interesting how they phrase things

From this Yahoo News article today (about Barak Obama):

E-mails and videos circulating on the Internet criticized him for attending a church that promoted black culture ...

Oh really? Is that what they criticize him for? "attending a church that promoted black culture"?

This type of rhetoric from Barak's pastor, Jeremiah Wright, is ... apparently ... simply "promoting black culture."

— In a sermon after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001:

"We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye," Wright said. "We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost."

— In a 2003 sermon, he said blacks should condemn the United States:

"The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme."

It is I for whom Scotch Guard was invented ...

Two or three weeks ago, I got some new furniture. I'd been shopping for several years, and never found that perfect combination of "I like this", "I can afford this" and "this is short enough I can touch the ground when I sit down".

I found a set on clearance that fit all three criteria, and at the same time had a pretty bench re-upholstered that I was given from my grandparents' house. (Pictures included for those who care!).




So ... how does this post relate to your subject line, you may ask? (or if you know me, you may not NEED to ask.)

When buying the furniture, I was faced with the question of whether to have the Scotch Guard applied before I brought it home.

I went back and forth in my mind about it, as I was already spending all I had budgeted. But I finally decided to do it.

So ... this morning ... I've already had opportunity to be thankful for that choice.

It's amazing how easily "clutzy" can creep in!

I had a cup of coffee sitting on the end table, and pulled the cord to open the mini-blinds, and ... "plop" ... the end of the blind cord lands in my coffee cup, splattering coffee everywhere.

I startle, pull the cord out and lay it on the table ... and "plop" ... the other cord falls out of my hand and does the same thing.

Everything cleaned up beautifully, and I've realized how thankful I am for modern chemistry. :)

Detroit

My perception of the city has been epitomized in the behavior of its mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick.

To those who live there, and are of a different character ... please accept my sympathies and apologies for mentally including you in this characterization!

what we ARE decides how we react

While I was swimming yesterday afternoon, I was praying about the best way to approach a tricky inter-personal situation - specifically what response would show love to the individuals involved.

I decided to read through 1 Corinthians 13 (the chapter dealing with love), and see how it applied.

On first reading, I was a little frustrated. This talks so much about what to BE, and so little about what to DO.

Then my next thought was ... what we ARE is absolutely foundational to what we do.

When I read through again, there seemed to be so much there that DID pertain to how I should react.

Here's some of my thoughts as I read through it:

1 Corinthians 13:
4 Love is patient
Iit's quite easy to be very patient with my own failings ... but I need to exercise that same patience with others. God is working in their lives, and who am I to decide He's not dealing with them fast enough, or in the areas I think he should?),

love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
(am I seeking the other people's best in this situation? Or just concerned because it's bothering ME? Do I think I'm "above" struggling with this issue?)

5 does not act unbecomingly;
(even if they are acting unbecomingly, or rudely, responding to them that way is not loving)


it does not seek its own,
(in desiring this situation to be rectified, I shouldn't have my own interests as part of the motivation)

is not provoked,
(is it irritating me? it shouldn't be!)

does not take into account a wrong suffered, (in some versions, this is written "thinketh no evil" or "thinks the best")
(am I concerned about some offense toward myself? it's God's job to deal with that, not mine! I want to choose to put the best possible spin on any situation -- rather than choosing to think the worst.)

6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
(put up with the situation, trusting that good will come, and God will use it for good ... more than that ... rejoicing in the knowledge that God promises to "work all things together for good.")

have I ever told you about this great formula?

In the "Tightwad Gazette" books, Amy Daczyn shares this wonderful formula to get stains out of fabric.

I used it on a pair of white shorts I wore hiking in Yosemite (don't even talk about the wisdom of that choice), and it got them clean -- years after I stained them.

Get a five gallon bucket
put in
1 cup chlorox 2
1 cup cascade dishwasher powder soap

add a bit of hot water and mix it up.

Put in the stained clothes, and fill the bucket the rest of the way. Mix it again, and let it sit overnight, then wash the clothes.

It's amazing the stuff it will get clean!

Democratic National Convention Schedule

6:00 PM - Opening Flag Burning Ceremony
6:05 PM - Pledge of Allegiance to the U.N.
6:15 PM - Secular Prayers by Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton
6:30 PM - Antiwar Concert by Barbara Streisand
6:40 PM - Ted Kennedy Proposes a Toast
7:00 PM - Tribute to France
7:10 PM - Collect Offerings for al-Zawahri Defense Fund
7:25 PM - Tribute to Germany
7:45 PM - Antiwar Rally (Moderated by Michael Moore)
8:25 PM - Ted Kennedy Proposes a Toast
8:30 PM - Terrorist Appeasement Workshop
9:00 PM - Roundtable Discussion of Taxes: "Calling for Higher Taxes on Others While You Pay None"
9:15 PM - Bill & Hillary Clinton Host a Seminar on "The Successful Selling of White House & Air Force One Mementos on eBay"
9:20 PM - Gay Marriage Ceremony (Both Male and Female Couples)
9:30 PM - * Intermission * Special Guest Soloist Jane Fonda
10:00 PM - Posting the Iraqi Colors by Sean Penn and Tim Robbins
10:10 PM - Reenactment of Kerry's Fake Medal Toss
10:20 PM - Howard Dean Screamfest 'Yeeearrrrrrrg!'
10:30 PM - Seminar: "The Boy Scouts and Other Paramilitary threats to National Security"
10:40 PM - Ted Kennedy Proposes a Toast
10:45 PM - Abortion Demonstration (NARAL)
11:00 PM - Multiple Gay Marriage Ceremony (Threesomes, Mixed and Same-Sex)
11:15 PM - 'Maximizing Welfare' Workshop
11:30 PM - 'Free Saddam' Pep Rally
11:50 PM - Ted Kennedy Proposes a Toast
12:00 AM - Kerry-Edwards 2004 Sealed With A Kiss
12:01 AM - Ted Kennedy Proposes a Toast
12:02 AM - Ted Kennedy Proposes a Toast

awww shoot

Nothing spoils a delightfully-productive day like spilling a half-bottle of furniture polish on the floor.

sometimes ebay makes so little sense ...

I have some books up for sale.

With over a day still to go, a 1985 soft cover copy of Pilgrim's Progress is going for $3.25 (plus shipping).

Two people are bidding back and forth over it like crazy.

I almost didn't put it up for sale at all, because it's so unremarkable an edition. Plus there are about a million copies of Pilgrim's Progress for sale ... it's available anywhere, including for free download online.

It just makes no sense.

But I'm happy to take their money. :)

It IS a great book, by the way ... if you haven't read it, you should! (but don't pay $3.25 for a ratty old paperback!)

old saddle - finished!

Here is how it turned out. Many thanks to my dad for his machine-shop magic in getting the stirrups cleaned up. It was neat that they were dated - one in 1936 and one in 1937.

The flaps over the stirrup buckles still stick up more than I'd like, but I'm going to keep using Denise's suggestion to drape weights over them, in hopes they'll flatten a bit more.

not a bee at all

I did some looking online, and found this "bee hawk moth", which looks like our little friend from last night. They're native to the U.K., but it sure looks like we've got a population of them here in G.R. as well.

what manner of bee is this?

I went out to Meijer Gardens with some friends tonight, and we saw this most unusual bee. He was fuzzy and colored like a bumble-bee, but longer, and looked almost like a hummingbird in the way he flew.

Anyone know anything about the little guy? We're intrigued ...

some nice surprises yesterday

First, thank you to Trixie at Farm Home Life. I entered a give-away on her blog, and won a $25 Walmart Gift Card. She sent her readers over here to visit, and I wanted to welcome them today. :)

Yesterday, I had my kayak out and drifted up to a little family of ducks. There was a momma and two half-grown babies. I was able to get within 6 feet of them, and they didn't seem at all concerned. We were near the shore of the gravel pit, and they were feeling free to nibble at bottom-of-the-water tidbits while I was there. It was quite a delight.

a good reminder to look at life through these glasses

why I'm not interested in having my own business ...

I just sold some books on ebay.

I made $35

I spent $41 in shipping.

UGH!

Every time I sell something to someone in Canada, the USPS online international postage calculator leads me astray! I had two packages heading for western Canada. It said they could each go priority for $10, which is what I charged the buyers. One was $17, and the other $18.

This is my irritated look! I just paid $5 to sell 4 books.

No more Canadians for me!

Barnabas

As you may have guessed from the lack of robin pictures, my chicks have flown the coop. I raised the blind on my balcony Friday morning, and they flew away. I've gotten the nest torn down, and the porch cleaned up, and am able to enjoy my coffee out there in the morning now without irritating the tenants.

We had such a wonderful preach Sunday morning on Barnabas. He is one of my favorite people in the Bible.

Barnabas wasn't his real name, you see. It was a nickname. It means "son of encouragement." The other Christians saw him as being an encouragement and support, so much so that they changed his name.

When the apostle Paul became a Christian, the others were all afraid of him. Before he had been a murderer - hunting down Christians and killing them, and putting them in jail. Then all of a sudden, he comes around pretending to believe ... nobody bought it. Except, of course, Barnabas. The Bible says Barnabas "took him up". He vouched for him, and recommended him to the others.

Then, later, Paul and Barnabas were traveling together with Barnabas' nephew John Mark. They got into a disagreement about whether Mark should continue on the journey, because he had failed them previously. Barnabas vouched for him, "took him up" again, to the point where Barnabas and Mark continued on separately. And Barnabas's support changed Mark, to the degree that later, Paul, in one of his final letters, asked Mark to come and join him, because he was useful in the ministry.

We don't know a lot about Barney. He is shown as a preacher, but quickly his role seems to diminish into a support and help to the others.

That is the role I've always loved ... being an encouragement to the people who are out in front, doing the big stuff. I love Barnabas, because I want to BE a Barnabas.

Have you seen The Lord of the Rings series? Remember Sam Gamgee? He was my favorite ... quietly in the background, supporting Frodo in doing the impossible.

I was reading tonight in Spurgeon sermons to see what he had to say about Barnabas, and I liked this quote very well:

Many who have believed through grace also need help by way of consolation. You would be astonished if you knew the large number of believers in Christ who are tempted to doubt, despondency, and distress of mind. In the present congregation there are a number of persons depressed in spirit, who can hardly look up, who will judge, when I am speaking, that I am referring to them; and I must confess that I am thinking of them, and do very often think about them, and long to see them come forth from their present gloom. It is a great joy to me if I can help them at all by describing my own experience of down-casting and up-lifting. These bruised and broken ones need binding up. Brothers, if you are like Barnabas, “sons of consolation,” be not slack in your blessed service! O ye spiritual men, trained in the school of sorrow, put forth your best endeavors to minister to minds diseased. Pour in the oil and wine of the gospel wherever there is a wound gaping and bleeding. A word fitly spoken, a promise seasonably quoted, may help much those who have believed through grace.

There will probably be more about this to follow!

an email forward that was actually new to me (and funny!)

DR. PHIL:
The problem we have here is that this chicken won’t realize that he must first deal with the problem on “THIS” side of the road before it goes after the problem on the “OTHER SIDE” of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he’s acting by not taking on his “CURRENT” problems before adding “NEW” problems.

OPRAH:
Well I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I’m going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

GEORGE W. BUSH:
We don’t really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

DONALD RUMSFELD:
Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

ANDERSON COOPER/CNN:
We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

JOHN KERRY:
Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken’s intentions. I am for it now, and will remain against it.

JUDGE JUDY:
That chicken crossed the road because he’s GUILTY! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN:
To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART:
No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer’s Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level.

DR SEUSS:
Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I’ve not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY:
To die in the rain. Alone.

GRANDPA:
In my day we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS:
Isn’t that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its life long dream of crossing the road.

JOHN LENNON:
Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together - in peace.

ARISTOTLE:
It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

BILL GATES:
I have just released eChicken2006, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your check book. Internet explorer is an integral part of eChicken. The platform is much more stable and will never ever, ever reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN:
Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

BILL CLINTON:
I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE:
I invented the chicken!

COLONEL SANDERS:
Did I miss one?

robins, day 11

blogging about blogging ...

I was thinking today about why I enjoy doing this ... typing up little thoughts that may or may not ever get read by anyone at all!

Really, it's kind of vain, isn't it? Thinking folks are interested in the robins hatching on my porch, or the latest goofiness from the condo neat-police.

So, outside of the obvious hubris, what causes me to do this?

Well, there's the fact that it seems to keep me alert to the funny things going on around me. While I'm irritated at the people who came 45 minutes late for the chairs, I can, at the same time, think, "this is great blog material." Speaking of such, have you noticed how long it takes women to pull away from the gas pump? (Women other than me, I mean!) I'm waiting in line, and Barbie gets into her car, puts away her credit card, puts away her receipt, fluffs her hair, puts on her sunglasses, puts on her seatbelt, and THEN pulls away from the pump. We were in the middle of the Costco lot - she had at least 300 empty parking places directly between her and the exit where she could have paused to do this hair-fluffing!)

In contrast to the above example, it makes me look for the positive. If anyone DOES happen to read, I'd hate for my post to drag down their day. I want to put out things that are uplifting, or at least not depressing.

I notice the details more. I love seeing my robins grow, but I probably wouldn't climb up onto the porch furniture and snap a picture of them every day if I weren't posting it here. (incidentally ...note to the lady in the condo downstairs: yelling "be careful" when you see someone precariously perched on a lawn chair on a second floor balcony is NOT helpful.)

It makes up, at least partially, for my miserable correspondence skills (and even MORE miserable telephone skills.) It's keeping me in touch, at least a little bit!

I wish everybody would do it!

what are you looking at

I ran across a lovely post today about how we can choose what we see. Please take a minute and read it - it will change your day!

robins, day 10

even more crowded ... and they're getting VERY vocal when they feel their dinner is delayed.