Fun

by

Alliens Among Us?

y2k bugToday is Halloween. While I resolutely avoid anything that smells like evil—demons, mediums, and the like—I’ve always enjoyed the idea of firing up my imagination and dressing up as something fun and interesting.

Past costumes have included Pete and I as two frogs from the plague in Exodus 8), me as an aspen tree infected with Cytospora (a scary costume for a master gardener Halloween party), and our interpretation (see Pete, left) of the Y2K bug (remember those from 1999?)

Aliens_Roswell-NM_LAH_9578-001Last summer Pete and I drove through Roswell, New Mexico—probably the universe’s most famous destination for extraterrestrials on vacation. If the signs around town are any indication, aliens are certainly welcome there! It occurred to me that if aliens want to visit earth, the best time to do it would be on Halloween. Think of all the complements they’d get on their costumes!

Continue reading →

by

Why I Doesn’t Uses Grammar Checker

I do a lot of writing, mostly in Microsoft Word—the software I love to hate. The built-in spell check can be helpful, catching typos for me as I write.  (It can’t catch a “word-o,” however, which means that any remaining mistakes can be potentially pretty funny—or embarrassing.)

Then there’s the grammar checker. Who invented this thing? What were they thinking? I know English is a difficult language, but the checker doesn’t just stumble over exceptions to the rules. It mutilates perfectly acceptable prose. Continue reading →

by

Fifth Friday Fun: Books or Baloney?

I’ve been browsing our library’s card catalog in search of a good book to read—or at least an entertaining one. I always assumed that the librarians carefully weigh which books they acquire. After all, the budget only goes so far, and they have a responsibility to spend wisely. After reading the blurbs in the online catalog recently, however, I have to question their judgment.

As I sift through a lot of dubious plots to find the rare gem, it occurred to me to create a fun little quiz. Below, I’ve listed thirteen blurbs—those little descriptions the publisher writes to capture our interest. Can you tell which ones are actually real books—and which are merely figments of my imagination?

Continue reading →

by

That’s Not What I Meant!

If you’re a regular reader, you know that I rarely just post links to other blogs—I prefer to generate new content that can’t be found elsewhere. Once in a great while, however,  I make an exception when something is just too good to pass up. (I also happen to be fighting a bad cold, and I really don’t feel like thinking very hard at the moment.)

One of my friends may have posted something deep and thought-provoking. A blogger I read may have received a God-given insight that I just have to share. And then there’s this blog, which I think is hilarious. Thanks, Uncle John, for bringing it to our attention!

Anyone who has studied another language knows that words, much less concepts, don’t always translate the way we’d expect. But if you’re going to tattoo something onto your body—we’re talking permanent, folks—you might want to check with a native speaker first. Otherwise, you too could find yourself featured on this website:

Bad Hebrew Tattoos

 

by

The Dangers of DHMO

Thanks to the internet, I’m now aware of the dangers of all sorts of things I thought were safe. By taking careful note of the many warnings that eternally circulate on Facebook, I’ve learned that I can live a much longer and healthier life by avoiding items such as frozen water bottles,  pineapples (from street vendors), and chicken wings. In that vein, here’s a link to a website that warns about a chemical we all use, that until now I had thought was usually quite safe: DHMO.

www.dhmo.org

Read it over carefully, then share it with everyone you care about.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

by

Travel is Educational

Pete and I took a vacation. We really couldn’t afford the time or the cost, but we did it anyway. This past year was intense, to say the least. It seems we went from one crisis to the next. Both Pete and I were looking a bit glassy-eyed, and we hadn’t had a decent conversation in months. We needed time with one another and time with God, so the day after Christmas we packed the car and headed east. We didn’t come back until we were ready to face life again.

florida trip map

So, here we are back in Colorado, substantially poorer and with almost 6,000 more miles on our car. Was it worth it? You bet!

Continue reading →

by

One-stop Christmas Shopping

You’re going to hate me. I’m already done with my Christmas shopping, and I had fun doing it! Since most of my shopping was done online, it was inevitable that I’d stumble across some totally cool items, something that would make the perfect gift—or at least stun the recipient.  Unfortunately, none of them were quite right for anyone on my list. Since these finds are just too good to ignore, I’m passing them along to you. Who knows, maybe one of these is just what you’ve been looking for!

bana leaf decalBanana Leaves Fresh (1 Lb) Bag 16oz Banana Leaves. I had no idea that you could buy banana leaves. Apparently, they’re an essential part of cooking and/or serving food in India, the Philippines, and other tropical locales. If you don’t want the real thing, you can get paper imitations. In fact, you can even get fake banana leaves with fake food on them (as illustrated here)! Where would you stick this banana leaf decal? If you get the real leaves, it would probably be a good idea to accompany them with an appropriate ethnic cookbook.

Continue reading →