do you ever hit the "next blog" button on the top of the page and look at random blogs? from time to time i do, and i have to say -- there are some interesting people out there. i'm intrigued by it, really. different contents, different audiences, different languages.....it's fascinating! so if you haven't yet jumped to unfamiliar blogs, i invite you to look to the top right corner of this page and click on "next blog." it'll be a great adventure, i'm sure. after all, variety is the spice of life!
2nd Birthday
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Thursday, December 02, 2004
Nicole Kidman
I love Nicole Kidman. In fact, I've loved Nicole Kidman since I saw "Far and Away" over a decade ago. She is gorgeous and extremely talented. Plus I think her movie choices have been interesting as of late. She goes from genre to genre seamlessly -- she's incredibly versatile. What are your thoughts?
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
ALIAS!
My dear roommate Katie got me hooked on Alias last winter. Katie's parents had the first season on DVD and from the very first episode I watched, I was hooked. Then came the second season on DVD. It was wondeful! What was not wonderful was the fact that I started watching the second season whilst the third season was airing on TV. Which meant I had to wait to see it. As Larry and Angie filled a tape of season three episodes, I relished them with glee. I am proud to report that I have now caught up on an entire series and can finally watch shows as they air on TV! Wahoo! If you don't watch Alias, you should. It's great! Watch for it to start on Wednesday nights on ABC beginning January 5, 2005.
Monday, November 29, 2004
Friday, November 19, 2004
home sweet home
this is the house my parents bought in terre haute, indiana. (don't worry -- the caddy belongs to the realtor, not my parents.) they called me yesterday to say their offer had been accepted and they close on december 17th, which coincidentally is my birthday. they are trying to call this house my new "home" and i almost think they really believe i might live in it. it's odd. but i'm in no rush to pack up and rent a u-haul. i'm even in less of a rush to live in indiana. but i think i might go up there in january to help with some interior decorating. mom wants me to make sure my room is to my liking...so that i'll like it enough to move in. let's not go holding our breath, though.
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Hmmm....
Tonya Walker sent me an email with the subject line "Prom in da Hood." In it were several wonderful ghetto-funk pictures. This one, however, was my favorite. All I really have to say is, "work it, girl!"
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Turkey Day Myths Debunked...
I'm sure there is a copyright infringement issue at stake here, but I saw this online at http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/columns/?article=thanksgivingmyths and thought it was amusing and I would like to share it with you in honor of the upcoming holiday.
The Pilgrims Watched Football (and Other Thanksgiving Myths)
by Martha Brockenbrough
Ah, Thanksgiving. That time of year when citizens of the United States partake in traditions that are even older than our country: watching televised football and parades, and devouring 100,000 calories apiece. Yep, we've been doing this every year since the tradition started, in 1492, with Columbus.
We have the Pilgrims to thank for this great holiday. After declaring a four-day weekend for everyone, they are well known to have slept in late on Thanksgiving morning, skipped their routine shower, and gorged themselves on cheese puffs and beer. The male Pilgrims--especially those who had placed bets on the teams--looked forward to watching football, while the females rubbed their hands together in gleeful anticipation of the holiday shopping season.
What was especially nice about the holiday was that the Pilgrims always invited their Native American landlords over for dessert. And the Native Americans always looked so festive with their giant feathered headdresses bearing cornucopias full of apples and mini pumpkins.
Get the feeling I'm making this stuff up? If not, I have a very reliable car I'd like to sell you for a fair price.
My point is this: A lot of what we know to be "true" about Thanksgiving really isn't. Determining exactly what did happen is difficult, because the Pilgrims didn't have camcorders shooting tape after tape of video that they could later sell to a local television station when something scandalous happened.
For starters, we don't even know for certain if the Pilgrims served turkey, although it's a strong possibility. I know, I know. Without turkey, is it Thanksgiving? In truth, I would say yes. I have a vegetarian friend who every year roasts a "tofurkey." She insists it tastes every bit as good as it sounds. Gulp.
That said, there are some things we do know about Thanksgiving. So without further fibbing (I promise!), here's the truth about three widely held Thanksgiving myths.
Myth #1: The happy Pilgrims were celebrating a great harvest.
Actually, the harvest of 1621, when the legend of our Thanksgiving began, wasn't great at all. The barley, wheat, and peas the Pilgrims brought with them from England had failed. Fortunately, the corn did well enough that they were able to double their weekly food rations. The Pilgrims were happy to be alive: The previous winter had wiped out 47 people--almost half their community.
It wasn't a coincidence that the corn did well. A man named Squanto, who was a member of the Wampanoag tribe, coached the Pilgrims on how to plant and fertilize it.
Did you know?
Squanto's life story would make a great movie. He grew up on the same land that the Pilgrims inhabited. Before their arrival, he befriended a British explorer named John Weymouth, who taught him English. Later, Squanto was captured and sold into slavery in Spain. With the help of a Spanish priest, Squanto reconnected with Weymouth, who helped him return to his homeland. But by the time he arrived, his village had been wiped out by the plague, which had been brought by the slave traders. Later, Squanto helped the Pilgrims when he saw them struggling in his abandoned ancestral home.
What's more:
The guests brought most of the food. When the Pilgrims invited their Native American guests, they weren't prepared to feed everyone who came. A Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, sent his men home for supplies.
The party lasted three days. They played games, shot guns, shot bows and arrows, and played something called "stool ball." (It's not what it sounds like! The game was like croquet--not something they played because they didn't have a pigskin handy.)
Despite what you see in some paintings, the Native American guests didn't wear giant feathered headdresses. Those were worn by Plains Indians.
Myth #2: From then on, we've celebrated Thanksgiving every year.
The truth is, the Pilgrims weren't partiers, and they didn't always feel compelled to express their thanks. In fact, the Pilgrims didn't have another "thanksgiving" celebration until two years later, when they held a feast to celebrate the end of a drought.
According to Celebrations: The Complete Book of American Holidays, by Robert J. Meyers, many colonial communities probably celebrated successful harvests locally and gave thanks at special times as the need arose. In 1644, for example, the New Amsterdam Dutch held "Thank Days" in gratitude for the safe return of their soldiers, who had been fighting with Native Americans in Connecticut.
On the Web:
Interested in more information about the "first" Thanksgiving? There are several interesting documents on the Web, including the text of the peace treaty the Pilgrims made with Massasoit, the Wampanoag chief. You can also read a more detailed history of Thanksgiving written by a Native American teacher.
George Washington declared a Thanksgiving in 1789 after the United States first established a government, but Thanksgiving didn't go national until the mid-19th century. This was largely the work of magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale, who conducted a letter-writing campaign calling for Thanksgiving to be declared a national holiday. President Lincoln responded, issuing a Thanksgiving proclamation that set aside the last Thursday in November of 1863 for gratitude.
In 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt touched off a two-year squabble when he moved the holiday to the third Thursday to give store owners a leg up on holiday shopping. Detractors dubbed the relocated holiday "Franksgiving," and in 1941 Congress finally made the fourth Thursday in November the official day. So, in truth, it took 320 years to make Thanksgiving stick.
Myth #3: The United States invented Thanksgiving.
No country does gluttony quite like the United States. The Calorie Control Council, an industry group, says that Americans consume as much as 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving, as much as twice what the FDA recommends for an entire day. That said, humans have been holding harvest festivals for ages. We may wish we invented Thanksgiving, but we didn't.
In ancient times, Middle Eastern peoples offered wheat to "The Great Mother" or "Mother of the Wheat." In medieval times, central Europeans celebrated their harvests at Feast of Saint Martin on November 11th. And we can all be thankful our celebrations aren't like those of the Aztecs, who each year would behead a young girl representing Xilonen, the corn goddess.
Colorful traditions aside, human beings have found reasons to be thankful--and reasons to celebrate--for as long as we can trace our history. What people have felt thankful for has certainly changed over the years. The Pilgrims were happy to be alive. The Founding Fathers were happy to have established a government. And Lincoln's Thanksgiving proclamation expressed thanks that the Civil War had not destroyed the country.
So when you sit down this year with your family, you're participating in an ancient tradition. And it's a great time to figure out what you're thankful for.
My mother-in-law's delicious chocolate pie may not be as traditional as, say, an Aztec beheading, but I feel incredibly thankful to be eating it this year in the company of my lively and generous in-laws. And to feel that, I say, is to be human--a pretty wonderful thing.
The Pilgrims Watched Football (and Other Thanksgiving Myths)
by Martha Brockenbrough
Ah, Thanksgiving. That time of year when citizens of the United States partake in traditions that are even older than our country: watching televised football and parades, and devouring 100,000 calories apiece. Yep, we've been doing this every year since the tradition started, in 1492, with Columbus.
We have the Pilgrims to thank for this great holiday. After declaring a four-day weekend for everyone, they are well known to have slept in late on Thanksgiving morning, skipped their routine shower, and gorged themselves on cheese puffs and beer. The male Pilgrims--especially those who had placed bets on the teams--looked forward to watching football, while the females rubbed their hands together in gleeful anticipation of the holiday shopping season.
What was especially nice about the holiday was that the Pilgrims always invited their Native American landlords over for dessert. And the Native Americans always looked so festive with their giant feathered headdresses bearing cornucopias full of apples and mini pumpkins.
Get the feeling I'm making this stuff up? If not, I have a very reliable car I'd like to sell you for a fair price.
My point is this: A lot of what we know to be "true" about Thanksgiving really isn't. Determining exactly what did happen is difficult, because the Pilgrims didn't have camcorders shooting tape after tape of video that they could later sell to a local television station when something scandalous happened.
For starters, we don't even know for certain if the Pilgrims served turkey, although it's a strong possibility. I know, I know. Without turkey, is it Thanksgiving? In truth, I would say yes. I have a vegetarian friend who every year roasts a "tofurkey." She insists it tastes every bit as good as it sounds. Gulp.
That said, there are some things we do know about Thanksgiving. So without further fibbing (I promise!), here's the truth about three widely held Thanksgiving myths.
Myth #1: The happy Pilgrims were celebrating a great harvest.
Actually, the harvest of 1621, when the legend of our Thanksgiving began, wasn't great at all. The barley, wheat, and peas the Pilgrims brought with them from England had failed. Fortunately, the corn did well enough that they were able to double their weekly food rations. The Pilgrims were happy to be alive: The previous winter had wiped out 47 people--almost half their community.
It wasn't a coincidence that the corn did well. A man named Squanto, who was a member of the Wampanoag tribe, coached the Pilgrims on how to plant and fertilize it.
Did you know?
Squanto's life story would make a great movie. He grew up on the same land that the Pilgrims inhabited. Before their arrival, he befriended a British explorer named John Weymouth, who taught him English. Later, Squanto was captured and sold into slavery in Spain. With the help of a Spanish priest, Squanto reconnected with Weymouth, who helped him return to his homeland. But by the time he arrived, his village had been wiped out by the plague, which had been brought by the slave traders. Later, Squanto helped the Pilgrims when he saw them struggling in his abandoned ancestral home.
What's more:
The guests brought most of the food. When the Pilgrims invited their Native American guests, they weren't prepared to feed everyone who came. A Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, sent his men home for supplies.
The party lasted three days. They played games, shot guns, shot bows and arrows, and played something called "stool ball." (It's not what it sounds like! The game was like croquet--not something they played because they didn't have a pigskin handy.)
Despite what you see in some paintings, the Native American guests didn't wear giant feathered headdresses. Those were worn by Plains Indians.
Myth #2: From then on, we've celebrated Thanksgiving every year.
The truth is, the Pilgrims weren't partiers, and they didn't always feel compelled to express their thanks. In fact, the Pilgrims didn't have another "thanksgiving" celebration until two years later, when they held a feast to celebrate the end of a drought.
According to Celebrations: The Complete Book of American Holidays, by Robert J. Meyers, many colonial communities probably celebrated successful harvests locally and gave thanks at special times as the need arose. In 1644, for example, the New Amsterdam Dutch held "Thank Days" in gratitude for the safe return of their soldiers, who had been fighting with Native Americans in Connecticut.
On the Web:
Interested in more information about the "first" Thanksgiving? There are several interesting documents on the Web, including the text of the peace treaty the Pilgrims made with Massasoit, the Wampanoag chief. You can also read a more detailed history of Thanksgiving written by a Native American teacher.
George Washington declared a Thanksgiving in 1789 after the United States first established a government, but Thanksgiving didn't go national until the mid-19th century. This was largely the work of magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale, who conducted a letter-writing campaign calling for Thanksgiving to be declared a national holiday. President Lincoln responded, issuing a Thanksgiving proclamation that set aside the last Thursday in November of 1863 for gratitude.
In 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt touched off a two-year squabble when he moved the holiday to the third Thursday to give store owners a leg up on holiday shopping. Detractors dubbed the relocated holiday "Franksgiving," and in 1941 Congress finally made the fourth Thursday in November the official day. So, in truth, it took 320 years to make Thanksgiving stick.
Myth #3: The United States invented Thanksgiving.
No country does gluttony quite like the United States. The Calorie Control Council, an industry group, says that Americans consume as much as 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving, as much as twice what the FDA recommends for an entire day. That said, humans have been holding harvest festivals for ages. We may wish we invented Thanksgiving, but we didn't.
In ancient times, Middle Eastern peoples offered wheat to "The Great Mother" or "Mother of the Wheat." In medieval times, central Europeans celebrated their harvests at Feast of Saint Martin on November 11th. And we can all be thankful our celebrations aren't like those of the Aztecs, who each year would behead a young girl representing Xilonen, the corn goddess.
Colorful traditions aside, human beings have found reasons to be thankful--and reasons to celebrate--for as long as we can trace our history. What people have felt thankful for has certainly changed over the years. The Pilgrims were happy to be alive. The Founding Fathers were happy to have established a government. And Lincoln's Thanksgiving proclamation expressed thanks that the Civil War had not destroyed the country.
So when you sit down this year with your family, you're participating in an ancient tradition. And it's a great time to figure out what you're thankful for.
My mother-in-law's delicious chocolate pie may not be as traditional as, say, an Aztec beheading, but I feel incredibly thankful to be eating it this year in the company of my lively and generous in-laws. And to feel that, I say, is to be human--a pretty wonderful thing.
Sunday, November 14, 2004
okay, okay....
i have had a surprising number of requests for a new post on my blog. it was even pointed out to me the irony of my blog title being "variety is the spice of life" when i haven't delivered any variety in about a month. okay, okay already -- i get it. something new will arrive soon.....
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Palm Tree
Reverend Ginger (yes, a Methodist preacher woman) provided our "spiritual refreshment" times at the Maternity Home Association retreat I attended in Butler, TX, over the weekend. She actually had something interesting to share and I would like to share it with you.
Someone from her congregation once asked how Satan -- not being omniscient, omnipotent, etc. -- can so perfectly attack us. After pondering it for a moment, Reverend Ginger replied that it has to be our names that give him an edge over us. She pointed out how much importance God put on names. After all, the Bible records episodes of Him changing people's names. Anyone remember that Saul/Paul situation?
So Reverend Ginger decided to tell us all what our names mean, give an illustration, and then provide a scripture for us each. I knew already that my name, Tamra, is Hebrew for palm tree. "What have you got for that, Reverend Ginger?" I thought to myself. All these other people had beautiful, flowing, scriptural names and then boom -- palm tree. But she pulled through quite well.
"Tamra, your name means palm tree. When I think about palm trees, I think about all the storms in Florida right now. And you know how they show all those clips on the news with some weatherman standing in front of a palm tree that's blowing in these gusting winds but hasn't fallen over? That's you! And that is how Satan will try to work on you -- he'll give you storm after storm, trying to weaken you and pull you from your roots. But if you have your foundation in Christ, you will be able to stand firm, no matter how fierce the storms that hit you."
Then she gave me Psalm 92:12-15. "The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, 'The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.'"
Food for thought...
Saturday, October 02, 2004
Hot or Not
So I got my usual email from MAC that tells me about new products and collections. Naturally, I had to spend a little time looking over everything. Because of the Back to MAC recycling program, I knew I'd be getting a free lipstick so I paid special attention to the new Love, Matte lipstick collection. Anyhoo, as I was browsing, I came across this look, called Hot or Not, in the new Halloween Collection designed by our very own Little Rock! |
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