All About me

Today's Link
From the Frontlines

Today's Saying
Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them. ~Saint-Exupéry

Today's Picture

Found this meme on the Old Fart's Blog.

Have Any Pets: Just my daughter’s dog
Have Any Children: Three ( All Grown Up)
Smoke: Never but when I'm angry it comes out of both ears
Drink: Water
Exercise: Sometimes
Spend Your Life On Facebook: What’s Facebook
Play On A Sports Team: You hafta be kiddin
Belong To Any Organizations: No unless you count the Church
Love Your Job: I’m retired
Like To Cook: Love to
Play An Instrument: Accordion ( sort of)
Sing: Yes but people keep asking me to stop
Dance: Never could
Speak Multiple Languages: No but read French, and Greek
Ice Skate: Not now
Swim: Love to
Paint: Birdhouses
Write: Penmanship is Horrible.
Ski: Not any more
Juggle: Tried but things kept dropping
Do you wish you lived somewhere else?: Sometimes Finland
Do you like roller coasters?: Yes-But can’t ride them with an oxygen tank
Enjoy spending time with your Mother?: When I was young.
Ever think about the price of gasoline?: Why! It only hurts the head.
Sleep with a fan on?: No , I’m a draft dodger.
Have a good handle on spelling?: No
Ever type "kik" instead of "lol?: Not lately
Know how to play chess?: Yes. But the grandkids beat me
Ever miss being a little kid?: All the time. That's why my kids keep asking when am I going to grow up.
Want to get married ? I am married and I like it.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Tommy UK found himself back in his room . The last few days seemed like a dream.
First he had been in his room.
Then the man in black came.
Then he dressed in black and suddenly wasn’t in his room.
Then he and the man in black waited in the woods for what the man in black called “ the right time”.
While they waited they sent strange creatures back to the trench but only at night.
Tommy used his ring to push them along.
Then came the moment and the man in black destroyed all of Eino’s lights and cameras.
In pitch black at the end of the trench they waited for the door to open.
When it did both Tommy and the man in black concentrated their power on the door.
From them came a beam of light and suddenly the door exploded and was no more.
Then slowly the trench disappeared.
The man in black said it would never return.
Then Tommy found himself back in his room.
And he still didn’t know much about the man in black.
It could have been a dream.

Wrap UP

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Sixth Sunday After Pentecost

Today's Link
Signs Along the Way

Today's Saying
In the hopes of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet. ~Albert Schweitzer

Today's Picture

In liturgical churches this is the sixth Sunday after Pentecost.. The Gospel text is Mark 6:14-29.
It is not a pretty text. It is a text about guilt, sinful love, fear, honesty, drunkenness, and horrible death. If it were a movie it would have an R rating.
It begins with Herod hearing about Jesus and out of his guilt begins to think it is John the Baptist raised from the dead.
Then Mark takes us through the whole horrible story.
He tells us how John denounced King Herod for taking his brother Philip’s wife, Herodias.
Yet King Herod liked to listen to John preach and so left him alone.
But Herodias who resented having her sins called down in public wanted John dead and finally got Herod to arrest him.
But even then Herod protected John. John was held in a sort of protective custody.
Then came King Herod’s birthday and the King throws a wild drinking party for himself.
It ends with a fantastic dance by the daughter of Herodias.
Then Herod who has had far too much to drink tells her he will give her anything she wants. He says this in front of all the gathered guests.
At her mother’s urging she asks for the head of John the Baptist on a platter.
Herod has made a public promise , drunken or otherwise, he can not back out and save face so he gives the order.
Now he felt bad about that because he believed John to be a Holy Man.
He knew in his heart that somehow there was a connection between Jesus and John. But he got it wrong. Jesus wasn’t John come back to punish him.
Jesus was the one who could set him free.
Lots of people get it wrong.
They see Jesus as the judge . They see him with the book that lets you into heaven and keeping them out.
But Jesus is the one who can and will wash our sin away so we can stand before the final judge clean and without guilt.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Here is part of Pastor Joan’ s sermon for today.
“… So that is the story of Herod now I want to tell you the story of Donald.
Donald is a boy who lived in the town I grew up in. He belonged to the wrong group of boys in school.
You know the one’s that are always in trouble. Drugs hadn’t really come to our community at that time so the big thing was booze.
The week before graduation on a Friday night they had a big drinking party planned out at the old quarry.
Some righteous sophomore , named Fred, turned them in. The police showed up and they all got hauled in, their booze was taken away , and their parents were called. It was costly and embarrassing.
So several nights later the group went after Fred. They beat him to death. Well he died on an operating table with the Doctors trying to save him.
The police hauled in the group. The three that did the actual beating got fifteen year sentences and the rest got a year’s probation.
Donald wished they had sent him to jail. He had liked Fred. He ate with Fred in the lunchroom. Fred helped him with his mathematics. But when they were beating Fred he didn’t raise a hand to stop them. He didn’t even say stop.
Now every night he could hear Fred screaming. He was in a cell of his own creation.
But then like Herod he ran into Jesus.
He found a pamphlet Fred had given Him. He just tossed it aside at the time but now he read it. The next Sunday he went to Fred’s Church. There a miracle happened Jesus came and took his guilt away.
Now Donald is a youth counselor for a big Lutheran Church. He is helping youth to meet Jesus.

Wrap UP

A nice day. Got to Church. The sermon was great. Our visitors from Africa sang. We had a chance to fellowship with them after the service. In the afternoon I brought the Church web page up to date. Then I visited all the blogs that left comments yesterday. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Raven's Challenge 71

Today's Link
A Writer's Journal

Today's Saying
To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.
~Chinese Proverb

Today's Picture

It is Saturday and time to play with words supplied by Raven's Wordzzle
This Week's Ten Word Challenge will be: sober, spoilage, knight, laugh and the world laughs with you, peak, blueberries, owl, drugstore, lampshade, keyboard
For the mini challenge: economy, Michael Jackson, ladder, clue, structure

The Mega Challenge as
The Ongoing Adventures of Agent 012

Agent 012 was playing chess with his youngest son , who had just taken his remaining knight , when the Agency called. At least he was sober not like last night at the Michael Jackson Memorial party when he had put the lampshade on his head and danced on the table. He kept hollering “ laugh and the world laughs with you” and they did. But this morning even the owl hooting in the tree hurt his head. It was a good thing he didn’t party often or he could buy stock in the drugstore and its hangover medicine.
All that had to be put behind him as he climbed down the ladder to the secret entrance to the agency, the elevator wasn’t working again. Nobody had a clue as to why but some suggested it was the age of the structure. The problem was that in this economy the Agency didn’t have the money to replace it.
As he came into the office he saw the chief sitting behind a computer keyboard. “Agents “, the Chief said “ This is the peak season for blueberries which as you know are important to the financial health of the farm community . But this year from field to point of sales there has been a huge increase in spoilage. We think Mute is involved .”
Agent 012 , whose head was still hurting, could not see the relationship between Mute and blueberries.
This was not going to be his day.

The ten word challenge-He Laughed

Sir Laughsalot , Knight of the Square Table, had the motto “laugh and the world laughs with you” inscribed on a very long banner that he carried into battle.. He laughed even when he was sober which was not often. He drank , of course, only for cause. Yesterday he drank because of the spoilage of the blueberries he had picked himself. He drank when he accidentally killed the owl thinking it was a dragon. He drank when he broke the glass lampshade on the King’s oil lamp. And he really drank when he smashed the key board for the palace keys. Through all of this he kept laughing. Even when his resulting headache reached its peak , he laughed. Of course he was laughing while pounding on the apothecary, that age’s equivalent of a drugstore , door demanding a magic powder for his head. Even unhappy Sir Laughsalot was happy.

The mini challenge-Problems , Problems

This is a horrible day. All you can get on TV is stuff about Michael Jackson. The first time you hear it it’s interesting but after that it’s overkill. Then the tiles started falling off the roof. Why? We don’t have a clue. So dad took the ladder and went up to look. He decided the structure was old and the roof would have to be replaced. But who, in this economy, has money for roof replacement. Then it started to rain and the roof leaked. If we are lucky the TV will short out. At least that would solve one problem.

All fifteen words in one sentence -The Society

“Laugh and the world laughs with you” is the motto of Michael Jackson , not the singer but the CEO of the Economy Ladder Structure Corporation, who recently became a Sober Knight of The Owl Lampshade and Drugstore Keyboard Society though he has no clue as to its history reaching back to the time of the peak spoilage of blueberries in Ohio.

Of course the dragons were busy today you can see them HERE.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
It is Saturday and time to look back on the week in Pigeon Falls.
Monday– This week Grandma Moose hung her laundry out on Monday thinking to avoid the bouncing heads. But two of the heads showed up. Stuck out their tongues and spat on her driveway. She swears it happened and she was perfectly sober. She says she needs one of those knights in shining armor to protect her. She went to get the old family shotgun but by the time she got back they were gone as was the box of blueberries from the front steps.
Tuesday-Willie, who is seldom sober, was at the Fly Inn when he decided to put a lampshade on his head and dance like an owl on top the table .”listen”, he shouted “ Laugh and the world laughs with you”, Having thus reached the peak of his performance he fell off the table. The poor guy doesn’t remember doing it nor does he have a clue as to why.
Wednesday– No matter what channel Jon Bergall turned to there was the Michael Jackson Memorial Service. He watched a bit of it and then decided this would be a good time to take the ladder and make some repairs on the side of the structure behind the barn that the giant woodpecker had attacked. He had watched as the woodpecker had started pecking and then suddenly exploded. He really should replace the little shed but he was using it to store things and prevent their spoilage. The bad economy kept him from building a new one.
Thursday– Eino stopped at Begerhams Drugstore to fill a prescription. He watched as the clerk entered it on the keyboard of the store computer.” If only all of life were that simple” he thought with no bouncing heads and wooly elephants that defy reason.

Wrap UP

Betty , Peter, Bree, and Pennie have gone to Life Fest so Maggie and I are here alone. I wish I was well enough to go but I'm not. I did vist all the blogs with Raven's stories today. Very interesting group of entries. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Flash 55- Flying Saucers

Today's Link
My Kids are My World

Today's Saying
You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was. ~Irish Proverb

Today's Picture

Flash Fiction 55
Friday 55 Flash Fiction is brought to you by G-man (Mr Knowitall). The idea is you write a story in exactly 55 words. If you want to take part pop over and let G-man know when you've posted your 55.Here is today's story.

I didn't believe it when my brother told me.

It couldn't be true.

It was his over active imagination.

I was sure of that.

But he was so sincere.

Then I saw the flying saucer.

With my very own eyes I saw it.

That's when I knew he was right.Don't get

our ma mad.

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Since I discovered it was okay I am writing a second flash 55 which will be a continuous story but a complete story every week. Here then is the thirteenth chapter in the exciting ongoing adventures of Sir Laughsalot and Robberhood
The entire story to date is HERE
The most recent chapters are HERE.

Good King Underwear had a problem. His square table was becoming lower and lower as the termites attacked the leg.
Soon his knights would be eating on the floor.
Even worse the wooden leg of his first chair Knight was under attack,
All of this made Sir Laughsalot laugh even harder.
Was there no hope?

News From Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal

For some reason that I can neither understand nor explain today's Pigeon Falls after the above introduction ends up as a flash 55. Must be some kind of learned response.

In the very blackest part of the night the two figures dressed in black stood at the edge of the trench.
Suddenly a strange opening appeared at the other end and two streams of light, blending into one, came from those in black.
It struck the opening and there was a loud ear splitting noise.


Of course the dragons will be busy today you can see them HERE.

Wrap UP

I'm a bit better today . I visited some flash 55 people and all of those who left comments yesterday. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Media Bias

Today's Link
Crazy, Magic, Sometimes Hectic , Beautiful Life

Today's Saying
We have a choice every day - to act on yesterday's good intentions or get an early start on tomorrow's regrets.
~Robert Brault

Today's Picture

Tuesday I shared which TV programs I got my news from and why. Out of that I have developed:

Linna’s Laws of Media Bias

Law # I: All news media is biased.

Law # II: The closer the media bias comes to your personal bias the less biased it will seem.

Law # III : The greater the distance between your bias and the bias of the media in question the more biased it will seem.

Law # IV: Almost all media considers itself to be fair and unbiased.

Law # V: Media will see and point out the bias of the competitors.

Thus it serves no purpose to complain about media bias other than letting people see where your bias is.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Tommy UK has disappeared. He was in his room , never came out, but is no longer there. His father thinks he used his power ring to travel to someplace but has no idea as to why or where.
Eino is very upset. Last night’s video showed a four armed creature with what looks like a weapon riding on the back of a wooly elephant. He wonders if some sort of invasion has begun. He is afraid if he contacts Homeland Security and tells them they are being invaded by things from another dimension they will think he is crazy. At times he thinks that at any moment he is going to wake up and discover this was all a dream.
People have stopped going into the woods because of the encounters with bouncing heads, giant birds, and other weird things. Everybody coming into Nancy’s has a story of their own meeting or of one they were told about.
Then there was the great aerial battle that took place over Pigeon Falls. Two dragons fought a creature on the back of a floating wooly elephant. The creature fired a blast from his weapon that just missed the lead dragon and dissolved the TV antenna on top the Masonic building. Before he could get off another shot the other dragon flew under the wooly elephant and hit it with what looked like a really hot flame. The wooly elephant exploded and the creature fell to the ground with the weapon where it exploded.
Tommy UK, now dressed in black, like his mentor was in the woods waiting for night to come.

Wrap UP

Another rough breathing day. I did get to visit all the blogs that left comments yesterday. Betty , Pennie, Peter, and Bree went to Life Fest. Melli called which made the day a little better. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Enough Already

Today's Link
LouCeel

Today's Saying
Don't be yourself - be someone a little nicer.
~Mignon McLaughlin

Today's Picture

Yesterday was Michael Jackson’s Memorial Service.
It was broadcast live.
I never paid much attention to Michael but then I am not impressed by stars movie or music.
But I think it was good that the service was televised for those who did think he was really important.
What I object to is the extent of the coverage.
NBC carried it live.
CBS carried it live.
ABC carried it live.
Fox News carried it live.
CNN carried it live.
MSNBC carried it live.
HSN carried it live
Of the 80 channels I get on my cable seventeen carried it live. I checked.
As far as I could tell the coverage didn’t differ much from channel to channel.
Wasn’t this overkill.
Wouldn’t one or perhaps three have been more than enough?
All those resources, all those people, all covering the same thing.
All other new was suspended.
The President was in Russia.
The Supreme Court was handing down rulings.
There was a big fire in Milwaukee.
For two hours they didn’t count. All news stopped because all the news channels were covering the funeral.
You know and I know that when somebody dies who truly made a difference in our lives they will get at best a five minute blurb.. You know the ones that create new wonder drugs or surgical procedures and thus extend our lives. Or the ones whose inventions change the way we live.
There will be no two hour memorial service with follow up comments for them.
But as sad as that makes me feel I know that’s the way it is.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Yesterday was a very strange day in Pigeon Falls. A large wooly elephant walked down the main street but before anybody could get a gun it just stopped and exploded. All that was left was a puddle of water.
Over at the Lake of the Loons a huge black spider had come out of the woods and exploded. Other explosions were heard and there were large puddles of water where they weren’t expected to be.
The DNR man suggested that some bacteria or virus had infected them causing them to die and explode. He noted that some might be resistant since more seemed to have come through the doorway than could be accounted for by the explosions.
There in Tommy UK’s room stood a man dressed in black. He told Tommy that he needed Tommy’s help in closing the doorway. He was convinced that once the other dimensional creatures became resistant to whatever it was that was causing them to explode without warning then they would invade. They had to close the doorway before that could happen. The future of Pigeon Falls depended on it.

Wrap UP

This was a really rough breathing day. I spent most of it next to the oxygen concentrator. It has gotten a bit better as the day has gone on. But I still need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Get Your News Here

Today's Link
Elizabeth B Creativity

Today's Saying
Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same. ~Francesca Reigler

Today's Picture
Our Newest Dragon

If you read my blog yesterday you might have noticed that I get my news from ABC, CNN, and Fox. You might wonder why.
Well I goto ABC and sometimes CBS for the politically correct news. I can count on them supporting the administration most of the time. They report the world as seen through pretty much liberal glasses.
I goto CNN because they at least they try for some objectivity. They ask better questions. Point out things that ABC or CBS miss.
That leaves us with Fox. I don’t go to Fox for balanced news. I goto Fox because they represent a large , unreported, subculture in our country. They give us a glimpse into the world of the conservative. They report events and gatherings ignored by the others. They are biased but everybody knows what the bias is. It is not a deception. It is the way they see things.
One of our problems is that so many have chosen hatred over understanding.
If they are conservative they hate the “ liberal media” and love Fox for telling the truth.
If they are liberal they hate Fox and see it as a center for lies.
We live in a wonderful and diverse nation. Nothing is gained in such a nation by deciding one group is good and another bad. Much better if we try , at least, to understand each other.
Yes there are nasty conservatives. Yes there are dishonest liberals. But don’t take those and use them to attack an entire group. We have self righteousness and hatred down to a science.
I am thankful that we have such a wide spectrum of news on American TV. If we would look at it to try to understand those around us instead of being upset by the bias they all have we can be well served.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Pigeon Falls yesterday got to see a giant wooly elephant floating over main street. It was an unbelievable sight by itself, on the ground, but in the air it was beyond unbelievable. It just hung there for an hour or so until the dragon came making its daily flight . The dragon seemed irritated by the elephant and hit it full force with its flame. Then according to the spectators the wooly elephant exploded. But what fell from the sky was just water.
At Nancy’s coffee shop, for the remainder of the day that’s all they talked about. It is amazing how that event grew in the telling. By the time Nancy closed up there was , according to the story, a great battle in the sky between the dragon and the wooly elephant. For a time it looked like the wooly elephant would win but then the dragon turned on the flame and the elephant exploded.
One of the two man teams trying to capture a wooly elephant reported seeing something equally strange. One of the giant blue jays flew over them and though they did nothing it seemed to explode and water fell from where it had been. Well! It looked like water.
This morning Tommy UK had a surprise visitor who suddenly appeared in Tommy’s room.

Wrap UP

It was a hard breathing day which meant hauling the oxygen tank around with me. I printed May's blogs out to send to Dawn. Betty went to Bible study. I visited most of my friend's links. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA.

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