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Whirled Views 10.26
Good morning! Today is Numba-One Son’s birthday!
Today’s movie quote: “You know, when you get it wrong, you really get it wrong! That woman has given her whole life in service to her people. Fifty years doing a job SHE never wanted! A job she watched kill her father. She’s executed it with honor, dignity, and, as far as I can tell, without a single blemish, and now we’re all baying for her blood! All because she’s struggling to lead the world in mourning for someone who… who threw everything she offered back in her face. And who, for the last few years, seemed committed 24-7 to destroying everything she holds most dear!”
back to top59 Comments to “Whirled Views 10.26”
The Queen?
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Make It Man wins! The Queen is correct. What will you do with your digital dollars?…
$$$$
P.S.: Should I rent The Queen? It looks pretty good…
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Well, friends, in addition to writing a story I was already on the hook for, I spent the week covering the fires, so I was pretty scarce around here.
I believe I owe this thread two days worth of digital dollars…
$$$$
$$$$
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Lynn, yes rent the Queen. After you meet your deadlines, of course. Not a lot of action, but–as the Brits are so good at–thoughtful dialogue and not a bad actor in the bunch. Helen Mirren absolutely channels QE2.
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Question for everyone. You may have noticed, WMB’s bloggers have started using fewer lines on the WMB homepage and inserting “More” links. The idea is to get more posts on the front page and allow you to click “More” if you want to continue reading a particular post.
As Dr. Phil would say, how’s that working for you?
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It’s a good morning for dumb ideas, or a bad morning for them.
I was just thinking about how most of what I call the militant “rebels” (atheists, homosexuals, etc.) seem to be men. Aside from Coyote Blue, who is learning to be a little not so “nice” (but is still pretty) nice there don’t seem to be very many militant female rebels. Arcadia, perhaps.
On the other hand, there are plenty of female loyalists, some quite nice, but plenty of militant ones. There are plenty of men, but the side seems fairly balanced.
What is that all about? Where are the evangelical, trouble-making atheist women?
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Women are smarter than men…
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Lynn,
Definitely go rent The Queen. It was not my first choice of movies to watch, but it was a good movie. My wife wanted to watch it – I’d have rented something a little more mindless and violent.
So I stand by my statement that women are smarter than men…
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Upon what shall I spend my virtual money? I just can’t think of something catchy to say I’ll spend it on.
I think I’ll spend my digital dollars on a virtual sense of humor and wit…
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Lynn,
Are we going to have “Rants and Raves” today?
*****
Today is Friday, which means tomorrow is “College Football Saturday”
ESPN’s “Game Day” coverage will be in State College, PA for the Ohio State vs Penn State game, which should be a good one.
As promised, here is the “College Football Saturday” contest, where you pick the winners (not the score) of five games. The winner (which is announced each Monday) gets a warm, gooey, hot-off-the-campfire *digital* S’more. Good luck!
(#1) Ohio State (8-0) @ (#25) Penn State (6-2)
(#3) LSU (7-1) @ (#24) Alabama (6-2)
(#21) California (5-2) @ (#4) Arizona State (7-0)
(#7) West Virginia (6-1) @ Rutgers (5-2)
(#9) Kansas (7-0) @ Texas A&M (6-2)
The tiebreaker, as usual, is the Tennessee game vs whomever they’re playing. Pick the winner and the score:
(#16) S. Carolina (6-2) @ Tennessee (4-3)
Go Vols!
Please have your picks in by 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.
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RN,
I used to be a trouble-making, female atheist, but then I met Jesus. Blame Him.
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See what I mean?
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Where are the evangelical, trouble-making atheist women?
They’re in my yoga class.
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I saw “The Queen” and liked it pretty well. But I already knew about 80% of the movie anyway, from following the events around Diana.
Actually, the best performance to me was the person who played Tony Blair (I can’t remember his name). I thought he nailed it. Helen did a great job too.
It’s worth renting if you have an interest in a “behind the scenes” look at how the Royals reacted to Diana’s death.
*****
In regards to the fewer lines on the home page and more on the links, I know that I normally click on the “WorldMag Blog” tab when I sign on. I keep forgetting that we can comment on the main page. But I am getting better at going to the other tabs.
I think those of us who came over with WorldMag Blog are still going directly to the blog. I will think about a way to get people to go to the main page. There is one way, but it’s pretty drastic. I just thought of one thing you might try – at the top of the WorldMag Blog page you might add the words “Don’t forget the blogs on the Front Page!”
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While we were watching The Queen our fifteen-year old looked up from the Internet and said, “this is a true story? Princess Diana died in my lifetime?”
I’m glad someone hasn’t been tainted by Dianamania.
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Women are smarter than men…
Are you going to change your screen name to “Make it Woman?”
Yoga class:
Garrison Keillor did a parody once of Clint Eastwood movies. In one of them, Dirty Harry is a yoga teacher brutalizing his yoga students.
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Good heavens! We’re supposed to be commenting on everything on this web magazine? I haven’t got that much time.
But, last night my husband–reading the hard copy of the magazine–said, “Did you see this article Olasky wrote about Christian fiction?”
“Yes. I commented on it last week.”
“Oh. I guess you have read the magazine already.”
Now we don’t have anything to talk about–new news to him, is old blogging commentary to me.
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Praying friends (and the rest of you), here’s my family update. The girls will be going to live with family later today. I will give no more details on that, except that it was unexpected and, to me, not very good timing. They’d just begun to get settled into a routine and to make really significant progress in some major areas.
They don’t know yet. I myself just found out yesterday morning. I made last evening as sweet as possible, with several things they like to do, but also as low key as possible. Today I’ll pack their clothes, the Psalm 23 poster from their wall, the stuffed animals and dolls and books that will mean something to them, and then pick them up from school early (with my dog, Misten, in the car so they can tell her goodbye), and say goodbye to “my” two little girls.
Wednesday was a month in my home with this placement, plus two weeks earlier in the year. Just six weeks, but they’re embedded deeply in my heart. I knew they weren’t really “mine,” but I expected to have longer to love and train them. That’s foster care.
Please do pray for me, for them, and for their family in the days ahead.
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Anlir, just put up Rants! and Raves!
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“And who, for the last few years, seemed committed 24-7 to destroying everything she holds most dear!”
I never saw “The Queen,” and I always confuse it and the movie “Elizabeth.” Even though the movie from today’s quote is much later, I find it difficult to believe a Brit would use the phrase “24-7.” If I saw that in a movie about QEI, it would certainly seem to be an anachronism, something like watching a Civil War movie and hearing Lincoln tell Grant to “get jiggy with it.”
Anlir, I don’t think I got a s’more for last week’s picks. I only say that b/c I don’t thinking I’ll be winning the prize for this week (going with a few upsets to “shake things up”). Nevertheless, here we go:
1) Penn State
2) LSU
3) Cal
4) West Virginia
5) Texas A&M
Tie-breaker: Tennessee over SC, 17-10.
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#6 RN–I, too, used to be a very dedicated, very trouble-making, very angry radical agnostic woman. Then, in my mid-thirties, I met Jesus. I don’t know if women are smarter than men, but maybe being angry bothers them more.
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Regarding the format of this page, I do like that you are shortening the articles and using the “more..” approach.
I still struggle with the general format of this page. In particular, the fact that there is not a good summary view of all the thread topics – something that shows the thread topics, date created, number of posts. For example:
10/26/07
Rants and Raves (11)
Sports Challenged (5)
Whirled Views (15)
10/25/07
Fall Foliage (2)
Napping (-11)
Whirled Views (51)
I think that most folks tend to view things chronologicially and expect to arrive at this site and quickly see (with minimal scrolling and clicking) what today’s topics are, and perhaps see what folks were talking about yesterday, or on Wednesday.
Finally, how are the “most active” and “recent” tabs supposed to work? They don’t seem to be accurate or effective. I’ve gone to the “more recent” page that shows the 25 most active posts, and 25 most recent posts, but they are just lists of topics (no dates, no number of posts, no indication of who originated the thread) with questionable sort order.
Just my $.02 here folks. I hope this is helpful commentary. It would be nice to see some progress in the “most recent”, “active, “more active posts” features.
If anyone has any tricks/tips to share on how they get around this place, please post.
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Travis,
Most active doesn’t work–it’s on the web diva’s list, I think. Most recent does work–I use it every day. While it could use more detail, it does list the threads in the order of the most recent comments (which are only occasionally spoiled by spam).
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Cheryl: Why did you decide not to tell the children that they were leaving? I realize they had another day of school and perhaps that was why you chose to do that, so that they will not be worried at school. It must be very hard on children to have their lives so abruptly changed and without time to process things. Some children hate that more than others. I wonder if they ever get used to that. At any rate, my prayers for you all. God must be aware that they needed something you have given them even in this short period. I pray it is so.
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“Are you going to change your screen name to ‘Make it Woman?’”
Hey watch out now! I didn’t say anything about wanting to be smarter… Not likely anyone would fall for a 6′2″ bearded woman anyway…
“I don’t know if women are smarter than men, but maybe being angry bothers them more.”
Perhaps, they’re just wiser… (But it boils down to the same thing in my mind.)
*(Keep in mind, my comment was made with tongue planted firmly in cheek.)
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About the “forum” format.
1) Bring back “preview”
2) Bring back “preview”
3) Bring back “preview”
4) And did I mention; Bring back “preview”?
As far as the “more” link, it’s fine. The tabs, active posts, and most commented on posts, take a little getting used to…
When it was said that WMB was going to a “forum” format, I figured it was going to be a true forum, where threads were posted, and they rose or fell depending on the most recent comment.
So if I go to the “most recent” comments I’m fine. It just takes a few more clicks to get there, and sometimes it’s pretty hard to find the thread I wanted to follow.
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Random, my agnostic wife was angry this morning, but unfortunately she refuses to read or comment on this blog. Something about better uses of her time? It was all my fault. Her anger. I guess she wasn’t really angry, but rather annoyed and grumpy. I didn’t put the sippy-cups back together when I unloaded the dishwasher…. I was in a hurry last night. I have repented and believe myself to be forgiven.
My wife used to go with Jesus, but they broke up. He insisted on going everywhere she went. She caught him with a couple of her friends on more than one occasion, but he was the one who was always jealous is she even looked at another god. And he was always asking her for money. I think that was the proverbial last straw.
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Regarding blog format, “more” links are also fine with me. What I like (compared to the old blog format) is that for most stories when I click on “more” I get both the rest of the story and the comments. It seemed on the old blog to usually take me to someplace else for the story, then I had to click back, and then click on the comments button.
While a preview feature would be nice, it’s not essential (as long as I remember that it’s not there and do my proofreading before clicking on Submit). What I was really hoping for – and I don’t know if it’s even a possibility with the software being used – is for a way to see which threads have new comments that I haven’t read yet. There are usually half a dozen or so threads that I’m following, and I have to try to remember there were 31 comments on this one last time I looked, 16 on that one, 53 on another one, etc. The threads come up fast enough now that it’s not too bad having to go into each one and scroll down to the bottom to see if there’s anything new, but it would be really nice to see at a glance which ones have new comments.
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KI:
I asked the case worker if I should tell the children and he said a definite no–probably at least partly since it is, from their perspective, a happy change, and they can deal with it.
I am taking the collie with me to pick them up from school, and sending them home with a mini album of photos and a note from me, their bedtime toys, a couple of Bible story books, etc. But probably they wouldn’t have done well in school today had they known about the change this evening.
Just a bit more than an hour now. Today I’ve been packing, doing laundry, running to the store to get one-hour developing so I can send photos home with them, and so forth. (The “so forth” includes walking around numb and crying.)
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P.S. The kids also don’t do well with “anticipation.” I tend to tell them right before a fun outing, as otherwise the wait seems endless to them. We have had some things that are traditions that we do every week–Friday night video, Sunday church, etc., but for an “extra” such as going to the park it’s better to wait to tell them. If they’d been going into foster care at this time, it might be fair to tell them ahead of time and give them time to grieve, but that isn’t the case here.
They will have a few minutes in the car and a few more during transition between cars in order to process things–not long, but probably what’s best for little tykes.
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I usually didn’t tell my children too long in advance about exciting things either. It sounds like you are doing all you can about their transition. I sure hope things work out well for them.
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Some of you in Southern California help me with this.
At our Lion’s Club today, there was a discussion of relief for the burned area. One of our members is from the SD area and has contacts. There was some information from Lions District 4-L6 (4 is Cal. The L6 would be specific district, presumably in SD) that there is a drop off center and station KUSI is helping to coordinate the effort. They need things (for example)
canned food, water, cots, blankets, petfood, stuffed animale, etc.
My problem: I understand that some may need assistance. I know some money would help. But it seems to me that loading a truck with that kind of stuff and hauling it to California is a April 1 project.
Did all the Wal-Marts & K-Marts out there burn?
I’m afraid someone’s emotions is obstructing his brain, but I could be wrong on this.
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Chas,
You’re right on this. We needed all those things you listed days ago and all the San Diegans who didn’t have to evacuate either donated them or went out and bought them at the Wal-marts and K-Marts. The evac center I worked at was stocked pretty quickly and we moved the surplus on as we heard of new ones opeining or others running short. The hidden blessing–if you can call it that–is that as we transition into the colder months and the homeless snowbirds arrive, all the homeless shelters are stocked and ready to go. Some are over-stocked.
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Isn’t that Canyon Lake Gorge pretty out there at Canyon Lake, Texas?
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#32 Chas
I think I am in agreement with you.
Although there are times when it makes sense to donate “in kind” items to help with a disaster, such behavior strikes me as often sentimental at best and foolish and self-obsessed at worst. I won’t present myself as a paragon of charitable giving (I am not), but I do make some donations.
Generally, for a food drive, for example,I try to pick an agency that seems competent and knows what they are doing, and donate some money with the assumption and expectation they will use it in the most sensible and efficeint manner to meet people’s needs.
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It is amazing what a little water can do in three days.
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Almost makes you wonder what a lot of water could do in, say, forty days.
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Anlir’s Pick’em Contest
Winners:
(1) Ohio State
(2) LSU
(3) California
(4) West Virginia
(5) Texas A&M
Tiebraker:
Tennessee 31
S. Carolina 20
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Well as I from time to time write, one of my dearest friends is a lesbian. Every now and then she has a dilemma that need my special area of expertise. Last night was one of those times. Her brother has moved to Illinois and she decided to write him, so she got out her stationary and fountain pen. She could not remember if the water mark on the paper went right side up on the front or right side down on the back. I told her right side up on the front. We argued so I had to call my ex-husband who grew up in a printing company as the final authority. When he answered and I told him I was having Lesbian Issues you should have heard the laughter. Oh, and how can I help you with those. So for those of you who do not know the water mark on your stationary should got right side up on the front. So I assume her brother will be getting a letter soon.
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Anlir, TJ, & Graceland.
I say again Go Gamecocks!
I’m not going to bet because I’m a jinx. However,I advise you not to bet against the Gamecocks. They might do stupid things, like losing to Vanderbilt. But they can do great things too. If Spurrier had done anything about the offensive line, they will go all the way.
But, Graceland, the Gamecocks are not likely to score 20 points. And Tennessee will surely not score 31.
We’ll see.
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I’m home now, and childless again. For those of you who were praying (or who weren’t, but who care anyway), the transition was very, very sweet.
I picked them up at school, early dismissal in the office, dog in the car. When they came in, I whispered that they were going to live with their mom. Then I asked if they wanted to say goodbye to the ladies in the office (the principal and the secretary who’ve been sweet and who were sort of in shock that they were being withdrawn). They both hugged them.
Then we went out to the car, where Misten (the dog) was waiting for them. By that time both were crying and both were telling me they were happy and sad at the same time. So we sat for a few minutes while I gave them a light snack and they petted the dog. Then we drove to the agency office, where they got to give the dog a snack and I showed them pictures from their visit while we waited for the transition.
Transferring clothes and toys from my vehicle to theirs, more petting and hugging the dog, lots of coming to me for hugs and kisses. Basically they knew for about 90 minutes before they drove off, and it was smiles and tears. I got to hold one child in my arms and pray over her, got to kiss both and “rub in” the kiss.
This is the part of foster care that makes some people say “I could never do it.” It’s hard, very hard–though probably not the hardest part. But basically I have to remember it’s about them and not about me, as all parenting is. They needed a home and I provided one, and did so in Jesus’ name. Easy, no. Rewarding, yes. All of us have our children on loan; foster parents just get their empty nests quicker.
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p.s Adios & RN. Thanks. I think I won’t participate in that effort. I helped with the Katrina thing and now I think I’m beginning to regret it. It seems so many are waiting around for help from somewhere. I know the situation is somewhat different, but 2 yrs after Hugo, Charleston was bustling again..
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OK, the only difference between my picks and those of Graceland (other than the tie-breaker score) is the Ohio State/Penn State game. I don’t particularly like Penn State (for that matter, I pretty much don’t like any team in the Little 11, er, Big Ten), but I like Ohio State even less. Unless someone else picks, that game will decide this week’s winner.
On a side note, I’m glad to report that (one of) my alma mater Georgia Southern beat Appalachian State last weekend (in Boone, NC, no less) 38-35, thereby defeating the team that embarrassed Michigan earlier this year.
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Cheryl, my heart breaks for you but I loved the way you worded it about the empty nest. {{{{hugs}}}
ANLIR: I am going to take LSU over Alabama even though I live in AL. Geaux Tigers! Other than that, if Clemson is playing I hope they get stomped.
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Well, Cheryl, your post @ 41 just about did me in. You are strong and brave. God bless you.
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Anybody hear/read about how Watson, of the Crick/Watson discovering-DNA-as-the-genetic-molecule fame, is “retiring” due to comments he made about the (lack of) intelligence of Africans?
Dr Watson told The Sunday Times that he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really”. He said there was a natural desire that all human beings should be equal but “people who have to deal with black employees find this not true”.
His views are also reflected in a book published next week, in which he writes: “There is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution should prove to have evolved identically. Our wanting to reserve equal powers of reason as some universal heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it so.”
The evolution/liberal (I know that evolutionist != liberal) worldview has its own problem with cognitive dissonance, to borrow a term Erasmus used earlier today.
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I only get to come here at the end of the day, and thankfully, I was able to find out how the transition went for Cheryl’s kids. I’m glad it turned out okay, especially since you had me in tears. In the years to come, they will remember the nice lady who took care of them and taught them to pray.
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Cheryl – And just like other empty-nesters, you will hold those girls forever in your prayers, won’t you?
God bless & comfort you. Thanks for sharing your stories with us.
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Kim – Did you see my comment (I think it’s the last one) on the “Should We Lower the Drinking Age?” thread?
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Karen, yes I went back and read your msg. People do strange things. While I don’t think I am in danger of drinking a glass of wine and becoming an alcoholic, I do know someone who started drinking at 15 and is a raging allcoholic at 35
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In my family, & some others I’ve noticed, many times the grown children of alcoholics either end up with an addiction to alcohol or illegal substances, or are overeaters. Some people say there’s a connection between alcoholism & a big sweet tooth.
In fact, I read this little factoid – If the daughter of a male alcholic has a bad sweet tooth, she is about 4 times more likely to become an alcoholic herself. Weird.
My older daughter has a BIG sweet tooth. And she’s the thin one in the family – go figure! She knows that she should stay away from alcohol to be safe, but has dabbled with it.
Not saying you need to do things my way, just passing on my own observations & such.
Oh yeah – Another reason she should stay away from it – A few months after my husband did quit drinking, he found out (through thinking he might be having a heart attack) he has a condition in which the alcohol poisons his heart, weakening the pumping power. The dr, said if he ever started drinking again, he wouldn’t live long. And it could be genetic.
Another reason why we saw the DUI as God’s merciful intervention.
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Lynn Vincent 5,
I thought I was the only one to always forget to go to the front page blogs. Glad to hear I am not alone (Hi Anlir) but I suspect he will be over there more often and I will be talking to myself more. But that is okay as I spent a couple of hours today walking a turtle which is an addition to my usual life of looking for earthworms. Perhaps its best if I do stay here talking to myself. Drop by once in a while, I will probably still be here, stuck in my little black box I accused Donato of being stuck in.
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Ditto #45 and #48, Cheryl D.
What a time to be getting sick, too. I’m sure you will hold those girls in prayer. I can hear it in the way you express your heart.
I pray God to comfort you in this time.
We all love you here.
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http://ccrjustice.org/newsroom/press-releases/donald-rumsfeld-charged-torture-during-trip-france
amusing news of the day. the french get their revenge or old europe strikes back
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Well, here goes (my picks in bold):
(#1) Ohio State (8-0) @ (#25) Penn State (6-2) OSU
(#3) LSU (7-1) @ (#24) Alabama (6-2) LSU
(#21) California (5-2) @ (#4) Arizona State (7-0) ASU (As I said last week, I, as a U of Arizona fan, despise the Imps from Tempe, but like Cal even less. This hearkens back to when Arizona actually had a good team and almost won the Pac-10, but for a loss to Cal.)
(#7) West Virginia (6-1) @ Rutgers (5-2) Rutgers (Home field advantage is the only reason.)
(#9) Kansas (7-0) @ Texas A&M (6-2) KU (As a Missouri resident, I cannot ever root for Kansas or K-State, but I have never liked any of the Texas teams.)
The tiebreaker, as usual, is the Tennessee game vs whomever they’re playing. Pick the winner and the score:
(#16) S. Carolina (6-2) @ Tennessee (4-3)
Tough pick, but I’ll say Tennessee just because they want (need) to salvage the season at home. Score: Tenn 21 SC 20
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Please give us a preview!!! I did not mean to highlight the LSU game above!
Lighter note: I went to the foreign language teachers’ association meeting today for Illinois, and the keynote speaker showed us this hilarious video, which I am sure our Spanish-speaking WMBers will appreciate (as well as anyone who has taken a foreign language in high school or college).
It is called the “One semester of Spanish Love Song”:
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Link did not show. Second try: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ngRq82c8Baw
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Somebody has a little too much time on their hands (even more than me or they use their time more wisely and creatively) but quite funny, thanks for an amusing end to the day.
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Peter L,
I guess I’m humor-impaired. What exactly is so hilarious about it? I was expecting it to turn out at the end that she wasn’t Hispanic or something like that, and he’d been trying to impress her with his Spanish but she only spoke English.
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