Mom's little book of days for yesterday had some cryptic notes: Property tax due Frank 60 NOVEMBER 21 We have two ends with a common linkWith one we sit, with one we think.Success depends on what we use – Heads we win…Tails we loose. It's a cute sentiment, but it contains one of my all-time pet peeves in English usage: the substitution of "loose" for "lose." Yesterday was a very good day. I can't explain why; night before last was a rough one where I got up at about 3 or 4 to read for awhile. Sleep doesn't come very…
-
-
From WBEZ in Chicago | This American Life Heretics The story of Reverend Carlton Pearson (pictured), an evangelical pastor in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His church, Higher Dimensions, was once one of the biggest in the city, drawing crowds of 5,000 people every Sunday. But several years ago, scandal engulfed the Reverend, he was denounced by almost all his former supporters, and today his congregation is just a few hundred people. He didn't have an affair. He didn't embezzle lots of money. His sin was something that to a lot of people is far worse … he stopped believing in hell. …
-
Bush Choice for Family-Planning Post Criticized – washingtonpost.com No, I'm not happy about this choice – I don't think someone whose stance appears to be not just anti-choice, but anti-contraception, for everyone, and repeats the canard that since condoms can't protect against all STD's ("the infected area is often not covered by a condom"), sex should be avoided entirely unless with one, faithful, uninfected partner. Gosh, how stunningly clear, everyone will easily be able to adapt to this standard. It's very real-world, don't you think? It appears that some other of my childfree sistren and brethren are a little more…
-
Embittered Insiders Turn Against Bush – washingtonpost.com Poor George! All the powerful friends that propped him up and made him look important and powerful are jumping out of the treehouse.
-
Romney Wants Gay-Marriage Ban on Mass. Ballot BOSTON, Nov. 19 — Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney R said Sunday that he will ask the states highest court this week to order a ballot question on same-sex marriage if legislators fail to vote on the matter when they reconvene in January. Oh, not THAT again! Just when you thought this issue would die down until the next election cycle. Or wait, duh… Romney's probably gonna run. Gotta rally that base! Push the button! DISCLAIMER: I grew up non-LDS in Utah, and will always be irked by holier-than-thou types.
-
Salt Lake Tribune – Reid proof that good Mormons can also be Democrats Sen. Harry Reid's ascension to the top of the U.S. Senate is an unexpected victory for a tiny band of beleaguered Utahns: LDS Democrats. His most vocal critics? Other Mormons. Despite the fact that Reid held weekly Family Home Evenings and sent three sons on two-year missions for the church, and all five of his children were married in LDS temples, some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints question his faith because of his politics. Utah politics defy description for anyone outside the…
-
State of the Church – New York Times Q: You just took office as the first woman to head the Episcopal Church, and curiously enough, you come from a science background, having worked as an oceanographer for years. A: I worked on squids and octopuses Uh, shouldn't that be "octopi?" No matter. I'm glad KJS is getting all the press. I ran across this at Daily Episcopalian. And no, I don't think she's going to be a "fluffy bunny bishop," either. Thanks, Jake! I knew that photo would come in handy! [tags]bunny bishops[/tags]
-
Mom's backyard. She loved sitting on her deck with her cuppa of a morning. Anyway, laundry's done. I've been avoiding laundry of late, because it reminds me of Mom, and endlessly folding sheets and towels upstairs while our old Siamese cat, Beebee, scuffled under the sheets we were trying to lay out, "playing." Mom would scold her, and then ruffle the sheets and snap them out so they fell perfectlly even, requiring just a couple of sharp tugs to do hospital corners at the bottom. At this point, a suspiciously cat-shaped lump would be visible in the middle of the…
-
Five months have passed since Mom died, and it's still a struggle sometimes. I mentioned at the time that there were certain emotional landmines to be negotiated in the months and seasons and years to come. The first snow of the season will be any time now, although it probably won't be heavy enough for Mom to have declared that it was "Doughnut Day." In other words, it's almost time to make the doughnuts, but I'm not really set up for that. However, I can provide her recipe for Disappearing Cookies, which I do know how to make, though they…
-
I was up far too late last night tinkering with this WordPress beta version of my blog, I admit that. Moments after posting a comment over at DDtB inviting folks over for a preview, I enabled a “Friends” macro to point automatically to his blog. I set it to recognize his nick, ***Dave. Then I changed a couple of style options directly, in the style.php file that my husband David has warned me repeatedly not to mess with. So I wasn’t sure what exactly I had done when I refreshed my screen to see my changes, and POOF!! No blog!…