1. Jan at Shalom tells of her movie-deprived childhood.
2. John at Skywalking tells a story using movie titles. Very imaginative!
3. Alysha Jane at Retro Chic lists her favorite men in the movies. (We have fairly similar tastes in that regard!)
4. Tom Mohan at tuneouttv has written a poem about his internal movie projector.
5. And, last but not least (hereafter known as "LBNT"), Jon at Quality Control rants on movie and movie trailers.

And there you have it for Blogger Idol, Week 6! It's actually getting quite difficult to follow my self-imposed rule these days of not nominating the same blog twice, mostly because I am running out of candidates, but also because some of the already-nominated ones are so good, week after week. Anyway, on to Week 7!

posted by #Debi at 8:58 AM | permalink | 0 comments |

Oh, yeah, and I'm really interested in opinions on my previous post, so--talk amongst yourselves. Later!

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1. Ande's Blog: A Blogger Idol quiz. Y'all know how I love a quiz!
2. News, Rants, Soliloquies, and Reveries: To paraphrase a local commercial, long name--amazing stories. This one's a ghost story. Y'all know how I love ghost stories (not, usually), but this one's very interesting. Kind of a "Portrait of Dorian Gray" thing.
3. Moodstruck: A cute story; you may have to scroll down for it, but it's worth it for a laugh.
4. Shouting Into the Void: An interesting story, in a "Twilight Zone" sort of way. Or maybe "Somewhere in Time" would be a better reference.
5. And last but definitely not least, MBIMOTMOG (otherwise known as "My Brain Is Made of Things Made of Gold"): A story about a father-and-son trip and a thousand fish.

Well, there you have it. At some point today, I plan to post a bunch of new photos on the fotopage. First, though, this afternoon I'm headed up to Mom and Dad's for a birthday party for my aunt Marilyn. (I hope it's not a surprise party, or that she doesn't read this!) I get to be the official photographer, which means I don't have to be in any of the official photos. Heehee! There are perks to every situation, I guess.

posted by #Debi at 9:26 AM | permalink | 0 comments |

Way to go, your alter poet is Jack Kerouac, who is
by FAR the coolest!


Who is Your Alter Poet?
brought to you by Quizilla

I think it rather suits me...by the way, Matt and Brian and I are planning to head over to a "random coffeehouse" tonight--the Lock and Key in Georgetown. Should be fun.

posted by #Debi at 3:38 PM | permalink | 0 comments |

The first photo is my senior picture, taken in 1978(!), which is 26 freakin' years ago! The second one was taken this past summer. How did this happen? How did time go past so quickly? It seems just yesterday that I was a fresh-faced, skinny, wet-behind-the-virginal-ears teenager, looking towards my 40's with a sort of incredulity. I think I really thought that I'd never live to be that old. Now, of course, 40 isn't that old, but something that happened 3 years ago. I don't really remember what I thought my life would be like at this age; I think there was some vague notion of being a famous fashion designer or something. That's not the case, of course--I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I'm just beginning to settle into being me, and figuring out who that is. I'm fairly comfortable with who I've become in most ways--I have wonderful friends, a fulfilling spiritual life, and the prospect of much discovery and learning still to come. I actually feel that this may be the year that another sort of "graduation" will take place--a graduation into contentment, and maybe a feeling of "commencement", so to speak. (It would be nice to have that 17 year-old body back, though! :^})

posted by #Debi at 10:26 PM | permalink | 0 comments |

1. Verbiage Ramblings: If I understand correctly (you'll know what I mean when you read the post), the author avoids "Oops!" situations by being an introvert and living in a bit of a fantasy world. I love his use of great, big words. Gives my brain some exercise.
2. Our Hangout: He's apparently had so many "Oops!" moments he had enough material for a whole week's worth of posts. Read them all. You'll be glad you did.
3. Seasons of Violet: A lesson in how not to write a cover letter. Since I'm in the midst of a new job search at the moment, it was very instructive.
4. Harmless Thoughts: A lovely poem about how even when we're apologizing, we're still finding ways to shift blame away from ourselves.
5. And of course, you know how it goes, last but certainly not least is our host for the show, Darren Rowse, with a wonderful offering about a geography lesson he tried to give over the email, entitled "Oh, THAT Australia!"

Now, on to my post for Week 5. I noticed when I went to the above sites that most of them have already posted their Week 5 entries. I'm such a slacker! Ah, well, it's not like there's a million dollar recording contract at stake. Is there?

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posted by #Debi at 10:16 PM | permalink | 0 comments |

As all good rednecks know, the worst thing you can do to a redneck is diss his dog. So of course, that's the first aspect of him that came to mind to write about. My ex, whom I'll call Jeff ('cause that's his name), was a mysogynistic, homophobic SOB (that SOB thing is kinda literal, but talking about his mama would really make this post too long). I bring up the "mysogynistic, homophobic" parts of his personality because the two points about said hound dog that I remember most have to do with women-hating and being homosexual.

You see, it became apparent that Pooterhead (that's the dog's name, not the ex's; I already told you HIS name--are you following this?!)--anyway, Pooterhead was a gay dog. All the neighborhood boy dogs were lined up around the block (or so it seemed) to enjoy a good time at Pooterhead's expense. This used to irk Jeff no end. No "real man" should end up with a gay dog, especially one that happened to be half hound and half pit bull, the two most revered breeds known to the redneck male. Of course, having actually finished more than one semester of college myself--can you say "Meeeeooowww!"--I knew that the whole gay thing was really a dominance thing, with Pooterhead apparently being on the lowest rung of the status ladder in our neighborhood. I think that might have been almost as bad as being gay, in Jeff's eyes. Of course, I played up the whole gay thing for the whole three years we were married, just to get my jabs in. Hey, I made a good candidate for ex-wife in those days!

On to the "mysogynist" part: Pooterhead, like most young dogs, liked to chew. Unlike a lot of young dogs, however, Pooterhead didn't settle for chewing his master's shoes or the remote control or any of that. Pooterhead liked to chew my underwear. My clean just-out-of-the-dryer underwear. My expensive, more-like-lingerie underwear. And he limited himself to destroying the crotch of virtually every pair I owned. Now, I know that crotchless undies are considered the tres-sexy thing to own, but if I'd wanted them, I'd've bought them that way! Upon confronting Jeff with the evidence and even letting him know how this would soon impact our budget, he just laughed. Laughed! I think you can see now why he is my ex-husband.

Ladies (and gentlemen), I hope you have enjoyed this little glimpse into life with a redneck man. Be forewarned, if you are dating a man who owns a dog that likes to sleep with his head stuck up under the wood stove (!), turn and run, as far and as fast as you can. It bodes no good, none at all.

posted by #Debi at 6:35 PM | permalink | 0 comments |

1. Random Ramblings of Ryan: A Day In The Life Defined By Song Lyrics. Very imaginative.
2. Lypton Village: A photographic study of a day in her life. Also check out her first experience with Krispy Kremes.
3. Just a Girl in the World: A day in the life of a blogger. I can quit anytime I want, honest!
4. Drama Queen: A day in the life of an evil scheming feline. Make sure you read far enough to catch her instructions on how to wash a cat. Hilarious!
5. And (say it, say it!) last, but not least, fluidfaith: A day in the life with Brian McLaren. Make sure you read the whole thing, or you won't get the context right. Wonderfully acidic, but somehow sweet (just how I like 'em, whatever that means).

So now I'm off to see if I can think of a suitable post for Week 4's topic, which is "Oops!" Since I never make mistakes (yeah, right), it may be hard to think of something. (More like, it'll be hard to choose just ONE!)

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Brigid of Ireland (c. 460-525) was ultimately famous for being the abbess of the monastery at Kildare, which was unusual in that it had both a convent for women and a monastery for men. The men and women came together in one church for worship. Kildare was famous for being a center of learning, having an art school which became famous for its metalwork and for the copying of manuscripts in its scriptorium. (The concept of the monastery scriptorium is the inspiration for the title of this blog.)

Brigid was also famous for her charity in her early life. She couldn’t bear to see anyone cold or hungry, so often gave her own food and clothing to the poor, leaving herself with nothing to eat or wear. Once she had given away all of her own possessions, she began giving away her family’s things, much to the consternation of her father. (This is part of where I tend to be like her, in a VERY SMALL way. I have a bad habit, as my friends will tell you, of volunteering other people’s time, treasure, and talents, sometimes without asking them first. I realize that this is not necessarily a virtue, and am working on restraining myself to only giving what I have to give, and not coercing others to join in. :^}) The most famous incident of Brigid giving away the things of others is when she gave her father’s sword, which was extremely valuable, to a leper. He tried to marry her off to get rid of this drain on his resources, but she took vows instead. She then went about establishing convents all over Ireland, and is now one of the three patron saints of Ireland, along with Patrick and Columba of Iona. She is also the patron saint of babies, blacksmiths, boatmen, cattle, chicken farmers, children whose parents are not married, dairymaids, dairy workers, fugitives, infants, mariners, midwives, milk maids, newborn babies, nuns, poets, poultry farmers, poultry raisers, printing presses, sailors, scholars, travellers, and watermen. That’s a lot to be responsible for!

I see that this post is getting very long, but I want to include one more thing—a prayer which is attributed to Brigid, which I really enjoy:

I should like a great lake of finest ale for the King of Kings.
I should like a table of the choicest food for the family of heaven.
Let the ale be made from the fruits of faith,
And the food be forgiving love.

I should welcome the poor to my feast,
For they are God’s children.
I should welcome the sick to my feast,
For they are God’s joy.
Let the poor sit with Jesus at the highest place,
And the sick dance with the angels.

God bless the poor, God bless the sick, and bless our human race.
God bless our food, God bless our drink, all homes, O God, embrace.

posted by #Debi at 2:17 PM | permalink | 0 comments |