Do you Doubt Redoubt?

Seems Mt. Redoubt, a volcano in Alaska (a little more than 100 miles southwest of Anchorage), is about to blow its top.

As my great nephew says, "That's scareeeeeeee." Now pronounce that with the emphasis on the long a and the longer e's.

But, that's life in Alaska. Alaskans are preparing.

It'll be interesting to see what develops. I have no doubt about Redoubt. Say that six times.

Miracle of Life

This is part of my view every morning driving to work. Nothing extraordinary to most, but there is the exceptionally lovely blue sky, patches of green grass, evergreen ever green, bare branches waiting for spring . . . a day dawning. Life.

- - -
Happened upon a place this morning while randomly searching some words like "owl" and "psalm" and "yesterday." Landed here. I'd say it's one of thousands to read before you die.

This crazy miracle of life ebbs and flows. It is ours to live.

So live.

Cafe Mom Dot Com

I like visits to a cute cafe. I am a mom. I do dot com occasionally. I guess I should visit cafemom.com and see what all the hype is...

Anybody? Come with?

- - -

TTFN (ta ta for now . . . I have to go to work . . . that's what working moms do - and working dads too I suppose).

We'll Work Until It's Done

Carrie Newcomer sings "If not now" . . .

Books

What am I reading this week? First, my LSAT study book. Second, again - my LSAT study book. Third, I have a diversion - A Crack in the Edge of the World by Simon Winchester. The third book is so interesting. It is about the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco. Actually, the book is about our world . . . the outer and the inner, the upper and the lower, from outer space to us looking out.

It's really a fantastic book.

Here's a wee excerpt (where the author quotes Lewis Thomas, a great American biologist and philosopher):

Viewed from the distance of the moon, the astonishing thing about the earth, catching the breath, is that it is alive. The photographs show the dry, pounded surface of the moon in the foreground, dry as an old bone. Aloft, floating free beneath the moist, gleaming, membrane of bright blue sky, is the rising earth, the only exuberant thing in this part of the cosmos.

If you could look long enough, you would see the swirling of the great drifts of white cloud, covering and uncovering the half-hidden masses of land. If you had been looking for a very long, geologic time, you could have seen the continents themselves in motion, drifting apart on their crustal plates, held afloat by the fire beneath.

It has the organized, self-contained look of a live creature, full of information, marvelously skilled in handling the sun.

Amy Lou Sings

Two things . .

Amy Lou sings here. Go listen to her and "let go and rest child. it's all we can do..." She also blogs at Journey Songs. It's a lovely place to visit.

Second thing - Amy Lou is in Anchorage, Alaska, where there was an earthquake earlier today. I hear that's also a lovely place to visit - and I shall do that one day.

Meanwhile, I'll listen and do my best to rest . . while doing my life.

Living My Own Life

"We do not remember days; we remember moments." I believe someone named Cesare Pavese said this.

This morning, I had moments that I will remember. Early morning found my husband and I with rare quiet, so we made a decision to go out - in search of a wee coffee shop yet undiscovered (by us).

We found the place.



Here. We sat, ordered coffee - and breakfast - and I lived my own life, captured moments such as these shown, and more.



The cozy little bakery place is now a favorite memory. More to come I'm certain.

Hello You.

This is my daughter - the photo I captured from this past weekend while out and about in the cold and windy - but quite sunny afternoon.
- - -

Continuing my list of 1,000 posts to read before you die - I give you this one over at Be Present Be Here. Her post there is unique - it's a video post, the loveliest I've ever seen. Poignant.

For me. For you.

Deeply intimate - yet appropriate for the masses. Necessary almost.

Go share a moment with Liz Elayne, who is walking this tight rope called life - learning to balance and look down to see if the net is there yet .

And the Oscar Goes To . . .

Rosehips~In and Berries~Out, originally uploaded by lucyellen06.

My predictions - Kate Winslet for the Reader. Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon. Slumdog any category.

Those are the biggees I do believe.

What do you think?

Just Because

This past weekend was full of relaxation. Sunday I shot many photos of time spent out and about. Here's one.

I'll have more to share.

While Making Toast

* The photo is mine - taken yesterday outside a consignment shop in our little urbania.

You know by now, I'm compiling a list of 1,000 posts to read before you die. They're not my posts - they're yours. Read them all here (I don't have a thousand yet, but they are adding up ...).

This one, found this morning at the Little Red Bike Cafe blog in Portland, Oregon is titled "Breathe In. Breathe Out."

It is next, in my series of 1,000 posts to read before you die. The blog author there describes the beauty of a long time relationship. The beauty lies in the ugly. There must be a contrast.

Beautiful relationships take time. Yes, they are beautiful at the beginning, when love is young and exciting and full of future dreams. However, when relationships are still committed after long lapses of time and work and trouble, that is when the true magic is discovered. One learns that magic is such a small part of the beauty. The Now from the Passing of Time is profound.

Here's an excerpt from the author's perspective:

"To be honest I miss her. I really miss her when she’s gone” he said.

This confession he uttered almost to no one, but it certainly struck a chord with me, a girl who was raised by a single mother, who felt constantly challenged by the questions of Why, How, and When? I left that kitchen with the determined thought, “I want to be like them.”

It didn’t matter with who per se, but I wanted that. I needed that. The very idea of a man missing his wife when she was, mind you, two to three hours away was an idea that was so foreign to me, so unattainable.

How could it be possible that two people at this stage in life could possibly miss one another, desire one another, L-O-V-E one another, and do so admittedly in front of their child, much less their child’s “girlfriend” while making toast in the kitchen of all places?

It is possible. I know.

Look Around You - Tuesday is Coming

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. day. We've certainly come a long way since the I have a Dream era. This is spectacular. It really is.

Look around you.

Here's a link to a very soothing and relaxing playlist - not mine - just one I happened upon.

Her Red Socks - Among the Thousands

- photo credit to by +mara on flickr.com uploaded on November 11, 2007
Surely, you know by now, I'm compiling a list of 1,000 posts to read before you die. They're not my posts - they're yours. And I'm picky. Read them all here (I don't have a thousand yet, but they are adding up to at least two and a half dozen, so get some coffee and relax, and of course - read them).
- - -

Ophelia Golly had a pure chance encounter in the always interesting hub bub of a Pennsylvania coffee shop - it was with the wonderment of a little Amish girl - and she wrote of it here:

"I made my way to the green line cafe again today. . . I saw dozens of hipsters, a few passers-by, and one or two people just looking for a quick cup of coffee on the way to some other destination; but by far, my favorite visitor was the amish girl who came from the park across the street."

This true tale, of wonder, of knitting red socks, and of a coffee shop - is one among thousands of posts to read before you die.

Beautiful.

Fleet Foxes - Bach inspired?

Yesterday, in the wee hours of the morning, I discovered a "new to me" musical group - Fleet Foxes.

Their sound is fantastic.

Today, in the later wee hours of the morning, I share them with you. From what little, I know, they hail from Seattle, they are five guys (isn't that a hamburger joint), and their sound inspiration (and look) is from The Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel, The Zombies, Joni Mitchell, Marvin Gaye, Bach, Crosby Stills & Nash, Bob Dylan, and every other "retro" band(as I like to call them).

Take a peek. I understand from still other searching later this morning that they were to appear on Saturday Night Live last night. I can sure pick some hot talent without the hype. Love it.

I should so be in the music biz.



Penniless and tired, with your hair grown long
I was looking at you there and your face looked wrong
Memory is a fickle siren song
I didn't understand

In the gentle light as the morning nears
You don't say a single word of your last two years
Well you will be, you've reached the frontier
I didn't understand, no

See your rugged hands and a silver knife
Twenty dollars in your hand makes you hold so tight
All the evidence of your vacant life
My brother you were born

And you will try to do what you did before
Pull the wool over your eyes
For a week or more
Let your family take you back to your original mind

There's nothing I can do
There's nothing I can do
There's nothing I can say
There's nothing I can say
I can say

- Fleet Foxes

- - -
Notably, I found this group quite by happenstance over at Modern Marie's blog. How I happened at her place was by a random search for "cabin", "blogspot", "mountains" . . . when I landed there, she had a little music diddy playing the music of these guys . . . well, I clicked on the little music diddy to see who that sound was that was singing to my soul . . . turned up the volume and, was branded an instant new fan.

I even told her so in my comment - yesterday.

I even asked my son - who is into all the "hip indie garage retro sounding" bands if he had ever heard of them - "No," he said. I then asked him to ask him friends (because he was headed out the door to friends' places to "hang").

I even texted him later in the day to ask him if he'd asked his friends. No, they hadn't heard of them.

Fleet Foxes was the number one google search term this morning.

Am I amazing or what.

(more like "or what") - I so get a kick outa me.

Cheers.

Favorite Sounds Today

Russian Ridge, originally uploaded by copeg.

Mine is Just Like Heaven, by Katie Melua. Recommendations anyone?

LSAT - the Test

Dessert at the Harbor View Cafe, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Word on the street is, I'm taking (re-taking) the LSAT next month. The countdown begins.

Welcome to my life.

The making of a laywer - Part Two.

The Women - Not Done Yet

Surely you know I'm compiling a series of 1,000 posts to read before you die. They're not mine - they're yours. This one, specifically linked to this one is next in my highly recommended list of 1,000 posts to read before you die - and consider hurrying on this one (thanks too to bowmanlibrary for the photo on flickr.com).

- - -

Special thanks to Pamela, one of my Washington friends at The Dust Will Wait, East of the Cascades - for writing of some very special women in her life.

Three of them could perhaps form an Octogenarian club. Her Auntie Fern will be 100 on April 3. Auntie Fern's sister-in-law, Naomi, who is Grand Auntie, is 104 years old. Then there's Roberta, almost 97.

This home town newspaper article about Roberta, the young one, published on Tuesday is guaranteed to impress you.

She's not done yet.

The Cow Cow Boogie Song - A Sequel

moo., originally uploaded by tricky ™.

Yesterday, my Inland Empire Friend at Gathering Around the Table, had a sweet little meme with questions and tunes . . . if you read it, you know the drill.

Ok, so today, my East of the Cascades friend, Pamela, pointed out that the questions from yesterday's meme most probably originated from myspace because they were kinda teenie bopperie questions.

Pamela even provided some - ahem - mature questions for the more age appropriate blogs, which this one is. Age appropriate. Mature. Yes - I like that.

So, here's the sweet little meme - the sequel:

Start the shuffle . . .

1. How do you sleep at night?

Like the Isle of Innisfree.

2. What does your employer think of your work?

Girl, you'll be a woman soon (tried to get the clip from Pulp Fiction to play here, but couldn't get it).

3. What kind of parent are you?

Faithful (Brook Fraser).

4. A term to describe your marriage?

All I need (Bethany Dillon).

5. How do you describe your career over the last 10 years?

The Cow Cow Boogie Song.

6. Last 20?

Because of you (Kelly Clarkson).

7. What do you wish you said to your spouse this morning?

Come in from the cold (Joni Mitchell).

8. Last night?

Black Sand (Jenny Lewis).

- - -

My favorite tho - The Cow Cow Boogie Song. Ya gotta love it.

Moo.

The Look of Love - and Honey Bears

Honey Bears, originally uploaded by mercyming.

My Inland Empire Friend at Gathering Around the Table, had a sweet little meme today involving questions and tunes and song and artist names. You know I'm a fan of music, so I couldn't resist.

Here goes..

First, put your iTunes on shuffle (or in my case, since I don't have an ipod or iTunes, I used my addiction to Pandora.com - which plays songs to my taste - randomly - based on my long history of song choices).

Next, for each question below, press the next button to get your next song or song title, which is the answer for that question.

Ok, so now write that song title down no matter how silly it may sound - come on - it'll be fun.

Here's my list of questions and answers:

1. IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?

Well, it's another place to fall (K.T. Tunstall).

2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?

Maybe the way Trey comes on to Trudie (Aaron Zigman, from the movie The Jane Austen Book Club).

3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

Happiness! (Bernadette Peters)

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

Feelin' like we are water (Shaye).

5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?

I'm in love with you (Joy Williams).

6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?

Everything is broken (Ollabelle).

7. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?

Geek love (Nerina Pallot).

8. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

Darlene, of course (Maplewood). That's so funny - I don't even know a Darlene. Yet apparently I think of her. I am so laughing out loud.

9. WHAT IS 2+2?

The answer to that is divine (Antony and the Johnsons).

10. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

Oh, I know. Do you? (Fiona Apple).

11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Made to fade, baby - made to fade (Janine Wilson).

12. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

Life had other plans! Best answer yet!! This was honest to goodness what happened. Genuine song by Rebecca Lynn Howard.

13. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

Summerfling (K.D. Lang).

14. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Never had it so good (again - honest - this is what came up) - by Mary Chapin Carpenter - love her.

15. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

Suzanne (James Taylor) - you can tell that's random. Maybe that's what they thought of naming me instead of what they named me.

16. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

At Last (Cindi Lauper). Love this answer. My niece and nephew had this as their last song at their wedding - beautiful.

17. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

Fall out fall in (better be careful at my funeral I guess) - by Rose Rossi.

18. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

Call me (Betty Buckley) - tell me and I'll be around. Me humming this the rest of the day... don't be afraid, just call me.. you gotta trust me.. if you call I'll be right with you.. you and I should be together.. I'll be at your side forever.. maybe it's late.. just call me.. now don't forget me.. that's how it must be..

19. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

Things are tough all over (Shelby Lynne).

20. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

What? You mean Mack, the knife (by Marianne Faithfull)?

21. WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?

With the look of love (Dusty Springfield).

- -

Ok, now tell me what you see in my answers .. (Jeff Rolka).

Lynne Koplitz is Funny Funny Funny

Whatchis. It's s'darn cute. She's a funny lady, from Alabama no less.

Room A Day Give Away

I'm thinkin' I need to check this out. It's a room a day give away. I'm at lunch tho - and have to go back to work - where they don't give anything away.

Bye.

Talk.. I need some blog chatter while I'm gone. Go ahead. I'll be back after while. Promise.

Just Buckle In With a Bit of a Grin

It Couldn't Be Done, by Edgar Guest

Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.

So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face.
If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.

With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.

But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.

- - -
I've been a fan of Edgar Guest's poems since I was a young teenager. My dad introduced me to his writings . . . my dad being the original fan of his in our home.

Dads are grand.

I Was Not Made For Here

If I find in myself desires nothing in this world can satisfy, I can only conclude that I was not made for here.

If the flesh that I fight is at best only light and momentary, then of course I'll feel nude when to where I'm destined I'm compared.

Speak to me in the light of the dawn.

Mercy comes with the morning.

I will sigh and with all creation groan as I wait for hope to come for me. Am I lost or just less found?

On the straight or on the roundabout of the wrong way? Is this a soul that stirs in me, is it breaking free, wanting to come alive? 'Cause my comfort would prefer for me to be numb and avoid the impending birth of who I was born to become.

For we, we are not long here.

Our time is but a breath, so we better breathe it. And I, I was made to live, I was made to love, I was made to know you. Hope is coming for me.

Hope is coming for me. Hope is coming for me.

Hope, He's coming.

- - -

These are words of C.S. Lewis and Brooke Fraser, a young singer songwriter from New Zealand who put the message into song. Songs are sometimes under-rated. This one is inspired.

May you be inspired today.



- - -

Hope comes in many forms, from our Creator, from creation - the pounding surf, majestic mountain ranges, sleeping infants and from friends who know us and still believe.

May you have such a friend. May you be such a friend. Marcia inspired me today.

Poltrun

Grammar and Civics Lesson Today.

A poltrun is a part of speech. It is a noun.

A polturn is a mean-spirited spiteful coward.

Hamas. You know who they are - the very real mean spirited cowards who use children's schools and churches as their human shields.

Quite cowardly. And quite mean. Vile, they are.

Epiphany - A Letter To The Three Kings

#1: Happy New Year !!!, originally uploaded by sazzy.

Traveling Chica (a/k/a TC), one of my Wisconsin friends, wrote her second annual (first one having been written by her last year) blog letter to the three Kings for Epiphany.

I vividly remember her last year's letter - and as a matter of fact I was thinking of her last year's letter over the past several days - this being the first of the year. I should have told her that. But, as luck would have it, she also thought of it (novel concept, it being her letter after all).

Last year's letter was beautiful and I was so honored to be named in it - to have a wish bestowed to me - true and sincere.

The beauty in it also is that she wished a special wish unique to each friend. She took much time and effort to call each friend out and bestow such a special gift.

So, today, I was jubilant when I saw that she had written a new letter for this season. Of course, I scrolled down as fast as I could to see if I was named, and to see what gift was mine - a real gift - a wish, just for me.

I must tell you - I cried.

Her letter, her letter to the three Kings for Epiphany - this year's letter, is exquisite, and is one in a million posts to read before you die.

I do hope you'll read it, and perhaps consider writing one of your own.

- - -

Some of you know that I started a series a while back of 1,000 posts to read before you die. They're not my posts - they are your posts. Well, some of them might be mine - although minimally (click the 'thousand' label below to read all the posts so far). TC's letter today, is number 29 in my series.

Thank you TC, from the bottom of my heart.

(I told her that when I get to Oregon, her and I will sit one day on the rim of Crater Lake - we will talk of many things.)

From Marcia - an Elephant Story

My friend Marcia (who is in Florida for now, but will be in the state of Washington again someday soon), posted this video today. I saw it just now and was absolutely in awe of this story. You will be too.. There's a short commercial in front of the story, so hang in there.. then watch about the elephant and the elephant's friend. Watch it all the way to the end.

Please.

- - -

It's one of one thousand posts, or in this case - videos - to watch before you die. It's that good.

Thank you Marcia, my friend.


Watch CBS Videos Online

Thoughts on Farmers and Wood Stoves

“I have always found what farmers and peasants thought about things much more intelligent than what scientists thought.” - Rudolph Steiner

My pictures today are mine. My dad 18 years ago is cutting and stacking wood, to heat the house.

This morning, I read a great post over at Throwback at Trapper Creek about a wood stove, the hub of her house - and it made me remember what I already remembered.. how my grandfather and dad cut wood ALL YEAR LONG just so we'd have heat.

I really encourage you to read her post. It's quite special, although it's special-ness is in its ordinary-ness, of how things were, and how things are still at places like hers and in mine (in my memory). Love and memories are preserved by working.. and working preserves love and memories. Hand in hand they go.

Hers is next in my series of 1,000 posts to read before you die. I have a feeling there's lots more great reading at her place - better grab some coffee and sit a while. By the stove.
- - -

About eighteen years ago, my dad bought a camcorder around Thanksgiving time..we filmed everything we saw that first morning of the holiday - people waking up, people cooking breakfast - my baby son (he's 19 now) eating oatmeal - my dad outside cutting and stacking the wood.

The Great Divide

barone-4, originally uploaded by vercingetoreporcu.

I highly recommend a book I'm reading titled The Great Divide, by T. Davis Bunn. It is a legal thriller, and it's one of the best I've ever read. It beats the author of The Firm - and the likes -by a mile.

This story is about a lawyer guy who had a tragedy (before the start of the book) and has moved back to his grandparents' home place in a small town in North Carolina. He's asked to take on a case involving a corporate giant alleged of sweatshop activity in China and a kidnap victim of a local family - he's to bring suit against the giant on behalf of the missing girl's parents.

High intrigue ensues. He's threatened - he's violently beaten - his office is bugged - and he's fearful it'll get worse. And I'm sure it does.

He won't give up because he wants to help find the girl. What he's finding also, is that what he wants is to fight the good fight. With the help of many nondescript helpers along the way, he is driven to fight - for the case, and for himself once again.

I read this passage this morning . . .

[To set the scene - Marcus, the good attorney guy has called another attorney, Mr. Ashley, who's helping dig up info . . . the trial has begun, and they're a few days into it . . . this conversation is in the early morning after him having found out the night before that his whole place is bugged.]

Marcus reaches Mr. Ashley on the phone: "I tried to call you last night."

"Been out hunting and pecking." The man's voice sounded heavy with fatigue. "Not much to report, but I'm still digging."

"I appreciate the effort, but I have to tell you, I don't know how much money there's going to be to go around. What the Halls had in ready capital, they spent on the ransom."

"Don't worry about that just now. First let's fight us a case. We'll haggle about filthy lucre when the battle's done."

The comment was as curious as the morning light, a hazy mixture of fog and blue sky that turned the entire world a shade of pewter. "I don't recall meeting many attorneys who aren't worried about having their bills paid."

"Well, you're new to this game, so let me share with you a simple truth." The man took a noisy slurp of something, and sighed the words, "This work is addictive."

"What work is that?"

"Fighting the good fight. Working for those who don't have a voice. You just wait, old son. Something tells me you'll have trouble going back to the same old same old."

- - -

It hit me - that's me. I want to fight the good fight. I want to be a voice for those who have none. It has consumed me.

I am addicted to the rule of law.

Justice.

"Onced" and "Twiced" are Words

Otto in the shadows, originally uploaded by ejbSF.

This is the first post this year in my (yours) series of 1,000 posts to read before you die (s'far I think I'm up to a couple dozen or so).

It's from Yolanda, my Oregon friend at Perfectly Imperfect - Hiliarious Post. I relate to it because I'm from the deep south (Alabama, Mississippi - like she is - although she's in Oregon now - where I long to be).

Without further ado.. here's a snippet:

Things I learned being from Mississippi . . .

1. A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road.

2. There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in Mississippi ..

3. There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 of them live in Mississippi ..

4. If it grows, it'll stick ya. If it crawls, it'll bite cha.

5. 'Onced' and 'Twiced' are words.

Oh there's more ... go see.

2009 HGTV Dream Home

This year's home is in Sonoma, California. I knew I wanted to move to Califor nigh aye. Check it out. But don't enter to win, 'cause I wanna win.

:)

Kidding.

Sorta.