Bucket List IV

Via Fancy and Shmancy

(The new additions are at the bottom under the line.)

• Spend New Year's Eve in Times Square
• Scuba dive
• Stargaze under the biggest sky on the darkest night
• Attend ComicCon
• Roadtrip to Maine and/or Canada
• Have a restaurant give me food for singing
• Be on the radio, sometime, somehow 
• Be in a choreographed performance of "Beat It"
• Get myself a motorcycle license.
• -------------------------------------
• Host a huge blanket fort slumber party a la Troy and Abed in Community (Season 2, Episode 9).  It will be complete with pillow fights, hide and seek, sodas and popcorn, card games, and some great movie like Lion King.  You are totally invited.
• Audition and be cast in a community theatre show.  Preferably more than as an extra. 
• Be a camp counselor.  For real.  This has been one of my desires for years.  I was given a pair of the Chacos for Christmas (thanks, you two), and now I have no excuse.  I really, really, really want to be a camp counselor.  So bad.
• So.  Bad.

Abed: We're too big for this, aren't we?
Troy: Yeah...  But if we went two pillows higher in the corner we could vault the ceiling!
Please watch this clip.  It's so worth it.
Season 2, Episode 9 "Conspiracy Theories and Soft Defenses"

Human Moment #68

This one's just a mini moment, but it made both of us smile.

I was calling my insurance to cancel my policy, and the lady on the other end was, as expected, very routine about the whole deal.  "And what is your policy number?"
"[..] Four, six, and... um, "v" as in... vulcan."
"Haha.  Never heard that one before."
We continued with everything else as normal as you please, but I felt a special unspoken connection with her the whole 6 and a half minutes.

"Vulcan" was the only V word I could think of, honest.

Via: Animal Liberation Front

Christmas songs

I've realized why I've had a falling out with Christmas songs.  Most of them are campy.  I don't want any hippopotamuses for Christmas, nor do I worry much about Santa's thoughts on my character.  And, have you ever thought of why the song says "you know Dasher and Dancer... but do you recall Rudolph?"  Don't know about you, but it was much harder for me to recall the first eight reindeer.

At work, from Thanksgiving to Christmas, the usual awful music was mixed with a big helping of awful Christmas music.  ("Awful" meaning "of poor quality designed to make you wish for 8-hour long drum solos.)  I was recently challenged by a friend to really listen to what the Christmas songs are saying, though, and, one particular day, many of them came alive all at once.  Check this out:

"Christ our Savior was born [...] to save us all from Satan's pow'r when we were gone astray," "and the soul felt its worth." "Light and life to all He brings, ris'n with healing in His wings." (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, O Holy Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing)

That's the Gospel right there.  Plain and simple, beautiful and tear-jerking.  

Happy day to you, my friend!

Our Christmas days here at the family home have been scrumptious.  The goodness of it all is sweeter because of the sour there at the beginning.  Our Christmas was going to be just a little different than the ones in the past, the main difference being that we would wait to open our presents until 3 when Dad got home from work.  (He's an air traffic controller, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport never sleeps.)  Before this year, we always got up super early (4 am!) to open the presents before Dad left for work.

It's silly, really, how much our idea of Christmas day hinges on this one part of the holiday, but everything seemed different, and not exactly in the good way.

On Christmas Eve, one or more of us four was/were in a bad mood, and it dampened the ride to the nearby candlelight communion service, but whatever happened during that service helped to fix things up.  I was especially in awe from this beautiful arrangement of "What Wondrous Love is This" that used the theme from "Carol of the Bells" played on a hammer dulcimer.  It was haunting and lovely.  A fitting way to tell about the mystery of Jesus' coming.

Christmas day, Taylor played up the torture of having to sit in the same room as all those unopened presents as she, Mom, and I watched Elf.  When Dad finally came home, though, we'd already been waiting for six hours or so, we were able to take our time with the whole thing.  In fact, as Dad started to gather us all for the presents, Taylor said, "Wait!  Aren't we supposed to wake up first?"  Dad stayed in the den laughing while we girls ran upstairs, dove under the covers, and pretended to wake up on Christmas day.  We had a blast.

Our presents opening time was really, really good, guys.  Everyone was happy to be given such pretty, cozy, and/or useful things, and everyone was happy to have given them.  It was very sweet.  Afterward, we were able to relax and help with dinner and eat to our stomachs' content.

Also, it needs to be noted that Taylor and I had our first white Christmas ever.  In fact, it's the first time our town had snow on Christmas in over a hundred years!  Pretty neat.

Sorry for the poor audio quality.  The camera phone was the only camera available.

------------------------------------------------------------

After church today, I  pulled out the laptop, the iPod, and the camera so I could get everything synched and such.  My mother got me the How to Train Your Dragon soundtrack, and the first order of business was to get this beautiful music onto my computer.  While it was importing, I checked out the cd sleeve and the credits.  Guys!  The violin you hear in the beginning of "Romantic Flight" isn't played with a regular fiddle at all!  It's a Hardanger fiddle!  What in the world is that!?

It's a fiddle from Norway, and it's beautiful!  Look!

Images via:
Top left clockwise: Norway.org, Fiddlemaker.com, Lingelvald, Orgs.usd, Hardingfele.com,
Popdose.com, Cigar Box Nation, Vam.ac.uk

This is also the instrument used for the Rohan theme in the Lord of the Rings movies.  (Skip to 0:54 to hear the fiddle.)

How cool is that!  A heretofore undiscovered instrument from Norway that's completely wrapped up in cultural traditions!  I have a new love for Norwegian culture, just from being introduced to this fiddle.  Can you see in the pictures how intricately ornate they are?!  The scrolls are often carved into dragon heads or a woman's head.  And dragons or lions will be painted or carved into the wood.  It has more than the four usual violin strings.  Others lay underneath them on the bridge so that they resonate with the notes that are being played with the bow above.  So cool!

The fellow who played the Hardanger fiddle in How to Train Your Dragon and in Lord of the Rings is Dermot Crehan, by the way, and he has some gorgeous sounds and more fiddle history on his website.  Ah, he's also played in one or more of the Harry Potter soundtracks, but I don't know which nor what he played.  He's a new hero for me, I think.  Him and Alasdair Fraser.

------------------------------------------------------------

Also, I really like these pretty design-it-yourself calendars from Pinhole Press.

Again, not what I expected for the first day of the season

How funny it is that today matches the first day of autumn with unexpected instances.  Here's what's happened...

As usual, I didn't want to get out of bed when "Circle of Life" woke me up at 5 am for work, but it had to be done.  I was rewarded with a delicious breakfast of holiday and pumpkin spice bread and particularly good-looking hair.  (I'd put some small and large braids here and there after washing it last night.)  I was still exhausted, however, and I counted how many days I'd worked in a row many times.  It's really not that bad, I've worked Thurs-today with Saturday off, but I'd gone all-out at work for the last two, and I needed more sleep than I've been getting.

I checked my email at work and came across something that sent my tired soul to a very angry place.  I don't deal with my emotions well when I'm tired, or, I become apathetic about dealing with them when I'm tired so I just let them run wild.  It's eight in the morning and I hate half the people around me, I want to go home, and I want to go to sleep.  I told my awesome boss about how upset I was and about how I don't like being upset, and she said, "Oh, by the way, you can go home at ten when Justin comes in."  My face broke unto tentative gratefulness.  "Really??!"  She seemed very happy to tell me, yes, it was true.  This put a good deal of life back into me, and I felt so liberated as I walked out of the store at 10:10.

I headed to Kohl's to see about exchanging a pair of work pants I'd gotten recently.  I didn't end up exchanging the pants, but I did find something pretty spectacular... Skinny jeans that not only fit me but that flatter me!  Guys, seriously, this is huge!  When skinny jeans started showing up on campus my junior year, they were worn by the fashion forward girls, and I thought they looked strange.  Senior year, more people started wearing them (guys, too?), and I saw that they could look really neat.  I started trying on a few pairs every once in a while to see how they looked, but they always made me look stumpy and unproportionate.  When my sister wore her pair with her purple plaid, she's just adorable, and I wished I had her figure. Just two days ago, I tried skinnies again, at two different stores no less, but I got the same result as I feared I would all my life.  Then, today!

Image: Kohl's

Long story not-so-short, I'm now wearing skinny jeans, and I love them.  Turns out they just have to be worn with the right things.  In the dressing room today, I had on this jacket, and everything looked fine. I fell in love when I first saw that jacket, by the way, and I couldn't resist trying on the yellow one then telling  Millie and Taylor about it.  ...I bought it.

Successful clothes shopping trips make me feel very accomplished, and, bad attitude forgotten, I was ready to face the world with my smiles.  The joking ladies at the register were a blast, too.

I've recently finished up the two big books I was reading, 1984 (which I loved at first and loathe now) and They Call It Pacific.  I've got They Thought They Were Free and Radical on the shelf at home, but I'll be spending lots of time reading this week, so I wanted to make sure I had enough good material.  After Kohl's, I headed to my local library where I picked up Eat Pray Love, East of Eden, and a small book on shorthand.  I also brushed up on my knowledge of Anne Bonnie and Mary Read before I headed to check out.

I've thought before that I would love to be a librarian.  I don't think I'd be able to help myself making up stories about people based on the books they checked out.  I told this to the librarian who checked me out, and I asked her if she enjoys her job.  She started out slowly, telling me that she likes it most of the time, then she picked up speed as she described the people who make her job difficult.  She's heard on more than one occasion, "You're a librarian, you know everything."  One lady came in, showed a rash on her arm, and asked what was wrong with her, expecting the librarian to be some kind of emergency medic.  The library has tax forms available, too, and the customers often ask for advice which the librarians are prohibited to give.  "Some people are just unhappy, grumpy people.  I pray for them."

She monologued about these difficult people for a few minutes, and I wondered if she had anything else to do, but, since I asked, I was obligated to listen to her.  I was mostly interested, but I just didn't expect her to talk for so long!  When she finished, I wished her a Merry Christmas and moved my hand towards her in some friendly way.  She reached out with both of her hands and grabbed mine affectionately.  "You made my day."

Wow.  I murmured to myself about how powerful listening is as I left.  Did I really make her day just by being genuinely curious about her and her job?  Did I really let my hurried mentality get in the way of enjoying those moments to their fullest?  May the guilt I feel be a lesson in putting the most into people.  They deserve it, and, I think they need it.

One more out of the ordinary thing happened on the way home.  Three minutes from my house, I saw a basset hound romping in some tall grass.  I noticed it had a collar, so I pulled into the gas station that was right there, got out of the car, and crossed the street.  I wish I could say that I saved the dog and returned him to his owner, but, when it heard me whistling and calling for it, it ran away from me and wouldn't let me catch it.  The end.

Ok, that's not all that spectacular, but it's not something that happens every day, so I wanted to tell you.

P.s.  I'm going to get a haircut tomorrow.  A trim.  I'm glad of it.

Winter!

December 22: First day of winter

I love scarves, but I don't think I was made for the cold weather.  I wanted it to be spring again three weeks ago!

Here are some things winter makes me think of.

Crisp blues and whites
via Softsia

Egg nog
via Epicurious

Beautiful coats and elegance
via Modcloth

Cardinals
via Musikktrollet

Red berries
Justin Gallagher via Opticdistraction

Snowy owls
via BCSEngage

Peppermint bark
via Dying For Chocolate

Ski lodges
via O2planet

The Biltmore House
via Examiner

Snow-laden trees
Peter Essick via National Geographic

Paper snowflakes (I consider myself pretty good with a pair of scissors, but I didn't make these ones.)
via Instructables

Caribou and the like
Alaska Stock Images via National Geographic

Delicious warm drinks that smell like heaven
Selection of Caribou Coffee

And snuggling by the fire.  (My favorite picture's here.)

I also think of the song "Ice and Snow" from The Spitfire Grill.  Here's a 30 second clip you can listen to, or here's the Korean cast performing it onstage.  They sound great, and I'm reluctant to show you the English version here, but at least you'll be sure to understand it.  (When Bryan College performed this show in 2008, the cast did a fantastic job.  For one thing, Shelby wasn't annoying.  In fact, the show is really delightful and redemptive.  Do see it if ever you have the chance.)

I hope your winter is wonderful!  Stay warm.

Sporadic goodness

I am home alone after an exhausting, albeit productive, day at work, and all I want to do is eat peppermint bark and drink egg nog.  This is not a good thing, but I am so helpless to change it.

 ------------------------------------------------------------

If you're unlike me and you have energy right now, you might not want to sit and read an article, but I found it very convicting, so I recommend you read it sometime.  Music: Gift or God?  I have wrapped myself and my idea of church very tightly with my worship music preferences, and... well... that should change.

 ------------------------------------------------------------

Need to try: marigold, turquoise, and white

Image: Lunasa Designs via Etsy

The Christmas tree

We've been getting our Christmas tree from the same farm for four years now, and I just learned that the farm has a website!  I doubt many of you live nearby, but I wholeheartedly recommend this place.  My family genuinely looks forward to going there each time.  Not only do they have cut-your-own trees and a quality selection of pre-cut ones, but there is a petting zoo, bunnies to hold (Taylor's favorite part), a walking trail around a pond, hot chocolate and boiled peanuts for sale (Dad's favorite part), and the staff is always very friendly.

This year, Taylor and I talked with the bunny monitor for a good while.  She was cheery and very willing to tell us about how she was worried about her coming trip to Ireland for her next semester where she would study marketing.  Taylor has been to Ireland before and told her to not worry because of course she would love it and have fun.  When we were finished with our boiled peanuts and got ready to leave, we thanked her for talking with us and she said she'd have to tell us about her trip when we came back to the farm next year.  Awesome.

A Charlie Brown ChristmasVia: A Cartoon Christmas

Another success story comes from the tree search.  The weather last Saturday wasn't very friendly, and I'd just learned that Dad accidentally used my toothbrush when he and I met Mom and Taylor at the farm.  I immediately came to my sister and we walked off to the usual place as I told her about the toothbrush.  We briskly glanced over the few trees that were left (this was the farm's last day of the season).  We stopped abruptly at the first tree that looked acceptable, circled it once, and shouted to our parents that we'd found "the one."  They sauntered over suspiciously, probably thinking that my sister's and my get-the-job-done attitudes were just trying to kill everything, but Mom approved our tree.

I jumped in happiness (really)!  No shopping trip with Mom had ever taken less than 25 minutes, but we'd found our tree in 45 seconds!  I lept off to tell the boys who would get our tree for us that we'd found it so quickly, but I became sheepish after a few skips and came back to my family.  "I thought you were going to tell everyone about how we found the tree, Lindsay..."  Taylor said.  I gathered my spirits and tried again, sans the leaping this time.  The boys weren't as excited as I'd hoped they'd be, but the owner lady (who's probably required to smile at us) seemed happy.

I love a quick wit.

Another funny one from NotAlwaysRight.com

Picking On Pockets
Bar | Boston, MA, USA

Customer: “Two white wines, please.”

Me: “Sure thing. Your total will be $****.”

Customer: “$****?! That’s a little steep. I bet you’re lining your pockets.

(I look down at my uniform, which is a black cocktail dress.)

Me: “Sir, I don’t have pockets.”

Customer: “Touché.”

Makeitmad.com

I really like this guy's blog.  He writes a lot about getting out of lukewarm Christianity, which is something I need to read a lot.  Here's a more comical post that still has good truths.  And, no, I'm not trying to make any kind of statement about the male population, I just think that you might enjoy this, too.

A Gentleman's Guide to the Holidays

Confessions

All right, hear goes:  I'm secretly in love with steampunk.

That's right.  I am enamored by the brass, the leather, the time travel, the dirt, the warmth, the adventure, the different.  It's exciting.  This trend can go farther down the spectrum to the macabre with crows and bones, but I'll keep to the metals, leather, and glass.

It reminds me of the recent Sherlock Homes movie.  While I was watching it for the first time in the theater, I was drawn in, not just by the plot and the acting, but by the spectacle.  I remember talking about the set and the colors afterward.

Image via MPoster.com

I would totally dress like Irene Adler if it was socially accepted.  In fact, here's a set of outfit collections inspired by Sherlock Holmes.

Image via Sherlock-holmes-trailer

It reminds me of City of Ember.  It follows two young 'uns who are trying to escape from where they live underground with the rest of the surviving human race.  There's a lot of dim lamps, cogs, and gears.

Image via Imp Awards
It has really cool music, too!

It reminds me of Firefly, the best tv show to never make it to the end of its first season.  It tells the stories of a transport ship's crew in outer space.  It's like cowboys meets Japan, and it's awesome.

Image via Thinkforyourself
There's a movie, too, Serenity, and it has Great music.

Many Steampunk Things!

Top right going clockwise: Butterfly necklace, Time travel image, Custom laptop via Wired.com, Swallow key necklace, (directly below prev.) Lantern top hat, iPod dock, Winged clockwork necklace, Brass cuff, Hot air balloon illustration, Time travel goggles, (directly above prev.) Custom USB drive, Desk lantern, Floor globe via Polyvore, Custom USB drive
(All via Etsy besides the two indicated otherwise)

Image: Jake von Slatt
via Steampunkworkshop

If you'd like to make your own steampunk computer, you can find instructions for a super tricked out one here!  It's got vintage, rustic, mechanical, and mystery all rolled into one beautiful machine.  I love the warm, spiced amber colors.  I'm imagining the smell of copper, er, how it must smell based on how it tastes.  There's also cinnamon and hot tea and warmth coming from the fire against the wall with chill coming from the rickety windows along with sounds of the carriages from the busy streets below.  (I am such a nerd.)

From the article, "The Allure of Steampunk"

 I know I'm not the only one who likes steampunk (see my future buddies there on the left), but I haven't seen anyone in real life sporting any of these things.  I reckon that this obsession is one that  people keep mostly to themselves, anyway.    Maybe, when I go to Comic Con, I'll dress up like this. 

While steampunk may not be appreciated by everyone, and it certainly isn't mainstream, you gotta admit at least one thing, these two wedding cakes are stinkin' beautiful.

Cake from Mike's Amazing Cakes
Image: Libby Bulloff via GreatWhiteShark

Cake by Karen Collins of Babycakes via Neatorama via Steampunkworkshop

Beautiful Things!

Guys!  Guys!  Mr. Gene and his wife totally love me!  And!  I love them back!  It's so cool to go to over to their house and to feel completely welcomed and appreciated.  Very sweet indeed.  The first time I went over for editing, he greeted me happily and asked if I wanted anything to eat or to drink.  I denied at first, but, after thinking a bit more, I asked for a glass of water.  He brought the drink over to me and said, "I put a bit of vodka in there, too."  Just for kicks!  What a hilarious dude!

An hour or so later, when we were in the throes of our editing, he asked again.  "You sure you don't want some hard candy?"  No, no thank you. He pops one into his mouth.  "Keeps me sweet... while I'm turning to a hard maniac." (He hasn't struck me as the maniac type yet.)

Today we finished all the editing of his Vietnam tablets.  I'm also going to be typing up two other short stories and an introduction for him as well as editing a series of stories about his father!  This is the super-super cool part.  Get this!  His father... was a hobo!  for real!  From 12 to 17, his dad was a hobo!  I've gotten to read two of the stories so far, and I am in love with them.  I can't wait to share a couple with you!

First, though, here's the conclusion to the one posted from before.

(Bart, continued)

Even though only a week had passed since the division had arrived, already hovels were springing up, roads were being cut and the pattern for this small city that would eventually arise was well established.  It was nicknamed the “Golf Course” in memory of better times in more pleasant places.  No golf would be played here; only more serious games.

The first lift was on its way.  They were scheduled to arrive at the LZ’s precisely two minutes after Bart and his aerial artillery had prepared the LZ’s.  The crackle of commands crowded the radio frequencies and everything was going as scheduled.

Bart made contact with the C and C (Command and Control) chopper and at 0812 began the preparatory fire.

While the 2^nd Platoon prepared the LZ’s, firing around the edges of the tree lined LZ’s, Bart and Sam took aim on the suspected machine gun position.

 Sam was flying, relieving Bart for his command function.  He began his run at 1,500 feet above ground level (AGL) and dove pointing the gunship at the exact coordinates given to them by S2.

At 1,200 feet AGL he released the first pair of rockets.  Slightly left of target, he adjusted accordingly.  Strange orange-green baseballs were flying by him on all sides.  He didn’t have time to analyze what these unfamiliar objects were as his mind was totally immersed in bringing his rockets to bear on his target.

Each pair was closer to his intended target until finally he was dead on.  He switched the selector switch to four pair and again pressed the red fire button on the cyclic control.

            The right rocket streaked towards the target and exploded in a fiery frenzy exactly where Sam had intended.  The orange baseballs stopped.

“Bullseye!” said  Sam, justifiably proud of his gunnery as he began his break.

“Not bad, pad’nah.  Not bad a’tall—especially under fire,” answered Bart coolly.

“What fire?” questioned Sam.

“Pad’nah, those orange-green things flying by were tracers from a 14.5, and I got to hand it to you, Sam, you just held it steady as a rock.  Cool Hand Luke.”  Bart laughed.

  “Damn! You mean those bastards were shooting back?  Sure as hell ain’t like Benning.”   Sam, suddenly relieved, laughed with Bart.

Meanwhile, the first lift was dropping its load of infantry into the landing zone.  “Armed Falcon 66 this is Skyhawk 6 – over.”  This was the Brigade Commander in the C.C shopper.

“This is Armed Falon 66 – over.”

“Roger.  We’ve got a hot LZ here.  Recommend you bounce another section or two until we get things settled down.”

“Wilco.”  On Battalion frequency, Bart bounced the 1^st Platoon and then called the 2^nd Platoon leader who was above the LZ.

“64 this is 66, status please.”

“Roger, 66, we’ve still got about twelve rockets each, but, at the rate we’re going, we’ll be dry soon.”

“Ok 64, help is on the way.”

“66 and 64, this is 64 Alpha, over.”  This was the call sign of the 1^st section leader of 2^nd Platoon.  Both Bart and his 2^nd platoon leader acknowledged.

“Got a small problem here.  Took some fire on the second pass and my controls seem to be getting a bit stiffer.”

Six four Alpha was Capt. Pete Brokaw former Syracuse right guard and his copilot was Capt. Steve Stumpf who wrestled varsity at West Point.  If the controls were stiff for those two…

“64 Alpha this is 66.  Try your auxiliary hydraulics.”

“Roger, we’ve already tried.  Doesn’t seem to help much.”

“Ok, turn heading 180°.  We’ll be there in a minute.”

A dirt road ran north/south in the middle of Happy Valley.  A small stream roughly paralleled the road and crossed its path several times.  At these crossings, the bridge had been destroyed so the road would dip five or six feet to ford the stream before rising back to the mean valley level.  Refugees were already streaming down the road fleeing the fighting a few miles north.

“64 Alpha, 66.  How are things holding up?”

“Not too good, 66.  Seems to be getting progressively worse.”  There was no panic in the voice, only concern.

“Roger.  We’re going down to clear the folks off the road and I want you to make a running landing.  We’ll pick you up and carry you home.  Skyhawk 6 have you been monitoring?”

“Roger, Armed Falcon 66.  We’ll get a platoon over there to protect your bird until you can get a crane to lift it out.”

“Thanks, 6.”

Bart and Sam buzzed the road sending refugees scattering.  They landed nearby and by wild gesturing got the remaining refugees off the dirt roadway as 64 Alpha began their shallow approach.  Bart and Sam stood together beside their still running ship and watched.  Both were still attached to the radio by the communication cord of their helmets.

“Bart, I think they’re going to land short in that dip,” Sam observed.

“I’m afraid you’re right, Sam,” said Bart watching the wounded gunship only about ten feet off the ground now headed toward the arroyo-like dip.  Suddenly the gunship lurched as the pilots fought to keep it out of the hazard.  Their flight now dangerously slow, the tail swung right and into a lovely palm.  The entire tail section became detached dropping crazily to the ground.

Now in a wild flight, the helicopter began to spin.  The door gunner came flying out the door but, tethered by a crew chief harness, was soon lurched back inside like a human yoyo.  Bart and Sam stood frozen with their mouths agape.  They watched as the spinning helicopter flew overhead and, with its nose pointed straight earthward, disappeared over a hill.

“Let’s go, Sam!” shouted Bart jumping back into his seat.  And, with Sam beside him, both convinced that they’d be picking up remains in a helmet, they flew over the small hill behind which the crash had surely taken place.

And there beside the foreshortened Huey stood two angrily cursing captains, a shaking crew chief, and an infantryman as pale as a ghost.

“Well I’ll be…” said Sam as they landed beside the wreck.

“Skyhawk 6, this is Armed Falcon 66.  Save your platoon, 64 Alpha didn’t leave enough aircraft to save so we’re going to destroy it here.  I’ll take them to base and be back ASAP.”

“Roger, 66.  Is the crew alright?”

“Everybody’s A-OK.  Somebody up there must have been watchin’ out awful close.  Out.”

The rain had stopped, and the sky began to clear.  The first operation, despite its hairy moments, had been successful and a Special Forces Camp was established in Happy Valley.  Capts. Brokaw and Stumpf were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross though both knew that they had not a damn thing to do with landing that bird.  No, someone or something else had taken the controls.

"Needless to say the rainy season sucked at the Golf Course ....
RVN September 1965 (An Khe) Image courtesy of Ed Lemp"
Via:  VHPA Museum

------------------------------------------------------------

 Aaaand...
Look!  I've found beautiful things to share!

A list of happy December things.

I must paint my walls like this before I die.

Gotta love ninjas.  (Or else they'll kill you in your sleep.)  (I kid, I kid.)  (No really, look behind you.)

Millie and I saw this wallet at Blue Skies in Chattanooga.  I instantly fell for it.

Don't worry, this isn't our [...my] home.

Ok, new game.  We're all going to pretend that I'm away on holiday in Scotland for a couple days.  I don't have to go back to work until Wednesday, so we won't have that to disturb our play.

Yeah, I had what became a glum day at work when I made a mistake that lost the company more than a thousand dollars.  Ha, that sounds so exciting, but, no, it just involved two gift cards, a professional crook, and too little too late from yours truly.  Get this, though.  Three (count 'em!) customers in the next hour and a half went out of their ways to be honest.  I wanted to kiss each of them.  One came back in the store and handed a dollar bill to the cashier.  "Your ones are sticking together."  A couple returned with their receipt explaining that they hadn't been charged for those two memory cards.  A lady told me to ring up this empty box because the my coworker had taken out the toner and installed it already.

How is it that people are honest?  I completely understand when people steal.  After the theft, one of the customers asked what was up with that suspicious customer?  "Well, I'm pretty sure she stole such and such."  She was surprised as all customers are when I tell them why we keep the ink behind the registers now.  They say that's unbelievable, but I disagree.  Our natures are selfish and crooked.  Parents and society can do their best with what they've been given, but some people just stay the way they're born.  My mother says, "Don't be surprised when pagans act like pagans."  "Pagan" is a very harsh term, and Mom just means to say "unbelievers," "people who don't have Jesus."  What about people who don't have something better?

See, what I don't get is, why aren't more people thieves?  Is the answer somewhere near personal standards, finding value in more than just things, respecting others and their property?

I've come to something.  I think that, because I've been inundated with the truth of the depravity of mankind, I know that man is not inherently good.  It surprises me when people prove me wrong, but, I'm figuring out that I don't give man enough credit.  (It's really prideful of me, actually.)  While I can't bank on people being good, I know that they are still created in God's image and, the way I see it, they still have some good in them.

I sound like such a Christian snob right now, and it makes me sick.

My proposed solution?  Stop thinking that I and my redeemed brothers and sisters are better than everyone else!  I am sorry for having such low standards for others, and, I know that this doesn't mean I should trust everyone and that everyone's perfect, but does mean that I can't believe that everyone's full of lies.

I've been seeing the yin yang in my head these last few minutes...

I do have a good story, though, about good people and things values and good feelings.  Yesterday morning, a fella came in to see about getting some raffle tickets made.  We do those in our copy/print department, but I showed him these do-it-yourself pages, too.  When you get these home, you can go to this website and download the template for your computer and fill in whatever information you want, see?  In fact, let's pull up the website here on our store computer and check it out before you even buy it.  After checking out the template, he was convinced enough to buy the tickets.

When he came in again today, I knew that I recognized him, but I didn't know from where.  I remembered everything when he showed me the box of tickets he bought.  He still had some questions, so we pulled up the template again on a different store computer.  The one yesterday didn't show all that we needed to see, but, today, we were able to print out some samples so the gent could know where to put his info.  He was pleased and left happy.  A half hour or so later, I was working on a project in a different part of the store.  The same dude comes to me and says, "Hey, thank you so much for all your help.  You have no idea how much trouble I've been going through to get this.  I appreciate it so much.  I should... I should buy you a Christmas present!"

Mission Accomplished.

I'm a task-oriented person, and I find flow and I do well when I'm working on projects with my hands or my mind, but my heart loves it when these things happen.  Making a customer's day makes my day, done and done.

Bucket List III + Links

Bucket List developments.
(The new additions are at the bottom under the line.)

• Spend New Year's Eve in Times Square
• Scuba dive
• Stargaze under the biggest sky on the darkest night
• Attend ComicCon
• Roadtrip to Maine and/or Canada
• Have a restaurant give me food for singing
• Be on the radio, sometime, somehow 
• ---------------------------------
• Be in a choreographed performance of "Beat It," just for the heck of it, and because my small dance group only did lyrical choreography to contemporary Christian music instead of getting to perform "Thriller" like previous groups
• Get myself a motorcycle license.
  

 ------------------------------------------------------------

Family dinners bring the best quotes.

All four of us got to have dinner together this evening.  This means that we got to laugh our heads off for a while over food.  The most memorable episode began when Dad pretended to be frustrated with whatever we girls were jabbering about.  "I'm going to my happy place now," he says.  He closes his eyes, and tilts his head as he pretends to imagine breezy palm trees and tasty desserts.  My sister and I immediately begin to question him about his happy place.  Where is it?  What's it look like?  Can we come?

"No, you can't come to my happy place.  You can't get in."

"What, do you have a bouncer?"

 "Yes."

"What's he like?"

"He's mean and angry."

"Will he let us in because we're cute?"

This pestering doesn't get us anywhere far, so I pretend to go to my own happy place.  Taylor gets real quiet, too.  Finally, Mom pipes in:  "This is my happy place, when I stay here and all of you go to your own happy place."

Zinger.

------------------------------------------------------------

Have you ever wondered how globes are made?
Okay, Harry Potter fans, here are two fun things that should make you smile.  A Wand TV Remote and a Wand Activated Candle.
This is a lady's sweet response when asked what one thing she would save if her house was on fire.

Happy photo by Rich Anderson

Fill in the Blank Friday - Christmas edition

My sister and I being silly - Christmas 2006

1. Holiday spirit sure is a big deal in the movies, but it doesn't play much into my everyday December life.  It seems like a fluffy idea to me right now, but I'm open to change.

2. The holidays are incomplete without serious family time.  We do so much together, and my sister and I have our own things we do together.  It's essential.

3. My favorite thing to do around the holidays is allowing the beauty and mystery of Advent really sink in.  Through His mercy and grace, God gives me the gift of understanding, life-stopping understanding, each December, and it's wonderful.  Not that I don't get these goosebumps during other parts of the year, but Christmas time makes it a bit more special to me.

4. A holiday tradition my family and I have is having homemade pizza and egg nog for dinner on Christmas Eve before watching A Charlie Brown Christmas.  We also go to the same Christmas tree farm every year where we buy boiled peanuts, roast marshmallows, hold bunnies, and walk around the lake there.  It's a fun time.  Another tradition I have with my sister is decorating the tree while listening to our own brand of non-traditional Christmas music: Relient K's earlier albums and bagpipe music.  We started this in 2006, and it's here forever.

5. Holiday music is best in moderation.  The traditional stuff, at least.  My go-to holiday music sounds like the soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Christmas, those jazzy, chill sounds.  Jars of Clay has a good Christmas album, too, and Sufjan Stevens' stuff is always good.

6. This year I'll be spending the holidays at home with my family and then at work.

7. Christmas wish list: I got many fine things for my birthday, I feel sheepish asking for anything else, and, I can't think of much else that I would like to have.  My books-to-read list is getting long, but that's all I can think of.

Oh, goodness.  I don't sound too much like a humbug, do I?  My enthusiasm is so small compared to other people's, but I think I can attribute that to how this is a very different Christmas than my other 21.  This is my first time without a Christmas Break, my work time working full time, my first time without any Christmas banquets, Christmas parties, and dorm hall gift exchanges.  Now is the time to set out with new traditions, eh?

I will go to my friends' weddings.

Tis the season of life for happy engagements and weddings.  With these come wedding invitations.  With divorce so prominent in our society and with a lack of valued placed on the family in our culture, I find it significantly important to me to support my friends who commit to start a new marriage and family.

Two friends of mine recently got married in a sweet country church.  I didn't get to know either of them very well through college, but I do know that they love each other and they love the Lord.  Through their 20-something years, they've seen how marriage should not be done, and they have examples of how it should be done.  The least I can do to show them I'm cheering for them is to attend their wedding and be there at the very beginning.  I wish them the very best, and I pray that God will fiercely protect their marriage.

Their car window read "Even homeschool kids get hitched."
Image: Me