May 2006

Lions and Ants

Once a hunter met a lion near the hungry critter’s lair, and the way that lion mauled him was decidedly unfair; but the hunter never whimpered when the surgeons, with their thread, sewed up forty-seven gashes in his mutilated head; and he showed the scars in triumph, and they gave him pleasant fame, and he always blessed the lion that had camped upon his frame.

 Once that hunter, absent minded, sat upon a hill of ants, and about a million bit him, and you should have seen him dance!  And he used up lots of language of a deep magenta tint, and apostrophized the insects in a style unfit to print.  And it’s thus with worldly troubles; when the big ones come along, we serenely go to meet them, feeling valiant, bold, and strong, but the weary little worries with their poisoned stings and smarts, put the lid upon our courage, make us gray, and break our hearts.  -Walt Mason

Have a safe and fun Memorial Day Weekend. Be sure to pause often and prayerfully think about the men and women who have served our beautiful country. We owe them more than we could ever repay.

See you next week!
-Joi

“A home without books is a body without soul.” ~Marcus Tullius Cicero

Not long ago, Google added an “Advertise on this site” line to their ads.  Not a biggie, I guess - but the page that one ends up on is apparently pretty bland. (Quite honestly, I’ve never clicked through one to see.)

Someone posted a question about the subject on Ask Dave Taylor, and as he’s so wont to do, he answered. Click on through to see for yourself - or to, for that matter, ask your own question(s).

Joi  

1. Only in America can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.
2. Only in America do drug stores make the sick walk all the way back to the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy lottery tickets at the front.
3. Only in America do banks leave their vault doors open and chain their pens to the counters.
4. Only in America do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put useless junk safely away in the garage.
5. Only in America do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of 12.
6. Only in America do we have drive-up ATMs with braille lettering.

The hot dog/bun thing has always killed me.  You’d think someone would’ve caught on by now.

-Joi

…..who wouldn’t?!

Okay, so I’m cruising around the internet - doing, of all things, a little search engine optimization research.  (This particular blog shows up number 3 in Google when “Self Help Blog” is searched. I thought that was a little past cool, so I was trying to find out what this blog knew that a few of my other blogs are oblivious to.)

Anyway, in the midst of keywords, titles, and tags I accidentally came across some very colorful people and their very colorful blogs.  One, in particular, really put a smile on my day - Daily Dancer.   The young man behind the blog (and in front of the video) is a utopian reminder that life is what you make it.  The Daily Dancer has put in his order for a fun life - one full of laughs and butt slaps. 

Shake on!

Joi

Do you like to mix things up around the house - changing colors, changing accents, rearranging the mood and atmosphere.  Be still my heart - I’m all about that stuff.

I found a really cool online tool (http://www.smithandnoble.com/sn/designCenter_home.jsp?csjsEnabled=1) - from Smith and Noble. 

Okay, this is how it goes:

1. Choose a room:  Living Room, Kitchen, Bedroom, or Entryway.
2. Choose a room object:  Windows, Walls, Floor, Furniture.
3. Choose from the tabs provided.  Then, choose from the different colors, textures, etc. below.  Also, pay attention to the numbers below the images - sometimes there are even more on the next page.

Your choices for each object will stay intact, allowing you to make different color combinations.

I’ll ’fess up, I was there for 2 hours last night. But what bea-u-tiful creations I made!  I guess it’s just a good thing they didn’t have Home Office, Bathroom, Den, or Patio.  I’d still be there.  

Hmmm, I think there’s one combination I missed.  I’m pretty sure I failed to try the Plum Muscari walls with the Hunan/Black Cherry Blinds.

Guess I gotta go ba—

Joi

Sign me right up!

Walking isn’t just fun, it isn’t just a great way to get a tan, it isn’t just a great way to catch up on your walking companion’s life, and it isn’t just a great physical workout…. It’s a fountian of youth.  And that’s just the magic phrase that keeps me huffing and hoofing, even on days when I’d rather not hoof let alone huff.

Erase 30 Years in 3 Months

Read the article, then lace ‘em up!

Joi

I recently had the misfortune of hearing a politician spewing his venom on television.  I normally avoid watching too many political programs - they give me the hives.  If one spent very much time examining the sort of people that gravitate toward politics - and really let it sink in how much of our fate is in their hands……  We’d either flee the country or get fitted for straight jackets.

Anyhoo, this peacock was, of course, singing his own praises.  To listen to him, you’d think God created the world in 6 days, rested on the 7th, and then he took over from there!   You’ve seen them in action.  I did this, I did that….I was the reason this worked, I was behind that success….Heck no, mine doesn’t stink…Why aren’t you bowing?

That’s bad enough, but then they go on the attack - the individual that (s)he’s up against is thisclose to being the devil himself.  For that matter, their whole political party is demonic…yadda yadda yadda.

As I walked to the tv to turn it back to the food network (not sure why I ever venture away), I thought just how many everyday people are kind of bent in a similar direction.  They seldom, if ever, have a good word to say about anyone else and seldom, if ever, have anything BUT a good word to say about themselves. 

This sort of person might just drive me crazier than any other. Yet, the world is absolutely full of them - they eat up the political world, but they aren’t limited to it.  They’re in religious circles, the business world, the entertainment industry, in small town USA…..everywhere.

I don’t know, I kind of figure that if you’re truly ALL THAT AND AN ORDER OF ONION RINGS, won’t others say it so you don’t have to?  And if the other guy’s such a clown, why in the world have you been watching him so closely?  I mean, doesn’t being superguy take up all your time?

In the end, there’s an awful lot to be said for the beauty of humility.

Joi

“Being on the tightrope is living; everything else is waiting.” ~Karl Wallenda