BrDevon

There is absolutely no replacement for a printed book, but online access to books is perfect for a few scenarios: books that you simply wanted to read and move on, or in my case, a not-as-green option: printing out passages to read elsewhere. Some books are too bulky to make it practical to travel with them, and some places are not set up for comfortable reading. I enjoy reading while walking on the treadmill in the fitness center. It's a great way to kill off an hour while killing some calories. The treadmills at my facility of choice have a small ledge that is good for holding up a few sheets of paper, but are too small for a book, and even most magazines. So I might print out a chapter or two of a book I'm into and use it to pass the time.

On rereading your post, I also realized as I was turning to pay my electricity bill (ahh, timing!) that I also use greener electricity. I actually pay more for it, but my utility provider offers power from renewable resources (mostly wind farms and a few hydroelectric sources in my area). I'm willing to throw an extra penny or two a kilowatt for that. I also use a very low amount of electricity. My appliances are energy star rated, my computer sleeps when I am not actively using it, the monitor is --off-- not sleeping overnight, I light my entire apartment at night on 13w of electricity, and when daylight is available, the lights are off. I try to use only what I need, and the only electrical draw that is not on a timer or shut down regularly is the refrigerator. My next big move is to try to get up enough money to get a replacement car, and hopefully with it better milage and efficiency. I would love to go hybrid, but realistically I know I can not afford that option this round unless I win a lottery.

On hard data, I would take your point, absolutely, since a book, as you say only requires the energy to be printed once. The rationale I was using when referring to this method as "green" is that I, as most people, receive email anyway, and tend to read a book once, maybe twice, and not touch it again for years, if at all. In those cases, I would expect it to be less expensive overall for me to simply read the book through email, since it did not require paper, ink, transportation, marketing, etc. I', also thinking in terms of human inertia. While many books can be recycled, how many people actually do recycle them? Even something as basic as a telephone directory is rarely recycled. In my area, the telephohne companies actually have recycle day, where when they put the new issue out, they ask residents in the area to put the old book(s) out in the same location and they are picked up for processing within the week. Very easy, but so few take advantage of the offer. As with all things green and energy efficient, the only way to make it effective is with the efforts of the end user(s).

I love to read, but don't have a lot of money in the budget for books, and don't have enough time or gas money to get back and forth to the library as often as I would like. I was tipped off to a website that answers the need nicely: DailyLit.com This site has a decent selection of titles, many at no cost, that can sent to you as an email or an RSS feed. You select how often you wish to have an installment of your selected title (daily at a certain time, to once a week). If you can't wait for your next installment, there is a link to send the next one in advance of the scheduled time. I'm reading a few of the classics I loved in school, and will be grabbing a couple that I always heard about in school but never got a chance at. There are contemporary titles too, but those do cost slightly. For now, I'm sticking with the free stuff, but even the paid titles are very reasonable. Best of all, there are no books to return. If you're like me, a lot of these titles are the type that are nice to read once in a while, but you aren't really going to read them often enough to make it worth buying or keeping a copy. For those, it's nice to read the email installments, and simply delete when you're done - or share it with a friend who might like the title too. Either way, on a screen, there is no cutting of trees for printing. Most of us are going to read email anyway. It would be a nice switch to go from spam to actual quality reading. Feel free to share the news.

for the past couple days, the best inventions for me are the flushing toilet, bathroom tissue, and the shower. Since I have had food poisoning followed by the flu, I have been using all three to excess lately.

almost got hit by a bus. The crossroads were literally that an intersection where two roads crossed. "Okay... maybe I should soul search on that park bench over there," said our confuzed friend. Making his way slowly to the sidewalk, planning to sit on the bench...

smoking gun, because he had finally picked off that annoying Burger King, but he didn't have time to revel in victory because...

stirred the mini marshmallows around in his bistro-sized cup of cocoa. "I will never look at the chef the same way again," he said. (And how could he, considering the chef was not half the man he used to be and currently tinned.) Thinking to himself that it was a mighty good thing he didn't ask for divinity, he turned and...

"If one of those bottles should happen to fall, don't call me, I ain't the janitor!" was heard from the distance. From the shadows appeared...

the pilot. And if you got that reference...

Let's try another image: In the stifling silence and solitude of the corridor, sit I, in the windowsill. Glass from my knees to the ceiling above reveal a slowly developing picture. In the deep purple of the sun's first light lies the shadows of the tops of the pine trees which live on the Blue Hills, bathed in the cascading mists as the sun turns last evening's dew into tufts of cloud. I watch as the lights progess from the deepest indigo, through the burgundy and rich blazing oranges then the brightness of the yellows and the full brilliant whiteness of the morning sun. Fully refreshed by the beauty and sanctity of this gift, I thank the Almighty for creation, and begin my day. This is a true image. One of my favorite jobs had me working at the satellite campus of my Alma Mater, and what was then the Art wing faced the Blue Hills of Massachusetts. I used to arrive at the school around 6 am, when it was just me and security, and as I would review my itinerary and prepare for my classes and the work schedule for the day, I would sit in the deep windowsill, about 2 1/2 feet deep, with a cup of coffee and the view would just be a movie of the most incredible views as the sun came up over the hills. Once or twice I have wanted to visit the school and just look out that window one more time, but with 9-11-01 and the types of things that have happened in schools in this country, campus police have locked the school down. One only enters if able to present an active staff or student ID. No more visitors, and even those who have IDs have to be on the schedule that day. If one forgets paperwork in their office, another coworker or a police officer will retrieve it. It is a shame that the freedoms we took for granted in the late 80s will never be there again. I will always be thankful for the memories, though. That can never be taken from me.

Having seen these kids working behind the counters of the local retail outlets, I can relate. I still smile when I read my paying job's dress code which contains the following phrase regarding hair colors: Hair must be worn in colors normally created by nature; or by effects caused by nature, e.g.: graying, or baldness.

In the stifling heat of the summer evening, the last purple rays of sun, like an instant picture developing, washed over the kitten - a mere tuft of fur napping on the windowsill. Do I get bonus points for using them in reverse order?

On which sits a Little House... "Hi, Ma... Hi, Pa!" yells Laura as she all but flies through the door, a virtual whirlwind. But this is a rerun, and the channel is quickly changed to...

focused his thoughts on the task at hand and soon decoded the message:

Some protestant and "undeclared" paths also use blue stoles on weekdays or for house calls for times when green would normally be used, but one is either not in the church/chapel or the setting is less formal than a Sunday service. When I was growing up, the local clergy referred to those occasion as "common time" or "common days."

Hi, ashes... It is actually I who own Enlightened Souls Ministries. I am its founder and its abbot. Br. Blackthorn is our webmaster, and a very much welcomed associate minister. As far as the artwork, I like it very much, and have retrieved it, and forsee its use on the site in various areas. Thank you for such a beautiful contribution. Br. Devon

My heart is heavy with sorrow for your loss. I will always be proud to carry your mother's name on my credentials of ordination. May your burden be lightened in the knowledge that it is in your parent's legacy that many have found their true calling to serve the Almighty as the Almighty is known to them. The gifts given to us by our church through your parents are countless. I will always consider myself a better person due to the numerous gifts of the Universal Life Church. A candle is lit in your mother's memory. May you find peace. Blessings, Brother Devon Craig Forum Moderator Universal Life Church Online

I just realized, "D'Oh!" that I had never updated the title of this thread. The link that Skipdawg was kind enough to supply in the first post is actually a perpetual calendar the site maintains, and not just for 2004. In case you missed it, the link is: Ethnic and Religious holidays

They also have another style, about 200 dollars lower: click here

Welcome to our family. I feel a kindred connection with you in that I left a parish (or should I say a parish left me?) over my views of Paul. Suffice it to say that I believe Paul was an unfortunate misogynist who had much good to offer, as long as you skimmed off a few layers and realized he was a victim of his times and surroundings and this many years later it is truly unfortunate when one thinks of a woman as having a lower status anywhere. My big disgrace to my childhood parish was calling out my very misguided rector who told me that he would not allow a female acolyte to serve at his altar. Since I had over 18 years of service under the bridge and had read the Canon laws of the Episcopal church cover to cover many times, I challenged him to find me a single canon that states a person may not serve at the altar if she is female. He went off on a tangent about Paul (naturally), but he could not find anything in the Canons (because it is not there to be found). Outcome? Female acolytes, and the loss of the longest serving acolyte in the 20th century history of that parish. That and a few of the other views held by ECUSA caused me to walk away and seek my own path. After all, why should I want to be a member of a church that would never ordain me? Taht being said, there are a few Episcopal parishes where I feel welcomed. Not all subscribe to ECUSA. Some have joined the schism and are directly alligned with the Anglican Communion. Still others are independent. It is sad that there is so much infighting in a single denomination, but when all is said and done, I need to answer to the Almighty as I understand Him/Her/It/Them. When the final role is called, I want to be on the registrar's list, so to speak.

I'm happy to see this story has a happy ending. Best of luck.

Okay, admit it... how many of us have thought of playing songs on a telephone?

To our Saint Murph May we be blest with many years to celebrate this man of miracles.

All I can say to the latest entry is... "yes." You have a rare gift in this day of what passes for music: you are not a clone of the synth-pop generation where the sound can be generated by any bored techie with enough time and a good mother board. Your sound comes from a different place: a protected source deep within from where all fine arts originate. Your sound is a welcome change from that worn out Xerox copy that every radio station everywhere is playing. I will admit, I was tempted to cheat and look at the lyrics while listening to the song, but then I decided not to. I will go back and look them over later, but for now, I want to concentrate on hearing you the way I still can hear. I want to appreciate your music in the pure way that my remaining hearing allows me: I am not hung up on the words, or the tune itself, but how the tone of your voice and the instrumentals make me feel on the whole. There is a quality about your music that reaches me and holds me. After listening, I feel that I have been given something - and I have, for you are sharing an art that is almost faded away. I wish more school systems would bring back the arts and the acoustic music in the curriculum. Today's students would be so enriched to be exposed to learning the foundations in music that make what you offer possible. Today's MTV generation seems to bear no resemblance to mine: I remember the very moment MTV launched. I still remember sitting in front of the TV in my parents' house the moment the introduced us to the term VJ and played "Video killed the radio star" by the Buggles. Little did I know at that point that all that we called popular music would fall to the commercial coma of today's cookie cutter face of the week bleating out the sheep anthem of the day. What is really sad is how few original songs are being written these days. The stuff on the radio is fun for the hard of hearing crowd like me, because we never have to learn new lyrics. The clones keep beating on the classics and thinking they have added some new spin. Uhh... no. Stay true to yourself. There are many of us who will drink from that oasis of musical purity.