Thanks to my secret Santa for donating a subscription in my name! In tribute I offer what little I know about the the Meaning of Life (Oregon Version with Extra Moss). Or at least its three stages.
First there's youth (I'm on the left) ...
Attribute: Lorenz Siedler / Flickr
Then there's the middle age(s) (Note to Ann Boleyn: get a good pre-nuptial agreement):
Attribute: MacKenzie Brunson / Flickr
Third stage of life and extra bonus Philosophy of Life below the Squiggle of Doom.
And finally the Third Stage of Life ... Beret! (featuring WeAreNotAmused Kitteh):
Extra Philosophy of Life from yesterday ... the Oregon Food Bank
Don't forget your neighbors who need you. From the Oregon Food Bank's website survey of 4,599 respondents (link:
When asked: “What happened to bring you to a food pantry?”
• More than half (56 percent) of the respondents said they ran out of SNAP benefits (“food stamps”). That compares to 50 percent in 2010.
• Almost half (48 percent) of the respondents cited high food cost as one reason they needed emergency food, compared to 44 percent in 2010.
“SNAP limits need to be raised to adjust for higher food costs,” wrote one respondent.
“The cost of food has gone up, but the amount of SNAP stays the same,” stated another respondent.
• 40 percent cited high gasoline costs, a sharp jump from 29 percent in 2010.
“Gas and health care are too expensive,” one respondent wrote.
• 27 percent said long-term unemployment forced them to seek emergency food, compared
to 22 percent in 2008, before the recession.
“We’ve been unemployed more than two years. We keep applying. There are jobs, but we haven’t had luck getting them. Please tell elected officials the recession isn’t over yet,” said a survey respondent.
• About a fifth (18 percent) report they need help because their wages are too low.
“If we had better jobs, we wouldn’t need to ask for something as basic as food,” wrote one respondent.
“I have a bachelor’s degree and have been looking for work for 2.2 years. The only work I’ve found is for low wages,” wrote another respondent.
“Many jobs don’t pay enough to cover the basics,” stated another.
• And a quarter of respondents cited high rent or mortgage.
Thanks again brothers and sisters and let's have a good new year.