Hello Kitty and Bunny and ....

I'm not sure why, and I probably shouldn't admit it at my age, but I find that I am a closet Hello Kitty fan and also alot of the other similar Japanese characters of that ilk. I've restained my fandom to just a few nightshirts so far and have avoided browsing through the Hello Kitty shop at the nearby mall. But, I may have to break down and get one of these Dust Bunnies. I don't know why but they just crack me up, there is something so cute and quirky about them. http://pixelgirlshop.com/

One of my heroes

The anniversary of the nuclear bomb being dropped on Nagasaki reminded me of one of the most moving books I've read, The Bells of Nagasaki, by Takashi Nagai. I'd really recommend it if you can track down a copy. Dr. Nagai was raised in the Shinto religion but became interested in Christianity after his mother's death. As a young radiology student in a Nagasaki medical school, he lived with a Catholic family and ended up becoming a Christian himself and marrying their daughter, Midori. The dangers of x-rays weren't well known back then and he was already dying of leukemia when the bomb hit Nagasaki in 1945, killing his wife. He spent his last 6 years with his young children, caring for bombing victims and writing books about faith and encouraging people to forgive and love each other. Today there is a distinct difference in how Hiroshima and Nagasaki deal with their nuclear experiences, Hiroshima being very militant, and Nagasaki being more philosophical and reaching out to others. A lot of that attitude is attributed to Dr. Nagai. Anyway, more serious than most things I post here, but it's a book very worth reading. http://praiseofglory.com/tnagai.htm
http://www1.city.nagasaki.nagasaki.jp/na-bomb/nagai/nagae01e.html

Great news!

Some of you might remember my friend Jeremy, a marine pilot stationed in Afganistan. I got this email this morning from his wife, Torry: "
Hi~
Just thought I'd let you know that Jeremy FINALLY made it home yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. His final leg of his journey was about 7 hours so he was pretty tired when he got here. Needless to say, we're all ecstatic that he's back. The kids were so funny in their anticipation of his return. The excitement was palpable. We were at the squadron about half an hour before they arrived. Since this is the first time Jeremy has flown the jets in, it was a new experience for us. It was very cool. We were just sitting in the hangar waiting and all of a sudden, you hear the loud roar of jet enjines, then a minute later, you see them file by. At this point, everyone in the hangar is running from their seats to the front of the building. After they landed and shut their engines off, they began to climb out. It was so neat to see him get out of the plane and just start walking towards us. Abby was giggling so much, you would have thought someone was tickling her. Marshall was excited to see jeremy, but had been a bit apprehensive about the noise. We had a laid back evening. It was a very nice summer evening, so we took a walk after dinner. Jeremy spent most of his evening giving horseback rides and playing my little pony and tossing a football. And Amelia, not be outdone by her overbearing siblings decided that she would get attention by choosing to roll over for the first time while jeremy was playing with the kids. All in all, it was an incredible day, but quite frankly, one I'll be happy to not have to do again for quite some time! Take care.

Love, Torry and the rest too!"

Arthur Murray look out

I like to change my computer wallpaper every few weeks and this is the latest. I thought the pictures of my young cousin Michael charming a guest at a recent family wedding were adorable.

Woot contest

I love the weekly picture contest on www.woot.com. Every Friday they pick a theme and then you have the weekend to work on a suitable picture and enter it. This week's theme was based on one of this week's woot products, a tool box vacuum cleaner. The suposition is "What if the old saying, 'Nature abhors a vacuum' was literal"? You are supposed to come up with an illustration of what it might look like if Mother Nature REALLY did hate this vacuum cleaner. Ok, weak premise, but some fun entries. I entered twice, but neither was as strong as I'd like, the first is Mother Nature dreaming about things she'd like to do to the hated vacuum, and the other is some of "Nature's" giants going after the doomed vac.


Yes, I occasionally have too much time on my hands.

Home Sweet Home

Had a great time out in California this past weekend! But I did go through hi-tech withdrawal as there was no cellphone coverage, wi-fi hotspot or dialup access where I was. I did finally stumble across a local wi-fi spot and got my "fix". Just a few years ago we didn't have cellphones, computers, ATM's, digital cameras, etc., however did we manage. . . . Do you start twitching and breaking out in a rash when you're away from your electronic toys for too long?