Writing prompt

 Writing prompt: What do you love now, that you hated when you were younger?

I do a lot of the same things I did when I was young. For example, I still wash and take care of my face. I remember I used a lot of Noxzema during high school. I still like to read a lot, and so on. One thing I didn't like when I was young was the potato. Sometimes my father included potatoes with Guyanese "ground provisions" in his metemgee. I didn't like the eddoe or the potato. I went for the sweet potato (which was really sweet) and cassava.* These are like substitutes for the potato. I never had fries (I do recall having fish and chips made from plantain). I now enjoy fries and mashed potatoes.

*I also liked half-ripe plaintains in metemgee. I was known for eating the "duff".

Update again

 I was able to connect and talk with a doctor on kp.org today. I used new system functionality to speak with someone within five minutes (obtain an immediate appointment). I liked it. The doctor was very helpful and the video was clear. I will use it when I need to. 

I like video appointments but I find that in-person appointments are still necessary. I was at appointments a lot over the last year or so. I liked going out. Kaiser facilities are very impressive. I now have fewer appointments. This will assist with my work situation.

My eye is much improved. I currently do not drive because of my eye (I do not feel comfortable driving just yet). 

I can't believe I am currently better and looking for a job! I hope to find a suitable job within the next two months or so. I may have to move to another state for employment. I don't mind living by myself again. I lived all alone in the past. I also attended a high school that required living away from home. I will enjoy it. I know how to navigate life by myself.  

In the meantime, I am working hard and doing what I can in other areas.

Update

  Quick status update: I wanted to be at the library by 1:00pm. There were some issues. Right now, there are carpenters working here. I will stay with my Mom a little bit longer. 

 

I Trust

 I am up early today. I thank God for a new day. I will be going to the library in a few hours.

Two very, very good gospel songs I am listening to:

My God Is Awesome - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YJ4vddbJJo  

"Why He is awesome: He's mighty, He's holy, He's great" 

He Knows My Name - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXsiWoyjw60 

"He knows my name, He knows my every thought ... And He hears me when I call" 

 

Update - Library tomorrow

 I am planning to go to the nearby library tomorrow. I could work on my voice recording (or maybe video) for my book promotion from there. I will use whatever resources are available. It should be interesting.

 

Weird or strange coincidences

 I created a new tag/label: weird coincidences. https://fahmeenaodetta.blogspot.com/search/label/weirdcoincidences.

Do you pay attention to reported weird things or coincidences? Do you think/believe they have deep meaning? Do you believe some are fraud?

 

Funding

  I submitted my poem book to two publishing houses. Both responded and I selected what I believed to be the better deal. I paid upfront (with some assistance). At this time, I do not have to pay for marketing and other promotion costs. 

I did not think of GoFundMe or other crowdfunding platforms to publish the book. (I am surprised that so many people do - I found the examples: https://www.gofundme.com/f/turning-passion-into-a-published-book, https://www.gofundme.com/f/gumu6m-publish-my-memoir, and https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-to-publish-an-eco-childrens-book). With this approach, you are counting on the kindness of your community.

(I used GoFundMe in the past to raise funds. I know that a lot of people use it to raise funds to cover medical expenses. https://www.gofundme.com/discover/medical-fundraiser. I am not considering GoFundMe at this time.) 

 

Book

 I am currently writing about the writing process, influences for my book, and so on for my publisher's publicity/marketing department. It is more involved than I thought. I think it is important and I want to do a good job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Computer games

 I enjoy playing games on the computer. I once purchased Monopoly on a cd. The purchase allowed me to play Monopoly without other human players - I played with multiple "computer" players (AI). Tetris, Pac-man, and Chinese checkers are other examples of games I play on the computer. 

This post reminds me of life in an apartment, my pastorial father ("guidance father") at President's College and related weird coincidences. We called my pastorial father Rambo because he looked like Sylvester Stallone. I hope he is doing well.

Unable to reach by phone

 Please note that my phone is temporarily not working. The phone (device) has serious issues. I hope I will be able to restore service soon. In times like this, you have to cut back on expenses and do without some things (at least for a while).

 

Poem book

 Good news! My poem book is scheduled to be published by the end of the month (next week). I am excited! The skinny book will be interesting to read. I hope you enjoy it. A trip to Guyana will likely assist with marketing.

Writing prompt

I am writing this over a cup of tea. 

Wordpress prompt for today 6/23/2026: What’s the best advice you’d give to someone younger than you?

There are lots of advice out there based on good and bad experiences in life (lessons learned). One of the lessons I would like to share is: you can accomplish significant goals (great things) if you take things step by step. This is the same as saying 'Rome wasn't built in a day.' Not so long ago, I decided that a professor/research job would be better for me. I thought through the steps/tasks needed to obtain my desired position ("reach for the stars") and completed task after task in pursuit of the goal.

 

Today June22

 Hero is a theme today. An inspiring song together with two movies.

Hero (the song) 

Good Deeds

The Spy Next Door 

 Both movies now available 'Free with Ads' on YouTube.

You may also find my playlist 'Difficult Times' useful (Hero is one of the selected songs). The playlist is available at: https://www.youtube.com/@FahmeenaOdettaMoore/playlists).

 

 

 

 

 

Update

 There are still a lot of information systems professor jobs. I am in the process of applying for positions.

I am willing to bet that I am not a typical candidate. I am starting my professor career with a lot of experience (I worked for years and years before deciding to complete a PhD). I am using a long form resume that provides lots of information on my experience. Some of the old jobs are on the resume. I think they add a lot.

(Curious about my experience? My main LinkedIn profile provides good information. I even mention the experimental work I did at an old job - specifically a special task to work on requirements from the Testing/Quality Assurance Group. It is included in a paper. The training program was experimental but I was given more experimental work than others. Note that I also did well at experimental tasks at another employer.)

The work to publish my papers

 I was on a break for quite a while. During my break, I decided to work on publishing some of the papers I prepared while at school. I knew there were new ideas in some of my papers that would be accepted by academic journals. I started working feverishly. I completed quite a lot of papers.

It turns out that I had to make major adjustments to some papers. In some cases, I re-prepared a paper by meeting the guidelines/directions using different selections or topics. Below is an example of a paper that I adjusted. The paper is challenging to publish because of the need to draw interesting conclusions or report something substantial from three articles. The paper was on organizational structure.

Paper: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15Tncc3SQJcAmZdtP5_Djp6VId7T1iXZz/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=102188806763555458254&rtpof=true&sd=true

Improved version for publishing: https://fahmeenaodetta.blogspot.com/2025/09/past-paper-submitted-to-journal.html

I spent hours looking through journal articles. It was a lot of work and I learned a lot. 

Testing honesty

 I found an interesting writing prompt in X:

 

 

 

 

 

 If I became invisible for a day, I would first want to ensure/confirm that I am invisible to the average person. That would be interesting to do. I also thought of what I would want to do with the "power." I would want to test the honesty or trustworthiness of people I know. I could invite the carpenter or plumber over to see what they would do. I would leave the door open for the worker to come in to fix a problem/issue. It would be nice to be invisible. I would not have to worry about him or her attacking me.

 

Incident

 Photos from the emergency room are included in the Facebook blog.

This FlashbackFriday, I remember an incident at Watooka Day School that resulted in an emergency visit to the hospital. I was playing with swings (in the playground on the school grounds) when one of the swings hit my head. There was blood. I believe the cut required stitches.

When driving around Linden a few years ago, we stopped at the school for a short time. Everything looked different. I didn't see the swings.

 

Update

 I visited the emergency room again. I decided to go because of unpleasant experiences. I wanted the hospital to review my condition (it seemed as though a blockage or obstruction cleared). My emergency room visit went well. The hospital ran tests (including a CT scan) and didn't find major issues. My blood pressure is in the normal range. I believe the blood sugar was normal too. I feel better. 

(Photos will be posted later - my phone charger is malfunctioning.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weird or strange coincidences

 Here is another weird coincidence:

I was the youngest in my batch at President's College, and so the youngest female for that batch. The oldest female for the batch was Karen Renata Bonnett (now deceased). Karen and I shared a birthday in July (month and day the same).

Weird coincidences

At some point in my life I didn't want to invest in a PhD. Later, I thought a PhD was not necessary for some things. I had reason to question what jobs and opportunities the PhD provides because of weird coincidences I mentioned before:

Isn't it interesting that there was a guy with a PhD in my master's degree program at GW? And, later, there was a professor in my training program at Fannie Mae?

(From: https://fahmeenaodetta.blogspot.com/2022/07/commencement-documents.html)

Just another weird coincidence in my life.

PhD funding

 I am happy that I invested in a PhD. I am better off because of the degree program (You may know that I wanted to join a program in Florida. I ended up in another). Funding it (tuition, expenses such as food and transportation) was a challenge.

Funding for a PhD and finances during the program is an issue for many. I remember my struggles during my PhD program. I had several "side jobs" but still had issues. I missed my regular paycheck from an IT job. I sought funding from different sources.

There is good information out there on the finances of PhD students. I was piqued by a website on Personal Finance for PhDs. There were different experiences.

Flutophone

 My post yesterday mentioned a red and white flutophone. A red and white flutophone is shown in my blog for the Research Methods course (https://fmooresignatureassignment3.blogspot.com/2016/08/work-continues_17.html and https://fmooresignatureassignment3.blogspot.com/2016/08/taking-break.html). The blog shows a lot of my background (There is a lot of ME. Some would say it stinks of Fahmeena Odetta Moore). There is a photo of the dorm at UG (https://fmooresignatureassignment3.blogspot.com/2016/08/rewrite.html), a photo of the presentation on Guyana for my church's International Day (https://fmooresignatureassignment3.blogspot.com/2016/08/working-despite-issues.html), and so on. Incidentally, my Research Methods course includes a lot of economics and IT. I used knowledge gained at UG. That was a good course!! I enjoyed it.

Note: UG refers to the University of Guyana rather than the University of Georgia in the US.

Throwback

 I was young, but I remember quite a lot about Watooka Day School. A post in Facebook made me think of pony combs I wanted when I was a student there. My friend Claudia wore them all the time. I liked her fat ponytails. I remember we wore brown and cream on regular days and white on Fridays. Looking back, I am proud that I qualified for the flutophone band. The school issued a red and white flutophone that I loved. I remember that there were swimming classes. I didn't like swimming very much.

Update

 I put that incident behind me. I continue to work on job applications. I am working up a storm. Professor positions request more than a typical position - CV and documents/statements such as a Teaching Statement. I don't mind the extra work. I will be home for a while. I don't mind that either. The last time I dressed up to go out was a few days ago.

Event at home

 I knew it was loud. I didn't expect my mother to react as she did. Our praying hands fell (it looked like the praying hands in the picture below). It was an accident and the praying hands broke into pieces.

I recorded a quick video a short time after the "event." See the home video at: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/14gEjWfXmvh/