Black Friday

So, this is the first year that I've participated in Black Friday.

I wasn't impressed. Really. There were some deals to be had, but not nearly as good as I anticipated for getting up at 6am. The best deals were for the most expensive items. $2500 refrigerators were only $1800 for example. But most of the stuff I saw was only 10-15% off. Not the huge discounts I was anticipating. And everything I saw could be gotten online for either the same price, or even a little cheaper. I even came back home once to double-check some online deals. If it weren't for the shipping charge (which a lot of companies were waiving), I wouldn't have bothered to buy anything at all in a real store.

The best deal I got was for a shirt that I bought for a toddler that my small group adopted for Christmas. The $16 shirt was on sale for $6, which is 63% off.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Had Thanksgiving dinner at Dean's mom's house. It was Teri, Ellen, Dean, myself, Tony, Grandpa, and cousin Howard. Howard bought this big turkey table top that took up like half the table!

We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes stuffed in an orange (that was Howard's contribution), green bean casserole, fruit ambrosia salad, and rolls. I'm probably leaving something out, but that's all I can remember.

For dessert there was pumpkin pie, gooseberry pie (that Elva made), apple dumplings, and chocolate-cherry cake left over from my birthday. I had the apple dumplings. These were the ones made by the church during EudoraFest. Yummy!

Later in the day, we played several games of Scattergories. Teri one one game, Howard won two, and I'm not sure who else won (I know that I didn't win any). We also watched tons of episodes of House because there was a marathon going on.

Now I'm home and too tired and too stuffed to do anything else. I left my book there. I'll have to go by tomorrow to pick it up.

Happy Thanksgiving

Dean's Vacation Pictures

Here are links to Dean's pictures from our vacation.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/568943186plNaEa
http://travel.webshots.com/album/568943711YtUwGU
http://travel.webshots.com/album/568938924tHizCk
http://travel.webshots.com/album/568944313SYNrpd
http://travel.webshots.com/album/568947794AvpHMt

CNN getting lazier and lazier

One thing that is really starting to irritate me is how CNN is writing stories online. Each day they write some tidbit of a story (for example, 5 sentences about how historically quick Obama's transition team is forming the Cabinet), and then attach it to some old story (in this example, a long story about how invasive Obama's vetting is) and make the whole thing look like it is new.

It irritates me to read the same story over and over again just to get 2 or 3 additional sentences of news. They've been doing this for months, but it's getting worse.

Church on fire

Our church caught fire in the sanctuary today. Dean was the only person in the building. We don't know how extensive the damage is yet, but it apparently it is mostly confined to the chancel. Even then, there will be thousands of dollars of damage.

We're not allowed back in yet, and I don't know when we will. Not sure if we'll have to cancel services or not.

Update: smoke damage in the fellowship hall. significant fire damage in the sanctuary. Electricity is out. Trustees are estimating about 2 months before damages are repaired.

Update 2: Still not letting anyone into the building today. Dean is sort of working from home until further notice.

Update 3: It's been 3 weeks since the fire started. Dean and Pastor Michael are set up in temporary offices. Service Master is working on cleaning all the smoke damage. Repairs have not been started. Insurance has not yet completed their investigation (I guess they are waiting for forensic tests to come back), so they have not released the site for repairs to begin. We are worshipping at Warren-McElwain Eudora Chapel again for the past 3 weeks. I'm predicting that we will not get back into our church until summer next year.

CA Trip - Day 3 - San Juan Capistrano & Lake Elsinore

So on Day 3 we drove up the coast on I-5 from San Diego to San Juan Capistrano. The fabled place where swallows go...and they really do. Apparently in March. I love the name "San Juan Capistrano." Something romantic about that name.

Anyway, we visited the mission there and learned a lot about its history. It's a beautiful place -- in between the original walls, naturally aging, they have beautiful courtyards and gardens. The bells you see above were rung not only for prayer, but for special occasions, especially funerals. So, when people heard a certain bell rung, they would run to their neighbors to find out who died.

The mission is still active -- there is daily mass there, along with an assigned priest. There is also a "basilica" (which doesnt look like a basilica) next door, along with a school. So the Catholic Church is very active in this area.

After we saw the mission, we drove through the mountains along Ortega Hwy, a winding road up and down the mountains that reminded me of the Bear Creek mountain roads of Colorado through Morrison and Kittredge going towards Evergreen. As we came down the mountain, we saw Lake Elsinore there in the valley of the mountains with a small city surrounding it. It looked very picturesque--the kind of place you imagine in TV shows like Northern Exposure or some such.

We got there early, so we went to the local outlet mall and hung around an hour or so until evening. Then we spent the evening with my brother, his wife, and my neice and step-neice (is there such a thing?). It was very nice. We went to dinner at a cool asian-fusion restaurant and shared entrees family-style.

Afterwards, we went back to their house and watched t.v. They watch a lot of the new broadcast t.v. shows that I never watch. I can't even remember their names. But it was fun. They've done a lot with their house, and it's inspired Dean and I to do some work on ours. I'm finally going to paint the bathroom downstairs, and we've already done some things to spruce up the bedroom.

I uploaded the pictures for this part of the trip, which you can see here.

The uploader farked up about two dozen of the pictures, so I will have to tweak those and re-load them. I won't get to it until Sunday at the earliest.

Keith Olbermann on Prop 8

Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow are the best voices on non-fiction teevee right now.

You See, I Want a Lot

You see, I want a lot.
Maybe I want it all:
the darkness of each endless fall,
the shimmering light of each ascent.

So many are alive who don't seem to care.
Casual, easy, they move in the world
as though untouched.

But you take pleasure in the faces
of those who know they thirst.
You cherish those
who grip you for survival.

You are not dead yet, it's not too late
to open your depths by plunging into them
and drink in the life that reveals itself quietly there.

Rainer Maria Rilke, The Book of Hours

CA Trip - Day 2 - San Diego Zoo

So on the second day of our trip, we went to the San Diego Zoo. Beautiful place. Zoos are some of Dean and my favorite places to go. San Diego Zoo is really big, but maybe not as big as Omaha Zoo (not sure).

My favorites are always the bears -- brown bears, polar bears, grizzly bears, any kind of bears. Dean's favorites are usually the monkeys. Well we saw plenty of monkeys. Only a couple of brown and grizzly bears. But the polar bears were great. There were 2 in their exhibit and they were actively playing at dunking each other in the water. They were obviously having a lot of fun. And they were HUGE!

There was an awesome panda exhibit. Dean and I discussed how at the Washington D.C. zoo, the big draw there is the pandas. But they have a really crappy exhibit (indoor, with hardly any "natural" looking stuff), and when we went, the pandas were so still that I initially blew by them thinking that they were diaramas.

Not so at the San Diego Zoo. They have 3 pandas: dad, mom, and baby. Dad was asleep, but mom and baby were playing around with each other and having a great time. They were in a really great outdoor exhibit that was very natural looking and gave them plenty of stuff to interact with. When we got there, the zookeeper had just put some honey on a log, and baby was licking off the honey. I guess that's her snack. While we were there, they had a zookeeper there giving us a running commentary that was interesting, and not too intrusive.

We also saw more birds in this zoo than anywhere else. They have like 4 aviaries, and even in places where they don't have an aviary, they have birds.


The weather, again, was perfect. Which reminds me -- San Diego Zoo is really well shaded. There are trees everywhere, and wherever there isn't shade trees, they have an awning to provide some shade. And there's plenty of places to sit down and rest too. I also appreciated the escalators and the special "less steep" path that they put on the map.

We also rode the tram all the way around the zoo. Some of the large outdoor animals I don't really get into, but it was nice to drive by them.

Towards the end of the day, there was a live sea-lion show that was a lot of fun. Dean says that he liked it better than the Shamu show at Sea World. I don't think it was THAT good, but it was still nice. I'll have some video clips up later on in the day for that.


So we spent all day at the zoo, and then went back home to Howard's for dinner. Howard tried to get dinner on the table earlier this time, but it was still 8:30 before we ate (at least we got to have a snack!). He made a yummy, savory roast beef. I can't even remember what he served with it. But I do remember stuffing my face again. And going to bed stuffed. Ugh.

You can see all the pictures for Day 2 here.

Beluga Whales from Sea World

Short video from Sea World - beluga whales swimming under water.

Change & Growth

"Change and growth takes place when one has risked himself and dares to become involved with experimenting with his own life."

-- Herbert Otto

Dialog on racism

This is a must-read blog post responding to those awful racist chain emails.

SoCal Vacation - Day 1 - Sea World

I couldn't blog pretty much the entire time Dean and I were on vacation, so now I have to catch up during this week to tell you all about our trip.

Day 1 we arrived in San Diego at about 10am. Dean was still getting over his cold (yich!), but managed to not be totally miserable on the flight (except that his ears refused to pop for hours after the flight). We were picked up by Dean's 2nd cousin Howard. He took us on a very brief tour of the area because the airport is right next to the dock where the cruise ships and various shops were. He showed us some of the new art that has been put on display near the dock, including this one:

We also stopped at a memorial to Bob Hope that was really interesting. Next we had brunch at a local restaurant. I had the cherry pancakes (yum!) , Dean had the blueberry pancakes, and Howard had an omelette.

Then we went to Howard's apartment (he lives downtown) and met Bernadette, his "roommate". Bernadette is actually a 60+ year old former client of Howard's and very eccentric.

Next, we went on our first attraction - Sea World! It was a lot of fun, but we were obviously in the off-season. Not only were there hardly any crowds, but there were very few shows playing. For example, Shamu, which normally runs about 10x/day in the summer, only ran twice the whole day -- once in the morning before we arrived, and once at 4:30 in the afternoon, just before closing.

The weather was absolutely fabulous. Mid 70s and clear skies. At Sea World, we saw some beautiful beluga whales, manatees, flamingos, dolphins, penguins, and lots of fish. My favorite part was the "Aquarium Del Mar," a beautiful salt-water aquarium with really brightly colored fish and coral. I got tons of great pictures. One of them was this strange creature called a Reef Stonefish:

Towards the end of the day, we saw the Shamu show, called "Believe". Basically it was about how we can do anything as long as we believe in ourselves. Yada yada. Kinda cheesy. But the show was still good. There were 3 killer whales in the show making the jumps and making splashes.

I'll have video up tomorrow. In the meantime, you can look at all the pictures from Day 1.

After we were finished with Sea World, Howard picked us up and took us back to his place. It was really nice of Howard to shuttle us around. It kept us from having to rent a car in San Diego. And it saved us about $200 to stay at his apartment instead of in a hotel. So we were willing to put up with certain inconveniences.

Like the fact that Howard wanted to cook dinner, but didn't get around to having it ready until about 9pm. That's about 4 hours later than when Dean and I usually eat! We were STARVING. But when we finally did get dinner, it was delicious. He made roasted chicken stuffed with apple and rosemary, steamed asparagus, and mashed potatoes. Yummy!

Then it was off to bed for us (stuffed to the rafters.... I'm really ornery about how much I eat before going to bed. I don't like going to bed on an empty stomach, cuz I can't sleep if I'm hungry, but neither do I like going to bed completely stuffed. Oh well!) We slept well. Or at least, I did.

Soweto Gospel Choir

Yesterday, Dean and I spent the day at Union Station and Crown Center. We watched a 3-D film about dolphins and whales. The show was educational, but the production values I thought were quite low. Just not the colorful and inspiring show I was hoping for.

Today, Dean and I saw the Soweto Gospel Choir at the Lied Center. 100% opposite--very colorful, very positive, very inspiring performance. Dean really liked it. Here's a clip:

Very sad

One of the blogs I read regularly is by a young man who just came out to his parents (they basically confronted him and he admitted it). His parents reacted by kicking him out of the house. It's all very sad and angering.

Update: It's been a month since I wrote this blog entry. Since then, 2 more young men whose blogs I read have been thrown out by their parents. It's really very sad.

I don't think so

Maybe I'm just not feeling really gracious right now. Maybe I'm just tired and cranky and reading too many blogs.

But isn't it funny how, now that conservatives have lost, there is this outcry to put an end to all the fighting and just get along (and put goopers in cabinet positions, make McCain Secretary of Defense, pre-emptively pardon Bush and Cheney, cancel all investigations, yada yada).

It's like they beat the shit out of you every single day for 8 years, and now that they've lost, they want to shake hands and say, "no hard feelings right? can you give me a job?"

FUCK YOU.

Funny

Be Melting Snow

Lo, I am with you always means when you look for God,
God is in the look of your eyes,
in the thought of looking, nearer to you than your self,
or things that have happened to you.
There's no need to go outside.

Be melting snow.
Wash yourself of yourself.

-- Rumi, excerpted from "Be Melting Snow"

Tolerance

I learned a new thing about tolerance.

First, some background. I used to say that I was a very tolerant person. By that, I thought I meant that I was open minded, able to agree to disagree, able to let people have their own way.

But then, I realized, that I really am not very tolerant. I am completely intolerant of fools like Sara Palin. I am intolerant of the idiots who voted for Prop 8. And I am totally intolerant of people who want to rape the environment and not look back. Yes, in many ways, I am very intolerant.

But recently I listened to a teaching on patience. In it, the author spoke of 3 facets of patience: persistence, tolerance, and acceptance. And in the facet of "tolerance" she said that when we are confronted with the unacceptable, patience is born out in tolerance for the process of change. That is, tolerance isn't saying that the unacceptable is acceptable, or that everybody is right. Rather, it is being patient with the time needed to bring about change. That is real tolerance.

Wow. That I think I can do. I hate that folks voted for Prop 8. But I think I can at least try to be patient--tolerant for the process of change.

Water Wars

Hopeful news on Prop 8

Vote by Age
Yes No
18-29 (20%) 39 61
30-44 (28%) 55 45
45-64 (36%) 54 46
65+ (15%) 61 39

So maybe this means it's just a matter of time....

Ted Stevens

Just more proof that some people live in another universe than I, convicted felon Ted Stevens, guilty of violations of his elected office, is in the lead for re-election.

I don't get it. Nope. Don't get it.

Both Happy & Sad

There is no doubt that I am very happy that Obama has won. It's a great thing. Truly historic and amazing. And when you look at the exit polls, you see that Obama won every single demographic except one: white men over 65.... (:))

But what is sad about the election are the ballot initiatives:

ban on gay marriage in AZ, CA (probably), and FL. An end to affirmative action in NE, and gay couples can't adopt/foster parent in AR.

So what happens to those like Ellen DeGeneres who got married in CA? What happens to those who have already adopted or are foster parents in AR? Will their children be taken away? Very sad.

Obama President

YAH!

Voting Against Your Interests

Of all the stories told this election cycle, the one that I think really hasn't been told is this: how Joe the Plumber, Tito the Builder, and Jen the security guard all are supporting McCain against their best interests.

Joe the Plumber admits that under Barack Obama, he would get a tax cut, and he would not under McCain. Tito the Builder will suffer under McCain's immigration policy. Jen the Security Guard wants McCain as commander-in-chief despite the fact that McCain will keep the Iraq war going on as long as possible.

I don't know why people vote against their interests, but it's fascinating to see.