Thursday, May 19, 2005

Community Supported Agriculture

If you don't know what a CSA is...
 
In case you have never heard of community-supported agriculture...
 
Here is an article which explains, in my opinion (as is most everything on this blog page), a very good idea.
 
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-05-11-farm-share_x.htm

--
"Only YOU can prevent forest fires." -- Sum Dum Bear

The new Food Pyramid!!!! Yay!

Yes, Big Brother has rethought up a new food pyramid to tell us what we should be eating more of and what we should be eating less of.
 
https://www.healthforums.com/myuhc/1,,article~11582,00.html

--
"Only YOU can prevent forest fires." -- Sum Dum Bear

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Anyone ever tell you not to boil water in the microwave?

CDRH Consumer Information - Risk of Burns from Eruptions of Hot Water Overheated in Microwave Ovens

Political correctness vs. Newspeak

Several months ago, a "google alert" I set, using the phrase, "George Orwell", turned up this article about political correctness gone awry. The freedom to use language to differentiate between descriptions of people and blah sort of generic terms was something that George wrote a lot about. I took a course on the topic of Orwell and Orwellianisms in our society, and during that time period (many moons ago) I read many writings by old George, including his essays on the corruption of the English language. George, as I recall, criticized many sloppy habits of speech and writing, which he believed were contributing to the dumbing down of language itself. What would George say about Homeland Security? What would he say about the mainstream media coverage about current happenings in Iraq?

Anyway, I don't have much time to rant at the moment. I'll leave you with the article. Comment, if you'd like.

Free speech protects against extremism - Opinion - www.theage.com.au

Early Theories of Evolution: Darwin and Natural Selection

Of interest to anyone who has ever been asked the question, "So... You think we came from monkeys??"

Here is a very basic history/bio of Charles Darwin and how the theory of Natural Selection came about. It seems even easy enough for kids to
understand.

...came from monkeys? pffffffffttt

Early Theories of Evolution: Darwin and Natural Selection

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Thank you for the comment

Well, I see that if you post something like a riddle or an invitation for a hunt or search or ask for assistance on a website, that someone will respond. Thank you for the article about John Portmann's book about "Schadenfreude". I appreciated that, and did find it interesting that someone wrote a book about enjoying the misfortunes of others. It seems to me that many writers have included that kind of behavioral characteristic in characters in their novels and screenplays, but few people I know claim to know the word for it. It's a good word. Although there are a hundred books on my "to read" list I do believe that I'd enjoy reading about Schadenfreude. Anyway, that's it for tonight.

--
"Only YOU can prevent forest fires." -- Sum Dum Bear

Friday, May 06, 2005

Epicaricacy

Apparently, and this is a new discovery for me... really... there are people out there who take pleasure in watching other people fail, lose, and experience suffering, loss, and misfortune. These types of people... hmmm.... I suppose that they are masters of inner contentment. They are truly happy inside. They must be happy, for why else would they smile and laugh upon hearing of the unfortunate circumstances of their "enemies"?

Anyway... I tried to find a word or several words to describe the act of expressing pleasure in another's shortcomings and misfortunes, and this word, "epicaricacy" is the only one I could find on the web.

Epicaricacy: Information From Answers.com

If anyone is reading this and knows of a word to express this, then I would greatly appreciate it if you could send me the word in a comment to my email.

Thanks.

docrivs

Wednesday, May 04, 2005


Don's trains
docrivs

Don's trains
docrivs

Don's trains
docrivs

Don's trains
docrivs

Don's trains
docrivs

Don's trains
docrivs

Don's trains
docrivs

Don's trains
docrivs

Don's trains
docrivs

Last Sunday, Igool and I went to Chillicothe to celebrate Easter at some friends' house. We went for a walk, and on our way back a neighbor stopped us. His name is Don. His wife's name is Betty. Don told me he is 83, I think. The two of them were very kind and friendly. Don invited the four of us in to look at his train sets in his basement. They pulled by us in a 2000-something yellow VW bug. Here are some photos I took, with Don's permission. He built most, if not all, of the constructions. Most of them are cardboard. The trains are "O Scale", whatever that means.
docrivs

Sunday, May 01, 2005


Uh....
docrivs

We looked something up in the dictionary at Ryan's request, but I can't recall what it was or why.
docrivs

These are some photos of Ryan when he came to our house to tell us about his trip to the pizza convention in NYC last winter. We chatted for awhile in the kitchen, drinking wine, while Ryan downed bottles of Sam Adams.
docrivs

oldbooks

oldbooks
Books