa Bay Sounding
Visit American Mensa at: http://www.us.mensa.org
For full instructions on how to join tbm-gm andtbm-discussion, our twoYahoo! groups, visit TBM at
http://tampa.us.mensa.org
A Publication of
Tampa Bay MensaTampa Bay Sounding (USPS 305-830)
Tampa Bay Mensa5001 Terrace Palms Cir Unit 101
Temple Terrace, FL 33617
Mensa is an international society whose sole qualification for membership is a score at or above the 98th percentile on a standard IQ test. Mensa is a not-for-profit organization whose main purpose is to serve as a means of communication and assembly for its members. All opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors, and not necessarily those of the editors or officers of Mensa. Mensa as an organization has no opinions. Tampa Bay Mensa serves Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, andSumter counties.
Tampa Bay Sounding is the official newsletter of Tampa Bay Mensa, American Mensa local group number 10-335. © 2015 Tampa Bay Mensa. All rights reserved. All material in this issue not copyrighted by individual contributors may be reprintedin other Mensa publications, provided that credit is given to the author or artist and to Sounding. Prior written consent of the editor is required for any other reproduction in any form. Any Mensa publication reprinting Tampa Bay Sounding material is requested to send a copy to the editor.
SUBSCRIBE!: The subscription cost for local members is partially remitted from annual dues paid to American Mensa Ltd. Tampa Bay Sounding is available to other Mensans and to non-Mensans at an annual subscription cost of $12.00. To subscribe, send a check, payable to Tampa Bay Mensa, to the Treasurer: Kathy Crum, 7164 Quail Hollow Blvd., Wesley Chapel, FL 33544-2525.
ADVERTISING POLICY: Sounding offers free classified ads to Tampa Bay Mensa members for services, items for sale, jobs wanted/available, personals, etc. Ads should be no longer than 50 words. Classified ads need to be renewed on a monthly basis if you wish them to appear in consecutive issues. Tampa Bay Mensa and Sounding are not responsible for the content of ads. Allcommercial ads are subject to the following rates: Full page - $60; Half page - $30; Quarter page - $15. Members of Mensa pay half these rates.
Submission GuidelinesTampa Bay Sounding encourages submissions from all members. Submissions must be signed,but names may be withheld or pseudonyms used if requested. All letters to the editor will be subject to publication unless the author specifically requests otherwise. All material submitted will be considered for publication, but nothing can be guaranteed. Everything is subject to editing. Please keep the following guidelines in mind:• Articles, casual essays, opinion pieces,
poems, short stories, puzzles, and artwork are all encouraged.
• Personal attacks and bigoted, sexist, hateful, or otherwise offensive material will not be published.
• E-mail submissions are preferred, either embedded or in Word-readable attachments. Computer printouts and typewritten pages are fine. If you submit hard copy, please make sure your printer has enough toner or your typewriter has a fresh-enough ribbon. Legible handwritten submissions will be considered (but not given preference).
You may send your submissions by either of the following means:E-mail: [email protected] (Please indicate “TBM” in the subject header.)U.S. Mail: Ronan Heffernan, 27504 Breakers Dr,Wesley Chapel, FL 33544
Unless otherwise specified in the calendar, the deadline for unsolicited contributions is the fifth day of the month.
Welcome to Tampa Bay Mensa!
December Birthdays12/02 Raymond Celli, Stephen Page 12/03 Shawn Dean, Alvin Nienhuis12/04 Robert Miller12/06 Susan Dunlevy12/07 Barbara Counts12/08 Kristina Soderstrom12/09 Dorothy Butler12/10 Larry Paradis, Janice Rickert12/11 Elliott Loyless12/12 Samuel Trevena12/13 Michael Wenditz12/14 Susan Entringer, Suzanne Fahy, Charles Stewart12/17 Daniel Chesnut, A Foran, James Clack12/18 Geoff LeCain12/19 Deborah S Duvall12/20 Sherri McGarry, Thomas Bonner12/21 Alvin Bedgood12/22 Alan Miller12/23 Nicola Hicks12/24 Joseph Juston, Keith Kelly, Edwin Kelley, George Brooks 12/25 Robert Shackton, Cynthia Weatherby, Rush Miller12/26 Allen Garber, Lisa Blair, Corey Merenda12/27 Juana Harper, Stephanie Adelson, John Henderson12/28 Fred LePiere, Don Davis12/29 William Bickner12/31 William Dennis, Les Milewski, Carl Paleveda, Jack Kauffman
December 2015 Page 3
Trevor Bisson * Finn Donegan * Alexis Duffey
Kenneth Goff Eric HarrisonDennis Pashoukos
* Anthony Quintana* Brian R Rabelo* Richard W Rubright
Evelyn Symonds * Hudson Thompson
* New members.
Fall Picnic Photos!Sylvia Holt Zadorozny
Page 4 Tampa Bay Sounding
Fall picnic — with Theresa Shadrick!
Fall Picnic Photos! (cont)
December 2015 Page 5
Jen brought card games.
Ronan mans the grill.
Fall Picnic Photos! (cont)
Page 6 Tampa Bay Sounding
Waiting for a hamburger to finish cooking.
He'd been waiting a really long time!
For the Good of this NationRonnie Dubs
December 2015 Page 7
For the good of this nation, the unholy alliance between government unions and theDemocratic Party must be severed once and for all. Government employees shouldhave never been allowed to unionize in the first place – an opinion shared by liberalicon Franklin D. Roosevelt. One need not look very hard to see the overt corruptionhere, where government workers marshal the power of their votes and union dues –not for the benefit of the nation, but for never-ending wage and benefit increases.Those increases are offered them by Democrat politicians whose ephemeral careers inoffice leave them little concerned with the ability of future generations to pay outthose exorbitant salaries and benefits.
Now, I’m not against unions that have a valued place in society, providing they’re notbeing maintained by the threat of violence, or by connection to organized crime will-ing to use violence on behalf of the union. Whether a union is based on specific skillsets or merely on the daily attendance of unskilled labor does not matter, as manylarge businesses find it easier to deal with union contracts rather than having to ne-gotiate directly with each individual employee.
Unlike the government union, the private sector union is honest on its face, as theunion cannot ask for more than a business can afford to pay without going bankrupt– and the business has the ability to reject the union demands and remove them fromthe premises. The result of this is a de facto check and balance between the union andthe management, where an overly greedy union may lose their jobs, and an overlystingy management might lose their workforce. Thereby both sides have much to lose,and much to gain by mutual cooperation.
However no such check and balance exists between these government unions andtheir management, the American people who pay their salaries. People who have ac-cepted employment as being in control of the U.S. government simply cannot be al-lowed to threaten this nation with any crippling strike or job action. The greatpresident Ronald Reagan correctly stood up to the union of professional air trafficcontrollers, who were then threatening a shutdown of the nation’s airports. For thisnation to function properly, the pay grades, benefits, and employment levels of gov-ernment workers need to be decoupled from the Democratic Party's money machine.
Recent statistics have come to light which tell the story better than I can. Accordingto the Bureau of Labor statistics, there are 1.8 government workers per every US man-ufacturing worker. At the same time, according to statistics from the Bureau of Eco-nomic Analysis, the average government salary is 84,153 dollars annually, compared toan average of 56,350 dollars for the private sector.
I ask my young Mensan friends here, has this president tried to preserve a single scin -tilla of American wealth for your generation? Do you think this army of governmentapparatchiks, averaging 84 thousand a year, care about your future? Your every taxand Social Security dollar is propping up this doomed economic model, perpetrated bya corrupt Democratic Party political machine which simply does not care about thefuture solvency of this nation. Truth be told, your best bet for a happy and secure fu-ture lies with the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party. Come and help us.
Calendar of Events
Page 8 Tampa Bay Sounding
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December 2015 Calendar
December 2 7pm Reading GroupLocation: IHOP, 4910 West Spruce Street, Tampa
Read whatever you like and bring books you'd like to recommend, discuss, ex-change, or give away.
Ronan Heffernan 727-537-6626 [email protected]
December 3 12:30pm Lunch BunchLocation: Piccadilly Cafeteria, 11810 North Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa
We meet at Piccadilly Cafeteria (next to Barnes and Noble Bookstore), in Tampa. For directions, descriptions, and/or encouragement to attend, call:
Jim Perry 813-837-3473 [email protected]
December 10 12:30pm Lunch Bunch
December 10 6pm Field trip to Escher exhibit at Dali MuseumLocation: The Dali Museum, 1 Dali Blvd, St Petersburg, FL 33701, United States
We're going on an art field trip to the Escher exhibit at the Dali Museum in St. Pe-tersburg. Meet at the entrance at 6 pm. The cost on Thursday after 5 pm is only $10, instead of the usual $24, but parking is an additional $10, so you might want to carpool. After we've all seen the exhibit, we'll gather back at the entrance and find a restaurant in the area to grab a bite and discuss what we saw.
Charles Godfrey 928-446-5707
December 12 7pm Games NightLocation: 651 Timber Bay Circle West, Oldsmar
We play fun board and table games. Snacks and sodas provided ($2 kitty helps de-fray refreshment expenses). No smoking indoors.
Sylvia Holt Zadorozny 813-855-4939 [email protected]
December 16 7pm Reading Group
December 17 12:30pm Lunch Bunch
December 24 12:30pm Lunch Bunch
December 29 6pm TLCLocation: 18244 Collridge Dr, Tampa
It's time to Tape, Label, and Chat, as we prepare the next issue of Tampa Bay Sounding for mailing. Come help out and be one of the first to get the latest issue.
Lisa & Bryce Blair 813-907-2418 [email protected]
December 2015 Page 9
Except for rare cases that hosts will make clear, all events listed in our Calendar ofEvents, whether hosted in private homes or public venues, are open to all Mensans,their spouses, and accompanied guests.
While kitty amounts are mandatory, hosts often spend far more than the specifiedamount. Donations in excess of the kitty amount will be appreciated. If you havespecial needs or restrictions, it is prudent to discuss them with your host before at-tending an event.
December 30 7pm Family Movie Night at the Drive-InLocation: Ruskin Family Drive-In Theatre, 5011 N U.S. Hwy 41, Ruskin, FL 33572
Movie: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens. The Ruskin Family Drive-In The-atre has been a community gathering place since its first movie Singing in the Rain played in 1952. Great movies, good food 2000 sq. ft. screen, clean restrooms, snackbar, designated play area for children, and a clean parking lot. Adults $6, children $1. Movie and snacks are cash only! We will park our cars and then meet at the snack bar at 7 pm. The movie is at 7:30 pm and will be Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens.
Get information and encouragement from Ruth Danielle at 941-685-0680 or [email protected], and/or check ruskinfamilydrivein.com. R.S.V.P. by 9 pm, Tuesday, Dec. 29. (This is a shared event with Manasota Mensa.)
December 31 12:30pm Lunch Bunch
Letter to the Editor
Page 10 Tampa Bay Sounding
This letter to you, as the Editor of Tampa Bay Sounding, is about concerns I have as anewly arrived Tampa Bay area resident. Though I am new here, I have been a mem-ber of Mensa for more than a dozen years.
When I read the LocSec column in the October Tampa Bay Sounding, I could not be-lieve that there was anything bigoted in Ronnie Dubs' letters that he has sent in."Controversial," yes... "bigoted" no way. As one with past training and work experi-ence in US Government agencies, as a Cross-Cultural Relations Instructor, Race Rela-tions and Equal Opportunity Coordinator and Enforcement Officer, I have never seenanything "bigoted" or "racist" in his works that have been published during the pastyear in the Tampa Bay Sounding.
When I moved to the Tampa Bay area last year and received my first issue of TampaBay Sounding, I rejoiced in reading Ronnie's article. It was like a breath of fresh airand sunshine. I hope to meet him one day in the near future. My only other Mensaaffiliation was with a group with a LocSec whose major accomplishment in lifeseemed to be membership in the ACLU, and I never saw any non-"progressive" opin-ions in their local publication.
Also upon moving here, I subscribed to the Tampa Bay Times – a publication which,in my opinion, makes the New York Times seem like a publication of FoxNews andBernie Sanders seem like a Tea Party member in good standing. My impression isthat reasonable, thinking people, who would like to see both sides of issues publi-cized, are starved for information that is not Politically Correct.
Just as the November issue's Book Review explained how all the world's problemsrelated to greed, inequality, and other social and economic issues were caused bythe Protestants (mainly the Anglo denominations) and their work ethic, we shouldalso be allowed to read about ideas of a Conservative nature.
Sincerely,
Wayne R. Johnson
Mensaversaries
December 2015 Page 11
46 years Betty Taylor 38 years John Kane 36 years John Emerson 28 years Leo Reilly25 years Susan Anderson22 years Michael Clifford, John Henderson19 years John Olmstead
18 yearsMorgan Tyler, Maureen Brush, Paul Sharp, Tanya Stay, Eric Harrison
16 years Lana LaForest, Michael Garrett15 years Jackson Daugherty, Ronald Dubs14 years Dennis Wilcoxon9 years Cassandra Cox, Brian Ourso8 years Madeleine Jousou
7 yearsKeeyoung Lee, Joseph O'Reilly, Thomas Richards, Michele Mourer
6 years Claire Modarelli, Cheryl Pohley, Lawrence Maler, Dakota Cash, Steven Woolheater
5 years Belinda Nemeth, Ralph Pritchard
4 years Sophia Hachey, Summer Haura, Shrey Agarwal, Charlotte Walker
3 yearsCharles Traenkner, Helena Panuthos, Alexander Zicchino, Lucy Haura, Anthony Lister, Jack Kauffman, Calvin Gross
2 years Jack Garner, Rodney Phillips, Carson Stec
1 yearBerkeley Wonder, Bradley McDonald, Emelia Ulrich, Naren Vazrala, Brianna Bowman, Firman King, Don Chase, Robert Smith, Daniel Trivin
Note: Years are for continuous membership. Members who let their membership lapse start from the date of reinstatement.
Please consider submitting articles, personal anecdotes,poetry, short fiction, photographs – virtually anythingthat interests you – to [email protected], forpublication in the Tampa Bay Sounding !
Member Book ReviewJim Perry
Page 12 Tampa Bay Sounding
Philip E. Tetlock’s Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction
Prediction is difficult, especially about the future, as Yogi Berra is supposed to havesaid. And then there’s the opinion of the great American philosopher, Doris Day, whosang, “Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be; the future’s not ours to see, que sera,sera.” But is prediction really impossible? Is it even really difficult, at least where peo-ple are involved? This book suggests not. Not only is it possible to predict humanevents with significant (if permanently imperfect) accuracy, it is possible to improvethe accuracy of those predictions. This book explains how. It is a report of the GoodJudgment Project, a multi-year study comparing predictions made by well-trained ama-teurs to those made by seasoned experts in the U.S. Defense Department and relatedagencies.
We make predictions for many reasons, accuracy being only one of them, and not usu-ally the main one. We make predictions to comfort, to impress, to inspire or inhibitaction, to promote political agendas, to demonstrate loyalty (this is called‘groupthink’), to entertain, and to sell products, among many other things. Only occa-sionally do we focus on evidence-relevant claims about the future. The example of abudget comes to mind: a budget isn’t a bully; rather, it’s a tool for forecasting fiscalconditions in a given time. Spend an unbudgeted amount in May, and your budgetwill show instantly a corresponding reduction to the bottom line in December. Takethat, Doris!
Mathematics is highly predictable. So is astronomy, much of physics, and chemistry. Add more kinds of variables, however, and predictability decreases: biological processesare less predictable, social processes still less, and then we come to the humanities,where utterly unpredictable creativity is found. Predictability is usually inversely pro-portional to complexity. Once we realize that, however, there are steps we can take tomitigate the effects of that complexity. This book describes those steps.
Shall I summarize? The author offers ten commandments for improved forecasting, inan Appendix which I will leave for the reader to study. There is something more fun-damental at work in successful forecasting, which has to do with a personal habit oftolerance for disagreement. Those who dislike ambiguity will try to prevent change,so as to increase predictability. Many people find disagreement threatening and con-fusing, so they confine their predictions to those that suit their tribe. Many peoplefind it emotionally disturbing to admit mistakes, even to themselves, so they try toavoid ever finding out they’ve made any. These people will not be competent forecast-ers.
On the other hand, there are people who identify themselves as “perpetual beta” (p.190), seeing human being as a verb rather than a noun, a dynamic process rather thana static object. These people seek to learn their errors before chance or nature sur-prises them in upsetting and sometimes tragic events. The author says these peoplehave what Carol Dweck, in Mindsets, calls “growth mindsets” as distinct from “fixedmindsets.” (pp. 174f.) These people have passionate perseverance, i.e., “grit.”(p. 188)They aggregate perspectives; that is, they seek out different ways
Member Book Review (cont)
December 2015 Page 13
of looking at the issue at hand. Think of the classic story of the blind men and theelephant, where each man touched a different part of the beast and came away withonly part of the truth: if those men had talked to each other, they might togetherhave figured out what an elephant is, without ever needing the help of a sighted su-pervisor.
The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) was created in 2006 inresponse to the catastrophic failure to find WMDs in Iraq. (p. 85) It is an agency thatreports to the director of National Intelligence and seeks to make American intelli-gence better. IARPA invited the Good Judgments Project (GJP) to try its hand at a setof some 500 interesting questions relevant to American security. In year 1, the GJPbeat a control group by 60%; in year 2, GJP beat them by 78%. These are astonishingnumbers, and IARPA soon adopted many of the methods used by GJP. (This doesn’thelp when the Department of Defense elects to shut down the network, as is nowreported to have happened during the recent aerial attack on the hospital inAfghanistan.)
The book also explores the history of the Germany Army, the Wehrmacht, guided by
principles learned from von Clausewitz and promoted by von Moltke in the 19th cen-tury. Its prime directive, as it has come down to us, is that no battle plan ever sur-vives contact with the enemy: officers are expected to adapt plans to circumstances. Yes, officers are expected to follow orders; but they are expected to violate those or-ders if doing so will increase the chance of victory. An axiom in the Israeli Army hasit that “Plans are platforms for change.” (p. 222) That’s how superforecasters think:they disagree with the authority of their superiors and their peers, when doing sowill increase accuracy.
Superforecasters persist. They try to notice. They aggregate perspectives. They up-date their forecasts often, and in small increments. Not coincidentally, this is whatscientists do. And isn’t this what adults are supposed to do, keeping the goal inmind rather than merely play-acting in rituals? I like to think our term ‘adult’ de-rives from the Latin ad (to, toward) + ultimus (goal, destination). It takes time andenergy to adapt plans to changing conditions, but it pays off in improved success. Fortunes are made and lives saved, by individuals who figure out what is going tohappen, even just a few seconds sooner than other people. The author invites hisreaders to join the Good Judgment Project via a website identified in the book. There are 37 pages of notes and a 12-page index.
Statement of Ownership The US Postal Service requires that this information be published annuallyin our newsletter.
Page 14 Tampa Bay Sounding
Publication Title
Tampa Bay Sounding
Issue Frequency
Monthly
Publisher
Kevin Brawner
5001 Terrace Palms Cir, Unit 101
Temple Terrace, FL 33617
Owner
Tampa Bay Mensa
American Mensa Local Group #10/335
1229 Corporate Dr. W
Arlington, TX 76006-6103
Tax status has not changed during the preced-ing 12 months
Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions
-1590-
Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions
-1731-
Paid Distribution Outside the Mails (electronic)
-2404-
Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail
-0-
Copies Not Distributed
-180-
Publication Number
305-830
Annual Subscription Price
$12.00
Editor and Managing Editor
Tanya Stay
Known Bondholders, Mortgages, and OtherSecurities Holders
none
Issue Date for Circulation Data Shown Below
October 2015
Free or Nominal Rate Outside County Copies
0 for October, 0 avg for preceding 12 months
Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies
0 for October, 0 avg for preceding 12 months
Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at OtherClasses
0 for October, 0 avg for preceding 12 months
Free Distribution Outside the Mail
0 for October. 0 avg for preceding 12 months
Percent Paid
100.00% for October and 100.00% avg forpreceding 12 months
News & Notes: December 2015
December 2015 Page 15
Happenings & Celebrations:1st Eat a Red Apple Day
6th Chanukah starts (lasts 8 days)
7th Pearl Harbor Day
8th National Brownie Day
21st Humbug Day
22nd Winter Solstice (shortest day of the year)
24th National Chocolate Day
25th Christmas Day
26th Kwanzaa
Resources:- The science of growing apples is called pomology. Learn more about Red Apples at
http://dejvimanushi.hubpages.com/hub/Red-apple-benefits-The-health-benefits-of-eating-a-Red-apple
- You can learn the history of Chocolate and how the Brownie came to exist at
http://ushistoryscene.com/article/brownies/
- Not everyone enjoys the Holidays and the traditional merriment that comes withthem as evidenced by Humbug Day! Created and copyrighted by a couple who wantedto create an opportunity to vent frustrations you can see this and more of theirunique holidays at http://www.wellcat.com/december/humbug_day.htm
Triviality:The word solstice comes from the Latin words for "sun" and "to stand still.” Wintersolstice is the day with the fewest hours of sunlight during the whole year. In theNorthern Hemisphere, it occurs around December 21 or 22. (In the Southern Hemi-sphere, it is around June 20 or 21.)
The Feast of Juul was a pre-Christian festival observed in Scandinavia at the time ofthe December solstice. Fires were lit to symbolize the heat, light and life-giving prop-erties of the returning sun. A Yule or Juul log was brought in and burned on thehearth in honor of the Scandinavian god Thor.
It’s Your Birthday!If you were born in December, you share your birthday month with (2) Charles Rin-gling, founder of Ringling Bros circus, (5) Walt Disney, (8) Eli Whitney, invented thecotton gin, (14) Nostradamus, astrologer, (15) Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, engineer, de-signed the Eiffel Tower; and Maurice H. Wilkins, biophysicist, co-discoverer of thestructure of DNA, (18) Steven Spielberg, director, producer, (22) Lady Bird Johnson, FirstLady of the United States, (28) Denzel Washington, actor, (30) Sandy Koufax, MLB base-ball pitcher; and Matt Lauer, "Today Show" TV anchor, (31) John Denver, singer, song-writer, "Rocky Mountain High"
CryptopoemSylvia Holt Zadorozny
Page 16 Tampa Bay Sounding
NA P UV F A N V S OI U F
D E N ME W V S B P P R .
L I E KV O O D P K CW X
V U KV U NP W S O P P R .
NA P MI I B V S F I U P
D E N BW P CX S CW P S KP P N
CUB NA P L KV O O D P
LI E W KV U N P W X P CN .
NA P T CH P V S B CW Y
D E N BW P CX S CW P D W V F A N
CUB NA P L KV O O S P W H P
CS KV U NP W O V F A N.
S O P P R , X L O V N NO P T E D S , S O P P R .
~ Z CU P K I O P U , “ F W CUB R C D P CW ’ S O E O O CD L ”
Answer to the November Cryptopoem:
xkcd
December 2015 Page 17
I saw God wash the world last night
With His sweet showers on high,
And then, when morning came, I saw
Him hang it out to dry.
He washed each tiny blade of grass
And every trembling tree;
He flung His showers against the hill,
And swept the billowing sea. ...
There's not a bird, there's not a bee
That wings along the way
But is a cleaner bird and bee
Than it was yesterday.
~ William Leroy Stidger
Serial Fillers
To round-out the page count for publication, here is some not-quite-random public do-main content. If you would like to submit articles, stories, etc. for publication, please see the Submission Guidelines on page 2.
Page 18 Tampa Bay Sounding
JANE EYRE
By Charlotte Brontë
There was no possibility of taking a walkthat day. We had been wandering, in-deed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour inthe morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed,when there was no company, dined early)the cold winter wind had brought with itclouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrat-ing, that further out-door exercise wasnow out of the question.
I was glad of it: I never liked long walks,especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful tome was the coming home in the raw twi-light, with nipped fingers and toes, and aheart saddened by the chidings of Bessie,the nurse, and humbled by the conscious-ness of my physical inferiority to Eliza,John, and Georgiana Reed.
The said Eliza, John, and Georgiana werenow clustered round their mama in thedrawing-room: she lay reclined on a sofaby the fireside, and with her darlingsabout her (for the time neither quar-relling nor crying) looked perfectlyhappy. Me, she had dispensed from join-ing the group; saying, “She regretted to beunder the necessity of keeping me at adistance; but that until she heard fromBessie, and could discover by her own ob-servation, that I was endeavouring ingood earnest to acquire a more sociableand childlike disposition, a more attrac-tive and sprightly manner—somethinglighter, franker, more natural, as it were—she really must exclude me from privi-leges intended only for contented, happy,little children.”
“What does Bessie say I have done?” Iasked.
“Jane, I don’t like cavillers or questioners;besides, there is something truly forbid-ding in a child taking up her elders in thatmanner. Be seated somewhere; and untilyou can speak pleasantly, remain silent.”
A breakfast-room adjoined the drawing-room, I slipped in there. It contained abookcase: I soon possessed myself of avolume, taking care that it should be onestored with pictures. I mounted into thewindow-seat: gathering up my feet, I satcross-legged, like a Turk; and, havingdrawn the red moreen curtain nearlyclose, I was shrined in double retirement.
Folds of scarlet drapery shut in my viewto the right hand; to the left were theclear panes of glass, protecting, but notseparating me from the drear Novemberday. At intervals, while turning over theleaves of my book, I studied the aspect ofthat winter afternoon. Afar, it offered apale blank of mist and cloud; near a sceneof wet lawn and storm-beat shrub, withceaseless rain sweeping away wildly be-fore a long and lamentable blast.
I returned to my book—Bewick’s Historyof British Birds: the letterpress thereof Icared little for, generally speaking; andyet there were certain introductory pagesthat, child as I was, I could not pass quiteas a blank.
The rest of this story and thousands ofother public domain works are availableat www.gutenberg. org
2014-2015 Tampa Bay Mensa Officers
December 2015 Page 19
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
➢Local SecretaryRonan Heffernan 27504 Breakers Dr Wesley Chapel FL 33544 [email protected]
➢Deputy LocSecDavid Fleming 5303 Reflections Club Drive, Apt 104 Tampa FL 33634asstlocsec@ tampa .us.mensa.org
➢TreasurerKathy Crum 7164 Quail Hollow Blvd. Wesley Chapel, FL 33544 813-907-0526 [email protected]
➢AuditorKevin Brawner5001 Terrace Palms Cir Unit 101 Temple Terrace, FL 33617813-732-3837 [email protected]
➢Calendar EditorSylvia Holt Zadorozny 651 Timber Bay Cir. W. Oldsmar, FL 34677 813-855-4939calendar @tampa.us.mensa.org
➢Gifted Youth CoordinatorMelissa Stephens 2023 Blue Rock Rd. #301Tampa , FL 33612813-476-5405 giftedyouth@ tampa.us.mensa.org
➢Members-At-LargeIsabelle Hohmann Kay Shapiro349 Shore Dr. E.Oldsmar, FL [email protected]
➢Publicity OfficerDavid Fleming p [email protected]
➢PublisherKevin Brawner 727-397-8483 [email protected] ➢Scholarship ChairRonan Heffernanscholarship@ tampa.us.mensa.org
➢ScribeDavid Fleming [email protected]
➢Testing CoordinatorJen [email protected]
➢WebmasterRonan Heffernanwebmaster@ tampa.us.mensa.org
OTHER OFFICERS
➢EditorTanya Stay [email protected]
➢Membership OfficerSteve Shapiro349 Shore Dr. E.Oldsmar, FL 34677727-543-2004membership@ tampa.us.mensa.org
➢Circulation OfficerLisa Blair 18244 Collridge Dr Tampa, FL 33647 813-907-2418 distribution@ tampa.us.mensa.org
➢Editorial BoardArt Schwartz Thomas Thomas Ronan Heffernan Kay Shapiro Melissa Stephens Jen Michel
➢Election CommitteePending 2016 election
➢Election SupervisorMaran Fulvi 3422 Hilltop Cir Spring Hill FL 34606 [email protected]
Ombudsman➢Maran Fulvi ombudsman@ tampa.us.mensa.org
➢ProctorsJen Michel Thomas Thomas David Fleming Kay Shapiro Jay Johnson
➢Programs OfficerArt Schwartz [email protected]
➢SIGHT CoordinatorMelissa Stephens [email protected]
➢Social Directors Art Schwartz (Spring) Melissa Stephens (Summer) Ronan Heffernan (Fall)
ASSISTANT OFFICERS
➢Asst TreasurerSylvia Zadorozny
➢Asst WebmastersKevin Brawner Belinda Nemeth
➢Asst GYCKay & Steve Shapiro
➢Asst Programs OfficersMelissa Stephens Sylvia Zadorozny
➢Asst Membership OfficerArt Schwartz
➢Asst Circulation OfficerRonan Heffernan
REGIONAL CONTACTS
➢RVC, Region 10Thomas George Thomas27647 Sky Lake Circle Wesley Chapel, FL 33544 [email protected] Text: [email protected]
Tampa Bay Sounding (USPS 305-830) is published monthly by Tampa Bay Mensa at 5001 Terrace Palms Cir Unit 101 Temple Terrace, FL 33617. Periodicals postage paid at Tampa, FL
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