This is my grandmother on my mother's side of the family. This photo was taken in Carbon Hill, AL around 1955.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Grandparents and Bobbie
In this photo (L to R) are: Walter Andrews, maternal grandfather, Bobbie Presley, aunt, and Willie Andrews, maternal grandmother. This picture was taken c. 1955 in Carbon Hill, AL
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Reno Russell (aunt) with her mother, Willie Andrews
Here are my aunt Reno and her mother, Willie Andrews. Willie was my grandmother. This photo was taken c. 1955.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Our day with Skeeters
Today we took Skeeters to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum. We saw a show at the planetarium (a fantasy piece about a kid who makes a cardboard spaceship and tours the Solar System. He starts on the sun and travels to each planet. I think I dozed off between Mars and Jupiter. Then went over to the museum and saw a variety of aircraft. From there we went to Owasso and ate at Wendy's.
Skeeters had spent the night with us Friday. It was a big outing for him. We took him home this evening around 7 pm.
Earlier in the week, Gail and I practiced three arrangements of "Silent Night," which we will perform at Restoration in December.
We joined Naythem and his family for Thanksgiving on Thursday. The Dobbs were there along with Jonathan and Alicia.
On Friday we took our newer Saturn to South Pointe Chevrolet to get a problem with a door lock fixed. It was still under warranty and cost us nothing. The oil change was also free since we had received coupons for free oil changes.
I had to miss Food and Fellowship today. There will probably not be one in December since the fourth Saturday is Christmas Day. Perhaps I can make the January Food and Fellowship.
Skeeters had spent the night with us Friday. It was a big outing for him. We took him home this evening around 7 pm.
Earlier in the week, Gail and I practiced three arrangements of "Silent Night," which we will perform at Restoration in December.
We joined Naythem and his family for Thanksgiving on Thursday. The Dobbs were there along with Jonathan and Alicia.
On Friday we took our newer Saturn to South Pointe Chevrolet to get a problem with a door lock fixed. It was still under warranty and cost us nothing. The oil change was also free since we had received coupons for free oil changes.
I had to miss Food and Fellowship today. There will probably not be one in December since the fourth Saturday is Christmas Day. Perhaps I can make the January Food and Fellowship.
Friday, November 26, 2010
My grandmother
This is a photo of my grandmother on my mother's side of the family. Her name is Willie Andrews.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Quotation
"Everyday,
Think as you wake up,
Today I am fortunate to have woken up,
I am alive,
I have a precious Human Life,
I am not going to waste it."
- HH The 14th Dalai Lama
Think as you wake up,
Today I am fortunate to have woken up,
I am alive,
I have a precious Human Life,
I am not going to waste it."
- HH The 14th Dalai Lama
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
My favorite a cappella vocal ensemble
Here is a YouTube video of my favorite vocal ensemble singing one of my favorite pieces:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQN8yr-iibc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQN8yr-iibc
Monday, November 22, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Home again, home again, jiggety jog
We returned today from a weekend trip to Springfield, MO.
We searched for three caches in Joplin. We found the first cache without much effort. It was a type of cache we have seen before and knew right where to look.
The second cache was more challenging. We did not find it until the next day. The cache information on the internet said it was not inside the opening but could be found hanging in the area. As it turned out, the cache was inside the opening to a tree in a cemetery. I suspect what happened is that a recent cacher did not replace the cache where it was found, but instead made the cache more difficult to find by hiding it inside the opening in a tree. So if you are out caching and cannot find the cache, expand your search to include those places which the cache information excludes.
The reason we did not find the cache until the next day is that while looking for the third cache, the wife of a local cacher saw us looking for a cache and struck up a conversation with J. We were talking about caching. I asked her about the cache in the cemetery and she said it was hidden inside a tree.
The next day we went back to the cemetery and found the cache quickly. It was a log only micro.
The third cache we looked for, we never found. The wife of the cacher we spoke to knew where the cache was hidden, but she was unable to find it. We suspect the cache had been “muggled.”
Thursday evening we ate dinner at Red Lobster. I had noodles with shrimp and scallops. After dinner we went back to our motel room and read. I continued reading The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins on my Kindle.
Upon arriving in Springfield, we went directly to the Expo Center on St. Louis where the convention was being held. We had already pre-registered. A green marker was used to mark my left hand with an “X.”
We heard two speakers at that time: Amanda Marcotte whose topic was “The Role of Irrationality in Sexism,” and David Fitzgerald who spoke on “The Ten Thousand Christs and the Evaporating Jesus.”
The next morning, we did the year-round volkswalk along the Galloway Creek. The walk starts at Sequoita Park on Lone Pine and goes along the Galloway Creek south from there. You go to where the walking trail is blocked off and then return to the start point.
We finished in time to go by Braum’s pick up some lunch, make a quick trip to my parents to eat and clean up, then go back to the Expo Center. While waiting for the next speaker, I walked down to Hoover Music and looked at the duet music they had on hand. I bought three selections: “The Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues,” “Walnut River Rag” by Melody Bober, and a collection of pieces under the title “Spotlight on Duets.” When I walked back to the Expo Center it was time for Dan Barker to speak. He spoke about the work of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. He was followed by Richard Carrier speaking on “Are Christians Delusional?”
For dinner a group of ten of us from Oklahoma got together and went to Milly’s on Jefferson Avenue. I had the seafood pasta meal. Our time at Milly’s ran long and we missed hearing James Randi’s talk. He was followed by P. Z. Myers whose lecture was based on biology. We did not stay for Rebecca Watson’s talk.
We did not hear all the speakers. Those we did not hear include Lauren Lane, John Corvino, D. J. Grothe, Julie Galef, Greta Christina, Joe Nickell, Rebecca Watson, Victor Stenger, and J. T. Eberhard.
The next morning at 10:00 we heard Sam Singleton delivering a humorous sermon titled “Patriarchs and Penises.” Sam Singleton is a persona created by Roger Scott Jackson. Singleton is on the internet. If you Google his name, you can view some of his creative work.
We headed back toward Sand Springs after we heard Singleton. As we passed through Joplin, we stopped and ate at the Golden Corral.
We searched for three caches in Joplin. We found the first cache without much effort. It was a type of cache we have seen before and knew right where to look.
The second cache was more challenging. We did not find it until the next day. The cache information on the internet said it was not inside the opening but could be found hanging in the area. As it turned out, the cache was inside the opening to a tree in a cemetery. I suspect what happened is that a recent cacher did not replace the cache where it was found, but instead made the cache more difficult to find by hiding it inside the opening in a tree. So if you are out caching and cannot find the cache, expand your search to include those places which the cache information excludes.
The reason we did not find the cache until the next day is that while looking for the third cache, the wife of a local cacher saw us looking for a cache and struck up a conversation with J. We were talking about caching. I asked her about the cache in the cemetery and she said it was hidden inside a tree.
The next day we went back to the cemetery and found the cache quickly. It was a log only micro.
The third cache we looked for, we never found. The wife of the cacher we spoke to knew where the cache was hidden, but she was unable to find it. We suspect the cache had been “muggled.”
Thursday evening we ate dinner at Red Lobster. I had noodles with shrimp and scallops. After dinner we went back to our motel room and read. I continued reading The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins on my Kindle.
Upon arriving in Springfield, we went directly to the Expo Center on St. Louis where the convention was being held. We had already pre-registered. A green marker was used to mark my left hand with an “X.”
We heard two speakers at that time: Amanda Marcotte whose topic was “The Role of Irrationality in Sexism,” and David Fitzgerald who spoke on “The Ten Thousand Christs and the Evaporating Jesus.”
The next morning, we did the year-round volkswalk along the Galloway Creek. The walk starts at Sequoita Park on Lone Pine and goes along the Galloway Creek south from there. You go to where the walking trail is blocked off and then return to the start point.
We finished in time to go by Braum’s pick up some lunch, make a quick trip to my parents to eat and clean up, then go back to the Expo Center. While waiting for the next speaker, I walked down to Hoover Music and looked at the duet music they had on hand. I bought three selections: “The Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues,” “Walnut River Rag” by Melody Bober, and a collection of pieces under the title “Spotlight on Duets.” When I walked back to the Expo Center it was time for Dan Barker to speak. He spoke about the work of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. He was followed by Richard Carrier speaking on “Are Christians Delusional?”
For dinner a group of ten of us from Oklahoma got together and went to Milly’s on Jefferson Avenue. I had the seafood pasta meal. Our time at Milly’s ran long and we missed hearing James Randi’s talk. He was followed by P. Z. Myers whose lecture was based on biology. We did not stay for Rebecca Watson’s talk.
We did not hear all the speakers. Those we did not hear include Lauren Lane, John Corvino, D. J. Grothe, Julie Galef, Greta Christina, Joe Nickell, Rebecca Watson, Victor Stenger, and J. T. Eberhard.
The next morning at 10:00 we heard Sam Singleton delivering a humorous sermon titled “Patriarchs and Penises.” Sam Singleton is a persona created by Roger Scott Jackson. Singleton is on the internet. If you Google his name, you can view some of his creative work.
We headed back toward Sand Springs after we heard Singleton. As we passed through Joplin, we stopped and ate at the Golden Corral.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Steve Martin sings
Here is a video of Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers singing "Atheists Don't Have No Songs."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADNesm6F27U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADNesm6F27U
Monday, November 15, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
J. A. Maize, c. 1922
This is my great grandfather on my father's side, James Abraham Maize. This picture was taken in Dora, Alabama, a small town just to the north of Birmingham. The house in the background on the right is where my father was born. This photo was taken around 1922, the year my father was born.
Friday, November 12, 2010
On the beach
In the summer of 1963, my biology class mowed yards to raise the money to pay for a trip to the Gulf Coast. Here I am in Biloxi on a pier that extended out into the water. At this time I would have been 15 years old. We stayed in the motel seen in the background on the left.
About those quotes
Recently I quoted from The Woman in White, a novel by Wilkie Collins. First, I chose six words, followed by six phrases, and finally six sentences. Some of you might have thought I lost it. However, the project had more do with what was permissible than with any issue related to my sanity.
I am currently reading this novel by Collins. Years ago I read The Moonstone by the same author. Collins uses a similar technique in moving the narrative forward in both novels: he has the characters tell the story by quoting their own words found in their diaries.
I am currently reading this novel by Collins. Years ago I read The Moonstone by the same author. Collins uses a similar technique in moving the narrative forward in both novels: he has the characters tell the story by quoting their own words found in their diaries.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Sentences
Miss Fairlie plays delightfully.
.
The moon was full and broad in the dark blue starless sky, and the broken ground of the heath looked wild enough in the mysterious light to be hundreds of miles away from the great city that lay beneath it.
.
I had mechanically turned in this latter direction, and was strolling along the lonely high-road--idly wondering, I remember, what the Cumberland young ladies would look like--when, in one moment, every drop of blood in my body was brought to a stop by the touch of a hand laid lightly and suddenly on my shoulder from behind me.
.
He has been punished, not because he said he saw a ghost last night, but because he is too impudent and too obstinate to listen to reason, and because he persists in saying he saw the ghost after I have told him that no such thing can possibly be.
.
Where is the woman who has ever really torn from her heart the image that has been once fixed in it by a true love?
.
The instant he spoke those words, Laura threw down the pen--looked at him with an expression in her eyes which, throughout all my experience of her, I had never seen in them before, and turned her back on him in dead silence.
.
The moon was full and broad in the dark blue starless sky, and the broken ground of the heath looked wild enough in the mysterious light to be hundreds of miles away from the great city that lay beneath it.
.
I had mechanically turned in this latter direction, and was strolling along the lonely high-road--idly wondering, I remember, what the Cumberland young ladies would look like--when, in one moment, every drop of blood in my body was brought to a stop by the touch of a hand laid lightly and suddenly on my shoulder from behind me.
.
He has been punished, not because he said he saw a ghost last night, but because he is too impudent and too obstinate to listen to reason, and because he persists in saying he saw the ghost after I have told him that no such thing can possibly be.
.
Where is the woman who has ever really torn from her heart the image that has been once fixed in it by a true love?
.
The instant he spoke those words, Laura threw down the pen--looked at him with an expression in her eyes which, throughout all my experience of her, I had never seen in them before, and turned her back on him in dead silence.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Phrases
strayed into the plantations
chance which was now offered to me
a strange person in her manners
called away to speak to a strange gentleman
the creature lay lifeless under our hands
the want of his honest advice
chance which was now offered to me
a strange person in her manners
called away to speak to a strange gentleman
the creature lay lifeless under our hands
the want of his honest advice
Monday, November 08, 2010
Friday, November 05, 2010
Political commentary
President Obama, having inherited a tanking economy, has taken steps to revive the economy, primarily through spending measures. He has tried to pump money into the economy to "kickstart" the spending again. Now with the Republicans in control of the House of Rep. and their being concerned with putting the brakes on spending, what lies ahead?
Is there any chance of a depression in our future? We will have to wait and see.
I would like to know what you think. Leave a comment below.
Is there any chance of a depression in our future? We will have to wait and see.
I would like to know what you think. Leave a comment below.
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Mary Fallin
Tonight on the Oklahoma News Report there was a segment on governor-elect Mary Fallin. The report featured her hometown of Tecumseh. Part of the footage was shot in Gliori's Restaurant. It might be possible to view the report online.
I downloaded a new book to my Kindle tonight. It is The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, a contemporary of Charles Dickens. I read The Moonstone by Collins back in my college days. I remember enjoying it.
I downloaded a new book to my Kindle tonight. It is The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, a contemporary of Charles Dickens. I read The Moonstone by Collins back in my college days. I remember enjoying it.
Monday, November 01, 2010
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