My brother wants me to help with my niece's memorial service, which is Saturday. He'd like me to suggest some some readings, hopefully of authors/books she liked. Anyone know any passages from The Kite Runner or Basketball Diaries which might work? Or anything from Anne Frank other than "People are basically good"?

Some amazingly beautiful watches: [link]

Except all the diamonds make them too bling-ish for my tastes....

Most. Distrubing. Teddy Bear. Ever.

I don't find it disturbing at all... not sure what all the fuss is about.

Anne Frank:

And in the evening, when I lie in bed and end my prayers with the words, "I thank you, God, for all that is good and dear and beautiful," I am filled with joy. Then I think about "the good" of going into hiding, of my health and with my whole being of the "dearness" of Peter, of that which is still embryonic and impressionable and which neither of us dare to name or touch, of that which will come sometimes; love, the future, happiness and of "the beauty" which exists in the world; the world, nature, beauty and all, all that is exquisite and fine.

I don't think then of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains. This is one of the things that Mummy and I are so entirely different about. Her counsel when one feels melancholy is "Think of all the misery in the world and be thankful that you are not sharing in it!" My advice is: "Go outside, to the fields, enjoy nature and the sunshine, go out and try to recapture happiness in yourself and in God. Think of all the beauty that's still left in and around you and be happy!"

Scrappy, my mom recently read and loved The Kite Runner. Want me to ask her? She's also a Stephen Minister, so I bet she could pick something really appropriate.

Oh, Scrappy, I am so very sorry.

The watches fail to move me at all. The teddy bear...I like it. I guess if it had been taking the fur off for something slick it might have been icky, but that's nothing.

Watching a quite peculiar Outer Limits with Sheena Easton and the chick from Drive with appalling eyebrows.

I started poking around for recipes for next week when I'm going to start my dietary mods and found this vegetable broth recipe that kicks things off by roasting them for extra flavour. I have no idea why I was looking for vegetable broth recipes in the first place, but that looks kinda tasty.

I'm back on the fat farm diet. I looked at my feed bag, with its little envelope of dehydrated yuck and I'm depressed. But I look in the mirror and am more depressed. Roasted veggies even sounds grand.

I think That Thing (you know, the... girl-faced cat) has ruined me for other disturbing toys; the bear doesn't ping me at all.

It isn't much, but that one good day where I got to meet her? Meant a lot.

I just wish I had the perfect passages for her family. I don't, but it was a good day.