So I am finally getting the hang of having weekends

and I made PLANS!

So what happens? We get weather.

To explain:
Until recently for the past 12 yrs I worked at least one day, if not two each weekend. I learned never to plan anything for weekend days. It taken some time to get used to the idea of having totally free weekends, at least for now.

It should be interesting on the highways near me because they made extra lanes for the former 35W traffic out of the shoulders, so there will be no place to push the snow.

I am going to try to do some of my plans tomorrow, calling first to make sure its still happening and keeping an ear/eye to the weather. I hope the ice part of the storm misses us. Since we are in a warning they could shut down the highways so I will try to taken city streets.

I have all wheel drive, ABS, good tires, food, extra clothes and my cell phone.

tombclock.

Your Personal Day of Death is... 

Thursday, September 19, 2058

http://www.tombclock.com/


I ran a friend through it and even though they are younger and not as overweight, their clock was 2022. It scared the hell out of me!

I did an actuary quiz for life insurance a awhile back and the results were similar even though it was a 6 page quiz.
If I got thinner and exercised more, I would gain 6 yrs years.  At age 98, I am not sure I would want an addition 6 yrs. 

I am no longer a prime number

Did you know that in 1789 by United States President George Washington named November 26 as Thanksgiving Day?

I was born on Thanksgiving on November 26! 

The other day a certain sm and I were discussing how often my birthday falls on Thanksgiving, I thought every 9 yrs. or maybe swing between 5 and 9 but I was wrong!

November 26 falls on Thursday in 1998, 2009, 2015, 2020, 2026, 2037, 2043
so 2049, next?  nope.  I am too sleepy to follow it through.   If anyone knows a nifty algorithm, please post it.

Meanwhile I am having a birthday ginger biscuit and then off to bed!

The lovers, the dreamers and me...

Happy Thanksgiving!




RAINBOW CONNECTION
Kermit the Frog
(Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher)

Why are there so many
Songs about rainbows
And what's on the other side
Rainbow's are visions
They're only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide
So we've been told and some chose to
Believe it
But I know they're wrong wait and see

Someday we'll find it
The Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me

Who said that every wish
Would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star
Somebody thought of that
And someone believed it
And look what it's done so far
What's so amazing
That keeps us star gazing
What do we think we might see

Someday we'll find it
That Rainbow Connection
The lovers the dreamers and me

Have you been half asleep
And have you heard voices
I've heard them calling my name
Are these the sweet sounds that called
The young sailors
I think they're one and the same
I've heard it too many times to ignore it
There's something that I'm supposed to be

Someday we'll find it
The Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me

and I was shooting for

a 6th grade reading level



oh well, I will have to do better.

stolen from Laurie who stole it from Lorna, LOL!

Way cool

Cowboys herding cats

One of my favorite Wodehouse quotes

People who enjoyed a merely superficial acquaintance with my nephew Archibald (said Mr. Mulliner) were accustomed to set him down as just an ordinary pinheaded young man. It was only when they came to know him better that they discovered their mistake. Then they realized that his pinheadedness, so far from being ordinary, was exceptional. Even at the Drones Club, where the average of intellect is not high, it was often said of Archibald that, had his brain been constructed of silk, he would have been hard put to it to find sufficient material to make a canary a pair of cami-knickers.- P. G. Wodehouse, "The Reverent Wooing of Archibald"


Makes me laugh every time I think of a canary wearing cami-knickers (tap pants)

Ha! I totally guessed on the Q word.

Your Vocabulary Score: A

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary! You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

I may not be able to spell, but I know the words on this quiz, lol!

Masquerade Ball

I just got home from the Masquerade Ball.
It was great fun. I wore my Miss Marple costume from Halloween with a mask on a stick. It seemed to go over well even though everyone else seemed to be sci fi something.
I actually made several masks but when they were done I found I couldn't handle wearing them on my face. I also tried painting on my mask with makeup and glitter, but washed that off as well. It seems anything that touches my skin recently causes a rash or something. The mask on a stick seemed like the only reasonable solution.

There were some great costumes. The lighting was a bit too low for my cell camera, but I might be getting some pictures from someone else, if his turned out. I hope he got a picture of the guy who came as the goblin king from Labyrinth, he was amazing and won 2nd place (I think) in the costume contest. One guy had a Yoda back pack,that I really liked. There was con type food, punch and a cash bar. I picked up a bag o' blood for someone.

I watched a bit of a movie with Jack Nickleson, James Spader, and Michelle Pfeiffer in it, about a guy who turns into an animal and kills women in central park. There was a bathroom scene that should have been scary but only made me laugh after viewing this video on male bathroom etiquette that Jack sent.

Do not

blithely toss a fringed silk velvet burn out scarf into your washing machine even if its HE with a gentle cycle unless you like untangling a 1 1/2 yards of wet 8 inch fringe into the wee hours. The scarf part came out great, the fringe is a nightmare.

It makes me appreciate the times my mother detangled my hair after I left it braided for several weeks at summer camp. I washed it every day after swimming but didn't bother to unbraid it, seemed like a great idea at the time.

I've had better ideas...

uncertain

A friend just called to tell me about a great garage sale. Amazing clothes, sewing/embroidery notions, books, etc... Normally I would run over and check it out, however when she gave me the location I realize it is Bernadette's house, and its her estate sale.

I am not sure I can go over there. She had great things so I know I would like it.  I don't have any of her work and I would like to have something of hers to remember her by.  I haven't been by the house or seen her family since she died.

I suppose I should head over, I can just drive by if its too much.  I called another friend of ours and maybe we can go together...  I hate this!  but most of all I hate that she is dead.

Who ya gonna call?

It is Gumby with a grumpy face?
an over done gingerbread man?
no its T Buster
(name and link has been shortened to protect the innocent)

(with apologies to Ray Parker Jr.)
If there's somethin' strange in your neighborhood
Who ya gonna call (Tbusters)
If it's somethin' weird an it won't look good
Who ya gonna call (Tbusters)

I ain't afraid a no T
I ain't afraid a no T
If you're seein' things runnin' thru your head
Who can you call (Tbusters)
An' invisible man sleepin' in your bed
Oh who ya gonna call (Tbusters)
I ain't afraid a no T
I ain't afraid a no T
Who ya gonna call (Tbusters)
If you're all alone pick up the phone
An call (Tbusters)

Your tax dollars at work here, folks...

I am eating a chocolate chip cookie

This is something most people take for granted in their lives, the ability to eat whatever treat they want.  This cookie is a Mac the Chip http://www.alternativebaking.com/productinfo.cfm?pid=9&CFID=3877&CFTOKEN=71987114
with no wheat, oil, dairy, peanuts or eggs.  Actually tastes pretty good.

What tasted even better was a cherry almond rice crispie treat that I had last week.

Gas Prices ;-)

I forgot to post that I bought gas yesterday at $2.89/gal.  Today its $2.75/gal, typical

Another propaganda poster

For those who don't know I studied propaganda academically and was briefly enrolled in a phd program but as some would say "life had other plans."
My main area of interest is British World War I propaganda, and Chinese Communist Propaganda. The British because it was what everyone steals from and the Chinese health stuff because it was so effective.
One of my favorite places to hang out in terms of propaganda is the Imperial War Museum in London which is located in what once was the central part Bethlem Royal Hospital (1815-1930) for lunatics and is where the term Bedlam comes from.
While grabbing the link for the museum I notice they are currently having an exhibit I would LOVE to see called Weapons of Mass Communication.
Incidentally the King George poster on the above page link is the original that Germany and the US ripped off for their own propaganda campaigns.

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

I can't get the red lines to appear on the graft but basically, I scored like this:
Obsessive/complusive bookworm over 2/3
Literate Good Citizen a bit under 2/3
Book Snob 1/2
Fad Reader barely there maybe 1/20
Non-reader- I wasn't at all
Grabbed from Geoff's blog

In light of the expected influenza pandemic, MSRA, TB and how often I see people not washing their hands, I thought I'd post a few public health propaganda posters.

presenting Mayda!

If y'all, as my grandma would say, want to check out what I have been working on, here is it:

www.myspace.com/maydamiller

Look quick because its gonna change soon ;-)  with new background picture and colors

Bernadette R.I.P.

Bright Eyes

Is it a kind of dream,
Floating out on the tide,
Following the river of death downstream?
Oh, is it a dream?

There's a fog along the horizon,
A strange glow in the sky,
And nobody seems to know where you go,
And what does it mean?
Oh, is it a dream?

Bright eyes,
Burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
How can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.

Is it a kind of shadow,
Reaching into the night,
Wandering over the hills unseen,
Or is it a dream?

There's a high wind in the trees,
A cold sound in the air,
And nobody ever knows when you go,
And where do you start,
Oh, into the dark.

Bright eyes,
burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
how can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.

Bright eyes,
burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
how can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes. -Simon and Garfunkel


Bernadette died from what I understand were complications from chemotherapy.   She lost the gamble that chemotherapy can prolong one's life, in her case it may have shortened it. She lived 4 months from her diagnosis. 

Another friend and I were going to stop by her house a few days before she died. We called first, I realize from the sound of her husband's voice that it was very bad. She was still in the hospital which was not so unusual, he said there was no point visiting her there although we could.  It was the first time I heard total despair in his voice.  I hoped he was wrong, it seemed inconceivable.

Even though its been several weeks now, its so hard to take in that I will never see her again, hear her voice, feel her irrepressible energy or see the sparkle in her eyes.  She always seemed so unstoppable, a force of nature. She always encourage and inspired me to go after dreams, and reminded me to approach life as if anything was possible when I would forget.
I don't think it was possible to know her and not think of her with a smile. 

I started to write this post a few days ago, but I started crying when I was trying describe the person she, couldn't stop for quite a while.  I am far from the only one who feels this way, she was one of the most loved people, I have ever met. Last week, I was volunteering at the food coop and another friend of hers came in, it was all we could do not to just break down.

September was a very bad month, I try to look at the various things and think in 10yrs time they won't matter, but this will.

I'm crying again...

I think my luck is changing! The price of gas went down two days after I filled up instead of one.

One of my lovely doctors gives me Cox 2 NSAID samples because its not on my insurance company's formulary. Every month or two, I go to their office to pick them up. The office is in a medical building near a large teaching hospital, in a semi-iffy neighborhood. I park on the neighborhood streets because I am cheap, not to mention still unemployed. Usually the samples are in a brown bag and I can walk around without everyone seeing that I have hundreds of dollars of pills in my hands. Occasionally they are in a large clear ziplock baggy. This time they were like this:



Someone obviously had a sense of humor that morning. On the plus side I had lots of room in the elevator and no one came near me walking back to my car.


NL: Al Stewart Cousins
NR: The not so big life by Sarah Susanka
Feeling: sad, friend died
Mood: still dark with perhaps the illusion of a pinprick of possible light at the end of the tunnel, though its probably a train.

Lol, lobster tickets!

"Just like a river running through." Guess what I am listening to?

This is my first post by cell phone. I tried posting pictures directly from my phone but it doesn't seem to work.

Next year in Jerusalem

"Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the most sacred of the Jewish holidays, the "Sabbath of Sabbaths."

By Yom Kippur the 40 days of repentance, that begin with the first of Elul, have passed. On Rosh Hashanah G-d has judged most of mankind and has recorded his judgement in the Book of Life. But he has given a 10 day reprieve.

On Yom Kippur the Book of Life is closed and sealed. Those that have repented for their sins are granted a good and Happy New Year.

Since Yom Kippur is the day to ask forgiveness for promises broken to G-d, the day before is reserved for asking forgiveness for broken promises between people, as G-d cannot forgive broken promises between people.

Yom Kippur is a day of "NOT" doing. The is no blowing of the Shofar and Jews may not eat or drink, as fasting is the rule. It is believed that to fast on Yom Kippur is to emulate the angels in heaven, who do not eat, drink, or wash.

The Five Prohibitions of Yom Kippur

1. Eating and drinking
2. Anointing with perfumes or lotions
3. Marital relations
4. Washing
5. Wearing leather shoes

While Yom Kippur is devoted to fasting, the day before is devoted to eating. According to the The Talmud the person "who eats on the ninth of Tishri (and fasts on the tenth) , it is as if he had fasted both the ninth and tenth." Prayer is also down played so that Jews can concentrate on eating and preparing for the fast.

On the eve of Yom Kippur the community joins at the synagogue. Men put on prayer shawls (not usually worn in the evenings). Then as the night falls the cantor begins the "Kol Nidre", it is repeated 3 times, each time in a louder voice. The Kol Nidre emphasizes the importance in keeping vows, as violating an oath is one of the worst sins.

An important part of the Yom Kippur service is the "Vidui" (Viduy) or confession. The confessions serve to help reflect on ones misdeeds and to confess them verbally is part of the formal repentance in asking G-d's forgiveness. Because community and unity are an important part of Jewish Life, the confessions are said in the plural (We are guilty).

As Yom Kippur ends, at the last hour a service called "Ne'ila" (Neilah) offers a final opportunity for repentance. It is the only service of the year during which the doors to the Ark (where the Torah scrolls are stored) remain open from the beginning to end of the service, signifying that the gates of Heaven are open at this time.

The service closes with the verse, said 7 times, "The L-rd is our G-d." The Shofar is sounded once and the congregation proclaim - "Next year in Jerusalem."

Yom Kippur is over."

http://www.holidays.net/highholydays/yom.htm

This is for you Pickle!

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