dancing elves!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9635244933

courtesy of lisa luksich

movie watch

Last night we watched White Water Summer (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094318/). This is a classic 80s movie with poor dialogue and a lot of 80s rock music. It's Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee and Mikey from the Goonies) and Kevin Bacon (a lot of stuff - you know him) though, so it's worth watching if you're in the mood.

update to safety, 101...

please note that I made a mistake in a prior blog entry. I said that one could purchase a key chain Chemical Defense Spray from the Crime Stop USA website. Apparently, this is not the case. You can order by phone: 888-577-SAFE (7233). [I have edited the prior blog entry]
sorry for any confusion!

trying a video posting...Happy Thanksgiving!

enjoy!

Christmas decorating, caroling, any yule-tide-ness of any kind prior to the conclusion of Thanksgiving dinner was looked down upon at home growing up - well, mostly it stemmed from my maternal grandmother. Not punishable, no. Just a dirty look for walking around humming White Christmas.
I am proud to say that tomorrow is yet Thanksgiving eve and I have Christmas music playing, decorations on the mantle, the tree stand ready, and Christmas wrapping paper purchased. As long as the focus is not a season of shopping, what better way to kick off the season of giving than with the season of thanks. Bring on the Bing Crosby!

word of the day

perfervid \puhr-FUR-vid\, adjective:

Ardent; impassioned; marked by exaggerated or overwrought emotion.

From Latin per-, "through, thoroughly" + fervidus, "boiling," from fervere, "to boil."

safety, 101

I went to a luncheon last week, and the speaker was from a group called Crime Stop USA (http://www.crimestopusa.net/). The guy had a surprisingly entertaining presentation (for a rather heavy subject), full of very useful, very basic things to remember to keep yourself and your family safe.

The overall thing to remember is that assailants are looking for a quick, easy target. Here are some tips on making yourself appear much too difficult, or at least the most undesirable victim:

• When walking from a store to the car, have your keys in one hand, and your bags in the other. Look like you're "on a mission" for that car and nothing is going to stop you. This puts out a much different vibe than if you're struggling with bags, digging through your purse for the keys, and simultaneously yacking on the cell phone.
• If you are a woman living alone (or even if you don't), keep a pair of large-sized, dirty boots on your porch. Or a big dog bowl that says "Killer" or "Butch" on the side!
• If you do find yourself in a kid-knapped or rape situation, the best thing you can do is talk - tell your assailant about yourself, about your family, about your kids, what you did last weekend, frustrations at work, your favorite vacation. In these situations, the motivator for the assailant is all about power and control - you are an object. Un-objectify yourself, become as human as possible to them. They probably won't immediately go away, but it may save your life.

I walked away with keychain device filled with the most powerful, reliable Chemical Defense Spray made that is legal and non-lethal - a combination of pepper spray, tear gas, and an ultraviolet dye that allows the police to more easily identify the individual. You can order one over the phone: 888-577-SAFE (7233)

These guys are comedians who do safety awareness presentations all over the country - it was very good and I would recommend them for any group.

Microsoft TerraServer

a cool tool!

this is an aerial of our property in maine, prior to the house - http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=10&X=2663&Y=26095&Z=19&W=1

our property begins just south of the structure you see in the photo, runs east to the road and west to the river.

enter your own address in on the left. I've found that this tool covers more of the rural areas than Google Earth.

hmm...let's see...

rilester river camps

thanks to wayne, the rilester river camps website is up, running, and incredibly professional looking. check it out: http://www.rilesterrivercamps.net/