I don't do Halloween, but...

My roommate's computer is possessed.  Ever since yesterday it has been snapping and popping and making all kinds of random strange noises.  Nothing is on the screen, just the noises.  (Maybe it's because Everett played that video on it.)

Favorites

One of my favorite things about winter is I get to sleep under a mountain of heavy blankets!  

I put on my third one last night.  :)  

(No, that's not me..it's just a cute picture I found of a doggy all wrapped up in a blanket.)

Too young for this

Yesterday, I forgot my age.  

I've spent so much time thinking I was already the age I'm going to be on my birthday, that I got confused as to my actual age.  

Fortunately, there was a high schooler around who, when I told him my birth-year, was able to tell me how old I really am!!!

Flag Folding

Apparently there is something in the news right now about the flag folding recitation being banned because one person objected to the 11th fold words.  (If you want the story, just google "flag folding recitation" and you'll get dozens of links)

But I didn't know there was a recitation that went along with the folding, and I wondered what it was.  Now that's far harder to find online than the news story!  I finally found it, and thought I would share with you in case you didn't know either.  

Do you know that at military funerals, the 21-gun salute stands for the sum of the numbers in the year 1776?

According to Arlington Cemetery, the 21-gun salute evolved from many years of various traditions of honoring dignitaries.

Have you ever noticed the honor guard pays meticulous attention to correctly folding the United States of America Flag 13 times? You probably thought it was to symbolize the original 13 colonies, but we learn something new every day!
The 1st fold of the flag is a symbol of life.

The 2nd fold is a symbol of the belief in eternal life.

The 3rd fold is made in honor and remembrance of the veterans departing the ranks who gave a portion of their lives for the defense of the country to attain peace throughout the world.

The 4th fold represents the weaker nature, for as American citizens trusting in God, it is to Him we turn in times of peace as well as in time of war for His divine guidance.

The 5th fold is a tribute to the country, for in the words of Stephen Decatur, "Our Country, in dealing with other countries, may she always be right; but it is still our country, right or wrong."


The 6th fold is for where people's hearts lie. It is with their heart that they pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States Of America, and the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.
The 7th fold is a tribute to its Armed Forces, for it is through the Armed Forces that they protect their country and their flag against all her enemies, whether they be found within or without the boundaries of their republic.

The 8th fold is a tribute to the one who entered into the valley of the shadow of death, that we might see the light of day.


The 9th fold is a tribute to womanhood, and mothers. For it has been through their faith, their love, loyalty and devotion that the character of the men and women who have made this country great has been molded.

The 10th fold is a tribute to the father, for he, too, has given his sons and daughters for the defense of their country since they were first born.


The 11th fold represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon and glorifies in the Hebrews eyes, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The 12th fold represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in the Christians eyes, God the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.



The 13th fold, or when the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost reminding them of their nations motto, "In God We Trust."

And then as they hand the folded flag to the spouse or family member and say those words "from a grateful nation......................." and the tears begin to flow..................

After the flag is completely folded and tucked in, it takes on the appearance of a cocked hat, ever reminding us of the soldiers who served under General George Washington, and the Sailors and Marines who served under Captain John Paul Jones, who were followed by their comrades and shipmates in the Armed Forces of the United States, preserving for them the rights, privileges and freedoms they enjoy today.
There are some traditions and ways of doing things that have deep meaning. In the future, you'll see flags folded and now you will know why.
Share this with the children you love and all others who love what is referred to, the symbol of "Liberty and Freedom."

He's so cute!

We're sitting in the living room and  Camila is telling us about something that happened this weekend.  April responds, "Bizarre."

Ric starts laughing hysterically and trying to say "Bizarre."  How bizarre the word bizarre must sound to a 2-year-old.

Pray for the Persecutors

The Faith of the Cambodian Martyrs

October 25, 2007

In the late 1970s, Khmer Rouge dictator Pol Pot oversaw the deaths of about 2 million people in Cambodia. Not surprisingly, Pol Pot's red hordes were especially merciless in their persecution of Christians.

Now, thirty years after the fact, the UN-sponsored Khmer Rouge tribunal is set to begin. The surviving victims of that unspeakably evil communist regime have waited nearly a generation for justice.

Unfortunately, that justice may never come. "Real justice," says Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, "means . . . making decisions . . . based on evidence, not politics." And sadly, according to the Wall Street Journal, politics and allegations of corruption and misuse of funds have already compromised the tribunal's integrity in the eyes of many.

Nonetheless, while the scandals surrounding the tribunal garner headlines, a much more amazing story is emerging—and it involves the murderous persecutors of Christianity.

One of the major Cambodian officials cited for crimes against humanity is named Duch. He directed the "notorious S21 prison, where some 14,000 people are thought to have been tortured before being sent to their deaths in the killing fields outside Phnom Penh." Unlike other former Cambodian leaders, Duch has actually admitted his part in the killings of nearly one-quarter of Cambodia's population. He has spent the last eight years in a military prison.

"I have done very bad things in my life," Duch told Religion Today back in 1999. "Now it is time to bear the consequences for my actions." You see, before Duch surrendered to authorities, he surrendered to Christ. And he was not alone.

Ninety percent of Cambodia's Christians may have been slaughtered during the reign of Pol Pot, but as human rights advocate Kristin Wright reported, more than 2,000 Khmer Rouge who once followed Pol Pot now follow Christ! Many of them converted after encountering the faith of those they murdered.

"It is a testimony," says Wright, "to the courageous lives of Christians like [one Cambodian named] Haim, who used their final words to witness to Khmer Rouge soldiers before being dumped in a mass grave." And now, years after nearly being exterminated, Christianity is growing in Cambodia, despite the new government's clamp-down on non-Buddhist religious activities.

It is a modern-day realization of what ancient Church father Tertullian proclaimed: The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.

And around the world today, the blood of Christian martyrs is flowing as never before. We have talked on "BreakPoint" many times about the savage persecution of Christians in many Muslim countries, in China, and in ancient Christian homelands in Iraq. That is why I am asking you and your church to participate in the 10th annual Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church this November 11. Visit our website at www.BreakPoint.org to get materials your church can use in observing this day of prayer.

And as you pray for the persecuted Church, pray for the persecutors as well, that they, like the Apostle Paul and the former Khmer Rouge militants, will embrace the One whose followers they persecuted.

It's hard to have that "intoxicatingly good sleep" when you spend the whole night dreaming you are 2 hours late to the last rehearsal of the show and then you can't get the computer to work-at all- and you are such a mess that your friend says she's more comfortable with her sister so she's going to have her do it instead!  

Sleep

Today has felt long and I am tired.  Then I realized:  I can go to  sleep now!!!  

What an intoxicating thought...I get to go to sleep now!!!

Sayonara!

Mouse update

Still at large...

(Too bad those guns of Nikki's aren't real!)

Annie, Get Your Gun (s)

If you want to see some pictures of the show, Scotty posted some great ones on his blog today. 

 

There he went again! And the light is on and I'm sitting here and everything!!!!

Get out the traps!

I just saw a mouse...yes, a mouse, running across the floor in my living room. Of course, I shrieked and then started planning on how I would kill the mouse. (Didn't I do this last year??? Oh well, at least it's not a rat and my bed isn't on the floor anymore!!!)

It is over

The Wedding Singer was a lot of fun. I think the songs are the best part, so I can keep enjoying that on my cd. The dancing and choreography were fantastic too. I had a great seat, second row on the balcony with no one in front of me.

Now since the show and Wedding Singer are over, I can focus on other things. Like the cast party! I'm hoping there will be a little poodle there with a leg on his head and tuney pin badges!!!

well, that's different!

It won't roll of the tongue quite as nicely as TP, but "my car was moist toweletted" seems to be the new rage!

The day is here!!!

"Oh when it's your wedding day and my music starts to play, I can guarantee that love will find you.

Yeah, when it's your wedding day all the problems melt away if you count on me 'cause love is what I do!"

Scrappily ever after...

Ahh, I am so hyper right now. I was really tired at the start of the show, but after it was over and everyone was running around striking the set and lugging it all back to the Fine Arts Center, I got so hyper. It's so fun, everyone working together to get the job done.

So that's the end of Annie, Get Your Gun. It was a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. Some people even claimed it was their favorite show we had done so far! Not mine personally, but then different people like different things, and it's hard to top Beauty and the Beast (and Guys and Dolls - Sky Masterson, wow!)

Ahhhh...

it's 10:30am...so many thoughts running around my head...like, I did that just so you can know I could if I wanted to...the great thing about not taking naps is you can sleep in the next day...this is the lastday of the show....tunny pin badges...and one more day til the Wedding Singer!!!

"It's raining, it's pouring, I wish I was snoring."

It would be nice if I was able to take naps whenever I wanted too, but I am physically incapable of forcing myself to fall asleep. I think too much.

T minus 3...

3 days and counting!!!

Waiting

(And no, I don't mean I'm waiting for Sunday when I get to see The Wedding Singer in Atlanta. Although I am.)

My computer has been functioning vvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyy sssssssssssssssslllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyy recently, and I spent a lot of time yesterday trying to remedy that. Mostly, I was deleting programs I've never used and old files and documents I don't need anymore. Although once I realized the culprit was that I had t0o many .wav files I just converted them all to mp3's (which also work with Audacity, memo to me and Scotty) which take up a fraction of the space and everything was right again.

In the process of deleting old documents, I found a fun quiz I made up many weeks ago and then forgot about. So I am waiting for this current poll to finish up so I can post the new one, which I have to warn you, will only be fun for about 1/2 of the people who read my blog as the other half will not know what it's about. And I'm not talking about the Princess Bride. :)

This is the title for my post

It's late. I should be asleep. But I have to write something. Because if I don't no one else will come and update my blog for me. And tomorrow it will look the same as today. Now where's the fun in that?

I watched the rest of Legally Blonde: The Musical today. Not the best ever. I liked the first few songs but then it just felt boring and predictable. (I guess that's what happens when you've already seen the movie. Twice.) And call me old-fashioned, but I really didn't like the girl proposing to the guy at the end.

I spent all day Sunday laying on the couch watching TV except for the 20 minutes I went grocery shopping. When I got in my car I thought I would go for a stroll in the sun after I got back, but after wandering around the store feeling like I was about to pass out, I decided to go back to my couch and enjoy the sun through the window. It's nice that I had a day to sleep in and rest since I've been so sick. Although, silly me, I thought(or hoped) it was just allergies. I'm feeling much better, just still have a bit of a cough.

I started my Christmas shopping 2 weeks ago. My theory is to buy one or two presents a week so that it's under control and doesn't cost me a fortune all at once. I have 5 people taken care of so far plus a birthday present and lots of other ideas still to use. I feel rather accomplished!
In the midst of all my shopping, I started thinking about what things I would like. And since my birthday is also coming up I decided to write down the things I would enjoy having; that's what the "wish list" on the sidebar is. (It's really to help my family with ideas. So, random people who read my blog, this isn't me trying to get you to give me a present) ;)

HAPPY MIDDLE OF OCTOBER!!!

By the way, when does daylight savings time end? Shouldn't I be getting an extra hour to sleep soon???

And only 5 more days til I see The Wedding Singer @ the Fox!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Women wish to be loved without a why or a wherefore; not because they are pretty, or good, or well-bred, or graceful, or intelligent, but because they are themselves."

Henri Frederic Amiel

A happy surprise

Tonight, after the show (Annie, Get Your Gun), I went home and saw Daniel's car in the driveway (April's fiance'). I walked in the door and not only was Daniel there, but Amanda and Ozu also!!! So there I was all ready to go to sleep at 11:30, and suddenly I see the party is just getting started!
It was great. We talked, laughed played Pit and Killer Uno...and 2 hours later I am just getting into bed. (Although Cam and Ape are out walking.) It reminded me of the "good old days" when sleep was an afterthought and talking, playing games and just hanging out were the most important things. I remember a specific time when we started a movie at 4am in Seneca. Although I think there was more than one time. :) My motto always was, "Sleep's overrated, you can sleep when you're dead."

Hmm...so this post was going to be about the great time I had with everyone tonight, and it ended up as a short stroll down memory lane. I must be getting old.

Reminder...

We've been selected as the first show ever to air on national TV while we're still packing them in on Broadway. MTV asked, and we said "Yes!" So be sure to check your local listings and tune in SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13.

Welcome back!

Mr. and Mrs. Travis Wright have moved back to this side of the country! What a delight!!! :)

Re-reading an old classic...

"O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus' name, Amen."

~A.W. Tozer
The Pursuit of God, Chapter 1

When I start catching up on e-mails...

I have almost 200 unread e-mails. That is ridiculous. Most of them are newsletter type information e-mails that I have signed up for from various organizations like National Right To Life and Citizen Alert.

So, as I begin to catch up on them, (since I'm actually going to be at home this morning!) there will likely be an increase in my blogging.

For example, I just found out that Hillary Clinton said in a speech last week she would roll back President Bush's funding restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research if she's elected. She also said she would prohibit political appointees from limiting research based on anything but "scientific reasons." How can people condone killing of human life for research? And it's not as though any of their experiments have produced anything. Whereas adult stem-cells have been proven to be very beneficial in specific cases and have all the same qualities of embryonic stem cells with the advantage of no life being destroyed.
Good grief!

The other side

There is a movie called The Golden Compass coming out in December that looked interesting to me. I had never heard of it or the His Dark Materials trilogy or of Philip Pullman, the trilogy's author. But after reading an e-mail from Citizen Link that talked about the trilogy's atheist and anti-Christian themes, I decided to look more into it.

I ended up at www.hisdarkmaterials.org and read a long page of quotes by Philip Pullman.
He is a man who grew up in the "church" but says he has never seen any evidence that there is a God who has revealed Himself to humans. As I read more and more of his quotes, I understood more of where he is coming from and his world view. He has grievances with "organized religion" because of the killings and torturing done in the name of some god throughout history and even today. He doesn't believe that there is such a thing as absolute truth.

I know there are many people in our world who have similar beliefs, but it is heartbreaking when I encounter a specific person who lives his life this way.

In his books there is something called the Republic of Heaven. Here is a quote from Mr. Pullman about that.

"The kingdom of heaven promised us certain things: it promised us happiness and a sense of purpose and a sense of having a place in the universe, of having a role and a destiny that were noble and splendid; and so we were connected to things. We were not alienated. But now that, for me anyway, the King is dead, I find that I still need these things that heaven promised, and I'm not willing to live without them. I don't think I will continue to live after I'm dead, so if I am to achieve these things I must try to bring them about – and encourage other people to bring them about – on earth, in a republic in which we are all free and equal – and responsible – citizens."

And in response to the question, What are the key values in the Republic, rather than the Kingdom, of Heaven? He answered,

"Firstly, a sense that this world where we live is our home. Our home is not somewhere else. There is no elsewhere. This is a physical universe and we are physical beings made of material stuff. This is where we live.

Secondly, a sense of belonging, a sense of being part of a real and important story, a sense of being connected to other people, to people who are not here any more, to those who have gone before us. And a sense of being connected to the universe itself.

All those things were promised and summed up in the phrase, 'The Kingdom of Heaven'. But if the Kingdom is dead, we still need those things. We can't live without those things because it's too bleak, it's too bare and we don't need to. We can find a way of creating them for ourselves if we think in terms of a Republic of Heaven.

This is not a Kingdom but a Republic, in which we are all free and equal citizens, with – and this is the important thing – responsibilities. With the responsibility to make this place into a Republic of Heaven for everyone. Not to live in it in a state of perpetual self-indulgence, but to work hard to make this place as good as we possibly can."

Too me, that is the saddest part of all; that even while he is denying that there is a God, life after death and a heaven (or hell), he can't get away from the inherit desire to belong to something greater than ourselves.

After reading that whole entire page of quotes where he gave glimpses into himself, I really wanted to pray for him that his eyes would be opened to the truth. That he would receive revelation that there is a God who loves him very much who sent His Son to die in his place and was raised again so that Mr. Pullman might have newness of life.
That is my hearts desire.

If you would, please say a prayer for Philip Pullman. God can rock his world!!!

Only 12 days!!!

12 days from now I will be in Atlanta watching The Wedding Singer - the musical at the Fox Theatre!!!!!

A rant.

I have no problem with people counting out loud, and counting to eight repeatedly is a perfectly logical thing if you are going to be working with music. Where I start having an issue is when the music is playing and you are still counting to eight but with absolutely no relationship to the music. I assume that if you are smart enough to count to eight, then you should be able also to know where those eight beats fall in the music. It really does matter. However, if you are unable to hear it then please, either don't play the music or don't count. My sanity is on the line!!!

My lunch.

It looked so good, i had to send a picture!

The Corny Collins Show...it's real!!??!??!??!!??!

I just read an interesting article on dancing in Baltimore from the Hairspray on tour web site. It seems that the Corny Collins show was based on an actual tv show from that time...just add the happy ending.

Click here to get to the web site, then click "about the show" and then the hairspray can that says "dancing in Baltimore" to read it for yourself.