Date:	2008-04-23 22:51
Subject:	What colour is the sky in your world?
Security:	Public
Mood:	thoughtful

When I was a child, they taught me that the sky is blue. I looked up and I saw blue above me. I sat down with my crayons and some paper and I coloured the bottom inch of the page green and the top inch blue. In between, I drew a house with four-paned windows, and a stick figure family that was bigger than the house.

As I grew older, I saw other drawings. Other people did not draw the sky at the top of the page and the grass at the bottom, with so much white space in between. In their drawings, the sky would meet the grass. I looked out my window and saw the horizon. There was nothing between the sky and the grass. So I made another drawing and I coloured the whole top half of the page blue and the bottom half green. I had to learn to leave room for people and houses, or draw them first. I wondered, for a little while, why I was not surrounded by blue. There was nothing between me and the sky. Why was it only blue when it was far away?

As a teenager, I joined the Air Cadets. I learned how airplanes work, and what lets them fly. I went up into the sky in gliders and powered craft. I saw what the tops of clouds looked like by looking down on them from above. I noticed, briefly, that the sky was still only blue at a distance. All around me, it was clear. I didn’t think about it much, though. I was flying!

In college, students talked about how the sky wasn’t really blue. Well, at least not all the time. The sky might be grey when rain was coming, black at night, and all sorts of reds, pinks and purples at sunset. Even when you could say that the sky was blue, there were all sorts of different shades of blue you might mean. We talked about it, debated about it, took photos and painted pictures. Through it all, if asked, I still would have said the sky was blue. Yes, there might be exceptions, or different ways of seeing things, but everyone knew that the sky was blue.

Tonight, though, I went outside and looked up. There wasn’t a cloud to be seen; just a moon and countless stars. As I looked, it suddenly occurred to me that there was truly nothing between me and infinity.

For the first time I wondered if there was really such a thing as a sky.

One man was from England, one from France and one from Canada. They got acquainted and started talking about their wives. The guy from England began by saying: “I told my wife in no uncertain
terms that from now on she would have to do her own cooking. Well, the first day after I told her, I saw nothing. The second day I saw nothing. But on the third day when I came home from work, the table was set, a wonderful dinner was prepared... and even dessert.”

Then the man from France spoke up: “I sat my wife down and told her that from now on she would have to do her own shopping, and also do the cleaning. The first day I saw nothing. The second day I saw nothing. But on the third day when I came home, the whole house was spotless, and in the
pantry the shelves were filled with groceries.”

The fellow from Canada was married to an enlightened woman from the prairies... He sat up straight, pushed out his chest and said: “I gave my wife a stern look and told her that from now on she would have to do the cooking, shopping and housecleaning. Well the first day I saw nothing. The second day I still saw nothing. But on the third day I could see a little bit out of my left eye.”

(found at http://www.daxueyingyu.com/jokes/all162.html)

No, the vocals to lip movements in this music video spoof are not perfectly lined up. It doesn't matter. It's still hilarious. Trust me. http://www.jibjab.com/view/183392

I do check in and read my friends list on this thing every now and then, even if I'm horrible at responding (even to the replies I get- sorry about that).

This week I tried baking again. Something called a Brown Betty. As far as I can tell, it's like a pie for those without the skill (or perhaps just not the time) to make pie. So, I tried it. First, I took out all the ingredients, and found we had no eggs. Darla said I could substitute milk. Now, due to an allergy, I can't have too much milk, but I knew I'd been planning to eat this with ice cream, so I decided I wouldn't do that.

I added some milk, and I saw that it was helping the dry ingredients stick together. Good. But it wasn't working well enough. So, I added more, and got soup. Unable to syphon off the excess milk, I poured the whole thing on top of the apples in the pie pan. Instead of sitting on top like a crust or topping, the soupy liquid soaked down around the apples. Shrugging, I cooked it.

Now, I have apple cake pie. The crust and filling are interpenetrated in a way that makes this a more like a cake than anything else, but I made it in a pie pan. It tastes good enough, but every time I call it 'apple cake pie', my wife cringes.

Adventures in dessert-making. It's a grand old time.

In our prayer group, we've decided to try praying our way through the Gospel according to Matthew. I've purchased a devotional commentary that presents the gospel in chunks of thought and provides meditations and prayers. Today, we read the genealogy of Jesus which ends, "So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations."

One of the parishioners there commented, "Wow, that was a lot of names."

"Yep," I responded, doing the math quickly in my head, "forty-two of 'em."

Then my mind caught up to what my voice was saying and I almost had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. After all, how would I explain the Hitchhiker's Guide to this group?

Life is a funny thing...

Question: Raining cats and dogs: what could be worse?




Today's horrible joke has been brought to you from some random part of the internet.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and those who gender confusion, at the end of this month is my thirtieth birthday. It's a landmark, a milestone, for all who choose to view it that way, and I invite you to help me celebrate it.

My wife is the only one reading this who lives within a three hour drive of me, and some of you live in other countries, so arranging a party would be difficult.

There's stuff I want, sure, but whenever it's time to dust or move, I find myself muttering angrily about all the possessions I possess. So I'm not asking for more. Not from you all, at least. That's what family's for.

What I'm asking from you, members of my friends list and bored insomniacs who stumbled over this when they had nothing else better to do, is to take some time this month to make the world a better place.

You heard me. Give food to the food bank, volunteer at a soup kitchen, donate to the 'generation without Aids initiative', tell someone how much they mean to you, pick up someone else's litter, shovel the snow from someone else's sidewalk, sing on a street corner during your lunch break, visit someone who's lonely, go click for charity, smile, give clothes to the Salvation Army, encourage someone who's going through a rough patch, attend a symphony, donate to a museum, or blow soap bubbles off a balcony. Whatever. That thing you've been thinking you should do because it needs to be done and would make life better for someone, but you keep putting off? Do that. Call it my birthday gift.

Then come back here and respond with what you did. Not what you're going to do; what you did. You don't have to leave your name. Anonymous posts are good enough. If you really feel like lying for this, there's nothing I can do about it. But what I want for my thirtieth birthday is a better world. Not all at once- that kind of shocking change isn't good for anyone. But those little bits of hope, wonder, or completely ignored and forgettable kindnesses that no one notices but are more important than many would credit. That's what I'm asking for, my friends, and I'm giving you most of a month.

See what you can do, if you so choose to.

Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm 96
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-20

( Read more...Collapse )

I'm not a fan of Tarot, but felt like wasting time and found this interesting. I haven't forgotten I've promised art to people.

You are the Hanged Man

Self-sacrifice, Sacrifice, Devotion, Bound.

With the Hanged man there is often a sense of fatalism, waiting for something to happen. Or a fear of
loss from a situation, rather than gain.

The Hanged Man is perhaps the most fascinating card in the deck. It reflects the story of Odin who offered himself as a sacrifice in order to gain knowledge. Hanging from the world tree, wounded by a spear, given no bread or mead, he hung for nine days. On the last day, he saw on the ground runes that had fallen from the tree, understood their meaning, and, coming down, scooped them up for his own. All knowledge is to be found in these runes.

The Hanged Man, in similar fashion, is a card about suspension, not life or death. It signifies selflessness, sacrifice and prophecy. You make yourself vulnerable and in doing so, gain illumination. You see the world differently, with almost mystical insights.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

The first five people to respond to this post will receive some form of art, by me, for them. I make no guarantees about quality or type, only of individuality.

There's a catch, of course, as with most memes: if you sign up, you have to put this in your own journal too...

Open up your music player and set it to shuffle. for each line/question hit the next/forward button. say what song is playing for each line. Don't cheat either, just put the song that comes up. No cheating. Post the results in your journal. This is a free for all, so there's no need to tag anyone.

Opening Credits: Star Wars Cantina Parody

Waking Up: Fanfare for the Common Man- Aaron Copland

Falling in Love: I Love You- Barenaked Ladies

Fight scene: Pray- Darlene Zschech

Breaking up: Big, Fat, Road Manager- Arrogant Worms

Looking Back On Your Life: Put your arms around me- All-Star United

Getting back together: Pomp & Circumstance- Edward Elgar

Secret Love: ABC- Hoja

Life's okay: Always Have, Always Will- Avalon

Mental breakdown: This is Your Time- Michael W. Smith

Partying: Moonlight Sonata- Beethoven

Long night alone: Schubert's Unfinished Symphony

Final Battle: Celine Dion- Arrogant Worms

Death Scene: Traffic Lights- Monty Python

Ending Credits: There is no one like you, O Lord- The People's Gospel Choir of Montreal

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4 sentences on your LJ along with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

"Some of your friends feared you had deserted--"
None of my friends would fear any such thing.
"But the Roknari reported you had died."
"A foul lie, sir." Cazaril didn't say whose lie, his only daring.




Okay, that's five sentences, but I really like that last one!

Meme grabbed from General Bullet, and like her I got a flavour I'm allergic to.

I taste like Peanut Butter. I am one of the most blendable flavours; I go with sweet, I go with sour, I go with bland, I go with anything. I am practical and good company, but have something of a tendency to hang around when I'm not wanted, unaware that my presence is not welcome. What Flavour Are You?

( June 18 sermonCollapse )

All right, I need some expertise I don't have. I currently have around 200 ebooks (all legally!) in html format, as well as another 20 or so in pdf. I'm getting to the point where I'd like to read these in a portable format instead of having to sit at my desktop computer, without having to purchase another copy of the books.

What I'd ideally like:
- something between the size of a palm pc and a laptop (the size of a novel would be nice)
- around 1 or 2 GB of memory (by itself or with extra memory cards)
- the capacity to transfer files from my desktop to it (I run Win XP Home Edition, if this makes a difference)
- the capacity to read .html, .pdf, and .rtf files.
- all for a price of around $200 or less

Does such a thing exist? Surely I'm not the only market for it!

Lizamanynames finds the best memes.

You Are Big Bird

Talented, smart, and friendly... you're also one of the sanest people around. You are usually feeling: Happy. From riding a unicycle to writing poetry, you have plenty of hobbies to keep you busy. You are famous for: Being a friend to everyone. Even the grumpiest person gets along with you. How you live your life: Joyfully. "Super. Duper. Flooper."

Supporting my claim that labels and stereotypes simply don't fit me well:

You scored as Either. You brain is neither specifically male nor female dominated in the way you perceive things and as bad as this sounds it can easily mean that you are capable of combining both limiting gender aspects to your advantage. Rather than being genderless you are possibly able think freely. This does not nec. mean that you are bisexual or androgynous or indecisive, though it might. </td> Either 71% Male 57% Neither 36% Female 25% Should you be MALE or FEMALE?* created with QuizFarm.com

1) Ask me three questions: these questions can be about me, my thoughts, you, us, life, the universe, or unladen sparrows.

2) I will then look at my track list of songs I listen to while on the computer and provide a song title that accurately, appropriately, or amusingly answers your questions, or doesn't, as the case may be.

3) If you are on my friends-list and post this meme on your journal, I will come and ask you three questions. If you don't, I probably won't.