Diana Says, "Happy Mardi Gras!"

My guardian, Mimi, is not going to a parade today. Neither am I. Canines are not welcome at the parades, not even canine bishops, fully vested. My other guardian, Grandpère, is going with his son and daughter-in-law to a parade. Mimi says one parade per season is enough. I think she is already in the Lenten season. I will cut back on my treats for the penitential season, except for Sundays. Sundays are not Lent, so the humans tell me.

Have a great day. Laissez les bons temps rouler! Mimi taught me a little French.

A Short Love Story

A man and a woman who had never met before, but were both married to other people, found themselves assigned to the same sleeping room on a Trans-continental train.

Though initially embarrassed and uneasy over sharing a room, they were both very tired and fell asleep quickly.....he in the upper bunk and she in the lower.

At 1:00 AM, the man leaned down and gently woke the woman saying, 'Ma'am, I'm sorry to bother you, but would you be willing to reach into the closet to get me a second blanket? I'm awfully cold.'

'I have a better idea,' she replied. 'Just for tonight, let's pretend that we're married.'

'Wow! That's a great idea!' he exclaimed.

'Good,' she replied. 'Get your own damn blanket.'

The End.

Don't blame me. Blame Doug. (Slightly edited)

And Good News From Arkansas!

From ABC24-CW30 EyeWitness News:

CLARKSVILLE, AR (AP) - Arkansas Presbyterians have endorsed a church constitutional amendment that would allow non-celibate homosexuals to serve as ordained ministers, elders and deacons.

The 116-64 vote for the rule change within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) took place after a debate on Saturday, February 21, 2009 and was greeted with silence.

The denomination's national General Assembly approved the amendment in June; the measure goes into effect if a majority of the church's 173 presbyteries approve it.

The Presbytery of Arkansas has roughly 15,300 members. It narrowly rejected a similar proposal in 2001.

The times they are a-changin'.

Thanks to Keakin, who is from Arkansas, in the comments.

Best Oscar Speech Award To Sean Penn

As he took the stage to accept his prize for playing slain gay-rights pioneer Harvey Milk, Penn gleefully told the crowd: "You commie, homo-loving sons of guns."

He followed with condemnation of anti-gay protesters who demonstrated near the Oscar site and comments about California's recent vote to ban gay marriage.

"For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think it's a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect on their great shame and their shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that support," Penn said. "We've got to have equal rights for everyone."

From the AP via The Advocate.

Note: The video stopped and started for me on the first play, so, if that happens, I suggest that you let it play through once, go do something else, then come back to watch without interruptions.

“Life Is Uncertain”

From Georgianne:

I am sending this to a few friends just because it is a great story.

Those of you who know me well know that I don’t really believe in a benevolent god or even a sense that there is a balance of good and bad in the universe that puts things right or helps us make sense of insanity. I have gone 'round the world and god is nowhere to be found.

“Life is uncertain”

But, every now and then just being alive and in the right place at the right time makes sense.

Where do I begin?

My good friend’s daughter has been waiting for a heart transplant for three years. I have known the family since the children were babies. They are my soul family. One of the kids came down to Florida to watch my dog while I went to Folk Alliance. Of course, the insanity is that as soon as I am unavailable and the youngest daughter is out-of-town, a fatal accident occurs in Chicago, the heart is alive and beating, and the match we are waiting for is rushed to the transplant center in Minneapolis. I am in the air and out of comms, Carla is alone in Florida…you get the picture. Carla had been afraid to leave Minneapolis for the last three years for obvious reasons, but she came down to Florida to watch my dog...

The good news is that I get back to Florida just as Sunny is being prepped for surgery and we are all in touch, and in the emotion of the horrible moments of waiting, Carla (whom I have known since she was 4) tells me that she cried for a year after I got married, because she really believed I would end up lost to the family forever. Of course that never happened, but kids worry, and here we are 30 years later going through the most intense experience ever.

We are still waiting and Sunny is not out of the woods, but we are all together, even though some distance is separating us right now. Carla has decided to stay with me for a few days until Sunny wakes up. She feels too fragile to travel.

But the circle is even wider.

My daughter had suggested I go see a singer at the folk conference that she “knew I would love.” So, I go hear this singer, and my daughter was correct. It is music that is not self-centered, but life affirming and loving in every sense of the word. It is “god-like.”

This singer reaches out to me as I am leaving, stops me, and says she is “moved somehow” to give me her CD. I do not know this person, but a connection is made. I explain about my daughter and she knows her because of the music business.

It gets better.

While Carla and I were waiting for news about Sunny’s new heart, we play the CD.

Here you go:

“Before You Leave”

by Ellis:

“Every star at night is a beating heart
That someday will fall
Young and old they are bright
And make a grand exit

I know life is uncertain
Nothing’s turned out like we planned
I want to do something
Maybe just hold your hand

I know life is uncertain
Things don't turn out like we planned
And I want to do something
I'm not sure if I can"


Sometimes life makes sense and we all meet up in the right place and at the right time.

GN

UPDATE: we are still waiting but heard sunny opened her eyes and smiled and she is PINK now!!!

Thanks be to God! Please pray for Sunny and her family and friends.

UPDATE 2, from GN in the comments:

Thank you all so much. Update is that Sunny is on "slow recovery," but all OK so far.

I looked on Ellis' site and here are lyrics..turns out she is giving song away because it was written for friend of hers who died of cancer...I did not know this. ~GN

US Military Advisors In Pakistan

From the New York Times:

BARA, Pakistan — More than 70 United States military advisers and technical specialists are secretly working in Pakistan to help its armed forces battle Al Qaeda and the Taliban in the country’s lawless tribal areas, American military officials said.

The Americans are mostly Army Special Forces soldiers who are training Pakistani Army and paramilitary troops, providing them with intelligence and advising on combat tactics, the officials said. They do not conduct combat operations, the officials added.
....

Despite the political hazards for Islamabad, the American effort is beginning to pay dividends.

A new Pakistani commando unit within the Frontier Corps paramilitary force has used information from the Central Intelligence Agency and other sources to kill or capture as many as 60 militants in the past seven months, including at least five high-ranking commanders, a senior Pakistani military official said.

It seems to me that we fight the same wars over and over in different countries. Is the secret involvement in Pakistan really paying dividends? Are they truly capturing or killing the leaders of the Taliban and Al Qaeda? I don't know. I have very little trust in reports of this sort. The 70 advisers and specialists are, I'm afraid, the thin-entering wedge to a war in another country.

Yet the main commanders of the Pakistani Taliban, including its leader, Baitullah Mehsud, and its leader in the Swat region, Maulana Fazlullah, remain at large. And senior American military officials remain frustrated that they have been unable to persuade the chief of the Pakistani Army, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, to embrace serious counterinsurgency training for the army itself.

We can't police the whole world. Seems to me that I've had that same thought quite a few times over the years.

Scenes From The Parade In Thibodaux

Float


Another Float


Thibodaux High School Band (My children's Alma Mater. My daughter was in the band.)


One Twin With Loot


Other Twin With Loot


Can You See Me? (My hat was woven out of strips from palmetto leaves by a Houmas Indian woman.)


Grandpère's Bad Photography (I'm reaching to strangle him for taking my picture twice with half my head cut off.)


A Replica Of Our Humble Cabin Home On A Float


UPDATE: I forgot to say the parade passes on the street right in front of my church. After the 10:30 service, we have a potluck lunch and then watch the parade from there.

Is There An Editor In The House?

Cruel!


He Loved His Wife.


Help This Man.


Help!


If It's Only Slight....



Thanks to Lapin.

Roseann Is Home!

You can talk to Roseann at her blog now. She is so glad to be home, and she's quite emotional, which is understandable, and I have to say that I am, too. Please continue to pray for her and for her husband who has much to do as he works two jobs and takes care of things at home, too. Roseann can't do much now. I am so happy for her!

In A Desperate Search For Redemption

One dark night in the small town of Garfield , NJ, a fire started inside the local sausage factory. In a blink the building was engulfed in flames. The alarm went out to all the fire departments for miles around.

When the first volunteer fire fighters appeared on the scene, the sausage company president rushed to the fire chief and said, "All of our secret sausage recipes are in the vault in the center of the plant. They have to be saved, so I will donate $50,000 to the fire company that brings them out and delivers them to me."

But the roaring flames held the firefighters off. Soon more fire departments had to be called in because the situation became desperate. As the firemen arrived, the president shouted out that the offer to extricate the secret recipes was now $100,000 to the fire department that could save them.

Suddenly from up the road, a lone siren was heard as another fire truck came into sight. It was the fire engine of the nearby Lodi , NJ volunteer fire department composed mainly of Italian firefighters over the age of 65.

To everyone 's amazement, the little run-down fire engine, operated by these Italian firefighters, passed the fire engines parked outside the plant and drove straight into the middle of the inferno. Outside, the other firemen watched in amazement as the Italian old timers jumped off and began to fight the fire as if they were fighting to save their own lives.
Within a short time, the Lodi old timers had extinguished the fire and saved the secret recipes.

The grateful sausage company president joyfully announced that for such a superhuman accomplishment he was upping the reward to $200,000, and walked over to pe rsonally thank each of the brave elderly Italian firefighters.

A TV news crew rushed in after capturing the event on film. The 'on camera' reporter asked the Italian fire chief, "What are you going to do with all that money?"

"Wella," said Chief Pasquale De Luccine, the 70-year-old fire chief, "de fursta tinga we gonnna do isza fixa de brakes on dat a soma a bich."

Or does Doug just dig himself deeper into a hole with this one?