I would finish it, but...

RE: "Hey Seuss!?"



Yes.

I know.

I know, I know, I know!

I said I would finish it, but...


Monday found me @ play with a cherubim who, quickly, laughingly, turned into a mermaid.

;-)


We had quite a time, splashing, sucking on ice cubes together, then, donning her dreaming wings once more (& with shy smiles & sweet sighs) we were off - to the land of Winkin', Blinkin' & Nodd.



I'll bring the rest of the story to you soon...

very soon.

"Happy Birthday"

Ricky,

Had you lived on, you would have been 55 today -
(eligible for membership in AARP and for certain Senior Citizen discounts featured in US businesses - nation wide)
=)
- I just had to point that out...
but, you didn't make it that far...,
on this side of "the veil"

24 hours, (more or less) before you passed away -
you sent up your last words to me -
Sealed with a kiss and mailed out -
from your hand to my heart,
It arrived on my birthday...
The same day they posted your obituary on the 'net'
- For the love you give...
- for the way you always know...
- for the thoughtfulness...
- God Bless you..
"I Love You!"

The final "Bouquet" was beautiful to me...

How could I not remember you today?
...and give thanks for the love you gave to me...
The picture of your hand here, is linked to a beautiful site -
one I know you would have approved of...

God rest your soul, Ricky D.,
and
... be with you, 'til we meet again.

"Kitler" -???

Good grief, it blows the mind, just what you can find, on the www!






(Someone forwarded this link on to me, I found it sitting in my e-mail files... like a little kitty bombshell. Yah. I'm Still trying to get caught up on them things... er, that would be the e-mails, insert sheepish grin here X)
Check this out now... if that initial page wasn't entertainment enough for you - check out the opposing view points:


We Love Kitlers vs. We Hate Kitlers


=)

In other late breaking news: the neices are all gathered in town.
They range in age from 1 & 1/2 to 15.
2 of them, the 2 that share the same christian name, will celebrate birthdays within a week of each other. There was one birthday just today and the other's was last Saturday.
Being their beloved Aunt - (forever and always pronounced and sometimes written as "Ant" in my family) - I want to tell them some good stories.
I thought about this one.... maybe you can give it a read, & tell me what you think - entertaining for children or not?

"Hey, Seuss!?"

My kitty-kitty gave me a good scare recently.


She turned liquid, and slid, like quick sliver, out the carport door one night, this was late one Saturday night, mind you - just as I was trying to batten down all hatches, getting ready for bed.


Calling after her did no good.


She's a tortoise-shell calico, you know, and within a couple languid quick-steps, (& with a swish of her tail, as if waving "Ta-Ta" to me,) she was gone, into the night.


Her dematerializing-disappearance act - rivals any master illusionist - bar none.


The tricky thing is, I don't believe she knows just how completely, her camouflage coat melds her into every sceen outside the house.... 'course, that cloaking factor for her, could be heightened, just for me, seeing's how I've hit the bi-focal years ... and .... it was a pitch black night - at least it was underneath the carport.



I had an impluse prompting me to run her down, & I'd have done it, too...
(Yeah. I said that, just like I think I really could! lol!)
In a flash, my impulse, was considered and dropped -
...because I was barefooted, and I have learned not to risk taking on the goat head stickers, now well established, wherever nothin' else is.
...and, well, kitty is cooped up nearly all the time -
...and it was a beautiful, temparate summer's eve -
...and she never goes near the highway...
...and so...



"Fine!"


I muttered after my paisley little princess.

"I'm going to bed."


I announce this, to the lack luster carport - with a huffy emphasis on the 'me' part of it all.
I gently shut the door, hungry for sleep, downing all the lights on my way back to bed.


...and...


I'm ashamed to admidt it:
I forgot about her.


She was out all night.


I was up way early for Sunday morn, and it took me a couple hours to realized she wasn't padding around, adding her spunk to our morning routines.

You know?
Kitty stuff, like:

After carefully checking the kitchen (& her dish), the "kitty kung-fu" kicking of the bathroom door open, just so she can, then, royally, saunter in, to hang out with me while I'm doing MY thing.

The making of the furry figure 8s around my bare-nakid legs - then
surrying off to the kitchen (& her dish) when I hang up the toothbrush

- or -

The purching of her bad-kitty-self up in the open window, where
she can both spy on the neighbor's doggie and get a little bird watching in
while 'willing' me to move onwards, towards the kitchen (& her dish)

- or -

Jumping the counter just to fish out some new use for
items I sometimes stow away there.
Such as the morning she amuzed herself (and amazed me) by
twirling a cotton swap daintily on her claws like it was some
sort of little kitty batton, then clamping it firmly, like a cigarette
between sabre teeth, before bounding away, once more, towards the kitchen (&
her dish)....

This little entertainment also answered 2 important questions, for me, that I'd been turning over & over in my mind for quite some time:

1. 'Why are cotton swabs suddenly showing up in all the rooms of the house???' ...and...
2. 'Why are they all pointing towards the kitchen?' =)
   

I, frankly, didn't like the fact that I'd purely forgotten about her.
I liked it even less, that she wouldn't come when I called...
I hated it, that I couldn't see her anywhere, either.
(Despite the fact that she can be near invisable, in any given hidy spot, wrapped up in her tortis shell cloak, she always comes, running to me, [carefully avoiding stickers] whenever she's been out for a length of time.)

It is times, just like these, that I get to wishin' that I'd picked a different name for kitty.
Yelling, "Hey, Seuss!?", well, sounds funny....
so does, "Hey! Dr. Seuss!?"
"Hello-oh!?"
"Dr. Seuss!?"
and...
"Oh, Dr. Clawdia Seu-ouss, come out, come out, wherever you are!" is not a wit better than any of the others.
Still... all things considered, it is much, much better than the time your Ant Debbie named her cat, "Snort".

**Sighs** I was worried about Dr. Seuss.
No matter which direction I called, it was no use.
There was no Seuss.
I got so worried I began looking further and further away from home for her.
I even got in the car and drove down the highway to the river and back - looking for her only, I didn't bother with the yelling of "Hey, Seuss!" out of the car at the same time I was driving and looking.
That would have been too ridiculous.
Who knows?
...and...
Who can say?
Perhaps there's a deer or a racoon down by the river that answers to the name of Jesus - it does sound very similar to "Hey, Seuss!" with the proper accent, doncha know?
Remember this was a Sunday... and I was beginning to think that kitty was lost.
And so I thought to pray, for her furry welfare.
I looked again, when I got back home.
It was no use.
There was no Seuss.
So, I went to church and I said another prayer, for people everywhere that have lost warm & fuzzy companions that help to make their mornings bright and sometimes silly & for Dr. Seuss, of course, to be ok & to find a safe way, to come home again.
I hurried home after church, but it was no use.
(Note: I would stop here & see if the kids would finish the next sentence for me... even if they don't it feels like a good place to pause...)
There was no Seuss.

It was a VERY warm, summer, Sunday afternoon and I soon fell asleep.
Deeply napping, dreaming dreams, and snoring, and snorting, loudly - all of which I'm certain of, and none of which, do I remember, 'cept for the nappy part....
and then...
and then....
I remembered: "SEE-USS!"
So I went calling...
...and...
It was no use..... (slight pause, for effect...)
There was no Seuss.
"Phooey." I thought, "I need to go away. I hope she is okay!? I need her to be found...."
And then, I went to town.

Note: This is normally where I would just stop telling a story to the children.
If they are no longer paying attention, I am off the story telling hook and we all move on to with our lives.
If they are paying attention they will say, "And then what happened Ant _(insert my given name ending in a pronounced 'e' here)_ E?" ...and I will finish the story...

Well...?
Tell me what you think about it so far?
If you read it down to here, YOU are NOT off the storytelling hook! lol....

SOooo Busted!

Let's file this under the many are called, but few are chosen file....
better yet how about the old "What was he thinking???" bin....

(click on the "Special Police" bage to get a gist of the story)

Roast Beef! Really?

Ironically,

I was just thinking TODAY,

about popping a "Thank you" into the post for those dear folks that invited me to Supper with them a couple weeks ago...

Then I spotted this on msnbc...

{shudders!}

I watched 'Capote' over the weekend - a film highlighting both the processes of Truman Capote and the era in which he conceived his most famous literary work: In Cold Blood.

I guess it's still on my mind... along with the questions he (& we) repeatedly ask over such chilling events... you know? The simplest question that sometimes has the most evasive and disturbing answer, should you ever get an answer at all... "Why?"

07/07/07

Not much time for posting...
I'm up to my elbows in buttercream - literally! =)
Friends are getting married today & I'm doing up their wedding cakes!
A couple of Harley Davidson enthusiasts and she's a Native American, I love these 2!
So in love.
She's had me make a birthday cake for him for the last couple of years running, I think I've got him 'hooked' on my style of cake. ;-)
Warm colors, soft peach, soft yellow, I've made the base layers of the 3 tier cake a light-light peachy- more like an Ivory color. The lower border will have yellow roses with eagles feathers hanging down from them... I'll do maybe 7 of those, to echo the date.
She wants words that have meaning for their relationship piped in and around the top and sides of the layers.
Words like: family, love & joy, trust, hope, honor, respect, romance, laughter... you get the idea. I got really excited about it when she said that's what she'd wanted - because I've been doing just this sort of thing on other cake projects lately & the words she was coming up with reflect that favored scripture in Galatians 5:22-23... the one that lists the fruits of the spirit - surely they have this blessing in their lives - and that's a wonderful thing.
The groom's cake is German chocolate with a flaming Harley Davidson motif piped on top to resemble silver studs on black leather.
I better get crackin'
May good fortune and love, sweet love, find you this weekend -
God bless...
D.~

Passion...

The Daily Gazette is seeking a few good bloggers from our area of Nebraska:

What's your passion?

Well, now... that was the question they dropped into the classified ad section of the McCook Daily Gazette and, now, hereby decreed, to be the topic of conversation for this here blog.

What's your passion?

I've got a list of things I feel passionately about:

• The Arts and entertainment.
• People, in general, and good men, more specifically. (um-hum!)
• The written word, quotable quotes and doing things my way - especially when I am right!
• Really good food, made even better, for me, if it comes from some cheap, fast and easy recipe.
• Truly funny stories and inspirational tales.
• Science and the natural world.
• Family ties.
• The furthering development of my own spirituality...
• Education in America... and ...
• Good Design in everything!
• I feel passionate about this country and that building block of pure Ameri-cana gold we all refer to as Hometown, U.S.A. ...
  

Now...

What about you? What's your top 10 list of things that you feel passionately about?

(C'mon! Tell me, even if it is all about 'Fuzzy Posters' for you.... ;-)

Disclaimer: My real 'number one' thing I feel passionate about is, well, passion. I didn't wanna come off as all slutty or redundant... or redundantly slutty... you know? You know, you know...

In other, totally unrelated news, I mowed down a small stand of marijauna plants today. There they were, growing freely and strong out by the foundations of an old shed that was recently raised to the ground and hauled off. I scared up a baby bunny who, thankfully, hightailed it outta there before those mower blades got too, too close. ...

50th / past / blast

I attended yet another "family affair" this past weekend.

A 50th wedding anniversary.

I wasn't feeling too well so I missed the big part where they renewed their vows.

(Curse you McDonald's! I know it was something I ate and I ate YOU! ...shakes her fist, wildly, in the air! ...considers stirring clear of Micky D's from here on out...)

I was at the shindig just long enough to: fork over the congratulatory card I'd thought to bring, grab a slice of cake and a shot of punch (A wonderful soothe for an upset tummy, btw - hahaha!) and ferret out a story or 2 from a childhood crony of my Uncle's.... which means... he also knew my Dad..... hummm... ;-)

The curious thing about the old man and family history is that he claims to remember "nothing". I've asked him, periodically for stories, family information, bla, bla, bla...

He'll look me straight in the eye, get a bit of an up curl going on around the corner of his mouth, open, said mouth, and say just that,

"I remember nothing."

And then he smiles.

('The end.')

.

.

.

SOooOO... Hehehee, I probed his boyhood buddy, for a little info at the party.

His family name was "Fuller".

I've been wondering ever since, if that aint just about as apropos as it gets... but I digress!

(ahem)

My storyteller perked right up!

"Your Uncle and I used to hang out all the time and I knew your Daddy too."

I nod-in; indicating that he's got my full on attention.

"Me and your Uncle had a place we built down by the river. "

(that would be the Republican River, for reference sake)

"Oh, a little dug-out?" I prod on.

(I knew early settlers had dug outs along the river, including members of this family line.)

"No. A cabin. We had everything. We even had a cook stove."

He makes hand gestures, indicating a camp-size version, of such.

"Wow! That must have been a cool fort!"

"CABIN," He corrects me, again, "We dug into the ground and went up to McCook Ice - so we'd had ICE down there, we had food - we hung out there all the time.

Then one time, I remember, I was hanging out with your Uncle down there and we heard your Dad was coming down too.

Your Uncle didn't want him to hang out with us, So HE GETS HIS RIFLE, (emphasis added by me, now, hello!?) and goes out to keep him from coming on down. When he sees him, he starts shooting at him, about this far away from his head," Mr. Fuller holds his hands up, about a foot apart from each other, to indicate the approximate closeness of the shot from the head. "Boy! Ol' (my dad's name) hit the ground and he started belly crawlin'. And your Uncle kept shooting, and your dad kept belly crawlin' - all the way back home!" Yes. It seemed like my storyteller had been momentarily transformed and transported back to boyhood himself and at just that particular point in time - he looked rather gleeful - for the record - I felt a bit horrified and a whole lot dismayed! Just as I was about to express a big fat "Yeowza!?" ... Mr. Fuller pressed on...

"Well," he said, "It wasn't very long after that, maybe the next day, even or a day or two later, that me and your Uncle found out 'somebody' had blown our cabin up with a stick of dynamite. We always thought it was your Dad but we could never prove it."

LOL!

"Well, humm, he might have done it. I wouldn't put it past him, or blame him too bad if he did - under those circumstances! The only 'boyhood memory' he's ever claimed to have 'surfaced' involved dynamite. Only that was a story about him and my Uncle blowing up a tree stump with the stuff! Who knows huh?"

"Yah. We could never prove it. We always thought it. We could never prove it, though."

(Big smile, from Mr. Fuller to me.)

SO...TP?

.

From the one picture is worth 1,000 words file...
Hummm.
Run right through this... (then count how many that other motorist has to say)... lol!

Family Ties...

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Ah.
Family. =)
My Mother has been all a flutter over the approach of this past weekend for quite sometime.
The youngest of my living, Great-Aunts was coming to town for a visit, with her daughter, over this 'Father's Day' weekend.
Quite a remarkable few of the extenuating family members were also gathering.
Several of us have been murmering for some time that we've been long over due for a "reunion".
I warmed slowly to the concept - because I've been so busy collecting my thoughts and all the needful data for what's next for me. (a shot at my Bachelor's degree) not because I don't love my family - believe me, I've been blessed! Most especially by the ones that went the distance and attended this time - all good natured souls - they are great people! Funny, without having to try too hard to be.... you know? Once I got there - I had a wonderful time! Yesterday especially, watching over some old slides put onto VHS tape and narrated by this Great-Aunt was a 'whoot'! She did an excellent job (amazing, really when it came to remembering names!) and those side story narrations - some of those were just a kill. Most especially because, she wasn't necessarily trying to be funny, however, I laughed and laughed - at just the way some of it came together for her, and for those of us, watching it through this time.
We all laugh so easily... we all like the idea of sharing a good meal together, (o.my.golly. there was a ton of food there!).
There's a growing interest in the gathering of the family geneology, too.
We're thinking in terms of both stories and photos, both historical, and the latest information on 'new arrivals', and archiving as much as we can in 'IT formats' to share universally.
Several have been seriously working on it and doing an astounding job.
(I did my best to straighten out the mis-information on just who my brother-in-law is, lol! Information on one family group sheet had my sister married off to one of her former boyfriends... hehehee.)
I'm not prepared just now for this, but one day....
I have visions of "story boarding" on the foundations already laid and making DVDs and or manuscripts/books that put the photos and stories in to contextes that generations not yet conceived will be able to have and enjoy having - I'd love to capture a little bit of the magic that is our good family fellowship - that which my generation has enjoyed and send it on... up the ol' DNA ladder.

Love and love s'more people....
D.

Opie Outlaw

Peace... Be Still. . .

I have many, many thoughts - yet don't quite know what to say, so I'm praying that the spirit directs my commentary here...

The blogosphere lost a tenacious "cut and paste man" with a true artist's heart...

... and a whole lot of "sparkle" (or was that "Sass"?) for me, at last week's end, with the passing of Opie Outlaw, also known as Op, or you could call him Opie... aka: Locusx1y2... aka Ricky D.... etc... etc... etc... ;-)

I loved this man.

He was a self designated "Huckleberry" to me & I loved him even more for that.

I was wishing & hoping the reason I'd not heard from him over the weekend was that he'd been down to a favorite spot of his, with family and special friend(s) in tow... Harker's Island.

Sadly, I received an e-mail this past Monday evening, sent from his cousin Tony (Saturday the 26 th) - Rick had died the night before.

He was letting me know. He said he had remembered my internet name from an earlier visit with Rick. He wanted me to let all the people on the blogs know. I've caught up with some of you - some other's will see this - some, I feel, I'll just need to track down yet and send a more private message to...

It is pure trial for me, these past few days - my psyche stretched out and purely grieved over all that I'd yet hoped to share with this rare man in my life and... yet joyful, thankful even, that I'd dared to pour out every loving bit that I could - while I could - all over him. . . Thank you God, for your wise direction and... for always, and in all ways, being the well spring between Ricky and me.

You know by now that the portrait here is one I did of Rick. It was a part of my portfolio art showing and also part of a package of items I was gathering to send to him - I have indeed sent those gifts on - to his family... and I've purposely uploaded this picture at a large imaging size (8x11.5 300 dpi) ...it may make my blog slower to load - however any extenuating family member, or friend of Rick's, who'd like to download it for keeps - should be able to get a nice print off of it - Rick never wanted a current photograph of himself posted on the internet. His sister said posting a drawn portrait, now, would be ok.

Reminders of Rick ...and his love - are every where in the world to me right now... Ironically his obituary posted on my birthday ... May 29th... and, that declairs (in part) these things:

He passed away at his home on Saturday, May 26, 2007. Rick was a retired independent trucker who spent the last fourteen years devoted to his father and battling Crohn's Disease. During this time, his spiritual life bloomed and has followed him to journey's end. He was loved and will be missed. The funeral services were to be held today (May 31, 2007).

I opened up my Hymnal this morning. Looking for some solace. . . It opened to this Hymn:

Each Life that Touches Ours for Good

...and even though I don't recall ever placing it there...
There was the scrap of paper I'd jotted down -all the "important information" on. It was all the ways to "contact" Rick, everything he thought I'd ever really need to know and to have to reach him... he insisted I write it all down, the very first time he ever talked to me about going to Harker's Island. ....

Now, I know without a shadow of doubt, nor tunring, that his spirit is only a prayer away from mine... it always has been.

Yes. Indeed, he was loved and will be missed...

God Bless all who pass this way...
Love,
D.

~

Liberty Remembers...

I got this amazing e-mail forward from an Artist friend a couple of months ago... (truth be told I have several hundred e-mails I need to look over and answer - all piled up from this past Semester - which was a "doosy").
.
.

Anywhoo... here, we see a couple before and an astounding after photo of the guy's work.




I thought the artist, subject matter and 'canvas' were extraordinary... I'm sure the photos only give you a pint-size idea and the real deal is more mind-blowing than what mere pix can convey.
.
.

Anyway... I couldn't leave it be, myself... HAD to beat the search engines up and track down his web page(s) ...so the artist, Eric Grohe, is now a side bar link, for me and for the Memorial Day / Weekend coming up, I thought you'd appreciate, every bit as much as I did, a look at this short movie tribute, with the title and honor of: 'Liberty Remembers'
.
.

I, along with 'Liberty', will be remembering and keeping that flame alive for all those that have served before us, right along with all those who do so now - they deserve our respect, faith and every prayer we can spare!
.

Wishing everyone a safe, happy, loving 'decoration day'!
.
Cheerios,
D

How Does Her Garden Grow?

... by the square foot!

My sister sent Me and our Mom on a shopping spree to the "Common Scents" gardening place (handy location - just across the highway from my house) as a special treat for my graduation and for her Mother's Day gift.
We had a good time looking over the beautiful hanging planters - in splendid full bloom, etc..., etc..., etc... plus there was a fussy little ladies "Tea tasting" going on Sunday which we enjoyed, too!

I so wanted one of the full bloom hanging plants - however decided to spare that in favor of some more practicle fare, like strawberry plants (Yep. Got them hanging NOW - lol!) and Tomatoes - which I still ended up splitting out with Mom - and some Purple Sage (2)... I got pleanty of full sun and well drained soil for those bad boys to root around in!

Just as I went to planting I noticed that my trusty trowel had some how made it to the drive and had been totally destroyed by driveway traffic. grrr... miner set back so the strawberries and 1 tomatoe got planted the old, old, old fashioned way - bare handed digging!

Well, sheesh, ya gotta sieze them moments when they're red hot - don't ya?

(I've since been to 'the Wal' and bought another cheepy)

I am hooked on the square foot gardener's philosophy when it comes down to digging in and then watching my garden turn out big dividens! I saw a feature in Better Homes and Garden's magazine a while back that had raised beds - I mean really raised beds - like up 3, 4 feet off the ground that looked like the ideal way to:
1 - foil those rascally rabbits
and
2 - save my aching back and legs from weed "tremmers" ha!

I'm just going to have to condition this back and those legs to endure as raised beds are an investment best made by a home owner - I'm not putting in all that time and expense out just yet - I need to bite the bullet and become the home owner 1st.

Anywhoo... back to my excitement in planting stuff - I wanna get most of it in by the end of the month - I'm already getting a late start by the standards of many more seriously minded area gardeners. The big bonus is the satisfaction and taste of "home grown" aint nothing like it in the
market place, IMHO, and I get the peace of mind factor, knowing that my lettuce is not going to be subject to "recall" because it may be harboring deadly microbes! It's good to know what you're getting - same reason I'm excited about getting back into a regular schedule of sorts - I'm cooking up those fresh meals at home, something I dearly love to do but was too, too pressed for time to enjoy in this last semester's push to graduate! Only thing better than THAT is cooking it up with a special someone in that there kitchen or grill pit with ya... and believe me... I'll be working on that this summer too! =)

Ah!
"Summer"..... "Summmer time, time, time" .... "and the livin's eee easy"........

.

.

.

.

On these summer mornings .... I'mma gonna rise up, rise up, singing - gonna stretch m' wings - and FLY!".... matter of fact, I already am!

(Which explains why I haven't been around the blogosphere much, y'all! Heheheee)

BTW: The 'secret garden' picture is a link to some other coolio garden pix...

Enjoy!

and

Cheerios 2U all!

D.

Graduation Day...

.



- at long last...

Accomplishment...

I've always wanted to go to school to further my creativity and my skills in 'art'.
Now, I'm graduating with my associates of applied science degree in graphic design.
Hoo-rah!
One down, 99 more 'life-time goals' still on the wall...

(I should write out that list of 100 here someday, shouldn't I?)

No time to say "Hello" "Good-bye"....

Something beautiful in the e-mail files from a beloved friend o' mine...
I saw 'em at the Art Exhibit today, in fact.
I was escorting a (surprize!) visitor - from way, way, way out of town.
I've been busy beyond belief, but - I'm none too busy, to squeeze out every moment I can in "visiting" with him and to have my Breakfast with the man, too - come sunrise, at least, that's what he suggested to me this morning. *sighs* It has been such a long time.....
More details...
forthcoming...
as I get...
through
these
last
few
d
a
y
s
=)
(Meanwhile, for those of you that just can't wait for your gardens to grow... try: this link! Just start clicking away or try a click and drag technique... Kinda fun...)

Something from Cinema4d...

A "Still shot" compostion (plus a detail from it)
-all rudimentary creations using the Cinema 4d program...
Thank you Opie, once again, for the inspiration.

=)

Gentle thoughts for today (from my e-mail friendlies)...

• The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
• When I'm feeling down, I like to whistle. It makes the neighbor's dog run to the end of his chain and gag himself.
• The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat have gotten to be really good friends.
• The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.
• He who hesitates is probably right.
• Did you ever notice: The Roman Numerals for forty (40) are " XL." If you think there is good in everybody, you haven't met everybody.
• If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.
• The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.
• There's always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt
• A penny saved is a government oversight.
• Did you ever notice: When you put the 2 words "The" and "IRS" together it spells "Theirs."
  

"The Pestige" 2006

.
.
.

With little time to watch such and no time to explain it to them, my brother and nieces dropped a load of rental DVDs into my hands and sped off towards the established child exchange point – a day early, trying to out drive the storm – before the storm even hit us.

Smart move on anyone’s part, let alone, anyone living in Nebraska, facing such severe weather forecasts which always mark these, our magnificent, turbulent, jubilant springs!

I heard one niece is expressing interest in a career in the FBI – and this is the one that couldn’t say enough good things recommending the above movie, “The Prestige”, to me a minimum of, like, 3 times…. =)

A bit of my heart went with them… as it normally does, each time I must face off the departure of dear ones. I was at once disappointed that our ‘Girl’s Luncheon’ had been pre-empted by the incoming menacing weather and happy they’d been able to come at all. We’d almost had ‘an even dozen’ at my place for the holiday last weekend…. Love, laughter, a little bit of learning, and a bunch of good food – adding strength to those family ties.

I was so tired, finishing up a double run of reports last night, at work. I am desperate over the thought of any hindrance to the schoolwork I need to complete right now. I am truly hoping I am not coming down with a light case of walking pneumonia. (<- this is my mantra of the day today!) and thinking back to last night…. I was thanking my lucky stars on the drive home, that the snow fall, which had been as near perfect as any I’d ever witnessed, with it’s large fluffy flakes, falling lazy-like, down from the sky… that this terrible storm had steadily depreciated in estimates in each sequential forecast throughout the day (1st: 10 to 12 inches!, Next: 8 to 10 inches! Thereafter: up to 6 – 7 inches! 4-6! So on and so forth… reminded me of a rather raunchy comedy bit I’d seen one time out on the California coast, butt… that would be a whole ‘nuther post! heh.) By my late, drive time home, last night, we’d seen a bunch of moisture – another desperate, needful thing in these parts – and absolutely no accumulation. Magical.


Which brings me back to “The Prestige” – it was an interesting film. (yep. Watched it. Tired. Spent, really. Not feeling too good. I reasoned that the movie would be a welcome deviation and momentary escape – my gamble paid off, too.) I liked it. Magic, trickery, mystery, artistry, and some science, with ending twists I certainly enjoyed.


Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine play out well, here and I scarcely recognized David Bowie in his portrayal of Nikola Tesla…

Not for the 13 and under crowd, (there’s a couple death scenes not good for little kids, I think) however, if you’ve an interest in something thought provoking and a bit twisty and haven’t viewed this one yet – you might give it a spin in the ol’ DVD player.

I’ll not be posting much between now and graduation.
Nevertheless...
Cheerios 2U - all!
=)
D.~

FAITH

A late 'Easter' post - concerning faith...
love these scriptures from the Book of Mormon:

….By faith all things are fulfilled…
Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.
(Ether 12: 3-4)

… I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith….

For it was by faith that Christ showed himself unto our fathers, after he had risen from the dead; and he showed not himself unto them until after they had faith in him; wherefore, it must needs be that some had faith in him, for he showed himself not unto the world.

But because of the faith of men he has shown himself unto the world, and glorified the name of the Father, and prepared a way that thereby others might be partakers of the heavenly gift, that they might hope for those things which they have not seen.

Wherefore, ye may also have hope, and be partakers of the gift, if ye will but have faith.

Behold it was by faith that they of old were called after the holy order of God.

Wherefore, by faith was the law of Moses given. But in the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way; and it is by faith that it hath been fulfilled.
(Ether 12: 6-11)

Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.
(Moroni 7:37)

Dear Lord,

Strengthen my faith - that I might serve thee continually, and well!

Amen!