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Monday, March 31, 2003
I have had this song running through my head all morning. It's oddly comforting, on a morning when I'm vaguely depressed for a bunch of little reasons. I thought typing it out here might help in some way. It's from "Come Heal This Land", the follow-up CD to "Revival in Belfast":Ancient Words posted by #Debi at 6:55 AM | permalink |
0 comments | Sunday, March 30, 2003 Man, I'm seriously draggin' my behind around this morning! (OK, I know it's afternoon already, but humor me.) I invited Matt and Brian over last night for stir-fry and DVD's. Only Matt was able to make it, so we went and picked out some DVD's at a local rental place that rents "3 movies for 3 nights for 3 dollars (new releases not included)". We got "Rat Race", "Waking Ned Divine", and "High Fidelity". I made Matt help me with the stir-fry, since I'd never really done it before, then we sat down in front of the TV and watched all three movies! I think Matt left at 12:45am or something like that. But we had lots of fun. Brian said he had to get his hair done or something. (Actually, he went to the Creech house and let Alan loose with the clippers.) I had thought that Brian would end up over here for part of the movies, anyway, but I guess he and Alan were having way too much fun with the hairdresser thing. (OK, I think I got all my digs in--time for a nap.) :^) posted by #Debi at 1:23 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Rich has found a new quiz for me to waste time with: Which Country of the World Are You?
posted by #Debi at 1:00 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Thursday, March 27, 2003 And now for something completely different... I heard this read on the radio the other day and thought it was hilarious; and now a friend from Norway has emailed it to me! How fortuitous! So, since I am blessed with the spiritual gift of comic relief (look it up!), I must share it with you. Axis of Evil Wannabees by John Cleese posted by #Debi at 8:03 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Tuesday, March 25, 2003 Here's something I found in a comments section on Dave's blog--perpetual bubble wrap, good for hours and hours of popping fun! posted by #Debi at 11:06 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Monday, March 24, 2003 I may never get out of bed again. Last week, after calling in to a local radio talk show, I was registered to win a prize. The next morning, the station called to inform me that I had won--a Serta Liberty pillow-top mattress set! One of the girls from work, who has a pickup truck, helped me bring it home yesterday, along with Brian and a friend of hers. (The guys did most of the work, but, hey, isn't that why we keep them around?) My co-worker had recently moved and needed a mattress set, so I gave her my old one, saving me the trouble of finding someone to take it. My new set is so nice! It's a lot thicker than the old set, due to the pillow-top, to the point that it's almost too tall for my bed. But the biggest benefit, other than the fact that it's so comfortable, is that it doesn't squeak! I used to think that my bed squeaked because it's an antique, but apparently it was the mattress. Last night I slept straight through, with no waking up in the middle of the night. Yay! OK, I've made far too long a post for extolling the virtues of a mattress. I'm starting to sound like a commercial! :^) posted by #Debi at 6:21 AM | permalink |
0 comments | Sunday, March 23, 2003 Here's what I call good news in the desert--this was e-mailed to me by my friend Christy: "Eight soldiers were baptized in the desert Wednesday in Kuwait. The soldier being baptized is PFC David Kurns; Captain Ron Cooper Task Force Chaplain is on left and 1st. Lt. Brian Case on right." posted by #Debi at 7:39 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Saturday, March 22, 2003 Notice from Lt. Smash:"Due to the overwhelming traffic this site is receiving, we have decided to relocate it to another server. The address for the new site is http://www.lt-smash.US. Please update your bookmarks. We hope to forward lt-smash.COM to the new server at a future date. We apologize for any incovenience this may cause." posted by #Debi at 9:29 PM | permalink |
0 comments | I have added an "In Memoriam" space on the right, to honor those soldiers who give their lives in this present cause. As I hear of actual names, I will update the "unidentified" statuses. If anyone hears of actual identities before I get a chance to update, please shoot me an email. My prayer is that this list will remain very short. posted by #Debi at 4:47 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Friday, March 21, 2003 Well, it seems to be quiz night around the blogosphere--here's another one, by way of Rich:  You are the most universal mythical beast ever. Sightings of the unicorn have been reported from all over the world, even in these modern times. Unicorns are pure and incorruptible. In China, unicorns symbolised gentleness, good will, and wisdom. Christianity links the unicorn with Christ. It is said that unicorns would only allow virgin girls to see them, let alone touch them. They were easily lured into fatal ambushes by a virgin with some poachers waiting for the unicorn in nearby bushes. A unicorn's horn was a highly prised possession, which was reputed to have great healing capabilities. With the touch of its horn, a unicorn could bring back a person who had been dead for several hours. But when disattached from the unicorn's body, the magic was significantly reduced and could only protect against poison. The unicorn had the body of a horse, a unique spirling horn, and a lion's tail. They were pure white in color. Congratulations, you are a rarity amoung mythical beasts. There aren't enough of people like you in the world. Thanks, Rich!
posted by #Debi at 8:12 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Andrew Careaga found a new quiz to distract me from world events. Here's the results:  what decade does your personality live in? quiz brought to you by lady interference, ltd Thanks, Andrew!
posted by #Debi at 7:40 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Well, it appears that we are at war. I am somewhat torn on this issue--most of the people with whom I "hang out" online seem to be opposed to this action, and the part of me that desperately wants to be liked keeps saying, "Tell everyone you're against the war, too!" Well, I am against war, as a concept--I believe that violence must always be a last resort. However, I cannot muster the indifference that I would need to be against this war (not to say that those who are against this war are necessarily indifferent--we just have very different value systems, each of us, and approach things from different angles to come to our conclusions). I have to think back in history, to the Revolutionary War when France kicked in to help us oust England and to WWII when we kicked in to help Europe oust Hitler. Both times the "kicking-in" country was motivated, at least to a good degree, by a desire to help overcome injustice in the world, because they knew that "there but for the grace of God go I." I believe that this attitude is to a great degree behind GWB's and Congress' decision to go to war with Iraq. I have seen so many arguments against this war that it would take forever to address each one individually, as I would like. So I will only state the reasons I believe this war is just. I believe we are in a "last resort" situation. We have (the UN, I mean) tried for 12 years to get Saddam Hussein to live up to the terms of surrender from the last Gulf War. At that time, he was to disarm immediately and prove that he had done so, because he has proven that he cannot be trusted to only use those weapons defensively. Up to this point, Hussein has still to comply with the contract he himself signed 12 years ago. He has, in fact, thrown international diplomacy into face of the world community by stating that he has no intention of ever complying with that document. Amnesty International provides an extensive list of human rights violations occurring at the hands of Hussein. Those who say that innocents will die in this war may be right--but they also need to realize that they are already dying at Hussein's hand and will continue to die horrible deaths unless something definitive is done to stop it. It's like having the water running in the sink. You see that enough water has run out of the tap and decide to turn it off. From the moment your brain makes that decision until your hand finishes turning the knob, a bit more water flows out, but not nearly as much as if you said, "There really is too much water coming out of that tap, but I'm not a plumber, so I guess I'll just leave it alone." Please understand that I have great sympathy for the innocents in Iraq--that's why I think that this man has to be stopped. I don't want innocents to die in this war, but more to the point, I don't want them to die at all. Chad Canipe has an excellent quote in his March 18th post about why he's not a pacifist. It's worth reading, no matter your views on this situation. Here's an excerpt: "The Bible is clear here: I am to love my neighbor as myself, in the manner needed, in a practical way, in the midst of the fallen world, at my particular point of history. This is why I am not a pacifist. Pacifism in this poor world in which we live—this lost world—means that we desert the people who need our greatest help." Read the rest--I guarantee that, even if you don't agree, it will be interesting reading.
posted by #Debi at 6:44 AM | permalink |
0 comments | Wednesday, March 19, 2003 I was going to do a St. Patrick's Day post, but there were so many really good ones already posted on other sites that I decided I had nothing salient to add to the discussion.... Happy belated St. Patrick's Day to all. I am "facilitating" again tonight, and have planned a little St.Pat's theme for the discussion. We're going to read St. Patrick's breastplate (an abridged version--I cut out that "protect me from women and smiths" part), and sing "Be Thou My Vision"--accompanied by CD if one of us can find a good "sing-along-able" version in our CD collections, or a cappella if not. I even made my locally famous Irish soda bread for the all-important "eating together" part of the evening. And this is the main reason I was posting, to tell a short story--on Saturday, as several of us were leaving work, one of the girls was in quite a hurry. She said she needed to get to her church, because she was serving as assistant producer that evening. I asked if she meant assistant producer of the TV broadcast or of the video taping, and she said, no, assistant producer of the service. I was stunned. I know they have 8,000 members and all that, but it seems to me that any church service that requires a production staff to successfully occur is just too daggone big. Don't get me wrong, this church does wonderful things for the community and are very nice folks and all that--I just don't think I could do the mega-service machine again. For those who are so inclined--go for it with my blessing. It's definitely not for me, though. posted by #Debi at 6:26 AM | permalink |
0 comments | Saturday, March 15, 2003 I thought I was done posting for a while, but I went to Rich's site and found--gasp!--a quiz! Here's the results:  What lesser-known Simpsons character are you? Brought to you by the good folks at sacwriters.com. BTW, I think that ought to be "insulting" up there in the gif. I'm not sure what "insluting" is, but I'm pretty sure I don't do that. Not anymore, anyway... ;^) posted by #Debi at 5:27 PM | permalink |
0 comments | I finally went on Thursday to renew my license plate. It was only four months overdue, and they dared to send me a second notice last week! The nerve of them! :^) But, that's one more thing checked off on my list towards being fiscally responsible--I have a few more outstanding debts that I hope to resolve with my income tax return money (which return I will file this weekend!). But, bonus!, because I waited so long, I got one of the new license plates,  which most people I talk to think is stupid because of the smiley-face sun, but I think is actually pretty nice. It's so perky and colorful! Since there are divided loyalties, I thought I'd take an informal poll in the comments--do you like the new design? Oh, yeah, another little selling point--right between the 2 sets of numbers, there's a hologram of the silhouette of Kentucky with an "02" in it--I guess to thwart counterfeiters. Pretty nifty!
posted by #Debi at 4:44 PM | permalink |
0 comments | When I saw this I knew I had to share it.....I got my hair cut a couple of days ago, in the really short, spikey style that I like. The hairdresser used some "product" (When did they start calling it that? It sounds the same as if, instead of asking for a cappuccino at Starbuck's, you should ask for "drink".) on my hair that I really liked, so I bought some to use at home. When I got home, I looked at the ingredients list, because it feels like petroleum jelly. Sure enough, "petrolatum" is the first item on the list. But that wasn't what made me laugh--here is the entire list of ingredients, as listed on the can, emphasis mine: Ingredients: petrolatum, natural beeswax, microcrystalline wax, mineral oil, lanolin, cannabis sativa (hemp) seed oil, parfum (fragrance). I thought, "Great! I'm dressing my hair with a combination of petroleum jelly and marijuana!" I wonder if the fragrance is to fool the drug-sniffing dogs.... posted by #Debi at 4:30 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Tuesday, March 11, 2003 I've found another blog that I probably will be checking in on daily: Lt. Smash, subtitled "Live From The Sandbox". I heard about it on the Rush Limbaugh radio show yesterday. It's the blog of a soldier stationed overseas (I'm guessing near Iraq, although he doesn't give specifics, for obvious reasons). He can tell it better than I can--here's an excerpt from his "Orientation" section, in which he tells what personal details he can: "L.T. Smash is a reserve officer in the United States Military who has been recalled to active duty and deployed overseas in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. This website is an online journal of his adventures." I'm wondering if there are other soldiers blogging their stories about what it's truly like to be "over there", doing a job and trying not to let the bureaucrats or the "anti's", as one commenter called them, get in the way or get them down. I've said here and in comments on other blogs: I'm not "for war", in general, but once the boys are there, it's not productive or peace-producing to bash the soldiers for doing their job. Bash the politicians all you want, but leave those boys (and girls) alone. That's all I'm gonna say, for now. I pray for the safety of our troops and for the safety of the non-combatants. I also pray that Saddam Hussein gets a clue and does what is needed to avert war, although I'm not sure that that boat hasn't already sailed. posted by #Debi at 8:00 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Monday, March 10, 2003 I had a serious "senior moment" today, even though I'm not really old enough for serious senior moments. I was at a Subway in a part of town that I don't end up in often (it's not a bad neighborhood or anything like that, I just don't often have occasion to be there), and I saw a guy that I had known years ago. The problem was, I was having trouble remembering his name and where I knew him from. So, of course, I said to him, "What's your name?" He looked at me for a moment, then recognition dawned in his eyes and he said, "You know who I am." "Yes, I know that I know you," I said, "but I can't think of your name for some reason." He then told me that his name was Steve, and I thought, "Oh yeah, this is one of the guys my brother hung out with in high school!" So, I asked him how he was doing and what was going on with him lately, then proceeded to catch him up on how Mike, my brother, was doing these days, living in Kansas with 3 kids, yada yada yada. I then told him about how I had come across a photo of him, my brother, and another friend of theirs when they were about 15 or so, in our barn doing all sorts of "he-man"-type poses (you know, where you flex your muscles, etc.?), and that I should put it on my website. He laughed, and I told him not to worry because I don't have a scanner at present, so that wouldn't really be happening. We then said our goodbyes and I got my lunch and left. About halfway back to the office, it struck me--that was not my brother's friend Steve, that was Steve that I used to work with at another employer, where I was his boss! I'm not sure if I'm more embarrassed now, or if I would be more embarrassed if he had just told me I had mistaken his identity there and then. But he just played it off as though he knew what the heck I was talking about! I know he's gotta be thinking that ol' Debi has gone off the deep end totally! I'm not sure about that myself, actually.... ;^P posted by #Debi at 7:58 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Sunday, March 09, 2003 I'm finally up and about after a very late night at Matt's place for a celebration of his birthday (observed) and Kyle's birthday (actual). It was so much fun that I hated to leave, but eventually I was threatened with the possibility of being the only guest left, so I had to go home. I saw a lot of people there that I already knew and met a lot of nice new folks. I mean, this was a mega-bash--the house was packed, upstairs and down. People had come from as far away as Louisville to celebrate Matt's birthday. Pretty good for a guy who claims to be an introvert. Alan, of course, took lots of pictures with his new toy, so some of those may show up on one or another website. I have been doing absolutely nothing productive so far today, but there is lots to be done, so I suppose I should get to it. I still haven't done my tax returns yet, because I can't seem to locate my returns from last year, which have important information on them, such as my password for turbotax.com. So, off I go to look in all those boxes of receipts and such. At least I'll get to use my new shredder! Oh, the joys of being easily amused.... posted by #Debi at 1:42 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Saturday, March 08, 2003 I went out with a couple of women from my former church last night, to give Liz the business, literally and figuratively, at the Mac Shack. While we were talking, one of them told me that the pastor is thinking of posting large signs over the exits that say: "The meeting is over--now the service begins." If they really mean it, it's a definite step in the right direction for them. I've been hanging out quite a bit at Real Live Preacher lately. It's an "anonymous" blog, in that he doesn't give any identifying details about himself--something that I've been thinking about doing myself on a separate blog. Anyway, RLP gets down (and sometimes dirty) about what Christianity ought to be and ought not to be. Here's a quote from his own story: "You did understand there was more to this than religious TV and the drivel they sell in those awful Christian bookstores, right? After all, Christianity didn’t sustain itself for twenty centuries by shitting Hallmark cards before a live studio audience." How he got to that point makes for very interesting and enlightening reading, as does the rest of the blog. And, I think I'm gonna have to steal some of the graphics from there. Very cool![/plug]
posted by #Debi at 8:47 AM | permalink |
0 comments | Thursday, March 06, 2003 (I'm not sure where this entry is going to end up, so bear with me...) Last night we had our Ash Wednesday "thing", which I facilitated and which went well. Thanks to those who prayed--I didn't screw up too badly, or not at all, actually. Alan posted a nice synopsis, with photos and everything, on The Vine. We had a really good discussion of the office that we read, especially one of the verses of the psalm, Ps. 138:23-24. The version of the office we were using translated it as, "Look into me, God, and know my heart: Examine me and know my paths. See if I am wandering on ways that lead nowhere, and set my feet on the path to eternity." We seemed to focus on the portion that I have in bold. It seemed everyone had a notion of what constituted a "way that leads nowhere". I mentioned that it seemed like I had paths like that in every area of my life, and that I feel like I am spinning my wheels, especially financially and in some things that I'd like to accomplish in life (thinking of the "Ireland thing", as I do so often). I just feel so stuck--in a job that I get no satisfaction out of except that it barely keeps me off the street, constantly worrying about bills, having no savings to speak of, et cetera, ad infinitum. Someone in our group put forth the hypothesis that maybe this is all we're meant to do--just live our life like we're living it now, not really striving after all that "stuff" that our particular branch of charismania taught us for so long that we're supposed to have to be "King's Kids". I do agree with the basics of that, really I do. I don't think for a minute that I will have to win the lottery or something to be happy. Having said that, though, the thought of my life continuing on as it is right now for the rest of the time I'm allotted on earth is just so...I don't know; demoralizing and depressing! If I really thought that I had to go on like this for the rest of my life, what would be the freakin' point?! Of course, being the sometimes-obsessive type that I am, I thought about this all morning and worked myself up into a fine state until almost lunchtime. Sometimes I frighten myself when I get into one of these spirals and thank God that I'm too much of a control freak to do drugs or get stupid drunk or anything like that. In the state I was in emotionally this morning, that could have been really dangerous. I finally had to stick a classical music CD into the player and let the music soothe my savage breast, as it were. I still don't know the answer to these ponderings--maybe there really isn't one and my usual Scarlett O'Hara-like "I'll think about it tomorrow" attitude really is the way to go on this one. Typing all this out helps some. Hopefully I'll come back to this some day and laugh at what an idiot I once was. Sorry if I've bummed anybody out, but this kind of thing is what I started this blog for--to work out issues in my life that aren't necessarily pretty. posted by #Debi at 7:57 PM | permalink |
0 comments | Wednesday, March 05, 2003 I've picked up "Walden" by H.D. Thoreau again, and am having another go at reading it. It's going much more easily this time. I don't know if it's the tiny print in the book I have or the fact that I was trying to read it right before bed, but it was putting me to sleep the first time. In any case, I read something that struck me and thought I'd share it: ...I saw a snake run into the water, and he lay on the bottom, apparently without inconvenience, as long as I stayed there, or more than a quarter of an hour; perhaps because he had not yet fairly come out of the torpid state. It appeared to me that for a like reason men remain in their present low and primitive condition; but if they should feel the influence of the spring of springs arousing them, they would of necessity rise to a higher and more ethereal life. posted by #Debi at 6:25 AM | permalink |
0 comments | Ash Wednesday From the CQOD for today: ...stooping very low, He engraves with care posted by #Debi at 6:02 AM | permalink |
0 comments | Monday, March 03, 2003 Well, it was kinda like slowing down on the interstate to gawk at the fender-bender, but I did it--I watched "Married By America" tonight. BTW, what a lovely, professional-looking website that is--not! I won't watch any more of it unless under duress, but I just had to see what all the fuss was about. Granted, I'm no beauty queen, but there must be some deep fundamental flaw in that many good-looking folks who can't find a mate and are desperate enough to go on TV and advertise that fact. Our first VBCC "Thing" was Saturday night--I posted a brief synopsis on The Vine yesterday. Alan's got some good photos from the evening on his site, also. I found a new dream toy while reading blogs tonight--I want one of these Speaking of birthdays, Matt turns 34 on Wednesday. Everyone go wish him a happy-happy! I have volunteered to "facilitate" our Wednesday night meetings for March. This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, and I think it will be a good time. I'm planning the liturgy of the hours, and Alan is supposed to get us some ashes from the Anglicans. If you think of it, pray that I don't screw up too badly. Update: Apparently the link I originally used for the Apple Store page where the Wacom Graphire2 Quartz Graphics Tablet is listed times out after a while, so I had to make some adjustments. Anyway, isn't it lovely?
posted by #Debi at 10:47 PM | permalink |
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! I really thought that these things were a lot more expensive, but if anyone out there has $100 to throw around, feel free to send one of these my way. My birthday's not 'til November, but that's OK. :^)
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