Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

by Fr. Brian Joyce

I am thankful for the mess to clean up after a party  because it means I have been surrounded by friends.


I am thankful for the taxes I have to pay because it means I have a job and I am employed.


I am thankful for the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have had enough to eat.


I am thankful for the lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.


I am thankful for all the complaining I do about the government because it means we have freedom of speech.


I am thankful for the parking spot I find at the far end of the lot because it means I am capable of walking.


I am thankful for my big heating bill because it means I am warm.


(I love this one. Don’t look around. Don’t turn. Just listen.)
I am thankful for the lady behind me in Church who sings off-key because it means I can hear.


I am thankful for the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby.


I am thankful for weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means I have been productive.


And finally, I am thankful for the alarm that goes off early in the morning because it means that I am still alive.

Cool Site: kenrockwell.com – How to Afford Anything

Great article with some common sense advice on living within your means.   I wish I’d read this when I was 18-19 years old.

How to Afford Anything

The sites main focus is on cameras and photography, but this article is an amusing and though provoking treatise on the benefits of frugality.

Cool Site: Library of Congress on Youtube

Discovered this through the Lifehacker RSS feed….

The Library of Congress has it’s own Youtube channel.   Doesn’t appear to be much there yet, but if it’s anything like the Library of Congress Flickr photo feed then eventually there will be some pretty incredible stuff available.

Movie Review: Letters to Juliet (spoilers)

Yesterday, as is my practice, I took my daughter out for the day to celebrate her birthday and she chose to see the movie Letters to Juliet.

 

Released: 2010


Go to IMDb page

Information © IMDb.com

Letters to Juliet

Amanda Seyfried, Gael García Bernal, Paolo Arvedi, Daniel Baldock, Luisa Ranieri, Lidia Biondi,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Normally, this is the type of movie I’d choose to spend money at the theater to see myself, but having seen it I must admit to enjoying it.   It is a fairly typical romantic comedy, unlikely couple thrown together by events which lead to their falling in love.

While one could certainly make parallels to elements of other movies, I found that story and plot, while fairly obvious, to be engaging enough to make the movie entertaining.   It wasn’t overly mushy and romantic, nor was it overly comedic and absurd.   For everyone who’s ever loved and lost, or laments missed opportunities for love, this will tug at your heartstrings and make you think about the “what ifs”.

From the official movie website…

STORY

Letters To Juliet is an enchanting love story --  a tale of encountering new sparks and rekindling old flames.  When Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), a young American, travels to Verona, Italy -- the romantic city where Romeo first met Juliet -- she meets a group of volunteers who respond to letters written to Juliet seeking romantic advice.  Sophie finds and answers a letter that has been lost for 50 years, and is stunned when its author Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) arrives in Italy with her handsome but overprotective grandson (Christopher Egan) to find the fiancé she left decades before.  Fascinated by Claire's quest, Sophie joins them on an adventure through the beautiful hills of Tuscany searching for Claire's long lost Lorenzo. The journey will change their lives forever, as they discover it's never too late to find true love.

Cool Site: AfriGadget

I’ve always been interested in gadgets, taking things apart, that sort of thing.   It’s always been a dream of mine to have a work area where I could fiddle around with stuff.  

Hence, I have an interest in web sites that have to do with what is commonly known as “makers”, the most well known of these is the website of Make Magazine.   I’ve amassed quite a collection of these sites having to do with hardware hacking and making stuff.

Recently, I came across a very interesting site called AfriGadget which documents some of the ingenious solutions that folks in Africa have come up with to deal with every day problems, things that we in the “developed” world take for granted because we can easily go to a store and buy something.

I have a great deal of respect for these people who, despite living in conditions that most of us so called modern folk would piss and moan about, come up with creative solutions and ways to re-use what we’d consider junk.

Check out AfriGadget at http://www.afrigadget.com/