UPDATE: Here’s a post I wrote in 2009, and then decided not to publish. I supposed it was the “Oz” factor – this idea that our current president was larger than life, and that I would be scoffed at because I suspected something funny was going on behind the curtain. Now that we are less than a month before the potential re-election of our emperor (that’s a future blog post), the WSJ has prompted me to pull this post out. It seems, according to William McGurn, that the curtain has been pulled back. In fact, Ozbama the Magnificent is not actually Continue reading “President Hussein (Ozbama)- “…not who we thought he was.””
Dancing in the darkness
So, I’m reading the Economist, a high-brow magazine based in London and available online. Middle East wars, macro-economic 
theory, election politics and … Snowball. Yep. The world’s most famous dancing bird (or so they say) who lives in an animal shelter in … Schererville, Indiana?? Anyway, the article is about high-powered research into whether & why animals dance, to music or otherwise. You can read the article, which is interesting, but that’s not what this post is about. It’s about the even bigger “elephant in the room” (read the article for the 1st one). That is, the plausible explanation for why humans dance that actually fits very well with the data, and which also would explain why (apparently) animals don’t, unless they mimic humans.
Could it be that we dance because Continue reading “Dancing in the darkness”
Worship the Image
Our church has an amazing pastor & teacher. For years (and I’m not kidding) we have been learning from the book of Exodus, and recently Bill has been teaching on the “Ten Words”. As a child, I learned them as the 10 Commandments, but they are actually more than that. Today’s lesson was a kind of preparation for a detailed study of the 2nd word, which I always thought Continue reading “Worship the Image”
Even spam can be creative…
Apparently there are some sharp (smart?) spammers out there. This is a paragraph from the metadata in a spam message I got recently. It made me laugh; first useful thing I’ve gotten from spam this year! It isn’t normally visible, because Continue reading “Even spam can be creative…”
Thomas Times – Age
From the Thomas Times, our annual family newsletter:
There is something sobering about age. I recently sent a birthday soliloquy to one of my nephews, in which I mentioned an iron pot. This is a pot I remember seeing in a field over 50 years ago, as men who worked on our farm boiled a hog they had just killed in order to turn it into hams and bacon. Recently, a friend and I dug that same pot out of the ground where it had been partly buried under the side of a barn. I made the point that it was still in good shape, because cast iron, once it gets a coating of rust, doesn’t deteriorate any more. However, in the last day or two, I happened to walk by the pot and take a closer look, since I noticed something amiss. As I tapped it with a small hammer, several pieces of the bottom chipped off. As it happened, the very bottom had been in contact with wet earth for many of those 50 years, and the rust had penetrated… Continue reading “Thomas Times – Age”
Memories & Meaning
I recently sent this soliloquy to my nephew Riley on his birthday. Since it includes thoughts that many of you may find interesting, I’ve posted it here as well:
When I was a little boy, I remember walking in the lot west of our home. It’s where the horses and Blackie the steer live now, about a 100 yards from the breakfast room window. As I walked, I believe it was springtime, and I saw a big pot made of cast iron over a fire. In it was the body of a dead Continue reading “Memories & Meaning”
Visitation for Winford Thomas
I’m posting some pictures from the visitation for family that is far away. Wish you could have been present. The gathering was small, since only those few we were able to call knew about the separate visitation for our side of the family. But they included Ben Allen and Emily’s closest local friends, so I think it meant a lot to them.
Home Is Where the Buck Stops
Do you remember cheating on tests in grade school? As I think back, I honestly can’t, though I probably did. (The sins I remember were mouthing off in class & bringing a baby snake to show & tell — but that’s another post!). Now, let’s go one more step: did you ever, in your wildest dreams, think that your teacher was cheating on a test? Or that her cheating would hurt you?? Or that she was doing it for the money, because she was a criminal running a giant scam on the school district???
According to a report commissioned by the governor & published recently in Georgia, the former Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent, Continue reading “Home Is Where the Buck Stops”
Lydia’s Graduation Weekend
This post is for those who have asked for pictures from Lydia’s graduation. It will be mostly pictures, but I’ll tell you a little about what we did. “We” means Ted, Beth, and Serena; Ben Allen and Emily; and Sarah, Rainey, and William. We all drove up together in 3 vehicles. I had the 2 back seats out in my van so I could 1) bring 2 rented wheelchairs for Ted’s parents’ use, and 2) have room for all Lydia’s stuff to vacate her apartment and bring her back home. Continue reading “Lydia’s Graduation Weekend”
An Addition
My goodness, nobody’s written anything here in months! I suppose we are just a dull lot (or just very busy) Anyway, I am writing to inform the world, or just our friends, of a new addition to the blog world. Namely, mine. Yes, I have decided to start my own blog, mostly because I need somewhere to put all my art pictures where they are accessible to anyone who might want to see them (fellow artists in other words) So, if you feel like seen what I’m up to, you can go to Life With My Muse, and read all about it.