tuning in

It's been awhile. Sorry about my absence. I have been checking in every now and then to see what's going on in everyone's lives. So about the books and music question........ Ever since I was little I have enjoyed reading. My faves these days: Red Moon Rising by Pete Greig and Dave Roberts- It shares the story of a growing movement around the world of 24/7 prayer. The stories about what God is doing through this movement are enough to bring you to tears. People are beginning to discover a deeper relationship with God than they imagined possible. They find out as they spend time with Him that he is a father at heart calling his children to his lap to pour out his love upon them and also to share his secrets with them. Anyways...Great book, you should check it out.

Redeeming Love continues to be one of my favorite novels and it is a modern day retelling of the book of Hosea and if you read it, make sure that you have a box of tissues handy. It's not just a girls book for all of you guys out there. My dad has read it and would agree with me.

Music hmmm...well I listen to quite a variety. I really love Jason Upton & Heather Clark (both worship leaders. Heather is from Canada) I, like Uncle Paul, also enjoy Celtic music.

I'm Back

Hey, guys. I'm back on again. For some reason the site suddenly wouldn't accept my password and I didn't want to find out what was going on because of everything else I had on my plate. Ralph and I have been on our Nominating Committee for church which requires a few extra hours this time of year. I was filling in for the chairman of the committee whom was out of town. Now we have the Annual Meeting tomorrow.
I wanted to weigh in on the music issue. I listen to some talk radio but with babysitting these days I listen to kids music more. I also listen to KTIS FM which is the contemporary music station; on most of the time. Because I listen to that, I hear many artists so don't have certain ones I listen to solely. Among the many I like are Robin Mark, Lenny LeBlanc and Paul Baloche whom we heard on our cruise last year. We grew very fond of their music for that week and still like it. I also like "Casting Crowns" and Nicole C. Mullens and another one I'm blanking on. Ralph's favorite is "Denver and the Mile High Orchestra". For those who haven't heard that group it is Christian Big Band music...outstanding. I don't listen to CD's as much anymore because I enjoy the variety on the radio.
Our latest project around here is tearing apart our mudroom. We're opening it up to extend our kitchen somewhat, will insulate, put in sheetrock, new flooring, cupboards, countertop, and closet.
I sent our condolences from the family to the Weisenhauses. I didn't know there was a place along with obituaries to greet the family of the deceased. They are a family that I have fond memories of because they cared about us as a family.

Favorite winter picture

This picture has everything you want in a good winter photo. It's a study of contrasts, notice the round mound of cold snow contrasted with the square angle of a hot stovepipe. Most winter pictures display icicles hanging from the roofline, this one features a stalagmite rising from the ground. Best of all in the upper right corner we have a modern art picture within this cool modern art photo. Truly this is the beauty of late winter captured on pixels. (copyright)

You are welcome to display your favorite winter or spring art.

Velvet Elvis

Hi, we Lakevillains just entered the world of hi-speed internet. So I'm flying around the eRound and ms says he had a lot of responses on his weather report of 3/17! I don't know anything about the emerging church technology, but I know everything is changing fast! Fasten your seat belts. Mars Hill was mentioned; have you read Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. One of the best books I've read in recent years. I haven't heard any of his sermons, but his writing and some of his testimony of starting this church in Grand Rapids, MI is amazing. Just the fact that within months of the first service (maybe weeks) there were hundreds attending.

Have I mentioned my favorite preacher/teacher aRound here? Bill Johnson is in Redding, CA and you can sample his style in weekly free podcasts at iBethel.org. I've heard him speak a few times in the past year in the Twin Cities area. I now consider him my other pastor. Also his books are more of my favorites. A couple examples are: When Heaven Invades Earth and The Power of a Transformed Mind. It's been about a year since I first heard of him and now I feel like he's an old friend!

Has this turned into another book review?

Unemployment update: I was off last week. The last place I put in ten days of work, but they can't afford to hire me due to lack of jobs being sold. Apparently the printing business is still a little slow around here. So I'm still looking and waiting and wondering what's next!

Weather to write home about

This is the NOAA image of the day. A 'strong extra tropical storm' is coming to bring some warm April showers. Maybe the snow will really melt. We need some tropical global warming after our cold month of March.












Here is an update of the temperature chart. (There were about a dozen comments last time i printed this.) Notice how cold it was for the whole month of March. The 'North Roaders' played hockey 3 times a week last month thinking each time would be our last chance for the season. Well, last week the weather really warmed up and the sun is staying out longer and longer now. Hockey season is over. PS how about the Minnesota Wild! Their first series with the Ducks will be tough.

Art, Ann, and Linda

Here's a picture of Art from the late '40s. I assume he was well into his 90s. I don't know how many children they had or where they are now...

name from the past?

I assume this is the person we all knew? I also wanted to say that Art Weisenhaus obituary was in the paper which I clipped out and can't find. If anyone wants to see it, I'll look again. I'll keep this short, since I doubt if it will work.

Kind of Blue

It was suggested that we review favorite CDs, books, etc. and it just happened that here I was with a couple minutes to spare! How rare.
First let me catch you up with the job situation. I worked the past 10 days at another place, which went quite well, I think! The superviser said he'd talk to the owner, possibly today, and then we'll sit down and talk. A veteran of the place told me he thinks I'll be hired. We'll see!
Meanwhile over the past month or so I've been contacted by a head hunter. (Resume on Monster) and have talked with Colorado Printing Co. in Grand Junction, CO. They really seem to like me, and I even considered going out and looking around with Denise, but I really feel like we're not done with MN yet. It has been exciting pondering the possibilities though. Does anyone have any Grand Junction memories? I don't think I ever got off the freeway and went to town.

Now, back to an old favorite album. If you asked most jazz lovers for a top ten list of best all-time jazz albums this would be on most of their lists. It's definitely one of my favorites. My only regret is that I didn't discover it until a few years ago. All these years and I only started appreciating it recently. Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. Recorded March2&April22, 1959 in New York. Very innovative for recording sessions in that they were almost entirely improvisational. Just very limited sketches of what they were to play thrown together just hours before the sessions by Miles. Check them out some time!

Book and Album

I just finished My Antonia by Willa Cather. I liked it a lot. I like her writing style. It's about life in Nebraska at the turn of the 20th century. If I wasn't living during the turn of the 21st century, I think I would like living back then. Willa Cather won a Pulitzer for another of her books.

I recently discovered a band called The Magic Numbers. They are a band from England composed of two sets of brother and sister. I'm a sucker for "sweet vocals" that aren't too sweet. You can listen to samples on Amazon. And of course you can see and hear them at YouTube.

Happy Birthday Dan!

My memory is really bad and my record keeping is even worse, but i think that 4-4 is Dan's birthdate. Here are a few photos from last summer.

Hope you have a great birthday.

Book Report

I usually go to the library every 2 weeks and go through the new books to find something to read at work and during spare time (in place of blogging). This title really caught my attention: THE CASE FOR GOLIATH - How America Acts as the World's Government in the 21st Century, by Micheal Mandelbaum. It is not a religious book and i cannot really tell if it was written from a liberal or conservative slant, but is was very interesting. The title really says what it was about. Here is the last sentence in the book: "About other countries' approach to the American role as the world's government, however, whatever its lifespan, three things can be safely predicted: they will not pay for it; they will continue to criticize it; and they will miss it when it is gone." If you click on the title to this blog you can read a professional book review, and amazon lets you see the table of contents and the intro.
Personally, from a christian viewpoint, i think that in the end times there will be a one world government. Maybe someone can help me find those verses. That leads to this question, are we living in the time and the country that is the one world government, now?
Now we have the topics that should bring out lots of commentary; politics and religion.

Vote for the Clever Clue of the Month

This month I recruited a team of experts to help me pare down a large list of clever clues. Here are the six best for the month of March. Vote on what you think is the best one today. Check the Clever Clue page on Tuesday to see the winner.

Bug's midsection ............................SHORTU
Result of foul match play? ..................ARSON
Promise to the chef? ........................OLEO
Decreasing device ...........................IRON
Dash of seasoning? ..........................MRS
Sock menders oath? ..........................DARN

Also, read my interview with Tyler Hinman.