My friend Carl celebrated his 30th anniversary in ministry Sunday. Carl’s been at St. Luke’s Lutheran (ELCA) for about 15 years; he’s one of the most grounded and compassionate people I know. I met Carl, wife Triss, and daughter Holly when Carl answered the call for pastoring at Trinity Lutheran in Porterville, CA where IContinue reading “Alphasmart in the car”
Author Archives: Norm Benson
AlphaSmartie Pants
I love gadgets. My latest bit of technology is a tad dated—a nifty AlphaSmart 2000. It weighs under three pounds, is pretty darn near indestructible, and goes 120-300 hours on three AA batteries. I bought it used on eBay for around $40US.The power adapter is missing (I knew that when I bought it) but, likeContinue reading “AlphaSmartie Pants”
Not quite coffee
Well, sorry to say, Teecino is not the perfect coffee substitute. I bought Maya Caffé ($9) and the Java ($8) flavors. They smell great, by the way, but they aren’t COFFEE, missing that je ne sais quoi…bitterness, n’est pas?
Coffee, East of Java, Part Deux
Well, we have another contestant in the java look-alike contest. Teeccino Caffeine-Free Herbal Coffee (I know how oxymoronic “herbal coffee” sounds) seems to taste okay. I say ‘seems to’ because I bought the Vanilla Nut Herbal Coffee, which claims to have “… Teeccino’s dark, robust body…accented with golden roasted almonds and tropical nuts including coconut”Continue reading “Coffee, East of Java, Part Deux”
Bragging About My Kid's Blogging
My kids are talented writers. Jeff’s Continuous Wave: The West? is one of the funniest riffs on landmarks that I’ve read. Lee’s 2006 Movie Roundup is pretty hilarious. PS, These off-the-wall videos are all produced by The Last Transformers team (of which Lee is a part) in Cinemasports’ competitions lasting ten hours with three ingredients:Continue reading “Bragging About My Kid's Blogging”
Bragging About My Kid’s Blogging
My kids are talented writers. Jeff’s Continuous Wave: The West? is one of the funniest riffs on landmarks that I’ve read. Lee’s 2006 Movie Roundup is pretty hilarious. PS, These off-the-wall videos are all produced by The Last Transformers team (of which Lee is a part) in Cinemasports’ competitions lasting ten hours with three ingredients:Continue reading “Bragging About My Kid’s Blogging”
Can You Hear Me Now?
I read Alan Hutcheson’s online journal (please, do not call it a blog) today and he comments on a certain American Express commercial. He says that besides the humor ablating away with numerous viewings, that he doesn’t know any of the other celebs in the spot other than Scorcese and Ellen DeGeneres. I have zeroContinue reading “Can You Hear Me Now?”
Coffee East of Java
As I sit at my kitchen table with my steaming cup of substitute, let me say that I have had only one cup of coffee in fourteen days. No caffeine in thirteen of fourteen days. I miss it. I love coffee (not enough to marry it, mind you, our relationship knew no bounds). I hadContinue reading “Coffee East of Java”
Slang This
Last month, Mary and I were in Tucson, Arizona for her nephew’s PhD ceremony in Physics. I believe his dissertation is in String Theory that I think may be about orchestras or how to make Cat’s Cradles, one or the other. You might try looking up String Theory in Wikipedia: the online font of knowledge.Continue reading “Slang This”
Ya Cain’t Fix Stoopid
People have often commented on my driving . Usually the person riding my bumper is the one observing that I drive like a like old lady (not from Pasadena); while I can’t hear what they are saying, I can read lips. Yesterday had all the elements of a great day as I drove my well-engineeredContinue reading “Ya Cain’t Fix Stoopid”
Nullius in Verba 