Monday, January 31, 2011

A picture for M


This picture is a painting on a garage door. Hard to believe that I know, but I have six different pictures of various garage doors with paintings that look quite real.
Steve

M eve here

Hi again:

The day after tomorrow is the Chinese New Year, this year on Feb. 2. It will be the year of the rabbit.

I spent two years in China, and experienced two New Year celebration there.

I am watching a TV show on the National Geographic channel that is testing the crazies theory of a controlled implosion of the two towers. This nut thinks it was the U.S. that set off these bombs that brought them down. How crazy can one get......

One interesting fact from Egypt is that more than 60% of the people there are under 35.

Continuing to read Mao's Great Famine. What a nut he was.

I need to go the library here tomorrow. I have two books awaiting for me.

Steve

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Sunday picture


Coming soon....hopefully, very soon.
Steven

Sunday today...

Hello:

Tis Sunday today with no church for me. You know my feeling about the Catholic Church so no need to go into a rant today.

Listening to podcasts today, with Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me. It is the funniest podcast I can find.

You can find this podcast on NPR on iTunes.

I am now reading a chapter in Mao's Great Famine called the End of Truth. Easy to guess what this chapter is about. Everyone during that time in China, from 1957 to 1963 was afraid to tell Mao the truth about the famine and deaths, instead telling him that all of the false goals were being made.

Time for lunch here.

Steven

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Pictures for the weekend...


A month late, but a santa joke.

Steven

Weekend is here..

Hi:

I finished my task today. I copied all six episodes of the show notes of LOST. Show number was the longest, nearly 100 pages in Word. These are the text copies of what happened during every show of Lost. Show number 2 was the shortest, only about 45 pages. I put all six on my Kindle to read there.

I am the midst of watching the last season of Lost. I recorded all of it on my DVR. I am up to episode 10 of that series. I will read about what happens after I watch it on TV.

I found the show notes on every show on abc.com.

I will soon be buying the entire set of all six yearly shows. I thought there was going to be seven but ABC pulled the plug last year.

I will be reading my book this afternoon and this evening.

Steve

Friday, January 28, 2011

F picture



The top picture shows an underwater park in Mexico.
The bottom picture shows the world's ugliest fish.
Steven

The weekend nears...

Hi:

It is threatening rain outside now. I have already been to the library and shoe store. No more errands outside today.

Mao was a dictator. I am reading about the Great Leap Forward. What a stupid man. China should be glad he is now dead. The Hundred Flowers, The Great Leap Forward and finally The Cultural Revolution. He never had a good idea in his life. All of his ideas were terrible and he was responsible for over 200 million deaths, directly responsible. But I saw him treated nearly as god while in China.

Of course America cannot brag too much about its past, with slavery and the KKK in the past 200 years.

Hope you have a good weekend.

Steven

Thursday, January 27, 2011

H picture


This fish does not swim, it walks. Now, do you believe in evolution? I believe in it totally. It is a proven fact.

Steven

Good morning...on this H

Hello:

I read an article yesterday on the new secrets revealed in Coliseum in Rome. They are excavating under the floor to find other things that they did not know about. I got the article from The Smithsonian Magazine website. I read the article on my Kindle 3.

I tell you about this article because I dreamed about it last night. "Fractured fairy tales" is what I like to call dreams, from the old Rocky and Bullwinkle show.

I am going to the library later this morning.

I am just into Mao's Great Famine. I will read most of this coming weekend.

I just made some fresh orange juice. I used orange peels to make some orange zest. I will use it in cooking in the near future.

Steve

Wednesday, January 26, 2011


A dog in China painted as a panda. Strange indeed.
Steve

A dry W...

Hi again:

How is your day going?

I did finish The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai. It is a great novel, with such an unique interest.

I am now reading Mao's Famine about The Great Leap Forward, that ended up killing 45 million people between 1958 and 1962. I can recall when it happened as I was reading the newspaper at 9 and 10 years of age.

I did not realize at the time how bad a newspaper the Oregon Statesmen was, learning this some years later when I started reading The Oregonian. I never read the Statesman/Journal anymore. It is not fit even to wrap your garbage in...Now I just search the paper for garage sales in the area.

My next book will be Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China. I read this book before going to China four years ago.

How is your week going?

Steven

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

A Picture or two for this U...



The top picture shows a golden dorado. The camera is strange.
The other picture is my high school, Regis. You see the classroom building here on this campus.
I was there between 1964 and 1968. Not a big school with only about 230 students when I was there.
Steven

U today...

Hi again:

I am going to Eugene today.

The book I am reading is very good. I am almost finished with it and I have no idea how it will end.

Yesterday I worked from 7:30 am to 5:15 pm. with no lunch.

After dinner I read my book a few hours before going to bed.

By the way the book is The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai. It is novel that has a very interesting premise. A financial officer is in a restaurant when there is an explosion next door. A big piece of glass hits head. He woke up later and could no longer speak or understand Chinese. He could only speak English. He grew up in America for 10 years and that old language came up. The hospital brings in a specialist from the U.S. She is a red-headed and very beautiful. With the guy only able to speak English and his wife and child only able to speak Mandarin. As you might expect the wife becomes upset with her injured husband as he spends so much time with the U.S. specialist.

My next book is The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, a series of columns by an author who writes for The New Yorker.

Hope your week is going well.

Steve

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Sunday picture


This is the pill I take every day to control my blood pressure. Before taking it my BP was 144/88. The day after taking two pills my BP goes down to 131/71. My top limit is 140/80; nothing higher than that.
These pills come from China, made mostly of sunflowers.
Steven

Sunday pm here...

Hello:

It is Sunday afternoon here. I hate the GB team. My brother Ken likes them.

I wonder if my Jets will win again. I doubt it.

I am enjoying reading my book; it is an excellent novel.

This coming week will be busy for me. I will read my book in the evening here.

Hope your week is going well.

Steve

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Pictures for this Sat....



The last of the stairs pictures here. Both are strange stairs.
The top picture is a tree made into stairs.
The bottom one may be hard to negotiate.
Steve

Saturday now...not raining today

Hi:

I am enjoying reading my book. I recognize the places there. The Portman is a hotel not far our first apartment in Shanghai. I went there to buy The New York Times around Wednesday each week. Now I don't have to get The New York Times, as it on my computer now.

Not much happening here today.

Hope you have a great weekend.

Steve

Friday, January 21, 2011

F pictures



Stairs yet again, this time hi-tech stairs.
The top one is new style of a spiral staircase.
The bottom one shows the steps in mid-air, or so it seems.
Steve

End of this week on F

Hi again:

I was not feeling good today so I took a three hour nap mid-day. I am feeling much better now.

I plan to read this weekend. It is raining today, a perfect night for reading.

The book I will be reading is The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai, a novel of a person who is hurt in an explosion and ends up speaking some English but no more Mandarin. I started this book a few days ago and it is great to see that I know where the book takes place in Shanghai. I recognize most of the places mentioned in the book so far.

I need to go the store; I hear it not suppose to rain here tomorrow so I can make it to the store.

Next week will be busy. But that is next week. This weekend I will be reading.

Steven

Thursday, January 20, 2011

H pictures...



More stairs. This time strange stairs. Seems like they would hard to walk on.
Steve

H today...

Hi again:

I was so busy yesterday. I was making CDs on my computer. My older copy of Real Player copied OK but I could not listen to the CDs. So I deleted Real Player and re-installed it. Now it works fine. I made four copies of The Gift by Susan Boyle. It is not a christmas album as there are songs on it that are not christmas songs.

I also made another copy of Story Songs III. I wanted it.

I am heading to the library and bookstore shortly.

Time to start reading my book this weekend.

I am making waffles for lunch today. I broke the plastic jar when it fell out of the freezer so I had to thaw out my strawberry jam. So waffles and strawberry jam on them for lunch.

Steven

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Pictures for this U



Stairs again.
The top one is strange.
The bottom one looks like fun. Walk up and slide down. Pretty cool.
Steven

Today is U...

Hi:

It is raining here again.

I am reading The Atlantic, the book on the smaller of the two oceans. I saw in the book a reference to a poem by John Donne, called The Storm. I found it online and then downloaded it to my Kindle 3. The poem is short but a very good poem.

I am amazed I search for poems now. As I told you yesterday I read The Raven by Poe. I have a folder on my Kindle called Poems. The folder has 21 items on it. I also put on Kindle The Charge of the Light Brigade. I read it a few times too.

I also have Mark Anthony's speech over the body of Caesar from Julius Caesar, the "Friends, Romans, Countrymen, led me your ears...I have come to bury Caesar not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones; so let it be with Caesar..."

The other famous poem I have on it is Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Coleridge. Yet another great poem.

Have a great week.

Steven

Monday, January 17, 2011

Pictures for M...



Stairs again. This time multi-use stairs. The persons that own these houses need a Kindle to get rid of all of those books. I figure I have over 250 books on my Kindle now. Just think what that would look like if bought that many books during the last three years?
Steven

Monday evening here...

Hello:

No rain today, the first time of no rain in about three weeks. Flooding is happening in surrounding counties, especially Tillamook County. Johnson Creek in Portland is also flooding over. I have not checked the North Santiam River yet, but may check it tomorrow.

Too many good books here to know what to read next. I did not finish The Atlantic when I had a few weeks ago, so it may be my next book.

My TV is set for channel 803, 60's Revolution. Great songs from the 1960's. Petula Clark and now Simon and Garfunkel with The Boxer.

I thought I was getting a cold earlier today with about 10 sneezes in a row, a sure sign from me that a cold is coming on. So I took a 24 hour cold pill that kills my appetite. It also dries out my mouth so I must drink a lot of water during the afternoon (no coffee for me in the afternoon if I want to get a good night's sleep).

I read The Raven on my Kindle yesterday. That is such a great poem. The version on my Kindle has four different critiques of the poem before getting to the poem late in the book.

I will try reading with songs in the background, something I did all of the time in high school and college but not recently. I usually need silence when I am reading or my mind wanders off the page to listen to the music. I wonder how we did it so well in our much younger years????

I heard on NPR yesterday a story on AI on a computer leaning to interpret a poem to read it with feelings. My Kindle 3 voice, both male and female, are computer-generated and mispronounce quite a few words when I have my Kindle read it to me.

Hope you week goes well.

Steven

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Sunday pictures...


These pictures are of stairs, some interesting and some functional.
My next series of pictures will be of various stairs.

Steven


Sunday evening here...

Hi:

It is Sunday evening here. It has rained here all day. So no going out today.

I am now reading The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, a series of true stories by a New Yorker writer. The first article is the basis of the novel of The Sherlockian, a novel I read about two months ago. A Sherlock expert is found dead in his hotel room and the search starts for the person who killed him. But soon some people believe the Sherlock expert committed suicide. Both an interesting true story and a subsequent novel.

I have three books here based on China.

One is The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai.

The second one is Hello Kitty Must Die.

The last one is Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-1962.

I ordered Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China from our library. I read this book before going to China the first time. A good history of China during the Communist government. I want to read this book again.

Time go start reading again.

Steven

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Pictures for H



Both pictures here are made of cans. Amazing what this artist can do with just cans.
Steven

Warm today

Hi:

It is very warm today, in contrast to what it has been the last few weeks. At 6:45 am this morning it was 50 degrees outside. Now it over 55 with the threat of rain outside now.

I need to go the library today to pick up seven books waiting for me there.

I am giving three books I won on the bookreporter.com website a few months ago. None of these books are of interest to me. Two are "chick lit" and I don't read that genre. The other is part of a series and I don't want to read his prior books to get to this one. I am giving them to our local library bookstore to let them sell the books there and keep the money they make on the sale.

I am watching NOVA from last night. It is on earthquakes, so very interesting.

I better finish The Emperor of All Maladies today. I have two other books here I want to read before getting my seven books from the library.

Steve

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Picture for U


A motorcycle made of car parts.
A car made of wood.
Steve

Close, but not close enough...

Hi:

I did not watch the game last night. Instead I recorded it on my DVR but followed it on the Internet. But once I found out the final score I deleted it from my DVR together with Game Day, which I also recorded.

I never like to watch my Ducks on close games. That is why this season was so great, as in most games the wins were big.

Next year the Ducks will be back to win this time.

I bought some oranges at Safeway yesterday and today I made some home-made orange juice. I like to have pulp in my OJ so I can chew it. It is so good. Also a great source of vitamin C.

I am still reading The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. Right now the book talks about preventing cancer. Cigarettes are main cause of lung cancer, but in the 1960's and early 1970's the cigarette companies fought any limit on them. But it brought the end of advertising on TV and radio of cigarettes.

Three years ago 350 million Chinese smoked. Now that is down to 310 million people. I assume it is the deaths of Chinese men from smoking too much. But even at 310 million smokers in China that is still higher than the entire population of the U.S., now at 308 million people.

China is considering having non-smoking areas in restaurants in China. I remember when this was how it was in Oregon some years ago. You could smell the second-hand smoke as you ate. That is not a very good policy. What China needs is what Oregon and California have: no smoking in any, and I mean ANY, public buildings. Keep the smokers at least 10 feet away from any door of the building.

China no longer has cradle-to-grave care. With no health insurance there, it is looking to the U.S. as an example it wants to follow. What a big mistake if China follows the U.S. Private insurance companies with no public option.

I am in favor of a public option, where one can get health insurance from the Federal Government-sponsored program. You think the U.S has no right to do this???? What about Medicare and the VA program? Like one of the most stupid tea baggers said this summer: "keep the government out of my Medicare."

I blame Glenn the Stupid, Bill the Jerk and Sarah the Ignorant for what happened in Arizona. No one can tell me otherwise.

Steven

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Sunday pictures


Yet another garage door painting.
Steven

Sunday morning now...

Hi:

It is Sunday morning, but no church for me anymore. I don't believe much what the Catholic Church teaches these days.

It is raining here, and cold outside again.

It is so sad what happened in Arizona. Too many gun nuts out there. The radical voices of the far right bear some of the responsibility for this shooting. Glenn the nut and Bill the stupid are responsible for this shooting.

I made brownies yesterday, but I added some of my applesauce instead of water. It makes the the brownies much softer and moister. I can taste the applesauce in the brownies.

I am off soon to Safeway to the get The Sunday Oregonian and some cat food.

I am about half way through The Emperor of All Maladies about cancer. Seems like all we do in the war is either burn the patient or poison the person. Early efforts at burning the patient was too much x-rays, almost killing the person. Poisoning the cancer patient was overboard too, very early. VAMP was the early drug portion, getting rid of the cancer but bringing the child back after a few months to reveal cancer in the brain, where the drugs do not reach.

This is an excellent book. I spent last night reading it, to past midnight.

Steve

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Picture for Saturday


Hard to believe but this is a garage door, a picture on a garage door. The artist sure is good.
Steven

Weekend is here

Good morning:

Saturday morning here, and raining again.

I am now reading The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. This book is so interesting, much more interesting than I thought initially. Cancer got its name in the 17th century when doctors then saw tumors that looked like crabs, with legs sticking out. Crabs and cancer? Look into the sky to see the constellation there, called Cancer.

I will be reading most of the day here with breaks to watch some BookTV on C-Span 2.

There is an estate sale today, but I doubt if I will go it. Not interested in sales this time of year; I can wait until the spring to start going to garage sales again.

Have a great weekend.

Steve

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Pictures for this warm W...



The top picture is a fraud. This guy built himself an ark, using what he claimed where the dimensions from the fictional book, the bible. What a stupid guy...
The bottom picture shows Stayton's Summerfest from last July. This is the food court at the festival.

Warmer today this W

Hi again:

It is finally warming up outside. Today, for the first time in long time, I am in short sleeves in my room.

I picked up three more books from my library. One is biography of cancer and another is the history of the Atlantic, and the final one is The Devil and Sherlock Holmes. All three books are good ones I am will start reading one of them once I finish the Pluto book I am currently working one; I expect to to finish it tonight.

I am recording the Ducks game next Monday. I don't want to watch all of the commercials during the many breaks of this game. I do expect my Ducks to win this game.

I expect to gas at nearly $5.00 per gallon in the near future during this 2011. This will lead more and more to electric cars. We do plan on building an electric car plant as soon as I get grant for this. I am working on two different grants now. I will have them finished in the next three weeks.

Our electric cars will get at least 200 miles between re-charging the car. The Nissan Leaf gets only about 100 miles between re-charging. We will put more batteries into our cars to give you better mileage between charges.

We plan on getting you an electric car in one of two ways: one, will convert one of your cars to all electric, costing you between $7,000 and $9,000. You get big tax credit from the feds of $7,500 credit so the cost is lessened in that way.

The second way we can get you in to an electric car is having you buy one from us. We plan on visiting the auto auction to buy some cars there with bad engines. We will transform the car to all-electric and sell you a car that is already powered by batteries only. The same tax credit is available here too.

We have our business plan all set up as well as a five year budget. I will use these documents when applying for these two grants.

Hope you are enjoying this warmer, but wetter weather.

Steve

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Picture for U


This man died recently at the age of 102.
This Rolls Royce he bought his car new 82 years ago and kept it all of these years, driving it 20,000 miles a year.
Steven

First U of the year...

Good Morning:

It is very early this morning, not yet 5:00 am. I have been up since 4:00 this morning. I was so thirsty, having put some salt on food last night. It was not much but apparently enough to raise my thirst.

If you go a new Kindle under your tree this year, I have two books of poetry for you to consider. I was the publisher of these two poems, the author is the late Raymond Geraths.

The first long poem is Creation, an Epic Poem.

The second long poem is Redemption, an Epic Poem.

Both poems are told in rhyme. The first and third lines ending words rhyme as well as the words ending in the second and fourth lines of each stanza.

You can find these two poems on the Kindle page. Just copy and paste the titles into the search box on the Kindle web page.

Each book costs $2.99 a the Kindle store.

Creation, an Epic Poem tells the story of the creation and God created the universe and our world. It goes on to tell the story of how She created Adam and Eve. (You know I don't believe it but the poem is very good nevertheless). It goes on to describe how they fell.

Redemption, an Epic Poem tells the story of how we redeemed ourselves with the help of Her grace.

We are finishing the last book of this series, Sanctification, an Epic Poem. This poem is twice as long as the each of the two others. We will have this on the Kindle page by the end of this month.

I am enjoying reading How I Killed Pluto....It is a good history of the science of killing Pluto as a planet while searching for the 10th planet.

Starting to warm up here, finally.

Steven

Sunday, January 2, 2011




Hi again:
The top picture is a small lake I would love to fish someday. It is just west of Stayton, about 2 miles from here.
The bottom picture is again the football on Jan. 10 at 5:30 pm. The Ducks will won it.
Steve

2011 now...

Hello:

I finished The Emperor's Tomb and then another The Balkan Escape, a short story that is about the The Emperor's Tomb. My next book is The Civil War on 1812, the second Civil War.

I made French Toast tonight. I put in cinnamon. It was very good.

It was very cold all day today here. The high was -25 and low was -15 early this morning when I arose.

I lost my Safeway card in....Safeway today. I imagine when I go there tomorrow it will be. But I have new card already so I don't know what I will do it they found my card later.

Happy New Year to all of you.

Steve