around the bend on the spur

Road trips save us from that hopeless "stuck in a maze" feeling we get here in the suburbs. This last shorty trip, no exception.

Road trip norm, for us anyway, involves last-minute planning. Spur of the moment packing o' the equipment. Junk food stock-up. Random direction selection. And away we go!

Our latest adventure took us to Beaver's Bend State Park in Oklahoma.

Naturally, we got to our destination as the sun was downward bound. Seems to be a pattern for us. However, this did not stop us from enjoying the beauty of a stream we found. Nor did it stop the fresh pine air from lifting our spirits just enough.





The day, lovely.
The getting there, sweet. This is the time for touching base with nature, ourselves and with each other.



The ride home, just as precious. In the middle of nowhere, the night sky spilled open.

And whilst I gazed lovingly at the Milky Way, a darkened landscape streaked by, and a sweet child's voice sang softly, "Twinkle, twinkle... little star..."

blue

Turn off background music HERE, then come back up.

---

The cause of today's melancholy is uncertain. Even still, it is a blue day.

The sky is clear. There is peace in the limbs of the trees, calmness hovers over tall grasses.

There is a mildness and sweetness in the air.

So what is this gloom?

Hmmm...

Perhaps, it is best to breathe in the beauty of this quiet, no need for an answer just yet~~~



Wix.com

---

blog laze

Due to apparent "blog laze", a break must be needed!

Well, maybe just a short one.

And so, to avoid further youtube vid inundation, and to recoup after recent issues with Ike in our state, I'll sign off.

More later~~~~

awake

Turn off background music here, then come back up.

The other night, a funny guy made a bit of sense.

yIKEs!

Turn off background music here.


Watch CBS Videos Online

I've been to Houston and Galveston only once. Galveston, I loved very much. There are beautiful historic homes there, as well as gorgeous modern beach houses. The beach, lovely. I've a jar of its sands to remind me of it.

I can not imagine what will happen to the island when the hurricane hits.

I hope those who live there, have left for safety.

counterfeit

In some parts of the world, counterfeit merch is viewed as, well, acceptable. Cool even. There are whole streets full of vendors selling rip-offs. In some cases the knock-offs are actually pretty good.

I've known people who laugh at the audacity of those who sell the stuff. And who think it's funny how closely the fakes resemble the genuine articles.

I'm not laughing. The thought of it makes me cringe.

Yeah, it may be nice to get a deal on something trendy or fun. But what about other items, such as the necessities? Not only are the makers of the genuine products being ripped off, there is also an issue of safety. Take the fake dog food, mentioned in this New York Times article, that killed and sickened so many pets, for example.


Today, I saw a Reuters news item, here, about possible counterfeit baby formula, which has caused the death of one baby and has sickened many others.

Could there be such desperation to threaten the lives of babies for just a few bucks?

end?

---

With solemn face and depressed spirit, my daughter arrived home from school today.

There had been much talk amongst the kids, even teachers, about the end of the world tomorrow.

Huh?

Apparently, concern is growing about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and the experiment to be conducted September 10th.

While I'd been somewhat excited about the discoveries yet to be made, I'd not considered the terror others may feel.

To, perhaps, quell fears of the world's demise in a giant black hole, a bit of information on the LHC's safety can be found here.

And so, we'll eat junk food tonight!
Just in case.

---

qualified?

To turn off background music click here.

---

Normally, I do not post political items on this blog. Something has changed ... Something needs to change.

---

Biden--Bipartisanship

Thank you, Barackobamadotcom, for sharing this vid.

Biden--"The silence was deafening!"

Thank you, BarackforPresident, for sharing this vid.

---

Palin--What does a VP do?

Thank you, 1962verbodivino, for sharing this vid.

Palin--Qualifications (according to Mrs. McCain)

Thank you, Lunabot3000, for sharing this vid.

---

Clearly, I am a democrat, and have been since I can remember. It's the social and environmental issues. I can't turn my back on those. Not for reckless tax cuts. Not for supposed republican "morals". The people, all of them, and the planet matter too much.

That said, over the years, there have been many republicans I have admired. The Republican party of today, I do not recognize. I'm saddened by the RNC circus. The hatefulness of it. The gimicks played on us. Though, oddly enough, I actually found McCain much more likeable, after his speech, than I found any of those speaking for him. Perhaps, he should speak for himself.

Many were baffled at the Republican VP pick. There were many possible intelligent choices. Instead, they have chosen someone, Palin, who is barely known by McCain. There are questions as to the vetting of Palin, as well as questions about an alleged ethics violation while governor of Alaska. She is under investigation, as reported on ABCnews.com here. There are even questions as to why McCain would pick someone farther to the right than almost anyone, including himself, whilst he claims to be bipartisan.

Many of Palin's claims to fame simply are not true. More on this can be found here at Freep.com. We are awaiting Charles Gibson's interview with Palin on ABCnews later this week. Palin will have avoided press interviews up to that time. Seems to me, a VP pick ought to be strong enough to speak for themselves at any time without need to be sequestered from the press.

I'm shocked. Indeed, it seems, many of us are not invited to the Republican shin-dig.

Once again, the country is deeply divided.

---

Obama--Thoughts on Biden, Palin

Thank you, CBS, for sharing this vid.

Not about the issues?

Thank you, appleswithmono, for sharing this vid.

---

More information:

Barack Obama and Joe Biden: www.BarackObama.com
Obama on the Issues: OnTheIssues.Org-Obama
Biden on the Issues: OnTheIssues.Org-Biden

John McCain and Sarah Palin: www.JohnMcCain.com
McCain on the Issues: OnTheIssues.Org-McCain
Palin on the Issues: OnTheIssues.Org-Palin

---

Ah, well. This may be last mention of politics on this blog.

On to happier things~~ like the new photography light kit that just arrived!

---

neo-pagan?

According to the following quiz, apparently, I am most like a Neo-Paganist with the Reform Judaist following a close second.



Interesting, I guess. But really, can a short quiz sum up a person accurately?

Normally, I wouldn't take such a quiz. 
Recently, though, my eldest daughter and I have been having conversations about religion and about where we go when we die. Our conclusion, we are unable to put a label on what we think is true. Much of it we just don't know for certain.

We think there is a power bigger than all of us. Something impossible to comprehend. Much like an ant, or even a smaller organism, would have difficulty comprehending the complexity of a human.                            

We think there is an energy in all living things. Call it a soul, I suppose. And that the energy goes somewhere else when a living thing dies, but the energy doesn't simply disappear. Sometimes, this energy sticks around us. Many times, we've actually felt "negativity" in certain places. At times, a place might feel "light" and happy.

To us, it seems, when someone does a bad thing, there is imbalance, a negativity causing bad things to happen to that person and to those around them. This imbalance can be corrected in certain ways. Prayer seems to help. Since we think nothing is impossible, we do believe in miracles.

I don't know if that is Neo-Paganism. It seems many religions speak about similar things. Perhaps,it is simply a mix of ideas from several religions.

Hmm...
What is religion anyway?

large hadron rap

Turn off background music here.

In a previous post, I'd mentioned a little something about the CERN Large Hadron Collider.

CERN must be a great place to work!

Large Hadron Rap @ Yahoo! Video

More about the LHC's September 10th start-up date, can be found here.

bugged

An old shoulder injury is nagging at me.

I'm not sure which annoys most, the aches, or the cause of the injury.

Despite my efforts, there is a past that haunts in its own special way. The scars, aches and, perhaps worse, the self-doubt.