Earnin’ Points?

It has been a fairly low key weekend here in Lake Gonebelow. I’ve been trying to mind my P’s and Q’s. I’ve done most of the housework, cooking, etc. Last night we had country sausage sandwiches with onions and peppers, fresh asparagus, corn on the cob, with a cannoli and teaberry ice cream for dessert. This morning we had pancakes at her request. For lunch we had shrimp cocktail, garden salad, barbecued pork chops, pasta, and fresh strawberry pie for dessert. I bought a bouquet of flowers. I’ve done the dishes.

I’m either earning pass points (for what, I have no clue) or I’m building my resume for the man of my dreams.

Yesterday I planted the trees from the first part of my order from the Arbor Day folks: pink dogwood, Stewart cherry, mock orange, and (a freebie) red maple. There are white dogwoods and flowering crabapples on order.

My desktop is back in order after the Win XP SP3 debacle of earlier this week. I restored to last Sunday’s bit-image backup. Make weekly back up folks!!! And bit-image backups make for relatively pain free restores!!

This morning I was the liturgist (”assisting minister”, in the current terminology of the denomination). It was, of course, Mother’s Day as well as the Festival of Pentecost today. Liturgists are supplied “default prayers” for the Prayer of the Church (main prayer, usually litany in style), but they are free to add their own. Among them today was one already written as a thanksgiving for mothers, but I also added this prayer of my own (after the style of the others):

“O God, holy parent, you who have gathered us together in your one holy family, grant your blessing on all families, in all the variations in which you have created them. Give us the leading of your Spirit to recognize in families as in all things, the ‘varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit’*. God of Life…” [C: Hear our prayer.]

I’ll leave it to the Spirit to interpret for them what I meant.

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That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

*a reference to the Second Lesson of the day from I Corinthians 12.

Greg’s Author Meme

Greg (A Life in the Day) did this author meme. It looked interesting. Unfortunately, I left a numbskull comment on Greg’s post. Sorry, Greg. D’uh. It was by author, not by title and I did by title.

So, prone as I am to cheating on things like this I tried slipping in a couple of poets and playwrights. I still didn’t get them all. As you will note, there are not too many contemporary writers on the list. I’m not much into the hot best sellers.

Twenty-five Books: A to Z

Make an alphabetical list of some favorite books and authors, listed by author:

A - Asminov, Isaac - Chronology of Science and Discovery [Great bathroom book - filled with little snippets of information that no one (but me?) is interested in knowing.]
B - Bolt, Robert - A Man for All Seasons [A play, but a great one.]
C - Crane, Stephen - The Red Badge of Courage [classic]
D - Dickens, Charles - A Tale of Two Cities ['nuther classic]
E - Eliot, George - Silas Marner
F - Faulkner, William - The Sound and the Fury [I did a paper on this book once. Sometimes when I reread what I write, I think I must write in "stream of consciousness".]
G - Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von - Faust [auf Deutsch!]
H - Huxley, Aldous - Brave New World [Amazing, when you realize it was written in the early 1930's!]
I - Ibsen, Henrik - A Doll’s House
J - Johnson, James Weldon - The Creation [Beautiful poem!]
K - Kleist, Heinrich von - Michael Kohlhaas [Short, but very difficult when read in the original German]
L - Lewis, C. S. - The Screwtape Letters
M - Miller, Walter M. - A Canticle for Leibowitz [Among other things, it makes you giggle when you read about people finding ancient manuscripts and artifacts and then tell you what they meant or were used for.]
N - Nabakov?
O - Orwell, George - 1984 [One of THE most important books for our time!! It should be required for reading, study, and understanding before anyone is handed a diploma!]
P - Poe, Edgar Allen - The Pit and the Pendulum [The room is closing in!]
Q -
R - Rand, Ayn - Anthem [Could not think of an another "R"]
S - Swift, Jonathan - Gulliver’s Travels [Now who woulda thunk this one would be on ole Lem's list!]
T - Twain, Mark - Letters from the Earth [I love the writings about the "recording angel" talking about the prayers of the mine owner!]
U - Updike, John - Rabbit, Run [Takes place in the "metro area" in which the new Lake Gonebelow is located. Updike once lived in the area.]
V - Vonnegut, Kurt - Player Piano [I love the farmer's doctoral thesis!]
W - Wallace, Lew - Ben-Hur [The hard part of reading this book is erasing Charlton Heston from your memory. Now Stephen Boyd is another matter! ]
X - Xenephon - Anabasis [Xenephon? Yes, and in Greek. Many years ago. "The river is uncrossable." (I can't get the editor to accept a Greek font.)]
Y - Yeats - The Second Coming ['nuther poem]
Z - Zola?

The question marks indicate an author that I am familiar with but whose works I would not classify as fav’s.

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That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

o, what a night.

No cute, hot college hunk to mow the lawn.

No Jeff Striker.

No Stroker.

Not even Rosey.

*sigh*

Just the princess and I, a glass of wine, and two episodes of QAF via recently purchased DVD.

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That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

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P.S.: Note to Geeks: be forewarned that there are issues with upgrading Windows XP to SP3!

Dancing Gurls and Other Stuff

This post is an eclectic collection of rambling thoughts on this Wednesday.

First of all one of our area newspapers reported this morning that the GOP in our state legislature has - for the moment - dropped their push for an amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage. Their reasoning was that it was going to be referred to a committee chaired by a woman who has publicly stated that she thinks it is bad “public policy”. There was a rally last week at the state capitol against it that evidently also had an impact. I was amused to read that one state legislator opposed to the idea - himself twice divorced - had lead an effort to add a [sarcastic] amendment to the measure that would have banned divorce in the Commonwealth. He was trying to point out what needed to be done if the legislators really wanted to protect the institution of marriage. I must say I shouted “right on!”.

I must also express my gratitude to the voters of North Carolina and Indiana for their messages. Now will someone please wake up Bill/Hill, shake them out of their dream world, and point out to them the smell of the brewing coffee.

As for the dancing gurls, bring them on! Or much better yet, the dancing guys! Tonight I will be homo alone again. My wife is staying over night with friends in our previous home- and current work-area. A mutual friend who had moved away is coming into the area for a brief visit this evening. I will pick her up tomorrow afternoon at her work.

Meanwhile it will be just myself and the princess this evening. I suspect Rosey will stop by for a visit. Let me know if you’re in the area!

Alas! Since it is a “school night”, there will not be much partying. Too much to do. Lawn to mow. Bills to pay. Darn! The universe conspires against me!

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That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

Plastic Week

I have been trying very hard not to spend any plastic lately, but some times the best laid plans go awry. I also like it when you can just shake the dust bunnies out of stuff and have it work - and even work better - like Ben and Nick’s dryer.

Alas! That is not how things go in Lake Gonebelow.

This past week was a plastic week.

Midweek Baby Blue let me down after work. He would not start. His batter died. Luckily a coworker had cables and gave me a jump. I felt so manly and het! I got my baby to the car doctor and he put in a new battery. $$$$. Imagine an original equipment 60-month battery only lasting 8+ years! Zheesh! They just don’t make things to last like they used to! *wink*

Then Friday evening the washing machine gave a dying gasp after thirteen years. I broke a cardinal law of the Maelstrom on Saturday and we went to a Store of Home Improvement and Eye Candy of the Lower Variety to buy it. The clerks in appliances were very good, but the rest of the story was a disaster. The checkout clerk was a sweet young thing who was more interested in her nails than any customers. To straighten out her mess I had to go back to the appliance department and find the good clerks. Then someone in the office failed to fax the order to the deliver sub contractor, so we had a “delivery circus” today, but all (except the balance on my credit card $$$$) was well in the end.

I hope your week was less plastic.

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That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

Latent Hetersexuality

I’m sorry, but I cannot help myself.

Let’s go, Pens!

…and, yes, we say it with an accent.

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That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

What’s a Gurl to do?!

Someone offered to take this gurl on a date. His regular date will be otherwise occupied. With all the pretty girls in the dorm, he asked me!

At first I did not know where the handsome man was offering to take me. Even after he drew me a map, I was clueless. I found out it has something to do with this handsome guy and his partner.

Alas! I started to get all gussied up when I realized that my dance card is full the weekend of the date. It would also probably be hard to get a pass for that weekend even so.

But the gurl was so flattered even so that she got the vapors!

(Thanks, Mike! and best wishes Doug and Chris! )

[image courtesy of here.]

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That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

Tagged by Daniel: Book Meme

Daniel, formerly a Guy in the Desert and now a Bear in the Woods (Lost in the Woods) tagged me for the book meme:

I must:

1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages).

2. Turn to page 123.

3. Find the 5th sentence

4. Post the 5th sentence.

5. Tag 5 people.

“The Fairfax is neither as big or as bright as many other varieties of strawberry,” Dr. Hill states, “but it is vastly superior in flavor. There’s just no comparison between the Fairfax and any other strain.”
“Plant Flavor and Nutrition in Your Garden”, The Mother Earth News Almanac, New York: Bantam Books, June 1973, p 123.

Hmmmm…. I’ve never heard them referred to as “strawberries” before, but I do agree that they are vastly superior in flavor.

As is now my tagging policy, if you read it, you’ve been tagged (but participation is purely optional).

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That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

If You Show Me Yours, I’ll Show You Mine

Lilacs, that is.

Living in the Woods had some pictures of the landscape around his home in the woods of California, including the lilacs growing there.

I love lilacs. I love the look and I love the scent. I was thrilled to discover a lilac bush in the midst of the thick brush on our property when we acquired it last year, although it had already finished blooming by the time of our possession.

I was even more thrilled to learn this year when it bloomed that it is a deep purple colored variety.

Here are a few pictures taken at the beginning of this past week and then again about mid week.

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That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

As Cliché a Post as Ever You’ll Read Here

Last night we attend the band concert directed by the BIL. It was a very varied program and accented the many talents and the versatility of his students.

The penultimate piece was a medley of tunes from the Wizard of Oz. Now what Friend of Dorothy would not appreciate that!

I skipped mentally down the yellow brick road with We’re Off to See the Wizard. My own self image as the Cowardly Lion sang along to the tuba solo on If I only Had a Nerve.

But of course, - and you can see this coming - the climax of the piece was Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The dancing clarinets and flutes and the comical, lumbering tuba and bassoon yield to the growing swell of the French horns and deep bass.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
There’s a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby.

My eyes begin to mist up. It is dark in the auditorium and I am thankful that we are also in the balcony. I try to fight the growing moisture. I’m a wussy sap anyway when it comes to emotional things - especially music. I’d probably cry at hearing “Chopsticks” especially if you played it on mellow bass instruments. Bring on something like this piece and add to it the emotional subtext that the Family hears all too well, and you’ve got a flood that could irrigate the Sahara.

The music continues to swell. I feel the tremors of the reverberating bass and the timpani in my heart. I try to swipe discretely at the wetness on my cheek with my hand. I rub my eyes as if the allergens in the building are affecting me.

And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true

It is forte now. No, fortissimo. It is no use. I can only hope that I will not draw attention to myself and allow those around me, my wife, my SIL, my niece, to notice. If I can only make it to the Mussorgsky. It will be the last piece. The Hut on Fowl’s Legs will turn off the faucets. The Great Gate of Kiev will move me but in a much different way. If my luck holds out, my cheeks will dry before the house lights come up.

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can’t I?

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That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!