Some useful metric conversions:

1 million microphones = 1 megaphone

1 million bicycles = 2 megacycles

2000 mockingbirds = 2 kilomockingbirds

10 cards = 1 decacards

1/2 lavatory = 1 demijohn

1 millionth of a fish = 1 microfiche

453.6 graham crackers = 1 pound cake

10 rations = 1 decoration

10 millipedes = 1 centipede

3 1/3 tridents = 1 decadent

10 monologs = 5 dialogues

2 monograms = 1 diagram

8 nickels = 2 paradigms

Real blog coming soon, I promise. Everything is okay, I've just been mega busy. (I guess that would mean 1 million times normal busy, which is about right!)

Many thanks to those of you who have expressed concern and inquired as to my well-being. It is nice to know that you are thinking of me.

To those who didn't even miss me, well....  pay attention, dammit!

Two Letters.

This is a charming little song, and an amusing songwriting exercise, and you know how sometimes you have one of those things that just pops into your head out of the blue? ... well, I was thinking about this song the other day, hadn't heard it in probably a couple of years, and surprise, surprise, I heard it on the radio the very next day!

Do we do as we do as if  it is to be
Or is it as it is so it is up to me
Do we do as we do as if it is to be
Or is it as it is so it is up to me

I wrote you two letters
One said we are free
One needed more postage and 
came back to me

Do we do as we do as if it is to be
Or is it as it is so it is up to me
Do we do as we do as if it is to be
Or is it as it is so it is up to me

I sent you two letters
You wrote me one back
It said this takes two long 
please e-mail or fax

Do we do as we do as if it is to be
Or is it as it is so it is up to me
Do we do as we do as if it is to be
Or is it as it is so it is up to me



- John Flynn - Two Letters - © 1997 Flying Stone Music

 

I warn you, if you do not know this song, don't listen to its tune. Unless you want to be captivated as well! You will find yourself singing it to yourself at odd times, and wondering "where did that come from?"

(And in case you haven't figured it out, the entire chorus is made up of 2-letter words)

Today much of the world mourns the passing of a man of Peace.

Although I don't personally agree with

all of his beliefs, decisions and convictions,

I admire him for his faith, his compassion and his courage

to lead his people through a difficult time of many changes.

All things considered, he brought much positivity and light

to a world increasingly opressed by negativity and darkness.

May You Rest with the Angels,

Pope John Paul II

a taste of nostalgia...

Yesterday I  went out and bought a local Easter delicacy -- a half-pound "Allfather's Egg" -- they come much bigger than that but the 1/2 pound size cost all the money I had left when I got done buying the necessities at the Farmer's Market today. Well, necessities and a small box of xcross buns from the Italian Peoples' Bakery.

Allfather's Eggs are a local confection, made from the same recipe for over 100 years by one single Trenton, NJ company that only makes them for a few months out of the year. They are dark chocolate covered eggs with a dense coconut filling with a yellow "yolk" center. It might be my imagination but the yellow coconut yolk tastes a little different, kind of buttery. They are decorated with icing flowers on the top. A local treasure of legendary status, only a few places still carry them, one is at the Trenton Farmer's Market.

When we were kids, an Allfather's egg was always the center-piece in our Easter baskets. People from this area ship them to friends and family all over the world that are nostalgic for this taste of home. The one I bought today is going out to my brother in York, PA. Hopefully they won't all sell out, and I will still get one for myself.

In this household, we don't actually celebrate Easter, but I usually indulge myself in one or more of the food traditions from my childhood at every holiday, and savor the memories they evoke.

So I would like to wish everyone a generic,

all-encompassing,

Happy Spring Holiday,

whatever you choose to celebrate.

And remind you all to take some time to savor your own good memories of holidays past. One of the most precious things about holidays is the sense of continuity they bring us, and of the connection with the past.

**edited 3/23 -- Thanks Wardoe, for slowing down the frantic Robins!

Happy Spring!

The vernal equinox has come and gone, so it's official. The weather is getting warmer, the days are getting longer, and there are sunshiny yellow crocuses blooming in my backyard outside my bedroom window. The daffodils have been in bloom on the other side of the house for about a week, and there are little green sprouts coming up all over the front yard. Soon it will be time for me to start spending my days outdoors, working on the house and the landscaping projects. I really have to pace myself this time, and try not to hurt anything.

Like that's really going to happen.

Guess I had just better stock up on muscle-relief bath salts, ibuprofen and liniment!

(sorry, Rem, I don't know how to slow those birds down, hope they don't make you dizzy!)

heeheehee! all fixed now!

The trees were bare,

but Spring was near...

Things are getting back to normal here. I am finally done with all the paperwork connected with income taxes and stuff, and we had our annual appointment to get the taxes done. So that is a HUGE load off my shoulders and mind. Now I just need to concentrate on getting a LOT more books listed on eBay so I can increase my income to a reasonable level.

I am still not finding much free time for blogs or emails, and hope my friends understand this and don't think I am avoiding them.

I shall be back soon, frittering away my time online, rambling away here at Xanga, but for now I am just going to leave a pretty thing to keep my place. I was listening to this song today, and it just seems to fit the time of year so well...

The hillside was a patchwork quilt
Neatly stitched with tidy hedge
And crumbling grey stone wall.
The trees were bare, but Spring was near
To conjure up its endless strings
Of green magic handkerchieves.

Could you only see what I've seen,
You would surely know what I mean,
I think I must have caught a glimpse of heaven.

A string of diamonds formed a stream
That tumbled down the daunting cliff
To sparklebright on the beach.

New born lambs that sweetly played,
Speckled eggs all newly laid,
But for you I would have stayed,
I think I must have caught a glimpse of heaven.

                      -- D. Cousins (Strawbs) -- A Glimpse of Heaven
Old School Songs

A sure sign that Spring is on the way...

adifrentdrumr spent the day

detailing vehicles!

(aren't they pretty?)

"The Jolly Green" (Dodge Ram) and "TJ" (Jeep Wrangler)

All nice and spiffy clean, inside and out. 

We took the hard top off the Jeep today, too, and put the soft "sport top" on it.

(Of course this probably means we will have a snowstorm now)

So how did YOU spend your weekend?

note: this blog will only make sense if you click on the *links*

What the #### ??!!

- or -

Holy Bouncing Blue Balls, Batman!

Just when I thought I had seen everything,

I came across

*this article.*

Neuticles???

So being the curious sort, and animal-lover that I am,

I had to check into it further...

This is what the *Official Website* has to say.

(I got a big kick out of the subtle implications of the opening splash screen animation, I admit)

Sometimes I think this sort of thing

is just definitive evidence of

people with far too much time on their hands,

and a serious case of misplaced priorities.

However,

*this dog's comments*

and

*this other dog's comments*

Were fun to read.

Legend has it

that when March comes in

like a Lion

it goes out

like a Lamb

and vice-versa...

*****

But what happens when

March comes in

like a Polar Bear?

Brrrrr....I am so tired of winter weather!

Wake me when Spring comes!