Thursday, December 30, 2004
More word'Smiths':
Weather: A rainy Tuesday, the temperatures staying relatively warm (in the 40°'s Fahrenheit). A light rain most of the day Wednesday. A goodly amount of rain Thursday revealing leaks in our humble abode's roof, and elsewhere, and large amounts of snow in the Sierra's. Time to patch the roof again. In hindsight, I would have better served myself had I gone into the construction trade. More rain expected.
The "fall" of Adam and Eve... our Wednesday night lesson from "True to the Faith" closely followed the lesson given in the link.
Babysitting the grandkids while it rains outside on Thursday... David playing a "Quad" vehicle game on his Playstation 2... Ashley on Gail's computer playing the Care Bears games online with me watching, or watching soapys with Gail, or watching David play... me 'putin.
Continued large aftershocks in the 5.5 Richter and above range in the Indian Ocean near Sumatra... the death toll exceeding 120,000 with no end in sight to the escalating total.
My entries... poetry.com: " Poetry in Motion "...
"The HoneyMoon "... 'nuf said.
"Mains des Bien Peintre "... or "Hands of the Good Painter "... I used Babelfish for translation and formation of the poem... and is rendered thus: Hands of the good painter seeking pure tears for the life soaked brush fixing your poor dead heart. The 'tiles', again, French words and snippets... I could but try, with apologies to French speaking peoples everywhere.
"The Stand " a Haiku: ... I'm still not sure whether the plot of ground depicted in the photo was a white clay or of a very white fine sand or both or neither. I tried to formulate a verse depicting the overall nature of the crabs background, but proved unsuccessful within the 5-7-5 syllabibble (sic) format. At first I didn't even notice the all white crab... it blended in so well to its environ. The spotlight highlighting the crab was undoubtably of dubious nature. I doubt if the poor crab was allowed to remain... perhaps its last stand.
"Moonbeam-Dreams "... Spurred on while listening to a DVD entitled "The Shore" containing nothing but the sounds of ocean waves breaking on the beach.
"Repent "... Repentance: another step toward exaltation.
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C'ya.
Monday, December 27, 2004
Weather: Sunday o'cast and cool... Warm jacket wearing weather. Sunday evening and Monday's early morning much warmer than usual... as the expected rains approach... the full moon still ruling the heavens. Daytime Monday blessed with "Seattle Sunshine"... a light rain with the temperatures remaining moderate and winds low. Perhaps a window of opportunity to gather more manzanita.
Sabbath sacrament service talks and classes most inspired... a challenge to set forth realistic goals for the new year... another to honor one's marital partner as an equal... or better. Two short walks to and from my ride , again, in the brisk morning and afternoon. I was lent a handbook on the priesthood, by one of the brethren who was baptized shortly after I was in March, that I will peruse swiftly. The information in this handbook (B)? answering many questions in the how-to's and where-for's of priestly duties. A scheduled interview with our Prophet, and President, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Gordon B. Hinckley, by Larry King on CNN was preempted at 9p.m., and 12a.m. (PST) with coverage of the tragedy in the Indian Ocean area. (I evidently missed the 6p.m. PST showing).
Rock and Roll!!! BIG EARTHQUAKES... from the bigquake mailing list I subscribe to:
A magnitude 9.0 earthquake OFF THE W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA has occurred at:
A magnitude 7.3 and 6.5 earthquake IN THE NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA REGION has occurred at: 6.90N 92.95E Depth 10km Sun Dec 26 04:21:26 2004 UTC... and... 8.87N 92.38E Depth 10km Sun Dec 26 09:20:01 2004 UTC Location with respect to nearby cities (magnitude 7.3):
My entries... poetry.com: " Poetry in Motion "...
"Love Betimes Flees "... An edited form of what I submitted. I added a last 'Love betimes flees' to the end of the poem... I thought it added some balance to the piece. 'Betimes' defined.
"Temptation "... Use your agency wisely... temptations lurk everywhere. An interesting aside... regarding the "Lord's Prayer" and Latter Day Saints that I heretofore did not know. My apologies for the three "p" words in a row.
I pray all is well... Vakivelaanan !!!
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C'ya.
Saturday, December 25, 2004
Weather: Wednesday through Friday a bit chilly with the sun out valiantly trying to warm things up on these winter days.
Wednesday newcomers meeting at church... a video on the life of our Saviour Jesus Christ and some testimonies. Again, a good crowd... and cookies!
BIG earthquake... from the bigquake mailing list I subscribe to:
My entries... poetry.com: " Poetry in Motion "...
"En Passant "... a French term meaning "In Passing". Also a move used in chess that often beguiles the beginning player. There would be much more to write in such a poem as this... being relegated to only 20 'tiles' left me to ponder more for the future.
"Dreams of Summer "... My favorite summers... cycling from home in the East Bay to Yosemite Nat'l park on 10-speed bicycles with Burt in '70, Jim in '71. Memories of: mosquito bites (once closing my eye for a day or two from swelling); Niles Canyon; Caswell State Park; Planada, where I was impressed at the amount of flies around a small eatery; tossing rocks across the Merced River with Burt; sleeping on or near park benches in sleeping bags; getting wet in Oakdale and Merced when the timed sprinklers came on after turning in; eating dehydrated camping rations; wading in the Toulumne River; Burton's flat tire fixed at an irrigation canal in Modesto; the gears freezing up on the bike I borrowed from my brother-in-law; sometimes having to walk the bikes up particularly steep grades... once or twice a short trip in the back of a pickup truck; my white Schwinn 10-speed that I bought with my own money after working at a Liquor store for minimum wage ($1.50?/hr. USD)... my bike later stolen at my high school (though locked up) as I attended a basketball game; having stupid songs go through my mind as a cadence; orange hats; a brief rain shower near the entrance of Yosemite; chopped-Harley rider amused at our straining our loaded-down bikes on a long flat straight back road in the heat, motioning as if he was pedaling in passing; stopping at small Mom & Pop stores for a snack or water or soda or phone call home; B-52's near Merced, close to the place of my birth; the beauty of Yosemite; pictures taken with an old Kodak "Brownie" camera that I still have; mostly downhill home!!!; getting a ride home in '70, once we made it from Yosemite to Merced, 'cause school vacation ended earlier than we thought; being left behind, alone, don't remember why?, once we made it from Yosemite to Sunol the following year...o.k., I was probably lagging pretty much at that point... but I made it all the way home!; and OH! the soreness!!!
"The Light "... I made a minor edit by adding the word 'us' here in addition to my entry. Jesus is the Light by whence all righteousness is restored to the Earth and by whom all may be saved. I celebrate the Son of God's birth this 25th day of December, 2004, with the prayer that all come unto Jesus, the Christ.
Peace be with you on this joyous Christmas Day... Adieux!!!
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C'ya.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Takijiro Ohnishi... a tragic figure in history...
Email from Mom saying my Grandfather Cecil (sês-il... not see-sil) also had a deviated septum in his nose. I don't know if 'it's' hereditary or not either.
The grandkids are out of school for Christmas vacation (Oh Oh Oh !!!).
Weather: The Sabbath was glorious! with bright sunny skies. Monday mostly o'cast with a chill breeze. Tuesday was chill with bright sunny skies giving way to wisps of cirrus clouds late... Even Sacramento crawled from 'neath the fog! Rain expected on Sunday!!!
Finished James E. Talmage's "Jesus the Christ"... A rather scholarly treatise on Jesus' life and times... Most revealing and enlightening... A must read.
My downloaded AceHTML6.0 update from Visicom Media (actually only 5.5 MBytes... not 5.9 MBytes) caused me much grief. The file, apparently, became corrupted the first FOUR times I downloaded it... the fifth time a charm! Oh, the wonders of downloading large files over the telephone lines... "Never give up... Never surrender!"... what was that definition of insanity again?
My entries... poetry.com: " Poetry in Motion "...
"Phantasmagoræ "... Another nonce word for a title (well... maybe a twonce (sic) word... 'twonce' being a nonce word!!!)... 'phantasmagoric' being kin to 'spectral'. My poem-like entry lent much to build upon... it just didn't seem to be able to 'stand' by itself... so I also lend (see Verb 1. lend) a somewhat expanded, edited, form of my entry as Phantasmagoræ Deux. 'Borne'... or 'brought forth' in my use of the term. Note: Google has no listing for the term 'Phantasmagorae'... but there is a veritable plethora of listings for other variants of the word, including a poem... "Phantasmagoria" by Lewis Carroll in 1869... a jewel found!!!
"A Lover's Mettle " a Haiku: ... mettle... riposte. She loves me... she loves me not... she loves me...
"Apex " a Haiku: ... The photo for inspiration was of a person at the top of a dune... footsteps leading up along the ridge... blue sky above. Gave me pause to reflect on T.E. Lawrence whose book I enjoyed, though have not finished after more than 300 pages, titled "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom"... the link being an eBook source of note for reading or downloading from The University of Adelaide Library, Australia.
Another Haiku I entered is more an Homage to a "Sponge Bob Squarepants" character, Mr. Crabs. "Sponge Bob Squarepants" is a cartoon on the "Nickelodeon" cartoon TV channel. You may need the updated Macromedia Flash7 player installed to access the "Nickelodeon" site... and please note that there are different downloads depending on your browser preference... IE6's/AOL's player and installation, being different from Firefox's/Opera's/Netscape's player and installation, for instance. I was inspired by a photo of a red crab, eye-stalks raised on the shoreline of a beach, somewhere, far from here, sigh!... "The Ever-Never "... Our bubble of space/time is but flotsam, a mote, expanding/encroaching upon the elsewhere.
"Les Papillons Sont Libres "...Translation by Babelfish:
'til Whenever !!! (Whatever!)
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C'ya.
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Dear Barbara... No. I'm not Bobby L. Nichols, Jerry's brother. As you did not wish an email back if the answer was in the negative... I do you the courtesy of answering here. I wish you the best of luck in your search.
A package from Mom for Christmas!!! Thanks Mom !!!
Weather: Glorious, just a bit cool, mostly sunny Tuesday through Saturday... more manzanita cut.
Doctor's appointment Wednesday for myself with a head and neck specialist... and Gail with her chiropractor. Same old/same old therapy for Gail... leg & knee (& shoulder? & back?). I was looking into possible surgery to alleviate my sleep apnia symptoms, and maybe opening up my left nasal passage a bit. The doctor said surgery generally will help snoring problems... not apnia, but that I may most definitely benefit from correcting my deviated septum to open up the left nostril. I didn't recall having my nose broken which surprised the doctor. I was in the examination room the minute I arrived, finished with the consult in about seven minutes, finished the new patient paperwork in another seven minutes, and out the door!!! Had a nice 25 minute walk to Gail's chiropractic office, except for the occasional ice on the sidewalks (or lack thereof).
Haircut... $14 plus $1 tip (USD). Getting spensiver (sic) and spensiver.
A large gathering at the church for the newcomers "True to the Faith" class... the largest to date. The class was on 'faith', following the alphabetical order of the book. I tried to contribute, from my reading of Talmage's "Jesus the Christ", that even the disciples of Jesus had a marked progression of faith while with Him. Unfortunately my spoken words came out a bit muddled, as usual... speech being a social weakness of mine.
Big earthquake... from the bigquake mailing list I subscribe to:
My AceHTML6.0 from Visicom Media has an update. I own a pro license, purchased at an introductory discount, so the update is free, albeit lengthy (5.9 MBytes). The application is my main syntax checker for my HTML when BLOGging and creating other HTML pages... very intuitive to use and quite invaluable.
My entries... poetry.com: " Poetry in Motion "...
"ArtAlive! "... Art is not static. Art is imbued with the creator's passion... the media transcended in the process.
"... Beyond Time "... A recurrent theme.
C' y'all !!!
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C'ya.
Monday, December 13, 2004
More 'blessings':
Weather: Gorgeous Sabbath day and Monday!!! Mostly sunny days ranging from 50° to 60° temps. Had two wonderful walks, to and from my ride to church... short-sleeve shirt weather walkin'.
I've been ordained an Elder to the Melchizedek Priesthood... more spiritual growth... and responsibility. May I be worthy. Next Sabbath I'm looking forward to my Patriarchal blessing.
My newly updated AVG anti-virus ap picked up two incidents of the VerifierBug.class Trojan/virus. It wouldn't quarantine them, for some reason, but I already had the Microsoft patch, 816093, that pertained to stopping the home page hijack, and other exploits?, taking advantage of Microsoft's Java engine. After doing a FIND search on the archive.jar-27b6d966(something) and the archive.jar-27b6d962(something) I ran AVG file scans on the files associated with them and found that the corresponding 'zip' files were the offending critters... and deleted them. Went into the IE6 (internet options) and disabled Microsoft's Java utilization also... since I use, primarily, Sun's Java. The files, interestingly enough, were dated August 2003 ??? Maybe the recent bug, my computer had, now gone, was related.
Meteor shower Monday. I quickly read about the Geminid meteor shower peaking tonight on my wife Gail's Yahoo home page when loading a Care Bear's game site for my 4-year old granddaughter. I didn't think too much about it at the time. When I went to feed Tara and Eeyore, Gail's white Arab mare and donkey, much later than usual about 5:30-6:00 p.m. PST, I spied a bright meteor from the north, as I was coming up our drive grade, that traced all the way through the clear sky to far south. It was the longest meteor duration sighting I've ever experienced. Mentioned the meteor shower to my son-in-law, Richard, and grandson David.
Knotty Pines... a profitable recreation center, bowling alley, is for sale. Located in Pollock Pines, California, just a bit east of where I live, just up the hill from historic Hangtown (Placerville, CA) on U.S. Highway 50. I noted the fact in the Mountain Democrat classifieds. Been there a few times many years past. Not a big place... but very homey. The only detriment I see would be the snow in winter causing... what am I thinking?... what a great time to find open lanes!!!
My entries... poetry.com: " Poetry in Motion "...
"Carpet Diem... "... the 'tiles' gave me pause to recall an incident my wife Gail had with some rags soaked with linseed oil... a household danger. She left them lying, wadded up, in her van for a short time only to return with the smell of burning oil permeating the van and a new black spot on her van's carpeted cargo area. Linseed oil, and other oils and stains and ilk, can spontaneously combust to disastrous effect. 'Carpet diem black' (enjoy the black carpet¿) a not so crafty pun lent from 'carpe diem'.
"Anthesis " a Haiku: ... The photo for inspiration was an intoxicatingly gorgeous flower displaying its pollen on gossamer stalks midst pastel petals of pale lavender and white. A helpful page about the anthesis of a flower.
"Be True "... Here I show an edited form of the poem. My entry lacks "of delight" in the last line. I thought the structure begged the edit, however my 'tile' count would have exceeded the allotted 20 'tiles' for entry.
Sampon !!!
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C'ya.
Saturday, December 11, 2004
More from Saul Bellow:
Weather: Friday mostly sunny... too warm for the flannel shirt I wore. Saturday more of the same. The Elders came by Friday evening brightening an erstwhile dreary day. We were to see a DVD, but we couldn't get the player to show the video... only the audio was present. Luckily, just by the audio, Gail and I realized we had already seen this particular piece. We then discussed the DVD starting with a passage in the Bible about Elijah and his significance to the faith. Evidently the Wednesday class last I missed was on Joseph Smith... a change made impromptu. A day of cobwebs and a late Friday gave way to napping on Saturday. Gail was blessed with the grandchildren in all their glory. Gail's car... hangin' in there. My entries... poetry.com: " Poetry in Motion "... & Haiku daily contests:
"X Alt @ Ion "... My thoughts were thus: covenants made and fulfilled... la raison d'être! "I, Arboreal " a Haiku: ... Words flow... and whence they manifold?... I do not know. Woofing my mentation around this subject engaged the knurls of my encephalon into rigor. Why this poetic¿ effluvial sputum spewed fifth I could not cogitate. Oh yeah... t'was a photo of a top of a tree framed by other trees and a near and distant mountainside... from the aspect of being on high (high up) as well. Allez ciao !!! |
C'ya.
Thursday, December 09, 2004
From whence I plucked the above passage...
Weather: Wednesday's light rain with moderately cool temperatures allowed for sparse use of wood in the wood stove through the morning of Thursday. Thursday turned mostly sunny... in the mid-60°'s Fahrenheit... gave me a chance to cut some more manzanita limbs.
Updated Gail's and my computer anti-virus and spyware detection definitions (ad infinitum/ad nauseum).
Added from my old website a link, NewsDirectory.com to my sidebar. This site has been a great resource for news and classifieds from just about any media source: newspaper, magazine, television, etc. ... in the world. I particularly like the ability to find a newspaper in the USA by state and area code... dailies and non-dailies being in separate listings. And... it's apparently now available thanks to the great folks at Tucows... whom I've trusted for quite some time. It did choke, however, when I searched for "The Ensign" magazine.
Gail's car... evidently the water pump is going out. Sooooooo, I missed the Wednesday evening class at church for newcomers. The topic was to be on 'faith', as we go through the "True to the Faith" gospel reference alphabetically. Faith is a gift from our Heavenly Father and can give us peace in this mortal existence. Centered on his son, Jesus Christ, continued faith will lead us to salvation if we strive to heed His will. I have faith that Gail's van will hold up until repairs may be made. Note: the driver-side harness belt motor problem is getting steadily worse.
My entries... poetry.com: " Poetry in Motion "...
"Of Tears and Angels "... The title was inspired from Friedrich Nietzsche's work (see opening quotation).
"In Illume " a Haiku: ... The photo for inspiration was of a grove of trees... the shadows interrupted by a bright beam of light coming through to canopy's floor. Three bathed in blessed pure light... Joseph illuminated by Heavenly Father and His Son. Rekindle... "kindle anew, as of a fire"... I love the imagery!
"Time's End "... in an endless sigh.
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C'ya.
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Weather: Friday/Saturday... o'cast & cool. Sabbath Sunday... crisp temperatures and sunny blue skies. Monday partly o'cast to completely o'cast... Tuesday's rain dampened the spirit a bit. Looking forward to the solstice (December 21?)... I'm longing for days to gain more daylight time. Tired, runny nose... comimg dow'in wid a code? BIG QUAKES: (From my e-mail alert notification through the bigquake mailing list.)
Brother James' birthday the 4th... Happy 50th Birthday Jim!
My entries... poetry.com: " Poetry in Motion "... & Haiku Contest daily contests:
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Starlight Dreams "... a love poem. "Desolation " a Haiku: ... Megaliths came to mind in viewing the black and white photo for inspiration... a clouded sky above a worn path surrounded by sparse weedy grass with large stony outcroppings heaped about. 'Runes' are what might have been on such ancient ruins of druidic bent. "Thief " a Haiku: ... The 'tiles' were few (about 100 words and partial words/alphabet) and skewed toward thanksgiving of a sort. I sought more obscure verbiage perusing the dictionary (my dog chewed "Funk & Wagnalls") looking to combine 'tiles' or superimpose same: venal..... ennui..... mendacious. 'Mendacious' was formed by superimposing the tile-letter 'm' and the tile-word 'end' and the tile-letter 'a' (in that order) over the tile-word 'delicious'. Not entirely happy with the result, except in the fact that the poem sorta'/kinda' rhymes... and I stayed away from turkey day references. My poetic interpretation: Steal at thine own hazard... thy corruptible,bored, false one.
"... having a perfect brightness of hope..." ... Hona sainara !!!
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(2 Nephi 31:16, 20)
C'ya.
Thursday, December 02, 2004
More quotes from Eric Hoffer.
Weather: Monday... clear & cool in Cool... here too. Record cold expected in the a.m.
Granddaughter Ashley's fourth birthday the 30th of November.
Updated my freeware browser Opera (v7.54)... 16.25 MB download if you need Java... only a 3.5 MB if you do not. My IE6 still buggy on log-on and with Google 'AdSense' ads. Firefox very good at what it does... but I still need some of IE6 capabilities... need to research the Firefox add-ons. Here are some browsers and reviews from Download.Com... where Avant Browser 10.0 build 35 seems to be the most popular by far at this time, but Mozilla's Firefox 1.0 the highest rated among users.
Missed my sister Peg calling me on Thanksgiving... poop! Missed my Mom calling Tuesday the 30th in the afternoon... poop2! I've been in the upper pasture cutting firewood, mostly manzanita, when the calls came in. Been using muscle power: hatchet, small double blade axe, and limb saw. I'm getting some good exercise, but I'm thinking very seriously about getting a small chain saw.
Heard more from the yotikiis (coyotes) the last few days. Tuesday they were westward up the ways on the ridge of our little valley yammering and my in-law's dogs, malemutes and shiba inus, began to chime in. There's nothing mute about a malemute when the howling starts.
BIG QUAKES: (From my e-mail alert notification through the bigquake mailing list.)
My entries... poetry.com: " Poetry in Motion "... & Haiku Contest daily contests:
"Breaker " a Haiku: ... Wonderful photo for inspiration of a female standing legs apart, arms raised wide, engulfed in a blast of spray from an ocean breaker one might get near the edge of a tidal pool when the waves are crashing nigh.
"PathY "... Why ('Y') this path taken? A crossroads, the letter 'y' signifying a fork in the path (road). The poem is evocative on a level I don't wish to tread.
"Tagger " a Haiku: ... A photo of what appeared to be a low ceiling dwelling in a limestone cave. I'm sure I've seen the word 'limn'... somewhere, but why would it pop into my mind? Subliminally... or keyed from the limestone appearance? And then summon up the act of "tagging" which I've never done nor condoned is beyond me. Perhaps I channelled a troglodyte from whence... dunno.
'Iorana !!!
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C'ya.
... digg.com
