A friend I have never met, a woman who lives in the Southern Hemisphere and whose painting of grapes adorns my kitchen wall, has asked readers of her blog to pass something along to you. I said, “Consider it done.”
Hence, this post.
The subject, friends, is paper towels.
Thirteen billion pounds of paper towels are used each year. (The statement is in the passive voice, so it is impossible to know exactly by whom all these paper towels are used, but it simply cannot be helped.)
If each person used one paper towel per day less, 571,230,000 pounds of paper could be saved each year.
These are awesome numbers.
In the little presentation I am about to, er, present, the number 12 also figures prominently.
Here is the little presentation (4:28). Please watch.
Now that you have wasted a precious four minutes and 28 seconds of your life that can never be recovered, can you tell me how the numbers 11 and 10 are also a part of that video?
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
It was a tough fight, ma, but I made it.
This is my 1000th post. It took me only two months shy of five years to arrive at this milestone.
Here is the view from the top of Mount Everest. The photo was taken by Barry Bishop, an American mountain climber, in 1963:
Barry Bishop wasn't the first to scale Mount Everest. That feat was accomplished ten years earlier by Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay. Barry wasn’t the first, and he wouldn’t be the last. Still, being on top of the world felt good.
Today I know exactly how Barry felt.
Okay, maybe not exactly.
As Scarlett O’Hara once said, however, “Tomorrow is another day.”
Okay, she was a fictional character. I get that.
Please don’t rain on my parade just yet, because being on Cloud Nine is a rare experience. Let me enjoy it while I can.
The descent will begin soon enough.
Monday, July 9, 2012
One more post and this blog will have 1000 posts. I feel like quoting G. K. Chesterton.
So I will.
“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again’; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.”
--G. K. Chesterton
Praise Him.
God, I mean, not G.K. Chesterton.
The part of the quotation that reminds me most of blogging is “the grown-up person does it again [and again and again, I might add] until he is nearly dead.”
Still, it can be rather exhilarating.
That passage from Chesterton makes me want to show you as well St. Francis of Assisi’s song, Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon, written in 1224:
“Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord,
All praise is Yours, all glory, all honour and all blessings.
To you alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name.
Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour,
Of You Most High, he bears the likeness.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
In the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
And fair and stormy, all weather’s moods,
by which You cherish all that You have made.
Praised be You my Lord through Sister Water,
So useful, humble, precious and pure.
Praised be You my Lord through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You my Lord through our Sister,
Mother Earth
who sustains and governs us,
producing varied fruits with coloured flowers and herbs.
Praise be You my Lord through those who grant pardon
for love of You and bear sickness and trial.
Blessed are those who endure in peace,
By You Most High, they will be crowned.
Praised be You, my Lord through Sister Death,
from whom no-one living can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Blessed are they She finds doing Your Will.
No second death can do them harm.
Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks,
And serve Him with great humility.”
[end of quotation]
The Devil, they say, is in the details.
Sometimes God is too. Especially when He says, “Do it again.”
“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again’; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.”
--G. K. Chesterton
Praise Him.
God, I mean, not G.K. Chesterton.
The part of the quotation that reminds me most of blogging is “the grown-up person does it again [and again and again, I might add] until he is nearly dead.”
Still, it can be rather exhilarating.
That passage from Chesterton makes me want to show you as well St. Francis of Assisi’s song, Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon, written in 1224:
“Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord,
All praise is Yours, all glory, all honour and all blessings.
To you alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name.
Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour,
Of You Most High, he bears the likeness.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
In the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
And fair and stormy, all weather’s moods,
by which You cherish all that You have made.
Praised be You my Lord through Sister Water,
So useful, humble, precious and pure.
Praised be You my Lord through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You my Lord through our Sister,
Mother Earth
who sustains and governs us,
producing varied fruits with coloured flowers and herbs.
Praise be You my Lord through those who grant pardon
for love of You and bear sickness and trial.
Blessed are those who endure in peace,
By You Most High, they will be crowned.
Praised be You, my Lord through Sister Death,
from whom no-one living can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Blessed are they She finds doing Your Will.
No second death can do them harm.
Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks,
And serve Him with great humility.”
[end of quotation]
The Devil, they say, is in the details.
Sometimes God is too. Especially when He says, “Do it again.”
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Here in the lull between America’s Independence Day (July 4) and France’s Bastille Day (July 14)...
...you might want to read Ann Coulter’s explanation of the differences between the American Revolution and the French Revolution.
If you do (and I hope you do), come back here and leave a comment if you’re so inclined.
In other news, I hereby forgive myself for overlooking Canada’s Dominion Day on July 1 -- it has been called Canada Day since 1982 -- although it was a perfectly understandable thing to do; Canadians have a history of overlooking it themselves.
If you do (and I hope you do), come back here and leave a comment if you’re so inclined.
In other news, I hereby forgive myself for overlooking Canada’s Dominion Day on July 1 -- it has been called Canada Day since 1982 -- although it was a perfectly understandable thing to do; Canadians have a history of overlooking it themselves.
Friday, July 6, 2012
The smoking gun?
Forget about President Obama’s birth certificate. The courts have already ruled on that.
But what about his social security number?
Near the very bottom of today’s Drudge Report (a website created by Matt Drudge) was this very interesting link.
As Red Riding Hood once said to the wolf (and only those who have been paying very close attention will understand this), “What big plans you have, Grandma!”
But what about his social security number?
Near the very bottom of today’s Drudge Report (a website created by Matt Drudge) was this very interesting link.
As Red Riding Hood once said to the wolf (and only those who have been paying very close attention will understand this), “What big plans you have, Grandma!”
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
R.I.P. Andy Griffith (1926 - 2012)
His first foray into acting was in the role of Sir Walter Raleigh in The Lost Colony, an outdoor drama in Manteo, North Carolina.
He famously explained American-style football in a hugely successful comedy album.
He quit his job teaching high school music in Goldsboro, North Carolina,and moved to New York City, where he auditioned for the lead in No Time For Sergeants and got the part.
He starred in such films as No Time For Sergeants, Onionhead, and A Face in the Crowd.
Younger viewers of television remember him as a lawyer named Matlock, the fictional version of one Bobby Lee Cook who practices law in Summerville, Chattooga County, Georgia.
But I suppose most people remember him as Sheriff Andy Taylor from The Andy Griffith Show, which opened every week with a whistled version of this song.
Only the most obtuse among you will think this is a photo of Andy Griffith. It is not. It is a photo of Bobby Lee Cook.
He famously explained American-style football in a hugely successful comedy album.
He quit his job teaching high school music in Goldsboro, North Carolina,and moved to New York City, where he auditioned for the lead in No Time For Sergeants and got the part.
He starred in such films as No Time For Sergeants, Onionhead, and A Face in the Crowd.
Younger viewers of television remember him as a lawyer named Matlock, the fictional version of one Bobby Lee Cook who practices law in Summerville, Chattooga County, Georgia.
But I suppose most people remember him as Sheriff Andy Taylor from The Andy Griffith Show, which opened every week with a whistled version of this song.
Only the most obtuse among you will think this is a photo of Andy Griffith. It is not. It is a photo of Bobby Lee Cook.
Short blogging break
...while we are in Alabama for a few days.
Being in Alabama is a full-time job in and of itself and requires all the strength I can muster.
Being in Alabama is a full-time job in and of itself and requires all the strength I can muster.
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