Happy New Year!

With love from Jim, Joey, Sam, Buddy and Laurie (not pictured).

Here's our toast to a safe, healthy and prosperous 2007.

Merriment

Why is it that people always seem to end up in the kitchen at parties?

Seasons Greetings!

I am the Empress

Was there any doubt? For a bit of light hearted fun and change of pace, click on the link below. (P.S. Hope this wee bit o paganism does not offend anyone). Laurie

You are The Empress

Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.

The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents, beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.

The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

<p align="center"><img src="http://www.flarn.com/~warlock/tarot/chinese/3.jpg" /></p> <h2 align="center"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><b>You are The Empress</b></span></h2> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.</span></p> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents, beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.</span></p> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.</span></p> <p align="center"><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"><b>What Tarot Card are You?</b><br /><a href="http://www.flarn.com/~warlock/tarot">Take the Test to Find Out.</a></span></p>

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Birthday Greetings

On this December the nineteenth, we celebrate the birthday anniversary of our dear sister and good friend HOLLY! We love you and wish you well!

Required Viewing-

We have recently seen this film, and consider it a must see for all blue marble inhabitants, no matter how insignificant- not to mention the great potential for blog fodder. Get it and see it. If you've seen it let us know. Information can be found at http://www.climatecrisis.net/.

Christmas is Coming

Time for some perspective, courtesy of Andrew.

Here’s you on Earth.


Here’s Earth compared to its inner orbital neighbors. (Note that you are invisible at this scale.)


Here’s Earth compared to all its planetary neighbors.


Here’s the Earth’s same planetary neighbors compared to their Sun.


Here's our Sun win some of its bigger brothers and sisters.


Season's Greetings. May we all do our small part for peace on Earth and a silent night for one day out of the year by keeping things in perspective.

Welcome Christmas

Sufjan Stevens: Put The Lights On The Tree

My dad has been wrestling with YouTube trying to get this video posted, so I thought I'd give him a hand.

Way To Go, JACK

Urgent Plea from the Grand Poobah!

If you haven't already received this via e-mail, I now present the following:

"Dear one and all,

Mary Ann is under great duress about the composition of the annual Christmas letter which duress has multiplied exponentially therefore upon me.

Last year I had emailed you for some personal input about you and yours for said letter subject to some editing upon my part so that the length of the letter would be manageable.

You could conceivably save me a great deal of misery if you could and would send me some data asap....like right now!!!!! Otherwise, take your chances upon anything I might put into the letter.

In the name of God's Mercy, save my currently miserable life as pertains to this most urgent matter.

Gratefully,

Your father and grandfather as the case may be."

I like the five exclamation points.

Christmas 2005

I don't know....For some reason, I just really like this picture.

And now for something completely sane

Ever have one of those days?

Hey Ya! Charlie Brown Style

The Peanuts gang like you've never seen 'em.

Good Family Reading

How many of us try again and again to lay hold of what love seems to promise, only to be thrown back in fear or confusion or pain?

How many give up and sadly accept to live outside the drama of love?

What is the deeper purpose of the work of living together within the embrace of love?

What can we honor in each other beyond the call of passion or habit or momentum or fear?

What is the work of love toward each other that can support the search for unity within ourselves?

Why do we quarrel?

What is the anxiety that so often accompanies the state of being in love and which also often remains as a problem in the work of living together?

What do we really want from each other?

These are just a few questions explored in a book called, The Wisdom of Love: Toward a Shared Inner Life, by Jacob Needleman. On most days, we find the time to read out loud to each other as a way of passing the time up here in the forest, and this is the book we’re reading now. As we all move deeper and deeper into our adult relationships with our spouses and as our children move closer and closer to the time when they will be making committed relationships, its hard to think of a better book that a family might read together. Read it with someone you love.

Creeping

Here's the video Andrew made for last year's film festival. Dedicated to the duck hater in all of us.