mr. t

Mr. Tumnus might be thinking, "Oh man, I have to go to work tomorrow."
Or maybe that's me.

back to back birthdays!

And today it's my mom's birthday. I think we should celebrate with a parade!



(She's the one on the far left side.)

birthday multiple choice quiz

It's Christina's birthday!

How do you suppose Christina is feeling about that?

a. Happy! Bring on the cake!




b. Another birthday? Scary!



c. Birthdays?! Pfffft!



Happy Birthday, Christina!

Sing along here...

and I thought I was clumsy...

A woman taking an art class at the Met fell into a Picasso and ripped it.

Full story here.

On a happy note, at least she didn't damage Dogs Playing Poker.

our marb-meister

Since he pops up here from time to time, my blog friends probably all know Marble. Santa brought him to us as a kitten...



...and he is now over 16 years old. His health has significantly declined in the last 2 weeks, so Christina and David were able to make a quick trip home this weekend to check in with him one more time...



We love Marble so it's a sad time, but we're glad he has had a long, happy life.

sweeeeeeeet

OK, here's one more postcard from the SS lunch meeting. This one was sent on September 30, 1974 from Charles and Kathy who were visiting Great Falls, Montana to Emma in Olympia, Washington. I think either Charles or Kathy (or both) must have a serious sweet tooth. How else does one explain what was written?



Dear Emma,
We're enjoying this part of Montana & today visited the Charlie Russel art gallery & studio here in Great Falls -- our objective. Was just great & worth our time & trip. We are fine, the car, trailer & sugar all in good working order. Cold but crisp & sunny days -- a skiff of snow during last nite. Beautiful country over Rockies. Hope all's well with you & Duke. Imagine your excited about your company now. Thinking of you with love. Charles & Kathy

I'm glad their sugar was in good working order. I know the sugar I had in my molasses cookie tonight was certainly in good working order as well -- and that's always a good thing.

Saturday with Serena

OK, we actually got together yesterday, but where's the alliteration in "Friday with Serena"?! Anywhoo, drove through a torrential downpour (only a slight exaggeration) to meet Serena for lunch at our favorite waterside restaurant in Olympia. The picture was taken just outside the restaurant. (I wore my hair Conan O'Brien style in solidarity with that performer.) After lunch we did a walkabout and I picked up a few old postcards. Here's my favorite (which I bought with Christina in mind).

It's a postcard from 1908 advertising an upcoming play. Apparently the play was going to be pretty darn funny (or at least delightful):

Friday Five: IF

Jan has us pondering the following...

1. If you were a color, what would you be?
I'm going to say blue-green, the color of deep water, like here at Crater Lake. (By the way, I can't believe I've never been there and we only live one state over! I'm going to have to 'fix' that!)



2. If you were a flower (or plant), what would you be?
Maybe one of those scrappy trees up near the top (treeline) of a mountain. For example, an alpine larch is hardy enough to survive low temperatures in thin, rocky soil, and its wood is strong and durable.



3. If you were an animal, what kind would you be?
I would be a dolphin, because they are smart and get to play in the ocean. (But hopefully I wouldn't get caught in a tuna net.) Ah, here's good ol' Flipper:



4. If you were a shoe, what type would you be?
TEVAS! They are quite versatile and fit my 'style'. I've worn them hiking, to work, and even gone into a lake with them on.


5. If you were a typeface, which font would you be?
Hmm... maybe something like freestyle script because it seems 'friendly'.



Bonus: Anything connected with metaphors that you'd like to contribute.
Because I like looking on the bright side...



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credit:
all pictures googled

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Mike gets up before I do every morning, so he usually has a chance to see the tv news and/or look at the newspaper while I'm still sleeping. He has this cute(?) little habit of greeting me with the bad news of the day. (e.g. So-and-so prominent person has died, there was a natural catastrophe here or there, the stock market has tanked, etc.)

This morning he brought the folded newspaper upstairs, and I was expecting a doozy of a bad news story. (Of course we were already aware of the heart-breaking story in Haiti.) But instead of bad news, he showed me THIS:



WHAT?! My two FAVORITE performers of all time will be in the area?! TOGETHER?! (A giant "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" and happy dance ensued.) He got right on it, and I am happy to report we (i.e. the whole fam) will be seeing them in May in Seattle.

Again I say: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

(Sorry, I really can't help myself.)

sports commentary

Zero:



Hero:


'Nuff said.

facebook theology (it's baaaack!)

OK, having addressed the 'ethics' of posting this, I have rescued 'facebook theology' from the recycle bin and am offering it back up for your perusal...

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Even though facebook consists of short (and often trivial) snippets, I think you can learn a lot about people by what they post. Case in point: M (I will use first initial only) is someone my family knew when he lived in our city. He now lives in a different state and tunes pianos for a living. Many of his status updates have to do with pianos, but lots of them refer to how much he loves God, his church, etc. Of course that wouldn't be a problem, but some of his status updates lead one to seriously question if M "practices what he preaches".

The other day David (and then Christina) found one of M's status updates particularly troublesome, and challenged him on it. (J, a friend of M whom we don't know, jumped in to defend M.) It's a little bit long, but interesting. Read on!

M tuned for a homeless shelter today. Needless to say, I kept a close eye on my tool bag while I worked.

David
Yeah, I remember Jesus was always really wary of the poor too.

J
David, there's no problem with a little caution when it comes to expensive tuning tools. "Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." Mathew 10:16 (as spoken by the aforementioned Jesus)

David
J, I don't have a problem with people being protective of expensive possessions. But, criminalizing the status of the poor is something Jesus would never have done and I think it's immoral. See the entire New Testament.

M
I guess I should've left my HP ipaq lying on the piano while I went to the bathroom. After all, I would NEVER think it may end up missing after I returned. Oh, and by the way, since Jesus is all knowing, and we are not, I am sure He would know before hand if it was safe to leave his stuff.

Sorry dude, my status comment was not criminalizing the poor.

Besides several staff members told me to take my stuff with me if I left for a moment, and they even had someone guard the piano. Maybe that's criminalizing. Let me know and I'll give you their number and you can tell them that that's something Jesus would never have done and that it's immoral.

J
Admit it, M. Although you thought you were posting something interesting about your day, the authority of the entire New Testament (with David's help) has exposed your darkly immoral prejudices.

M
I know it! I guess I am not without sin.....

Christina
Hmm, no, your status comment was absolutely criminalizing the poor. You assumed that based on the fact that they are poor, they will likely steal your things. That is pretty much the definition of criminalizing, which you need to recognize. And maybe you're right, maybe they would have stolen your stuff. However, as a general rule, it is probably wise to keep track of your belongings in public because ANYONE might be tempted to take your things, regardless of their socioeconomic status. At the very least, you should take responsibility for your offensive and prejudicial attitude. I do not expect you to be "without sin", but because you are someone who is constantly touting their love for Jesus on the internet, to see such a lack of compassion for poor people, many of whom live in a deep state of desperation and despair, is hypocritical at best.

J
Christina, you and David are MFEO! I don't think you guys are concerned that M harbored these feelings of wariness. I think you are peeved that he expressed them publicly. There is a term for this kind of cognitive dissonance whereby we harshly judge others for giving voice to perfectly reasonable thoughts: Political Correctness. I, too have worked with people that minister to the homeless. They are full of compassion and the love of Jesus yet understand their clientele better than anyone. Their admonition to M came from experience.

M
. . . what J said. And Christina, you are wrong, I was not criminalizing the poor.

Christina
J: Nope, I am indeed concerned that M harbored these feelings of wariness for reasons that I have already clearly outlined.

M: You either do not understand the definition of criminalization, or you are in an unfortunate state of denial. Either way, there is no point in me continuing this hopeless discussion.


M
Best thought you've had...
------------------------------

And I'm cutting it off there. M and J had more to say, but their comments were almost entirely just personal, character attacks on David and Christina.

Soooo, if you've hung with this so far...
Christina and David do not regularly attend a church. And if they perceive that many church-goers have attitudes like M's (and J's), why should they want to?!

I find the M's and J's of the world frustrating to say the least. What is YOUR take on this?

what to do, what to do...

I posted "facebook theology" last night (regarding a facebook conversation which raised some interesting theo issues), but I'm removing it this morning while I ponder the ethics of putting a facebook conversation on blogger.

On the one hand, it's already on the internet (and last names would not be used here).

On the other hand, I don't know if that's a kosher thing to do.

Opinion?


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photo from here

Friday Five: Dreams

Todays' Friday Five asks us to share about the many different dreams and visions in our lives.

1. Do you tend to daydream?
Hmm... I guess I would say that when I have the luxury of time on my hands (which is not often enough) I do like to do a bit of day dreaming.

2. Do you usually remember your night dreams? Do you find them symbolic and meaningful or just quirky?
I wish I remembered my dreams more often. I have a tendency to think that one can find symbolism in all 'quirky' dreams and derive some sort of meaning from them.

3. Have you ever had a life changing dream which you'll never forget?
I have a couple of dreams I'll never forget (which involve people who have passed away), but I wouldn't say they were life changing.

4. Share a long term dream for one or more aspects of your life and work.
This is superficial, but I have had a dream to convert our dining room into a 'relaxing room' (the dining room just doesn't get used that often and is a waste of space) and I hope that will happen this year.

5. Share a dream for 2010.
I just got Gore's new book, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis. Helping the planet is definitely a dream/goal for me.


Bonus: a poem, song, artwork, etc. that deals with dreams in general or one of your dreams
I have no idea what the lyrics mean, but the title fits and I like this Supertramp song:

the picture says it all

last day of winter break

vintage new years postcard (or... the more things change, the more they stay the same)

This postcard was sent from cousin Mary in Chicago to cousin Betsey in Kansas on December 30, 1916. It was the time of the First World War, also known as the War to End All Wars. (Well, that didn't happen.)



My Dear Cousin,
May this be a Happy New Year to you Betsey and all your Bairns. Hope you are prospering. We are all well and doing well. Santa was very good to us all. How are the children. Do write me a letter soon and I promise to ans(wer) soon. I suppose you have heard from Aunt Bennie lately. Robert Scott and Robert Proctor was killed in the war. R. Scott was only 20 years old. I only hope no more of our cousins are killed. I think it's time we had peace--write me soon. With love from Arnold & myself--Mary Gabriel.

Mary (I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I include her!) and I wish you a happy, peaceful New Year.