Month: November 2013

Energy System

I drove by these light posts today. Their unconventional position made me think about their function.

What do light posts do anyway?

Simply enough, they provide a container….. or act as a vessel…. for energy to flow from one point to another.

And simply enough. So are we. Us humans.

Everything in this universe is made up of energy. Energy is neither created nor destroyed. It merely exists. It can move from one state into another. In the very simplest of terms. (The Law of Conservation of Energy)

So here we are… while we are here. Carrying energy from one place to another.

Like a light post… we are guardians of the energy… transporters of the light.

How we choose to move this energy… from place to place…. .. is the important thing.
And THAT is where it all gets so very complicated.

 “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” ― Nikola Tesla

The Barn Door Rings Twice

On a clear day… you can see forever.

When I was a little kid, I had one of those Fisher-Price Barnyard Toy Sets. I loved that thing. It had a red barn, and little plastic fences that you put around the perimeter. When you opened the hayloft, the Rooster called out with a Chicken-Yodel. And when you opened the barn door…. the cow gave out a burpy Mooooooo.

Yes. I was a city kid. And this was like going to Never Never Land. It was all so foreign to me. I had read about such things in the Little House on the Prairie Books. But… things were all concrete, glass and stone where I lived.  There at my little farm…. every day was bright, clear, and sunny.

It made me imagine stories, and think up answers to all those mysterious puzzles in life.

Like the Little Piggies Nursery Rhyme that grown ups would do as they pulled on your toes. This little piggy went wee wee wee….

I’ll bet no one has ever broken it down for you. So…. I can do it now…. if you keep reading.

Okay. Here goes.

This little piggy went to the market,
*Easy. The Pig Family needed groceries. So the first little dude went to the I.G.A.*

This little piggy stayed home,
*Clearly a case of an introverted pig. Prefers to be by herself. Stay at home. I get this.*

This little piggy had roast beef,
*Arby’s. It is really the only thing it could be. They had leftover Arby sandwiches in the fridge. The 5 for $5 deal.*

This little piggy had none,
*Vegan Pig*

And this little piggy cried wee wee wee all the way home.
*I am certain of the last one. A female pig… post menopausal. Overactive Bladder… which happens to a LOT of women in their 50s and 60s. We are always crying wee, wee, wee.*

Yep… you can take the girl out of the city… but you can’t take the city out of the little girl… as we wee, wee, wee… all the way home.

“Clarity is the counterbalance of profound thoughts.” – Luc de Clapiers

It’s not that funny, dear.

Today we gave thanks to all of those who are dear to us.

And speaking of deer, dear.
Q: What’s the difference between beer nuts and deer nuts?
A: Beer nuts are a $1.39….. and deer nuts are under a buck.

Q: Why do male deer need braces?
A: Because they have buck teeth!

The Deer Hunters

Two hunters were dragging their dead deer back to their car. Another hunter approached pulling his along too. “Hey, I don’t want to tell you how to do something … but I can tell you that it’s much easier if you drag the deer in the other direction. Then the antlers won’t dig into the ground.” After the third hunter left, the two decided to try it. A little while later one hunter said to the other, “You know, that guy was right. This is a lot easier!” “Yeah, but we’re getting farther from the truck,” the other added.

Q:  Do you know why deer hate “Deer Jokes”?
A:  Because most “Deer Jokes” aren’t very funny.

 

So.  Instead.  Today…. go HUG a DEAR.

The big feast

It might all be as simple as this. Do what you love.

There is a quote by E.B. White…. that really struck me today. It is this.
We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.   – E. B. White
Now today… one was of those “monster-get-things-done” kind of day. I did a whole lot around the house. Clean… clean.. clean. And Mary… cooked… cooked… cooked. To the point of making us both pretty weary.

Yes, the day before Thanksgiving is always a big prep kind-of-day. And the week preceding is much the same. Planning, and shopping, and scurrying about.

All in preparation for the Thanksgiving Meal. A “feeding melee”…. which at tops…. will last about 18 minutes. Tops. Then everyone will push away from table… and recite the obligatory… “Oh my gosh. I am stuffed.”

Like a turkey.

It seems like an awful lot of work… for 18 minutes.  Perhaps we should just call it flipping the bird.  Oh…. some people may think… is it worth it?

Of course it IS. Every chopped onion, every scrubbed toilet, every peeled potato, swept floor, and folded napkin… is absolutely worth it. Not for the 18 minutes. Nope.

But for the lifetimes shared together. The love and the care throughout the years… those moments that helped make us who we are. The joys and the tears. The good and the bad. All together.

Showing our thanks for all those minutes in our lives… that we have been blessed enough to have one another. Our loved ones.

So much more than 18 minutes.

Which brings me right back to E. B. White. Do what gives you joy.

With joy… I say to all of you….. Happy Thanksgiving.

 

Are you super?

 

 

We can’t all be superheroes.  Or rock stars.  World famous authors, or athletes.  Nope.  Those folks are few and far  between  Most of us… are…. Here living the day to day of it.  No big audiences, and no hype.  It is just how we roll.

Most of us are probably glad we do not have to be all stretched out in the limelight.   Sometimes… we are happy to do the little things.  Whenever and however we can.

But with all of THAT…. Comes THIS.  I believe everyone is talented in different ways.  But I also suspect that each of us have “A Something” that we really shine at.  Something we need to give to the world.  The really big trick is figuring out “what” that thing is… and “how” to share it.

It might be a big colossal thing.  Yet.  Mostly… those things come in small doses.  I think there is much pleasure in the fact that we are making a difference… one little seed at a smidgeon at a time.

 

Because if we are ALL doing little smidgeons… those little smidgeons add up.  To a whopper of a smudgeon.

 

And THAT is truly…. Very, very similar, to donning a cape… and leaping tall buildings.  Yep.

 

 

What do you think?  Go leap a tall building today?  In your own little way.  Yep.

 

“I believe that every person is born with talent.” – Maya Angelou

 

“The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.” – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

 

The Word on the Street.

Boy oh boy… do I love history. It may be passé…. but it often times makes me say… “You have GOT to be kidding me.” Like when you hear about someone trying to tow an ATM machine out of a bank….. albeit recent history… BUT it happened in the past.

At any rate… there have been lots of notable “pasts” in our past. Some of them so significant…. that phrases were designated to mark the event.

So tonight….. I am serving up a few. On a silver platter. It seems appropriate.

How about the word…. Diehard. It has some pretty morbid origins. Well… besides Bruce Willis. You know…. it typically refers to someone with a strong dedication to a particular set of beliefs. But here is the twist.

The term “diehard” originally had a series of much more literal meanings. Way back in the 1700s… the expression described condemned men….. who struggled the longest when they were executed by hanging. I am not kidding.

The longer they hung there…. alive…. the harder they died. Diehard. ( Just remember… no noose is good noose. )

Now here’s another. When someone gives you “the third degree”…. you KNOW you are in for long or arduous interrogation. Like it or not.

But. The saying came about some time ago…. from the Freemasons. They are a centuries-old fraternal organization. You see….. before a member can get in to the higher ranks of the “club”…. he must undergo rigorous questioning and examinations…. before becoming “third degree” members, or “master masons.” Third degree.  (Sidebar. Do you think Freemasons use free mason jars?)

Finally… I am not suggesting you do such. But let’s talk about “painting the town red.” The phrase owes its origin to one legendary night of drunkenness, and we can thank ….. the Marquis of Waterford for it. Yes. In 1837…. that boy from Waterford —a known lush and mischief maker—led a group of friends on a night of drinking through the English town of Melton Mowbray.

They went on one heck of a bender that night. They vandalized Melton Mowbray ….. knocking over flowerpots, pulling knockers off of doors and break-in the windows of some of the town’s buildings. (It SEEMED like a good idea at the time….)

To top it all off, the mob literally painted a tollgate, the doors of several homes and a swan statue with red paint. Yep. That Marquis. Always quick on the draw with a paint brush.  Do you think they called him Marquis Mark?

At any rate.. there you have it. If you paint the town red, and some gives you the third degree about it…. be a diehard…. and stick to your original story. Tell ’em you “red” it here.

“Very deep, very deep is the well of the past. Should we not call it bottomless?”  –  Thomas Mann 

You’ve been mooned

I have read… that Neil Armstrong used to tell some unfunny jokes about the moon.  Then…. He would follow them up with….”Ahhhh… I guess you had to be there.”

Now THAT is funny.   Old funny Neil.

I don’t ever want to be an astronaut… but I would like to visit the moon.  I think it would be coolio.   But it made me think that I don’t know that much about the moon…. So… I dug up some facts.

Our moon was most likely formed according to the “giant impact” theory.  The very very young Earth did not have a moon to start out with.

Alas.  At some point …. The earth was minding its own business, when a rogue planet, struck the Earth with a great big…. knock-you-off-your-orBUTT-blow.

Ka-blamo.  Instantly, most of the rogue little planet….. AND a sizable chunk of Earth were vaporized.   As such…. A big, big cloud rose up to about  13,700 miles altitude.  When it got that high….. it condensed into a whole bunch of solid particles that orbited the Earth  Eventually… those particles kept combining until they formed the moon.  And THAT is how it formed.

It is not made of cheese.

By measuring the ages of lunar rocks……it has been determined that the moon is about 4.6 billion years old.  And… that is just  about the same age as Earth.

For being so old… that moon sure is fast.  The moon orbits the Earth at an average speed of 2,300 miles an hour.

And all of this makes me think about Neil Armstrong again.  I wonder what kind of unfunny jokes he would tell about the moon…..

Maybe….

Q: How does a man on a moon get his haircut? A: Eclipse it.

Q: How do you know when the moon is going broke? A: When it’s down to its last quarter.

Q: Did you hear about the great new restaurant on the moon? A: The food is excellent, but there’s no atmosphere.

Q: When is the moon not hungry? A: When it is full!

And finally……  Two blondes in Las Vegas.  They were sitting on a bench one night  … and one blonde says to the other, “Which do you think is farther away … Florida or the moon?” The other blonde turns and says “Hellooooooo, can you see Florida?”

Wellll….. I guess you had to be there.

“The day, water, sun, moon, night – I do not have to purchase these things with money.” – Plautus

 

 

Big Thinkers

We humans are a bunch of thinkers.  Some humans are mightier thinkers than other.  Some people can lift heavy things.  Everyone has their strengths.

But tonight, I am thinking about thinking.  The purpose of thinking is to understand our world as best as possible. We use our noggins every day to figure things out.  Our minds, and our thinking, enable us to adapt to our environment and make smarter decisions….. on how to survive and live. At least… we hope we keep getting better at this whole deal.

Scientifically, it is quite the biological scheme of events. This thinking that we do…. our thoughts…..  are millions of neurons firing off in our brain. And WHOOOSH…. We get things like concepts and  language and knowledge.

Shazam.  It is pretty amazing really.   So.  We figure things out.  And then we make decisions that eventually guide our behavior.

So what do most of us think about throughout the course of your day?   Well.  The long and short of it…. We tend to focus on a question or problem in our lives.  Most of the time… we are at the simplistic level   Common thoughts may include, “What should I fix for dinner?” or “What movie should I go to?” or “What kind of car should I buy?”

Yep.  AND….. The more important the problem….. the more time we usually spend thinking about it.  We probably spend more time considering our upcoming car purchase than we do when trying to decide what we should take to the bake sale.

Some of the world’s greatest thinkers…. The heavies…. have spent years focusing on just one problem in their lives. And thankfully they did.   You know… like Einstein, and Edison… and Curie. Thinking is one of the key reasons we have evolved so effectively as a species.

 

I am thankful for the big thinkers ….. And I am thankful for the little thinkers. 

Like I said before…. Everyone has their strengths.

 

But one big thought I am capable of is this….. I am thankful for the wonderful people in my life… the family… and the friends.  And the dogs.  They all mean so much to me.  That is what I think.