I've never seen any honor in kicking a person when he's down.

PSH was by all accounts a kind man, all too infrequent in this day and age; and take it from me, in that industry. So he stumbled and fell? Who has that first stone in his fist?

I joined an online Catholic news group who's motto is: Love Your Neighbors - All of Them!

I've also read that Mother Theresa told JPII to his face that women would make better priests!

With the high infant death rate back then,

contraception was also frowned upon because it meant less cannon fodder for the armies.

(I like your post, btw; will follow the link shortly.)

He can sing, too.

When his family moved to Phoenix from Chicago, JD would play Prescott a lot. Even though I lived on a little ranch 5 miles down a dirt road 20 miles away, I worked at a place barely across the highway from the Pines, one of the best little roadhouses in the world. Even when it was my day off, I'd drive in for his shows, several hours early because he always drew huge crowds. I'd buy something to eat, one beer, and then park at the table closest to the stage and read a book! while waiting for the Simo crew to show up.

Took tons of videos which I will someday upload for everyone to enjoy. The tragedy was that I ran out of tape the one night he sang 'Hurt' - by far the best cover I ever heard, even better than Cash. And he's a genuinely nice young man. People could see I was a serious videographer and treated me more than well. I really liked his drummer at the time, and thereby hangs the tale of my best shot. During one drum solo I flopped down on my back on the stage floor and - w/o interfering! - scooted to where I could take an extended upshot of the drummer's face, framed by the cymbals, sweat dripping everywhere including my lens; but I didn't care. Strange maybe, what some people consider the thrill of a lifetime.

I think if my house ever started to burn down, those tapes might be the first thing I grabbed to rescue.

Please tell your friend GERMS that this little ol' lady has been won over.

Most of my taste in art and design dates from Art Deco backwards. Although I am partial to Rivera. Don't like Picasso, etc. I think Pollack was nuts. Don't even get me started on Cristo! But for some reason I do like GERMS. A lot. Figure out the difference if you can - I don't understand it. But it's the truth and therefore worth noting.

I'll try to find someone, but this is a pretty backward area in more ways than one. They still

do virtually every agrarian pursuit by the moon and are xenophobic and anti-science to boot. Wish me luck.

Rejoice! THE END IS NEAR.

Of old man Winter anyway. To me the official start of Spring happens when I place my first order from a seed catalog. I can hardly wait until the Tasti Lee tomato seeds arrive; new variety for me, but they're good enough to have their own festival in FL and I'm told the supermarkets charge a premium for them.

That's another reason I garden besides organic safety - supermarket produce prices except for bananas are enough to give me a heart attack, especially in a remote rural area where we have to absorb higher shipping costs.

Today I've been hearing snow slide off the roof, and the underground frozen town water mains should thaw soon so I can have running water again. I'm getting sick of bird baths. By the middle of next week, betcha I can do laundry and run the dishwasher again, too. Tonight I cooked the ground venizon that I plan to add tomorrow to a good hearty stew of onions, potatoes, and carrots. Since I can't afford to wind up with ALL my cookware dirty before water service resumes, I'll be making enough for 3 days. The very thought of going to the store for tv dinners horrifies me. Although come to think of it, I have a perfect excuse for buying at least one package of chimis. I could live on those things.

Could they be persuaded to survive winters in a gardening zone the same as southern Maine?

Although I love honey, my primary focus would be caring for threatened species. Plus I garden a lot.

Off and on I lived in L.A. 12-14 years altogether;

Besides the performing arts, one of the things I enjoyed most was the murals. And the rich diversity of the culture. L.A., NYC and Boston are my favorite big cities.