web page posts

[Bobtoad777]

Closet Desire,

Cool, Its times like these where I would love to have a time machine and be able to go back to the times and find the individuals an get inside there head, the real reason why they did it. Was it because of rejection as a child that now they can take out that pent up fear/anger out on others. Did they have a bad experince. What happened to make them so bitterly twisted? What can we learn from this people.

 

[naudiz]

Wandering off thread...

I really want to see Notre Dame in person. In some of the online role-play I do, I'm participating in a story set in Paris. Now, I take my hobbies a little too seriously sometimes, and I've done research on Paris from its roots as the Parisii tribe's home through the sacking of Gaul right up to the French Resistance of WWII and modern day. I feel like I know the city intimately, yet I've never been there. I'll have to amend that some day.

I feel fortunate that I didn't have a religious upbringing. My parents are both agnostic/atheist. In our house, the Bible really was just another piece of literature, and I was able to approach it as such without prejudice or reverence. It is and remains to me a book. Words on paper written by mortal men who probably were doing the best they could, but were mortal all the same. Then it was rewritten and mistranslated through history. That isn't to say it's worthless, but it isn't infallible either. Agree or disagree. It's just my opinion.

Then again, the Gospel of St. Thomas was declared heresy by the Church if I'm not mistaken, which I could be. It isn't part of the Bible, and it says some pretty radical stuff. Must be why I like it.

 

[Closet Desire]

We're a lot alike in that...

Talk about time machines...

I was watching a show on Discovery a few weeks ago about the discovery of a Roman (I think) city buried beneath orchards in Turkey. A dam was being built that would flood the entire area and part of the ruins were uncovered during excavation. The scientists mapped the city using oil exploration equipment, but didn't really know where best to dig. They became desperate, digging almost at random. One day, a member of the team saw a crevice between some rocks and crawled in. They found themselves in the still intact sewage system for the city! Mapping it out they found some likely places to dig and began with only thirty days before the water flooded the area forever. They uncovered one of the largest villas in the city and with it these absolutely amazing frescoes on the floors made from colour tiles. It was stunning to step back into Roman times. They managed to lift the frescoes and transport them to a museum before the city was permanently flooded by the dam.

In my other, call it "professional" life, I sort of get to do the same thing you mention...that is get into somebody's head. I think most would consider it boring as hell, but...I'll whisper it...somehow I've come to be regarded as a scholar of Romatic/Victorian literature. Shhhhh...not so loud! I don't have the traditional background in literature and language studies that most of my peers have. Instead both my undergrad and postgrad was in arte liberales (Renaissance liberal arts) with a specialty in literature. I didn't get a proper degree in literature until my PhD here in England.

Anyway, I apparently came up with a unique albeit tedious way of researching the work of authors who died long ago. Rather than just study what they wrote and the major literature they might have read, I began to study the history of the time, study the art, learn about medicine and science, read the newspapers and magazines, and visit the places they were. I've been working on Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights" since 1996, starting while I was still in the US. Now, I'm not saying Wuthering Heights is a great piece of literature, but I thought I saw something waiting to be discovered. Emily's a tough nut to crack because her sister burned all her letters and diaries, she only wrote one book and a few poems, and she died at thirty, about a year after her book was published in 1847. Nobody really knows anything about her. I found a 19th century circulating library near her home in Yorkshire and began reading all the magazines and newspapers she was known to have read. I started looking up the superstitions, death practices, and local politics. Her father was the Church of England clergy (educated at Cambridge) so I had to learn about religion, the rebellion of the Methodist dissenters, the Luddites, and the mystics, witches, and soothsayers who dominated her village. What is emerging is, for me anyway, fascinating. She is, I think, a very different woman from the innocent, naive, country girl portrayed for over a century by scholars. I hope to finish by mid-2001 and publish my research. I've already published a number of articles on the topic as well as one on Poe (who had a penchant for research into the autoerotic asphyxiation being done by the French...victims of the guillitine often had erections and orgasms when the blade came down).

I know it's not as romantic as digging up Hitler or Ceaser, but it's where my path took me. It's not going to change the world or even interest very much of it, but if I love the idea of being an Indiana Jones of literature! Hah!

Sorry for the long post...my passions are revealed I'm afraid!

Say...this did start out about premarital sex didn't it? Funny thing about that in my family. Most of my family ended up as ministers and church staff. It was seen as the only noble thing to be. When my aunt went off to the Baptist university she and her boyfriend were suddenly married. Even at the tender age of twelve I could figure out that it took longer than four months to make a baby. I remember thinking that if all the people who had engaged in premarital sex were to suddenly shut up about it I might never hear it mentioned again. Hmmm...

 

[Closet Desire]

Naudiz...

Paris is a lovely, lovely place. CD-able lived in London for over twenty years yet her husband never once took her. It's only a four hour train ride. Go figure.

It was such a romantic experience that we co-wrote an erotic story around it and published it in our first book. Maybe I'll put some photos on my web site...click on my site tomorrow...maybe I'll have them up by then. Could give you some inspiration for your own story...

 

[naudiz]

Wandering waaaaaaaay off thread...

Damn, CD. I wish I had half your education. I studied Linguistics, of all things. Never finished my degree, alas. It's something I keep telling myself I'm going to take up again. Right after I get well again. Yeah, right. Most of the stuff I've learned, I researched independently for no other reason than to stave off the boredom of being housebound. I've always been interested in the setting of whatever I'm studying. It started with writing. The first thing that comes to me is either a character or a setting. Either way, one follows shortly after the other.

It's all about context. Facts alone are meaningless. It does make a difference that the letters Paul wrote to the Corinthians were intended specifically for them with a specific purpose in mind. The words didn't mystically appear out of the ether to guide us all. At the risk of committing blasphemy, it does make a difference that when John had his Revelation, he had been in exile for years and was near the end of his life, and that is bound to color one's perspective. I think it's also pretty telling that Peter and Paul couldn't seem to agree on anything. Again, I'm not saying the book has no value. I think it's important to remember the people involved in the firstmost origins of the thing were just that - people; mortal men with personalities that influenced the words they wrote. Ditto everyone who ever translated the book since.

I think if God is everywhere, then God can be found everywhere if you open your eyes and look. In the Bible, in the peace of the woods in winter, in a child's laughter, but also in a train wreck, an ice storm, a rampaging fire. The Great Big Everything isn't all a bed of roses. Maybe it isn't supposed to be. Finding the beauty of being in the pretty things is easy. Finding it in the ugly, now that takes talent. Or faith.

What does this have to do with the web page about sexual conduct and the Bible? Nothing. I'm rambling. No offense intended, but if you're basing your life solely on the words of mortal men who were just as lost as you are, you're just going to be lost on a different path. If you want to know God's plan for you, try this: shut up and listen.

If you don't care one way or another, carry on.

 

[Closet Desire]

The "myth" of education...

I don't think you should lament not having enough "education" or finishing your degree. I believe there are basically two reasons why people pursue formal education...to learn a profession like engineering, law, accounting, medicine, and such...and to learn how to think. Unless you need the education to qualify for a profession then you don't have to go to school to learn to think. Academics often get very wrapped up in themselves and come to see degrees as some perverted method of rank or class. They cheat themselves out of learning from some very gifted people and they cheat those who hold unique knowledge from sharing it. You come across as very educated, literate, and possessing knowledge on topics that dwarfs mine. If I could credit my professors, and I had some really tremendous ones, with one thing it would be to teach me that I'll never know everything! I used to marvel at my professors, wondered how long it would be before I had read everything in literature and would know enough to lecture and write myself. They taught me that you can't even know everything about one work of literature. The greatest hope is that you'll discover something nobody else has and then add it to the body of knowledge for others to share.

It may surprise you that I started out very much like you although I was shipbound and not housebound! I served aboard ships for nearly ten years. The navy sent me to learn nuclear engineering. It was a real gift for a young man who barely graduated from high school. Adm Rickover taught me to believe in myself and my intellect...and I never let go of it. I slogged through books while in the Navy...psychology, economics, sociology, sciences, philosophy. I was lucky to be among men (missed the women though!) from different backgrounds and with different talents. We shared out books, talked late into the night on watch about everything you can imagine. All this time I was taking exams and getting university credits. They added up slowly but surely until I was just a few hours short of a BS in engineering.

Near the end of my second tour I was injured, disabled, and finally retired. The VA offered to rehabilitate me. I thought they were going to send me to diesal mechanics school or something like that. Instead, they sent me to the best private university in my home state. I decided to study English lit and they were cool with this. They paid me a salary, paid books, tution, expenses, and even gave me a job at the VA clinic. Now...get this...my wife hated me going to school and the closer I got to finishing the more difficult she became...I quit with 120 hours out of 128 required for a BA in English. I shelved education for quite a few years, but continued to do like you do...read, study, research, learn.

Finally, fed up with my marriage and career, I enquired about going back to university only to learn that I would be required to attend 35 hours of classes to make up the 8 I needed. I was devestated, but finally made an enquiry with my first university in New York. Oh joy, not only would they enroll me, but they would accept all the credits I had earned and grant me a degree without any further classes! It was weird because I basically had two degrees...one in the sciences and one in the arts...they awarded a BS in Liberal Studies.

I decided I wanted a Masters and found a university that had what I wanted, but I was broke and couldn't afford it. By now I was having an affair with CD-able. She said to apply and enroll and worry about paying it after I was accepted. To cut a long story short I went back to the VA. My original counsellor was still there and he told me they would pay, but there would be a small catch...my benefits would expire in eleven months so I had to do the two year programme in less than a year. I said yes...they said yes...the university said yes...and off I went. I must have been happy because I graduated with a 4.0 and honours. The degree was in liberal arts with a concentration in literature.

I wanted to go on to a PhD in English, but my professors told me no school would take a Lib Arts major in English. I applied to several English universities and...got offers...including one from a university ranked 16 in the country. The rest is history as they say.

Following my heart was a dream come true. I've published papers, lectured at international conferences, written books, and generally run riot and had a ball! None of this pays me a dime either...what a nut.

In the end, degrees are paper, where you learn to think and how you learn to think is irrelevant...only that you do. Of course, I'm proud of my pieces of paper, but after getting them I realised they don't really mean anything. It's what happened in me that was important.

What you describe about Peter and Paul and your angle on it is the same thing scholars do all the time. You're no different from them. I've always been fascinated by your posts on history and religion and have often jotted down notes...knowing that they will come in handy in the future. I never thought of you as anything but "educated".

As an aside...there are a number of accredited universities now that have external programmes which require no class attendance for degrees. Excelsior College in New York (formerly Regents College) is one of the oldest chartered universities in the US and they have no campus at all. Their degrees are accepted worldwide. There are several ways to get credit. They accept all credits from accredited universities. You earn additional credits by taking CLEP, subject exams, and the advanced GRE for a final in your chosen subject. The track record of their graduates exceeds the average for all but the very best universities. You might look into them if you're interested.

Have we wandered far off track? Well, this started out as "web posts", but I guess I could put the token point in about premarital sex!

Ahem...here goes...

It was pounded into me by my parents and the church that I must not have "sex" before marriage...evil...bad...no. My first girlfriend, a lovely young French girl had a similar upbringing. We never had "sex". When I told CD-able about this she asked what DID we do. When I told her she was rolling on the floor. We did everything...and I do mean everything...without putting "it" in! Looking back...it was one of the most sensual and erotic experiences of my life. Clinton obviously had the same upbringing..."I did not have sex with that woman!"

Later...

 

[Svedish_Chef]

Re: Checking out the Christians...

I believe it was Marx who called religion the opiate of the people and in a sense he was right. People will do almost anything, commit almost any act, and believe themselve righteous, if it will get them into heaven.


A British student just proved it by blowing himself and three others up in the name of God over Christmas.

More info?

I love God, but I hate religion.

I dont hate religion, just the spin...


Closetdesire, your posts are brilliant. Thankyou for allowing us to read them

 

[Closet Desire]

More info?

About the student bomber? I'll see if a news clip is still hanging around. Basically, a young man from Bristol (I think) of mid-east background had a vision when he was 18 and went to train with an extreme militant group a couple of years ago. Over the holidays he packed a car with high explosives and set it off. I don't even remember where...I'll get back to you. The members of his group issued a press release to the effect of "we should be envious of this man who has been allowed to be with God. He is a hero."

 

[Closet Desire]

Here it is...from The Times

A BRITISH Muslim has been named as the suicide bomber who carried out a Christmas Day car bomb attack in Kashmir, killing ten people.

Mohammed Bilal is being eulogised by armed Islamic guerrillas across Pakistan and Kashmir as the “holy warrior” who packed a stolen Maruti car with high-explosives and blew himself up outside an Indian Army barracks in Srinagar, killing up to six Indian soldiers and three Kashmiri students returning home to celebrate a Muslim holiday.

Last night Bilal, 24, was “credited” with the attack by Jaish Mohammed, one of the newest and most active Islamic splinter groups opposed to Indian rule in the divided Himalayan state. “He achieved martyrdom in the cause of Islam,” a headline in a special edition of the group’s newspaper Zarb-i- Momin said.

The bomber’s identity has not been verified by British consular officials or Indian police, who describe the non-Kashmiri mujahidin as “foreign mercenaries”.

Jaish gave few personal details about Bilal except that he was a former college student in the Midlands and operated under the nom de guerre Abdullah Bai.

The group’s founder, Maulana Masood Azhar, the Pakistan-based orator, cleric and fundraiser, published tributes to him saying: “He always aspired to martyrdom and God fulfilled his desire. He is more fortunate than us to die in the cause of Allah in the holy month of Ramadan.”

Jaish claims that Bilal was born into a Pakistani family in Birmingham and was a “nightclub-going lad” until he became a born-again Muslim at 18 after seeing the Prophet Muhammad in a dream.

He is thought to have flown to Pakistan in 1994 to train with Harkat-ul Ansar, an Islamic faction declared a terrorist organisation by the US in the 1990s after its alleged involvement in the kidnap of five European tourists.

The militants claim that he went back to Britain briefly before returning to Pakistan in December 1995, becoming one among thousands of foreigners to train in camps across Pakistan and Afghanistan before slipping across the border into Indian-held Kashmir.

There he fell under the influence of the cleric Azhar, a key figure in the Islamic separatist movement who was freed from an Indian jail at Christmas last year in return for the release of 155 passengers aboard an Indian Airlines jet that was hijacked and taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan.

Once released Azhar resurfaced in Pakistan where he has spent the past year openly recruiting for Jaish Mohammed. Bilal was apparently one of those to leave Harkat and join his new faction.

This is not the first time that Azhar has been associated with a British militant. Freed alongside him after the Indian Airlines hijack was Ahmad Omar Sayyed Sheikh, from Epping Forest, northeast London, who was jailed in 1994 for kidnapping three British tourists — Miles Croston, Rhys Partridge and Paul Rideout — in an earlier failed bid to secure Azhar’s release.

The Christmas Day attack was one of a series intended to derail a ceasefire announced by India during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Police believe that Bilal was among five armed men who stole the car in downtown Srinagar and packed it with RDX explosive before he drove it to the Indian Army’s 15 Corps Headquarters, setting the bomb off when he was challenged by guards at the checkpoint outside the main entrance.

So powerful was the blast that nothing was left of Bilal’s body; the car’s engine was thrown 100m.

India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir since 1947. More than 30,000 people have died in the past 12 years since the outbreak of a campaign by armed groups seeking Kashmir’s independence or accession to Pakistan.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the groups and sponsoring terrorism. Pakistan insists that it only provides them with moral and diplomatic support.

 

[Cheyenne]

Re: Wandering off thread...

I really want to see Notre Dame in person.

I was just there the first Sunday in December. I went specifically during a Sunday morning service, to see the cathedral being used as intended. It is a beautiful place. I stood outside looking at it and thought about how many hundreds of years it has stood in the same place, how many thousands of people have been through its doors. And how the world has changed since it was built, but yet stayed the same. I love all the old cathedrals of Europe. We just don't have anything to compare to them in America.

 

[Closet Desire]

It does inspire awe...

Naudiz...I posted a Paris page on my web site...have a look. It's under "City of Lovers". Enjoy.

 

[naudiz]

CD: I keep loading the page, but my browser crashes. I'll keep trying, though. If all else fails, I'll switch to another browser. I can't begin to describe how flattering it is to know someone intelligent is taking notes off things that I've posted. That made my day. Thank you so much.

When I'm working again, I'm going to set aside a portion of each month to save for a trip to Paris. It might take awhile to get there, but I will. I'm only 28 - there's still plenty of time. I'm definitely going to pursue my education again. I'm not sure what I want a degree in. Linguistics is interesting, but so is Literature and History. Computer Science is the more logical option since that's the field in which I'll be working. I'm sure when the time comes to decide, I'll know what I want to do. The biggest obstacle right now is finances, but it's a temporary problem. I'm making a trip to the Bay Area just after the new year to visit friends, and while I'm there I'll submit my resume official-like. I get giddy thinking about how soon I'm going to be getting out of this rut.

What was this thread about, again? Oh! Right. Premarital sex. I don't recall my parents ever giving me The Talk per se. They used to say if I got pregnant they'd put me up for adoption and keep the kid, but that was about it. I didn't do any serious fooling around until after I was out of the house anyway, mostly because in the small town where I grew up, none of the guys appealed to me. The feeling was mutual, I'm sure. In high school, I was the black-clad broody bookworm who would sit in the back of the class and leer sullenly at all the jocks. Ah, how I hated being a teenager.

 

[Closet Desire]

Don't you hate it...

...when people make web sites that don't work?

Grrrrr...my artist friend had similar problems although not as severe. I figured it had something to do with his Mac. Now I'm convinced there is something weird going on.

It seems to work fine with current versions of Explorer. It's supposed to work with Netscape versions 4.0 and above BUT I just tried loading it with 4.73 and it crashed. The entry page worked, but the home page didn't. Is that what you found? I'm not sure what's going on. It could be the counter. I'll pull it off and see what happens. Otherwise it will have to wait until I'm back from Spain in a week.

I'm sorry, but I'm glad you let me know because I want it to work for everyone.

 

[Closet Desire]

A little tweak here...

...a little tweak there.

I've pulled the counter off and it works in my Netscape browser now. We have been suspect for a few weeks. Hope that solves the problem. I also hope that anybody who has trouble getting it to work will let me know.

Getting out of the cold, damp, rainy woods and going to the Bay Area! That oughta brighten things up. Seriously, the hardest thing I ever did was abandon everything I was familiar with and choose to start over. I sold virtually everything I owned, packed what was left into four foot lockers and came to England. Not once have I regretted it or even pined over the old days. We only get one life before the "unknown" are you gonna choose door number one or door number two?

Whatever you choose to study make sure it's what your heart wants. My family hammered everyone into believing arts were a waste of time and that the only thing worth studying was science and math. I was pretty good at it, but not as good as I was at language. Still, I ended up a nuclear engineer for nearly ten years. I was okay, but not brilliant at it. The pattern repeats itself in my family with everyone working mundane jobs, having failed at being scientists, doctors, lawyers, and what have you. A philosophy professor younger than me changed everything.

Randy was the head of Masters programme I applied for and when he did my interview I was nervous as hell. I expected a grizzled old fart in a worn out suit. Instead I found myself facing a guy with a pony tail and a T-shirt from the Carribean. We chatted a while and he leaned back in his chair, hands clasped behind his head and said:

"When I was studying philosphy all my friends in law school and MBA programmes said what the hell are you doing that for, you can't make a living with it."

He waved his hands around his huge office, filled to the ceiling with books, and went on.

"This is all mine. I get to travel to Europe each year at the school's expense. I'm head of the department and I'm only 35. I'm here to tell you that you can make a living at anything that you truly love."

It's better to be exceptional and successful than wealthy and bored. Success doesn't always equal money...although that's nice too!

Good luck...see ya' when I get back.

 

[naudiz]

Yay! The page loaded just fine this time. I just have to say: very nicely done, CD. I will gladly recommend this page to others. The Paris spread is lovely. I particularly like the view from the Eiffel Tower at dusk. Very fitting for the City of Lights. I should have gone when I was living in Germany, but I was spending all of my holiday time in Amsterdam, which is also a great city so I don't regret the time spent there.

I'm looking forward to moving again. I adore the PNW, and I certainly intend to return to it again someday, but I get restless. Before becoming housebound, it wasn't unusual for me to take off across the country for a few weeks, or to pack up my life and move to Europe for a year - which I only did once, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I've had some good times in San Fran. It'll be good to be back.

Right now, all I want to do is work again. Ever since I was seven I wanted to be a writer, but for now earning my keep will be more than enough to keep me happy. My folks are happy I'm going to get a 'real' job, but little do they know it's just a stepping stone between here and where I want to be. Ah well, if the illusion makes them happy, who am I to shatter it? I've tried not to let sensibility get in my way too often. It's okay, but only in moderation.

I hope you have a good time in Spain, and a happy new year all around.

 

[fgarvb1]

you have only started.!

do not, repeat..do not stop now.!!

go find out about this.

1. why are we here.?
2. why does mankind live in a condition of sin.? what is it.?
3. what does God realy care about and how much.?
4. why is the law of moses dead to christians.?
5. if thinking about doing {sin}is the same as doing it,
where is the hope of salvation.?
6. why are the lost tribes not lost.? who are they.? how can one know.?
7. why was i not told all this in church.?
8. why was paul god's choice as an replacement apostle.?
and why is his messages so important.
9. and about ten thousand more.!!

after you do that,{it takes a few years} you will look at the world around you with new eyes..not with fear..and know
that god is very much in control and everything is right on time..his time..

 

[Closet Desire]

Sorry...not afraid.

I'll leave it to you to sort out...do get back to me in a few years and fill me in.

Cheers...

 

[ravenna]

> 1. why are we here.?

Haven't gone home from work yet.

> 2. why does mankind live in a condition of sin.? what is it.?

I blame the giant influence, personally.

> 3. what does God realy care about and how much.?

Which one?

> 4. why is the law of moses dead to christians.?

Well, according to the New Testament, the Christ replaced it for them. Moral redecorating?

> 5. if thinking about doing {sin}is the same as doing it, where is the hope of salvation.?

Well, if you /think/ about it, it doesn't actually get incorporated into the present/past matrix that is the well of Wyrd in the same way as /doing/ it would, so... er... I've lost you all already, haven't I.

> 6. why are the lost tribes not lost.? who are they.? how can one know.?

The men were the ones navigating.

> 7. why was i not told all this in church.?

I don't know about *you*, but I meandered out of church after about the age of eight, when I actually *read* the Bible.

> 8. why was paul god's choice as an replacement apostle.? and why is his messages so important.

His was the most charismatic hallucination? Besides, he had the ideas that let the movement spread outside the Hebrew population.

> 9. and about ten thousand more.!!

Wow, that'd've crashed the board, all right!

Sorry, all, had to put up *one* stereotypical neopagan response. Now pardon me while I go looking to buy a good translation of the Poetic Edda...

 

[naudiz]

Ravenna

Bad neopagan! No biscuit! (I know you love the abuse, dear.)

I don't have any answers except for 1. Why are we here?

... because this is where I keep all my stuff.

No disrespect intended, fgarvb1. I'm just joking around.

 

[fgarvb1]

cannot bother me. i have some very good gueses.
i spent 2-1/2 years when i was not working or sleeping or
eating doing research. i covered so damn many subjects i found out just how dumb i realy am. this gave me a great place to start. now i can look at the land and know how it
happened. i can look at the stars and i have as good of a guess as anyone about how their made,how they work.ect.ect.

i also learned a lot about god, man, good and evil; as well
as what's realy going on it this world around us and why.

all i am saying is i find large numbers of people saying one thing or the other when it is clear that they have only
scratched the surface of what they think are facts.

remember evolution is a theory just like any other,always
changing no better or worse then relgion..i will not be suprised if it fits in somehow.

anyway my advise is get off your asses and go find out for yourselves..

 

[Closet Desire]

Getting off our asses...

...you you mean arses or smaller versions of horses?

Hey guys...just got back from Palma (island of Mallorca, 90 miles off Med coast of Espana) where the twelve days of Christmas were just winding up. Does that qualify for getting off my ass or arse...whatever?

Final celebration is the arrival of the three magi (read magicians in Spanish) who are searching for the Arab toddler they have prophesied from the stars will be a powerful prince. Not three wise men, but three Arab magicians. I suppose that qualfies as evolution of sorts. Probably explains why I learned it a bit differently in Vacation Bible School.

These people take religion pretty seriously. Palma is well-known for the cathedral that rises from the surface of the water. Looks like a stone ship when viewed from the sea. Built in the 13th century it withstood Moorish occupation, pirate attacks, and more. Fabulous stuff. Redone a few times over the centuries including most recently by Antonio Gaudi (you might recognise him from his unfinished work in Barcelona or from Alan Parsons Project). Went to mass Sunday...yes...they even let athiests in! Day before visited the monastery in Valldemossa. Monks were kicked out in 1836 by Royal Order. Chopin and George Sands (naughty, naughty) lived there for a few months after it was bought by private interests. Very cool.

Photos to follow on the web site...

Sorry...Tex...I've been trying to sort out your points about research, god, history, evolution and don't even know where to start. You seem intent on preaching to us, telling us what to do, but all you've thrown us is bones...no meat. I'm interested in this unique set of rules that you've written which dismiss out of hand centuries of work and research by people who are consistent in their approaches, willing to admit their mistakes, and...I have to add...take grammar, spelling, and punctuation seriously enough to respect their reader's intelligence. I learned to read and write in Texas, but it's quite a bit different from what you learned. Maybe you could enlighten us further and impart some of your hard learned wisdom?

Happy New Year to all!