Stan Taylor

I finally captured a (not very good) photo of the lizard who sleeps outside our bathroom window

This is the old windmill on the greenbelt behind our house. I’ve been waiting for the right conditions to take a sunrise or sunset photo of it. This morning I was awake and dressed at sunrise, and a cold front blew through yesterday which cleared the skies of their usual summer haze.

This is hysterical:

The Catholic Church has been a little down on its luck recently… That’s why I think they should found What Would Atkins Do, Incorporated.

Here’s how it works. The church opens a series of bakeries across the nation, selling all varieties of grain products: bread, muffins, pasta, you name it. Each outlet also employs a deacon, who sanctifies everything before its shipped to locals stores. It would be sort of like the kosher food deal, but, you know, Christier.

And voila: moneymaker! The 96% of the American population currently on the Atkins diet could enjoy all those baked goods they’ve had to forego, without having to worry about meddlesome carbs. Thanks to the (literal!) miracle of transubstantiation, those WWAD cinnamon rolls and bagels will turn into the (literal!) body of Christ after consumption, thereby converting a carbohydrate-laden doughnut into a the relatively carb-free hunk of Messiah. Dieters get to eat bread again and stave off eternal damnation, all at the same time — it’s win-win!

I was just reading a blog post about how threatened ‘credentialed’ journalists feel about bloggers–in particular, since bloggers were given passes to the Democratic National Convention.

Some of the people who commented on this post postulated that ‘objectivity’ is the heart of the matter. Traditional journalists offer ‘objectivity’ and criticize bloggers for their subjectivity.

But in a post-modern world, objectivity is a questionable concept. Bloggers appeal to us precisely BECAUSE they are subjective and admit it. We suspect traditional journalists because they claim objectivity, but we know that true objectivity is not possible. At least we have a good idea what biases a particular blogger offers.

The young swallows that have been raised above our front door this summer waiting for their mommy’s return.

This is great:

Jesus Credit Card Raises a Few Eyebrows
Wednesday, August 04, 2004, 4:20:26 PM

By KCRG-TV9 News Reporter Craig Brown – from the Iowa City Newsroom

The Bible has told Christians for ages not to worship both God and money.but now maybe you can. A new credit card featuring the Calvary’s three empty crosses begs the question: What’s in God’s wallet?

“Of course our regular customers are thrilled because they can earn points and give gift certificates for our stores,” says Cedar Rapids Family Christian Store Manager Patty Stone.

Family Christian Stores nationwide are offering the new Mastercard with an image some Christians say their master wouldn’t approve being on a charge card. Stone says she’s heard a few comments both positive and negative from her customers.

“There are some people who say that they don’t think it’s right for us to issue credit cards to go into debt. And our stand on it is we’re not encouraging people to go into debt because we sell a lot of books that encourage them that if they use a credit card, to pay it off monthly.”

Store Customer Rusty Parenteau believes all of our money came from God to begin with. “I think it’s a great idea, it’s a great witnessing tool.” “In God We Trust” is already printed on all American currency, and many people have Christian symbols on their checks.

Stone says her store has offered the cards for a year and-a-half. She says so far the sales are slow, but the rewards are priceless.

UPDATE: I found an image of the card on Family Christian Stores’ web site:

I just called the nearby Macaroni Grill to make a reservation for a coworker’s going away lunch. When the phone was picked up, here’s what I got: “Hi. Thank you for calling Macaroni Grill in West Lake Hills, now offering curbside take-out. This is Stacy. How many I help you?”

Man, I could have gone and smoked a cigarette before Stacy got that out. I just imagine the Director of Telephone Reception at corporate Macaroni Grill’s HQ issuing his weekly memo on how to answer the phone properly, and reports from marketing analysts stating that mentioning curbside take-out in telephone reception will increase sales by X percent.

When I occasionally go through the Taco Cabana drive-through on my way to work to buy a breakfast taco, I get a similar spiel: “Hi, Welcome to Taco Cabana. Can I get you a [current breakfast special] this morning?” Me: “Uh no. I’d like one bacon and egg breakfast taco.”

There’s a mini-golf and batting cages business in Pflugerville that closed a couple of years ago, and its property has been sitting vacant for a couple of years. I noticed a sign a while back announcing that the property was going to be auctioned off soon.

Well, imagine my surprise when I drove past yesterday and saw a new sign out front: it’s now a church.

We have an anole lizard who sleeps at night on a red tip photinia leaf right outside the window in our downstairs bathroom. I saw it sacked out on a leaf a few nights ago and thought it was cute. But it was back again last night and this morning. I couldn’t figure out how to get a good photo in the dark, so I came back right at dawn. Sure enough, the lizard was awake, standing up and looking around. When I checked a few minutes later, it was gone. Off to do whatever lizards do during the day–eating bugs in our yard, I hope.