Well, that was fun
I am now sitting down to recover after giving my Golden Retriever, Lucy, a bath, or actually, a shower. Let's just say it didn't go very well. After she was clean enough, I was also dripping wet from head to toe because, of course, the shower is really not big enough for my gi-normous beheamoth dog. So, she hung out of the shower part way, getting the floor completely soaked. And then whenever I'd go to wash the part of her that actually fit in the shower, I would, of course, be leaning into the shower stream, so I'm a little damp too.

Normally, I let the groomer take care of our beloved pooch. But today it was an emergency. We had just gotten back from this lovely walk in the woods, and I was sitting to have a lovely cup of coffee while writing in my lovely journal.

Suddenly, I hear snuffling and snorting in the weeds behind the house. And there is Lucy, panting with that silly grin on her face saying, "look at the neat raccoon crap I just rubbed all over my head!"

So, 4 giant-sized towels later, our dog is mostly clean. At least smell-able.

The irony is that I had the shower stall in mind for bathing her instead of the bathtub because our son's allergist said we needed to wash the cats and dog frequently to cut down on the dander in the house. Okay, fine. So, he said, just walk your dog into the shower and spray her down. He made it sound oh-so easy.

We won't even talk about bathing the cats. That's not going to happen.

Scott and I were talking about the busy squirrels in the backyard last weekend, and how they rush and run around burying their acorns for the winter. Lucy gets really agitated whenever they enter her "domain." She walks in circles around the dining room table, whines, and generally makes sure one of us are looking at this terrible thing: a squirrel is trespassing. Scott said, Hey Lucy, leave the squirrel alone. At least he's working.

It really is true that she doesn't do too much work around the house, alhtough I thought of a couple of her various jobs, like eating the occasional bug so I don't have to flush it. And lately, she's become pretty adept at breaking up cat fights. I mean literal cat fights between our two cats. Other than that, she really is pretty lazy. Okay, she's also good at rubbing her head in raccoon crap (or whatever that nasty stuff was).

A Lutheran Question
This is something I've been wondering this week. Why did Martin Luther expand on the meaning of the Apostles' Creed instead of the Nicene Creed in the Small Catechism?

Poetry and Such
Cyberstones got me thinking more about poetry this morning. I say "more" about poetry because it's really always on my mind.

Lately, I've been working on a new children's book manuscript, and have been pondering all the things that rhyme with "-ing." Now you might say: Julie, there are a million words that rhyme with "-ing": following, saying, thinking, writing, flying, etc. And those are all gerunds; think of all the millions of others. And what about all the nouns? Anything, everything, nothing, etc.

But here's the problem, and this is why the poetry post over at Cyberstones got me thinking. The challenge of writing good verse (poetry that rhymes) is that the meter has to be perfect. So, say I want to rhyme the word "sting" with "anything." Well, if "sting" is an endrhyme, then it gets the emphasis, being a one-syllable word. But with almost any gerund, the stress is not on the "ing" but on the first syllable of the word, so then the meter gets thrown off.

The other consideration to keep in mind constantly is the number of syllables per line. For the piece I'm working on right now, I'm using a 4-line stanza with 7, 5, 7, 5 syllables per line. In order to make the rhyme work, make the meter work, and stay within the number of syllables per line, everything has to align perfectly.

That's why, as one who attempts to write poetry, I am always so in awe of Shakespeare or any of the great poets. The complexity of a sonnet, for example, is incredible. Complicated rhymes, very fussy meter, all sorts of crazy limits to syllables, etc. I mean it's like these poets like to see how many hoops they can force the English langugae through in order to get their thought out.

And that's what makes poetry great. And really, really hard to write well.

Birdies, Part Two
One problem with putting out birdseed in the yard is the fact that "extra" critters that are attracted to the seed other than birds, like rats (yuck), squirrels (cute), or raccoons.

After we moved here, I filled up our old bird feeder with seed and hung it out on a regular shepherd's hook in the backyard. The next morning, not only was every bit of bird seed gone, but the bird feeder was broken on the ground.

So I went to Wild Birds Unlimited to get some advice. They said my problem was definitely raccoons. We had lots of squirrels who liked our bird seed in Pittsburgh, but it always took them at least a few days to get through all the seed in the feeder, and in the meantime, birds got to snack too. But to have all the seed gone in one night? That wasn't going to work.

They recommended I get the pole system. Here's a link. I admit that it was a little pricey to get started. But what I got was a pole which I screwed into the ground. Then I added a raccoon baffle. This is a cylindrical type thing which goes around the pole which the raccoons (or squirrels for that matter) can't get around. Then, I got a new feeder to put at the top of the pole. It took awhile to attract the birds to the feeder, but now that they've learned I have some good cooking, we get all sorts.

It's funny to look at our pole now. There are all these muddy footprints under the raccoon baffle, but only birds can get past the baffle. So, it definitely works. The cool thing about the pole system, too, is that you can add extra hooks or "arms" to the pole, and have several feeders hanging from the one pole.

The photo above isn't incredibly great, but you can see my bird feeder on the top of the pole with the one arm and two other feeders. One is a suet feeder (which the woodpeckers like) and the other is the hummingbird feeder (which I should take down because the hummingbirds are all gone now). And of course, that's Lucy our dog on the porch. It looks like she's eating a stick or getting into some other kind of mischief.

Birdies, Birdies Everywhere!
I really like birds. Well, I should qualify that. I like birds when they're outdoors. Indoor birds freak me out. But outdoor birds I like. That's why I recently got a pole set-up thing from Wild Birds Unlimited. We now have a regular bird feeder, two hummingbird feeders, a suet feeder, and a finch feeder. Two of these were gifts from my dear friend Shirley Ubinger.

When we first moved, I set out the feeder with my sunflower seed and it took FOREVER for the birds to show up. Finally, about six weeks later, the first birds came to visit. I would almost hyperventilate with excitement when they came to my feeder.

We have so far identified these birds: the Tufted Titmouse, the Downy Woodpecker (he likes the suet), sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, Grackles, Mourning Dove, Black-capped Chickadee, and of course robins and crows. I REALLY almost hyperventilated when hummingbirds came to my kitchen window to drink from my hummingbird feeder. They are so fast and skittish that I couldn't move whenever they showed up. But I haven't seen any the last couple of weeks, so they're probably somewhere warmer by now.

Here's kind of a cool site on identifying birds.

I think partly I like birds a lot because they remind me of Jesus' comments about birds in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. They truly do not store or set things by, but the heavenly Father cares for them. Every meal is provided. Here is a cool sermon by Pr. Petersen on that topic.

Yes, I still exist...
So, after moving four weeks ago, I am finally sitting down to update my blog (which is still in its messed up state on Internet Explorer--sorry about that--if anyone has any ideas of how to fix it, please let me know).

We are now living in the lovely (but rainy) state of Indiana where my dog adores the sliding glass door. She sits there all day watching the squirrels roam up and down the trees in the back yard. Also have some tiny hummingbirds coming to my window to my new birdfeeder which I love (thank you Shirley).

We are slowly getting settled in our new home, but still dealing with frustrations and challenges that come with moving a household to a new state.

Tomorrow our furniture is getting delivered. We finally bought new bedroom furniture after 16plus years of marriage. The other furniture now will occupy the guest room.

Then on Wednesday, I'm going to re-take the driver's test. Yes, I said retake, but I will say nothing more about that subject--except that I now know how many days a driver with a probationary license has to wait before he/she can have another passenger in the car who isn't an adult. Indiana has some goofy laws about drivers knowing dumb facts like that in their driver's manual. So...I am going to the BMV on Wednesday to PASS my written exam and get my driver's license.

More updates to come...

Journals, Poetry, and Pens
So today I put the last post in my journal, which I've used since last December. I normally fill up a journal in about three months, so either I didn't write as much in the first part of 06 or this journal is just bigger than other ones I get. It's always a mixed bag to finish a journal. In a way, it is gratifying because it reminds me that I am writing regularly, and adding to my journal ideas for stories, along with the thoughts of everyday life. It's also a little sad because once I set aside a journal, I sometimes forget some of the ideas and move on to other things--but the great thing is I can always go back and use the ideas some other day.

I encourage everyone to keep a journal--even if you don't consider yourself a writer. I always find that writing out things I'm thinking for my eyes only really helps me to think through decisions, solidify ideas, etc. My agent gave me this beautiful journal and bookmark from Italy, and that's the next one I'm going to start tonight.

While I'm at it, I might as well give a plug for the best journal-writing pen on the planet. It is a Pilot Precise V5, extra fine in black. The best! I read that Pres. Bush really likes Sharpie pens. I like those too, but not for journal writing.

Yesterday I found at our local library a new book called Writing Metrical Poetry by William Baer. It is awesome. He goes through the opening chapter discussing how language is the greatest tool of human beings, pointing us to the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel and reminding us that little in life can be achieved without language. My husband, who just returned from Russia, made the observation to me yesterday that he felt really out of place when he was sitting in a lunchroom with only Russian-speakers all around him. He noticed several deaf girls sitting together in the room also and reflected that they maybe felt as left out of the conversation as he was, since he spoke no Russian. Language binds people together in a way we sometimes take for granted.

Baer reflects further that literature is a wonderful use of language, giving expression to any and every human condition. Then he conclues:

"Thus, great literature can be described as the most sophisticated use of man's greatest tool to consider the most important human subjects with the purpose of moving the reader to serious thought while also affecting the emotions of the heart" (2).

Cool, eh?

A Room with a View
Last week, I had the chance to go to Fallingwater, one of the homes Frank Lloyd Wright designed here in Western Pennsylvania. It's a lovely place that fits organically into the landscape. I remember the first time I saw the countryside surrounding Fallingwater. I had seen many photos of the home in the past, but it was along the road leading to the house that I saw the large, rectangular boulders jutting out from the hillside and realized that they must have been Wright's inspiration for the design of the house.

We toured the house, which is actually situated over the creek and a small waterfall. Everywhere in the home, Wright designed the rooms to be close to nature, and the views are spectacular. He also created all these fabulous nooks and crannies and writing corners where I could definitely see myself writing lots of books!

And it got me to thinking about the creative process and the environment. Could I write a better book--or have more creative ideas for books--if I lived in a place like Fallingwater? Not very many people have that type of opportunity to be so close to nature, and have the absolute ideal, picturesque setting in which to create. But that's my latest question: does it matter where I write? Would it change the writing itself?

I'm due to read The Right to Write by Julia Cameron, which I re-read every summer. In that book, as in some of her other writings, she emphasizes writing in the midst of life. Many people hope to take that sabbatical to write their great American novel. But most people can't take a year off their lives. So, the key is to write in the midst of all the busy-ness, the activities, the long work days. So, my gut tells me that no, where I write doesn't matter.

But then I look at a place like Fallingwater, and I am just dying to get to my journal, and sit at one of those fabulous desks overlooking the creek. And it's maybe that response--that longing to write--which a closeness to nature helps.

Uh-Oh
Pittsburgh Steelers fans are beside themselves after Ben Roethlisberger's motorcycle accident yesterday. Many are downright selfish, disappointed that his performance as a football player could be jeopardized--and their own hopes for a second Steelers superbowl victory could be dashed.

I've heard many a pastor say that anything (even football) can become a god, and thus we break the1st commandment. Of course, we can enjoy a good game and not "worship" the sport, but I have witnessed many people here in Pittsburgh who love their Steelers so much that the performance of a team in a game actually affects their emotional outlook for days on end--for good or bad. That's when we are in danger of breaking the 1st Commandment. Now, I'm not saying that people who are concerned about Big Ben now are breaking the 1st Commandment. I'm simply saying that holding anything in our hearts as more important than God would be wrong.

I hope Ben recovers. Even with a full recovery, however, I can't imagine that getting beat up during football games would actually help him this fall.

I'm 37 years old, and really it wasn't until I became a mother 10 years ago that I started realizing that I have limitations--and that I'd better be responsible. That's not to say that I went around hang gliding and riding motorcycles without a helmet before then. But it was all the responsibilities of being a mom that made me change my attitude. It's the folly of youth to think that they are immortal, and yet that's what often gives young soldiers the courage to face death everyday. Anyway, here's the latest on Ben. Sounds like he may not even have had a motorcycle license.

Good Search
Recently, we discovered a new search engine, which you can use like Google, which helps raise money for charity. It's called Good Search. You can enter the name of our church, Concordia Lutheran Church, in Pittsburgh, PA, and for every search you do, the church gets a penny. It seems like it would take awhile to earn any significant amount of money, but it could add up if enough people do it. So, it would be awesome if a bunch of people make that their homepage and then do all their searches through that site.

A Note on Cheep! Cheep!
A few people in Pittsburgh have asked me where they can find my book. Well...you can always order it from Amazon or someplace like that (and for more info, you can go to my website: juliestiegemeyer.com). There are also a number of copies available at the Barnes & Noble at the Waterfront, FYI. Thanks for asking!!

Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen is one of my all-time favorite authors. We watched "Pride and Prejudice" about a week ago, and I just re-read the book over the weekend. The movie is a great adaptation of the book, although as is often the case with book-to-movie screenplays, scenes were compressed or multiple scenes lumped into one, etc. However, there were some places in the book that read just like the screenplay.

After finishing the book yesterday, I realized a couple of things. First, compared to the manners of Austen's day, most Americans are basically cave men or apes or something when it comes to how we treat one another. In Victorian England, the standards of decorum were very high. And Austen's writing captures that aspect of her society, while at the same time using words that are exactly right and ring true emotionally. That's at least in part why her books have endured.

I've also decided I'm going to have an all-Austen movie week (or two) this summer and watch "Sense and Sensibility," "Emma," and I may even look for "Mansfield Park." And I'll at least re-read one of those books--maybe all of them.

Kinda Cool
Yesterday I got a surprise at my doorstep (and no, it wasn't a stork). It was a box from Concordia Publishing House full of copies of my Thanksgiving book in a paperback version. That was cool! I didn't even realize it was going to be a paperback, so it was a nice surprise. This is the link to CPH for the hardback edition. I don't see the paperback version on the CPH Web site yet, but I'm sure it'll be there soon.

Cool!

Emeril and Me
Last night I was flipping channels for a few minutes after another freezing-cold baseball game (in which my son got 3 singles--way to go, Jacob!), and came across the food network's Emeril Live show. It was hot dog night on the show (whatever that means). When my remote landed on the channel, he had just diced a bunch of onions, put them in some olive oil to saute, and was getting some scattered oohs and aahs from the crowd. Then he diced some tomatoes, cutting them into large-ish hunks and added them to the pan with the onions.

And then, I couldn't believe what happened next.

The crowd started clapping and cheering, as if he had accomplished some great feat. They were hooting and hollaring because he had thrown some cut-up tomatoes in a stinking frying pan!!

And it occurred to me that I would be a much happier cook if only people would clap and cheer every time I, say, tear up some lettuce leaves and toss them in a salad bowl, or drain some spaghetti noodles, or perhaps--gasp--dump some applesauce into a bowl! Then I'd toss away my writing pen and be in the kitchen all day long, right?

So, I guess what my kitchen needs is a cheering, oohing and aahing studio audience. But, until I get that, I guess I'll just keep my sharpened pencils close by.

The Book of Lists and other miscellaneous thoughts
How much I post on my blog is in direct relation to the amount of time I have to write, so I have been cranky lately without much writing time. However, I thought I'd post something about a book I found at the library called, The Reading Teacher's Book of Lists. It's produced by Jossey-Bass Teacher and edited/compiled by Edward Fry and Jacqueline Kress. It's got some really interesting info, such as vocabulary builders, teaching ideas, plus lots of other tidbits. Here was a list I thought was kind of cool:

The Most Common Books in Libraries (I'm leaving off the names of the authors as a little quiz. Any you can't remember?)

1. Census
2. Bible
3. Mother Goose
4. The Divine Comedy
5. The Odyssey
6. The Iliad
7. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
8. Hamlet
9. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
10. The Lord of the Rings
11. Beowulf
12. Don Quixote
13. Koran
14. Aesop's Fables
15. The Night Before Christmas
16. Arabian Nights
17. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
18. Garfield by Jim Davis
19. Macbeth
20. Gulliver's Travels
etc.

Now, all of these (and the other five I didn't feel like typing in the top 25) seemed completely obvious, except for GARFIELD BY JIM DAVIS??? That's right up there with Beowulf and Hamlet and the Bible? I thought that was sort of amusing.

P.S. Those multiple question marks in my last paragraph are dedicated to Pastor Petersen. Enjoy!!!

The Land that Inspired Narnia
I read an article last week in our AAA newsletter with some interesting info on the land that possibly inspired some of the setting C.S. Lewis' beloved Narnia books.

This is a photo of Dunluce Castle in Ireland, near where Lewis spent his childhood in the rolling hills of the Antrim Coast. This castle is said to have inspired Lewis' Cair Paravel from the Narnia books. Travelers can also visit St. Mark's Church in Dundea where Lewis was baptized as well as his childhood school Campbell College.

Although he was born in Ireland and spent much of his childhood there, Lewis spent most of his adult life in southern England, in Oxford where he studied and later taught. Here's a quote from the article: "Lewis' former home, The Kilns, is also located in Oxfordshire. The wild ground, lake and wooded hills of the once isolated home provided inspiration for Lewis as he wrote." (sigh--does that not sound like a writer's paradise???)

Anyway, so that's another trip I'll take someday. We actually have seen the Eagle and Child in Oxford, the pub where the inklings (Lewis and his buddies) gathered frequently. That was cool. And then we went to that huge bookstore. Blackwells, is it? I just love England.

Google Earth & Stuff
I've been sort of on a hiatus from my blog because I'm having problems getting all my info to show up correctly for people who use Internet Explorer. From what I've learned, it's a problem with Blogger. If you view it from another browser, like Mozilla Firefox, all appears to be fine. Anyhoo...please ignore the weird look of the blog. I'll keep trying to figure it out.

Yesterday I went to Google earth and downloaded this free program so that I can zoom in on a satellite photo of ANYWHERE ON EARTH! Most of you have probably heard of this before, and I had too, but I'd never taken the time to download the program. I found our neighborhood, and we were looking at interesting places all over the earth. We figured out that some of the photos were probably quite old (at least a year or so in our neighborhood), but still, it's kinda cool.

Peeky Eggs Update
Today I:
- revised a picture book manuscript that will be published next year;
- finished up some game instructions for the Sunday school curriculum I'm working on;
- went to pick up my son's baseball uniform;
- made pancakes (it is Saturday after all);
- did other various and sundry things around the house.
Now that I'm finishing up these other writing projects, I'm feeling ready to move onto something new. Will be pondering that...

In the meantime, I decided to add some photos of the peeky eggs production from last week. Thanks again to Doodles and Noodles for her the recipe. Anyway, here's the first picture:

The first step in making the peeky eggs is to make the egg shells. The only ingredients are sugar and egg whites. I used a substitute for egg whites, called meringue powder (a Wilton product). Using an egg-shaped mold, I pressed the sugar mixture into the mold, and then turned it over onto a piece of waxed paper. After a couple of hours, the outer part of the shell is dried, so I scraped the "innards" out to make these hollow shells. These then dried overnight.


Next, I made the frosting, which serves as the "glue" inside the egg to stick the decorations to. It also used as the piping along the edges of each half and the front which holds the two halves together. This was the toughest step, mostly because a) I am completely inept at cake decorating (just ask my son--his cake from his 7th birthday is still a scary memory for me); and b) I don't have the proper tools. So, what you see here is the frosting mess.


Here I am almost finished with the project. This is not a terrific picture of the finished product, but you can see on the right my finished eggs, which--even in spite of my piping fiasco--still look pretty impressive. That's the cool thing about this project. You can pretty much mess it up entirely and the eggs still look awesome in the end.

Inside my peeky eggs I put little birds and eggs. I think I found a couple of small butterflies to put in a couple too.

Back Home from Gettysburg
After church on Easter Sunday, we left for a 3- day hiatus in Gettysburg. It was a good choice. The drive wasn't bad--only 3-4 hours and just enough to do to a) not be bored, and b) not be overwhelmed with sightseeing. A perfect post-Easter trip. The weather was fantastic--the trees are leafing out, the tulips were blooming, the grass was Ireland-green. We took an auto tour with a CD (thanks, Debbie!) and drove around the battlefields, trying with all our might to imagine how this beautiful and peaceful place could be the sight where a terribly bloody battle took place in 1863. Bulletholes in old buildings attested to the fact that yes, this really was the place where the Confederate and Union soldiers met in terrible conflict which raged over three days. We noted that at least two chaplains were killed. I'm sure many more than that died, but we saw markers for at least two.

We really enjoyed the Dobbin House (here's some cool history on the building) and Farnsworth House, both old homes that have been turned into charming restaurants that serve delicious food where it felt like we were transported back to colonial America. All in all, a great brief getaway.

Now...back to the laundry.

Good Friday - It's All About Jesus
...Uplifted for the world to see He hangs in strangest victory,
For in His body on the tree He carries all our ill.
(HS98 824)

His life, His all He gave When He was crucified;
Our burdened souls to save, What fearful death He died!
But each of us, though dead in sin,
Through Him eternal life may win.
(HS98 821)

Here are some wonderful thoughts about Good Friday.

And the lilies at church have arrived, so Easter is coming...

Peeky Eggs
Here's a link to my illustrator's blog, Doodles and Noodles. Carol is a terrific illustrator as well as my good friend, and she's going to be putting up her darling sketches on her blog. So, take a look. In this post, she shows an adorable chick looking into what she calls a "peeky egg." (Love that name!) She shared with me the recipe for how to make them (and I think the links on her post may have some of that info). So, right now my countertop is filled with sugary eggshells drying.

Radio Interviews and Spelling Bees
Today I have a radio interview with KFUO in St. Louis on their Issues, Etc. program on my new book Mommy Promises. Hopefully, I won't sound too idiotic. Public speaking is not exactly my strong suit--not that this is public speaking per se, but still. It's close enough to make me a nervous wreck. But it's nice they're having me on the program and also nice that they made the book their book of the month. And I will say that these radio interviews have definitely gotten easier over time.

And we found out last night that our Jacob will be in the 4th grade spelling bee next week. I've been asking him about it for weeks, and finally he announced last night he would be in the bee. I asked him how long he's known. "Oh, for a few days," he said. I just roll my eyes.

I was a judge for the spelling bee the last two years since it's supported by the PTA. It's an exciting event for the 4th and 5th graders in the school.

So, back to my public speaking angst. Jacob can spell effortlessly, just like me. But I can't spell the words out loud. I can write down any word and spell it correctly probably 99% of the time. But saying the actual letters out loud?? No way. I stammer, I hesitate, I go brain-dead. But Jacob can spell aloud. And he also--as much as he hates being up in front of people--doesn't get nervous, at least not as much as many kids I hear about.

Here's kudos to those of you who are quick-witted and articulate (like my husband) and can spell out loud (like my son). I'll stick to my pen and paper.

Walk the Line
So, we finally watched Walk the Line last night, the movie about Johnny Cash. First of all, let me just say how glad I am that I am not rich and famous, which leads to all sorts of problems.

The movie reminded me of Ray in some ways. Obviously, they're both about very successful musicians. And both were acted superbly. But Ray Charles and Johnny Cash were similar in other ways. They both were raised in poor, southern families, both experienced tragedy when they were young, both became successful musicians, both had drug addictions and difficulty in relationships.

Another striking feature of this film is how it portrays Johnny Cash's father. If it's at all accurate, he was extremely cruel. He didn't appear to be physically abusive, but the emotional scars he left on his son were with him his whole life. It reminds me how powerful parents are in the lives of their children. And reminds me to pray a lot more.

Joaquin Phoenix is one of my favorite actors. He is extremely versatile. He can be scary and tyranical (as in Gladiator), simple and yet heroic (as in Signs), and fabulous in every way (as in The Village). In this movie, he embodies Johnny Cash so convincingly. Cash has a very distinctive voice and Phoenix nailed it. Reese Witherspoon was also stunning. The fact that they both sang their parts shows just how versatile both of them are.

Here's an interesting website called Rotten Tomatoes. This is the link to the Walk the Line review. Apparently, the site looks at lots of reviews and then figures out which ones are "rotten" and which are "fresh."

Cool Photography Web site
Smithsonian's 3rd annual photo contest has its finalists on its web site. These are some spectacular pictures. Go here to check them out.

Cheep, cheep indeed!!
Check out this adorable picture. Real cheeping!! My illustrator and I are doing book signings this book for Cheep! Cheep! Fun!

Our Favorite Local Band
Scott and I have both written about Good Brother Earl before, but now they have a new CD, which I'm really enjoying (thank you, John!). Here's a link that will take you to their updated website, and directly get you to the info about their new CD, "Perfect Tragedy." I particularly like the song "Fighting Gravity," which you can hear in its entirety from this link. They are having a CD release party at the Rex on the South Side here in Pittsburgh this Sat. night. Cool!

Growing in Christ Sunday School Materials
Just got my author copy of the Fall 2006 Growing in Christ Sunday school materials for the middle grades from Concordia Publishing House. They look awesome! It's so great to see how all our ideas, brainstorming, and writing turned into these cool lesson leaflets, games, and posters. I was only one of the writers for the middle grade level (which is roughly 3rd/4th grades). This was the first quarter we wrote, which was the hardest for me. Writing curriculum is in a way very technical writing, which is somewhat different than what I normally do. But the project has been a joy in many ways.

37 Flowers!!
Look at what my adorable husband gave me as an early birthday present--37 flowers!!

(And no, I'm not saying why there are 37 of them. That's top secret. It wouldn't have anything to do with how many years old I am, so don't even ask.)

Pancake Day
This morning, I made pancakes again, and decided to be more intentional about making weirdly shaped pancakes. My son helped.

He made this one on the right, which he thought looked a lot like LeBron James playing basketball. Don't you think?



This one looks to me like a shamrock. I admit it's a tad too "blobby," but still... Is this a sign that I should continue working on my St. Patrick project???








And, alas, this one...well, I think it may properly be called blob. Just can't see anything else in it, except maybe a brain. Brainy-cake?

Unfortunately, the next two Saturdays I won't be able to make pancakes (unless I get up at the crack of dawn, which generally doesn't happen). But stay tuned for more pancake fun!

A Grammar Goddess?
My latest pet peeve is how often "LESS" and "FEWER" are messed up. You use "less" before a mass noun, like salt or water. So you'd say, "A little less salt, please." But you do not say (as I found in the book I'm reading) "...he sustained less injuries than I did." AARGH!!!! It's FEWER!! Use fewer when you are describing a plural noun. Thanks to Aardvark for this fun quiz. And to the Chicago Manual of Style too. I love that book.

How grammatically correct are you? (Revised with answer key)

You are a GRAMMAR GOD!

Congratulations! If your mission in life is not already to preserve the English tongue, it should be. You can smell a grammatical inaccuracy from fifty yards. Your speech is revered by the underlings, though some may blaspheme and call you a snob. They're just jealous. Go out there and change the world.
Take this quiz!








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Signs of Spring
Even though it's snowing lightly outside, I am relishing in the signs that spring is coming. My daffodils are 6 inches high. No buds yet, but getting close. The crocuses are blooming. The robins are hopping around. Can't wait for my lilacs. But the waiting is good. It reminds me that better is coming, that this life is not all there is.

One of my favorite things all year is waiting for the scent of Easter lillies. When we go to church on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, if I go in the back way to church, I get a whiff of the Easter lillies waiting in the stairwell, ready to adorn the altar. Not yet, but soon, they seem to trumpet.

I love this quote by Luther: "This life, therefore, is not righteousness but growth in righteousness, not healthy but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise; we are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it; the process is not yet finished, but it is going on; this is not the end, but it is the road; all does not yet gleam with glory, but all is being purified."

So Stinkin' Excited, Part 2
When I was in college, one of my summer jobs was working on the custodial staff at Concordia College in Ann Arbor. This was not fun. The worst part was cleaning the bathrooms in the students dorms. The men's bathrooms especially were pretty darn gross. (This was actually not my worst job ever. That post will have to come another day.) What I wouldn have given then to have been able to use this fabulous new product in those nasty bathrooms!

Today, I went shopping with my friend. She said her mom had tried this product, Mr. Clean's magic eraser along with Scrubbing bubbles and that it cleaned her bathroom tub in a snap. So, my friend and I both got one.

All I have to say is that our tub has never looked so beautiful. Yes, beautiful. That is the word for it. Scrub brushes, comet, scary smelling bleachy type stuff--nothing worked like the bubbles and mr. clean. So. Totally. Awesome.

I know, you're thinking, "Julie, you really need to get out more." And that's probably true. But it's also true that nothing says "I love you" to your family more than a beautiful tub. Am I right or am I right??

So Stinkin' Excited!!
We got the itinerary for our Israel/Egypt trip this November, and it looks so awesome!!! We are getting very excited. The first 8-9 days are going to be in Israel, going to all the traditional sites--Nazareth, Jerusalem, the Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea, Jericho...all cool stuff. Then, we can add on 3-4 more days and go into Egypt. We'll travel across the Sinai peninsula, spend a day at the pyramids/sphinx, do touristy stuff in Cairo, and then have a free day in Cairo. So awesome!

A Really Nice Pastor's Wife Post
So, I discovered Our Little House on the Prairie, another Lutheran pastor's wife's blog. There are more of us around than you think! She had a really nice post last week called "I Love My Man in Uniform"--and what a great title--about her husband preaching a sermon. Really well put!

In my husband's sermon last Wednesday, my meatloaf got a mention. He called it "divine." I must admit, it is a good meatloaf recipe (from my mom). And it was a great sermon too. It was actually an interesting evening because that was my very-cranky-don't-want-to-go-to-church-or-anywhere-else night. I think I crabbed at hubby a little, he probably dished it back, etc. But there he was, at the pulpit, telling me about God's grace, pointing me to my Savior. Just like always.

Is it a sign???
A friend of mine told me a few days ago that I should write a book about penguins. So, I've had that in mind lately.

Then, I decided to make pancakes on Saturday a.m. When I got to the last of the batter, I scraped out the bowl, and look at the shape it made!! Does this not look like a penguin, holding a baby penguin?? I mean, seriously. It must be a sign. And look at the way the picture is taken, with the sunlight falling across the plate in such a glowing manner. Doesn't that just confirm the fact that this penguin pancake was heaven-sent?

It couldn't be my imagination, could it??

Saint Patrick's Day + One
I spent much of January reading about Saint Patrick. I read How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill, which I loved because he is just so dang bold in his thesis. I mean, that's a topic sentence, eh? (And a catchy title.) Another great book was Philip Freeman's excellent biography of Patrick called St. Patrick of Ireland. The book I liked least was Stephen Lawhead's historical-ish/fictional account of Patrick called Patrick: Son of Ireland. In his story, he had Patrick become a druid during his years of slavery and then become a pseudo-Christian/druidic priest when he returned to Ireland. But...his lavish detail and characterization were a lot of fun to read.

Dispelling the myths:
- We have no idea if Patrick actually used a shamrock to teach the Trinity, although it's certainly possible. He never wrote about it. It's just one of those legends that's been around for eons.

- The "Lorica" or Breastplate of Patrick, which begins, "I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity..." was probably not written by Patrick as scholars date it back to around the 7th century (Patrick lived in the 4th). But it certainly captures the spirit of Patrick's teaching and confession.

-Of course, Patrick magically ridding the island of snakes is ridiculous.

-But the leprachauns...they're real! :)

The thing I love most about reading his letters is this: here is this Christian bishop and missionary who lived fifteen centuries ago, confessing the faith with urgency and orthodoxy. We are blessed to have his faithful witness speak across the ages to us.

Here is an excellent Trinitarian section from his Confessio. (From the translation of Patrick's letters by John Skinner, p. 77)

There is no other God—there never was and there never will be. God our father was not born nor did he have any beginning. God himself is the beginning of all things, the very one who holds all things together, as we have been taught.

And we proclaim that Jesus Christ is his son, who has been with God in spirit always, from the beginning of time and before the creation of the world—though in a way we cannot put into words. Through him everything in the universe was created, both what we can see and what is invisible. He was born as a human being and conquered death, rising into the heavens to be with God. And God gave to him power greater than any creature of the heavens or earth or under the earth, so that someday everyone will declare that Jesus Christ is Lord and God. We believe in Him and we wait for him to return very soon. He will be the judge of the living and the dead, rewarding every person according to their actions.

And God has generously poured out on us his Holy Spirit as a gift and token of immortality. This Spirit makes all faithful believers into children of God and brothers and sisters of Christ.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Here's a little summary of St. Patrick that I wrote up.

Saint Patrick: The Man Behind the Legends

St. Patrick lived in fourth-century Briton, and his home was probably on the west coast of modern-day England. His grandfather was a priest (in the days before priestly celibacy) and his father was a deacon in the church.

At the age of sixteen, Patrick was captured by slave traders and sold to a slave owner in Ireland. There, for six long years, he labored in the woods and pastures of Foclut near the Western Sea where tended sheep. At first, Patrick, traumatized by his capture, sank into deep misery. But in time, his faith, which had been shallow as a child, grew and deepened. He prayed night and day, a hundred times a day and long into the night. Then he had a dream that a ship was ready to take him back to Briton. He likely escaped during the summer months, making his way through the forests and bogs of Ireland, trying to hide his slave torc, the gold ring around his neck, as well as his foreign accent. Indeed, when he made it to the coast, his ship was ready, and after a little convincing, he climbed aboard and headed back home.

Back in Briton, Patrick decided to study for the priesthood. But he had missed important years of his education. Late in life, he still regretted missing those formative years and lamented about how poor his Latin was.

But Patrick did not become bitter about his years of slavery. Instead, he had another dream. In this one, the Irish begged him to come back to them. Surprisingly, Patrick decided to do just that—return to the land of his captivity to bring the good news to Jesus to the Irish people.

Many years later, after becoming a priest and then finally a bishop, Patrick's dream to return to Ireland was realized. He returned to the land of druids who still performed human sacrifice. He returned to the land which was poor and uncivilized (unlike his Romanized Briton). He returned to the land which at that time was considered "the ends of the earth." He returned to the land where he was a slave.

Unlike the legends, he did not drive snakes from Ireland. He did not find pots of gold or leprechauns. But he did bring the message of salvation through Christ to a people lost in sin and darkness.

Did Patrick explain the concept of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—with a shamrock? Perhaps. It's not known for certain. But what we do know by letters that Patrick himself penned is that he believed, confessed, and preached about God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that that Irish people clung to this message of salvation.

In that time, when Roman civilization was crumbling, many people believed that the end of the world was near. So Patrick took the message of the Christian faith with urgency to Ireland, and God blessed his work.

In the years after Christianity spread in Ireland, the country was transformed. As Thomas Cahill writes, "Ireland became a Christian culture, where slavery and human sacrifice became unthinkable, and warfare, though impossible for humans to eradicate, diminished markedly." Slavery and human sacrifice was all but eradicated, women began to have more status in society, and monasteries became centers of learning.

That one man—a former slave—could have accomplished all this is remarkable. But it wasn't one man who had achieved so much. It was a gracious God who blessed the humble efforts of a man whose message of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness and mercy of God transformed history.

Sources:

· Patrick's own writings: Confessio and Letter to Coroticus (The Confession of Saint Patrick, translated by John Skinner, foreword by John O'Donohue; Image Books, Doubleday, 1998.)

· St. Patrick of Ireland by Philip Freeman, Simon and Schuster, 2005.

· How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill, Doubleday, 1995.

A Slight Caveat
I mentioned a couple of days ago that I am reading Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. I'm still reading it, although as I go along, I'm not liking it as much as the beginning. The book is not exactly G-rated, FYI. Still, it's an interesting read. Her writing is fresh, lively, conversational, witty, smart--everything a New York editor is dying to see.

The Blessings of Sleep
So, I was cranky and tired last night, grouching at my family, etc. This is the kind of crankiness not even a bowl of ice cream will fix. Not a pretty picture. Then I got a good night's sleep. When I woke up, everything just seemed easier to tackle. You know what I mean? It's not so much that I couldn't manage to wash the dishes last night. It just seemed so LARGE of a project. Sleep is a blessing in that way: it gives us perspective.

Now, an interesting thought about sleep and breathing. Did you know that some animals are conscious breathers? This means that they have to consciously think about every breath they take. Dolphins and whales are conscious breathers. Wouldn't that stink?? I mean, I have enough to think about. Thankfully, my body breathes without me making the decision to do so.

So then the question becomes how do dolphins and whales sleep? See here, and here for more info. Scientists have found that half of the dolphin's brain is asleep, while the other half is sort of dozing. That way they can still come to the surface when they make the decision to breathe. Then, I guess, the other half snoozes at some point too. Isn't that wild?

So, that's how dolphins are able to sleep and still breathe consciously. I'm so glad I'm an unconscious breather. Aren't you? Now I'm thinking about all the things that I wish were unconscious too. Wouldn't it be great if meal preparation were unconscious? I would just show up in the kitchen, and then I'd just sort of unconsciously figure out what to make, how to make it, avoid burning it, etc. Then I'd show up at the table, and I'd think, "Cool, I hadn't really thought about having chili for dinner, but here it is!" That'd be awesome.

A Warm Day
It was a mild weekend here in Pittsburgh. Yesterday was sort of a Seattle-ish day, pouring in the morning, and rain hung in the air all day. The kind of humidity that makes your skin stop itching constantly from being so dry. This morning, I took my dog on a long run in shorts and a t-shirt (I was in the shorts and t-shirt, not the dog).

If you don't believe me that the weather is worthy of conversation, check out Pr. Petersen's post for today.

I'm reading a slightly bizarre but intriguing book called Julie and Julia. It's interesting for us bloggers. The author, Julie Powell decided to--in the span of 365 days--try out every Julia Child recipe in her first cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Then Julie Powell blogged about how the recipes turned out. It's really smart and insightful and makes me want to try some of the recipes. It also shows how blogging can sometimes lead to bestselling books. The most humorous part so far is when her husband, brother, and friend track down a piece of a cow bone. Then Julie has to scrape the bone marrow out of the bone to cook down (with butter, of course) a sauce for the steak she's serving. (And, no, I absolutely will not be trying that recipe--although the steaks did taste good, she said.)

Chirp! Chirp!
Ever wonder what birds you hear waking you up in the mornings? Check out this cool link to listen.

Today's the Day!
My newest book, Cheep! Cheep! is officially released today. Cheep! was illustrated by Carol Baicker-McKee, who is not only a wonderful friend, but also a fabulously talented artist and writer. We were very excited to be able to work on this project together. This is the first of at least three books we will be working on with Bloomsbury USA. The thing I love most about this book (in addition to the adorable illustrations) is that I wrote the whole story in 12 words or so, which all rhyme, of course! There aren't too many phonemes in the English language that can be used this way.

Here's one of the really nice reviews we got. We also saw write-ups in Parenting and Child magazine, which were very nice too.

Cover art copyright Carol Baicker-McKee

Publishers Weekly, February 13th (starred review)
"Take a family of adorable, three-dimensional chickens-constructed from velvety, cozily domestic terry cloth-add a text made up entirely of words with a giggle-inducing "eep" sound, and the result is this irresistible, inventive paper-over-board book. "Sleep" starts off the first spread, where a chicken family tries to get some shut-eye. A turn of the page shows a "Cheep" coming from the egg below their perch. Making a joint "Leap!" (the smallest chick uses its blankie as a parachute) the peeping protagonists land in a comic "Heap" and eagerly welcome their newest addition. Baicker-McKee (the FussBusters series) gives her absorbent cast minimalist facial features and highly streamlined appendages (the two-color backdrops are equally spare). But she comes up with an amazing array of expressions and comic poses; when the reconstituted family settles down on the perch for a group slumber party, the two smallest downy siblings share a priceless conspiratorial wink and hug. Young children will undoubtedly view the chick family as toys come to life and be thoroughly enchanted. Here's hoping another diphthong inspires a follow-up from this talented team."

Revisiting Old Projects
I've lately been reworking an story I wrote a few years ago about a Japanese girl whose family moved to the US. I wrote it while I was teaching ESL to international students several years ago. I brought into the story an element of Japanese culture which I love: origami. Origami is paper folding, and to see the perfect corners and folds of those who are good at origami is fun to watch.

Over the years, I've also come to love Japanese food, particularly the careful presentation of the food. My family and I ate at the home of a Japanese family several years ago, and I remember the cook's attention to detail in every aspect of the meal. I asked if I could help. She had me arrange seven different items for the appetizer. The carrots were cut just so, the cucumber sliced at an angle, etc. I started putting the seven items on the plate, but right away, she corrected me. The carrot was not aligned with the cucumber just right. That kind of attention we American cooks don't often have patience for. But I love it when a beautiful meal is laid before me at a sushi restaurant. Somehow, that's lost when we dish up tuna casserole!

A Good Movie
We watched The Great Raid a couple of nights ago, and I really enjoyed it. It's not fabulous, but a good war movie. Joseph Fiennes stars in it. It's about a little-known rescue of POWs who were being held by the Japanese in the Philippines during WWII. Some of the violence is a little brutal, but they don't show much close up. I liked how it showed the importance of the tactical planning that goes into successful military battles. I recommend it.

Stupid Church Signs
Well, today was the big victory parade for the Steelers. There was a lot of talk around town about whether or not to pull kids out of school for it. One school district even cancelled school for the day. Brother. It is just a football team. My son says everyone in his class was there, so way to go Brentwood. I heard one person on the radio say, "Well, I pulled my daughter out of school because this is just as important a day in history as she would study about at school." (sigh) If we as a society really honored the people who invent medicines and preach the Gospel and do important things, I suppose I wouldn't be feeling a little rankled today.

That's all bad enough. But as I've been driving around the past couple of days, I've noticed several church signs that make comments about the Steelers. And at this point, I must say, PUH-LEEEAZE!!!

The first one was: "God bless our Steelers!" When I drove by that with my ten-year-old, he said (not with my prompting, mind you): "Oh brother--you think Jesus cares about a football game??"

Another one: "Thy will be done--Go Steelers!" To which I say: do you think Jesus cares about a football game?

The next one: "Steelers fans, pray here first." Okay, now this could mean, let's pray and then go have fun at the game. It could also mean let's pray for the Steelers to win. To which I say: do you think Jesus cares about a football game???

I like this as a possibility: "Haul your sorry butt into church and pray for forgiveness!"

I don't normally rant and rave, but this is just getting a little much. I have no problem with church members enjoying a football game, but do these churches have nothing better to put on their signs? Apparently not.

Steelers WIN!!
That game was a nail-biter, but it was great for our city that the Steelers pulled it off. After the clock ran down, we banged on pots and pans on the front porch, which scared the dog and cats half to death. Then, even an hour or so after the game was over, we could still hear screaming and honking. So, we went up to our main street to check it out. People were thankfully just happy and celebrating in the street as cars went by and not turning over cars and burning them. I saw people this morning with super bowl Steelers shirts already and asked where they got them. The one woman I talked to said she got hers at Dick's last night at 10:30 or so, where there were at least a couple of hundred people buying Steeler gear. Anyway, it's crazy, but we're happy for the city.

Star Trek Quiz - Which one are you?
This was hilarious. Thanks to Cyberbrethren for this funny link.

My results:
You are Uhura

Uhura 85% Beverly Crusher 60% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 50% Jean-Luc Picard 50% Deanna Troi 50% Geordi LaForge 45% Will Riker 45% Chekov 40% Data 36% James T. Kirk (Captain) 35% Spock 32% Mr. Sulu 20% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 20% Mr. Scott 15% Worf 10%

You are a good communicator with a pleasant soft-spoken voice. Also a talented singer.

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Quiz

Who Knew, Part 2 - A History of Rhyme
I just finished How the Irish Saved Civilization (intriguing book, by the way), and discovered that rhyme was really not used in Greek and Latin poetry. Augustine liked rhyming words, like bona dona ("good gifts"). But check this out:

Rhyme appeared only occasionally in classical Greek and Latin poetry; it was used more extensively later, in songs of the medieval Roman Catholic church. Rhyme was not established as a technique in English poetry until the 14th century.
Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2003. © 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Cool, eh?

Who Knew?
Every once in a while I take a look at names of groups of animals. You know, a pride of lions, a pack of wolves, that sort of thing. Well, yesterday, I came across these fun websites that give all the names of every congregation of animal you can think of.

Here's a fun (and impossible) quiz. To look up all the names so you can complete the quiz, see here and here.

The most poetic ones are for the birds, literally:
- an unkindness of ravens
- a covey of patridges
- a host of sparrows
- a flight of swallows
- a bouquet of pheasants
- a parliament of owls
- a murder of crows (!)
- a dule of doves
- a murmuration of starlings
- a charm of finches

And some strange ones:
- a mob of emus
- a sounder of boars
- a shrewdness of apes
- a rhumba of rattlesnakes

There are lots more that are interesting, unexpected, and strange. It makes me wonder how these words came to be. I'll have to research into that.

About Moi!
My dear husband (who knows I hate being left out) has tagged me, so here goes:

Four jobs I have had (in chronological order)

• Assistant for a woman with disabilties
  
• Typist/copier/asst. for the English Dept. at Concordia College, Ann Arbor
  
• Receptionist at a veterinarian's office (which included doing odd jobs like taking 5 dogs at once out from the kennel to tinkle; monitoring a kitten getting claws surgically removed; being present with families as they put their sick/old animals to sleep)
  
• Secretary for a law firm in Fort Wayne, IN
  

Four places I have lived (chronologically)

• Lakewood, CO
  
• Seattle, WA
  
• Ann Arbor, MI
• Fort Wayne, IN

Four of my favorite foods:

• M & Ms with almonds
  
• I love to sample just about any kind of ethnic food
  
• Pizza
  
• Cake/brownies
  

TV shows that I like to watch:

• Alias
• CSI (Sometimes--when the gross-out factor doesn't gross me out)
• Seinfeld reruns
• the news
  

Four Movies I could watch over and over:

• The Lord of the Rings
• Band of Brothers
• You've Got Mail (It's got everything: bookstores, children's books and a golden retriever!)
• It's a Wonderful Life
  

Four places I would rather be:

• In the mountains
  
• On a beach
  
• In the hot springs pool in Glenwood Spring
  
• curled up with a book, hot chocolate and a warm fire
  

Four websites I visit:

• www.higherthings.org
• www.scbwi.org
• www.dictionary.com
• www.rhymezone.com
  

A New Sunday School Curriculum
Many of you know that I've been working for two years on a new Sunday school curriculum for Concordia Publishing House. The curriculum called "Growing in Christ" begins this fall--Fall of 2006. It's been a joy to work with the editors and other writers on this new project. The samples of the completed curriculum we're seeing are awesome. Here's a link.

I write for the Middle grade (3rd/4th grade) level along with two other writers. It's been a lot of fun especially putting together the Bible Discovery Guides, which give a lot of historical and geographical background to the Bible lesson for the day.

AFC Championship - The story of my two cities

I wrote the following essay over the weekend. The muse struck a little too late to get my reflections into the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but I thought I'd post them here:

Last week I watched the local news with interest as reporters from both Pittsburgh and Denver compared the merits, not only of the Broncos and the Steelers, but also of the cities of Denver and Pittsburgh. Why did that interest me? Because I'm a Denver native who has lived for the last six and half years in Pittsburgh.

A columnist from the Rocky Mountain News visiting here from Denver last week made the mistake of calling Pittsburgh a "butt-ugly town." He backed off his crude statement later in the week, but the sentiment behind it rankled me.

I have often thought about the differences between Denver and Pittsburgh. Colorado's beauty is dramatic—the skies are intensely blue, the sunsets are nearly always spectacularly red and pink and orange, and the mountains provide a gorgeous backdrop to the trendy and growing Denver metro area. My home state is full of variety too—the wide open plains, the bold granite peaks, the Aspen trees quaking on the hillsides. The Great Sand Dunes and Mesa Verde National Park are in the southwest section of the state. Further north, Rocky Mountain National Park (one of my favorite places on earth) bursts with natural beauty—streams, breathtaking vistas, tons of wildlife: elk, moose, beavers. There are great college towns like Boulder and other cities nestled up against the peaks, like Colorado Springs. Colorado is nothing if it's not dramatic and full of variety.

Pennsylvania's beauty is more subtle. Here I've discovered the incredible variety of trees (hence the name "Pennsylvania"—Penn's woods), the delicate ferns that grow on the forest floor, the wild turkeys that roam through neighborhoods. In South Park, I discovered that the sassafras tree bears leaves in three distinct shapes. I saw firsthand the age-old process of maple tapping at Round Hill Farm.

I also love that Pittsburgh's neighborhoods retain their old world charm. Pittsburgh is full of fabulous restaurants tucked away in neighborhoods that have been serving the same tried and true recipes for who knows how long--places like Max's Allegheny Tavern on the North Side, and unique spots like Primanti's on one end of the spectrum and the Grand Concourse on the other.

I've always loved (as much as my cars haven't) the brick-lined streets in our neighborhoods, like the gorgeous Hornaday Road in Carrick. When you step on a brick street, you know that it's been here longer than a decade. And it makes you wonder what life was like 50, 100 or more years before.

Other charms: the Strip District, with its specialty food shops—the train that runs through Wholey's, the delicious aroma of fresh-ground coffee at Presto George's. The lovely Heinz Hall with our jewel of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Some neighborhoods, like the area around Zion Lutheran Church in Lawrenceville seem like they've been pulled out of old Europe, with an American flair. These are things a casual observer who's in the city for a three-day stint isn't necessarily going to appreciate. But I know Pittsburghers do.

And many Pittsburgh homes retain their uniqueness with archways, stained glass, and interesting nooks and crannies in even modest homes. Every house is different, unlike many cookie-cutter newer suburbs in places like Denver.

A non-charming aspect of this "old-worldliness" is the fact that streets can change names numerous times within the span of just a few miles. This can make navigating the city tough-going. I must admit that my first couple of years here were difficult as far as getting around. I learned the hard way that I should never leave home without 1) a map, 2) detailed directions, and 3) a cell phone.

Yet, when I have gotten lost, I find people who really try to be helpful (they say: "you know where that old King's restaurant used to be?"—not exactly a good landmark for a newcomer) and always-friendly drivers—drivers who go out of their way to outdo each other in being friendly.

Every place is unique in its history. Colorado is known for its lively characters—people like Molly Brown of the Titanic or Doc Holiday who died in the mountains near Glenwood Springs. Colorado's gold rush is historic and many ghost towns that were built and died almost overnight attest to this part of Colorado's history. The homesteaders on the prairies of Colorado must have been hardy souls. The ancient Anazasi people scraped a city out of the sandstone in Mesa Verde in southwest Colorado.

Pennsylvania's history holds its own charms, especially its importance in American history. WQED just produced a television special on the French and Indian War and Pennsylvania's role in that "war that made America." And "George Washington slept here" is a sign that Pennsylvanians could boast. Within our borders is the Liberty Bell, that wonderful symbol of American freedom.

So, you ask: who did you root for in yesterday's game? Well, put it this way: I almost bought a black and gold shirt for myself today. (And I was glad the Steelers won!)

Journey to the Center of the Earth
Japanese scientists are planning next month to explore the center of the earth. Here's another link. They are going to drill into the sea floor to try to punch a hold through the rocky crust in order to help predict earthquakes.

Like Paul Harvey mentioned today, I wonder if they'll get to the other side of the world by drilling through?

Writing Like Groundhog Day?
I just read a great article by Marvin Olasky here. In it he talks about how writing is all about persistence and determination. One writer in the article says:

Moneyball author Michael Lewis says, "The most common pleasant thing people say to me about my writing is that it looks 'effortless.'" Then he confesses, "It is the opposite of effortless. . . . I probably do 20 drafts of each chapter. I write something over and over. It's like Groundhog Day. My writing process is sweaty and inelegant."

Ain't that the truth! I also like the quote from Michael Crichton: "Books aren't written. They are rewritten." That is so true. The fun of writing is the initial spark of the idea, the process of figuring that idea out, fleshing it out into words, and finally producing a draft. Then, it starts getting ugly. Change this, change that. Most of the time the rewriting fine-tunes the work, sharpens the vocabulary and overall, improves it. But sometimes the writing just dies from overworking it too much.

Quote for the New Year
I just started reading a book called "How the Irish Saved Civilization" by Thomas Cahill. It's a few years old, but was the beginning of a series he wrote called "Hinges of History." The second in the series is "The Gift of the Jews." It looks like there are at least two or three others in the series, one on the world before and after Jesus and another on the Greeks. They appear to be intriguing books, and I'm looking forward to getting into this one on the Irish.

Anyway, here is the great quote of the day (or year), which appears opposite the dedication page in How the Irish Saved Civilization:

"Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love."
- Reinhold Niebuhr