Here's something mysterious

I guess I don't have much motivation to post things on this blog, but in the spirit of pure randomness, here's one more, anyhow.
When I took this picture (using a digital camera) several years ago, I saw the bright light thing swoosh through the air while I was looking at the camera. I thought,"Well, that one's no good," and took another one.
To clarify, this didn't just show up on the photo, I actually saw it while the picture was being taken. It disappeared at the point where the movement stops.
I suppose it's an orb, but usually they aren't seen with the naked eye, indoors, in bright light, etc.

swine flu/kid lit humor

damn, a mystery solved

I really, really hate the Arthur books. I haven't read one, I just hate them on general principle because the illustrations suck so bad. Why, you can't even tell what kind of animal he is supposed to be! Is it a bear? Or just some generic "animal" with glasses, for god's sake? So I was disappointed to accidentally read the back cover of one while checking it in... it says it's an aardvark!
Whew. I never would have known. And I wish I didn't know.

midnight at the water tank

These were forwarded by a friend of a friend... someone put up a motion detector device with a camera to see what kind of wildlife were visiting his watering tank in south Texas. The first pictures were of a deer, mountain lion, and owl.

fairly humorous, if you've even read the original

http://www.holytaco.com/if-homers-odyssey-was-written-twitter

I want to go here

http://www.miragebookmark.ch/most-interesting-bookstores.htm

Just messing with Mother Nature

If you click on the pictures, you can see the poor redbud blossoms under all the snow.

why not to self-publish

http://badgas.co.uk/latawnya/

The best line is the last one on the dust jacket.

following links got me here:

http://thebloggess.com/?p=1431

Scroll down to the red letters "Jesus Christ" are, and at least read that section. Hilarious.

What to do with that old couch

There's a coffee shop in Lawrence across the street to the south side of Liberty Hall that is a pretty cool place. It's open 24 hours, and has three back rooms that are great places to hang out... I took my son into town for a concert, and was looking for a place to read while I waited. The coffee shop is down some stairs, and in between rooms there is a circular staircase that leads to a view of a wonderful ceiling of stained glass window above the second floor. There's also an old TV set there playing Pink Panther cartoons all the time. Then there are two other rooms, one completely grafittied. Notice the old safe in the wall. Suddenly I felt very creative. Anybody got an old couch?

Famous Celebrities I Have Seen

Back in the day when teachers were reading aloud to kids in school (I'm being snide, here, because I know some of them still do), one of my teachers read Misty of Chincoteague to us. Of course, we all loved that book. And when we were finished with it, we got to go on a field trip to see the MOVIE of it. It was showing at the Waldo Theater. And then, after the movie showing, MISTY HERSELF came out on the stage! It was soooo exciting. For some reason, although I blocked out so much of grade school, that memory is still very strong. Misty was an old horse by then, touring around the country. Somehow, it makes the book more interesting to kids when I tell them this story.

I also saw the Queen Mother once, but that's another story.

your suggestions welcome

I decided not to go down to see my friend in Texas over spring break, because in May I can visit him and go to the Kerrville Folk Festival as well. So what can I do around here (say, within a 3 hour radius) that will be fun and make me FEEL like I've gotten out of town to do something fun? I won't have a lot of days off in a row, but I'd like to do something different from my usual Nelson routine for a day out.
Shopping is out. I've seen all the museums recently (I think). I'm scared of driving downtown, although maybe I need to get down there and explore to get over that. Any ideas?

In case you needed a reason

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/WBL02129/Red-Wine-and-Marijuana-against-Alzheimers.html

Gee, I just remember getting yelled at for motivation

From the school district classifieds:

Use of a pot-bellied pig for an hour
Description:-I would like to use a pot bellied pig during a school assembly for State Assessment Test motivation

Motivation idea, maybe this works

From Overheard in New York:


Woman #1: I did that walk once when the subway was out.
Woman #2: It's good exercise. So, me and my friend decided that we need to exercise at least twenty minutes a day. For motivation, we decided that for each day we don't get at least twenty minutes in, we will donate $10 to the Republican National Committee. It's very motivating.

Way cool

http://gigapan.org/viewGigapanFullscreen.php?auth=033ef14483ee899496648c2b4b06233c

The clarity on this when you zoom in is amazing. See how many people you can recognize in the group behind the president. You can almost read the music on the music stands.

Validation video

I haven't been able to watch the whole thing yet, but maybe some of you can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao

And no, the picture has nothing to do with the link!

From my brother to my relatives

We need help, prayers, money, ideas, work.

. The good news is first. I have completed a piece for symphony orchestra which will be performed in Spokane this spring. It is named "Tatoosh" and evokes memories of hikes up Pinnacle Peak at Mt. Rainier. It is dedicated to the menmory of Fawnia, Thelma, and Phil Carson.

The rest of the news is mixed. As many of you know, I have multiple sclerosis and use a wheel chair most of the time. In the last year I have been hospitalized three times, t wice for a urinary tract infection, and once for an ulcer. The cure of these problems has been enteirely successful. I have been getting physical therapy and am now using a walker, and I expect to start using crutches agsain. I dream of actually walking again.

n Why do we need help? Like many Americans, we have fallen behind on our mortgage payments, and our home will be auctioned in foreclosure on my birthday, February 20, unless we get caught up.

I have been trying to sell my grand piano, but I have had no reasonable offers. If anyone is in a position to loan us money secured by a second on our home, please call me .

East is East, West is West

http://briansibleysblog.blogspot.com/

Brian Sibley's blog is well worth looking at, especially this particular post. I found his blog by doing a search on Pauline Baynes (illustrator for CS Lewis and Tolkein's books) when I found out that she had died this last summer (which I found out on another favorite blog "Collecting Children's Books" which I think I put up a link to (convoluted sentence, but it's late... 11:11 to be exact.)

WTF?

http://bookshopblog.com/2009/01/04/book-burning-on-feb-10th-2009-due-to-cpsia/

I sell on Amazon, but I didn't get any letter. Sure hope nobody 13 and under tries to buy The Lost Adams Diggings: Myth, Mystery, and Madness or Hell Bent for Santa Fe: the Texan-Santa Fe Expedition of 1841.

Work in progress

A bit lop-sided, I don't know if I can fix that yet. Two days left to work on it before I go back to the school.

Probably a repeat

I've probably posted this picture before, but I was trying out my new camera and this is the result. I'm quite pleased that it does such a good job without flash.

I just made another batch of Dutch almond pastries, which I'll be mailing to a friend to test how well they hold up going through the mail. My daughter made a simple suggestion that cuts the assembling time into a fraction of what it was, so I'll be looking into taking orders from other people and possibly mailing them.

I have no idea why I can't post pictures in order. I put the Boddhisatwa up first, and wanted the pastry picture under it.