tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88360576927619710122024-03-25T19:01:06.103-07:00Witticisms & AphorismsA collection of the "wise" & of the "otherwise." Old posts are never old news!!!C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.comBlogger238125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-1902867150079447552024-02-29T23:30:00.000-08:002024-02-29T23:30:00.134-08:00Sunny Days<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> Winter has been dragging on a long time in some places. Here are some of our terra cotta (and poured concrete)</span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">sun</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">(and </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">moon</span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">)</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">faces</span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> to hopefully cheer you up.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> This poured concrete one is new: one of my Christmas gifts to my husband. Some of the turquoise paint was on there, but I made the turquoise eye more noticeable. The moon part was all turquoise, no accents. We both thought it would look better with a terra cotta eye, "stars" and other accents, so I added those.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF50b7bcSV_9cGDh2CIlKSa531mcZTWB06N164b4NSO6xOir2SsWPBNmFGHpo3Khj_xlYqsIPWqTXLGUj-zGWkTaeNlXOhwzSvnXj4TGhu237bRgSRzFJvNfC8sGCm2fl0-JXULFwcdFuFI1pTcGt8ltKI1O_76HITEKLqtW-EFaj7MRfdVa9GwWHXQZSf/s3035/sunnyface%20(1a).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3035" data-original-width="3018" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF50b7bcSV_9cGDh2CIlKSa531mcZTWB06N164b4NSO6xOir2SsWPBNmFGHpo3Khj_xlYqsIPWqTXLGUj-zGWkTaeNlXOhwzSvnXj4TGhu237bRgSRzFJvNfC8sGCm2fl0-JXULFwcdFuFI1pTcGt8ltKI1O_76HITEKLqtW-EFaj7MRfdVa9GwWHXQZSf/w398-h400/sunnyface%20(1a).jpg" width="398" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "Montserrat Alternates"; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> This terra cotta one was our out-front stand-by for years. It was also a past Christmas gift to my husband. I added the turquoise details for effect. (Our current house, Mediterranean style, has a terra cotta house number sign. I painted the numbers turquoise, too.) The cracks are just the aging of untreated terra cotta, which is like those pots for plants. The super glue will prevent further cracking, but he's "lost points", too. He's going on the back wall. </span></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaiiZEB1qgaKBBLa-jW_aWRfggH3nFVCUHH2w3fS8xMoUgczLvhPRYhcASwN0dwXHTfo7S6him61XhL8LmPqyCucmnbgdC08kGCHYmBXVwQcV3Luq-XiEJb7mlYmIdyOfefR35PC2Ykl2h7gstv5fdD4BV_kk8FqPJIG_E4RnZ7_rEVjgdpFmNBPtlffin/s3067/Sunnyface%20(2).jpg" style="clear: right; display: inline; font-family: "Montserrat Alternates"; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3067" data-original-width="3067" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaiiZEB1qgaKBBLa-jW_aWRfggH3nFVCUHH2w3fS8xMoUgczLvhPRYhcASwN0dwXHTfo7S6him61XhL8LmPqyCucmnbgdC08kGCHYmBXVwQcV3Luq-XiEJb7mlYmIdyOfefR35PC2Ykl2h7gstv5fdD4BV_kk8FqPJIG_E4RnZ7_rEVjgdpFmNBPtlffin/w400-h400/Sunnyface%20(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: medium;">Rodney Dangerfield dopplegänger?<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><br /><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJuQOtrDwsy154Y1oik-b8zINGghJWe0GQ995Pfm_otp2a7rdSJsFDvGzjW1_xfBuha75PYQO1vQ55vc4TKRmrHRbex_hM1YrL4QnqkOq8yex1AIxOnbBgUUJ1O0uttXG9rZNvSYd5Y8Im-uXGJlM-TapnNSgkYKOeQ4bcQOe2AlZXh_r2_6zO0tIbMeUA/s2833/Sunnyface%20(3).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2833" data-original-width="2785" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJuQOtrDwsy154Y1oik-b8zINGghJWe0GQ995Pfm_otp2a7rdSJsFDvGzjW1_xfBuha75PYQO1vQ55vc4TKRmrHRbex_hM1YrL4QnqkOq8yex1AIxOnbBgUUJ1O0uttXG9rZNvSYd5Y8Im-uXGJlM-TapnNSgkYKOeQ4bcQOe2AlZXh_r2_6zO0tIbMeUA/s320/Sunnyface%20(3).jpg" width="315" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> This smaller terra cotta face has mostly been an inside decoration. He's too small to see well outside. Turquoise accents also added by me.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> </span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyZsI0Oub5hXRmn_MP_htIt8hQKYyeML75kL8mJhePVb6sEDSq1BMoHV9XLMPf6EtD0nyzcjtTNzapuY9Hb1V6sEnlxmN_4JoUGvXqXI704daUPprmbuYRUprcu9dR_dfrHW4O-Q8QkCi7vyoDIOSUqUds_TuHbeIRn5Hi8n3XO0mnIaOUYeRznqIx9OzF/s3120/Sunny%20face.jpg" style="clear: right; display: inline; font-family: "Montserrat Alternates"; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyZsI0Oub5hXRmn_MP_htIt8hQKYyeML75kL8mJhePVb6sEDSq1BMoHV9XLMPf6EtD0nyzcjtTNzapuY9Hb1V6sEnlxmN_4JoUGvXqXI704daUPprmbuYRUprcu9dR_dfrHW4O-Q8QkCi7vyoDIOSUqUds_TuHbeIRn5Hi8n3XO0mnIaOUYeRznqIx9OzF/w320-h320/Sunny%20face.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "Montserrat Alternates";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> This sun/moon was also a gift to my husband. He painted this one quite brightly years ago. It is also an indoors decoration.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat Alternates;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-3069418657684030722024-02-07T18:11:00.000-08:002024-02-07T18:14:27.268-08:00Truman's Swans<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Comfortaa;"> <span style="font-size: medium;"> In the early months of 2024, FX generated a lot of buzz about its Season 2 series of <i>The Feud</i>. The season focused on Truman Capote's "swans."</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"> But decades before the FX program, even before the real Truman Capote was famous, there were the original Truman's swans. Harry Truman loved his swans. Biographies will say that Harry had no middle name, just the letter "S" to honor his grandfathers. In reality, the "S" stood for "Swans", his mother's great love. In 1948, he even threw a Black & White Valentine's Day Ball for them in the White House.</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9O1GOiczg3xuOx2hMRt7xDPcTHzBQ_TWOSHz8umewAdjxIVXNpQLEGlgZyTN78zJPDwf7ein8SyBPtReHwJXZ5UCvqweH2rT7k_YXD0fsIzS4g-UOVjoNHMMc4oOBwwXW1os_nHTGoPHnUk5JaMl3TG7kfdkO9qmJCDJH_sbMd0kx1AKywcAbqZIqQjlZ/s2686/truman%201%20smile.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2686" data-original-width="2225" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9O1GOiczg3xuOx2hMRt7xDPcTHzBQ_TWOSHz8umewAdjxIVXNpQLEGlgZyTN78zJPDwf7ein8SyBPtReHwJXZ5UCvqweH2rT7k_YXD0fsIzS4g-UOVjoNHMMc4oOBwwXW1os_nHTGoPHnUk5JaMl3TG7kfdkO9qmJCDJH_sbMd0kx1AKywcAbqZIqQjlZ/w331-h400/truman%201%20smile.jpg" width="331" /></a></div><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"> The swans were a jealous bevy. They turned on each other and became aggressive.</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSRbrEhkMa3NCmKqBS_b2e60KfUyGue_2wWRAHrIMQTzdnq1btjkeRgMKOUnl2zcNS6J407Gb0sqvrlenYu-qWoYIgALCZ1gwusc-HPho2Qqsk6BncZqfyZQvEcUnd29pqfeq3PsnmX_-z2ZTNsW03QCbAe4VbdPCA5qmdeiTjx_0sgnXQh0bBL5EkbEYG/s561/truman%202%20angry.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="561" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSRbrEhkMa3NCmKqBS_b2e60KfUyGue_2wWRAHrIMQTzdnq1btjkeRgMKOUnl2zcNS6J407Gb0sqvrlenYu-qWoYIgALCZ1gwusc-HPho2Qqsk6BncZqfyZQvEcUnd29pqfeq3PsnmX_-z2ZTNsW03QCbAe4VbdPCA5qmdeiTjx_0sgnXQh0bBL5EkbEYG/w400-h400/truman%202%20angry.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: large; text-align: left;"> They even started attacking Truman and the iconic Presidential Desk. They had to go.</span></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4RS_LeQ1SCOw-0Xh3ZDElSw7DZmh5J1PMBRtM9LmTjhomL9na48Y5w0ls39sXzs4Ayw-WYGMVZKosYKPDpiyDakPMgpU3iveH72MhyphenhyphenKqyG84p6uP5U7YMwqyPhKaadlWqwTHRcS9eZBRtYVTM5B_utsaCTOW5ZNJN38o7FE02WCEwWxARPf6wlbh0w3ng/s2686/truman%201%20angry.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2686" data-original-width="2225" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4RS_LeQ1SCOw-0Xh3ZDElSw7DZmh5J1PMBRtM9LmTjhomL9na48Y5w0ls39sXzs4Ayw-WYGMVZKosYKPDpiyDakPMgpU3iveH72MhyphenhyphenKqyG84p6uP5U7YMwqyPhKaadlWqwTHRcS9eZBRtYVTM5B_utsaCTOW5ZNJN38o7FE02WCEwWxARPf6wlbh0w3ng/w331-h400/truman%201%20angry.jpg" width="331" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"> Truman got his revenge. He sent them to the Kansas City (Missouri) Zoo. Their descendants are still annoyed by loud humans and <i>their</i> offspring today. </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl20xPOjbqDpET40TdWy5VNYhPOVtzT2hb-4fZ8gRXdmH47oNGoXg2Uy0dys0w9DIQik21w-paNJV6gREA5c5f2gunUP4nxtXjAg1rksvqbuDfJzBqz6szW4eskQYIVq8HOjYaiIlCNj9PphVLSxVeqAk2-L4jHq7PEPYX-WnrBd33pJ8cQkn85vMD5MJZ/s379/truman%202%20smile.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="378" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl20xPOjbqDpET40TdWy5VNYhPOVtzT2hb-4fZ8gRXdmH47oNGoXg2Uy0dys0w9DIQik21w-paNJV6gREA5c5f2gunUP4nxtXjAg1rksvqbuDfJzBqz6szW4eskQYIVq8HOjYaiIlCNj9PphVLSxVeqAk2-L4jHq7PEPYX-WnrBd33pJ8cQkn85vMD5MJZ/w399-h400/truman%202%20smile.png" width="399" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-72962406305085333752024-01-31T23:30:00.011-08:002024-02-01T19:37:37.881-08:00February 14th Hoopla<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;">Why is February 14th, (Saint) Valentine's Day, such a cash cow </span><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;">💰💸</span><span style="font-size: x-large;">🐄</span><span style="font-size: large;">🐮</span></span><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;">for Hallmark, florists & chocolatiers? </span><span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;">🎴<b>💟</b>🍫</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b>🎕</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;">While a lot of stories turn out to be urban myths, </span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><b>Geoffry Chaucer</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #660000;">'s poem </span><b><span style="color: #990000;">"The Parlement of Foules"</span></b><span style="color: #660000;"> [</span><span style="color: #990000;">"The Parliament of Fowls"</span><span style="color: #660000;">], written around 1375, seems to be a real reason why.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;">From Chaucer, in Middle English:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">For this was on Seint Valenteyns day</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">When every foul cometh ther to chese his make...</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">As they were wont alwey fro yeer to year,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Seint Valenteyns day to stonden there...</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Seint Valentyn, that art ful hy on-lofte</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Thus syngen smale foules for thy sake...</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;">-OR-</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">For this was on Saint Valentine's Day,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">When every fowl comes there to choose his mate...</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">As they regularly do from year to year</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">On Saint Valentine's Day staying firmly there...</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Saint Valentine, that is fully lifted up (upon us)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Thus sing small fowls for your sake...</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"> What? This holiday morphed from something quasi-Christian to a poem about bird love to a serious cash layout to show you really care? </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"> There were possibly up to three Valentines who lived in the third century A.D., when Christians were being persecuted by Romans. Possibly one or more died on February 14th.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"> The stories about Valentine speak of love, but not romantic love. It is a "fraternal" love for brother and sister Christians, played out by extreme sacrifice.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"> However, prior to that, the Romans had looked at February as a "month for lovers", so that may have influenced why Chaucer set his meeting of the birds on St. Valentine's Day. Ordinarily, that seems a bit early for mating season in England.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"> So, if you're done with the V-D routine, try something different. Offer to read your loved one Chaucer's poem in Middle English. That ought to kill any over-the-top romantic expressions (unless you're both majoring in older English literature). 😅</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"> If you're Christian, you could always view the theatrically released movie <i>Paul, the Apostle of Christ</i> as a family. That movie shows the type of love Valentine was said to exhibit. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;"> Happy Valentine's Day! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvaGwn_0eYUbeAhsczuUoFxsALqgxU3HykHqnVn7wnHF0vBzrbohRr_kimiKba22onPNM4PuMaC-iUFtLQnrISSG4v9Q9tN3AEDqLdg-1sIwp8n63UTmsv7BjnUuy3CoQQE1rQTRynhlObScQeYIDpZTFM-Z3RAWJzgCkowmIaK62_MCb_QA6Q-aLchXrJ/s921/20231212_171834.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="884" data-original-width="921" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvaGwn_0eYUbeAhsczuUoFxsALqgxU3HykHqnVn7wnHF0vBzrbohRr_kimiKba22onPNM4PuMaC-iUFtLQnrISSG4v9Q9tN3AEDqLdg-1sIwp8n63UTmsv7BjnUuy3CoQQE1rQTRynhlObScQeYIDpZTFM-Z3RAWJzgCkowmIaK62_MCb_QA6Q-aLchXrJ/s320/20231212_171834.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-8674720701975743742024-01-13T20:46:00.000-08:002024-01-13T22:06:27.721-08:00Beyond Dreaming<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Allura; font-size: x-large;">This MLK Day, how about we do something more than <b>dream</b> it? How about we <b>live</b> it?</span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Allura; font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Allura; font-size: large;">--Marie Byars</span></li></ul><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg13kulGNRXSQ3PotiA_O5x60_6RKy-nLHLQARY_oW9Wq6O7hCe6dBTNie7Dw8uFyDfAKW6uLgwTb-IaYPhubu7h8eQ3Yb9zavx98hlegL57lGUHyzj8v7_MRJpMcwlvkHcYKnmgZnj4ck1Lp0sBeqVjz8HFPxuzurVxyvim02R39mr_Znbyw8MNC1ac2No/s611/mlk%201.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="611" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg13kulGNRXSQ3PotiA_O5x60_6RKy-nLHLQARY_oW9Wq6O7hCe6dBTNie7Dw8uFyDfAKW6uLgwTb-IaYPhubu7h8eQ3Yb9zavx98hlegL57lGUHyzj8v7_MRJpMcwlvkHcYKnmgZnj4ck1Lp0sBeqVjz8HFPxuzurVxyvim02R39mr_Znbyw8MNC1ac2No/s320/mlk%201.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-12930997836881353592024-01-12T19:45:00.000-08:002024-02-16T16:32:27.998-08:00 Spare No Expense<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Righteous; font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Righteous; font-size: medium;"> The one-year anniversary of <i>Spare</i> in January 2024 has been an inspiration!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Righteous;"> Many hoped that Harry and Meghan would be a little "sparse" for a while after the aviation and other low-grade "recognitions." </span><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Righteous;">(The Kiddie Hawk "Legends of Aviation" Award is given yearly by an organization attempting to interest youth in aviation. Neither the award nor the organization usually get the attention they did in 2024.)</span><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Righteous;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Righteous;"> Whatever they do, they will still seek income. Maybe they could develop these products,</span><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Righteous;"> which would practically sell themselves:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbuJAKiMCF2MdlWzswIgmfZcC6gVjdc3l-Hc6c0126Qf91lB5tRw1MV-fMLWwVxpYA9XZeyr15kygZ7Mpb4cf8uYw6_wucAMU__ULQSy2ppRtg5-DOCfbExkjAP808tH-q4yRu4Fw5vu8uSvuOBhNQ_o170Zea6_HDtVs9qP17dwDXebdqJFm0EeN5w2S4/s2114/Spare%20Tire%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2114" data-original-width="2070" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbuJAKiMCF2MdlWzswIgmfZcC6gVjdc3l-Hc6c0126Qf91lB5tRw1MV-fMLWwVxpYA9XZeyr15kygZ7Mpb4cf8uYw6_wucAMU__ULQSy2ppRtg5-DOCfbExkjAP808tH-q4yRu4Fw5vu8uSvuOBhNQ_o170Zea6_HDtVs9qP17dwDXebdqJFm0EeN5w2S4/w391-h400/Spare%20Tire%20(1).jpg" width="391" /></span></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Righteous;"> Obvious but useful! </span><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Righteous;">In an era where most "spares" are the annoyingly small donut tires (tyres), Harry could spearhead a movement back to full-sized spares!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Righteous;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Righteous;"> <span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Who doesn't need to keep a few spares of these around? Even though we're past the COVID shortages, you don't want to be caught without extras of toilet paper, or loo rolls, as Harry's native UK refers to them.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZzHiL1E4ji9LO7W-VBKODoyy4snKc6F81mnoqb6-_3wL1Rtj6mjHqan0lrlH-dUqhyaw6JLLfoqDwo-17FXlEKpwLdSVNBoDQIBTGeDQtTXbICg0tkNXGEvg8kM3IgX2Z1baaYvooh7DP8bmqfJLGYYIGj2CFvTTQxOE8ms5W8VWLPBoGvkBUlM14G2e5/s3006/Spare%20(3d).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1964" data-original-width="3006" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZzHiL1E4ji9LO7W-VBKODoyy4snKc6F81mnoqb6-_3wL1Rtj6mjHqan0lrlH-dUqhyaw6JLLfoqDwo-17FXlEKpwLdSVNBoDQIBTGeDQtTXbICg0tkNXGEvg8kM3IgX2Z1baaYvooh7DP8bmqfJLGYYIGj2CFvTTQxOE8ms5W8VWLPBoGvkBUlM14G2e5/w400-h261/Spare%20(3d).jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Righteous; font-size: large; text-align: left;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Righteous; font-size: medium;"> Most of us keep some spare towels around.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaJI6M1e678qatiQmNOwrPAXy8o7Q2TYYuyNYCKVil4mt3ZYXPWXdPeyHkPqHtwIMC_yX4K3QBvm8O26FaVU05wt0INnyOHC1mDpseemd3vRAcDSeCVJs6v7_3SCyVGLRRUmHLBMgF_d_F9n9BVfq-JyKjog3zUACRt88iauR4gohfc1NFWsqWOxujtLCQ/s3533/Spare%20Towels%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3533" data-original-width="2867" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaJI6M1e678qatiQmNOwrPAXy8o7Q2TYYuyNYCKVil4mt3ZYXPWXdPeyHkPqHtwIMC_yX4K3QBvm8O26FaVU05wt0INnyOHC1mDpseemd3vRAcDSeCVJs6v7_3SCyVGLRRUmHLBMgF_d_F9n9BVfq-JyKjog3zUACRt88iauR4gohfc1NFWsqWOxujtLCQ/s320/Spare%20Towels%20(1).jpg" width="260" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Righteous; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> Or if you want to play up the "misfit" aspect, as </span><i style="color: #783f04;">Spare</i><span style="color: #783f04;"> does, maybe this collection is for you:</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXMxrpUxpHeGyr9qaDGBIuG-FIz-nwpkbh1YJw8saSS3h_l6hW7owE5NTYq5qtUrWyBqI_9SGOC6htFSZYaIhEcERiQ9hjsmkgu8nzBquLa2kzhI2LX0jpjlltYPe6HlGH-PcGKDwMOMlyP3VUHAhTE3fCq0qDFb4QUhe92fecUTCf9vGGPjPVlY0s4N_V/s3416/Spare%20towels.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3416" data-original-width="2920" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXMxrpUxpHeGyr9qaDGBIuG-FIz-nwpkbh1YJw8saSS3h_l6hW7owE5NTYq5qtUrWyBqI_9SGOC6htFSZYaIhEcERiQ9hjsmkgu8nzBquLa2kzhI2LX0jpjlltYPe6HlGH-PcGKDwMOMlyP3VUHAhTE3fCq0qDFb4QUhe92fecUTCf9vGGPjPVlY0s4N_V/w274-h320/Spare%20towels.jpg" width="274" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Acme; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #783f04;">For more ideas on possible Harry merch, check out these links</span><b style="color: #783f04;">:</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://yaduck.blogspot.com/2023/06/prince-harry-in-can.html" target="_blank">Prince Harry in a Can</a><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://yaduck.blogspot.com/2023/06/more-ducal-branding.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Other Spare Things</span></a><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-3557974675610801712023-12-31T23:01:00.000-08:002023-12-31T23:01:00.132-08:00Is Something Missing Here?<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvTBIBsrWwc6cOo_TSqetfe9HmqaUdHj6KrAaqntV5VtEpVNT34BNwK6VOkOC3hIcUj-HglCV4jxVXnrctOH2LQNqa6E3r-MhSO1uhKUWyrhhsM9uYRlPpe7YWiY0S3l2vGU6m6Z6PgOIrkCTmkWWPC3QSWCPu0pzOwwYptOETeNqXdwlZHgbWZSQMrFW/s3944/20230612_124548.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3944" data-original-width="2958" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvTBIBsrWwc6cOo_TSqetfe9HmqaUdHj6KrAaqntV5VtEpVNT34BNwK6VOkOC3hIcUj-HglCV4jxVXnrctOH2LQNqa6E3r-MhSO1uhKUWyrhhsM9uYRlPpe7YWiY0S3l2vGU6m6Z6PgOIrkCTmkWWPC3QSWCPu0pzOwwYptOETeNqXdwlZHgbWZSQMrFW/w480-h640/20230612_124548.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="color: #351c75; font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">"Brain in a Jar"</span></b><br /><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: courier;">Perot Museum</span><br /><span style="font-family: courier;">Dallas, TX</span></b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;">🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠</span><br /><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-size: large;">Happy New Year!</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">2024</span></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-18331086213698406592023-12-15T18:11:00.000-08:002023-12-19T09:28:54.016-08:00Euro Christmas Battle<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;">Which nativity* is better?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;">My mom's brightly colored German style?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG7m1YoxIfEwRfR9rCcK55yvr44g6B1IWTpcRA9vnjaDzEtzPnvG9uIBSRIlS5eO1fArpIrERoGdkopcmKknAJ94HbcgDPlBNUFkgL5Pr5c35jV7yyXIo2pWucEKI8jbD8stYgKohH_WMwzD7G1-1gNWpN5-VV_0TF59iXSFp4zwi8teRSmW9zffNFTTcP/s3743/20231215_185057%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2686" data-original-width="3743" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG7m1YoxIfEwRfR9rCcK55yvr44g6B1IWTpcRA9vnjaDzEtzPnvG9uIBSRIlS5eO1fArpIrERoGdkopcmKknAJ94HbcgDPlBNUFkgL5Pr5c35jV7yyXIo2pWucEKI8jbD8stYgKohH_WMwzD7G1-1gNWpN5-VV_0TF59iXSFp4zwi8teRSmW9zffNFTTcP/w400-h288/20231215_185057%20(1).jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;">Or the Italian faux-wood muted style we bought in adulthood?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiecok3e1Kh0L_o_g6WRgJoFs4OvbBogXpY5tCLWyHwIh76ikvKx-ktDbVQZtEggjxBG-9g41hShUqtOIsuVfdsqGP-bAREwVBaAIPP-xoOCpFdXg5m2eeKlkaiul2vAq_17igCpr56ntUGzec6JlEG55GexRZ1bQbwXDEvKPs8OqtOJV5RxEz39RAokX2/s3418/20231212_171720%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2685" data-original-width="3418" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiecok3e1Kh0L_o_g6WRgJoFs4OvbBogXpY5tCLWyHwIh76ikvKx-ktDbVQZtEggjxBG-9g41hShUqtOIsuVfdsqGP-bAREwVBaAIPP-xoOCpFdXg5m2eeKlkaiul2vAq_17igCpr56ntUGzec6JlEG55GexRZ1bQbwXDEvKPs8OqtOJV5RxEz39RAokX2/w400-h314/20231212_171720%20(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;">I may be of German descent, but I like the Italian nativity better!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;">*Wise Men to come later. We celebrate their coming on Epiphany, January 6th, so I put them out around New Years. We've acquired 6 for our Italian set. Since the Bible only numbers the gifts and not the men, we put them all out!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">MERRY CHRISTMAS!</span></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-4354335279930697662023-11-01T00:30:00.005-07:002023-12-26T16:35:11.996-08:00 In Time for Thanksgiving... <div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="sxr04b" style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><div class="kVF6d" style="display: table; word-break: break-word;"><div class="MiCl6d" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; min-height: 36px;"><div class="JgzqYd RES9jf xWMiCc" style="font-family: "Google Sans", Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 28px; line-height: 36px; vertical-align: top;"><span data-dobid="hdw" style="background-color: #f1c232;">grat·i·tude</span></div></div><div><span style="background-color: #f1c232;"><br /></span></div></div></div><div class="vmod" style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><div class="vmod" data-topic="" jsname="r5Nvmf"><ol class="eQJLDd" style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px;"><li jsname="gskXhf" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="vmod"><div class="thODed" style="padding-top: 8px;"><div class="wHYlTd sY7ric" data-topic="" jsname="cJAsRb" style="line-height: 16px;"><div style="margin-left: 20px;"><div class="wHYlTd sY7ric" style="line-height: 16px; margin-left: -20px;"><div data-dobid="dfn" style="background-color: #f1c232; display: inline;">the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return <span class="AraNOb">kindness</span>.</div><div class="vmod"><div class="ZYHQ7e" style="color: #70757a;"><span style="background-color: #f1c232;">"she expressed her gratitude to the committee for their support"</span></div></div><div class="vmod qFRZdb" data-dsk="true" data-dtpe="false" data-nlm="true" data-requery="false" jsaction="rcuQ6b:npT2md;Lesnae:X4aiyd;KyPa0e:yJjTGf;SJu0Rc:pnFSEb;NAozHc:Gmtrjd" jscontroller="QC6lPe"><div class="P2Dfkf vmod SkSOXb" jsname="KM35l" style="max-height: 30px; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="bqVbBf jfFgAc CqMNyc" jsname="deRYT" role="list" style="display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; max-width: 100%; padding-right: 24px;"><div aria-hidden="true" class="k6UgDb" style="flex-basis: 100%; height: 0px; overflow: hidden; width: 0px;"></div><div data-mh="-1" role="listitem"><span style="background-color: #f1c232;"><br /><span face=""Google Sans", Roboto-medium, arial, sans-serif-medium, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></li><li jsname="gskXhf" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div data-mh="-1" role="listitem"><span face=""Google Sans", Roboto-medium, arial, sans-serif-medium, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f1c232; font-size: 18px;">Origin</span></div></li></ol></div></div><div jsname="Hqfs0d" style="color: #202124; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><div class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="-1" style="max-height: none; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;"><div><span style="background-color: #f1c232;"> late Middle English: from Old French, or from medieval Latin <i>gratitudo</i>, from Latin <i>gratus</i> ‘pleasing, thankful’. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: #f1c232;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: #f1c232;"><i>--Oxford Dictionary On-line</i></span></div><div><span style="background-color: #f1c232;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="background-color: #f1c232;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4tmQF5y7FJ__RU02qr9-yweVg_xf5tUUOCbFOCUJ4EOboF8nIEUvSxNZeakT_c4iha_RpNK0kdAGD1__j0bP8XWIkKDqWq91bZ-tocgS8KOoCKXQnUgHKNtj8RXhdTEqlGslmlEsHHGTxcrJFwDm8o4vl4XLMMPpLqdXd-0VTbFs45sO_P58y-iEIGKf/s4160/20231224_134048.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4tmQF5y7FJ__RU02qr9-yweVg_xf5tUUOCbFOCUJ4EOboF8nIEUvSxNZeakT_c4iha_RpNK0kdAGD1__j0bP8XWIkKDqWq91bZ-tocgS8KOoCKXQnUgHKNtj8RXhdTEqlGslmlEsHHGTxcrJFwDm8o4vl4XLMMPpLqdXd-0VTbFs45sO_P58y-iEIGKf/w300-h400/20231224_134048.jpg" width="300" /></a></div></span></div><div><span style="background-color: #f1c232;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div></div></div></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-74553116270976696262023-10-01T00:30:00.124-07:002024-01-15T11:35:52.996-08:00Downfall of Our Forebearers <p> </p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> The U.S. Founding Fathers modeled our Constitution heavily on the old Roman Republic. The Republic preceded the Empire (the downfall of which a lot of modern thinkers want to use as a comparison to our times). </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> The Republic lasted from 506 BC to 27 BC, whereas the Empire went from 27 BC to "kind of" 476 AD. (I say "kind of" because the first Germanic invasion didn't completely collapse the Roman system. The invading Germans wanted to live as Romans. It wasn't until a few invasions later, after the Lombard invasion of 568, that an invading Germanic people began dismantling the Roman system.) </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> Let's do the math on this. The Roman Republic lasted 479 years. Not a bad run for the first attempt at a democratic republic. (Some Greek city-states had run smaller direct democracies for a while, but they didn't have the same lasting power.) </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> The Empire lasted variously 503 years, if counting to the first invasion, or up to about 600 years, if counting up until the Lombard dismantling of legal and structural systems. Although the Empire lasted longer, it was a stinking, rotting corpse near the end, and, in fact, through other portions of its existence. (There was a half-hearted attempt after Emperor Caligula to return to a republic, but it didn't amount to much.) The Empire was propped up by slavery and, for a while, by constant absorption of new lands through conquest. It was kind of a weird "pyramid system", relying on conquest (rather than drawing on creating new investors to prop up old ones, as do investment pyramid schemes)-- the needs in newly conquered territories would eventually be propped up, in some ways, by what was conquered after that.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> The <i>Pax Romana</i> created a system of relative peace and travel that allowed Christianity to take hold (accounting for the human rather than divine factors). Off and on over time, some scholars have blamed these very Christians for the downfall of the Empire. The reasons are too complicated to blame Christians. Its time had come, like those banks that are propped up too long and called "too big to fail." (I will agree that Emperor Theodosius [<i>r.</i> 379-395 AD], the one who made Christianity the official religion of the Empire, was a factor in the Empire falling. He was a lousy emperor at several levels. His time also saw Christians turning around and persecuting pagans.) I think it's too much of a "parlor game" trying to find parallel causes of the Empire falling and what's happening in modern American society. Since we were based on the Republic, that's where we need to go for answers.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> The Roman Republic destroyed itself, largely, by letting itself fall into the traps of a two-party political system. The parties didn't line up exactly along the lines that ours do, but there are some parallels. Overall, the take-away is that such a system creates a tug-of-war. It also leads to easier corruption because it's easier to pick a side and practice bribery to get power. With multiple parties and multiple thought streams accounted for, it's a little harder to do this. Contrary to how "originalists" operate now days, the Roman Republic was willing to adapt itself to keep functioning. They got nearly 500 years out of their system. We have insanity brewing, and we haven't even made it to 250 years.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> The Roman historian Sallust (@85-35 BC) suggested the conquests were a factor in the Republic's downfall. The influx of money from newly conquered territories was a factor. "Strongmen" arose, lusting for money and for power. Violence began to replace voting.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKE_i4xLDRVn0XWh8vxdGqOGue0KTfmBcOZzJA-iIgFNVgfA6eyaOUFTK9wEUr5dj6TZ-5QDviSqsG62-MwF9NH_ZsGcZXpLjooxt0KnIOGSpe6r21oDp_WCaajFoQMe0OLlgfzsWIieaY-3EZee5UtGf4RAYs7Xd533v6xiDo6hL1PEL1eyIkbk5enTDF/s603/Screenshot%20(194).png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="603" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKE_i4xLDRVn0XWh8vxdGqOGue0KTfmBcOZzJA-iIgFNVgfA6eyaOUFTK9wEUr5dj6TZ-5QDviSqsG62-MwF9NH_ZsGcZXpLjooxt0KnIOGSpe6r21oDp_WCaajFoQMe0OLlgfzsWIieaY-3EZee5UtGf4RAYs7Xd533v6xiDo6hL1PEL1eyIkbk5enTDF/w400-h251/Screenshot%20(194).png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><i>Cicero Denounces Cataline</i> --Cesare Maccari, 1889</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #b45f06;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Our Founding Fathers were pretty smart men, overall. (As an aside, I disagree theologically with many of them because, counter to what some of my fellow believers say, they were not all Christian. A lot of the prominent thinkers were Deists or proto-Unitarians, meaning they didn't believe in a Trinity. But they were, seemingly, a pretty intelligent bunch.) These men were trying to create a stronger system to replace the loose Articles of Confederation from right after the Revolutionary War. That weak, decentralized system left our new nation very vulnerable in several aspects, including militarily and economically.</span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> The Fathers were cautious and wanted a sensible balance between centralized powers, the rights of states and the rights of individuals (at least White landowning men). They looked to the Republic. Strangely, they did not take into enough account how partisanship had brought down the Republic. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> They also did not take into account the politics in Great Britain at the time, which was already a constitutional monarchy with a sitting Parliament. (The words directed at George III in the Declaration of Independence should more properly have been directed at Parliament.) England had long used a "first-past-the-post" system, meaning the person who got the most votes (even if it were a "plurality" and not a "majority") won the race. England was also developing tug-of-wars between Tories and Whigs at that time. The UK is largely a two-party system (allegedly), though other parties exist in name. With how badly Labour has conducted itself, it's practically a one-party system right now. The Tories (Conservatives) are managing things so badly, though, that it remains to be seen what happens there.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> George Washington's exit speech when ending his presidency (see elsewhere in this blog, under the "</span><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">politics</span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">" or "</span><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">moderation</span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">" labels) warned strongly against developing a two-party system. He warned it would have people at each other's throats. He warned that it left the door open to foreign intervention in our political system, notably through bribery.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> So why couldn't the Fathers have taken some additional steps to address elections and parties in the Constitution. Some say there is no way to address this in such a document. Yes, there were several ways. </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">They could have pondered harder since they were intelligent and dedicated to the survival of our republic.</span><span style="color: #b45f06;"> They could have mandated</span><span style="color: #b45f06;"> that political parties not be private entities. They could have stipulated that, if parties were to form, there would be no less than three and no more than five at any one time. If they had thought hard enough, they could have considered the option of required run-offs, as opposed to the first-past-the-post system. After all, with the electoral college system, there were times that run-offs happened in the House of Representatives to choose the President in the early days.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"> Hopefully our republic can course correct in ways the Roman Republic did not.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-83452370480720909122023-07-01T00:00:00.002-07:002023-07-15T13:34:30.368-07:00My Type of Patriotism <div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">For <b>this</b> </span><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: medium;">4th</span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: #999999; font-size: medium;">of</span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: medium;">July</span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">, this </span><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: medium;">picture</span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"> describes <b>my</b> </span><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: medium;">pa</span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">tr</span><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: medium;">io</span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">ti</span><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: medium;">sm</span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPgv0LVMLj2-cJDXZH-DTmSo0Mgng4sM0S7jUE8A8u_PZjEk9CfGCY7bobjkMe2HO67S_y2pH8swYT37fk9na2GUeUAhUGBB2GrVh1czlDxE-ri-B_e1aISpmPAtfWfTWr8PNEsOOUYCxaRAg0rLPYSpUJ8f1AMJ3EqJWEhNb-xLEs_5fd-8JHpW1alg/s798/centrist.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="798" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPgv0LVMLj2-cJDXZH-DTmSo0Mgng4sM0S7jUE8A8u_PZjEk9CfGCY7bobjkMe2HO67S_y2pH8swYT37fk9na2GUeUAhUGBB2GrVh1czlDxE-ri-B_e1aISpmPAtfWfTWr8PNEsOOUYCxaRAg0rLPYSpUJ8f1AMJ3EqJWEhNb-xLEs_5fd-8JHpW1alg/w400-h140/centrist.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: medium;"><a href="#politics" target="_blank">#politics</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-46923766295191135142023-06-24T10:37:00.003-07:002024-03-13T16:46:19.521-07:00Prince Harry in a Can<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="color: #990000;"> There was a 20th century joke [which an online tobacco service revived] about 'Prince Albert in a can.'* Prince Albert tobacco was not sold in cans for a while, though the larger tins are back. The original tins were the 1.5 oz pocket tin and the 14 oz tin.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000;"> Prince Albert went on to become King Edward VII of the UK. In this modern time where branding is everything, a certain red-headed descendent of his could use this concept to make his distinctive 21st century merching mark.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000;"> [<i>I'm trying to stay away from the cruel or vicious. That's never helpful. There are things to feel sympathy for Harry about... just not for the things he insists upon. On the other hand, he has come across as, frankly, ridiculous, in some ways; some of these things add to the worst trends of modern society.**] </i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"> Prince Harry claims he's given up tobacco smoking (or so he's said), so selling that in either size can seems out. He cops to using 'wacky baccy' (weed, pot, MJ, etc), but it would still be against federal laws to sell that nationwide. With questions hanging over his visa, he should probably skip that idea.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"> So, what's a middle-aged modern prince to sell in a can? Here's some ideas:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Small can:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">"Todger sheaths" (blue-colored would be best sellers)</span></li><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Snake in a can joke-- Harry still recounts with relish the way he was able to pull stunts on others. He could roll out his own snake popping out of the can practical joke line. </span></li><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Dried bananas-- the prince reports bananas are a favorite food. Bananas have also figured into some other internet and royal outing stories touching upon the couple...</span></li><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Dried mushrooms-- the big surprise would be that they are actually culinary mushrooms and NOT psychedelic mushrooms!</span></li><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Ginger Snaps or Ginger Chews (a real thing)</span></li><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Removable hip flask of hooch (see, also, below for tequila-specific suggestions). These small tins were, after all, first designed as pocket tins.</span></li><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Photo trading cards of the heroic Sussexes saving the world! </span></li><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Empty can would make a great cell phone carrier: it might block hacking! He could market this as a 2-in-1 purchase!</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIQE5t-0IgJwbE43enAQ-qgtHlDC7HZep1yF3KGj2qSDHsa0YfcaGVpRR6HS9JUfaq3RECqj_3wbLNJmZnG005IV0TPGtINTcbKk2ZwfMCbOv1dvqqjmXYDHytl92WppRst_7J6Hcmi3bnXB43-yMVxhUf5F3K6OFsDcsnr5mNvpdQYcNDRocRSjeFSg/s332/Prince%20Albert%20can%20(harry)%204.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="271" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIQE5t-0IgJwbE43enAQ-qgtHlDC7HZep1yF3KGj2qSDHsa0YfcaGVpRR6HS9JUfaq3RECqj_3wbLNJmZnG005IV0TPGtINTcbKk2ZwfMCbOv1dvqqjmXYDHytl92WppRst_7J6Hcmi3bnXB43-yMVxhUf5F3K6OFsDcsnr5mNvpdQYcNDRocRSjeFSg/w326-h400/Prince%20Albert%20can%20(harry)%204.png" width="326" /></a></div></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Bigger can:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Toilet paper for Arctic & Antarctic adventures</span></li><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Tequila minis-- best choice, a joint venture featuring Casamigos Tequila, co-founded by erstwhile acquaintance George Clooney and once shilled by cousin-in-law Jack Brooksbank. He might even get a deal to chug it on camera with Stephen Colbert. [It seems "recovery" from substance abuse means different things to different people, although the recovery community is quite clear about what it means to them.]</span></li><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Dried, 'smoked' roast chicken. Apparently roast chicken is another favorite dish of the prince's. [I wonder if the chickens in the Montecito coop realize this; it could make them pretty nervous if they do.] There are several ways that the chicken could be smoked...</span></li><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">C**k cushion for extreme cold weather adventures. Who knows-- maybe they could even be sold in the small can? I don't really want to know that much detail. [That was a common sentiment of many readers along about January 2023.]</span></li><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">There's actually a product sold called "Candle in a Can." Considering painful connections between "Candle" and either of Princess Diana's sons, we will pass on this and wish both men peace in this regard. </span></li><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">"Air from [Name Place]" is something that is actually sold. Perhaps the California prince could sell "Air from Montecito." (Maybe Montecito is far enough out to avoid the serious smog of L.A.? No one would want "Air from Los Angeles.") There are plenty of "hot air" jokes to <i>Spare</i> here.</span></li><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Sterno-type Stove in a Can. Besides melting some snow to rehydrate that dried chicken in a can on your Arctic adventures, you could warm up your freezing todger a bit.</span></li><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Empty can would make a great toupee carrier. Or maybe sell "Toupee in a Can." You never know when that time might come for this prince or any man. This would be a great-crossover into cold weather adventure supplies: keeping the bald pate as warm as possible is important on such adventures. A couple more angles for some great 2-in-1 marketing. <br /></span></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioAiyoDnAkbGtKrzge7_kR2lr_6_0Jtkmrng5jEUeHWGIGBIo-O_w9zYSULoX6jyYwHhHSNxq4anA832jMz2Fe5qMPiOXMhMxJlDuxrNp2s9vpaUh7xhhklj2nznn5_3WfGX-fE_sM5dDpSjZ6Jps0jIsOocSCeEehh6qRXG1ZJr-4yigXrEk73eZfyQ/s442/Prince%20albert%20in%20a%20big%20can%20harry.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="417" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioAiyoDnAkbGtKrzge7_kR2lr_6_0Jtkmrng5jEUeHWGIGBIo-O_w9zYSULoX6jyYwHhHSNxq4anA832jMz2Fe5qMPiOXMhMxJlDuxrNp2s9vpaUh7xhhklj2nznn5_3WfGX-fE_sM5dDpSjZ6Jps0jIsOocSCeEehh6qRXG1ZJr-4yigXrEk73eZfyQ/w378-h400/Prince%20albert%20in%20a%20big%20can%20harry.jpg" width="378" /></a></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">In fact, launching a whole line of outdoors adventuring supplies 'in a can' could work. You, too, can go camping (or glamping) with Prince Harry, even if you can't afford to do so in Botswana.</span></li><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">The empty can of either size could be used as an old-fashioned "hair
receiver": save your falling hair for 'future use' (i.e.
said toupee, if not purchased pre-made in the can). Still another 2-in-1 marketing plus.</span></li><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"> Either size could be offered in the "Dior Suit Coronation Version."<br /></span></li><li><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"> Sadly, no "dry humor" in either can, despite the other dried goods possibilities. Harry's humor doesn't trend in that direction, not even with the help of a renowned ghost writer. His is more the "in your face", unsophisticated type, often practical jokes at others' expense.</span></li></ul></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"> Another great idea comes from the current owner's name: since the 1980s, the Prince Albert brand has been owned by the John <i><b>Middleton</b></i> Company. Yes, Middleton. [No known relation to the Princess of Wales.] Imagine the digs he could continue to get in by biting yet another hand that feeds him through casting another sort of Middleton aspersions. Genius!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><i>*For those of you who haven't heard the joke, due to your extreme youthfulness, this is how the joke went: someone called a store (in the era before caller ID, etc.) and asked, "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?" When the clerk said, "Yes", the caller responded, "Well, you'd better let him go!"</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYLuuNV2KaLdVN1zvPFU0Gi6tgb-_rEwMpvXDgz3lqzlkJa2qZtx6w031mHppFMQhmFGdk_cmKrk3VKojBc5i8FaLa3TJpc9QD8qrc9J-NLeiYgBgz5eQH8PISmpNE2WjiDsFM265xjRuq9fUnBfPSaWkZnv87Fabnv1NeRZTnxXT6kSGGirRS1yQJ3g/s294/Prince%20Albert%20in%20a%20can..jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="294" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYLuuNV2KaLdVN1zvPFU0Gi6tgb-_rEwMpvXDgz3lqzlkJa2qZtx6w031mHppFMQhmFGdk_cmKrk3VKojBc5i8FaLa3TJpc9QD8qrc9J-NLeiYgBgz5eQH8PISmpNE2WjiDsFM265xjRuq9fUnBfPSaWkZnv87Fabnv1NeRZTnxXT6kSGGirRS1yQJ3g/w640-h640/Prince%20Albert%20in%20a%20can..jpg" width="640" /></a></div><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">**If you stumble upon my little blog and assume things about my mindset, at least look around my blog before you ratify your assumptions and leave a comment. If you comment assuming certain things, I will respond strongly with facts and information, not feelings or conspiracies.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">#royalfamily </span></span></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-44064582406977080902023-06-24T10:35:00.004-07:002023-12-15T17:42:50.070-08:00More Ducal Branding<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"> The related post of this date (take a look) suggested some ways King Charles' second son could use his branding to set off in a new life direction. Might we suggest some more?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><b>Spare Bowling Alley Chains</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwg_MBFDNzYmOSi4n-BNfPhQQvLZLMz9GSdVXKi0OCpMdFixBHyWM0CDZkA2spKVavQLE7XyMbq70NmA3TNf4LDGDvaENwikQscZxaPgZmTLyd7sakYQB3qbbxiwbbkWRARlomCQXQkxvHiKQTaE2vGXLwL2NvRCtdHglbP48CiM_2eTdZFsThNgNawQ/s590/bowling.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="590" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwg_MBFDNzYmOSi4n-BNfPhQQvLZLMz9GSdVXKi0OCpMdFixBHyWM0CDZkA2spKVavQLE7XyMbq70NmA3TNf4LDGDvaENwikQscZxaPgZmTLyd7sakYQB3qbbxiwbbkWRARlomCQXQkxvHiKQTaE2vGXLwL2NvRCtdHglbP48CiM_2eTdZFsThNgNawQ/w400-h289/bowling.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"> We all know spares are not as desirable as strikes in bowling. Strikes come in the 1st part of the frame, spares come in the 2nd. Spare Bowling Alleys give you the space to nurse your bad feelings towards self and others for getting spares, not strikes. And if you're a loser who can't even get a spare, we are here to remind you we don't really have time for you-- you're not important to anyone's story. Spare Bowling Alleys will impress that point upon you. Only those who are stuck getting Spares, not strikes, are allowed to nurse their bad feelings about their bowling lives.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><b>Harry's Spare Parts</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoiKbgf2YReLY5iplulcLVU6UNFErHb_qbzRsiKJqaZEtSLx-EqhU4VJzeno3oSP2vszqnRxSkM4QX96wIqDllBpZdxgehfwt7fb8ZCaBqhtoYcVy6VKv4KEEzEKfsmhI2Mtbey1ub7dV1NgfiMBZ0pwgK2TFmaqrf79Y7FOUncfAzpFqbb5QYcXzrOPBO/s712/Spare%20Parts%20(3b).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="712" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoiKbgf2YReLY5iplulcLVU6UNFErHb_qbzRsiKJqaZEtSLx-EqhU4VJzeno3oSP2vszqnRxSkM4QX96wIqDllBpZdxgehfwt7fb8ZCaBqhtoYcVy6VKv4KEEzEKfsmhI2Mtbey1ub7dV1NgfiMBZ0pwgK2TFmaqrf79Y7FOUncfAzpFqbb5QYcXzrOPBO/w400-h325/Spare%20Parts%20(3b).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"> Prince Harry expressed his opinion that his parents had him primarily as a backup to his brother, even to provide spare body parts if his brother needed them. Perfect tie-in for this business. Instead of your tired old NAPA, O'Reilly, AutoZone, etc., buy parts that weren't needed for another car! A few steps above "junk" and wrecking yards, but you'll still walk away knowing that these parts were never really loved as much as the originals. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY-VS_sOZWyj7FUG1lrJyQsPk36IZtQh3iySHQ0foJpCsodN5brFPuF5LR-4jxSe6gaxTppBnwuXeviGTBqvDch0irFAoc7s2B9akFl2Wqcb-sXkl1aesgC8ms4LquppqBT42-HjfcfpCY6hdMtcguP53_86yY111uCKV8bTNs99c2DdeUP95N6h3eVgJ-/s701/Spare%20Parts%202%20(4).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="701" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY-VS_sOZWyj7FUG1lrJyQsPk36IZtQh3iySHQ0foJpCsodN5brFPuF5LR-4jxSe6gaxTppBnwuXeviGTBqvDch0irFAoc7s2B9akFl2Wqcb-sXkl1aesgC8ms4LquppqBT42-HjfcfpCY6hdMtcguP53_86yY111uCKV8bTNs99c2DdeUP95N6h3eVgJ-/w400-h356/Spare%20Parts%202%20(4).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga8YoKCl_ZPv8eriFzfSn-SSCjI9y1kI0ML-uRp8IuZ5tE7jpOe2rE2GSmuaRDY9SaA322xFSzbVskHeOgvaJdep4Iks5_AQiBXhFrq50xy7pjUeSMmfR5VRJcGUMXLNCf7UTpZRygoKGMR7kMAaBTrjbR_896M5dn3SzZdznMlikPuW7SCox6x3Yyn035/s345/Spare%203%20(3).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="232" data-original-width="345" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga8YoKCl_ZPv8eriFzfSn-SSCjI9y1kI0ML-uRp8IuZ5tE7jpOe2rE2GSmuaRDY9SaA322xFSzbVskHeOgvaJdep4Iks5_AQiBXhFrq50xy7pjUeSMmfR5VRJcGUMXLNCf7UTpZRygoKGMR7kMAaBTrjbR_896M5dn3SzZdznMlikPuW7SCox6x3Yyn035/w400-h269/Spare%203%20(3).png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"> <i>(Once again, it is not right to be cruel nor hateful to Harry. I have some sympathy for him, just not in the ways he demands it. There is a certain ridiculousness to much of what he says. Left to stand, this reinforces some of the worst trends in society. As before, please do not assume what my actual mindset is. Look at my blog carefully before assuming. If someone stumbles upon this little blog, assumes things wrongly and leaves comments, I will respond strongly with verifiable information, not feelings or conspiracies. Thank you.)</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: medium;">#royalfamily</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-65062077714503403552023-04-01T00:30:00.012-07:002024-03-03T17:36:31.262-08:00 More Groucho Marx Quotes<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;">For your April Fool's enjoyment: </span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;">The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made.</span></li><li><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;">I must confess, I was born at a very early age.</span></li><li><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;">I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it.</span></li><li><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;">Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.</span></li><li><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;">I intend to live forever or die trying.</span></li><li><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;">A hospital bed is a parked taxi with the meter running. </span></li><li><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;">All people are born alike-- except Republicans and Democrats.</span></li><li><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;">Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?</span></li><li><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;">A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere. </span></li><li><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;">She got her looks from her father. He's a plastic surgeon.</span></li><li><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;">Either he's dead, or my watch has stopped. </span></li><li><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;">Why, a four-year-old child could understand this. Run out and find me a four-year-old child: I can't make head nor tail out of it.</span></li><li><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;">Before I speak, I have something to say. </span></li><li><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;">Next time I see you, remind me not to talk to you. </span></li><li><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;">Humor is reason gone mad. <i>--Groucho Marx </i></span></li></ul><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit1hLdeYgGWnISJPfliToxu4OXv6j0fahvw5-KUFLSq4OxAnVoXBzfuxm8Np7FV88euXYqPHC7-m_42yG7jZ-OMtPAch3Jkxj625pFZ-icXfn8o501KgTf0li2BVaTYWZo40_dpmQcLiJQcJP-lZTV_m_T2QawOvO0APGLCcVeQfDXJ5RRUbS4Mqs2ZeJb/s580/groucho%20glasses%201.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="579" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit1hLdeYgGWnISJPfliToxu4OXv6j0fahvw5-KUFLSq4OxAnVoXBzfuxm8Np7FV88euXYqPHC7-m_42yG7jZ-OMtPAch3Jkxj625pFZ-icXfn8o501KgTf0li2BVaTYWZo40_dpmQcLiJQcJP-lZTV_m_T2QawOvO0APGLCcVeQfDXJ5RRUbS4Mqs2ZeJb/w399-h400/groucho%20glasses%201.png" width="399" /></a></div></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-36694097490551295302023-03-01T14:43:00.006-08:002024-01-16T11:11:36.312-08:00Groucho for Better Thinking<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"> <span style="font-size: medium;"> Groucho Marx is usually thought about for his biting humor. This month's quote is a little more on the thoughtful side. It even sounds like something a person might hear from a mental health provider:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;">Each morning when I open my eyes, I say to myself: "I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead; tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it." <i> (Attributed to Groucho in 1972 by Rufus W. Gosnell, an Aiken, SC, newspaperman.)</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO4zk-7jTOx3Tw86G_HUkAz_NJ91hNBXst-4BTTe4DShFnfabLKCfCkl58rl2QLMChOdMEWuN_wuma7eCYdDf_3CVQ_f92seYBsYf8BpRKCNWMesWTZ68P4OSxZUlurLclr2LS7Ir6HDuTkcwNrrahDQQz_tJfVUQGU_r5Di-HYARuTTChBw-kHVE8DCOt/s667/groucho%201.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="667" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO4zk-7jTOx3Tw86G_HUkAz_NJ91hNBXst-4BTTe4DShFnfabLKCfCkl58rl2QLMChOdMEWuN_wuma7eCYdDf_3CVQ_f92seYBsYf8BpRKCNWMesWTZ68P4OSxZUlurLclr2LS7Ir6HDuTkcwNrrahDQQz_tJfVUQGU_r5Di-HYARuTTChBw-kHVE8DCOt/w400-h303/groucho%201.png" width="400" /></a></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-86151714482301298702022-11-30T23:30:00.002-08:002024-01-16T11:12:31.781-08:0012 Days of Christmas* Math<div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">If you got everything listed in the carol "The 12 Days of Christmas", here is what you would end up with:</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">12 partridges (in either one or 12 trees!)</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">22 turtledoves</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">30 French hens</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">36 calling birds</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">40 golden rings</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">42 geese a-laying (and, at some point, all those goose eggs!)</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">42 swans a-swimming</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH-GYUATzXVSenITu0gR43nmy8imVY0SljGMNYxcFcdRCuRQl0Ow8j_jXjRsTPh7J7ui1ezGOV82PPUSY5avA4jbWE1znsdtnaBZxX0qBYugRYu-WatePiRjUbBHolsQejaE22PotMMVV6sGwlfbLOy1FHwTqq6YuHtMPUx1fU7OnJ64TvERMpegTx7nyv/s4096/20231213_205945.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4096" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH-GYUATzXVSenITu0gR43nmy8imVY0SljGMNYxcFcdRCuRQl0Ow8j_jXjRsTPh7J7ui1ezGOV82PPUSY5avA4jbWE1znsdtnaBZxX0qBYugRYu-WatePiRjUbBHolsQejaE22PotMMVV6sGwlfbLOy1FHwTqq6YuHtMPUx1fU7OnJ64TvERMpegTx7nyv/w400-h300/20231213_205945.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">40 maids a-milking (it's not even legal to give people as gifts; it never was ethical, even when legal!)</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">36 ladies dancing</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">30 lords a-leaping</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">22 pipers piping (oh, the noise if they're all bagpipers! </span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">12 drummers drumming (add this to the pipers and, oh, what noise on Day 12!)</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000;"><i>[There are formulae for figuring</i> total <i>numbers of gifts, also.]</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">You will need to sell the golden rings to clean up the bird mess!</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">*</span><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: medium;">The 12 Days of Christmas are NOT before Christmas, as a lead-up to them. Rather, they go from December 25th to Twelfth Night, January 5th. The next day, January 6th, is Epiphany, commemorating the coming of the Wise Men (before it commemorated the coming of other people to Washington, D.C. in 2021 😒). <i> [You can find several accounts on-line about how it was supposedly a way to secretly communicate Roman Catholic doctrines during Tudor Anglican times.]</i></span></div><div><br /></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-9709982648363900362022-11-10T19:40:00.074-08:002022-11-10T19:40:00.168-08:00Happy Veteran's Day<div style="text-align: left;"> <br /><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: courier;">Here are some patriotic photos you may find moving this Veteran's Day... or any other </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: courier;">pa</span><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">t</span><span style="color: #cccccc;">r</span></span><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: courier;">io</span><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">tic</span><span style="color: #990000;"> holiday. They were all taken in the fall in Northern Arizona. </span></span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimDEKOO2K28_M931G9pnqfUd_zr0U88IgcIGLi018m_4xlMANgpVzcm3Otz9NqJQJHAk0TTf6AGJDGXsAAvCqIH51AS_LpxUggVjbgZ0Xlb-qe9I3AyhYO7cEodbAOFjg3vQ_gtictyQ-5rpz9YUHWf9IxZDDe4kZ1-HMnfcDuPy73N7nLV-I-03FViw/s2157/20221008_092659%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2157" data-original-width="2157" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimDEKOO2K28_M931G9pnqfUd_zr0U88IgcIGLi018m_4xlMANgpVzcm3Otz9NqJQJHAk0TTf6AGJDGXsAAvCqIH51AS_LpxUggVjbgZ0Xlb-qe9I3AyhYO7cEodbAOFjg3vQ_gtictyQ-5rpz9YUHWf9IxZDDe4kZ1-HMnfcDuPy73N7nLV-I-03FViw/w400-h400/20221008_092659%20(2).jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: medium;">Military Guest Lodging<br />Near Flagstaff, AZ</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4TN7NJI_By73tpRIFS2Er0f_VrjDhAsj6MLuF-Sf51nPv9bCkYZ9UVaa0_5o1k55TceSP5CZvI87g93fHh_8wdchAtjmRTWgaTXgpejs8pG-uwMuG11iWYwr_He44LNGobUjD7Anq64EAtGO_F5ZTgoFgVOLots2EEjsQu-1T3tPMJCVctanXQusTdw/s2397/20221008_110728%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1951" data-original-width="2397" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4TN7NJI_By73tpRIFS2Er0f_VrjDhAsj6MLuF-Sf51nPv9bCkYZ9UVaa0_5o1k55TceSP5CZvI87g93fHh_8wdchAtjmRTWgaTXgpejs8pG-uwMuG11iWYwr_He44LNGobUjD7Anq64EAtGO_F5ZTgoFgVOLots2EEjsQu-1T3tPMJCVctanXQusTdw/w400-h325/20221008_110728%20(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Old Ft. Tuthill Parade Grounds<br />Now part of the County Fair Grounds</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP10jgI5s3ukekDRjWeG8jqchnOUl1x0zkSCNtSLnfYLRROeEpkzM1CTN9b7B5Yr8cvS-3qqYxzLerjQv2MAyL9cnbFbPNqWMO2lM-nVhnvdQc-RAmt6vXa8wWVLiU5_M09PqVoOOyThZbb2nuIgMwKxgKC0tQHMncKQ5PFvd_dgGqOZw9aRrUaERI3w/s4160/20221008_112958.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP10jgI5s3ukekDRjWeG8jqchnOUl1x0zkSCNtSLnfYLRROeEpkzM1CTN9b7B5Yr8cvS-3qqYxzLerjQv2MAyL9cnbFbPNqWMO2lM-nVhnvdQc-RAmt6vXa8wWVLiU5_M09PqVoOOyThZbb2nuIgMwKxgKC0tQHMncKQ5PFvd_dgGqOZw9aRrUaERI3w/w300-h400/20221008_112958.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: medium;">Korean War Era Jeep<br />Military Musem, Ft. Tuthill</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIryLrd30TlZM6CQ7Vml2Zs_nGOSwzVeAehOQQkEDvLkOfo-r5TcwBgxF9xe0JUK2lZjT10Mrwa378RLgnZGxYjkmpJ73ctRudg5rcld08S7Fwbw7ag-h5pQAf5qDTr0XaYIGdY9uPwo5537N_5STj3IvtEv-UceHU3iW_cg1KPuCOyHAmIoFTgH1txQ/s1589/20221009_144405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1589" data-original-width="1192" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIryLrd30TlZM6CQ7Vml2Zs_nGOSwzVeAehOQQkEDvLkOfo-r5TcwBgxF9xe0JUK2lZjT10Mrwa378RLgnZGxYjkmpJ73ctRudg5rcld08S7Fwbw7ag-h5pQAf5qDTr0XaYIGdY9uPwo5537N_5STj3IvtEv-UceHU3iW_cg1KPuCOyHAmIoFTgH1txQ/w300-h400/20221009_144405.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Commemorative Marker<br />Aircraft Training Accident, WW2<br />San Franciso Mountains</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span></span></b></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com0598H+M6 Flagstaff, AZ, USA35.1666273 -111.621886234.268039213286649 -112.7205190125 36.065215386713355 -110.5232533875tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-48689554178067184392022-10-01T00:30:00.055-07:002022-10-01T00:30:00.156-07:00Contranyms<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><i> Contranyms are single words that have two contradictory meanings (they are their own opposites!). They are somewhat rare. Still, here are 10 of them:</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><b>1. Apology:</b> a statement of contrition (sorrow) for an act, or a firm defense of one</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><b>2. Bolt: </b> to secure, or to flee</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><b>3. Bound:</b> heading to a destination, running off ('bounding away') OR restrained from movement at all</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><b>4. Cleave:</b> to adhere to, or to separate</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><b>5. Dust:</b> to add fine particles, or to removed them</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><b>6. Fast: </b> quick, or stuck/made stable</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><b>7. Left:</b> remained, or departed</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><b>8. Peer:</b> a person of the nobility, or an equal (actually the 2nd came out of the first; the peers were each other's equals, with rights the hoi polloi didn't have)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><b>9. Sanction:</b> to approve, or to boycott</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><b>10. Weather:</b> to withstand, to wear away</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-53987841229936937122022-08-27T16:21:00.005-07:002023-12-26T14:49:51.466-08:00Growing Up?<p> </p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: large;">The best parts of adulthood are the parts of childhood that you can sensibly incorporate. <i>--Marie Byars</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwzVHx1YKBpEti6JjWF6TV8NwBY6Qp0yrEqao9NiKifRQIG7jKwj2Z6GtpYgOPtOgGsHTaRhMg_WcD7AFv9yvWEfIu1yzSMjCKibUD5_9FUsKXswEVh5XZSw6WLKOhGO338si5WXjbzoHpVAK2TgIco-aWfvz4-1UiG71zdS4SZdUsOnBGBC2mKrskTEsb/s2576/20200502_173050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2576" data-original-width="1932" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwzVHx1YKBpEti6JjWF6TV8NwBY6Qp0yrEqao9NiKifRQIG7jKwj2Z6GtpYgOPtOgGsHTaRhMg_WcD7AFv9yvWEfIu1yzSMjCKibUD5_9FUsKXswEVh5XZSw6WLKOhGO338si5WXjbzoHpVAK2TgIco-aWfvz4-1UiG71zdS4SZdUsOnBGBC2mKrskTEsb/w300-h400/20200502_173050.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><i><br /></i></span></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-10431158452358978542022-08-01T00:30:00.001-07:002022-08-01T00:30:00.174-07:00 Internet [Clean] Aging Humor<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">1. When one door closes and another door opens, you are
probably in prison.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">2. To me, "drink responsibly" means "don't spill your Diet Pepsi in the car."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">3. Age 60 might be the new 40, but 9:00 pm is the new
midnight.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">4. It's the start of a brand-new day, and I'm off like a
herd of turtles.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">5. The older I get, the earlier it gets late.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">6. When I say, "The other day," I could be
referring to any time between yesterday and 15 years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">7. I remember being able to get up without making sound
effects.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">8. I had my patience tested. I'm negative.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">9. Remember, if you lose a sock in the dryer, it comes
back as a Tupperware lid that doesn't fit any of your containers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">10. If you're sitting in public and a stranger takes the
seat next to you, just stare straight ahead and say, "Did you bring the
money?"<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">11. When you ask me what I am doing today, and I say
"nothing," it does not mean I am free. It means I am doing nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">12. I finally got eight hours of sleep. It took me three
days, but whatever.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">13. I run like the winded.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">14. I hate when a couple argues in public, and I missed
the beginning and don't know whose side I'm on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">15. When someone asks what I did over the weekend, I
squint and ask, "Why, what did you hear?"<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">16. When you do squats, are your knees supposed to sound
like a goat chewing on an aluminum can stuffed with celery?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">17. I don't mean to interrupt people. I just randomly
remember things and get really excited.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">18. When I ask for directions, please don't use words
like "east."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">19. Don't bother walking a mile in my shoes. That would
be boring. Spend 30 seconds in my head. That'll freak you right out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">20. Sometimes, someone unexpected comes into your life
out of nowhere, makes your heart race, and changes you forever. We call those
people cops.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">21. My luck is like a bald guy who just won a comb.</span><o:p></o:p></p><br /></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-66269739689214166302022-07-01T00:30:00.003-07:002024-03-03T17:37:19.864-08:00Patriot of Another Country<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #7f6000;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="color: #7f6000;"> July, of course, celebrates</span><span style="color: #990000;"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">American</span><span style="color: #7f6000;"> </span><span style="color: #0b5394;">Independence</span><span style="color: #7f6000;"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Day</span><span style="color: #7f6000;">. Demonstrations of patriotism will abound. If you wish to see old </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">July </span><span style="color: #0b5394;">4th</span><span style="color: #7f6000;"> related posts on this blog, please choose the "Fourth of July", "patriotism", or "politics" links on the left sidebar (on the desktop version).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #7f6000; font-size: medium;"> This July, the blog is looking at quotes from a German patriot, Chancellor Otto von Bismark of the old German Empire. I never used to seek out Bismark quotes because I thought his militarism (which united the Germans under the Prussians) was a big factor in the long-term problems Germany created. However, it turns out there was far more to Bismark than militarism. Here are some interesting quotes from him:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><i>That which is imposing here on earth has always something
of the quality of the fallen angel who is beautiful but without peace, great in
his conceptions and exertions but without success, proud and lonely. </i></span></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;">Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man
learns from the mistakes of others.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the
experience of others.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>What we learn from History is that no one learns from
History.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>A really great man is known by three signs-generosity in
the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>Man cannot control the current of events. he can only
float with them and steer.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>The life of a man is like a game of chess, which he plays
according to his art.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>Life is like being at the dentist. You always think that
the worst is still to come, and yet it is over already.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>A bad plan that is well executed will yield much better
results than a good plan that is poorly executed.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>Love is blind; friendship tries not to notice.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>Hounds follow those who feed them.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>I have never lived on principles. When I have had to act,
I never first asked myself on what principles I was going to act, but I went at
it and did what I thought fit. I have often reproached myself for my want of
principle.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>When you want to fool the world, tell the truth.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>People never lie so much as before an election, during a
war, or after a hunt.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>Preventive war is like committing suicide out of fear of
death.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a
soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war. </span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;">A generation that has taken a beating is always followed
by a generation that deals one.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>A little caution outflanks a large cavalry.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>Woe to the leader whose arguments at the end of a war are
not as plausible as they were at the beginning.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>Show me an objective worthy of war and I will go along
with you.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>You can do everything with bayonets, but you are not able
to sit on them.</span></i></li></ul><div><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: #7f6000; font-size: medium;"> --Otto von Bismark</span></div><div><span style="color: #7f6000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-2820185287708119812022-06-25T19:51:00.003-07:002022-06-25T19:51:16.145-07:00 What the Heck?<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #7f6000; font-size: medium;"> I've been trying to tell people (i.e. Americans I know) that losing the "Center" in our political representation was going to be a disaster. We're tearing ourselves apart and heading towards the ridiculous. Soon it will be both ridiculous AND ignorant!</span></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-51286196595058138982022-04-01T02:00:00.039-07:002023-12-12T12:12:07.430-08:00 I Think I Am<p> </p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"I think, therefore I am." -<i>-Rene Descartes, 17th century French philosopher</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>["Cogito ergo sum"/"Je pense donc je suis"]</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"I think, therefore life is more difficult." 😏😉 <i>-- Marie Byars, 20-21st century American dilettante </i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">" 'I Think, Therefore I Am Misunderstood.' " <i>--Newsweek </i>article title; 15 October, 2006</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-weight: normal;">Why is René Descartes considered a thinker? Because he is. </span><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">😏 </span><i><span style="color: #783f04;">(Ponder that one!)</span></i></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span>"I think, therefore I have anxieties." </span><i>-- The sufferer of anxiety disorders</i></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">A horse walks into a bar and the bartender asks, “why the long face?” The horse morosely replies, “my wife wants a divorce, she says I’m an alcoholic.” The bartender asks if he is, and the horse answers, “I don’t think I am” and promptly vanishes from existence.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h3 class="joke-title" style="background-color: white; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">A guy walks into a bar. The bartender is a horse. He says, "Oh, hey Rene, you want the usual?". Rene says "Yeah sure. Why the long face?". The horse and bar disappear because they were never, in fact, real and the only thing that definitely did exist was Rene.</span></h3><div><div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Did you hear about the philosopher who was trampled? It was a tragic example of putting Descartes before the horse.</span></div></div><div><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">Waitress: Sir, Do you want one more coffee?</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Open Sans, sans-serif">Descartes: Umm..I think not. And he disappears.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"I don't think so", said René Descartes. Just then he vanished.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">Rene Descartes comes into a bar. He orders a really old and expensive bottle of wine and after a couple of hours when he's done drinking it, he stands up from his chair, planning to leave. The bartender stops him: "Sir you have to pay for this!", Rene stops and says "I don't think so" and disappears.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">A man offers Descartes $100 to jump in a lake. Without thinking, Descartes ceases to exist.</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Rene Descartes walks into an empty room... After some time he remarks, “Is it solipsistic in here, or is it just me?” (for the advanced philosopher 😏 )</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">What do you call an empty, self-aware 2-dimensional space? Descartes Blanche</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div></div></div></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-19427920350471404232022-03-01T09:41:00.001-08:002022-03-01T09:41:11.155-08:00 Sledding (Mis)Quotes by Marie<p> </p><p><span style="color: #7f6000; font-size: medium;">"I sled, therefore I am" <i>--Rene Daycart</i></span></p><p><span style="color: #7f6000; font-size: medium;">"Climb every mountain... Then sled down." -<i>-Oscar Hammerstone</i></span></p><p><span style="color: #7f6000; font-size: medium;">"Sometimes a sled is just a sled." <i>--Sigmund Fraud</i></span></p><p><span style="color: #7f6000; font-size: medium;">"I came, I saw, I sledded." <i>--Julius Freezer</i></span></p><p><span style="color: #7f6000; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p><span style="color: #7f6000; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #7f6000; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7RT24383PXKirw8xiLHOdrkmQsLTaR5SzgShZlcWsBI1LmphgpGyUs5NmYBgv5wwZSOZLMW4SjlK7R_EUbQ8pgopXpQ8OWohrJTRqj8kAb64GRV4SPaj5TcwOHRgJx1djrbqj5L1HGIBHu4Q5JQqKhNhe9m0rxKVbQyFA6WNhao6DFCumrOHxzG13Hw=s4160" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7RT24383PXKirw8xiLHOdrkmQsLTaR5SzgShZlcWsBI1LmphgpGyUs5NmYBgv5wwZSOZLMW4SjlK7R_EUbQ8pgopXpQ8OWohrJTRqj8kAb64GRV4SPaj5TcwOHRgJx1djrbqj5L1HGIBHu4Q5JQqKhNhe9m0rxKVbQyFA6WNhao6DFCumrOHxzG13Hw=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #7f6000; font-size: medium;"><br /><i><br /></i></span><p></p>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-16054032433991840132022-03-01T05:00:00.097-08:002024-03-03T17:38:19.809-08:00 More Choices<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b>The 20th Century</b> was, in many ways,<b> a tug of war between far right</b> (often fascist) <b>and far left</b> (communist) movements in many parts of the world. Each of these movements would justify what they did, saying "At least, I'm not those guys..." "We just do what we do to keep those guys at bay..."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b>Guess what? They're both bad</b>; <b>they're both really bad</b>. They both lead to autocracy. Once autocracy is in place, it all becomes about propping up the autocrat's ego and/or greed. Whatever the people who put the autocrat in place wanted, that fades in light of the autocrat keeping his position, no matter what.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> As we move into the 21st century, this tug-of-war seems active in the U.S. If you listen closely to the loudest of the voices, they seem perfectly willing to cave in to autocracy to get what they want.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Beware-- what you thought you'd get by supporting an autocrat will fail.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"> Besides the absolute Center, there are 4 dimensions that actually combine differently in different voters: liberal on social matters, liberal on economic matters, conservative on social matters, and conservative on economic matters. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"> One of these voices that actually exists but is almost completely unrepresented is the voice that is conservative on social matters (or at least wants to ensure that religious conservatives have an on-going place in society), yet economically liberal (which doesn't necessarily imply full-fledged communism or even socialism; all these dimensions lie on a spectrum). Some people who don't understand this position assume that it would be an autocratic one. Not necessarily. The positions defined as "Christian Democratic Parties" in much of Europe fall into this perspective. These parties actually do not seek to exclude people who are socially liberal from the society nor deny their rights. They just want to ensure that people who practice traditional or conservative religions (in ways where they are not discriminating again others in society) are also not ostracized from society for their beliefs. In addition, many European countries that are otherwise liberal do not have free and unrestricted abortion through all 40 weeks of pregnancy. Some Americans who believe in this combination feel that better support for workers <i>is</i> a family matter (supporting something that's socially conservative); it might also reduce abortions. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"> The economically conservative yet socially liberal is not officially represented by either major political party but is hugely represented in influence across society. They are loosely defined as the "Libertarians." This is the position a lot of businesses and business leaders like. Be nice to everyone on the surface. But don't let everyone know that it's still much easier for the rich to get richer than people on lower rungs to climb any higher.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"> The right & left are getting very polarized socially. The economic area has many centrist thinkers. Some of the center has shifted into liberal economic territory during the 45th presidential administration. But the economic center is still larger than the economic left. This region, especially slightly left of center, is actually similar to the propositions discussed in the paragraph on European Christian Democrats. This would be more of a repeal of Reaganomics, improving educational & training opportunities, improving a safety net for workers or the truly disabled, improving public works projects (some of which would also improve the environment). All of these would be aims without price controls (except possibly in the area of medicine, such as prescription medicines and insurance costs); without taking over industries; etc. Private enterprise would continue.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"> Though the Right & Left are becoming more polarized on social issues, this does not mean that the numbers are equal. It does appear the Religious Right is shrinking and is maintaining its political clout is somewhat artificial ways. This is not helpful for anyone in the long term.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> If we had better representation, it would take the force of one vs. the other away. It would be less likely that an eventual "victor" would pull everyone off the cliff with a huge tug.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8836057692761971012.post-18102510987904363292021-12-03T12:38:00.003-08:002023-12-12T12:13:34.565-08:00 Quote from St. Nick<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"> <span style="background-color: white;">“The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic </span><span style="background-color: white;">His giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves.”</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">―<i> </i></span><span class="authorOrTitle" face="Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><i>St. Nicholas of Myra; </i></span></span><span face="Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #660000; font-size: 14px;">(St. Nicholas Day is December 6th)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face="Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #660000; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><br /></div>C. Marie Byarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402541164388777896noreply@blogger.com2