Sunday, November 30, 2003

I’m going out tonight - to the Michael W. Smith Christmas concert. I’m exhausted from a busy, family-intense weekend. The vomiting dog doesn’t help.

See, last month my mother asked me if I wanted to go with them to the concert. “Sure,” I said, not realizing the significance of November 30 at that time. If I had looked at my calendar closely, I might have said no. Really, I like to think I would have said no. I’m pretty sure I would have said yes.

Anyway, I am looking forward to the concert. I just see a pile of laundry (the clothes were back-burnered by the bed linens), an unmade bed (the blanket is in the washer, soon to be moved to the dryer) that will have to be made when I get home, and have the nagging feeling that my dog may have a little regurgative powers left in her tonight. And then there’s work tomorrow.

Add to it, the knowledge that my gift of helps led me to offer to pick up LW and her family at the airport tomorrow night (at midnight) when they return from Texas. Really, I’m an idiot.

But this idiot is heading out to have a good time at a Christmas concert. More tomorrow!

(Cold Case and Alias will be taped.)

I think I mentioned the possibility of my renting the townhome of a friend who will be movign overseas in the spring, right? I’m too lazy to search for a link to that post. The last time I talked to her, she was still hopeful of getting the posting she requested, but she hadn’t heard officially yet and was getting rumbles that it might not happen.

This morning she was excited to tell me that she got it. I won’t name the place she’ll be going, but it has significant meaning for her and it’s a hot spot. She was saying her mother is trying to be excited for her but she can tell that it’s hard. I said, “She is excited that you got what you wanted, but she’s worried for your safety.”

Anyway, my friend said that we could starting talking about her house when I was ready. I’m ready! So after church, I grabbed her and asked what kind of rent she would be looking for. She quoted a number that is less than my current rent and her utilities are about what I pay now in this apartment. What an answer to prayer! I’m starting to get excited about the possibility of this move...especially since it’ll reduce my commute time and won’t be too much of an increase in my housing expenses, and I’ll have a basement for an office and a fenced in yard for Annie.

My dog is about 14-15 years old. When I adopted her I was was told she was probably three years old. Recently, I noticed that her vaccination records listed her birthdate at 1/1/89 - which means her 15th birthday (approximated) approaches. And I see signs lately that she is nearing the end of her days.

This weekend she was clearly in some pain. She was moving slow, didn’t want to climb up the steps or jump on/off the bed or sofa. I’ve had to carry her up the stairs each time I’ve taken her out to walk. Not a big deal except that she’s 35 pounds and I live on the third floor. So I cut up some aspirin tablets for her and that seemed to help.

She didn’t eat anything but a few milkbones yesterday. But this morning she ate with gusto. And she was moving better down the stairs, although I still had to pick her up on the return trip to the apartment. I know she’s hurting when she lets me pick her up - she hates that.

So I thought she was improving...until I arrived home from church and lunch with the family to discover that she had vomited (in three places, including on the bed) in my absence. *sigh* Fortunately, today is laundry day - the bed linens are in the wash as I type this - and the carpet has been cleaned.

LATER: I forgot to mention the problems I’ve been having with the toilet in my bathroom this weekend too. The chain that links the flusher handle and the rubber disk thing that lifts to release water popped off the rubber disk on Friday night. I fought with it for about 30 minutes and finally got it back on, ending up with yucky block goo (mildew?) on my hands and under my fingernails. Kinda gross, but I was pleased that I was able to fix that myself.

So after cleaning up the vomit, I used the facilities and when I pushed the flusher handle I heard that telltale clink that told me the chain had popped off again. This time the loop that the chain attaches to on the rubber disk also came off. So with needle-nose pliers in hand, I battled again. And I won (so far). If it happens a third time, the rental office will get a phone call.

LATERER: I discovered that she puked twice in the living room while I’ve been in the bedroom blogging. She’s perkier than ever and after walking her again (she walked up the stairs! slowly, but she did it...yay!) she seems to be fine. Maybe she had a stomach bug. I’ll be watching her though.

Saturday, November 29, 2003

A little while ago, I linked to a post by Dean Esmay, where he explained why he renounced Christianity and is an atheist. And I said it made me sad, because I think that Dean is missing out on the best part of life and what I believe is the reason we exist - to have faith in, a relationship with, and worship the God who created us.

Then, yesterday, I saw his latest post about faith and politics, and I was reminded why I have Dean linked and why I read him pretty regularly. A snippet:

I seem to be one of the few utterly non-theistic, non-religious people I know who has absolutely no fear or loathing of Christianity. Unlike many, I also have absolutely none of the fear of the “mixing of politics and faith” that seems to scare the bejeezus out of some intellectuals. Indeed, as I think I’ve said many times before, I believe such sentiments bespeak a not-so-subtly-hidden anti-Christian bias in much of America today--a bias that some Christians have internalized, and that’s come about mostly due to lack of reasonable education about religion in most of our schools and universities here in the U.S.

Indeed, I think it not only defensible, but actually self-evident that religion has had a very positive influence throughout human history, one that greatly outweighs its negatives. I think the positive influence of both Judaism and Christianity on the West are even more obvious. I think it’s cheap and shallow to concentrate on the negatives of faith, and not give equally serious contemplation to the positives. Especially when those positives are so profound and lasting--and the record of atheism, agnosticism, etc. so mixed and murky.

While I think that Dean is missing out on having a personal faith, he clearly understands that there’s no need to attempt to eradicate it altogether from the public arena. He’s a rarity amongst the irreligious. The rest of the essay is good, go read it. (Note: I haven’t read the comment thread, so I have no idea what’s there.)

Friday, November 28, 2003

Went to two movies today.

1. Timeline - there was much debate about whether or not we were going to go to this one because pretty much every critic hates it. So we lowered our expectations and went anyway. It was OK, the experience would have been better if the sound quality had been better in the theater we went to. It was too quiet and at times it sounded like it was coming from under water. Also, we expected there to be more mud and dirt in the movie - it was too clean and too bright for 1357.

2. Elf - this was fantastic. A new Christmas classic - we agree that it takes over the #1 spot from Christmas Vacation. Will Farrell is a comedy genius and what I love is that he gives 200% to his characters. Absolutely brilliant. If you haven’t seen it yet, run out now!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

What Pattern Are You?

[quizzes via WIT?!?!?]

Today’s Friday Five:

1. Do you like to shop? Why or why not?  I hate to shop. I avoid it unless I have to do it. I think it’s because I usually can’t afford to just shop on a whim. And the crowds.

2. What was the last thing you purchased?  Blank videotapes for my sister yesterday.

3. Do you prefer shopping online or at an actual store? Why?  Online. No crowds.

4. Did you get an allowance as a child? How much was it?  Yes. I depended on my age and chores. I worked for my allowance - cleaning my room, washing the car, etc.

5. What was the last thing you regret purchasing?  I have no idea - usually I regret it because I shouldn’t have spent the money on something I don’t need.

While I was relaxing baking the pie yesterday, I tuned in to the Dinner for Five marathon on IFC. I love that show - it’s hosted by Jon Favreau, who invites four friends from the movie industry to dine with him and they discuss movie-making.

A couple things struck me, so I grabbed a notepad to jot things down.

1. Peter Bogdanovich was on one episode (I can’t remember who else was in that group, except for Liev Schreiber), and he talked quite a bit about Orson Welles. I didn’t know that Orson Welles lived with Bogdanovich for a couple of years before he died. So they were talking about how Welles turned down tons of contracts from the studios back in the day because he wanted to make Citizen Kane HIS way and he knew that the studios would kill or ruin it if they got the least bit of control. So he held out and eventually got what he wanted - 150% control - the result of which is that even today no one can alter the film in anyway (colorizing was brought up).

And then Bogdanovich said, “He was a rebuke to mediocrity.” That was the line that made me get up to get the notepad. I’ve added that quote to the rotating quotes on the right.

2. Carrie Fisher is without a doubt one of the funniest people - she’s just naturally hilarious in a normal conversation. With her was Ed Asner, Ed Begley, and someone else that I can’t remember. She and Ed were great friends with John Belushi - they talked a lot about him, drug use, and his death. And then they spent a lot of time talking to her about her role as “script doctor” in Hollowood. She “fixes” countless scripts - so when you’re watching a movie and you think the dialogue is especially good, check for her name in the credits.

3. Dave Eggers was on with David Byrne, Janeane Garofalo, and Joey “Pants” Pantoliano. That was a great group - good discussions about the waning of the roles for good character actors like Joe (who is in a lot of things lately) - actually, they said the roles are there, but the pay is significantly lower and that some directors/producers are trying to cast “named” stars to even the minor character roles these days.

What amused me was that Joe had no clue who Dave Eggers is or about Dave’s book (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, which is brilliant). There was a little tension when Joe asked him about his book after Garofalo mentioned it.

Jared, you would love the show, but I know you don’t have cable. And for anyone who think they might check it out, be aware that there is profanity and adult discussions. It gets a little squirelly if they’ve imbibed large quantities of alcohol with dinner.

Turkey with the trimmings at Mom’s house. (Did you expect any different on Thanksgiving?)

Trimmings included red-skinned mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, carrots, sausage stuffing, cranberry-walnut stuffing, homemade yeast rolls.

Dessert included the family traditional Chocolate-Eggnog pie and I contributed the Eggnog Pumpkin Pie.

It was all delish, of course.

UPDATE (Fri 8:00am): The recipe for the Eggnog Pumpkin Pie is in the “More” section.

Thursday, November 27, 2003

Everyone is posting about President Bush’s surprise visit to Baghdad. I had to jump on this bandwagon because I do love our President.

In an elaborate plan to ensure his security, Bush slipped away from his Texas ranch on Wednesday night, arrived in Iraq yesterday and spent 2-1/2 hours with the troops.

“I bring a message on behalf of America: We thank you for your service, we are proud of you, and America stands solidly behind you,” Bush told about 600 soldiers, who were stunned to see the president emerge from a side door in a military mess hall at Baghdad International Airport.

Bush dropped plans to eat the traditional turkey dinner with his wife and family in order to visit US troops in the Iraqi capital, making him the first US president ever to visit Iraq.

The troops, mostly from the US Army’s 1st Armored Division and the 82nd Airborne, had no idea Bush would be there.

“I would have told him to reevaluate his travel plans,” the soldier looked very serious. And then he continued on about how dangerous Iraq still is, especially for the American President.

That’s what makes him a great leader, he knew it would be important for the troops to see him there, he wanted to be there with them, he made it happen. I can imagine the stress of the Secret Service over the decision.

Thank you, Mr. President, for doing the hard things when you know they’re the right things.

UPDATE (Fri 7:30am):  Dean has the full text of the President’s remarks to the troops.

Psalm 95:1-7

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.

For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

© Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
All rights reserved worldwide

I hope you all have a blessed day with your families and friends and that you take a moment or two to reflect on the things for which you are thankful. I know that I am grateful for my loving family, my fabulous friends, an excellent job, and God’s amazing salvation and provision.

Survivor Pool Results after last night’s episode:

Jaynee—531.17
jenspeaks—505.60
DenisS—476.26
amancini123—427.56
AceRocks—382.19

***SPOILERS FOLLOW***

Sandra: she should have admitted to dropping the fish. She was an idiot to vote as she did in tribal council.

Jon: What a complete and utter jerk. Having his friend lie about grandma’s death is about the lowest deception a player can perpetrate on the other folks. What horrifies me is that he could win this thing and I’ll be as ticked about that as I was when FloZach won The Amazing Race in season 3. He’s slime, just evil. I’m really hoping that lie is revealed to the others soon.

Burton: Jaynee and Denis were convinced he was gone. I wasn’t so sure (and hoping not). Needless to say, I was happy with the result of the tribal council.

Tijuana: On the quiz, I had her listed as the one to get the second most votes with Darrah being voted off. Since Darrah got immunity, that screwed up my quiz, but I’m impressed with myself on the T decision. I don’t think J and D were thinking she was even a possibility.

I stand by my assertion last week that the women are stupid. While I like Burton and want him to win - strategically he is the strongest player. He should have been voted off last night if any of those women want to win. But Jon snookered then to vote for T. Idiots…

Wednesday, November 26, 2003

So I’m surfing today...I found the following snippet at Tongue Tied @ FoxNews.com in the Mailbag section:

There is nothing funny about Jefferson Davis or Robert E. Lee, and I am not referring to racial insensitivity. Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee were traitors—anti-Americans at their best. They tried to dissolve the United States without good reason.

The writer of the letter is from New Jersey - a northerner. I, a southerner, have a very different view of Davis and Lee - I’ve expressed my admiration for Lee here before. Anyone else think that they were traitors?

As for their attempt to dissove the United States without good reason, that’s not quite true. Their intent was not to dissolve the United States, but to have the federal government of those United States abide by their own Constitution and federalist ideals of the states rights superceding federal. (I’m not a poli-sci nor history scholar, if I’m wrong on that, please feel free to correct me.) As for the “without good reason” phrase - that’s just ridiculous. They had a plethora of good reasons, which, if history were taught correctly, the writer would know.

She added the following, which made me chuckle at the odd comparison:

Would we name an Elementary school after Stalin or Usama Bin Laden?

From the Big Toe™ upstairs:

Courthouse Club which comes with chips.

I dined with the newbie (we have a new deputy) and we had a pleasant conversation about North Carolina (where he’s from), colleges in NC, housing costs in NoVa (yeah, welcome to the Commonwealth), and MB’s new shoes (my boss is the male Imelda Marcos).

Oh, and we speculated about whether or not one particular judge would schedule a last minute court this afternoon - he did.

‘Cause Gravy and Turkey soda is coming!

File this under “EW!”:

SEATTLE — A new Turkey & Gravy Soda (search) tastes, well, pretty much like you would imagine. But that’s not stopping people from buying it.

Even the producers of the Thanksgiving-themed beverage at Jones Soda Co. (search) were surprised by the demand. They sold out all 6,000 bottles online within about two hours last week.

“To be honest, we really didn’t think so many people would want it,” said a Michelle Whitehead, marketing assistant at the Seattle-based premium soda company that has a reputation for quirky flavors.

Founder and CEO Peter van Stolk dreamed up the seasonal flavor on a lark, but admits he can’t stomach an entire bottle.

The liquid’s ominous, murky brown color accurately warns consumers about the taste. The first sips bring a mix of sweet caramel and savory lard — and it’s downhill from there.

Happy Thanksgiving! Heh…

I just got the following email message from The Marshal (it’s for all of the staff in our district). He’s a good man who trusts God in all things. (I don’t think he’ll mind that I’ve published his message.)

Just a note to wish you all a safe, pleasant and relaxing thanksgiving.  It is always a good time to reflect on what really matters the most in our lives (hint: it is not this job).  Family and loved ones are number one so spend as much time with them as you can.  We really do have a great deal to be thankful for and I urge you to give thanks everyday, not just one day a year.  Also, don’t forget our men and women in the armed services who are on duty around the world and around the clock trying to make this planet a better place.  They deserve a great deal of thanks for the sacrifice they are making for the freedom we enjoy.

While on the subject of giving thanks, I appreciate all you do to make our district shine.  Thank you!