meme a licious

(Stolen from Ambird)

put a * by the ones you have done

*1. Started your own blog?
*2. Slept under the stars
*3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
*5. Watched a meteor shower
*6. Given more than you can afford to charity
*7. Been to Disneyland
*8. Climbed a mountain
*9. Held a praying mantis
*10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
*14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
*16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
*18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
*21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
*23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
*24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
*26. Gone skinny dipping
*27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
*29. Seen a total eclipse
*30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
*32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
*35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
*37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (in general)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
*39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
*41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
*43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
*45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
*48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
*51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
*52. Kissed in the rain
*53. Played in the mud
*54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
*57. Started a business
*58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
*62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
*64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
*67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
*69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
*70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
*71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
*77. Broken a bone
*78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
*79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
*82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
*86. Visited the White House
*87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - if salmon counts
*88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
*91. Met someone famous
*92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
*94. Had a baby (not physically)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
*97. Been involved in a law suit
*98. Owned a cell phone
*99. Been stung by a bee
*100. Read an entire book in one day

wisdom

"when you forgive, you love. and when you love, god's light shines on you"
--Into The Wild (Hal Holbrook, in the movie)

I don't believe in god, or gods, or a personification of "something bigger than us." but I do believe that we all can learn from the wisdom of forgiveness.

seems fairly clear

The tax plans, as visualized:
"According to a new analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are both proposing tax plans that would result in cuts for most American families. Obama's plan gives the biggest cuts to those who make the least, while McCain would give the largest cuts to the very wealthy. For the approximately 147,000 families that make up the top 0.1 percent of the income scale, the difference between the two plans is stark. While McCain offers a $269,364 tax cut, Obama would raise their taxes, on average, by $701,885 - a difference of nearly $1 million."

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...50.html

Vote Early, Vote Often

Well, early, at least. IF you're suddenly finding yourself out of town on election day:

www.elections.alaska.gov/avo08...al.php

Absentee Voting Locations
General Election: Tuesday, November 4, 2008

To locate the days & times of an absentee voting location in your community click here.

Ballots for all 40 districts are available at the following locations beginning on October 20 through Election Day.

Anchorage Region II Elections Office Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm
2525 Gambell Street, Suite 100 Saturday, November 1, 10:00am - 4:00pm
Sunday, November 2, 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Election Day, 7:00am - 8:00pm

Anchorage City Hall Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm
632 W. 6th Avenue, Suite 105 Election Day, 7:00am - 8:00pm

Old

bernthis.typepad.com/bernthi...-ar.html

"Up until I turned 40, I can honestly say that whenever I saw somebody who I considered old, you know, like...40...I would just look at them, completely unable to relate and, to be honest, totally unaccepting of the idea that one day that would be me. "

I repeat, "one day that would be me." It's good for me to remember that, barring any catastrophe or illness, I will BE that older person driving the car in front of me. We are all connected.

Undecided Voters

www.newyorker.com/humor/200...ts_sedaris

"To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”

To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.

I mean, really, what’s to be confused about?"

I love David Sedaris

my turn

Bill Maher posits, on a recent Daily Show, that Athiesm is a "mirror of faith, that it is a "belief" of being certain".

I paraphrase it to mean that you just can't be certain, so why be as dogmatic about your own belief system as those who you decry as being dogmatic and wrong?

Just sayin.

Robot Junky, Blues Central, 8 pm, Aug 18

There. Them's the details. Should be a fun show. Short, sweet, and rock n roll.

funny little slideshow about I/M inthe ANC

www.ownthesidewalk.com/2008/0...es.html

the new burka-state

www.wayoflife.org/fbns/aremen.htm

"Man was created with a powerful desire toward the woman, and the fall has placed adulterous thoughts in his heart (Matthew 15:19). Before the fall, man's heart was pure, but that is no longer the case. Saved men wrestle with their old natures, and when they are walking in the Spirit, they resist their natural sinful desires toward women. But even for a saved man, it is a tremendous struggle to resist lusting after an attractive, immodestly clad woman. Most unsaved men, on the other hand, make no attempt not to lust. In fact, they boast in their lusting.

I therefore contend that the way women dress IS the business of men other than their husbands and fathers."

It scares me that this is a serious essay.