Existence

Your existence consists of at least these 3 things.

A) Your natural physical abilities from genetic outlay, modified and shaped by activity and event.

2), Your natural mental abilities from genetic outlay, modified with conscious and unconscious knowledge and beliefs from experience, study, relationships and other stimuli and processed through analysis and synthesis.

C) Whatever time remains in your future to use them.

So..

When you are taxed to provide sustenance for a non-producer, the government is taking a slice of what is produced by your existence to extend the future of an existence that doesn't think enough of itself to provide for itself.

Thus... A slice of your capability to extend your future or the expand the quality of your future, given to someone else to extend their future or expand the quality of their future.

If you aren't outraged, then you aren't paying attention.

Take Beauty Where You Find It

Up to the High School for "Dinner Theater Variety Show. The food was unremarkable except for the seafood lasagna which failed to meet even the lowest of expectations. The lettuce salad was consistent because it contained lettuce - no more, no less.
There was lots of variety in the show. Mostly in the scope of the talent. The high spots were two Monty Python sketches, and a couple of sweet young female singers that wowed the audience with several efforts. There was also a dance/mime effort to DC Talk's "Colored People" that was joyful.
The parents and teachers that encourage the public display of mediocrity are not doing any good for the student and they are hurting the rest of us. It was painful to hear a flat voice reach for the high notes and fail to get within a half note of the target. Over and over, song after song. Karaoke for the tone deaf.
The stand-outs were amazing. The real talent and hard work was obvious.
And parents... The tight, low rider pants may be a fashion statement, but not if your daughter is 60 pounds overweight and the mass of exposed flesh bulges out of the top of the pants in an effort to escape the pressure. I promise, it doesn't impress anyone. Sometimes, it better not to attract attention.

The sweet female young voices of excellence harmonized on Big and Rich's "Live This Life". And it still rings in my ears. If they'd had a record, I'd have bought it. Also, one of them did an a capella rendition of a 17th Century Scottish dirge Culloden's Harvest. Also, a couple of freshmen girls did well on Macavity from "Cats"

Take beauty where you find it. And remember that sometimes you have to finger a lot of coal to find a diamond.

Find your talents and develop them. Display them in public. Develop your passions too, but keep them private if they aren't your talents. The world will thank you for doing both.

The Uplifting Effect of Balance

An aircraft cannot fly if it's weight distribution is out of balance. It may taxi to the runway and make that dash down the pavement, but it won't be able to sustain safe flight.

The more powerful a plane is, the broader it's balance parameters are. It can muscle up against the laws of physics.

We have a need for balance also. But the stronger we are, the more we can muscle up against the trials and tribulations of our daily world.

When I returned to the west coast to live with my family recently, I brought a few peices of furniture with me that were not in our home before. (See the 30 April Post)
My wife was able to take those things and get some new decor items at the store and create a bedroom of incredible comfort and beauty. I guess it's called Feng Shui (Fang Schway) or something like that but we laughingly refer to it as FUNG SPRAY. We talk about Mama "going to the store and getting some fung spray to fix up that room."

I've never known a room to put me at ease so completely, it's like all my life I've been living in places that did nothing to help me balance. I've been muscling through. Look around at your surroundings, do they make you feel balanced? Do they allow you to fly?

It is said that "clothes make the man" and it is true to some extent. If you feel like hell, it might be because you are living in a place the punishes your senses.

I'll post a picture when we get the verticle blinds up. It's an amazing place.

The Pain of Dread

A vicious cycle.

You dread a particular task so much that you can't bring yourself to attack it. So you procrastinate on the basis of dread which is just a form of fear and then the procrastination brings guilt which is ultimately just a type of pain. Dread-fear, guilt-pain, remorse. The pain of fear, the fear of pain.

Hell, we'll all just feel a lot better if we just weigh in and get it done. Like that job I did today that I procrastinated for 6 months and then took only 2 hours.

I feel better. Yippee!

What job have you been putting off?

History Lesson

Courtesy of Jim the Cro-Magnon Rugby Star:

A History Lesson

Division of the human family into two distinct groups began some 12,000 years ago. Humans existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunter/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains in the summer and would go to the beach and live on fish in winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented by Man to get to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups: Liberals and Conservatives.

Once beer was discovered, it required grain, and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor the aluminum can was invented yet, so while our early human ancestors were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to BBQ at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what became known as the "Conservative Movement". Other men, who were weaker and less skilled at hunting, learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly BBQ's and doing the sewing, fetching and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the "Liberal Movement". Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women.

The rest became known as "girlie men".

Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the trade union, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide up the meat and the beer that the conservatives were providing. Over the years, conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the
elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

Modern liberals like imported beer, (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish, but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare.

Another interesting, revolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than liberal men. Most social workers, personal injury lawyers, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood, and group therapists are liberals. Liberals also invented the Designated Hitter Rule because it wasn't "fair" to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer and eat red meat and potatoes. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, soldiers, athletes, and generally anyone who works productively outside of government. Conservatives who own companies employ other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little, or nothing. They like to "govern" the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America. They crept in after the Wild West was tamed, and created a business of trying to get MORE for nothing.

This ends today's History lesson....

A Hoo-Hah! for Jim.