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Pursuit of Happiness

2009-12-09T11:46:00.005-06:00

I'm basking in the first blizzard of the year which always makes me introspective; introspection always leads me to wonder if I'm making the best possible choices in life - am I as happy as I could be? what makes me happy?

List of things thats currently make me happy (in no particular order):
1. Hot Drinks
2. Time to pursue my own interests/whims
3. Taking photos
4. Yoga
5. Time with loved ones
6. Good Food
7. New blazing-fast Mac Book Pro
8. Laughing

In honor of #8 here is are some more Photos That Make Me Laugh (with links to more!)

From Awkward Family Photos (.com)

From Nietzsche Family Circus

From the best photo blog ever: Picture This (NSFW)

Earth Day Lash Back

2009-04-24T10:46:00.002-05:00

My B.S. degree is in "Conservation" which included a variety of environmental science classes. But I now think conservation is the worst way to address our climatic/energy problems.

People suck at conserving - we're generally glutinous monsters which consume mindlessly and then are surprised when our resource dries up, and then quickly move on to the next consumable.

Its useless denying this instinct, its actually a very puritan technique - to deny our instincts - and you all know how successful that strategy has been

We need to develop sustainable ways of generating energy and encourage people to consume, consume, consume from those energy sources, so they will economically out-compete the fossil fuels.

What if we could develop methods of generating energy that actually cleaned the air, or the water, or had a net positive benefit? Wouldn't it be mind-blowing to have environmentalists telling you to leave your lights on and drive like a mad-man because the energy your using is good for the environment. That's a message I think most people could embrace.

Is This Really News?

2009-04-24T08:26:00.002-05:00

News Flash - Girls can be good at sports!

ehow Article: How to be a Spiritual Atheist

2009-01-20T16:19:00.002-06:00

I just wrote an article for eHow entitled How to be a Spiritual Atheist.

I'm sure many of you have thoughts on this! Please read the article and leave your comments!

Tonight is Paper Craft Night!

2009-01-19T13:36:00.003-06:00

This website is awesome! It has downloadable pdfs of papercraft deep sea creatures. I'm having a hard time focusing on working knowing what papery fun I'll be having tonight :)

Diane Dances to Hell!

2009-01-14T15:25:00.004-06:00

I wonder which one is Diane? Or are they all "Dianes"?

click for big

Christmas Tree Stream

2009-01-09T16:44:00.002-06:00

Recently, Tim Boyle commented on one of my posts with a good-hearted passionate rant bemoaning the wonton wasteful tradition of christmas trees.

After some discussion and research we discovered that the environmental, cultural, and economic impacts of the christmas tree industry are unexpectedly tangled, with potentially an overall benefit to the environment. Keep an eye on Tim's blog as he may post a more comprehensive report of his findings.

This reminds me of a talk I attended a couple months ago by a researcher who partnered with major magazines to figure out where all their physical manufacturing materials come from and where they ultimately end up. This was the first literal translation of following a product from cradle to grave that I have come across. It was pretty interesting but left a lot questions, which I think could be answered by economists, paper making specialists, or psychologists.

For example, much of the wood for the paper was coming from great distances instead of using local wood. They use this wood because it is somehow cheaper, despite the transportation costs (perhaps an economist could explain this is due to international taxes or something, or a paper making expert might explain that the trees from the far location are superior paper pulp producers). He also discovered that the companies print and send an excess percentage (15% ? ) of magazines to vendors which never sell and end up in the waste stream (would a psychologist tell us that a larger stack of magazines makes them more desirable and more likely that someone will buy one?).

So, just like our discovery with the christmas trees the magazine biz is a wadded-up ball of economic, environmental, and social costs and benefits.

I think this means that there is benefit in being humble, observant, and flexible in forming our judgements and beliefs about life. I especially identify with this as an environmentalist. So frequently things are cast in black and white creating good and bad people, animals, products, businesses, or organizations. As a naturalist I was asked about almost everything, "is this good or bad?" when really the answer was neither and both.

Art Sled Rally

2009-01-09T16:38:00.003-06:00

I'm so doing this!

The BYOS (bring-your-own-sled) workshop is Jan. 31s and sledding smackdown is the Feb. 7.

Coming to terms with Christmas

2008-12-29T14:01:00.003-06:00

I just finished reading the Power of Myth a couple weeks before christmas. Its a great book that I recommend all atheists should read because it puts religion in perspective next to the original mythology. It has helped me become less cynical and more compassionate.

Unarguably, most atheists know more than most religious peeps regarding the similarities that all religions have. But what was cathartic for me was understanding archetypal principles that have popped up in mythologies (stories developed to help people with psychological difficulties: puberty, death, killing to live, etc ) and how those concepts were messed-up during assimilation by religions (organized by people for various types of power).

Concepts such as "god" is within us and therefore all things are holy and connected, and that death brings life - that all life relies on death. Are mythological concepts to help us live psychologically health lives. They are not literal - obviously there are not little gods living in each of us, but metaphorical - which is where religion often screws them up; by forcing a literal translation.

But parts of those healthy mythological stories can be found in modern religion. Like when I look at the Christmas Trees they use to irk me - I felt oppressed by the overtly religious symbol in so many public places. But now when I look at it I think about the cycle of life and death, and I think about the solstice, and the moon cycles. And the simple need for a happy celebration during a gloomy time.

So I don't know how clearly I've expressed myself here in this post. But the conclusion is that learning a little comparative mythology has freed me to be less of a grinch and more compassionate.

I'm curious to hear other's thoughts about the book or other similar or opposite experiences.

Geology Meme

2008-12-16T14:05:00.007-06:00

Finally a meme I can get behind! This one looks like fun; includes travel and geology!

Top 100 things a geologist should see (from geotripper)

1. See an erupting volcano

2. See a glacier
I've seen glaciers in both Iceland and Patagona.

My husband and me at the Perito Merino glacier in Argentina.

3. See an active geyser such as those in Yellowstone, New Zealand or the type locality of Iceland
In Yellowstone and Iceland.

Me a the original geyser in Iceland. It was a very windy cold day.

4. Visit the Cretaceous/Tertiary (KT) Boundary. Possible locations include Gubbio, Italy, Stevns Klint, Denmark, the Red Deer River Valley near Drumheller, Alberta.

5. Observe (from a safe distance) a river whose discharge is above bankful stage
Cedar Creek in my home town, and the Mississippi River (which I live only a couple blocks away from)

6. Explore a limestone cave. Try Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, Lehman Caves in Great Basin National Park, or the caves of Kentucky or TAG (Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia)
My family went to many caves on our driving trips through out the US, but one nice cave near my current home is Crystal Cave. Where I went on geo field trip in college.

7. Tour an open pit mine, such as those in Butte, Montana, Bingham Canyon, Utah, Summitville, Colorado, Globe or Morenci, Arizona, or Chuquicamata, Chile.
My family took a driving trip out west where we stopped at an open pit mine in Utah. I remember playing in a giant machine tire.

8. Explore a subsurface mine.

9. See an ophiolite, such as the ophiolite complex in Oman or the Troodos complex on the Island Cyprus (if on a budget, try the Coast Ranges or Klamath Mountains of California).
I have been near/on the Ballantrae Ophiolite Complex in Scotland but I didn't know it, so I don't think that counts.

10. An anorthosite complex, such as those in Labrador, the Adirondacks, and Niger (there's some anorthosite in southern California too).

11. A slot canyon. Many of these amazing canyons are less than 3 feet wide and over 100 feet deep. They reside on the Colorado Plateau. Among the best are Antelope Canyon, Brimstone Canyon, Spooky Gulch and the Round Valley Draw.

12. Varves, whether you see the type section in Sweden or examples elsewhere.

13. An exfoliation dome, such as those in the Sierra Nevada.

14. A layered igneous intrusion, such as the Stillwater complex in Montana or the Skaergaard Complex in Eastern Greenland.

15. Coastlines along the leading and trailing edge of a tectonic plate (check out The Dynamic Earth - The Story of Plate Tectonics - an excellent website). I would assume I have accomplished this - I been on coastlines on both sides of the US, throughout Europe, and in Japan - I just don't know my tectonics well enough to which directions which plates are heading in.

16. A gingko tree, which is the lone survivor of an ancient group of softwoods that covered much of the Northern Hemisphere in the Mesozoic. One fall I even dressed as a gingko for Halloween using freshly fallen leaves.

17. Living and fossilized stromatolites (Glacier National Park is a great place to see fossil stromatolites, while Shark Bay in Australia is the place to see living ones) I have one sitting on my desk that I found in road cut on a college geology field trip in WI.

18. A field of glacial erratics I don't know about a field of them, but I grew up in WI and MN so random giant rocks laying around are kinda common.

19. A caldera

20. A sand dune more than 200 feet high The NPS website says the dunes at death valley only reach about 100 feet high - so I'm giving myself .5 for this one.

21. A fjord In Iceland.

22. A recently formed fault scarp

23. A megabreccia

24. An actively accreting river delta

25. A natural bridge

26. A large sinkhole

27. A glacial outwash plain

28. A sea stack

29. A house-sized glacial erratic

30. An underground lake or river

31. The continental divide

32. Fluorescent and phosphorescent minerals

33. Petrified trees

34. Lava tubes

Me in a tube in iceland

My husband climbing out the entrance to the above tube. We had to follow cairns to find the entrance which is nearly impossible to see until you are on top of it.

35. The Grand Canyon. All the way down. And back.

36. Meteor Crater, Arizona, also known as the Barringer Crater, to see an impact crater on a scale that is comprehensible

37. The Great Barrier Reef, northeastern Australia, to see the largest coral reef in the world.

38. The Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada, to see the highest tides in the world (up to 16m)

39. The Waterpocket Fold, Utah, to see well exposed folds on a massive scale.

40. The Banded Iron Formation, Michigan, to better appreciate the air you breathe.

41. The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania,

42. Lake Baikal, Siberia, to see the deepest lake in the world (1,620 m) with 20 percent of the Earth's fresh water.

43. Ayers Rock (known now by the Aboriginal name of Uluru), Australia. This inselberg of nearly vertical Precambrian strata is about 2.5 kilometers long and more than 350 meters high

44. Devil's Tower, northeastern Wyoming, to see a classic example of columnar jointing
Its not devils tower, but a waterfall in Iceland with beautiful columnar jointing.

45. The Alps.

46. Telescope Peak, in Death Valley National Park. From this spectacular summit you can look down onto the floor of Death Valley - 11,330 feet below.

47. The Li River, China, to see the fantastic tower karst that appears in much Chinese art

48. The Dalmation Coast of Croatia, to see the original Karst.

49. The Gorge of Bhagirathi, one of the sacred headwaters of the Ganges, in the Indian Himalayas, where the river flows from an ice tunnel beneath the Gangatori Glacier into a deep gorge.

50. The Goosenecks of the San Juan River, Utah, an impressive series of entrenched meanders.

51. Shiprock, New Mexico, to see a large volcanic neck

52. Land's End, Cornwall, Great Britain, for fractured granites that have feldspar crystals bigger than your fist.

53. Tierra del Fuego, Chile and Argentina, to see the Straights of Magellan and the southernmost tip of South America.

54. Mount St. Helens, Washington, to see the results of recent explosive volcanism.

55. The Giant's Causeway and the Antrim Plateau, Northern Ireland, to see polygonally fractured basaltic flows.

I haven't been to the Giants Causeway but I saw polygonally fractured basalt in Iceland - this photo is in a different location than the above waterfall surrounded by columnar joints. I've always thought that columnar jointing and polygonally fractured basaltic flows were the same thing - am I wrong?

56. The Great Rift Valley in Africa.

57. The Matterhorn, along the Swiss/Italian border, to see the classic "horn".

58. The Carolina Bays, along the Carolinian and Georgian coastal plain

59. The Mima Mounds near Olympia, Washington

60. Siccar Point, Berwickshire, Scotland, where James Hutton (the "father" of modern geology) observed the classic unconformity

61. The moving rocks of Racetrack Playa in Death Valley

62. Yosemite Valley

63. Landscape Arch (or Delicate Arch) in Utah

64. The Burgess Shale in British Columbia

65. The Channeled Scablands of central Washington

66. Bryce Canyon

67. Grand Prismatic Spring at Yellowstone

68. Monument Valley

69. The San Andreas fault

70. The dinosaur footprints in La Rioja, Spain

71. The volcanic landscapes of the Canary Islands

72. The Pyrennees Mountains

73. The Lime Caves at Karamea on the West Coast of New Zealand

74. Denali (an orogeny in progress)

75. A catastrophic mass wasting event

76. The giant crossbeds visible at Zion National Park

77. The black sand beaches in Hawaii (or the green sand-olivine beaches)

Again - its not Hawaii, but Iceland - the land of geologic bliss

78. Barton Springs in Texas

79. Hells Canyon in Idaho

80. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado

81. The Tunguska Impact site in Siberia

82. Feel an earthquake with a magnitude greater than 5.0.

83. Find dinosaur footprints in situ

84. Find a trilobite (or a dinosaur bone or any other fossil)

85. Find gold, however small the flake

86. Find a meteorite fragment

87. Experience a volcanic ashfall

88. Experience a sandstorm

89. See a tsunami

90. Witness a total solar eclipse

91. Witness a tornado firsthand. (Important rules of this game).

92. Witness a meteor storm, a term used to describe a particularly intense (1000+ per minute) meteor shower

93. View Saturn and its moons through a respectable telescope.

94. See the Aurora borealis, otherwise known as the northern lights.

95. View a great naked-eye comet, an opportunity which occurs only a few times per century

96. See a lunar eclipse

97. View a distant galaxy through a large telescope

98. Experience a hurricane

99. See noctilucent clouds

100. See the green flash

Whew - that was a lot of work! I think that puts me at about 36 - more photos to come!

Migraine Art

2008-12-16T13:52:00.003-06:00

Here are a few images created by people with aura migranes (from The New York Times):

There are more here.

And here's the accompanying article by Oliver Sacks.

Thanks to Tim Boyle for the links.

Migraine with Aura

2008-12-09T13:19:00.002-06:00

So I guess I get migraines now!

I've often wondered if I've had them in the past because I've had some doozy headaches, but yesterday I saw these pretty spinning sparkly circles about 15 mins before my headache started which I guess pretty much means they are migraines.

I think I'm fortunate as far as migraine sufferers go, I just need to drink a bunch of water and sleep for a few hours to get rid of the headache. And I'm blessed with the ability to fall asleep anytime anywhere. Plus those auras are kinda cool to watch once you know they will go away.

I found this website where people have posted animations of what their auras look like. I think its an interesting connection to art. Mine are kinda like the video below but are sparkly, like the sun shining through thin shards of ice, and are snow-flake shaped.

Lots of people are blogging and commenting that these occur when they are dehydrated - that coincides with my experience. I got my headache last night immediately after an intense yoga class in a HOT room where I was sweating a lot.

Anyone want a free subscription to SEED mag?

2008-12-01T13:18:00.002-06:00

I'm going to renew my subscription and they are a offering a buy-one-get-one-free deal.

First dibs to anyone who has posted a comment on my blog and then open to everyone else. Let me know by Friday.

The offer is only free to addresses in the US, and you'll have to feel comfortable giving me your address.

Email: zeolite.blurp@gmail.com

Two Book Reviews

2008-12-01T12:56:00.003-06:00

Two Great Books I've Read over Thanksgiving:

Annie Liebovitz: At Work

Generally speaking I avoid photography books because I don't want to fill my brain with other peoples ideas of what is good and bad. I'm fearful that would erase my natural joy in photography. However, I love this book because it actually strips away all of my excuses and insecurities about my photography and art in general. Its written in an engaging style and gives the stories behind some of her most famous photos. Also, it has great paper quality; I love turning the soft luscious pages to find another awesome photo on the next page.

The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell

This book was recommended to me years ago by a friend who I sometimes really like and sometimes detest. He is a white handsome guy who is horribly entangled in the boys club. After a particularly frustrating sexist experience I asked him to read "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" to which his response was "I don't buy it." Ugh. But this same guy would also give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. So I couldn't read the book he recommended for a while because it reminded me of him and made me feel pissed off. Well, I got over that and am now about halfway through the book. I'm really enjoying it. Its refreshing to read a book about mythology that includes Christianity. One of the basic ideas so far is that all life exists because of death - even plants get thier energy from a dying star. And that humans have developed myths and rituals to help us deal with that pain and guilt we feel about perpetually killing to remain alive. Another big point is that life on earth, with space and time, is essentially a mental state of being aware of opposites (life/death, god/human, man/woman, good/evil, etc.) and that before we are alive and after we die we re-enter Eden/heaven by melding into an unfathomable sense of oneness. Its an interesting read.

New Kitchen and Experimental Tater Tot Success!

2008-11-24T11:44:00.006-06:00

After four loooong months our new kitchen is FINALLY done (well, mostly).

Old Kitchen Looking South:

New Kitchen Looking South (from a slightly different angle):

Old Kitchen Looking North:

New Kitchen Looking North:

The door on the left is a our newly located entrance door. And the door on the right is the entrance to the new bathroom:

More new kitchen photos:

AND yesterday I baked what may well be the world's best tater tot casserole. I wanted to bring a tater tot casserole to a friend's classy thanksgiving potluck dinner for a little irony, but I also wanted to make it taste fancy. So here's the recipe I made up:

Ingredients:
One whole bunch of fresh garlic
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of water
a little bit of thyme (fresh or dried)
Gourmet Frozen Tater Tots (two small bags or one large)
1 lb ground Bison
bundle of fresh asparagus (cut into 2"-3" chunks)
1/2 stick of butter (4 tablespoons)
large block of blue cheese sliced into good-sized hunks (don't skimp!)
can of high-quality cream of mushroom soup (don't buy the cheap watery stuff, I recommend Amy's brand)
1/2 can soy milk (or regular milk)

Step 1: Roast Garlic
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Peel off all the papery stuff from the garlic but leave the entire bunch attached together. Put the garlic on a sheet of aluminum foil, brush it generously with olive oil, and sprinkle it with thyme. Wrap the garlic in the foil, but before you seal it up, drip some water in into the package. Bake for 35 -45 minutes, until the garlic is soft and smushy. Let it cool a bit, and then rip the cloves apart and squeeze the mushy garlic into a bowl and mash it up with a fork. Set aside. (I learned this from the book "A New Way to Cook" by Sally Schneider.)

Step 2: Brown Ground Bison.
Brown the the ground bison in a large pan on the stove top over medium-high heat. When its mostly done add the butter and garlic mash to the bison and cook until well done, and until most of the watery liquid has evaporated. There will be buttery liquid left -thats good.

Step 3: Assemble Casserole
Mix the entire can of soup with half a can of milk, set aside. In a 2-quart baking dish dump half of the bison/garlic/butter mixture into the dish. Spread it around evenly. Place half of the asparagus pieces, evenly spaced, on top of the bison. Place half of the blue cheese hunks, evenly spaced, on top of the asparagus. Pour half of the soup milk mixture, evenly, over the bison/asparagus/cheese layers. Neatly arrange a snug layer of tater tots over all of this. Repeat the layering with the rest of the bison, asparagus, soup, and tater tots. The top layer is tater tots.

Step 4: Bake
Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1.5 hours. (remove the foil for the last 10 -20 minutes of cooking) It's done when the liquid is bubbling and the middle is warm. I had trouble getting the middle of casserole warm in the oven so I had to pop it into the microwave for 4 -5 minutes after baking. That worked well.

Step 5: Eat the world's best tater tot casserole and send me your praises.

Obama Wins!

2008-11-05T08:41:00.002-06:00

I sooooo happy, relieved, ecstatic, hopeful! I feel like the U.S. has reached a new level of maturity and become a respectable member of the world community.

Here's Obama's acceptance speech. I'm sure you've seen it already. But its worth watching again - enjoy!!

Indulgent Fear-and-Anger-Based Political Rant

2008-10-23T10:26:00.006-05:00

This is perhaps the most personally stressful election I've lived through. When I think about waking up on Nov. 5th and going to check the election results my stomach somersaults. Not, in a good present-awaiting christmas-eve sort of way, but in the sort of way when you stub your toe really hard in the dark and you need to feel it to check to see if its bleeding or not. There is no good outcome, just a chance of a really really bad one.

I would be elated if Obama won. But I still wouldn't feel good about where we are as a country. Bush has so thoroughly destroyed our economy, environment, and world reputation that Obama would just be scrambling to try and fix everything.

And if McCain wins, I fear that we will just continue down the same sinking-ship path we are on. I don't think that McCain is exactly another Bush - I do believe that he feels he is a "maverick" and will make independent decisions, but he seems to be just as off-the-mark on everything as Bush is. Also, he has fallen apart in the debates, letting his hot-headedness and pissed-off condescension get in the way of his thinking processes. Not at all good qualities for a president who will need to delicately maneuver within the international community.

Increasing the scary-factor is the possibility of Palin being President. I've heard the argument that you shouldn't let consideration of the Pres dying and the Vice Pres taking over be a major influence in your voting decision. Why the heck not?! Both of these candidates have a higher likelihood of dying in office than most (via old age or assassination). And the thought of Palin being president sends me into a tissy of fury and panic.

I hate the selection of Palin as the Vice Pres so much, it's intensely insulting to me as a women that the republicans thought that the selection of any woman would appease me and get my vote. There are so many other actually qualified republican females they could have chosen! Instead they chose the attractive bimbo; the stereo-type of what the feminist movement has been fighting since its inception. The country would crash-and-burn under her leadership (or rather the leadership of the people who would be her puppeteers).

Biden is the the steady slowly-plodding tortoise of the relatively harmless democratic status-quo. I think he could hold-the-fort and continue following whatever direction Obama sets as president. Not a raving review, but not the tragedy of a Palin Presidency at least.

I'll be carrying around this ball of uneasiness in my gut until the morning of Nov. 5th (hopefully it won't be dragged-out) when I can either give a big sigh of relief or I don't know what. If McCain/Palin win I may cry, through my coffee at the TV, go numb, check the house prices in Canada... I can't even think about it.

Ghosts, and the People Who See Them

2008-10-22T11:33:00.003-05:00

If you are a regular reader of my blog you can probably guess that I don't believe in ghosts.

However, throughout my life I have encountered people, who I respect and are otherwise very rational, who insist that they can sense/see/feel spirits. Many of these same people even reject religion and other dogma as ridiculous. So I find it difficult to just totally dismiss their claims.

I know many otherwise normal and rational religious people slip into to kooky-land just for religion and nothing else. Could the same be true for my ghost-seeing friends? I suppose.

I also know that things do exist that we can't directly sense and that we can become aware of the evidence for these things if someone teaches us how. This holds true in both science and sociology. For example, most American white people and men have no idea that they have immense societal privilege until someone else makes them aware of it. This is often met with skepticism and disdain and even dismissed by the privileged - but none-the-less privilege exits! So is this the case with my ghost-seeing friends? Perhaps.

Also, I often wonder about the flow of energy. Everything else in our environment functions in cycles - water, rock, carbon, etc. What about energy? It comes from the sun, hits the earth, get tangles up in plants, animals, people, fossil fuels, and whatever else, and then if flows away? Is there a cycle here that we don't know about? If there is, could that help explain the whole ghost thing?

I don't know why, but I want my friends to be right. I want them to be sensing something. I don't think its because that would help me deal with the concept of death, well maybe a little - but that doesn't seem to be my main motivation. It is also kinda of exciting if they are right, the opportunities to potentially communicate and there is enjoyment in knowing there is mystery out there - like the deep ocean, and outer space.

"Oh No She Called Me a Turd"

2008-10-21T15:09:00.005-05:00

This was a comment posted today regarding my Menards Ad Post. I was gonna wait to share this until I got a few more kooky comments and then post them all together. But the more I read this one the more I enjoy it - so it would be selfish of me not to share.

"cry baby atheist! are you ashamed you don't believe? big deal so they wrote that. if you really are an atheist then all you should say is " oh menards is so silly." let them do what they want. I wouldn't want your sissy business. why can you have your belief but oh no nobody better have their's."oh gee kroger sells meat and I'm a vegetarian and they put it in their ad,I better call them and cry." Go away you sick narrow minded turd."oh no she called me a turd, boo hoo!"

I love the language: "cry baby" "sissy" and "turd." Its almost endearing.

Kroger must be a grocery store, right? I haven't heard of it before.

Returning of Favors

2008-10-20T12:09:00.002-05:00

I just plucked up enough courage to check my Google Analytics stats after my hiatus from blogging and discovered two awesome blogs linked to me, so now I return the favor: Hords of blurp readers - go check them out!

Exercise in Futility
Psychodiva's Mutterings

Also of note - Planet Atheism and the Atheist Blogroll saved my blog from total abandonment over the summer. Thank you to the creators and facilitators of both!

Central Wisconsin Film Fesitval

2008-10-20T11:46:00.002-05:00

Three of my husband's animated music videos will be in the Central Wisconsin Film Festival the weekend of Nov. 7 and 8. We will both be there - if you live near Steven's Point come and check it out!

Here is my favorite of his films (Music is "When Water Comes to Life" by Cloud Clout):

Ass-Kicking Women of Mythology - Via the Primordial Blog

2008-10-19T14:41:00.005-05:00

Its nearing Halloween, so in honor of the lost feminine in religion and mythology here is a link to a blog series featuring "Ass-Kicking Women of Mythology" via the Primordial Blog.

Stand Down!

2008-10-18T19:09:00.002-05:00

Highly amusing:

Created by my friends and sound-geniuses Josh and Dan of the band Estate. They also run a sound biz called Transonic.

Photo Shoot

2008-10-18T16:32:00.004-05:00

Here are the my favorite rough pictures from my last photo shoot with Foat Design. The white sheet we used as the backdrop was a bit too small and the walls crept in here and there - but that's easily photoshop-able.

Pics that make me LOL

2008-10-15T16:39:00.003-05:00

More chuckle-makers from my random internet wonderings!

(As always, if any of these images belong to you let me know and I'll provide credit, take them down, or whatever.)

Palin as Pres

2008-10-15T16:30:00.003-05:00

I found this link/game on PZs blog, so many of you have already seen it - but its too awesome not to share. Plus they update it every day. Any one figure out how to make the dino appear?

Not so Horrible Endings

2008-10-14T09:53:00.002-05:00

Is it just in America that endings are considered so horrible?

I see statistics all over the place lamenting the high percentage of marriages which end in divorce. I don't get it; a marriage ending in divorce isn't bad. In fact, I think its the smart thing to do if the people who are married aren't happy with each other any more. Its stupid to stay married if the only thing keeping you together is the institute itself. When I hear couples bragging about how long they have been married I always wonder "yeah, but for how many of those years have you been happy?" Marriage isn't an endurance test. Psychologically healthy people grow and change. Couples may only be meant to be together for certain periods of their lives; growth and change may lead them in different directions, and and when they are not happy together anymore they should move on. (Note: This is coming from a happily married woman who espoused her high school sweet heart - ironic, eh?)

Same goes for the ending of jobs. When my old job was ending many friends came to me to express sympathy. While I value that they meant to be kind, I didn't feel that the ending of that job was worth mourning. I was happy to be free to find something more personally satisfying.

I don't mean to trivialize the pain and psychological work that endings/change cause. Perhaps that's why Americans hate endings so much - they force a sort of mental workout and thoughtful independence which is uncomfortable to an intellectually apathetic country.

What I'm getting at is its time for a change with the blog. This month marks two years of blogging which was originally fueled by the frustrations of an atheist in a religious nation. But now I feel inspired by more positive things and have been avoiding the blog as it has a tendency to encourage me to indulge my scathing inner cynic (which I guess this post demonstrates). So I'm going to give the blog a face lift and see if I can't be a little more positive for a while. Perhaps, I don't have it in me and its a bad idea to attempt to go against my nature, but I'm not going to totally ban rants. I just want a more positive and balanced outlet.

Cheers to a new day!

"Jesus is my Friend"

2008-09-06T21:05:00.002-05:00

For a good chuckle:

(The second to last verse is the best, around 1:50. ZAP!)

Thanks Boing Boing!

Quicksand!!

2008-08-25T11:57:00.004-05:00

My husband and I found a delightful block of quicksand this weekend along the Mississippi River in St. Paul Park. We were paddling south from Lions Levee Park along the side channel and then wandered into a pristine little cove. In the far back corner amongst the kingfishers and bald eagles was the quicksand. I marked the place on the map below.

Here's how it looks undisturbed:

Then we jumped in!

Quicksand it fun!

I heard from some friends at the National Park Service that this backwater was under a proposal for development = turn it into condos and a marina. That would suck.

Childhood Stories #1: Time Machines

2008-08-13T09:36:00.003-05:00

A bunch of childhood memories are creeping into my consciousness of late. They are mostly about school, my horse, crazy imagination outdoor games, and when my mom was sick. It seems like the stories want to get out, so I'm going to write 'em here.

Story #1: Time Machines

There were two time machines near my house.

The crab apple tree in the front yard was the more straight forward of the two. My elder sister discovered that when you climbed high into the tree and sat on a select branch, buttons would rise out of the knotty bark. The magic branch was thick and shot out the of trunk at roughly a 60 degree angle, it kinda hurt your butt to sit on it and you didn't want to stay too there long. I was too small to climb the tree on my own, so my dad nailed some boards into the trunk for me to use as stairs. The tree bark felt rough and strong, a little cold, and really REAL when I climbed. We used the buttons to program how far back in time we wanted to go; they made loud juicy beeping noises.

After programed, the tree would shake violently sending all those nearby into a violent spin and eventually knocking us down with dizziness. When the clouds and tree branches stopped spinning we had arrived in another time. Then we would wonder around looking at everything with new eyes, marveling at how much THE SAME everything looked. This game just faded away until we were in "normal" time again and we moved on to some other amusement.

The other time machine was more of a dimension shifter. I discovered this one myself - it was mine. There was a windbreak in the neighbor's yard made of a row of thick luscious pine trees. When I squeezed between the trees, there was a moment when I was totally engulfed in the surprisingly soft needles. In that second, I slipped into another dimension. When I emerged on the other side I was in a world lurking with fantasy danger: dragons, dinosaurs, sorcerers, tiny gnomes, and other adventurers. In this world I ran a store (in the sandbox). My most valuable commodities were ultra-soft sand collected from driveway ant mounds and cottonwood tree seeds. It wasn't uncommon for me to mix up magic potions, mostly for protection from dragons. I had to leave this dimension by going back through the pine trees again. My mother must have wondered why I ran away before returning home after she called me for dinner.

Strippers and Airplanes

2008-08-02T10:37:00.002-05:00

Two awesome blogs:

Flight Level 390
Stories from a commercial airline pilot. Lots of talk of fuel load, weather, and elevation told through narrative. Intriguing even to those who know nothing about aviation.

Grace Undressed
Stories from a (now former) stripper. This blogger was featured on BoingBoing a few months ago and kinda freaked out about it. But I'm glad she was, because she is an incredible writer.

Slimed!

2008-08-01T10:02:00.005-05:00

You'd think that when your time is all your own it would be like the happy montage scenes in movies when people fall in love, or go on vacations; doing one really fun exciting thing after another.

Now that I don't have a "real" job I have the potential to do live that paradise; but instead I end up staying at home surfing the web or watching the TV.

WHY?! I want to be out doing fun things!

I know part of it is some perverse work ethic telling me I should be using my time productively finishing my consulting website or taking care of household chores. But when I think about getting up to do those things I feel weighed down by a thick slimy goo of apathy. And being a midwesterner of German heritage I am cursed with the perverted moral that fun must be earned by work - so if I don't work, I don't play = stuck in shitty no-action land.

So far, for the most part, I've been able to wiggle myself out of the energy-sucking-slime and get something productive/fun done everyday but I need to figure out how to escape this melancholy nickelodeon madhouse.

Vulture Antandre

2008-07-31T10:22:00.007-05:00

Image Source

Turkey vultures have recently taken to perching on downtown St. Paul buildings, according to a reliable park ranger friend of mine.

This amusingly coincides with the first round of republicans arriving for next month's National Convention. Are the vultures expressing some kind of kinship? Are dead bodies being left on the roofs? ...

While vultures are a common site along the Mississippi River in Minneapolis and St. Paul, this is the first I've heard of them perching in groups on buildings downtown. Bizarre coincidence?

What Bush and I have in common:

2008-07-15T19:01:00.003-05:00

Four year terms of federal service from 2004 - 2008.
He was elected for a 4-year term and I was hired for a 4-year term in 2004.

I wonder how my time working for the National Park Service would have been different if Kerry had won the election.

The National Park Service was/is going through a crisis in staffing. The agency doesn't have enough permanently dedicated funds to hire enough permanent people so parks are forced hire people for finite chunks of time. They are generally four-year term positions, which can't be renewed (sometimes they are extended for a year or two). Most of the time, parks are able to scrap together enough money every four years to hire another term, but they can't just keep the same person who was doing the job. They have to go though the convoluted federal hiring process all over again which doesn't guaranty the qualified incumbent anything. So the person who has dedicated four years of their life to the Park Service often gets kicked out on their butt and a newbie revolves in. Most of these dumped NPS employees are so dedicated they just get up, dust themselves off, and reincarnate into another term position hoping to ultimately land in the nirvana of the permanent position. Its no way to treat good employees.

In my case, the park wasn't able to scrape together the cash for another four years. (Which is OK for me personally because I have decided to pursue other career goals, but it sucks for the park because they are loosing a person.)

Would Kerry have better funded the NPS? Would he have prioritized energy and environmental issues? Avoided war and used federal money in other places? Its kinda funny to think about this, like another dimension life I could have led.

On a totally unrelated note I got stung by a bee today for the first time ever! I learned I'm not allergic; which is good, because my dad is allergic and I have always wondered if I inherited that or not.

Dog Vomit Slime Mold

2008-07-13T21:35:00.003-05:00

I came back from a weekend at a friend's cabin to discover an awesome glob of Fuligo Septica, AKA vomit slime mold, in my rain garden. Just in time for the rain garden tour this coming weekend!

Oddly, this is the second surprise to pop up in my garden this weekend. Someone left a beautiful ceramic statue in my garden on Friday morning while I was walking my pooch. I checked with most of the likely suspects and have yet to find the perpetrator. Weird, huh? Thanks to the mystery giver!

I've been wanting to see a real-live slime mold ever since I read about them in the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer. BTW - this great magazine is free to all Minnesota residents. Subscribe Here.

I'll post some photos this week hopefully. Things have been a little crazy - but I resigned totally from my job last week - so I should have more time soon. Yippie!

Best Place to Watch Fireworks in Minneapolis

2008-07-05T09:43:00.006-05:00

Lake Calhoun in a canoe.

For the couple dozen Minneapolis residents who read this blog you now know my secret.

This year was great! We put in the water at about 7:30 and paddled all around the chain of lakes. (The same route we did last spring.) But in the end we paddled south into Lake Calhoun and watched fireworks.

We saw a bunch of wood ducks around the islands, and a loon on Cedar Lake (I saw a loon on Lake Nokomas last week too, the Twin Cities seem too far south for loons normally - does anyone know better?), and at twilight on our way to Lake Calhoun we passed by the islands again and saw our old friend the Black Capped Night Heron fly from his roost to the bank for breakfast.

When we got to Lake Harriet, it was pitch black with only a sliver of a moon. The water was smooth flat obsidian and at about 10:00 pm fireworks started on all sides of us and were reflected in the water. There were a about a half dozen other canoes around us but it was very peaceful and sort of otherworldly.

I'm Still Angry, and I Think That's Good

2008-06-27T00:02:00.004-05:00

I just got back from an entertaining evening out with my husband and some of his coworkers.

My husband works for a relatively small creative company where nearly all the employees are youngish handsome white guys. The two women who work there are the receptionist and the project manager. Needless to say there's some sexism a-brewing.

One of the coworkers is chronic verbal offender, always saying really insulting and condescending stuff about "the wifes" (referring to all company's men's wifes) in front of me. Regular readers of this blog can imagine how well that goes over and what delightful conservations follow...

Well tonight, on the the drive home I was complaining about some obnoxious comment made by the Chronic Offender and my husband asked me how he could make me feel better. I think the answer is unfortunately there's no remedy for my fury. This guy isn't changing - and he represents thousands/millions of others with the same crude mentality. And that if I ever decided not to let his words and actions bother me anymore I would be marginalizing myself and therefore passively supporting his actions. So it appears I'm condemned to a life of perpetual infuriation.

I can only hope that every time I say something to him or anyone else in an effort to not let stupidity slip by, be it religious or sexist, that it may chisel away a little piece from the block of density so many live in.

I also hope that this base level of angst I'm growing accustom to helps me be more conscious of my privileges and not become someone else's Chronic Offender.

I'm on Etsy

2008-06-26T17:04:00.002-05:00

I made some jewelry to sell on Etsy.

Check it out

No FSM items yet, but perhaps there will be soon!

Life

2008-06-24T22:05:00.002-05:00

Dear Ms. Blog,

I haven't forgotten you. Life is stealing my time away and leaving none for you. My condolences. This too shall pass.

Love,

Zeolite

Graduation

2008-06-11T16:41:00.002-05:00

Heres my favorite shot from my neighbor's graduation today.

I also just got an email informing me my 10 year high school reunion is this fall. I think I'm going to go out of curiosity but I'm not sure what to expect. I was never a member of the social elite and kept a small group of friends - mostly the type who would skip reunions - so I wonder how the socialization will flesh out. Do the old cliques re-form? Is there a bunch of hierarchy determining questioning about ones accomplishments over the past 10 years? or by their late-20ties have most people matured enough embrace the opportunity of getting to know people on a new level?

I just can't stop thinking about that movie with the two girls who pretend they invented post-it notes at their reunion...

Robbed

2008-06-01T22:41:00.005-05:00

Last weekend our bikes were stolen out of our garage during the night.

The burglars kicked in our garage door, which only had a door lock - no dead-bolt - and took our bikes. Then they carefully shut the door and fence gate behind them, ditched some other bikes in our yard, and left.

Monday morning we noticed the door frame was broken: thats weird; I wonder how.... wait .... that looks like it was kicked in.... where are our bikes... oh shit.

On the bright side:
The Minneapolis police were excellent, they were at our house within an hour and were very nice. They also took away the bikes the thieves left behind. We also had great service from the B-Safe locksmith people (I would link to them but their website sucks - but thats OK, they are locksmiths not web geeks); they came that same Monday and fixed the door and installed a massive dead-bolt that locks through a very thick strip of medal. Insurance (Allstate) was great and rated the value of our bikes generously.

Soooo we got new bikes this weekend:

Here is my beauty:

A Trek 7.2 FX WSD

Today was beautiful and we took a nice long ride to break the bikes in. And when we brought them home and stowed them in the garage, we used our new heavy duty u-bolt locks to secure them to the garage wall.

These are the people in my neighborhood

2008-05-25T18:02:00.004-05:00

Some shots from the today. The light was awesome because there were massive thunderstorms all around our neighborhood making a moody surreal sky, but they all skirted around us.

You're "Adorable"

2008-05-21T18:38:00.005-05:00

Mike1071 left this comment on the post where I uploaded a picture of myself with Dawkins in the background at the American Atheists conference:

Mike1071 said...
"I've got to attend one of those. By the way, you're adorable!"

Guys, please refrain from posting any kinds of comments about a gals physical appearance unless your surfing a special kind of site, ehem...

It causes me, and I suspect other women bloggers, a particular kind of mental anguish that reads kinda like this:

"Who is this creep-o; why did I post a picture of myself anyway; now I have to worry about a stalker; wait, I'm being absurd, this guy was probably just trying to be nice; trying to be nice? really? ticks me off that being nice is telling me my photo is cute and not that my blog is smart; dick; hmmm... maybe I shouldn't be so hard on him, he probably didn't intend to piss me off; but that doesn't make it any less infuriating..."

This pendulatic thought guillotine just keeps swinging like a perpetual motion machine fueled by my feminist fury and my paranoid empathy.

Those who may be wondering why my feminist hackles would be raised by such a seemingly innocent comment should read up on sexual objectification and male privilege. I also wholeheartedly suggest reading the classic article Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack because it does a good job highlighting the subtly of discrimination that is almost ubiquitously overlooked by the privileged.

On a related note, this phenomenal letter to the editor was published in the June 2008 National Geographic:

"Robert Kunzig's otherwise excellent article was marred by one jarring description that added nothing to his narrative and was remarkable only for its incongruousness. I refer to the description of the Southern Nevada Water Authority's Pat Mulory as a 'crisp, tanned, fiftysomething blonde with a tailored look and a forceful personality.' It is notable that no other human being in the article is described by his or her appearance. At least one-half of your readership could live without the disappointing experience of being reminded, yet again, that its most notable attributes are cosmetic. For your information, what you probably want to know about me is that I am a petite, bespectacled brunette who would really appreciate being able to pick up your magazine without preparing for a possible gratuitous insult."

June Lehrman
Culver City, California"

LOL Bible

2008-05-04T00:35:00.004-05:00

LOL Cats Version, Genesis, Chapter 3.

What an inane yet amusing project.

(Thanks for the link Where We Make Our Stand blog!)

The Birds and the Bees

2008-05-02T08:21:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I went to Westwood Hills Nature Center to begin volunteer training to work with their red-tailed hawk, but the birding was so great we decided to reschedule the training and spend the afternoon outside bird watching.

Right now in Minnesota many of the northern lakes are still iced over so lots of the migrants are hanging out here, in the Twin Cities, until they melt. Yesterday I saw a yellow-rumped warbler, a ruby-crowned kinglet, and some sort of fly catcher - all in about 20 minutes of half-assed looking without binocs. For more interesting and accurate Minnesota birding information check out my new friend's Bird Chick Blog.

Westwood Hills also has a growing bee keeping program and I snapped some photos as they checked for eggs.

Portland is Yay!

2008-04-27T22:22:00.004-05:00

I was just in Portland visiting my brother-in-law Craig. He is an author and artist who has written some amazing graphic novels. See the link to his blog Doot Doot on the right.

Here are some pics:

Craig had a bunch of chick pamphlets in his bathroom which highly amused me, so he broke out his entire stash. We were feeling kinda goofy so we made this virgin-mary-like halo of chick pamphlets surrounding Craig.

Both Craig and his brother Jon (AKA Phil = his middle name) are artists and grew up drawing together. They resurrected some childhood comic heros for a new comeback adventure. You can see that on Craig's Blog.

Lastly, we went surfing - well Craig, Jon and our friend Dan did. It was too cold for me and Dan's wife; we went to a coffee shop and had delicious homemade curry carrot soup.

Vacances a Trois

2008-04-09T16:45:00.002-05:00

Here a delightful stop-motion animation some friends and I made this weekend. Enjoy!

LibraryThing

2008-03-26T17:06:00.002-05:00

I've piddled away much of my day looking for a good book recommending/networking site. I think the best one is LibraryThing.

I also like Shelfari, it's much better designed, but as far as I can tell is doesn't recommend books at all - which is what I primarily want.

They both have nifty widgets for showing your books on your blog. Which I may add at some point but right now my book list is kinda pathetic and I don't really want to show if off.

That said, if you also have an account with LibraryThing I would be happy to have you as a "friend" my member name is Zeolite there too.

Is it really that surprising I'm an atheist?

2008-03-25T20:42:00.004-05:00

One unexpected outcome of attending the American Atheist conference is that it forced me out of my "don't ask, don't tell" closet with my coworkers because what does everyone ask you on Monday morning?

"How was your weekend? What did you do?"

My answer: "It was great, I attended the American Atheists Conference"

The response: crooked smile, unsure laugh, "Really?"

"Yeah,"

"Uhhh, how was that?"

Now, in my coworkers defense, it would be my style to say something really crazy with a straight face and try and fool them, but is attending an atheists conference so crazy?

I also told my Dad this weekend under the same circumstances, he took it fairly well - he already knew I had "left the fold" but I'd never said the A-word to him before.

This started some interesting conversations and I re-discovered the power of semantics. Friends who balked at my atheism went on to call themselves agnostic, which to me is essentially the same: not believing in a god because there is no evidence for one. The two terms are not really different intellectually but powerfully different in perception.

I think I'm gonna stick with the label atheist. There's a stubborn little beast in me that wants to buck the perceptions and using the label agnostic feels like selling out.

Menards Ad Shuns Atheism in Very Small Type

2008-03-23T17:59:00.006-05:00

On the bottom of page 4 of Menards' most recent add is the phrase "It is not important what you believe, only that you believe."

Reading that in the add section of paper was like having a little gremlin leap from the pages and bite me on the thumb. Completely unexpected and packs a powerful sting. I sent Menards an email saying that - except without the whole gremlin analogy.

Update: Menards responded to my email quickly and generically...

"I am very sorry we let you down. We need and appreciate you business. I appreciate the heads up on this and we will get on it at once.
Best Regards,
Ray"

Dawkins 'n Me

2008-03-23T17:46:00.005-05:00

A kind stranger snapped this photo of me with Dawkins in the background at the American Atheists conference this weekend. The stranger had seen me awkwardly attempting to take the photo myself - thank you for your help!

Destroy Religion?

2008-03-23T13:37:00.002-05:00

During the American Atheists Conference this past weekend I repeatedly heard speakers and attendees discuss how we can destroy religion. One speaker, Dr. Jack David Eller, said that we need to destroy religion and replace it with atheist holidays, books, and culture lest we leave a vacuum where religion once was- and he got a standing ovation.

This is seriously messed up! Yes, I agree a world without religion would be a wonderful place, however, America's first amendment - that we United States atheists quote so often - allows for the the freedom from jerks who want to annihilate another group. The hypocrisy is nearly unbearable.

And how would replacing religion with atheistic holidays, books, and culture not just be another religion? Sure it may start with good secular intentions but if we simple removed religion and replaced it with "atheist" equivalents it would quickly become dogmatic and essentially a new religion.

The frustrating part is that we don't need to have a "war" with religion. Atheism isn't even on the same wavelength. Religion is an antiquated coping mechanism for people who have a hard lot in life and for those who are incapable or too apathetic to critically think.

So if, as atheists, we focus on reducing suffering and increasing education we will be eliminating the need for religion. Just look at the demographics of atheists; we are wealthier, more educated, and happier than the average human - our demographics have freed us from religion.

This is even more the reason that atheists need to engage in supporting other civil rights movements. The happier, smarter, and more satisfied people are the more they are enabled to leave the crutch of religion behind.

American Atheists Reminder: You are a Civil Rights Organization

2008-03-21T20:26:00.005-05:00

My experiences today at the American Atheists Conference confirmed my observation that many atheists are oblivious that they are part of the greater civil rights movements.

This afternoon a panel gathered to discuss wether or not American Atheists should partner with other "liberal" civil rights groups on causes like abortion, gay rights, and other women's rights. There was a strong opposition to associating with "liberals" and a passionate cry that the organization should only focus on "atheist issues" in order to avoid alienating "conservative" atheists.

Poppycock! There is no such thing as an exclusively atheist issue, all issues are atheist issues, all issues are women's issues, all issues are gay rights issues, all issues are race issues; all civil rights movements are connected. The desire to separate them is a symptom of the privileged demographics of American Atheists. The mostly white, wealthy, and male members have the luxury of only experiencing discrimination on one plane - they don't have have to worry about discrimination because they are non-white, female, or gay. Those other planes of discrimination are not immediate and therefore invisible.

That said, a large chunk of today's conference was inspired and presented by leaders in other areas of the civil rights movements. A feminist speaker gave an excellent talk explaining the frightening power religious organizations have over our health care. Also, the last talk was an enlightening and moving look into the African American civil rights movement. There were also many attendees who spoke out to encourage American Atheists to embrace their position as part of the greater civil rights culture. So, I don't mean to imply that the entire organization and everyone involved is being dense - but there was enough ridiculous talk of "atheist issues" to raise a red flag.

American Atheists Conference

2008-03-20T20:35:00.005-05:00

I'll be attending the American Atheists Conference this weekend. Its so conveniently located a hop, skip, and a jump away from my home!

I'm very curious to see the demographic of the peeps attending. I haven't had the best of social experiences at previous atheists events I've attended.

I was surprised to here that only about 500 people are expected to attend the conference. I suspect Minneapolis has one of the highest concentrations of atheists in the US; whenever I say that I'm an atheist I always here "me too" or "so is my [insert close friend/relative here]." Perhaps some insight is offered by my friend who told me she doesn't subscribe to any religion but she won't attend because she isn't into any event regarding religion or the absence there of. Religion seems to be a total non-issue to many Minneapolis folks.

If any other atheist bloggers will be at the conference, and you're not interested in hitting on me or asking me to speak for my demographic, send me an email - I'll let you in on all the underground coolness secrets of Minneapolis.

Waste

2008-03-14T14:52:00.003-05:00

I attended a very interesting talk last night at Mill City Museum in Minneapolis which focused on climate change and culture. It discussed the culture of conservation that developed during the depression and WWII and what kind of new culture of conservation we need to develop in the face of climate change.

One of the speakers, Peggy Knapp, based her talk on the idea that waste is an exclusively human thing.

I think she is right - but only because of the speed and the intensity in which we change things and create "waste." All other living things create their own waste, right? The difference is that other creatures have evolved to take advantage of that waste- one creature's trash is another creature's treasure. We just create so much new waste so fast that nothing has been able to evolve to use it up.

Its interesting that capitalism hasn't encouraged our culture to become more cyclic with our waste/resource stream. Perhaps this is because only a certain subset of costs and benefits are looked at; with immediate and local cost/benefits being prioritized and future and "elsewhere" costs/benefits being ignored.

Is there any example of another creature that creates "waste" in the same sense that humans do? Perhaps waste begins to pile up when human-disturbed ecosystems become unbalanced. But are there any other naturally evolved "wasters" like us?

Mutant Orange Flower Plant

2008-03-07T14:12:00.004-06:00

Anyone know what kind of plant this is?

I bought it at the grocery store a couple weeks ago. It only had 4 or 5 flowers then and now it's nothing but flowers - it barely has any green leaves left. Its cool, but its creeping me out a little. It can't continue on like this forever - its going to spontaneously combust soon!

Close-up of flowers:

Just yesterday I notices two of these odd trumpet shaped flowers hiding amongst the normal ones. Bizarre.

Freedom!!

2008-02-28T13:23:00.002-06:00

I quit my job! Well, kinda...

A little background, I had a dream job - I was a National Park Ranger in charge of running the park Junior Ranger Program. I could hardly make-up a better job theoretically. The job duties were awesome: I got paid to hang out with kids, paddle my canoe up and down the river, and explore rock outcrops looking for fossils and caves. But unfortunately the psychosis of federal employment got to me after three and a half years.

In federal-land all paths lead to "NO," it takes tremendous effort to overcome the objections and apathetic reactions to even the most obviously beneficial programs or changes. And the aftermath of success is a reputation as someone who makes everyone else looks bad, or someone who doesn't believe the rules apply to them, or someone who is insubordinate, or someone who is a loose cannon. If you ever here someone described in these terms from a federal reference hire them immediately!! They will be someone who gets things done!

My mantra through the years was to "find the healthy." I had to work to keep grasp of my "normal" perspective to identify and accomplish common sense goals. But during the past few months I haven't been able to find any "healthy" and that was my signal that I needed to get out. So I wrote up and signed a resignation letter and just before I turned it in the superintendent of the park offered me a completely different opportunity.

He offered me a position he was sure I would want based on previous discussions: a part-time position working directly for him on a once-in-a-lifetime special project opportunity. At my request, I'll be working only Mondays and Tuesdays for 10 hours each day. That frees-up the rest of the week to research creating and opening an art gallery in Minneapolis - something my husband and I haven wanted to do for a long time. More about that in future posts!

Morale of the story: You are in charge of your happiness and hard work will be rewarded. I decided I couldn't stay in my current position and I had impressed the superintendent with my ability to get things done and he didn't want to lose me. So we created a position that would make me happy again and benefit the park.

More Photos that Make me Laugh (PTMML)

2008-01-25T12:53:00.001-06:00

Again, I randomly gather these images during my internet wonderings and have no idea where they originated. If one is yours and you want credit email me or post a comment.

South America

2008-01-25T12:29:00.000-06:00

My husband and I were just in Argentina, Uruguay, and Chili. Here are some of my favorite photos (all taken by my husband). Click for big.

Flying Spaghetti Monster Ornaments

2007-11-26T20:50:00.000-06:00

I felt the urge to put up a christmas tree this year. I enjoy doing it, it brings back good family memories.

However I added my own twist with a homemade flying spaghetti monster ornament! For some reason I always envision the FSM as being purple - I guess I can make my imaginary deity whatever color I want, right? There is a FSM ornament already for sale online. Its cool - but not $33 cool.

In fact, I made four ornaments! So I have three extras... so, if any of you christmas-tree-harboring-atheists would like a flying spaghetti monster ornament send me an email. I'll mail them out to the first 3 peeps to ask me or to the best offer.

Email: zeoliteDOTblurpATgmailDOTcom

I'm also keeping a copy of Darwin's Origin of Species next to the tree (see pic) lest anyone get the wrong idea.

Tattle

2007-11-23T12:03:00.000-06:00

Another Thanksgiving story...

My husband's family does the traditional around-the-table-hand-holding while they pray thing. I hold hands with them but I don't bow my head or shut my eyes. This year, my 5-year-old niece peaked open her eyes to surreptitiously look around and I winked at her, she could barely hold in her incredulity until the end of the prayer, then she screamed, "Aunty had her eyes open!" I suspect she expected a unified gasp from the family or something - but everyone just kinda shrugged their shoulders and started passing food. I wonder if little interactions like this will help her to think about religion differently? Part of me hopes it will loosen the ropes a tiny bit.

I hope to be a good example of someone living without religion for both my nieces. I hope that they don't grow up hating or fearing atheists and that they have a religious escape route if they need it. Its a fine line to walk - I want to respect my sister and sister-in-law and their choices as parents. I wouldn't want them trying to convert my children (if I had any) but I also wouldn't mind them just showing my kids how they live.

We Love Babies too!

2007-11-23T11:42:00.000-06:00

I spent thanksgiving at my in-laws' house in central Wisconsin about 2.5 hours from ours in Minneapolis; a straight shot across hwy 29. There are a bazillion anti-abrortion billboards with pictures of babies and lame phrases ("embryos are just tiny babies," etc.) on that stretch of highway that inspired my husband and I to brainstorm some of our own billboards for hwy 29:

Atheists: We *heart* babies too! www.donthateus.org

Just think about it. www.donthateus.org

Atheists: Guilt free since the big bang www.donthateus.org

Prey for Christians www.donthateus.org

www.donthateus.org doesn't exist but I imagine it would contain a statement about how we are supporters of everyone's constitutional right to freely practice their religion and the separation of church and state, that we are the most hated us "group," and that according to them we're going to hell anyway - isn't that enough? - no need to be hatin' here on earth.

Billboards can't be too expensive in central WI...

Photos that Make Me Laugh Part 5

2007-11-09T21:56:00.000-06:00

More random photos that make me laugh:

As usual, I don't remember where these images came from - if one is yours and you want credit just let me know.

Atheist Goat Screen Background!

2007-11-09T21:17:00.000-06:00

Its all yours for the taking! Click the image below for full size, save it, and set as a tiled background.

I Chose to Lie

2007-10-21T17:53:00.000-05:00

I found a stray dog yesterday near my house in Minneapolis and brought it to the nearest animal shelter which is in St. Paul.

When they asked me if I found the dog in St. Paul I said "yes" without hesitation because I knew that if I said "no" they would send me away. I needed to get to work and didn't have time to drive across Minneapolis to the other animal shelter.

So my mind quickly weighed the options regarding the welfare of the dog and of my job and I chose to lie.

Back when I was a hard-core christian I would have either answered the question truthfully or currently be racked with guilt about lying. While, I don't feel guilty about my decision it still feels slimy to admit that I chose to lie. However, I really do think that sometimes it's OK to lie - am I a bad example perpetuating the stereo-type of the immoral atheist?

The truth of the matter is it's not about truth. It's about morality. And sometimes lying can be the moral thing to do or, at the very least, not immoral. And frequently it's a wash. Yesterday, the moral thing to do was to rescue the dog. Was it moral to lie to the animal shelter about where I found the dog? Perhaps. My other choices were to let the dog go loose again (to me not a moral choice) or be late for work and potentially lose my job (not a option I was willing to choose).

Frequently, there are times when the morally or socially correct thing is not to tell the truth. Look no farther than answering common greeting of "How are you?" For more examples, here is one blogger's list of the 15 most common white lies.

This blogger argues that all lies are immoral in response to a Today Show psychotherapist's list of when its OK to lie. I disagree entirely with him. The slippery slope argument is, as usual, ridiculous and none of the lies I have told have "plant[ed] a seed of corruption that will eat at [my] very soul."

Jewish? Here's a card expressing my sympathy and encouragement.

2007-10-14T12:37:00.000-05:00

I felt like a real crackpot giggling in the sympathy card section of the gift store, but tucked between all the cards labeled "sympathy" and "encouragement" was a stack of cards labeled "Jewish." There were no other religious, or birthday, or other holiday cards in that entire row! Just lots of "I'm Sorry" and then that one "Jewish" card.

(Note: this post is not anti-Semitism, I would think it was funny if it called out the name of any group -christian, atheist, scuba divers... its the juxtaposition that's funny.)

Sorry the photo is crappy - I took it with my cell phone.

One Year Anniversary!

2007-10-13T11:32:00.000-05:00

This October marks my one year anniversary for blogging. Yay!

My 5 most read posts:
From Jello to Jesus
Minneapolis Tornado
Arabella B. Buckley
Hag Syndrome
Crazy Mammoths

Odd choices by you readers - but I'm glad your reading!

My favorite part of this blog so far has been the Daily Dose Project. It was a very valuable exercise in becoming aware.

About you:
There have been 242 peeps hanging out here on and off;

From all over the world but mostly from the US and Canada (also from the UK, Australia, Belgium, Spain, Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands);

You check out a page or two, for a minute or two each on average, and then move on;

and you don't like to surf the web in the morning - most hits are at lunch and after work.

Halloween = Witnessing Opportunity!

2007-10-12T23:07:00.000-05:00

A co-worker frequently finds chick tracks entitled Are Roman Catholics Christians? on the Wabasha Street Bridge in St. Paul and gave one to me for a laugh today. And it is very funny - especially on the last page where you are asked if you take Jesus as your savior Check Yes or No.

So, after checking "No," I went to the Chick Publications website and found a great place for hours of side-ache inducing entertainment!

On the homepage I was greeted with this message:

"Every Halloween, a parade of children stream to your door asking for a treat. By dropping a Chick tract or two (along with some candy) into their bags, in one night you can give the gospel to lots of kids (and their families)...all without leaving your home."

Then I discovered that all the tracks are online for our viewing enjoyment!

My favorite is their new "black track series" because it is soooo wrong. Excerpts below:

Which one is your favorite?

What should you do if you find an atheist?

2007-10-12T23:03:00.001-05:00

(Anyone know where this is from?? It was emailed to me with no reference to its origin.)

Crazy Mammoths!

2007-10-08T21:22:00.000-05:00

Super fun addicting frozen Mammoth racing game!

I demand more paleo-games!

Photos on Foat

2007-10-08T10:12:00.000-05:00

My husband and I did a couple photo shoots for Foat fashion design over the summer. They just finished their new website using a smattering of our photos.

My husband and I did the shoot with the white background (see couture section for examples) and I did the shoot taken in the industry ruins (see the first four images on the categories page for examples.) Check 'em out!

Arrrrgh!

2007-10-07T19:33:00.000-05:00

Last night was the second annual Minneapolis Pirate Pub Crawl.

Jesus again descended for the event - apparently he can't resist an opportunity to show off his stigmata and dress like a pirate!

The St. Paul Pioneer Press wrote a great article with pirate moi on the cover. (It's in the photo slide show - Ben Garvin was the photographer.)

More photos by my hubbo.

Crisis in Morale: The Grass is Always Greener Syndrome

2007-09-24T18:09:00.000-05:00

I've recently read about a study that concluded we all have a natural equilibrium level of happiness, that can be temporarily tipped for the better or worse, but we always gravitate back toward our natural happiness sweet spot.

I've also noticed that people, myself included, are grand optimists about the unknown. My personal happiness is strongly connected to the quantity and/or quality of opportunities I perceive I have in any situation. Which naturally leads me to be very happy at the beginning of things - friendships, jobs, etc. But that happiness fades as I learn many unknown areas that I thought might be doors to utopia are really just brick walls. As this occurs, my instinct is to jump the fence into the next pasture kicks in.

Is this just immaturity? Does a wiser person than me know that "opportunity is where you are" and that greener pastures are just an illusion? Does it matter at all if we all just end up at our equilibrium level of happiness anyway?

The point of all this that I have what many perceive to be a dream job that I think I want to leave. My job is really super fun about 1/5th of the time, however, most of the time I'm pretty bored, and occasionally (and seemingly more frequently) I'm really miserable. I'm getting the itch to move on to something else but is it stupid to leave? Its like the turning point on a game show when you have to decide to take your $100,000 and run or go for the $1 Million. I really want the million...

Minneapolis Tornado

2007-09-20T20:44:00.000-05:00

I think there was a Tornado on my block tonight. Here are some photos:

A tree fell in in the yard of our the neighbor on the north

A tree fell across the street

A tree fell on our south neighbors house

Our house (in the middle on the right) unscathed - probably because the tree in front of our house had dutch elm disease and was cut down a couple years ago.

Just a couples house north of us next to the park; a guy was sitting in the cab of this truck when the tree fell on it. He was waiting out the storm to play a football game in the park. He's OK. They interviewed him on the news.

Dramatic, eh? Everyones OK. They didn't officially say there was a tornado, but only the one block to the east of us also had trees down, everywhere else is just wet.

Pirate Jesus Wants YOU!

2007-09-18T20:22:00.000-05:00

To Come to the 2007 Minneapolis Pirate Pub Crawl on Oct. 6th!

I can't even say how fun last year was so here are some photos:

There were massive pirate migrations:

With rum specials at every bar:

Topped off with a drunken raunchy zombie vs. pirate dance off!

Does it get any better? Check out the website for more photos, a movie of last years zombie vs. pirate pub crawl, and details for the 2007 event. RSVP on the site!

See you there!

Cedar Lake

2007-09-16T18:46:00.000-05:00

I'll be an idiot if I ever move away from Minneapolis. There are lakes, parks, streams, and rivers that can whisk you away all within the city limits. Here are a couple shots from today's excursion to Cedar Lake. These photos were taken with a Lensbaby 2.0.

Random Portraits

2007-09-08T22:04:00.001-05:00

My husband at our favorite restaurant
"Movie Star" me on Lake Minnetonka Today
and this picture just makes me laugh. I didn't take it, I found it somewhere on the internet.

Charles C. Mann

2007-09-02T21:34:00.000-05:00

I heard Charles C. Mann speak at the George Wright Society Conference this spring and it completely changed the way I think about human history.

The pre-european western-hemisphere population size, sophistication, and magnitude of landscape alteration were all much more massive than I ever fathomed.

There are a couple interviews with him here and here. At the least the first link does a good job highlighting some of the interesting points he conveys in his book 1491.

This concurs with a recent discovery of mine: history is actually interesting and relevant! Its not all about dry names and dates and arbitrary discoveries and founding fathers; it's about hate and fear and sex and manipulation and lust and luck and power. Not exactly components of traditional public school curricula.

Image is from National Geographic

Creatures of the Deep

2007-09-01T16:04:00.000-05:00

I've been toying with the idea of getting a deep-sea creature tattoo and ordered the book Creatures of the Deep for inspiration.

Its wonderful book chucked full of bizarre sciencey-goodness. Here's an excerpt:

In some anglerfish species, the male becomes a lifelong "parasite" of its prospective mate. The males jaws and skin around its mouth fuse with the female's body, leaving only a small space at the sides of the mouth for gas exchange. In time, the male's circulatory system becomes connected to the females and his internal organs and eyes degenerate. The female becomes the sole bread-winner, and the male, in essence, becomes a sort of non-retractable penis. It may not seem much of a life for the male either-but it neatly solves the problem of find one's mate in the dark depths.

Image from Raffles Museum News website

Blog Phenology

2007-08-29T20:06:00.000-05:00

In spring the thought of hunkering down with my computer was nothing short of repulsive. I wanted to frolic outside and bask in warmth directly from the sun - not emanating from my laptop battery.

Over the summer, my pouting Powerbook collected dust and I'm sure it wept silently while I swam, canoed, biked, ran, and otherwise occupied myself with all sorts of other summery goodness.

But now I'm beginning to feel the tug of my favorite hibernation activity. My daytime thoughts are more frequently caching experiences as blog fodder and I'm becoming more desperate to find the battery charger for my pocket camera.

And if last winter is any indication, in the coming months I'll be blogging everyday, surreptitiously snapping pontifical photos, and snuggling-up in my hi-tech hibernaculum.

Richard Dawkins' Social Club

2007-08-29T20:01:00.000-05:00

Here's my page

Milk Run 2007!

2007-08-27T22:55:00.000-05:00

I ran my first race yesterday! The Minnesota State Fair Milk Run 5K

It was way fun, I finished in about 33 minutes, which I'm happy with - it was a very hilly course and I felt pretty good all the way through. I covered my friends faces so they don't get any badness from being posted on my Atheist blog.

Jesus images that make me laugh

2007-08-27T22:44:00.000-05:00

Yay! Rapture time!

Come sit in my lap...
I found these somewhere, can't remember where... but they make me laugh

... Boy Are My Arms Tired!

2007-08-06T12:59:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I paddled the Mississippi River Challenge sponsored by Friends of the Mississippi River. It was originally going to be a two-day 44-mile paddle through the entire Twin Cities but because of the bridge collapse, the first day (which included the stretch under 35W) was cancelled. However, 22-miles is still a significant distance to paddle in one weekend. Below is a map of the route (click for big).

This paddle continues my summer-o-paddling the Twin Cities Rivers.

I recently paddled a stretch from Bohemian Flats (just downstream of 35W) to Hidden Falls Park.

click for big

And I also jumped into the Minnesota River just downstream of Hwy 77, paddled to the Mississippi, and took out at Lilydale.

click for big

Anti-Climb Paint

2007-08-04T15:03:00.000-05:00

I saw this sign in Scotland and thought it was a scare-sign but it's a real thing - who knew?

Daily Dose - Rainy Day Post

2007-08-04T14:33:00.000-05:00

Today is a rainy dreary day so I've grabbed my laptop and ran out to my favorite coffee shop. Here are some Daily Dose photos I've been building up for a while:

Car decorations:

Every Wednesday afternoon there is an anti-war demonstration on the bridge near my house. A few weeks ago it was apparently sponsored by local churches.

35 dub

2007-08-01T23:11:00.000-05:00

I-35W collapsed today into the Mississippi River. Crazy. Unbelievable.

Photo from the BBC website

Heres a link to some sobering photos from the Star Tribune: (you'll have to log in, but its worth it if you want to see)

I was on the light rail on the way to a Twins game when the crowd in the train started murmuring and staring out the window. I saw smoke but thought it was just a bad accident but then someone said the bridge had collapsed. I thought just a little hunk must have fell into the river; the bridge was under construction. But then I got several frantic calls from friends and family asking if I was OK, they heard the news, they'd been trying for hours to get a hold of me but the lines were down. Then I figured it out: the entire bridge fell into the Mississippi River. Wow.

I guess this changes my weekend plans. I was going to paddle under that bridge in a canoe as part of the Friends of the Mississippi River 22-mile Canoe Challenge.

I guess this changes my whole life actually. My work is dedicated to that section of the Mississippi River, I live just downstream of that stretch of the River, I center my recreational activities around canoeing, biking, running, and hiking along that stretch of the river. That's why I choose to live in the Minneapolis. hmmmm.

They've been saying it will takes years to rebuild, they have no idea why it collapsed (but that we shouldn't suspect terrorism), and that they expect to find lots of dead bodies tomorrow.

It is the top news story on the BBC: Seven Dead as US Bridge Collapses

A schematic from the Star Tribune

The whole Star Trib article

Athiest FAQ

2007-07-30T22:13:00.000-05:00

This is a really good FAQ via the Friendly Atheist and his readers. Its short and simple.

Here's an excerpt:

Is all religion harmful?
Only in the sense that religious fervor has the potential to become disastrous. By avoiding logic and promoting faith when making our decisions, anything can be justified, good or bad. While there are people who can separate religious beliefs from scientific truths and respect for all people, there are many that cannot.

What's so bad about religious moderates?
They teach that faith is a virtue. They use the same reasoning patterns as religious extremists when justifying their beliefs. If faith is all they need to believe, todayís moderates could become tomorrowís extremists.

Is there anything redeeming about religion?
Religion can be used as a motivator for good. It can be a source of comfort in times of need. It has the ability to bring people together and unite them. It has been the inspiration for much of our worldís beautiful
music and architecture. However, all of these redeeming qualities can be found outside of religion as well.

What if you're wrong about God (and He does exist)?
It depends on the nature of the God, but itís hard to imagine a God who would be upset with a person who honestly searched for evidence but found none that was satisfactory.

Shouldn't all religious beliefs be respected?
No. Beliefs, ideas, and principles should all be respected based on their own merit.

I'm glad I found this, I've not been digging the Friendly Atheist as much as I used too. I think its a combo of getting a little bored with the Ebay Atheist book hype and my limited summer surfing now being dominated by Planet Atheism.

Confirmation Photos! You know you got 'em!

2007-07-26T23:21:00.001-05:00

Here are some photos of me that my sister pulled out when I drove home (Milwaukee) a couple weeks ago.

Me and the pastors who "confirmed me" in 1994. This photo kinda creeps me out. Both of the pastors in this photos were pretty average but I harbor this gut feeling that professional religious people know its all one giant delusion and, consciously or not, choose to play along.

I wonder if these confirmation photos are like big-game trophy shots for pastors: I imagine a wall plastered with similar photos and a pastor staring at the collage surveying all his spiritual conquests with satisfaction...

My parents with me in my childhood backyard on confirmation day. This photo is very emotionally charged for me; the gut wrenching-ness of disappointing your parents and the bitter sadness of the self-inflicted extinction of happy-go-lucky times.

Scotland Photos

2007-07-11T21:22:00.000-05:00

I just got back from a vacation in Scotland. Here are some of the best photos. They were are all taken by my talented husband; I just felt like using my eyes and not the camera.

BTW - If anyone finds themselves in Inveraray, Scotland I recommend the Argyle Inn bar.

Edinburgh

Loch Levon Castle

Inveraray

Near Crinan Canal

Loch Ness

Yoga Photo Shoot #3

2007-06-27T23:05:00.000-05:00

My favorite shots from a yoga photo shoot I did last night.

BTW - I'm planning my big comeback, expect an explosive can't-take-your-eyes-off-it posting bonanza here at blurp in a couple weeks.

Hitting the Snooze

2007-06-19T22:12:00.000-05:00

Um... yeah. I need a little more time away from the blog.

It's not you, it's me - no really. The weather is too nice to waste in front of the computer; not that spending time with you is a waste... that's not what I meant, forgive me.

But don't give up on us, there will be a post before the week is out - I promise.

Nap Time

2007-06-08T22:44:00.000-05:00

To my dearest modest but growing readership:

I'm taking a short break from blogging yo.

For the next week, I will be running, canoeing, reading, fishing, skipping, sunbathing, swimming, photography-ing, laughing, BBQing, biking, and much much more; but not blogging.

Please check back in a week or so - I promise delectably interesting content when I return.

Daily Dose - Analysis

2007-06-06T20:06:00.000-05:00

I've completed my month long journey of documenting the religious background noise in my life.

Here are all the Daily Dose posts:

Day 1
Prayer Rug
Weekend Edition (1)
Third [actually fourth] Installment
Prayer Email
Memorial Day Weekend Edition
Last official Post

I set this up as a month long project but it doesn't quite feel done to me yet.

I was fully expecting to discover that the level of religious background noise in my life was not as high as I originally perceived it to be. I suspected that because I'm so sensitive [or I thought I was...] to uninvited religious intrusion that as I looked more closely I would discover not a huge quantity of dogmatic noise but just a few loud holy cankers.

Holy buckets was I wrong! I am exposed to a ton more religiousness than I ever dreamed in every single aspect of my life AND I've been subconsciously tuning most of it out!

There is so much more that I didn't even post about: phone calls with family always ending with "God bless you" (which I, for some reason, always parrot back "God bless you too"), people on TV saying "it was a miracle" or "by God's grace" or "first, I'd like to thank JC", seeing cross jewelry on people and in big box stores, watching the guy on the bus read the bible, seeing cross-shaped clouds in the sky...

I now feel inundated in a religious culture the weight of which is suffocating and I'm appalled at how drastically I've been tiptoeing around strapped with animal fur Jacob/Isaac-style to trick everyone into thinking I'm a member of the family so I can get their blessing.

I need to keep doing this Daily Dose thing for a little while longer; there's more to learn here.

Interestingly, PhychoDiva (in the UK) is having a hard time finding any religious background noise to document. I'm very interested to hear her concluding thoughts when she finishes her version of the daily dose project.

Daily Dose - Last Official Entry

2007-06-06T19:50:00.001-05:00

Here is the last "official" entry of the Daily Dose project.

Priest on a street corner in downtown St. Paul.

He's got the collar and some other heavenly garment. Why do priests wear those anyway?

More "JC loves you graffiti" in the middle of an intersection in south Minneapolis.

Close up.

This beaut' was spotted when I was sans camera - so I borrowed one, printed the picture out (I was also sans internet), and then scanned it in here at home.

Wii Bowling Record!

2007-06-06T19:48:00.000-05:00

5 strikes in a row! Wooohoooo

My Life as a Christian

2007-05-31T00:00:00.000-05:00

I mentioned once or twice before that I was a hard-core Christian (Lutheran; Missouri Synod) up until about my senior year of college. Now I have proof!

Here are some photos of my grade school bible. I went to a private Lutheran school from Kindergarden - 6th grade and used this Bible everyday. Here is how I found fit to decorate it.

(By "Him" I meant God - just in case you were wondering) Done with silver ink marker circa 1988

There is a faded drawing of a snail to the right of the text to which the "me" is referencing

It appears I turned the letters in GOD into face balloons

This is a later addition in the new testament after I got my 8-color pen and the religion lectures were getting longer and less engaging

This last image is actually kinda scary. Its from my college Spirit Filled Life Bible for Students which my Father purchased for me when I went off to school. Its hard to read, click for big, but I'll also translate a few spots.

There are brackets around Genesis 8:22 and I wrote "WOW!"

There are more brackets around Genesis 9:6 and wrote "Death penalty?" and "Like Killing God"

There are hundreds of pages like this - all marked up with crazy comments and highlighted areas that I found exceptionally inspiring.

I was totally brainwashed.

Oppressed

2007-05-29T20:54:00.000-05:00

I have a co-worker who loves to send email forwards. It drives me crazy but this co-worker holds a position that makes her worth humoring. However, today I received this email:

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to tell you guys that I love you all and I am so grateful to have each of you in my life. I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed day. It was difficult for me to decide who I thought would DO this because many people claim to pray, but not everyone does. I know I chose the right twelve.

Please send this back to me. (You'll see why.)

May everyone who receives this message be blessed. REMEMBER to pray. That's all you have to do. There is nothing attached. Just send this to twelve.

Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of reward. Make sure you pray, and pray believing that God will answer. May today be all that you need it to be today.

May the peace of God and the freshness of the Holy Spirit rest in your thoughts, rule in your dreams tonight and conquer all your fears.

May God manifest himself today in ways that you have never experienced.

May your joys be fulfilled, your dreams be closer and your prayers be answered.

I pray that faith enters a new height for you, I pray that your territory is enlarged and I pray that you step into your destiny within the ministry.

I pray for peace, health, happiness and true and undying love for God.

Now, send this to 12 people within the next 5 minutes and remember to send this back...I count as 1...you'll see why.

Everyone have a blessed day!

Cute farm animals, lame jokes, and threats of bad luck I can handle but this email has gone way too far. This totally sucks, my hands are tied, things are way too politically delicate at work that it would be crippling to me if a burned my bridge with this woman. So I'm stuck to suffer through this stuff...

Daily Dose - Memorial Weekend Edition

2007-05-29T10:21:00.000-05:00

More Daily Dose photos:

This billboard has been popping up all around the Twin Cities. This one is way too close to my house, but thankfully obscured by trees. The babies wearing backwards ball caps are saying "Embryos are just tiny babies" and below that it says "Heartbeat 18 days from conception."

This salvaged church window was installed into my friend's house.

These people walked past me carrying a giant cross while I was eating breakfast.

Zoom-in on the cross:

Is Saint Michael the patron saint of baked goods?

Another church, I think a car crashed into this one a couple years ago...

Review mirror decor.

Western Pleasure

2007-05-26T01:26:00.000-05:00

Sounds naughty doesn't it? Its actually a really boring style of horseback riding.

Despite its mundane nature I was able to capture a few interesting shots at Friday's horse show at the Minnesota State Fair grounds: