Till Ringing, Singing On Its Way (Merry Christmas Friends!)

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

(Creche at the St. Paul Cathedral, MN.)

Turning Japanese

I was planning to give an update on my recent eye surgery. But, unfortunately, we had our first real snowfall yesterday. And as happens every first snow of the year, people around here forget how to drive. I'm not kidding. It's as if they've been hypnotized by some maniacal meteorologist and the falling snow triggers drivers into regressing back to an enraptured state. Mesmerized by the ice twinkles swirling around them, commuters everywhere were disregarding the task at hand and driving off the road; or into one another. There is no other explanation. But what does this have to do with the eyes? My follow-up evaluation with the optometrist was scheduled for yesterday afternoon. However, the thought of all those dumbstruck drivers operating their machines under the influence of...precipitation, caused me to re-think my plans and then re-schedule my appt.

So, with no office visit to write about, I gleefully take this opportunity to make note of the day that is December 22, 2006. Now, you're probably thinking to yourself, "Well duh, it's the Winter Solstice MT." Of course, you would be correct. And while that fact alone may make some folks' toes curl, this date also has another, equally rousing, distinction. For this day is the first ever, Global O For Peace Day. And when I say "O", I ain't talkin' about Oprah. The organizers, a couple from San Fransisco, say the goal of the O is: "to effect positive change in the energy field of the Earth through input of the largest possible surge of human energy, a Synchronized Global Orgasm."

Oh!

So my friends, on this day, I urge you all to think globally and peak locally. Get all Meg Ryan tonight and do your part(ner) for world peace. And yes, if you're wondering, even one person can make a difference.

Verbatim

One of my colleagues returned to HQ after a Dr. appt. today. She had a pretty funny story, with a picture to go along with it. A nurse at her clinic just finished graduate school and the office was hosting a little celebration in her honor. Someone had called up the local Byerly's bakery and ordered a personalized dessert for the event. This is the cake that arrived while Jana was there. She said the whole place was busting guts.

Fraternal

As I mentioned, I'm in Minnesota. I don't call myself a Minnesotan, but I live in the Cathedral Hill district of the Capitol city: Saint Paul. Originally known as Pig's Eye, St. Paul is half of the "Twin Cities". Of the pair, St. Paul is the calmer, genteel, more polite sibling. Opposed to the snazzy and stylized nipper that is Minneapolis. A lot more people get shot in Mpls. St. Paul is the well behaved one. I like that.

If it weren't for such a conspicuous moat (i.e. the Mississippi River) to divide "The Cities", I'm not sure there would be such rivalry. And believe you me, there is a rivalry between this twosome. Personally, I see the metro area as one big locale with a river running through it. But there is a seemingly perpetual squabble here over who's hot and who's not. There are St. Paulites who refuse to be anywhere in the vicinity of Nicollet Mall after dark and Minneapolitans who never venture East of the river. Never. This was surprising to me. Pitiable as well. Each city has much to offer, and when it comes down to it, are kith and kin. I guess families are like that some time.

Here are a few pictures I snapped with my cell phone while driving around town. Clockwise: St. Paul skyline from tower at Wabasha St Caves, Landmark Center, St. Paul Cathedral, Capitol bldg.

Yeah I want Cheesy Poofs!

I had a thought that kept me up last night for 2, maybe 3 minutes. We all know how much aliens like cows (& anal probes), right? Maybe this is just how they plan to get rid of us all?

Of Mice & Methane

I've been talking with friends who've recently watched Al Gore's global warming warning film, An Inconvenient Truth. It's been highly recommended and I'm eager to see it. It's in my Blockbuster mail-order queue already. Although, it may have been bumped down a few notches since Broken Lizard's Beerfest came out. Regardless, I will see it soon.

Its interesting that AIT was the topic of several conversations the same week the U.N. Food & Agriculture Organization released its report: Livestock's Long Shadow. It's a decided indictment of the cattle industry's contributions to global warming. Anyone heard about it yet? It actually says that cow emissions cause more damage to the environment than automobile emissions. That's right, I said more. For any of you Greenies out there (Ken, Karen, et al.) did A.G. mention the fact that bovine appear to be the chief provocateur in the warming of our globe? As noted in the Des Moines Register, "The report estimates that livestock production worldwide is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions". That's more than the entire transportation industry.

In actuality, it's a lot more complicated than "emissions". The report takes into account everything that goes into the livestock business: making feed, clearing land for pastures, processing fertilizer, etc. But cow farts do seem to be a big part of the equation. A big, smelly part. It's a stunning proclamation, a sobering fact and a subject of great consequence. Moo-Cow farts are devastating our planet. I crap you not.

Ballsy Bear

I'm hooked on the new Discovery Channel documentary, Everest: Beyond The Limit (Tuesday's at 9CST). What it takes to scale that mountain is incomprehensible to me. I'm fascinated. This one isn't as good as the series I watched last year, but it's astounding reality TV. Watching these mountaineers cross the Khumbu Icefall, using the same little aluminum ladder I can buy at Ace, is hair raising. To call this feat treacherous, is putting it mildly. 15 people have died on Everest this year. Climbers pass 41 frozen bodies on the North Face of the mountain. I actually have a Nepali brother-in-law who has a few Sherpa friends. I think he's trekked to base camp even. I'll have to ask him.


I enjoy this show so much, I started watching the repeat airing on Friday night. Part of Discovery's "Survival Fridays". That's where I was introduced to Edward Michael Bear Grylls and his show Man Vs. Wild. The show's intro sets things up nicely. Bear Grylls: adventurer, martial arts expert, former British special forces, and most importantly, survival expert. Bear is also the youngest Brit to ever summit Everest. He was 23. For what this guy does, you couldn't have any less impressive a resume. For Bear drops himself in the middle of the most inaccessible and menacing places on the planet with nothing but the clothes on his back, a flint, a knife and a bottle of water. Then he coaches us on how to make it out...ALIVE! Now, I know it's TV. I'm sure there are plenty of safety precautions and locations are scouted and stunts must be field tested before hand, but the show is compelling none the less. I like it for its Survivor Vs. Fear Factor factor. This dude does, and eats, some crazy nasty stuff. But you gotta do what you gotta do when you're lost in the mountains of Alaska or rain forests of Costa Rica. When I saw Bear, stranded in the Moab desert, remove his shirt, urinate all over it and then wrapped it around his head to stay cool; I thought: "Well that's something I never would have done. Thanks Bear! You are truly an educator." I saw the promo for the next episode and it's looking like Bear has some heady tips for us this week. He's stranded in the Kenyan Savannah. If I saw right, he shows us how to squeeze drinking water out of a huge pile of elephant poop. (I just gagged in my mouth a little.) Then he salvages what fresh meat he can find off a dead zebra carcass. Not exactly the stuff you'll see on the Real World, that's for sure.

Aspire

Bumper sticker on late 80's Honda 3-door in intersection of Kellogg & Robert, 55101, 11am: Remember Who You Wanted To Be

Are we there yet?

The place is glacial

It is 0 degrees this morning. Zero. 32 degrees below freezing. If you happen to be reading this anywhere else in the world, besides the US, that's -17 Celsius. Which, interestingly enough, is exactly how cold it feels in Fahrenheit when you factor in the wind chill right now. Studies have also shown that -17 is way colder than a witch's teat.

I guess they don't call this place the Icebox Of The Nation for nuthin'. Have I mentioned I'm living in Minnesota?

Stalk-eyed decapod crustaceans of the family Homaridae

I'm talking 'bout lobster. These ones are fresh from the shores of Massachusetts. (Thanks mom.) By the way, lobsters have no cerebral cortex. For humans, that's the part of the brain that processes pain. They don't have vocal cords either. Lobsters do not scream when you drop them into the pot.








They turn red because that's the only pigment not destroyed when they're cooked.

And...they are DE-LICIOUS!






How to crack a Lobster

One additional, and kind of gross, lobster fact: their teeth are in their stomach.

Acknowledgment

I've got comments! It was so cool to see that someone, other than myself and Ithinkearthisheaven, was reading. Especially because that first guy scared me a little.

My blog has gone interactive.