A New Pez for Sis

A new pez made just for you, Aral!

Surgery Scheduled

Monday, May 9. No time yet, must wait for the hospital to call on Friday to let me know. Have a graphic pamphlet to look thru, and another week of non-fat eating.

In the meantime, test your reaction time here.

My UJN

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Sister Broadsword of Hope. What's yours?

Read about the Unitarian Jihad in Jon Carroll's column

now I'm going back to bed. thanks for everyone's good thoughts. My thoughts are about a life without french fries.

just what good IS a gall bladder for?

Just what does the gall bladder do? Why do some people get to keep theirs when they have gall stones and others don't? This info is from http://www.chiff.com/health/disease/gallbladder.htm:

The gallbladder helps to process fats. It stores "gall bile," which is a substance that your body produces to break down fat during the digestive process. The gallbladder releases this substance in regulated amounts so the fat doesn't cause problems in your system. If the gallbladder gets diseased or if you develop an acute problem with gall stones, it can be removed. Many people have gallstones and don't even know it. Little stones made of bile salts or cholesterol form in the gallbladder. Until they begin to block ducts or irritate the gallbladder they cause no problems.

Since my stone is in the neck of the gall bladder (ask the SO, he was watching the sonogram screen), so that means the whole thing needs to go. There are really gross pictures at http://curezone.com/gallstones/default.asp, but don't look, Lucinda!!

of All the GALL

Well, it'll be coming out, probably next week.


Spent the night in the Holy Spirit ER (11:30 pm to 6:30 am). Oh, what fun. Wait an hour to be moved to an exam room. Wait for someone to come. Wait some more for someone else to come. Wait to have blood drawn. Wait for the EKG. Wait for the sonogram. Wait for the chest x-ray. Wait for these to be interpreted. Wait for the surgeon to come in. Wait to be discharged.

At least I finally got morphine.

So, it's water and ginger ale today. "Twigs & Bark" diet until I have surgery.

I did want to loose weight, eh? Just didn't think that it would be by having my gall bladder removed.

Animation

I've learned from Prattoons that there is an Warner Brothers Cartoon exhibit at the James Michener Museum in Doylestown. They have a number of events associated with the exhibit ... I am going to try to get to at least one of them.

I've a bunch of autographs in my copy of Of Mice & Magic: Marc Davis, Woolie Reitherman, T.Hee, Hal Ambro, Ray Aragon, Don Bluth, John Pomeroy, Bob McCrea, Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnson (perhaps the most famous two of the "Nine Old Men"), Jack Hannah, Bob Clampett as well as the autograph of the author, Leonard Maltin (who was the movie review for "Entertainment Tonight" for a long time).

Just looking thru the book makes me wish I could quit my catalog sales job and go back to art school.

Happy Earth Day

Indeed, Happy Earth Day!

What a pretty image you found, Lucinda Sans! Just had to use it, too.

It is chilly and wet here today, but that's okay. The lilac in the back is starting to bloom, birds are chirping, and the squirrels are all over the bird feeder. The cats are sleeping (Chatham is snoring) and the house is quiet.

Nap time!!

Not Walking the Talk

I recently took "Train the Trainer" to become a Girl Scout trainer of other leaders. We were told that we need to include a Pluralism exercise in each of our trainings, and that leaders in turn should include similiar activities in their troops.

GSUSA's definition:

Pluralism: A system that includes individuals from groups differing in basic background experiences and cultures. Pluralism allows for the development of a common tradition while preserving the right of each group to maintain its cultural heritage. It implies mutual respect.

The head trainer said twice that while we need to be aware and sensitive to the girls, GS is a spiritual organization. We've already been told that when the girls say the GS Promise, they can subsitute their own word for "God" or leave it out. Yet Christianity is everywhere in this organization. Once I was asked to lead a grace and I quietly declined, and the woman asked why. When I said that I didn't do graces, she stared at me before moving on to ask someone else.

Over the last few days on a leaders listserv that I'm on, there has been a raging debate over an unofficial award given as a 'thank you' to leaders and other adult volunteers called "Green Angel".

Some Non-Christians were offended by being offered a religious symbol. Some Christians were offended because it seemed to trivialize a religious symbol. Others pointed out that not all definitions of "angel" in the dictionary were religious. Others accused others of being too PC. Others said that they were being insensitive. Some said that they hadn't thought of these viewpoints before. And into the mix were fragrance-sensitive people who were give scented candles and soaps, diabetics who were given candy and cookies, etc. Some were clearly educated by the conversation; unfortunately others clearly didn't get it and went away angry.

Just last night at the end of the year Leader Dinner we had a little bit of this mess crop up. A co-leader of third grade Brownies was lamenting that a Muslim girl wasn't allowed to be in the troop because the troop meets in Trinity Lutheran. The girl was in for one year as a Daisy in Kindergarten, but the father stopped it after that because of the religious nature of the building (and the Promise didn't help, either). This leader said that she showed photos of the girl having a great time at troop meetings to the parents. She said "and there weren't any religious symbols in the photos at all!" To which I asked "which room do you meet in, 'cause the one we meet in has religious things all over it." "Oh, but you couldn't see any of that in the photos."

Hello? Anyone there? geeeez.

I then said that the church had religious material and symbols all over the place, in the rooms and the hallways. She said that she supposed so, but she didn't notice.

Plaeezze.

Then the Service Unit Director said "it's ONLY a meeting place!" I took a breath and said "but to them it IS important where it is. You have to understand where Muslims are coming from, religiously and culturally. Remember that they view Christianity as an invading organization, going all the way back to the Crusades and continuing today with Christian volunteers in Africa and Asia taking bibles and prosletizing to those they went to help."

Both of them had looks on their faces that told me that I wasn't getting anywhere, so I quit. Our Hemlock Field Director had been nodding as I spoke, but she didn't speak up (she's newly assigned to us, and is still learning what CH is all about).

So, I'm pretty frustrated this morning. These women are supposed to be my friends, they know that I am not Christian, but apparently it isn't convienent for them to actually follow GSUSA's directive to be pluralistic.

If it wouldn't hurt the SO, I would be sorely tempted to join the PA Nonbelievers.

Too Hot ... Already?

Today the Kiddies are complaining about how hot it is ... the ol' Weather Channel box sez it's 74 degrees at the moment. It does indeed feel warmer than that. Today's weather report on tv said that Chicago would get to the low 80's.

But I gotta chuckle ... what are the Kiddies gonna do when it's truly summer? Must make a note to buy them fans to take with them to summer camp ...

Also, I asked Kiddie A to blog something, anything. She replied that she didn't feel like it. I retorted that she could blog that - that she didn't feel like blogging. To which she simply tilted her head, fluttered her eyelashes and said "I don't feel like it"

Train the Trainer

Well, I won't be around to enjoy this beautiful weather ... gonna be at Hemlock GSC for "Train the Trainer" -- I've been asked to become a trainer of Girl Scout leaders. So I'll be there from 6 pm Friday to 4:30 pm Saturday.

I do enjoy meeting and interacting with other GS adults. They are generally a great bunch of women.

On the other hand, I don't have to be around when the SO tries to get the Kiddies to the stuff they need to do this weekend.

heh heh heh.

BTW, Tan Lucy Pez, the cherry tree in front of the house is BEAUTIFUL!

Making a List, Checking it for ..... WHAT?

"Campaign against teen drinking stirs debate"

There is an article in today's Patriot News about the Camp Hill School District's campaign against teen drinking. I'm all for curbing it, but I don't like that the school sending pledge forms for parents to sign.

The form says that the adults/parents will not serve or allow teens to drink or use drugs in their homes. The part that bothers me is that the school is going to post a list of WHO HAS SIGNED the form on the internet. Their reasoning is that parents can check to check if the home that their kids are going to is on the list -- so that they know that their kids will be safe.

Ahem.

The principal states that there aren't any statistics or studies that say that something like this will do anything to curb substance abuse. Athletes at the school have been signing a similar form for years, and they still drink. Only if they are caught do they miss any games (and I've overheard a parent say - almost bragging - that their kid played a game even tho' he had been caught drinking the weekend before.

And kids don't always get alcohol from parents' homes -- remember that Nevik got his from the Army Reserves when he was still underage.

If the school is going to have lists, I want one that lists which houses have guns.

Blue Skies, Blue Mood

Got a totally unexpected call from Fred Cline, who was in my class @ CalArts. He's helping the Alumni association contact us alum to invite us to the reunion in June. (I did get an invitation, but, hey, it's in California, so there's the airfare, hotel, and cost of the reunion itself -- too much.) Besides, no way could I lose enough weight by then.

Anyway, Fred is a really nice guy, and has done lots since we graduated. We drove up to northern California together a few times (his parents live in Santa Cruz, and Uncle Mike and/or Doris would pick me up there). In fact, Fred taught me how to drive stick-shift.

But in comparison to him and many others (Chris Saunders - Lilo & Stitch, Kevin Lima - 102 Dalmations, Leon Joosen - Scooby Doo ...) in the Animation School at CalArts, I've done very little artistically speaking. I know, I know, I've done lots of other things ... and yet I feel blue about it. I had long used picture framing as my connection to the art world - and then that ended so incredible unpleasantly. Several of my designs are gracing T-shirts in the area (for free), and true, I've sold a small number of paintings.
Cow Parade.
My big claim to fame is the Cow Parade. Boy, did I enjoy that experience! I've been tempted to start painting my ol' van ... it's old and showing bare paint. Perhaps a la Partridge Family?

On to another subject ... the weather. Boy, what a beautiful day! Went to the boro mulch heap and got a load in the back of the van. The SO had done a lot of yard work over the weekend ... even Kiddie A remarked on how nice it looked! Can you imagine ... a teenager talking about this subject? lol, indeed.

I still am checking the Peregrine Falcon webcam a couple of times a day. Today there was a dead pigeon left on the ledge for the female - wasn't that nice? Hmmm -- yumm.

Random Kat Kuotes

1. Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will pee on your computer." --Bruce Graham
2. There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast. -- Unknown
3. Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this. --Anonymous
4. Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow. -- Jeff Valdez
5. In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats. -- English proverb
6. As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat. -- Ellen Perry Berkeley
7. One cat just leads to another. -- Ernest Hemingway
8. Dogs come when they're called; cats take a message and get back to you later. -- Mary Bly
9. Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to a good many ailments, but I never heard of one who suffered from insomnia. -- Joseph Wood Krutch
10. People that hate cats will come back as mice in their next life. -- Faith Resnick
11. There are many intelligent species in the universe. They are all owned by cats. -- Anonymous
12. I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior. -- Hippolyte Taine
13. No heaven will not ever Heaven be; Unless my cats are there to welcome me. -- Unknown
14. There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats. -- Albert Schweitzer
15. The cat has too much spirit to have no heart. -- Ernest Menaul
16. Dogs believe they are human. Cats believe they are gods.
17. Time spent with cats is never wasted. -- Colette
18. You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats. -- Colonial American proverb
19. Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want. -- Joseph Wood Krutch
20. I got rid of my husband. The cat was allergic.
21. My husband said it was him or the cat ... I miss him sometimes.
22. Cats aren't clean, they're just covered with cat spit.

Silver Eagle

Last night I attended the E Association meeting (Hemlock GSC is divided into Associations, which in turn are divided into Service Units). Much to my surprise, I was awarded our Association's Silver Eagle.

So someone filled out the adult recognition form - don't know who - saying that I was a big help, etc. What a nice surprise! Apparently my other GS friends were afraid that I wasn't going to go - I did have a KMOM meeting to go to last night, too, but I opted to go to the Association meeting instead

A wonderful example of living the Girl Scout spirit is Florence Pyle (and there is now an award named for her), who turns 90 on April 15. She's been with Hemlock Council since before it was Hemlock Council (and that's over 40 years).

Hemlock has recently announced a plan to raise $10M by Girl Scouting's 100th Anniversary - that's in 2012. That's alot of money!

Oh, What a Beautiful Day!!

Finally, we have a couple of beautiful days here. The wind, at the moment, has died down. I can see buds on the hydrangea, and some of the ol' daffodils are showing yellow. Too many others have gotten too old or crowded to flower anymore, and I can see that in the fall we need to dig up some of the flower beds.

But in the meantime, I just might drive out to a nursery to just walk around and look!

BTW, the actor in the picture is Hugh Jackman, of X-Men and Kate & Leopold. Didn't know he could sing (well, I still don't, since I haven't seen him actually do it ....) lol

Jesus was ...?

There were 3 good arguments that Jesus could have been Black:

1. He called everyone "brother ".
2. He liked Gospel.
3. He couldn't get a fair trial.

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Jewish:

1. He went into His Fathers business.
2. He lived at home until he was 33.
3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin and his mother was sure he was God.

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus could have been Italian:

1. He talked with his hands.
2. He had wine with every meal.
3. He used olive oil.

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus could have been a Californian:

1. He never cut his hair.
2. He walked around barefoot all the time.
3. He started a new religion.

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus could have been Irish:

1. He never got married.
2. He was always telling stories.
3. He loved green pastures.

But the most compelling evidence of all - 3 proofs that Jesus could have been a woman:

1. He fed a crowd at a moment's notice when there was no food.
2. He kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just didn't get it.
3. And even when he was dead, He had to get up because there was more work to do.

And on to a almost-random change in topic ... While looking for a fun Jesus image to post here, I googled "Jesus" and came across this page.

My, my, some people have WAY TOO MUCH TIME on their hands!!