To the tune of "I Saw Three Ships"

“I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In” is pretty much a nonsense hymn as far as Bible-believing Christians go, but it is a catchy tune and easy to sing. I decided to change the words to a more strict re-telling of the Shepherds/Angels story. I also changed the format a bit, by varying lines 1 and 3 in each stanza instead of repeating lines 1 & 3 as in the original. I made no real attempt to make lines 1 & 3 rhyme, but a few of the couplets do rhyme, more by accident than by intent.

I Talked With Shepherds

I talked with shepherds in the fields
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day.
They told me news, such glorious news,
On Christmas Day in the morning.

And so on, with the following lines substituted into lines 1 & 3:

The shepherds spoke of tending flocks,
When suddenly an angel came.

A glorious light shone all around,
The sight struck fear into their hearts.

The angel said, “No need to fear,”
“Glad tidings of great joy I bring.”

“These tidings are to all mankind,”
“In David’s city, joy this day.”

“To you is born this bless-ed day,”
“A Saviour who is Christ, the Lord.”

The angel said, “Here is a sign,”
“A sign to guide you to the child.”

“He’s in a most unlikely place,”
“You’ll find Him in a cattle stall.”

“You’ll find Him wrapped in swaddling clothes,”
“You’ll find Him in a manger laid.”

The angel paused a moment then,
And as he paused, the sky grew bright.

They saw a host of angels white,
And heard the sound of angels’ praise.

The host was shouting praise to God,
“All glory be to God on high.”

“And peace on earth, and peace to men,”
“And peace to all, good will toward men.”

And as the angels left their view,
The shepherds went to find the babe.

They found Him as the angel said,
A-cradled in the lowly bed.

They told the news of Jesus’ birth,
Told all they met, told all they knew.

And they told me of peace, good will,
Now I must go and find Him, too.

Original lyrics by Steve Stratford, 12/28/06

Another weird, fascinating spam

From: electriacl electricla <***@*****.***>
Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2006 21:36:52 +0100
To: <***@*****.***>
Subject: ineternet ingternet intgernet infternet

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YSIHF (2): You saw it here first!!!

Once again, a Wacky 12:

The Golfer's Twelve Days of Christmas
A hole in one that nobody saw
2 ten-foot putts
3 sand traps
4 lightning strikes
5 massive drives
6 broken putters
7 driving ranges
8 souped-up golf carts
9 early tee times
10 golf swing gizmos
11 clubhouse stories
12 hooks and slices

12/12/2006, by Steven J. Stratford

TWIDI (3) How I Make Cream of Wheat

TWIDI = The Way I Do It

1 1/2 cups of water
dash of salt
boil (heat 6/10)
stir in a heaping 1/4 cup of cream of wheat
throw in 1/8 cup of dried fruit
bring to a boil, stirring
turn off the heat
cover for 4 minutes
serve with 2 heaping teaspoons of brown sugar, stirred in

This makes a prety full bowl of cereal. You could easily do it with about 1 cup of water and less than 1/4 cup of cream of wheat.

TWIDI (2) How I Make Coffee

TWIDI = The Way I Do It

OK so I've only been drinking coffee for a couple of years. My Dad passed away on 3/3/03 and he was a coffee lover. I started shortly after he passed away. I enjoy drinking a cup and thinking about him.

Anyway, when you first start drinking coffee, you don't know how much water, how much coffee, etc. to use in the coffee maker. In fact you don't even know what a good cup should taste like.

So here's my recipe for the best coffee I can make. I like it. Others who have drunk coffee for longer than I have say it's really good.

• I use a little 5-cup coffee maker. I think the proportions should work for larger machines.
• I like drinking a full mug of coffee when I drink it, one of those 2 1/2 cup mugs. So this recipe makes a full mug.
• First, I fill the carafe to just a smidge over the 3 cup mark. Some water doesn't get through the filter and grounds during brewing.
• I use Eight O'Clock coffee, freshly ground from the supermarket. I keep the bag in the freezer, and I transfer a small amount to an airtight container in the fridge.
• My Dad had a little 1-tablespoon scoop that Mom gave me. I use that to measure. After putting the filter in the coffee maker, I add 2 flat tablespoons of coffee.
• Brew the coffee.
• I don't care for my coffee with sugar, so I use Equal and creamer. The kind of Equal I use is not the packet kind, but the fluffy kind that comes in a large plastic jar with a blue lid. I pre-mix the Equal with the creamer in a plastic container, exactly 1:1. I've tried several non-dairy creamers and haven't found much difference between them taste-wise, so I just buy a big container of the store brand.
• I put 3 teaspoons of the creamer/Equal mix into my mug and pour the coffee in. Mmmmm good.

OK a couple of other things:

I've found that coffee makers tend to overheat the coffee if left in the carafe for more than a few minutes. To avoid this, I put 4 pennies (a couple of large metal washers will also work) on the heated surface and set the carafe on them. That lifts it off the surface and keeps it from overheating.

Flavored creamers: I don't like flavored creamers at all.

Flavored coffees: I like Berres' Brothers Chocolate Mint, and a couple of other flavors (but NOT full strength). If I make flavored coffee, I use 1 flat tablespoon of the Eight O'Clock coffee, and 1 flat tablespoon of the flavored. That works for me, doesn't make the flavor so strong, plus it makes the flavored coffee go much further.

TWIDI (1) How I Make Oatmeal

TWIDI = The Way I Do It

Well, we all have certain ways of doing things. Just for the fun of it I will make an occasional post that tells how I do things.

Today's entry is: How I Make Breakfast Oatmeal

1 cup of water (2 half cups) in a small saucepan
dash of salt
boil (heat 6/10)
stir in 1/2 cup Quaker oats
bring to a boil (heat 4/10) (turn down heat if it's going to boil over)
skim the scum off
stir in 1/8 cup of dried fruit
turn off heat
cover for 3 1/2 minutes
eat w/ brown sugar on top

I like it this way because I don't like scummy, goopy, solid oatmeal. I like oatmeal with some texture. I put a heaping teaspoon of brown sugar on top, eat the top half, then put another teaspoon of brown sugar, and eat the rest.