Picture for today...

A picture of flowers to come in four months.

Steve

Raining all day today

Hi again:

It rained all day today. Tomorrow I will make it to the library to return some books.

I had a bad headache today so I slept for 3 hours. Now I will be up late tonight.

I am reading At Home by Bill Bryson. It is a very good book about why we live in the homes we do.

Not much else happening here today.

A very short post. I will write more tomorrow.

Steven

Picture for Monday

Some spring color for this colorless time of year.

Steve

Monday...Monday...so good to me...

Hi:

My turkey carcass is now cooking. I will make turkey and noodles for dinner a little later. I took off most the meat before putting it in the boiling pot, so a lot of good sandwiches coming up this week.

I have too many good books here to read, with the longest I am reading first.

Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis

At Home by Bill Bryson

Tears of a Clown

Outside Looking In by Gerry Wills

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Some We Love, Some We Hate and Some We Eat

Bloody Crimes by James Swanson

All are from the Stayton Library. Being a regional library I get too many good books right after I order them. Some will fall by the wayside, unread by me at this time.

Plus I have The New York Times to read every day. That takes two hours of each day, with three to four hours for the Sunday Times.

Steven

Picture for Sunday

The easy way to feed a baby, maybe too easy.

Steve

Sunday now...

Hi:

The poor beavs, losing by so much yesterday, getting shut out 38-0. I think the Number 1 Duck mascot will be doing 89-90-91-92... push ups next weekend. Remember he does push ups for every point the Number 1 Ducks score.

I am reading Washington: A Life very slowly. I am only 50 pages into it, with 750 pages left to go. I better do much reading later today.

Since I have no faith anymore, I do not go to Church anymore. No faith and no belief in what is in the new testament. It is all stories but nothing is true it. Good lessons, but nothing is true.

I will not go a rant today about my lack of faith. I know I talked about it before here so this is not new to you.

It was cold out this morning, around freezing. It is much warmer now, with rain outside now.

Steven

One great, greater and greatest weekend

Hi again:

One great, greater and greatest weekend. My Number 1 Ducks won big and the osu beavs lost big. Looks like osu will not be going to a bowl game this year. They need six wins and their record is now 5-6 whereas my Ducks are 11-0. Next Sunday my Number 1 Ducks will be 12-0 and on their way the Championship game and the lowly beavs will be staying home watching my Number 1 Ducks on TV.

Just watch the Ducks beat the beavs by at least 40 points next weekend. The game may be close during the first half, but the Number 1 Ducks will blow them away in the second half.

Steven

Saturday's pictures

Heating coffee in strange way and Seattle at night. Two incongruous pictures.

Steve

Saturday now...

Hi:

It did not rain until later today, so today I rode my bike to the used bookstore, where I found nothing I was looking for.

I also went to the library to pick up six books awaiting for me there. I am now reading Washington: A Life, an 800 page book. I am giving myself a week to finish this book. We shall see how fast I read it.

I am still eating my turkey here. Today, I made another turkey sandwich and I will make a hot turkey sandwich for dinner tonight.

Short post today.

Steven

Pictures for Friday...

My younger brother Ken is next to me; my youngest brother Randy stands between me and my dad.

My niece took this picture of us yesterday on Thanksgiving.

Steven

Ducks win again this week

Hi:

My Number One Oregon Ducks won big again today, beating Arizona 48-29. Next week it will put up more than 60 points against a bad osu team. The lowly beavs will barely get 14 points against my Number 1 Ducks.

Then in Glendale, they will beat Auburn very badly, winning the National Championship of College Football.

I found out yesterday my brother Randy is going to Glendale if the Ducks get that far. Each game ticket costs him $345.00 each.

Today I heated some cream of mushroom soup to put over my turkey sandwich to make it taste so very good.

I have five books awaiting for me at the library now. I will make a trip tomorrow to get those books.

I am selling my Kindle 1 to a friend near here. She wants to give it to her daughter-in-law. She gets it with most of my books on it. It cost me $399.00 but I am selling it for $50.00 now. I am very well pleased by my Kindle 3.

I am now four days behind reading The New York Times. Good thing I am not paying for it. My subscription ends at the end of December, so I will end it then.

I nearly through the Glenn the Idiot book. It is an excellent book as it cuts him down with all of his lies.

Rained most of the day here, so stayed inside here, reading and such.

Steven

Pictures for today

Tulip fields in bloom in Holland.

Steven

The Day before T. D.

Hello:

I rode my bike to Safeway this afternoon, but it is very cold out. I had my bike gloves on but it was so cold. It is only about a 1/4 of a mile from our house. So it takes only five minutes on my bike to get there.

I heard on NPR this morning that you should not cook a turkey as one. Take apart the breast, the legs, wings and thighs. I wanted to find one already taken apart, but not finding any, I bought just a young turkey breast. At eight pounds, it will provide a lot of sandwiches for me. I will cook it on Friday here, as I am going to my brother's place tomorrow for dinner there.

I am now reading Tears of a Clown: Glenn Beck and the Tea Bagging of America. It is a good book cutting him down, just like Al Franken did to Rush in Rush is a Big Fat Idiot.

I would never read a book that treats Beck as a good guy.

I am way too liberal for Beck and his ilk.

I also do not believe the Catholic Church has a big enough tent to include me. I do not believe in the christmas myth nor do I believe in a resurrection. I have no faith at all. I am purely rational and humanistic.

I am selling my Kindle 1 to a friend who wants to give it to her daughter-in-law for Christmas. I am no longer using it, since I have my new Kindle 3 with me now.

Happy Turkey Day to all of you.

Steve

Pictures from this morning

Two pictures I took this morning.

The top one is taken from my front porch.

The bottom one was taken from my back porch.

Steve

cold, colder and coldest now

Hi:

I just checked the outside temperature here at 2:30 pm today. Is is 22 degrees outside now
(-5.5 Celsius). It was 15 degrees when I got up this morning at 6:30 am. Warming up, actually....

We got a dusting of snow this morning. Closed schools here and across western Oregon. I think it was the ice on the roads that caused it.

A friend was going to drive to Eugene this morning, but a closure of I-5 South at MP 192 caused cancellation of those plans.

Close to finishing two of the four big projects I am working on now. Once I finish all four I am going to China for some time.

I am not doing much reading this week. Don't know why.

Our local bookstore will start a sale on Friday, with everything in the store on sale for $1.00 or less. I am going there Friday to buy some Shakespeare guides.

I did hang one towel outside today after doing my washing. I want to see if it dries by sublimation.

Turkey Day is coming. Where are you going or doing on Thanksgiving?

Steve

Pictures for Saturday...

Art work made of...I forget...

Steven

The weekend is here...

Hi:

I did hang two towels outside today, but they are not getting dry after four hours. I will have to bring them in an hour or two, or at least before it gets dark out.

I spent last night reading my book instead of watching any TV. The Atlantic is a very good book, and I am enjoying reading it.

It is clear that the Norse discovered America about five hundred years the racist Columbus. We celebrate Columbus Day but very few know what kind of man he was. He killed Native Americans both by shooting them as well as giving them diseases that Native Americans were not subject to living in their land.

I am now four days behind on reading The New York Times on my Kindle. Good thing it is free otherwise I would delete it. I have it free to the end of the year. I wish I was getting just the Sunday Times, but I must read the back issues of it.

Today I made a Christmas coffee creamer. I will try it tomorrow even though I like my coffee black. It has half and half, cane juice crystals, and chocolate, with peppermint added at the end. I will try to see if it any good. Nolan may like it.

Tomorrow to Gervais I will go with my dad to a church dinner there. My dad calls the daily meals: breakfast, dinner and supper. I call it: breakfast, lunch and dinner. My dad spoke German until he got to grade school. After he started grade school and learned English, he and his brother spoke English to my grandmother and she spoke German back to them.

Hope your weekend goes well for you.

Steven

Pictures for Friday

Two pictures of a person and two animals made of car parts. This artist is wonderful what he can do.

Steven

Tis Friday now...

Hi again:

Seems like the weekends in the Fall are not nearly as important as the summer. I do wonder why.

Cane juice crystals is what I need. I will see if Safeway has any. If not, then regular white sugar is what I will use. Why would a recipe need cane juice crystals instead of sugar. Sugar is sugar.

Getting into Atlantic, the book on the ocean. Learned how it was formed when the big continent split apart 250 million years ago. (I know, the creationists believe the world is only 6,000 years old....how stupid can one be think like this...).

The author believes one day the Atlantic will die, not in our lifetimes, but someday in the far future.

Makes me wonder how the Pacific Ocean was formed. I believe in the Big Thunk. The moon hit the earth millions of years ago, causing the big hole we call the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific is so much larger than the Atlantic.

I told you earlier I walked in the Atlantic Ocean and later that same day walked in the Pacific Ocean. Quite the feat, although the Atlantic has hardly no waves compared to the Pacific Ocean.

I have Washington: A Life waiting for me at the library. This book costs $19.99 on the Kindle page so the library I went instead of paying that much for an ebook. The book is 900 pages, so I will pick it up the day after Thanksgiving. I have four other books here to read before Thanksgiving.

My next book is Tears of a Clown, a hit on the crazy Glenn Beck. I never watch Fox News so I never see those crazies perform.

I am going to a parish dinner on Sunday in Gervais. We shall see how good it is then.

Steve

Picture of the Day

Yellowstone in the Fall.

Steven

H today

Hi again:

It is Thursday now. Not cold out yet, but will get cold.

I am now reading Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms and the Vast Ocean of a Million Stories. It is a good book. I like to read books by Simon Winchester.

Have you seen Law & Order UK on the BBC? A lot of good stories.

Time for some lunch now, so a short posting.

Steve

Picture of the Day...

The top picture shows a cat trying to make a phone call........right.

The bottom picture shows......what you see in China all of the time.

Steven

Mid-week already

Hi:

I am surprised it is Wednesday already. I get getting ill for one day throws off your internal clock. I am feeling OK these days, with no effect of the one day virus I had.

I did get flu shot about 3 weeks ago. But that is not why I got sick for one day.

I am finishing Body Double, a Rizzoli and Isles book by Tess Gerritsen. I have five books now waiting for me at the library.

Now I am two days behind on reading The New York Times. It takes me about two hours to read the daily paper, and even longer for the Sunday Times.

Suppose to start raining here soon and getting colder later this week. Better get the library before the rain starts.

Turkey Day is now just about a week away.

Steve

Picture of the day...

A bird made of car parts, from an artist in Argentina.

Steven

A most wonderful weekend

Hi:

Like I said a most wonderful weekend. The Number 1 Ducks won and the hated beavs lost. Makes my weekend wonderful and great. Well, a win is a win even if only by two points, but my Number 1 Ducks won nonetheless. I rather doubt it it will keep them Number 1 in the BCS but probably now Number 2.

But to see the beavs lose so badly was a joy to behold.

I was up at 4:20 am today. Don't know why but I am wide wake now.

I did finish Dreaming in Chinese yesterday. Such a good book on the language and culture of China. I really liked it.

I discovered it takes me about 2 hours to read The New York Times every day. Today, the Sunday Times will take much longer.

I do hope your weekend is going great like mine is now.

Steve

I give up

The last two posts show that no matter the size of the picture, it will stop paragraph separation.

So, from now on I will use two posts every time, one for the text and one for the pictures.

Steven

Another post...

This time the picture is small. We shall see if this works.

The picture below is what I saw in China, but with four to five people on one motorcycle.

Motorcycles in China only go about 40 mph. They are not allowed in the major ring highways, the big freeways around the cities in China.

This picture speaks for itself.

Steven

Saturday today....

Hello:

I was up at 4:30 this morning. Too early but wide awake.

I am nearly finished with Dreaming in Chinese. It is such a good book. I will start studying Chinese this week again.

I will be watching BookTV today. A good book on Glen the idiot is on twice today. I will watch the later thing on the TV today.

I am trying again to post a picture with this blog, this time with it sized medium instead of large, as the one yesterday was.

Not much else happening today.

Steve

Back to two postings each time

I hate the formatting of this blog. Every time I put a picture in the same post as I write I do not see paragraph separation like I want to see it.

So now I am going back to two posts, one for my text and one for my pictures.

Steven

Weekend is here

Hi again:

The caption to this picture tells the full story.

I am watching Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery on HBO. It is so sad to see the waste of lives for the unjust wars. This is where they bury the dead soldiers from both wars. Again, so very sad to watch the wives, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters talk about the missing loved ones.

Now I read we will be in Afghanistan until 2014. That is too long. We need to get out of Iraq now. President Obama needs to show some courage and get us out of these Bush wars. These are Bush wars and no one else. We blame Bush for these wars and for the bank bailouts. Our president did not do the bank bailouts, Bush did these. President Obama inherited the wars, this economy and this culture from the nut you elected twice, Bush.

I am not going to read the Bush book that is out now. Why should I, it is full of lies.

Not many garage sales this weekend. So I am not going to any of them.

Steve

Pictures of the day

An example of bad parenthood and another example of bad doghood.

Steven

Happy Veteran's Day

Hi again:

I am not a veteran, but both my dad and brother are. My dad served in World War II and Ken served in Vietnam. Me, I got a high lottery number back while in college that kept me out of the draft.

Dreaming in Chinese is a very good book. I am enjoying reading it. Reminds of my time in China and when I go back to China I will concentrate on learning Mandarin again.

I have my appetite back again after it left me last week. But I am no longer eating things like cakes and brownies. I have fresh apples here I eat every day.

I am also eating my canned stuff. I had canned peaches over my cereal and then I used a can of my prunes to add to the cereal.

I am drying persimmons now. I had to cut them up as they are too big for my dryer. I ate a raw one yesterday and they are quite good.

I have 18 quarts of canned applesauce here. Some will go as Christmas gifts but I will still have quite a few left after that.

Have a good weekend.

Steve

Pictures of the day...

The top picture I think I posted here before, showing an empty dog.

The bottom picture is me.

I hope you don't confuse the two.

Steve

Mid-week now

Hi:

It sure gets dark early these days. By 5:30 pm today it was dark as it could be already.

I am now reading Dreaming in Chinese. Deb Fallows spent years in China with her husband, James Fallows. I am curious about this book.

I need to start my study of Mandarin again. I have been neglecting it since returning from China.

I am working on two different projects now. I hope to have both finished by the end of this month.

I may try to deep fry my turkey this year, but I will have to watch it closely for the hour it takes to deep fry a turkey.

I see the new Harry Potter movie will start on Nov. 18 at the Star Cinema in Stayton. I may go the movie to see it. It costs me $5.00 to go to a movie here.

I forgot to look for cane juice crystals at Costco today. I will try Safeway tomorrow. If I cannot find it I will use regular sugar in the recipe.

If you want to comment on my blog, there is a place at the end of each post for you to write a comment.

Let me see if I can prompt a comment. I am liberal and proud of it. I never vote for a R. I don't go to Church anymore because I have no faith. I don't believe the christmas stories nor do I believe that he resurrected. Between those two events (actually non-events) we do not know any thing that happened to Christ. I believe Phillip Pullman's book The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ as I believe in the bible. In the book, instead of one Jesus there are twins.

But most of all, as I said, I have NO faith.

Steve

Pictures of the day...

Two cartoons by the AARP people.

Steven

U today

Hi:

How are you doing today?

I was up at 4:30 this morning, having slept out the night.

I need to find cane juice crystals. It is another name for sugar, but this time probably sold in health food stores. I will use sugar if I cannot find cane juice crystals in Safeway. In a prior post I asked about candy cane crystals. I was wrong as I did not read the recipe correctly. Cane juice crystals is what I seek...

I need the stuff to make a peppermint mocha coffee creamer. I drink my coffee black but this creamer is for the holiday season, so I will try it once.

I am still suffering from a slight cold. It kills my appetite, so that is a good thing.

I am now reading Proofiness: The Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception. It is about people who use numbers to mean something but are false numbers. The prime example that starts the book is Senator McCarthy and his claim there were 207 Communists in the State Department. He had no such list; in fact, he did not know of any Commies in the State Department or anywhere else. What a crazy guy.

I have four projects to finish before the end of this year. Two I will finish by the end of this month. The last two I will finish in December.

I do hope your week is going well.

Steve

Picture of the day

My applesauce-making process. On the left are the quart jars of filled applesauce. In the middle is my apple corer. It takes out the core and splits the apple into eight pieces.

To the right is my blue bowel which I fill up with cut apples. I add 1/2 cup of sugar, one cup of water, lemon juice and cinnamon to taste. Nuke for seven minutes. Stir the apples. Nuke for another 7-8 minutes. Then use a potato masher to mash up the apples. I don't take the peal off the apples. This makes lumpy applesauce, the best kind I like. I got six quarts of applesauce canned yesterday. I have enough apples to can another two to three more quarts but I will use those apples to eat fresh and to make an apple crisp.

The best sound is the "pop" you hear when each jar seals.

Steven

Perfect day yesterday

Hi:

It was a perfect Saturday yesterday for me. My Number 1 Ducks beat them Dawgs. Plus OSU lost to a team the Number 1 Ducks destroyed.

Last week The Oregonian said the Number 1 Ducks could get 100 points on the board against the ineffective Beavs. I don't think it will get that high, but it will be a big win by double figures with the Ducks getting into the 50 or 60 points.

I still have a bad cough and slight cold.

I am spending most of my time reading The New York Times on my Kindle. I am just finsishing Saturday's Times now, so I have not downloaded the Sunday Times yet. I am getting a two month free subscription to the Times so I will read it every day.

I have no appetite with this cold. Good thing.

I made six quarts of applesauce yesterday. It is so good to hear the "pop" of each quart jar sealing. Everything I have canned, both last summer and this summer, sealed perfectly.

I gave my dad a quart of the new applesauce I made yesterday. He says he likes to make pancakes in the morning and put my applesauce on it. Sounds like a good plan once my appetite returns.

I was not feeling well last night so I went to bed early. Changing my clocks before going to bed, I noticed it was 7:30 pm when I wen to bed. Ended up getting up at 4:30 this morning.

Have any of you ever heard of candy cane crystals? I am going to Safeway later to try to find some. Oddly enough, on the KindleKorner website there is a discussion of Christmas drinks. This is a creamer you put in your coffee. I usually don't put anything in my black coffee but these sounds interesting. I will let you know how it turns out if I can find candy cane crystals.

Have a great week.

Steve

Pictures of the day...

Stupid dog pictures.

Steve

Friday now

Hi:

Another bifurcated night. I went to Starbucks yesterday afternoon to get a decaf coffee. It apparently had enough caffeine in it to wake me up three hours after I went to bed. Two hours later I went back to bed for another two hours. No more coffee for me after the morning ends.

I did some laundry last night and put three things outside to dry. I have not checked them today to see how each made it through the night.

Within 50 pages from the end of The Templar Salvation. Not a page-turner if I can stop with just 50 pages to go.

I am going back to China, probably early next year. I will continue my blog as I started this blog while in China.

My dad and I are going to see my cousin Marlene. She had a bad stroke about 10 years ago and is in a care home in Mt. Angel.

The weekend approaches, but it looks like rain tomorrow.

Steve

Pictures of the day...

For some reason the pictures are side-by-side today. OK.

The one on the left is an example of bad parenthood. The lady on the right show an example of bad doghood.

Steven

Toward the end of the week...

Hi:

Now the R's can show how poorly they govern. In two years they will be turned out again, with Obama being re-elected easily.

I was not feeling good last night so I went bed around 7:30 pm. A long, busy day yesterday.

I am off to Safeway to get a flu shot.

If you have a Kindle, go to the Kindle store and find this book: Creation, an Epic Poem. It is a long, single-issue poem I put on the Kindle as the publisher. Priced at $2.99, it a good poem to read and to have your Kindle read to you.

I am nearly finished with The Templar Salvation. It is a good book, but not a great book.

My next book will be Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carre. I read all of his books. He has the ability to change places and changes times, often centuries, in one long paragraph.

I have The New York Times on my Kindle for the next two months, a new promotion from that newspaper.

But I am day behind reading the paper. I am reading yesterday's paper before I download the newspaper for today.

What are your plans for the coming weekend. It looks like rain on Saturday.

Steven

Picture of the day

The top picture shows, again, poor parenthood.

The bottom picture needs no explanation.

Steven

Election Day...

Hi:

I voted two weeks ago and sent my ballot in then. I could then hang up on any political call I got. Remember, I am very liberal so no R's on my ballot.

I checked the Kindle site again to see the price of Washington: A Life. It is still $19.99 as a Kindle book, way too much high. I have it reserved at the library. I will never, and I mean never, pay that much for a Kindle book.

My brother Ken is Giants fan to the highest degree. I bet he is very happy today. I am sort of happy. I am not sad the Giants won. I didn't care who won, as long as the Yanks were not there.

I am still reading The Templar Salvation. It is a good book but unbelievable at times.

Have a good week.

Steve