Summer Movies #10 & 11

Much Ado About Nothing

Point Break



Submit your summer movie recommendations in the comments or e-mail to Matthew.m.linden@gmail.com

A Song for Simeon

by TS Eliot

Lord, they Roman hyacinths are blooming in bowls and
The winder sun creeps by the snow hills;
The stubborn season has made stand.
My life is light, waiting for the death wind,
Like a feather on the back of my hand.
Dust in sunlight and memory in corners
Wait for the wind that chills towards the dead land.

Grant us they peace.
I have walked many years in this city,
Kept faith and fast, provided for the poor,
have given and taken honour and ease.
There went never any rejected from my door.
Who shall remember my house, where shall live my children's
children?
When the time of sorrow is come?
They will take to the goat's path, and the fox's home,
Fleeing from foreign faces and the foreign swords.

Before the time of cords and scourges and lamentation
Grant us thy peace.
Before the stations of the mountain of desolation,
Before the certain hour of maternal sorrow,
Now at this birth season of decease,
Let the Infant, the still unspeaking and unspoken Word,
Grant Israel's consolation
To one who has eighty years and no to-morrow.

According to thy word.
They shall praise Thee and suffer in every generation
With glory and derision,
Light upon light, mounting the saints' stair.
Not for me the martyrdom, the ecstasy of thought and prayer,
Not for me the ultimate vision.
Grant me thy peace.
(And a sword shall pierce thy heart,
Thine also).
I am tired with my own life and the lives of those after me,
I am dying in my own death and the deaths of those after me.
Let they servant depart,
Having seen thy salvation.

Umm . . .I Usually Compose in Private . . . .

Stripes The Rabbit

(We keep the stuffed-animal names simple and easy to remember around here)

Remember

I think most of us go through life with our brains in our back-pocket. Except for those few who mis-interpret the CS Lewis passage from "The Last Battle": "Father in! Further Up!" (Quoted from memory - I think I got that right).

I would put myself in that catagory of course (the back-pocket one - not the . . . well . . . other one . . .)

Wondering what I am talking about?

Check out this excellent post - and get your head screwed on correctly this morning . . .

Summer Movie #9

Endless Summer



Submit your summer movie recommendations in the comments or e-mail matthew.m.linden@gmail.com

53 Years Ago Today

President Eisenhower signs “In God We Trust” into law

On this day in 1956, two years after pushing to have the phrase “under God” inserted into the pledge of allegiance, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a law officially declaring “In God We Trust” to be the nation’s official motto. The law, P.L. 84-140, also mandated that the phrase be printed on all American paper currency. The phrase had been placed on U.S. coins since the Civil War when, according to the historical association of the United States Treasury, religious sentiment reached a peak. Eisenhower’s treasury secretary, George Humphrey, had suggested adding the phrase to paper currency as well.

Quote of the Day

While running through the streets [of Uganda] that Monday morning, I was stopped repeatedly (at least 10 times) by Ugandans, who shouted, "Mzungu [white person], do you need help?" Their voices were thick with accent and concern: "Mzungu, what is wrong?" to which I would smile and reply, "Nothing!"

At this, they would say in confusion (every last one of them), "Then why are you running?"

Apparently, you only run if something large is chasing you -- human, animal, or natural disaster -- but something justifiable. Otherwise, you walk, or get made fun of, as I learned on my return trip running into the same Ugandans, who pointed and laughed at the crazy Mzungu running for running's sake.

- That Ridiculous Girl

Counting Thunder

by Robert Hass

For several weeks the weather has been mild
And we have wallowed in this picnic sun,
(Our baskets stuffed with bread and wine) beguiled
By a string of buttered days, which one by one

Have lulled us into such complacency
That any thought of rain or want or cold
Would seem killjoy to a mind disposed to see
A clump of daisies nodding by the road.

But lightning flash upon the ridge portends
A sudden change of weather is at hand.
Caught unaware, we face the rising wind
And count the interval before the sound

Of thunderclap announces the return
Of darker times we had soon forgotten.
The dog cowers. The weather vane turns
Wildly, and we scramble forth to batten

Down the shutters banging out their warning.
No use pretending storm clouds won't draw near.
They're certain now. The anvil head is mounting
High above the things we've held so dear.

We light the lantern as clouds obscure the sun,
And gather frightened children in our arms.
The lightning flash and thunder merge at one,
And we hunker down beneath the raging storm.

Quote of the Day

"A man can't ride your back unless it's bent."

- Martin Luther King Jr

Mmm Hmm . . .

I swear this reminds me of a day at the office . . . .



I'll let you guess which character is me - here's a hint: It's not the one with the hiccups . . .

The Great TV Debate

My wife and I have always differed over spanking.

She says hitting a child is wrong under any and all circumstances.

I say you cannot fully reason with children because until they reach puberty and the hormones kick-in, children do not have the capacity for abstract thought. When all else has failed, spanking becomes an unfortunate but necessary means of communication. NOT punishment. We do not spank to punish - we spank to reinforce communication. If spanking my child is the only way to ensure that they will never run out into the street again, I am willing to be the heavy.

Annabelle does not seem to have any feeling below the waist - so that solves that (I know, off-color, poor taste, REALITY).

Having reached a cease-fire on the spanking question, we turn to the TV question.

Fortunately, we are in agreement: NO TVS IN THE BEDROOMS. In fact, we are happy with one TV and one alone (except for the intsy one I dream of having in the kitchen to watch while I am cooking).

In fact, most days I wish we didn't have a TV at all - did I mention that we haven't had cable in over a year??

I understand that other people differ on the subject and I have no strong feelings about that - live and let live, I say. Goodness knows we spend our fair share of time watching Netflixs.

But I think that we can all agree that this is JUST PLAIN WRONG:

Exemplary Mom Builds 98-Inch Screen Inside Kid's Bedroom Ceiling

Not only does this kid have a digital sewer emptying into his bedroom, he doesn't even have to get out of bed to suck it all in.

I will now restrain myself from the rest of the comments brewing in my brain . . . see me restraining? SEE ME RESTRAINING!?

arrrrrrrgggghhhhhhh . . . . . . .

Thank you for shopping with us - we'll see you REAL soon . . .

So we are trying to get the family room, well, not finished - but more finished than it currently is before the big b-day bash. The past two weekends have been all about painting. Oi.

The only way to handle painting is to just downshift your heart rate, accept that it will take 3 times longer than you think it will, put on some mellow music, grab a brush, and try and slip into your happy place while you enjoy the relaxation of slowly drawing the wet color-soaked bristles across the newly primed walls and wood work.

BUT FIRST YOU HAVE TO DECIDE ON A COLOR

Yep - that would be 8 different colors representing 6 different trips to Home Depot. All I can say is, I would like to find the man who came up with the idea of the $3 tester can and kiss him full on the mouth.

Used to be, you would buy a gallon for $20, take it home, then bring it back, wrangle with the paint jockey about how the 1x1 inch swatch looks different than the 10x10 foot wall you painted blah blah blah . . . now you just buy a tester, go home and realize you were wrong - all for the low, low price of $3.

We did get the room painted BTW - in 38 separate colorful squares - I call it the "Quilt room" - my wife just refers to it as "Patches".

"Honey, where's the stroller?"

"Patches has it."

Just kidding.

On my second-to-last trip to HD on a Sunday evening, I asked the paint jockey how late they were open. "8-o'clock" was the reply. "Good," I said. "That means I have time for three more return trips."

The PJ looked at me with a pained "Man, sorry you're having a tough time," expression.

"Oh, don't worry," I replied. "My wife doesn't mind one bit . . . ."

That got a laugh.

So what colors did we decide on?

"Slow Decent Into Madness" blue and "I'll Eat This Paintbrush Before I Go Back To Home Depot Again" brown.

And it looks great.

Chatting over the back fence about the neighbor's garden

Maple Syrup, Bacon & Bourbon Cocktail

I guess the only thing missing from this recipe is the cigar as a garnish.

RECIPE HERE

I doubt I will ever make one though - I think my enthusiasm waned when I got to the part about removing the solidified bacon fat from the bourbon with a slotted spoon . . .

- thanks Jonathan!

Quote of the Day

"A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."

- William James

Canis Major

by Robert Frost

The great Overdog
That heavenly beast
With a star in one eye
Gives a leap in the east.
He dances upright
All the way to the west
And never once drops
On his forefeet to rest.
I'm a poor underdog,
But to-night I will bark
With the great Overdog
That romps through the dark.

Quote of the Day

Instead of worrying about what people say of you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire.

- Dale Carnegie

Cool Stuff

All done by projecting images onto buildings



LINK

Handerpants

Ummm . . . .



HT: Neatorama

Quote of the Day

Just keep shoveling, and eventually you've got a pile so big, someone will notice.

- (Michael Perry on writing) from Truck, a Love Story by Michael Perry

Buy The Book - proceeds to benefit ACF

Daddy's Girl

Summer Movie #8

Fried Green Tomatoes



Submit your summer movie recommendations in the comments or e-mail to matthew.m.linden@gmail.com

Quote of the Day

There are lives

I can imagine without children

but none of them have

the same laughter

& noise

- from Mostly True by Brian Andreas

Buy The Book - proceeds to benefit ACF

Hair-Pulling Bear Hug

Summer Movies #6 & 7

Sunshine Cleaning - Thanks Rachel! (I couldn't find a trailer for Return to Me)

The Three Amigos



Submit your summer movie suggestions in the comments or e-mail to matthew.m.linden@gmail.com

If More Marriages Started This Way . . .

Maybe there would be more happy endings . . .

Fault

by Ron Koertge

In the airport bar, I tell my mother not to worry.
No one ever tripped and fell into the San Andreas
Fault. But as she dabs at her dry eyes, I remember
those old movies where the earth does open.

There's always one blonde entomologist, four
deceitful explorers, and a pilot who's good-looking
but not smart enough to take off his leather jacket
in the jungle.

Still, he and Dr. Cutie Bug are the only ones
who survive the spectacular quake because
they spent their time making plans to go back
to the Mid-West and live near his parents

while others wanted to steal the gold and ivory
then move to Los Angeles where they would rarely
call their mothers and almost never fly home
and when they did for only a few days at a time.

Halfway to Goodbye

On Sunday, as noted, everything changed, and the girls (Natalie had two friends for a sleepover) ran outside to play badminton in the sun, then headed to the beach. When I picked her up at the end of the afternoon she showed me the sandcastle they’d made -a rather elaborate structure with good seawalls, defensible high ground, and other commendable attributes. They’d spelled out their initials in stones. I took a picture of the trio, beaming over their creation, BFF names embossed in the wet sand. Ah, to be nine.

Which she will be, in a fortnight. Halfway to goodbye.

- Lileks

Uggh - we are just barely cresting One and the thought squeezes my heart . . . .

Summer Movie #5

Fools Rush In



Submit your summer movie suggestions in the comments or e-mail to matthew.m.linden@gmail.com

Mirror Image

Them's Fightin' Words

I love this clip (saw it on Lileks today).

The reason why I love it so much is that many people have forgotten that although we all have a right to freedom of speech, we do not have the right to be free from the consequences of that speech.

Here you have Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, being accosted by some college pin-head-Jerry-Seinfeld-wanna-be-moon-landing-never-happened-nutjob.

Buzz gives the guy fair warning: "Will you get away from me?!"

That's when the social-sciences major crosses the line, "You are a liar and a coward and *mmmuufffeddd!*"

In one move Buzz Aldrin bridges the generational gap *KAPOW* and reminds the youngin that he ain't in philosopy class any more . . .

This is the same Buzz Aldrin who held a communion service on the moon - showing once again that there are limits to a man's patience - even a man of faith.

I share all this as someone who has never once been in a fist fight and hopes he never will but, man. What a great opportunity . . .

Quote of the Day

I once asked a veteran Grand Canyon river guide what he had learned after his decades of floating raft loads of tourists down the Colorado. At the time, he was surveying his current sunburned brood as they struggled to set up camp on the beach, and he replied in an instant: "You learn there's a jackass on every trip."

Then he grinned.

"And if you haven't figured out who it is by Day Five . . . it's you."

- from Truck, a Love Story by Michael Perry

Buy The Book - proceeds to benefit ACF

Almost Makes Me Want Another Cat . . .

Almost

How to Open a Bannanna (Is that too many "n"'s?)

Don't say I never taught you anything . . .

Dad should've been home by now . . . .

26!

And here's why . . .

Common Ground

by Paul J. Willis

Today I dug an orange tree out of the damp, black earth.
My grandfather bought a grove near Anaheim
at just my age. Like me, he didn’t know much.
“How’d you learn to grow oranges, Bill?”
friends said. “Well,” he said, “I look at what

my neighbor does, and I just do the opposite.”
Up in Oregon, he and his brother discovered
the Willamette River. They were both asleep
on the front of the wagon, the horses stopped,
his brother woke up. “Will,” he said, “am it a river?”

My grandfather, he cooked for the army during the war,
the first one. He flipped the pancakes up the chimney,
they came right back through the window onto the griddle.
In the Depression he worked in a laundry during the night,
struck it rich in pocketknives. My grandfather,

he liked to smoke in his orange grove, as far away on the property
as he could get from my grandmother,
who didn’t approve of life in general, him in particular.
Smoking gave him something to feel disapproved for,
set the world back to rights. Like everyone else,

my grandfather sold his grove to make room
for Disneyland. He laughed all the way to the bank,
bought in town, lived to see his grandsons born
and died of cancer before anyone wanted him to, absent
now in the rootless presence of damp, black earth.

Quote of the Day

And lest my anarchist friend grow hopeful, I once responded to an emergency call at an underground music event at which a woman had been stung by a wasp and was going into anaphylactic shock. As we crested the rise in the ambulance, we spotted a barefooted man clad in dust, dreadlocks, and a T-shirt emblazoned with the classic circle-A. "Over here! Over here!" he hollered, urging us to hurry it up with our state-sponsored gear and our syringe full of evil corporate epinephrine. The woman had stopped breathing and when the bagging and adrenaline took effect halfway to the hospital and she roused, I had this teachable moment where I realized the trouble with anarchy is that it is allergic to bees.

- from Truck, a Love Story by Michael Perry

Buy The Book - proceeds to benefit ACF

Me and Coach Erica

What Makes You Happy?

What makes you happy? - shot on 5DMKII from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo.

Add yours in the comment section!

iBum

Uh, well, err, um, yeah . . . you gotta see it to believe it . . .

A Capitalism Primer circa 1948

I LOVE IT!

"A colorful work environment!"

"First Aid!"

(And what's with that poodlesque hairdo?)

Bittersweet

by Brian Andres

She said she usually
cried at least once
each day not because
she was sad, but
because the world was
so beautiful & life
was so short.

Buy The Book - proceeds to benefit ACF

Bjorn

Wake Up Suzy

by James Taylor

Wake up suzy
Put your shoes on
Walk with me into this light
Finally this morning
Im feeling whole again
It was a hell of a night

Just to be with you by my side
Just to have you near in my sight
Just to walk a while in this light
Just to know that life goes on

Wake up suzy
Put your shoes on
Walk with me into this light

Another night has gone
Life goes on
Another dawn is breaking
Turn and face the sun
One by one
The world outside is waking

Morning light has driven away
All the shadows that hide your way
And night has given away
To the promise of another day

Another day
Another chance that we may
Finally find our way
Another day

The sun has begun
To melt all our fears away
Another day
Another day

Oh wake up suzy
Put your shoes on
Walk with me into this light

Summer Movie #4

September Sessions

Benevolently Suspicious

One night my wife pulled out a couple pairs of glasses and the camera and voila!

I use this photo for all my online profiles. I am not entirely sure why.

For one, I LOVE my Dawg.

For another, I think he is more handsomer than me.

But I just think the photo is so funny - there he is - slack-jawed and unimpressed - his eyes peircing to the very essence of your soul - all your insecurities revealed- through those plastic-framed glasses.

TRUTH NOW.

Its like telling your grandfather a half-truth only to have him stare silently back at you until you begin to fumble, backtrack and correct yourself.

No Shenannigans get past the Benevolently Suspicious Dawg.

Morning Routine

Quote of the Day

I recently stood on a frozen lake inside 3.85 million acres of state-sponsored wilderness with a musher who had been working behind sled dogs for over thirty years but also once spent time in pursuit of a divinity degree, and he said the trouble with America today is not that we're dumb, it's that we're dumb and proud of it.

- From Truck, A Love Story by Michael Perry

Buy The Book - proceeds to benefit ACF

Sober Song

by Barton Sutter

Farewell to the starlight in whiskey,
So long to the sunshine in beer.
The booze made me cocky and frisky
But worried the man in the mirror.

Good night to the moonlight in brandy,
Adieu to the warmth of the wine.
I think I can finally stand me
Without a glass or a stein.

Bye-bye to the balm in the vodka,
Ta-ta to the menthol in gin.
I'm trying to do what I ought to,
Rejecting that snake medicine.

I won't miss the blackouts and vomit,
The accidents and regret.
If I can stay off the rotgut,
There might be a chance for me yet.

So so long to God in a bottle,
To the lies of rum and vermouth.
Let me slake my thirst with water
And the sweet, transparent truth.

This Day in History

69 Years Ago Today

FDR nominated for unprecedented third term

On this day in 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who first took office in 1933 as America's 32nd president, is nominated for an unprecedented third term. Roosevelt, a Democrat, would eventually be elected to a record four terms in office, the only U.S. president to serve more than two terms.

84 Years Ago Today

Hitler publishes Mein Kampf

Seven months after being released from Landsberg jail, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler publishes the first volume of his personal manifesto, Mein Kampf. Dictated by Hitler during his nine-month stay in prison, Mein Kampf, or "My Struggle," was a bitter and turgid narrative filled with anti-Semitic outpourings, disdain for morality, worship of power, and the blueprints for his plan of Nazi world domination. The autobiographical work soon became the bible of Germany's Nazi Party.

217 Years Ago Today

Naval hero John Paul Jones dies in Paris

On this day in 1792, the Revolutionary War naval hero John Paul Jones dies in his Paris apartment, where he was still awaiting a commission as the United States consul to Algiers. Commander Jones, remembered as one of the most daring and successful naval commanders of the American Revolution, was born in Scotland, on July 6, 1747. He became an apprentice to a merchant at 13 and soon went to sea, traveling first to the West Indies and then to North America as a young man. In Virginia at the onset of the American Revolution, Jones sided with the Patriots and received a commission as a first lieutenant in the Continental Navy on December 7, 1775.

1945 Years Ago Today

Fire of Rome

A fire erupts in Rome, spreading rapidly throughout the market area in the center of the city. When the flames finally died out more than a week later, nearly two-thirds of Rome had been destroyed.

Emperor Nero used the fire as an opportunity to rebuild Rome in a more orderly Greek style and began construction on a massive palace called the Domus Aureus. Some speculated that the emperor had ordered the burning of Rome to indulge his architectural tastes, but he was away in Antium when the conflagration began. According to later Roman historians, Nero blamed members of the mysterious Christian cult for the fire and launched the first Roman persecution of Christians in response.

Don't Wish You Could Start Every Day Looking at This?

For more info - CLICK HERE

BTW - those bubbles you see? A-yep: Scuba Divers

Niagra Falls at Night

Niagara Falls in Motion from Matthew Wartman on Vimeo.

HT: Neatorama

First Cookout

July 4th, 2009: Kessler's backyard: S'Mores


Here's to many more mornings of waking up to a pile of laundry that smells of woodsmoke bringing the memory of good friends . . . .

54 Years Ago Today

Disneyland opens

Disneyland, Walt Disney's metropolis of nostalgia, fantasy, and futurism, opens on July 17, 1955. The $17 million theme park was built on 160 acres of former orange groves in Anaheim, California, and soon brought in staggering profits. Today, Disneyland hosts more than 14 million visitors a year, who spend close to $3 billion.

Quote of the Day

I used to believe my father about everything but then I had children myself & now I see how much stuff you make up just to keep from going crazy.

- from Mostly True by Brian Andreas

Buy The Book - proceeds to benefit ACF

Beat! Beat! Drums!

by Walt Whitman

Beat! beat! drums!--Blow! bugles! blow!
Through the windows--through doors--burst like a ruthless force,
Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation;
Into the school where the scholar is studying;
Leave not the bridegroom quiet--no happiness must he have now with
his bride;
Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, plowing his field or gathering his
grain;
So fierce you whirr and pound, you drums--so shrill you bugles blow.
Beat! beat! drums!--Blow! bugles! blow!
Over the traffic of cities--over the rumble of wheels in the streets:
Are beds prepared for sleepers at night in the houses? No sleepers
must sleep in those beds;
No bargainers' bargains by day--no brokers or speculators--Would they
continue?
Would the talkers be talking? would the singer attempt to sing?
Would the lawyer rise in the court to state his case before the
judge?
Then rattle quicker, heavier drums--you bugles wilder blow.

Beat! beat! drums!--Blow! bugles! blow!
Make no parley--stop for no expostulation;
Mind not the timid--mind not the weeper or prayer;
Mind not the old man beseeching the young man;
Let not the child's voice be heard, nor the mother's entreaties;
Make even the trestles to shake the dead, where they lie awaiting the
hearses,
So strong you thump, O terrible drums--so loud you bugles blow.

Summertime Movie #3

Raising Arizona



Submit your summertime movie recommendations in the comments or e-mail to matthew.m.linden@gmail.com

Quote of the Day

When I finish with the plants, I put them under the lights, clean up, and leave for my second date with Anneliese. I take my copy of "Waiting for Guffman", and we watch it in the basement while her daughter sleeps upstairs. Anneliese laughs in all the right places, which I snootily think bodes well. My taste in films is largely non-existent. When she says "Tommy Boy" is one of her favorite movies, I am so delighted I want to give her a noogie, but its early. Then she says she and her sisters and mother can recite every line in "What's Up, Doc?" and I admit I have never seen it. We talk and laugh and watch all the DVD extras and talk and laugh some more, and then, in the half-light of the foyer, I look at her smiling up at me and thank her for a wonderful evening and as I turn to leave a voice inside my head says, "If you don't kiss her right now, you are a clod," and I turn again, backtrack three steps, put my hand in the small of her back, draw her to me, lean down, and kiss her. She makes a soft little "mmmmm" sound that will echo in my heart until my brain fades to black.

Half delight and half panicked, I turn to leave and trip over the doorsill, not falling, but stumbling onto the porch like a drunk. Composing myself, I walk straight down the sidewalk, where I misjudge the curb and smack my knee into the car bumper.

Feels good.

- From Truck, a Love Story by Michael Perry

Buy The Book - proceeds to benefit ACF

So Stinkin Cute

240 Years Ago Today

First Catholic mission in California dedicated

Father Junipero Serra, a Spanish Franciscan missionary, founds the first Catholic mission in California on the site of present-day San Diego. After Serra blessed his new outpost of Christianity in a high mass, the royal standard of Spain was unfurled over the mission, which he named San Diego de Alcala.

Barter

by Sara Teasdale

Life has loveliness to sell,
All beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
Soaring fire that sways and sings,
And children's faces looking up
Holding wonder like a cup.

Life has loveliness to sell,
Music like a curve of gold,
Scent of pine trees in the rain,
Eyes that love you, arms that hold,
And for your spirit's still delight,
Holy thoughts that star the night.

Spend all you have for loveliness,
Buy it and never count the cost;
For one white singing hour of peace
Count many a year of strife well lost,
And for a breath of ecstasy
Give all you have been, or could be.

My Vote is for Jeans, T-shirts and Potluck . . .

I am a pretty casual guy. In college, I put a fair amount of time into thinking about what would be the cheapest / most fashionable way to dress - then I went out and bought 7 pairs of blue jeans, 12 white t-shirts, a couple of sweatshirts and a couple pairs of shorts. I was golden!

On the night I proposed to my wife at a park in La Jolla, we sat down on a bench and I said, "Let me just get this out there: You wear a wedding dress, I wear a tux - the bridesmaids wear whatever nice dress they own, the groomsmen wear whatever suit they may own. The reception is potluck."

"Yeah, that won't happen" was my wife's reply.

The days of blue jeans and white t-shirts were fading in the rear view mirror. . .

Now (17 years later) we are faced with THE ULTIMATE EXTRAVABONANZA SPECTACULAR of our first child's first birthday. And I am having panic attacks daily.

This is not my deal - not how I work. I am all about a small gathering of close friends, close family, a few beers and a BBQ - and oh, yeah - cake and a sing to the wee one.

But that just doesn't work. For one, we have so many people to thank and who want to celebrate this spectacular and miraculous day whether in person or in spirit. This time last year we were told Annie's Birthday would be her only day. And yet, here we are: many surgeries and procedures and blah blah blah later . . . .

If ANYONE should be throwing an ENORMOUS birthday ULTIMATE EXTRAVABONANZA SPECTACULAR it should be us - even if I have to wear something other than blue jeans and a white T-shirt . . .

Only . . . .

The house . . . .

She's not-so-much ready . . . .

I won't bore you with the details except to say, "Roll with it" is a good motto to practice . . . if the absence of stairs and the 2-foot drop from the rest of the house to the family room troubles you, or you find yourself brooding over why there is bare drywall, an unfinished deck or a house exposed to the elements for lack of stucco work - there will be a cooler of barley sodas on the deck - see if it helps . . . if that doesn't work - grab a juice box out of the other cooler on the deck.

There is more . . . but I won't bore you and besides . . . all those thoughts will fly out the window when our 80 lb dog terrorizes your wee one by quietly lumbering into the room minding his own business and happens to glance in your little one's general direction.

So I am having panic attacks daily and we are doing everything we can to spruce up / finish out and generally make the place less lawsuit-inducing to our guests.

In that spirit, auntie Heather (Mercy) sent us this poem:

No matter what we get done, you're gonna turn one;
And it's gonna be fun, for all our friends in the sun:
Water gun, hotdog bun…(I don't mean to poke fun…)

No matter what we get done, you're gonna turn one;
Though Mommy's head's feeling spun,
We'll do the chores one-by-one.

No matter what we get done, you're gonna turn one;
It weighs a metric ton; the work that needs to be done,
But in the long run, Daddy will pull a fast one!

No matter what we get done, you're gonna turn one;
This poem's silly and overdone,
But your party will be a home run.

No matter what we get done, you're gonna turn one!
As you bless and stun, we'll celebrate you a ton.
From your crazy Auntie Mercy…to my little loved one.

So see you at the extrabonanza - if you haven't received your evite it is because we haven't had time to punch in every one's e-mail address yet . . . or we did punch in your address but it was the e-mail address you had 10 e-mail addresses ago . . . we're working on it . . . if you don't get an evite - just show up - no biggie . . . juice boxes and barley sodas are on the deck . . . watch your step . . .

Folded Napkin

This one was new to me . . . .

Why Did Jesus Fold the Napkin?

This is one I can honestly say I have never seen circulating in the e-mails so; I'll start it, if it touches you and you want to forward it.

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? I never noticed this....

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes.

The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.

She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved.. She said, 'They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!'

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple out ran Peter and got there first. He stopped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in.

Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.

Was that important? Absolutely!

Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day.

The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every

Jewish boy knew this tradition.

When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it.

The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.

Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table.

The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, "I'm finished."

But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because..........

The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back."

Amazing Pork Tenderloin in the Slow Cooker

“A simple pork tenderloin recipe for the slow cooker. The roast soaks up the wonderful flavor combination of onion, red wine, and garlic, all of which come together at service to make a delicious au jus.”

RECIPE HERE

Latina Worker

by Doren Robbins

Then I notice through a triple-Americano-awakening moment,
in the mall food court, a young Latina cleaning around by the chrome rail
at Sbarro Pizza. Maybe a Guatemalan, possibly Salvadoran or
Honduran—

could've been Argentinean or Columbian, Chilean, Bolivian,
Panamanian—good chance a Peruvian, Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, Mayan,
Toltec, Sephardic, Huichol coffee plantation or U.S. Fruit Company

or tobacco company or auto industry slave labor robot or CIA-trained
death squad Guardia Nacional butchery massacre survivor.

Several tables down from mine--roughly stacking chairs on tops
of tables—cussing in Spanish, in the mall food court, she hates her job,
I hate her job.

Caption Contest

Neatorama has all sorts of Neato stuff today.

This photo is amazing. Aside from the photo itself, I thought the hand in it looks a lot like the hand of God

From a previous post I did way back when:

When I was writing, this piece of art came to mind. It is a fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo in 1511. It is entitled, "The Creation of Adam". Look at how all of heaven is rushing into the frame. God himself is reaching, straining, to give Adam his touch, his supernatural breath of life. Now look at Adam - it's like God is interrupting him from a television show with another one of God's "boring miracles of creation". You can almost hear the irritation in his voice, "Oh God, what is it NOW?" We really are pathetic wretches sometimes.

=End Previous Post=

So what do you think? What sort of caption would you write for this soap-bubble photo?

Submit it in the comments section and I will pick a winner tomorrow - no prize other than the satisfaction of your own superior wit and humor. ;-)

=UPDATE=

And the winner is: "We're done here (aka 'It is Finished')"

Zipper People! ZIPPER!

Years ago, the wife and I were driving with a friend and we were merging onto a busy highway. The standard procedure is for each merging lane to take turns - one from their lane, one from your lane.

Things were not going well and the whole interchange was turning into a parking lot.

That's when our friend in the backseat exclaimed "Zipper people! ZIPPER!" The wife and I had never heard anyone call it that and we laughed for quite some time about it - and of course have never forgotten it.

This post made me think of that this morning.

Zipper people! ZIPPER!

You May Have Heard of the Previous Owner . . .

The wife and I have always thought it would be neat to convert a small church into a home.

Someone in England actually did it! (I could do without the cemetary part though . . .)

I'm Almost One!

Quote of the Day

Now, off to Home Depot to get bird seed. Well, grass seed, but I’m being realistic.

-Lileks

Birth

The miracle of birth is just beyond comprehension - a person inside a person! Crazy!

While I don't really understand it all, I thought this post was fascinating:

Teaser:

Up until about the 30th week of my pregnancy I hadn't given labor much thought, only that I was going to ask for the epidural two days before contractions started. I'm not kidding, that was the extent of my birth plan. There was no need to experience any of the pain, I thought, especially since I had been through this before and I remember thinking that the pain was so awful that it was going to kill me. Give me the epidural and any other pain relief, maybe throw in a couple dozen shots of bourbon, oh and how about you just put me under general anesthesia and wake me up two days later. I'm not good with pain. I tend to complain and holler and call people regrettable things. It's like the Hulk, only he's on his period.

=later=

And then, oh God, the worst thing happened. And I didn't even see it coming, but I'm sitting there reading that book, gritting my teeth, shaking my head when all of a sudden it started to make sense. I started to see just how medicalized labor and birth have become in America AND THERE GOES MY WORLD VIEW.

I'm not going to get into the specifics and the really convincing and at times jaw-dropping statistics of it here, there are so many other places and people who can write about it better than I can, but I will say this: if you are pregnant or are planning to become pregnant, GO READ THAT BOOK. From now on when someone asks me what is the one piece of advice I would give to a pregnant woman, it will be: GO BUY A COPY OF THAT BOOK. Listen, I am not affiliated with that book in any way, I do not know Ricki Lake, she and I do not vacation in St. Tropez together (although if she'd like to come ride four-wheelers at my Mom's cabin in Duchesne, Utah, THE OFFER STANDS), I do not owe that publisher any favors. But IT CHANGED MY LIFE. I'm not even kidding, I'll say it again: IT CHANGED MY LIFE.

Check it out - pretty funny stuff to boot.

Hoping this is not Her "I'm thinkin'" Face . . .

If it is, that AP Calculus class is going to fraught with social repercussions . . .

Hysteria

by T.S. Eliot

As she laughed I was aware of becoming involved
in her laughter and being part of it, until her
teeth were only accidental stars with a talent
for squad-drill. I was drawn in by short gasps,
inhaled at each momentary recovery, lost finally
in the dark caverns of her throat, bruised by
the ripple of unseen muscles. An elderly waiter
with trembling hands was hurriedly spreading
a pink and white checked cloth over the rusty
green iron table, saying: "If the lady and
gentleman wish to take their tea in the garden,
if the lady and gentleman wish to take their
tea in the garden ..." I decided that if the
shaking of her breasts could be stopped, some of
the fragments of the afternoon might be collected,
and I concentrated my attention with careful
subtlety to this end.

Quote of the Day

Mark Breaks the reverie. He is standing beside the right rear fender, which is attached to the box with a semicircle of retaining bolts. "I want to see what it's like under there," he says, patting the fender. "We're gonna hafta puller." Gonna hafta puller is one of my favorite shop phrases. It applies in any circumstance where any mechanical object - the fuel pump, a bad spark plug, or the entire dang engine - requires removal. You say it with a tone of can-do resignation, and it helps if you take a big breath first and then speak like you're hiking your pants or lifting something heavy. I'm telling you, it really puts hair on your chest. I'll stand there sometimes with the hood up, looking into the bowels of the machine, and I'll just suck it up and say, "Yee-up, looks like I'm gonna hafta puller." And I'll reach in and draw that empty inkjet cartridge right outta there.

- from Truck, a Love Story by Michael Perry

Buy The Book - proceeds to benefit ACF

Peppered Bacon and Tomato Linguine

"Quick and delicious!"

RECIPE HERE

Not Your Mother's Gingerbread House

Many of us have made gingerbread houses during the holidays.

Hot Dog hide-a-way has come up with a new twist.

Behold the Meat House Kit

HT: Neatorama

Toto

Love it



Thanks Michelle!

Apple Jacks

I don't know what it is about this video but it cracks me up every time . . . .

205 Years Ago Today

Burr slays Hamilton in duel

In a duel held in Weehawken, New Jersey, Vice President Aaron Burr fatally shoots his long-time political antagonist Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton, a leading Federalist and the chief architect of America's political economy, died the following day.

Quote of the Day

"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance."

- Confucius

Cat Lover

by Brian Andres

I've had cats

since I was

young, she

said & I still

love them.

See, I said,

You don't

have to be

smart to be

happy.

Buy The Book - proceeds to benefit ACF

Quote of the Day

The heater was passable, but in the summer you'd rely on what a laughing bus driver once described to me as a "2-80" air conditioner: "Roll down two windows and go eighty miles an hour!" There were vents on either side if the cab at shin level, but to open them was to unleash a cyclone of alfalfa chaff and dehydrated horse flies.

Picture your date perched beside you on a summer's day. Her lips glistening with Bubble Gum Lip Smackers and the cab charged with the scent of Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific! shampoo. You're running fifty miles an hour down a gravel road when she grows overwarm and bends down to crack a vent. When she rares back, she appears to have emerged from a polluted wind tunnel. Her hair is frosted with feed dust and she's got pine needles stuck in her banana clip. Her lips are dotted like twin strips of flypaper, and there is a June bug in her braces.

You're young. You kiss her anyway.

- From Truck, A Love Story by Michael Perry

Buy The Book - proceeds to benefit ACF

Bed Head

After All

by Henry Lawson

The brooding ghosts of Australian night have gone from the bush and town;
My spirit revives in the morning breeze,
though it died when the sun went down;
The river is high and the stream is strong,
and the grass is green and tall,
And I fain would think that this world of ours is a good world after all.

The light of passion in dreamy eyes, and a page of truth well read,
The glorious thrill in a heart grown cold of the spirit I thought was dead,
A song that goes to a comrade's heart, and a tear of pride let fall --
And my soul is strong! and the world to me is a grand world after all!

Let our enemies go by their old dull tracks,
and theirs be the fault or shame
(The man is bitter against the world who has only himself to blame) ;
Let the darkest side of the past be dark, and only the good recall;
For I must believe that the world, my dear, is a kind world after all.

It well may be that I saw too plain, and it may be I was blind;
But I'll keep my face to the dawning light,
though the devil may stand behind!
Though the devil may stand behind my back, I'll not see his shadow fall,
But read the signs in the morning stars of a good world after all.

Rest, for your eyes are weary, girl -- you have driven the worst away --
The ghost of the man that I might have been is gone from my heart to-day;
We'll live for life and the best it brings till our twilight shadows fall;
My heart grows brave, and the world, my girl, is a good world after all.

Drop and Give Me 10

Small World

By Brian Andres

We sat in the car

& the night dropped

down until the

only sounds were

the crickets &

the dance of our

voices

& for a moment

the world became

small enough to

roll back & forth

between us

Buy The Book - proceeds to benefit ACF

Quote of the Day

I always wanted to invent something that would move around & make funny noises & would change the world as we know it & I forgot all about that until we had kids & now I see I came pretty close.

- From Hearing Voices by Brian Andres

Buy The Book - proceeds to benefit ACF

Quote of the Day

After I dropped off the other kids Natalie and I went to Target to get supplies for the Fourth. Evil SWINE and DESPOILERS OF SUMMER: they put up the school supplies before the Fourth. GAH. Summer has been shoved off to a few aisles like last year’s fashions. No one likes this. No one wants this. No one will be banging on the door a minute after closing time tomorrow to demand admittance because they need a plastic pencil box now. You cannot sell fireworks, watermelons, backpacks and pencils in the same store in July; they should repel one another and be hurled to all four corners of the store. Well, we’ll never try that again. Someone call the Pentagon and tell them we’ve discovered a new elemental force that could possibly be weaponized. Honest to God, Natalie’s face was drained of color when she saw the displays. Noooooo!

If I’d had a bottle of lemonade in my hand I would have walked around like Max Von Sydow, sprinkling consecrated liquid to sear the demon. I cast you out! Begone, erasers asleep in your plastic blisters! Away, spiral-bound notebooks emblazoned with licensed tween idols! The power of July compels you! The power of July compels you!

- Lileks

Changing the World

I came across this article the other day about a 4-year-old girl born with Spina Bifida. It turns out she needed some equipment that her insurance would not cover so the other pre-schoolers in her class decided to do a fundraiser.

What struck me about the article was that the world-view of these pre-schoolers has been changed - forever altered - by the presence of this little girl in their midst.

I don't recall there ever being disabled students at my elementary, Jr. High or High Schools. Of course, I have never been mean spirited towards those with disabilities but I know that is not the case for all people - especially children.

As I read this short article, it made me wonder, "How have these pre-schoolers been changed by this experience? Are they more apt to overlook physical differences? Are they more likely to offer a helping hand to a stranger? Are they now more likely to view the world around them through more compassionate eyes?"

Of course, no parent would wish a disability on their child just so that those around them are forced to become more tolerant and kind. And yet, if that is where you find yourself one day, I suppose "Bloom where you are planted" is the motto.

Naturally, I hope that the world is a better place because of my little Annabelle and I hope that the children of our friends are fuller, kinder and more compassionate adults for having grown up around Annie.

In today's society, we are pushed to avoid all pain and suffering associated with health from the moment of conception to the last breath. And then I read stories like this and it makes me wonder, "What if we were to eliminate all disabilities and suffering from our midst? What would that do to our sense of compassion? Our willingness to lend a hand? Our ability to stop our petty griping about our insignificant irritations for one blessed second - Just long enough to connect with someone living a reality we can never fully comprehend?"

In many ways I think that the world is a better place not in spite of but because of those extraordinary individuals in our midst who carry disabilities and need a helping hand from time to time.

Just a thought.

Summertime Movie #2

Rear Window

Submit your recommendations in the comments or e-mail them to matthew.m.linden@gmail.com

Summertime Movies!

With the passing of the 4th of July we enter into the long summer stretch - no holidays to speak of other than the sheer joy of everyday that is summer.

So it's time for summertime movies!

First up: Step into Liquid

Submit your recommendations in the comments or e-mail them to matthew.m.linden@gmail.com!

The Perfect Life

by Stephen Dunn

Because it was in the future, it always existed

and asked of us, I thought, only to wish

ourselves toward it, and record what we saw,

its flora and architecture and scud-free sky.

And I, for one, found this to be possible,

and wished myself further into it,

so far that I heard it asking me to tell others

about the evils of industry,

and how it might feel to have our desires

matched, then satisfied, every day of our lives.

The perfect life was never quite present,

so could never be faulted, and seemed

to keep just enough of its promises

to keep me committed. In this way it resembled

one of those beautiful strangers

made of smoke and thin air, the lovely trouble

I've often foreseen, but still wanted to lie down with.

I remember how often I forgave its intolerances,

and once, when I realized its agenda was to exclude

every other version of a perfect life, I excused it

as fulfillment's necessary sacrifice.

Later on - oh the perfect life does not like the sound

of history - later on, amid the regret, the heartbreak -

amid such words I now permitted myself to say,

I nevertheless remember a clearing by a river,

the camaraderie there, the small fires and the dancing,

and looking up into the lambency of the night

how I believed that all of it was ours.

Buy The Book - proceeds to benefit ACF

Quote of the Day

The world of American culture and commerce functions like a combination of sponge and sandpaper, absorbing everything and smoothing it down so it slides easily into a designer shopping bag. It's the American free enterprise system at work, and while in general I am a fan, I admit to some grumping while I try to work out exactly where it is that egalitarianism gets tromped by commodification. At what point does the genuine article become frothy? I'm pretty much a live-and-let-live agnostic, but whenever I see churches luring people to their services with puppets and guitars, or these mall churches where they park your car and serve you lattes and let you watch the pastor of your choice on five JumboTrons, I want to say, No, No, No. Church should not be easy. Church should be hard. I have read that in his last days, Jesus Christ fell on his face and sweated blood. The least you can do is sit on a hard pew and squirm some.

- From Truck, a Love Story by Michael Perry

Buy The Book - proceeds to benefit ACF

"I believe the light that shines on you will shine on you forever"

From Father and Daughter by Paul Simon

This Day in History

144 Years Ago Today

Salvation Army founded

In the East End of London, revivalist preacher William Booth and his wife Catherine establish the Christian Mission, later known as the Salvation Army. Determined to wage war against the evils of poverty and religious indifference with military efficiency, Booth modeled his Methodist sect after the British army, labeling uniformed ministers as "officers" and new members as "recruits."

63 Years Ago Today

Bikini introduced

On July 5, 1946, French designer Louis Reard unveils a daring two-piece swimsuit at the Piscine Molitor, a popular swimming pool in Paris. Parisian showgirl Micheline Bernardini modeled the new fashion, which Reard dubbed "bikini," inspired by a news-making U.S. atomic test that took place off the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean earlier that week.

Happy 4th!

So Cool it Hurts a Little . . .

HT; neatorama

Everything Else in the World

by Stephen Dunn

Too young to take pleasure

from those privileged glimpses

we're sometimes given after failure

or to see the hidden opportunity

in not getting what we want,

each day I subwayed into Manhattan

in my new, blue serge suit,

looking for work. College, I thought,

had whitened my collar, set me up,

but I'd majored in history.

What did I know about the world?

At interviews, if asked about the world,

I might have responded - citing Carlyle -

Great men make it go, I want to be one of those.

But they wanted someone entry-level,

pleased for a while to be small.

Others got the jobs;

no doubt, later in the day, the girls.

At Horn & Hadarts, for solace

at lunchtime, I'd make a sandwich emerge

from its cell of pristine glass.

It took just a nickle and a dime.

Nickles and dimes could make

a middleman disappear, easy as that,

no big deal, a life or two

destroyed, others improved.

But I wasn't afraid of capitalism.

All I wanted was a job like a book

so good I'd be finishing it

for the rest of my life.

Had my education failed me?

I felt a hankering for the sublime,

its dangerous subversions

of the daily grind.

Oh I took a dull, well-paying job.

History major? the interviewer said, I think

you might be good at designing brochures.

I was. Which filled me with desire

for almost everything else in the world.

By The Book - proceeds to benefit ACF

Post-Bath Playtime

183 Years Ago Today

Death of the founding fathers

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the second and third presidents of the United States, respectively, die on this day, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Both men had been central in the drafting of the historic document; Jefferson had authored it, and Adams, who was known as the "colossus of the debate," served on the drafting committee and had argued eloquently for the declaration's passage.

Quote of the Day

I finally settled on Buddhism, she said, but it's more than just a fashion statement. I've always done some of my best thinking in my bathrobe.

- From Hearing Voices by Brian Andres

By The Book - proceeds to benefit ACF

The Tiny Art Director

Good Lord this is funny stuff.

Artist Bill Zeman solicits commissions from his four year-old daughter (the tiny art director).

He then has her critique the finished work and marks the project as "Approved" or "Rejected"

A typical entry looks like this:

The Brief: A dinosaur chasing us
The Critique: Where's us? Draw us on the picture! I'm going to fix him the way I like him. This is how I don't like him. Please, please erase him! Erase him now!
Job Status: Rejected
Additional Comments: Get those claws out of here!
Artist Statement: The Tiny Art Director hates this more than anything I've ever done for her, with the possible exception of the crocodiles from the other day.

Seriously funny stuff

Replicas

by Stephen Dunn

When it became clear aliens were working here
with their dead-giveaway, perfectly cut Armani suits,
excessive politeness, and those ray guns
disguised as cell phones tucked into their belts,
I decided we had two choices: cocktail party
to befriend them, or massive air strikes (I joked
at the board meeting) on what might be a hospital
for children with rare diseases, but could
as easily be where these aliens spawned and lived.
Cocktail party it was, and they came
with their gorgeous women dressed like replicas
of gorgeous women, and though they sipped
their martinis as if they'd graduated
from some finishing school between their world
and ours, I must admit they were good company,
talking ball scores and GNP, even movies,
and how bright and inviting the stars seemed
from my deck. I found myself almost
having sympathy for what certain people will do
to fit in, until I remembered they might want
to take over, maybe even blow things up.
And when the dog barked from the other room,
the way she does when some creature is nearby,
about to cross an invisible line, I was sure
I couldn't afford to trust appearances ever again.
But when it was time to leave, they left,
saying at the door what a good evening they'd had.
Each of them used the same words,
like people who've been trained in sales,
and as they moved to their Miatas and Audis
I noted the bare shoulders of their women
were the barest shoulders I'd ever seen,
as if they needed only the night as a shawl.

Bath Time

Quote of the Day

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."

- Douglas Adam

Medical Update: Happy Feet

First, a little history.

August: This is what Annabelle's feet looked like the week after she was born:

October: Two months after she was born:


July: After 10 weeks of casting, two surgeries and another 8 weeks of casting:

Her feet are still a little swollen which has to do with all they have been through along with circulation issues and the fact that she still has a lot of baby fat on them. The mark nearest her toes is where the pin went in to hold things in place after surgery.

Her right foot had a pin in the same place but it is a little farther along in the healing process:

Here you can see part of the incisions that ran from the arch of her feet, around the heel to the other side. They are healed now but the scarring is pretty significant:

So this is "How we do it". First, calf-length socks:

The Ankle-foot Orthodics (AFO's) are custom made to fit her feet. They are just thin plastic and come in two pieces which are secured by Velcro straps. Super boots!:

The boots go over the socks and strap snugly:

Bootsie!:

Ready to rock!

Generally speaking, the AFO's are going to be a part of life indefinitely. The Ortho doc didn't want to rule out future surgeries but he said they would be "years" down the road if at all.

The folks who made Annie's super boots are the same ones who are going to make her soft body jacket to help with her Kyphosis. Unfortunately, they have not received authorization from our insurance company yet so we are all waiting on that one.

At this point, our calendar is relatively medical-free with the exception of weekly PT and OT appointments.

We have a visit to the Spinal Defects clinic in August which will include a Urodynamic study to determine how Anna-ba-lu's bladder and kidney's are functioning and whether or not we need to start a cathing regimen. We are hoping and praying that cathing won't be necessary while at the same time preparing to accept it if that is the case.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support!