BEGINNING FALL

I am finally getting around to writing another blog, there is no excuse for the delay except for my lack of motivation. I am motivated now to alert all of my correspondents that the lady who has been maintaining the “Baghdad Burning” blog for all of these years has now made a new posting in September!! See the link in my Sidebar. She and her family have emigrated to Syria. Even tho they are now “displaced persons” she notes that now there are no labels of Sunni, Shiite, Kurd and the associated fears for living in Baghdad and all of that is just short drive away. It is all hard to comprehend. I had feared that she may have been a victim of the continued violence in Iraq, as her previous posting had been back in April. General Petraeus has made his report to the Congress. I have just finished reading “The Glorious Cause—a novel of the American Revolution 1776 to1783” by Jeff Shaara. Establishing a new government was a

very difficult job and seems almost impossible in Iraq.

An interesting book was highlighted last Sunday in the afterwords segment of booktv on cspan2--After Words: Raymond Ibrahim, editor and translator of "The Al Qaeda Reader"

This is a translation of Ben Laden’s and his henchman’s writings. There is a podcast and it can be seen on www.booktv.org.

A new resident here in Drury place is an artist and she has been using colored pencils. I am very interested in the effects she has been able to get. We may be able to get a group together and learn something about using that medium. It willl be fun to try. It is simpler and does not require so much stuff, such as a mixing palette, water, etc. Also one can combine the pencil with watercolor.

The symphony season will start in October. We are looking forward to that.

Richard was here for a couple of days last week. He is getting together with some of his old buddies in Topeka and will have a good time and do a little sailing. The GE merger previously mentioned fell through.

Healthwise, we are still plugging along. I will have a cataract removed in Oct.

The presidential election’s drums are increasing in tempo and volume—we will have to get ear plugs before it is all over!!

I am trying to learn how to use a cell phone. We are on Philip’s family plan so are gradually moving into the 21 century. I am still trying to get some of the residents here at Drury to learn something about using the computer—so far, not very much success.

Well I will close for this posting and hope that it finds all well with all of you—

HAF; AKA HAPPY DOC