My New Blog Design

If you were thinking, "Wow, Michele's blog is really looking sharp. She must have figured out how to change the fonts and add lines and really is getting good at html coding." Well, no. I don't know why it changed. Maybe blogger changed the font families or something else technical that I'm only starting to learn. But I really, really like it!

The Fruit of Blogging

This is what happens when you blog while your oatmeal is cooking. This also happens when you're surfing the Internet.

Updated to add: Evidently I'm not the only one. The evidence it here. Anyone else?

Buy a Friend a Book

Tabitha says that next week is buy a friend a book week. Just wanted to let you know so you had time to shop.

Professor Groves

Please remember to keep Professor Groves in your prayers. He has a blog where he posts updates and prayer requests. I know that some of you have been very supportive of me in prayer and I ask that you do the same for him. Here is one of his requests:

I am beginning my second round of chemo tonight (it's oral and done at bedtime). It will last for five days, as it did at the end of February. Covet your prayers that there would be no nausea. [This more traditional chemo therapy and different from the targeted molecular therapy which I have been having the side-effects.)

Please read the rest and pray.

I have put a link to his blog on both of my blogs so that you (and I) can be reminded to go there and see what we should be praying for him.

Working Moms

I am not trying to pick a fight here, I'm really not. I actually understand why women work after they have kids. I think it's hard to give up something you worked so hard to achieve -- I held on for two years (working part-time) before I finally gave up and gave into being a full-time stay-at-home* mom. But these quotes get to you:

"My mom works at a bank and my dad works three hours away, so my babysitter has to pick me up every day."

"Wednesday is the only day my mom can pick me up. I dream about Wednesday all week."

Read the rest here.

The author of the piece understands this struggle:

Then, my first-born child, whose mom is holding an entire book about how she has to work or she wouldn't be herself, about how a happy mom is the most important factor in a child's life, about how there is no single right decision that works for the millions of moms in America, spoke up.

"I think all moms should stay home with their children."

And once again, he reminded me of a lesson obvious since the day he was born: Motherhood is not just about moms.

I don't think there is really an easy answer. Some moms need to work and some have to work but there still needs to be a balance between kids and work. It is really hard to have it all.

*I'm a stay-at-home mother who is never home (see my profile).

(Link via SpunkyHomeSchool)

Tags: Parenting, Working Moms, Christianity

Very Funny

This is soooo funny! You have got to listen to this. Things like this are the reason why I would never be a preacher, even if my denomination lost it's mind and decided to ordain women (well, and the fact that it's unbiblical). I'm thankful that there are godly men who will put up with this kind of thing and worse (I know a pastor who received anonymous hate mail). Say something nice to your pastor this Sunday to make up for stuff like this.

(Link via The Best of the Godblogs)

This is Sick

Don't pass over this, it is not something you will probably read about in the MSM:

DUBLIN, Ireland, March 29, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Two Ukraininan doctors, Vadym Lazaryev and Vladymyr Ishchenko, have been seeking asylum in Ireland since 2004, after they were forced to flee their country for exposing appalling human rights abuses of women and unborn children in the Ukraine.

The doctors were part of a group working to uncover a macabre system of medical trafficking in the bodies of unborn babies, European Life Network reported today. Doctors were deceiving women into aborting their babies for false "medical" reasons, and then selling the bodies of the children. The children would be aborted live, and their bodies cut into separate organs. In some cases live dissection took place.

Most of the body parts were apparently sold to the burgeoning cosmetic industry of "foetal tissue" youth-enhancing treatments, as well as quack "medical therapies."

In many cases, women were paid to get pregnant and to deliver the baby at a given gestation. They were paid a higher price for carrying the child closer to term, since abortion is illegal in the Ukraine after 12 weeks gestation.
...
Doctors Vadym Lazaryev and Vladymyr Ischenko had full police participation in their investigation, but when the investigation revealed government sanction of the trafficking and the involvement of prominent doctors, they were advised to stop. The police told them they could not guarantee their safety. After an attempt was made on their lives, they fled the country to Ireland, leaving behind their families. A documentary on the expose was screened in the Ukraine after they had left.

Read the rest. Please pray that they are able to gain asylum in Ireland.

Banned Laptops

Oh, the poor students who were banned from using their computers in class. Many students at my seminary would be lost without their laptop. More than half use their laptop in class. They even have a very weak connection to the Internet in the classrooms.

I think that it is way too late in these students careers for the professor to take away a learning tool that they have probably had their entire academic career. All of their college career they probably learned how to take notes on their computer and then used those notes in preparation for the midterms and finals. Taking notes on the computer allows you to outline the material for easier memorization. It is really hard to take hand written notes and then type them into the computer -- it is time consuming and leads to many errors. I take my notes by hand, so I know how hard this can be.

Technology has improved the students ability to accumulate and process material. These professors need to understand this and have to learn how to better incorporate the technology into their presentation, otherwise they risk losing students to more technologically advanced institutions. This student has the right idea:

Student Cory Winsett says if he must continue without his laptop, he'll transfer to another school. Winsett says he won't be able to keep up if he has to rely on hand-written notes, which he says are incomplete and less organized.

Read more about it here.

(Link via the Drudge Report)

Update to the Offensive Bunny in City Hall

Here's an update to this article I posted a couple days ago. There appears to be a decided effort to display the offensive bunnies anyway in the St. Paul City Hall:

The Bunny Dust-Up is taking on truly mythic proportions in City Hall these days. Ramsey County Board chairman Tony Bennett took a pair of bunny ears to wear at a meeting with the Washington County Board over lunch. One of the maintenance staff was pushing a dust mop around with ears sticking from the top of her head.

No one tells an American that they can't display their Easter bunny! If you live in St. Paul don't go outside without your bunny ears and make sure you visit city hall as well.

I have a picture in my head of the bureaucrat running around fining everyone for wearing bunny ears. Does it remind you of Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny's ability to always come out on top in the end?

Go read this very funny take on the story. Good catch on the name of the city being St. Paul, talk about irony! And I love the bunny peeps! So funny! (OK, I do have a sick sense of humor every once in awhile -- remember it's only candy).

Tags: Bunnies, Easter Bunny, City Hall, Saint Paul

What do you think of this icon?

We're still trying to figure out our icon (the discussion is talking place on my other blog). Isn't this one so cute? I love it (the chick looks like me after a night of blogging)!

If anyone is willing to put up our graphic on their site (after we've selected it), I will put up a recipocal link to their site (it has to be a family friendly site). I'm making a special "Friends of the Blogging Chicks" link list and you can be part of it (sign up first and there will be a special bonus feature to your link). That list will be on both blogs. (Two links for the price of one, who can beat that?)

God at work

While we are focused on the fate of the Christian in Afghanstan, God is using the situation to call His people:

Andaryas runs a collection of Christian websites in Afghanistan's Dari-Persian tongue as well as daily radio programs and a weekly television program.

He is in daily contact with individuals in his homeland, and has been reporting for several years about the risks faced by Afghan Christians -- all converts from Islam and thus considered apostates worthy of death, according to Islamic law (shari'a).

He said one of the websites, which carries news on Afghan Christians, typically drew about 300 unique visitors every month, but since the Rahman story emerged it had attracted half a million visitors.

The number of emails received also has risen enormously, and 13 people are now tasked with responding to them.

The majority of emails are negative and many are abusive, coming from Muslims who felt that Rahman and other apostates -- including Andaryas himself -- should be severely punished.

But there also are many messages of support, he said.

And then there are emails coming from Afghans wanting to know more about Christianity, asking where they can get a Bible in the Dari or Pashto language, or sharing the news that they had become believers in Jesus Christ.

Among the most stirring messages are those from Afghan Muslims marveling about a faith for which a man was willing to die and wanting to study the Bible further.

Read the rest here.
(Story via Doug, my husband )

Blogrolls and Link List

This is my policy statement concerning the link lists and blogrolls on this website. I wanted to warn everyone that I don't just link to believers and that I belong to blogrolls that have all types of blogs on them. There will probably be some that you might find objectionable. I belong to all these groups because I believe in sharing in this experience with everyone (that is why I have an open comment policy) and because I want to freely dialogue with everyone. I believe that in the marketplace of ideas, the truth claims of Scripture will become evident. I am not afraid of what anyone writes and therefore welcome dialogue with whoever wants to engage me (civilly and respectfully). So, I visit all kinds of blogs and recommend that you do the same.

Homer's Dream Sandwich

What do you think? Does this look appetizing?

The ballpark sandwich will include a hamburger topped with sharp cheddar cheese and two slices of bacon -- all between a "bun" made of a sliced Krispy Kreme Original Glazed doughnut.

If you can find a (loop)hole in your cardiologist's advice, calorie counters predict the monster will set you back about 1,000 calories and 45 grams of fat.

...

The Grizzlies are no strangers to self-promotion through caloric innovation. Two years ago they introduced what they called "Baseball's Best Hotdog," a dog topped with two strips of bacon, sauteed onions, sauerkraut and cheddar cheese sauce. They upped the ante last year with the "Swiss Brat," a bratwurst with a slice of Swiss cheese in the middle of it, topped with sauerkraut.

Read the rest here.

And from a related article at Snopes comes this quote from an episode of the Simpsons:

"We take eighteen ounces of sizzling ground beef, and then soak it in rich creamery butter. Then we top it off with bacon, ham and a fried egg. We call it . . . the Good Morning Burger."

Here is a picture of the type of food Homer was longing for:

Mulligan's, a suburban bar in Decatur, Georgia, serves a dish they call the "Hamdog": a hot dog wrapped in a beef patty that's deep fried, covered with chili, cheese and onions, and served on a hoagie bun topped with a fried egg and two fistfuls of fries.

Yum? As my daughter Sarah said, "This is why America is obese." Is this a sign of a nation that has lost its sense of sin?

Humor and Christianity: An Oxymoron?

Is there such thing as a humorous Christian? Or is it against the law (biblical law) to poke fun at those on the other side of the aisle theologically?

Are We One of Your Six?

So, you're only reading six blogs? I might have to clear out all the links to other blogs because they might tempt you away from us :-). Read more about it here.

(Link via Postscript Posthaste)

The Case of the Disappearing Posts

Is anyone else experiencing problems posting tonight on blogger? Posts keep disappearing and reappearing (I think blogger is trying to gaslight me).

Update: Evidently letters are disappearing from posts as well :-) (that's my story and I'm sticking with it).

I couldn't resist...

Updated to add: I should have resisted! I don't think anyone can be offended by the above. I apologize to this whose feelings were hurt by my chicken joke.

Update on Rebecca's Blogging Tool List

Rebecca's list of blogging tools is getting quite long and has many very useful items that I've never heard of before like this site where you can make custom signs for your blog. They even have a comic generator were I made my very own generated comic! If any of you would like to generate a comic, I will display it here on our blog. You can email me the comic, or send me the link to your host of choice or you can load it here (you can also leave me a link in the comments section of this post) and I will display it here on the blog. But I will not post offensive material, so keep in clean!
Tags: Blogs,Blogging Tools, Blogging

Blogging Chicks Blogroll

Another addition to the blogroll. I don't feel like repeating myself so go over to my other blog for more information.

They're at it again....

This is ridiculous. People, what does it matter to you if someone wants to put up a sign that says "Happy Easter?" Freedom of speech anyone? Hollywood, isn't this your issue? A city bureaucrat forces a secretary to take down her own, personal Easter display:

The display - a cloth Easter bunny, pastel-colored eggs and a sign with the words "Happy Easter" - was put up by a City Council secretary. They were not purchased with city money.

Tyrone Terrill, the city's human rights director, asked that the decorations be removed. Terrill said no citizen had complained to him.

See, this is the problem, the city has a "human rights director." He probably has nothing better to do then walk around city hall looking for offensive material such as bunnies.

BTW, I know of Christians who would be offended by the Easter bunnies and decorated eggs. This is what is so humorous about all this, there is nothing Christian about an Easter bunny or an decorated egg. Just as there's nothing Christian about Santa Claus. A bunny and a decorated egg? Not in the Bible.

I personally don't have a problem with bunnies, my daughters have gotten a lot of them for Easter over the years. I prefer that my Easter bunny be chocolate (hmmm, chocolate).

Update: here

Is this test accurate?

Your Hidden Talent

You have the power to persuade and influence others. You're the type of person who can turn a whole room around. The potential for great leadership is there, as long as you don't abuse it. Always remember, you have a lot more power over people than you might think!

What's Your Hidden Talent?

Go take this test and tell me your results. What is the criteria for this test?

(Link via A Rose By Any Other Name*)

* Go check out the subtitle of her website (hehe or as Instapundit says "heh")

Shocking News!

Imagine my shock when I found out that this site comes up second when you enter www.mrssatan.blogspot.com into the Technorati search engine. There is me (as a baby) looking all cute and smiley about being linked with Mrs. Satan. Oh, the Internet is a strange place.

Tags: Technorati Search, Blogs, Links

What a mess!

I just installed Firefox and noticed that we have a problem with the title picture. I hate these stupid browsers and html. I thought all of this was supposed to be standard!

Updated to fix the name of the product I just installed minutes before I posted this!

Sarah's Collage of (for?) "To Kill A Mockingbird"

Isn't this great? I think it looks a little like a ransom note. They were supposed to cut out pictures from magazines that represented aspects of the story and they got extra points for originality.

Ok, I can't decide if the title should be "of" or "for." Would someone who got 100% on the grammar test help me out?

Updated to correct the title of the book so that you guys don't think that I'm a complete Philistine and moron. I'm so glad I turned off Blog Mad today or I would have had hundreds seeing that mistake over and over again.

Bailey's Irish Cream

I found some good recipes here. One of the recipes is for a Bailey's Irish Cream pudding. Hmmm, pudding. I love Bailey's Irish Cream and used to drink it when I went out dancing in my younger, pre-children, pre-Christian days. I love Hagen-daze Bailey's Ice Cream and I'm thankful that it only comes out for a limited time and you can only get it at the mall, otherwise I would eat it all the time.

So, when I read that recipe I got to thinking that there must be other sites that have Bailey's Irish Cream recipes. What other great things could I make with Bailey's Irish Cream? So, I googled and look what I found. A site that gives you the recipe to make your own Bailey's Irish Cream. How cool it that? And here is a site that has a ton of recipes that use Bailey's as an ingredient. This one looks good -- its a cream cake and this one is a cream pie (Hmmm, pie -- ok, I'll stop).

A Name for this Experience

I thought of a name for my experience with surfing the Blog Mad blogs, the merry-go-round. I go around and around and I keep seeing the same scenery.

What blogging tools have you found to be the most helpful?

Rebecca asked her readers to submit the tools they use in setting up and running their blogs. The comments have been helpful (you may recognize one of the commenters :-), so check it out. Here is a site I could have used Friday when I tried to work on the new template for this site. I really struggled with what colors would look best together. This site gives you the colors that go together.

Feel free to share your ideas with us here as well.

Tags: Blogs, Blogging Tools, Blogging, Blogs

The Problem with Labels

As I was considering what I wanted to share on this blog, I kept running into a problem:
Who do I say I am?

Is there a label that will correctly identify who I am and what I believe? The problem with labels is not the label itself but in the definition. There in lies the problem. So if I call myself a "conservative Christian" who has a "biblical worldview" and is passionate for "constitutional" integrity would you really understand what I'm trying to say?

Check out this article, it defines labels and gives us pause to consider what we call ourselves.

By Susan

Over 200 Posts Mark

We hit 200 posts about 17 posts ago but I thought I would celebrate anyway and I hit 100 posts at my other blog (there's too much posting going on around here).

(Dancing numbers from Artie.com)

Well Done Blog Mad Bloggers

I take back all my snarky comments and thoughts because I saw some really beautiful sites today. One guy had the best color combination I've seen yet. It was navy blue, maroon and gray with green lines -- very lovely. And I found this site. You might want to eat something before you go or it will make your stomach growl (those who have the weight loss blogs might want to avoid it).

BTW, I'm having a hard time figuring out what to call you in my posts.

Arrested for Drinking in a Bar

This seems extreme:

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission sent a message to bar patrons last week.

TABC agents and Irving police swept through 36 Irving bars and arrested about 30 people on charges of public intoxication. Agency representatives say the move came as a proactive measure to curtail drunken driving.

North Texans interviewed by NBC 5, however, worried that the sweep went too far. At one location, for example, agents and police arrested patrons of a hotel bar. Some of the suspects said they were registered at the hotel and had no intention of driving. Arresting authorities said the patrons were a danger to themselves and others.

Yeah, the sweep went too far! Talk about understatement! Why would you have a law like that on the books, how is it constitutional? Since when is it against the law to drink in a legal establishment? This reminds me of the movie Minority Report where people were arrested because they thought about killing someone. We are slowly, and incrementally loosing our freedoms. I have a related post here.

People, you need to kick legislators out of office when they make laws like this, it will send a message to the next bunch not to try it or they will face the same fate. BTW, we should do that to legislators who raise our taxes as well.

(Link via The Right Wing News)

Welcome to Blog Mad Surfers

I just wanted to give a shout out to all the Blog Mad people chained to their computer viewing the same websites over and over again. Believe me, you have my sympathy. Well, here is a fresh blog, I just added it. I will try to update it throughout the day. See, I kept it short and sweet. Please return the favor :-). I hope you enjoy your next site.

Interesting Buildings

Isn't this building cool! For a more pictures and background information, go here.

Why?

What a beautiful family. Don't they look happy? Why would the wife shoot her husband?

The wife of a slain minister confessed to shooting him at their church parsonage, then fleeing to Alabama, where she was found the following night with their three young daughters, authorities said Friday.

Mary Winkler told investigators she shot her husband on Wednesday, Selmer Police investigator Roger Rickman said.

Read more here.

We should pray for these beautiful children who just lost their dad and are about to lose their mom. And we should pray for the church that just lost their pastor, this is a devastating event for them.

(Link via Drudge Report)

What a Shock!!!

Readers of my blogs should not be surprised by this result:

Your English Skills:

Punctuation: 80%

Spelling: 80%

Vocabulary: 80%

Grammar: 40%

Does Your English Cut the Mustard?

I thought it was time for a little humility since I made Best of the Godblogs. Alright, time to break out the grammar book. Where's Donna when I need her?

(Link via Kim from Hiraeth who had a perfect score in all but one of the categories)

Boo-Yah!

My abortion article on my other blog made Best of the GodBlogs.

TA-DA (Well, sort of)

OK, here is the somewhat new blog. I tried to use a template I found on the internet but I couldn't get it to work with all the assorted buttons, icons, whatever I got cluttering up the place. I wasted my entire evening on it last night and part of this morning (I was up at 4:00). I'm going to to use this template as a baseline and incorporate the changes that I want to make into. But I have a lot of reading to do in the next couple weeks, so this is it for awhile. You might as well get used to it.

Updated to add: I forgot to mention the picture! As you can tell, I'm a very visual person. I learn visually and I like to convey information visually (when I teach, I use Powerpoint). I found the picture on the Internet (I think it's the same guy who took the picture I have on my other blog), it's from Greece. It's meant to convey a desire on our part for you to sit down, look at the view and discuss life with us.

Colors for Your Blog

If you are trying to change the colors in your template this is the best place to get the range of colors available and their hexadecimal values. It was easier for me to match colors using their chart. Though you might not like the results! I think they compliment each other but who knows.

Christian Persecution in Afghanistan

I know that you all have heard of the Afghan Christian who was about to face a trial with a possible death sentence. I was going to blog about it after I finished my exam but now it appears that he may not be prosecuted after all:

While Afghan prosecutors, amid political pressure, apparently are trying to find a face-saving way to drop their case against a convert from Islam by calling him 'mad,' sources close to Abdul Rahman say that despite suffering bouts of
depression, he has a strong, genuine faith in Jesus Christ.

Earlier yesterday, Afghan prosecutor Sarinwal Zamari said of Rahman, "We think he could be mad. He is not a normal person. He doesn't talk like a normal person."
...
Moayuddin Baluch, a religious adviser to Karzai, said Rahman will have to undergo a psychological examination.

"Doctors must examine him," he told the Associated Press. "If he is mentally unfit, definitely Islam has no claim to punish him. He must be forgiven. The case must be dropped."

Western observers in Afghanistan say the government is looking for a face-saving way to drop the case in light of the international firestorm it has caused.

The point that I was going to make about this story is that Muslims have to realize that they aren't going to always be able to force people to believe in a religion that they find untrue. They will have to learn the lesson that the Christian church learned, you can't use the power of the state to make converts. Belief is personal and it isn't the state's business what their citzens believe.

Even though this man may be spared there might be others:

Afghanistan's new constitution declares "followers of other religions (other than Islam) are free to exercise their faith and perform their religious rites within the limits of the provisions of law."

But it also says "the religion of the state is the sacred religion of Islam" and that Shariah, or Islamic, Law is the controlling legal authority. Under Shariah, in many Muslim countries, anyone who abandons Islam is subject to the death penalty.

Read more about this story here.

Blogging Chicks

I have created my own blogroll. Everyone seems to have one, so I thought instead of just trying to join someone else's blogroll (believe me it isn't easy), I would just create my own. Sure it's small now, but wait, it will get much bigger! It is for women only and it's open to everyone, not just Christians. My only requirements are that you not be a porn or spam site and that you display the blogroll on your site.

Email me the blog title and your url and I'll send you the code.

Yet Another Prayer Update

Yes, I plan to blog about something besides prayer requests :-). First, thank you for your prayers, they were much appreciated. I think I nailed the first question but the second question, not so much. I was good at the beginning but I missed the main point of the question. There were nine class outlines (between 6-10 pages long)that I had to remember with many different Greek texts being used. For the question I answered I had to keep straight the difference between vertical eschatology and horizontal eschatology in historia salutis and half way into the question I forgot what vertical eschatology was (drat this old brain) and I didn't have enough time to answer another question (there were four to choose from and you had to answer two). It was actually an easy test if you could keep on the different lectures straight (with the same biblical text being used differently for each topic) but unfortunately I could not.

Now, I have to keep telling myself, "A bad grade doesn't mean your dumb! A bad grade doesn't mean your dumb! A bad grade....."

BTW, at Westminster eschatology doesn't mean last things, it means ultimate things. "Eschatology is not most basically focused on what happens at the end of history. It actually pertains first and foremost to what happens at the beginning of history" (from my class notes).

Number One Song

What song was number one the year you were born? Find out here.

Mine was "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" by Connie Francis. Which is appropriate!

(Link via Kim)

Updated to add: I took out the link because it looks like the guy is trying to cash in on his popularity and has all kinds of ads up but taken out the link to the thing I was sending you to! That is incredibly dumb and earns you nothing. Put up ads, but give me what I came for.

Midterm!

I don't know anything! It's all jumbled up in my head! Help!!!!! When I took my midterm in my last semester of Greek, I looked at the test and panicked because I couldn't understand anything but after I calmed down I began to slowly translate the text. I'm feeling that sense of panic now. I will let you know what happened later tonight. Please pray!

BTW, if anyone would like me to pray for them or would like me to post a prayer request on my blog, please email me or leave me a comment.

Thank You for Your Prayers

Thank you for your prayers I'm feeling much better. But I would appreciate your continued prayer for my midterm. It's going to be very hard. There's going to be Greek and theology, all on the same test!

Update on My Prayer Request

Thank you for your prayers. I was able to make it through the night without waking up but I'm still not 100% yet, so please continue to pray.

Does It Count If You Saw the Movie?

I was at The Upward Call and came across this list of books that British librarians believe are the books every adult should read before they die:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Bible
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien
1984 by George Orwell
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
All Quite on the Western Front by E M Remarque
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Tess of the D'urbevilles by Thomas Hardy
Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Life of Pi by Yann MartelMiddlemarch by George Eliot
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzenhitsyn

I was surprised that the Name of the Rose wasn't on the list, it was an excellent book and well worth slogging through the first 100 pages to get to the interesting part. I agree with the author that the first part of the book was necessary to set the tone of the book.

I was also surprised that A Tale of Two Cities wasn't on the list, though they probably didn't want to make it an all Dickens list. I really believe that this book should be on the list because it is such a wonderful story of selflessness and sacrificial love, something our society needs to think about (we are sooo self-centered, only thinking about what's in it for me).

But I was not surprised to see that the Bible was on this list since it is the greatest literary work ever created, what other work has so many authors, over such an expanse of time and cultures and yet shares a common theme? Also, so much of the really great literature presupposes a knowledge of the Bible that it would be impossible to get the true meaning of the author without a knowledge of it.

Read the article here.

(Link for article via The Crusty Curmudgeon)

One last thing ...

I had asked for prayer for Professor Al Groves of Westminster Theological Seminary who has been diagnosed with melanoma. Here is an interesting post he made on Flossing as an Act of Hope. And here is something from David Powlison who also has prostrate cancer. These are thoughtful men who love the Lord and we can learn and be encouraged from their struggles.

(Links via See Things Differently)

Prayer Request

Please pray for me today, I have a mid-term on Wednesday and I'm not felling well. I was up half the night throwing up. Either my meal didn't agree with me (I can never mix beef and chicken) or I have a stomach flu.

As you can tell posting will be non-existent today and tomorrow. Please read my archives and my other blog until Wednesday. I'll try to check in to read comments. (So Spammers, don't think you can take advantage of my absence!)

The Savvy of Spammers

What a shame this type of talent and technical knowledge it wasted on vulturine activities:

The new type of attack, known as a Smart Redirection Attack, is designed to ensure that potential phishing victims always link to a live website.

For a Smart Redirection Attack, the fraudster creates a number of similar phishing websites based at different locations. All of the emails received by consumers contain URLs that direct the victim to an IP address that hosts the 'smart redirector'. When the potential victim clicks on the link, the 'redirector' checks all related phishing websites, identifies which sites are still live, and invisibly redirects the user to one of them.

I'm sure there are a few companies who can use savvy people like this.

Volkswagen's faux pas

When I first saw this article quoted at Code Red Women for the Troops, I thought that it was a case of the further coarsening of our society but after I read the article I realized that it was just incompetence on the part of the marketing people at Volkswagen (you really should look into how a word is perceived in your target audience before you use it). Don't they have any Hispanics at Volkswagen?

Volkswagen said Friday it will remove billboards in New York, Los Angeles and Miami after receiving complaints that a word used in an advertisement was offensive to Hispanics.

The ad for the new GTI 2006 had a photo of the sports car accompanied by the words "Turbo-Cojones." Cojones, which means testicles in Spanish, has become a casually used term for boldness or guts in English but has never lost its more vulgar connotations in its native language.

A billboard in the Miami neighborhood of Little Havana generated complaints, and the company decided to remove it Wednesday, said Steve Keyes, a Volkswagen spokesman. Volkswagen AG has received no complaints for its billboards in New York and Los Angeles but decided to pull them anyway.

Stolen Blog

I know that I just praised Google but like any big corporation, sometimes they're smart and sometimes they're just plain dumb. They deleted Besty's Page and then had trouble recovering here and while that was going on they allowed her address to be stolen from her:

Then, today, I got a message from Blogger saying that they had recovered my blog and that somehow I had gotten caught up in some massive “automated spam prevention system" action that had thought that my blog was spam. Huh?! Then, the kicker was that they weren't yet ready to give me back my URL but would try to negotiate with the blogjacker who had put up a false Betsy Page using my URL. Huh?! The guy had just appropriated my URL yesterday and they had to ask him pretty please to give it back? Fortunately, after about five hours, they decided that, since all the content and comments had been deleted on the fake Betsy page, that they would kindly restore my URL to me. Thank you.

You can read about it here.

Even though blogger is free, they're making money in ad revenues. They should keep that in mind when they are dealing with someone who gets over 1,500 hits a day (and if you check her stats, she had days where she got over 4,000 hits). Not someone you want to mess with. And she has friends in high places.

Victory for Google and Our Freedom

Here's some good news:

A federal judge on Friday ordered Google Inc. to give the Bush administration a peek inside its search engine, but rebuffed the government's demand for a list of people's search requests — potentially sensitive information that the company had fought to protect.

In his 21-page ruling, U.S. District Judge James Ware told Google to provide the U.S. Justice Department with the addresses of 50,000 randomly selected Web sites indexed by its search engine by April 3.

The government plans to use the data for a study in another case in Pennsylvania, where the Bush administration is trying to revive a law meant to shield children from online pornography. Ware, though, decided Google won't have to disclose what people have been looking for on its widely used search engine, handing a significant victory to the company and privacy rights advocates.

"We will always be subject to government subpoenas, but the fact that the judge sent a clear message about privacy is reassuring," Google lawyer Nicole Wong wrote on the company's Web site Friday night. "What his ruling means is that neither the government nor anyone else has carte blanche when demanding data from Internet companies."

I know that the government has good intentions, I want those who traffic in child porn to be prosecuted but we can't give up our rights to do it. If we do this, the government will not stop at child porn. I commend Google for fighting this so fiercely, I'm glad they fought to protect our freedom. Now, I don't have to worry that the government will know what I've been searching for. (Not that it's anything nafarious, my searches tend to be things like "prevenient grace," "caveat emptor," "television without pity," etc.)

Was Machiavelli a Calvinist?

You Are Somewhat Machiavellian

You're not going to mow over everyone to get ahead... But you're also powerful enough to make things happen for yourself. You understand how the world works, even when it's an ugly place. You just don't get ugly yourself - unless you have to!

How Machiavellian Are You?

I think the reason I got this result is because I believe in the depravity of man and evidently so did Machiavelli.

When you're in love with a married worman...

Joe Carter at Evangelical Outpost answers questions sent in by his readers. Here's an example of his advice to a man who is engaged to one woman but in love with a married woman:

After years of reflection I've come to the conclusion that the reason many people get divorced is because they get married. While I can't know for certain, I suspect there would be fewer messy divorces if people avoided getting into messy marriages in the first place.

Unfortunately, your situation is a bad Jenny Jones episode waiting to happen. Your problem isn't necessarily that you’re totally screwed up (though, that too seems apparent) but that you have the wrong concept of what love is all about. From the way you use terms such as “soul mate” and talk about loving your fiancé but not “feeling in love” it appears that you've either been reading romance novels or watching too many chick flicks. You certainly didn't pick up that lingo by hanging around with Manly Men. Would Clint Eastwood talk about not “feeling” in love? Would John Wayne pine over a “soul mate”?

Read the rest here

St. Patrick's Day

Evidently, some people go all out for St. Patrick's Day, as you can see I'm not one of them. If you would like more go here (keep scrolling) and here for links.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

(Graphics via Granny J)

Prosperity Gospel Pays?

Name it and claim it pastor, Joel Osteen just received the big payday:

Joel Osteen, the pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston and the author of the best-seller Your Best Life Now, has signed what could be one of the richest nonfiction book deals ever.

I know his books make money, but why would they think they would make that much? This is very bad news and it's a shame that this kind of perversion of the gospel will be even more widely spread.

Read more about it and comments at World Magazine's blog.

(Link via Espresso Roast blog)

BTW, you might want to go over and check out David Price's "Espresso Roast" blog -- I think you'll find it interesting and informative. He looks at the news from a Christian point of view (sort of like here, that's probably why I liked it) and he is much more current than I am :-). He had a prayer request that I'll pass on to you in case you decide not to check out his blog, please pray for his wife who is in her sixth week of pregnancy (they just found out) and is experiencing some problems.

A Computer Virus is Coming

Oh, no! Run for the hills:

A new variety of unusually powerful Internet attacks can overwhelm popular Web sites and disrupt e-mails by exploiting the computers that help manage global Internet traffic, according to security researchers.
...
"This would be the Katrina of Internet storms," Silva said.
...
Experts call the attack technique a "distributed reflector denial of service."

I wonder if the problem that we have been having with blogger is related to this?

Read more about it here.

Baby Will Not Be Killed

Good news from England:

The parents of a terminally ill 18-month-old boy yesterday won a landmark ruling when a high court judge stopped doctors withdrawing life support. Mr Justice Holman refused to give the NHS trust caring for the boy a declaration that it would be lawful and in his best interests to take him off the ventilator that is keeping him alive.

The case is the first in which the court has been asked to sanction the withdrawal of treatment from a child assumed to have normal brain function and awareness.

This is good news in so many ways, for the parents and for society in general. This case just set precedence in England for the sustaining of life and for parent's rights. From the comments of the judge it appears that he has a real understanding of the value of life even though it's being lived outside the norm:

The judge said he accepted that MB's life was "helpless and sad" with "almost relentless discomfort, periods of distress and relatively short episodes of pain". But he had to proceed on the basis that MB had the cognition of a normal 18-month-old, that he continued to have a relationship with his family and to gain pleasure from touch, sight and sound. Those benefits were "precious and real" and were the only benefits the child was "destined to gain from his life".

It wasn't 100% good news though, the doctor order that no extraordinary care should be given, which could open the door to the denial of help if the boy develops the need for any type of medical care.

Read the rest here.

Update on Michael Horton's Book

I went to the seminary library to purchase a copy of Covenant Theology by Michael Horton for Susan. When I got there I forgot where I found it before. I looked around and I must have looked confused because someone came over to help. As she was getting someone else to help, I remembered where I found it but discovered that the self was empty! It turns out that they have gone through two orders of the book. That's pretty popular. It seems Horton has the makings of a best seller (well, of course you're talking a small best seller, not on the level of Left Behind).

Don't worry Susan! I ordered your copy and I'll pick it up on Friday (you owe me $13).

Ordinary Means

There's a new podcast up at Ordinary Means

How healthy is your church? This month, the Ordinary Means guys discuss what it is that makes a church healthy and why healthy does not mean boring. And while you’re listening, be sure and pop over to the blog and add your questions and comments. Later this month, we’ll be posting a special podcast devoted specifically to answering some of the questions we’ve received. Thanks in advance for your input!

FYI

The Fourth Annual Intl. Eat a Tasty Animal for PETA Day: March 15th

I had chicken for lunch and probably shrimp for dinner! Do your part.

Updated to add: I had a cheeseburger instead!

Homespun Bloggers

I have registered this blog and my other blog in the Homespun Bloggers blogroll . This is a group of bloggers who like to blog for fun but not profit (since none of you are using my Amazon links, there is definitely no profit to be had here). As I said in my email request, "I'm making absolutely no money from all my labor so I must be doing it for love."

The sites are required to be family friendly but they are not required to be Christian. So caveat emptor! We can all look at this as an opportunity to check out blogs that we might not agree with politically, philosophically, etc. Another point of view can be helpful and enlightening.

Updated to add: I was all worried about misspelling emptor and it turns out I misspelled caveat. As you can see I fixed it. Also, Teresa thinks I should change emptor to lector (reader) which is cute, but not what I wanted to say.

The Value of Motherhood

I agree with this woman that society undervalues motherhood and I agree that our consumerism and our workaholism are factors in our view of motherhood but I think she's missing the elephant in the room: abortion.

The painful paradox is that while women have liberated themselves from being defined by their biology - the fate of the girl in many African and Asian societies who is not truly a woman until she has given birth - mothers have ended up relegated to the status of constant abject failure in a culture driven by consumerism and workaholism. There is no kudos in being a mum, only in being other things - such as thin, or the boss - despite being a mum. Motherhood is a form of handicap.

Not once in her entire article does she bring up abortion. How can we experience so many abortions in our society and not be changed by it? Why have a baby when you don't have to? As a society we value work and were materialistic and this drives the abortion rate up and in turn that gives us a low view of motherhood.

(Link via Baylyblog)

Too busy to post but ....

I don't have much time to post until tonight so I thought I would give you something to chuckle over and something new to see here (instead of animal). This report from my husband, Doug:

I was just listening to the news and they reported about the space shuttle redesign and they actually used the words "dangerous pieces of foam" :-)

Do You Think It's Accurate?

You Are Animal

A complete lunatic, you're operating on 100% animal instincts. You thrive on uncontrolled energy, and you're downright scary. But you sure can beat a good drum. "Kill! Kill!"

The Muppet Personality Test

1984?

Is it 1984 in America?

In late 2004, Daley's Chicago announced plans to install an elaborate network of surveillance cameras in the city. Initially 2,000 cameras strong, the network is designed for ever-expanding, infinite capacity.

...

But now that the system's software is set to go live, Daley says cameras on street corners and train platforms just aren't enough for him. Yep, just 15 months later, Daley is ready to admit that he does indeed want eyes inside your private business. He endorsed last week a bill pending in the City Council to require police surveillance in private buildings.

Under the plan, private businesses that remain open more than 12 hours a day and bars that remain open until last call would have to install the cameras also. The bill as written now would not require that businesses hook up their mandatory cameras to city networks, but Chicago Tribune reports that eventually, "the city does plan to link cameras in office and apartment buildings and other private properties to its system."

If you thought that was bad, get a load of what's going on in Houston. There, the police chief wants cameras placed in commercial downtown Houston. As opposed to the situation in Chicago, where the camera plan was introduced with a public-relations focus on placing the cameras in high-crime areas of town, downtown Houston is a high-pedestrian, low-crime area.
...

And here's the kicker: Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt is also advocating that the local building code be changed to require that private apartment complexes install surveillance cameras. Hurtt even said he wants cameras installed, telescreen-style, in private single-family homes if he decides there have been "too many" calls for police assistance from the home.

Hurtt invoked the name of Orwell's dictator in defending his radical proposition: "I know a lot of people are concerned about Big Brother, but my response to that is if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?"

Thank the Lord we have a constitution and judges who are sworn to uphold it! Read more here.

(Link via Southern Pundit)

The Alliance of Free Blogs

I'm trying to enroll this blog in the "Alliance of Free Blogs," that's why I have a fake quote from Glenn Reynolds. It's a requirement!

Updated to Add: We're on! Very cool to see our name among the 1,000 other blogs!

Kelo Strikes Again

Thank's a lot Supreme Court! You opened the door to all kinds of governmental shenanigans and years and years of litigation.

City leaders in Long Beach, Calif., have classified the Filipino Baptist Fellowship's building as a blighted area and are forcing the congregation out in order to make way for condominiums.
...
Currently, there are eight other active cases of eminent domain abuse against churches across the country, according to the Institute for Justice, a civil liberties law firm in Arlington, Va.

Read the rest of the article here.

(Link via Latino Issues)

Prayer Request for Professor Al Groves

Please pray for Professor Al Groves, his wife Libby and the Westminster community, he was just diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. Professor Groves is a wonderful, kind, and funny man (I loved reading his Hebrew class notes), whose love for the Lord is evident even to those of us who didn't know him that well. I didn't have him for any classes but he lead the prayer group I was part of last semester.

Here is a website setup for their prayer needs and updates.

(Link via Sacred Journey)

This is What I'm Talking About!

Decomcracy, speaking truth to power and that means we get to hold up signs at games that say, "Down with Castro" and not be forced, by some goverment official, to stop and in fact the official is the one who is taken into custody and lectured about free speech.

While Cuba played the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic, a spectator in the stands raised a sign saying: "Down with Fidel," sparking an international incident that escalated Friday with the velocity of a major league fastball.

The image of the man holding the sign behind home plate was beamed live Thursday night to millions of TV viewers _ including those in Cuba. The top Cuban official at the game at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan rushed to confront the man.

Puerto Rican police quickly intervened and took the Cuban official _ Angel Iglesias, vice president of Cuba's National Institute of Sports _ to a nearby police station where they lectured him about free speech.

"We explained to him that here the constitutional right to free expression exists and that it is not a crime," police Col. Adalberto Mercado was quoted as saying in El Nuevo Dia, a San Juan daily.

Read the story here.

(Link via Hugh Hewitt)

National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers

Did you know that there's a day set aside to encourage and celebrate abortion providers? The "National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers" is on March 10th. Did you hear about it? Maybe the reason that you didn't is because no one seems to have advertised it. Go here for more details.

(Link via The Corner)

College Apologetics

Here is an apologetic site for college students.

(Link via Culture Watch)

BTW, Culture Watch is the blog of Douglas Groothuis who is a Professor of Philosophy at Denver Seminary and he is also an author and apologist.

Hubble Space Telescope

Here's a link to images from the Hubble space telescope. Very cool with interesting music.

(Link via Thinking Christian)

Walt Disney World

So, Shannon over at Rocks In My Dyer is blogging about her preparation for Disney World in Florida. I have been reading her blog for the last couple weeks. It's funny and well written and you might want to check it out. I left the following comment on her blog this afternoon while I was at seminary (I should have been working on my digest):

When we went to Disney World a number of years ago, we had lunch at Cinderella castle and were able to my daughters' picture taken with Cinderella. That was one of the few highlights of our trip. My daughters became unreasonably afraid of the Bug's Life” 3D movie and started crying hysterically at the first squirt of water, then my youngest got a tic in her ear, threw up in water during the “It's a Small World” ride and cried on most of the rides. To top it off, my husband developed kidney stones and I got to visit the Orlando area doctors and he was in pain and unable to go to the park for the rest of the trip. I made my mother-in-law take my daughters on the rides because I get sick on most rides.

I tell you this so that if anything goes wrong you can say, “At least it wasn't as bad as that.”

After I posted this comment I thought that it might be nice to go back, maybe we'll go back next year. Now, you might think this is weird but even though there were so many problems, we really did have a good time.

That night at dinner Doug mentioned that he thought it might be time to go back to Disney World. I was shocked! He had been talking about our trip at work today and thought it might be a good idea to go back again especially since the trip got cut short for him. I didn't think I would be able to talk him into going back and was thinking about taking the kids by myself.

Media Discover Life

My husband, Doug sent me this with the following comment:

The hype is that they actually found liquid water, but a close reading reveals that they only found jetting ice crystals and they characterize -230 degrees F as "warm". Should I wear shorts?

Feminism is Past Its Prime

Here is a rather amusing article about one feminist's encounter with the 21st century. She found out that feminism is ancient history and long forgotten. Here are the funniest quotes:

"What's consciousness raising?"

It was my turn to be startled. Hasn't everyone at least heard about consciousness raising? A quick survey of the people in my office revealed that no one, male or female, under the age of 30 had even heard of what in my day was so common we called it "CR."

One colleague, smart and Harvard educated, said, "Are you talking about feminism, or are you talking about the reeducation the North Koreans did?"

I tried to explain. I felt as if I was talking about butter-churning or cloth diapers.

I really think her coworkers were kidding and would probably be surprised that she took them seriously.

(Link via Fark)

Samantha the Cutie

Samantha is sitting next to me as I'm blogging and she sees that I have a blog called "Michele's Test Blog" and she asks me "Can I take your test,Mommy?"

Ark of the Covenant Jewelry Box

There is just something so wrong about making a replica of the ark of the covenant that is meant to be a jewelry box. And they even have a place where you can engrave your name or favorite Bible verse or something.

(Link via Purgatorio)

BTW, Purgatorio is a Christian parody site (my husband loves it)

Gmail

I am using Gmail for both of my blogs and I really like it. You get a huge amount of storage space so you don't have to delete anything and their spam filter is pretty good (though, two things slipped through this morning). Not deleting anything could mean having a problem finding important information (like your 1,000th user name and passward to a sites you visit maybe once a month) but Google has thought of that and you can "star" an email and then if you want to find it later you can select to see only the starred email. This is a very conveient feature that I wish Outlook had.

There are some downsides. You can only see your email when you are on the Internet and if Gmail is down (like it was yesterday) you can't access it. But since I generally don't have an urgent need to read my email (that's one of the perks of being a stay-at-home mom), I can wait.

If you would like a Gmail account you have to use your mobile phone to sign up, you can do so here.

Wake Up Call to the Media

Well, finally I hope they start getting the message and stop the bias. The CEO of a PR firm told the media that they aren't god anymore:

“It used to be I would schmooze you and I was your flack,” said Mr. Edelman, whose firm netted about $260 million in 2005. “Today, if we want to get a message into the public’s conversation, we just make a post on a blog. If The Wall Street Journal goes after a client, we don’t have to accept that anymore. Let’s post the documents we gave The Journal; let’s show the interviews the newspaper decided not to show.

“You’re not God anymore,” he said.

It's shocking that they can't see that they're not the only game in town anymore. If they lie or distort the facts of a story, all someone has to do is slip the news to Drudge, Instapundit, or one of thousands of blogs and it's all over the world. The media think because the bloggers rely on them, they are not players but they forget a blogger can undermine their stories by demonstrating how biased it is. Look at Dan Rather and the Katrina stories. The fourth estate has a watchdog now and they hate it.

(Link via Tapscott's Copy Desk)

Update: My Sister Maggie

A couple weeks ago I asked for prayer for my sister Maggie for her broken ankle. The surgery went well and she is home recovering but her husband is in the hospital. Please pray for him, his name is Tom and he has cancer which is in remission but he continues to have major health issues related to it (it is a bone cancer and he has tumors that cannot be removed). Please pray for wisdom for the doctors, healing, and that he would be able to go home soon.

Wow, What a Title

You've got to love the way LaShawn Barber titles her post about the abortion ban that was just signed into law in South Dakota, "Child Killing Law Challenged in South Dakota." She is asking for what type of arguments her readers would use in front of the Supreme Court. If you have time you could slog through 66 comments to find out how people would argue their case or you could state your own case (she has asked for both pro-choice and pro-life comments).

I'm Not the Only One Posting, People!

Please check the "posted by" section of the article. Sometimes Susan does post. This is supposed to be a group blog.

Susan, Doug thought I posted that last article.

Covenant Theology

A book by Michael Horton on Covenant Theology has just been published. This is an introduction to Covenant Theology. There aren't a lot of introductory books on Covenant Theology (believe me, I've looked), so if you are still confused by how many covenants there (1? 2? 3?) are and would like to understand the differences and similarities between the Old and New Covenant, then you might want to get this book. I haven't read it so this is not an endorsement but if you've read Putting the Amazing Back Into Grace then you know that he is an excellent writer. (And if you haven't read Putting the Amazing Back Into Grace, go get it because it is a wonderful treatment of Reformed theology.)
BTW, both books are cheap, less than you would pay for a CD or DVD.

Humble musings

I was listening to the radio while driving my girls home from school today and they were interviewing this woman, a well known evangelist and author, and something she said some things that just didn't sit right with me.

Like, "God is sending us, meaning us Christians, wake up calls- like Katrina and 9/11 to wake up the church." She was using Isaiah as an example of a person who "looked up" or woke up and became one of the greatest prophets of the OT. Huh? I don't get it. Is God trying to get our attention? Is that why natural and terrorist disasters happen? That's what she was saying.

What do you think?

Another thing she said is "God loves all homosexuals, adulterers and fornicators." He loves everybody. As a Calvinist, I know/believe that God loves those whom His Son redeemed, the elect.
So my question is: Does God love those who aren't redeemed or in other words the reprobate? Do we have the right to say that "God loves you" to everyone? If God truly loved everyone, then why would anyone go to hell?

As I sit here posting this, I think what it really comes down to is recognizing that ancient heresy known as Arminianism. That's why it didn't sit well with me. Half the battle, I think, is in the recognition of these half-truths.

I know this is provocative, but these are just some of the questions that me, a humble sinner was wondering about today.

The Amazing Race

So, now that the Presbyterian has been kicked off Survivor I have to find a new Christian to root for and I came across this. What is a children's pastor? Though, I think I'm rooting for the geeks or the hippies. I actually like most of the teams except this one. He's a type A personality and a perfectionist and I really don't want to look in a mirror while I'm trying to be entertained. (Oh, why do I have to confront my sin nature while I'm watching TV?).

The Genocide Museum

I was a supporter of the war in Iraq even before we went to war. I had wanted to go into Iraq and take out Saddam since Bush 41. I never liked it that we left him in power after that war and I was really upset when he began putting down the Kurdish rebellions after the war. How could we have left these people to die? They thought that they would get freedom and all they got was genocide.

Here is a post by Michael J. Totten who is in Iraq reporting on what is going on over there now. He writes about a museum in the Kurdish section of Iraq that documents the genocide of the Kurds.

The hardest thing to see was the cell used to hold children before they were murdered. My translator Alan read some of the messages carved into the wall.
"I was ten years old. But they changed my age to 18 for execution."
"Dear Mom and Dad. I am going to be executed by the Baath. I will not see you again."

They Look Like Monsters

This is very weird.

(Link via Caffeine and Irony)

Ice Storm

We had a minor bout with ice yesterday, so I took some pictures.

I took this one and the following even through I was late for my Hermeneutics class.

This one is Machen Hall at the seminary. It turns out I wasn't late, so I had time to take more pictures. I wish they had come out better. The trees were sparkly and shiny and that doesn't come across in the picture. I find it hard to take pictures with my digital camera in the direct sun because I can't see the display. If I get a good picture it's usually by accident (or providence).

The Future of Blogging

I thought this was interesting. Anyone who thinks they can predicate what's going to happen in 10 years, 5 years or even the next year is delusional. The media always get it wrong, it's inevitable.

I'm here because I enjoy it. I finally can stop yelling at my radio or computer. If a story upsets me I can come here and rant about it (or be snarky). You can read it or not it's up to you. Even if I didn't have any readers, it would still be a good outlet.

We Cook! See Here's a Recipe

I was thinking, since we are a chicks blog shouldn't we have more recipes? I know Susan cooks and I do cook as well. I'm thinking maybe people might appreciate a recipe or two. So Susan, I've been meaning to ask you for that ham and pasta dish you made when Sarah slept over the last time. She wants me to make it. Maybe you can post the recipe to the blog.

I thought I would post my favorite:

Hamburger Cabbage Pie

1 lb. hamburger
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 large onion chopped
1 head of cabbage chopped
1 peeled carrot
cooking oil
salt and pepper
2 pkg. of beef bouillon
pie shell (of course you know that I use store bought)

Brown the hamburger with a clove of garlic and half the onion and while that's cooking, combine the cabbage, carrot, the other half of the onion and a clove of garlic in a pan with a little cooking oil and fry covered on medium heat.

Prepare 2 cups of beef bouillon according to directions.

When the hamburger is done, drain the fat off and combine it with the browned cabbage and beef bouillon. Cook on high until it boils and then simmer for a while (I'm not sure how long because I never time it). Then put it in the pie shell (that implies the plate, right?) and bake at 425 until the crust is brown.

Stay tuned, I may even post my somewhat famous, and dearly loved apple-blackberry buckle recipe but since that's it in the recipe department I'm saving it for a special occasion.

My Other Blog

I posted an article about my week on my other blog. I was going to do it here but it was too long.

Supreme Court Ruling

I didn't know that the Supreme Court had shot down NOW's attempt to use the RICO statute to sue pro-life protestors. I remember hearing about this and being outraged. Justice was finally served and to demonstrate what an injustice it was, both the conservative and liberal justices agreed (the ruling was 8-0). Read about it here.

(Link via The Banty Rooster)

A.B.C's of gum

Remember abc gum? You know, already been chewed.

Well this kid finds out the hard way what NOT to do with it.

You just never know what kids will think of next!

Education in America

This is one of the many reasons we don't send our daughters to public school:

Only one in four could name more than one of the five freedoms it upholds but more than half could name at least two members of the cartoon family.

About one in five thought the right to own a pet was one of the freedoms.
...

Another finding from the poll, a telephone survey of 1,000 random adults with an error margin of 3%, was that 22% of Americans could name all five Simpson characters.

By comparison, just one in 1,000 people could name all five First Amendment freedoms.

I wonder if anyone said freedom of choice?

(Link via The Pearcey Report)

A New Look

There's a new look to my other blog. Now what to do here. How about a chicken coup with tulip wallpaper?

The Life of a Blogger

In the doctor's office today (I'm blogging about this later):
"Hey, how about I blog about your *** ******?"
"No way!"
"How about your *******?"
"Mommy!"

What could potentially be my best material, censored.

Update: The family didn't think this was so funny. Doug, my husband, thought I was swearing. So, I think I'll curtail all further attempts at humor.

Oxymoron List

Did you know that there is a website that has "the largest list of oxymorons?" I didn't know until I was preparing this post and checked the spelling of oxymoron (I sometimes use google to check words that the blogger or Word dictionary doesn't know ). The things you find on the Internet!

Life After Forty

Driving home from school.
"Wow, look how thingy it got."
"Dark"
"Thank you, maybe you should come with me to seminary and speak for me."

2 down 48 to go

Mississippi is set to ban abortions. Read about it here. NARAL's worst nightmare is coming true. I hope these states aren't jumping the gun, maybe it would have wise to wait until we have one more justice before we take on Roe V. Wade. I hope the rumors are true and Sutter retires this summer. Maybe the Mississippi legislators think that by the time this makes it through all the courts we will have enough justices to overturn it.

American Idol

So, why didn't anyone tell me that there was a Presbyterian on American Idol? I don't watch this show at all (I hate bad singing and people making fools of themselves on national TV). Sarah says she doesn't think he will last very long.

Read more here.

BTW, the Presbyterian got kicked off the island on Survivor. I didn't watch it but there seems to be some kind of male alliance.

Updated March 3: See how brilliant my daughter is? David was kicked off the show last night.