Who thinks up these things?

Got this the other day, I've seen it before, still don't kow how it works but it's still cool.

Got 3-D glasses? Good. Takes a moment; just sit and look....at Mars.

Browncoats! It's THE Browncoat!!

If only I had the money. I'd look so cool in this.

Kind of Speechless.

Talk about time on your hands. Even on the other side of the world I guess people goof around in funny ways.

Listen to my words, Grasshopper….

Pick up a stone. Imagine that it represents the object of which you yearn for most in the world. Hold it tightly clutched in your fist and extend your arm out, as if you were reaching for something valuable, with the palm of your hand facing downward.

Now relax your grip. Open your hand. You see that you will loose what you are clinging to. That is why you hold tightly on to it.

But is there another possibility? Can you let go of something you want and yet keep hold of it?

Pick up your stone. With your arm outstretched again, turn your hand over so that it faces the sky. Release your grip and this time the stone still rests on your open palm. You can let go. And the stone is still yours, your hand open, and all of life around it.

Let us now think of what frequently happens in life. So often it is only when people suddenly feel they are losing someone that they realize how much they want them. They cling on even tighter. But the more they grasp, the more the other person pulls away, dropping towards the ground like the stone, to escape, and the more fragile the relationship becomes.

Do not wait until your hand opens and the stone falls away. Find the way to hold on but do not grasp.

My Kids!!

Alyssa came home!

I didn't expect to see her right then, and so the moment I saw her walk into the room, I actually caught my breath.

Josh got his report card today. 5 A's and 1 B. (B was in Spanish)

Like I said, I am so amazed by them. (I know, every parent is amazed of their own kids. But MY kids really ARE amazing!)

Wednesday

Today was Amy's funeral. That was so hard. And sad. She was 7 months younger than me. Her husband is my friend and their kids are roughly the same age as mine. I cannot even begin to imagine what that family is going through, or what they are feeling. Just being there is all I can do for them.

The rabbi was excellent. There really isn't a damn thing he or any of us can say or do that will make this easier or better, for the family or for us....but he did good. His words were kind, they came easy, he didn't just read stuff out of some old book. They were a reminder of things we don't think about often enough. Or sadly only when it's too late.

This was a long sad day.

Tuesday

Still no cable. A few days ago this would have upset me a little. Today it's only an observation.

Kids....

Kids can be amazing.

My boy is 14 and he is showing me the math test he took today. It looks like an alien language. And he got 124 points out of a possible 125. It's filled with stuff just like you'd think; 2x-9y over 11z = 10W over 92c. Or it asks stuff about how to find the angle of a hexigon when two of the angles add up to 12 degrees.

Lost. I have absolutly no clue about what it means any more. Not that I ever did, because even at his age I was never very good at math. And that kills me because I always wanted to be a scientist.

But he makes it look easy. Of course he is made it worse (for me) by spouting math rules and formulas as quickly as he could spit them out.

And he's not a math geek. He plays football and baseball, he's good at both, he rides his bike all day and runs non-stop. He's also a wiz at video games.

Little rat-bag's got a lot going for him already.

I love the little rat-bag so much.

Sunday

A friend of our passed away this afternoon. She was my age. While I was sitting like a blob on the couch watching football a friend was dying of a heart attack. I know there is not a damn thing I could have done about it but I can't stop thinking about it that way.

Let's All Share....

Someone sent this to me today. With all that has been going on around here it kind of struck me as a nice thing to pass along. Yes, I'm sure everyone on the internet has seen it already....

"A group of students were asked to list what they thought were the present "Seven Wonders of the World." Though there were some disagreements, the following received the most votes:

1. Egypt's Great Pyramids
2. Taj Mahal
3. Grand Canyon
4. Panama Canal
5. Empire State Building
6. St. Peter's Basilica
7. China's Great Wall


While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student had not finished her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many."
The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help." The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the 'Seven Wonders of the World' are:

1. to see
2. to hear
3. to touch
4. to taste
5. to feel
6. to laugh
7. and to love.

The room was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. The things we overlook as simple and ordinary and that we take for granted are truly wonderous!"

I know this sounds sappy and I'm sure it's a made-up story, but I thought this sounded pretty cool nevertheless...

Random Crap (trying to get back to normal)

I'm so happy to have power again. I missed the hum of my computer. The last ten days make you realize how much you need electricity but at the same time don't even think about it until it's gone. Kind of like the dial-tone on the phone; when I pick up the phone I just assume it will always be there.

Halloween sucked. No one's fault, but with no power, there really was no Halloween. It was too dark and too much debris lined up and down the streets to let little kids walk around. Only two groups came to our door for candy, and one of them was our next door neighbor.

My Netflix picks started arriving again! I missed those white and red envelopes.

Picked up "Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith" on Tuesday but didn't get to watch it until tonight. My initial impression was correct; it was pretty good, and much better than I and II.

I'm sad; I think "Serenity" is the last we'll be seeing of Joss Whedon's Firefly crew. If the movie cost $40 mil to make and so far only made $30 mil at the box office, even if every Browncoat bought TWO copies of the DVD when it comes out on 12/20, I still don't think they will make enough money to greenlight a sequel. It's too bad; I really love that show.

HOLY CRAP! Hurricane Wilma slapped the shit out of us! I NEVER want to go through that again.

The storm hit us at about 4AM on Monday Oct. 24, but it didn't start getting bad until about 7AM. We lost power about that time too. And we didn't get it back until last night, Wednesday Nov 2! Ten days without power!

I had put the hurricane shutters up on Saturday morning (10/22) , so the house was dark as a cave for the two days beforehand. The wind was howling and we kept hearing things bang on the metal shutters or bounce across the roof. Just after 9am it quieted down enough while the eye of the storm was over us so we walked outside to take a quick look.

We were amazed.

Every tree was either broken, knocked over, or leafless. Amazingly no cars or houses in my immidiate area were hit by falling trees. But nearly everyone lost some to all the shingles off their roof. Some were down to bare wood. Within 20 minutes he were hit with the back end of the hurricane and had to go back in. It didn't end until noon, and the 2nd half was worse than the first half.

I have a lot more to write about but will do so later. I'm just happy to be back!