cheerio

This is Cheerio. She is named after her favorite snack.

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Everybody on Facebook seems to be doing the meme: "25 Interesting Things About Me." I wish I could contribute. Maybe I'm just not getting enough sleep, but I couldn't think of anything interesting that I haven't already talked about over and over and over and over again, so this morning, as I shaved, I asked Cheerio to help me come up with some ideas. (Her cage is not usually in the bathroom, but it had been placed there last night because she had been making such a ruckus with the wheel.) She listened attentively. Hamsters are good for that. I realize now that it was not fair of me to put her in this situation, because she was stumped, and I know she didn't want to hurt my feelings. That's okay Cheerio; nevermind.

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On a brighter note, one of the auto-alerts is reporting that I'm "most talented, most helpful, and best companion on a desert island," despite the fact that they do not think I am the kindest or the best listener. Okayyyyy...

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I wonder: which of my Facebook friends would want me to be their companion on a desert island? (creepy chills) Erm... maybe it's better if I didn't know that. But if I somehow found that I could possibly be stranded on a desert island with you, I would try to bring Cheerio along. She is very kind, and a perfect listener!

hint of lime

It is hard to take low-light shots without a tripod, but my wife was at the wheel, and I redeemed the time by taking this shot of a commuter train to show movement. I like these moving shots, and plan to do more... with and without a tripod.

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This may not be the smoothest segue, but I'm going from the photo of something green, which is not exactly lime green, to something lime, which is not exactly lime green. Did you catch that? Anyhoo, the following is an interview from my friend, who is called... Lime.

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1. Since I am a fan of Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs, what is the dirtiest job you've ever done?

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I've never had a dirty occupation per se, but there have been many disgusting tasks I've performed. Back at the Craver house, the dirtiest jobs all go to me... cleaning gutters, rodding sewage, cleaning gross spills, heinous baby and pet discharges, etc., but the worst was probably the one time in my young teens, when I was playing Spin-the-bottle and I kissed a girl right on the mouth. Sure, it's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it!

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2. What skill do you wish you had and why?

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Human flight-- like superman. C'mon, is an explanation really necessary here? That would be so cool!!! But if that's too "lofty," I have a backup answer...

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"You know, like nunchuku skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills... Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills." (From Napoleon Dynamite.) .

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3. I was just elected President and I am expanding the federal government by creating new departments. What new cabinet position shall I create for you?

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I should like to chair the department of simultaneously shrinking the federal government, by dissolving any programs I deem useless, wasteful or just plain wrong. I could do our country a lot of good, by addressing programs one at a time, armed with a big rubber stamp that says, "You are the weakest link. Bye-bye."

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4. You can have one meal every day for the rest of your life. What is it?

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PB&J. I think I could seriously do that. Of course, I would not have regular milk, since I'm lactose intolerant. I would need to wash my meals down with that lactose free stuff. What a great invention!

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5. An evil mastermind is going to destroy the world unless you can stop him. You are armed with a spoon, a rubber chicken, a can of aquanet, and a bucket of peanuts. What is your plan?

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Oh, that's too easy!!! Since evil masterminds can't resist monologues, I wait until he begins, then I cause a distraction by flipping the bird (the chicken of course!) and while everyone is momentarily taken aback, I use the spoon to flick peanuts to wipe out his minions, making sure I aim carefully, as I intend to eat whatever's left, then spray the aquanet in his face, emptying the entire contents. Overturning the empty peanut bucket on his head, I bang away with the empty aquanet canister until he concedes his defeat.

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I hope I get to keep the chicken when I'm done.

caught in the Web

I want to answer TWO tags today. First, is Ted's meme from a couple weeks ago. Sorry for dragging my feet, Bro!

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If it's okay Ted, I'll offer what I already did in May '07 (eight facts about me) and January '07 (five odd things about me). Check them out to see what I have to say about priesthood, peanut butter and lightnin'.

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Now, our dear friend LL Barkat, author of Stone Crossings added another. No--she concocted another. Yes folks, this one is her very own invention.

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The rules:

1. Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.
2. Link back to the person who tagged you.
3. Link back to the parent post, so she can track the meme.
4. Tag a few friends or five, or none at all.
5. Post these rules-- or just have fun breaking them.

.5 Ways Blogging Changed My Life

1. I am learning how to talk to people. Those who know me, might not think that's a problem for me, but when I see that someone has joined a photo event, it's not enough to stamp "nice picture" on each and every entry. Plus, it's tempting to always talk about me, and I am trying to be less egocentric with my comments. I have found that it's easy to offend, so I try to be careful about what I say.
2. Initially, I thought blogging would bring more non-Christians into my life, and it has, but most of the Christians I know outside of the blogosphere are people who's doctrine lines up very close to my own. Blogging has provided a bridge to believers of varying stripes. I think I have learned from some, and hope that one or two have learned something from me as well.
3. Every now and then, I like to use a word that is specific to a situation or maybe punctuate something with a little pizazz. I'm no linguistic purist, but I just want my vocabulary to expand beyond the 500 most basic words in the commoner's tongue. While blogging, I have never once heard that phrase I dread: "Why don't you just speak English?" And when someone uses a word I don't know, it is sooooo easy to look it up, since I'm already online.
4. Did you ever pray with somebody real time, who is on a distant location of this planet? Praying with and for people is a wonderful privilege. It's special to be able to do that with someone who I never see face-to-face.
5. If my photographs were never viewed, but stealthily filed in a tiny chip, I doubt that I would be taking as many pictures and learning as much as I am now. The friends who take good pictures, and the friends who I take pictures for, these folks have sharpened my picture-taking skills far beyond what I would have done without blogging.

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Let's see... I think we might like to hear from

Carletta, Halfmom, Kim, Louise, and Sandman.

Of course, anyone can join in, who feels so inclined.

Lime, are you game? :-)

mom meme

Six Random Things was sent by my friend L.L. Barkat, author of the new book, Stone Crossings. If you don't mind, I'll put a twist on this one, and take the opportunity to honor my mother.

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1. My mother is spontaneous. I think she is a sojourner at heart, enjoying the journey every bit as much as the destination, and flexible enough to adapt with all the twists and turns that come along the way.
2. She is creative and clever. She can think outside the box. Don't let it bother you that she beats you effortlessly at dominoes; you never really had a chance.
3. Mom is taller than my dad. Of course, he's 5'0" (and half-an-inch). Still, I will always look up to both of them.
4. She has birthmarks on her forearm that people always wonder about and sometimes ask. But they're just splotches of color. Maybe her melanin chose to band together and congregate there, separating from the rest of her skin. Because she is so fair, sometimes people guess that she might be from Eastern Europe rather than Puerto Rico.
5. She's a bargain-brand shopper. Never wasteful. I'll bet Dad likes that.
6. She loves to laugh. We can sit and visit and enjoy telling stories from a light perspective. Her laughter is affirming and encouraging.

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Let me add one more thing, just because. When I was little, I loved to draw and color. Right now, I can't remember a specific instance of sitting with her, but I feel close to Mom when I'm doing something artistic.

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As usual, I will break the rules and not tag specific people, but please use this meme if you feel so inclined. :-)

Tagging Rules:

• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Post the rules on your blog.
• Write six random things about yourself.
• Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
• Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.
• Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

book marked

Tagged by LL Barkat and Pete Juvinall.

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Pick up the nearest book

(of at least 123 pages).

Open the book to page 123.

Find the fifth sentence.

Post the next three sentences.

Tag five people.

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Page 123 was the start of a new chapter. It began with a poem and had a lot of white space. The fifth sentence was on the following page.

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Worst of all, I watched as his loving communication slipped farther and farther away.

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There was a time when he had greeted me with a happy smile saying jubilantly to the nurse, "Well, look who's here!" Or, "There she is!" But now his words were few, his eyed more shadowed and his manner alternately withdrawn and extremely restless.

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from Also My Journey by M. A. Atkins (p. 124)

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This is a second-hand book that someone put on a giveaway table. I picked it up because my dad and I were just talking about Alzheimer's that weekend. I think there is a possibility that I may end up taking that journey. My parents are fine for now, but who knows...

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Now, who to tag... 23 Degrees, imac, Mrrrr, Ornery by Nature and Ozlady.

places i've been

Join me on a trek from the past. We will begin in 1977...

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30 years ago. Let's see... I was 12. Sixth Grade. Confirmation (Roman Catholic) Mom and Dad owned an apartment building with a nice parkway right in front. That's where we used to play. My brother who is one year younger used to always beat me at a two-man version of baseball we concocted. Except of course, when Patrick could come out. Patrick had kind of a high pitched voice. He was a white kid, but we got along anyway, even though I did not really have any friends.

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20 years ago. Mrs. Craver and I were planning our upcoming nuptials. By now I had gotten over the false assumption that all white people hated all Hispanics. A lot of things were different from when I was little. Not the least of which was that a year before this, I had become a new creation by the grace through faith!

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10 years ago. I was 32. My youngest son had not been born yet, and my oldest daughter was still living with us. (She's married now.) I weighed 140 lbs and could crank out 12 or more chin-ups.

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This was a fairly painless meme. Any takers?

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Related posts: Mark Goodyear's What Have You Been Doing for Thirty Years?

LL Barkat's Bridge to the Past

facts about Meme

Mrs. Nielsen tagged me. One of these days I need to get a Teflon jacket so the tags just slide right off! But Eve is good people, so instead of chasing her with one of those little bats you get a baseball games (they hurt), I'll play along.

1. Post the rules of the game.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

Facts:

1. I attended a High School Seminary expecting to become a Roman Catholic priest. I always pictured myself having grandkids some day, so that wouldn't have worked out.
2. I was never good at sports, but I have a varsity letter for wrestling because the school I went to my Freshman year was too small to have a JV team. I lost both exhibition matches.
3. My wife was married before. I got to raise her daughter as my own. Once, before we were married, I was horsing around at church, and accidentally kicked our little redhead in the mouth. She was the one bleeding, but it was me who almost died when her mom found out!
4. I did not have any friends until high school. I was an introvert from 1965 to 1979.
5. I love archery. When I was single, I used to go to the range a lot. The local pros gave me the nickname "Lightnin" ...I thought it was because I had a fast shot. They said it was `cuz "lightnin' don't strike the same spot twice."
6. I used to hate Star Trek TNG, but wound up being a devoted fan.
7. I used to love dogs and hate cats, but that is reversed now.
8. I'm obsessed with the pursuit of a perfect lawn (front yard only).

Alrighty now...who/whom shall I tag? Usually, I don't obey the Meme rules and tag people, but I'm feelin' crazy. Let's see if we can know some of these folks better:

Amusing Mom, Amy Goodyear, Andy Unedited, Ester, Inihtar, Greek Geek, Lee, Llama Momma, Martin Stickland, Pete Juvinall, Reconciliation Blog, Spaghettipie, Stacy, and Stacey

hmmm... that's odd

I've been tagged!!!

Normally, I don't respond to e-tags, but I'll make an exception this time, because I'm curious to see how I would answer. ;-)

LL Barkat thinks there could be 5 odd things about me. Of all the nerve! There's NOTHING odd at all about me! (It's the rest of the world that's unusual.) Nevertheless:

Uno: I have the coolest archery nickname. Once upon a time, I used to do a lot of practice at the range, and I had fine-tuned my compound bow so well, that I had really, really fast arrows. The old pros that I hung around with started to call me "Lightnin'." What an awesome tag, right? Wrong. They had a great guffaw at my expense when they explained it's because, "Lightnin' don't strike the same spot twice." Aah, good times.

Dos: Does pillowhead bother you? When I was a little boy, I was semi OCD. Yeah, I was like a little Monk; my siblings called me “professor.” After taking evening baths, I used to try to fall asleep holding my head up from the pillow so my hair wouldn’t get messy. Nobody stopped me to explain that this was unnecessary. They just waited ‘till I grew up so they could laugh at my expense. Is there a theme beginning to form here?

Tres: There’s a birthmark on my left earlobe. It looks like an earring. Maybe you think that’s not a big deal, except for when you’re schmoozing ultra-conservatives and catch that look of enlightenment when they notice you’re a pot-smoking hippie who is going to try to get their girls in trouble. Well, that’s what the earring means, right?

Quatro: I attended Catholic seminary; I used to want to be a priest. As a little boy, when I played pretend, I would pretend to be a priest saying the mass.

Cinco: I mad an interesting discovery about my coworkers. I thought that they appreciated my witticisms, but now, I’m not so sure. Upon careful scrutiny, it would seem that I am not so much generating laughs as causing a gag reflex. They’re very similar, don’tcha know.

Well, maybe that last one doesn’t count. How ‘bout this. I love peanut butter. A lot. I wouldn’t say I crave it because I can’t find a theological tie-in. But my youngest son is going around repeating, “My dad loves peanut butter so much, he could eat peanut butter with DIRT.”