Friday, April 6, 2012

Happy Happy

This weekend family and friends will gather around tables sharing in traditions and faith,
as well joining others in celebrating of Spring.
Tonight begins the first night of Passover, and most will gather for a seder and read of the haggadah of prayers, reading and commentary which retells the story of the exodus from Egypt -- freedom from bondage at God's hand.

And hey Jake there's an app for that if you want to your Ipad.

But you really can't hide a virtual Afikomen can you? And after Shalom Sesame you know who's job it will always be.
Today is also Good Friday, when Christians remember the most solemn day of the year, and prepare for the most joyous of the Christian Calendar, Easter.

The coming together as a couple brings the blending of faith and traditions, and about forming new ones.

This year both Passover and Easter will undoubtedly have a new meaning for Austin after his trip to Israel. So maybe along with the haroset there will be some peeps and the brisket leftovers be some Tex-mex. And along with those chocolate bunnies, maybe some chocolate covered matzo. Now about those eggs and the Golden Goose...

Happy Passover!

Happy Easter!

Happy Spring!

11 comments:

prairiegirl said...

Nice post, Special, I really enjoyed it. Loved all of the colors. Those flowers are GORGEOUS!!! Really been enjoying the hyacinths this spring. I've bought 3 of them so far at the local Hy Vee store.

So awesome to have a day off and enjoy the great moderate temperatures. Those upper 80's were a bit too much too fast. Always thankful to our union for having Good Friday worked into the contract as a day off. That's very rare to find anywhere.

The day itself is not happy as to the reason it is observed but two more days and it is the most joyful ever.

The local Walgreens was just WIPED OUT of good jelly beans. All that was left was Brachs plain old and some kind of Sour ones. Blech. Who wants sour jelly beans? Where are the Sweet Tart jelly beans?!!!

I'm tellllllling you guys, if you see Sweet Tart jelly beans this weekend, buy a bag!! They will be THE BEST jelly beans you have ever had and they are only out during Easter season. I must find some this weekend before it's over.

the real m said...

I think the Reese heartbreak story is just the usual heres why Jake is not chasing women for the past 3 years. They have to surface that periodically to account for why he has no visible sex partner despite being a handsome, sexy male. Face it, straight men chase women. Jake is in an established, gay relationship, so his behaviour is out of pattern. An excuse has to surface periodically. OMG of course knows the true story. Jake and Austin continue to be a couple. But the naive general population has to be fed some bull.

prairiegirl said...

You're probably right, m. But wow, that thing was crazy.


This is sad news, Thomas Kincaid has died. He was only 54. I loved his pictures. I bet he is seeing some really incredible beauty now.

Special K said...

A thought popped into my head this morning, did Austin's back stories about his gf start around the same time as stories like Jake and Pompeo.

prairiegirl said...

After seeing the new pictures of Jake on Just Jared this morning, I am prompted to conduct another Safety Moment. He's minding his own business, wearing the official Jake daily uniform, nothing out of the ordinary. But there is something that really is concerning me.

It's this wearing of Ipod headphones. And I understand, he doesn't want to be bothered. It's a social barrier that he has put up so that people don't approach him. I get that; it's fine. He wants his privacy.

But, lol - this guy continues to give me material for Safety Moments. Jake buddy. Safety first. We care about your well-being.

From Time:

Wearing Headphones May Be Linnked to Pedestrian Deaths and Injury - The Hazards of Wearing Headphones While You Walk

You’ve heard about the hazards of distracted driving — using a cell phone behind the wheel, even with a hands-free headset. But how about distracted walking?

Pedestrians who wear headphones while walking are at greater risk of serious injury or even death than people who don’t tune out, according to a new study published this week in the journal Injury Prevention. Between 2004 and 2011, the study found, 116 pedestrians wearing headphones died or were injured in the U.S. in accidents involving cars or trains they didn’t hear or see coming. Overall, the number of injuries related to headphone use tripled between 2004-05 and 2010-11.

The authors acknowledge that the increased fatality rate may be exaggerated, however, since their data came from sources including the national Electronic Injury Surveillance System, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Google news archives and the Westlaw Campus Research database, all of which may be biased toward noting deadly accidents involving headphones but underreporting non-fatal ones. It’s also not clear whether headphones directly caused pedestrians’ injuries, or whether driver fault, alcohol, mental illness or suicidal intent could have contributed to the crashes.

Still, the data should be enough to prompt anyone who likes to listen and walk to think twice before tuning out.

Researchers say that using headphones distracts users from the task at hand, whether that means concentrating on the road and navigating traffic as a driver, or keeping an eye — and ear — out for hazards like trains and cars while walking.

Headphones also serve to isolate users from their environment, cocooning them so that they’re less aware of what’s going on around them. In the study, researchers found that in 29% of cases, victims who were hit by cars or trains apparently failed to hear the warning sounds of horns and sirens.

“The actual sensory deprivation that results from using headphones with electronic devices may be a unique problem in pedestrian incidents, where auditory cues can be more important than visual ones,” lead author Richard Lichenstein of the University of Maryland wrote in the paper.

Who’s at greatest risk? The study found that most victims were male (68%) and under age 30 (67%). More than half (55%) of the accidents involved a train, and 89% of cases occurred in urban settings.

Alice Park is a writer at TIME.

prairiegirl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
prairiegirl said...

^^ The link to the article:

Another Jake Safety Moment
I usually listen to my IPod when I walk but I walk at parks on trails or on sidewalks and certainly not in the middle of a downtown metropolis like NYC where you have oodles of fellow pedestrians, buses, emergency vehicles, taxi cabs, bicyclists, etc. You're in the middle of all kinds of activity.

Hopefully he at least has the volume down low so that he can still listen for that "Coming up on your left!" or the approach of an emergency vehicle, not to mention the approach of someone behind him with ill intent down there in those darkened subway waiting areas. You need to be aware of what's around you, able to listen for running footsteps coming up behind you, no matter what the reason for them is.

Just concerned, that's all. It's a real safety issue considering where it is he's doing it.

just jared said...

Jake Gyllenhaal: NYC Subway Stop

Seaweed said...

Wonderful post both yesterday and today Special. Appreciate your image selections and collaborative research offerings.

On the topic of safely, I've long felt that the use of earphones or plugs while walking can be dangerous too, PG. What also comes to mind for me is the topic of hoodies, which seem to be a hot button issue these days for other reasons.

The wearing of a hoodie not only reduces your hearing it also impedes a person's periferal vision. When you combine a hoodie with a set of ear plugs, and walk in any heavy traffic area you are seriously in harms way.

On another topic, I'm hoping everyone here enjoys a peaceful and meaningful holiday, be it Easter or Passover. My good wishes to you all.

destiny said...

Well I guess I"m living dangerously because I walk around NYC all the time with my headphones on. Not for short trips, but I often find myself walking a couple of miles to run errands, and it gets boring sometimes to do all that walking without music. I just make sure I look around carefully at intersections, and I usually don't play the music so loud that I can't hear what's going on around me.

destiny said...

Happy Passover and Easter to everyone.