For all you aisle-seat potatoes

Abomination

Something occurred to me last night, as I was awaiting the Sandman, and it got me giggling uncontrollably.

The reason for the gathering I'd just posted about was the celebration of the 50th wedding anniversary of Beloved's parents. The five kids all put their heads together and decided that they'd cook the Big Dinner, and that it would be shrimp for the kids, and filet mignon with lobster tail for the adults. A pretty big splurge for this family; no one's got a lot of money, so it was a gift of love and honor for their folks.

And it was an abomination. Which means that the abominable playing field has now been leveled.

Mirth.

The importance of the right spokesperson

'Cause if this was a conversation between Bert & Ernie, it would have smacked of "agenda."

Bwa ha ha...

Best retriever EVER

Wonder if I could get Linus & Lucy to do this...instead of, say, the not-quite-dead rabbit they slipped into the kitchen last night.

Yech.



see more dog and puppy pictures

Life at my house

The Colbert Report and same-sex marriage

Freakin' BRILLIANT. Seriously. Laughed my butt off.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Colbert Coalition's Anti-Gay Marriage Ad
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

Better than coffee and bars...

...is this book, which I began reading today. If you Lutherans out there have ever found yourselves intimidated by theological jargon, consider this definition:

Angel
Divine beings, heavenly servants of God, know as purveyors of godly messages, such as recipes for light and delicious food--cake and impossibly fine pasta, or the somewhat rougher traditions of motorcycle fellowship.

There's a longer exegesis (a word which, sadly, they neglected to define) of the topic, a portion of which won my undying esteem:

In art angels are most often depicted with wings upon the back--sometimes two, sometimes six--but it should be noted that in the Bible, most often do not have wings and seem to appear much like people...if you're wondering whether the six-winged angel flies faster than the other varieties, the answer is no, as two wings are used for flying and the other four to cover eyes and ensure decency (Isaiah 6:2). (Now, whether a laden or unladen angel makes better time remains a separate matter.)

This caused a bit of a spew, as I was reading while eating chicken soup. Consider also:

Justice
A condition that most people desire for themselves, claim never to get, and have no interest in granting to their neighbors.

and

Free Will
The belief--which you have no choice but to believe--that human beings are free to make their own choices.

Gentle Reader. Buy this book. You KNOW you could use a laugh. Or thirty. I leave you with these thoughts:

Surround sound

Love this ad, found through CurrentConductor's blog.




And, oh my, what an interesting discussion here about the Whitacre phenomenon! Not just the post, which is thought-provoking, but the comments as well. I'd be curious to hear from anyone who was at his Minneapolis appearance last week...what do you think? I particularly like what commenter Philip had to say about not condescending to young people. About Whitacre, I think he's written a couple of lovely pieces (had a particularly powerful experience hearing his Lux Aurumque once), but he is a bit overhyped. I'm inherently suspicious of any cultural phenomenon at the center of such a splendid marketing machine. I will be interested to see what his next chapter is as a composer.

Bonus and malus

I love words. I respect people who use them carefully and elegantly. Our excellent local soprano Maria Jette does just that--with insight and humor--in this commentary on the AIG debacle. Check it out!

The inflatable doggie of my life

more animals


No time to post today...or likely tomorrow! See y'all soon...

In sickness and in health

There once was a girl with bronchitis
resulting from bad gingivitis:
she had such a cough
that her head popped right off,
and teeth flew both leftus and rightus.

Her wife (herself wracked with pneumonia)
slapped her forehead and was heard to groan-ia
“Oh, no! With my wheezes
or a fit of the sneezes
I worry that I got some onia.”

“Never fear,” said Wife One with great vigor;
“It matters not WHAT pulled the trigger.
Put to rest your compunction;
what we need is an unction
that’ll keep us from becoming sigger.

I’m sure there’s a cure pharmaceutical;
don’t gnaw on your very last cuticle!
We agreed, when we married,
we’d both bear what each carried.
Now gimme a smooch matrimootical!”

If you're feeling just a bit left of center...

...and I KNOW that many of you are...

I offer you the following for your amusement and delectation:

Far Side Reenactments

The Nietzsche Family Circus

There now. Don't you feel better? :-D

Conspiracy theology

Yep, you heard me--not a theory, a theology. A living, breathing, do-something-meaningful, embodied theology.

For behold, I bring you sensible tidings of great sanity and compassion:




More information is available at www.AdventConspiracy.org.

Because, after all, that McGiftcard may not be as powerful as you think, where the spreading of joy is concerned:

Page 56

Thanks to my friend, the proprietor of the Swandive, for this fun idea!

Rules:

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence along with these instructions on your blog (or facebook wall).
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Addendum: feel free to post the sentence in the comments, and you are tagged.

Here's mine:

Santy Claus is going to come and the turkey won't be tough and we'll all get along.

Funny that should be the case--the character who says this is in the middle of a mini-soliloquy that snarkily anticipates a pain-in-the-butt Christmas. Which is my general feeling about the holiday season. Love the theology and fresh/authentic interpretations of the music, love the goodwill that always presents itself in lots of ways, HATE the shopping and crazy schedule and slap-on-plastic-grins-even-though-we're-
collapsing-from-stress cultural side of it.

Oh, and the ever-present mechanical music. Did I mention the mechanical music? If God had wanted plastic trees that beep out "Here Comes Santa Claus," we'd find them in natural forests, not retail ones.

The other funny thing about the way this turned out: the book is "The View from Mount Joy" by Lorna Landvik. I always look forward to her next book. They're all funny and insightful and just good stories, that have sweetness but not treacle. They're also about people I recognize, sometimes literally: she's a daughter of the congregation I serve! She isn't a member any more, but her stories take place in neighborhoods that are very reflective of mine. That's just fun. :-)

Incidentally, if you haven't seen Home for the Holidays, I thought it was hilarious!

So I have my MOTHER to thank for it

I knew it couldn't possibly have anything to do with emotional eating or just a general love of all things buttery...here's my favorite answer!

:-D

And now, for something completely different...

Trust Monty Python to provide the antidote to a gloomy news cycle...

Descartes with marshmallows and brown sugar

Konduktr puppeh haz a reehursl happee

All of Tatooine's Buddhists agree...

...this IS the answer to the old koan (courtesy of Doug Savage):

This man is my brother

Never met him, or even heard of him before today. But I play the guitar...

And I play the cello.

And we played the same damned thing in my high school orchestra.

And I just laughed my butt off, thanks to my friend T, who sent me this (thanks, T!):




Oh, and we're bugged by other similar things, as well. Bless 'im. :-)