Archive for August, 2006
August 29, 2006 at 9:46 pm Filed under Personal
“For dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return”
“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal”
——————————————————–
My external hard drive failed me this Sunday, locking away from me some of my most precious treasures. I have done well I think, in not panicking and trying to get through this without falling apart.
While I go through the motions of what I have learned is called, “Data Recovery”, I have taken time to ponder and be spiritual in recognizing how fleeting life is, where we store our treasure on earth, and where we really should be storing them. Life here on earth is like a blink of an eye.
For now, I’d love my data back.
*sigh*
August 27, 2006 at 2:26 pm Filed under Personal
After the Sculpture Garden, Laura wanted to go to the Hirshhorn, the Smithsonian’s museum of international modern and contemporary art.
The Hirshhorn is a round building, which is handy for getting a chance to see everything. You go around twice per level and then you are back where you started.
While there, I found an amazing piece byRoxy Paine called New Fungus Crop. I could have looked at it for hours!
I am nuts about mushrooms…they seem to take you to miniature magical worlds.
Miquel liked Anselm Kiefer: Heaven and Earth exhibit.
He was most taken with this piece, “Ressurexit”
There was a whole floor with several artists, a collection dedicated to nature that gave Laura a few ideas how she would like to decorate her room. I do believe one wall will be full of flowers, like she saw on a wall in the museum.
August 27, 2006 at 1:49 pm Filed under Personal
As we moved from the joyous place that makes up the blue water fountains, and crossed over back towards the Mall in Washington D.C., I heard yet another fountain in the distance. I suggested to all that we investigate. On a hot, humid, Washington D.C. day, it wasn’t hard to persuade them to enter into the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden.
The Sculpture Garden occupies 6.1 acres of the Mall. It has a central fountain which we later found out, is an ice skating rink in winter. The Garden includes new plantings of native American species of canopy trees, flowering trees, shrubs, ground covers, and perennials.
The entrance we took, a giant spider greeted us.
The fountain was a welcome sight for hot and partially weary tourists.
Erin and Laura didn’t hesitate to put their feet into the water.
We were there long enough to see some gradual changes the fountain made.
If you’re not into sculpture, go for the beauty and the flowers - they were tremendous.
August 26, 2006 at 3:07 pm Filed under Personal
The United States Navy Memorial at 7th Street between Pennsylvania Avenue and Indiana Avenue in Washington, D.C. honors those who have served, and are currently serving, in the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and the Merchant Marine.
The memorial is adjacent to the Archives-Navy Mem’l-Penn Quarter station and the National Archives building.
Our first trip out to D.C., I became rather enamoured with a fountain spilling out blue water.
This our second time, my two and their friends didn’t hesitate to use it as a backdrop for another round of posed photos. This time, made all the more interesting as they had previously bought blue powerade and it made it look as if they were drinking the fountain water. Today I learned:
During the summer of 2006, the water in the fountains of the Navy Memorial was colored blue due to the presence of chemicals added to the water to fight algae growth. According to a spokesperson for the memorial, the algae has been surprisingly difficult to remove, and that they “figured it was better to have blue water than to have an algae-encrusted memorial.” The blue water is expected to be gone by the end of the summer.
Well that whole explanation took some of the “romance” out of it, but, explains a lot.
Miquel wanted to know how many smurfs did they have to kill to get the water that blue?
August 25, 2006 at 10:25 pm Filed under General
”Way too much coffee. But if it weren’t for the coffee, I’d have no identifiable personality whatsoever.” ~David Letterman
After hours in the National Museum of History, everyone decided they wanted to go to Starbucks. Remembering seeing more than one last week, we set out to find them.
Starbucks in D.C. can be quite impressive….
Miquel, the eternal doorman.
A pose waiting for 2 vanilla bean frappuccino.
Laura, enjoying a double chocolate chip frappuccino.
Yum! Miquel and Erin enjoying Starbucks.
August 25, 2006 at 12:10 pm Filed under General
Not even a whole week after going to D.C., we decided to return. Having more of an understanding of how the metro works made a second visit easier. I took 500 photos this time!
This time, we decided to visit the National Museum of Natural History.
The main building on the National Mall contains 1.5 million square feet of space overall and 325,000 square feet of exhibition and public space; altogether the Museum is the size of 18 football fields, and houses over 1000 employees.
There are more than 125 million natural science specimens and cultural artifacts. Just to name a few of the museum holdings, the collections include 30 million insects carefully pinned into tiny boxes; 4½ million plants pressed onto sheets of paper in the Museum’s herbarium; 7 million fish in liquid-filled jars; and 2 million cultural artifacts, including 400,000 photographs housed in the National Anthropological Archives. Over 3½ million specimens are out on loan each year; over 15,000 visitor days are spent in the collections.
As is the norm, when a visitor walks into the museum, one is greeted with this:
It just takes your breath away by sheer size.
I was a little disappointed with some changes made in the Museum, namely the animal section. They used to have displays of animals in what looked like their natural habitat that could put me into a trance just looking at everything, but no more. Now they have made it very mundane and sterile. A shame.
As in other years, the children liked the rocks, minerals and gems best.
But here are the best gems, three of the four I took with me to D.C.
But there were other gems to delight in, like the Hope Diamond.
I have an affection for Emeralds, (John says, to match my eyes) there were plenty to see, this is just one example.
These are just a few of the 500 images I took. There HAS to be a special blessing for the man who delights in sharing with me looking over almost each and every one.
August 20, 2006 at 4:36 pm Filed under News Items
At least that is what the pope said this Sunday.
“We have to guard ourselves, the saint observed, from the dangers of excessive activity, regardless of the office one holds, because too many concerns can often lead to hardness of heart,” the pope said.
What do you think? Can too much work lead to hardness of heart?
August 19, 2006 at 1:29 pm Filed under Personal
Thanks to a certain Mr Jeff, I was persuaded to finally go into the big city of Washington D.C. and do it in a way that avoided the traffic and parking issues, and take the metro.
Getting to the New Carrollton Metro station was the first issue, as for some reason I had two sets of directions from google, and I had to pick one. Once there, I have to say, there was a lot of help in the purchase of passes, and we were soon on the platform waiting for the metro.
Waiting being a key word.
Mr Jeff kinda took the wrong line to meet us.
I was just thrilled we were finally getting to DC, and had made it to the station safely. Waiting was not an issue!
Kids kinda felt different, hehe, so we passed the time taking photos.
Our first stop was the National Building Museum.
There we saw the Prarie Skyscraper Exhibit,
The Greenhouse Exhibit, and the
Cityscapes Revealed Exhibit.
Looking at Frank Lloyd Wright’s actual
drawings was a true highlight but I think
we all favored the Greenhouse.
After going to the Greehouse Exhibit,
I was almost wary to come home to my toxic house!
Perhaps most inspiring was the inside of the National Building Museum itself.
On a side note, we could see that
they were setting up for some kind
of filming. We were told they were
getting ready for the filming of the
season finale for the television show,
Treasure Hunt.
Next stop, was JALEO. A restaurant I told Mr Jeff about, and then he treated, and was treated to some of the most exquisite tapas of Spain.
We all tried:
Pan con tomate y jamón serrano
(Spanish imported cured ham with
traditional tomato bread)
Boquerones en vinagreta
(Marinated anchovies, Spanish style)
Pipirrana Andaluza con ‘Mojama’
(Salad of peppers, cucumbers and
tomatoes with imported cured tuna)
Mejillones al vapor
(Mussels steamed in their own juice with
fresh bay leaves and olive oil)
Codorniz con allioli de miel y salsa de romero
(Grilled quail with honey alioli and rosemary sauce)
Pollo asado relleno de frutos secos
(Chicken stuffed with fruit, onion confit and sherry)
Pimientos del piquillo relleno de queso y setas
(Sweet peppers stuffed with goat cheese and mushrooms)
Cazón en adobo al estilo de Cádiz
(Marinated fried shark like people do in Cádiz)
And for dessert…Sopa fría de frutos del bosque con helado de queso fresco
(Chilled mixed fruit soup with berries and fresh cheese ice cream )
(Chilled mixed fruit soup with berries and fresh cheese ice cream )and
Helados y sorbetes caseros con “carquinyolis”
(Ice cream and sorbets made in-house with traditional Catalan crisp)
If the quantity of food puzzles you, perhaps you can learn about tapas HERE
Next, we walked towards the Mall, but not without a stop looking at some very BLUE water in fountains.
After frollicking through the blue waters, we continued on to the Mall.
Our view of the Capitol Building.
The front of the Smithsonian Building, the Castle
Next, going towards the Lincoln Memorial, we came across a fascinating tree.
The Washington Monument by the Reflecting Pool
Here, Laura finally got to see her buddy, Abe. It was a nice reunion.
It was a glorious day, even with the heat and humidity that usually makes up Washington D.C. in the summertime.
Thanks to a little prodding, I will now be able to make the trip out again!
You can see more of our day HERE
August 15, 2006 at 10:34 pm Filed under General
Still into my “The Handwriting on the Wall” book.
Did you know that God keeps a record of our sorrows?
Psalm 56:8
Write down my poem of sadness. List my tears on your scroll. Aren’t you making a record of them?
On the library shelf of heaven, God has a book called The Tears of the Saints. He can go to that book and find out when we cried.
How awesome is that?
August 14, 2006 at 7:21 pm Filed under Personal
MySpace currently reports just over 100 million members, with the 100,000,000th member signing up on August 9, 2006. The website also attracts 500,000 new members each week.
So why wouldn’t I ’skin’ a MySpace? I have tried to skin everything else!
So, now added to my SkinsGallery site, are my MySpace Layouts » Click here to see!
Just one example of Xerraire’s MySpace Layout!
ringtone free sprint phone 20 lgcell phone ringtone free free 3gto verizon phone add ringtonesair ringtones forceringtones altell alltelfree ringtone way pager 24 ringtone free link trackbackringtone 6610 Map
August 14, 2006 at 2:41 pm Filed under Personal
Enric and Miranda left today, ready to start their new lives with Enric returning to school at Northland Baptist Bible college. There is nothing easy with what they will be doing in the next years. Studying full time and working is something only for the most dedicated.
Enric and Miranda filled our home for a week of joy, laughter, music and food for our souls.
It’s this teary mother’s prayer that the Lord blesses them in all they do.
August 12, 2006 at 11:26 am Filed under News Items
I like bananas, always have.
They are hailed as one of the most perfect foods. They are easy to eat, you just peel and go, and often I have made a breakfast on the run all the nicer because of the delicious and convenient banana.
In Australia, Tropical Cyclone Larry destroyed 80 per cent of Australia’s banana crops earlier this year forcing a hike in prices which currently rests at an average of $12/kg.
Ok, bummer, if you like bananas, that’s a lot of money to pay for them.
But this was taken to extremes. An Australian, put his sole banana he bought and took photos of it, and placed it for the highest bidder at eBay. He got an offer of $26 (plus shipping).
Man goes bananas over rate rise
August 12, 2006 at 11:18 am Filed under News Items
A three mile race?
A future calamity?
No, its a sex club at Ozen Senior High School in Texas. Specifically, it provided ninth- and tenth-grade girls to several athletes for sexual favors.
Detective Sgt. John Boles said the incident took place in 2001, when the girl was 14 years old. He said the teen was inducted into what was commonly known to students at the school as The 3K Club, in which underclassmen girls were presented to upperclassmen boys for sexual favors. “I have no idea how long this has been going on but we know this club has been around since at least 2001,” Boles said in an interview with The Examiner. “It was pretty common knowledge amongst the students and recent graduates of the school that I spoke with.” When asked how or why young girls were recruited into The 3K Club, Boles said that it was his understanding that girls were introduced to upperclassmen and recent graduates that “they were enamored with.”
Moms and Dads, we are not raising our daughters right, to have this low a self esteem to be put on the market for sex as ages as slow as 9th and 10th graders!
And schools today, the more I read, the more I feel sure they are not doing their job, we need to re-think the whole system!
Related articles:
Ozen coach/teacher’s aide and former student indicted
Investigators Looking Into Secret Sex Club at Ozen High School
August 10, 2006 at 10:01 am Filed under News Items
While we in the U.S. weigh responsibly the environmental outcomes, and while doing so keeps us dependant on foreign oil, China has sealed a deal with Cuba to seize the opportunity to drill and tap into our oil reserves.
At the same time, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who controls the largest oil reserves in the Western Hemisphere, is making deals to sell his country’s oil to China, oil that is currently coming to the United States.
Meanwhile, a new left-wing populist regime in Bolivia has nationalized the natural gas industry, threatening to cut off supplies to the United States.
The irony is that Chinese drilling could be even more of an environmental hazard since China is not as concerned about or equipped to deal with any potential ecological disaster as a result of a spill, said Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho).
More stories: (If you don’t mind China drilling in our backyard, and you don’t drive a car, don’t bother reading the following)
China Starts Drilling
Cuba oil probe spurs calls for U.S. drilling
Cuba, China Drilling for Oil 50 Miles from Florida Shores
China, Cuba reported in Gulf oil partnership
Cuba irks U.S. with plans for oil drilling
U.S. Concerned By Cuban Oil Drilling Off Coast
Democrats Fail to Prevent Senate Oil Drilling Bill from Passing
Cuba seeks oil near Keys
August 9, 2006 at 11:32 am Filed under Personal
My son and his wife have graced us with a sweet visit before they go off back to Northland Baptist Bible College.
Yesterday we went to Annapolis to just casually walk around. We looked at the shops, had some smoothies at Ben & Jerry’s, and went to the Harbor to see the boats and water.
We also came home with one Tin Whistle from the Celtic shop, and one Wish Pearl Necklace.
A wish Pearl is all pearl. Whereas the inner core or nuclei of many expensive cultured pearls often consists of up to 90% shell, a Wish Pearl is a cultured pearl that takes a minimum of 3 to 5 years to develop within a mollusks. As the Wish Pearl reaches its final maturity of 5 to 8 millimeters in diameter, the original irritant naturally dissipates, leaving on the pearl itself. Only one of several hundred mollusks develops a quality of size, roundness and luster that qualifies it to be a Wish Pearl. No two are alike.
The wish pearl comes in 5 different colors, and so you don’t know what you have until you take it home and open it up.
Want one? You don’t have to go to Annapolis to find a Wish Pearl!
August 6, 2006 at 11:33 pm Filed under News Items
I am by no means a women’s lib person. I am really rather old-fashioned. I have lived through and survived a generous amount of negative and bad treatment through my life without becoming a feminist.
What I don’t understand is cartoons being created (and watched) that make women as mere slaves, shown on MTV.
I am speaking of the new MTV series, “Where My Dogs At?”
Industry pros are incensed over the portrayal of women and blacks in episode four.
“Seinfeld”’s Jason Alexander voices Snoopathon Esquire III, who struts out of his Caddy with Parkay and Marjorie, two bikini-clad black women wearing dog collars and leashes.
The rap star orders one to “hand me my latte” as she squats on all fours and scratches herself like a canine.
At the end of the scene, Snoop dons a plastic glove and picks up his enslaved ladies’ defecation.
R.E.A.C. Hip-Hop Coalition, a media-justice group, is calling for MTV to ax the “misogynistic” episode.
For MTV’s side of things, they write:
“The segment in question is in fact a parody of an appearance Snoop Dogg made where he was accompanied by two women wearing neck collars and chains . . . The goal was to take aim at that incident for its insensitivity and outrageousness.”
Women really need to get smart. Our young daughters are truly getting the wrong message.
August 5, 2006 at 12:20 pm Filed under Personal
I was looking at the monthly stats to my blog, and even though there have been some ups and downs, I am pleased overall how the numbers are going, especially looking at how it began.
I started in January 2005 with around 300 visitors a month. December of that same year, it went to 13,000 visitors in a month. That is quite a growth. It made me wonder, how did I grow this blog?
December being an exceptionally good month gave me my first answer as to how to grow a blog. Number one being, provide GOOD content. That month I did a blog on photography, terragen, autostitch porgram and a graphics program. I demonstrated how I did something. I gave a tutorial on something I did and it’s found no where else. I then followed it up with something ‘extra’. Both blogs proved to be enormously popular. I suppose I ‘gave’ people good content that month, and the stats prove it.
I considered another factor into my blog, I blog reguarly. The content may or may not be of interest to anyone or everyone, but it is, in fact, regular. People who visit there often, KNOW they are not going to see the same stale old thing there for weeks. I am thankful for the time I have to put into it.
Perhaps one place I have strayed from advice on blogs is I don’t seem to pick an audience and stick with that theme. My blog shows my diversity of interests, I am a total mix of so many things, I couldn’t possibly narrow it all down and refuse to do so.
One advice given is to think of keywords…. The fact that I list mp3’s is no accident. Mike called me on that a long time ago. For one thing, music is a BIG part of me, so I am not stretching on anything there, but I also know, no matter what language you speak, music is universal. I felt people looking for songs would find my blog. It has definately been an attraction, mp3 is the number one keyword that lures people to Barb’s Blog. I make no apology for it. I thought it was a clever tactic and will continue to do so. What amazes me too, is based on a few keywords, how quickly search engines are to find blogs that match that keyword. More than once, as soon as the next day after blogging a subject, a search engine finds me!
Networking is a place I fall short, but a good recommended way to get people to find you and your blog. It’s also a very time consuming process. Mostly networking on the net means you have to become part of communities, visit other blogs and comment on them, even colllaborate in projects. This is quite time consuming, but if I had more time, I am sure would be a great experience.
Submitting to directories is a good way to attract to your blog, and I have done that. I don’t think it gets the attention to your blog that it should, but that is partly due to blogs just becoming such a huge and growing element. You become a needle in a haystack, and buried under so many other blogs.
After some pondering, I see there are things I am doing right, and perhaps others not so right, but for sure, I am having fun doing it. Perhaps that should just be number one on the list!
August 4, 2006 at 8:54 am Filed under General
(This came to my email today, I thought it was cute)
After being interviewed by the school administration, the eager teaching prospect said:
“Let me see if I’ve got this right. You want me to go into that room with all those kids, and fill their every waking moment with a love for learning, and I’m supposed to instill a sense of pride in their ethnicity, modify their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse and even censor their T-shirt messages and dress habits.
You want me to wage a war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, check their backpacks for weapons of mass destruction, and raise their self esteem. You want me to teach them patriotism, good citizenship, sportsmanship, fair play, how to register to vote, how to balance a checkbook, and how to apply for a job.
I am to check their heads for lice, maintain a safe environment, recognize signs of anti-social behavior, make sure all students pass the state exams, even those who don’t come to school regularly or complete any of their assignments.
Plus, I am to make sure that all of the students with handicaps get an equal education regardless of the extent of their mental or physical handicap. I am to communicate regularly with the parents by letter, telephone, newsletter and report card.
All of this I am to do with just a piece of chalk, a computer, a few books, a bulletin board, a big smile AND on a starting salary that qualifies my family for food stamps! You want me to do all of this and then you tell me…
I CAN’T PRAY?”
August 3, 2006 at 7:24 pm Filed under News Items
Did you know that, even in this day and age of technology and information at our fingertips, there is no single source of information explaining where federal money is spent? Small surprise there really.
U.S. Senators Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) and Barack Obama (D-IL) have introduced the bi-partisan bill S. 2590, the “Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act,” a bill that will create a Google-like search engine and database to track approximately $1 trillion in federal grants, contracts, earmarks and loans. The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs approved S. 2590 unanimously this past week.
“All Americans deserve to know where their money is being spent. ‘Googling’ the government will not only help expose and eliminate waste, but dispel misconceptions about the scope of our commitments. Many Americans, for example, assume we are spending a large percentage of our budget on foreign assistance when we are not. Whether you’re on the left or right, there is no worthy argument against transparency,” Obama said.
Let your Senators know where you stand on the S. 2590, the “Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act”
I just love the sound of “FULL DISCLOSURE” when it comes to government. :)
August 2, 2006 at 1:51 pm Filed under General
After a few hard days on the net, my site’s forum getting hacked being one of the reasons, I can’t help but feel so cynical about the internet these days.
Like I often do when things are heavy on my mind, I look up quotes and stories on the subject…
I found a few about the net, all different views:
As the most participatory form of mass speech yet developed, the Internet deserves the highest protection from government intrusion.” Judge Dalzell
“The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.” John Gilmore
“National borders aren’t even speed bumps on the information superhighway.” Tim May
“How many of you have broken no laws this month? That’s the kind of society I want to build. I want a guarantee — with physics and mathematics, not with laws — that we can give ourselves real privacy of personal communications.” John Gilmore
“On the Internet, Nobody Knows You’re a Dog.” Peter Steiner
“Our identities have no bodies, so, unlike you, we cannot obtain order by physical coercion. We believe that from ethics, enlightened self-interest, and the commonweal, our governance will emerge.” A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace. John Perry Barlow
“We will create a civilization of the Mind in Cyberspace. May it be more humane and fair than the world your governments have made before.” A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace. John Perry Barlow
“Relying on the government to protect your privacy is like asking a peeping tom to install your window blinds.” John Perry Barlow (
“The Internet isn’t free. It just has an economy that makes no sense to capitalism.” Brad Shapcott.
“Your clickstream is your vote.” Joseph Reagle
“Describing the Internet as the Network of Networks is like calling the Space Shuttle, a thing that flies.” John Lester
“Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.” Mitch Kapor
“The Internet is like a gold-rush; the only people making money are those who sell the pans.” Will Hobbs
“The Internet is like a large jellyfish. You can’t step on it. You can’t go around it. You have to go through it..”
The Internet is the most powerful magnifier of slack ever invented..”
“The net’s a cross between an elephant and a white elephant sale: it never forgets, and it’s always crap.” Nemo, writing for Suck, on the nature of the Internet
“Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea — massive, difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind- boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it.” Gene Spafford
“There’s a lot of weirdos on the Internet.” Miss Texas Teen USA
“We’ve all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.” Robert Wilensky
variant: “There ARE 1 Million monkeys sitting at 1 Million typewriters… they can be found right here on the Internet.”
“When I took office, only high energy physicists had ever heard of what is called the Worldwide Web…. Now even my cat has its own page.” President Clinton
“Some jerk infected the Internet with an outright lie. It shows how easy it is to do and how credulous people are.” Kurt Vonnegut
“[The Internet provides] a delivery system for pathological states of mind.” Phillip Adams
“Spending an evening on the World Wide Web is much like sitting down to a dinner of Cheetos [sic],” says Cliff Stoll, a Berkeley astronomer who has been using the Internet since 1975.”Two hours later your fingers are yellow and you’re no longer hungry, but you haven’t been nourished.” WSJ
Angela has no friends or neighbors who can identify her, because for four years she has lived entirely on the Internet.” Caryn James reviewing The Net
“The Internet is a shallow and unreliable electronic repository of dirty pictures, inaccurate rumors, bad spelling and worse grammar, inhabited largely by people with no demonstrable social skills.” Chronicle of Higher Education
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