Ends that are odd

Just wrapping up some loose ends:

-- Owen won "Total Drama Island" on Cartoon Network. The entire family was happy, though Gwen, aka Weird Goth Girl, would have been OK. The girls are looking forward to Season No. 2 of the show, though I think I'll pass.

-- Heavy rains on Saturday meant I spent hours sucking water out of the basement. No, I didn't use a straw but a wet-dry vac that is now more wet than dry. We've had some unusual rain this year. All in all, I prefer the snow this time of year.

-- Speaking of sucking: Lions went 0-16. I thought the Bills would be the first to do that. The coach seemed to be a nice guy who did all the right, positive things -- if his team was a high school squad. High school is all about building character and setting examples. Professional football -- more entertainment than sport, I admit -- is giving the audience (fans) what they want. The Lions didn't do that and, just like a bad movie, people leave the theater. So went Ford Field with games not even selling out.

-- Sorry to folks who didn't get holiday cards from us this year. I just ran out of time and energy. I've been under the weather (in the basement!) and lacking holiday spirit.

-- Work? Well, the strong potential of being out of it has put me in the Scrooge mood. That's why I have this picture of ice at Holland State Park. It's beautiful! I'm not sure who took it -- it's amazing what Web searching will find.

I consider myself like someone on Lake Michigan ice. The ground seems steady, but just below is danger, cold, heart-stopping danger. You know that ice doesn't last forever, so when the temperatures change, something you can't control, then you're in big trouble.

E-mail thanks

Thanks to those who sent along e-mails and advice that I should get a flash drive. Done. I just have to remember to use it.

Once I figure out the photo program we now have, I'll post some holiday pictures of the girls. We had a nice Christmas -- quiet, no one had to go to the hospital. Always a good thing.

Cloudy

The cloud hanging over the holiday has been the economy. I'm expecting to be down-sized soon.

Also, we've been dealing with some nasty weather, the literal clouds over the holiday.

It's been snowing for two weeks or so, so we had accumulated several feet of snow (and nowhere to put it at the end of the driveway). Then Wednesday we had freezing rain and ice (bad, bad drive home), Friday was rain and heavy fog (I couldn't see beyond the hood of the car and the roads were still packed with ice despite the rain) and today is heavy rain, fog and strong winds. We hit 55 degrees today, which melted the 2 feet of snow and flooded everything in sight (which was the only good thing about the fog -- I couldn't see far!). It will all freeze tomorrow, which means my car will be stuck to the pavement, which is OK, because the doors will be frozen shut so I couldn't go anywhere anyway anyhow.

I am all sunshine!

E-mail plea

I don't mean to sound desperate, you know, like in high school, but if you think about it, please send me e-mails. Rachel, Jill, Dug, Jeff, Gunky, BL, Ralph, Pete (and I don't mean to leave anyone out!).

Since we lost our previous computer, I, too, have been at a loss to send e-mails to many of you. The address book is no more and I did not make any hard copies of the e-mail addresses (remember Dug: Print is dead!), so I'm not ignoring you.

I know you're out there, unless you're trying to avoid me (Wait! It is high school all over again!).

And who wants to go to the prom with me?

Heart of Darkness

I believe I had written a bit ago about reading "Pippa Passes" by Robert Browning. I did finish it -- after reading it twice and getting the computer back to look up obscure Italian references.

So, now I understand that Pippa was to be sold into prostitution on that very day, Jan. 1, the only day of the year she gets off from the silk mills, and is saved by a strange string of events that culminate with a dying bishop calling out his assistant who had killed someone for the bishop's brother.

Who says those Victorians didn't know drama?

So, after that, keeping with the theme of moral failure and redemption, I picked up (again) Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness."

This is a tough read -- lots of implied action, lots of action taking place inside the narrator's mind and soul -- but worth the effort. I'm always up for a stinging indictment of imperialism and a test of my own spirit.

Above is a drawing of the steamer as it makes it way into the Congo.

I wonder if Marlowe, the story teller here, should have told Kurtz's intended what he really saw. There is the heart of the story.

Now for something completely different

I've been shoveling snow the last few says. More to come.

Clearing snow is like mowing the lawn. I don't like to do either. At least snow removal has a practical purpose -- not to slip or get the car stuck in the mess. Lawn mowing is just tedious and really serves no purpose except to meet some middle-class view of what a community should look like.

The horror! The horror!