Star Trek 2009 Gag Reel - All the Funny Spock Can Deliver

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfRjyRtlDOw

Okay, first one got yanked from youtube. Found another one and it won't let me embed it. So, here's the link. Hurry and watch before it gets yanked again!

Signs You're Just Not That Into That Book

1. Skimming from one "........." to the next. Checking to see if the dialogue gets any more interesting.

2. Skipping pages because there's nothing. going. on.

3. Flipping to the end of the book to see if everyone dies. Cause you really, really hope they do.

4. Willingness to use the book as a WSD (Weapon of Smash Destruction) against enemy combatants (spiders, cockroaches, palmetto bugs)

5. You've chucked the book across the room at least once

6. Reflecting that you've read better written fanfiction

7. Realizing that you've *written* better fanfiction

8. Even the hot, steamy, 'gives safe sane and consensual whole new meanings' sex can't keep your interest

9. You fall asleep reading it in the middle of the day

10. You're reading it and start thinking of lists of things that tell you you're not enjoying a book...


Any other signs?

The Kinder Report Day 5

*sigh* I is *tired*. :)

We had all the kids but one today. 13 kids in all, mostly boys. Do you think it's a bad idea that from now on I pray that God grants me daughters? Yeah, I think that's mostly going to come back and bite me in the behind.

I can *honestly* say that I have no idea how an hour and a half goes so fast. I think back on what we covered, and it doesn't seem like that much, but it takes up all our time.

We pulled two words, 'amen' and....*wah* I can't remember what the second one was!

One of the boys lost a tooth, spontaneously.

We read the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 29-37) and then spent time discussing that. For their 'letters' section, Debbie asked them to write about what they could do to be a 'good samaritan' in their lives, and then they shared those if they wanted to. We also went around and asked them about things that they *didn't* do in the past week that they could have to be good to their 'neighbors'.

We read the Gospel (Mark 10: 17-30). What we tried to get across to the kids is that the things of the world, money, toys, etc. aren't really important. When we die, none of it comes with us. What matters is that we focus on God, and the world to come. As the author of Wisdom said, prudence and wisdom are more valuable than all the gold and silver.

Tomorrow's OT and Gospel Readings

Another 'quiz'. What's the common message?

I, of course, will let y'all know tomorrow what we taught the kids.

Reading 1
Wis 7:7-11

I prayed, and prudence was given me;
I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.
I preferred her to scepter and throne,
and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,
nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;
because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand,
and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.
Beyond health and comeliness I loved her,
and I chose to have her rather than the light,
because the splendor of her never yields to sleep.
Yet all good things together came to me in her company,
and countless riches at her hands.

Gospel
Mk 10:17-30

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,
knelt down before him, and asked him,
"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good?
No one is good but God alone.
You know the commandments: You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
you shall not defraud;
honor your father and your mother."
He replied and said to him,
"Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,
"You are lacking in one thing.
Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
At that statement his face fell,
and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,
"How hard it is for those who have wealth
to enter the kingdom of God!"
The disciples were amazed at his words.
So Jesus again said to them in reply,
"Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."
They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves,
"Then who can be saved?"
Jesus looked at them and said,
"For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.
All things are possible for God."
Peter began to say to him,
"We have given up everything and followed you."
Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come."

Niqaab Pictures

Okay, I cheat a little on the underscarf front. I haven't found a bunch that aren't too 'blingy' for me. And, seeing as how my scarves are all opaque anyway, I find that these wind stretchy headbands work just as well. Put them on just over your ears and forehead, and they give the look of an underscarf. I haven't had any problem with the headscarves sliding off my hair even without the full underscarf.




THE creepiest looking picture I have ever taken of myself. That's my new flip niqaab with all three veils down. You can, believe it or not, still see.




Flip niqaab with the top two layers flipped. Much better. Less ring wraith. The funky wings on the side are partially because of the shayla wrap. I'm pretty sure that's mostly a matter of practice.



See, here's what I was talking about with the headbands. No underscarf, but you can't tell, can you? A little overhang on the top of the head there, which I like, but it tends to block my peripheral vision if I keep the scarf like that.



Tucked down on the sides now. I *also* like the little folds at the top of the head when you do it that way.



Candice, if you read this, this is what I was talking about. *points up* No underscarf, and no giant forehead of doom. This may or may not work with glasses. I can't find mine to test it out.



And just for grins, shayla.

Last Words

Look, I totally meant to stick with happy posts, I did.





- also, if bad things happening to pregnant women/babies is a trigger for you, DON'T READ THIS - please be responsible with your own issues

A woman whom I know only peripherally died last night. She was in the hospital giving birth to her fifth child.





The doctors think that she had an aneurism that burst. She went into cardiac arrest, fell into a coma, and never came out of it. They're not sure if her baby daughter is going to make it, apparently she wasn't breathing when they did an emergency c-section.





This is tragic, and we're all praying for her and for her children and her husband.





But here's, not the worst, but something that just makes it even worse.





Her oldest son is 18 and in Iraq.





The last words he said to her were, 'I hate you.'





She didn't want him to join the Army and did everything she could to keep him out of it. They never made up, never apologized, nothing. And now he can't. That's it, game over. And he's going to feel guilty for the rest of his life.

My Top Three Anime/Manga of the Moment

In the spirit of lighter hearted posts, I bring you this: three of my fave mangas.

This is by no means a concrete list. I have many loves, but I had to pick three. Just three. *pets the other manga* It doesn't mean I love you any less....

1. Bleach

This is written and drawn by Tito Kubo and is still an ongoing series. We're up to volume 28 in tankoubon (collected copies - like trades or graphic novels for American comics).

Ichigo Kurosaki is the main character - he's a red headed teenager who can see ghosts. He's been able to do this his entire life and it's more annoying than anything else. The series starts up when a girl appears in his bedroom. She's surprised that Ichigo can see her, because she's a Soul Reaper and humans shouldn't be able to sense her. Rukia (the Soul Reaper), is hunting a Hollow. Creatures that prey on and *eat* humans. In the battle with a Hollow Rukia is wounded and 'loans' her powers to Ichigo to defeat the Hollow. Somehow, even after she recovers, she can't get her powers back from Ichigo.

Eventually other Soul Reaper's come looking for Rukia and things do not go well. They don't approve of this mixing of Soul Reaper and human. Renji (who is awesome and fun!) forces her to come back to the Soul Society with him, and (because what she'd done, giving away her powers is illegal in the Soul Society) she's going to be executed. Ichigo does not hold with this crap, and finds a way to follow them back to rescue her. (He takes some friends, but that'd require a looong explanation.)

They....rescue Rukia, but there's something else going on that leads to even *bigger* problems with the Hollows and that's where we are in the manga at the moment. :)

2. Fruits Basket

This was a 23 volume series that recently ended in America.

Tohru Honda is a normal high school girl. Well, mostly normal. She's *unendingly* cheerful and up beat. *Nothing* is allowed to ruin her happy! And she happens to live in a tent in the woods.

Her mother died in a car accident and she was living with her grandfather. However his house needed remodeling and he moved in with his son for the time being. Tohru convinced him that she had a place to stay, which is why she's living in the woods. (She hates to cause anyone any inconvenience - she's always worried about others, never about herself.)

One day she comes across a house in the middle of the woods where one of her classmates, Yuki Sohma lives with a relative of his - Shigure Sohma. They're nice enough, but sort of odd. Turns out where she's been camping is all Sohma property. They're kinda rich (trust me, understatement of the century there). She begs to be allowed to keep living on the property in her tent, but collapses because she hasn't been taking care of herself.

A landslide buries her tent (she was in Shigure's house at the time). The boys, being boys, arrange that she can live with them, providing that she cooks and cleans. They were tired of take out and dirty rooms. :) Yuki's showing her up to her new room and some crazy guy (aka Kyo Sohma) crashes through the roof, trying to fight Yuki. Tohru, not knowing that Yuki's actually kind of bad ass himself, lunges at Kyo to hold him back.

Whereupon Kyo turns into an orange kitty cat.

Tohru, in shock, collapses into Yuki and Shigure, who turn into a rat and a dog, respectively.

The Sohma's have this curse, see. :)

3. Wish

This is a four volume series by CLAMP - who, you know, may be manga gods. I'm just saying.

The main characters are Kohaku, an angel, and Shuichiro Kudo, a mortal doctor.

Walking home from work one day, Shuichiro notices Kohaku (she's tiny! like a doll!) stuck on a tree being attacked by a crow. He rescues Kohaku and, in return, she (technically the angels/demons don't have sexes in this series, but English lacks a non-gender specific pronoun, so they get referred to as male/female) offers to grant him a wish. Shuichiro, though, is satisfied with his life - he has a decent home, good looks, and a well-paying job as a doctor - so he doesn't request anything. However, Kohaku is honour-bound to grant the wish, so she stays with him.
Kohaku stays at Shuichiro's house upon the idea that she still needs to grant his wish. She helps with chores like cleaning and watering and tending to the trees.

Throughout her stay, another angel, Hisui and two demons - Koryuu and Kokuyo - come to live in Shuichiro's house, as well as the two servant demons of Koryuu; Ruri and Hari. Kokuyo is the son of Satan and is in love with Hisui, who is one of the four Angel Masters controlling the four elements: earth, wind, fire, and water; with wind being her element. Kokuyo admits that he made love to Hisui and that's how they ended up together.

Despite his new housemates, Shuichiro remains as stoic as ever. Although he doesn't persist in making a wish, without realising it, he grows attached to Kohaku. Kokuyo realizes that Koryuu, Ruri, Hari, and himself feel good around Shuichiro. He tries to tell Hisui but is always interrupted by God in one form or another.

Then Kohaku is suddenly forced back to heaven against her will by God because she has the important task of hatching the eggs from the Tree of Life by singing to them. However, Kohaku deeply misses Shuichiro. Shuichiro is missing Kohaku, too. He holds onto the earring he managed to get, trying to prevent Kohaku from returning to heaven. They both realize that they have feelings for each other.

Kohaku can't take the pain of being away from Shuichiro so she goes back to Earth without God's permission. Both of them are very happy to be reunited. Shortly after that, the three remaining Angel Masters come to Earth to reveal God's punishment for both Kohaku and Hisui. Hisui's punishment was that she was stripped of her Angel Master status and is banished from heaven. Hisui was joyful and thanked them. (Meaning she can be with Kokuyo - they couldn't really be together before...angel...demon, you can see how this would be a problem.)

However, Kohaku's punishment was that she would not be able to use her powers and will remain in small form for a hundred years. Kohaku is devastated she won't be able to grant Shuichiro's wish. But Shuiciro's only wish was to be able to stay with Kohaku forever, so she *can* grant his wish, even in tiny form!

Shortly after this, Shuichiro suddenly has a heart attack and dies while tying his shoes on a walk with Kohaku. This is terribly, terribly sad, and I cry *every time* I read it. Every. Time.

Usyagi (he's a bunny!), God's messenger, comes down and gives Kohaku a message in the form of a flower. Kohaku was to slumber for a hundred years and when she wakes up, Shuichiro will have been reincarnated. Kokuyo and Hisui are sentenced to look after Kohaku while she is sleeping. See, her 'punishment' wasn't so much a punishment. God knew what was going to happen and arranged it so He could place her in the tree and let her sleep (this could only be done when she was in tiny form).

A hundred years later, the reincarnation of Shuichiro, now 16, passes by his old house and Kohaku wakes up. Shuichiro has no memory of Kohaku and their relationship starts all over again.

And it is too cute! *hugs CLAMP collectively*