posted March 07, 2008 05:31 PM         

I hear some very old Marianne Faithfull in the background...soft, alluring...the comfy, cushy chairs, likened to ones purchased at Goodwill, complete with snags and tears, some floral, some funky colors of days gone by...envelope me, take me in, as I ease into a lime green one, with an electric blue pillow...

To my right are a gay couple, meeting after work, chatting, communicating non verbally, sharing frothy lattes...to my left is a college student, captured by her laptop, barely able to see her eyes throught the thick, black plastic rectangle frames which hold the lenses she wears.

I sip not on coffee as this coffee house has fine wine as well...a fine glass of Argentinian Malbec as I await my stuffed mushrooms.

There is ecclectic funriture all around, not your typical coffee house here! The lamps strategically placed here and there, upon antique tables glow a soft pink hue, some shades of the lamps dangle crystals, some shades are strange colors which add to the strangeness of the place...local artisans have placed their wares upon old, beaten shelves...

I need some fresh air, and meander outside to the patio, where a Koi pond is adorned with water lillies and a mystical fountain can be heard somewhere beneath the greenery of the patio...I smell lavender and patchouli...the scent leads me to an herb garden!!!

Wind chimes beckon me to re-main outside as the ever sultry voice of Faithfull beckons me back inside.......

----just a glimpse of my coffee house----

posted March 08, 2008 01:50 AM           

Can I?

posted March 14, 2008 12:19 AM         

I just read you should have some citrus with green tea to properly digest the goodies, although non-organic green tea is naughty anyway, but Celestial Seasonings is so convenient so shhhhh
Ever tried that Tension Tamer? It's my new drug.

posted March 16, 2008 12:23 AM           

I'd like to meet up with a couple of friends here that night.

posted March 16, 2008 11:15 PM           

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bOD2Yp0fI4&feature=related

posted March 17, 2008 11:33 PM         

I just rented half the video store. Forgive me if I all but ignore y'all for a week. No more reading or computerrrrrrrrrrrr!
Veggie mind
popular culture OMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

I got all sorts of deep spiritual thought pieces like SuperBad and Snakes On A Plane, for instance. I expect to learn a lot...

Seriously, I am going to Spring Clean while watching movies and try very hard not to leave the house for days. I am now stock-piled.

I'll check in and enjoy everyone's witty repertoire and works of art. But my commentary will be lazy and un-thorough.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

vacation

posted September 01, 2008 03:49 PM         

Now where is Just Quotes... did I miss it or has it mysteriously disappeared?

posted March 13, 2009 01:27 PM         

"People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell,
life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God
wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but
not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of
years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants
us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't
going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming
out of one, or you're getting ready to go into an other one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than
your comfort.
God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your
life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life.
The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest,
with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark
time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that
anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like
two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and
something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad
that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something
good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.

If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,'which is
my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of
pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands
of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.

It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her
character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a
testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance,
this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it
made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before.
I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you
to live a life of ease .

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and
influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to
do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our
lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the
church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to
plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and
educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I
started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to
serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am
I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I
don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You
better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more
interested in what I am than what I do.
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
God's Blessings on you today."

~Rick Warren,

'Purpose Driven Life ' author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California

posted March 13, 2009 03:39 PM           

humanbeings
humandoings

posted March 13, 2009 05:13 PM         

For conversation's sake...
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist was ok... but not the fabulous movie I hoped it would be.

posted April 15, 2009 12:01 AM         

What do you think, Melody? Loretta Lynn may have been a coal miner's daughter - born on this day in 1934 - but more importantly she was a working class hero to American women. After enduring an alcoholic, philandering husband, whom she married at age 13 and had six children with, she went on to build one of the most successful music empires in Nashville. Subjects of her songs may have shocked her peer group - ranging from endorsing birth control ("The Pill") to orgasms ("When The Tingle Becomes a Chill") but they are no surprise to those who study her stars. This strong Aries thrives on challenges and never shies away from life's battles. Mars in Aries arms her with a warrior spirit along with a Virgo Rising Sign (intellect, order, attention to detail) and a Taurus Moon (even tempered, peace loving). It's a perfect balance of Earth and Fire. Matched with a dreamy Venus and Mercury in Pisces (hence her sensitivity to music and others), it's no wonder she has inspired and helped millions.

~from this week's newsletter from California Psychics. com

posted May 12, 2009 08:18 PM         

Been trying to dig up the old thread where we made a collection
of links like this to save rainforests, animals etc.