Do you remember reading a book, and was so taken by the story that when you finally got to a point where you thought you could pause long enough to go to sleep it was early morning?  Yeah, time indeed flies when you’re having fun, and I’ve been having a bit of it!  So much in fact, I forgot to put up this month’s desktop!  The image this month is again from Singapore.

Please accept my apologies and download the size that fits your screen!

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Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s Crazy Friday! Hard to believe the week is almost over already! But with it brings some random thoughts from me.

Poor Cubs! If they don’t do something quick, they’re going to be swept two years in a row, by the “lowly” (as ESPN likes to call us) National League West! I would actually like to see the Cubs in the World Series, but the Dodgers are making it rather difficult.

Rain, I like rain, and it was raining this morning. So fresh! I’m such a duck!

I thought the VP debate last night was great. Both sides seem to make their case.

Poor Snuggles, my dear dog Snuggles, is off to get her shots today. She’s going to love that! Last time she saw her doctor was to get porcupine quills out of her nose.

We got two of our new basement windows installed this week! They look great! The third one is to be done on Monday.

I really wish the iPhone Wordpress app had a spellcheck function. The iPhone’s prompter leaves some to be desired!

I think that’s about it for me this week. Have a great weekend everyone!

As I said last week I wanted to share more of my tourist pictures from Singapore with you. The pictures in this slideshow are from one of my favorite areas in Singapore, Chinatown. But, as usual, I would like to share some background to the slideshow content.

Chinatown is all about bright colors, great food, friendly shop owners, and souvenirs. It is also a great example of the diversity that makes up this country. On one of the main streets coming into Chinatown you find a Muslim mosque, a Hindu temple, and a Buddhist monastery. I had the opportunity to go into the Buddhist temple close by during a prayer service. Unlike most Muslim or Christian religions, Buddhists don’t have set days of worship, so I’m not exactly sure what the occasion was, or why they were having the prayer service, but it was intriguing to watch. The monks chanted the prayers from prayer books to the beat of a drum. One monk would lead while another would harmonize on certain phrases. Worshipers would chant quietly with them. All faced three huge, brightly lit, gold statues that I assumed were to represent some sort of Buddha or even a god, but I’m not really sure. All around the room in the walls were statues representing various gods. Some statues were tiny, others about two feet tall. And in great Chinese fashion, everything wall was bright red. Quite beautiful.

The government had just finished a major renovation of one of the market areas, and new Buddhist shrine had been placed on one end of the building. So we were able to watch a somewhat rare, shrine dedication. They do it with what is called the Lion Dance.

The Lion Dance is incredible. It consists of a group of musicians playing a drum, and two different types of symbols, three dancers. One dancer is a man with a mask, the other two are in the lion suit. It’s amazing just how catlike they can seem in that suit. The head of the suit allows the dancer to move the mouth and wiggle the ears, among other things. The whole dance, is quite complex and takes at least 10-15 minutes. When they are finished, the shrine is ready for worship. I could not find the story the dance is suppose to represent, so I’m not sure about all the meanings behind it. But it is an awesome thing to watch.

And did I mention food? Singaporeans love food, and you can tell. I still miss the sweet and sour tofu at one of those little food courts in Chinatown. In fact, the owners began to recognize me and would start loading a plate before I even got there! Their last comment was in that great accent, “You going to move to Singapore! Yeah?”

Tempting.