all comments answered

Just FYI.

Still need more comments on artwork, though. ;oD

a global enterprise

I’m with a global enterprise. We have branches in every country in the world. We have representatives in nearly every parliament and boardroom on earth.

We’re into motivation and behavior alteration. We run hospitals, feeding stations, crisis-pregnancy centers, universities, publishing houses, and nursing homes. We care for our clients from birth to death. We are into life insurance and fire insurance. We perform spiritual heart transplants.

Our original Organizer owns all the real estate on earth plus an assortment of galaxies and constellations. He knows everything and lives everywhere. Our product is free for the asking. (There’s not enough money to buy it.) Our CEO was born in a hick town, worked as a carpenter, didn’t own a home, was misunderstood by his family and hated by his enemies, walked on water, was condemned to death without a trial, and arose from the dead. I talk with him every day.

--Russ Blowers
quoted in Max Lucado’s “Traveling Light”


Ich gehöre einem globalen Unternehmen an. Wir haben Branchen in jedem Land der Welt. Unsere Repräsentanten befinden sich in fast jedem Parliament und Sitzungssaal auf dieser Erde.

Wir interessieren uns für Motivation und Verhaltensveränderung. Wir verwalten Krankenhäuser, "Feeding-Stations", Schwangerschaftszentren, Universitäten, Bücherverläge und Altersheime. Wir sorgen uns um unsere Klienten von Geburt an bis zu ihrem Tode. Wir bieten Lebensversicherung und Feuerversicherung an. Wir führen geistliche Herztransplantate durch.

Unser Urheber besitzt alle Immobilien auf der Erde und ein Sortiment an Galaxien und Konstellationen. Er weiß alles und wohnt überall. Unser Produkt ist kostenlos, man muß nur nachfragen. (Es gibt nicht genug Geld, um es zu kaufen.) Unser Geschäftsführer wurde in einem kleinen Kaff geboren, arbeitete als Tischler, hatte keinen Wohnsitz, wurde von seiner Familie mißverstanden und von seinen Feinden gehaßt, ist auf Wasser gelaufen, wurde ohne Gerichtsprozeß zum Tode verurteilt und ist vom Tode auferstanden. Ich rede jeden Tag mit ihm.

--Russ Blowers
zitiert in Max Lucados „Traveling Light“

art, and a few thoughts

Wow. Haven't been here in a long time.

Some of you, my Faithful (?) Readers, already know why I haven't felt like blogging much lately. Ed and I have been dealing with some pretty serious trials over the last seven weeks. For me, it has felt like being in a dark, cramped hole, into which light penetrates only on the rarest of occasions. And I'm afraid of coming out. Every day, God infuses me with a bit more strength...but still, healing is a long and slow process.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about.... You're welcome to ask, and I might respond to you privately. Or I might not. It depends on whether or not I feel comfortable sharing personal things with you.

In the meantime, I got new art posted on my Elfwood gallery this week! Here are the links to the new pictures:

'Aberrant Bird, Buoyant Bird, and Crestfallen Bird'
'According To The Dove On Far-Off Terebinths" and a details pic.
'Black Leaf Castle (Or: Someone Left The Lights On)'
'First Faery Tower Infesting My Desk'
'Maske der Kälte' and a details pic.
'Second Faery Tower Infesting My Desk'

Please leave some comments on my pics so they don't get lonely! (No, I'm not above begging.) ;o)

Happy Birthday, Blog!

Yay for my blog!!! IT'S TWO YEARS OLD TODAY!!!!












(Backdated from July 18th. Yeah, I cheated.) ;o)

dream #92

Mwungu, The Rabid Goat

recorded June 21, 2006

One night several weeks ago, I dreamed that I was back in school (imagine that!), and I was sitting down in a math or physics class. There were lots of numbers involved, so I didn’t really know which kind of class it was.

The teacher was a really disturbing-looking individual, with beady little eyes, a long face, and puffy cheeks. As I studied him, I started thinking that he looked quite a bit like a goat; I almost expected to see horns coming from the top of his head. He talked in a rapid, excited way that made him seem a bit demented. I thought it wouldn’t be safe to turn my back on him.

As the class period progressed, it became clear that this teacher didn’t like students who didn’t understand everything right off the bat. Based on the appearance or hobbies of those students, he picked nicknames for them and used those nicknames to make fun of them. I didn’t answer one of his questions correctly, and he asked me what I liked to do in my spare time. When I told him that I enjoyed painting, he laughed at me and started calling me “Picasso”; but it wasn’t a compliment, of course.

After this had gone on for awhile, I started getting really angry. Finally, I just stood up and yelled at him to stop making fun of all of us and to start helping us learn, instead. I said, “Until you stop calling me Picasso and start calling me Courtney, I’m going to call you Mwungu, the Rabid Goat!”

Then the dream ended.

?

christianity and homosexuality

I just read this article, which discusses (yet again) the difficulties that denominations are having in deciding what they should teach about homosexuality. Here's an excerpt from the article:
___________________________
Every Sunday there's an intense struggle in the souls of some believers as one religious denomination after another battles over the rights and roles of homosexuals.

Gay or not, progressive or traditional, those who disagree with their denomination's stance wonder:

Should they leave their church?

Has their church left them?

Is this any place to find God at all?

The questions are as fresh as the headlines, as old as Christianity itself. Early fathers of the church ruled on which teachings were heresy and which were "true."

"Denominations have fractured since Day One. The very word 'denominated' means divided," says Boston University sociologist Nancy Ammerman.

This week the national governing bodies of two mainline Protestant denominations, the Episcopal Church USA and the Presbyterian Church (USA), each meet to debate their views on gay clergy and same-sex unions, and whether the denominational rulings or local churches should have the final say.

But while leaders argue, ordinary people soldier on.

Many, gay or straight, seek a community of souls that welcomes them and shares their sense of the Scriptures and the sacred.
_________________________

Guess what? I'm not going to express an opinion about this. Shocking, isn't it! ;o) I am, however, going to quote a few scriptures that come to mind regarding this issue.

Draw your own conclusions.

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
--Jesus, Matthew 5:43-48

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
--Jesus, John 13:34-35

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him....Whoever has seen me has seen the Father...."
--Jesus, John 14:6-7, 9

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments....Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him....If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. "
--Jesus, John 14:15, 21, 23

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
--2. Peter 3:9

So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
--Romans 1:20-28

"...But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
--God, Revelation 21:8

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
--Philippians 2:3-13

updated the wish list (see link at right)

And now I'm going to bed.

Ahhh.....nothin' like a hard day's work.

;o)

done!

Just FYI, as far as I can determine, I've discovered all previously unanswered comments and now answered them. Not to worry, friends--I haven't been ignoring you. It's just that life has been happening an awful lot lately.

improving my vocabulary

A few days ago, I watched the movie "Billy Elliott" for the first time. What a terrific story! Quintessential coming-of-age kind of thing, about a boy who wants to become a ballet dancer against his father's wishes. Sweet, heartwarming, funny, inspiring.

I hesitate to recommend it, though, because the language was awful. However, the film is set in England in 1984, and all of the characters have extremely strong accents. So an American watching the movie without subtitles wouldn't be able to understand it well enough to hear the bad words, anyway. ;o)

The real reason I'm posting about this is: In the movie, Billy Elliott tells his ballet teacher not to lose her temper. His phrase is, "Don't lose your blob." Now, lest you think I'm posting bad language without knowing it, I looked up the phrase and found out that they made it up for the movie, improvising it on the spot during that particular scene. So to those of you with your minds in the gutter, it's nothing vulgar!

Anyway, I'm announcing that in an effort to expand my vocabulary, I'm going to start using this phrase. So, if you think I'm being silly or pretentious or needlessly eccentric.....don't lose your blob over it, okay?

God is good

"It's these moments, I think, that reveal the true man; the instinctive reaction before manufactured and trained good behavior can take over. You have a glimpse of what lies underneath the conventional responses, and in my case I saw a monumental selfishness."

--Iain Pears
in "The Portrait"

I have to admit to seeing such a monumental selfishness in myself...and frequently. But I try to keep before my eyes the hope I have in my Lord Jesus Christ: I have the opportunity, as a child of God, for a lifetime of growth and maturation through the influence of his Holy Spirit inside me; I am allowed to choose an increasing vulnerability to the love and the will of God, a choice which always leads to transformation and salvation, over and over again.

Praise the LORD!

the hugest update this year....for me, anyway

Hi Friends and Neighbors and Assorted Lurkers,

So, here’s the major-mondo update I’ve been promising for months and months. I’m going to keep it “short”—not because I don’t want you to know details, and not because I don’t think you’re interested (because I know you’re waiting with bated breath to hear about everything going on in *my* life)—but for my own sanity. Why? Because if I don’t keep this update relatively “short,” I’ll never write it. And if I never write it, I think I’ll inner-pressure myself out of blogging anymore. And if I inner-pressure myself out of blogging, I might go a little nuts.

If that makes sense to no one but me, then the going-nuts part has probably already happened.

So, with neither further ado nor further adon’t, here’s the nuts-and-bolts version of what’s been going on the last few months:

1. My sermon at the German Ladies' Retreat in February.
Aye, it went well. I wasn’t as nervous about this one as I was about the one last September. God infused me with more calm than I’ve ever had while speaking in front of people…and this time, I actually had fun with it. Slowly, I’m starting to believe those gifts-assessment tests that claim I would be good at teaching in a public role. Hmmm…..

2. My "epiphanies" resulting from the English-Speaking Ladies' Retreat in March.
In the shell of a nut, these epiphanies were specific to my relationship with Ed, and they’re not something I would want to tell the world about. Not in this forum, anyway. Suffice it to say, I realized this: The way I’ve treated Ed in the past has given him the feeling that I don’t trust him. Many things I’ve said and done have hindered him from leading our family the way he should. I talked with him about these realizations and asked his forgiveness.
And since I’ve started concentrating on trusting him, he has started making some good changes, and I don’t feel this inner pressure on myself to be in control of everything.
Huh. It’s pretty neat how God knows what he’s talking about in regard to men and women.

3. The counseling class I took.
This was another advanced course with Jim and Elsa Springer from the church in Bremen. The class covered the basics in counseling, and it was a great challenge. The most important things I learned were things about myself:
--I’m not yet emotionally mature enough or educated enough to be a counselor. Even though I often need to take a counseling role in my work, I put too much pressure on myself to be “better” at it than I’m capable of being at this point.
--I can’t communicate my boundaries to others until I have established them firmly in my own mind.
--I now feel better equipped to let others deal with their own problems instead of becoming emotionally overwhelmed myself because I feel like I have to take responsibility for what other people are doing. I’ve learned and now understand that what others do is not my fault, and it’s certainly not my responsibility. I’m not going to drag others’ emotional baggage around with me anymore.

4. My brief trip to Oklahoma.
As some of you already know, I was in Oklahoma for a week at the end of April. My Grandma Boxley, who is 91, is in very bad health. My mom called me and asked me to fly over there and spend time with Grandma for a week, and of course I agreed. It was a rough, rough trip—physically and emotionally. I’m glad it was possible for me to go….I’m glad I got to say goodbye.
Since I’ve been back, I think I’ve been avoiding thinking about Grandma a lot…which is terrible of me. But this is not an easy pain to deal with.

5. Current events:
--Let’s Start Talking team arrived from Cascade two weeks ago. Nichol, Spencer, and Tasha hit the ground running by hosting the LST Info Meeting the very day they arrived. Since then, they’ve been reading with people, visiting schools, and being an encouragement to the church here.
--The Harding Choir arrives for a concert this weekend. Fifty students; 3 or 4 will be staying with Ed and me. We’re renting a big room downtown for this Sunday’s worship service, and we’re inviting the Lutherans from down the street to join us if they wish. (The Lutherans will be keeping half the Harding students for two nights; the church will be keeping the other half.)
--FriendsCamp will be the weekend of June 9th.
--The “Singing Campaign” from OC will arrive mid-June.
--I still need to go to the “Ausländerbehörde” (“Foreigners’ Department”) to find out about the paperwork I submitted for my visa extension. I think that technically, I’m in the country illegally.
--I should’ve gone to the doctor a week ago to find out some blood test results (thyroid again), but I haven’t gotten a round 2 it.
--We need to take Pippin to the vet soon to have her “fixed.” Poor thing.
--I've been reading a lot of good books lately, including:

• "The Importance of Being Foolish," by Brennan Manning
• "QBQ! The Question Behind the Question," by John G. Miller
• "The Portrait," by Iain Pears
• "Life Expectancy," by Dean Koontz
• "Walking Through the Wardrobe," by Sarah Arthur

I've been toying with the idea of blogging some book reviews. But how would I make the time?

I’ve been feeling tired a lot.
And I guess that’s it. You want any more details, yer gonna hafta ask. ;o)

Chessboard Parleys, Episode II

mgam: I suppose you can say whatever you like. you're a big girl. hey who you calling unique?!
angeltwist: i'll even shout it from the rooftops if i want, so there. ;oP and i'm calling you unique! you've never given me the impression that it's your lifelong goal to be like everyone else.....
mgam: Hey I'm not oppossed to that nor to the ide of being unique...
angeltwist: better than the ide of march, i suppose.
mgam: if you've seen one ide you've seen em all...
angeltwist: it would take me a few minutes to figure out how many ides of seen.....but i'm sure i haven't seen all of them. i'm not as old as you, y'know.
mgam: thanks for rubbing it in. the ide of texas are upon you...
angeltwist: well, ide éclair!
mgam: that was the greatest pun i've ever heard. you win.

great news for virginal men

I just read the following article in the Yahoo! news section:

It's hard out there for a virgin...
Fri May 5, 8:49 AM ET

A brothel has become the first in Berlin to offer special deals for virgins with prostitutes trained in the delicate art of catering for customers who have never had sex, a German newspaper reported Friday.

The brothel in the red light area of the Kreuzberg district of the city charges 60 euros for a half an hour of sex and works within the laws of Germany where prostitution is legal.

"These are men who either never had sex before or have never been in a brothel before," the brothel's operator was quoted as saying in Berlin's B.Z. tabloid.

"It's the first house of love in Berlin that specializes in taking care of beginners," wrote the daily on its front page.

Prostitutes are given "sensitivity training" for first-time clients, who the brothel operator said are not necessarily young but often 40 or older: "They need to be aware of how much courage it takes to go to a brothel the first time."
__________________

Let me repeat that final quote: "They need to be aware of how much courage it takes to go to a brothel the first time."

Excuse me? Courage? I can think of a few words that would make for a better description. Perversion, for one. Immorality, for another. Or how about total lack of respect for self. Total lack of respect for women.

Actually, come to think of it, even cowardice would be a better word than courage. Yes, cowardice, because paying someone to have sex displays an unwillingness to deal with reality. Maybe the reality of an unhealthy marriage. Maybe the reality of one's own deep psychological problems. For virgins, maybe the reality of not being able to develop healthy, committed relationships.

This article shocks me. Not because prostitution is legal in Germany. I already knew that. And not even because this brothel is catering specifically to virgin men.

(Guys, would you really want to have to tell your future wife that your first sexual experience was with a woman you had to pay? A woman you didn't even love? A woman you didn't even know?)

No, what shocks me is the attitude in this article. The mindset. The view that prostitution is perfectly normal. Perfectly acceptable. Perfectly okay. And, underlying all of that, the view that if you think this is wrong, there must be something wrong with you.

The article emphasized the "sensitivity" of the trained prostitutes. Well, I think the whole thing is fundamentally sick and wrong. I guess that makes me insensitive.

So be it.

People, I refuse to sugar-coat this. On this subject, I will gladly stand up under accusations of being politically incorrect, intolerant, and judgmental.

Prostitution is a sin. Under any circumstances.
Visiting a prostitute is a sin. Under any circumstances.
Sex outside of marriage is a sin. Under any circumstances.

This is the kind of thing that caused the fall of Sodom, Gomorrah, and the Roman Empire. (Greatest nation of the world, brought down by immorality. Does that ring a bell?)

This is why the world needs us Christians to be light. This is why the world needs us Christians to be salt. (Matthew 5)

Without light, people stumble around in darkness and fall.

Without salt as a preservative, things rot.

i hate manipulative "christian" forwards

I've said it before (though maybe not here, I don't remember), and I'll say it again:

I HATE EMAILS THAT STATE OR IMPLY THAT I'M NOT A "GOOD CHRISTIAN" IF I DON'T FORWARD A MESSAGE ABOUT GOD TO EVERYONE IN MY ADDRESS BOOK.

I really believe that most Christians aren't thinking when they send fellow Christians emails that contain statements such as:

"Isn't it funny how you can send a thousand jokes through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing?"

or

"Isn't it funny how when you go to forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it to them."

or

"Isn't it funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me?"

or

"Jesus said, 'If you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you before my Father.' Not ashamed? Pass this on ONLY IF YOU MEAN IT!!"


No, it's not funny. And I don't appreciate the sarcasm.

No, I don't send messages about God to friends or family who are decided unbelievers. Why? Because it insults them and puts a roadblock in the path of my relationship with them. This means that they become even less open to the Lord than before, because they come to see me, their only Christian example, as inflexible, insensitive, and dogmatic.

No, I am not worried about what other people think of me. But I am concerned with what they think of Jesus. And I represent him to them, so what do they think of him if I show them arrogance instead of loving understanding?

No, I'm not ashamed of Jesus. But I don't have to forward an email to prove it.

Friends, I find such messages insulting. They are not messages of God's power or the love of Jesus Christ. These messages are arrogant and counter-productive to the spread of God's Word. They play on the emotions and inspire guilt, not the fire of evangelism.

Here's another quote:

"This is the simplest test.
"If You Love God... And, are not ashamed of all the marvelous things HE has done for you...
"Send this to ten people and the person who sent it to you!
"I don't think I know 10 people who would admit they love Jesus. Do You love Him?"

Excuse me?
I think you just said that if I don't forward your email, it means that I don't love Jesus.
Excuse me, fellow Christian? Surely I didn't hear you right.

Besides, I do know more than ten people who would--and do!--admit to loving Jesus. Plenty more than ten.

These emails are blatant emotional manipulation.

If we have a fire--a conviction, not a guilt-ridden burden!--to share the message of Jesus Christ, we need to get out there and LIVE it. Just clicking "forward" isn't going to cut it, especially if the forward tells people that they're ashamed and obviously don't have time for God if they click "delete" instead.

Think about whom you're sending such a message to before you send it. Please, think before you click!

More about forwards.

the "gospel" of judas--an excerpt from courtney's journal, with a few additions

So, I'm sure most of you, my Faithful Readers (ha!), have heard about this "new" and so-called "gospel" of Judas. A few thoughts:

I think this archaeological find is intellectually interesting, but insignificant beyond that.

Okay, maybe not insignificant…..Perhaps I could call it significant in that this “gospel” of Judas (obviously not a “gospel” at all, since the definition of gospel is “good news,” specifially about Christ) proves once again that we Christians must be wise and discerning about what we accept as truth. From what I understand, the world is getting in a big tizzy over this "new" text (which has actually been around since the 1970s!), and many Christians are in a defensive, worried uproar over its content, some of which contradicts the New Testament.

According to what I've read, this Judas text was written in the 2nd or 3rd century and is full of "new information" and "secrets" that were revealed to Judas. Some scholars, with whom I agree based on my own studies, say that the Judas text has very strong Gnostic overtones.

Gnosticism was a mystery cult rife with visions and spiritual elitism, a religion that rejected the physical body as evil and said that the truly spiritual person was one who received secret, ‘higher-level’ knowledge from the spiritual realm. Gnostics also rejected the idea that Jesus was the physical incarnation of God. These particular beliefs obviously contradict the teachings of the New Testament…as does the idea that Judas received special, secret information from Jesus that the other disciples weren’t given.

(As a side note: Bishop Ignatius of Antioch was one church leader who reacted so violently against mystic Gnosticism that he wrote letters to numerous churches, telling them to "cling to the bishop." He said, "Whoever does anything without the bishop's knowledge is from the devil." Ignatius and his reactionary ideas helped pave the way for the bishop- and pope-centered universal church, also known as the Catholic Church. If you don't believe me, research it.)

Furthermore, it seems that the Judas text tells of how Jesus allegedly imparted to Judas a story of creation that contradicts the story told in Genesis: Allegedly, Jesus told Judas that God didn't create the world. Merely that idea should be enough to prove that this Judas text isn’t inspired and is, therefore, only as spiritually convicting to us Christians as we allow it to be.

My bottom-line take on the whole thing? It sounds like a text penned by Gnostics in an effort to lend creedence to their heathen movement. To a serious Christian, this “new” text should be no more spiritually intimidating than the so-called Gospels of Thomas or Mary (included in the Apocrypha).

Academically interesting, but it doesn’t shake my faith in the inspired writings of the New and Old Testament.

Put all things to the test: keep what is good...
--1. Thessalonians 5: 21

P.S.In the comments section of this post, Val provided me with a link to a very good article on the subject of Judas, Christianity, and "The DaVinci Code," among other things.

P.P.S.
"I intend to get to the bottom of this web of deceit and confusion if it takes me the rest of my life, which may end at any minute!"
--Judge Maxwell
in "What's Up, Doc?"

an observation on a short break from my studies

Simply, it boils down to this:

Most of us humans just aren't willing to give up what's necessary in order to get what we want.

why does it take scientific studies to make people recognize principles that God gave us thousands of years ago???

I just read the following in a Yahoo! news article and just had to roll my eyes:

A new study finds that teens who take part in many different kinds of physical activity -- particularly with their parents -- are less likely to get involved in drinking, drugs, violence, smoking, sex, and delinquency than teens who spend a lot of time in front of the television.

"Anything we can do to get kids to be physically active will help them in terms of their physical health, but this research suggests that engaging in a variety of activities may also have social, emotional, and cognitive benefits, including reduced likelihood of engaging in risky behaviors, such as drinking, drugs, violence, smoking, sex, and delinquency," [Dr. Penny] Gordon-Larsen said.

DUH.

fun with foreign cultures

So yesterday, I got to know something fun about Bulgarian culture. Vassil, one of Larry's readers, is Bulgarian, and he hung this little token from one of the bushes in the Sullivans' garden. He told Larry that in Bulgaria, they have this tradition: When you see the first sign of spring, you hang a little token on the bush, tree, flower, or whatever other flora is displaying its first spring flair. So I guess he saw the buds on the forsythia bush and hung this little token on it:

When I first caught sight of it from afar, I thought it was a fishing lure. ;o) But what a neat tradition! Yay for cultural differences! And yay for springtime!

crazy english

The following bits of great literature came into being on the Oklahoma Christian University "Singing Campaign" of June 2001. Several of us were playing a language game in which each player contributes a part of a sentence without knowing what the other players are contributing. As in:

Player A contributes a subject ("The handcuffs"),
Player B contributes a verb ("gargled"),
Player C contributes an object ("pimentos"),
and Player D contributes an adverb ("symbiotically").

Players may add other adverbs, adverbial phrases, adjectives, and so forth, as long as the structure of the sentence remains intact. Here are some sentences that came together in strange ways on that starlit night so long ago:

A blunt elephant awakens delicately.

4,000,362 slimy heifers bebop coke repeatedly.

The juicy squirrels rang manure radically.

Some magical Martians snorted river cautiously.

Your mama’s shrunken sludge dances vomit lovingly.

The Saran-wrapped amoeba strangled fever blisters.

Its unwilling dough wore pimples authoritatively.

Mike’s infected Thumbelina impaled puppies slowly.

My swollen blue suede shoes defecated coconuts.

April’s peanut butter jar beheld toxic waste creepingly.

With blackest moss, the other Deutschmark stabbed Romanoffs with ease.

Thy radical snot gulped hamsters alluringly.

Rupert’s clairvoyant slug plucked tongues boldly.

Satan’s slutty cheese cake slurped turtles on the highest rooftops.

Surprisingly enough, our milky busts curtsied pustules right on task.

Tomorrow, flamboyant lace will flatulate kabobs happily.

Russia’s flat hairballs created toilet tingling.

The parole violators’ amazed horny toad blew rafters with great linguistic skill.

On the poop deck, our objective booty crushed dried linguini like a goose in heat.

Eight crunchy handkerchiefs serenade egg drop soup like redneck Olympics.

With the absolute possibility, spoonlike cowboys cut snot rockets while smelling like a stinky tube sock.

Unbeknownst to us, many underground headless horsemen slammed bellybutton lint so well, it would’ve made you cry.

Like sands in the hour glass, strikingly handsome mold slaughtered jazz hands while dancing like a 5-year-old on purple crack.

by April Wooldridge, Courtney Cantrell, Matt Barger, Mike Antwine, and others, June 2001.

random

Having sinus trouble again. I'm not sick, but my sinuses feel overly dry and somewhat clogged. And for the last couple of weeks, I get spots of blood every time I blow my nose. Gah. Frustrating.

Adding this to the fact that lately, I feel exhausted no matter how much I sleep, I'm starting to wonder if I haven't slipped over the border of "borderline anemic" into the Realm of Full-Fledged Iron Deficiency.
:o/