Costume Party

M's band is playing downtown tonight at Escape. Show starts at 8:30. All the band members are dressing up like the Bass player. For tonight only they will be the Dead Vilmars. Here are shots of a few of them. These are from my cell phone. I'll download the others from my camera and post tomorrow.
















There's a discount on drinks for anyone who dresses up, so my version of Peg Bundy will be there with the "girls" on display.

Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

On another note, Jr. is in D.C. at the Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear. He's supposed to send me pictures and video clips. I'll do a post if he remembers to do that. Otherwise, go to Rally Live Feed to watch the event on-line, or tune in to Comedy Central on cable to see the events. I really wish I was there. *sigh*

It took B about 2 1/2 hours to get on the train and get to D.C., normally a less than 30 minute trip. He finally got to the Mall and hit a wall of people. At noon they said there was over 150,000 people with more coming, but by the time B finally got up out of the crowd and on some stairs to take a photo, it was 3:00 and the crowd was so large he couldn't get it all in. Here's the shot he did send me.

We can rebuild him, make him better than before...

Thanks to my niece, Alison, for her help in putting the gargoyle back together. Now we're waiting for him to dry so we can get the paint on him next. We just might have him up by Halloween.

Betty's Words of Wisdom

I was just reading an interview with Betty White and just decided I like her even more.

"She believes everyone should have the right to say "I do."
White's status as a gay icon dates to the mid-80's popularity of "The Golden Girls." "Gays love old ladies," she says of the phenomenon, which saw fans from West Hollywood to New York City turn on their TVs between 9 and 9:30 on Saturday nights to watch the exploits of Rose & Co. "I don't care who anybody sleeps with. If a couple has been together all that time -- and there are gay relationships that are more solid than some heterosexual ones -- I think it's fine if they want to get married. I don't know how people can get so anti-something. Mind your own business, take care of your affairs, and don't worry about other people so much." (Read full article)

On another note, I will be back to posting more regularly very soon. I'm coming to the end of this busy period by the end of next week. Ta-ta!

The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get

That's just the story of my life this semester. I am working the two jobs like I normally do, only this semester I'm teaching an extra class and doing them all back to back with no breaks. I eat lunch rushing between classes. That means extra lecture time, extra grading and extra students to talk to during office hours. I'm also taking a seminar for instructors on how to incorporate more writing into class assignments, so there's time to attend class and homework for me. Yes, I'm nuts to be doing all this in one semester, but I figured it was only for one semester and I could rest later. Sometimes it's good to push yourself. I seem to accomplish more when I have more to do.

Today we've been hauling out the Halloween decorations and getting everything set up, well sorta. We decided our ghosties needed new sheets and new styrofoam heads, so we refreshed some of those and then took the extras to the other side of the yard so they could be running to join the other ghosties. I also decided to add some more decorations so I was busy with that today. We got about 2/3 of the way done. I still have to stuff our dead sailor and my patching of the gargoyle this year will be like major surgery.

For the last few months we've had a mouse in the house that no amount of poison or traps has seemed to do the trick. Mousie was very busy in the basement chewing the hell out of the gargoyle! He got his head and one entire side. So I know what I'll be doing all week. Hopefully I'll get him re-plastered in time for Halloween. Argh. I'm still planning a post on the NFL game we went to two weeks ago and our visit to the National Museum of Art in Washington, D.C., but I just haven't had the time to upload all the pictures. Gee, I wonder why? I'll be back posting as soon as I can.

This Woman is Everywhere!

We've been so busy with travels last weekend to D.C. and my first NFL game. This weekend we went to Williamsburg, VA for a conference and you'll never guess who we ran into!


Full posts coming as I can get to them.

College Visit

So M and I went up to Party Central this weekend to visit Junior at college. It's a beautiful campus and has about 25,000 students there. So I won't be surprised if my Junior gets lost in the mix and his teachers don't know who he is. Hopefully he does well enough this semester that they'll let him come back next semester, but judging by his sleep deprivation and kennel cough, I'm not so sure.

After repeated calls to wake up Junior to come down and let us in (to his friend's dorm room) he finally appears. His first comments to us are "I need a haircut." Great! That's one battle down that we won't have to fight. This is the after picture. He easily had 3-4 inches cut off. Anyway, Junior hasn't been staying in his "Scholars" dorm because it's not as nice as the "Honors" dorm where his best friend, Mr. Thespian, lives. This is also the dorm where all Junior's friends live and where all the all-night video game parties are held in the "man nest." I love how they refer to it as a nest and not a cave. He admitted that he was severely sleep deprived but didn't express any ideas on how to correct that, if he even thought that should be corrected, or any inkling if this sleep deprivation might eventually affect his grades. So we kept our visit short, figuring he needed to get back to sleep. We got the haircut, a filling meal, cough medicine and cough drops, plus gift cards for other eateries. He seemed happy with the visit. I received multiple hugs, "I love you"s and I even got to take this picture. The last time he was that friendly was when he had his wisdom teeth removed and he wasn't in his right mind. Okay, so maybe the sleep deprivation caused all this friendliness, but I prefer to think he was sincere and actually missed us. *smirk*

Gotta love a good parody

Watch until the end to see Grover's take on the Old Spice commercial.

Yoga is not Christian

I consider myself a Christianized Pagan Spiritualist. I believe in a Creator/God/Goddess. I believe it's way beyond our mortal understanding. I don't believe we're an accident of space and time. Things are too orderly and connected, which begs the question if there is order, who ordered it that way?

I have studied all the major religions of the world both on my own, in groups and in college. I've seen a lot of copying between the holy books of the various religions. Is it plagiarism if each group is getting the same messages, stories from their Prophets and their Gods? Is it more likely there are universal truths?

I ask this because today I read an article about a Southern Baptist Minister who is against Yoga. This minister says yoga isn't Christian. He says that stretching and meditating is not a Christian pathway to God. I could have sworn that God connected to you through your soul and mind.(Matthew 22:36-40) Didn't Isaac meditate? (Genesis 24:63) Didn't God directly tell Joshua to meditate daily on the laws He had given Moses? (Joshua 1:8) Isn't prayer another form of meditation? (Ephesians 6:18)

I believe my body, mind and spirit were given to me by my Creator, whoever that Creator is. I believe that being a creation of a Divine power, that there is within me, a way to connect back to my Creator. The ways I have felt most alive, most connected to something greater than myself is when I have sat quietly in nature and listened, and when I have stretched slowly, breathed deeply, gone deep into my thoughts, and let the quiet within spread throughout my stretching body to slowly become one with this creative life force.

I strongly disagree with this Pastor. Yoga and meditation are pathways to connect to God. You say they're not Christian because they are rooted firmly in other religions: Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism. So are you saying taking what works from another religion is bad for Christians, even though their own Bible and Christian faith direct them to pray, to meditate, to do so with their whole body, mind and spirit? Isn't it more important that you connect to God than the method you choose to get there? Or is this more about control? You connect to God in the manner I tell you. You can only get to God through me. This sounds a lot like the argument between Luther and the early Catholic Church. You see how well that worked for the Catholics? This direction of the Pastor to abandon the practice of yoga seems silly to me and I am glad that so many Christians have publicly and personally disagreed with him.

Change Happens

I was getting a little bored with the old header and design so I decided to redecorate. It's still not exactly what I want, but hey, it's a change.

Back to the theme of yesterday and everyday heroes, here's a guy trying to draw attention to the plight of the homeless:




For one other piece of positive news, did any of you notice any NFL football teams wearing pink last week? The NFL was supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month and all the teams are doing community events throughout the month. Full Story

Now go out there and be the change you wish to see! I'm tired of the bad economy, divisive politics, and people doing crazy stuff!

Everyday Heroes

So what are the odds that a child in your community will be abducted, you will see the story on the news, not have to work that day because of the rain, go out front to talk to your cousin, when the suspected kidnapper's truck drives right by you? What would you do? Would you even notice the truck? Would you take action? This guy did, persistently and likely saved a little girl's life. We need more heroes.

Teen Suicide

I went to a candle light vigil last night for a gay teen who committed suicide. As a mother, nothing gets my anger up quicker than knowing someone is picking on my kids. Nothing brings out my protective nature quicker than knowing my child is suffering. I wish I could just activate a giant hug for these teens who are suffering, protect them, counsel them and help them through this. The kids who got up to speak last night were a very diverse group, both gay and straight, both religious and not. One girl spoke of surviving her suicide attempt and how important it is to pay attention and reach out to those around us. Sometimes it's hard to know that another person is suffering. Some of us keep it well hidden. The solution then must be to create a society that embraces all of us, regardless of who we are. We must create an environment of acceptance and erase the stigma of depression or mental illness. It is so hard to be a teenager with the hormones racing and your brain re-wiring itself, let's not add hate and intolerance to the mix. We're losing too many promising lives.

For all you Gleeks

The national news depressed me this morning and with the gray, cold, rainy weather we're having this Monday morning, I decided it was too much. I need something happy and sunny this morning. So here are two video clips. The first is Beyonce at the VMAs with her backup dancers. One of the dancers is Heather Morris (white girl). She will later be cast as Brittany on Glee.


I love the character of Brittany on Glee. She says the funniest things. Watch.


Go here to watch more Glee videos

Fall

I remember Amherst, and New England in the Fall; the crispness in the air, gives birth to coat and shawl.

I remember the gray in the sky of late day, like some doom crawling near, that only God could belay.

The warm aromas, of dinners for the night and children after school, playing in the last bit of light.

Sundown's just a haze, and more depressing this time of year; families gather close, there's comfort in being near.

When night finally falls, there's a quiet desolation, as though the houses and trees, are suffering a great tribulation.

The Fall most always brings people together, striving for warmth from the coming cold weather.

The remembrance of Winter's chilling cold touch, at this time of year, is recalled deep and much.

Remembrance of ice and snow of virgin white, weighs heavy on the senses, in the cool of early night.

Summer's warm rays, now seem distant and faded, as Fall encroaches, with mischief berated.

Slowly staining, vibrant leaves of green, turning to crimson, the life that had been.