Graduation Time

We have two graduating this year. One is on June 5th, the other happened a week or so ago. One is Gene Jr., who is 18 going on 19. His mom held him back in kindergarten. The second one is Crystal, who is 16 and will be 17 in August. She graduated early, from a school in Kansas somewhere. We got the photo of her from an email to Gene Jr. Other than that, we've not seen her or heard from her in years. It is sad.

Handy Latin Phrases Site

Wow! Do you think I am deep, using Latin? See if you know these phrases. Answers are at the bottom of the post. Click on the post title link to find some more handy phrases to impress others with!

Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.

Animadvertistine, ubicumque stes, fumum recta in faciem ferri?

Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus ventosissimis exponebantur ad necem

Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!

I have a catapult. Give me all your money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head
(At a barbeque) Ever noticed how wherever you stand, the smoke goes right into your face?
In the good old days, children like you were left to perish on windswept crags
Let's all wear mood rings!

The Box Doodle Project

If you haven't been here yet, click here. For those of us who cannot resist doodling, it is an opportunity to share a doodle with others. For the rest, there are lots and lots of fascinating drawings on boxes that are inspiring, to say the least. Note: you can scroll to the right, almost endlessly. Then they give you another page to look at. This doodle is by Tom Kane.

The Art Historians Laugh

Yes, it is just a fictional book, but amazingly, there are so many people who just take this like it is all for real. The book and movie (which I am so sick of hearing about I don't want to list it) can plant seeds of doubt for anyone, if you do not know your stuff.
For fun, check out the first video on the list (it does not take long) to listen to some art historians regarding Leonardo and the paintings that really do not have any code. The list contains MANY interesting videos!

Robert DeNiro Imagines He's Elmo!

And it works. A ha-ha-ha!

HeARTSpace Artists' Reception Tonight

HeARTSpace: An exhibit of works by the people of A Place at the Table meet and greet the artists in the Gallery at Trinity this Friday, May 5, from 6 - 8 p.m. This new gallery exhibit includes some of the works created by A Place at the Table participants and Trinity volunteers.
The show will be up through June 25 (Saturdays, 10 AM – 2 PM Sundays, 9 AM – 3 PM Wednesdays, 1 PM – 6 PM)
A Place at the Table is Trinity’s program that serves homeless people in our community. Each week, art happens as participants and volunteers come together in heARTSpace, a program coordinated by Mary Ann Breisch.The work you will see here is a compilation of the pieces we have been making since 2003.

Artisan Church

My husband and I were very honored to be delegates to the Great Lakes Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church meeting this past weekend in Columbus, Ohio. We met a lot of wonderful people and learned a great deal. It was truly a blessing.
A church plant that recently was made official was Artisan Church, in Rochester, NY. They have an interesting website and mission. I love the idea of the guilds that have formed:

Artisan Guilds
The newest way to experience community life and personal development at Artisan Church. Artist, craftspeople, and practitioners of any skill level -- from highly professional to novice beginners -- are invited to build friendships, find encouragement, and grow in their God-given gifts, skills, and abilities.
Current ‘Guilds’:
• Visual Artists: www.artisanvisual.blogspot.com
• Musicians: www.artisanmusic.blogspot.com
• Writers: www.artisanwriters.blogspot.com
• Children’s Ministry: www.emergingkids.blogspot.com
In the Works:
• Web Design: web-savvy programers and designers.
• Drama, video, movement arts, etc? Make a suggestion, offer some leadership, we’ll see where it goes!

I love this image

I believe a Japanese painter did this. When I find the name, I will credit him/her.

Mystery

Not a huge mystery, but if anyone knows why my links shrink, could you write and tell me? Thanks. I cannot see it in my coding.

Yuck

What is the point of all the dead bodies on TV? I am not talking about the news, which tends NOT to show dead bodies (although if you happen to have TV in Spanish, you can see they don't hide as much). I am talking about Bones, CSI, Criminal MInds, Numb3rs, and all these shows that show people walking into rooms of dead people, pulling bodies out of drawers, having bodies in any kind of shape, burned, beaten, buried, crispy, muddy, bloody, etc. laid out on metal tables. We are all about slicing their bones, pulling out hairs, getting instant speed-zooms down their throats and into their bowels where the bullet sits, or the fork, or the poison, or what ever. It seems like they almost always have to combine these shows with cool music, women who dress up a lot and wear pumps and nylons to crime scenes, can switch over their degrees in forensic science with cop badges and never seem to emote unless their is a romantic interest in the story. The computers in these stories always work, always have some one manning them, always have the obscure information available immediately and usually end up solving the crimes. Can you imagine that every single energy plant and what the pressure levels are on each section of the plant are available in seconds on these magical computers? There is never the money to hire people to enter REGULAR information, let alone these umpteen details.

BUT I digress! My point is that there is too much skin all over the place. Dead skin! I don't have cable, so when I change the station I get: Murder on 3, News on 4, Murder investigation on 5, Murder in progress on 6, news on 8, creepy alien types on 43, public tv on 25, preaching on 55, and Spanish on 61. (If I DID have cable, all that would be different is that you add 12 infomercials, 6 shopping networks, 2 cooking shows, 12 political or news shows, 2 shows where people throw out things or put them in garage sales, 15 sports channels, sci-fi (more creepy aliens), history (more murder), travel (yay!), 3 guides to tell you what to watch, 2 religious stations, and a few very strange cartoons. So who needs it?) But since I only have a few stations, I channel surf in a small, tight circle. Tonight, I saw 2 dead bodies in chairs, 2 dead bodies in beds, stabbings, suicide, 2 women being kidnapped, 3 women drowned, one man shot, one beat up and thrown in a trunk, several dead bodies on tables and 2 women in expensive sexywear in bed (different scenes, not with each other). I saw one of those women stabbing a dead pig with various knives. I saw a "scientist" slicing out a square out of a dead man's back and microwaving it! A BIG square! EEEEWWWW!!! And NO, I did not watch these shows for long! I was constantly switching the channel, perhaps hoping something good would be on, and constantly sickened to see NOTHING was getting better.
Why is this entertainment to our country? Are we studying so hard to be desensitized? I just don't get it. It does not leave me with a good feeling, nor does it "make me think" or teach me anything to view these things. It just makes me sick.

Compulsive Gardening

I cannot stop going outside! And as soon as I start any part of the yard, I've started 3 more.
This year's Special surprise are the violets. Since I've lived here we have violets that come up from under some shrubs. One year I moved a bunch of the shrubs to the side of the house, and along with the shrubs went the violets. Thing is, this side of the house is the north side and now the flowers have a place to act like they are in their own little woodland area, being between the house and the shrubs. They are profuse and are in at least 5 different colors: a pale fuchia, cornflower blue, purple, and violet. A few pink and white ones are in there too. I am guessing the soil acidity might have something to do with the variations, but I've not researched it yet. The big surprise is the sweet smell! I've smelled violets before, but this is amazing! The perfume comes wafting around the corner of the house and sends you into la-la Springland. I don't have a digital camera, but I will add a photo when I get any back.
Other than that, I uncovered a small sunny/dry plot by the door. There I have the lavender, lemon thyme, grape hyacinths, and balloon flower and have added a yellow coreopsis, a foxglove and coral bells. The oxeye daisies have popped up there as well, which they seem to do where ever they are in the mood.
In the back, the Japanese irises are up, as well as the clemitis, both gifts from Marie! The photo shows you how the irises came out last year-- really pretty! The new lupine I planted last year is coming up nicely and what ever is next to it will be a surprise since I forget what it is! Next to all on the arch that I planted beans and morning glories. I know it is before May, but if they don't make it, it is only a few pennies I spent, since they were cheap seeds. I can just replant. If the petunia seeds sprout and the birds don't eat the sunflower seeds, it will be yet another miracle.
In the big garden I won't do a whole lot until I get done burying the waterline, which was annoying to look at last year, but handy since we sure did not get much rain.
Okay, that is enough for now about my obsession...

Cut Loose with the Pipecleaner Dancer

JUST DO IT.

I Cannot Resist Cuteness

Oh, some people can, but not me. That is why I can hardly work at home; I walk around the house just adoring my animals... So finding this website just makes me so happy: Click here to see more from CuteOverload.com.

Hamster Photo by Akagami

A Favorite Poem by C.S. Lewis

As the Ruin Falls

All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through:
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.

Peace, re-assurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin:
I talk of love—a scholar’s parrot may talk Greek—
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.

Only that now you have taught me (but how late) my lack.
I see the chasm. And everything you are was making
My heart into a bridge by which I might get back
From exile, and grow man. And now the bridge is breaking.

For this I bless you as the ruin falls. The pains
You give me are more precious than all other gains.

~C.S.Lewis, Poems, “As the Ruin Falls” (1st pub. 1964), pp. 109-110.

Soupy George

Well, our retreat was FANTASTIC and then I came home and had an all-day migraine and nausea. This evening, a chest-cold has appeared. But, after a hot bath and a visit to Kim's site, I am feeling better! She had a link to 7 Seconds of Love, a great Ska band, and a funny video of cats to their song "Kelp" which is WONDERFUL! Click on the "Soupy George" title for a great video including otters in leather coats. Be SURE to play thru the whole thing so you don't miss the fantastic bridge. This soup has definitely made me feel better!

An Etching from a Long Time Ago

See ya next week

I am on a team that puts on a retreat and we leave tomorrow afternoon. Keep us in prayer!
In the meantime, the Design studio is almost done, it is only missing computers and jobs. The Art studio will be next, after I get the computers set up in the design half... Need any design work, forms, or stuff like the above? Etc? Just let me know.

Be Fed

If you haven't been there yet, now is the time to visit Journey to the Cross. It is refreshing, and Ken Medema provides beautiful music to go with it.

Recent paintings

So, where are they?
One was too awful and the next one was too big to scan. I have no digital camera. Today and yesterday my only painting was stenciling around a room at my mom's house. It looks great!
This is another doodle from last August.
Watercolor pencil again.

Just Click It!

"God is not at all invested in the church's isolated and mediocre projects."

I love this article by Barbara Nicolosi.
Another quote:
"As a talented filmmaker who is a devout Christian, Mel Gibson is absolutely an anomaly in Hollywood at the dawn of the twenty-first century. The reason for this comes down to the fact that artists who have talent and mastery of the craft very rarely believe in Christ, and that Christians who have any kind of mature faith very rarely have the passion, perseverance, and professionalism to succeed in the entertainment business.
It's not that Christians aren't making stabs at moviemaking and television production. It's that most of these efforts come to naught because our fears and misconceptions have us standing on the sidelines, cursing and boycotting and begging for favors from the pagans who have paid their dues and have the power to green-light stories for the screen."

Adapted from a chapter in Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film, and Culture (Baker Books), edited by Spencer Lewerenz and Barbara Nicolosi.

September 2005

10x7 watercolor and pen.

Process

I enjoy the process of creating something too much maybe. I need to appreciate finishing things too. In the same way, I enjoy the relationship I have with God, but need to also look to the goal of being more Christlike, and taking the steps needed to get there. Fortunately, that does not exclude the relationship part, but is dependent on it.

Bananas 03/14/06

This one took longer. 4x6. Not quite right but again, at least I painted.

Carnations and Status 03/13/06

45 minute sketch

I Miss the Dr. Who Series

I really like the 4th Doctor best (Tom Baker) but would love to catch up with the series as it is today as well. Click blog title to see where they're at now. It will be on SciFi starting March 17th.
Two of my favorite episodes is the giant rats and the one where they are trapped in a time cycle on a boat. What about you?

Me and My Cuz

© Photo by David G. Dinger

Two Drawings

The first one is a small watercolor pencil done in August. The second is what I did to it in Photoshop tonight.

This was my backyard

...and I say it always will be. It is part of the park system. Before we lived there a lady with the last name Mills was on the land. Prior to that, it was owned by the Battles family.
It had several buildings: our house, this horsebarn, a chicken coop, a deluxe outhouse, a shed, a pigsty and another shed way in the back. There were fields of daffodils, apple trees, plum trees, pears, blackberries, black raspberries, a natural spring, several waterfalls, deer, pheasant, quail, hawks, owls, geese, ducks, beaver, groundhogs, chipmunks, racoons and more. One year the ranger stopped by and gave us a baby racoon. Someone found the babies in the middle of a mall parking lot, and assumed their parent was killed. They delivered them to the park naturalists. We helped raise "Toony" and kept him in a rabbit cage in back of the house. As he got a little bigger, we simply left the cage open and Toony would climb trees and make some trips out to the woods. It was always cool to wake up and walk outside and look up in the huge maple and see his little pointy face sticking out from behind a Y in the tree. After awhile, we did not see him much, but we knew when it was him if he stopped by. He eventually got hit by a car after a couple years. It was a terrible first experience with death for a young teen. I always think of heaven as a place where I never have to worry about such things. I wish we could all just ride horses or walk and keep life more simple.
Anyhow, it was still a fantastic place to grow up after living my first 8 years on the West Side. Of course, I loved that, too, but that is for another post.

Space

Today I started to move anything graphic-design and computer-related out of my studio/office. I am going to attempt to set up my Design studio at my mom's house instead of here at my own. There are just too many things to be distracted by at home. If it does not work this time, I can just can all that stuff.
Here at home I will just have my art and craft stuff at home. Once all that other stuff [pressure] is out of there [ah! a cleansing!] I will have more space to actually work on my artwork instead of moving things just to find a surface area.
I already gave a bunch of stuff away to an artist who still had her Christmas tree up in January-- not so unusual, except it was from the year previous... And she should have a baby any minute. In any case, she still makes more stuff than I have lately, so God bless her, the stuff and her new baby.
I have enough stock photos to paper my house, inside and out.
I gave away all the Fimo and Sculpy that has been sitting in a Tuppeware breadbox for at least 10 years now. Some round boxes I have had on hand for about 6 years now, intending to paint them. Birdhouses, beads, and I am not sure what else.
I think I have 4 Macs and a PC. I will consolidate them if I can figure out how.
And maybe we will take in our niece's 3 kids after she runs out of money. I hope I can make some too, so we don't all end up on the street.
Anyways, I am hopeful. After all, Spring is less than 3 weeks away. That means probably only 2 or 3 more big storms (which, honestly, I kind of miss) and then lots of rain and wind. Good time to be indoors making artwork in my new spaces.

I made this last August

OUI!!!

One of My Top Ten Favorite Movies

Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain
Opening by Narrator:
"On September 3rd 1973, at 6:28pm and 32 seconds, a bluebottle fly capable of 14,670 wing beats a minute landed on Rue St Vincent, Montmartre. At the same moment, on a restaurant terrace nearby, the wind magically made two glasses dance unseen on a tablecloth. Meanwhile, in a 5th-floor flat, 28 Avenue Trudaine, Paris 9, returning from his best friend's funeral, Eugène Colère erased his name from his address book. At the same moment, a sperm with one X chromosome, belonging to Raphaël Poulain, made a dash for an egg in his wife Amandine. Nine months later, Amélie Poulain was born. "

I Just Love the Little Red Monster

And there is a website for people like us, thank goodness!

Sing it

Click Here for a Great Website

I can see why this won several awards-- it's fantastic! The black & white cartoons are all worth going thru (click on "See It In Action"). As far as the ads, I would say the Extreme Nurses win against the Electromagnetic Navigators, the Egyptian Navigators, the Envious Nomads and the Encouraging Norwegians, although it's a tough call! ...and the Matadors are great!

Is My Driving Okay?

I have an interview on Monday.

Darwin's Nightmare

"In the Eastern Congo alone, the casualties of war on each single day
equal the number of deaths of September 11th in New York."

"Some time in the 1960's, in the heart of Africa, a new animal was introduced into Lake Victoria as a little scientific experiment. The Nile Perch, a voracious predator, extinguished almost the entire stock of the native fish species. However, the new fish multiplied so fast, that its white fillets are today exported all around the world.
Huge hulking ex-Soviet cargo planes come daily to collect the latest catch in exchange for their southbound cargo… Kalashnikovs and ammunitions for the uncounted wars in the dark center of the continent.
This booming multinational industry of fish and weapons has created an ungodly globalized alliance on the shores of the world’s biggest tropical lake: an army of local fishermen, World bank agents, homeless children, African ministers, EU-commissioners, Tanzanian prostitutes and Russian pilots."
- From the Website, Darwin's Nightmare

You can see this film in Cleveland on Friday, Feb. 10th, 7:30 or Saturday, Feb. 11th at 9:30 at the Cinematheque at CIA.

I am SO ready to go to this museum and camp out!

Harleywannabe

Didja Ever Make Funny Faces and Then Have Your Housemate, Photographer, Artist Friend Shoot a Picture?

I did, and I was too lazy first time around to tell you that her name is Cindy Pacura Steffen and she also took photos of flattened Pepsi cans I found in the art school parking lot. Her blog is viewable here.Did I ever think anyone was looking at my blog? Now I know!

The Other, Good Side, of a "Book of Daniel" kind of story

Here we have love and consideration instead of knee-jerk reactions to a situation where Christian film producers hired a gay man for the lead role without knowing it. Click the title link to read the story.

Torture

5 Reasons Torture is always Wrong
And why there should be no exceptions.
by David P. Gushee
Click title link to read the whole article.
I am a little lazy this morning and don't have time to fix my tags...

"Now it is time to raise our voice and say an unequivocal no to torture, a practice that has no place in our society and violates our most cherished moral convictions."
David P. Gushee is professor of moral philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee,

I could not agree more with the article above. I am taken-aback by people I know and love stating that someone ought to be tortured since "they would have done it to us!"

But then we have all-American movies to encourage us to be hardened to it, like Quentin Tarantino's Hostel.

"Hostel is about three hedonistic fools who indulge in all manner of unethical pleasures until they find themselves trapped in a game where others fulfill their own appetites for cruelty by torturing human beings and killing them in slow and grisly ways—decapitations, throats slit, heads smashed in, digits being cut off and body parts diced and tossed into a furnace, point-blank shootings, eyes being pulled from sockets, flesh drilled full of holes, a person throwing herself in front of a train, and more. It seems designed to delight people who share the unhealthy appetites of the movie's villains."

"Guess what? Hostel is also the No. 1 film in America, tops at the box office. That means we're bound to see a lot more of this kind of thing over the next few years, in which other movies try to outdo Hostel—and the two Saw movies—with increasingly intense and explicit violence."
Read the rest of the article at http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/reviews/hostel.html

And we are ENTERTAINED BY THIS?
What is wrong with people???

About Tarantino, in case you don't know his style
"Tarantino's story - raised by his mother in Los Angeles and Tennessee, he became obsessed with low-budget potboilers and exploitation films in his teens and worked in a California video store - has become the stuff of legend. A generation of fans can recite the events of Tarantino's life as though they were Davy Crockett yarning about his backwoods encounters with grizzly bears.

What made Tarantino significant as a filmmaker was that he had the audacity to create an unusual new kind of modern movie from the dismembered pieces of old genres. As he did so, he hit filmgoers squarely between the eyes at a moment when they were hungry for something unique - yet oddly familiar."
Read the rest of the article by HENRY CABOT BECK: http://www.nydailynews.com/10-05-2003/entertainment/movies/story/123288p-110734c.html:

The weird thing is, I bet you anything if I met QT, I would like him. I have this feeling he would be harmless fun to hang out with or talk to. My husband even saw "Kill Bill" and "Pulp Fiction" and I understand QT's writing would hold up fine with no violence, but I am sorry-- I am against anything that hardens our sensibilities to any kind of harm. Yes, that would include the military service, but that is another blog, isn't it?

Jon Stewart Defends Mega-Churches?

Kim finds an interesting conversation on The Daily Show.
Click title-link.

Update on Teenager

Well, my 'son has been into something new, but old. He and his sibs drew and painted quite a bit when they were little, but not as much now. He changed that when he recently started reading and working from an Anime book, how to draw it, that is, and he comes home with at least a drawing a day now! And they are NOT BAD! He's turned out more artwork this year than I did all the last 3, and I am the one labeled "artist" in my house. I am proud of him. You can see more of his work by clicking the title link.

I Just Love The Reverend Al Green, My Brother in Christ

I got nothin' to say except that I never get tired of hearing his music and his thoughts.

Instant Twanswations

The Dialecticizer, by Rinkworks, has been one of my favorite fun tools for years. It can take any phrase, such as, "Gene, it's about time you got up for your exam, since it starts in half an hour!" and converts it into
(1) Redneck: "June, it's about time yo' got up fo' yer exam, on account o' it starts in ha'f an hour!"
(2) Jive: "Gene, it's about time ya' gots down fo' yo' 'esam, since it starts in half an hour! Right on!"
(3) Cockney: "Gene, it's about time yer got up for yor exam, since it starts in 'alf an 'our! Right!"
(4) Elmer Fudd: (my personal favorite) "Gene, it's about time you got up fow youw exam, since it stawts in hawf an houw!"
(5) Swedish Chef: "Gene-a, it's ebuoot teeme-a yuoo gut up fur yuoor ixem, seence-a it sterts in helff un huoor!"
(6) Moron: "Gene, uh uh uh, it's bou' time you got up f' your exam, siss it starts in half an hour! Doihh!"
(7) Pig Latin: "Enegay, it'syay aboutyay imetay youay otgay upyay orfay youray examyay, incesay ityay artsstay inyay alfhay anyay ourhay!"
and
(8) Hacker: "gene,, it"z about time ypou got up fro yor exam, snice it starts In 4hlf aN HOur!!!!!!!1 AACX)R OYUUUuUUU bceauiz you arfe lame"
I usually stick with #4 & #5.
You can do entire paragraphs.
Here's one from an anti-walmart page:
Original: "Wal-Mart has become much more than just a small corner store in rural America. In the past 10 years, Wal-Mart has grown into the largest retailer in the world -- number 1 among the Fortune 500 -- and is America's largest employer. With more than 1.4 million employees and over $10 billion in profits, Wal-Mart is a giant company with giant responsibilities. First and foremost, Wal-Mart has a responsibility to all Americans to set the standard for customers, workers and communities, and to help build a better America."
And converted for you to Elmer Fudd (funniest when read aloud):
"Waw-Mawt has become much mowe than just a smaww cownew stowe in wuwaw Amewica. In the past 10 yeaws, Waw-Mawt has gwown into the wawgest wetaiwew in the wowwd -- numbew 1 among the Fowtune 500 -- and is Amewica's wawgest empwoyew. Wif mowe than 1.4 miwwion empwoyees and ovew $10 biwwion in pwofits, Waw-Mawt is a giant company wif giant wesponsibiwities. Oh, dat scwewy wabbit! Fiwst and fowemost, Waw-Mawt has a wesponsibiwity to aww Amewicans to set the standawd fow customews, wowkews and communities, and to hewp buiwd a bettew Amewica."

They also let you enter a URL and it will convert the text on the website to the language as well.

If you've read this whole thing and laughed, great-- Boot yuoo prubebly hefe-a vey tuu mooch teeme-a oon yuoor hunds. Um gesh dee bork, bork!

How Do You Show You Love Someone? How Do You Know You Are Loved?

I have a friend from Ohio U, Keith Wasserman*, who always signs his letters with the words "Love is a Verb." He's done this for as long as I've known him.
In youth group we used to sing a song called "Love is Something You Do" (It's not always something that you feel, but it's real).
One of my favorite popular Lists is Dr. Gary Chapman's Five Love Languages, where you ask yourself which language you like to use when you express love, ("1. Words of Affirmation; 2. Receiving Gifts; 3. Quality Time; 4. Acts of Service; 5. Physical Touch") thus finding out how you would best recognize love being communicated from others. I even bought the "teenager" version of the book, because I really want to figure out how my teenager shows love by being absent, and how I can effectively communicate love back to him as a stepmom. When kids just hide in their rooms all the time and stay online, it is hard to know what they think, who they are or what they like any more. (If our house was bigger, I would never have let the computer go into his bedroom.) When they do come out of their caves and they are either snippy or wordless, it is not exactly a visit where you feel you've connected. It leaves me feeling that either there is something I am doing wrong to bug him, something I am too aware of that will bug him because he feels guilty, or usually, just a dry, empty feeling that I no longer have a 'son.
Good thing he is 18. I know that it explains most of the problem.
God bless him.
* If you clicked on Keith Wasserman, when you get to the Good Works site then click on "What We Do" in the left-hand column. You will see a link to his story, his ministry to the homeless in Southeast Ohio and lots of other great things on that site. His page was in Frames so I could not link you right to him.

Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things

Ben and Melody Pahlow, just regular people, unemployed with 4 kids, started Global Family Rescue after hearing their neighbor's stories of his life in Rwanda during the mass genocide. They set it up so you can change lives for whole families.

Carmen

I have now surpassed Carmen Miranda's age when she died of a heart attack. She was an amazing artist, full of incredible energy and creativity. Did you know she designed those outfits herself? If you haven't sat down for a Carmen Miranda Marathon, you owe it to your funny bone to do so, ending with (or should you start with?) the very strange and wonderful The Gang's All Here. I just love her.

What is Wrong with this Picture???

Hatt-Baby!

Yay! I found it! I almost thought it was gone forever! Don't bother if you are on dialup...
Paste it into your browser; it does not seem to like being a link for some reason.
http://www.nata2.info/humor/flash/hatten.swf

My Take on the Daniel Thing

My pastor woke up to a radio report on the controversy on The Book of Daniel, a new show on NBC. He blogged about his own frustrations with Chrisitans and cultural reactions, which you can read in his own words here.
Well, we watched it, figuring we would probably like it. We saw no problem with the idea of Jesus being there for people, real problems being shown, and all that kind of thing. We actually kind of liked it for the first 20 minutes or so. After a few problems, habits, secrets and so forth were presented, we were rather prepared for some resolution, including some good insight from the "special guest," Jesus. Thing is, as nice as Jesus was on the show, and as much as the words and ways he said his words were right on, no one seemed to be all that affected by them. His "presence" on the show was more like Tinkerbelle or Jiminy Cricket or a fuzzy teddy bear to carry around. No one seemed to talk about any of their problems except for the gay son, and no one seemed to have any kind of conscience or guilt. There was very little kindness from anyone, but Jesus, the Pastor, and Peter, either. After awhile, it just got to be a parade of one escape route (ie: booze, pills, sex, computers, sex, adultery, theft, drug use, etc.) after another, which was so ridiculous (and kinda boring). Nothing really drew you in long enough to be interested. Rather than showing some creative way of dealing with real problems, it seemed to say nothing matters and no one is ever really honest. Well done, but shallow and ultimately irritating content. We don't even get a chance to know any of the characters except the priest, a little bit.
I have to give it some thought, but those are my initial reactions. We won't worry about missing it. If I want to watch something like this, I would rather see Desperate Housewives.

Aslan & Hobbes

A wonderful article about promotion/production of commerical junk: Christianity Today: Tale of Two Kitties.
"I don't want some animation studio giving Hobbes an actor's voice, and I don't want some greeting card company using Calvin to wish people a happy anniversary, and I don't want the issue of Hobbes's reality settled by a doll manufacturer. When everything fun and magical is turned into something for sale, the strip's world is diminished."
Bill Waterson, Creator of Calvin & Hobbes

Why Don't You Get Some Art on Your Walls?

My friend Linda is a muralist, faux painter as well as a portrait artist. Would you consider getting your walls painted? She is not booked up at the moment, so now is your chance!
Linda Zolten-Wood

Paper Flowers

BBC: "Mexico's government has welcomed a nationwide political tour by the Zapatista rebel movement, saying it will boost the county's democracy."
I have so much to learn. Pray for Mexico's people.