In September

So Far

I read in the news that Stephen Hawking has decided we have learned enough that we don't need God to create the universe, (as we know it). His statement brought to mind an interview that I saw on TV with Bill Moyer and Joseph Campbell. At some point during the interview, Joseph Campbell told the old joke about God and the scientist.

It goes something like this;

God was sitting in heaven one day when a scientist said to Him,  "God, we don't need you anymore. Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing - in other words, we can now do what you did in the beginning."

"Oh, is that so? Explain..." replies God.  "Well," says the scientist, "we can take dirt and form it into the likeness of you and breathe life into it, thus creating man."

"Well, that's very interesting... show Me."

So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil into the shape of a man.  "Wait a minute..." interrupts God, "That's My dirt. Get your own dirt."

Hurricane Earl

Earl from the International Space Station.  (Image credit:NASA/JSC)

Oil In The Gulf

Credit; LiveScience

We All Scream

A man, here in Redding, took issue with an ice cream truck that came through his neighborhood on a Sunday. The sound of the tune blasting from the trucks loudspeaker was disturbing the mans moment of creativity, and he called the cops. Redding has an ordinance on the books prohibiting sound trucks on Sundays, and after 7 in the evenings.

The general opinion of folks in these parts is that the guy is a grouch. (The same guy is a regular complainer to the city about a slew of things that he feels are bothersome and should be outlawed.) Grouch, or not, I have to agree that the ice cream trucks far exceed the volume level necessary to alert children that the ice cream man is coming their way.

I know that when I was a kid, my friends and I could hear the bells of the ice cream truck from blocks away. (The amplified "music box" was not invented until 1957.)

It may be that today's kids are all hearing impaired as a result of our increasingly noisy civilization, and actual bells might not be loud enough for them to hear, but it would be nice to hear ice cream truck bells rather than a blaring loudspeaker.

Dinner

Tonight was cheese stuffed cannelloni with mushroom marinara. 9/3/10

I like these Trader Joe's cannelloni. They are $4.99 for 6, so I can generally stretch them into 2 or 3 meals. The ingredients are good quality, and they are made fresh, so I feel as though I am getting good nutrition when I eat them.

Good nutrition is important to me. I try to put stuff in me that my body can actually digest. I shudder at the thought of fake foods clogging up my various systems. Not all the artificial colors, flavors, and sweeteners just get spit out by my digestive tract as indigestible. Some of that stuff builds up over time, and puts a strain on my well being. This ultimately will lead to serious issues that will require increased health care, and I would rather avoid that if I can help it. So I eat good food whenever possible.

I generally don't eat at restaurants. The chances of good nutrition are pretty slim at most family type eateries, and I almost never eat fast food. (Once every year or two, I will eat an In-n-out burger.) Fast food is cheap, but a fast food diet is a sure way to a slow death by obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. The better restaurants are too expensive for my fixed income, unless I am someones guest, or the band is playing there and I sing for my supper. So I eat as good a diet as I can, at home.

Life is good.

I am very fortunate.

There were times in my life when I lived in cities. In some of the places I lived, one would escape the rat race by going up on the roof. So...

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;





Love is a friendship set to music.
Joseph Campbell