A good resource. It is worth checking out
If you have never been to this site, check it out.

The meaning behind the celebration of Christmas. A good review for us all.
Mood:  celebratory
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
Luke 1:26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
Luke 1:27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
Luke 1:28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
Luke 1:29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
Luke 1:30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.
Luke 1:31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
Luke 1:32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
Luke 1:33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
Luke 1:34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
Luke 1:35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[3] the Son of God.
Luke 1:36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.
Luke 1:37 For nothing is impossible with God."
Luke 1:38 "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth
Luk 1:39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea,
Luke 1:40 where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth.
Luke 1:41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Luke 1:42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is thee child you will bear!
Luke 1:43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
Luke 1:44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
Luke 1:45 Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

Mary's Song
Luke 1:46 And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord
Luke 1:47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
Luke 1:48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,
Luke 1:49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me--holy is his name.
Luke 1:50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
Luke 1:51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
Luke 1:52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
Luke 1:53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
Luke 1:54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful
Luke 1:55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers."
Luke 1:56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

Luke 2:1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.
Luke 2:2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)
Luke 2:3 And everyone went to his own town to register.
Luke 2:4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.
Luke 2:5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.
Luke 2:6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,
Luke 2:7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels
Luke 2:8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
Luke 2:9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
Luke 2:10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
Luke 2:11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Luke 2:13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
Luke 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
Luke 2:15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
Luke 2:16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
Luke 2:17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,
Luke 2:18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
Luke 2:19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Luke 2:20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

I saw this comment today on a message board
"i have trouble going into walmart on a regular day - there's always some a.hole smackin and/or screaming at his/her kid in the frozen green bean aisle, a bunch of big BIG ladies in the electric carts whose only disability is 'fat 'n' lazy" and more mullets than i care to experience in an afternoon."

The reason I have been quiet on the blog
I developed another blog for the last election, which I have written about here. I was busy with pre-election stuff, and then I got to working on a new web site. I need to make this blog more up to date. I have focused most of my energy on the other blog, but even at that, I have not written much there. The reason is that for the last three weeks or so, I have been busy developing my new web site. Check it out. It is changing as I find more content, learn more about html, and find inspiration along the way.

Don't get Wenzeled
If you have hours to kill and surf the internet, you will love this link. Some young punk tried to hose a buyer with a sale of some truck gears. The internet community on that web site struck back...hard. I laughed so hard, I almost fell out of my chair. Beware, however, that there is a lot of foul language. If you can look past what some people have written on the net, you will find hours of entertainment here. This message board is now getting famous, as is the punk kid who perpetrated the deal gone bad. Here is the link. Enjoy.

It has been a long time
I have been extremely busy the past three months with other projects, so I have not written in this blog much since about July. I have been writing in my other blog, though, since it was mainly geared towards the election. Now that the election is over, I can either continue to write here or use the other blog as my main blog. It has some features that I like better than Tripod's. I also already have my url troylaplante.com pointed there, as well. If you want to see what I have been thinking and have been up to, check there. I may keep this blog for more personal thoughts. I will interlink the two.

An article and a video about my home town
I grew up in Franklin, New Hampshire. Franklin is trying to improve its image. They have commissioned the creation of a TV ad. Here is the article and the video of the ad. I know some of the firefighters at the end of the ad.

The American Red Cross, in my experience, is one of the most dedicated and reliable charitable organizations in America. They have always been willing to help when disaster strikes, whether it has been a family home fire or a huge hurricane. My experience in the fire service has shown this to be true and I have known a good many hard working volunteers over the years.

I remember a story my father told about coming home from the Korean War. He said that there was one charity set up selling donuts to the service men who were returning. The Red Cross was set up giving away donuts to the service men. That speaks volumes to me.

I am sure that there will be many local churches and charitable efforts organized to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. If you wish to help, please do so. One local church in Selma has helped with hurricane victims in the past by gathering clothes, bottled water, food, and other items for transport into the affected area.

If you wish to donate monetarily to an organization that will help, then I can recommend the American Red Cross with all confidence that you will not be "scammed". Click on the banner below to donate online, directly to the Red Cross.

I know that I have been quiet on my blog
I have been focusing most of my attention on my political blog, vote4troy.com. Sorry for ignoring this blog so much.

Announcing the formation of a new nation
Last night, an online acquaintance introduced me to NationStates.net, which is an online game. You are allowed to create your own nation according to your own liking and rule it as you see fit. You can be oppressive, permissive, or in between. You can run a nation as a parody or be serious in the ruling of your nation. I started my own nation just within the last half hour. I shall see how it progresses.

Troy's new nation of "Bismo" on nationstates.net