This blog was intended to be for those who would care to elaborate upon any discussions that take place on The Star Tribune Crossword Corner, hosted by the impressive Ms. C.C.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Ch-ch-ch-changes
Is David Bowie the only one singing about changes? What did I miss....or did I? Just because a person is private and doesn't want to talk about their personal business does that mean that a change is necessarily bad? I'm so confused.
ClearAyes: I'm a little confused about your confusion. Say a little more about the nature of what troubles you. I tried to keep my comment on the light side,(although several took the preposition reference seriously) and assured her that I did not want to pry. In fact, my comment was more of a warning as to what she could expect later in the day. And predictably, several of them threatened to pray for her. I think some of the response was beyond the "we're really concerned about you" boilerplate, in that, as a Chinese person, she represents to some peole on the blog an avatar of Oriental inscrutability, and they just want to figure her out, to crack the code. That's my take on the affair of the day, but I'd really like to hear more about what you are thinking. I'll be up a while yet, but the three hour difference may mean I'll read you on the morning.
You didn't miss anything, I don't think. WH covered it pretty well. I think there is a tendency that when someone is not specific about how or why things are changing that they are willing to jump to the often incorrect assumption that the change is bad. I think that it is doubly difficult when that person is in charge of a blog that a lot of people turn to and make a part of their daily routine. She has created a community that people are comfortable with and fearful of losing.
Look how much trouble we had when they dumped those awful TMS puzzles. So many people were in a panic and others could just not accept the change. Those who chose to soldier on were rewarded some interesting challenges and I think that most of us would not go back to where we were.
I think also, that your previous story is a case in point for learning to accept change and why you were not so quick to assume that the change was negative. Our lives are a lesson in accepting change and moving forward...not all change is good or better...but we have to evaluate it and move on.
Many people fear what they don't know and anything that pushes them outside their comfort zone. Your life involved massive and uncontrollable change and so, in retrospect you are probably more understanding of it than others and less likely to assume the worst
Many find security in keeping things the same...we have already lived through a period of huge change in everything that affects our lives...we have had to learn to to embrace so many of the new things around us...I think the younger generation perhaps doesn't have as much trouble because their world has been a whirlwind of change.
My own assumption was just that she would be busy or got a job or would be working longer hours...simple things that alter our schedules...That was why I really thought a while back that I would need to back off the blog stuff for a while...I am, so far, managing fairly well in keeping things balanced better than I thought I would.
It came down to the fact that even if we only post a couple of times a week, that I would miss everyone.
Maybe PMT will grace us with another short visit before he hies across the pond...and I'm still waiting on the Border Collie...
WM: I see you beat me back here (see my last post there, right after your #5), and as usual your analysis is pretty spot on. Of course, you agreed with me, so how could you be wrong? (Let me count the ways). I'm still very interested in hearing from ClearAyes and a further look into her discomfort with the change "ado". But I'll be reading that by sunlight, not Aladdin lamplight. 'night.
Sorry I'm a little late. This evening was the last chorus practice before our performances next week and we had to make sure we has San Antonio Rose down pat. Totally fun...I love it.
So...The only thing I was confused about was why there was an assumption on some people's part that something was somehow seriously wrong.
If there were some reason that I didn't want to share my personal life with a bunch of people whom I don't really know, I would just say, in effect, "it is none of your business, so drop it". That is what I saw happen.
What I did think was VERY interesting was that it was ONLY our more devout friends who made a big leap of negativism and pessimism and couldn't wait to start the praying. One of those things that make you go "Hmmmm".
What I was asking here is if something was said that indicated something in the applecart had been upset and I just didn't see it.
My take on it, after many years and many instances of screwing it up, is that change is almost always good, if we are willing to let it be. I would have said "always", without the "almost", but I'm sure someone could think of an instance where a change was just plain crummy and had no redeeming value.
Now let us launch into Elvis' version of I Believe. (A simplistic sentiment, but how can you knock Elvis?)
WH, Welcome to the blue. Now if you can just get your avatar up and going.
WM & CA: I've been trying to figure out the avatar, so far unsuccessfully. I would have get the image from Gmail into blogger someway, because although the iphone is a camera, the photos can only be viewed or emailed. The only good pictures I have (except the rainbow) are in the digital. Maybe the Irish can help on her work computer, if I stop in there someday. That's 35 miles away. I was trying to be diplomatic for the lurkers regarding the prayers/religion/pessimism intersection, but there is a lot of truth in what you said last night. One of the things regarding Christianity that it is difficult to see from the inside is that it is a religion focused on and obsessed with death. The two main symbols are "the Blood" and a crude instrument of torture. Blood for them has cleansing power; they say so in their hymns of praise. And the death of god and of the individual believer is the path to salvation. I know there is optimism in the concept of the resurrection and the second coming, but day to day it is all about blood sacrifice and the evil incarnate in "the world". Most do not understand this, which is one reason they have been dominated throughout their 2000 year history by reactionary elements. Their pessimistic outlook is imbedded in the origins of their dogma. Lurkers: None of the above is a criticism or indictment of any person, especially of any person on the crossword blog. It is simply a description of the bases of Christian doctrine, based on a lifelong study, both as a believing Christian apologist and now as an outside observer. If you would like a more educated and nuanced view of these ideas, read any of several books available by the Christian theologian Bart Ehrman. Do not flame me. Oh, there's another symbol, the flames of hell. As I said, it is a religion of blood, suffering, and death, with a very scant hope for a very select few, namely those who can learn to hate the world. Look at it dispassionately, and it is very plain and clear. There is hope in life, as long as there is life, but it is a fools choice to see hope in death, yours or god's. This concludes today's lesson. Thanks for the kick start, CA. And I like seeing your thousand watt smile back as the avatar. Damn it, Buckeye, speak up. Hello, special agent and PMT.
WH...I'm with CA...Take a deep breath...let it out slowly...As more information gets out, this country will get to the bottom of this...will discuss later, but I really want to keep the David Bowie pic for a bit...Also watched an awesome hour on PBS about Michaelangelo...very intriguing.
I am pretty sure that David Bowie planted one on me in Key West years ago. He had the silkiest lips of anyone I ever kissed. We were at a dockside bar, that exists no more, and he unceremoniously grabbed me and started sucking on my face. After a minute, he let go of me and that was that. I should have enticed him to follow up on the activity, but it was such a whim that it did not seem to call for any furtherance.
PMT...I would say you were one lucky guy! Good to see you albeit briefly. I hope the trip planning is moving apace. We do miss you quite a bit...
Maybe tomorrow I will throw out some of what I watched about Michaelangelo...If relates to a couple of older discussions regarding the church and his art...quite intriguing. The information was gathered over a number of years by an Italian art restorer and historian and it pointed very strongly to a conflict between Michaelangelo's beliefs and the church he spent his life creating art for...
Also WH...still not quite ready on the Wendel Berry...we'll get there.
CA...you will have to fill in on the Choral Program.
PMT...the closest I ever came to something like that was being asked back to a hotel room by a Chippendale dancer that I had been having a most excellent conversation with. I think he liked the idea that I saw the person, not the image...I was married and thought at the time it wouldn't have been the best choice...who knows...could have been an interesting experience.
I have a changes are bad story...I just got an email from my most favorite radio personality on my classical station and he has been let go due to budget cuts...I, like him am devastated...he is the most incredibly wonderful person and I am hoping things will be ok for him and his partner, a landscape architect...I have listened to him for years and he was an integral part of my life...This is just awful!
The very bizzare part of this is that late last night I decided to try and set up a Facebook account, computer stupid as I am, and in his email he asked me to keep in touch with him by Facebook...I do know that if he gets a job on another station that that is who I would listen to, my loyalty to him is that great. This is definitely a case of bad things happening to good people...I am trying hard not to cry...for him.
2nd Hmmmm part...this station was bought out a year or so ago by a Mormon media organization and this on air peronality is gay...although he never makes an issue out of it...Connections? Hmmmm? The most recently hired person, who is not, wasn't let go.
First of all, Yay...PMT! We know you are busy, but we do love to hear from you. With only three of us here, there aren't enough to get a good sturdy argument (I mean discussion, of course) going.
Interesting and very HOT about your meeting with David Bowie. You really are going to have to post a photo eventually, so we can see the face that melted D.B.'s lips.
WM, So unfortunate about the radio show and the host you enjoyed so much. I thought your "Hmmm" was very well taken. I'm sure that everybody involved in the "budget cut layoff" has their legal butt covered. Even so, knowing the official stance of the LDS church about gay men and women, I'd say there was probably a lot of fire going on under that smoke. A year sounds about right to get all the legal ducks in a row, so that the victim wouldn't have any recourse.
I just finished reading "The Shack". If a person must be a Christian, I suppose it could be considered a liberal and heartwarming story of forgiveness and redemption. Still, (I thought) it was very manipulative and left no wiggle room for anybody who isn't a Trinity kind of person.
WH, There wasn't any mention of Hell, Fire or Brimstone. At least in that respect, it is a different take on Christianity. God (a black woman) only wants to love his/her human creation and have them return the love unconditionally. A story about a murdered child provides tension, but "The Lovely Bones" did that first and did it better.
I can see why the fundamentalists are having such a hissy fit about the book. Worth reading to know what all the hoopla is about, but not really a well written book. Ya gotta know from page one that the protagonist is going to see the light and fall into God/Jesus/Holy Ghost's ever loving arms.
CA: I'll take your review of the book as enough reason to leave it alone. That Trinity thing is why the Muslims call us infidels. We (that is, they) claim to be monotheists and then cook up some triune god dogma that looks to them like polytheism. I'm with you on the PMT picture request. It could be his going away present to us. While were at it , let's see the special agent that's hotter than David Bowie.
WH, Yup, I had to jump in. I could see more and more cryptic posts possibly coming around the corner, so I threw my couple of cents in, for what it was worth.
I didn't think too many people would take the time to google the verses that were referred to. Since I am the nosy type and had already done so, I thought I'd let everybody else in on the discussion.
Also for what it is worth, if I were to take a side, I'd come down with the Ecclesiastes. (As if you hadn't already known that.)
CA...I'm with WH...you definitely surprised me when you threw out the bible stuff...and I'm with you on the Ecclesiastes. Its funny how things go back and forth some days.
The changes are rolling along...since it was so bloody hot today we stayed inside and actually turned on the AC(left it off yesterday) and the kids and Lucy came over to stay cool and have French-herbed omelets and Caesar salad for supper. I am still having issues with the radio station but have now been in contact with my radio friend. Played around on FaceBook and learned a bit, made an album of some paintings, learned a bit how to contact people...also figured out how to make a photo album on Picassa that I could email to friends...so in the cyber world a productive day. Sometimes I manage to surprise myself.
It was still in the mid 80's around 10 this evening and I'm not getting even the tiniest whiff of fog...The sunroom/studio was way too hot today...paint dries on the brush before I can get it on the canvas. One more good bit of news...I picked up a Community Sites show in the Main Library in Palo Alto for Aug/Sept...8-12 paintings...and that is a good thing.
WH...hope you can maybe mini-post off and on or, with the absence of the Blogmeister, it will just be me and CA entertaining ourselves. Maybe we could exchange recipes or something...;o)
PMT...teeny posts are ok...miss your little devil.
CA: I left out the text of the passages intentionally for much the same reason as BarbB ( except from the other side of the argument). I figured that anyone who really cared (like yourself) would take the time to look it up, while those who didn't would be only mildly annoyed at the introduction of religion (or a challenge thereof) to the blog. While I don't mind (surprise) adding a little spice to the stew on occasion, l don't want to only do that, since very few of my posts lately have much to do with the puzzle. It's no longer in my paper, and though I have complained, it probably isn't coming back. You most always lead with an account of your puzzle experience before dispensing your recipes, poetry and wise counsel, the latter two of which I find wonderfully subversive. Anyway, thanks again. WM: I don't think I'll be completely absent. Checking the blog on the tractor shows the level of my commitment (read: addiction). But it's going to be a busy week if it stays dry. In the meantime, I will be happy to read your exchange of recipes, especially if there is an occasional recipe for justice (example: hang 'em). I am very impressed with your efforts to avoid using the A/C. As you know, we live sans electricity, and we have a few difficult sleep nights in mid-summer. I bought a solar-powered exhaust fan that should help this year, if I can get my lazy ass up to install it. Sun is getting high, more hay to cut today. Thanks to both of you for the compliments yesterday. Always noted and always appreciated.
PMT: A few days ago she said something on the order of, "Due to changes in life I will be a little more brief in my blog entries and my replies to questions". That set off a little storm of people inquiring about her welfare, etc., to which she replied, I'm OK, let it go. They did.
WH...glad you can stay with us and thank goodness for your addiction.
We try very hard to be as green as possible and every year I have managed to reduce our energy consumption and we keep getting those rebates for the reduction from PG&E...Bill applied for a reduced trash recepticle when he retired to save $$ but we find that even with the smaller bin that we have, on average only 1 bag of trash per week. We recyle, and compost and I don't buy much in cans...mostly pet food. It is really the only sensible way to live nowadays and there isn't any inconvienence to it and if people would just stop and think it could really help. What you are doing is amazing and I don't know if I could step things down to no electricity and adapt, athough I am sure it would work if it had to...make Irish happy and install the fan...but carefully...
It is a bit cooler so after we go drop off our mail in ballots that we forgot to mail in, I am hoping to paint for a bit...will be back a bit later.
CA...thanks for being the resident resarcher around the corner...I knew that about gelding the horse, but your info was much more in depth. Ta Da!
WH, I understood your motivation for not quoting the passages and I generally agree. But when Pascal's Wager came up, I just had to say something. My take on that "might as well believe as not" thinking is that it is just cowardly and is not true belief.
PMT, Yes, they did let it go, but there was some praying going on anyway. Maybe I'm a little skeptical (ya think?). I wonder how many people say they will pray for a person, but then actually don't. I suspect it is many more than will admit it.
Just a quick stop here before a doctor's appointment..... Now, don't drop down and start praying!! :o) We all have to have doctor appointments once in a while.
Do you believe that our local trash company does not separate recyclables? We stopped the service a couple of years ago when we found that out and now Fred takes our separated trash to the transfer station himself. It takes a little time every couple of weeks, but it is much cheaper and is such a little but hopefully effective step.
We water as little as we can and have a lot of drought resistant native plants with drip lines everywhere. In winter we are big on sweaters and shawls for cover-up, instead of using the propane furnace. Our biggest utility cost is electricity. Temperatures over 100 degrees are common from June through September. I mentioned around the corner that the A/C stays off until the inside temp is at least 85. Ha ha... I just checked the thermostat and it is 90 degrees in here. It is an even 100 degrees outside. Since we will be gone this afternoon, we won't cool the place down a little until we get home.
WM, sometimes I try NOT to look things up. But I usually give in. That doesn't mean I always remember what I look up. But it is a temporary gratification.
24 comments:
ClearAyes:
I'm a little confused about your confusion. Say a little more about the nature of what troubles you. I tried to keep my comment on the light side,(although several took the preposition reference seriously) and assured her that I did not want to pry. In fact, my comment was more of a warning as to what she could expect later in the day. And predictably, several of them threatened to pray for her.
I think some of the response was beyond the "we're really concerned about you" boilerplate, in that, as a Chinese person, she represents to some peole on the blog an avatar of Oriental inscrutability, and they just want to figure her out, to crack the code. That's my take on the affair of the day, but I'd really like to hear more about what you are thinking.
I'll be up a while yet, but the three hour difference may mean I'll read you on the morning.
CA...first, love the David Bowie pic...
You didn't miss anything, I don't think. WH covered it pretty well. I think there is a tendency that when someone is not specific about how or why things are changing that they are willing to jump to the often incorrect assumption that the change is bad. I think that it is doubly difficult when that person is in charge of a blog that a lot of people turn to and make a part of their daily routine. She has created a community that people are comfortable with and fearful of losing.
Look how much trouble we had when they dumped those awful TMS puzzles. So many people were in a panic and others could just not accept the change. Those who chose to soldier on were rewarded some interesting challenges and I think that most of us would not go back to where we were.
I think also, that your previous story is a case in point for learning to accept change and why you were not so quick to assume that the change was negative. Our lives are a lesson in accepting change and moving forward...not all change is good or better...but we have to evaluate it and move on.
Many people fear what they don't know and anything that pushes them outside their comfort zone. Your life involved massive and uncontrollable change and so, in retrospect you are probably more understanding of it than others and less likely to assume the worst
Many find security in keeping things the same...we have already lived through a period of huge change in everything that affects our lives...we have had to learn to to embrace so many of the new things around us...I think the younger generation perhaps doesn't have as much trouble because their world has been a whirlwind of change.
My own assumption was just that she would be busy or got a job or would be working longer hours...simple things that alter our schedules...That was why I really thought a while back that I would need to back off the blog stuff for a while...I am, so far, managing fairly well in keeping things balanced better than I thought I would.
It came down to the fact that even if we only post a couple of times a week, that I would miss everyone.
Maybe PMT will grace us with another short visit before he hies across the pond...and I'm still waiting on the Border Collie...
WM:
I see you beat me back here (see my last post there, right after your #5), and as usual your analysis is pretty spot on. Of course, you agreed with me, so how could you be wrong? (Let me count the ways).
I'm still very interested in hearing from ClearAyes and a further look into her discomfort with the change "ado".
But I'll be reading that by sunlight, not Aladdin lamplight.
'night.
For the morning...Woo Hoo...!!!WH is BLUE! OMG...This is so exciting.
I could have missed the point entirely and am hoping that, as usual, CA will enlighten.
WM
Sorry I'm a little late. This evening was the last chorus practice before our performances next week and we had to make sure we has San Antonio Rose down pat. Totally fun...I love it.
So...The only thing I was confused about was why there was an assumption on some people's part that something was somehow seriously wrong.
If there were some reason that I didn't want to share my personal life with a bunch of people whom I don't really know, I would just say, in effect, "it is none of your business, so drop it". That is what I saw happen.
What I did think was VERY interesting was that it was ONLY our more devout friends who made a big leap of negativism and pessimism and couldn't wait to start the praying. One of those things that make you go "Hmmmm".
What I was asking here is if something was said that indicated something in the applecart had been upset and I just didn't see it.
My take on it, after many years and many instances of screwing it up, is that change is almost always good, if we are willing to let it be. I would have said "always", without the "almost", but I'm sure someone could think of an instance where a change was just plain crummy and had no redeeming value.
Now let us launch into Elvis' version of I Believe. (A simplistic sentiment, but how can you knock Elvis?)
WH, Welcome to the blue. Now if you can just get your avatar up and going.
WM & CA:
I've been trying to figure out the avatar, so far unsuccessfully. I would have get the image from Gmail into blogger someway, because although the iphone is a camera, the photos can only be viewed or emailed. The only good pictures I have (except the rainbow) are in the digital. Maybe the Irish can help on her work computer, if I stop in there someday. That's 35 miles away.
I was trying to be diplomatic for the lurkers regarding the prayers/religion/pessimism intersection, but there is a lot of truth in what you said last night. One of the things regarding Christianity that it is difficult to see from the inside is that it is a religion focused on and obsessed with death. The two main symbols are "the Blood" and a crude instrument of torture. Blood for them has cleansing power; they say so in their hymns of praise. And the death of god and of the individual believer is the path to salvation. I know there is optimism in the concept of the resurrection and the second coming, but day to day it is all about blood sacrifice and the evil incarnate in "the world". Most do not understand this, which is one reason they have been dominated throughout their 2000 year history by reactionary elements. Their pessimistic outlook is imbedded in the origins of their dogma.
Lurkers:
None of the above is a criticism or indictment of any person, especially of any person on the crossword blog. It is simply a description of the bases of Christian doctrine, based on a lifelong study, both as a believing Christian apologist and now as an outside observer. If you would like a more educated and nuanced view of these ideas, read any of several books available by the Christian theologian Bart Ehrman. Do not flame me. Oh, there's another symbol, the flames of hell. As I said, it is a religion of blood, suffering, and death, with a very scant hope for a very select few, namely those who can learn to hate the world. Look at it dispassionately, and it is very plain and clear. There is hope in life, as long as there is life, but it is a fools choice to see hope in death, yours or god's.
This concludes today's lesson.
Thanks for the kick start, CA. And I like seeing your thousand watt smile back as the avatar.
Damn it, Buckeye, speak up.
Hello, special agent and PMT.
Gee WH, why don't you tell us what you really think? ;o)
There is just such a small window around the corner, so it is great to have this venue to let loose in depth.
Got another appointment this afternoon. I've got to stop being so busy! I'll check in later today and see what is going on here and there.
WH...I'm with CA...Take a deep breath...let it out slowly...As more information gets out, this country will get to the bottom of this...will discuss later, but I really want to keep the David Bowie pic for a bit...Also watched an awesome hour on PBS about Michaelangelo...very intriguing.
Grocery shopping for mom awaits...return anon...
We will eventually hang'em high.
I am pretty sure that David Bowie planted one on me in Key West years ago. He had the silkiest lips of anyone I ever kissed. We were at a dockside bar, that exists no more, and he unceremoniously grabbed me and started sucking on my face. After a minute, he let go of me and that was that. I should have enticed him to follow up on the activity, but it was such a whim that it did not seem to call for any furtherance.
PMT...I would say you were one lucky guy! Good to see you albeit briefly. I hope the trip planning is moving apace. We do miss you quite a bit...
Maybe tomorrow I will throw out some of what I watched about Michaelangelo...If relates to a couple of older discussions regarding the church and his art...quite intriguing. The information was gathered over a number of years by an Italian art restorer and historian and it pointed very strongly to a conflict between Michaelangelo's beliefs and the church he spent his life creating art for...
Also WH...still not quite ready on the Wendel Berry...we'll get there.
CA...you will have to fill in on the Choral Program.
PMT...the closest I ever came to something like that was being asked back to a hotel room by a Chippendale dancer that I had been having a most excellent conversation with. I think he liked the idea that I saw the person, not the image...I was married and thought at the time it wouldn't have been the best choice...who knows...could have been an interesting experience.
I have a changes are bad story...I just got an email from my most favorite radio personality on my classical station and he has been let go due to budget cuts...I, like him am devastated...he is the most incredibly wonderful person and I am hoping things will be ok for him and his partner, a landscape architect...I have listened to him for years and he was an integral part of my life...This is just awful!
The very bizzare part of this is that late last night I decided to try and set up a Facebook account, computer stupid as I am, and in his email he asked me to keep in touch with him by Facebook...I do know that if he gets a job on another station that that is who I would listen to, my loyalty to him is that great. This is definitely a case of bad things happening to good people...I am trying hard not to cry...for him.
2nd Hmmmm part...this station was bought out a year or so ago by a Mormon media organization and this on air peronality is gay...although he never makes an issue out of it...Connections? Hmmmm? The most recently hired person, who is not, wasn't let go.
First of all, Yay...PMT! We know you are busy, but we do love to hear from you. With only three of us here, there aren't enough to get a good sturdy argument (I mean discussion, of course) going.
Interesting and very HOT about your meeting with David Bowie. You really are going to have to post a photo eventually, so we can see the face that melted D.B.'s lips.
WM, So unfortunate about the radio show and the host you enjoyed so much. I thought your "Hmmm" was very well taken. I'm sure that everybody involved in the "budget cut layoff" has their legal butt covered. Even so, knowing the official stance of the LDS church about gay men and women, I'd say there was probably a lot of fire going on under that smoke. A year sounds about right to get all the legal ducks in a row, so that the victim wouldn't have any recourse.
I just finished reading "The Shack". If a person must be a Christian, I suppose it could be considered a liberal and heartwarming story of forgiveness and redemption. Still, (I thought) it was very manipulative and left no wiggle room for anybody who isn't a Trinity kind of person.
WH, There wasn't any mention of Hell, Fire or Brimstone. At least in that respect, it is a different take on Christianity. God (a black woman) only wants to love his/her human creation and have them return the love unconditionally. A story about a murdered child provides tension, but "The Lovely Bones" did that first and did it better.
I can see why the fundamentalists are having such a hissy fit about the book. Worth reading to know what all the hoopla is about, but not really a well written book. Ya gotta know from page one that the protagonist is going to see the light and fall into God/Jesus/Holy Ghost's ever loving arms.
CA:
I'll take your review of the book as enough reason to leave it alone. That Trinity thing is why the Muslims call us infidels. We (that is, they) claim to be monotheists and then cook up some triune god dogma that looks to them like polytheism. I'm with you on the PMT picture request. It could be his going away present to us. While were at it , let's see the special agent that's hotter than David Bowie.
WH...I don't know...it's pretty hard to be hotter than David Bowie... ;o)
CA...Thanks.
CA:
You are bad, in a very nice way. Thanks for the assist. I like that BarbB, too. You California women are, as they say in the xwords, Aone.
WH, Yup, I had to jump in. I could see more and more cryptic posts possibly coming around the corner, so I threw my couple of cents in, for what it was worth.
I didn't think too many people would take the time to google the verses that were referred to. Since I am the nosy type and had already done so, I thought I'd let everybody else in on the discussion.
Also for what it is worth, if I were to take a side, I'd come down with the Ecclesiastes. (As if you hadn't already known that.)
CA...I'm with WH...you definitely surprised me when you threw out the bible stuff...and I'm with you on the Ecclesiastes. Its funny how things go back and forth some days.
The changes are rolling along...since it was so bloody hot today we stayed inside and actually turned on the AC(left it off yesterday) and the kids and Lucy came over to stay cool and have French-herbed omelets and Caesar salad for supper. I am still having issues with the radio station but have now been in contact with my radio friend. Played around on FaceBook and learned a bit, made an album of some paintings, learned a bit how to contact people...also figured out how to make a photo album on Picassa that I could email to friends...so in the cyber world a productive day. Sometimes I manage to surprise myself.
It was still in the mid 80's around 10 this evening and I'm not getting even the tiniest whiff of fog...The sunroom/studio was way too hot today...paint dries on the brush before I can get it on the canvas. One more good bit of news...I picked up a Community Sites show in the Main Library in Palo Alto for Aug/Sept...8-12 paintings...and that is a good thing.
WH...hope you can maybe mini-post off and on or, with the absence of the Blogmeister, it will just be me and CA entertaining ourselves. Maybe we could exchange recipes or something...;o)
PMT...teeny posts are ok...miss your little devil.
CA:
I left out the text of the passages intentionally for much the same reason as BarbB ( except from the other side of the argument). I figured that anyone who really cared (like yourself) would take the time to look it up, while those who didn't would be only mildly annoyed at the introduction of religion (or a challenge thereof) to the blog. While I don't mind (surprise) adding a little spice to the stew on occasion, l don't want to only do that, since very few of my posts lately have much to do with the puzzle. It's no longer in my paper, and though I have complained, it probably isn't coming back. You most always lead with an account of your puzzle experience before dispensing your recipes, poetry and wise counsel, the latter two of which I find wonderfully subversive. Anyway, thanks again.
WM:
I don't think I'll be completely absent. Checking the blog on the tractor shows the level of my commitment (read: addiction). But it's going to be a busy week if it stays dry.
In the meantime, I will be happy to read your exchange of recipes, especially if there is an occasional recipe for justice (example: hang 'em).
I am very impressed with your efforts to avoid using the A/C. As you know, we live sans electricity, and we have a few difficult sleep nights in mid-summer. I bought a solar-powered exhaust fan that should help this year, if I can get my lazy ass up to install it.
Sun is getting high, more hay to cut today. Thanks to both of you for the compliments yesterday. Always noted and always appreciated.
Sorry, I missed it. What did C.C. say about changes to her blog?
PMT:
A few days ago she said something on the order of, "Due to changes in life I will be a little more brief in my blog entries and my replies to questions".
That set off a little storm of people inquiring about her welfare, etc., to which she replied, I'm OK, let it go. They did.
If my math is correct your etd is 11 days. Ready?
PMT...good to see you!
Just a quick stop in this am...then later.
WH...glad you can stay with us and thank goodness for your addiction.
We try very hard to be as green as possible and every year I have managed to reduce our energy consumption and we keep getting those rebates for the reduction from PG&E...Bill applied for a reduced trash recepticle when he retired to save $$ but we find that even with the smaller bin that we have, on average only 1 bag of trash per week. We recyle, and compost and I don't buy much in cans...mostly pet food. It is really the only sensible way to live nowadays and there isn't any inconvienence to it and if people would just stop and think it could really help. What you are doing is amazing and I don't know if I could step things down to no electricity and adapt, athough I am sure it would work if it had to...make Irish happy and install the fan...but carefully...
It is a bit cooler so after we go drop off our mail in ballots that we forgot to mail in, I am hoping to paint for a bit...will be back a bit later.
CA...thanks for being the resident resarcher around the corner...I knew that about gelding the horse, but your info was much more in depth. Ta Da!
WH, I understood your motivation for not quoting the passages and I generally agree. But when Pascal's Wager came up, I just had to say something. My take on that "might as well believe as not" thinking is that it is just cowardly and is not true belief.
PMT, Yes, they did let it go, but there was some praying going on anyway. Maybe I'm a little skeptical (ya think?). I wonder how many people say they will pray for a person, but then actually don't. I suspect it is many more than will admit it.
Just a quick stop here before a doctor's appointment..... Now, don't drop down and start praying!! :o) We all have to have doctor appointments once in a while.
Do you believe that our local trash company does not separate recyclables? We stopped the service a couple of years ago when we found that out and now Fred takes our separated trash to the transfer station himself. It takes a little time every couple of weeks, but it is much cheaper and is such a little but hopefully effective step.
We water as little as we can and have a lot of drought resistant native plants with drip lines everywhere. In winter we are big on sweaters and shawls for cover-up, instead of using the propane furnace. Our biggest utility cost is electricity. Temperatures over 100 degrees are common from June through September. I mentioned around the corner that the A/C stays off until the inside temp is at least 85. Ha ha... I just checked the thermostat and it is 90 degrees in here. It is an even 100 degrees outside. Since we will be gone this afternoon, we won't cool the place down a little until we get home.
WM, sometimes I try NOT to look things up. But I usually give in. That doesn't mean I always remember what I look up. But it is a temporary gratification.
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