Friday, June 27, 2003 AD Something I Want That Doesn't Seem to Exist Every once in a while (like tonight, when I really don't have time to be doing it), I go on a hunt for the perfect lap desk. And never find it. The perfect lap desk has the following features:
wood top
at least 18"x12" writing surface
slight lip along one edge to catch writing implements (but not all the way across...just in the center so it won't be in the way of my arms)(Changed my mind on that one after I found myself turning my current lap desk around the other direction this week to get the pen-catcher thingy out of my way.)
top flips up to reveal storage area at least 1.5" deep (2" would be better)--large enough to hold a small Bible, spiral-bound journal, and writing implements
I think that's about it. I especially long for one of these when I'm getting ready to go to a conference where I know I'll be taking notes for three days straight, but if I had it, I'd probably use it every Sunday instead of trying to do that Bible/journal balancing act during the sermon. Anyway, if anybody ever sees one like that, or knows some clever person who could make me one, I'd be a very eager customer! Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/27/2003 08:45:00 PM
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Links to This Post Free Hymnals First free hymnal: A few months ago I pointed out to my pastor that he'd left his old original Trinity hymnal in the church parlor, and teasingly added that he should remove it, as I was tempted to break the eighth commandment since I didn't own a copy. So he said, "Oh, I have another one, you can have it."
Second free hymnal: Our pastoral intern is leaving for Chicago in less than two weeks (WAAAAAAHHH!!!). I'd borrowed a copy of The Hymnal (1933 PCUSA edition, 1962 printing -- a bit pretentious, innit, to call it just "The Hymnal"?) from his office a while back and said to him a couple weeks ago, "I'd better give this back to you before I forget." He replied, "Oh, go ahead and keep it...I have another copy."
Third free hymnal: Jon A's sending me a Cantus Christi for some exceedingly minimal work I did on his blog. I'm almost too embarrassed to accept it, but by hymnalaholism is stronger than my sense of shame! Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/27/2003 11:16:00 AM
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Links to This Post Nature Apreciation 101 Ah...nothing like sitting on a friend's back porch and watching a couple of God's creatures frolicking in the yard. Well, except maybe when they're rats. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/27/2003 10:05:00 AM
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Tuesday, June 24, 2003 AD Taking Off to Take Kitty to the Vet I'm not a very good mommy. I haven't taken my baby to the doctor in the 4+ years I've had her. She's a strictly indoor cat who has no interaction with other animals, and is therefore unlikely to catch most feline maladies, so I've not considered it vital. But now Kitty's got a strange lump on her back, and she hasn't been quite herself lately, and her mama's a wee bit worried. Of course the first challenge will be convincing her to get into a cat carrier and survive the journey to the vet's office (I've purchased Tempting Secret Weapons for the purpose). The next will be convincing her not to attempt to bite the vet's hand off. Then we'll have to see about the diagnosis. I'll let y'all know how it turns out!
UPDATE: Fibrosarcoma suspected. The treatment (even the diagnosis) is too expensive (and too stressful) for a 14-year-old cat, so I'm going to consult with a friend who's a vet tech and decide whether to go ahead and put her down (the cat, not the friend!) now or if she's comfortable enough that I can give it some more time. I'm sad, but I'm OK. And Kitty's getting spoiled in the meantime -- yummy treats and food whenever she wants 'em from here on out! Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/24/2003 02:54:00 PM
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Links to This Post Ideas Happen Visa is giving away $25,000 to a winning idea in each of three categories: self-expression, community and entrepreneur. The top ten finalists are described and the public gets to vote for the finalists. I voted for "Back to Bosnia" -- currently in 2nd place in the self-expression category, "Teach Homeless to Build" -- currently in 1st place in the community category, and "Planting Made Easy" -- currently in 10th place in the entrepreneur cartegory. Guess I can't always pick winners, but I'd buy the product. "Diabetes Is Fun" (or something like that) is currently in first place. That was actually my second choice, and the entrant seems to have done his homework on the idea. What's to prevent every company in creation from stealing all of these ideas, anyway? Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/24/2003 10:41:00 AM
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Monday, June 23, 2003 AD "Ancient Echoes" Interesting music. Weird translations. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/23/2003 07:45:00 PM
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Links to This Post "And Sanctify to You Your Deepest Distress" What a beautiful line from a beautiful hymn. We sang "How Firm a Foundation" as our closing hymn yesterday -- a fitting follow-up to a bull's-eye-hitting sermon about brokenness. We sang the PDI version -- our first foray into the PDI repertoire, about which I am quite delighted. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/23/2003 04:06:00 PM
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Links to This Post For Daniel S, Who's Been Complaining About the Weather A local fellow died recently and found himself waiting in the long line of judgment. As he stood there he noticed that some souls were allowed to march right through the pearly gates into Heaven but others were led over to Satan who threw them into the burning pit. However, every so often, instead of hurling a poor soul into the fire, Satan would toss a soul off to one side into a small pile.
After watching Satan do this for a while, the local fellow went over to Satan and said, "Excuse me, Mr. Prince of Darkness, I'm waiting in line for judgment, but I can't help wondering...why are you tossing some of those people aside instead of flinging them into the Fires of Hell with the others?"
"Ah, those...," Satan said with a groan, "...are from Delaware and Maryland and they're still too wet to burn."
Wednesday, June 18, 2003 AD Small, Medium, Large Am I the only one consistently bothered by the fact that these words, in order of what they mean, are in reverse alphabetical order? So if I'm creating some files, as I am this morning, of a logo in three sizes, they appear in the list of files in counterintuitive order. Someone should do something about this. The days, months and seasons should also be renamed in alphabetical order. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/18/2003 11:57:00 AM
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Tuesday, June 17, 2003 AD Well, Wonders Never Cease! Russ R actually posted a blog entry today! Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/17/2003 05:56:00 PM
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Monday, June 16, 2003 AD TIM BERGLUND HAS A BLOG!!! To some of you this will mean nothing, but to others of us it's a Very Big Deal. I mean, after all, this is The Tim Berglund we're talking about here! If you are in the latter category of FOTs (fans of Tim), click here. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/16/2003 07:46:00 PM
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Links to This Post Let's Have a Round of Applause for Jon Mr. Barlow fought the good fight this weekend to save his server from Very Nasty People. As Mrs. Barlow said with such eloquence and economy of words, "I hate hackers." Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/16/2003 08:36:00 AM
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Saturday, June 14, 2003 AD Irony It sure is easier to scan the thumbnails of the photos from the PCA GA for folks you know if the only twomen you're looking for are black. Here's praying that it gets harder and harder each year to spot them in the crowd. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/14/2003 06:58:00 PM
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Friday, June 13, 2003 AD OK, Time for Another Food Thread The comment count's been pathetic lately (yeah, the blogging's been pretty pathetic, too), so it's time to talk about food again. Here's the question for this time: What's your favorite kind of potato chips? For me it's Utz Salt and Vinegar. Nummy! Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/13/2003 10:18:00 AM
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Thursday, June 12, 2003 AD Poignant Somehow hearing "Oh, to grace how great a debtor/Daily I'm constrained to be" sung by a woman confined to a wheelchair makes the words just that much more poignant. (About 14 minutes into this recording.) Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/12/2003 07:21:00 PM
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Wednesday, June 11, 2003 AD My Favorite General Assembly Quote So Far "If pride were helium, this building would be airborne." (About 13 minutes into this recording.) Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/11/2003 03:58:00 PM
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Tuesday, June 10, 2003 AD Desire Street Blogger Betsy's letting some Desire Street kids post on her blog. First post is up from Friday. What a great idea! Go take a peek and give J some encouragement. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/10/2003 04:32:00 PM
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Monday, June 09, 2003 AD So...Anybody Read Anything Interesting... ...at pcanews.com recently?
Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/09/2003 08:00:00 PM
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Sunday, June 08, 2003 AD My New Personal Motto I am here to wash feet, not pick nits. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/08/2003 02:51:00 PM
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Friday, June 06, 2003 AD WHOMP! That was the sound of the Holy Spirit hitting me upside the head. I won't bore you all (or further humiliate myself) with the details, but suffice it to say that I do not Know It All, nor do I need to mouth off on every occasion about what little I do know. Sigh...God is most gracious to send these little ego-mortifying moments along, but "no discipline seems pleasant at the time." Sometimes He burns away our pride with the heat of our blushing. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/06/2003 08:13:00 PM
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Monday, June 02, 2003 AD Things I'll Never Forget About Howard and Ali's Wedding Looking at the pictures again, I'm reminded of a couple exceedingly memorable moments that made for a palpably joyous occasion:
+ When the pastor finished his "Wilt thou Howard, take this woman to be thy lawful wedded wife, etc., etc., yadda, yadda," question, Howard answered, "Sure 'nuff, Bishop!"
+ I think that's the longest, most thorough wedding kiss I've ever witnessed. Finally the pastor said, "OK, now, that's as far as you can go here!" Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/02/2003 05:51:00 PM
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