Archive for January, 2005
January 31, 2005 at 9:00 pm · Filed under Personal
Did something today I don’t normally get to do; had an all girls lunch out. Chrissy invited Petra and I to the 
Olive Tree where we all had soup, salad, breadsticks, and lots of delicious coffee. It was nice to sit with friends and chatter about anything and everything, as women do. It was good to finally do the lunch thing out, Chris and I had been planning it for awhile now.
Later, Petra and I took Laura and Miquel bowling. Miquel had us in hysterics being the commentator (with a British and sometimes Aussie accent). It’s kind of hard to bowl with him rattling on behind you, but was all in good fun. Miquel renamed us all with bowling nicknames, Laura was Laura “Loca” Lopez, Miquel was “the Meekinator”, Petra was “Punishing Petra” and Miquel bestowed me with “Magical Mama”
My score? Let’s just say I broke two nails and am proud to say that I kept the ball in the lane assigned to us; there were no casualties.
January 30, 2005 at 9:48 am · Filed under Personal
Years ago, with four adults trying to pry us apart, as we tearfully clung to each other that hot summer day, I have often since cursed the Atlantic that has kept my dear Petra and I so far apart. Now, and for over a week, she is with us and is so wonderful to have her here again. She has been made right at home, I think…sanding the newly put up walls, shoveling snow, taking out the trash…she has been put right into the swing of things as if she never left.
You would think with the internet, emails, chat programs and long distance rates at an all time low, it could almost still be like she had never left, but not so. Having her physically here is glorious, and something I really needed this time in my life. I needed her, she knew I would. We’re…sisters in every sense.
Besides shoveling the snow together, we’ve made a trip to Annapolis, lunched there over cinnamon laced coffee and shrimp and salad with crusty bread at the CafĂ© Normandie, we’ve sat and watched the many new birds coming to the bird feeder in the back of the house, and we had a great trip to the Baltimore Harbor and visited the National Aquarium. We chat till late at night over mom’s homemade cakes.
That darned Atlantic, why can’t we just have this all the time…?
January 19, 2005 at 6:40 pm · Filed under Personal
After a mild winter so far, the cold finally came, and not too long after, today, snow visited our house…and so did the birds!
Cardinals, juncos, nuthatches, red-bellied woodpeckers, titmice, and chick-a-dees all came to the birdfeeder and I took it all in. What a gift the snow brought, the birds to marvel at and watch.
January 17, 2005 at 6:17 pm · Filed under General
“Shake the World, Start with My Hand.” This little saying was on a button I used to proudly wear on my jean jacket as a young girl.
On this, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I was reminded of that button. It meant a lot to me. I got it, as being member and part of AFS (American Field Service), a very fine exchange student program. Our household hosted a few students, and I can look back at that time as some of the happiest moments in my youth. We had students from Netherlands, Brazil, Spain, Denmark, and two from Argentina. Beyond the housing of students in our home, I was invited to attend many functions, where young people from 50 countries were represented. So many nationalities and every color of the rainbow.
I have a dream too, where the differences are celebrated and enjoyed as something unique and wonderful, where the boundaries and cultures need not take away from harmony and dignity of each and every person.
I will never ever forget my years with AFS. I lived them as a dream.
Shake the World, Start with My Hand.
January 15, 2005 at 9:17 am · Filed under General
Most of us have been stunned, rocked, and totally grief stricken by the tragedy of the deadly tsunami. Usually what happens out of many tragedies however, are some very amazing stories of rescue and survival. One such story was recently aired on the radio program, “Focus on the Family”
The story is about a missionary in Sri Lanka and how he, his family, and 28 orphans in his beachfront orphanage lived through the disaster. This emotional story took two days of air time, and are available online via Windows Media Player and / or Real Audio. Dayalan Sanders and the children survived, the orphanage however, did not. Amazing and powerful story.
January 15, 2005 at 8:22 am · Filed under News Items
It’s either a gift or a curse. I am not sure yet which. While others are combing the headlines for the usual news stories, for some reason, the most absurd headlines grab my attention. (And I will likely share a few on this blog).
Today, as I read about the latest mudslides, possible dam burstings and shots of Saturn’s Titan, I spot this one, Pentagon reveals rejected chemical weapons
It seems some time ago, our Pentagon had considered some rather odd plans for chemical weapons. They all seem bizarre to me, but among attracting swarms of wasps, rats or causing severe halitosis, was an “aphrodisiac” which they anticipated would cause widespread homosexuality among the soldiers.
Sadly though, while they made these plans available for us to know about, what hasn’t been revealed is if the $7.5 million plan was ever persued.
Do we want to know?
January 13, 2005 at 1:43 pm · Filed under General
I am one of those people that seem to always be behind in issues of technology. I am always the last person to update her browser, I don’t try beta or testing applications, I won’t download or install anything that isn’t tried and true. This isn’t easy considering that I have owned an Application Skins Site since 1999. This often forced me to update those applications before I was ready, but usually still the last to do so.
This blog is another prime example of me coming in late to things. Long after my colleagues in webdesign have been blogging away their thoughts and interests, I finally climb aboard the blogging boat. I console myself with, ‘ at least I don’t entirely miss the boat’ sometimes.
At the end of each year, the media usually reviews the events in the year. I had been listening and reading what they had to say about 2004, the word “blog” repeatedly was mentioned. In fact, frequently announced was that Merriam-Webster made “blog” their #1 word of the year! (Interestingly enough, hurricane was #5 and cicada was #6). Also reported, was that blogs have become more than trivial, they have become of form of information. Information that a recent panel felt even helped shape the USA’s last election results. “Information?” I thought to myself, “now that *is* interesting.” I do so like to be informed.
So here I go, starting a new year, and the doldrums of winter with yet another exciting addition to my adventures on the web. This could be fun. 
