Now is the time for turning..

“Now is the time for turning. The leaves are beginning to turn from green to red to orange.

The birds are beginning to turn and are heading toward the south. The animals are beginning to turn to storing their food for the winter.

For leaves, birds and animals, turning comes instinctively. But for us, turning does not come so easily.

It takes and act of will for us to make a turn. It means breaking old habits. It means admitting we have been wrong, and this is never easy. It means losing face.

It means starting all over again. And this is always painful. It means saying I am sorry. It means recognizing that we have the ability to change. These things are terribly hard to do.”

But unless we turn, we will be trapped forever in yesterday’s ways.

Lord help us to turn, from callousness to sensitivity,

from envy to contentment,

from carelessness to discipline,

from fear to faith.

Turn us around, O Lord, and bring us back toward you.

Revive our lives as at the beginning, and turn us toward each other,

Lord, for in isolation there is no life.”

--Yom Kipper liturgy

My true color shining throug...

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Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.

...On the Pascal Mystery

"In his death, Jesus shed the limitations that were part of his earthly experience, and once those limitations where shed, thd Spirit was released.

I have an image for all this which is not very theological. It comes from an old Abbott & Costello movie, I believe. Through some fantastic means the two of them had become ghosts and could not be seen. In order to make themselves known, they put on clothes made of ordinary materials. Because they were ghosts they could pass through walls and floors without difficulty. However, when they tried it with their non-ghostly outfits, the clothing simply fell to the floor as they passed through the wall. I sometimes imagine that in his experience of death, Jesus passed downward through the floor and left behind all the limitations which were part of his human condition. He still remained like us, but because he accepted even death he shed the limitations which are part of our human conditions in this life." --Keith Clark, Capuchin; An Experience of Celibacy,Ave Maria Press 1982,p. 74-75

Unconscious Mutterings (week 163)

Free association is described as a "psychonanalytic procedure in which a person is encouraged to give free rein to his or her thoughts and feelings, verbalizing whatever comes into the mind without monitoring its content." Over time, this technique is supposed to help bring forth repressed thoughts and feelings that the person can then work through to gain a better sense of self.

That's an admirable goal, but for the purposes of this excercise, we're just hoping to have a little fun with the technique. Each week I'll post ten words to which you can respond to with the first thing that comes to mind.

"Rules are, there are no rules." There are no right or wrong answers. Don't limit yourself to one word responses; just say everything that pops into your head. AND you don't have to have your words up on Sunday. Take all week if you want! Read the FAQ for more information.

1. Sugar rush:: Commercial break during March Madness


2. Chemical::Addiction


3. Suspension:: School


4. Defending:: My opinion


5. Conference:: Call


6. Dance:: Like nobody's watching


7. Weather:: Is it Spring yet?


8. Fuel:: Fan the flames


9. Heartbreak:: Hotel


10. Insult:: Put Down

Gordon Parks 11/30/1912-3/7/2006

"My experience--though I would never wish it upon anyone else--has helped make me whatever I am and still hope to be. . .I have come to understand that hunger, hatred, and love are the same wherever you find them, and it is that understanding that now helps me escape the past that once imprisoned me." - Gordon Parks, A Choice of Weapons

Gordon Parks, photographer, filmmaker, poet, composer and novelist, died March 7th. This is his obituary from the Associated Press:

Gordon Parks, who captured the struggles and triumphs of black America as a photographer for Life magazine and then became Hollywood's first major black director with "The Learning Tree" and the hit "Shaft," died Tuesday, a family member said. He was 93. Parks, who also wrote fiction and was an accomplished composer, died in New York, his nephew, Charles Parks, said in a telephone interview from Lawrence, Kan."Nothing came easy," Parks wrote in his autobiography. "I was just born with a need to explore every tool shop of my mind, and with long searching and hard work. I became devoted to my restlessness." He covered everything from fashion to politics to sports during his 20 years at Life, from 1948 to 1968. But as a photographer, he was perhaps best known for his gritty photo essays on the grinding effects of poverty in the United States and abroad and on the spirit of the civil rights movement. "Those special problems spawned by poverty and crime touched me more, and I dug into them with more enthusiasm," he said. "Working at them again revealed the superiority of the camera to explore the dilemmas they posed." In 1961, his photographs in Life of a poor, ailing Brazilian boy named Flavio da Silva brought donations that saved the boy and purchased a new home for him and his family. "The Learning Tree" was Parks' first film, in 1969. It was based on his 1963 autobiographical novel of the same name, in which the young hero grapples with fear and racism as well as first love and schoolboy triumphs. Parks wrote the score as well directed. In 1989, "The Learning Tree" was among the first 25 American movies to be placed on the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. The registry is intended to highlight films of particular cultural, historical or aesthetic importance. The detective drama "Shaft," which came out in 1971 and starred Richard Roundtree, was a major hit and spawned a series of black-oriented films. Parks himself directed a sequel, "Shaft's Big Score," in 1972. He also published books of poetry and wrote musical compositions including "Martin," a ballet about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press

I wrote the following tribute to Mr. Parks for his on-line guest book at http://www.legacy.com/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=16998419
In the early 70's I was young white girl in junior high when I read the autobiographical 'A Choice of Weapons' written by Mr. Parks. Since a great deal of the book takes place in the Twin Cities, I thought it was 'neat' because I lived not far from some of the landmarks described in it. But it also opened my eyes to the greater world around me. To understand what the previous generation endured in the Great Depression if you were not rich or middle class to begin with. To realize that not everyone goes to bed with a roof over their head, that not everyone has the same chance at landing a job, that we can choose how we react to situations in our lives which seem beyond our control. That each of us has 'A Choice of Weapons'. Since that time I have long admired Mr. Parks.

What makes this occurance especially poignant for me is he died one day after former Minnesota Twins player and Baseball Hall of Fame member, Kirby Puckett. (3/14/60-3/6/06)
The media were so caught up in Puckett's death, there was hardly any mention at all for Gordon Parks. The St. Paul Pioneer Press had a small article the day after, and that appears to be all they did--although I admit I don't always read the full paper cover to cover. But Kirby---he was all over the front page, the local section, the sports page, they published a special section commemorating his life. Ironic, is it. When Gordon Park was born, no black man (yes, I know the politically correct phrase is African-American; but I went to an inner-city high school. No one used that phrase) was allowed to play on a baseball team. He lived lived during the tumultuous Civil Rights movement of the 1950's and 60's. Mr. Parks was a gifted photographer. He taught himself how to take use a camera and take great pictures. He was the first black fashion photographer, working for Vogue magazine. He later became the first black photographer to join the staff of Life magazine. He wrote had several photography techniques, at least one is still considered to be basic reading for photography courses. He was also a gifted writer and poet, one of his books Half Past Autumn is a retrospect containing nearly 300 of his photographs.

Don't get me wrong. I love baseball. I much admired Kirby Puckett. He was a great player and always had a great smile and a lot of enthusiasm for the game. But I just wish that at least locally, more people realize that Minnesota lost two great icons this past week.

The guy who takes a chance, who walks the fine line between the known and unknown, who is unafraid of failure, will succeed." -Gordon Parks

Your Hidden Talent

You have the natural talent of rocking the boat, thwarting the system. And while this may not seem big, it can be. It's people like you who serve as the catalysts to major cultural changes. You're just a bit behind the scenes, so no one really notices.

What's" Your Hidden Talent?

Unconscious Mutterings (week 152)

1. Celebrate:: the Child who is the Light, now the darkness is over (lyrics from a Michael Card song
2. Resolve: to keep my apartment neater
3. I need to:: clean up this mess
4. Call:: it a toss-up
5. Token::game pieces
6. Brand:: New Year!
7. Comparison:: I'm great! there is no comparison!
8. Far away:: my Godson, in the Army and deployed to Iraq...
9. Artful:: individual snow-flakes
10. Fantastic::plastic fantastic lover (lyrics from Jefferson Airplane)

Anagram fun

I was filling out a crossword puzzle recently that gave me the Britney Spears/Presbyterian clue/answer that I posted a few days ago. That got me to thinking which I admit can be dangerous for me. I did a Google search for an anagram website, which led me to www.wordsmith.org/anagrams. Then I was thinking, what should I anagram? Something pertinent. I got it! I input "the blogged sink" and hit enter. In a few quick seconds I had a list of at least 500 "sentences", although most of the words were pretty obsecure. I'm going to share a few of the more interesting results with you, along with some eye-rolling comments ;)

1. Bogged Shot Link : Natural Resources info. on illegal lead shot (used to weight fishing lines)
2. Bleed Ghost King : Do ghosts bleed?
3. Boggled He Stinks : after playing Boggle for 4 days straight with out a bath...
4. Belted Hog King : Biker with a belt to hold his pants up?
5. Blend Egg Shit : add three cups of crap to the mix and blend at high speed for 4 minutes or until runny
6. Behold Gets King : and Prince Charming too?
7. Beds Ogle Knight : Ohhhh! it is Prince Charming, what a hunk!
8. Sob Ledge Knight : I found out he was already married, and felt so awful I was think of jumping out of the castles' tower window
9. Be Geld Knight So : but then I thought, he's the one who cheated, so I gelded him
10. Bldg seeking Hot :...start of a help wanted ad for a plumber?
11. Blond's Eight Keg : new label of beer, made by blond women who can't spell 'blonde'
12. Blighted Keg Son : fella who just celebrated his 21st birthday
13. Bold Geek Night: a class for those learning HTML
14. Belting Desk Hog :violence in the workplace--I hit the fool taking up more then their fare share of the space
15. (Knocking on the bathroom door) are you almost done it there? (Answer) Bee Kind-(I am) Shtg a Log!! (grrrruntttt)
16. ...and my personnal favorite, because it is true, I have Blighted God Knees from praying for you.

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