I have never yet ...

seen a dog in a costume who didn't look either homicidal or deeply embarrassed.

There is one golden retriever who MIGHT be having a good time, but goldens are SO sensitive to their owners' emotions, that I'm guessing he's just trying his hardest to enter into the spirit of things. :)

acorns are little nuts

In honor of Acorn's tireless efforts to register voters amongst underserved populations - for instance, the dead, housepets, and Disney characters, it has been declared that anyone who was registered to vote through an Acorn voter-registration drive will be voting on Wednesday next week.

That's right - they get their own day ... since it was so hard for them to register on their own, we've set aside a special time slot just for them.

So plan on it ... next week Wednesday ... you get the polls all to yourself. Tea and cookies will be served.

bypassed beauty

I went for a walk with my camera this afternoon, just enjoying the leaves. It was one of those exceptionally windy days that makes the branches dance, and the leaves blow everywhere. It was quite lovely! I thought maybe you'd like to share it with me.



Every year this burning bush is particularly vibrant, and I love the way the tree in the foreground forms an arch over it.
























lace, made without hands.






The fellow who went with this house was out with a leaf blower, battling back the forces of nature. Beauty can be untidy ... and untidiness can not be allowed to run rampant. (Though with the wind we're having today, he might be better advised to put off the battle for another time!)






beauty lying in the gutter

Our pastor came to us from a Lutheran & Presbyterian background, so he brought with him some traditions with which we were unfamiliar. One of those traditions was celebrated today, and that was Reformation Sunday.

We took the time to look at the gift that was given to us, in that we have the Scriptures in our own language. This is a relatively new development, and yet we've become so accustomed to it, that it's easy to not notice.

The book that's right now sitting on the seat of my car, and copies of which are in almost every room of my home, is here because blood was shed to bring it to me. Just like those leaves lying along-side the road, it can become common-place. I need for it NOT to be. The gift of being able to read, and understand, the very words of God, in my own language, without fear of persecution, is a rare one. Not many have enjoyed this combination of circumstances down through history, and I need to treasure it more.

Sarah Palin polling really well with fast-food drive-through workers

The day after McCain picked Sarah Palin as his VP, I made a sign and stuck it in my back, driver's side car window. It says "Vote Sarah Palin for Vice President" and has a picture of the two on the bottom.

It's amazing how often I will drive through a fast food drive-through line (it's amazing how often I DO drive through fast food drive through lines ... but that's another subject), and the worker will make a positive comment when she sees the sign in the window. I find it most encouraging. :)

fun with Photoshop

I've been tinkering with Photoshop Elements, trying to learn how the tools work.

I haven't quite figured it out yet ... but I am enjoying playing with it!

Here's a couple of pictures from my trip to Italy that I was playing with - a pretty foo-foo from the Duomo, layered on top of the roof of the Galleria.

kids yogurt?

On meandering through the grocery store while a friend shopped last night, I noticed an entire section devoted to "kids yogurt."

I'm wondering ... what, exactly, makes it different from "adult yogurt"?

It's non-alcoholic? Does't require a driver's license to operate?

I've long hated the commercials for "Juicy Juice" ... not only is the name itself annoying to me (Juicy Juice, as opposed to "dry" juice? Or "sandy" juice?), and apparently, from the ads, it's marketed exclusively to parents in order to be served to children.

Then, today, I noticed a special line of "children's skin and hair care products."

Why? hair is hair. skin is skin.

These special "kids" products strike me as one of those areas where rich (compared to the rest of the world) Americans are being trained to have needs where none exist.

me and pop culture

I recorded Saturday Night Live last night because Sarah Palin was on it.

There's a whole world out there of which I'm ignorant (and gladly so). I understood maybe 20% of the jokes. :)

Now, the Sarah Palin parts were GREAT. I do like that lady.

I know ... I'm posting an awful lot of videos lately ...

But you've got to watch the two videos of this women speaking.

liberalism epitomized ...

Brian said I had to post this video

Let me say ... I can't QUITE believe this is real ... I'm sure it's just something someone has done to mock the environmentalists. But it's funny either way?

funeral home thoughts

I got called in to work today at 1:00 to make a video for the funeral home.

Since I started this job, I've found it to be kind of a strange mental situation ...

I'm on call for certain days, and may or may not get called in, and so I need to keep that in mind while making plans.

The odd part is this ...

I can plan ahead that I may need a 4-8 hour chunk of time on a certain day, and if I do, I'll also get a chunk of much-needed income.

Meanwhile, if I DO get called in to work, that means there is a family out there, who has absolutely NO IDEA that their life will change completely in that same time period.

It's weird, really ... planning for something that will make such a minor impact on my life, when those whose lives will be forever altered have no way to plan whatsoever.

On a happier note ... here's some funeral humor for you. :)

A Country Funeral


As a young minister in Kentucky, I was asked by a funeral director to hold a grave-side service for a homeless man, who had no family or friends. The funeral was to be held at a new cemetery way back in the country, and this man would be the first to be buried there.

I was not familiar with the backwoods area, and I soon became lost. Being a typical man, I did not stop to ask for directions. I finally arrived an hour late.

I saw the backhoe and the open grave, but the hearse was nowhere in sight. The digging crew was eating lunch. I apologized to the workers for my tardiness, and I stepped to the side of the open grave. There I saw the vault lid already in place. I assured the workers I would not hold them up for long, as I told them that this was the proper thing to do.

The workers gathered around the grave and stood silently, as I began to pour out my heart and soul. As I preached about 'looking forward to a brighter tomorrow' and 'the glory that is to come,' the workers began to say 'Amen,' 'Praise the Lord,' and 'Glory!' The fervor of these men truly inspired me. So, I preached and I preached like I had never preached before, all the way from Genesis to Revelations.

I finally closed the lengthy service with a prayer, thanked the men, and walked to my car. As I was opening the door and taking off my coat, I heard one of the workers say to another, 'I ain't NEVER seen nothin' like that before, and I've been puttin' in septic tanks for thirty years.

what was your first computer?

This past week, a friend started doing some shopping because the (25 gig) hard drive on her laptop had filled up.

I was thinking of how unimaginable this would have seemed to me when I bought my first computer in 1989. I'm not sure we even USED the term "gig". :) I had a 200 mg hard drive, and I can remember deleting documents when I needed to make room for new software.

My very first computer was a 286 with a pretty amber monitor (the ones at the college were green ... I thought the amber was SO much nicer.) I had considered the cheaper 80/86 (is that the right term? can't remember for sure ...), but I decided to spend extra on the bigger computer, so it would LAST me a while.

It came with a funny windows-ish thing called Geoworks, and a dot matrix printer - all for only $1,100! What a DEAL! If I remember correctly, I was still using it in 1993 when I signed up for my first Internet service - AOL at 10 hours/month, I think. I used Pro-Write and WordStar mainly ... with occasional forays into some kind of really basic desktop publishing program. That was IT, and I thought I was really techy!

What was your first computer?

P.S. ... out of curiosity, I just looked at my own hard drive. I have 80 gig, and 28.8 is full. YIkes! What IS all that stuff? :)

introvert vs. extrovert

This week, one of my co-workers and I were discussing the differences between introverts and extroverts.

I have always associated "introvert" with "shy", but he described introversion and extroversion as where a person finds their energy ... are they energized by being with people, or is it wearisome?

I found it quite an enlightening idea. Because, while I am not particularly shy, I find social occasions exhausting. While I enjoy them, I am always relieved to get into a room alone and close the door afterward!

It never occurred to me that extroverted people don't experience that same feeling ... that they might actually gain energy the longer they're at a gathering, while I gradually wind down and start taking long breaks in the ladies' room, longing for things to end for the evening. Interesting!

On a different note ... here's a new picture of the adorable nieces. I thought this was great!

Neat quote today

This was on my google home page ... thought it was so good:

"Forgiveness is the answer to the child's dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is again made clean."
- Dag Hammarskjold

bored with the board

After last night's condo meeting, I decided that I'm just not condo-board material. (as opposed to board material, which would be wood, which, I'm not either, but I digress.)

Our condo board meetings are a picture of ineffectiveness if I've ever seen one. There are long, drawn-out conversations that have nothing to do with board business. And often these same conversations are repeated, almost verbatim, at every meeting.

(For instance, we have a rule on our bylaws against leaving trucks parked outside the building overnight. At every meeting, there is discussion as to why this rule exists, and whether vans and SUVs constitute "trucks.") No resolution is ever achieved, or attempted. It just seems to be a ritual pet-topic.

I'm a non-leader down to my bones, but the aimlessness of these meetings is such that I find myself pushing them forward, demanding answers, requesting the next agenda item, etc. Then I get home, grinding my teeth and clenching my jaw.

So, after last night's demonstration of inefficiency, I am going to tender my resignation. I'm tired of being infuriated by these gatherings!

I'll just write my monthly check, and consider that the extent of my contribution to the community!

dance like no one's watching

Here's adorable niece #2 doing just that. :)