Stunned Numb with Disbelief, and added Post Script

David is a great kid.
His little brother has been one of my son’s closest friends since 5th grade.
At Christmas break, David came home from college, and one of the things he did was spend mega-amounts of time with the boys as they re-produced and re-shot a film from the previous year’s film festival at their school.

David is a broadcast journalism student.
David is a great kid who loves God.
You don’t have to be around him for very long, before you realize this.
David is a talented actor – if he combined his journalism skills with his stage presence he would make a great weatherman. The camera loves him.

David gets along great with parents, and he gets along great with kids.
And he is genuine.

It was interesting, observing him as he worked with the boys re-shooting their crime drama. He took direction from the teen Director, but he very subtly guided as well…fostering a group participation attitude, and inspired the boys with his enthusiasm.

David spent Memorial Day weekend at Lake Shasta – a well known party place.
House boats are usually rented by huge groups. It is not uncommon to see multiple house boats tied together, and friends jump from boat to boat and spend the weekend swimming and generally having a great time.

Lake Shasta also has a dark reputation.
It is known for claiming the lives of the youthful who party or who, while basking in the joys of the summer’s first warming sun, forget they are mortal, loosing any good judgement they have.

David simply hopped a boat, and he missed.
He hit his head on the side.

David is gone.
In the blink of an eye.

In the span of a moment’s time, a happy guy with star potential, lost contact with the earthly tent he dwelled in, and is now at home with the Heavenly Father he loves.

Such a bright light is gone from us for a time.
How much brighter shines heaven today.

So David,
You are such a knucklehead!
And dang! You are missed boy!

May God be with your family and friends, who know beyond doubt where you are tonight, but who are flailing in the huge gap that your departure has left.

David
March 15 1984 - May 29 2005

JUNE 1st ADDITION:

I was driving in to work this morning, and a song struck me in the head.
It was one from church and I got to thinking, after it swirled around namelessly and wordlessly in my head for about 10 minutes, that there were words in this song that had significance to what David's family and what the rest of us are processing.
The song talks about rendering thankfulness to God no matter what circumstances you find yourself in.

"...blessed be Your Name,
On the road filled with suffering,
Though there's pain in the offering,
Blessed be Your Name!"

It is not an act of happiness all the time to give thanks to God, but we are commanded to do it (especially when we don't feel like it) and it often yields a very strange result:

One is often encouraged by verbalizing thankfulness to God when one is in the darkest of places.
It is like lighting a candle and warmth slowly comes afterward.

Standing Before the Furnace

The following post is in relation to one made previously entitled "Won't You Come In?"

Funny
After choosing to make the Journey to The Furnace, I expected all-hell-to-be-breaking-loose with regard to my mental and emotional state the closer I got...
...even though I knew the One who asked me to go, would also be waiting for me there at the end...
The friend who I thought I saw providing a way out for me, is not here. I am glad of it, and I see now that even if she was here, there is no need to escape from the path.

It's funny, because the blast I was expecting as I got closer to the mouth of the furnace is not now as hot as I once imagined.
The glaring blaze I witnessed from much farther back, while still bright, appears now as a diffused glow.
The burning, melting flames that seared me at that greater distance are no longer present as I stand here before the threshold.
The area in front of the furnace is a cool and green-growing space.
It is almost garden-like.

You know me.
You know I am a "visual/verbal" processor.
I "see" things.
In my head.
I know, I sound crazy.
But the scenario of the Furnace, while spiritualized, is almost tangible to me.
The cool green before the threshold is just as real.
I am reminded of stories of the Celtic Otherworld and the Thin Places of the world.
Side by Side.
I am reminded of Paul The Apostle saying,
"Now we see as through a glass darkly, but when we stand before the Throne we will see Him as He is. Right now we see in part, but then we will see fully."

In my mind's eye I see where I am, and where I am not.
Something within me questions:
Am I already in the furnace? Or am I still on the outside?
I may no longer be able to tell the difference.
But it does not concern me, nor does fear pierce me as it once did when I started this Journey.

It is a "thin place."
And this particular "thin place" is where ever I walk.
I take my "Thin Place" with me.

A Post about absoltively NOTHING AT ALL.

COUNTING DOWN:

ahh, it's at times like these that I do so love math:

-6 more days in the office. Count them-6. I love doing the math.
-2 more days till we have the surgery for which we have waited 7 years to have done.

Sometimes, numbers are your friends.

FREELANCE-O-RAMA
I completed another freelance project today, and will get to continue for doing so, from home in the future. Wee-ha! I love working at home.

After June 3rd, I will arrange to pick up a new freelance client. I will train as a barrista down at the "Bad Ass Coffee Shop."

I kid you NOT, that is what it's called.
It is a CHAIN of specialty Kona Coffee/gift stores, and they are based in Hawaii.

Anyway, they are going to train me and then I can sub for them when their people get sick or need a vacation,
BUT
...the beauty is...with the newly acquired barrista skills, I can also sub myself out to all of the other coffee places in town! With a population of 14,000, there are 6 coffee houses/kiosks. The distance from one end of town to the other is less than a half mile. With nary a stop light to be found. (I think people here are such coffee addicts, that the caffeine induced sense of "hurry-up" would only be heightened if a stop light were added into the mix.)
Anyway I train for free, for one client, and get to market myself to 5 others.

Yay for 'mom-n-pop' businesses in the tourist town.

It is fun because some one will come into a store and interact with me one day, and then the next week I will be at a totally different store, or office, and they get confuzzled.
I enjoy that.

So 6 more days and I will be unencumbered by the 8-5 job.

PORTLAND OREGON BLUES
2 more days and I will play Nurse Ratchett to my beloved daughter. Then I will take my first born son to camp 200 miles away, and only get to go and fetch him back on weekends.

Needless to say, I will be driving to Portland alot this summer.

MY PLACE IN THE SUN
Stu is looking up a gig he found on the internet.
It will mean he has to commute to Portland, LA and all over the globe possibly.
Yay.
(oops. Did I say that out loud?) ;o)

(Maybe I don't care.)
Maybe I do.
I dunno sometimes.
Its a good thing that God is Bigger.

Playing Uru

Am I the only psycho that deals with this?

I did not play the Uru game(s) until they were released as Complete Chronic les.
After having gallivanted (sp?) all over the place, I know that I should play the ages out in the order they are given: 1st The Journeys, 2nd To D'ni, 3rd The Shell Path's.

But I find myself drawn to the Shell Paths ahead of the others.

Am I uniquely weird?

I find that these ages some how are more "user friendly" - at least to me they are. And perhaps that all comes down to individual preference.

(I know. I am SO ramblng.)

...but my computer is working again, and after a months absence I find that I can play Uru:Complete Chronicles again.

Did everyone dutifully play Complete Chronicles in the logical order, or di d you play the ages randomly as they appealed to you?

This is SUCH a weird email...I know...and yet, I am listening to the sound t rack and thinking, "wow this is all so stinkin' cool" and as usual, I am STUCK in some AGE!!

I just wondered if you all played through in the correct order or if you scampered all about?
(as I am doing)

mih-

In Todays News of the Bogus:

Myst Fans, apparently from the Age of Florida, are requesting a re-vote to elect a new city for Mysterium 2005.

This reporter was unaware that an Age of Florida was ever written.
And I would question the skill of such a writer, seeing that he,
(in what I can only assume was an inadvertant error)
managed to include a sense of indignation in the psyche's of the inhabitants, that mirrors that of the Hanging Chad episode.

I am sure the writer of such an Age would have had both hands lopped off and would have been sent directly to a Prison Age for life.

Time to apply the Chastening Agent

Black Watch Kiln and Art Imitates Book?

THE BLACK WATCH KILN PROJECT:
In other news, we only need one more person to contribute to the Kiln and we will have enough to buy it, supply it and maintain it.
It will be great if Barb can keep it at her place with the glass blowing stuff.
We should have a "Christening." Like the launching of a ship or something.
Maybe smash a MacTarnahans or Black Watch against the rim and have Trevor do an impression of the Queen: "I christen thee, the USS Black Watch Kiln."
Or not.
We all get up to some goofy stuff when we get together.

MEGA-PROJECT ADVANCES SLOWLY:
So I changed the panels seperating my studio from the living room, and in the process managed to improve on some of the Atenue languages for Mega Project.
I can already hear Barb going, "Great. More backstory."
Sorry Babz. I gotta make a nest before I start laying eggs.
(uh...never mind).

Was reading Steve O's blog today and was reminded that creativity floods or droughts are common. Rather than be all anal and force it, I just need to go with the flow and use the burst of creativity when it shows up.

I wonder if that would make me appear some what manic?

Hmmm...
Do I care about such an appearance?

enh.....

You Go Girl!

Good heavens Lehsa!
You have always been good,
when the poop hits the fan especially!
Gotta love it!
Especially last year in Toronto, I dunno if I told you...but that day after most people left, when you and I just hung out together - we walked all over the place and had dinner with Eri? That day will live FOREVER in my mind.
What a sweet and peaceful time.
If I never said it before, then I am saying it now:
to my way of thinking,
you are a unique blend of creativity and flame,
of sensitivity and cut-the-crap-common-horse-sense
that feeds my spirit.
Dang yer good!

A view through the Golden Spy Glass

"All things are seen and unseen."
Disappearing ink has been provided courtesy of the Golden Spy Glass.

Its a new week and SOUNDS update

...and I have a training today on the new e-copier, and I need to finish up
this project for NWHDS, and I think I will update the SOUNDS link over in the side bar.
:o)

Today is a hug day.

yuk.

But tomorrow is a new day, and I only have 14 days left of actual office time.
:o)
Yay!

I can't wait to start assembling some of the images for RIMH.
But that will have to wait until summer.

Started culling through the numerous originals, in order to get some stuff ready for sale.
Where I have no clue.
I am just doing what I'm told. (Isn't THAT a change?!)

It irritates me that some of them are really small, so I guess, in order to keep the main project on track I need to do it in right order:
matte
frame
hang
price.

At some point though I am going to have to reproduce the originals and make them the appropriate size, that being at lease 23x35 or greater. Preferably twice that size.
But thats just me.
I need them to be big.
Big enough to remind me of food.
Big enough to be edible.
Big enough to grok.

henh.

And now onward to other bizarre things that annoy me:

Such as the following brand of Christianity:

I cannot believe I actually know people who DO this:
I found out through the grape vine (my kids) that a local family refuses to purchase
a Western U.S. brand of Cola because on the label there are many stars, and SOME of them are upside down.
(???!!!)

But wait...there's more...

They will not purchase A POPULAR HOT COCOA MIX BRAND, because on the package, the marshmallows depicted in the mug have melted into the Yin/Yan shape.
(????!!!!)

Wha...??
Wha Happen?

What happened to sense here?

I was pondering this, and thinking, ok so now, these same people proclaim that Christ died to take away the penalty for what we earn via our own poor/angry/self-centered choices. They proclaim that this forgiveness cannot be earned, but rather, is a free gift to anyone who chooses to accept this forgiveness, and a gift from God Himself. Not because one has done enough "good deeds. "
(In reality, God Himself says, all of our GOOD deeds are equal to sh _t as far as He is concerned, so don't even bother trying to earn brownie points.)

Ok, now so look at this particular family, knowing that they profess that the above is true.
(Which it is.)

What are they doing to make themselves "Holy?"
Do? As in Deeds? As in Earn?
They shun packaging because of what it looks like on the outside?
Have they not reduced portions of their faith to "salvation based on works?"

"oooo if I drink that Soda with the upside down stars on the label, I will surely be bound for hell!"

Welcome to legalism at its most ridiculous!

Yes, it is also true that faith without works is dead. God even says it in the Bible, but it is the joy and love of God that comes first via the faith and forgiveness. The translation from inner heart condition to daily behaviours first comes from the restored relationship and the understanding of that intimate relationship that He desires, which finds it's natural out working in our deeds.
To try to earn Gods favour with out accepting the relationship is to put the cart before the horse.
To take portions of the the Bible and to disregard other parts is foolishness.

God Himself also defines acceptable from unacceptable behaviours in the Bible, and when HE does, we are commanded (not asked) to suck it up and just do it, (or refrain from doing it) and there is no room for argument.
Some things truly are black and white from His perspective, and His perspective is way more valid than mine, or yours, or this family's. After all, if I am going to say that I believe in God, then it is to say that He is smarter than me. (or You or this family)
And who is going acknowledge a smarter being and then choose not to heed what they say?
Who would choose to be stupid when there is a chance to follow along and learn something for a change?

Every body screws up.
It doesn't matter if you know God or not.
Nobody is perfect (anymore).
It's part of being trapped in this flesh tent for the time being.
Imperfection and lack of full knowledge just go with the territory here.
Someday, in HIS OWN good time, He will release us from this tent, and we will then see things as they really are.



I can't believe I know people like this family.
I thought it was impossible:
To be so legalistic about things that are not put forth in the bible, but to also take extreme liberties with other portions of the bible that they don't want to obey.
God is lock-stock-and-barrel.
You can't pick a little bit and leave the rest.
You have to take it all, or none at all.
If they really new the bible they profess to live by, then they would know this.

EXAMPLE OF BLACK AND WHITE:
Jesus Himself gave only two choices.
He proclaimed that He Himself was God incarnate.
He didn't claim to be a prophet or wise teacher.
Therefore He only gave us a black and white choice:
Either you believe what He says, or you don't.
There is no middle ground.
I could go on FOR DAYS about this, but I will stop now.

EXAMPLE OF GREY:
As I rethink this, in all fairness I have to give way and say that some people have sensitivites of concience where other's don't.
Perhaps this Cola/Cocoa label is one (freaky) example of such sensitivities.
After all, God Himself tells us we are accountable to be "True To The Light We Are Given."

As for me, and for today,
I am buying the cheap Western Family Brand of Cola,
and I have no qualms what so ever about drinking Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Mix.

And so say all of us!

Yet another award...

...for which I have no prizes.
But hey, you can console yourselves with the knowledge that there is
no such thing as "Bad Publicity."

So without further ado I would like to name todays winners of the randomly anual
Brain Guy and Brain Girl Awards.

Brain Girl Award:
Minella for her steadfast encouragement and wiley technical know-how and ability to communicate such things successfully to cyber-dullards (me).

Brain Guy Award:
Zadok for his Courageous Hand-Holding-of-Wimps-in-Need (me), and his willingness to share nuggets of tech wisdom.

Why would anyone call India first, when they can log into CC and pick the brains of many "experts."

Oh moan and whine, You guys gotta help me!

Windows XP Service Pack 2
(Need I go ANY further?!)
(rampant expletives ensue!!!!!!)

Any way,
New e-copier:
The drivers won't install properly with Service Pack 2.
This I know from past experience, service pack 2 doesn't like alot of office programs.
Our entire building avoids DLing that update for this reason.
So...because I also use my own personal laptop (you saw this coming didn't you?) for many projects at the office, I also keep Service Pack 2 out of my laptop.

Well, while installing the drivers for the new e-copier, I noticed that there was a prob.

Lo and behold, some how Service Pack 2 managed to sneak its fat butt into my computer without my noticing. I have no idea how long it has been in there. Typically, when it gets in I go straight away and remove it pronto. Which I did Saturday morning.
Serious crash.
My display is at 4-bit and who the heck knows what else is not working!
It tells me that it had to revert to VGA?
My desktop is small enough for me to cover up with one hand!
I can get my pop3 email and what not, but was too sick at heart to explore further, to see what all else had been ruined.


*In my minds eye, I saw myself, dutifully cleaning out the offending Service Pack 2, while over my shoulder a villainous spectre lurked. His visage was as that of Bill Gates. At the end of his long arm there stretched appendages like those of Edward Scissorhands. Learing with a silent, twisted and enraged glee, he watched like a nun waiting with her ruler to strike. Upon completion of the task he leaned forward with terrifying intent and plunged his razor sharp digits into the keyboard, and brought forth the tender entrails from my beloved HP laptop. He tied them around his neck in a bow and leaned over toward me, suddenly showoing his true form and gazed at me with one enormous eye. He cackled his hideous laughter and was gone,
taking who-knows-what vital organs from my beloved electronic friend, who now pleads with me to restore it to it's original state of health and vitality.*

Alas, I do not know how.

New Artist and Golden Spy Glass Award

Cactus Art:
Check out the newest link which will go into the sidebar permanently.
Local artist, Kristine Kellogg and her family have begun to make their unique succulent garden sculpture bowls available to the public.
Each bowl has a story.
Each bowl is comprised of elements and artifacts which have been harvested from the Kelloggs own yard, or from various locations they have travelled to.
Being the environmentally friendly sort, they only choose to utilize wind-fall items...basically...they don't go hacking off bits of plants and rocks and sea creatures, from their natural environments, but opt to choose things that mother nature has discarded through it's own natural growth and shedding processes.

The Golden Spy Glass Award:

The first ever recipient of the Golden Spy Glass Award is Peter Street,
aka H.R.H Peter, until another recipient is crowned in his stead,
(sorry Your Majesty but fame is fickle)
or until he dies (May he live forever) .
The Golden Spy Glass is awarded to those who manage to see those things that are unseen or overlooked by others.
His Royal Highness has managed to comment on a blog post which no longer exists.
Congratulations for today.

Sunday Sermon...

... it was interesting.
It was about money, but not the typical kind.
It was about using your resources, (finances, energies, personal strengths and giftings, etc) to their greatest advantage and being shrewd with them.
At the end, there was a time of silence as people had a chance to pray and prepare for Communion.
I was sitting there, and its funny, but I wouldn't guess that God would be able to deliver such a packed exclamation point during so brief a time as that which is between the end of the sermon and the beginning of Communion.

Ok, so...I am talking plainly (in my head) to God and this is how it went:

ME: Ok God, I am sluggardly in being what I believe you have designed me to be, as far as my purpose is concerned.
ME: Ok God, here is what I do, I paint and play music. How do you want me to make this lucrative or... whatever?
ME: What do you want me to do?

GOD: Matte, Frame, Hang, Price.
ME: Wow, really? Ok God, You know how I am after I walk out of this building, I mean... how am I supposed to remember all that?
GOD: M.F.H.P
ME: huh?
GOD: Look deeper
GOD: M-michelle
GOD: F-fears
GOD: H-her
GOD: P-purpose
ME: oh.
GOD: It's easy. Just do it.
GOD: PS: I love you.

So, all in the space of what...like less than 5 minutes?
God took care of the conviction and directed it with a post scripted love note.

That's what I'm talking about.

New Sound Today

Over in the side bar the SOUND file has been updated.
This weeks selection is (once again) from our good friend Brak,
singing his favorite song about his favorite food!

I.T. Tech For A Day.

Well, not really.

I just was treated like a really bad one.
Cause I am not one.

The whole building was down due to the Electric Company shutting off power to our area so they could work on transformers last night.
I kept trying to reboot the stupid Cisco, and the D-Link and all that stuff.
What do I know about this stuff?
People got mad and went home.

"Yeah hey! Well don't let the doorknob hit ya, huh?!!"

I was tempted to call Blue.
But his contact information is stored - guess where?
On the ...INTERNET!!!!!
So could I access it on the... INTERNET?????
No.

So in the end they rolled the cable truck over here from Bend Broadband, and the only thing wrong was that, when the power went off, the batteries kicked in and then they died out, so the amp couldn't come back on later.

All I had to do was flip a flippin' switch.

Well.
Ok.
So I know now.
It's always something.

(Pass the krautjuice, will ya?)
;o)

What I did last weekend...

I went to the NW hammered Dulcimer Society's

Spring Fling Rendevous!

What a GLORIOUS Day this will Be!

I came into my office this morning to discover (JOY OF JOYZ!!!) a sack on my desk with three chocolate-creme filled Dunkin Donuts!
What is the deal? You may ask.
Well, first off, in the state of Oregon (maybe the whole pacific northwest) there are no longer any more Dunkin Donuts stores except this one in Salem OR.
(I think I hear a cry going up fromRhode Island? "What??! NO Dunkin Donuts?)
I know.
Unthinkable, isn't it. But sadly, tis true.
You can keep your Krispy Kremes. They are a totally different animal than the Dunkin-style Donut. Niether one is better than the other - they are just different.
I think America needs to get over it's Donut-Store Racism and make room for both Dunkin Donuts AND Krispy Kremes. (Maybe we should plan a demonstration?)
We could be like MacDonalds and Burger King - setting up stores within a block of each other where ever one is found, so there is the other within walking distance.
C'mon all you Donut-eaters Of America (DOA), can't we all just get along?
imho: There is no beauty on the earth like that of the
CHOCOLATE-CREME FILLED DUNKIN DONUT.

It has been 8 years - (8 looooong years!) since I have had a Chocolate-creme filled Dunkin Donut. There were 3 in the bag when I arrived at 8am, it is now 8:37 am and they are all gone.
But fear not, I have downed all 3 of them with a glass of milk, whereby I might keep the bodily humours in balance with a reasonable sugar - protein ratio.
(yeah. sure. )
I will go and do some filing now and wait until I blow my pancreas out of my back.

Holiday Preparedness

Wednesday is a Holiday.
Be prepared.
It's "Secretaries Day" ( AKA Administrative Proffessionals Day)
Don't let yourself be caught unprepared for this spectacular opportunity to
lavish praise and appreciation on your Administrative Professional.
If you haven't got an Administrative Professional, I will be happy to serve as a stand in on that day.

NWHDS Spring Festival

To Pete:
I did not keep my vow regarding “don’t THINK and drive.”
After such a weekend, and with such a long drive, it's inevitable.
;o)

In everyday life,
The people around me act as though they expect me to be tuff and hard and efficient,
like a sledge hammer or a drill.

But I am only a banana.

People treat bananas differently than they do a sledge hammer.
They take care not to slam the bananas around carelessly.
If you set it on the counter wrong or too roughly, the banana gets a bruise.
Sometimes you don’t even know it’s bruised until the peel starts to come away.
Then you get a good look and go, “eeew, that yucky part needs to be cut out.”
A banana is not very strong.
And it’s fairly small.
It fares a whole lot better when it is attached to the “bunch.”

I am profoundly grateful for the friends I have found in the NWHDS over the past several years.
You guys feed me, spiritually and intellectually.
You don’t treat a banana as though it were a sledge hammer.
You just let it be what it is: a banana.

You guys build me up, while still permitting me to be small.
That is the best thing of all.

In all my days here...

at Cascade Station, I have never had a truly boring day.
Until now.
Good Gravy!
Scout and I are the only people on the entire second floor today.
Steve and Donna are theonly 2 people on the first floor.
The phone is not ringing,
and it is silent as a tomb.
I love it.
I think I am going to indulge myself and fire up URU!

LOL!

What a Friday!

(Watch now...the minute I get it loaded, the phone will start ringing and people will start wanting me to do stuff. I 'll just betcha!)

New SOUND update

The SOUNDS link in the sidebar is sporting a new tune today.
Another selection from the PBS Series Globe Trekker, the opening theme entitled:

Windpower, by Ian Ritchie


Lessee what else is new?

I have been running another anti-spy program alongside my Ad-Aware and Spybot, and it seems to be picking up alot of stuff that they are missing. And it's nice because I have it set to alert me when ever it encounters adware, so I can see which sites are sending me what.

It's available for Download right now.
It's Microsoft Anti-Spy Beta and it seems to catch everything so far.
I'm loving it.

NW Hammered Dulcimer Society's Spring Rendé

It looks as though I will get to be a part of this years event after all.
For a while there, we weren't sure.

The Annual "Spring Fling/Rendé event",
put on by the NORTHWEST HAMMERED DULCIMER SOCIETY
has been happening every April/May for the last 7 years, (I think it's 7).
There will be great teachers and lots of jamming, as well as eatz and the raffle prizes.
(Seems I recall the year when Janet won 75 % of the prizes and then there was the year when Carl Thor won everything. I think we should dis-allow their participation this year, either that or double the costs of THEIR raffle tickets.) ;o)

Of the raffle prizes being donated this year, I think my favorite so far, is the Homer Simpson talking bottle opener.
It's loud, it's obnoxious, it bears the ever-popular DUFF Beer label!

The new venue for Spring Rendé is the Oral Hull park and conference center located in Sandy OR. It is owned and operated by the Federation For the Blind, and is a wonderful place complete with full-service kitchens and an 18 person hot-tub. (I shudder at the thought of filling it with 18-plus rowdy musicians.
It's ok, they are mainly folk musicians - how much trouble can they get into?
(Maybe some body should bring the "Mighty Wind" dvd.)

Smack Fest 2005

Ok, so...3 posts in a day, but this one couldn't wait.
When you get to this place, scroll down to "Smack Fest 2005.

New SOUND section

Sidebar will now carry a DL-able sound file from time to time, listed as "Sounds."
When ever I update it, I will delete the current file and replace with some new and bizarre sound file or toon.

This weeks selection in the SOUNDS sidebar is taken from the popular travel show on Public Broadcasting known as "Globe Trekker."
This selection is from their segment on Iceland and Greenland titled "Valiha."
They also offer the soundtrack for sale at the Glober Trekker Site.

Won't you come in?

On my way.
Making my own way to the furnace.
A furnace designed for me,
For such a time as this.
It is HE who says, "Go. Go in to the furnace."
It is HE who says, "Come. Come in to Me within the furnace."
Alpha and Omega.
At the beginning, and also at the end.
So...
I make my own way to the furnace.
He gives me the choice.

My friends line the sides of the road.
They stand silently, mostly.
Some smile and reach out.
Some try to point me in the opposite direction,
with love in their hearts.

Some friends step out in to the path,
as if to guide me back, away from the furnace,
to the place I have just come from.
I thank them,
knowing their heart is bent toward my good,
but I know The One who calls and sends,
So I must force them to one side.

With each step I feel the heat,
Even while it is yet some great distance away.

Obstacles would seek to bar my path to the furnace.
I must fix my will upon the Perfect Impossible
And keep going.

I see up ahead, the door of the furnace.
An unfathomable, terrifying blaze.
My skin grows hot and dry.
Beads of sweat grow and run down my neck and forehead,
into my neck and eyes, stinging me,
Blurring the path.

At the end of the path and off to one side of the flaming maw,
I see a friend who has cleared a path of escape for me,
into the cool forrest.
She has created a "safe haven" for me,
even at the threshold of the furnace.
She does not believe,
yet.

All these things I saw,
though my journey is only half completed.

I am making my own way.
I can do it because
I know The One Who sends,
And I know The One who calls.
Alpha and Omega.
At the beginning, and also at the end.
So...
I make my own way to the furnace.
He gives me the choice.

Tests and new things

I took a bold step and uploaded almost my entire portfolio including sketchbook stuff.
Then I went back in and looked at it, and deleted a bunch of stuff.
LOL.
I am such a ninny!
Fortunately I have good friends.

In another bold move I will force myself to frame and hang some more older pieces this weekend. If I am forced to look at them on a daily basis, it may help me to finish them.

I am finding more and more applications for some of my PS pieces. That is kinda gratifying.

Today may be a good day.
Wednesday night, I never did go to sleep. It caused me to be somewhat accident prone yesterday. I fell down the stairs, I fell UP the stairs (?!) and then I had a classic, "Where'd the chair go?" accident and hit the floor like a ton of bricks. This last incident depleted my dignity reserves significantly, but I think today will be a much better day.

:o)

Dullard that I am...

Or is that D'llard?
No matter.
I am sure I will be relying on the good citizens of D'ni to help me get started down the path into UU. A trip made much less difficult now that I have acquired my Authentication Key.

Yay!

Look out!

Snowing again

Funny, it was sunny and warm yesterday and today its back to snow, and its coming down thick and sticking.

It is to laff!

Madras House

I took this photo Monday on the way back from Portland. I may upload the textures I got here someday as well.

Freak Snow Storm

Ididn't get to post these last week, we had a streak of sunny and 70 degree weather, followed by this, this and this. by now it has all melted away and we are back to sunny and 70.

Yay for spring.

Stuph-

Not alot new going on...
-working like a fiend
-painting alot more
-shooting ALOT more than painting

Stu goes on retreat and then comes back to work with for new gigs, shooting a marketing piece for a local publishing house, one for an independent producer in LA, two for Camp Concepts, so this has beena good week for him. Scout got her surgery dates for next month...yay! The girl will finally be able to swim like a normal person this summer for the first time since she was in pre-school. Maybe I will take her up the the Reservation, to Kah-Neetah, this summer to swim.

ABOUT THE PIZZA ROLLS: (update to previous post)
I discovered that these freeze well. Also, when making these, one should increase the ingredients, using more sauce and more cheese and more what-ever-else, because when they are baked all rolled up the taste gets lost in the bread dough. So...there is that.

New, Exciting, Fun and Cheap!

No!
Not me!
I am an extremely married woman!

What I am talking about is a variation on that old pizza dough recipe I shared at Blue Max's site way long ago.

Now you too can create, your OWN freezable, delectable yummy Pizza rolls, at a fraction of the cost than it would take to buy them at a store AND....these are waaaaaaay better!

Here is the variation:
-Make the dough according to the directions and let rise for one hour.
-When you roll it out, instead of rolling it into a
round form, roll it out as rectangular as possible.
-Spread the sauce. (thin)
-Sprinkle the cheese.

**NOW!
Roll it up into a tube shape.
Cut the roll into slices as though you were making a cinamon roll.
(...uh-huh! You're tracking with me here, aren't you!?)

Now, arrange them on a baking sheet/pizza stone, and bake the "Pizza Rolls" at 400 degrees for about....uhm...I dunno... until the tops are kinda golden brown and the cheese is starting to bubble over the top in a nuclear fashion.

Here is the Beauty Part:
I *think* these are freezable at this stage, allowing you to take them out and microwave them when ever desired.

Isn't that great?
Huh?
Huh?

Coolbies?!

If you put the completed Pizza Roll in a sandwich-sized, zip-loc bag, you can then seal the bag "almost" all the way, and then suck all the air out of the remaining hole in the baggie, allowing you the simulated vacuum-packed freezable option.

For discovering this:
I Rok.
(For once in my life!)

and another thing...

...today is a day when we don't believe a word out of Blue Max as April Fools is his own special holiday.
Beware.
Test every word.
;o)

I have been fooled:
I was given a lovely chocolate Truffle.
It was light and fluffy and the chocolate was oh-so perfect...
It was made of cotton balls dipped in Chocolate!

They were just locky I didn't try to shove the whole thing in my moth at once.
(As I am wont to do on occasion.)

Bury Manilo

Today on the lysts, Zardoz made me laff regarding a comment he made about Barry Manilo. It reminded me of a good old friend named Patrick (aka Splat) who sang us a song back in the '80s
dedicated to Mr. Manilo.

The lyrics:

Bury Manilo,
I think you're crazy!
Bury Manilo
Can I have your autograph please?
I love the way you play-ay Maaaaaaaaandeeeeeee!
Bury Manilo!
Bury Manilo!
Bury Maniloooooooo...
Go Away!
(Manilo: "Thank you, you're a great audience, I really really love you......")

'nuff said.

Chicago, Random Stuph

Well, it looks like Stu and Blake are not going to go to Uganda this July now. So I can look for airfares for July, and if they are decent enough, then I get to go to Mysterium! Yay! Ideally I would like to find a roomie to sahre the hotel expenses with. Chicago is hugely busy that weekend what with mega-gift shows going on and all like that there. They have totally JACKED up the hotel rates because of it. How typical! Capitalist Swine! ;o)
Anyway, with any luck I will be able to "toss my pearls" to these hotel mongering swine.

Blake went on his first paying gig running shotgun mic and second cam alternately for a local publishing house and now has edited a really nice promo for some local camps to distribute for staff recruitment. He really did a nice job cutting the thing. If I can find a place to upload it I will. Stu recorded the music for the opening scene selection options, and he tweeked his voice and sang and played guitar really badly, on purpose.
It's pretty histerical!
Stu doesn't actually "play" a guitar, as far as I know.

Yes, I would say that is still an accurate statement.

he didn't let it stop him though.
;o)

My Weasely Black Guts...

While working on the illo's for the childrens book a terrible thot came to me:

"...if I approached the "Acme Publishing Company" with the manuscript, now what with all this flap about Shaivo and feeding tubes and heroic medical life saving measures and what not, they may see fit to cash in on the publicity and publish our book."

I can hardly believe such a callous thot came into my head.

Cynical as it sounds, that is how the publishing industry is, now matter how they might try to whitewash themselves.

That is why I will be self publishing again.

I am not Martha Stewart, Lauren Becall, Nancy Stafford or Russell Cronkite.
I have no big name, no easily pidgeonhole-able content to market.
I have not already targeted a market for my subject matter, so that I can present it to the acquisitions people in editorial.
It's a a sleeper.
But to those who need it, it has already made a difference, even with out the illo's.

Publishing has become more about quantity not quality.

That is why I think Ryan has been an encouragement and he doesn't even know it.

Self publishing may really be the best solution, allowing one to maintain ones integrity and to make available, something worth reading.

It's the Stuff the Money Gets

Funny.
I hadn't thought of that phrase (in a truly applicable sense) since we left the Mission.
But I am lately reminded of it.
Ever since Stu and I decided that, no matter what our finances looked like, it was best for me to quit my FT job to be home again with the kids, I have been second guessing that decision and wouldn't ya know it? God is big enough and interested enough to remind me on a personal level of what is important.

The Phrase:
"It's not the money, it's the stuff the money gets..."

2nd Half of The Phrase:
"...and our Father in Heaven owns "the cattle on 1000 hills", therefore, He is well able to supply my needs." (Read: needs -vs- wants)

It was illustrated in daily living for the whole 9 years we served with Arctic Missions, later known as InterAct Missions.
Such daily examples of provision almost became

-dare I say it?-

"ho-hum" and common place.

It was as simple and second nature as saying,
"uhm, God? There is this bill coming down the pike here, how would you like to solve it?"
And He always did.
It became a no-brainer.
Once we left the Mission and got "a real job" that simple faith was not excersized in the same way as frequently.

Back to today:
So here we are, looking down the narrows to my final paycheck on June 1.
Every day I second guess my/our decision to quit FT, saying,
"Uhm God? This looks really stupid on paper. Am I sure this is what you want me to do?"

He is so kind. He talks in so many ways.

The dishwasher broke and flooded again. (Yes. That is again.)
-He gave us a new, slightly used, dishwasher for free, which was better than the one we had to begin with.

I had an outstanding bill to a local vendor, (which I hate to miss payments to locals)
-God managed to provide for its payment by using a tenant in our building, who gave me a gift certificate to this vendors establishment. It was for the amount owed. The giver could not have known the amt.

School tuition in full, was not going to be payed this month.
-Somebody donated anonymously to our tuition fund at the end of last month. I just found out about it yesterday when I went to tell the school. We did not know last month, that this month would end up as short as it did.

We were borrowing the current editing equipment, which is due back in May.
-Yesterday, He provided us with a free replacement of the current editing suite, and upgraded.

For many this would be a wonderful set of amazing coincidences, and I would not begrudge them their happy attitude. For me, in light of my daily searching, and asking and second guessing, the timing of all these lovely gifts says alot more to me. It communicates to me, that God is answering my inner questions to Him, and it is as though He is quoting the "Michelle Paraphrase," saying, "See Michelle? It's not the Money you need, it's the stuff the money gets, and I own evrything, therefore I am MORE than able to provide for your daily needs and I am even willing to provide for some of your wants, just because I like to bless my kids. I am your 'Dad' after all."

Even so, Sunday, we had a guest speaker at the Church, while our own pastor is at our Sister Church in Uganda. This new guy was talking about being "counter culture."
He talked about living your life,
not according to what tradition
or according to what modern culture dictates,
but according to how God wants us to live as He lays it out in the Bible.

It certainly applied to me, since nothing about this decision looks good on paper, or even normal.
Even so, I believe it is what God would have me do right now.

Disclaimer: The Phrase
Is not a Bible verse.
It is my own observation after 9 years of living it.

Ash Tracker Update

REMARKS:
NO ASH WAS DETECTED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY THROUGH 2130Z. THERE HAVE BEEN NO FURTHER REPORTS OF ASH IN THE LAST 6 HOURS. ...

NEXT ADVISORY: NO FURTHER ADVISORIES

Ash Tracker and Geology Queen For A Day

Update for Wednesday A.M.,
March 9, 2005

REMARKS:
Track map
Leading Edge of ash has entered Western Montana. Ash is becoming fainter or more diffuse in satellite imagery. The ash is currently moving eastward, but is expected to turn more south in the next several hours.
Next advisory will be issued 2005 March 09 at 1615

Matinee St. Helens:
Slide Show view of last nights Eruption?
Topo Map of the St. Helen's area?
Seismo-Cam?
Johnston Ridge Live Web Cam?

Ain't geology wacky? I love it!
It's one of the great things about The Pacific Northwest.
We have volcanic activity, we have the Juan DeFuca plate off the coast, we have Hikes in the gorge showing spetacular examples of the effects of erosion on basalt. There is Fort Rock in the middle what was once a gigantic lake that covered much of the southern half of the state of Oregon.

AND NOW FOR THE MEMOIRS OF HER HIGHNESS:

Recent History of Helen's Activity:
1979 — The mountain is a recreational haven. Half a million people a year visit the Spirit Lake area below the cone-shaped, 9,677-foot summit.
March 1980 — The volcano begins to show signs of unrest. Earthquakes and steam eruptions continue for several weeks.
8:32 a.m., May 18, 1980 — A 5.1-magnitude earthquake about a mile below the summit triggers a massive eruption and landslide, flattening 230 square miles of forest northwest of the summit and resulting in the deaths of 57 people. A plume of ash extends 15 miles into the sky and coats towns 250 miles away.
Summer 1980-October 1986 — Repeated minor eruptions build a 925-foot-tall dome of hardened lava inside the crater left by the eruption.
1982 — Congress and President Reagan create the 110,000-acre National Volcanic Monument for research, recreation and education. Inside the monument, the environment is left to respond naturally to the disturbance.
1990-present — Steady progression in the variety and number of plants and animals returning to the blast zone.
1998 — First major seismic activity since 1986, with earthquakes located as deep as 6 miles forcing magma to within about a mile of the dome, scientists believe.
2001 — Another flurry of small earthquakes, but once again, no magma surfaces.
Sept. 23, 2004 — The first of thousands of tiny, shallow earthquakes are recorded at St. Helens.
Sept. 26, 2004 — The U.S. Geological Survey declares a notice of volcanic unrest, closing the crater and upper flanks of the volcano to hikers and climbers.
Sept. 29, 2004 — Earthquakes increase to about four per minute, ranging in magnitude from 2.0-2.8. The USGS raises its warning system to the third of four levels and warns that a blast could send rocks and ash 3 miles from the summit.
Oct. 1, 2004 — Mountain briefly belches out a plume of smoke and ash. Quakes subside.
Oct. 11, 2004 — Molten rock reaches the surface, marking resumption of dome-building activity that had stopped in 1986.
March 8, 2005 — A large plume of steam is emitted from the crater, accompanied by an earthquake of about 2.0 magnitude at 5:25 p.m.


St Helens Expanded History
MOUNT ST. HELENS, Wash. -- There has been a volcano on this site for 40,000 years — the youngest and most active peak in a 1,000-mile Cascade Range chain that extends from Mount Garibaldi in Canada to Mount Lassen in Northern California.
Like the others, Mount St. Helens erupted, blasted itself apart and reformed several times over tens of thousands of years.
The perfect cone that blew apart in May 1980 began to form during the 500-year Pine Creek eruptive period that began in 1,000 B.C.
So the current mountain is about 2,500 years old — the blink of an eye in geological time, but a period that roughly covers the history of western civilization.
The pyramids in Egypt were already 2,000 years old when the current peak began to form. Greece and Rome rose and fell as it grew.
All the world's major religions developed as the cone rose above the forested mountains — Buddhism in 500 B.C., Christianity as the millennial clock turned from B.C. to A.D., Islam 600 years later.
The nations of Europe formed, dissolved and redesigned themselves as the centuries rolled.
To the west, the Aztecs were building pyramids in 1200, the Mayans about 500 years later. European explorers ventured to the New World in the late 1400s, followed by colonists and settlers.
The Klickitat and Cowlitz tribes, who had already inhabited the area for centuries, called the peak "mountain of fire" in their languages.
In 1792, British explorer George Vancouver named the mountain for a countryman, diplomat Baron St. Helens.
In 1836, Dr. Meredith Gairdner of Fort Vancouver logged the first written eyewitness report of an eruption.
In 1980, it erupted, reducing its height by 1,300 feet. Debris was spread as much as 17 miles northwest of the crater. The blast destroyed more than 200 square miles of forest, covered the river valley to the west with an average 150 feet of debris and killed 57 people, about 7,000 big-game animals and countless smaller creatures.

Vanity, all is vanity.

Dang, this hair cutting thing really bites!

Blake has decided that he is not calling Bill Clinton "Bill" anymore, but has instead renamed him
as "Billyard."

I like it.

Heard a good review about a film out recently called "King Arthur."
I heard it was good.
Has anybody seen it, who could offer up an opinion?

Mt St Helens Farts

So I posted the first blurb about it at Metallicity.
Since then things have settled down a bit here. We Oregonians get excited about our neighboring state's volcano. As far as residents living within 500 miles of the mountain are concerned, Mt St Helens belongs to everybody in the Pacific Northwest. May of us remember when she blew in 1980, and the bizarre dusty, annoying rain of ash that fell the next day(s).
So if I appear to be wound up, well...I AM!
Hey, I love geology!
So here is the latest according to Portland's KGW News 8 and KATU .

Corrections to the Metallicity update that I previously posted.
Apparently there was a 2.0 earhtquake. (2.0? Big deal? I think I know people who belch louder than that.) and the Weather Service has issued a "Falling Ash Alert."
I have no fear of falling on my ash, that's for sure.
I live about 6 hours south of the mountain.
(ahem - cough!)
;o)

4 inches = 1 Hand

Gah!
Rememebr the poly-urethane varnish blog entry from two days previous?
Well, I had an "accident" with the compound in question, which unfortunately resulted in the cutting off of my hair by about 4 inches (gived or take a cm).

Don't ask.

If this is not the Matrix...

...then why are my battles against machines?

Could some one please pass me the axe? I need to fix the Fax/Copier/Printer, and the A drive in my antiquated computer.

The problem with working in an office, is that it is full of office machines.
Ok, and people.
If you un-install those elements from your office, things would run much more smoothly, imho anyway.

Where did all my money go?
I thought it was here a minute ago, but the walls in the bank some how magically turned to rubber and everything bounced in one window and into a black hole. I don't think any of it is coming back, either.
Dang.
I think I know where it went.
One item ran afoul of the deposit at Man-Birthday Time, and it all "went-to-hand-in-a-heck-basket" soon after.
Crap!
Now I know what this feels like.
The word "bounce" suddenly has a new and unpleasant meaning in my vocabulary.
I don't like it.

Can this month be over now, God?

Amen!

Poly-Urethane Varnish!

It's what's new and cool in my life!
I accidentally stymbled upon a can of it on the sale rack at Luttons Hardware.
Normally $25 a gallon, this one was on the "Mis-tints" table. Don't ask me how a "clear" varnish could get into the mis-tints sale, but hey-I'm not complaining. So, I got some of the almost finished art, down off of the studio walls and took it out side in the sun. I slopped the stuff all over the surfaces and spread it with a rubber gloved-hand, nice and thick.
I think it is going to really make the colours 'pop' like they didn't before. It inspired me to do more things that I had only contemplated in the past.
Poly-Urethane Varnish now makes it all possible.
Hail! Hail! Poly-Urethane Varnish!

Wee-ha and woop-de-do!

Poisoned Grades

Ok, so...
We are (dad & I) having a chit chat wiht Freshman about grade-ishness.
When asked why he did so well the first trimester and crashed in the second, what was the boys explanation?
"I ate less Tuna in the first trimester."

SmartAleck.
Very funny.

But you can't use current news events against your mother.

Ack!

I am really frustrated.
Here is a glimpse into the day of me:

-Two incomes that equal one.
-One Large Surgery for one middle child, looming in 8 weeks.

-June 1st, my last day of FT work, so that I may be a mom again:
-looks bad on paper.
-is bad on paper.
-God is not always about building visible stability, but inner character.
-My kids need their mom back.

Why?

-A student getting F's
-A/B student getting D's
-Freshman year is freaky.
It is a weird place, with weird people
who make you feel weird.
It is easy to blow off crappy grades, saying "I don't care"
and on the inside, you really DO care about those
crappy grades and saying, "I don't care!" is a way of
hiding from other people, the fear of everything new going on around you at highschool.

Its easy to punish and apply pressure, but punishment alone and apart from
realistic reaping/sowing logic, is fruitless and more likely damaging.
Punishment (like tradition) for it's own sake is stupid, pointless and damaging to some one who is older. Small children and animals respond to simple chastisement and reward tactics because they are still small and developing. Black and white, "you do this, you get this reward" options versus, "you commit this crime and you earn this consequence" are extremely useful and proper in young children, but you can't treat big kids in the same manner. Obviously.
When Freshman was little (1-6 years) he would have days when it seemed like he lived in his bedroom for all the time-outs he earned! I remember one day,when he was about 2, I had an epiphany. In a calm moment, I wrote down all of the offenses that he was known to commit. I listed everyone I could remember. Then, I calmly and rationally assessed an appropriate "consequence" for each offense. I taped the list to the front of the fridge, (up high so he couldn't easily tear it off and pronounce it "lost.") I picked him up and carried him over tot he list and I showed it to him. We read all the words on one side. They were things he liked to do that got him into trouble. I explained that these were the "bad ideas" and rules, and when he wanted to break one, we would have to come and find out what he would earn from that choice. There were two offenses that earned a spanking. I told him, (often through his young life) "don't make me do that one please. I hate to do that one." By saying this, I effectively communicated the responsibility of earning this and other consequences, was on his own shoulders. After all, I wasn't holding a gun to his head, making him stick his tongue out at his daddy. That was HIS choice, and he should understand the full ramifications of what he was choosing. He did learn at a young age that his poor choices were his alone.

But....
I digress!
Anyway, so getting BACK to what I was going on about...

So, rather than punish Freaked-Out-Fearful Freshman and Low-Grade-Achieving-Smart-Child, I prefer to look at it as;

-how do they spend their time when they get home? How can I help them?
(By being at home - hence choice to quit FT job.)

-how can I help Freshman to not goof off during class time.
(short of sitting in the classroom which not only demeans him, it embarasses me too, and I pretty much refuse to do it unless need is great.)

-what things/activities are getting in the way of him being focused on his schol work during the week, and how can I help him train himself to be more balanced in how he spends his time?

And this is how to help some of it:
-the TV/GameCube will have to be removed from his room.
-The TV in the family room will have to stay off until grown ups are home.
-the editing suite is off limits during the week, camera is restricted to weekends as well, with no shoots scheduled during the week.
-no computer access until grown ups are home.

Will he hate me because he views this help as punishment even though it is not? Probably

Will I permit his hating me, to stop me from doing what is right for him? No. I love him too much. He is a good person, he wants to do well. He just has too many things to distract him right now, and school is so unpleasant when you aren't sure of your place.

Do I get to have ulcers and headaches for my helping? Maybe to the first, yes to the latter.

Does he think I will want to hold this over his head for the rest of his life? Probably.

Do I.

No.

Pam had a talk with God

Pam is yet another co-worker of mine and probably the counter balance to Donna and I.
Pam is the epitome of balance, logic and love. Donna and I are flagrant word abusers and always looking for the opportunity to be strange or irreverant - not that we don't revere God, mind you - we just like to make fun of life's little jokes at the expense of mankind (and especially MANkind).
;o)

Anyway, so Pam was having a talk with God, as she is wont to do frequently, and she brought back this lovely quotable quote that I think is very much in keeping with alot of things God Himself tends to say via The Bible.

Pam's memorable quote was this:
(and aren't you glad I am finally getting to it?)

"Don't be deceived by those who speak well, but look deeper to the character of the one speaking."

About That New Virus Alert...

...it's legit!
I got it straight from some friends at HP,
here is the most recent update:

There is a new virus.
The code name is WORK.
If you receive WORK from your colleagues, your boss, via e-mail, or from anyone else, do not touch it under any circumstances.
This virus wipes out your private life completely.
If you should happen to come in contact with this virus, take two friends and go straight to the nearest bar.
Order drinks immediately and after three rounds, you will find that WORK has been completely deleted from your system.
Forward this virus warning immediately to at least five friends.
Should you realize you do not have five friends, this means you are already infected by this virus and WORK already controls your life.
If this is the case, go to the bar and stay until you make at least five friends.
Then retry.
I think I have five friends, but am not entirely positive so I'm headed for the bar anyway.....it never hurts to be safe.

Read Aloud with Ahntee M

It has been a long, long time since I had the privilege of doing 'Read Aloud' to the first and second grade classes.
Dang I miss that!
So, I think that, in order to fill that hungry space in my heart, I might just begin the aud-blog snippets by doing read aloud. I am tempted to start with my favorite author and read from his childrens works.

Stephen R. Lawhead.

Funny, the only other person I ever met who
A) knew who he was and
B) also liked his works was my friend Bill.

I wonder if Bill knows about the little kid books that Stephen did way back when?
I should email him.
I think I'll just go do that right now.

Why I didn't see it before?

I dunno why the obvious eludes me.
It's probably why Myst themes puzzle game solutions elude me for so long.
After thrashing about, trying to figure out how to process a set of illo's for a kids book it finally hit me at 2 in the morning, Sunday. It was so obvious I coulda smacked myself in the head!
DUH!
So that will be a good summer time project.

O Man I wish I hadn't seen that...

... and yet it gave me further impetus to carry on in the way I am going.
I am speaking of the works of Robert and Sonya Delauney.
I was looking for examples of Sonya's work to use to teach a 4th grade art class.
I found a few examples of her work, but then I found the works of her husband and his images are burned into my brain.
They are wonderful!
And yet, because their perfect symmetry is before my waking eyes, I am sorely tempted to process my own works in that vein as a comparison to his. I want to avoid that temptation so, I put away the images I had printed for the class. I will not set my eyes on them again until I teach that class. In the mean time I will plan (*plan* being the operative word here) to paint my poor heart out in all of the geometrical variations that were already foisting themselves onto my brush prior to this discovery of Mr. Delauney, in an effort to solidify my own idea of style before consuming more of his.

Man.
I hope that made sense?
Maybe it is a totally neurotic sentiment and cluster of ideas and intents?
I just know that it is my gut reaction, to be thrilled and freaked a little, simutaneously.

There it is.
Art chat.
For your Friday evening, February 25, 2005.

When visiting the Elf Name Generator
Mihshehl came out as:

Maranwë Carnesîr

When Visiting the Hobbit Name Generator
Mihshehl came out as:

Melilot Loamsdown of Deephallow

Sound check 1

Test this out if you dare/can.

AHA! It works.
Well that was a lovely tune from our dear friend Brak.
Now that it works, be assured, more devilry will be afoot soon enuff.

My favorite song of Brak's being "don't Touch me!"

Wow, this could lead also to my own weekly aud blog.

hmmmmmm....havta watch the bandwidth.

When it rains it pours..

...too much to do, too little time...

Why is it that when you unblock in one area creatively speaking, you seem to have a flood of ideas in many of the other areas as well? Far too many to actually accomplish in the span of a normal day/week/month/year?

Suddenly the synapses are firing.
Suddenly the ducks are flying home to roost, and so are the geese and the seagulls too, and they don't all have a perch to sit on yet.

ack!

But it's good - don't get me wrong.
I am happy that inspiration dicided to pay me a visit.
Ideas that are stupid, cheesy and impossible flock right in with the ones that
may have potential. Sometimes, when one hasn't seen such a bird in a long while, it's difficult to tell the difference between a gull and a goose.

But that doesn't mean the situation has gone...'fowl'...(sorry) ;o)
On the contrary.

Anti-Valenitne sentiments

Salar sent me these over the weekend.
She says they're evil.
Mwahh-hahahah!
I love them!


I thought that I could love no other
Until, that is, I met your brother.

Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet and so are you.But the roses are wilting, the violets are dead, the sugar bowl's empty and so is your head.

Of loving beauty you float with grace
If only you could hide your face.

Kind, intelligent, loving and hot
This describes everything you are not.

I want to feel your sweet embrace
But don't take that paper bag off of your face.

I love your smile, your face, and your eyes
Dang, I'm good at telling lies!

My darling, my lover, my beautiful wife:
Marrying you screwed up my life.

I see your face when I am dreaming.
That's why I always wake up screaming.

My love, you take my breath away.
What have you stepped in to smell this way?

My feelings for you no words can tell
Except for maybe "go to hell."

What inspired this amorous rhyme?
Two parts vodka, one part lime.

Lessee....

The Bane of My Day?

Yes, I came back from a lunch break and the photocopy/fax/printer is stuck at Fax Rec've mode, and gives me error lights and beeping saying load paper - which it is already BLOODY FULL OF!!!!! At this point in the day, do I care? have a I recklessly become an employee with a bad attitude on this Friday?
Apparently so.
I am sorry.
But this is one receptionist who can't tell the difference between a RJ 21x and a set of 66 blocks.
Nor can I tell the difference between who's responsibility it is to complete a cross connect.

But they all get mad at me when I don't grok the tech talk nor do I know what peice of equipment when they tell me over the phone what I am supposed to do to configure the building for telephone and internet services. With three different providers, saying they have 12 different responsibilities, and never does the one at hand seem to be there's, I don;t know how I am supposed to know everybodies flippin' job in the telephone programming world.

And ya know what?
I am not supposed to know either.
By day, I am not a "telephone guy."
I am a secretary.

I can't carry it for you.

It was good.

When ever Frodo found he could not go on, Sam was usually right there, at the right time.

That was a good thing.

Blue Mass: Child atrocities and a Sermon

I share the link, which I found over at Blue Max's MetaBlog

It is a terrible terrible atrocitie committed on a little boy by his father and father's friends.

If you are a parent, I would suggest you NOT go read the article itself. Blue Max's reaction is worth reading as we all can identify with it. The details of the article which he discreetly linked to, are just far too painful but it did get me thinking, and rather than post this rant in the comment section at Blue's Blog, I decided to slap up it here.



While I cannot quote chapter and verse, the only consolation I can find after reading something like this is that, while God is loving and gracious He also says, "I will in no way, leave the guilty unpunished." This horrid man may get human justice, but imho, it will never be sufficient to the crime. This is one that only God can truly exact proper retribution for. Still the real queston is not whether this beast-of-a-man gets what he deserves or not, but how will this little boy be enabled to find a way to grow into a normal life someday?

Vile things happen in the world.

Rain falls upon the evil as well as the good.

I can't currently grasp all the 'why's and why not's' as to God's choices to step in and when not to, but I do know this:

Stuff like this, which goes on every minute all over the globe, breaks His heart and enrages Him. Vengeance is His and He says He will repay in full.

Conversely, I hope I do not get what I deserve.

I am like the thief on the cross beside the Almighty.

I deserve my punishment. Never the less, He chose to take it for me.

If I ever harbored an angry thought, surely I am guilty of murder.

As guilty as the horrible man and his friends.

Do I deserve Death and Hell?

Yes.

Do I have better?

Yes.

It is only because He Himself paid the penalty required, so that I wouldn't have to.

He is my Scape Goat.

And has cleared the pile of debris out of the way so that God can now find me and change me.

Hard to believe, but this evil, terrible man, IF he truly, truly at the core of his heart, repented of the terrible terrible atriocities he committed on his son, and cried out to the almighty God of heaven and earth who is perfect and good at all times, if this man called out for forgiveness, He could receive it.

It is a hard truth.

But that is the whole point of the Cross.

And there is No One who is not guilty of something damning.

If we say we have no sin, then we are calling God a liar.



Anybody rememebr Wesley Alan Dodd?

His crimes were similar to this man's - well, actually, they were worse.

Wesley Alan Dodd was like a Ted Bundy, but in Oregon and Washington in the early 90's.

I remember when he was captured.

I remember having a small boy of my own. I remember the news reports and how this man's visage haunted my motherly nightmares.

As his trial came to a close, I remember, I was standing in my kitchen and the thought siddenly struck me. What needs to happen here, is this: Wesley Alan Dodd, needs God. He needs to realise the full impact of his vileness. He needs to be completely and utterly broken over it. He needs to cry out tot he God of the universe for forgiveness, from a heart of despair over what he has done. He needs to receive that forgiveness and then he needs to be put to death.

I remember as sure as I am typing this. I was standing in my kitchen. I went and sat on the couch. I prayed all of the above. A few months later, that is exactly what happened.

It boggled my mind, that God was so absotively and utterly enormous that He could forgive even the most heinous things that broke His great heart. Will I see Wesley Alan Dodd someday when I stand before the almighty creator of the universe? It is hard for me to accept, but I believe yes I will. Because God is way, way bigger than my finite understanding and my puny ability to grasp His forgiveness.

So much for Sunday.

Can you tell I didn't make it to church today?

Guess I delivered my own sermon, huh?

Thanks Blue Max, for the inspiration that God could use to remind me of who HE is.

Mexico Update Saturday PM

As of Saturday night, 7:30 pm Pacific time, Stu and Scout have safely re-crossed over the border into the US.

Her ear is still leaking fluids apparently but still (as always) she seems to be experiencing no pain. I spoke to her briefly on the phone, and she was in VERY good spirits. She commented on how she had made some new friends in Mexico - which was a specific prayer of my own.

They expect to arrive back at home late late late, Monday Evening.

I am not sure where they will be staying tomorrow night. I hope they know. ;O)

I will keep you all updated.



Mich-

Blast From the Past:

Geez, check this out.

I was going through a bunch of old photo's and found this one.

All the kids were so little, (and some not even born yet!)

;o)



Blake decided to cut his hair today.

He cut his own hair, he cut it himself.

Need I say more.

We wanted me to video tape it for him.

Midway through, I asked him if he really wanted to continue doing this?

He said, "well, there really isn't a Ctrl+Z option here, is there?"

Uh, no.

It could be worse.

But I don't know how.

;o)

I won a Major Award

No.

It is NOT a lamp shaped like a leg!

As James Lileks says,"There is no such thing as bad publicity."



I should let Bryan define the Chastening Head:

(Here I have cut and pasted a snippet, for the whole story you should check out his post on this subject. )

Quoting Bryan:

"Lileks also likes to throw in the perennial Chastening Perry Mason head- a graphic indication of Lilek's Glare of Disapproval toward whatever recipient he deems fit. I think it is a good literary device in the Blogosphere, one I wish to adopt if Mr. Lileks doesn't mind too much. I have quite a use for a Chastening agent on occasion. However, I do not believe that using the aforementioned Mr. Perry would be appropriate as he is a de facto employee of The Bleat. I have, then, assembled a cast of replacement Chastening Agents to use. I desire that you voice your opinions as to which should be adopt by the Metablogger as our In-house Chastening Agent. Put your opinion in the Comments section. I'm also looking for suitable write-in candidates; feel free to nominate your own. Mind you, I'll need a suitable picture of the candidate showing the appropriate, errmmm... guise. "



Bryan also has assembled at the above link, a gallery of images for his readers to vote on. Such notables as Perry Mason, and Saffron. Alfalfa, and Scotty of the Starship Enterprise (My personal favorite).

But as of today I get to carry out the chastening agent duties for the time being.

(Or up until I incurr the wrath of the bloghost, (which may take no time at all) resulting in the deployment of my own chastening glare upon myself?)

Those waiting for Mexico update...

I haven't rec'd an update yet for today, so you may want to bypass today's random entries and check back sometime over the weekend.

I imagine this will be a pretty full weekend for the crew, so Stu may not have time to email as frequently. Have a great day.



Mich-

What I Did on Wednesday...

Being that its the start of the new year, I started working on the Amarylis.

I am thinking a chrome frame?

I haven't decided yet if I want to matte the thing. It might end up as too busy.

And if I did, then the colour of the matte might detract from this one. I thought about pulling a green from the stem or one of the reds out, to use for a matte, but I can't envision it working.

Maybe this is another one I have to sit on for a while.

I could pull out the silver gray from the background and use that for a matte colour. I could do a black matte and pick up that silver colour by adding that inner matte.

I feel like matting this would draw the eye to the Matte and not the the flower.

Maybe I am wrong.

Feel free to educate me.



:o)

And After the Day Job Rant...

Look what my boss brings to me!

A yes, the rarely perfected glory of the Sisters Bakery!

And such a delectable treat is not complete without a "Light - Crisp - Refreshing" Diet Pepsi!

Art Class

Today I teach the combined 4th and 5th graders.

It has been a few years since I was a permanent installment at the school, and the last class I taught was the 5th graders who, at that time were in 1st grade. I will run the art-cards, and they will be a huge help since they were exposed to them so long ago, and then we will pursue a new artist: Horace Pippin. Well, a new artist for me anyway. I have managed to clump my lunch and breaks all together so this will give me a full hour and a half; to get to the school, teach the one hour lesson, and then get back to work.

I am so glad to have a full hour for art.

It is dead impossible to teach any thing of any value in 40 minutes - which is what I had previously. I used to get 1 1/2 hours with each grade, each week. It's way more fun to teach when you have that kind of a block of time.

How I miss it.



Again, it's a matter of wishing I could quit my day job, so that I could volunteer teach all the grades again at the school.

Stupid, bloody day job!

It's only function is to supply necessary funds for me to squander on frivolous things like mortgage and utilities and food, etc.

Wretched awful little day job!

Getting in the way of nice things like art teaching and playing music/busking and painting and writing.

Please MR. Boss Sir,

*grovels*,

I need to keep my day job Mr Sir.

May I please lick your boots today Mr. Sir?

Mexico Mission Update #3

Good morning,

Things are going well here. We have the morning off and so Scout, Jim, Eric and I came up to the internet cafe. Not much new to report except I was ill last night and ended up getting out of bed 4 times. I feel better today but a few other people, mainly from Canada got struck as well. They are from Smithers, B.C. and are one of those musical families. They brought a couple of fiddles which the boys play, the girl plays Irish Whistle and piano the dad plays guitar.

They were with NCEM at one time and went through MDP with Dale and Carol Smith!

Small world!

We knew you would have gone crazy being down here and listening to them and not have your Hammered Dulcimer. They´ve been doing jigs and reels in the courtyard during break, which is seemingly not that outta place even for Mexico.

Everything seems outta place!

Scout has made good frineds with her roomates who are two women from Bend, 42 and 43 years old. They have been good roomates for Scout.



Well gotta go. We have adult outreach tonight but I´ll try to check my email again.

Mexico Mission Update #2

We (Scout and Stu) had a good day to day.

Last night we went to an adult-kid outreach in a work camp.

A real eye opener for Scout.

Today we went on a child evangelism trip to the other end of town.

Lots of poor kids.

Kinda like VBS on wheels.

They sang songs, got a story, did a craft (all outside)

and Scout helped serve the meal.

(A cup of milk with a dollop of peanut butter in it.)

She really wishes she could speak spanish so she could communicate with these kids.

She is really getting a heart for them which is what I had prayed would happen.



Prayer for Health:

I noticed goo in her right ear so I assume her ear drum burst again.

She said, as always, she didn't feel it. I had her clean up her ear.

She was at the end of her antibiotics and had missed a day.

She still has some pills (3 left over).

She is in good spirits though and we are working hard doing cleaning, hanging up sheets, whatever needs to be done and she sees how important all this stuff is to running a ministry.



Tonight we go to a chicken dinner that the students from the little Bible college they have here are doing. They do it as a fund raising trip for their missions trip to Oaxaca.



That is all for right now.

Bye

What a great day!

Wednesday.

What a terrific day!

I took a"mental health" day.

I refused to answer the phone.

The kids were in school.

I painted for the first half of the day, and messed with my Sonic Foundry program and playing music the second half of the day.

I made progress on the whistle and mando' parts for Morning Jig.



I remember a long time ago, I was talking to a friend and telling him how I was gonna quit my day job to paint and play music - which I did. He was very encouraging, even when I had to take up the day job again, when Stu got laid off. I thought of him yesterday and, and said to myself,

"Dang Steve! Remember when we talked about the "what if's" of being able to spend your days, working on the projects that were closest to your heart, and managing to eek out a living from it at the same time?"



Call me an idealist and a dreamer, but I was reminded of the value of striving toward the things that other people might consider impossible. To achieve a goal, you have to look past it, and sink your energy into going beyond it.



Well, that right there gives me a whole world of activities and direction to ponder.

Missions Trip Update

Report From Scout's Baja Missions Trip:



The work detail went well yesterday. We sorted food and bagged it for the outreach ministry which hands out food and clothes to those families in need that come to the orphanage. (A lot of people that work at work camps and make 3 dollars a day. )

We´ll be going to some of those camps tonight and tomorrow. Dirt-mud floor houses no running water and no sanitation. Scout has been really good about using the Purell ´cuz there is a lot of germs running around.



We also pulled weeds and then house sat last night for house parents at the orphanage to give them a once a week break. They much appreciate it.

Pizza Dough : 101

Get it while it's hot at Metallicity.

Much thanks to Blue Max for volunteering his own personal space to host this Power Point version of Pizza Dough:101



And while you are there, check out the man's other blog entries. Blue is such a prolific daily blogger that the pizza entry will soon be far far down on the list of interesting things to peruse at the MetaBlogger.

In fact, you should go soon.

You should go now.



This pizza dough recipe is so much easier than it sounds.

Truly, any imbecile, with the barest of necessities can succeed at this recipe.

(I mean hey! Look who created it?!)

;O)

Once you master the basic concept, it's a matter of testing all the variations possible and that is where YOU make your culinary mark on the pizza map. If you come across a variation that works, please contact me and I will add it in, some how, in the future, when I start adding all the variations, so that all may pay homage to you and your delectable discovery.



Stay tuned for the exiting new video, "Pizza Face," which further simplifies the process, and hopefully will inspire you to new and greater pizza-gourmet heights.

Of Panic and Peace

Well, today is my daughter's last day in the US for many days.

It will be the first time she has left the country with out me.

She is travelling by car, in the company of her da, his friend and friend's son.

She leaves to volunteer in spring-cleaning and childcare at an orphanage in Mexico. It is a wonderfully safe place. My fear is more for her on the trip down and back, travelling only with males - I mean, who is going to scope out the womens rest rooms for her at the rest areas along the highway?? What about once they cross the border?



She is so excited.

More excited than I have seen her in a very long time.

This was her idea to go.

She has expressed desires to be a missionary some day in India.

While secretly thinking "That's nice," it was in a long list of "things I want to be when I grow up." Since she rarely gets this outwardly excited about things (being an internal sort of personality), when she said in all sincerity, that she REALLY wanted to go on this trip, I vowed immediately to make sure it came to pass.

She and her dad were discussing the trip a few weeks ago, saying that they would be leaving on Thursday early and coming back on Tuesday, late.

I thought, "hmmm, that's a quick trip. Maybe it is just a weekend work party?"

So I was prepared for her to be gone a week.

I found out last night that they will not be returning until the 8th of Feb.

So now I am un-prepared.

Today is my last day with her for a very long time.

I was unprepared to be this weirded out.



I think it is weirding her out too:



Normally she is awake and ready for school by 6am.

She likes the quiet privacy of the house in the morning, to get her thoughts together, without all the noise and bother of siblings and people.

Well this morning, she was up as usual and ready, but she hung out with the whole family for the whole morning instead of reading and what not.

I think the scope of the whole trip kinda settled over her this morning.



So the secret gifts I got for her, which would have allowed for one each day, she will now have to open one every other day.

I wrote notes on postcards, and little treats, and small trinkety presents wrapped up in six packages. She loves Happy Bunny, so I got her some little Happy Bunny thingies among the prizes. I will hide them in her backpack and suitcase tonight after she goes to bed- hey! I should hide one of the presents down in the toe of her sleeping bag!

Heheh!

That should be fun.



Anyway, I hate when my kids are beyond my help. It is unnerving to think of things that can happen, and know that I am too far away.



That is when I remember - and must exert energy to remind myself:



God loves her more than I ever could.

She is more precious to Him than to me - as difficult as that is for me to imagine.

He is able to take waaaaay better care of her than I ever could anyway.

So I have to let go, and trust Him to flatten the bumps in the road before she encounters them.



This is going to be a faith-growing time for Scout.

This is going to be a faith-growing time for me.



I straddle a fence; panic on one side and peace on the other.



Ugh!

Reclaiming the Domain

Ever since I came back from Paris, and began to play at painting, I have always had the "Vanishing Studio."

There is never any place in the house for me to have a room of my own, where somebody is not going to get in and mess with stuff. Maybe I am being an idiot, but sometimes, I just wish that I had my own seperate space for my own stuff where I would not have to worry about people coming in and taking it. For once I would like to put a pair of scissors

or a sharpie in one place and have it be there the next time I went to look for it.

So, because of familial needs, my "studio/workspace" has had many miraculous appearances throught out the house.

It was in my bedroom (at the house in the woods)for one winter in 1998.

After which time I moved it to the pantry in the kitchen of the house in the woods.

After that I had no workspace again until the summer 2001 when I set up a locking cubicle in the garage. During the winter there was no studio, so as to make way for the car in the garage, but the same cubicle miraculously resurrected itself in the same location the next summer in 2002. It eventually moved into the laundry room, on top of the washer and dryer for the winter of 2002, (this location was highly un-inspiring and I got practically nothing done.)

and then disappeared completely until Spring 2004, when I absconded with the living room.

I succeeded in this by mentally drawing a distinction in the minds of the family.



"This room is clean," I said.

"This room has my stuff where I work," I said.

"You people have all the other rooms of the house, but this space is sacred and holy," I said.

And then I gave them the 3 Commandments:



-Thou shalt not take or place anything within the sanctum that was not already in residence, neither shall you remove any object therein.



-Thou shalt not partake of thy meal times within the sanctum, for in the day that ye do so, ye shall surely reap an eternal reward.



-Thou shalt not defile the sanctum with thine undergarments, whether they be for the feet of thee or thy private realms beneath, for they are steeped in vileness and are an abomination unto me.



So, it seems that, barring the recent holiday needs, they have managed to keep this area holy.

Of course the rest of the house looks like The Abyss vomited up it's contents, but hey, that is their problem now.



Having said all of the above...

I have finally managed to reclaim my workspace after all of the Christmas pine needles and gift stowage.



And I had a major find down at a local thrift shop here in town. Check out the nutty coffee table.

It was part of another item, and the main piece had broken. They had this left over piece outside and they couldn't figure out what to use it for. LOL.

Blake was looking at some t-shirts that were outside under the covered porch and he comes into the store and goes,

"Hey mom, come and look at this weird thing."

I'm like, "oooooo! I see a coffee table there!"

But that is kinda my M.O.

Taking things and using them in ways that they were never designed to be used.

What is that?

Like, Garbage art or something?



I have done it with other garage sale finds/cast-offs too.

In my studio there is a big ol'wall hanging (which I am not finished with because it irritates me. There is too much white in it still), which was crafted solely out of garage sale finds and seconds. The only thing I think I paid retail for, was the hardware I used to hang it. Anyway, I say that it irritates me, and this is often my reason for hanging (my own) art on the walls. I can't often tell if it's finished, until I have to deal with it everyday. A piece will annoy me for months sometimes before I realise what needs to hapen to it next, or what should never been attempted to begin with - in which case I usually reprime the canvas and paint something completely different.

I have stack of these re-do's in the corner. A lady came over yesterday and wanted to buy one!

LOL! Just goes to show, ya never can tell with some people! Anyway. I will probably give it to her, unless I become really desperate for a painting surface real soon.

In retrospect...

...the birthday round-up brought in quite a haul.

-A pint of Rogue River Brewing's Chocolate-Stout Ale

-A golden box of hand made truffles (4-pak)

-A pint of Hair of the Dog Brewing's "Rose" (Belgian Triple Style Ale)

(Named after my home town, Portland Oregon ,aka the ROSE city)

-A Sisters Bakery Creme Puff

-"India in a box" - better known as the incense we call Nag Champa ( a scent that is to die for!)

-And a home made chocolate cake, courtesy of my kids complete with whipping creme instead of the traditional heavier frosting.



It was a great day.

Oh Frabjous day...

Calloo, callay...!

Todays History Test and Airport Security Profiling

Here is a fun little multiple choice quiz for you American History buffs.

How many do you remember?



1). 1968, Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by:



a. Superman

b. Jay Leno

c. Harry Potter

d. Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40



2). In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by:



a. Olga Corbut

b. Sitting Bull

c. Arnold Schwarzenegger

d. Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40



3). In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by:



a. Lost Norwegians

b. Elvis

c. A tour bus full of 80 year old women

d. Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40



4). During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by:



a. John Dillinger

b. The King of Sweden

c. The Boy Scouts

d. Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40



5). In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by:



a. A pizza delivery boy

b. Pee Wee Herman

c. Geraldo Rivera

d. Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40



6). In 1985, the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by:



a. The Smurfs

b. Atrus

c. The Little Mermaid

d. Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40



7). In 1985, TWA Flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, adn a US Navy diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered by:



a. Captain Kidd

b. Charles Lindberg

c. Mother Teresa

d. Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40



8). In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by:



a. Scooby Doo

b. The Tooth Faery

c. The Olsen Twins

d. Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40



9). In 1993, the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by:



a. Richard Simmons

b. Grandma Moses

c. Michael Jordan

d. Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40



10). In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by:



a. Mr. Rogers

b. Hillary Clinton, to distract attention from Wild Bill's Women Problems.

c. The World Wrestling Federation

d. Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40



11). On 9-11-01, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles to take out the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one crashed into the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by the passengers. Thousands of people were killed by:



a. Bugs Bunny, Wile E Coyote, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd

b. TheSupreme Court of FLorida

c. Mr. Bean

d. Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40



12). In 2002, Th eUnited States fought a war in Afghanistan against:



a. Enron

b. The Lutheran Church

c. The NFL

d. Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40



13). In 2002, reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by:



a. Bonnie and Clyde

b. Captain Kangaroo

c. Billy Graham

d. Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40





Interesting. I really don't see a pattern here worth profiling, do you?



To ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics who are bent on killing us, airport security screeners will no longer be allowed to profile "certain" people. They must conduct random searches of 80 year old women and kids, and you and I, airline pilots with proper ID, secret agents who are members of the Presidents security detail, 85 year old Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal of Honor winning and former Governor Joe Foss, but...



...we must leave Muslim Males between the ages of 17 and 40 alone because of profiling.



Stupid is as stupid does.















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