Red Pen’s Neighborhood

Today my wife and I celebrate thirty-eight years of marriage together.

The following lyrics explain my sentiments far more grandly than I could ever hope to express.

What are you hoping to find under the tree this year?

Wreath-TapestryBird

Blankets. Chai tea and movies. Books. Winter-themed items. This time of year is nice when I'm prepared. Pajamas and slippers. It's been soooo cold!

We're visiting my sister and her new boyfriend, a gorgeous African American man. I'm meeting his daughter as well. I worry that they're going to run into prejudiced people. It was hard buying for his daughter, someone I've never met before.

One thing I bought her was a pretty shawl. I hope she likes it. My mom said she is amazing at making people feel welcomed into her home. I hope soon we'll have a new warm home in the forest where we can welcome our family and guests for holidays. Sigh.

The house is looking more spacious. Just a few large, cozy pieces of furniture and throw blankets for us and the cats. And winter mugs. I'm going to be reading stacks of books this year. I was browsing the local bookseller's store last night. I found a lot of great non-fiction. Yoga calendars. Travel books.

One magazine author was talking about getting gifts from people for whom she hasn't reciprocated. She said she considers that part of the ebb and flow of holidays from year to year. What a great thought. I think ebb and flow will be a theme for us this year. We don't need a lot of stuff. And to put together a good travel package so we can go anywhere and be comfortable.

**ps I apologize for any spelling errors today, or any other goofy behavior. My thoughts are obscured by pain. Nice to be among friends, though.

Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute have caught on camera the eruption of the deepest known active underwater volcano, 4,000 feet down in the seas near Fiji.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3)

J.K. Rowling

Read because: I'm listening to all the HP books on CD

Borrowed from: the Sacramento Library

Rating: 8 out of 10

Synopsis: Harry is back and in fine form in the third installment of his adventures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His summer with the hideous Dursley family is cut short when, during a fit of quite understandable rage, he turns his Aunt Marge into an enormous balloon and then runs away. Soon, it becomes quite apparent that someone is trying to kill him; even after Harry is ensconed in the safety of fall term at Hogwarts, the attacks continue. Myriad subplots involving a new teacher with a secret, Hermione's strangely heavy class schedule, and enmity between Ron's old rat, Scabbers, and Hermione's new cat, Crookshanks, all mesh to create a stunning climax. The pace is nonstop, with thrilling games of Quidditch, terrifying Omens of Death, some skillful time travel, and lots of slimy Slytherins sneaking about causing trouble.

My review: I really like book 3 of the series. Things get really dark, with omens of death for Harry, a mass murderer on the loose, and some really close calls for the three wizards. I also love the introduction of Sirius Black (played by Gary Oldman in my head), who is one of my favorite characters in the entire series. He's extra crazy in this book, and it's really fun to watch Rowling develop his character, not to mention the characters of other adults in the book -- Snape, James Potter, Pettigrew, and Lupin. I also really like Lupin in this book, and how he gives support to Harry when most others write him off. And once again, Jim Dale is the best audio book reader out there. (Finished 11/23/09) 

Green-tea-shaded

Oh my, it seems like this bone-dry air has brought back my sinus infection. Sorry I've not been around much to comment. Being that it's Solstice and time for reflection, I decided to start my new years resolution list early in order to de-stress.

I resolve to adopt a more Buddhist philosophy. I want to make life easier on myself by spending more time with smart people and ignoring extremists. I'm beginning to wake up to the value of the international community.

Check out this comment by my Malaysian neighbor mfn:

It seems like quite a number of the skeptics of climate change are coming from the North America, .. Probably they are not experiencing the bad weather, the rising temperature, the rising sea level, and the extinction of species and habitats.

That may have been the reason why european countries are advancing in eco-communalism (not communism) and slowly moving away from the extreme capitalist beliefs. They want to be independent and sovereign like the US too, by focusing on saving the environment instead of sending people to war.

I'm all for it. My mom travelled to Paris a few weeks ago and she loved it. People are much more open to dialogue and often our friends overseas spend their time searching for the truth, not preaching their version of it.

I'm looking for peace in my life and I think a good cup of tea with a well-balanced person is a good start. I resolve to look to our international neighbors to guide me towards a more globally saavy and mindful attitude. And maybe then I can get rid of this headache (with that and a Netti pot)..  :) 

Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality

Rob Bell

Recommended by: a bunch of people. Plus I'd read other books by Bell.

Purchased from: A Borders going-out-of-business sale, at 80% off. Woot.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Synopsis: "Is sex a picture of heaven?" Bell wonders. It's all about God and sex and heaven, he says: "...they're connected. And they can't be separated. Where the one is you will always find the other." It's the story of God becoming human, of humans mirroring God and love made manifest in the chaos of our humanity. Sex God is about relationships revealed in a way that elevates the human condition and offers hope to those whose relationships are wounded. In Bell's spare, somewhat oblique style, he addresses lust, respect, denial, risk, acceptance and more. He does a fine job using the Bible and real life to show that our physical relationships are really about spiritual relationships. This book joyfully ties, and then tightens, the knot between God and humankind.

My Review: I feel like I should have read this a long time ago. I've had it for a while and I read it in less than twenty-four hours. It was a wonderful picture of what God has set out marriage and sex to be. Bell really delves into how the spiritual and the physical come together and how our relationships here are a picture of God's relationship with us. It's fascinating, really. Bell's style takes a little getting used to -- it's sparse and really uses the white space on a page. This book, though, was probably the least-difficult to handle visually (compared to his other books). I wish I had it with me so I could quote from it a bit. Anyway, I highly recommend this book, especially to high schoolers and people who work with them. I could have used some of this information back in my youth-leading days.  

Untitled

Last night I went out to the local Target to pick up some toys to for our school's annual winter toy drive.  We usually have an abundance of toys for very young children and things that a fourth or fifth grade girl might like, but we often don't seem to have many toys that a fourth or fifth grade boy might enjoy.  With that in mind I picked up an NFL junior sized football and a really nice Frisbee.  Upon checkout, my tab was about 30% higher than I had expected as the football was ringing up for $19.99 rather than the $9.99 listed on the shelf sign (As you can see from the picture here I, apparently, had the wrong product, but I totally promise that I didn't do it on purpose and I really thought that, I had the sale item!!!). The clerk called for a price check and we waited and waited and nobody came.  Finally, after I told her that it was for a toy drive, she went ahead and quietly rang it up for $9.99 and quietly wished me a happy holiday. She was really great!

Since I was already parked, I wandered across the parking lot to the Ross Dress for Less store.  Now, as a bargain hunting (that would be "cheap") kind of guy I LOVE Ross, but they sure do have a rather upside down business model.  I've never been a fan of the house slipper set at all (basically they are hideous), but I have come to discover that hardwood and tile flooring is very cold during the winter months.  Anyway, I found these house slippers that I decided I needed for the low, low price of $7.99 and I got in line.  I was about the fifth person in the first come, first served purchasing line.  There were three clerks ringing up purchases and one clerk taking returns from a separate line.  After a while, two of the purchasing clerks were pulled to put stock that had been returned back on the shelves.  This left one clerk doing purchases and one clerk taking returns.  The purchasing line, at that point, grew to easily be twenty customers long.  Now, I know that part of the reason I can buy house slippers for $7.99 is that I'm going to have to forgo top flight customer service, but it just seems that on the most basic level of business during these tough economic times shouldn't you make it as easy as possible for people to actually spend money in your store?  The model that, that particular Ross store was employing was having people return merchandise at the same rate that they were selling it.  I just didn't get the point ... Though my house slippers are quite comfy so I'm not complaining TOO much ...

Finally, I got back to my truck and as I pulled out of the parking lot a slow motion blur of sirens and flashing lights moved by and ... IT WAS SANTA!!!   Santa was on a trailer being towed by a big black D.A.R.E truck being escorted by police cruisers in front and back. It made me smile and I though, "Oh how cute ..."

The traffic, reluctant to pass the flashing lights of the police cruisers, followed behind in a big parade.  Honestly, it was kind of fun to be part of the Santa parade, but then a third siren could be heard and everybody got confused as hell. Flashing lights came up behind our mini parade and the driver honked his very loud fire department horn, but the other drivers in our parade apparently thought that it was just the end of the procession so they neither pulled over nor would pass the Santa escorts so, effectively, we all just blocked the road.  What turned out to be a real fire truck and ambulance responding to a real emergency ended up having to drive up the street against traffic on the divided roadway to get to their emergency all because Santa was being towed by a D.A.R.E truck. Bah humbug ...

Anyway, I'm sure that's pretty boring, but it's really quiet and quite boring here in the library as we tick the seconds away before we start our winter break at 3:05pm this afternoon!!!  Yahoo!!!!!!! 

Well, the last order dates for the holidays have passed, and Santa's final sacks of festive MOOs are filling up fast. We're still taking new orders though, and we'll be shipping them out as fast as we can - so don't hesitate to order thank you cards for all your lovely pressies!

Just so you know, here's our warehouse and customer service closure dates over the holiday season.

Thursday 24th December - LIMITED HOURS: we'll be shipping orders in the morning, but going home in the afternoon to wrap presents.
Friday 25th December - CLOSED : we'll be at home feasting on mince pies and turkey.
Monday 28th December - UK CLOSED: we'll be buying new trousers to fit our expanded waistlines!! (please note this is a UK Holiday only).
Tuesday 29th December - OPEN: business as usual.
Wednesday 30th December - OPEN: business as usual.
Thursday 31st December - OPEN: business as usual.
Friday 1st January - CLOSED : we'll be trying out our New Year resolutions and nursing hangovers.
Monday 4th January - OPEN: that's it, holidays over, back to work!

It's also important to note that our StickerBook turnaround in the UK is severely delayed over the holidays. Any orders placed after the 20th December will not be dispatched until the week of the 4th January.

That's all for now - Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the MOO Warehouse Crew!