St. John Tea

This afternoon Julie and I went to the St. John's Tea. It was their 10th year, but only the third year we've been attending.

This little town does three seatings for tea, with only 30 minutes between them. In between they wash all the dishes and reset the tables.

The theme today was a Celtic Fling and we were greeted by a bagpiper at the door to the facility.

I love going and they do a beautiful job of making everything lovely. Everyone helping was dressed in appropriate costumes. After being for three years I'm starting to recognize some of the regular helpers, which is nice.






As is so often the case with teas, they're a bit stingy with the food, using salad plates instead of regular plates and all the portions are very small.

They do it as a buffet, which is not my favorite way to have tea. Today we were the last group to go through the line and the clotted cream was gone. I asked for more and the lady looked a bit annoyed and brought out just a little dollop - about enough for three people, instead of the dozen or so that were left to be served. If you're going to serve buffet, you should be prepared that people are going to take more than the little bit you might dish out on your own.

Also today, the trifle was just a watery mess in the bottom of the bowl. I love the way trifle looks on the table, but it's only pretty for the first three or four people. After that it's pretty nasty looking. That was certainly the case today.

Today they served haggis, which I did try. I am NOT an adventurous eater, so that's pretty amazing for me. If you don't know what haggis is, it's basically "parts" of the animals with spices tossed in. It wasn't bad at all, but not being a big meat eater to begin with, it didn't thrill me. I also tried mincemeat pie, which had the same effect for me.

But, as usual, I loved the cucumber sandwiches, the lemon tarts, scones and all the other little traditional tea goodies.


They had live music today, which was a nice touch. Music is always a bit distracting for me but they were very good. We were seated right next to them so it was a little overwhelming at times, but they were excellent.

We were seating with four other ladies, one of whom is from Hutchinson. They have quite the system for seating people. You can tell they've worked it all out over the previous years.

I always enjoy this afternoon. Today we were able to get into the first seating and I think I like this best. We've been to each of them now. Julie and I have gone together every year.

After tea, we went to the library where they always have an exhibit of some sort. Last year it was teapots. This year it was hats and also favors from all the previous years. I am completely in love with the one from 2001, which is the year before I started going, unfortunately. It's a hand crocheted teacup and saucer. I'm on the hunt for a pattern. I need a Christmas tree with these decorating it. I NEED it.

Sovoso

I have just returned home from a performance at the Fox Theatre. Martha called this morning and asked if I could go with her tonight. I'm so tickled she called. It was a really fun evening.

Performing tonight was Sovoso, a "vocal band." It was amazing. If this group comes to your town, make it a point to go. You won't see anything else like it and you'll be bowled over by what they do.

These five performers are their own accompaniment, all with their voices, which are some of the most versatile instruments I've ever heard. I love a cappella singing, so this was a special treat. Only true artists can sing a cappella, much less for an entire performance. I kept wondering if they all have perfect pitch.

Blues, gospel, jazz and contemporary music blended into a seamless performance that had a world music feel.

Two of the group members sang with Bobby McFerrin's a cappella group, Voicestra. At times it was hard to imagine it was only three men and two women creating all that sound.

The last song they did included a local high school group and was about a topic dear to my heart - community. The song was about building a bridge. During that performance I closed my eyes at times and let the music wash over me. It was a spine-tingling experience.

I had a revelation tonight. I often comment that I don't care for live performance of any sort, or for movies, or anything that makes me sit still for an extended period of time. What I realized tonight is that I'm content to sit still for a very long time if what I'm experiencing is enthralling. That just doesn't happen often. I had no difficulties tonight. None.

Tonight also reminded me why I was a music major for only a brief time.

The Blog Answer

Just moments ago, I realized one of the really important things about blogs, and why they're so popular. They're updated regularly. It's incredibly simple and yet powerful.

The biggest complaint people have about the internet - from inception to now - is that people put up sites and then walk away and never do anything with them again. Even though we live in a world where people are supposedly technologically advanced, most people wouldn't recognize html if it bit them in the ass. So, you find really sophisticated businesses that have incorrect hours on their websites and other such foolishness, not to mention the people who have "last updated November 2003" on their pages.

But blogs have fixed that... it's easy to update. The question is why people see blogs that way, but not websites, which are also easy to update.

Occasionally I do website updating for people who just need something very basic done - a few changes here and there - but not something they want to pay their designer to do. It's not work I especially enjoy, other than the part where people are amazed by it, but it's not work I mind either. Maybe this needs to become a more formalized business.

It seems to be a largely untapped market - reasonably priced, regular updating. Not the kind that usually comes with your package - three changes for $50 over the next year. If your page only changes three times a year, no one is going to have reason to return more often than that.

Hence the blogging concept. Of course, there are tons of programs to do webpages that are as easy as blogs, but people don't see them that way. The psychology of the internet age is a continually changing, fascinating thing.

Festival of Remembrance

Tonight I went to the Festival of Remembrance put on by Hospice of Reno County. It was a nice event. It's held at Prairie Dunes, which is a very upscale golf course. Not being a golfer, it's all lost on me, but it's a big deal. We had the US Women's Open here in 2002 and the Senior Men's will be here next year. It's consistently listed as one of the best courses in the country and was designed by a very famous golf course designer. You can read more about it at www.prairiedunes.com if you're a golfie. (Surely that's like being a foodie. Right?)

Anyway... back to tonight. There were munchies and drinks and a silent auction. Of course, the real event at such a thing is always the people watching. I'm always interested in who's there and also who's not.

Mark Treaster was there. He's turned into quite the politician. But at least in his case he's sincere in his reasons for wanting to be in office.

There was another "unannounced politician" working the room in a major way. I've seen him doing the same at a few other events recently so I'm guessing he's planning a run for office at some point. Last time he made it a point to talk to me and I was wondering why, since I'm neither involved nor do I have a lot of money to give to a campaign. Apparently he has figured this out because tonight he ignored me completely. Ah well... at least I don't have to wonder why that happened.

I saw Pat Patucek, a local artist, there. She had donated a painting for the silent auction. I sent her some copies of photos I took of her with the governor, and she said she loved them. She said the governor sent her a nice note after that event.

I visited with Molly, who was the only other CHICK there, which surprised me. I ran into quite a few people I knew, and it was nice to visit with some folks that I don't see often. I also met some new people.

I had an opportunity to chat with the Fesler family. They were my former landlords and Virginia and her daughter are both in Altrusa. Lois and Kay were there from Altrusa, too. Virginia asked about Mark and I told her about his radio show on XM. They have XM so I've got to get them hooked up so they can listen to him.

It was a good night. I had offered to help with a volunteer project before it started, so I didn't get there until about 6 and I left about 8. Maybe next year I'll get to go for the whole event.

After I got home, Terry called and asked if Greg and I wanted to go to Applebees with him and his mom. Terry's mom is really sweet and I always enjoy seeing her. He's really good to his mom.

Well, I have a breakfast meeting, so I'd best get to bed shortly. This has been a week of early events - they seem to come in groups.

I rearranged my office today and didn't get everything finished so I have to work on that some more tomorrow. Seems I always get these urges when I've got tons of other things I need to be doing.

Royals Visit

I'm not a Royal Watcher, but even I cannot get away from the "news" about Camilla's blue velvet dress she wore in NY. Please, give it a rest. They're calling her a frump. Leave the woman alone. If all you have to do is talk about someone's choice of a dress, find yourself a more challenging profession and a couple of new hobbies. And why do you care if she brought 500 dresses, much less 50. You didn't have to carry her luggage. Hush.

Food for Thought and Diversity Lunch

This morning I went to the Food for Thought series sponsored by Prairie View. Today was Marita Littauer, the daughter of Florence Littauer who wrote the book, "Silver Boxes." Marita has been here before, as well as Florence.

Today Ms. Littauer spoke about how we should all have something more than a mission statement, we should have a "power statement." As she described it, a mission statement is for your own guidance and a power statement is how you "market" that to the world.

Her challenge was for us to think about the skills, talents and interests we have instead of what we do for a job. And to take those skills and create a job that uses them. It's something that was useful for me to hear this morning.

Today was also the diversity lunch and it was nice to gather with that group. I have really enjoyed getting to know the people in that group. Today Theda, Lovella, Julie, Carlota, Carolyn and Concha were there. It was a good gathering. I invited Trish to come but she couldn't today.

Unfortunately, we got no better service today at The Blue Duck Bistro than we have on previous visits. I always hesitate to say something negative about a restaurant, especially a locally run and unique one, but this is the fourth time I've been there for lunch and it's the fourth time there have been problems.

They have what I call the "Fazoli's Syndrome." Whenever I go to Fazoli's here, there are lots of people and they're all busy doing lots of things, but none of those things seem to be related to preparing and serving my food.

The Blue Duck is the most upscale place in town - or so they'd like us all to believe. My experience while traveling is that if you want to be "it" in town, you also have to have good service. They have some of the worst - at least at lunch.

In four trips not once have they managed to get my table served without problems. It can take so long that people have to leave because their lunch hours are over. Time before last they brought coffee to people with it slopped over the side of the cups onto the saucers. I don't mean a little bit - I mean the cup was in a puddle of coffee. Once I ordered a pasta and had a tiny bit in the bowl while the person next to me who ordered the same thing had a heaping portion. Today two of us ordered French Onion Soup and it was so salty we couldn't eat it. They never came to offer a refill on drinks to any of the seven of us today.

I'm not sure where we'll go next time but I am not the only one who thinks we need to go elsewhere. We used to go to Tiffany House and never had any problems, but of course they're closed.

I popped in to say hello to Doug yesterday but he was out. But, Josh and I had a nice chat. I sure miss going there for lunch.

Well, I'm overdue for nighty-night. I went to bed about 2:30 this morning and woke up about 5:30, only three hours later, and don't even feel tired yet. But surely I must be. I've gotten a lot done today - at work and at home - but I have much more to do both places.

I got word today that an article I'm writing has been cut from five pages to two and that's a bonus at this point as I am running out of time and energy to write it.

Amazing how the world always works out for the best.

Pictures Soon

I've had a few emails from people wanting to know where things are that I've promised but haven't yet gotten online - these include, but are not limited to: tile in the sunporch, Puerto Rico trip and Route 66 trip. They're coming... really... eventually... I'm just so occupied trying to get the house back to "normal" and ready for the holidays. Maybe I can get some of these things done over the holiday break if not before. Thanks for your patience.

quote

I love this quote... although "plan" is not really in keeping with the concept.

"What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Mary Oliver

Happy Halloween

We had a beautiful night for Halloween - a little nippy, but pleasant.

It was so nippy this little princess was covering up part of her beautiful dress with a coat. No wonder all the kids were attracted to the cauldron. They thought it would be putting off real heat.

We had 50-60 trick or treaters, but not a major rush at any time. It would have been nice to have more. I so enjoy the kiddies in their costumes.

Part of the problem is that the only houses on my block that have their lights on are me and my next door neighbor to the west.

The neighbors to the east have four little boys so they're out trick or treating with them. Most of the other folks in the neighborhood just don't give out candy. A few have small kids, but most are just only giving out candy to those they know who go up on their porches, even though their porch lights are not on.

Greg did the setup as usual. Mark wasn't able to come this year so we did a simpler setup. As usual, we used the fog machines, which give a nice fuzziness to everything. I usually can't wait to go get a shower after being in the midst of it all night.



Teresa is doing fundraiser at the station. Geez, I always HATED doing that on Halloween. Anyway, she stopped by on her way home. My house is right on her drive, and I was out in the yard so she stopped to say hello briefly. We tried to get her to stay, but she wanted to go home and rest.


Jesse popped by a little later. We ended up going out to get a bite with him and then Terry joined us. Terry is always so funny. He said they had about 90 trick or treaters.

Greg did a tiki mask again, with the fog machine behind it. It was a cool look. I think next year we need to do more stuff.

There's something odd about thinking you need to do more elaborate things to get people come take your free candy.

Roe v. Wade

Well, we have a new supreme court nominee. And, big surprise, it's a very conservative one. The talking heads are going on about how this will most certainly be all about Roe v. Wade.

People... pay attention... NO ONE in political office is really interested in overturning Roe v. Wade. I don't care what they say - they are NOT interested - Republican, Democrat, conservative, independent or liberal. ESPECIALLY not the conservatives who talk about it the loudest.

Are you all too dense to see that no republican wants it overturned because as long as it's in place, they can get your vote, despite how incredibly incompetent they may be, as long as they blather on about how much they want it overturned.

VOTERS... we have really important things going on in this country. Stop giving all this credit to an issue that's a non-issue. When the effort is really mounted to overturn it, lets get excited about it then. Until then, lets stop giving it this much attention. Between the abortion debate, which has been raging for decades with absolutely no push to do anything real; and the gay marriage debate, which got started as soon as the abortion debate started declining - we can't seem to get anything important done in this country. Who thinks it's a bad idea for people who've made a committment to each other to have some legal rights? What kind of sense does that make? And with the hetrosexual divorce rate over 50% for decades I'm sure glad the "sanctity of marriage" is intact. "Until death do us part" is another way of saying "until something better comes along." I better stop or I'll get started a rant other than the one I'm already in.

While the populace is focused on these things we're borrowing money from China like there's no tomorrow (and, of course there's not going to be at this rate) and there's a nutburger with nuclear weapons in North Korea (we think Iraq is a security risk - please, a little reality). We're fighting a war about nothing on two fronts. (I thought it was about oil but since prices continue to rise I must be wrong about that. So, it's about nothing. It's sure as hell not about 9-11 and terror when we're not fighting those responsible.) Meanwhile, we are letting our own people die in the streets after disasters, not to mention slow deaths that happen every day in the US from hunger.

Did you know that 281 children died in Wichita last year from starvation? Yes, starvation. In Wichita - little city of less than 300,000. While you're out arguing about Roe v. Wade being overturned, you could be focusing your energy on saving children that are already here. Actions speak louder than words so I guess what that says is that it's fine for them to die of starvation once they're born - no problems there - but they HAVE to be born so they can suffer and die a slow, horrible death. How humane. No wonder you voted for people who let New Orleans residents die in the streets.

Stop wasting all this energy on this bullshit. Accept that none of the representatives you've voted to put into office because they wanted to overturn Roe v. Wade have done a single thing to make that happen. Wake up. They are not interested. They're lying to you. If anyone were really that interested, this issue would have been discussed somewhere other than in the press for decades.

And once you wake up, put your energies toward something important, something that's actually going to happen. Make your representatives deal with real problems. Oh, and since we're getting such a late start, you might brush up on your Chinese too.

Snack Trays Galore

I have been putting dishes on shelves a large part of the day, including snack trays.

Snack trays, sometimes called luncheon sets, are those little plates with an indentation for the cup. I've been collecting them for years. I don't know why, but they "speak to me." I have been putting them all in one location today. Actually, I have many more in the garage that aren't even in the house, but one thing at a time - I'm going to work on the house, then I'll get to the garage.

I also moved some shelving in my office around. I am a person who needs a lot of table space and a lot of shelving. While it's not the most attractive thing, it's the most productive thing for me. Everything I like to do requires table space and storage. I've learned that one cannot have storage without going vertical. Well, OK, maybe if you have a huge house you can, but I can't.

I'm going to work for a little bit longer and then hit the sack. I've got an early day tomorrow, kicking off a full week. And, of course, I want to enjoy Halloween.

Greg and I went to Skaets for a burger tonight and then just headed on out to Walmart to pick up Halloween candy. He's going to decorate my house and be here for Halloween, which suits me just fine. Unfortunately, Mark couldn't come as planned. But, I'm sure we'll have a fun Halloween anyway. Next to Christmas, it's my favorite holiday. It's so fun to see all the kiddos in their costumes.

America Needs its Own Petroskia

Tonight I went to hear Mikhail Gorbachev, former Russian President, speak in Lindsborg.

It was an interview format and Alan Murray of the Wall Street Journal was the interviewer. There was a chess table between them and they were playing, but Murray admitted he's not really a chess player.

I alternated between wanting to take pictures and wanting to take notes. One thing I loved was that Gorbachev was witty. Even though he was using an interpreter, he was funny and it came through.

Murray asked a few historical questions, including about the beginning of disarmament. Gorbachev said he was driven to end nuclear proliferation because "that war must never be fought."

When asked what he thought of Ronald Reagan during those talks, Gorbachev said that he was "a remarkable individual. A real person who wanted to do something to insure peace in the world." He said Reagan had "tremendous instincts" and that his profession of being an actor helped him. He said when Reagan spoke at the Berlin wall that he played that role, but that Gorbachev did not pay much attention because he knew it was a role.

When asked about today's situation, Gorbachev said,"National interests exist but now we live in a world where we need to promote peace to all people. It is a common responsibility to create a global peace."

At one point Murray asked what Gorbachev thought of the current president. Gorbachev said through his interpreter, "It is your responsibility to validate your president. Don't try to give that responsibility to us Russians." He got a good laugh and applause for that. Obviously, Gorbachev is still quite the diplomat.

One of the most interesting things was when Murray asked Gorbachev about how the world changed when we went from two superpowers to only one - the United States.

Gorbachev said we needed to be realistic about the position of the US and that much of the world is concerned about America's debt. He says it's "alarming," and that "America lives in debt to the future and to others."

He said the world worries about America's debt because they know that if the American economy collapsed it would be bad for many other economies.

He said the idea put forth that it's God will for America to lead now reminds him of the Bolshevik idea of a world empire. He said the American elite need to rethink their situation and get rid of their superiority complex. He said, "America needs its own Petroskia." And needs to understand that "no country can lead alone."

He said no country can solve everything on its own, we need international organizations "working for the common good of all people of the world." He said, "People want partnership, but object to domination."

Gorbachev's speech in Lindsborg kicks off a year long series of events dubbed, "Chess for Peace." http://www.chessforpeace.org/

It was started with the help of world chess champion Anatoly Karpov, who is a friend of Gorbachev. Karpov has started 15 international chess schools, and the one in Lindsborg is the first one in the US.

When a world leader is nearby, so is security - as one would expect. This quiet little town of about 3,300 called on multiple law enforcement agencies for help.

Karpov invited the former leader to come to Lindsborg and Gorbachev accepted with the stipulation that Karpov come with him and they play chess. All of that happened today.

In fact, this afternoon there was a match between Karpov and Susan Polgar, the women's world chess champion.

I hear through the grapevine that she won two games and two were ties. The chess aficionados who were sitting near me tonight were discussing how quickly they played.

There was tons of school kids from all over the place playing chess, too.

There was a parade, during which I understand Gorabachev walked and visited and then made an impromptu speech. My friend, Greg, was there and took these photos. I'm sure he'll be posting more at www.thelope.blogspot.com.

Lindsborg is a community about 45 minutes from here and a fascinating place to visit. I've spent considerable time there over the years.

It's a Swedish community and well known for its appreciation of the arts, particularly music. When I worked at Radio Kansas we were often at Bethany College recording events, including the yearly Messiah festival that is broadcast all over the country.

Tonight's activities were held in Presser Hall, which also hosts many other activities. It's a beautiful facility.

Bethany conferred an honorary degree on Gorbachev and ending the evening with a children's choir performance. There were numerous opportunities to see people in native Swedish dress.

Lindsborg is a testament to what a few people who are devoted to their community can accomplish. I'm fortunate to live nearby and be able to enjoy all it brings to the quality of life in this area.

It's not every day one gets a chance to hear a former world leader speak, much less the architect of the fall of communism. I'm so glad I went to hear him.

Bad Bush Admin. Week

Indictments are flying, approval ratings are dropping, and nominees are withdrawing. The Bush administration has been having a hard week, that comes right after a hard month. Could it be that - finally - people are going to come out of their stupor and see how this administration has failed the American people?

Ready for the Weekend

I worked on the MHA newsletter today. Newsletters are something I actually enjoy doing but they're one of those things that people always want to have done but they never want anyone to work on them.

I used to joke about this at my former workplace - work that no one wants you to do but everyone wants done. I think it happens in every job. And newsletters are one of those things that seem to always fall into that category.

I finally got my ticket for the Gorbachev speech tomorrow. The phone was just busy constantly but I finally got through late today.

Tonight I went to Peggy's. She fixed a wonderful supper and then she, Cynda, Deb and I talked about Altrusa things. Gary was there and fun as always. I'm trying to convince him to become our first male Altrusan here. He works for the group already, we might as well make him official.

Greg is going to Lindsborg early tomorrow. I was hoping we could go up together but I guess that won't work out. I don't want to go really early in the day.

Tonight I'm going to do some writing on this article for Kansas Country Living and then hit the hay. Tomorrow I'd like to get some things done on the house. I haven't had much time to work on it this week.

Mark was planning to come down for Halloween but he can't, so that changes my weekend plans a bit. Maybe I'll be productive with regard to the house.

Things That Take Time

I've spent today doing things that take a ton of time and show no real benefit quickly. In some ways I love projects like this - the slow, steady progress. In other ways, I hate them - because people think nothing is happening.

It seems I always have jobs that fall into these categories.

Early this morning I worked on the house - moving and rearranging things. You can't really tell a lot of difference because there are still tons of things everywhere.

During the workday I worked on the newsletter. Again - no progress is demonstrated until it's out the door. It's the nature of the beast.

I'm also looking for homes for the Christmas homes tour set for the first Sunday in December.

Tonight Greg and I had a burger at Skaets then I decided to stop by the library and pick up "Running with Scissors," that Julie had recommended. I parked beside Jocelyn and as I was walking in was thinking why she was there. Then I remembered there was a lecture by a Buddhist nun tonight. Then I was thinking why wasn't I there. Then - suddenly - I remembered - I was supposed to be at a reception at the arts center tonight. I COMPLETELY forgot about it. Just a fluke. It rarely happens to me and generally means I'm overextended. But I'm sorry I forgot it. I wanted to go. There were three things I was wanted to do tonight and I didn't get any of them done.

But, I went downstairs to the friends preview night for the library sale and said hello to Darlene and some others there I knew. Then popped upstairs and saw Jocelyn, Diana, Austin, Theda, Evelyn, John and Catherine, even though the lecture was over.

We talked for quite a while and I did finally get the book I went in to get, along with "The Mermaid's Chair." I have far too much to do to be reading, but I'm going to anyway.

Wichita for Compeer

I spent the day in Wichita today for a statewide Compeer meeting. Compeer is a program that matches community volunteers with people who are recovering from a mental illness. It has tremendous success rates.

Our new regional person arranged for a media person from KWCH to come and speak to us today. i've been out of media long enough that it was a good refresher for me.

It was a productive day.

Afterwards I went to do a couple of errands in Wichita, including a trip to the Spice Merchant. I'm hardly ever there during their opening hours so was glad to get there. They sell coffee, tea, spices and a variety of gourmet goods. I got some new spices for the upcoming holiday baking and just enjoyed being in there.

Greg was coming back from Joplin so we met for dinner at Angelo's. It was not my best experience there by a long shot but I'll just hope it was a fluke.

It has been a long day and I have another full one tomorrow so I think I'm headed upstairs shortly.

I did take some photos of trees around Wichita today. Things are starting to turn here, but few things are completely turned yet.

Sometimes I try to look at a city with "new" eyes and I tried to do that with Wichita today. It's a beautiful city in many ways.

A Milestone in Iraq

Today is another milestone in the Iraq war. The 2000th soldier has been counted among the dead.

Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks is dead at age 92.

She has always been a testament to what one person can do.

I remember her being asked why she didn't get up on the bus and her answer was simple and yet so powerful, "I was tired."

I've always loved that statement because it says so much about the state of things. I never took it to mean it was only a physical tiredness, but much more a tiredness of the way things were.

Some of us are still tired.

May she rest in peace.

Beautiful Morning

I've been up since 4. I went to bed about 9 - decided I should try to sleep before all the drugs wore off from the dental work. It was 10 before I really got to sleep - so, naturally, I was awake at 4.

I have a built in alarm clock it seems - four hours after I go to sleep, and then 6 hours if I don't get up. On the rare occasions I sleep longer than that I also wake up at 8 hours.

I had a sleep study done years ago - before they were something you ever heard about. It was at a research facility. Anyway, they discovered I have some oddities in my sleep pattern, which overall I find rather convenient.

One is that I go into REM sleep very quickly. Supposedly this just can't happen, but I can start dreaming within moments of being asleep and that only happens in REM sleep.

Maybe my whole sleep is just speeded up, although I suspect it has more to do with the training my mom gave me early in life. Regardless, I'm glad to get that little bit extra out of life that isn't devoted to sleeping.

I'm working on house stuff before the work day starts. I need to be on the phone a lot today and you just can't call people at 6:33 in the morning, regardless of when you got up.

It's nippy here - 32 now. I didn't bother to cover up the plants last night. I did the night before, figuring all the extra time I could give them to go to seed would be good but it seems that fall is really here now so there's no point in continuing to do it. I hope Monday is nice for the kiddos for Halloween.

I mailed off some photos yesterday that I took at the governor's reception last week - of various people with the governor. I like thinking that people will get a little surprise in the mail today. How fun.

Well, I need to do some more house things. I'm having company this weekend and there are some things I'd like to finish before then.

I'm reaching the point where I'm going to be glad when I'm through having work people in and things are organized the way I want them and I don't have things sitting around here and there. Things get bumped around and misplaced because although I might be careful to walk around something, work people aren't the same way about it.

I'm also starting to want to booby trap bits of my house to keep people from being snoopy. I've had three instances in the last couple of months of people just wandering in to rooms in my home where they were not invited and looking to see what it looks like - once even opening a closet. The closet was empty, but I just didn't like the gesture.

I'm pretty generous with my home - at least I like to think so - but if I'm inviting you into the living room and everything is set up for us to sit in the living room, and the rest of the lights are off, that is NOT your invitation to wander in to my kitchen just to see what it looks like at the moment. It's a mess. I'm in transition. I'm trying to get a break from it by having you over and enjoying some tea. Now you're making me deal with it and explain to you what my plan is and feel like I'm not moving fast enough to suit you. Please, can you not just sit down and enjoy some tea with me. I've made a path to the bathroom, but I haven't done anything else because it never occurred to me that you'd take off to the kitchen uninvited and flip on the light just to see what it looked like.

Along the same lines, please keep your overwhelmed looks, comments about how you couldn't live in this transition, and discussions about my choices (unless asked) to yourself. I don't need any extra pressure. I have enough, thank you.

I guess I'm just in a pissy mood about that because it's happened multiple times lately. But, it's the sort of thing that irks me. Part of me is thinking geez no wonder people here don't entertain if this is the way guests act.

Dentist

I had to go to the dentist this afternoon. Turned out I was in the chair for two hours. For someone like me who's pretty squirmey to begin with, being confined in a chair for two hours was near torture - without any dental work happening.

Fortunately, my dentist and I have an understanding about dental work - I don't do pain, I do drugs. Please, bring them on. In quantity. A variety, please.

Today I had a shot to numb me so he could work on a tooth that has had a root canal. Yes, that's right - a tooth that has no nerve left. You do it your way, I'll do it mine.

Of course, four hours since I left the dental chair I'm still numb in places, but it's a small price to pay for two hours in the chair with absolutely no pain.

I've had a lot of dental work done. When I was a kid, my childhood dentist's theory was, "dental work is painful... you just have to buck up." Screw you, you old sadist. Thank goodness, today we have better living through chemicals. And I have a dentist more than willing to administer them.

Late Night

It's almost 2 a.m. and I'm just now crawling into bed. I've been working on the house. I installed some doorknobs and painted some in the library. I'm to the point where I'm going to have to spend a lot of time on the ladder. I hate that. But it has to be done, so I'll do it. Ironically, I'm going to put shelves in there for cookbooks so no one's probably going to see the walls I've worked on.

I painted them a pale pinky-peach, then sponged over a funky olive green, then five different kinds of metallics on top of that. It's pretty cool looking - at least I think so. I'll try to take some pix when I get a chance.

I am doing the ceiling in the pale base color since I have it handy. Seems as good a reason as any.

I've got to get another gallon of paint for the downstairs sunporch. Maybe I can do that tomorrow. I have to be in that area of town for the dentist so maybe I can do it all in one trip.

We're getting frost tonight. I went out and covered up the flowers in front of the house. I don't care so much about how they look now - they're pretty shaggy after I took most of the vines for Taylor's wedding. But, I want to give them as much chance as possible to go to seed. I planted with the idea that things would come up on their own in the future so I want to do all I can to make sure that happens.

I have some daffodil and tulip bulbs to put in later. I think I'll put them in the front, too, where they'll get lots of sun in the spring.

I'm watching the coverage from Florida. They're saying Wilma will hit shortly. I'm supposed to go to Florida for a conference next year. I'm guessing that may get moved. Two years ago this conference was in New Orleans. The world changes quickly.

They're showing a guy out in the ocean now with these winds hitting. I've been taking photos off and on for a year, and making notes for a "Don't be an idiot" file on my website. That guy belongs on there. Maybe one of these days I'll get a chance to do that. Not sure when that will happen, but maybe one day.

Sunday

I have worked on the house today, on a variety of projects. I've painted and sorted and done laundry and thrown out and cooked and written and a few dozen other things it seems.

I did take a lunch break and called Sondra. We went to Skaets and that was a nice change of pace.

When I checked email tonight I had really nice emails from Martha, Linda and Marci. Marci's sister, who did the design on her book, wrote that she enjoyed the blog entry about it. Martha and Linda also liked it. I've had a couple of emails from people saying they're going to get copies for themselves and for gifts. I know you won't be disappointed.

Well, I'd love to write more, but I need to go upstairs and work a bit more before bedtime. I have a busy day tomorrow and want to finish up a couple of things on the house. I'm having some dental work done tomorrow so don't know how I'll feel tomorrow night and it's one of the few I have at home this week.

The Kansas Guidebook

Today was a very important day for Kansas, and most Kansans don't even know it.

Marci Penner released her new book, "The Kansas Guidebook," which details what there is to see and do in Kansas. It's more than 400 pages long and chock full of cafes, museums, art, architecture, and dozens of other things you can see in Kansas.

She had a book signing today at what is affectionately referred to as "The Barn," where her office is.

Marci traveled 40,124 miles over two years to gather the information. The book includes nearly 700 restaurants, cafes and soda fountains, and I'm looking forward to trying out some of them.

Trish, Linda and I rode over together for the book signing. When we arrived, we saw Molly was already there.

There were other faces in the group that I recognized - some from Kansas Dialogue and some from other events.

I'm a proud member of the Explorer's Club, a project of Marci's foundation, which encourages people to "do dirt" and take back roads.

Martha was helping out today, of course. She has been on the board of the Kansas Sampler Foundation for years, which is Marci's organization. She believes strongly in the foundation and its purpose - and also in Marci.




That's Trish (blonde) and Linda getting their books signed by Marci. You can also see Martha in the background at the cash register.

Marci did a brief presentation before the book signing, talking about doing the book. She visited all 627 incorporated towns in Kansas to produce the book. She didn't make appointments, she just took off and found what she found in each community.

The Sampler Foundation (http://kansassampler.org) encourages people to appreciate rural Kansas and what's special about it. And, there is plenty that is special. I'm sure that's true of all states, but we're blessed to have Marci to show us the way here.


Marci looks at eight elements of rural culture; architecture, art, commerce, cuisine, customs, geography, history and people. She is on the governor's Rural Task Force and is a tremendous supporter of Kansas.



Marci's mom and dad are two of her biggest supporters. The barn is built on their farm and there's a path between it and their home.

One of the great bonuses if you go to an event where Marci is featured is that you're likely to get some delicious cookies, compliments of her mom.

Today was no exception. I ate three and finally removed myself from the building and went outside to sit near the beautiful arrangement on the porch to keep from making a fool of myself with the cookies. Maybe Marci and her mom should write a cookbook.

I don't think Marci is too interested in another book of any sort right away. This has been a major project.

I am honored to consider Marci a friend.

I cannot urge you strongly enough to purchase a book if you live in Kansas, or if you plan to visit. This will keep you from missing out on the gems that are the things you find little references to after you get home and kick yourself for having missed.

It's a bargain at only $24.95 - printed on nice slick paper with color photos throughout, and with a spiral binding that lends itself to being road worthy. Order at www.kansasguidebook.com.

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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more.

Friday

Today is the first day I've had a bit of a break in over a week. I didn't have anywhere I needed to be extra early this morning and I got to be home tonight so I actually got things done in the house tonight.

People often seem to think things move too slowly on my home. The other night at red hat I said something about the studio and that I couldn't use it yet because there's still furniture in it from having the floors done, and someone said, "that's still in there?" with some incredulity.

Well, yes, it is. I haven't had a chance to work on it yet. I'm still trying to get the dining room back together so I can move the dishes out of the kitchen. I'm trying to paint the sunporch so I can get the furniture that's piled in the living room situated. I'm trying to finish the library upstairs so I can put together the shelves so I can get the books out of boxes so the boxes can be thrown away so the furniture can be moved where the boxes are.

And, I'm trying to keep work running and having a life and seeing friends and taking advantage of what there is to do in my area. I guess I don't move as quickly as some think would be appropriate, but I'm doing about all one person can do. At least all this person can do.

And, to top it off, today I'm trying to figure out a computer problem. My computer is moving like molasses. I don't know what its problem is and I'm about to run out of the obvious answers so I don't know what I'll do at that point. I miss the computer tech bf even more tonight. I've looked for spyware, a virus, etc. I've deleted unused programs, temp files, and even some files to make extra room on the hard drive. I've done disk checks and defraged. I've used system works and searched for anything that seems amiss. But, it is still running like molasses. It is more like room temperature ones instead of cold ones now, but it's not working properly.

I also suspect it's my ISP because it seems to be working OK except when I need net access. Of course, they will NEVER admit that it's their problem, but I'm very suspicious.

I had lunch with Trish and Teresa today. Of course we talked politics. I can't even begin to elucidate how fed up I am with so many things going on. Bush's approval ratings are falling - finally - but it doesn't seem to translate into anything changing for the better.

Well, I'm overdue for bed. I'm going up to Marci Penner's book signing tomorrow for her new guidebook. I am excited to get a copy. Hopefully I'll get a nice photo or two to share here tomorrow.

After that bit of fun I must work more on the house. Work, work, work!

Heifer International

Today was a very busy day and I spent part of it at the Statewide Homeless Summit being held here.

One of the things I really did not want to miss today was the lunch speakers. They were from Heifer, International, and were fabulous.

If you're not familiar with this program, it's exceptional. I've been a fan of it for years, but put my money where my mouth is by buying some honey bees today.

They provide animals to people in developing countries, with the understanding that they will pass on the offspring to other families. It's an incredibly successful idea and they do amazing work.

One of their centers is in Arkansas. When I'm able to visit the Clinton library, I think I'll try to make time to go visit there too. I spoke with Mr. Nelson for quite a while after the speech. He used to be a peace corp volunteer and we had an interesting conversation about various topics.

I cannot urge you strongly enough - if you are looking for a great gift for someone, please consider this. They raise about 80-90% of their money during the holiday season with their gift program. You can purchase honey bees for $30, or a pig for $120 or shares in various animals. You can - truly - change lives by writing a check. It can't be much tidier. www.heifer.org for more information, or click on their logo above.

Their mission is to end hunger and care for the earth. It's hard to argue with such a mission. $13 billion dollars a year would provide basic health and nutrition for the poorest people on the planet. For comparison's sake, we just approved another $50 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, pushing the total over $350 billion.

Homelessness is often related to Mental Health issues. What people don't understand is that taking care of basic needs - like housing - is far cheaper than dealing with the issues that result from those things not being taken care of. When housing is taken care of, people are less likely to be a drain on social services of various types, to be imprisoned, or going the ER or a variety of other things. It seems, at some point, that we'd catch on, but we seem unwilling to accept the facts.

Morning with Madden

It's a beautiful morning here. I've been up since before daylight, even though I went to bed late. But, I woke up ready to meet the day so got up.

I try to start every day with a thankful attitude. My first thought when I wake up is, "Wow! I woke up! This is great... I get another day." I've been accused of being a polly-anna, but - hey - you know what - I'm pretty happy most of the time too. I think there's a connection between that and starting each day thankful.

I have been to a speech this morning that reinforced that for me, which was nice. The chamber breakfast featured John Madden, a motivational speaker.

He was fabulous - witty and entertaining. He has written a book called "Leap Don't Sleep," subtitled, "How to Get Different Results by Doing Something Different."

His speech was really fun. I'm so glad I went. I wasn't sure the timing would work out because there's a conference starting today that I wanted to attend. But, that starts later today so it all worked out.


When I stopped by the house to pick up something I noticed that my morning glories have just gone crazy with blooms in the last couple of days. I couldn't resist a couple of pix.

It's cloudy here today, and they're saying we will get some rain. I'm looking forward to a moody day. It's been beautiful and sunny - and 90 degrees - the last few days. There will always be weather - I might as well enjoy whatever it is.

When I got out of the car, I thought I heard rain, but realized it was leaves falling out of the trees. That's a wonderful thing about being human, things like that are new to us each time. It took a moment for my brain to register that was the sound of dried leaves rubbing together. I've heard it every fall for 43 years, but it was new again this morning. Beautiful.

I couldn't resist snapping a photo of my neighbor's tree to commemorate the morning.




http://www.leapdontsleep.com/html/body_8.html to see John Madden's site and info on his book

Music and the RIAA

I'm not a big music fan. I don't buy it. I don't go to hear it live. I don't download it. I don't covet an I-pod.

But, I'm fascinated by the RIAA's assinine insistence on prosecuting 13 year olds who downloaded their favorite tunes. The thing they don't seem to grasp is that technology does not go backward - only forward.

I-pod makers understand this. They figured out how to make money from it. Lots of money. Now the RIAA is thinking that their cut isn't enough.

I suspect this has less to do with that money and more to do with how record companies always have all the sales figures whenever there's a dispute with an artist. Isn't that convenient how that works out?

Today I opened PC Magazine and saw Dvorak's editorial about this very thing. Well, OK, his piece is much better written and more thoughtful than mine and more detailed - and he never used the word "assinine" - but the gist is similar.

I did a quick search and found it's online at: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1862166,00.asp

Governor in Town

Tonight I attended a democratic party fundraiser that featured Governor Kathleen Sebelius.

She is a democrat in a republican state, but she is loved by both sides. I'm not sure if she wants a national political career or not, but if you ever get a chance to vote for her - do. She's an exceptionally gifted person who can make more happen than most people can imagine.

She spoke briefly, but it was mainly a chance for folks to get to visit with her. I had to leave early as it was also Red Hat night.

Lots of folks I know were there tonight, but there were also lots of people I didn't know. It's always good to meet democrats we haven't had a chance to get to know before.


Trish was there and I was teasing her that I wanted to get a photo of her with the governor because it would help her future political career. I'm not sure I'm ever going to convince Trish to have a future political career, but I don't give up.



Mark Treaster and Jan Pauls, representatives, were both there. They introduced the governor. Mark has us all laughing, which was nice. I don't live in his district, but really, really, really wanted him elected. It was close, but he got the votes and has proven to be a good legislator. I hope he has a long future in politics.

Before things got started, Teresa and Theda were joking and I got this nice shot of them. Theda is always teasing me that she doesn't like to have her photo taken. I believe it has been here before. I'm not sure why she doesn't like it since she looks great, but she doesn't. She is Jocelyn's aunt. I haven't been able to get Jocelyn involved in the party yet, but I'm not giving up.

Kathie and Teresa have been friends for years and she was involved in a book club I started with some friends years ago. She joined the Democratic Women's Group the same day I did and since then we have really grown a lot. She is very, very involved in the party locally.

Pat Patucek is a local artist and a die hard democrat. She spoke at our monthly lunch a few months ago and she was very interesting. Obviously, the governor knows her.

I did get to say hello to the Governor briefly and complimented her on her performance on "A Prairie Home Companion" when they were at the fair (Sept. 10 if you want to see the blog entry). She said Garrison called her a couple of times and it was interesting to hear that voice on the phone instead of the radio.

It was good to see a lot of people there tonight - including some young people. It was a nice event.

I took a ton of pictures, but this is all I'm up for getting on the web tonight. Maybe I'll do some more at a later time.

Natural Disasters

Am I the only one who thinks we've been having an awful lot of natural disasters in the last few months that are the "worst ever?" The tsunami, Katrina, Rita, flooding, earthquakes, etc. etc. etc. If I were a Bible scholar I'd be looking at Revelations more closely.

I'm starting to think all we need is a locust plague tossed in and we got some good, Old Testament stuff going on.

Maybe the current version of locusts is birds, since they seem continually infected with some sort of flu. I'm hearing the word "pandemic" much more than I like in my average media consumption.

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"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some people have entertained angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13.2