Ohayo Minna!  Today the Treehouse celebrates the birthday of another admin…“zmalfoy”, or Zophiel as she is known to her friends amongst the branches.  Her gravatar lists an impressive array of talents:  vocal performance, bellydance, alchemy, theology, and survival skills.  If she had more room, she could have also included interests in geology, physics, the skills of a Starbuck’s Barista par excellence, and the uncanny ability to always get an “A”.  Yep, she’s even smarter than Sarah Palin’s favorite red shoes!

One of the most interesting aspects of Zophie is her knowledge of all things relating to Japanese Anime (the abbreviated pronunciation of animation).  It’s a style of animation originating in Japan, characterized by colorful graphics and often featuring themes intended for an adult audience.   Zophie’s gravatar is the young “meister” or craftsman named Maka Albarn, who’s one of the lead characters in the Japanese manga (cartoon) called “Soul Eater”.  The story revolves around three teams consisting of a weapon meister and (at least one) human weapon. Trying to make the latter a “death scythe” and thus fit for use by the academy’s headmaster Shinigami, the personification of death, they must collect the souls of 99 evil humans and one witch, in that order; otherwise, they will have to start all over again. (more…)

The last few weeks have seen an exciting increase in those who choose to climb up and grab a branch here in the Tree. We would like to take this opportunity to welcome you all, to thank you for enriching the conversations, discussions, and the culture we have here on our site. Sometimes when you choose to join in and meet new cyber friends, things can be a little confusing because you feel like you just missed a part of the conversation, or that there is an unknown language you just can’t quite pick up. Perhaps you are wondering if there may be some unwritten rules you don’t know about, or some vague protocol that you should observe. You may have found hints about our history in some of the comments. We would like to try to help you with all that, as much as is possible in a single post written by a menopausal admin with early onset Alzheimers.    (more…)

A favorite Treeper – celebrating another year filled with promise!

Today is the anniversary of the birth of our smallest and cutest administrator, Ad Rem, otherwise known as Puddy….

Happy birthday Gatina! Buon compleanno al capo di tutti gatti! Enjoy some cake with your coffee. We have plenty! (more…)

Treeper tnwahm celebrates another glorious year!

Let’s all wish her a great big Best Wishes for the day!
NOTE TO ALL:  I neglected to tell you all that it was our dear WeeWeed who baked the cake for tnwahm today!  Thanks WW!  My excuse is that it was before coffee when I posted this.  Sorry!

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Texas Independence Day

March 2, 1836

By Elvis Chupacabra
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When I was a mere lad, Texas Independence Day was celebrated in schools with patriotic songs, readings of the Declaration by schoolkids and grave lectures on our role as Texans by our teachers. Even the Mexican kids participated, because anyone who’d read the  hallowed rolls of the Alamo and Goliad dead knew that there were plenty of martyrs with Spanish surnames. We also knew of Lorenzo de Zavala and Juan Seguin, both Texian heroes of the Revolution.

It was understood by the youngest of us that Texas went from being just the mostly empty northern part of the Mexican state of Cohuila-Texas to the independent Republic of Texas with the signing of this document. Like the beloved United States, from whence the spirit -and some would say impetus – of revolution had come, we won our right to be free through the force of arms, wielded by brave and bold men. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the despot which our Texas Forefathers overthrew was ever bit as evil and prone to predations as Britain’s George III. His one saving grace, that he invented that most American of oral fixations, chewing gum, was more than off-set by his cruelty and duplicitous nature. The self-proclaimed Napoleon of the North, he boasted an army well-officered and well-equipped that had spent the past couple of years putting down rebellions in Mexico. It wasn’t just the Texians who longed for the return to a government who respected the liberal Constitution of 1824.  (more…)

Dear Friends,
Last year, I wrote a small piece about what it means to me to be a Texan. My friends know it means about damned near everything. Anyway, this fella asked me to reprint what I’d wrote and I didn’t have it. So I set out to think about rewriting something. I considered writing about all the great things I love about Texas. There are way too many things to list. I can’t even begin to do it justice. Lemme let you in on my short list.  (more…)

Guest posted by GFC…

………………………………………..“Be My Valentine.”

This is a phrase that conjures up a lot of different images associated with the celebration of Valentine’s Day. Cards with hearts and little poems on them. Candy and flowers given to someone you love. And images of cupids flying around shooting their arrows of love into unsuspecting youths. Young and old alike expressing their affection for their sweethearts. February 14th for many means cards, candy, flowers, and cupids.  (more…)

Has it really been a full year since Sundance built this Treehouse?  Doesn’t seem possible.  A lot happened in a few months in late 2010/early 2011.  Thinking back ….

Our “oldest” Treeper friends first met at another political blog site in 2009.  Some of us were new to the world of political blogs.  Many found the way there via an open letter to Rush Limbaugh, which Rush mentioned on his radio show.  For me, visiting with my “imaginary friends” became a welcome part of my day (and a large part, LOL), even better than reading the blog posts.  I’d usually jump right into the comments on the Open, especially as time went on. (more…)