When George Bush entered office, gas was $1.42 a gallon.
Now it's pushing $4.00...
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!
Four things...
Four films I could watch over and over:
Four favorite colors:
- A Walk in the Clouds
- In Harm' Way
- White Christmas
- The Philadephia Story (1940)
- Ames, Iowa - where I went to school and had the most intense emotions of my life
- Denver, Colorado - where my soul is most at peace
- Dodge City, Kansas - where I was born...I don't remember much about it, but when you mention you were born in Dodge City, people go, "Dodge City! Cool!"
- Johnson County, Kansas - home of self-adsorbed soccer moms.
- Pizza - any kind, any time
- Chicken Massaman - Thai dish with potatoes and creamy peanut sauce
- Dutch Letters from Pella, Iowa
- Crock Pot Roast with veggies
Four favorite colors:
- Primary color red
- Primary color yellow
- Flat black
- Burnt Sienna - from the 64 crayon box
- Hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park
- On the beach at Playa del Carmen
- Times Square, New York City
- The YMCA trails in Ames
- Larry "Bud" Melman
- Dirk Diggler
- Leon
- Frodo Baggins
Heard on NPR...
Monogamy may be boring, but
the alternatives take too much time and energy.
The meditation word for today is...monogamy.
the alternatives take too much time and energy.
The meditation word for today is...monogamy.
An oldie but a goodie...
Two atoms are walking down the road.
The first atom says to the second, "Dang! I think I've lost and electron!"
"Are you sure?" asks the second.
"Yes," says the first, "I'm positive!"
Wisdom...
“The greatest battles of life are fought out every day in the silent chambers of one’s own soul.”
- David O. McKay
- David O. McKay
Quotes on clutter
These quotes are from Peter Walsh, the clutter clearing expert and frequent Oprah guest (so we know he's legit, right?):
What is your vision for the life you want to live, and do your life choices reflect that vision? Specifically: Is your home a space for the life you want?
The things you own are a distraction to getting started on the right path. The key to getting — and staying — organized is to look beyond the stuff and imagine the life you could be living. Put most simply: It’s about how you see your life before all else.
From "The Long Voyage Home"
What's bothering you, Smitty?
Oh...memories, Donkeyman.
The best thing to do with memories is - forget 'em.
Suppose you couldn't forget 'em?
Well, I'd get drunk, same as you're doing!
Oh...memories, Donkeyman.
The best thing to do with memories is - forget 'em.
Suppose you couldn't forget 'em?
Well, I'd get drunk, same as you're doing!
My new favorite phrase
Electile Dysfunction : the inability to become aroused over any of the choices for president put forth by either party in the 2008 election year.
Empties...
Have you ever sat
by the railroad track
and watched the empties comin' back?
Swinging alone with a groan and a whine,
smoke strung out in a long gray line,
puffed from a panting engine's stack,
just the empties comin' back.
I have and to me they seem
like dreams I sometimes dream.
About a girl or money or fame,
my dreams have all returned the same,
swingin along the home bound track,
just the empties comin' back.
- Anon
by the railroad track
and watched the empties comin' back?
Swinging alone with a groan and a whine,
smoke strung out in a long gray line,
puffed from a panting engine's stack,
just the empties comin' back.
I have and to me they seem
like dreams I sometimes dream.
About a girl or money or fame,
my dreams have all returned the same,
swingin along the home bound track,
just the empties comin' back.
- Anon
What time is it?
"On an ancient wall in China
Where a brooding Buddha blinks,
Deeply graven is the message
It is later than you think.
The clock of life is wound but once
And no man has the power
To tell just when the hands will stop,
At late or early hour.
Now is all the time you own,
The past a golden link,
Go cruising now my brother...
It is later than you think."
- framed and hanging on the back bar at "The Spot" in La Jolla.
Where a brooding Buddha blinks,
Deeply graven is the message
It is later than you think.
The clock of life is wound but once
And no man has the power
To tell just when the hands will stop,
At late or early hour.
Now is all the time you own,
The past a golden link,
Go cruising now my brother...
It is later than you think."
- framed and hanging on the back bar at "The Spot" in La Jolla.
Couldn't have said it better myself...
Angie Rossini: "Do you want to get married?"
Rocky Papasano: "Well, I said I would, didn't I?"
Angie Rossini: "That's not what I asked you!"
Rocky Papasano: "Who wants to get married!"
Dialog between Angie (Natalie Wood) and Rocky (Steve McQueen) in Lover With the Proper Stranger, 1963
Our most brilliant President?
"The last time I checked, the Constitution said, 'of the people, by the people and for the people.' That's what the Declaration of Independence says."
Bill Clinton, 1996...
...or maybe it was the Gettysburg Address, Slick
Bill Clinton, 1996...
...or maybe it was the Gettysburg Address, Slick
Timeless wisdom...
"Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices."
-Voltaire.
-Voltaire.
Simples truths...
A President once said,
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
Now it seems like we’re supposed to be afraid
It’s patriotic in fact and color coded
- Randy Newman, A Few Words in Defense of this Country
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
Now it seems like we’re supposed to be afraid
It’s patriotic in fact and color coded
- Randy Newman, A Few Words in Defense of this Country
Iphidamas
no one who has ever read the Iliad
has remembered you
until me
raised by a loving family
your father a king
you married
but left for the glorious war
before you had lain with your bride
and in your first combat
Agamemnon killed you
that is all
Homer gave you perhaps twenty lines
blew life into you
marched you into battle
had you slain
meat butchered by heros
the first time I read the Iliad
even I did not notice you
but the second
during my “honeymoon”
absurd word
in Chicago in 1962
with a woman from whom I am long divorced
your brief life made me wonder
what happened to your virgin bride
how soon did she forget
and you
did you have time for regret before you died
or was the thrusting sword too quick
you could not know
that Homer would sing of you
however briefly
and that in 3000 years
I at last would be touched by your death
but if you had known
I wonder
if that would have been enough
Webb Chiles - 1975
Read more of Webb Chiles' poetry here
One of my goals in life is to own as little as possible.
- Eugene, on the zen habits web site
The meditation word for today is...simplicity
- Eugene, on the zen habits web site
The meditation word for today is...simplicity
Wisdom from the Bold and the Beautiful
Young, beautiful girl, who has just been proposed to:
"I can't marry you! I'm a sex addict! I can't control my physical desires!"
Older man who has just proposed:
"You say that like it's a bad thing!"
The meditation phrase for today is..."dream come true"
"I can't marry you! I'm a sex addict! I can't control my physical desires!"
Older man who has just proposed:
"You say that like it's a bad thing!"
The meditation phrase for today is..."dream come true"
A favorite joke of mine...
Two atoms were walking down the street.
The first atom says, "I think I've lost an electron!"
"Are you sure?" asks the second atom.
"Yes, " says the first, "I'm positive!"
The first atom says, "I think I've lost an electron!"
"Are you sure?" asks the second atom.
"Yes, " says the first, "I'm positive!"
A bit of Missouri Philosophy...
"A man not honorable in his marital relations is not usually honorable in any other."
- Harry Truman
ps: no photo with this post...insert your own picture...or a mirror.
- Harry Truman
ps: no photo with this post...insert your own picture...or a mirror.
sigh...
[A tragedy of the world’s poor has been that] the West spent $2.3 trillion on foreign aid over the last five decades and still had not managed to get twelve-cent medicines to children to prevent half of all malaria deaths.
The West spent $2.3 trillion and still had not managed to get four-dollar bed nets to poor families.
The West spent $2.3 trillion and still had not managed to get three dollars to each new mother to prevent five million child deaths.
...It is heart-breaking that global society has evolved a highly efficient way to get entertainment to rich adults and children, while it can’t get twelve-cent medicing to dying poor children.
— William Easterly, The White Man’s Burden; Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest have Done So Much Ill and so Little Good, (Penguin Press, 2006), p. 4
A man was riding his Harley...
A man was riding his Harley along a California beach when suddenly the sky clouded above his head and, in a booming voice, the Lord said,"Because you have tried to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish."
The biker pulled over and said,"Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can ride over anytime I want."
The Lord said,"Your request is materialistic, think of the enormous challenges for that kind of undertaking; the supports required to reach the bottom of the Pacific and the concrete and steel it would take! It will nearly exaust several natural resources. I can do it, but it is hard for me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a little more time and think of something that could possibly help mankind."
The biker thought about it for a long time. Finally, he said,"Lord, I wish that I and all men could understand women; I want to know how she feels inside, what she's thinking when she gives me the silent treatment, why she cries, what she means when she says nothing is wrong, and how I can make a woman truly happy."
The Lord replied, "You want two lanes or four on that bridge?"
Using the Four Agreements to Resolve Conflict
1. Be impeccable with your word.
Words have immeasurable power, so use them with care. Say only what you mean, and remember your opinion isn’t fact. Silence is better than saying something you’ll regret.
2. Don’t take anything personally.
Here I’ll quote the book, “Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves.” That guy honking at you just spilled scalding coffee all over his lap, the boss screaming at you is going through a divorce. Their stuff has nothing to do with your stuff, and assuming you’re the root cause of someone’s behavior is not only self-centered, it’s also a big waste of energy.
3. Don’t make assumptions.
You can spend hours generating theories about why someone did something, or you can just ask. When someone lashes or does something unexpected, save time by seeking clarification.
4. Do your best.
Do the best you can with the conflict in front of you, and you won’t need to waste brain power on self-judgements or regrets.
When I can keep these guidelines in mind, I’m almost always able to diffuse a situation. Other benefits:
- Resolution comes more quickly because you ask for clarification instead of jumping to conclusions.
- You reduce time lost to stress because you don’t feel personally responsible for the other person’s anxiety or anger.
- Initial conflict often turns into a productive conversation and leads to a deeper relationship, because you come from a more compassionate place.
- You ideally come away without regrets, having resolved the situation instead of escalating it.
A National Epidemic...
"If anything characterizes the 21st century, it’s our inability to restrain ourselves for the benefit of other people," said James Katz, director of the Center for Mobile Communication Studies at Rutgers University.
"The cellphone talker thinks his rights go above that of people around him, and the jammer thinks his are the more important rights."
...from a discussion on the rise of mobile and fixed cell phone jammers.
The meditation word for today is...courtesy
Can it be any clearer?
DEMOCRATIC
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
You feel guilty for being successful.
Barbra Streisand sings for you.
REPUBLICAN
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
So?
I'd really like to discuss this...
Sex is just another form of communication.
If your partner doesn't know how to talk, chances are they don't know how to make love, either.
The meditation word for today is...communication
If your partner doesn't know how to talk, chances are they don't know how to make love, either.
The meditation word for today is...communication
Depends on your perspective...
The water buffalo hates the tiger with an endless hate,but the tiger loves the water buffalo.
Pshhhhhtt! glug, glug, glug....ahhhhhhhh!
Beer is better when drunk.
- tag line on a Playa forum
countdown to Playa - 5 days
- tag line on a Playa forum
countdown to Playa - 5 days
About books...
"Books to the ceiling, books to the sky.My piles of books are a mile high.
How I love them!
How I need them!
I’ll have a long beard by the time I read them"
- Arnold Lobel
The meditation word for today is...bibliophilia
The Parable of the Fisherman
The American businessman was at the pier of a small South Pacific Island village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.
Inside the small boat was a dorrado and several large grouper. The American complimented the Islander on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The Islander replied, "Only a little while."
The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish?
The Islander said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.
The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a late afternoon nap with my wife, Helia, stroll into the village each evening where I sip rum and play guitar with my friends, I have a full and busy life."
The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.
Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution.
You would need to leave this small fishing village and move to Australia, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."
The South Seas fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"
To which the American replied, "15 to 20 years."
"But what then?"
The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."
"Millions, really? Then what?"
The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a late afternoon nap with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings here you could sip rum and play your guitar with your friends."
The timeless dilemma...
[Man and younger woman in passionate embrace]Girl: "I love you so much!"
Man: "I love YOU!"
Girl: "Mmm, I'm so alive"
Man: "That's the word - ALIVE - I've never been so alive until now!"
Girl: "Until now!"
Man: "I worry about our age difference."
Girl: "What is age? It's a state of mind!"
Man: "That's how I feel!"
Girl": "Who cares that when I hit my sexual peak you'll be seventy?"
Man: "I know! It's Bogey and Bacall!"
Girl: "Who?"
from Bowfinger
Oooooo, been there, done that, too!
No matter how good she looks,
some other guy is sick and tired
of putting up with her .
some other guy is sick and tired
of putting up with her .
We all need dreams...
Dr. Kelso: "Son, are you an idiot?"JD: "No sir...I'm a dreamer"
The meditation word for today is...dreamer
When life hands you lemonade...
DJ (noticing Ted pouring vodka into his picnic lemonade): "Thirsty, huh?"
Ted (the loveable loser attorney): "It helps the tears taste less bitter."
Ted (the loveable loser attorney): "It helps the tears taste less bitter."
The truth about a long dry spell of intimacy..
We are all God's children in the dark...
- Turk on Scrubs
- Turk on Scrubs
An attitude of gratitude..
“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.”
- Meister Eckhart
Be Thankful
Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?Be thankful when you don’t know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.Be thankful when you’re tired and weary
Because it means you’ve made a difference.It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessings.
~ Author Unknown ~
This may be true (but I have my doubts...)
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. - Bertrand Russell
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