Gloxinia

When we first moved to Eugene, we were living in an apartment about a mile from where we are now. One day I noticed that someone had thrown a gloxinia in the dumpster. It had bloomed once and I think they didn't realize that it would bloom again if they kept it. I rescued it and, sure enough, it bloomed again.

It's now 6 years old and still going strong. I've got it in the bathroom and it blooms regularly. Here's the first bloom of this season.

Gloxinia

"The Empire Strikes Back: 1900" -- the silent film version

"The Empire Strikes Back: 1900"

Hey, it's Friday. You needed this.

"The Empire Strikes Back: 1900" -- the silent film version

Need a new god? Check this out!

Friends, are you tired of your god? Does s/he not respond quickly when you call? Are feeling without direction, purposeless, cast adrift, in need of a good spiritual jazzing? Do the Ancient Mysteries just make you yawn?

Well, worry no more! Thanks to GodChecker, you can find a new god for yourself! GodChecker lists almost 3000 gods, with more being added all the time! There are Australian gods, Mayan gods, Chinese gods, Roman gods, Finnish gods, Tibetan gods, Celtic gods, Norse gods, Mesopotamian gods, and many, many more! New pantheons are being added all the time, so if you don't see anything you like, check back regularly and you're sure to find something that fills that god-shaped hole in your soul (assuming you have one and your chosen deity requires it).

So if you want a god who's Mr. Nice Guy, a cannibal demoness, a dragon king, an all-powerful god who can rain down fire and destruction, a god of bats, or even a band of Russian superheroes, GodChecker has it all!

(Note: Past history with a god should not be considered guarantee of future performance. Consult your local priest before mixing and matching deities, as some restrictions may apply. Christian saints, martyrs, and hermits packaged separately.)

Need a new god? Check this out!

"Hallowed Ground" near the WTC

A lot of really unpleasant people have been bitching about the so-called Ground Zero Mosque. But there are a number of things about the bigoted arguments against a mosque near the World Trade Center site that just don't ring true. One of them in particular is the intolerant argument that it's Just Not Right to have a mosque on the site of the WTC.

Now, I can see arguments about why having no religious institutions at all is a good thing--and don't have a lot of problems with that idea--but if you're going to allow one or some, then by definition, you get to have any of them. That's what "Freedom of Religion" is all about. (If you believe that the 2nd Amendment in the Bill of Rights gives you the right to own and carry guns all over the place, it's hypocritical to not believe in the rights stated in the First Amendment.)

Even more interesting, though, is the fact that this place isn't actually on the site. It's a couple blocks away. And this fact brings up something interesting that completely vitiates the toxic waste and idiocy spewed by Sarah Palin (idle thought: does she have any other mode?): this isn't "hallowed ground." How do we know this? Take a look at these photos. If the area a couple blocks away were truly "hallowed," we sure wouldn't be seeing some of the other establishments out there. A house of worship and prayer really beats the snot out of Burger King for overall sanctity as a general rule.

"Hallowed Ground" near the WTC

Repost: Traditional Marriage Perverts the Tradition of Marriage

This is an exceptional article on traditional marriage by Jeff Goode, posted on Archie Levine's blog, This Is What I Think.

(For those who want more data, I refer you to John Boswell's detailed and extensively documented book, Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe.)

Repost: Traditional Marriage Perverts the Tradition of Marriage