Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Politics and Mike

We are surrounded with politics. He said, she said... It's the best and the worst of this country.

That captivating "Hi Daddy" last night... the chilling stories of the small cell in Viet Nam... and the courage, beyond anything I could summon up...

The words, the pictures, the questions and answers. Wondering what do the Clintons have up their (collective) sleeves? Is McCain too old? What exactly is that change I am supposed to believe in?

What a statesman Kennedy is (in spite of the fact that there is very little I agree with). The solemn, almost tearful look on Maria Shriver's face while her uncle spoke, which said volumes.

All of these things are what makes our country great. That sounds like a canned statement, but today I am really reflecting on that fact.

My intern Mike is twenty something and a great asset to my group. He has the day off tomorrow. He is going to Baltimore and he is going to answer somewhere around 10 random questions. If (when) he is successful, he will undergo a computer search for any suspicious passport behavior. And then, all hurdles passed, he will say the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And he will repeat words that will result in his becoming a citizen.

I watch the events of the political season with some cynicism, but then the joy on Mike's face as he says 'awesome' when he is talking about the prospect of becoming a citizen of the US reminds me...

We are a blessed nation.
We are blessed people, individually and collectively.
And the agreement, disagreement, cynicism and lofty ideals -- they are all ingrained in the foundation that results in Mike's smile.

At its best and at its worst... I'm proud to be an American.

And so is Mike. An early congratulations to the newest citizen, Mike.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Here they are...all in one place!

We didn't do too much this weekend, or at least on Saturday. It was a lazy day, so I took a little time to edit some replacement photos for my black and white framed photos

In my opinion, it doesn't get any better than this ---







Friday, August 15, 2008

If you were born on my birthday...

Check out this website!
www.paulsadowski.com
Birthday calculator
19 June 1951

Your date of conception was on or about 26 September 1950 which was a Tuesday.

You were born on a Tuesday
under the astrological sign Gemini.
Your Life path number is 5.

Your fortune cookie reads:
You were born with the skill to communicate with people easily.

Life Path Compatibility:
You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 1, 5 & 7. (Melanie is a 5! Don is a 7!)
You should get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 3 & 9. (Brad is a 9)
You may or may not get along well with those with the Life Path number 8.
You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 4, 6, 11 & 22.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2433816.5.
The golden number for 1951 is 14.
The epact number for 1951 is 22.
The year 1951 was not a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/6/1951 and ending 1/26/1952.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Rabbit.

Your Native American Zodiac sign is Elk; your plant is Mullein.

You were born in the Egyptian month of Mesore, the fourth month of the season of Shomu (Harvest).

Your date of birth on the Hebrew calendar is 15 Sivan 5711.
Or if you were born after sundown then the date is 16 Sivan 5711.

The Mayan Calendar long count date of your birthday is 12.16.17.10.12 which is
12 baktun 16 katun 17 tun 10 uinal 12 kin

The Hijra (Islamic Calendar) date of your birth is Tuesday, 14 Ramadan 1370 (1370-9-14).

The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 25 March 1951.
The date of Orthodox Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 29 April 1951.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 7 February 1951.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 13 May 1951.
The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 20 May 1951.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Tuesday, 2 October 1951.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Sunday, 22 April 1951.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 6 February 1951.

As of 8/15/2008 11:43:43 AM EDT
You are 57 years old.
You are 686 months old.
You are 2,982 weeks old.
You are 20,877 days old.
You are 501,059 hours old.
You are 30,063,583 minutes old.
You are 1,803,815,023 seconds old.

Celebrities who share your birthday:

Zo‰ Saldana (1978)Brian 'Head' Welch (1970)Paula Abdul (1962)
Kathleen Turner (1954)Phylicia Rashad (1948)Salman Rushdie (1947)
Gena Rowlands (1930)Louis Jourdan (1919)Pauline Kael (1919)
Pat Buttram (1915)Lou Gehrig (1903)Guy Lombardo (1902)
Moe Howard (1897)Wallis Simpson (1896)Blaise Pascal (1623)

Top songs of 1951
Cry by Johnnie RayBecause of You by Tony Bennett
How High the Moon by Les Paul & Mary FordSin by Eddy Howard
If by Perry ComoCome On-A My House by Rosemary Clooney
Cold, Cold Heart by Tony BennettToo Young by Nat King Cole
Be My Love by Mario LanzaMockin' Bird Hill by Les Paul & Mary Ford

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 8.17103718199609 years old. (You old hound dog, you!)

Your lucky day is Wednesday.
Your lucky number is 5.
Your ruling planet(s) is Mercury.
Your lucky dates are 5th, 14th, 23rd.
Your opposition sign is Sagittarious.
Your opposition number(s) is 3.

Today is not one of your lucky days!

There are 308 days till your next birthday
on which your cake will have 58 candles.

Those 58 candles produce 58 BTUs,
or 14,616 calories of heat (that's only 14.6160 food Calories!) .
You can boil 6.63 US ounces of water with that many candles.

In 1951 there were approximately 3.6 million births in the US.
In 1951 the US population was approximately 150,697,361 people, 50.7 persons per square mile.
In 1951 in the US there were approximately 1,667,231 marriages (11.1%) and 385,144 divorces (2.6%)
In 1951 in the US there were approximately 1,452,000 deaths (9.6 per 1000)
In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.
In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.

In 1951 the population of Australia was approximately 8,527,907.
In 1951 there were approximately 193,298 births in Australia.
In 1951 in Australia there were approximately 77,298 marriages and 7,269 divorces.
In 1951 in Australia there were approximately 81,788 deaths.


Your birthstone is Alexandrite

The Mystical properties of Alexandrite

Alexandrite can assist one in centering the self, reinforcing self-esteem, and augmenting ones ability to experience joy.
Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources)
Pearl, Moonstone, Opal

Your birth tree is
Fig Tree, the Sensibility

Very strong, a bit self-willed, independent, does not allow contradiction or arguments, loves life, its family, children and animals, a bit of a butterfly, good sense of humour, likes idleness and laziness, of practical talent and intelligence.


There are 132 days till Christmas 2008!
There are 145 days till Orthodox Christmas!

The moon's phase on the day you were
born was full.

Copyright © 2006 Paul R. Sadowski (http://www.paulsadowski.com)

Monday, August 11, 2008

Pandora

I made a new discovery, thanks to Don. Since Apple is now allowing (even encouraging) third party software on the iphone, there are a ton of exciting things out there. But I haven't found anything as cool as Pandora (no, not even the Light Saber or the bubble wrap that you can pop).

Pandora allows you to create your own 'radio station'. After you open your account, you search an artist and Pandora plays a selection of songs, by that artist and others that are similar. You have the option of giving each song a thumbs up or a thumbs down and by doing that, you shape your future song choices for that station. How cool is that?

In a mellow mood? Create a station based around that. Feeling rockin? Just add a different station with a different theme! I'm tellin' you it is the best.

Oh...did I mention it's free?

That's what I'm talking about. I LOVE my iphone!