couldn't resisit

i am just about to leave for 5 (count 'em 5) treatments today, but could not NOT post this pic!

free rice

my new banner (see right, at the top of my sidebar) will take you to a great site where you, the player, learn new vocabulary words while simultaneously donating rice to the hungry.

20 grains/correct answer.

"solitare" is out--free rice is in!

:)

silly blogthing

What Your Flip Flops Say About You

You are hopeful and romantic. You love many people and many things. You aren't unrealistic, but you do imagine things in the most ideal way possible. You are a dreamer. If something exists, you've probably thought about it. You don't think about what is, you think about what could be. Your ideal warm weather place: Fiji

The Flip Flop Test

summer's here....

....and the time is right for dancin' in the streets!

how about hiding in the a/c? LOL....

a solid week of over-105 degrees. normal but extreme. last night the smell of smoke drifted into the house while i was watching a movie. i went outside and the smell was stronger, but the wind was high so i presumed that wherever the fire was, my neighborhood was not in imminent danger.

wish there was a place to log onto where i could type "smoke near Glenn/Country Club" and get a report--short of getting a police band radio, that is.

so, we hunker down in the shade and relative coolness of the house. going to work (my lovely air-conditioned office) is a luxury!

happy weekend, hope all is well in your life.

the rituals of summer

the cicadas are already sounding their trademark call. it is just 9:00 a.m. and i have turned on the evaporative cooler for the day.

i savor the small steps i take each year as we approach our climatic apogee, always leaving something in reserve for the hottest days and nights. first, i'll turn the cooler on during the day. i also leave the back door open so the dogs can avail themselves of the tile floor in the kitchen while i am out. at nights i have a couple of little vornado-type fans: one for my room, and one for the kitchen. i sleep with the lightest of blankets--just to be able to remove it later in the season.

next step, in a week or so, i'll add running the fan part of the cooler all night. the floor fan will be temporarily retired. the blanket will come off the bed.

in the very peak of monsoon (chubasco) humidity and insanely hot nights, i'll have the cooler going 24/7, and the floor fan aimed straight at my bed at night, where i will toss and turn on a sweat-soaked sheet, trying to get a night's rest.

but all of this is just normal Sonoran desert living. i look around the country, around the world, and feel blessed that we are just dealing with our usual seasonal events, and not tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, etc.

the monsoon always holds the possibility of extremes though. we have a reputation as being one of the lightning capitals of the country, and lots of rain can always mean flooding, especially here where the ground is so dry that water can't really penetrate. the sudden violence of the storms here is humbling. we will know it soon enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

this is my 6th "fatherless" year. i finally believe i have put Marshall's life and death into perspective within the scope of my own life (and impending death). this year i find myself thinking less of my father and more of the men who have fathered my son.

of course the biological one comes first, and he is a fine and wonderful man and father, but my son's godfather--who acted as sole guardian during B's tumultuous teens--did so much of the shaping and guiding during those years. he is a true mensch!

i can get teary-eyed in a moment, thinking of that time of all of our lives: why i wasn't there, how well everyone did in spite of that fact, the things i will never know about B's adolescence, the despair i continue to feel occasionally about my choices. i guess in a sense, if that is the biggest mistake i make in this life, then thank goodness i've gone and gotten it over with. on the other hand....well, there is no point in following that trajectory. i love my son, and he has had 2 of the best fathers in the world, and he makes me proud every time i see him. that's what i'm keeping.

and so, bless the fathers: the ones that scatter their seed and then blow away with the next strong gust, the ones that stay and help, the ones that lash out, the ones that fume internally. they all show us a way, a choice, an avenue of expression--or not.

The Worldwide Prophecy of Love Day ~ July 13th, 2008

http://www.shalomarproductions.com/home.php

from wholesome apple to decadent cream

You Are Cream Pie

You're the perfect combo of simplicity and divinity. You are a secret hedonist. No one knows how indulgent you can be. You don't indulge often, but when you do, you go for the best. You have expensive taste--even if you aren't rich. Those who like you live for understated pleasures. You're not flashy or trendy, but you have a depth that most people lack. Interacting with you makes most people feel incredibly satisfied. You are gentle, super sweet, and in harmony with those around you.

What Kind of Pie Are You?

about 2 years ago, in July of '06, i was Apple Pie. today, i am Cream Pie (which i've never had, to my knowledge).

i don't know if this is an improvement, but it certainly is, well, creamier!

:P

sunday, precious sunday

i'm happy to sit down at the keyboard today--not for any particular reason, but because i seem to be infused with a near-constant inner happiness these days. my work is going well, i am paying bills, i am happy alone with my pets, and in every area of my life there is contentment and a certain feeling of grace.

i'm thankful regularly for the blessings and challenges my life provides me. i'm especially thankful that i get to help others feel better. (i truly love my work.) i am especially especially thankful that i am HERE, NOW. and i try to extend that to all the various HEREs and all the various NOWs--many thanks to Baba Ram Dass and Eckhart Tolle!

i put up a profile on an on-line community (same one that sends out Notes from the Universe--go HERE to check it out) and have had 2 'meets'. both were pleasant and neither was especially significant. it would be fun to have an intense, passionate, erotic fling--and on the other hand, it's also entirely fine if that doesn't happen.

i have to say, making a little more money is also like some kind of anti-anxiety balm. i'm paying off personal debt, and sometimes over the past year and a half of having my own business it has been crushingly difficult to keep everything up to date. i don't like to speak of it. the past few weeks have seen my highest numbers of humans worked on, and that is having a great effect on my finances!

and the work gets better over time. it is simply opening up in all kinds of directions and ways. and all of this seems to stem from the inner calm and happiness that i am carrying around inside me.

or maybe it's carrying me?

:)
many loves and much hugs

tuesday funny

Political Correctness Defined

The following is the 2007 winning entry from an annual contest at Texas A&M University calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term.

This year a definition was required for the contemporary term, 'Political Correctness'.

The winner wrote:

"Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."


:)