Flower Quiz Winner; Suzanne’s Weekend; Dueling Signs; Facial Recognition Quiz; Birthday Boy!

I hope that everyone had a great weekend. I was busy judging the flower contest entries and picking a winner... Congratulations to Flo Tejeras, who was selected at random from 3,421 correct entries. Flow wins pastries and coffee with My Lovely Bride and me at Panera. (Okay, I may have exaggerated the number of entries by a little).  

My Lovely Bride is back from DC! Suzanne presented the Messages of Hope documentary at an exclusive viewing at the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment (CSE) in Falls Church, Virginia. Anne Gehman, pastor of the CSE, one of Suzanne’s mentors, subject of Suzanne’s book The Priest and the Medium, and a participant in the documentary, was present for the viewing along with an enthusiastic crowd of attendees. On Saturday, Suzanne’s S.O.A.R! Workshop was also very well received at the CSE. Suzanne carried a box of her books up to DC on the plane, and most were gone the first evening. (We should have sent a truck up!) 

Some readers may recall a sign on the highway I spotted advertising duels; I was made fun of by a lawyer friend who thought I couldn’t spell and didn’t know that “dualies” referred to double tires or mufflers on a big truck or bus. 

Nevertheless, my photo may have produced a better speller... I passed that same store on Friday, and the sign had been corrected. I also suspect that someone alerted the owner to the fact that dueling went out a long time ago.

While reading a story about the Army’s use of facial recognition technology to identify terrorists on the battlefield, I wondered about human facial recognition... so in my diabolical fashion, I have created what I think is a pretty easy quiz. Below are 9 faces that people my age and older should be able to identify. Some are really easy, and a couple might be pretty hard. Entries for this quiz will be accepted until 7:00 PM Wednesday. There will be a prize, but I haven’t gotten that far in planning yet. Good Luck!

Face 1

Face 2

Face 4

Face 3

Face 6

Face 5

Face 7

Face 9

Face 8

Finally, I have a special birthday to announce. Our own little Rudy the Sailing Wiener Dog turns eight years old today, Monday 19 November. I guess that makes him 56 in people years, but we say that he is an eternal puppy. A quick story: when we were cruising aboard our sailboat, Liberty, Suzanne had five pages of photos and stories about Rudy on our web site, www.libertysails.com, which is still active. As we passed through Annapolis, Maryland, a few years ago, she was walking Rudy in a marina parking lot. A car driving by slammed on its brakes, and a woman rolled down her window and exclaimed, “My God, is that Rudy? Rudy the Sailing Wiener Dog?” Suzanne said yes, that this was indeed the famous Rudy. The woman got out of her car and came over to meet Rudy personally... "Oh, and are you Rudy's mom?"... no wonder he is such a ham! 

This picture was taken on the day we picked Rudy at the kennel (but really, he picked us!); he was 3 months old. Suzanne's brother Brent said that the test of a dachshund is if he will allow you to hold him like a baby. Rudy passed this test with flying colors, and he remains our baby to this day.