Out
Of a great need
We are all holding hands
And climbing.
Not loving is a letting go.
Listen,
The terrain around here
Is
Far too
Dangerous
For
That.
~Hafiz
In case you weren't paying attention, I posted a whole bunch of silly widgets and other stuff on facebook, Gypsy Magic, and yes... here too. Suddenly it occured to me that maybe I was just fooling around and maybe I should get busy and go Christmas Shopping. But I didn't want to stop, I thought maybe... who knows... what I've been posting might actually have some value.
I'm still not completely satisfied that I'll have all of my questions answered... so I give you Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Ha! How cool is that? Go ahead, ask her a question - you know you want to!
Don't use a Magic 8-Ball. Get an Askzy!
If Dexter and Tony Soprano didn't quite nail the answers to your questions... try Tony Montana! His life was a blazing success!! (Well, OK, some people wouldn't call it a success... exactly. He did have a lot of money though! And balls!)
Don't use a Magic 8-Ball. Get an Askzy!
Gotta question? Well, now you can ask Tony Soprano!! How fun is that?
Don't use a Magic 8-Ball. Get an Askzy!
Here's a quote for this moment - found at Way Cool Quotes: "When all is said and done, a lot more is said than done." which pretty much sums me up, doesn't it? Just a lot of bla bla bla... which brings me to the following list someone forwarded to me a while back.
The idea is to forward the list (with an x by the stuff you've done) to your friends and somehow alleviate for a few short moments the mind numbing boredom of your current life by reminding you that once - (hopefully) - you did actually do something. As a bonus, you might even get to find out more about people you thought you knew but really didn't, or people you wish you know but don't, while at the same time making you seem (hopefully) more interesting than you actually are.
Wanna play? Copy the following list and paste it into an email. Place an X by all the things you've done (This is for your entire life!) and remove the X from the ones you have not. Now, take a moment to enjoy the fact that you are so amazingly interesting, and it to your friends.
Have you ever:
Ok... so that's the list, it's really not that great is it? I mean, who hasn't gone to the movies or watched the sunrise with someone or cried themselves to sleep or blown bubbles? And so what if you've never been to Canada, gone ice-skating, or sang Karaoke? How about a REAL list - something REALLY interesting!! Like, for example...
For example, did you ever:
So, really, what have you actually done that's interesting, unusual, amazing, or just plain funny? Anything? Anything at all??
Here's something really cool about criticisms and the people who put you down or try to make you into someone you don't want to be anymore. It's also a true story. Read on...
"It's May 17, 1966. Manchester Free Trade Hall, England. Bob Dylan, known and loved for his acoustic music, walks onto the stage in the 2nd act ... and plugs in an electric guitar.
The audience erupts in disbelief, there's booing and yelling. "Judas!" someone cries.
Dylan doesn't respond immediately. He waits, tuning his instrument. And then he faces the audience: "I don't believe you," he says, "You're a liar!"
Then he turns to his band and tells them...
"Play it fucking loud!" And Dylan launches into "Like a Rolling Stone" ... and into rock music history."
I LOVE IT!
What a great way to meet life, and be yourself!
Oh, and guess what! I've got a video!! How cool is that??
Here's an interesting tidbit that made it's way to my inbox. Who knows, maybe it'll do someone some good! Ready? Here it is:
This is a very good article. Not only about the warm water after your meal, but about heart attacks. The Chinese and Japanese drink hot green tea with their meals, not cold water, maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating.
For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this "sludge" reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and may lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.
A serious note about heart attacks - You should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting. Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line.
You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms. 60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we could survive.
The other day, my mom was telling me about Port Aransas Texas. It's a place she and my dad (when he was still here) loved to visit when they wanted some rest and recreation. Ever since she told me about it, that poem by Edna St Vincent Millay about "I shall go back again to the bleak shore..." has been going round and round in my head.
So, I've been thinking... what if I just up and moved to Port Aransas? Then, today, I found this picture... it even says "rent me." 
That is a cool looking house! Now all I have to do is find a job there, win the lottery, or ... I dunno ... find a lamp with a genie in it!
I figured where to find a magic lamp? Craig's list, of course! But, (sad face) I did not find a magic lamp. BUT guess what I did find! This listing for artists wanted:
We are preparing for our first annual fall festival here on Padre Island, and are looking for local art vendors to come join the fun!!!!! If you are interested in showcasing your art or talent please email back or call, 361-949-8041 X150 and ask for Jojo.. Interesting!! Padre Island can't be that far away!
And then there's this one in Corpus Christi: New business offering artist the chance to advertise and sale their work in a business facility. Feel free to call (688 0444) or stop by New Beginnings Wellness Spa
Maybe I wouldn't have to get a stupid job. Maybe I could sell my art! Like, for example... this painting:
Or this one:
Not only that, I also found a job for my son-in-law: our company is looking to hire full and part time cleaning people (women or men) with EXPERIENCE in all aspects of cleaning ...especially in final construction cleaning...being able to use sizzor lifts,floor polishers,window cleaning etc... must have supervision and look neat in appearence ....please contact us at either jrad@concleangroup.com or 888-514-7842 ....please leave a tel: # so that we can get back to you..asap ....ask for john. 
This?
Or this?
I shall go back again to the bleak shore
And build a little shanty on the sand
In such a way that the extremest band
Of brittle seaweed will escape my door
But by a yard or two, and nevermore
Shall I return to take you by the hand;
I shall be gone to what I understand
And happier than I ever was before.
The love that stood a moment in your eyes,
The words that lay a moment on your tongue,
Are one with all that in a moment dies,
A little under-said and over-sung;
But I shall find the sullen rocks and skies
Unchanged from what they were when I was young.
~Edna St. Vincent Millay
I found this really cool free reading that uses exerpts from books to answer any question you might have. So, it being my birthday, I thought... ok... I'll see what it has to say about my life, and asked the following question: "My life, where am I at with that?" I liked the answers so much that I'm not only posting them here - I installed the widget at the bottom of the page. Check it out!
Here's the answer I got:
The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Frankenstein
unsullied descent united with riches. A man might be respected with only one of these advantages, but without either he was considered, except in very rare instances, as a vagabond and a slave, doomed to waste his powers for the profits of the chosen few! And what was I? Of my creation and creator I was absolutely ignorant, but I knew that I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property. I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as man. I was more agile than they and could subsist upon coarser diet; I bore the extremes of heat and cold with less injury to my frame; my stature far exceeded theirs. When I looked around I saw and heard of none like me. Was I, then,
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge
the fiery heart, without material substance, he swung through unthinkable arcs of oscillation, like a vast pendulum. Then all at once, with terrible suddenness, the light about him shot upward with the noise of a loud splash; a frightful roaring was in his ears, and all was cold and dark. The power of thought was restored; he knew that the rope had broken and he had fallen into the stream. There was no additional strangulation; the noose about his neck was already suffocating him and kept the water from his lungs. To die of hanging at the bottom of a river! -- the idea seemed to him ludicrous. He opened his eyes in the
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
no sound, ugly prehensile paws, and barbed tails that lashed needlessly and disquietingly. And worst of all, they never spoke or laughed, and never smiled because they had no faces at all to smile with, but only a suggestive blankness where a face ought to be. All they ever did was clutch and fly and tickle; that was the way of night-gaunts. As the band flew lower the Peaks of Throk rose grey and towering on all sides, and one saw clearly that nothing lived on that austere and impressive granite of the endless twilight. At still lower levels the death-fires in the air gave out, and one met only the primal blackness of the void save aloft where
In honor of my birthday, I thought I'd post this list of games for when we are older.
Watch and learn from Kung Fu Master, Lu Zijian. He was 93 years old when this was filmed during a competition. He is still thriving at 114. He has the agility and mind of someone ¼ his age. I find this so amazing and as I watched him gracefully moving across the floor as sense of peace came over me. What he does is absolutely beautiful. To what does he credit his longevity?
Mr. Lu said, "The key to a long and healthy life is a combination of movement and stillness—cultivating life by guiding the qi, the vital energy in the body, and moving the hands and feet through practicing Chinese boxing."
Simply that means, he gets up at 7 a.m. every day, practices kung fu in the morning, meditates, paints, reads, and visits friends in the afternoon. He is as alive, alert, and as amusing as any young man. He is a vegetarian refraining from eating meat or fish. His favorite food is tomatoes. He meditates for an hour and a half starting at 2 p.m., goes to bed at 11 p.m., and lives at his grandson's home. He told others a secret: eat raw tomatoes every day.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Yes... I do have a birthday on the horizon. And so... here George Carlins views on aging. Enjoy!
Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we’re kids? If you’re less than 10 years old, you’re so excited about aging that you think in fractions.
“How old are you?” “I’m four and a half!” You’re never thirty-six and a half. You’re four and a half, going on five! That’s the key.
You get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.
“How old are you?” “I’m gonna be 16!” You could be 13, but hey, you’re gonna be 16!
And then, the greatest day of your Life . You become 21. Even the words sound like a Ceremony. . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!
But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There’s no fun now, you’re just a sour-dumpling. What’s wrong? What’s changed?
You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you’re PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it’s all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.
But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn’t think you would!
So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.
You’ve built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it is a day-by-day thing - you HIT Wednesday!
You get into your 80’s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn’t end there. Into the 90’s, you start going backwards - “I Was JUST 92.”
Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. “I’m 100 and a half!”
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half, going on 200!!!
Ok, I know this is crazy - but hey - so what! I went on a search for the Dante quote about the "dark wood" and what did I find? Thirty-Five, yes, thirty-five slightly different translations of that one famous qoute!! It was somewhat cathartic to read them all out loud... listening to my life in a nutshell over and over again... knowing that I'm actually reading great literature... So... now you can join me, we can be lost in the woods together! Number 34 is my favorite, what's yours?
The birds' favorite songs
You do not hear,
For their most flamboyant music takes place
When their wings are stretched
Above the trees
And they are smoking the opium
Of pure freedom....
... I'm so sorry, but this post has been moved to my new personal blog Hey It's Me, hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com, and can be found in its entirety here: The Bird's Favorite Songs
Ok, so I had to go find a replacement for the "How To Pull Sheep Testicles Out With Your Teeth" video, and I stumbled across this interview with Mike Rowe:
Here's the description of the video from the download page at YouTube:
Drawing on his experiences picking up roadkill, feeding swine, and castrating a lamb with his teeth, Mike Rowe, host of Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs, discusses how modern American culture belittles necessary labor.
EG is the celebration of the American entertainment industry. Since 1984, Richard Saul Wurman has created extraordinary gatherings about learning and understanding. EG is a rich extension of these ideas - a conference that explores the attitude of understanding in music, film, television, radio, technology, advertising, gaming, interactivity and the web - The Entertainment Gathering
Mike Rowe has had more jobs than you. In fact, Mike has had more jobs than anyone.
As the creator and executive producer of Discovery Channels Emmy-nominated series Dirty Jobs With Mike Rowe, Mike has spent years traveling the country, working as an apprentice on more than 200 jobs that most people would go out of their way to avoid. From coal mining to roustabouting, maggot farming to sheep castrating, Mike has worked in just about every industry and filmed the show in almost every state, celebrating the hard-working Americans who make civilized life possible for the rest of us.
On Labor Day 2008, Mike launched a Web site called mikeroweWORKS.com, where skilled labor and hard work are celebrated in the hope of calling attention to the steady decline in the trades and bolstering enrollment in trade schools and technical colleges.
In addition to Dirty Jobs and his mikeroweWORKS endeavor, Mike is the voice of Deadliest Catch and the national spokesman for Ford Trucks. He has traveled extensively for Discovery Channel, hosting Shark Week in South Africa, where he field-tested a steel-mesh shark-suit, and Egypt Week Live, where he opened and explored newly discovered tombs in the Valley of the Golden Mummies.
Here we have, for your viewing pleasure, the full version of a 1986 short film featuring Michael Jackson, called Captain Eo. Included is the song We Here To Change The World. This is part one:
And this is part two:
Michael Jackson, what an interesting person! What a unique and strange life this man lived. Whatever else you have to say about the King of Pop, the man was one hell of a singer and dancer...no one else did it better. Rest in peace Michael.
One of my favorites was Thriller, here's a link to the video at YouTube: Thriller.
While we're on the subject of brains, here's something silly. These images show the differences between the male and the female brain.
To transform breakdowns into breakthroughs is the whole function of a master. The psychotherapist simply patches you up. That is his function. He is not there to transform you. You need a meta-psychology, the psychology of the buddhas.
It is the greatest adventure in life to go through a breakdown consciously. It is the greatest risk because there is no guarantee that the breakdown will become a breakthrough. It does become, but these things cannot be guaranteed. Your chaos is very ancient - for many, many lives you have been in chaos. It is thick and dense. It is almost a universe in itself. So when you enter into it with your small capacity, of course there is danger. But without facing this danger nobody has ever become integrated, nobody has ever become an individual, indivisible.
Zen, or meditation, is the method which will help you to go through the chaos, through the dark night of the soul, balanced, disciplined, alert. The dawn is not far away, but before you can reach the dawn, the dark night has to be passed through. And as the dawn comes closer, the night will become darker.
~Osho
Ok, so I wanted to make up for the sheep testicle video... and article about eating testicles... and the concrete sheep with the large testicles.... so I'm uploading this educational video on felt making.
Have you ever made felt? It's not hard, all it takes is time and elbow grease... oh, and wool. I went to a felt making class once. It was a lot of fun. I made a pair of boots that were really cool. I wonder where they are...
Somewhere in Australia there is a really large concrete Merino sheep. He does have quite a look of superiority, doesn't he?
Well, go around to his back side, and you can see why! Look at those testicles! Wow!
My friend Daniel was wondering why sheep have such large testicles, and the answer is that the rams with the largest testicles sire the most fertile ewes. Also, apparently, in some circles, people like to eat them.
Hundreds of people queued up in lines for up to an hour at the 16th annual Mountain Oyster Fry event in Nevada, to try something a little bit different.
On the menu were sheep testicles, also known as 'fried oysters', and servers at the five food booths got through approximately 60kg of the delicacies.
The tiny morsels can be fried, barbecued, stuffed, ground up and even sautéed.
Visitors had mixed reviews after tasting the sheep testicles, but Amanda Palmer, 21, from Carson City had no problem eating them.
'People think, "Oh sheep testicles, gross", but it was pretty good,' she said.
Dan Herron, 32, from Reno, wasn't a fan, even though he was spending his fourth year at the festival barbecuing the meat.
'It's disgusting. It's like peeling a big grape,' he said when describing the process of skinning and preparing the testicles.
Believe it or not, the meat is pretty versatile and has also been used in tacos and sloppy joes (a hot sandwich).
Shauna Reese, 32, from Reno, said: 'We try to get families from all over to try them, but they're all "nuh-uh". It's just another tender meat.'
(This is old news - way back in March of 07. But I'm posting it here to give a little bit of credibility to my post on pulling out sheep testicles with your teeth.)
Why am I uploading this video? Only Daniel knows. I don't even know because I haven't even watched it. But... on an internet search gone bad, I did find this video... so here ya go!
Ok, so it looks like the above video isn't working - but guess what? I found another one... the title of it is different, but it's the same one I think. Here it is. If you enjoy it, I'm sorry for you!!
English Phrase
- Chinese Version
That's not right
- Sum Ting Wong
Are you harboring a fugitive?
- Hu Yu Hai Ding
See me ASAP
- Kum Hia Nao
Stupid Man
- Dum Fuk
Small Horse
- Tai Ni Po Ni
Did you go to the beach?
- Wai Yu So Tan
I bumped into a coffee table
- Ai Bang Mai Fa Kin Ni
I think you need a face lift
- Chin Tu Fat
It's very dark in here
- Wao So Dim
I thought you were on a diet
- Wai Yu Mun Ching?
This is a tow away zone
- No Pah King
Our meeting is scheduled for next week
- Wai Yu Kum Nao?
Staying out of sight
- Lei Ying Lo
He's cleaning his automobile
- Wa Shing Ka
Your body odor is offensive
- Yu Stin Ki Pu
Great
- Fa Kin Su Pah
You can do it!
Try reading each lesson out loud.
Enough of that crap . .. . The donkey later came back, and bit the farmer who had tried to bury him. The gash from the bite got infected and the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock.
| Your Name's Power is Optimism |
|
I meant to upload this the other day when I was obsessing over emotions, and then I got so emotional that I forgot all about it!! So here ya go:
Ok, so maybe you don't want to actually experience your emotions. That's cool. Here's a game you can play - online - what a great way to avoid actually FEELING anything while still being able to SAY that you WORKED with a wide variety of EMOTIONS! Interested? Here's the link.
Frank O´Hara reading his poem "Having a coke with you" in his flat in New York in 1966, shortly before his accidental death. Taken from - "USA: Poetry: Frank O'Hara" produced and directed by Richar...
This poem is about Vincent Warren, a dancer with the New York City Ballet that Frank O'Hara was in love with. It makrs the moment when O'Hara realized he was in love with him. John Ashbury had invited O'Hara along with him on a european arts jaunt (which is where the itinerary lsited in the poem comes from) and O'Hara accepted. At that very moment he realized he was in love with Vincent Warren -- and sat down and wrote this poem.
In this poem, Sylvia talks about the cemetery in Heptonstall. She was buried there in 1963. November Graveyard The scene stands stubborn: skinflint trees Hoard last year's leaves, won't mourn...
Another cool video that no longer exists... geez... that's a bummer!!!!!
A great poem read by the poet herself, Anne Sexton...
oops... looks like that video no longer exists... very disappointing!!!!
Dear Edith,
I just heard the sad sad news! To say I'm sorry doesn't seem to be adequate. It's the old story, ''mere words cannot express - - "
I've thot (sic) of you so often and always going to call, but I'm sure you realize how little time I have; and it's much much more difficult since Wilbur's 2nd stroke - last January.
He can't walk at all now and sits in his wheelchair on the front porch, or inside watching television. Thank God he can still do that as he has had more brain damage.
I sleep on the davenport in living room so I can help him with the urinal every two to three hours - it eliminates a wet bed, which happened at first. I became desperate around about April or May and decided I just had to have a change, so I decided to go with the Hosp. group on their yearly trip. I talked it over with Wilbur and to my surprize (sic) he was for it emphatically!
The two weeks I toured Holland, Germany and Austria with the group Wilbur stayed at Smith Nursing Home in Skokie. He sure was happy when I came to bring him home!
I'm falling asleep writing this. Call me when you feel like it. Edith, I was thinking of you most of today before I heard the news.
Hoping your sorrow won't be too difficult to bear.
Your friend,
Lucy
P.S. I'll say a prayer for you and your son, Jimmy?
The list of what to say or do for someone grieving is much shorter than the list of what not to say.
One of the best things to say is simply, ''I'm sorry." If you have a happy memory, share it. Most of all, listen.
"It's so important to listen and just let the person say what they need to say," said the Rev. Beth DeVan, staff chaplain for Mercy Medical Baldwin County Home Health. ''Your presence says more than anything else. And it says it better and it says it without the dangers of all those other things."
Which question or comment inflicts the most pain is hard to say, but those who've suffered significant losses have heard more than their share.
Here's a look at what not to say - and why.
1. "Are you over it yet?"
2. ''I know how you feel."
3. ''God needed him more than you" or ''God needed another angel."
4. ''He's in a better place."
5. ''He's with God now."
6. ''Time will heal."
7. ''Well, you've got more children, don't you?" or ''Thank goodness you have your other child/ren."
8. ''It was God's will."
I found this article today, it was just what I needed, and spoke to me despite the strong Christian bias (which usually turns me off - pagan that I am). I'm posting it here so I can find it again, and possibly it will be something that speaks to you as well.
Not entirely satisfied with the I Ching Oracle had to say about how to go to work tomorrow without hating everyone, I decided to pull a card from the Osho Zen Tarot. Here's the card that I pulled.
You have to look for guidance because you don't know your inner guide is hidden inside you. You have to find the inner guide, and that's what I call your witness. That's what I call your dharma, that's what I call your intrinsic buddha. You have to awaken that buddha and your life will shower blessings, benediction. Your life will become so radiant with good, with godliness, more than you can possibly conceive.
It is almost like light. Your room is dark, just bring light in. Even a small candle will do, and the whole darkness disappears. And once you have a candle you know where the door is. You don't have to think about it: "Where is the door?" Only blind people think about where the door is. People who have eyes and the light is there, they don't think. Have you ever thought, "Where is the door?" You simply get up and go out. You never give a single thought to where the door is. You don't start groping for the door or hitting your head against the wall. You simply see, and there is not even a flicker of thought. You simply go out.
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