mountainmelody

More will be here soon. I really need a camera that records sound...

11:30 PM Sunday: arrive home from Ghana

11:30 AM Monday: flight leaves for Kansas City

Everything has worked out so far. So I'm sitting in my new home, the airport, enjoying the free high-speed internet and my new "elite" frequent flyer status. See you later!

story (there are others on this site also)

While you're staring into the sky wondering why there are no fireworks, think of me tasting Brazilian chocolate, singing Zambian songs, eating Ghanaian food, learning about New Zealand's culture, and about a million other things. :)

Don't forget to eat some watermelon for me.

Everything here is great so far. Today, among other things, we heard from key speakers on these topics:

• characteristics of a global Christian leader
• critical concerns for global Baptists
• vision and values of the BWA

Some of this may sound boring, but it wasn't. For most of the rest of the week, we'll be attending the programs of the broader gathering.

More updates when I'm not too tired and can get the internet to work. :)

For the first rotation, we did arts and crafts.
For the second, we did footwashing.
And for the third, we taught them how to make onion rings.

Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.

-Mark Twain


see ya!

Have I mentioned this site before?

It's usually an easy way to find out people's ages, if you need them.

today:

Letter 1: Car insurance for $432 less than you'd pay with other leading companies!

Letter 2: Do you feel hopeless about the war in Iraq? There IS something you can do!

Letter 3: You may have won the jackpot!

262 references in bibliography
163 references read
25 years of old magazines read
100+ pages of notes
1,604 words written
98,396 words to go

It's a start...

what the world eats

(in a museum)

Girl: Look, dad! An old keyboard!

Dad: It's called a typewriter.

• squirrel
• cow
• rabbit
• armadillo (dead)
• dog
• turtle

interesting

• bison, elk, bears, bighorn sheep, moose, coyote
• Old Faithful, geysers
• waterfalls
• hiking
• snow

Pictures later, when I find a better internet connection...

Note to airline: Overbooking a flight (to a tourist destination, on a holiday weekend) by 40 people is not usually a good idea.

So here's our little (forced) detour...on to Yellowstone tomorrow.

This beautifully illustrated Barbie story, based on verses from the New Testament, will be a treasured addition to any child's religious library.

-from multiple websites
(Contrary to popular opinion, the book does not feature Barbie.)

-Oliver Wendell Holmes

Walmart car guy: Ma'am, where did you buy this tire? I hate to tell you this, but it's defective. I'm afraid you got ripped off. Sometimes used tire dealers do that.

Me: I bought it at Walmart.

Only in Alabama can you find the TV in the car care waiting room at Walmart playing evangelistic videos.

www.larknews.com
www.mcsweeneys.net/archives

The "extreme drought" conditions were so bad today that I had to go 30 mph on the interstate because of flash flooding.

Q: What were you doing this morning at approximately 8:11 AM?
A: Driving.

Q: Were you also talking on your cell phone, eating, putting on makeup, changing clothes, or taking out your contacts?
A: No, just driving.

Q: Did you intentionally ram into the black pickup trying to merge onto 280 going the other way?
A: Yes, it looked like a good target.

Q: Really?
A: Actually, no. I think this all had something to do with the huge house that was driving down the road right in front of me and blocking the lanes I needed to get in.

Q: So you tried to avoid the house but hit a truck?
A: Wouldn’t you rather hit a truck than a house? Actually, I didn’t see the truck. I promise I looked!

Q: Tsk, tsk. I hope this teaches you to be more careful when you merge!
A: I told you this was one of the places where I was most likely to have a wreck. Have you ever tried to merge there?

Q: So how is everything now?
A: I’m fine. I did get to sit in the back of a police car for a few minutes, along with the guy I hit. My car is beat up. And the insurance guy is a bit annoying.

Q: When did you ask the insurance guy to call you back?
A: This evening.

Q: How many times did he try to call while you were at work?
A: Six.

Q: What will you do about your car?
A: I’m tempted to leave it alone, or pocket the money. I mean, I can still open the doors! And I never use that side of the car anyway. ;) But I hear the responsible, adult thing to do is get it fixed. So I guess I’ll take it in soon. But the $500 deductible is not a pleasant thought.

Q: So what lesson have you learned from all this?
A: Try to get a job where I can work from home?

crazy news

Alabama is the state with the highest percentage of people calling soft drinks "Coke."

Me: How do you think we can pray for this missionary family?
GA 1: Pray for my scar where my brother scratched me.
Me: Okay, and how do you think we could pray for the missionary family?
GA 1: Guess what! In choir, we tried to hide behind the door so the teacher wouldn't see us!

GA 2: I'm writing a non-fiction book about Venezuela.
Me: Oh, really? Is your book about the stuff we learned in GAs?
GA 2: Yeah.

GA 3: My fairy's name is Sarah.
Me: Yes, I remember...
GA 3: Sarah has brown hair like me. She told me that I'm a princess. And she sprinkles me with fairy dust every night so I can fly.
Me: I see.
GA 3: And this is real world! I'm not making this up!

You know you're getting old when people ask you to write references for them, instead of vice-versa. :)

Within 20 years, the age profile of America will match that of Florida today--about one in five Americans will be older than 65.

stressful things
people
traffic
fashion/appearance
dumb people
being late
grades/rankings
obnoxious people
background noise
not sleeping enough
dressing up
emotional people
driving
shopping
cooking/cleaning/etc
irresponsible people

relaxing things
internet
nature
reading
sleeping
t-shirts, pajama pants, flip flops
traveling
sunshine
not being in charge
watching
email
music
being warm enough
home

Girl: Do you think I'm messy?
Me: It looks like you're being pretty neat right now.
Girl: That's right. Do you think I'm proper?
Me: Oh, absolutely.
Girl: Good!

Same girl: I just fainted!
Me: I'm sorry to hear that.
Girl (5 minutes later): Well, maybe I didn't faint. But I did fall down on the ground!

Same girl: I have a fairy.
Me: Oh, really?
Girl: Her name is Sarah.
Me: Cool.
Girl: If you're good, she makes gold come out of your mouth. But if you're bad, she makes bugs come out of your mouth.

The Wish

Well then; I now do plainly see,
This busy world and I shall ne'er agree;
The very honey of all earthly joy
Does of all meats the soonest cloy;
And they, methinks, deserve my pity
Who for it can endure the stings,
The crowd, and buzz, and murmurings
Of this great hive, the city.

Ah, yet, ere I descend to the grave
May I a small house and large garden have!
And a few friends, and many books, both true,
Both wise and both delightful too!
And since love ne'er will from me flee,
A mistress moderately fair,
And good as guardian angels are,
Only beloved, and loving me!

O fountains, when in you shall I
Myself, eased of unpeaceful thoughts, espy?
O fields! O woods! when, when shall I be made
The happy tenant of your shade?
Here's the spring-head of pleasure's flood,
Here's wealthy Nature's treasury,
Where all the riches lie that she
Has coined and stamped for good.

Pride and ambition here
Only in farfetched metaphors appear;
Here naught but winds can hurtful murmurs scatter,
And naught but Echo flatter.
The gods, when they descend, hither
From heaven did always choose their way;
And therefore we may boldly say
That 'tis the way, too, thither.

How happy here should I
And one dear she live and, embracing, die!
She who is all the world, and can exude
In deserts, solitude.
I should have then this only fear,
Lest men, when they my pleasures see,
Should hither throng to live like me,
And so make a city here.

-Abraham Cowley

In Alabama, only 2.2 percent of the population older than 25 moved here from a different state.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Me
Boy, of slightly redneck appearance
Cashier, bespectacled


ACT I
In the checkout line at Winn-Dixie. Boy, of slightly redneck appearance, is attempting to check out.

Cashier: You’ll have to excuse me. I need to get more tape for the register.
Boy: [Looks back, trying to catch my eye.]
Me: [Looks left, right, back, and down, but not forward. Develops a sudden fascination with shoes.]
Boy: [Mutters incomprehensibly; points at celebrity magazine.]
Me: Mm hmm.
Boy: People are going to get tired of seeing them everywhere!
Me: Yeah.

Cashier returns.


ACT II
Boy, having checked out, lingers near the register. I begin checking out.

Cashier: Do you have your Winn-Dixie card?
Me: I don’t think I have it with me.
Cashier: Then can I have your phone number?
Me: [nearly whispering] xxx-xxxx.
Cashier: Thank you.


ACT III
I walk slowly out of the store. Boy accosts me just inside the door, where he apparently has been waiting.

Boy: What’s your name?
Me: Why?
Boy: Um, you just look familiar. Where did you go to high school?
Me: Not around here.
Boy: Oh.
Me: [to self] Dumb boys.

Exeunt.

Love early mornings and arctic weather?

Set you alarm back and wear your coat, hat, gloves, earmuffs, long underwear, and--oh yeah--your Easter dress to the sunrise service on the mountain, tomorrow morning at 6:15.

And I thought I lived in Alabama, not Alberta...

237 references in bibliography
84 references read
18 years of old magazines read
0 words written

29 percent of U.S. households do not have internet access and do not intend to subscribe to an internet service over the next 12 months.

Of those, 44 percent were not interested in anything on the internet.

17 percent said they were not sure how to use the internet.