Sale!!

Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue by Jason Gray is a favorite album of mine, and it is on sale on itunes this week for only $7.99!

I think I paid full price.

Now if only a certain camera would go on sale. It's gonna kill me to pay full price for that, but I'll do it if I have to...

Shopping for a Camera

The word Danjo had me type into google:

Intussusception

Please, no one use it in a sentence...

I have begun the taxes. This is satisfying. I have begun them once again before April. This is not satisfying. Usually they are finished in February. So it's an unusual year. Whatever.

I have cleaned the root beer out of my kitchen, except for the floors. I've decided to leave the root beer on the floors until my shoes stick to the tiles so tightly that the tiles pull off the concrete subfloor. It shouldn't take long.

The San Diego puzzle is done. I worked on it for a bit today, and Venom finished it in ten minutes while taking a break from homework. Must find a slightly harder puzzle for next time.

About a third of the people who get pneumococcal pneumonia also get pneumococcal bacteremia which has a 20% fatality rate in the normal population and 60% in the eldery. And if you are elderly (you know who you are) and get pneumococcal meningitis, you have an 80% chance of death. Who knew? The things we learn when Danjo is completing continuing education. I think I've had the vaccine for that though. The rest of you can risk death without it. I can see how scared you are. Well, I can't really "see" how scared you are, I suspect though. Shaking in your boots, aren't you? There are so many things you could die from (and you will die from one of them), and this is just one. Nasty, nasty pneumococcus. I believe it's a good thing to live by faith...

On that happy note (and as I have already covered death and taxes in this one post), I will leave off blogging and go study up on Maurice Utrillo (the alcoholic illegitimate son of a trapeze artist who also modeled for Renoir) and Victor Vasarely ("the acknowledged leader of the op-art movement, [whose] innovations in color and optical illusion have had a strong influence on many modern artists"), in order that I may give two twenty minute presentations to some kids 1st-3rd grade tomorrow. I need to be able to say more than, "famous artists are often not good role models" and "this guy painted some strange stuff."

The above photographic technique,

which is not

an example

of

Op Art,

takes a very skilled photographer

and a really,

really

good

camera

\|/

oo

|

(___)

Just in case you missed it

Danjo the Magnificent has a magnificent blog.

Blogging about Leviticus could be challenging,

but he makes it look easy.

Especially this day.

He is so my favorite!

Hiking in Springtime

While walking in the park today

This mushroom was about the size of a dime. There's something to be said for looking where you are going. I was not entirely happy with my photos and went looking for it again and it was gone. Yes, there were fairies, but they dared not linger.

(not at the park. In the yard, and our yard doesn't look like a park)

THESE are at the park-ish place:

I was going to post something about the Bible story that has recently entertained me, but the pictures won. The guy in the story was hiding in the baggage and didn't want to come out. I think he was scared.

And yes. Today, my blog is purple. They didn't have any nice shades of green.

This challenge has migrated from twitter

mainly because Venom's "words of the day" are so very much more entertaining than even those belonging to the other two adventurers. Attending a classical school for 8th grade has certain advantages.

So, use the following words in a sentence. One sentence including all the words. Better yet, use them all in an aubade.

The words are:

Eructation

Defenestrate

Gallimaufry

Myrmidon

Plenipotentiary

Bibelot

Flagitious

Billingsgate

Can I trust you, or need I moderate the comments? Although, after the donkeys, maybe you don't trust me. ;-)

The Rabbit Room

I ran across this blog post this morning in The Rabbit Room and enjoyed it...

I think I've said before I like Jason Gray's music too.

There's a song of his that's been running through my head lately when I wake up in the morning, called "Sing Through Me." This morning I realized the lines that kept coming up reminded me of another song, and scripture...

"be the strength inside my weakness

be the song when I am speechless"

This morning I realized the lines that kept coming up reminded me of another song, and the scripture it comes from--what Moses and the Israelites said as they watched God destroy the Egyptian army in the Red Sea.

The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation;

This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will extol Him.

Exodus 15:2

Side Effects of a Rainy Winter

Here in the desert, rain in the winter means flowers in the spring. So the kids and I went looking for some a couple of days ago. We found them! I wasn't expecting so much variety. Some of the flowers are very tiny, but pretty. The desert was green. Fly-catching birds were out catching flies. I think the kids were glad when the camera battery died. We walked faster after that.

Adventurer Two said she doesn't like the way I hike. She wants to get where she's going and then take pictures. I didn't give her the speech about enjoying the journey and taking the time to look around on the way....

??

or maybe I did give the speech...

Bamboo House

Every time we eat Chinese food, what we have previously eaten at this place is the measure of it's deliciousness. Nothing has yet surpassed the Mandarin and Cantonese delights of Bamboo House.

Doesn't this make you want to be very small?

For you sci fi peoples

Sci Fi Periodic Table of the Elements

Out Hunting

20 acres in rural San Diego county means lots of wildlife. Having a friend's fun camera made seeing some of it that much more exciting.

Quail Hunting:

The quail photo is included because quail are cool, not because the birds were close enough for me to get a good shot. I sat around for a long time, and they wouldn't wander closer. If I moved, they disappeared into the brush. They seemed hungry, because all they did was eat, and watch me to make sure I didn't move.

Wabbit Hunting!

I had better luck with the rabbits. I saw them before they saw me. There was a bunch of them, out in the open, the light was better, and they were closer, and bigger than quail. These rabbits are used to being hunted, but being stalked by me and a camera was less of a problem for them than the coyotes, and the hawks.

Jack and Penny, your long-lost relatives say hello.

Beach!!

Southern California beaches are absolutely best this time of year. Sunny, warm, uncrowded, and beautiful. The kids didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that we didn't pack swimsuits. Venom and Young Adventurer waded right in, and Adventurer Two characteristically stayed dry and still had fun.

Mom and Dad's weeds

Having a hard time uploading many photos to Concrete Pathways, but here's one. The weeds at mom and dad's place are waist-high, and the ground is too wet to get the tractor out and mow. At least they're pretty!

Beach Today!!

Some stuff I've been saving up for a while

So here's the story:

I dropped my cell phone--on the carpet--it was a gentle fall (even though it sort of almost got thrown at one of my kids, by mistake, really), but the back came off the phone. Mind you, I can't pry the back off this phone to save my life, but it pops off as a result of this slight disturbance. Since I had the back off the phone, and usually I can't get the back off the phone at all, I took the opportunity to remove the SD card and download the photos. [Technically, I can use the USB cable to download photos, but I've been lazy.]

Anyway, I downloaded the photos and sorted through them, and found some special ones I've been meaning to share. I also reassembed my phone. Next time I need to get it apart, I'll throw it on the ground.

Here we go:

This is Danjo eating a fish stick on his 40th birthday.

Hey! Hey!

Hairless rat. He is hiding because he feels exposed, I guess.

Dog nose. Indie is not hairless.

What is good about Christmas

What is bad about Christmas

I took this photo because there is a song by Jason Gray that I like, called "That's How I Ended Up Here" and this fella reminded me of that song, which is here (you can listen while you peruse the rest of these silly photos):

Nuthin like a side of "pot" with lunch...

The designer might sell more shirts like this someplace other than where it was,

in the mens' department.

These signs were on doors.

What is the purpose of said doors?

Have an entertaining day, everyone.