The Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela is a centuries old trek across northern Spain done by following "The Camino de Santiago", the road to Santiago. Before February of 2001 I had not heard of "The Camino" nor of the Pilgrimage. By the end of October of that year I was in Santiago after completing the walk myself. I thought that when I reached Santiago my journey was over but I see now that my journey started way before I got to Spain and still has not ended.
And I never lost one minute of sleepin', Worryin' 'bout the way things might have been. -John Fogerty
My sister found this old photo of me at work back in the late 1970's and e-mailed it to me. As you can see I was not having a good day. I wonder why. What I find fascinating is the size of the glasses I am sporting. Could they be any larger? I actually lent them to Emma Thompson to help her visualize just how her character Sybil Trelawney should look in the Harry Potter movies.
I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here! -Claude Rains as Captain Renault in Casablanca (1942)
Gold medalist Scotty Lago was kicked out out of the Olympics after these photos started making the rounds. I find the Olympic Committee's outrage to be a bit disingenuous since Lago is a snowboarder. Snowboarders are know to be wild and crazy guys and Snowboarding a wild and crazy popular sport.
Jacques Rogge, this song's for you. Cole Porter's Anything Goes sung by the man himself.
Note: Ignore the films clips, they have nothing to do with the song.
Times have changed And we've often rewound the clock Since the Puritans got the shock When they landed on Plymouth Rock.
If today, any shock they should try to stem 'Stead of landing on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock would land on them.
In olden days, a glimpse of stocking Was looked on as something shocking But now, God knows, Anything goes
Good authors, too, who once knew better words Now only use four-letter words writing prose, Anything goes
If driving fast cars you like, If low bars you like, If old hymns you like, If bare limbs you like, If Mae West you like, Or me undressed you like, Why, nobody will oppose
When every night the set that's smart is Intruding at nudist parties in studios. Anything goes
When Rockefeller still can hoard enough money To let Max Gordon produce his shows, Anything goes
The world has gone mad today And good's bad today, And black's white today, And day's night today, And that gent, today, You gave a cent today Once had several chateaus.
When folks who still can ride in jitneys Find out Vanderbilts and Whitneys Lack baby clothes, Anything goes.
If Sam Goldwyn can with great conviction Instruct Anna Sten in diction, Then Anna shows Anything goes
When you hear that Lady Mendl standing up Now does a handspring landing up- On her toes, Anything goes.
Just think of those shocks you've got And those knocks you've got And those blues you've got From those news you've got And those pains you've got (If any brains you've got) From those little radios.
Two weeks ago we finally finished cataloging all the items that we were planning to catalog in the town library. The next step in the automation process was to be two days of training on the new system and those two days were last Thursday and Friday. I was looking eagerly looking forward to them both but ended up feeling disheartened, disappointed, and exhausted by the whole thing.
Each one of those two days saw me leave my house at 0730 (7:30 AM) and not returning to it until around 1800 (6:00 PM) after a round trip drive of 141.8 miles. That is the exhausting part of this story. The disappointing part was the training experience itself. First, let me say that the instructor from the company that created the software for the new automation program was a very nice man who was very enthusiastic about his product. The problem was that he was a lousy teacher who was trying to shove too much information in to our brains (ten people from five different small towns) in too short of a time period.
Here is one story that shows how frustrating this experience was for us. Someone asked him how a specific operation was preformed and he proceeded to give a detailed description of a complicated procedure that we all carefully copied down in our notebooks. When he finished he said, "Now I will show you a simpler way of doing this."
I heard muffled groans from around the table and saw, out of the corner of my eye, my head librarian's shoulders slump in defeat. I knew she had just mentally given up.
The dishearted feeling came when we learned we were not almost done, as we thought we were, with the "getting the new system into place so we can start using it" part of the automation process. This we realized when we found out that getting our patrons into the new system was not going to be a simple as we thought and that learning how to used the system was more complicated than we expected.
Today after having a weekend to think about all this I am feeling much better. I realize that we just need to take this one step at a time and take as much time as we need to thoroughly understand the new system before we actually begin to use it. This will save us time and frustration in the long run. I am also going to create a small notebook that explains how to search for a book, pull up a patron's record, check books in and out, put books on reserve, and run reports step by step in simple English. Right now we have a set of instructions that use phrases like "Enter a search argument and click SEARCH." What they mean is "Enter the book title and click SEARCH," and that is exactly what I will write in the notebook.
Childhood is frequently a solemn business for those inside it. -George F. Will
A photo of me at age four. This is a blown up, photo shopped (I think) image from my mother's passport. Back then parents were allowed to have their children listed on their passports. The good thing about that practice? You saved money by having only one passport instead of, as in my mother's case, five. The bad thing? The children could only travel with the parent who had them listed on his or her passport and in those days it was usually the mother.
When I look at this photo I ask, who was that sad-eyed child?
This piece of excrement is making the e-mail rounds:
Can a good Muslim be a good American? This question was forwarded to a friend who worked in Saudi Arabia for 20 years. The following is his reply:
Theologically - no . . . Because his allegiance is to Allah, The moon God of Arabia
Religiously - no. . . Because no other religion is accepted by His Allah except Islam (Quran, 2:256)(Koran)
Scripturally - no. . . Because his allegiance is to the five Pillars of Islam and the Quran.
Geographically - no . Because his allegiance is to Mecca , to which he turns in prayer five times a day.
Socially - no. . . Because his allegiance to Islam forbids him to make friends with Christians or Jews..
Politically - no. . . Because he must submit to the mullahs (spiritual leaders), who teach annihilation of Israel and destruction of America , the great Satan.
Domestically - no. . Because he is instructed to marry four Women and beat and scourge his wife when she disobeys him (Quran 4:34)
Intellectually - no. . Because he cannot accept the American Constitution since it is based on Biblical principles and he believes the Bible to be corrupt.
Philosophically - no. . . Because Islam, Muhammad, and the Quran do not allow freedom of religion and expression.. Democracy and Islam cannot co-exist. Every Muslim government is either dictatorial or autocratic.
Spiritually - no. . . Because when we declare 'one nation under God,' the Christian's God is loving and kind, while Allah is NEVER referred to as Heavenly father, nor is he ever called love in The Quran's 99 excellent names.
Therefore, after much study and deliberation.... Perhaps we should be very suspicious of ALL Muslims this country. - - - They obviously cannot be both 'good' Muslims and good Americans.Call it what you wish, it's still the truth. You had better believe it. The more who understand this, the better it will be for our country and our future. The religious war is bigger than we know or understand. Can a Muslim be a good soldier???
I DON'T THINK SO!!!!
Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, opened fire at Ft. Hood and Killed 13.
He was a good Muslim!!!
Footnote: The Muslims have said they will destroy us from within. SO FREEDOM IS NOT FREE. THE MARINES WANT THIS TO ROLL ALL OVER THE U.S.
Please consider sending it on.
Yes, consider sending it on to all your other religiously bigoted friends. I like that "He was a good Muslim" line. He was a good Muslim in the same way that Scott Roeder was a good Christian the day he walked into a church to murder an unarmed man who did not share his religious beliefs.
If you think someone cannot be a "good American" if he or she is a "good Muslim" then all "good Americans" can only be atheists since I can prove that all "good Christians" make bad Americans too.
Can A Good Christian Be A Good American?
Theologically - no...Because his allegiance is to God, The God of Christians.
Ecc. 12:13 -- "This is the end of the whole matter; all hath been heard, Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man."
Religiously - no. . . Because no other religion is accepted by his God except the Christan God. Jos. 24:16-20 -- "You cannot serve the one true and living God while serving other gods."
Scripturally - no. . . see Theologically answer. Geographically - no. . . Because his allegiance is to heaven, to which he turns in prayer each day.
Socially - no. . . Because his allegiance to God forbids him to make friends with Muslims or Jews.
2 Corinthians 6:14-15 Believers must not commune with unbelievers. What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, light with darkness, believers with infidels?
Politically - no. . . Because he must submit to his spiritual leaders who teach annihilation of all non-believers.
Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Exodus 34:11-14 You will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you. Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you. For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you. You shall eat the old harvest, and clear out the old because of the new.
Domestically - no. . Because he is instructed to keep his wife submissive at home and in the church.
Ephesians 5:22-23 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.
1 Corinthians 14:34-35..the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
Intellectually - We will skip this this part since the original premise, that the US Constitution is base on biblical principles, is so out there as to be laughable. I could also say the US Constitution is based on the principles taught in Aesop's Fables. Philosophically - no. . . Because Christianity, Jesus, and the Bible do not allow freedom of religion and expression.. Democracy and Christianity cannot co-exist.
2 Corinthians 6:14-15 Believers must not commune with unbelievers. What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, light with darkness, believers with infidels?
Spiritually - no. . . Because when we declare 'one nation under God,' the Christian's God is NOT loving and kind, even though the word love is used many, many times in the Bible.
Nahum 1:2-8 The LORD is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and wrath. He takes revenge on all who oppose him and furiously destroys his enemies! The LORD is slow to get angry, but his power is great, and he never lets the guilty go unpunished. He displays his power in the whirlwind and the storm. The billowing clouds are the dust beneath his feet. At his command the oceans and rivers dry up, the lush pastures of Bashan and Carmel fade, and the green forests of Lebanon wilt. In his presence the mountains quake, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles, and its people are destroyed. Who can stand before his fierce anger? Who can survive his burning fury? His rage blazes forth like fire, and the mountains crumble to dust in his presence. The LORD is good. When trouble comes, he is a strong refuge. And he knows everyone who trusts in him. But he sweeps away his enemies in an overwhelming flood. He pursues his foes into the darkness of night.
Can't we all just get along? Peace and Love, people, Peace and Love.
Sometime between Christmas and New Year's an acquaintance told me that one of their puppy went missing. It was upsetting news because they live outside of town and odds were a coyote got had got the dog. Today I happened to mentioned to my husband that I had asked the woman yesterday how her children were doing now that the the puppy had been gone for almost two months. My husband got a startled look on his face and said he just remembered he had found the body of a young dog while hunting on another farmer's land south of this woman's place three weeks earlier. The dog had been shot in the top of her head, which means someone had waited until she right in front of him before he pulled the trigger.
Here come the Jets like a bat outta hell Someone gets in our way, someone don't feel so well!*
Bird hunting season ended yesterday so this morning my husband went south of town to run the dogs. Since the ditches on either side of the road where he took them were filled with goatheads and burrs he decided to run them in a large pasture near where he had parked the truck. He was surprised when Duke stayed close to him instead of taking off to roam the pasture like he normally did whenever they walked this field. Then he noticed coyote poop lying about and watched Little Sally Pumpkinhead sniff at some she had found and then back away from it as if it was dangerous. My husband didn't shorten his walk but he did keep an eye out for coyotes and Duke and Little Sally Pumpkinhead did not leave his side once.
When they got back to the truck, Duke was the one who spotted it first, the left front tire had been sprayed with coyote urine. Someone was sending a message.
Here come the Jets! Little world, step aside! Better go underground! Better run, Better hide!*
My husband has decided not to run the dogs in that part of the county for the rest of the year. He doesn't fear the coyotes and knows that if he walked the pasture by himself they would avoid him but the dogs were a different story. The dogs were the intruders and the message had been left for them.
We're drawing the line, So keep your nose's hidden We're hangin' a sign Says visitors forbidden And we ain't kiddin'*
The dogs knew it too and could not wait to get back in the truck and into their kennels.
