Header taken from "Messenger" - Art by Kurt Vonnegut

Well we've been open for a while now & already had our first Art Show. It was a great success & I can't wait to have more! We've got more cleaning up in the back half of the bottom floor that we should be finished with soon & then we can start on the top floor, again. Our goal is to remodel the small bathroom that is already upstairs, so that we can go ahead and move in! So in about 6 months, we should be living Downtown!!

The Loft
 
Before & After
 
Our Wedding

 

4.28.2006

The Best Cure


I wasn’t going to bring this topic up, because I know most would disagree with me, but here goes anyways…feel free to disagree.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. "At the end of the day, the best cure for high gas prices is high prices." It forces us to either come up with another, hopefully cleaner, method of propulsion, or to get use to curbing our “Addiction”.

Addiction or necessity, to me it doesn’t matter, we have too long become complacent in the idea that our ‘civilized’, ‘we’re the best’, ‘we deserve more’, ‘bigger is better’ attitude has finally got to come to an end. This mindset has plagued our culture for far too long. It’s time we all just grow up… Sure high gas prices hurt, but what’s more hurtful, high gas prices, or our whiny national attitude? I wonder what Europe thinks about us and our ‘high gas prices’. Don’t they pay around 7 or 8 dollars a gallon there?

4.27.2006

A Different Kind of Energy

Anyone who doesn't believe wind farms are beautiful should be shunned and depreciated as responsible humans. What's more beautiful then a machine that can harness the power of nature (cleanly) for our own benefit?

This just doesn't make sense to me at all.. The politics behind wind farms should be condemned as un-American. Did you know they've shutdown windfarms or had legal battles over the fact that they might kill migrating birds, bats etc? Politics or truth, I ask you. If birds can't stay away from a few hundred blades whipping through the air, then they are obviously not respectable birds in my humble opinion, however, from everything that I've read, it appears to be more politics then truth. The effect of wind farms on wildlife is extremely minimal, much less minimal then the effect of cars, sky scrapers, hunters and noxious gas producing power plants. Why opponents of wind farms even have a leg to stand on, is beyond me. The people who couldn't care less about these animals appear to be the ones battling the issue in favor of them, instead of the environment, which really makes sense. Politics be damned in my opinion. Politics be damned...

4.18.2006

We have molding!!

After sitting in the middle of the living room floor for a long time the molding was moved to the blue room next to Wicket's room (we had to put a towel over it because he was scared of it and wouldn't jump over it to get to his room) and has now finally been moved to its rightful place, the walls!!! We ended up just paying someone to come hang it....it wasn't going to get done any other way and I was ready to get it over with! And now it looks awesome!! All we have left to do is sanding where I filled in the nail holes and then do touch ups. We have already done that on most of the molding but still have to finish some of the living room and all of the study. It just finishes the walls out so well and the off white looks just awesome against the dark sage-ish color in the study! I LOVE IT!! Now All we have to do is get the base board done.....not holding my breath :)
In the kitchen and dinning room

close up of the molding

In the study

4.07.2006

His Own Worst Enemy

He's still at it. And how best to describe his actions, and his followers, then by a quote.

“When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.” --George Bernard Shaw

Phelps is a byproduct of his own bigotry and hatred. The only reason he has followers at all, is because of the foulness of his message. These People who follow such a 'so called man' are obviously only attracted to the controversy, noise and putrid stench that surrounds him, like flies to dog shit.

He says God is punishing America and soldiers and so forth. I wonder what he would say about himself, if, by some freakish accident, his arms, legs and nether regions suddenly burst into torturous flames, melting his very skin from his bones? What so called divine message would he have then? Who's to say what God is doing, his actions are obviously beyond our comprehension, to talk for him, would be to devalue him. Maybe what God needs, is our understanding, appreciation and Love? Should we even suggest what God needs, or should we just do well by him and let him do the rest?

4.06.2006

I'm Feeling LUCKY

Do this.

Go to www.google.com

Type in "miserable failure"

Hit the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button.

Laugh out loud if you must.

Green TV

If you have some time at work or home to enjoy a new, great broadband TV channel dedicated to environmental issues, visit Green.tv, it's free, it's important and best of all, it's educational. This site has become my new favorite place to visit on a regular basis. The images alone, in the short documentaries are worth the visit.

Why We Watch


I’m writing this, so people who might take offense to my previous post, (no, not the one about racism, which I think is a much more important issue) the one about the fact that American idol is a goofy program, so everyone will understand where I’m coming from. Sorry for any hurt feelings, I’m just trying to illicit some responses about a very, in my eyes, important issue, which is only our way of life, or rather, or current way of life and the fragility of it.

Everyone should agree that America, and possibly, the world, though I’m not sure, watches entirely too much television. Kids are more likely now to spend more time on the Internet, playing video games or watching T.V. instead of reading or playing outside. Adults or, I guess the elderly, as well, although some would disagree, are addicted to the tube and TIVO, despite the fact that they did not grow up subjected to the set. Why have our habits as a nation created us and molded us into couch potatoes, relaxing and munching on snacks as images of violence, sex, and profanity wash over our sentient brains. Have we become too complacent in the times we live in to even explore what effects this is causing on our generation and future generations?

Something must be done, research needs to be conducted on so many areas that we are neglecting. We are subjecting infants and toddlers to new media, and we are still unaware of the impact this is having on our children. Media immersion begins early with Baby Einstein videos and Teletubbies before children can even walk or talk, and then it soars. It is critical we learn more. According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation in the United States, children aged eight to 18 have an average media usage of six hours and 21 minutes daily. So, basically half of all children’s waking hours are spent staring at a TV or computer screen. And don’t even get me started on the stats when it comes to how many murders or sexual acts children witness on the tube before they turn 18. Let’s just say it’s in the hundreds of thousands.

If we knew the effect television has on our society, would we continue to watch, or would be floored to find out what has become of our great nation due to pixilated images making mush out of our fragile, yet resilient brains? What is so important that we must tune in every day to our ‘favorite’ television programs? Has entertainment finally or has it always gotten the better of us?

The fact is, television shows brainwash. Don’t believe me? Try not watching your favorite show next week and take note of how you feel knowing that you may never see that episode again. You’ll hear your brains contriving ungodly things. ‘Not a problem,’ it will say, ‘I’ll just get the DVD set when it comes out.’ ‘Ha, I’ll just go over to my friends house, they always TIVO it.’ ‘Man, I wonder what happened…hmm…oh well, there will be previews, that’s good enough..or is it?’ What things go through your mind? Do you get angry, depressed or sad? We should all know the answer to this. What show was it that they had to replay because so many people made a fuss that they didn’t get to see the very end of it?

The more you watch, the more you want to watch, until your brain just gets sick of it all and tries it’s hardest to tell your body to do something. Do we really want to train our brain to accept what it doesn’t really want to accept? How twisted and messed up will we make ourselves when we stop doing what our body must do to stay alive and healthy?

I’m guilty of it too. I watch stupid, goofy ass shows just like everyone else. I would watch ‘Blow Out’ 24-7 if my body would let me and it’s basically a long advertisement focusing on an egomaniac, hell bent on selling his products and making a name for him self. It’s sad, but true, and it’s working for him. He’s making money, along with everyone else spewing their ideals and everything else at you via a nonchalant household conversation piece.

We watch for so many reasons, mainly, escapism. I know that’s why I watch ‘Blow Out’. I know I’ll never live in Beverly Hills and be able to afford thousand dollar hair stylist appointments or be able to do up a famous persons do. Same reason I watch ‘Lost’, to escape reality, and the same reason I love SciFi. Reality to me, is something I’d like to avoid when I watch Television, I get enough of that during the day, dealing with all sorts of people, who are normally conversing about what they saw on the tube last night. It sometimes makes me ill. But its life and I’m use to it. I even get in on it sometimes, when it’s the same thing I watch, which is rarely. Go figure. Why can’t everyone find the humor and amazing messages that South Park point out in their amazingly funny episodes? God love em, because, most Christians obviously don’t, but that’s another post that will probably never happen.

I’ll leave you with one last question; make that two and a couple rhetorical. Do you let television rule your life? And, is this what we want for your children?

No, I don’t let it rule my life, or do I? Hmm, Thank God for TiVo, eh?

4.05.2006

America The Beautiful, Not Productive

America is falling dreadfully behind in almost every area of business, technology and education. China, Korea, Malaysia, even India are surpassing our once supreme economy that was once the envy of the world.

Why is this occurring and why hasn't America come out of the slumber that we are in? Are we too concerned with terrorism, safety and entertainment for us to notice what's happening with our "strong" economy?

Do you know that we spend more on national defense then all other nations combined?
Did you know that we are losing highly educated people to other countries that are actually developing new technologies and putting them into action at an alarming pace? Half of IBM's 190,000 engineers and technical experts now reside overseas.

Why is GM spending so much on advertising their huge gas guzzling autos instead of focusing on alternatives like Toyota who is poised to take over GM as the world’s largest carmaker?

While we watch The Super Bowl and drink beer, many students in China are finishing up their fourth book on quantum physics. It's a fact that their educational system, along with other countries, is far beyond ours, and has been for quite some time, why? Why are we so complacent to lead fat, lazy, stupid, happy lives while we watch our economy take a back seat to other nations? Why are Americans the last to know what's happening in the world? Do we not care? Have we gotten too complacent in the times we live or are we just ignorant due to the propaganda of our nation being spewed all over us every time we sit down to watch an episode of ‘American Idol’ or some other goofy ass program?

How long will it be, before we can no longer support ourselves without the help of other nations? Is our laziness a good thing? Should we all just give up our economic status and the benefits that come with it so we can live off the land like our forefathers?

How do you define progress? Is progress a good thing, or does it just teach us that regression is an important part of life? How much longer will we be able to live our style of life at the rate we are going? Why are we not doing more?

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"

Mahatma Gandhi    

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