Its always good, and sometimes comforting, to have a handy friendly-neighborhood-geek. (everyone should have one!)

I'm glad to have been of help!

Jeremy rocks

Yes. Yes he does.
:D

Thanks so much, Jeremy. Would that I could give you a chicken or something, or a batch of homemade cookies for that bachelor-starved palate.

Glad you got that all-caps thing in your sidebar fixed, too.

I tried to do this myself, but I'm too much of a tard, apparently. Heh.

You DO know the coolest folks. ;o)

Yes, Altar Girl. Surprised you noticed. What attention to detail you must have.

Margi, honey, I am happy to send Jeremy your way. He is the Uber-Geek of the highest order with the big heart to help.

Don't feel bad, Margi.
The instructions provided for the Vertical display were VERY poorly written. (It took me two tries to get it right.)
I've been very disappointed with some of the help files/instructions I've seen in these plugins. They are not very intuitive, especially when read by a person who doesn't know PHP, or HTML.

If I weren't so fond of you, Rae, I'd be jealous, jealous, jealous. (That piece is one of my all time favorites!) ;) Enjoy for both of us!

::: big boys do blush :::

The honor is all mine. I look forward to seeing how you frame it. :)

OH...did you know some friends and I started an Art blog? http://wisedove.blogspot.com If you would like to contribute posts and comments go for it.

Oooh, an art blog. I shall go visit in the morning with my cup of delicious coffee :D And link, of course.

Cindy, it is lovely, isn't it? It is my favorite, too :D Thanks for being happy for me to have it.

Too kind, too kind. I hope the cacophony doesn't make you think too much less of me. I appreciate the plug. And the title "Forge." Fitting for the writing and the music, I hope. My own plug is simply, this site is one of the few I actually bother to read. That probably won't get you any advertising dollars, but it's tru nonetheless!

Who needs advertising dollars? I have a much bigger ego than money can buy. I prefer words of praise from published writers. Does far more for me. ;)

I dunno, "Rae O'Reilly" sounds a little too much like "Radar," don't you think?

Middle name, Andy. How about as a middle name???

I just answered your questions :)

I just checked Randy's answers. Very good.

I've had his blog bookmarked since February 15, but I don't know how I found it. Maybe here. Would that mean that I tripped over it or that I was hit between the eyes?

Back to drawing lines...

You shameless hussy.

After this ... It's over betweeen us.

For linking to the Watcher's Council? I've done it numerous times before. Just ask the Watcher. And you've got a problem with it now?!?

Hi "LikelyStory",

I don't call myself "reformed" but when Jesus Christ said “it is finished", I believe He meant it. In fact, anyone who says that the elect sinner has to meet a condition in order to be saved should take note of these biblical propositions:

1.The righteousness of God that is revealed in the gospel is His salvation of sinners based on the propitiatory sacrifice and imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ alone (Rms 3:21-4:8; 10:4; 2 Cor 5:21).

2.Those who are ignorant of the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel are going about to establish a righteousness of their own and are thus lost, no matter how zealous they are for God (Romans 10:1-3).

3.Anyone who does not abide in the doctrine of Christ is lost (2 Jn 9).

4.Anyone who speaks peace to one who brings a false gospel is lost (2 Jn 11)

"LikelyStory", I'd be interested to know what you think of our website.

OUTSIDE THE CAMP

It's nice to know where your "cookies" are coming from?! I got my personal call for an order about three weeks ago. Too much of a good thing ;)

Hey Rae, who's your friend up there?

I have absolutely no idea. I can't decide if I should delete that "stuff" or not....

Hey Rae: Thanks for this link. Just to make sure I don't have any disappointed cookie-lovers, let me hasten to add that all cookies are actually for the patients and staff at the cancer center. So, anyone who donates through the button on my website will actually be buying the cookies for someone else who will truly appreciate it. When we deliver the cookies to the cancer, they will be accompanied by a card containing the names of all who donated. Thanks!

Oh, hey, thanks for clarifying, Greg.

i share the same sentement towards the death penalty. your response to those opposing your stance is quite logical and i love using logic to combat opposition. i will have to remember that one: "blind and toothless."

over the past two years God has given me the greatest blessing i could ask for. i can now trust completely in him; sometimes i just get this overwelming feeling of being held in his hands (me in the fetal postition) like a precious jewel or Moses in his floating basket.
i have other things to say about this topic, but i just can't seem to put them into words. If someone close to me was taken away i can now truly believe God would bless me and remind me of this understanding all over again. i have done my time doubting God and his motives; it is now about whether i can listen to his direction; i now question my decisions and my motives in relation to his direction. my life has never been the same, the amount of joy and love in my life and relationships has never been as high. thank you Jesus.

Hello Rae,
I am not suprised by Z's view on this topic, or yours. You both have a good size heart and both of you are giving of charity and Christian mercy. Something that is lost on many Christians.
I am not near as firm as either of you in my views on this topic. I do believe that the young and 25 maybe even 30 or under crowd could be rehabilitated. I do not think that middle aged men who committ heinous acts should be shown much mercy. Murder is something that I believe should hold a greater penalty, not for teaching anyone anything, but as an ultimate punishment. In other words, you commit the ultimate crime, you will get the ultimate punishment.
One of my salesmen who drives in from San Antonio twice a week stopped by today for the first time in about 2 weeks. He has been on jury duty. During the trial, the jury, of which my salesman was the foreman, found the defendant guilty of aggrevated assault and armed robbery. During the sentencing phase of the trial the defendants record came out showing that he had been convicted of a string of other crimes including rape, robbery, assault, and domestic abuse. This is a path that this man has chosen to stay on. What was this guy doing back on the street after a rape? I don't have much mercy for people like this, and if he would've added murder to his list, I wouldn't shed a tear for his snuffing. I would instead, pray that he found God before his soul started it's journey.
I do believe that there is a new law that we live by and that we don't live under the old law. However, I also believe in submitting to the government, as spoken about in Timothy, and this is a matter that, fortunately, I don't even have to think about, until I am in the same place my salesman was for the past two weeks, or perhaps if a vote is pushed.
Anyway, one of the jury members wanted to give the guy 15 years in jail, and my salesman pushed for life. The jury comprimised on a 60 year sentence, which will be life for this guy, as he is 43, and hopefully he won't be parolled before his days are up.
That's my take.
Superhero

Remember, Supe, I never said that I was against life imprisonment. Someone who demonstrates incorrigibility shouldn't receive the same benefits as his fellow citizens who restrain themselves from breaking the laws and the hearts of the people. I do realize that I would be tempted to retaliate in a way that would maim someone for life (not every joint can be replaced).

But thank you for thinking that I have Christian charity :D

I correspond regularly with an inmate who comitted murder as a juvenile, and got 20 years due to his minor status. He became a Christian in prison. If the government followed the policies I think are right, this man would have been executed within a year and hence most likely would have died in his sins. Even though I am sobered by this, it is not enough to cause me to change my mind on the death penalty issue. Although I am certainly glad that God has seen fit to extend His mercy even to prisoners.

She played Willow on the Buffy show! She's great :)

You mean, she played Willow-the-le$-bee-un-witch on "Buffy". Not so modest and sweet on the show, who knows what she is really like though.

She also played a girl who stuck a flute in her hoo-ha in "American Pie". I like her, too.

Well, I have never seen either of those shows, but I chose this picture because of all the ones that were pulled up through google images, this was the most modest and sweet one available.

Joyella- I edited your word so that weirdo search engine users wouldn't find my site.

Mmmm, le$-bee-un-witches with flutes in the hoo-ha.

Modest and sweet has its merits too, of course.

O.K. That's enough....no more of the "L" and HH stuff. K? This is a family friendly site, ya'll.

She's married to Alexis Denisof (I'm sure I spelled that wrong), the actor that played Wesley on Buffy and then on Angel.

Arggh. You closed comments on your "final" entry, but I'm not that easy to stop! :) Having just found your site through a referral from Site Meter, I feel disappointed to get to the party late.

I hope you'll stop by my blog in your travels and leave your thoughts there. I more or less took the summer off this year. It killed my traffic, which had been rising quite nicely, but I'm sure that the writer's block would have killed it off at some point anyway! ;)

With that in mind, I hope you will return to the fray after awhile. People will still be waiting and interested.

Taking a page from Rev. Mike (yes, I'm bad) I will miss you, but understand your decision. That said, I hope you reconsider! Since a couple of my favourite bloggers quit last month, only to reappear under other names/blogs recently, I shall live in hope!

You're very welcome, Rae :)

If there's a charitable foundation I could suggest, well, let that be one of the following: The Voice of the Martyrs, the Free Software Foundation, the K Desktop Environment, or the United Bible Societies.

Now, seriously, being your guest has been a real privilege

Yes! The Voice of the Martyrs!

Dear Mr. Rant,

I would like to hear from you about the art of "ranting." Why do people rant? Rant seems to be a buzzword in the blogosphere and some people wear it with pride ... why? I've even been known to have a Randy Rant every once in a while but I don't think I am very good at it.

mr Rant guy,
I was just interested (all bad words aside) your frustrations with the world. I was just curious as to what they are and if they are similar to my own.
Thanks---Sally

Nice intro there, Andy :)

What a wonderful picture! I'll surely check Mr. Darrow's blog.

Bah!
Jim Carrey gives me an ISTJ Headache.
The Truman Show, and Eternal Sunshine are two movies where I feel he shines.

The rest of them... I could live without.

I confess that those are my favorites of his, too. But, I think that the public has put a requirement of "funny" on him. He recently said in an interview, he will now only be funny if he so chooses. Good for him because I think he is a superior dramatic actor.

Are you talking about that 60 mintues interview?
I liked him in that interview.

But I didn't find his funny all-that-funny.

All Jim Carrey talk aside (I'm only a part-time fan--some of his movies are unwatchable to me, but others have been exceptional), Eternal Sunshine was an amazing movie. One of my very favorite of the year.

Those map things are so cool. The guy who does them obviously puts a lot of work into them. Fun to look at.

Congrats! I'm starting a petition to have the Llamas removed, tho. I feel their presence just diminishes the rest of us );p

PS Kathie Lee is still getting creamed, 80-31

Well - The Commissar pointed, I visited and... well, I’ve simply had to add you to my blogroll - even though yours is not quite the kind of blog (news/politics) I normally frequent.

I had to do it for other important reasons...

A prime one... You’re the kind of American mother lefties fear the most (intelligent/well read/homeschooler) - and a kind most left-leaning women aspire to (happy homemaker/deeply in love with family and life, and a wide variety of interests) but just can’t quite make it themselves.

But - the most important - you have set a standard others have, and will attempt to measure up to. They have (it appears) come often - in droves - to learn from a success - yours.

I don’t often comment on most blogs - but, you’ve another reader that will check in from time to time - not as the consummate political junkie. It’ll simply be nice to take a break and visit a healthy American family - with one hell of a homemaker tending it. One thought - it would be nice to see a picture gallery of your hubby and those kids...

RonC- Thank you so very much. Those are such kind and thoughtful words. I do, indeed, feel blessed by a wonderful husband and terrific kids.

Please come often :D

Ron C. brings up a good point:
Why DO I come here? *absurdidly scratching head*
(I know the answer, but I like to question myself every now and then)
The original reason was our wonderful discussion on Our National Heritage, but I got hooked on the personal touch.

So come for the unique political banter, stay for the Rae-Factor!

Ahhh, hey thanks, Jeremy :D

And that was a very good discussion.

Sankyouveddymuch!

...get down tonight.... get down tonight...

Another one of those songs that get stuck in my head.
*sighs* Thanks Rae!

Very welcome and don't mention it, Jeremy ;)

For the President of the United States, you'd think he could afford a better tailor...

For what's it's worth, I prefer the raven-tressed Rae to ash-blonde

I really enjoyed the site. Thanks for the link.

I loved it! It's so funny the things the 'Anti-Bushers' come up with! After I had read the news guy's story and saw the pictures, I thought 'How stupid! Anyone could see it was his own body!' Then I read what the artist wrote and it encouraged me. Finally someone found something that proves the Kerryians wrong!

Yes, Pixy, you'd think, but I don't think he could tell what the heck it was and so he just threw something out there: My shirt? Maybe?

Jeff- yes, me husband prefers the darker Rae to the the Surf Betty Wife, too.

Randy- what did you think about his art? I have so much respect for those who can so accurately portray the human body- it just isn't easy to do so in an asymetrical symetrical way? Know what I mean?

Ann- awwwwww. You're so very kind. I remember that was the coat I was wearing when we first met. Hug my brother for me. I miss him, too. We would love for you two to come out and stay with us :D Love you, too.

P.S. Jeff- thanks for the link, the traffic, and the "luv." :D

Thanks! Is there a gift basket with that?

Hmmm, no. Bu have you watched Monty Python? Singing and dancing would be nice.

You say the nicest things. Thank you very much.

Rae,

I am now listening to my Chico Ofarrill Heart of a Legend cd. Deeelicicous.

Thanks so much for your entry for BlogCuba. I hadnt listened to my latin jazz in quite a while.

No, thank you, Val. I absolutely loved researching a music I enjoy so much and that is so passionate and full. It was fun :) Thank you, also, for the opportunity to contribute.

Wow Rae! What a beautifully written blog you crafted over there at Blog Cuba. We have been friends for a very long time, but you never fail to surprise me! Latin music! Who knew?! You are an amazing woman!

You know, I have never lived in an area that allows me to keep up with it (concerts, purchasing CD's, etc), but I really enjoy it and always have.

None of that Enrique Igleseis stuff, though ;) I lost the Ry Cooder CD the first week I bought it and I am determined to buy it again should I come into contact with a store around here that actually sells anything other than Top 40. Wait-my mother can burn it for me.....along with the newest one, too :)

Thanks!

Welcome!

The editor-in-chief of ScrappleFace.com can sing, but can't dance. If he could do the latter, he would perform an interpretive dance in tribute to the design of this website.

...he would perform an interpretive dance in tribute to the design of this website.

That is so eloquent that I am immediately going to his site to read!

Thanks for the kind words and the link. The post itself was more therapy for myself than for anything else and I debated even posting it. I'm glad you found it touching.

Kind words for the kind.

Oh, hehe, just getting to work on that list right now...

That was a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing it.

"Kris is one of my closest friends and ..."
(small alteration needed if you please)

"Kris is my best friend in the world with my friend Eddy running a close second." (hehe haha)

Thanks for the help my friend!

:) (by the way, Eddie with an "ie.")

If ever there was a person from I learned most about diplomacy, it has been you my friend. You understand what I can't say in text, but consistently reassure to you in word :)

Thank you for the mention in your "Up and Coming" list. As we probably all do, our cyberpaths crossed through someone else's site. I appreciate both the mention, and the company in which I find myself in your blog.

I started writing in closed blog [writer's circle at school] since 1999, but 9/11 changed all that. After following a few blogs and corresponding with their creators and other writers (non-bloggers) I found my voice once again began to emerge and began blogging. I've enjoyed and related so much to your writing (especially "A Few Things"), that I just had to add you to my favorites, so that I could visit frequently.

Thanks for being here.

Wow. Jeremy R. Gilby: Jack of All Trades.
That is a title I hold in very high esteem and regard. (I like versatility in a person).

But to defend true Jacks of all Trades, I don't know a lot. I know enough to hold an intelligent conversation.
And I know what I don't know.

But thank you for the hat-tip Rae!

And yes, Nathan tacitly lured me over here, but it was the intelligent discourse that made me stay.

hey Rae, what's the difference between page views and visits?
See you!

Rae:

I just checked my blog, Random Atom, this morning after having abandoned it for a week (its finals at my school). Anyway, I saw your comment and responded to it, but I wanted to let you know that I have corrected the error on the link to your brother's site. It now reflects his true proffesion and chosen branch of the military.
I apologize--I should have known better!
Thanks for the alert!

Eve

"lured"
You make it sound like it was some part of my evil plot...
[grin]

Nathan,
You are the one talking about your Evil Plot to subvert "A Likely Story", a.k.a. Operation: Second Language"

I was sworn to secrecy. It was YOU who brought it up!

Its not my fault I'm just your unwilling tool...

Rae--

I am honored to have made your list with my blog (My Thoughts... Exactly!. Thanks so much!

Discovering this also put a fire under my seat to write something more. I had a goal of writing at least once a day all year, but that goal died when I learned of my dad's prostate cancer several months ago, and didn't write for a week or more...

I've written many since then, but somehow that goal just doesn't seem as important as it did when I "resolved it."

We got connected when I used Google to "verify" (yeah, whatever) the Nofsinger letter. Your site didn't provide any verification, but I got hooked reading your stuff. All I was trying to do was decide if I should post the whole letter on my blog.

I did.

And then I came back here to read more.

You're a polite person in the face of disagreements, and that always attracts me. My favorite quality in any human is Grace, and I see it in you. Second is a good sense of humor combined with not taking oneself too seriously. You've got that too.

Loved your numbered list of "A few things about me..."

You are among a handful of Friends I've Never Met.

Gorgeous blog...Got here via pamibe's fascinating tale.

Nathan-plot? ;)

David- thank you for such kind words; they are so encouraging and I'm glad that Google brought you here.

Sissy Willis-welcome! Thank you (blush) and come back anytime. I always say: Readers welcome, commentors adored :)

I can't sing or dance, so I glad I don't have a webcam.

Well, it was worth a try, yes, Commissar?

I like "Brave, Brave Sir Robin"! ;)

I can sing. And then it depends on how you define dance. (I can move my form in time to music, if the dra-pes are closed and no one is in the room...does that count?)

(The hypen in the word above is because they are 'questionable content'. Well, actually only if you strip off the first and last letters.)

(Oops...I hope it doesn't mind the word 'strip'!)

Hmm, how about swing dancing?

Welcome to The Table, Daryl!

Where's the Spam?

Nice writing. I posted over at Ellis Island for MuNu membership.

Wow. This is seriously an honor. I can honestly say that I read very few blogs regularly. Rae is one of the gifted few that can wrangle my ADD-esque attention span.

Thank you.

BTW, I've been strumming the "racial" chords lately over at my site, and it might not be the best time to refer people over to my site....LOL

Oh well, that's life. And that's me. No apoligies on my part.

Madfish-terrific idea! Good thinking!

Joe- please come over to MuNu- the tech support is out-of-this-world! And Mr. Madfish here can whip up the best site you've ever seen!

And, Joe, your writing is exactly why I blogrolled you. You're most welcome, Sir Joe.

Hey Rae, what's this Mu Nu stuff all about?

It is a blog hosting site that uses Moveable Type (far better than blogger). Madfish can help you with just about anything: set up, images, etc. and he is conencted with enought people who know html who can make you a banner.

You should consider moving off of blogger to it. You may be frustrated while getting things set up- but Madfish and Pixy are superb at fixing anything and setting anything up- but you won't regret it.

i was on blogger's side bar newest coolest blogs? why is the st. bernard always the last to know? PS don't ask how i found this, i'm like dionne warwick. snap.

Oh my goodness, ladies and gents, bloggers and blogettes, may I present the always hip and with a wicked witty tongue, Mr. Alfred Pennyworth.

Thanks for dropping by and please come back as frequently as you can.