Mr. Jones and me.....

"Mr. Jones and me staring at the video"


It was in the early 70's as I held a 9-volt transistor radio to my ear and heard Paul McCartney and Wings playing Uncle Albert with it's many layers of transcending styles...this is when I would like to think I discovered music that afternoon in sunny Hilltop, NJ as I stood in my driveway. 


Then I think back to riding in the car with my dad (which ALWAYS made me carsick) and hearing my dad singing along to the likes of 5th Dimension..."up, up and away in my beautiful, my beautiful balloon...." or "here's to you,  Mrs. Robinson, Jesus loves you more then you will know wo, wo, wo". And it was just about 2007 when I finally got to see Paul Simon and took my dad, figured he would enjoy it. We had incredible seats at the Tower Theater and one of my fondest memories of the evening was after all was said and done; my dad looked at me and said- "did he (Paul Simon) write all of those songs?", grinning I replied, "yes, and then some". 


And then there was The Monkees. Silly, fun and in COLOR television with MUSIC! I don't really remember when I watched them other then that late afternoon range, after school. Not sure if it was 60's or the 70's,  I just know I loved them and looked forward to watching them and their adventures. Just having the theme song come on was enough to make me prance and dance around as if there was no tomorrow. 


They were cool and watching them somehow elevated my coolness and for this I am thankful.

Hey, hey we're The Monkees

and People say we monkey around

but we're too busy singing 

To put anybody down

juice fast 101

There's this movie- Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead by an Aussie fella by the name of Joe Cross. It was a well-done documentary movie that Mar and I recently watched. I highly recommend it.

Joe goes on a 60-day juice diet weighing in at 309 or so lbs and inspires other folks to do the same; one of whom who is over the 420+ lb mark. Of course the diet works for them.

My beautiful wife Margaret, is today, completing 30 days of juice only and has lost 16+ lbs. It has been an interesting journey. I tried to complete the last ten days with her and failed miserably after 1.5 days.

I am so proud of Mar. The sheer will-power to do nothing, but drink fresh made juice 3+ times daily has been nothing short of inspiring.

We have juiced so many different things; from onions and garlic to beets and cantaloupe. It is amazing how tasty juice is. Apples and pears are key ingredients....they just make everything taste better.

Her fave is what we call - carrot, apple, ginger- Basically equal amounts of carrot and apples and good healthy 1" or so piece of ginger root.

Tomorrow, when she is going to allow herself to eat some solid food she is going to go for some salads.

This diet has really helped my garden composting, in fact so much that I had to stop composting. We had a lot of fresh veggie and fruit scraps.

I married a beautiful woman....inside and out. No matter how she looks I love her, and what I love about this is that she feels good about herself. This makes me happy.

Check out the movie....it's really interesting....and if it moves you - - go buy a juicer.

The Path of Positivity

Paths are by choice. We get to choose them.

And once we chose then....well.....isn't how we react to the path and it undulating ways our choice(s) as well?

I have been struck by this comment all too often- People don't make you feel a certain way, it is your choice to feel whatever way you choose.

I feel like I am coming out of a tunnel of darkness, heading out into the light, but also knowing it is myself that choose to follow that path of darkness as well.

Today I learned this important fact- The #1 common factor among people who had a net-worth of a of 10 million dollars was this - - integrity


When following the paths of life and when given choices we have but one overall task and that is to be true to ourselves and who we define ourselves to be. 


By doing this I do believe we choose a path that is in the light. The bright shinning light. Light that is blinding and a light that can be, at times, blinding.

Being blinded by the light can only be a good thing.

February Poem

Mirror in February

The day dawns, with scent of must and rain,
Of opened soil, dark trees, dry bedroom air.
Under the fading lamp, half dressed -- my brain
Idling on some compulsive fantasy --
I towel my shaven jaw and stop, and stare,
Riveted by a dark exhausted eye,
A dry downturning mouth.It seems again that it is time to learn,
In this untiring, crumbling place of growth
To which, for the time being, I return.
Now plainly in the mirror of my soul
I read that I have looked my last on youth
And little more; for they are not made whole
That reach the age of Christ.
Below my window the wakening trees,
Hacked clean for better bearing, stand defaced
Suffering their brute necessities;
And how should the flesh not quail, that span for span
Is mutilated more? In slow distaste
I fold my towel with what grace I can,
Not young, and not renewable, but man.

Thomas Kinsella

Snow Moon

The Snow Moon is the February full moon. It was full last night, 2/7/2012 and it was beautiful. Tonight it snows albeit flurries and a mere coating, but how apt to have a snow with the moon so full. 


The moon is always a sight to behold whether it is but a sliver of a crescent , waxing or waning it is always most beautiful. 


The universe so vast it is not to be understood and a place where there are countless moons, but it only the one moon I know intimately and it is upon this moon I fix my gaze. The light of the full moon illuminating the darkness, it's light so white and bright as it dances across the sky. 


Like all light, it guides and the place it guides me is towards God for it is He that has made the moon in the sky. It tells me how I am nothing and everything simultaneously. 


The moon sets a peacefulness on my soul like God, it is always gentle, but yet powerful as is He. 


I love watching it wax and wane repeatedly, never tiring of it's infinite beauty and various shapes and hues. 


Look for it, see and feel it, for it is in this you can rest assured that God is ever present for God's presence, not always seen or felt, like the moon, is always present. Promise. 

regrets of life, b4 death

Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She recorded their dying epiphanies in a blog called Inspiration and Chai, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. 

2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Here are mine - 

 1. Yes, I dedicated to much time to work most especially in my younger days. At times it defined me. Now I try to let me define my work. 

2. I didn't tell my family how much I loved them. I tell my beautiful wife and my awesomely wonderful children this quite often. It is my siblings and parents that I need to tell this too.

3. Coincidence. I don't believe in it. So therefore when something seems coincidental I would like to more aptly take advantage of it. Grab it, embrace it and not ever look the other way. 

4. I wish I had the wisdom of today many yesterday's ago. Alas.....that ain't gonna happen now is it. That being said--  I wish I would have followed my heart more and not my brain. My heart is much smarted then my brain. 

5. I wish I had learned a trade with my hands. Be it a carpenter, a mason, a musician, an artist, a sculptor.......I find beauty in creating things and as I write this @ 49 (next week!) I realize time is disappearing with each keystroke. 

6. Yes, I am taking advantage of my blogging rights and adding a #6. There's this bible verse- Encourage one another daily as long as it is called today. Most people would say I am an encourager and while I can agree to an extent, I think I can do better. 

Special thanks on today's blog to Nurse Ware, theguardian (www.guardian.co.uk ) and of course God's word (Hebrews 3). 

...to love one another.....

to love one another

shine to each other

give to each other

to show one another

to live for each other

breathe for another

share for another

teach one another

to grow for each other

smile to each other

love

love

love

your brother

your sister

another