• Blogs Wot I Read - Episcopal

    Bishop’s Palaces on the block in Britain

    My friend Ellen’s husband runs a blog about archeology, and today it had an item about the Church of England’s current upheaval… no, not that upheaval, the one about the fancy bishop’s palaces going on the market because they’re perceived as an extravagance in an era when ordinary parish priests have trouble making ends meet. Archaeology in Europe: 02/01/2008 – 03/01/2008 Resplendent with moats, gatehouses and banqueting halls, bishops’ palaces are among some of the grandest buildings in the country.Now, however, the historic homes, which have belonged to the Church of England for centuries, could be sold off in a…

  • Blogs Wot I Read - Mini-Posts

    In (Bad) Dreams

    Oh, dear: Woman’s dream of bomb results in oil rig evacuation – Boing Boing A woman who works on an oil rig in the North Sea had a dream that a bomb was on the platform. When she was overheard recalling the dream, it resulted in an evacuation.

  • Dear Mom - Home Improvement

    Waiting for the Shoe to Drop

    I’m still battling the cold and cough, hoping to avoid a 5-month bout of bronchitis like last year… when it finally went away after I started taking anti-acid reflux drugs in addition to some prescription and over-the-counter medications for general cough and asthma. There’s some kind of connection. In about half an hour, we leave to go to lunch with the family, at a deli up in Highland Park. It’s bitterly cold, and with the wind-chill factor it’s about -20 degrees, something that’s guaranteed to get my cold-weather asthma to kick in (something else I have to avoid if I’m…

  • Blogs Wot I Read

    Note the Rhino

    WorldRider: Journey of Adventure & Discovery Worldrider Allan Karl is in Africa, and having left his BMW “Doc” at the shop, he’s on safari. Photos like this are typical – his blog WorldRider has amazing stuff all the time about travel, food, new friends, and scenic wonders. This one is particularly stunning, and as he helpfully notes, “note the rhino.” [tags]WorldRider, rhino[/tags]

  • Connections - Home Improvement

    Self Sufficiency Trust for Handicapped in Illinois

    A family member may be benefiting from this program; they live in a group home in a distant town in Illinois.  Or maybe not – need to know more. Illinois Project Gives Families a New Way To Aid Disabled Kin – New York Times Danny and Fay Moore have lived with anxiety since the births of their daughter and their son, both mentally retarded as a result of the genetic disorder Down’s syndrome. The Moores shape their family life around providing special schooling and counseling for Stacey, 7 years old, and Aaron, 4, who are growing into adventurous, fun-loving children.”Our…

  • All Things Interesting - Dear Mom

    Happy New Year!

    We’re just back from our New Year’s visit to David’s parents; we took the new route and once again, it was no faster, but is a lot less complicated. It’s cold, cold, cold, and it snowed all last night and most of today. As we came back, along a long, 2-lane country road that leads to the new extension of I-355, we watched threads of blown snow whip across the blacktop. There are still farms out there, but the blight is already taking root: all kinds of chain restaurants and big-box stores are creeping along, with more construction obviously coming. Still,…

  • Blogs Wot I Read - Episcopal

    Santa Goat versus Saint Nicholas

    Here’s one version of jolly old Kris Kringle: a cute little white goat with golden horns wishes the whole world a Keroppi Christmas, via Joi Ito’s Web: Merry Christmas [kml_flashembed movie="http://video.sanriotown.com/flaon/us/loader.swf?key=5f1c1545436c043f" width="400" height="300" wmode="transparent" /] And here’s another version, which I also put in a post at the Holy Moly site, seeing as it’s a video of the Feast of St Nicholas as celebrated at Canterbury Cathedral, and we’re actually St Nicholas’ little Episcopal church in Elk Grove Village, IL: [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/bjSAn7piFIk" width="400" height="326" wmode="transparent" /] The video is narrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, also known as “the ABC”…

  • Dear Mom - Uncategorical Weirdness

    The Xmess Box

    Wow! In spite of my sister Timmy’s poor opinion of my housekeeping skillz, the Xmess box is all packed up and sitting in the hall! Where it’s been for the last year. Actually, more than a year. Last year, I hauled it out of the garage sometime in early December, thinking that if I felt like it, I’d get around to putting up the Christmas tree and decorations. But last year was the first one after Mom passed away, and I never did get around to it, although I felt horribly anxious about the countdown to Christmas, and positively in…

  • Dear Mom - Only in Utah... - Random Access Memories

    Christmas memories about to go up in smoke

    Salt Lake Tribune – As Cottonwood Mall is demolished, firefighters will train in the crumbling buildings As shoppers flood stores in search of last-minute gifts, firefighters already have bagged the perfect present: They got a mall. Through the end of January, the Unified Fire Authority will conduct extensive training exercises in Holladay’s now-nearly-empty Cottonwood Mall at 4835 S. Highland Drive. “It’s a once-in-a-career opportunity to go there and do drills and practices,” UFA Capt. Troy Prows said Friday. “We use structures that are ready to be destroyed for practice.” But rarely do those buildings come so super-sized – with 700,000…