Uncle Remus

Whoa, are we moving too slow?
Have you seen us, uncle remus?
We look pretty sharp in these clothes
(yes, we do)
Unless we get sprayed with a hose
It aint bad in the day
If they squirt it your way
cept in the wintah, when its froze
And its hard if it hits, on your nose
(on your nose)

Just keep your nose
To the grindstone they say
Will that redeem us, uncle reemus?
I cant wait til mah fro is full grown
Ill just throw away my doo-rag at home

Ill take a drive to
Beverly hills
Just before dawn
And knock the little jockeys
Off the rich peoples lawn
And before they get up
Ill be gone
(Ill be gone)
Before they get up
Ill be knockin the jockeys off the lawn
(down in the dew)

-Frank Zappa

Cosmik Debris

The mystery man came over
And he said Im outta sight!
He said for a nominal service charge
I could reach nirvana tonight
If I was ready, willing and able
To pay him his regular fee
He would drop all the rest of
His pressing affairs and devote
His attention to me

But I said look here brother
Who you jiving with that cosmik debris?
Now who you jiving with that cosmik debris?
Look here brother, dont waste your time on me

The mystery man got nervous
And he fidget around a bit
He reached in the pocket of his mystery robe
And he whipped out a shaving kit
Now I thought it was a razor
And a can of foaming goo
But he told me right then when the top popped open
There was nothin his box wont do
With the oil of aphrodite, and the dust of the grand wazoo
He said you might not believe this, little fella
But itll cure your asthma too

And I said look here brother
Who you jiving with that cosmik debris?
Now what kind of a guru are you, anyway?
Look here brother, dont waste your time on me
(dont waste your time)

Ive got troubles of my own, I said
And you cant help me out
So, take your meditations and your preparations
And ram it up your snout!
But I got the crystal ball, he said
And held it to the ligh
So I snatched it, all away from him
And I showed him how to do it right

I wrapped a newspaper round my head
So I looked like I was deep
I said some mumbo-jumbo, then
I told him he was going to sleep
I robbed his rings and pocketwatch
And everything else I found
I had that sucker hypnotized
He couldnt even make a sound
I proceeded to tell him his future, then
As long as he was hanging around
I said the price of meat has just gone up
And your old lady has just gone down!

And I said look here brother-who you
Jiving with that cosmik debris?
Now is that a real poncho or is that a sears poncho?
Dont you know, you could make more money as a butcher?
So, dont waste your time on me
Dont waste it, dont waste your time on me

-Frank Zappa

Support Your Local Emperor

Support your local emperor
Pay him tribute every time
Let it be known he holds your fate
From his fingertips shall flow the wine
Tell him when he speaks the air is sweet
Wherever he walks rosebeds be laid
So that he may always feel secure
In the vast empire that he's made

But could you tell me what he's ever done for you?
I'm not the one that needed an army
I'm not the one that needed respect
I'm not the one that hopes they'll remember
I'm not the one they'll likely forget
It seems one's going to walk
Where he's willing to walk
And with the ears of a bat
And the eyes of a hawk
You can see in the end
It's just a little bit of talk
But a rodent's always looking
For some cat he can stalk
To meow for him, to meow for him...

Remember once when you were young
It really was not all that long ago
You reached out your hand and it was met
If you let your heart will tell you so
So bow your head don't meet his eyes
When royalty speaks you then reply
Someday he may find his throne is cold
Someday he may chance to wonder why

But could you tell me what he's ever done for you?
I'm not the one that needed an army
I'm not the one that needed respect
I'm not the one that hopes they'll remember
I'm not the one they'll likely forget
It seems one's going to walk
Where he's willing to walk
And with the ears of a bat
And the eyes of a hawk
You can see in the end
It's just a little bit of talk
But a rodent's always looking
For some cat he can stalk
To meow for him, to meow for him...

Support your local emperor
Pay him tribute every time
Let it be known he holds your fate
From his fingertips shall flow the wine
Tell him when he speaks the air is sweet
Wherever he walks rosebeds be laid
Someday he may find his throne is cold
In the vast empire that he's made
That he's made...

-Blues Traveler

Dark Knight

I saw the new Bat Man movie on Monday.  Me and the rest of the country.  Now I'm not going to sit here and right a review.  Don't worry about that, friends and neighbors.  But I would like to chat for a minute about how good Heath Ledger was in the movie.  I know, jump on the band wagon.

But, truly, he was really good in the movie.  And you got to know that's a tough role.  One of the ultimate villains.  But before, the Joker was always a comic book villain.  Kind of hokey.  Not very believable.  Like the rest of the movie.  But this one is different.

First off, the movie is incredible.  And its dark.  Not a feel-good kind of movie.  Doesn't leave you with a warm, fuzzy feeling.  And then lump on top of that the Joker's performance.  Wow!

I'm pretty much at a loss for words as to how to describe him.  Suffice it to say, I was moved.  I was shaken.  And I remember driving home excited about the possibility of seeing the Joker again in a new Bat Man movie.  And then I remembered something.  Heath Ledger is dead.  And with him died that amazing Joker.

That performance will stand out.  It will be remembered.  It will be talked about.  Oscar aside, it will be compared to, referenced and brought up time and time again.  Wow...................

Find The River

Hey now, little speedyhead,
the read on the speedmeter says
you have to go to task in the city
where people drown and people serve.
Don't be shy. Your just deserve
is only just light years to go.

Me, my thoughts are flower strewn
ocean storm, bayberry moon.
I have got to leave to find my way.
Watch the road and memorize
this life that pass before my eyes.
Nothing is going my way.

The ocean is the river's goal,
a need to leave the water knows
We're closer now than light years to go.

I have got to find the river,
bergamot and vetiver
run through my head and fall away.
Leave the road and memorize
this life that pass before my eyes.
Nothing is going my way.

There's no one left to take the lead,
but I tell you and you can see
we're closer now than light years to go.
Pick up here and chase the ride.
The river empties to the tide.
Fall into the ocean.

The river to the ocean goes,
a fortune for the undertow.
None of this is going my way.
There is nothing left to throw
of Ginger, lemon, indigo,
coriander stem and rose of hay.
Strength and courage overrides
the privileged and weary eyes
of river poet search naivete.
Pick up here and chase the ride.
The river empties to the tide.
All of this is coming your way.

-REM

Dusk...

I really enjoy dusk.  There are about a half dozen bats that live somewhere near my apartment building.  They come out at night.  I watch them from my open window at dusk as they fly around. What cool little creatures.  I drink my Budweiser and smoke my cigarettes and listen to my music and watch the bats.  Its a nice time of day...

Can You Guess?

The Little Willies - Gotta Get Drunk

One could make the case (a very, very good case) that this is in fact my theme song.  And while I wasn't in the crowd that night to hear Norah's angel voice singing my song to me, I'm sure I was on her mind as these fine lyrics were sung...

Mazzy Star - Fade Into You (1994)

Hell of a song.  Real good story behind this one.  Sonia.  Aspen.  Up all night.  Got in all kinds of crazy trouble the next day.  Missed work.  Thought to be dead.  But one hell of a night.  This song will always be Sonia's.  Wonder what she's up to these days?

The Commitments - Dark end of the Street

If you haven't seen "The Commitments" yet, then shame on you.  Fabulous movie.  Great music, like in this scene...

Everything I Do

she's got diamonds in her eyes
that she likes to hide
seek and you will find
the hidin seeking kind
she's got rings wrapped around her precious things
and what the day brings
oh it's no surprise

Don't you ask me how I'm doing
when everything I do says I miss you
Don't you ask me how I'm doing
when everything I do . . .
when everything I do . . .
when everything I do says I-I miss you

she's got diamonds in her eyes
that she likes to hide
seek and you will find
the hidin' seeking kind
she's got rings wrapped around her precious things
and what the day brings
oh it's no surprise

Don't you ask me how I'm doing
when everything I do says I miss you
Don't you ask me how I'm doing
when everything I do . . .
when everything I do . . .
when everything I do says I miss you

she's got diamonds in her eyes
that she likes to hide
seek and you will find
the hidin' seeking kind
she's got rings wrapped around her precious things
and what the day brings
oh it's no surprise

Don't you ask me how I'm doing
when everything I do says I miss you
Don't you ask me how I'm doing
when everything I do . . .
when everything I do . . .
when everything I do . . .

-Whiskeytown

My First Girlfriend...

When we moved to Fayetteville in 1980, my sister and I both enrolled in the private school in town.  I stayed at the Academy until the 8th.  That year I decided to go to public school.  Hillcrest. It was grades 7-9.  I didn't really know anyone there.  I had some tennis buddies in the 9th grade and some basketball buddies in my grade.  But all in all, I was pretty much alone.  And scared.  And timid.  And way out of my element.

Some of my "friends" from the Academy had also switched to Hillcrest.  These guys had found no problems in fitting in.  They had friends and girlfriends and everything was good for them.  They were in my English class.  They wore tie-dyes and listened to the Dead.  So of course, I started listening to the Dead.  Actually, I was already listening to the old stuff (anything hippie), but I made it more known that I was into that kind of stuff.

But still things weren't happening for me.  At the Academy, I had been one of the smart kids.  There were for boys who were labeled "accelerated" and I was one of them.  So naturally, I am a nerd.  No girl would give me the time of day.  And naturally that feeling stuck with me at my new school.

But it wasn't all bad.  One of my best friends, my tennis partner, was one of the cool kids at Hillcrest.  He was in the 9th grade and he and his buddies ruled the school.  Because we were really close, I started hanging out with those guys.  I didn't see them much at school, because we were in all different classes.  But I hung out with them on the weekends.  He was the first person I ever got drunk with.  Those group of guys were always looking for some kind of trouble to get into, and I was right there with them.

But still no girlfriends.  And not really getting all that close to the people in my grade.  Christmas came and went.  Next up is Valentine's day.  Sometime around then we had the Hillcrest Beauty Pageant.  And then really close to this was a party at CK's house (I'm going to use initials for everyone).  Of course I knew about the party.  All the cool kids in my grade were invited.  And word spread about cool parties like this.  And of course, I knew I wasn't going to get an invite and wasn't going to be there.

But then it happened.  Out of the blue, I get invited to the party.  It was a Friday night, I think.  I was amazed and so excited.  I finally got invited to a cool kids party!  And you bet your ass I going.  

So I went.  And I was so nervous.  I was probably shaking.  I knew everyone there.  Some I had known for a long time.  But we all know how kids are.  You can know someone all your life and never talk to them.  Not know anything about them.  Well, that was me.  But I'm there with a ton of girls.  And there are a bunch of guys in my grade there too.  A few of whom are going to become my best and closest friends in the near future.

So I'm trying my best to fit in.  I remember being outside smoking cigarettes and some of the guys I was with were blown away that I smoked.  Comments like, "cool, man, I didn't know you smoked," were uttered.  Small talk and bullshitting ensued.  I started to feel a little more comfortable.

And then MC approached me and asked me a most pivotal, life-changing question: "What do you think about KC?  Because she likes you."  That's the way it was back then.  You always got a friend to tell someone that you liked them.  And I was in complete shock.  I had never, ever been told that a girl liked me.  I'd never had a girlfriend.  I'd never kissed a girl.  Nothing.  Loser.  And here I had just found out that one of the cool girls liked me.  Wow!

Well, long story short, I asked KC to "go with me" that very next week.  And there you had it, I had a girlfriend.  And I started going to all the cool parties.  And I started get notes passed to me in school.  And girls talked to me.  And I felt like a million dollars.

KC had an adorable little romance.  My parents loved her.  They were so happy that I had a girlfriend.  I took her to a UNC game.  We went to see "Stealing Home."  That was my first date. But I never kissed her.  I was too scared.  And she really wanted to kiss me.  But I was a complete chicken shit in the face of that fear.  Never kissed her.  Should have kissed her though.

And that, friends and neighbors, is the story of my first girlfriend.  And of my entry into the social elite of Hillcrest.  Granted, there are other parts that would make this story a little juicier.  But to be honest, I really don't remember them.  It was a long time ago.  So, let's just leave it at that...............    

Colorado Girl

Im goin out to denver
See if I cant find
Im goin out to denver
See if I cant find
That lovin colorado girl of mine

The promise in her smile
Shames the mountains tall
The promise in her smile
Shames the mountains tall
She bring the sun to shining
Tell the rain to fall

Its been a long time, mama,
Since I heard you call my name
Ah, been a long time
Since I heard you call my name
I got to see my colorado girl again

Be there tomorrow
Mama, dont you cry
Be there tomorrow
Now, mama, dont you cry
I got to kiss these
Lonesome texas blues good-bye

Im goin out to to denver
See if I cant find
Im goin out to to denver
See if I cant find
That lovin colorado girl of mine
That lovin colorado girl of mine

-Townes Van Zandt

Best Summer Ever...

I was reading my favorite blog last night from a young lady, who as it turns out lives about 50 yards from me.  I ran across her blog as I was looking at people from the Raleigh area.  Hers immediately popped out because she is such an amazing writer.  So since finding her blog, I check it every day to see what she's written.

Her latest entry was about her best summer.  And that got me to thinking about my best summer.  To be honest, I can't remember a good or great summer.  I haven't truly had a summer in over a decade.  Once you get out of school, summer is reduced to the hot months of your working year.  Any notion of a summer vacation is quickly shot down.

I have had some pretty good times during the hot months.  Some good concerts, some good beach trips, some good nights out at the bars.  But trying to pick a favorite summer from start to finish is a tough one...

I turned 16 on June 6th, 1989.  I was the only one out of my group of friends to have my license. I was the oldest guy in my entire grade basically, so the rest of my buddies still had many months before they could drive.  

There were 6 or 7 of us in our group.  We were the rowdy ones.  Already smoking and drinking and smoking pot.  Trouble makers, you could say.  And we hung out with a group of about 8 girls in the grade right below us.  We had some good girl friends our age, but we mostly hung around with those 8 girls. 

So every night I'd pick up all my buddies and then pick up the girls.  I had an Isuzu Trooper 2, and it was usually packed every night.  And after I'd gotten everyone, we'd just drive around, smoking cigarettes and listening to music.  And in my memory this was the greatest of great summers.  

Its very foggy now because that was 20 years ago.  The memories are like flashes of a dream.  I can't hold on to anything tangible.  But the bits and pieces always make me smile and warm my heart.  Those were good days.  Days before any of us new the troubles and stresses of being an adult.  Days before we had any cares.  Days that seemed to last forever.

I went to boarding school the fall after that summer.  That was long before the internet.  Hand written letters were the only means of communicating with all my friends from home.  And I thankfully saved every one of the letters I got for the 3 years I was away.  So I can go back now and read letters that my friends wrote just weeks after that magical summer ended.  And they all make me smile.  The make me smile the kind of smile that you feel way down deep in your heart of hearts.  Memories of youth.

That was a good summer................

X Files - Post Modern Prometheus - Walking in Memphis

One of the funniest TV episodes of ALL TIME!!!  X-Files is my favorite show to date.  They don't come any better than this.  And this is the funniest one they ever did.  And its a thinking kind of ending.  You gotta really get it, or else you'll definitely miss all the INCREDIBLE humor with this ending.  

But just watch this clip, because, (pardon my french), "It fucking rocks!!!" 

Orpheus Lost

I don't normally write about books that I've read on my blog.  I've got a separate reading journal where I write a quick page about the book I've just finished.  I'm going through 2 0r 3 a week, so I always thought that the blog would just turn into a book report kind of thing.  Better to save it for the reading journal.

I just finished a book, though, that I've got to mention.  Its entitled "Orpheus Lost" by Janette Turner Hospital.  I'm spinning right now.  I just finished it a few minutes ago.  Started it yesterday.  A short one, about 370 pages.  But I'm pretty blown away by how good it is.

The writing is definitely top notch.  Dialogue flows, descriptions are dense, pace moves.  But the story itself is amazing.  Simply amazing.  I haven't read an actual story that good in a long time.  Yeah, the more I think about it, I haven't read a story that good in a long time.  I'm going to definitely be thinking of this book for a while to come.  Trust me, friends and neighbors, the story is that good.

And some other good ones I've read lately:

-"The Quiet Girl" by Peter Hoeg.  That one was amazing.  The way he wrote about sound and music and spatial relationships of sound.  And he wove the story between present and past so seamlessly that you'd get lost and not know where you were.

-"Then We Came To The End" by Joshua Ferris.  This puppy stands out because I think its got the best ending of a book ever.  I mean, when I read the end I literally screamed, "hell yeah!"  If you've read it, I think you'll understand.  Its written in such an unusual way, and then all the sudden there's this incredibly powerful chapter about a woman's struggle with cancer.  And then in the end... wow!!!!!!!!!

-"Zeroville" by Steve Erickson.  The funniest book I've read in a while.  And so bizarrely original.  I could very confidently give this book to anyone and know that they'd really like it.

-"Man Gone Down" by Michael Thomas.  This, I think, is the best written book I've read in a bit.  Thomas is an incredible writer.  A true master of words.  The story was powerful too, but what hit me with such strength was they way he told his story and the words he used.

-"The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz.  This one won the pulitzer last year.  And yes, its that good.  I read it in no time.  I enjoyed the Faulknerian way he told the same story from each characters eyes.  By the end, the story, sad as it is, is so full and rich.  Great book.

And then you might ask, what is your favorite book of all time.  And that one is quite simple:

-"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand.  I have never read a book with such powerful characters.  People that you hate and who are more real and more evil than I could ever imagine trying to create myself.  Passages that so enraged me that I wasn't sure if I could finish them.  Passages so powerful and intelligent that I had to reread them over and over just to try to understand them.  And a story that is so amazingly huge, that it is damn near impossible to describe.  That book will I sure remain at the very top of the stack........

Come Away With Me

Come away with me in the night
Come away with me
And I will write you a song

Come away with me on a bus
Come away with me where they can't tempt us
With their lies

I want to walk with you
On a cloudy day
In fields where the yellow grass grows
knee kigh
So won't you try to come

Come away with me and we'll kiss
On a mountain top
Come away with me
And I'll never stop loving you

And I want to wake up with the rain
Falling on a tin roof
While I'm safe there in your arms
So all I ask is for you
To come away with me in the night
Come away with me

-Norah Jones

serendipity (movie)

What's New?

This is getting sad, friends and neighbors!  I wake up in the morning and sit down to drink my pot of coffee and read some news online.  I don't own a TV and I don't get the paper, so my entire source of information and entertainment is online.  My google home page is packed with news, sports and entertainment sources, so that I can be current on everything that's happening.

Like most men, I go for sports first.  Actually, the first thing I check is email.  This way the first thing I read is my Get Fuzzy daily comic strip.  Then I check my horoscope and the days weather.  This little tradition started in high school when the first thing I'd read every morning was Calvin and Hobbes and my horoscope.  OK, then its sports.  Then I go into the news and end with entertainment.

Yesterday I mentioned that the news and the sporting world were a little dull.  Things are so dull, in fact, that I can't even get through 1/2 my cup of coffee before I'm done.  And then I faced with a dilemma: what exactly am I supposed to do with the rest of my morning wake/coffee routine?  I don't really like to jump into my book yet.  Too early to really start the mental engine.  The early AM needs to be a slow jog with the brain.

What I need is some new sites.  I need some places to go where I can waste time reading some "news" or something like that.  I've used the time to clean up my iPhoto folders.  And I've surfed, but to be honest, surfing really bores me.  This is why I'm not a gamer.  I really just don't enjoy sitting in front of the computer for that long, unless I'm writing or reading.  Merely surfing I find to be incredibly boring.

So, my goal has been achieved.  I have now consumed my 1/2 cup of coffee and I can smoke my first cigarette of the morning.  And I have given you, my dear readers, a valuable insight into my morning routine.  With that, I leave you....................

Love actually

One of my all-time favorite movies.  This scene goes right to the heart (pardon the pun) of my the post just below entitled, "The Heart Gets What the Hear Wants..."

And it also gets to my incredible desire to see my angel again soon and kiss her and hug her tightly....

The Heart Gets What The Heart Wants...

As I get older, I am able to look back with more experience and knowledge at things I might not have done so well in my youth.  I could fill many volumes with my stupid mistakes and thoughtless actions.  But, in my defense, that is more or less the trademark of youth.  You're supposed to be stupid, aren't you, friends and neighbors?

But what is your excuse when you get older?  We're supposed to exercise caution.  We're supposed to exercise patience.  After all, we've been burned before, have we not?  And we have greater responsibilities and expectations.  Right?

I would agree, with one serious exception.  I have never argued with my heart.  I have followed it with reckless abandon.  I have thrown away any trace of rational thought and followed what my heart wanted.

Has my heart my gotten me in trouble?  I would answer no.  Has my heart made mistakes?  I would again answer no.  Now I will grant you, friends and neighbors, that things have pretty unanimously ended poorly.  But I don't blame my heart.  I blame my head for those mistakes.  I blame lots of things for those blunders.  Granted, the heart and the head are part and parcel of the whole unit.  So we can't really blame one part without casting blame on the other.

So what then am I getting at.  What I'm saying, friends, is that life is far to short to not follow your heart.  Love.  Love often.  Love totally.  Find yourself at that scary cliff and just jump.  What's the worst thing that could happen?  Your heart gets broken, yes.  But you loved, did you not?

Yes, I am in love.  Yes, I'm the same writer that has been pretty down on all things tender.  Yes, I tried to cut my heart out for the last many years.  But, let me again say, Yes, I am in love.  And I am going to follow my heart.  I am going to pursue her.  I am going to dream of her.  I am going to long for her.  I am going to want nothing more than to be with her all the time.

She's away from me right now.  And I think of her all the time.  I want so badly to fall asleep her.  I want to wake up with her.  I want to laugh with her.  And talk to her.  I want to walk with her.  I want to say nothing and just look at her.  And run my hands through her hair as I sit beside her reading.

I want her.  I am in love with her.  And I will follow my heart, friends and neighbors.  Because, in my little world, the heart gets what the heart wants............

Sweet Thing...

I will stroll the merry way
And jump the hedges first
And drink the clear
Clean waterfall to quench my thirst
And I shall watch the ferry-boats and they'll get high

On a bluer ocean
Against tomorrow's sky
And I will never grow so old again.
And I will walk and talk
In garden's all wet with rain.

Oh sweet thing, sweet thing
Oh my, my, my sweet thing.
And I shall drive my chariot
down you streets and cry
'hey its me, I'm dynamite and I don't know why'.

And you shall take me strongly in your arms again.
And I will not remember that I ever felt the pain.
We shall walk and talk
in gardens all misty wet with rain.
And I will never, never, never grow so old again.

Oh sweet thing, sweet thing.
My, my, my, my, my sweet thing.
And I will raise my hand up
into the night cloud's sky.
And count the stars shining in your eye.
Just to dig it all an' not to wonder that's just fine.
And I wil be satisfied
Not to read in between the lines.
And I will walk and talk in gardens all wet with rain.
And I will never ever, ever grow so old again.
Oh sweet thing. Oh sugar baby
Sugar baby, sugar baby, sugar baby.
With your champagne eyes
And your saint-like smile.

-Van Morrison

More Than Friends...

Bet you don't know you stole my heart away
Bet you can't tell that I'm under your spell
Haven't a clue what you do to me

That I long to be more than friends
Innocently, you came to me one day
You didn't mean to make me feel this way
Ever since then it's been so hard for me
I long to be more than friends

I'm waiting for you to give me a sign
Been waiting here a long lonely time
You've always been a good friend of mine

And when you're near I always watch and I wonder
If you can hear my heart beat like the thunder
And when you go clouds go over me

I long to be more than friends
I wanna be more than friends

-Edie Brickell

Last Night's Dinner...

Chef's Menu

Yellow Tomato Gazpacho with a Lobster Salad
Chateau Langlet, Graves, Blanc, France, 2006
~
Curry Poached Scallop with Smoked Chicken, Cauliflower Puree and Parsley Crumbs
Au Bon Climat, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc Blend, Santa Barbara County, California, 2006
~
Seared Foie Gras with Pain d‘épice, North Carolina Peaches, Hazelnuts and a Sweet and Sour Reduction
Domaine Zind-Humbrecht, Gewurztraminer, Alsace, France, 2006
~
Angus Beef Tenderloin with Organic Beets, Fondant Potato, Baby Turnip and a Red Wine Jus
St Supery, Elu, Napa Valley, California, 2003
~
Midnight Moon Goat Cheese with Fig and Beet Chutney
Elk Cove, Ultima, Willamette Valley, Oregon, 2006
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Pre-Dessert
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Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate
Meeker, Fro Zin, Zinfandel Ice Wine, Russian River Valley, California, 2004

Getting Old...

George Carlin on aging!
(Absolutely Brilliant)
IF YOU DON'T READ THIS TO THE VERY END, YOU HAVE LOST A DAY IN YOUR LIFE. AND WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED, DO AS I AM DOING AND SEND IT ON.

George Carlin's Views on Aging

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 ! Youbecome 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's 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 90s, 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!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them.'

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3.Keep learning. ! Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever, even ham radio. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' And the devil's family name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever.Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them , at every opportunity.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
And if you don't send this to at least 8 people - who cares?But do share th is with someone. We all need to live life to its fullest each day!!

Moon in a Red Stripe Box...

Views From My Apt. Window...

July 1st, 2008...

My paralegal program is now done.  Well, it will be officially done tomorrow.  But today is a sort of "day week," so I'm playing hooky.  It supposed to be in the low 80's today.  Good beer weather.

But paralegal being done means that I can bring my focus back to the blog no one reads!  Last month I only managed a few entries.  But this month, dear readers, I promise to win back your loyalty and devotion with near daily insights, observations and mundane, trivial facts.

Yes its going to be a good month.  I think.  I never really liked July all that much.  Historically, its always been so damn hot.  And I'm trying this very minute to remember if our Cloister trips of old were in June or July.  I can't remember.  But there again, for people who actually have a summer vacation, July represents the very heart of the fun.  When I was a youngster, I think I really liked July.

But I'm not a youngster anymore.  I'm a working stiff.  And July is pretty much a lame month.  There is nothing in the way of sports.  Its too damn hot.  Blah blah blah.  I'm not anticipating that this July will be much in the way of anything.

So let's just hold our breath, dear readers.  Let's all just dream fondly of college football season. Let's all dream of those glorious fall days, when it finally cools off.  Those beautiful days of cold beer and pigskin.  It'll be here before you know, friends and neighbors.  If we can just get through July.......