Category: Blogroll

I suppose I could have titled this “Resolutions” but some of the 13 that follow are more properly labeled “revolutionary” :-).

During the coming year, I’d like to accomplish a few simple things:

1. See the top of my desk at the end of every day. (Right now, I can see a few small portions of it… *heh*)

2. Get a handle on my blog reading. I’m way behind and falling “behinder” as time progresses. RSS feeds help, but aren’t the complete answer. A speed-reading refresher? Maybe…

3. Become as competent with Linux as I have been for years with DOS. (Old dogs, new tricks and all that. Still, I do enjoy what I’ve picked up while building Linux-based routers/firewalls and such. Just want to develop a mastery, for fun.)

4. Take more time off from blogging for fun stuff like woodworking and songwriting– activities that have languished for a couple of years.

5. Consider shaving my beard. No, not a goal of actually shaving it, just of considering shaving it. 😉

6. In the same vein, consider whether I’d like to cut another clothing size or two. Right now, I can wear clothes from tha back of my closet that I’ve not been able to wear for years til now. If I drop another coupla sizes, I’ll have to buy new, and that might impact the funkiness of my wardrobe.

7. Get off the dime and rewire twc central: completely structured; ethernet, coax, telco, etc. It’s all drawn out, materials (save one 110 punchdown block) here, so what am I waiting for? Oh, right. Someone to kick my tail up into the attic to start snaking wiring… *sigh*

8. Build myself a “sonic canon” for use when the neighborhood barbarians cut loose again… OK, just slightly kidding. The linked canon won’t do for my purposes at all. I need something operating at 150 decibels, all right, but in the 8 Hz range… *heh*

9. Discover the root cause of contemporary faux liberalism… and stamp it out.

10. Take Diogenes’ lamp in hand and go forth searching for an honest politician. That should keep me wandering until my legs give out or Social Security fails (OK, so I won’t have to worry about my legs giving out).

11. Get some sleep.

12. Get more sleep.

13. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Tacked up at the Thursday Thirteen Hub and

Trackposted to Is It Just Me?, The Random Yak, The HILL Chronicles, High Desert Wanderer, and Conservative Cat, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

I have seen some rather bigotted commentary coming from the Left in the last couple of days concerning the upcoming execution of that barbarous, tyrannical murderer, Saddam Hussein, but the comments that most clearly indicate the Left’s slide into hypocrisy is the cry that capital punishment is barbarian.

Well, of course it is, but why is the Left suddenly turning on barbarians? Where are the much-vaunted multi-cultural values the Left so loudly espouses when it suits it? It is the highest of multi-cultural respect to treat a barbarian such as Saddam according to his own values, as nearly as we can.

Continue reading “In the spirit of multiculturalism…”

Continuing to celebrate Christmas here at twc with the Third Day of Christmas leading up to Twelfth Night (January 5th) and Epiphany (January 6th). Meanwhile, THIS is an open trackbacks post. Link to THIS post and track back. 🙂

If you have a linkfest/open trackback post to promote OR if you simply want to promote a post via the linkfests/open trackback posts others are offering, GO TO LINFEST HAVEN DELUXE! Just CLICK the link above or the graphic immediately below.

And, if you want to host your own linkfests but have not yet done so, check out the Open Trackbacks Alliance. The FAQ there is very helpful in understanding linkfests/open trackbacks.

Now, on to the feature for today: segment one of this week’s Worship Quote of the Week from Chip Stam, “The Incarnation as the Humiliation of God.”

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JOHN 1:10-14 (NIV)
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

THE HUMILITATION OF GOD (C. S. Lewis)

The Second Person in God, the Son, became human Himself: was born into the world as an actual man—a real man of a particular height, with hair of a particular color, speaking a particular language, weighing so many stone. The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became not only a man but (before that) a baby, and before that a fetus inside a Woman’s body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab.—C. S. Lewis, MERE CHRISTIANITY. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., p. 155.

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Part 2 of “WQOTW – The Incarnation as the Humiliation of God” tomorrow, as we continue to celebrate Christmas here at third world county.

We always choose at least one “simple fare” (completely non-taxing, mostly “fluffy” :-)) movie to watch as a family during the holidays–often more. This year, one we chose was Eragon, for several reasons (one of which was an elementary school librarian in the family and all that implies for the family reading list–good implications, I assure you :-)).

I have a much more prolix review I was considering posting, but this one catches most of its points succinctly, so I’ll just refer you there.

Not a definite miss. No solid hits. Not a yawner. Not a winner. Pretty pictures. A little more at the linked post.

Some folks “do” the “boxing day” thingie December 26. Not at twc central, though. The tree, lights, etc. will stay up until around New Years here–actually, more like through Epiphany (January 6). Things’ll be a bit laid back and lazy here this week, including the posting schedule. So, hand in your “assignments” to keep my reading schedule nice n full, ‘K? 🙂 Open trackbacks to THIS post. Just link to this post and track back.

If you have a linkfest/open trackback post to promote OR if you simply want to promote a post via the linkfests/open trackback posts others are offering, GO TO LINFEST HAVEN DELUXE! Just CLICK the link above or the graphic immediately below.

All-new, thanks to The Conservative Cat.

Yeh, I really cannot boil this post down to a title.

Lovely Daughter surprised me with not one but two Dean Koontz books as Christmas presents (making very good use of her discount at Borders, where she has a very part time job on top of her full time work). Now, if you understood the esteem in which I hold Koontz for his craftsmanship, then you’d know what utter pleasure her gifts have already brought me, not only for the reading of them but for the consideration she put into their selection.

(Be it known that my delight in Jackie Chan’s craftsmanship in a completely different line of artistic expression was noted and acted upon by Son & Heir. :-))

So, two purposes for this post, at least: thanks, kiddos, for the thoughtfulness of your gifts. And all y’all out there, if you have not tasted of Dean Koontz’s wordsmithery, latch onto some of his best, soon. This year, Lovely Daughter satisfied my desire to read more about Odd Thomas with Forever Odd and Brother Odd. Both are replete with not only the masterful characterization, plotting, descriptive narrative and dialog that are typical of Koontz’s work, but also his characteristic nuanced throwaway lines that enhance all the above. Just pick up your own copy(ies) starting with Odd Thomas and see what I mean. Oh, almost any book by Koontz would be a good read (I particularly like

Odd Thomas

Forever Odd: A Novel

Brother Odd (Odd Thomas Novels)

Trackposted to Pirate’s Cove, Perri Nelson’s Website, The Bullwinkle Blog, The HILL Chronicles, Wake Up America, Don Surber, Adam’s Blog, and Pursuing Holiness, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

This just in via email from Hugh, a regular reader. (Yes, Hugh, it is a classic, but I’ve not seen it for a while, so thanks! :-)) Thinking on it, I just have to wonder: is the little angel’s name, “Carol”?

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“Little Angel”
{A Classic}

One particular Christmas season a long time ago, Santa was getting ready for his annual trip, but there were problems everywhere.

Four of his elves got sick, and the trainee elves did not produce the toys as fast as the regular ones, so Santa was beginning to feel the pressure of being behind schedule.

Then Mrs. Claus told Santa that her Mom was coming to visit. This stressed Santa even more. When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two had jumped the fence and were out, heaven knows where. More stress.

Then when he began to load the sleigh one of the boards cracked and the toy bag fell to the ground and scattered the toys. So, frustrated, Santa went into the house for a cup of coffee and a shot of whiskey.

When he went to the cupboard, he discovered that the elves had hid the liquor and there was nothing to drink. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the coffee pot and it broke into hundreds of little pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found that mice had eaten the straw from which it was made.

Just then the doorbell rang and Santa cussed on his way to the door. He opened the door and there was a Little Angel with a great big Christmas tree.

The angel said, very cheerfully, “Merry Christmas Santa. Isn’t it just a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Isn’t it just a lovely tree? Where would you like me to stick it?”

Thus began the tradition of the Little Angel on top of the Christmas tree.

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Merry Christmas!

Trackposted to Blue Star Chronicles, The Pink Flamingo, and Woman Honor Thyself, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Christmas=Evangelism

On another blog a couple of years ago I wrote a very (VERY) brief comment about the kerfuffle surrounding “Merry Christmas” year , repeated last year and then slightly reworked this year, here. It’s become a tussle phrase for “traditionalists” of all stripes vs. the Loony Left Moonbat Brigade.

But that’s not the issue in this post. Here’s a thought/shade of memory that’s almost always present whenever I say “Merry Christmas.” I can recall vividly the many times that I witnessed my maternal grandfather openly, extravagantly displaying the Christmas spirit—at all times of the year, in all kinds of places. Here’s a typical memory that surfaces or floats in the background whenever I say “Merry Christmas” to someone… and why it does.

Whenever I visited my maternal grandparents as a child or youth and the visit encompassed a Sunday, we went out to eat for Sunday “dinner” (lunch to much of the country :-). Invariably, Dad-Dad would be the last to our table and the last out the door because he had to stop and chat briefly with every person he saw. The conversation, if it were with a stranger, would always at some point allow Dad-Dad (allow, nothing—he made it so! 🙂 to bring up Jesus Christ, his Savior and Lord. Many of those conversations resulted in brief prayers and an exchange of contact information.

You see, Dad-Dad knew that the meaning and message of Christmas wasn’t some warm, fuzzy , nebulous “goodwill to men” that we share at a holiday time, or a time of sharing love with family and friends. No, the meaning of Christmas is the Incarnation and all that implies: sinful man, doomed to an eternity in hell; a loving God who became man in the form of a baby boy in order to redeem this sinful world by His life and propitiary death and provide victory and hope through His resurrection.

When I asked him one time why he always stopped to talk to so many people, many of whom he did not—before!—know, on the way to his table (or out the door), he told me that he didn’t want to be the one—missed!—opportunity that perhaps one person may have had to hear the gospel.

“Merry Christmas” is a prayer that God will bless the hearer with a saving knowledge of the life and work, the death, burial and resurrection, the daily presence of One who

” …being in the form of God, did not think being equal with God something to cling to, but made Himself of no reputation, became a servant, coming as a man, And as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross…”

That’s the message “Merry Christmas” holds for those who know Him: We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior. The Light of the World, the Hope of the Nations.

Peace, goodwill toward men.

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So, Merry, Merry Christmas,
May the blessings of this season all be yours:
Friends and loved ones present, if only in your heart;
Peace in your small corner of the Earth;
Joy and laughter, children’s mirth;
Cooking, baking, eating; who needs a calorie chart?

But when you gather Christmas Eve beneath the Natal Star,
Make sure the greatest blessing is held within your heart.
For the birth we celebrate with tinsel, lights and joy
Was more than just the birth of one small Jewish boy.

So gather parties, make merry; give gifts, bake pies and sing.
Christmas is thanksgiving for the birth of the Servant King.

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Linked late to Adam’s Carnival of Christmas II and to The Christmas Alliance HQ.

Trackposted to Blue Star Chronicles, The Pink Flamingo, Woman Honor Thyself, Don Surber, and Madman Returns, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Seen at Our Story. Thank you, Janeen!

If you like “family” blogs (I do), give Janeen’s blog a visit.

It’s a festive event at Morning Coffee and Afternoon Tea, where Christine has spread a feast to bring joy all taste buds for our delectatious* delight.

Drop on by. It’s not too late to add a delightful recipe to your holiday fare!

Continue reading “Christmas Carnival of the Recipes”