the value of wisdom....


Two men are walking along the beach early one morning, and one spots a lamp lying half buried in the sand.

He picks it up and gives it a quick rub with his sleeve to polish it. WHOOSH! Out pops a genie!

The genie says, "I am a special wisdom genie...I can grant you one wish, but your have to choose between being the wisest man in the world, or having 10 million dollars."

The first man thinks for a minute, then says, "I want the wisdom!" "Granted!" says the genie, then POOF! the genie and the lamp vanish in a flash and a puff of smoke!

The first man sinks to his knees...deep in thought.

After a moment, the second man says, "Well, what are you thinking about?"

The first man says, "I'm thinking that I should have taken the 10 million dollars!"

Today's meditation word is...wisdom
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A word by any other name...

After having used the word, alas, for the third time in two days, I decided to meditate upon why I choose it so often during conversations.

The first stop, of course, it to the dictionary to see what the word meant.

Dictionary.com says: alas...used to express sorrow, regret, grief, compassion, or apprehension of danger or evil.

The word comes from Middle English, and before that, Old French a las or helas, meaning ah (I am) miserable. Earlier Latin roots suggest lassus, meaning weary.

Well, that clears it up for me! I obviously have too much danger and evil in my life!

The meditation word for today is...alas
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Insomnia...

Here's what I think about when I can't sleep:

Gravity waves are distortions in the fabric of space-time predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. The waves travel at the speed of light, but they are so weak that scientists expect to detect only those created during colossal cosmic events, such as black hole mergers.

NOT!
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All I need is this paddle ball game....and this chair!


Ever see the movie "The Jerk" starring Steve Martin?

The climactic scene is with his wife (played by the yummy Bernadette Peters), where Navin goes a little nutty and leaves the house, taking with him all sorts of useless items. What I find humorous in this is not that he is leaving the only thing (beside his family) that ever really loved him...his wife. In leaving, Navin grabs up a bunch of useless junk, saying that all he needs is this...and that...and this...and that.

In a house full of this and that junk, I could walk away from it all.

Now if I could just keep my pants from falling down around my ankles...

The meditation word for the day is...accumulation
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Things that may you say, "Hmmm..."

I went to a Chinese resturant the other day, and I got this in a fortune cookie:

'Dwelling on the negative simply contributes to its power'

Surely, this fortune was not meant for me! Hmmmmm......
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Words for a drummer to live by...

I recently attended a clinic at the local drum store (Explorer's Percussion in Kansas City, MO) by rock drumming great Kenny Aronoff. Kenny was the drummer during John Mellencamp's popular years, and is an in-demand studio drummer.

At the clinic, Kenny spoke of four concepts to drumming that I now try to incorporate into my drumming:
  • Beat
  • Time
  • Groove
  • Creativity

Beat - the basic pulse (heartbeat) of the song. The drummer is responsible for establishing and maintain that heartbeat, in essence keeping the song alive!

Time - Keeping the pulse steady and in harmony with the other musicians.

Groove - Provides a setting or a framework around which to weave the song and create the stylistinc mood. Funk, rock, reggae, country...all styles stem from the groove that the drummer lays down.

Creativity - only after the first three have been firmly established should you begin to explore the creative aspects of the instrument, such as fills.

Parting note...
Here is my favorite drumming anecdote:

Son: "When I grow up, I want to be a drummer!"
Dad: "Son, you'll have to choose, because you can't do both!"
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Words to Live By...

A friend of mine (who is currently staying in her cabin in Minnesota...I'm so envious) tries to live her life with contemplation of the following words as guiding principles:

Growth
Change
Mirth
Possibility
I like the concept!
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Colour My World

For some reason, this song has been popping into my brain lately. I suspect that Colour My World has been sung at more weddings than any other song. I've loved this song since my junior high school days.

I purchased a two-cartridge 8-track set of Chicago songs at the Iowa State fair in, ummm, 1973-74. I didn't know at the time that they were bootlegs - heck, I didn't even know what a bootleg was! I was just happy to get some Chicago songs to play in the truck.

I had driven up to Des Moines with my girlfriend, Mary, to see the group Chigago play at the fair. My brother, David, and a friend of his rode the entire way in the bed of the pickup. That had to have been a long ride!


Colour My World

As time goes by,
I realize
just what you mean
to me.

An now,
now that we're near,
promise your love
that I've been waiting to share,
and dream
of our moments together...

Colour my world
with hope
of loving you.
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What the...!!!

So I got up this morning and I wanted to synch my iPod. iTunes gives me this message that all my iPhotos are gone! What!

I check around and, sure enough, not a photo to be found! I can't spend much time on it as I needed to get to work, but I plow back into the situation later tonight.

But for now, here is my meditation word for the day: guileless

Peace. Out.
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