Monday, December 29, 2008

21 Things for Life

I don't remember where I found these (possibly Lifehacker or 43 Folders blog), but I put them into my Treo using SplashNotes and rediscovered them this past weekend. Good words by which to live. How are YOU doing?
  1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully. 
  2. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
  3. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
  4. When you say, 'I love you,' mean it.
  5. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye.
  6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
  7. Believe in love at first sight.
  8. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
  9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
  10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
  11. Don't judge people by their relatives.
  12. Talk slowly but think quickly.
  13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'
  14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
  15. Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.
  16. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
  17. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.
  18. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
  19. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
  20. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
  21. Spend some time alone. 

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Reflections

I've been thinking introspectively lately, reflecting pensively on events in  my long past and how they shaped me and stilll echo through my life and my actions. Much of it is way too personal to post in a public forum, so I'll just share a reflection from last night that is not quite so soul deep. . . .
12/14/08 - A bit after midnight.
It is 16°F outside, but toasty warm in here. Poor old Brusier is acting more and more like a very old dog. It is sad to think of losing him. He has bee a constant companion for all. He watched the kids grow up. When they were little, he herded them up. One day, he grabbed Mathew by the hand or arm or mitten or coat sleeve - I think he was trying to get Mathew herded up with Emily as they both played in the snow.p
It was a pleasant enough day. I finished my Sunday program, tried  out a little electic guitar and wah wah pedal on some Christmas Tunes. I am not sure which guitar I will use for the Christmas Eve Service, the 1973 Martin D18 acoustic or the 1998 Les Paul Standard electric guitar. I experimented with settings on my Berringer modeling amp, trying to find just the right sound.
I hope my voice will be in good form for Christmas Eve, since I am opening the service with a solo "I'll Be Home For Christmas" to honor our men and woman in the military who are deployed far from home. It seems something always happens before that service - a cold or a sinus infection. One year I badly  cut the  tip of my index finger on a nail. It was a deep gash and I had to play guitar with a wound that bled through the gauze because the wound hadn't clotted and scabbed yet. It was on my left hand, the chord hand for a right-handed guitarist.
Well, it is off to bed, though I don't feel much like sleeping. My pain med winds me up and my neuralgia meds make me wobbly.

A Line for A Song

The lonesome, lonely artist draws conclusions on the wall.

This came to me watching an old film of Dylan touring. He said something similar and I built on that.

Learn by Doing, dummies

from my journal today:

We seem to have created a generation of people who can't do anything without being insstructed by an "expert," be it raising a baby or remodeling a house. Whatever happened to "laern by doing?"

I blame television, with its "how-tos" and "reality" shows. And am talking about the 20-somethings and 30-somethings. The need a course, a book, a magazine, or a television show to do anything constructive.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

PETA asks Ben & Jerry's to make ice cream out of breast milk

PETA asks Ben & Jerry's to use Human Breast Milk to make their ice cream because:
"producing milk from cows for human consumption is hazardous to the animals and to the people who are drinking it."
MONTPELIER — The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals asked Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream this week to consider using human breast milk instead of cow's milk in their products.

PETA, an animal rights and vegetarian organization known for outrageous stunts, sent a letter to company co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield on Tuesday saying consumers and cows would benefit from a switch to human breast milk.
"The breast is best!" wrote PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman in the letter to the company. "Won't you give cows and their babies a break and our health a boost by switching from cow's milk to breast milk in Ben & Jerry's ice cream?"
Source:
Rutland Herald

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Love, Punctuated.

Lying here,
Pondering . . .

Love interrupted,
Love punctuated.
Love combusted,
Love incinerated.

Loves lost,
Loves gained.
Loves measured,
Loves strained.

Lovers past,
Lovers present.
Lovers' pasts,
Lovers' presents.

Love borrowed,
Love broken.
Love stolen,
Love taken.

Loves lonely,
Loves apart.
Loves closely
Held to heart.

Lying here,
Pondering . . .
Love, punctuated.