What I'm Reading: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Cell Phone Spam

It's a new year that brings new opportunities for spammers. I have already received 3 spam texts and this is just the 1st day of the new year. I went to the National Do Not Call Registry website. Good news: Registration no longer expires. If you register your phone numbers after February 2008, you won't have to do it again. So, now's as good a time as any. If anyone calls or texts after you register, you can file a complaint at the same site.

Goals Update

Last year, I posted a list of goals I wanted to accomplish by July 1st, 2011. It is near the end of July, so I figured I should post the results:

goals

1. pay off a credit account and close it - done
2. get the siding fixed - attempted
3. go camping with my family
4. get emergency fund back up to 1000
5. finish 3 crochet projects - finished 2 crochet projects
6. read 6 books - read 3 books
7. have a poem published in a magazine
8. hike at least 5 miles of the Appalachian trail

Details:

1. We paid off the van.
2. I talked to someone about price and they said they would do it (twice). But they never showed up. 
3. I kind of gave up on this one. Since my health issues have gotten worse, I haven't wanted to deal with trying to sleep in a tent (which was my original goal). I am considering cabin camping for the fall. We'll see.
4. While I haven't put any additional money into our designated "emergency fund" in the past year, Bob and I each have been adding to our individual savings accounts. Of course, we plan to use a lot of that on our vacation next month.
5. I made a hat for my son, Devin, and a shrug for me. I don't think I like the shrug. I have only had questionable comments about it when I wore it.
6. I only read 3 books in the past year. I have to get better at this. I used to read at least 10 to 12 books a year. Lately, I have only been reading at bedtime, and it is hard to get through a book when you are falling asleep.
7. I haven't really attempted to do this. However, I have published an article at Suite101.com.
8. Same as #3, above. My condition has really flared-up in the past year. But this goal is not completely out of the question for the future. I figure I can manage small hikes when I am having good days. However, the risk of falling on uneven terrain (and damaging joints) may give me pause.

Now, I guess I should consider goals for the next 12 months. I'll have to think about those and post them later.

Amateur sleuth Yaakov German helps cops catch Levi Aron and solve murder of Leiby Kletzky

Amateur sleuth Yaakov German helps cops catch Levi Aron and solve murder of Leiby Kletzky

Citizen's detective work leads to arrest of alleged child-killer.

My First Suite 101 Article

Check out my first Suite 101 article: Are you Tech-Savy? Beyond the Basics of Electronic Security.

Me and My (lack of) Writing

I haven't written in a long time. I've been feeling useless. My writing has gotten more and more sparse. I've finally been accepted to write on another blog, but my mind has gone blank. Writer's block, I suppose. Or maybe I think that there's no one interested in what I would say. Heck, I don't even know why I'm writing this.

My life has changed so much in the past 12 months. I have pain every day of my life. From the tests, so far, it looks like rheumatoid arthritis, but the rheumatoligist has yet to make a specific diagnosis. I take pain medication, but no DMARDs. I don't like to talk about it too much, but I guess people can tell something is going on. Besides the pain and stiffness, it makes my tire easily, have difficulty balancing when I walk and weakens my hands. I don't want people to treat me differently, I just want to find different ways to "make do".

I am still trying to find my place; what I can do (and want to do) within the time limits of my lower energy. I can't say if, or how, writing will fit into all this. I do miss the writing, but there are other things I also want to do.

Why the Mosque at Ground Zero is Neither

There has been a lot of talk in the past few months about the so-called Mosque at Ground zero. This media-promoted name is enough to make any red-blooded American protest. But if you examine further, you will find that this is not what is going on at all.


This building is not going to be a mosque. It is to be a community center. Sound like semantics? Not really. A mosque is a building used for Muslim worship, education and the settling of disputes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosque). While prayer space will be available on one of it's 15 floors, it is primarily a community center. It will boast a 500-seat auditorium, conference rooms, library, banquet room, classrooms, gym and pool. (http://www.cordobainitiative.org/?q=content/frequently-asked-questions)

The proposed building is not at the location of ground zero, but two blocks away. It is not even visible from ground zero.

This project, named the Cordoba Initiative, is being spear-headed by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. He is a Sufi Muslim, author of the book What's Right with Islam is What's Right with America, and Imam of Masjid al-Farah in New York City. His life's work has been to serve as a bridge between the faiths. Sufi Muslims are a minority in Islam. They are a mystic sect and are not accepted by many Sunni and Shia Muslims. The terrorists on the planes on 911 were Sunni Muslims from Saudi Arabia but, more importantly, they were religious extremists.

Time to Vote

For unbiased voter information, check out this site at the League of Women Voters.


http://www.smartvoter.org/

Olympic Torch in Alabama 1996

I volunteered at this event in 1996. The Olympic Torch traveled to Jasmine Hill Gardens in Alabama. Jasmine Hill Gardens is an outdoor museum that contains/displays full-scale replicas of ruins and statuary of ancient Greece, including the Temple of Hera. This video, after a short tour of the grounds, records the ceremony of the Olympic Torch Lighting in Greece for the Centennial Olympics, part of the travels of the Olympic Torch and its arrival at Jasmine Hill Gardens in Alabama.

link:
http://www.jasminehill.org/video2.html

Who You Are

You are more than your ancestry and the culmination of all that has gone before you. Though that is a great thing. You are more than the execution of your DNA, inherited from your parents. You create yourself and demonstrate yourself through every new thought you execute, through every action you take, through every choice you make.