H is for .......

well, Harry of course. It's been a somewhat Harry week in the news this week. First we get the news that Dumbledore is gay. OK, was anyone
really surprised by that fact? For some reason it just made me smile rather than be in shock. More of an "Oh, yeah, that's it. Oh, OK, let's continue on then shall we?" It makes me like Dumbledore even more (although it does make the Potter Puppet Pal's Dumbledore with nakey time all that much funnier!) There is a funny little article in the LA Times that I got a good chuckle over. 7 clues that Potter's Dumbledore was gay.




And the other Harry story in the news was story of Harry Potter books being banned from a Catholic private school in Boston Story can be read here. The excuse by the priest who made the decision (with no input by parents or other staff) was that the books were filled with sorcery and witchcraft. sigh. I wonder if the Lord of the Rings is also banned at this school. What about Sleeping Beauty? The Chronicles of Narnia? Those stories have sorcery and witchcraft in them. Oh, right, but the Chronicles of Narnia was a metaphor for Jesus and Tolkein was a "good Catholic." And of course in Sleeping Beauty, the witch was BAD, let's not take into consideration that the fairies that saved Aurora's life used their own form of sorcery. Try as I might I have yet to get the lights turned on by saying Lumos. No matter how loud I yell it and point my knitting needles at the switch. And the last time I locked myself outside the door I had to break in the house. Alohamora just didn't do the trick. No one is learning witchcraft from J.K. Rowling's books. If anything they are learning Latin and Greek! Is that such a bad thing?

Tornadoes!

Our town has been battered by tornadoes today. They say it isn't over yet. I was at the public radio station this morning to answer phones (please support your local public radio!) and was coming home enjoying a nice piece of music when the emergency alert came on warning of a tornado that would be passing over my house in 7 minutes. GREAT! I was 3 minutes from the house, ran in and nearly tripped over the kids who were lined up in the hallway (yay for Daddy hearing the radio and springing into action.) We've had four tornado warning already today with more expected through the night.
This is where the tornado started as two, but fortunately combined into one. Twin twisters racing through a town causes SO much more destruction.

You can see some video of the tornados at the Pensacola News Journal website. Now what I want to know is why these people were outside during a tornado warning filming these monsters!?!



Keep safe everyone!

Yay for Al!!!

I didn't get to listen to much news yesterday because I was so busy getting ready for our next SCA event and had a ton of things to do before we leave in a few hours. So this morning I'm laying in bed going through all the things that I still needed to remember and listening to NPR. And they announce that Al Gore won the Nobel Prize for Peace!!! Woo Hoo!!!!!!!! This is such good news for the environment. He's not saying anything new that we haven't heard before, but he's saying it in a way that is getitng to more people and helping to really make a change in this world. There are some days that I am VERY upset that he didn't win the election in 2000, but I am SO glad that he didn't let that setback keep him from doing good things for this world. Yippe for him and the researchers who helped put all this into action!!

Now go change out a real lightbulb with a compact flourescent and recycle a plastic container (or two or three).

G is for

Great! And all its connotations. For instance your child comes in from outside with news that she learned out to do a cartwheel. You respond, "GREAT! That's fantastic honey!" OR Your child comes in from outside covered from head to toe in mud, leaves, and grime from jumping in mud puddles. You respond, "GREAT! More laundry to do!" And let us not forget what Mr. Olivander told Harry, "But I think it is clear that we can expect great things from you. After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things. Terrible! Yes! But great."

F is for

Feminine. Think of all the females that touch our lives. Our mothers, sisters, aunts, friends, and lovers. Think of their softness and loving touches and then think of their anger and justified revenge. I hate books where the feminine is only the former. She is pale, soft, timid, weak, in need of rescuing.

In the movie "The Princess Bride" (which I like for all parts except Buttercup's inability to defend herself) Buttercup
needs rescuing because she doesn't seem to be able to do it herself. She waits on the boat to be rescued. She relies upon others to save her from danger. She can't even pick up a stick and hit the R.O.U.S. when it is attacking her true love. She can't think enough to escape the castle to go find Wesley. She waits for Wesley to save her. "He will come. I know it."

Counter that princess with Eowyn from Lord of the Rings. She is "grave and thoughful was her glance, as she looked on the king with cool pity in her eyes. Very fair was her face, and her long hair was like a river of gold. Slender and tall she was in her white robe girt with silver, but strong she seemed and stern as steel, a daughter of kings." She was "no man" who was able to defeat Nazgul. Two princesses. Two females. Both beautiful. But with Buttercup her abilities ended with her beauty. With Eowyn she didn't let her beauty limit her abilities.

E is for

Energy! The energy that we expend in doing work and the energy that we consume when we make use of anything that gives off energy! Whether it is a fire or electricity or steam. We use, create and consume energy all the time. We use energy just to breathe. We consume energy to type our blog messages. We create energy in good and bad ways. Nuclear energy is one of those mystifyingly good and bad energies. It is fairly cheap, creates a lot of energy from few materials, but leaves us with waste that is nearly impossible to get rid of in our lifetime. We have yet learned how to deal with our waste and the cost of fusion has yet to be balanced with increased profit output.

D is for

Differences! And the uniqueness in all of us. We are different and I'm so glad. If we were all the same it would be a truly boring world. If everyone looked the same, acted the same, talked the same, smiled the same, and was the same we would just be so boring! Viva la difference!

C

As tempted as I am to say that C is for Cookie (that's good enough for me) I really have to say that C is for communication. It's imperative in this world to be able to communicate with the other people you interact with. Especially with those who you deal with on a daily basis. Be their friends or family or coworkers or even the barista at Starbuck's. There are times where communication is not understood clearly and it can really impact your day. Then there are times when the person you are trying to communicate with has very poor communication skills themselves. They don't listen or comprehend well. You think to yourself, "Does 'no onions' sound anything like 'extra onions'?" Probably not to you. But maybe to the person on the other end of the staticky speaker system at the drive-through who not only is taking your order, but also pouring drinks for the order ahead of you, listening to the sounds of food preparation and the customers in the restaurant as well as worrying about whether her kid got on the bus or if she will get a call in 20 minutes saying that Johnny missed the bus home again and could she please come and get him.

So as you go through your day today, think about the people with whom you communicate. Are you speaking clearly? Do you have their attention. Do they have YOUR attention. Are you letting prejudice get in the way of that communication? Do you already set yourself up to not have effective communication because of your attitude? Breathe. And try to approach each new communication encounter with a fresh voice.