What will you do this season? What do you stand for?

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Bill y Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina).. Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... Terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves..

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

More of those Leverage Promos

I found these, and they are just too good to me not to want to share them with you.

The Muscle


The Impostor


The Thief


The Man with the Plan


These were all I could find. Hardison was no where. Sadness.

But because I feel like sharing,
Another promo, this with my one of my favorite lines


"They named a SANDWICH after me!"

And the Energy Drink Commercial

Fabulous Day (Long Entry )

Ever have those days where things start going right, and they keep going all day, right up to when you lay your head down to sleep?

That was today.

Woke up to rain out side. The loud kind, where you know its huge drops of rain splattering everywhere? Love it! It's been a heat wave all over San Diego, and the rain was the muggy kind? Where you feel like you could drown if you breathe too deep? Where there's lightning and thunder all around and you just want to stand outside and watch and get all wet? I love the smell after or during rain. It's not a great smell, but I like it anyway.

So after work (where I made some awesome tips!) I headed over to a friends house to pick her up, because we were going to hang out after taking my brother to the airport. We hung out a little, checked out some news online and then piled into his car to drop him off. He and I have different tastes in music, and his power metal is very different to what my friend and I have been listening to the past few months. So downtown San Diego, we figure to head over to Blick's to get me some art supplies, but because the lights are all backed up, we decide to just head over to Seaport Village. If you're in SD, check it out. It's fun, quaint, and there's a little something for every one. I purchased a new addition to my slowly growing music box collection. A music box that play's 'You Are My Sunshine'. I was a little too excited about it, but what the hey, it's something I like ;) 'You Are My Sunshine' has been a little special to me since I was about six or seven, so finding a music box was priceless for me.

The Village Hat Shop (not to be confused with the Haberdashery...oddly enough...) was the obvious second shop. TONS OF HATS! And me with wanting a new style...nifty that. Nearly bough Hogwarts House beanies, but decided against it, because we could probably find them cheaper someplace else. Also checked out Jack Weyland's studio and bemoaned the fact that I am unable to even really consider buying something from him. But maybe one day.

Also, got some fudge, because in my family, you just don't pass that kind of thing up. We're sort of on a quest for the best fudge ever, and so far have found it in Jerome and at a farm about four hours away from where we live. The shop at Seaport Village isn't that great, but I figured my mother would appreciate it. And she did.

We nearly left after that, because it was getting a little late, but then I saw a shop named 'Mistletoe' and my curiosity won over my 'might as well get home'. It's a shop packed FULL of Christmas ornaments. Christmas is probably my favorite holiday, but not for the reasons you'd think. We went nearly row by row examining everything. Commenting on why we liked this one, wasn't that one so pretty, If I only had the money for these. Seriously, had we the money to spare, our hope chests would have had much less room in them. Let's understand now, I don't really like themed Christmas trees. For me, ornaments are something you collect as or receive as gifts or get because you think its cool/pretty/just something you like. We figured once we get married, the one of us will just give the other some money and take them shopping for starter ornaments for the first Christmas. We're pretty dorky like that.

So, after checking out a wooden toy shop and wishing for more money to buy stuff for kids we know (and hopefully our future children) we headed back, listening to our choice in music. We ended the night eating pasta and watching Crossfire Trail (because I love a good western as much as the casting ;) ) and an episode of Leverage which I have got her LOVING. She's one of those girls I can talk during a movie or while were listening to something with and it's like she's on the same wavelength as I am. Gotta love friends like that.

So that was my most recent awesome day. Now for tomorrow, where I get new glasses and wait for the premiere of a music video I've waited for since July. Odd I know, but there you have it.

How nice...

Ok, I don’t know what it is about me, but I really like compliments. Especially ones I don’t make any active effort to receive. It’s just a nice little ‘up’ to my day. And when that day starts with a nice little ‘trip’ to the DMV, it could use any and all ‘ups’ it can get. (even though I ran into a lady from church there. She works there and was able to give me my spotless driving record to pass along to my boss and then off to my corporate superiors)

So, in History one of my class mates wasn’t here for the last assignment, and he was asking the teacher about it. She asked if he had a classroom buddy, and when he said ‘no’ she pointed him to me and said, “here, you have a buddy. Laura, right? Pond? I remembered!” and proceded to tell him I was really smart and could help him out. Which I could, but it was awesome to
1) Be remembered
2) Be told I was smart

This is the teacher I who caught me reading before class and we started bonding over the book I was reading. She is so cool! I wish she taught American History, but I’ll have to go back to Mr. Estes for that. (and he’s pretty cool too)

For a day that should have been a bummer, it’s gone along splendidly. I even have my Visiting Teaching lesson prepared! (even if I don’t have a snack/magnet/treat/thing.)

the LiPod

It's the name I put my iPod under on our computer. What's that? Oh yeah, you heard right. Laura got an iPod. It is so pretty and shiny and WONDERFUL! And full of empty space right now. I have far more room than I have music.

I'm going to make a case for it, eventually. Something nice with padding so if it falls it wont get damaged. I'll post pictures of it eventually.

Wish Me Luck?

I'm finally sending in the shirt!! (Which Shirt?) THE SHIRT!!!

This one! http://pondie.deviantart.com/#/d2yg03g
(you're gonna have to copy and past, because I can't get anything else to work.)

I can't help but maybe wish a little that Christian Kane likes it enough to maybe say something. I shouldn't get my hopes up, but my wayward imagination takes over sometimes.

Not Quite an Epiphany...?

So I'm sitting in math lab, supposed to be working on math, but I needed a little break.

Working on some easy problems, my mind wandered to iPods and the Apple store. Now, I've finally decided to get an iPod, (refurbised, obviously) when I was thinking of what I want to have etched into the back (because you can do that for free). Movie quotes or scripture references seems to be what I've decided on. But I dont know any really good enough to have around like that. Movie quotes anyway. If I go with a scripture, I want it to be something I can always identify with and has some kind of important meaning to me.

So recently I cam across a scripture that was soul inspiring. But I don't know if I really read it, or if it was in a dream. This is going to drive me a little crazy till I get home and review the last few chapters I read. The sad thing is, I think it was in a dream.

So what could it have meant, inspiring scritures in a dream? And if it really was from a dream, what scripture (or movie quote) could i have inscribed on it instead?