Subconscious Mutterings: Week 150

I say.....And you think:

1. Replenish::the candy dish!
2. People::flocking to the stores
3. Trend::Enterprises, Inc.
4. Girlfriends::hanging out
5. Spirit::of Christmas' Past
6. Banshee::what my cat is acting like
7. Oasis::gasoline
8. Thrills::and spills
9. Fountain::of ice
10. Boxes::and wrapping paper

the Incarnation

We have "sentimentalized" the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. When we think of the birth we see wise men and shepherds and a star. But these are only minor characters in an excedingly great drama...the Incarnation. The birth of the Christ is so much more than a "birthday" to be observed once a year. Our focus must become the Incarnation, which we celebrate every minute of our lives. We must realize that the cry we hear drifting from the stable is the voice of the One who spoke the universe into being (John 1:3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:2). Oh the staggering realization that the little one, wrapped in rags, looking up at us from the trough is in reality everything His special name reveals..."God with us"!
--from the liner notes of the CD "The Final Word" by Michael Card, 1987 Sparrow Corp.

Unconscious Mutterings (week 149)

After looking at week 148's word list, I found one of the words to be slightly offensive, and definitely a word I would not want to publish on this blog (wouldn't want my site listed to the types of people who might 'blog search the term). So I skipped a week. Here are the words for 12/11/05.

---

I say...and you think...

1. Stalker::creepy
2. Outrageous::prices
3. Carrying::a full load
4. Spirited::debate
5. Oh!::more snow?
6. Grid::lock
7. Country::rural
8. Karen::Karen B (a friend when I was young-er)
9. Candles::glow
10. Relationship::just how are we related? (from doing family histories!!)

Britney Spears....

....is an anagram for "Presbyterian". That is all I will ever say about her.

Unconscious Mutterings

1. Stuffed::turkey
   
2. Armstrong::LiveStrong
   
3. Bruise::car accident
   
4. Content::peaceful
   
5. Musical::Christmas carols
   
6. Assistance::money
   
7. Scrambling::rat race
   
8. Battle::No more gold stars
   
9. Extended::over-extended
   
10. Discount::That count, you count, I count
    

Computer Memory

The first computer I ever owned was made by a doll company! Remember Cabbage Patch dolls? They were made by Coleco. Coleco also made 'Colecovision' gaming system for home entertainment, the fore-runner of today's GameCubes, PS2's and XBOX 360. In the early 1980's, Coleco came out with a home computer, the "Coleco Adam".

It came with a whopping 80K ram and you could expand it to 144k! It had a tape drive for storage. No disks or hard drive, just a tape; it looked like a regular audio tape, but was super-charged to run back and forth at high speed. And best of all, the whole package cost me $499.00!! Less then half of what the IBM-PCjr was retailing for.

It was a good idea. However, Coleco had over-reached their technical capabilites. They dropped the whole platform about 3 months after I purchased my Adam, thereby creating a lot of "Little Orphaned Adams". The no longer created add-ons, distributed or repaired their computers. Not that they had ever repaired them. The first Adam I had never ran properly and when I called the Coleco support line, was told to take it to a Honeywell repair site!

I don't remember what happened to my Orphaned Adam. I suppose at some point I threw it in the trash. The next computer I owned was a 'portable computer': an Apple ][c! If you are interested you can read more about early 'home computers' at the Classic Computer Magazine Archive.

Hello? Is this the ACLU....

"Hello? Hello? Is this the ACLU? I wish to report on behalf of my brothers and myself religious harassment.
"You have reached the American Civil Liberties Union. Why do you feel you are being harassed?"
"My brothers and I, we are Moslems. We go to public university. I and some of my brothers go to school here in Minnesota, some of my other brothers go to school in Iowa"
"How many brothers do you have?"
"I have one brother"
"and you and your brother feel you are be harassed for you're religious beliefs?"
"My brothers and I..."
"but you just said..."
"I have many Moslem brothers!"
"okay, I see you are speaking metaphorically..."
"Yes, yes we are all being harassed by the University of Minnesota and the University of Iowa"
"Just those two schools? Please tell me when and how the harassment started"
"These schools are fine institutions, but they are insulting and ridiculing us. It starts every Autumn, for several weeks, and then things go back to normal until the following year"
"Only those two schools and only in the Fall? Please be specific as to the nature of the harassment."
"These two schools they have football teams. Every year they get together and play a 'border battle' game. There is a trophy that is given to the winning team to enshrine for the year"
"Yes, that is a common tradition in many colleges and universities."
"Ah, but you see, the trophy-award in this case, is called Floyd. It is a pig! I would like to say, I normally have as much 'school spirit' as my fellow students. But a pig! Moslems are forbidden to have anything, anything to do with that unclean animal!! It is offensive to even look upon one!"

"Sir, it is just a statue..."
(shrieking) "Of a PIG!! A graven image of a pig named Floyd! When this disgusting tradition started they actually used a live pig!! It is an idol! Aren't Jews and Christians alike forbidden to possess idols? How can they be so insensitive! "
"But..."
"Every Fall, it starts as a low whisper and builds in crescendo until all over both campuses all we hear about is Floyd! We Need to Keep Floyd, or We Need to Bring Floyd Back With Us!" We are ridiculed and challenged about our lack of 'team spirit'
"Sir..."
"They worship that trophy! They worship that PIG!"
"I can see your point. There have been some court cases in Europe regarding 'piggy banks' being offensive. Especially when given to a Moslem child to save change in. It is rather insensitive. Has anyone done anything, maybe spoken with anyone about your concerns at the schools involved? Or written a letter to the campus newspapers?"
(calmer) Well not really. We think they should be made to change the trophy to something else..."
"Such as?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe a fish?"

Note: the above conversation is purely fictional. It has taken place only in the author's brain. (Don't get any smart ideas).

Clarification: Blue Banner

In the post listed below I created a link to the American Legion website so anyone who wanted more information could read it there. However, my sister wishes me to clarify, although the information and meaning are basically the same, she received her Blue Banner from a friend, who in turn received it from http://bluestarmothers.org.

Blue Star Banners

A Blue Star Service Banner displayed in the window of a home is an American tradition. The banner lets others know that someone in the home is proudly serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. As Americans do their best to support Operation Iraqi Freedom and the ongoing war on terror, the Blue Star Service Banner tradition reminds us all that war touches every neighborhood in our land.

In one of the windows on the front porch of my sisters house hangs a banner like this. Her two oldest sons are both in the Army. For reasons of security, I won't mention their outfits. The eldest already served one tour in Iraq. As things stand, he believes he will return over there for another year before his enlistment is up. His brother is training with his unit right now for deployment later this year...

Will I support our troops? Yes, of course! Will I support the administration that put them in harms way? NO! I am proud of my nephews. I helped raise them both. However, they didn't 'join up' out of patriotic fervor. There main reason for doing so was economic hardship. The elder could not find long term work after high school. The younger did state during high school that he would join the military, so he could get money for college/post-secondary education. That scares me: young people gambling with their lives, if they survive they can go to school, if they're not to damaged.

Oh, word play, this is gonna be bad...don't say I didn't warn ya! Since President Bush is from Texas, and our service member are gambling...does that equate to a new form of "Texas Hold 'em"? (I warned ya).

th--th--that's all folths?

I add my two-cents worth to this article from http://angelmegtm.blogspot.com :

FREE PIGLET! (and Porky Pig)
THIS ARTICLE was one of the first things I read this morning. Thanks to my Mark Shea fix. Now I am just MAD. What right do those Muslims have? And if they can do it in England will they be able to do that here too? Will we soon be a Piglet free society because it might "offend" our Muslim brothers and sisters? Sheesh, I say to them, grow some thicker skin, or look the other way. It isn't as if Piglet were out to be offensive to Muslim's. I think we all need to be proactive in this country. We need to fill our work spaces with piglet dolls and Babe posters, and certain Warner Bros. cartoons!. I can see the day coming when my youngest daughter will not be forced to read Animal Farm or Charlotte's Web in high school, just like her father (ahem, or mother), and I were, unless we stand up against this silly tyrany. I will be joining the crusade right here and now. Thanks to Mark.

To end wars

"That was just the kind of a position that attracted me, that appealed to my mind at the time. It seemed to cut across all complexities by its sweeping and uncompromising simplicity. All war was simply unjust, and that was that. The thing to do was to fold your arms and refuse to fight. If everybody did that, there would be no more wars."
the Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton

the Corpse bride: review

Yesterday I went to see the Corpse Bride at the HarMar theatres. I went to a matinee, there weren't many people...maybe a a dozen at the most to watch it at that time. I thought the movie was lame. The clever play on words jokes weren't very clever. While the story line was sort of interesting, it was really hard to follow. The volume of sound was deafening... to the point of making it hard to understand what some of the dialog was. I did go out at one point (during one of the musical scenes) and ask the volume be turned down a notch, but I noticed no difference. I think if the volume had been lower, I may have enjoyed it more. I will probably rent it when it comes out on DVD, see if I feel differently then. Right now the only redeeming quality I feel is the musical content...piano pieces in a couple scenes, pop songs with different words/cants to them. It might be worth buying a sound track from the movie

Success!

Ah ha! After much trial and error, I was finally able to create a link for Shopgoodwill.com, be sure to check them out. They glean there stores for interesting, value, weird, unusual items and list them for auction on this website-from all across the US and Canada too !

My computer: Dell Dimension 8400

I purchased this computer in early May 2005. I am very happy with it. I customized it to be pre-loaded with several add-ons I have never before had in a computer; i.e, MP3 based music system with good speakers, Photoshop, DVD r/w. I did this so I would have a computer I would 'grow into'. This blog is one of my educational experiences, even though it is not an 'add-on'. I have had some contact with HTML in the past, and as I am learning to post, it is crawling slowly back to the foreground of my memory!

I changed format template of the blog today, to one that is already formatted with a sidebar for links. I hope I can figure out how to add my own favorite links to this blog....

re: What to do...

I called the person that interviewed me. I was not offered the position.

Proverbs 30:8-9

Give me neither poverty nor riches! Give just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich I may become content with out God. And if I am too poor, I may steal, and thus insult God's holy name

What to do, what to do...

I am a disabled person, and as such receive monthly payments from SSDI. I can work part-time and want to work. Social Security will permit me to make up to $830.00/month gross, before I loose my benefits from them. My disability is not evident by my looks.

So imagine I go out for a job interview. We talk about the rate of pay and hours I would be expected to work, only to find out the company pays to much! ! Can you imagine going into a perspective employer and telling them their rate of pay is to high? And of course, they wanted to know why I wouldn't accept that amount per hour. I can almost hear some managers thinking, if we pay her less, will she work less? Now legally, I don't have (and most people tell me not to) say anything about the fact that I am disabled, which they would know if I tell them I am on SSDI. And from what I understand, once I tell them I am disabled, then they can turn around and ask me (legally) what the nature of my disability is.

It isn't an imaginary situtation. It happened to me yesterday. I went on an interview for a part-time position that I am really, really interested in. I did tell them I was on disabled, and on SSDI. Company rep. said it shouldn't be a problem

It will be interesting to see if I am offered the position.

The Unborn Child

In late July 2005 word came to me through my father that a not so distant cousin and her unborn infant (with in two weeks of being born) had been killed in a vehicle accident, and her husband seriously injured.

When I attended church on the Sunday morning after hearing of the accident, we sang this hymn, and I was astonished. To tell you truthfully, I missed hearing a good deal of the service as it continued—because I was caught up in reflection of the second verse….

Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal
Hymn #357, Jesus Lover of My Soul, verse 2

Other refuge have I none;
Hangs my helpless soul on thee.

Leave, ah, leave me not alone;
Still support and comfort me.

All my trust in thee is stayed;
All my help from thee I bring.

Cover my defenseless head
With the shadow of thy wing.

What a prayer for an unborn child!

We often hear that “it takes two to conceive a child”. But it really takes three. God’s Spirit is the third persona, at the point of conception; it imparts a soul to the child. Without God, nothing comes to be. Children truly are a gift from God.

I liken baptism as binding a soul to the Lord our God. For the soul, like a person, is given free-will. We Christian’s baptize our children, to commit their souls to God, through whose grace they are born. And when they are old enough teach them to love and know God our Father. What then of the unborn child? There is none to speak for it. To claim it on Christ’s behalf. We do not baptize the dead.

I think the soul of an unborn child inherently recognizes from which it came. Satan does not create souls. He is not God. I reflect on the above verse, from the perspective of an unborn child. Think about it—do you not perceive the prayer? The unconscious soul of an infant seeks re-unification with its maker! Such simple praise and recognition of God the Creator of Heaven and Earth.

The rest of the hymn is as follows:

Verse 1
Jesus, lover of my soul, Let me to thy bosom fly
While the neared waters roll, While the tempest still is high
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, Till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide. Oh, receive my soul at last!

Verse 3
Thou, O Christ, art all I want; More than all in thee I find.
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, Heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is thy name; I am all unrighteousness.
False and full of sin I am; Thou art full of truth and grace.

Verse 4
Plenteous grace with thee is found, Grace to cover all my sin.
Let the healing streams abound; Make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art; Freely let me take of thee.
Spring thou up within my heart; Rise to all eternity.

(one last note about the italicized in verse 3): this child’s prayer for
her dead (fallen)mother, for her injured father, and for her sister 2-year old sister, and the rest of us who are grief-stricken; and finally,
for the souls of the unborn who have not yet been baptize to Life in
Christ)

Hymn by Charles Wesley, 1707-88.

Hello

So what do bloggers do in their first posts? Let's see...Introduce, explain and apologize? Okay, it's a start.

SINK is an acronym for Single Income No Kids. It is what I am, a statement of my marital status, tax status (no earned income credit, no marriage credit or penalty) , house status (single renter). As for 'Blogged Sink', well it could be bad pun on Clogged SINK. But I am a SINK, and I get clogged with all these opinions and thoughts and ideas and 'earworms' swirling in my brain. I hope by blogging them here, I can unclog. Hmmmm, would that make pushing the post button synonymous with a plunger? Liquid Plumber anyone? Oh geez, that was bad...well stick around and you will find I 'pun' around with words.

As for apology: I hope you are not a plumber or a homeowner who was hoping to find help or a plumbing outfit here. Not going to happen. As I said above, I rent. Anything goes wrong with homes plumbing, I call maintenance.