And then beginning on Palm Sunday, April 6, we’ll continue moving toward Easter Sunday with a series of daily scriptural meditations that will include ideas for your personal devotions along with questions for us to reflect on together in the comment section.  As more of you step forward and participate in the conversation we create together the more meaningful it will be for all of us.

Okay, that’s my promo. Now here are some links for you to enjoy! Click away….just don’t forget to come back tomorrow!

• Here’s an idea for a fun little craft idea for even the most craft-challenged among us.
• So tell me, if you could spend a week here or here, which would it be? My vote is for here.
• Are you a wordsmith or a wordsloth?
• I love this site, love the free podcasts, and love that saucy little Lynne Rossetto Kasper.
• A blog I just really enjoy because of the food and the photography and the laughs.
• It might not look like much to start with but spend some time with it and have a ball!
• In honor of my sweet friend Amy who lives here as much as she does in her own home.
• Fred & Friends makes the coolest stuff.
• Are you one of my Facebook Friends yet?! What are you waiting for?!
• Shhhh…don’t tell my cats. It’s a surprise. And if I ever win the lottery…
• Despite our best worst efforts to destroy this planet it still remains a breathtakingly gorgeous globe (thanks again Amy!)
• If you haven’t seen this video yet, then stop right now and do yourself a favor. This young man can teach us all with his courage and eloquence.
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• If you’re still cranky at the world after this then go directly to bed and take a nap.
• It takes so little to keep me entertained.
• Be careful of your fingers!
• What happens when you have a scanner and too many carbs.
• This is delightful despite the rampant displays of heterosexual affection.
• If you haven’t heard of Tony Sweet, now you have. Gay. Christian. Adorable. What’s not to love?
• The longer you stay on the site the better it gets. In a painful sort of way that is.
• A really interesting perspective on bisexuality in the GLBTQ community.
• It’s the little extra touches that turn an ordinary meal into something special. Impress her.
• Just about the coolest coffee cup I’ve ever seen.
• A girl can dream, can’t she?
• Oh, the time I’ve wasted here having fun.
• Anita is currently reading the following books: An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith, Turn My Mourning into Dancing, The Twilight Saga: Book One, Mindful Eating, and Real Food: What to Eat and Why.
• Which explains why this is my idea of paradise on earth.
• The first person to bake one and direct me to a photo of it they’ve uploaded to an online photo album will win a 30.00 Amazon Gift Certificate! The photo needs to include a slip of paper with your first name on it in the image. Contestants, pre-heat your ovens now!
• Is that too complicated for you? Then how about this Rice Krispy sushi wrapped in fruit leather and stuffed with a raw gummy worm? I am SO going to make these for an upcoming after church hospitality hour!

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I recently included a link to Cakespy, a blog where I go to salivate when I’m in need of a vicarious cupcake thrill. Regrettably the only  recipe I’ve tried to date is the one for the plaster cupcakes D and I will be placing in random spots around Berkeley tomorrow in celebration of Valentine’s Day. They look reasonably believable and considering how heavy they are I doubt anyone’s going to chip a tooth attempting a nibble, if in fact anyone is foolish trusting enough to nibble a cupcake abandoned at an ATM machine. I just hope they bring a smile or two to someone’s day.

In keeping with the cupcake theme here’s a silly little song I found on the internet a few years ago. Go ahead and share it with your sweetie. Better yet, learn the song and sing your girl a special Valentine’s solo. While it might not make her swoon, it will at least give her with a giggle or two and remember, she won’t be laughing at you but with you. Okay. Let’s not kid ourselves. She will be laughing at you but put your ego aside for the sake of Cupid’s arrow. And the answer to your question is yes, D will be giggling tomorrow…at me but not like that’s anything new!

[Because I love you I've removed the song so it doesn't continue to play everytime you visit. Check out Cuppycake to hear the song and read the lyrics].

Here’s my usual collection of links for the weekend to keep you out of trouble and off the streets. Click away!

• Not a game for obsessive perfectionists.
• If you’re big into watching sand fall, this is the ticket for you. Just sweep up when you’re done.
• Write a fun message for your Valentine’s Sweetie or Sweetie-Wannabe.
• Why am I so rotten at playing Dots?
• Make her a Valentine.
• A YouTube game for those of you who loved the back page of Highlight Magazine as much as I did.
• Make your own font to add that semi-personal touch.
• The blog title says it all. This Is Why You’re Fat. Check out the gravy-covered pizza.
• As bad as I was on Dots, I’m worse here.
• Like you need one more link to another game but then these links are provided free of charge so stop with your complaining already!

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• I just want to apologize for this in advance. Be sure to have your sound on. I think you’ll know why once you tap on the pointer finger.
• Take a five minute creativity break.
• If you’re angry then get it out of your system in a Biblical way, King James style.
• I’m going to pass on the fruit but thank you very much.
• Print out your favorite website or any portion of it in a clean presentation.
• Could trust in God be this simple?
• A game to play at the office or when you want to pretend you work in an office.
• If this applies to you, then please stop Girlfriend.
• To my dear beloved D, please do not open this link. Seriously. Don’t.
• Skip to My Lou has some fun ideas for releasing your inner-artist.
• Make an online Scrapblog to share with the world or just your sweetie.
• How about making this cute little book and filling it with notes for someone special or someone who needs to know they’re special?
• I’m going to make a dozen and put them around our little town on Valentine’s Day. Care to join me?
• In a weak moment I spent 45 minutes last night watching every commercial that aired during the Superbowl. If you didn’t leave the room during the commercials to get another plate of nachos with melted cheese-flavored topping, what commercial was your favorite?
• If you haven’t already viewed the video “Don’t Divorce Us” by the Courage Campaign, then give it a once over.

Odd Links

• Send email from a fake email address. I’ve used it to send a couple test emails to myself and there’s been no increase in spam as a result of using the service. Think creatively. It’s a fun way to send email to your sweetie.
• Is the website you want down for everyone or is it just you?
• Do you really want to know how old people think you are? My photo results so far are that I look 49.4789 which isn’t all that comforting considering I posted a photo from when I was 50. Sigh.
• A shirt valued at one dollar.
• Get on the bus and see the world.
• A rather attractive telling of sacred stories. You just have to love the British accents.
• Debra Jackson is a woman after my own heart.
• I’ve already ordered mine.
• Photographs of London that will leave you gobsmacked.
• Click here to see a little fantasy of mine.

As you probably know I’m not eating these days. Not an easy task for a fanatic foodie.  I love eating and I equally love the art of cooking and to be more specific, grilling and baking top the list. While I have dozens and dozens of cookbooks there  are such incredible online resources devoted to cooking that you can now divert all the money you’d spend on cookbook into top-notch fresh ingredients. Here are some of my favorite places to drool and dream. Their food photos alone will make you weep with caloric joy.

Luscious Links

• The Joy of Baking
• Ezra Pound Cake
• The Pioneer Woman Cooks
• The Smitten Kitchen
• Chaos in the Kitchen
• Open Source Food
• Spork or Foon?
• Blog Chef
• Sugarlaws
• Cupcakes Take The Cake
• Cake Spy. Oh my.
• The Amateur Gourmet – She fixes broccoli like I do. I miss my little tree tops.
• Folkmann. Someone makes these Fried Bananas and tell me about them in detail. And please, for the love of all that’s right and good in this world, add some fresh toasted coconut to them!
• Cookie Madness. That’s right. That’s what I said. Cookie Madness.
• No. Seriously. Could anything taste better than these fresh from the oven?
• No one has ever made this better than my grandma. No one. Anywhere. Anytime.
• Foodgawker has been my favorite foodie site for some time.
• This is like a Bento Box for kids. I love the idea!

And speaking of food, a few of my food pictures. . .back in the old days when I ate food.

The first four links are my favorites from last week’s big event. The rest cover the gambit.

• Just in case you haven’t heard.
• The Most Incredible Inaugural Photo Ever. No kidding. It’s comprised of over 200 photos stitched together. Zoom in anywhere on the photo and prepare to be in awe. Zoom onto one of the buildings in the horizon and look for armed swat teams. I so want a Gigapan System of my own. D, are you reading this? I really really neeeeeed one.
• A bird’s eye view if birds carried cameras.
• A final amazing photo collection.
• If you get to know us, how could you ever resist us?
• Ellen and I share love for a particular woman in common.
• Short and sweet.
• .ǝʇısqǝʍ ʎɐƃ-ıʇuɐ uɐ uo ʇsod noʎ uǝɥʍ sıɥʇ ƃuısn ʎɹʇ ˙sǝıɯǝuǝ ɹnoʎ ʎouuɐ puɐ spuǝıɹɟ ɹnoʎ ǝzɐɯɐ oʇ ʎɐʍ ǝɹoɯ ǝuo ʇsnɾ
• Do you smoke? Good luck with that.
• Blow up food. Just for fun.
• A easy and great way to save the best (or worst) of YouTube to your computer.

And one gratuitous image of the San Francisco Bay from a recent outing.

Equality U is airing Monday, January 19 at 7:00 p.m. (repeated on Monday, January 26 at 1:00 p.m.) on the Logo Channel. I hear you whining, “But Anita, I still have rabbit ears on my television, let alone the oh-so queer Logo cable channel!” Don’t worry your adorable little buzz-cut head because the full documentary is available for viewing online at right here at Logo Online as are many other full length GLBTQ-themed documentaries.

Equality U is a feature-length documentary following a group of 33 young activists on the Soulforce Equality Ride, a first of its kind, two-month, cross country tour to confront anti-gay discrimination policies at 19 conservative religious and military colleges. It is a human story of a group of young people struggling to stand up for what they believe is right.”

Prayers for Bobby is premiering on Lifetime, Saturday, January 24 at 9:00 p.m.

Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Sigourney Weaver stars in this emotional true story about a 1970s religious suburban housewife and mother who struggles to accept her young son Bobby being gay. What happens to Bobby is tragic and causes Mary to question her faith; ultimately this mom changes her views in ways that she never could have imagined.

And here are a few fun links to keep you out of trouble. Or get you in trouble. How it turns out is really up to you.

• In celebration of our new President to be, go Obama Yourself.
• One of my favorite online stores when shopping for me or she.
• Haven’t come out at your church? Looking for a clever way to break the news? How about bringing this to the next church potluck?
• I’m just goofy enough to think some of these are awesome ideas! Now if I can only convince D.
• Remind you of anyone?

Oh stop laughing. Like there’s no humiliating snapshots from your childhood. No butt-naked baby on a rug. No screaming toddler on Santa’s lap. No spaghetti bowl dumped on top of your little pointed head. You know you have them and all it would take is a private detective and a small-minded schemer with too much time on their hands to get a hold of them. Lucky for you I don’t the liquid assets to hire a detective.

So Christmas. I love it. Despite the childhood trauma. And this weekend I’m busting Christmas out with a children’s Christmas party on Saturday, an Advent social after church on Sunday, and a progressive neighborhood Christmas dinner that will be making a stop at our home that same evening. Since it all begins tomorrow morning with gluing together 210 plus gingerbread house parts with 18 pounds of sugar spackle (royal icing) for Saturday’s main event, I won’t be able to blog until the first of next week. In the meantime, enjoy a few of my Christmas favorites:

• The Advent Conspiracy is an awesome concept that encourages us all to be more intentional this Christmas season.  Worship fully. Spend less. Give more. Love all.
• My Christmas reading every year includes The Bird’s Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Higgin. While there’s an electronic version of the complete text available, you’ll miss something if you don’t sit in your favorite chair and flip through the pages of this small book and if you’re a bibliophile like me do yourself a favor and get your hands on a hardcover copy.
• For the past twenty years no Christmas has been complete for me without watching Disney’s animated “The Small One.” It’s the story of a little boy and the old donkey he loves who ends up carrying Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem. What’s not to love?
• If that special someone has everything give a flock of chicks to a family in the Carribean or tree siblings to a family in Tanzania in their name through Heifer International.
• Playing on my ipod this Christmas season are the newest Christmas releases from Sara Groves, Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, Sarah McLachlan, James Taylor, Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, and of course, Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas!
  
• My mouth is watering. Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-yum.

And can you ever see this too many times?

I’m being whisked away for a day of play with my sweetheart under the boardwalk but I’ll return on Sunday evening with photos from the morning’s Marriage Equality Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge as promised. In the meantime, here are a few weekend links to keep you trouble-makers out of trouble…if I even thought that was possible!

• Nothing expresses my deepest belief on a particular topic more than this.
• It took me a minute to figure out this colorful exercise but once I did I couldn’t stop.
• You’ll find this interesting if you were a fan of “The Da Vinci Code.” (I read it through in one sitting. How about you?)
• I know some of the folks involved in this ministry and I’m more than a little excited about the direction they’re taking it.
• Be still my heart, I’m having lustful thoughts.

• I want this puppy boy!
• Sometimes you just need to hear it one more time.
• And sometimes you need to hear this.
• Play with this for a while and see how the story turns out.
• Finally! I thank you. Our linen closet thanks you.
• I have a special appreciation because I’ve been here a half dozen times.
• Stunning. Travel America with your hineybutt planted in your favorite chair.
• Oh please, somebody make this and then describe every luscious bite!
• Has God ever given you an incredible encounter like this?
• I’ve been brokenhearted since viewing this last night. How have we fallen so far and how can we find our way again? [Warning: Film footage is from a Dateline NBC report on the conditions of disabled children in Serbia and is quite disturbing to view]
• A lesbian with a great singing voice who writes smokin’ lyrics and sweet melodies.
• D and I just received our first hard copy issue and it’s first-rate.
• This is one of my new favorite movies.
• I graduated from high school in 1975 but that doesn’t mean I can’t have yearbook photos from 1960 – 1990 and all the years in-between. You’re going to have fun with this one!

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