Mencken's Creed

I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind - that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking.

I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious.

I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must necessarily make war upon liberty.

I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence of witches, and deserves no more respect.

I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech.

I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what it is made of, and how it is run.

I believe in the reality of progress.

I - But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.

~H.L. Mencken

African Proverb

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning a lion wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle.
When the sun comes up, you better start running.

Miller Time in Hanover, Pennsylvania

Raymie Miller loves rhododendrons.

Raymie is all the way into rhododendrons; he’s been cultivating them nearly all his life. He’s a hands-on gardener, but he also thoroughly enjoys the esthetic aspect. He knows the cultivation history of every plant he has, and he has hundreds of varieties.

His backyard dazzles with color this time of year.

Take a peek.

Miller Time

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Oxymorons

good grief
working vacation
tax return
virtual reality
quiet storm
work party
jumbo shrimp
healthy tan
grotesque beauty
alone together
perfect misfit
living dead
taped live
plastic glasses
peace force

Old Joke

A man who smelled like a distillery flopped on a subway seat next to a priest. The man's tie was stained, his face was plastered with red lipstick, and a half-empty bottle of gin was sticking out of his torn coat pocket.

He opened his newspaper and began reading. After a few minutes the disheveled guy turned to the priest and asked, "Hey, Father, what causes arthritis?"

"Mister, it's caused by loose living, being with cheap, wicked women, too much alcohol, and a contempt for your fellow man."

"Well, I'll be damned," the drunk muttered, returning to his paper.

The priest, thinking about what he had said, nudged the man and apologized. "I'm very sorry, I didn't mean to come on so strong. How long have you had arthritis?"

"I don't have it, Father. I was just reading here that the Pope does."

PA's Antique Bottles

A Great Way to Begin a Novel

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

~Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities

Iwo Jima Memorial
Arlington, VA

Currently...

Reading: The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman
Listening to: Everything’s OK - Al Green
Watching: House, Imus
Following: The Baltimore Orioles
Craving: Edy's Double Fudge Brownie
Sick of: The Jackson Trial
Desirous of: Photo iPod

Neighborhood Model

April

http://www.fitnessheadtotoe.com/figure_&_fitness_modeling.htm

Most Requested Oldies

1. Build Me Up Buttercup - Foundations
2. Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley and the Comets
3. Shout - Isley Bros (Or Otis Day and the Knights)
4. Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
5. Twist / Twist Again - Chubby Checker
6. Twist and Shout - Beatles (Or the Isley Bros)
7. I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honeybunch) - Four Tops
8. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
9. Respect - Aretha Franklin
10. Heatwave - Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
11. Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley
12. Runaround Sue - Dion and the Belmonts
13. ABC - Jackson Five
14. You Can't Hurry Love - Supremes
15. More Today than Yesterday - Spiral Staircase
16. Hang On Sloopy - McCoys
17. Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On - Jerry Lee Lewis
18. I'm a Believer - Monkees
19. I Feel Good - James Brown
20. Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
21. I Saw Her Standing There - Beatles
22. Ain't Too Proud To Beg - Temptations
23. That'll Be The Day - Buddy Holly & the Crickets
24. Rockin Robin - Bobby Day
25. Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis

Diversions

Find out if you're cool:
http://www.sailinganarchy.com/general/2002/cool_test.htm

A game you can win:
http://www.koreus.com/files/200501/proximity.html

A buck can be a shirt:
http://members.cox.net/crandall11/money/shirt/

Swing Set

Time

"The whole life of man is but a point in time; let us enjoy it."

~Plutarch (46 AD -120 AD)


Timeline:
http://home.tiscali.nl/annejan/swf/timeline.swf

Pocket watch:
http://users.tkk.fi/~mnippula/clock.html

One world clock:
http://www.oneworldtime.com/oneworldtime.htm

Cool stop watch:
http://www.ahref.com/flash/AnchorTimer.htm

From the bell tower of the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.

J. Joyce

“Moanday, tearday, wailsday, thumpsday, frightday, shatterday, shunday.”

~ James Joyce


Must have been those dismal Dublin winters.

Simple Pleasures

I would guess that you have a favorite time of the week; mine is Sunday morning. I start off with a brisk, 45-minute walk/jog, then shower, and then treat myself to a breakfast of ham & eggs. After breakfast, I brew a pot of Twinings Earl Grey tea and settle down for the next hour or so to read the Sunday Washington Post. It’s the Sports section first and the Book section last with all else in between.

At a cost of next to nothing, this weekly ritual brings comfort and joy. It moves at a leisurely pace. It simulates and relaxes at the same time. It never gets boring; it’s something I always look forward to it.

Simple pleasures!

A Friend of the Caribou

"Those reindeer love that damn pipe. It's the only source of heat in the winter and the only source of shade in the summer. It's the only place to scratch their backs."

~ Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R - Colorado) on the need for expanded oil production in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is a summer calving area for caribou.

Jenny

Neighborhood Model

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Published by Prowell115

Along the Mason-Dixon Line

Lineboro, MD - Located in beautiful Maryland farm country and smack dab on the Mason-Dixon Line, Lineboro began as a town called Plymouth. After the surveyors came through, the name was changed to Lineboro.

The Volunteer Fire Department used to sponsor "Bessie Bingo," where they'd fence off a big area in back of the firehouse and make squares like a giant bingo card. There would be a hundred squares. People would bring in their cows and everyone would bet on where the cow would shit. Contestants tried to coax the cows into certain squares by giving them food.

Buffalo roam here today. You can actually buy buffalo steaks, ground beef , and jerky at the farm store.

Lineboro, MD
Where the Buffalo Roam

Famous Last Words

“Don’t let it end like this. Tell them I said something.”

~Pancho Villa (1878-1923)