Well, I'll tell you, I sat rapt for the whole 2 hours, 40 minutes ( this originally said 10 minutes. That was wrong, I found out) it took the video to run. Wonderful performance, if the production values suffered a little, because it was recorded with a home camcorder and the microphone built into the camcorder. What is this marvel of viewing, you ask? Well, actually, it's the video of the Starfires gig on September 18, when Hurricane Ivan came to visit, and we had about 350 stalwart fans who were with us the whole evening. Wow! That was really something to see. We sure had fun! I'm getting some copies made so I can send them out to some VERY SPECIAL people.

It does you good to see yourself in performance, and then get a chance to improve your stage presence. I was pretty sedate because I didn't want to upstage anyone else while they were performing, so I come off a bit lower-key than I intended. Oh, well....

Well, I figured out how to post an e-mail link on my page! Hooray! There is so much on Xanga set-up pages that it's easy to miss something! I will continue to peruse the set-up pages for some of the stuff I want to add. I wish I were not so techno-dumb!Put it this way: the on-off switches had better be clearly labeled. NOW, however,  I gotta tell you about something I bought. It is an electric pressure cooker! I know, to some people, this is like an electric fork.  As in, the regular pressure cooker works fine; why do you need an ELECTRIC one? Okay, I'll 'splain. Number A, the regular pressure cooker is an older model ( so am I, but we won't go there, will we?), and has never had little details like the gasket replaced. I tried to find one, but my model number has been stricken from the list of human achievements.

So, anyway, chefscatalog.com was having a clearance on these things, at a considerable savings,  and I thought it would be cool to have one, since you can program it to do all things you usually have to stand around waiting for. Not that you necessarily would want to leave the house for long periods of time with the electric pressure cooker running, but you could leave the room. So, it came! And it is great! It is strictly a set it and forget it ( for a while) operation. It even has a browning feature (which is FAST!), and an instruction manual which, thank providence, is not the size of the New York City Yellow Pages. It tells you what you gotta know, and lets you go! The critical test, though, was whether I could take one of my prized recipes for the regular cooker and cook it in the electric. So I did my Swedish Pot Roast, the recipe for which can be found at Recipezaar.com. It is the same recipe I have used for years. I'll tell you, I was a little apprehensive.

Well, I need not have worried. The electric performed like a champ and the roast was wonderful. There are some caveats: the cooker is pretty heavy and, since it is an 8-quart unit, is pretty bulky. Cleanup is not difficult, although a tad tedious. So, I am not going to use it for every possible dish I prepare. But it definitely is joining my arsenal of cooking gadgets, appliances, geegaws, gimcracks, and impulse purchases.

Wow! That was scary! I thought I had lost everything. It was time to re-up on my Xanga page, and I decided to go for the lifetime Premium. After all, I know a lot of people keep up with me by looking at this page ( thank you!) and I do post a lot of photos and such like on here. Not as many as YellowSparkler13, but she is younger and has more things of interest to take photos of, I guess. I am sorry that she won't be posting on a regular basis anymore. Well, she has other priorities ( an album!!) so blessings on her efforts. Just keep in touch, Ma'am!

Anyhow, I accomplish the renewal and all seems jake. Until I get this e-mail 21 days later, purportedly from PayPal, saying that my payment was cancelled because I did not have back-up funding. Now, I know, why would I trust an e-mail like that?. Well, Paypal says that they (PayPal) will always address you by name and that the site will always have a "https" ( "s" for secure, I guess) instead of "http." That way you will KNOW you are dealing with the Legit PayPal. Well, guess what? The e-mail DID address me by name, first and last, and the website in question DID have an https, plus the e-mail mentioned the exact amount of the payment. The e-mail said they also had notifed Xanga of the rejection. So I checked my superchef website. Sure enough, all my premium benefits were gone! I sent a copy of the e-mail to PayPal Fraud and received only an automatic note from them that they would look into it. I also filled out a buyer's complaint form which says they will immediately respond. Uh-uh! Not word one! Fortunately, I had saved an e-mail address from Marc, a really nice guy at Xanga Support, and so I wrote to him. He assured me that the payment had been received by Xanga and that my premium features had been turned back on. So they have. I still have no communication at all from PayPal, so I still have no idea whether the e-mail was a scam or real. If it was a scam, somehow the scammers got a lot of info on me which should have been protected by encription at PayPal. At Marc's suggestion, and  my own inclination also, I changed my PayPal password, just to be sure. I am still not sure what happened, but I am monitoring things closely, to ensure that nothing has been compromised.

The previous post has been deleted. Plans have changed. I will still be providing food, but will not be on the air. Ah, well....

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Wel, I found out that Jon got very ill Christmas Eve and spent most of the night in the bathroom at a friend's house. I am so sorry. Apparently there is something going around and he got it. He is better now, thank you.

Questions I have:

What happened to the e-mail listing on my website so that people can e-mail me without posting? It used to be there and I can find no way to put it back on. And yes I have asked Xanaga. No answer.

How do folks get all this great-sounding stuff on their Xanga website? I followed the directions explicitly (twice!!) and all I can get is ( occasionally) a little bit on my profile site, but zip zilch nada on my Xanga site. and yes it's legal stuff. And yes I have asked Xanga. No answer.

I'd like to ask Washburn: who is this Oscar Schmidt, anyway? Every websearch I do for the name  leads me back to Washburn. Usually a line of instruments is named after an artist who uses the instruments or someone who designed them, like uh, that guy Paul Les or whatever!

I'd like to ask Prestige: Why don't you make a lefty model or at least a double cutaway like the Gretsch Tennessean or the Gibson 33- series?

I'd like to ask my ISP why it is impossible for me to delete an e-mail without opening it first.

I'd like to ask all these lonely women who send me e-mails and can't spell "hello" why they don't get a life.

 Enough!  Church calls!

So, here it is, Christmas Day, cold and clear. I'm alone in the house now, except for Cricket, Nancy, and Nightshade, our bundles of fur.  Jonathan is somewhere with his friends (we haven't seen him since last night at dinner at our daughter's house) and Ginny is on all day and all night at the hospital. I'll go over later on and have dinner with her. Even eating hospital food is nice when you are with your life partner. Maybe Jon will come; maybe not. I left a note on his voicemail. It's his option. I have to say,I think he is getting better at choosing his options, but we all could do better at that.

We had our Christmas sharing at Mel's last night, since my step-grandaughter had to go to her mom's today and Ginny was going to be working. Mel did a standing rib roast for the first time. I really admire Mel's cooking bravery and abilities. She did an outstanding job. What I like is, she takes chances, she tries new things, not always successful, but usually they are. She is a bit of an Emeril devotee. Of course, they have cable and get the Food Channel. We don't have cable or satellite, by choice, so there's a lot we don't see. We do not seem to suffer for it. When we are away at a conference, I will watch CNN or Headline News,but after the 15th or 20th rerun of an earlier incident, it begins to get old real fast! 

Then Ginny and I went to church and caught the 8:30 bell choir service. It was lovely, but I was overheated and had to remove my sport coat. My church is very blessed in its pastorage. Our pastors are top-notch and very approachable. Pastor John gave an excellent meditation, then we took communion. It was great.

So, what did I get for Christmas? Does it matter? I guess there was a time when what I got would  have mattered a lot, but it really doesn't anymore. It's more important what I gave. This is not to in any way discount the love people showed. in giving me gifts. Oh, okay...Mel,  Bryan, Cecilia and Evan gave me an eBay gift certificate, Jon gave me a Mediaplay gift card, and Ginny got me a cool Christmas tie, with the Nativity scene on it. The only other Christmas tie I had was one with Taz about to bite the butt of Santa coming down the chimney...not necessary an appropriate one to wear to church. You know, now that I no longer wear ties everyday, I kind of miss wearing them. I try to always wear one to church, but I don't usually go anywhere anymore where I gotta wear a tie. Times change as the phases in your life change.

A co-worker at the hospital gave me some chocolate candy, a scarf ( which I have been wearing a lot since I got it yesterday) and a lovely card with a note affirming my attitude toward patients and employees as I work part-time at the hospital. I can honestly say that meant more than just about anything else I may have received this holiday season, although the down comforter Ginny and I got for ourselves comes close! Thank you, Ma'am; you made my day.

 Merry Christmas, to all! We all need it, although we don't really deserve it. But that's what Christmas is all about anyway, isn't it?

Being an emotional basket case myself, I guess there a lot of times when a good "Awwwwwww" is the thing to say. It is cool when I can see someone grow musically. Now, this person may have been growing musically for some time, it's just that I may not have been as attuned to it as I might have been. It is cool to find, mixed in among all the other CDs on his bed, recordings like "Nickel Creek" and some guy named Mozart. Not that he will necessarily play like Nickel Creek or do any of Moe's music, but, after all, what we listen to musically helps shape our inner muse and, somehow or other, may have an influence on what we create. Now, yes, I do a lot of "covers" myself, even though I have written original material (witness the background music to this site, lyrics written by me longer ago than I would care to admit),because I enjoy doing the covers. I add my own slant to the song, so that, even if the song is recognizable, my performance is not the same as the original. I will be creating more just as soon as I can figure how to work the Cubase SL program I have on this computer. I long for the good old days of reel-to-reel, sound on sound, tape recorders which any idiot *raises hand* could operate. I guess I am just digitally inept.

Sometimes there are things that give you a warm glow other than acid reflux. My son has started working at a local 24/7 diner as a server. He does an excellent job and the management and patrons really appreciate his efforts. So  people other than his parents ask to be seated at one of his tables, and he is quite popular. I am delighted. He needed some successes in his life, and this is all because of his efforts. He is actually able to perform for them in his own way while taking their order. Every time we go in for something to eat, I hear Jon's other patrons laughing at his comments, and they really enjoy having him as their server. Go, Jon!

Anyhow, yesterday was Ginny's birthday. Never mind which one, it is not important to the story. Jon wanted to do something special for his mom's birthday, but, being a relatively new hire and with massive outstanding bills, his options were limited. So, during his shift yesterday, he asked me if I could bring Ginny over so he could buy her dessert. Since yesterday was one of my workout days and since I had also spent part of the day unloading and stacking a cord of wood ( I'm not finished), I was in no mood or condition to cook. So, we wound up having dinner at the diner. Jon, of course, was our server and was his usual charming self. I think he gets such a kick out of being his parents' server. As usual, the food was very good, plentiful and very reasonable in cost. At the end of the meal, Ginny caught  a glimpse of a group gathering out of the corner of her eye. Sure enough, all the servers, including Jon and the two owners,  came over en masse to sing "Happy Birthday" to Ginny! It was great! One of the servers actually held out her lighter so Ginny could blow it out., in lieu of a candle!

It is a great diner, very much of a family atmosphere, and everyone works well together. A great deal of their offerings are made on-site. We have become pretty regular customers. So, if you ever get to the the Harrisburg, Pa. area, look up the Capitol Diner and ask to be seated at one of Jon's tables. I can guarantee a good meal, good prices, and excellent service. If you enjoyed the meal, be sure and let Billy or Jimmy know.

Okay, a little quiz for those of you who are reading this::

Name the city!

A hint!! You want a hint!!?? Um..okay...how would you sharpen the lady who sang " To Sir With Love" if she were a hunting knife?

I did some exploring on Xanga and found a couple more people whose sites I  subsequently subscribed to ( to whose sites I subscribed; to sites I subscribed whom...whatever!!!) Don't get skeered, folks...it's only me! We're all in this together. And they're mewzishuns, too! With real instruments and everything. One young fellow puts a new spin on touring: "Wouldn't it be great," we think. Well..um...not necessarily. I really resonate with his description of audience members as new neighbors everyday who want to talk.You know, we may think of musicians on tour as havng a great time and just having a ball going from city to city. But just think...they really don't see much of the city in which they're playing, they live out of suitcases, they're away from home, they perform the same songs with the same people all the time; they still gotta do laundry, they rarely get a home-cooked meal, if they get sick they can't work and don't get paid, they travel A LOT, and they have to be the best they can be EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. I mean, people are paying money to see and hear them and they have to be worth the price.

God bless you guys. My hat is off to you. Thank you for what you do; and I know at least one of you is a Contemporary Christian musician. Thank you for spreading The Word... I'll keep you in prayer.