A Halloween reflection.

Witches holiday.

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It really is a witches holiday - Christianized of course, only to be re-paganized for our times. It is amazing how many adults celebrate it with cross-dressing and other stimulants - and many do not limit themselves to the last day in October any longer either.

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No they don't Michael Jackson. We are living in a culture that accepts men dressed as women, and women as men; young girls dressed as sluts, and young men dressed like clowns; drag queens dressed like nuns, and nuns dressed like business women; Brides dressed as grooms, grooms as brides; and finally, even public nudity and sex. (San Francisco... Folsom St. festival...) Not to forget we are now capable of making our own Frankenstein monsters as well... clone-o-rama!

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Yeah, so Halloween isn't just for a day anymore, it is a lifestyle.

I'm off to Cali!

Can't wait to miss you all dearly. My family and I off to see my Sister Tina and spend some time with my friend R&R. She lives in Thousand Oaks, and she has her own vacation right in the backyard: pool, hot tub, gourmet bbq.

We are spending Halloween with her family and on Sunday her youngest daughter is getting baptized - I have to give the talk! Plus.....legoland!!!

See you all when I get back. Don't forget to visit www.tomandlucysartshoppe.blogspot.com while I am gone.

Halloween

I'm not doing Halloween this year.

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I just don't want to. Not after the huge brouhaha Cathy made about it. Gosh!

Tuesday story corner.

The Bicyclist

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Chapter One: Weight limits.

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Once upon a time there was a little boy who wanted to be a bus driver when he grew up. He would ride his trike for hours, up and down the sidewalk on his block, and make a pssst sound, pretending it came from the air brakes, as he stopped to pick up passengers. Sometimes when fat Cindy got on for a ride, the little boy did not have the strength to peddle hard enough to carry her, so he made Cindy get off the back of the trike, claiming there was a fire on the bus. Cindy got really mad and so then the little boy decided that driving a bus was not for him. He stopped bus service entirely.

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Chapter Two: Crash on grass.

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When the little boy grew up, he bought a 10 speed bike and rode it everywhere. He rode to work, and to friend's houses; down to the river, and in the summer he took long rides in the country. He often imagined that he was flying a plane or driving a race car as he rode as fast as he could peddle. One day while he was riding in town, the young man became distracted admiring how blue the sky was on that particular morning. As he turned a familiar corner, not paying attention to anything other than the beautiful blue sky, he found himself unexpectedly upon the hood of an oncoming car, his bicycle all bent out of shape. Surprisingly the young man was unhurt. As the driver of the car stood screaming at the bicyclist, the young day-tripper just picked up his bike and walked home.

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The End.

Mad Men Finale!

Sunday night was the Mad Men Season Finale. Every Sunday I quilt with a few friends in Pleasant Grove, and I always get home way late: last night 1:30 a.m.


On my drive home I really debated on going downstairs and turning on the tube to satiate my addiction. Alas, reality hit and I knew it would be there in the morning - thank you DVR. I would have all day to mull it over instead of staying up all night doing it. So for one last time, WATCH (meaning since the season finale just aired) on demand, rental, etc.


Mad Men it is fabulous -- the best show on T.V. and the season finale didn't disappoint. Visit http://www.amc.com/ to catch up on everything.

You deserve what you get.

I cannot believe it. I never got to see this film in theaters - just watched it on TV. C'mon! This is the worst excuse for a film I have ever seen! The absolute worst. People hail it as a pro-chastity film. Get out! You people will suck anything put in front of your mouth, won't you! Sheesh!

Yeah, huh.

The only real monk is the one who perseveres in the monastery until death.

Back to blogging...

It has been over a week now that I have been busy making my art and doing household chores. I've stayed offline - my only news came from network television. I have been ignoring politics - even the market. I have been able to think more clearly. The world did not end because I wasn't blogging or reading blogs, or following the political campaigns. I realized I lost my balance... Hopefully I'll be much more simple with what I blog about now - more direct than ever. I'm not looking for approval any longer.

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Art: David Ligare

Shirt!

O.K. it is totally missing, I have given up hope of seeing it ever again. I took apart the house, interogated my husband, neglected my children -- all in an effort to try and find it.
But, alas it is gone.

FYI

I still cannot access my email - I have to call a tech. I don't know when I'll get in. If you need to get a hold of me - use the comment box and tell me not to publish if it is private.

An old painting of mine...

In the style of Botero.

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I painted this image of a nun about 10 years ago. It was my homage to Botero and I named it for a wonderful sister I knew. She was a beautiful nun who gained some weight as she got older, and her hair turned completely grey. She was an exuberant personality, and full of fun, and most importantly, genuine charity. Some people felt I was insulting her with this "portrait" - but I was really just having fun. Sister acted as if she was flattered I had attempted to paint her, and more importantly, she laughed very hard at the caricature - as well as the indignation other people expressed because of it. (Their indignation revealed a great deal about their true feelings.) The painting is framed much like a Dutch master's - big, heavy, and dark; it is in a private collection.

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I finished a piece today - it is too large to scan - it is called: "The Apotheosis of Fr. X" It is very fun. (What comes after X? Y do you ask? LOL!)

Family Tree Quilt #5

I love StRaWbErRiEs!!!!

So I have set a goal for myself. The top of the quilt must be done by the time I drive to California, next Thursday 10/30. It is almost an impossible task, but if I can get it done, it would be the hugomogogest relief and I could really enjoy my vacation, that and finishing my son's halloween costumes.

This strawberry block is split into two pictures, but actually is one long piece of fabric. This block has already changed since taking the picture. The changed block has all the embroidery of words about growing up picking strawberries. Words:

Spiritual, sunrise, hoods, picking more than eating, good times

Guess who said which one?

Clerics in art.

I like to paint clerics... priests. I am working on image(s) of two priests... a cleric and a monastic... I'm trying to capture... to document their pesonality. I will complete the priest first. Then the monk.

Making art...

I've been working intently. Intensely. I do not think that people who make art are normal.

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Just a thought.

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I wish I could show you...

German Candle

This is my favorite thing about all my fall decorations. It is an Old German Candle that I found at Deseret Industries for .50 cents. Jealous!!!

That year we had bought tons of pumpkins and thought if we bought some really big cheap candles we could light them for..... blah blah blah

Looking in the candle isle, my husband turns to me and says: "This hideous candle is perfect!"
I snatch it out of his hands and exclaim, "It is not! This candle is beautiful" and it has sat in a place of honor every year since: September through the day after Thanksgiving.

There is a whole treasure trove of goodies at D.I. you just have to be the lucky one to spot them.

Oh, the miracle of cake

For as far back as I can remember, German Chocolate Cake has been the birthday cake of choice for each and every person in our family.

My mom has probably been making this cake for 50 years. She started when she was 14, making it for Sunday dessert. When she was married, she scaled back to birthdays and special occasions. Once I left home, she was making it opnly when I visited, which was only about twice a year.

We'll now that my parents have a condo in Utah, my request is that each and every time she is here. I think she is up to about 8 times a year.

Nothing is more delicious than my Mom's German Chocolate Cake, now I know all of you don't like pecans and coconut, and I've heard...oh it is sooooo rich. ZIP IT! It is delicious and I have the final say!

p.s. if my three year old loves it, you know its amazing!!!

Calling all Handmade

Tom and Lucy Love Vendors

Vendor spots are filling up, getting us excited for our upcoming Holiday Shoppe! There will be lots of original, must have products coming your way. In the fabulous custom home, there's lots of room ready to sell your great products that everyone wants, needs or will love. OR if you have a friend who's been itching to sell his/her great designs, we want to know about them. Art Shoppe has a spot for you. Please don't hesitate to contact us.

Family Tree Quilt #4

All us girls grew up on our Grandparents Farm(s) during the summer. Bammie Roo and Daddy Pa have past away, but there memories live on. This is a map of Idaho with all the important towns. Boise - where our grandparents lived, Idaho Falls - where they were sealed and Moscow - where alot of Bammie Roo's family lived.

This is a list of some of the important places in the Boise area that we went to growing up. Cloverdale is where our brother and grandparents are buried. Black Cat - is a road in Kuna, where our grandparents had a farm, Golden Star is a chinese restaurant that is a framily tradition to have dinner at.

Free! Free at last!

The sound of silence.

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Since I began blogging - I have written every single day - At one time I had 5 blogs. Anyway - I haven't been online since Thursday, I have not even tried to open my email, and I love the quiet. Obviously, since I'm writing now, I'm not giving it up - but I'm going to be laying low for awhile... I'm working on a new project, and it will never be finished.

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I'm drawing rather than painting.

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Actually I'm working on my art. I'm working on a piece concerning Gregory the Great and his prayer for the salvation of the Emperor Trajan. I think it is cool. The Emperor is pulled from hell and the universe is exploding over such a reversal. I'm more of a painter, but I have rediscovered drawing and pastels and I'm excited. Did you know Caravaggio didn't really draw - he painted. Anyway - I hardly ever did drawings - I sketched a quick layout and then painted - drawing with my brush.

Family Tree Quilt # 3

Here is another fabulous installment of the Family Tree Quilt:

Cathy's Block is as pretty as a "plum". Look closely, there's fruit in the fruit. Very sneaky!!!

and her nickname!


"Life's a peach", nobody loves peaches more than my sister Tina. This is her block.

Notice the nickname!

Once again, this is appliqued by my amazing friend Jeanette!

Rivalry

Everyone loves a good rivalry, my husband and I are no exception. Where I live ,the huge rivalry is between the Utah Utes and the BYU cougars. Now, without going into a long, painful, agonizing, long winded explanation of the bitter 100 + year rivalry dubbed the HOLY WAR, I will keep to my post.

My husband is a Utah fan (alum) and I went to both schools so I sit nicely on the fence, leaning ever so slightly so the Utah side. I gotta keep peace! Living in BYU territory tends to get a little ugly for us. So, every once in a while we get a great big belly laugh out of a Utah fan really getting it right.

Hence the picture above. FYI for those of your outta staters: The Grim Reaper is a Utah Ute, and all the graves are teams from the Mountain West Conference. I Love It.

Can't get in.

I can't get into my email - I see I have emails waiting - but I can't sign in. I have to do some diagnostics to figure out what's wrong. Anyway - I'm not ignoring you.

The lyrics

Dear friend, what's the time?

Is this really the borderline?

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Does it really mean so much to you?

Are you afraid, or is it true?

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Dear friend, throw the wine,

I'm in love with a friend of mine.

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Really truly, young and newly wed.

Are you a fool, or is it true?

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Are you afraid, or is it true?

Paul McCartney- Dear Friend

One more for Jim.

Monkberry Moon Delight (Tribute to Jim Galles) 

Thinking of our friend Jim all day... He was the first of our group to die.

Do angels visit purgatory?

"Consoling Angel" Pencil, crayon on papyrus.

Shirt Mystery

Shirt is still missing.... I haven't quiet torn the house to shreds. Close! really Close!

The Beatles - Good Night

My conversion happened in Canada. Thank you Canada. Good night.

The Beatles - Rocky Raccoon

Memories of Vancouver and the "People's Park" and Terry's high rise apartment. Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

The Beatles - Glass Onion

Memories of Montreal!

The Beatles - The Fool On The Hill

Wink!

The Beatles - Fixing A Hole

This song has so many layers... more than they knew.

The Beatles - She's Leaving Home

I actually left home in the middle of my senior year in high school when this album/song came out.

Golden Slumbers - Carry That Weight - The End

For you. Asking your pardon. I've had a really heavy weight to carry - and I dropped it back then... I apologize. I photographed the image if you want it.

Halloween Birthday Party

I read a statistic that Halloween is now commercially bigger than Christmas. I don't know if I can quiet believe that but, I DO LOVE HALLOWEEN. Not the scary stuff, but defiantly all the ghosts, devils, pumpkins , garlands, black cats, candy!!!!, witches and ghouls, crows, and spiders. What is their not to love?

My son's birthday is in November, right before Thanksgiving and it never works out to have a party, the weather is too unpredictable. So the last couple of years we've done a party in October - Halloween themed. It is so much fun and easy with costumes, Halloween games, treats and of course decorations!!!

Above is a picture from our Halloween Birthday Party a couple years ago. I have always loved this picture. The kids are on a treasure hunt and they are looking for a clue on the door. (I am on the inside taking the picture.) Minnie Mouse is priceless and so is Cinderella. My son is in the purple with the yellow hair.

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all of my Canadian friends.

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I love Canada. I wanted to live there forever once. I would still live there. I love the entire country. It is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. I just love Canada. I love the cities and the small towns, and I love the country and wilderness. I love the Canadian people too. I just love Canada.

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Okay then.

No!

"NO!' That what my little 3 year said this morning when he looked out the window. He can't say his "s" sound very well and that's what I heard in my sleepy slumber. I know everyone in Utah will be blogging about how it snowed yesterday...and lets face it ,it is something noteworthy. Most people are just starting to get pumpkins on the front porch - let alone thinking about snow shovels.

Since my camera broke, I can't take any current pictures of the snow day, but I thought I would put up some from last year '07. We got tons of snow last winter, a skiers dream, our yard was covered with snow from December ,when these pictures were taken, to March. That makes for a very long winter for Moms when you don't even see your grass. The kids don't mind as you can see they love it.

Wall Street

Dated, bad acting, but still relevant.

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I watched the film on PBS last night. "Wall Street" was made in 1987 - at the time of another crash. The film was so overacted by Catherine Zeta Jone's husband - although his line, "Greed is good..." really summed up the mindset of Wall Street and our Government (not to mention the movie industry) - and still does. Charlie Sheen wasn't the greatest and the scene with his dad in the hospital was so schmaltzy - Charlie's snivelling character confesses he never told his dad he loved him - that is so dumb - it is the reverse that is nearly always the case. Charlie was just feeling guilty because he used his dad. (Can you believe Michael Douglas won an Oscar for his performance?) And poor Daryl Hannah - what was she doing? Anyway - I can't believe how bad the film was - and yet so true.

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Although I had to conclude I never missed anything by not seeing the film in 1987.

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Link:

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Taxpayers footing the bill for Brad Pitt's next movie? Give me a break!

Favorite Shirt

Random thought: I have a favorite shirt, it is just my size, fits me perfectly and I think my husband threw it away. Yes, he hates it, jealous. I am actually really freaking out.

WAIT HERE .... I am going to look for it.

BACK and shirt still missing.

Crap, it is gone. Really this was a fabulous shirt. Totally thread bare, and really really really soft. It was from 1990 - how do I know? Because it has the date on the shirt.

Sunday to do list: find my shirt, tear the whole house apart til I find it - unless my husband threw it away.

A woman scorned...

Ethics investigation finds Palin abused power.

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Sarah Palin was found to have abused her power in the termination of her former brother-in-law. She didn't break the law - she just abused her power.

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Like that is such a surprise? I've worked for women in the past...

Fall is in the Air!

Here in American Fork, fall has arrived. The sun sets early, a chill is in the air, and I am craving warm sunday dinners. But, with fall comes Halloween and Thanksgiving and that makes it all worthwhile. I am trying to save my tomatoes from the frost, by covering them at night- they just need a few more weeks.

My husband took a great trip last fall to Southern Utah and got some amazing pictures. Wish I could have been there. Southern Utah is amazing anytime of the year, but last fall it was breathtaking. I hope to take the boys, when they are old enought to hike the distance.

Bettye Lavette - Talking Old Soldiers

Wow! My hair is standing on end!

If you can't view here - go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0nO9VXC6lw

John McCain - did he just wake up or what?

Looking for the real Obama...

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In a speech on the campaign trail in Wisconsin today, McCain said we need to know about Obama's relationship with William (Bill) Ayers - the founder of the Weather Underground - that radical breakaway group of the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society). Sarah Palin has been talking about it all along, saying Obama palled around with a domestic terrorist. The argument had been raised in the early part of the campaign by Hillary Clinton of all people - she and her husband have some iffy socialist connections of their own don't they? Anyway - the Dems and the media are saying all of that is old news and it has been settled. Really?

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He did not know that...

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Obama was 4 years old in those exciting revolutionary days of Vietnam protest, thus he could hardly have been connected to Ayers at the time. As adults the Ayers and Obamas live in the same neighborhood and served on at least two committees together. Did he know of Ayers past? - most likely - Ayers never kept his past a secret. (Did Bill Clinton inhale or have sex with that woman?) Funny thing is, Ayers isn't the only '60's radical to be rehabilitated to mainstrean American life. In fact, a few have taken jobs in academia, and neighborhood/city politics - and they have been blending in for quite sometime. Coincidently, Bill Ayers is married to Bernadine Dohrn who happens to be an associate professor of Law at Northwestern University of Law - how does that work? Ms. Dohrn was also a leader in the SDS and Weather Underground - and quite a communist. She is quoted here:

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"We are building a communist organization to be part of the forces which build a revolutionary communist party to lead the working class to seize power and build socialism. [...] We must further the study of Marxism-Leninism within the WUO [Weather Underground Organization]. The struggle for Marxism-Leninism is the most significant development in our recent history. [...] We discovered thru [sic] our own experiences what revolutionaries all over the world have found — that Marxism-Leninism is the science of revolution, the revolutionary ideology of the working class, our guide to the struggle [...]" - Wikipedia

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Yeah - so when Ayers hosted a fund raising coffee for Obama in 1995, don't you think the wife helped? But Obama didn't know who they were? Yet when pressed, he said something to the effect Ayers had changed his views. I do not think so. Teaching in law schools and universities, active in grass roots politics - what better way to change the system?

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In 1994 Dohrn said of herself: "I still see myself as a radical."

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In 1995 Ayers is quoted describing his politics: In an interview published in 1995, Ayers characterized his political beliefs at that time and in the 1960s and 1970s: "I am a radical, Leftist, small 'c' communist ... [Laughs] Maybe I'm the last communist who is willing to admit it. [Laughs] We have always been small 'c' communists in the sense that we were never in the [Communist] party and never Stalinists. The ethics of Communism still appeal to me. I don't like Lenin as much as the early Marx." - Wikipedia

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Crap - just when I was getting to kind of like Obama. See how things can change before an election?

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Links:

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Weather Underground - No Regrets; Documentary

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Obama's link to Socialism

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Obama's GLBT policy.

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Obama cover-up on born alive abortion survivors.

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Farrakhan Calls Obama the Messiah

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Why it matters.

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Yom Kippur (Contains details of Obama's association with ACORN.)

The Campaign...

And the Candidates.

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Why isn't the life issue brought up on the campaign trail or during the debates? Must be that the economy is more important.

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Didya know?

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In Spain they cover up late term abortion remains by placing it in a blender. Pro-abortion proponents are asking for more humane treatment of the remains by using a baby crushing machine... how Spanish-inquisitional is that?

Tom and Lucy's Art Shoppe

Welcome! We're a brand new Art Shoppe opening up just in time for the HoLiDaY SeAsOn. With so many local artists and crafters in Utah, we're providing the community with a shoppe to obtain artist wares.

We've acquired a beautiful home in Lehi, Utah as our venue, centrally located between Highland, Alpine, Lehi and American Fork. Come shop in an cozy home atmosphere where shopping will be easy, fun, and creative.

With Christmas lists getting prepared, you'll want to find the perfect gift for someone special. So mark your calenders. November 21st 9:30-7:00 & 22nd 9:30-5:00 (weekend before-Thanksgiving). Bring a friend and shop, laugh, chat, and have some fun.
Check back often to see what will be for sale, as our blog will be showcasing our vendors and their creative ideas. So please browse our blog and check us out.

www.tomandlucysartshoppe.blogspot.com

Who won the debate last night?

That one or the other one?

Depends on who you talked to... and whose side people are on. Those who support McCain say McCain did. Those who support Obama say Obama did. So really, no one did.

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I'm very much in the middle however. I know who I "have" to vote for - so that frees me to express my totally unbiased opinion. That said, Obama made more sense to me than the other one.

Mad Men

For those of you who don't know or have never watched this show check it out:

Mad Men -AMC, Sunday nights 9 p.m.

Basis: New York, Madison Avenue in the early 60's, big time advertising agency .

Oh it is dreamy. The characters and storyline, you'll hold your breathe the whole hour. Betty, Peggy and Joan - i'll do a picture of them next time are spot on (or at least thats what my mom says and she lived through it) Other than the smoking, this show is totally superior to any silly show on the CW. (p.s. comcast offers the whole 2nd season -on demand- so catch up)

Nothing to blog about.

New Computer

So, about a year ago....my three year, then two year old, decided to have some fun with my home laptop. He proceeded to pull all the keys off the keyboard. Mind you - laptops are very hard to use after this happens. And what does every good mom do when this happens to her only connection to the world wide web....she goes without. Adam would randomly bring home his work laptop and I would get on and check things - bank account, gmail, on-line stores, mapquest, really staying in touch.

But - da, da, dA DA!!!! We got a home desk top computer. Funny after being without it for so long, there are a lot of things I really do want and need to do on my home pc. Before, if I thought of something I wanted to check or see about, I might write it down to check when Adam came home, but more than not I would just forget. Now, if I want to check something out well, la-tee-da I just held down stair and behold the information!!!

Another 9,110?

My Sharia-Moor!
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Stocks closed below 10,000 today - after the bailout.
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This is what Al - Qaida was trying to do on 9/11 - bring down the American economy. What if?

We hardly noticed.

Will contemporary Americans know how to cope with poverty and homelessness?
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We have been in a war for almost 8 years now, and most Americans hardly notice.
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We were duped by greedy banks and realtors to buy houses much too big for our incomes.
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We maxed out our credit cards and took out all sorts of loans for everything from vacations to student loans.
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We hardly noticed while politicians and financial wizards picked our pockets.
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Now I wonder if we will notice as it is all taken away?
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What's in your wallet?

This is important...

Where you go to Mass and what you wear. Oh! Oh! Do you kneel or stand for communion?

Shocking Video Unearthed Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scam that caused our Economic Cri

We have NO say!

When men lose their jobs...

They often lose a sense of their dignity.

Monterey 1967

Before Woodstock... I should write a history as I recall it.

Fashion is so dead.

Prete-a-porte.
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A model wears a short dress with a portrait of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill, a creation by French designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac during his spring-summer 2009 ready-to-wear collection presented in Paris, Friday, Oct. 3, 2008. - Source

Brother sun, sister moon-San Francisco-(Franco Zeffirelli)

I love this scene

Flowers of St. Francis

Happy feast of St. Francis to all! Pax et Bonum!

A wink is just a wink...

A smile is just a smile...
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I like the winkie - it just doesn't look good in a still. She captured hearts last night though. I still think the majority of Americans vote emotionally... Based upon who they "like" or who appeals to them. (Hillary was too tough, but Sarah is just right.) Remember the Kennedy/Nixon debate? - Nixon sweat and did not come off well on camera - they say he lost the debate, and of course we know who won the election.

Camera Broke

sad story: CAMERA BROKE. the end
I think my little three year old had something to do with it. So for now, I will have to be interesting enough.

Here is a little shout out to my sister, Catherine, she has a very funny blog, that she doesn't write in enough called http://www.downtownperks.blogspot/. Check her out. Whenever she does write, I always laugh.

The Debate

Who wins?

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No one ever wins a political debate as far as I am concerned. Watching the Palin/Biden debate all I have to say is Sarah Palin did very well. Very well. I totally get her appeal.

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Foreign readers - I used the McCain/Palin photo to illustrate the ticket - Mrs. Palin debated Sen. Joe Biden, the democratic running mate of Barrack Obama.

I can't wait!

The wife and I are glued to the TV waitin' on the debate!
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Oh. That' right... I don't have a wife. Well, I'm watching anyway. FYI: I do not have one close friend or relative who supports the McCain/Palin ticket. In my neighborhood, every yard with a political sign is for Obama.
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I praying she does well... I hope the pitbull side comes out.

Cigarettes are good for you!

See, I knew there was no relationship between cigarette smoking and health problems.

More Doctors Smoke Camels Than Any Other Cigarette

The craving never goes away...

At the dealership...

The waiting room.

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So this is when blogging serves a purpose - when you are at the dealership waiting for the work on your car to be finished. Except I do not have my favorite's list here. Anyway - I read my comments for my posts, not many people can tell when I'm having fun and when I'm being serious - another sign of my insanity I guess. Oh well.

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I toured some of my favorite websites already, although I still don't know what Fr. Z fixed for supper last night. He seems to be a good cook. (I notice Cathy has been slacking - but it's okay - no pressure hon.)

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What to write about today? - I'm blank - I just don't know what to write about. One commenter warned me of detraction - I know about that - and he knows it.

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However, it is interesting that people will distance themselves from me for fear I may write about them. It is absolutely true, I'm convinced of it - they stay off my radar screen. Maybe it isn't just for fear I will write about them, but what I write about - my opinion on things they disagree with - will often make them disappear out of my life. For instance, someone going into a profession - say politics - may try to erase every connection they ever had to me. No - I am not imagining it: Obama has not called me, so that means he is trying to pretend we never met. It happens all of the time. People disown me - my parents disowned me - now that is the truth.

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Or how about the Cardinal? He has severed all ties with me - he can't be tainted by scandal now that he has a new job in the Vatican, can he? I know! Okay, so I don't know any Cardinals, although if I did, they would have to disavow any connection to me.

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I don't think I fall into detraction now days - hopefully I learned my lesson. Have you noticed contemporary folk don't really know the meaning of detraction, or calumny? They think it is normal since the entire culture is saturated with it all of the time. Just watch TV - the news, political ads, late-nite comedians. All lies and scandal.

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Hopefully, I can avoid that. Although I love to scare people...

I hear the debates are on for the night...

Unless someone cancels...

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Oh please God!

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Whatever, pray that Sarah doesn't come off as some dip-shit bowling alley champion - despite the fact "Joe-sixpack" supports her... I never, ever thought I'd see politics reduced to this level in the United States without a revolution - oh yeah, the revolution took place in the 1960's and '70's... remember Jane Fonda on a tank in Hanoi? Sarah Palin is not Hanoi Jane, to be sure - but we welcome all newcomers to the farce American politics has become.

Yeah - so Jerry Seinfeld is the devil!

Horrors!

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Remember that Kathy Griffin episode on Seinfeld where she uses Jerry, and everything he says to her, repeating it in her stand-up act - and it is a hit? It's really a funny show - because she means no harm to Jerry - she's just speaking her mind on what she thinks of the way he has treated her, spoken to her, or lived his life in front of her. In her mind, she's still his friend.

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Yeah - so that is kinda how I blog, and yet all of my friends get mad at me. Sheesh!

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I have to do something to get my stats up here though. I just got Sitemeter on this blog and the stats are lower than my other blog. So who would be good to blog about? Who...? In the meantime...

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Get over it!
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Virginia and Bob, Jamie and Wayne, Cathy and Ray, Angela and Kat, Sylvia and Donna, Harry and John, Michael and Michael, Joe and Mary, Dianne and Pete, Joan and Andy, Peter and Tom, Jen and Ann, Sarah and Danielle, Paul and Sue, Mark and Richard, Kevin and Sue, Sandra and Rose, Karen and John, on and on - lighten up people.

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"The entire building has collapsed."

Warning, Danger: Boys!

The Dangerous Book for Boys by Hal and Gonn Iggulden is a must in any boys library. We were the lucky recipients of this book last Christmas. The recommended age for the book is 10 and for a boy to do these projects on their own, I must agree. But my boys are a little younger and are totally enthralled just looking at the pictures, asking questions and begging me and my husband to help them do the projects. Projects include: invisible ink, building a tree house, making crystals, paper airplanes, smoke signals, famous battles in history, and secret codes just to name a few. This book is great for summer projects or a rainy saturday. I hope you will enjoy this book as much as our family has.