"People Don't Change"

When we say things like "people don't change" it drives scientist crazy because change is literally the only constant in all of science. Energy. Matter. It's always changing, morphing, merging, growing, dying. It's the way people try not to change that's unnatural. The way we cling to what things were instead of letting things be what they are. The way we cling to old memories instead of forming new ones. The way we insist on believing despite every scientific indication that anything in this lifetime is permanent. Change is constant. How we experience change that's up to us. It can feel like death or it can feel like a second chance at life. If we open our fingers, loosen our grips, go with it, it can feel like pure adrenaline. Like at any moment we can have another chance at life. Like at any moment, we can be born all over again. ~GA

9/11/01 We Remember

We shall never forget
We shall keep this day,
We shall keep the events and the tears
In our minds, our memory and our hearts
and take them with us as we carry on.

A Woman...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

                                   ...one old love
                                   she can imagine
                                 going back to...
                                 and one who reminds
                             her how far she has come...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

                             ...enough money within her
                               control to move out and rent a place of her own
                              even if she never wants
                                   to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

                          .. something perfect to wear if
                         the employer or date of her dreams
                           wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

                                .. a youth she's content
                                 to leave behind...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

                              ...a past juicy enough that
                           she's looking forward to
                                  retelling it in her old age....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

                              ...a set of screwdrivers, a
                             cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

                              ...one friend who always makes
                            her laugh... and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

                                   ....a good piece of furniture
                           not previously owned by anyone
                               else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

                            ....eight matching plates, wine
                                  glasses with stems, and a recipe
                                for a meal that will make her guests feel honored..

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

                            ...a feeling of control over her destiny...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW

                                      ...how to fall in  love without

                                      losing herself...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

                                 ...how to quit a job,
                                  break up with a lover,
                                  and confront a friend
                                  without ruining the friendship...

                                  and how to change a tire!!!!!!!

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

                            ....when to try harder ... and
                            when to walk away...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

                             ...that she can't change the
                           length of her calves, the width
                          of her hips, or the nature of her
                          parents...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

                           ......that her childhood may not
                         have been perfect...but its
                           Over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

                            ...what she would and wouldn't
                                do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

                        ..how to live alone... even if
                        she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

                              ...whom she can trust,
                                  whom she can't,
                                and why she shouldn't
                                take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

                                 ...where to go...
                                  be it to her best friend's kitchen table...
                                  or a charming inn in the woods...
                                            when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

                                             .. what she can and can't
                                            accomplish in a day...
                                  a month...and a year...

Dog Lessons

 

"A person can learn a lot from a dog, even a loopy one like ours. Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate the simple things-a walk in the woods, a fresh snowfall, a nap in a shaft of winter sunlight. And as he grew old and achy, he taught me about optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly, he taught me about friendship and selflessness and, above all else, unwavering loyalty."
— John Grogan (Marley & Me: Love and Life with the World's Worst Dog)

Tomorrow is a new day

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. "
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

In pursuit of happiness

Ask most people what they want out of life and the answer is simple - to be happy. Maybe it's this expectation though of wanting to be happy that just keeps us from ever getting there. Maybe the more we try to will ourselves to state's of bliss, the more confused we get - to the point where we don't recognize ourselves. Instead we just keep smiling - trying to be the happy people we wish we were. Until it eventually hits us, it's been there all along. Not in our dreams or our hopes but in the known, the comfortable, the familiar.

Bills Blocked By Republicans Since President Obama's Election

By Rocky La Liberte

Here's just a short list of some of the bills that Republicans have blocked, or attempted to block, since Obama became President:

Senator Franken’s Anti-Rape Amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill - Makes it so that women raped overseas while working for foreign contractors have the right to have their case heard in an American court instead of having their case mediated by the company they work for. Only Republican men voted against this, but it passed.

Benefits for Homeless Veterans- Would have expanded benefits to homeless veterans and homeless veterans with children. Republicans blocked this.

Health Care- Prevents insurance companies from discriminating against you on the basis of "pre-existing conditions". Requires that insurance companies spend 85 cents of every dollar that you pay on your actual health care. Limits health insurance companies profit margins. Republicans blocked this for months before it finally passed.

Health Care for the 9/11 First Responders who got sick from being at Ground Zero- Would provide billions of dollars in health care to help the 9/11 First Responders who were at Ground Zero on 9/11 and are now sick because of it. Republicans blocked this.

The Jobs Bill- Offsets the payroll tax for 1 year for companies that higher new employees, or people receiving unemployment insurance. Also gives other tax incentives to companies hiring new employees. Republicans attempted to block this.

Small business lending bill- would give LOCAL, community banks access to billions of dollars to loan to small businesses. Republicans blocked this.

Financial reform- Puts stricter regulations on the banks, preventing them from becoming "too big to fail". Curbs reckless spending practices that caused the banking crisis. Republicans attempted to block this.

Stimulus Bill- Pumped billions of dollars into state and local Governments to prevent us from sinking into a second Great Depression. Republicans opposed this but now want to take credit for the parts of it that we know are successful.

Oil Spill Liability- Raises the liability on what companies can be made to pay to clean up after an oil spill. Republicans blocked this.

Political Ad disclosure bill- Would have required all donors to political campaigns to reveal themselves. Republicans blocked this.

Immigration- Republican suggested comprehensive immigration reform until Obama supported it. Now they're rapidly opposed to it and even voted against their own legislation. Republicans blocked this.

Unemployment Extension- Would provide additional aid to the millions of Americans still on unemployment who are just trying to support themselves and their familes. Republicans blocked this bill for 8 weeks before it finally passed. Republicans blocked this for 8 weeks before it finally passed.

Fair Pay Act of 2009- Also called the Lily Ledbetter bill. Requires that women receive equal compensation to men for doing the same work. Republicans attempted to block this.

The next time someone tells you that the Republicans care about the American people just give them this list of all the bill Republicans wanted to fail.

Untitled

If you have a wonderful man, who works hard to take care of you, would do anything for you, who makes you laugh, is your best friend, who wants to grow old with you, will always pick you up when you're down, who is your world and someone that you're thankful for, then post this to your status and give the good men the ...recognition they deserve, because great men are few and far between, and I have one ♥

Posted via email from life as i see it and then some

Scars

Scars

 

Scars, whether internal or external, are a permanent reminder of a memory.  They are a mark of something ugly or painful that has happened in your life.  During Easter, one of my youngest cousins was asking how old I really was and Cris had answered, “just count the scars that she has and you will probably be close to her real age.”  He was kidding but he made me think about the amount  of scars I do have and he’s probably right that it’s close to the amount of years I have had on this earth so far.  I have always been accident prone and a klutz and unfortunately I have the battle wounds to show for all my mishaps.  But the more I started thinking about my scars, I started realizing that each one had a story behind it and I can remember what I was doing and where I was and how old I was when I earned them.

I have a pretty nasty scar on my right knee that I earned when I was about 5 years old and living in Brooklyn.  I was running up and down my grandparents metal cellar door when I tripped on it and sliced my knee.  I was trying to hide it from them because I was  told time and time again not to run on it or else I would get hurt.  Well, they were right but I had to go and find out the hard way.  So that has been the same for almost 3o years and counting now…

I have scars on my knees and elbows from being a tomboy in the concrete jungle.  I learned to ride a bike real quick when my other options were falling into parked cars, metal grates surrounding lonely trees on the sidewalk, cement, or brick stoops.  I either had band-aids all over me or the remnant sticky outlines of band-aids that have fallen off.  My pain tolerance was high as a child obviously.

I have a slight very faded scar of ‘BRIAN’ that I etched into my left forearm with a point of a safety pin while in school during my 8^th grade year.  I was bored and I had such a crush on some guy named Brian so I thought it would be a romantic thing to do for him.  Well, another not so intelligent idea but so very symbolic of my pre-teen years.  The sad thing is that I don’t even remember who he is now but at that time I thought he was the only boy I was ever going to love.  Ahhh…pre-teen years, such a painful time for most girls.  Everything was SOOO end of the world type of drama then.

But I survived my pre-teen years with a lot less physical scars but the beginnings of the internal scars.  So onto my teen years…at this point of my life I had outgrown my tomboy phase and also my tomboyish body.  I grew up and out and quickly.  My hips still have  marks from my too rapid growth.  Running was different and my balance was much more off kilter because of the weight that I had gained in the breast area so gym now was just an accident zone for me.  One major sprained ankle because of my total lack of adapting to my body changes and trying jump over a hurdle.  Let’s also not forget that I was also of age to start wearing heels.  Yep, that was definitely not a fun learning curve then. A few more bumps and sprains were added to the teen years scar card.

Unfortunately, during these years began my understandings of heartbreak and how that brought about emotional scarring.  So now into my 20s….not as much with physical scars during this decade but plenty of emotional scars.  Heartbreak, grief and mourning of the deaths of loved ones, disappointment, deep sadness, and yada yada, etc.  The emotional scar tissue became quite thick and numbed me from the inside out.

But as time heals all wounds, it also thins and fades out scars.  Scars will fade with time but they will always be with you.  My 30s so far have made me look at my scars, internal and external, and see them in a different perspective.  They are my own personal reminders of what I have been through to be the person that I am today.  A stronger person because of them.  I wear my scars with pride.  Can you say the same?

 

Posted via email from life as i see it and then some

From "Gift From The Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

When you love someone, you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity - in freedom, in the sense that the dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in the same pattern.The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what was in nostalgia, nor forward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now. Relationships must be like islands, one must accept them for what they are here and now, within their limits - islands, surrounded and interrupted by the sea, and continually visited and abandoned by the tides
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Posted via email from life as i see it and then some

Untitled

While you SCREAM at your woman, there's a man wishing he could talk softly to her ear... While you HUMILIATE, OFFEND and INSULT her, there's a man flirting with her and reminding her how wonderful she is. While you HURT your woman, there's a man wishing he could make love to her. While you make your women CRY there's a... man stealing smiles from her... Post this on your wall if you're against Domestic Violence

Posted via web from life as i see it and then some

Waiting for the day that Smudge realizes he's not as small as he used to be..and he gets stuck..that's going to be an event to see..

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Posted via email from life as i see it and then some

The Past

Sometimes the past is something you just can't let go of. And sometimes the past is something we'll do anything to forget. And sometimes we learn something new about the past that changes everything we know about the present.

Posted via email from life as i see it and then some

BFF's

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Posted via email from life as i see it and then some

IMG00001.jpg

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Posted via email from life as i see it and then some

Untitled

"The most wonderful of all things in life is the discovery of another human being with whom one's relationship has a growing depth, beauty and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvelous thing; it cannot be found by looking for it or by passionately wishing for it. It is a sort of divine accident, and the most wonderful of all things in life."--Sir Hugh Walpole
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Posted via email from life as i see it and then some

Untitled

"Dare to be yourself in the face of adversity.  Choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience...these are the choices that measure your life.  Travel the path of integrity...for there is never the wrong time to do the right thing."

Posted via email from life as i see it and then some

Glitter in the Air

via youtube.com

Posted via web from life as i see it and then some

Lean on Me...One of my all time favorite songs...

via youtube.com

Posted via web from life as i see it and then some

Funniest Target Story I've heard....

After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to Target.  Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women - she loves to browse.  Yesterday my
dear wife received the following letter from the local Target.

Dear Mrs. Samuel,

 Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion in our store.  We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to ban both of you from the store.  Our complaints against your husband, Mr. Samuel, are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.

1.June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in other people's carts when they weren't looking.

2.July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.

3.July 7: He made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.

4.July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, 'Code 3 in Housewares.  Get on it right away'.  This caused the employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from her Supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing management to lose time and costing the company money..

5.August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on layaway.

6.August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.

7.August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the children shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children obliged..

8.August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?'  EMTs were called.

9.September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.

10.September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.

11.October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the 'Mission Impossible' theme.

12.October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna look' by using different sizes of funnels.

13.October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'

14.October 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!'

And last, but certainly not least:

15.October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here.'  One of the clerks passed out..

Posted via email from life as i see it and then some

Martin Luther King Jr. "I Have A Dream" Speech

 

 

Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I Have a Dream"

 

delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

Video Purchase

Audio mp3 of Address

 

[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio. (2)]

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."²

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

                Free at last! Free at last!

                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!³

Posted via email from life as i see it and then some

For all the available single men in Southwest Florida...

Now this is what I call Classy Trashy and she's available guys ; - )

Posted via email from life as i see it and then some