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Archive for December, 2012

I would be true, for there are those who trust me;
I would be pure, for there are those who care;
I would be strong, for there is much to suffer;
I would be brave, for there is much to dare.
I would be friend of all – the foe, the friendless;
I would be giving, and forget the gift.
I would be humble, for I know my weakness;
I would look up – and laugh – and love – and lift.
Written by:   Howard Arnold Walter
[I found this in paragraph format.  I prefer my own poetic format (above) which is not quite the same way I had it written in my journal from back in the 1970’s.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021 Best Wishes For 2022!
A Toast To Innocence
2020 Best Wishes For 2021!
Tomorrow Starts A New Year
2019 Best Wishes For 2020!
World Views: End Of 2019
2018 Best Wishes For 2019!
2017 Best Wishes For 2018!
2016 Best Wishes For 2017!
2015 Better Red Than Dead
Tomorrow Starts A New Year
2014 Recovering
Best Wishes For 2015!
2013 Best Wishes For 2014!
2012 My Creed
2011 It Probably Isn’t So

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It takes a little courage
And a little self-control
And some grim determination,
If you want to reach the goal.
It takes a deal of striving,
And a firm and stern-set chin,
No matter what the battle,
If you really want to win.
There’s no easy path to glory,
There’s no rosy road to fame.
Life, however we may view it,
Is no simple parlor game;
But its prizes call for fighting,
For endurance and for grit;
For a rugged disposition
And a “don’t-know-when-to-quit.”
You must take a blow or give one,
You must risk and you must lose,
And expect that in the struggle
You will suffer from the bruise.
But you mustn’t wince or falter,
If a fight you once begin;
Be a man and face the battle—
That’s the only way to win.
    —    by Anonymous
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On This Day In:
2021 Let Yourself Soar In 2022
Where You’re Concerned
2020 The Most Dynamic Link
Looking Forward To 2021
2019 A Proud Assertion
2018 Ask #45 About Anything
2017 Playing Makes Sense
2016 And Fathers, Sons
2015 My Suspect Confidence
2014 Disguised Blessings
2013 Be
2012 The Only Way to Win
2011 Honest Writing

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Photo of Shiva X-mas 2012

Are we staying up for New Year’s?  Are we?  Are we?

When you’re tuckered out after a full day of island surfing for food, sometimes you just got to kick back with some couch surfing for the camera.
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On This Day In:
2021 I Hope To See You Later
To Do With You
2020 More Than Satisfying Hunger
End Of Year Thoughts Of Those Gone Before Us
2019 Still Hoping To Soar
2018 Why America Stinks More Than It Did 50 Years Ago
2017 No Universal Thinking
2016 Supervise The Results
2015 Just Magic!
2014 It Lies Ahead…
2013 At Least One Difference
2012 Are We, Are We?
On Not Playing The Game
Scale
2011 Nutcracker And Nooks
Seeing Differences

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We can’t have a shoot-out without guns.  We’d lose.
    —    the character “Handsome Rob” (played by Jason Statham)
From the film:  “The Italian Job
[I have resisted making a comment on the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, not because I’ve no opinion, but because the thought of all those children and teachers being gunned down remains too horrific for me to wrap my head around.  It still is and I can’t sit and think of it too long without profound feelings of senseless loss.
The Second Amendment to the Constitution states:  “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
If we are to accept the National Rifle Association’s claim that every individual is entitled to any weapon they choose (irrespective of the weapon’s intended use or lethality) because “weapons don’t kill people, people kill people“, then we MUST accept that every inhabitant should also carry weapons just in case we happen upon an armed violent criminal or an armed unstable irrational person.
The NRA’s position is as logically absurd as is my extension to our logical reaction to their position.  Individuals seeking “the security of a free state” should not be placed in an unreasonable position of participating in a personal arms race to stay ahead of those who might harm us.  It is one thing to own a high-powered hunting rifle.  It is quite another to own an Uzi or a 50-cal machine gun, because your neighbor may own a mortar or an anti-tank weapon.  Where do we draw the line?
I am a defender of the Second Amendment and an individual’s right (“the right of the people“) to keep and bear arms.  I also believe in the statement “a well regulated militia“.  So, the people have a right to keep weapons, but the state has duty to regulate this right to the benefit of all concerned.  The framers of the Constitution had no concept of a modern day assault weapon (rifle or handgun or portable rocket launcher), let alone chemical weapons or tactical nuclear devices.  If they had, it seems to me they would have passed a very different amendment.
Can you HAVE a shoot-out, without guns?
Sometimes the only way to win is to not play the game…  This is the lesson of Tic-Tac-Toe.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021 I Hope To See You Later
To Do With You
2020 More Than Satisfying Hunger
End Of Year Thoughts Of Those Gone Before Us
2019 Still Hoping To Soar
2018 Why America Stinks More Than It Did 50 Years Ago
2017 No Universal Thinking
2016 Supervise The Results
2015 Just Magic!
2014 It Lies Ahead…
2013 At Least One Difference
2012 Are We, Are We?
On Not Playing The Game
Scale
2011 Nutcracker And Nooks
Seeing Differences

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Now, proud man! now, where is thy greatness fled?
What art thou in the scale of universe?
Less, less than nothing!
     —    Henry Kirke White
From his poem: “Time
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On This Day In:
2021 I Hope To See You Later
To Do With You
2020 More Than Satisfying Hunger
End Of Year Thoughts Of Those Gone Before Us
2019 Still Hoping To Soar
2018 Why America Stinks More Than It Did 50 Years Ago
2017 No Universal Thinking
2016 Supervise The Results
2015 Just Magic!
2014 It Lies Ahead…
2013 At Least One Difference
2012 Are We, Are We?
On Not Playing The Game
Scale
2011 Nutcracker And Nooks
Seeing Differences

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An idealist believes the short run doesn’t count.  A cynic believes the long run doesn’t matter.  A realist believes that what is done or left undone in the short run determines the long run.
     —    Sydney J. Harris
[My life is full of small steps.  One day at a time…    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021 Almost, But Not Quite
Just Messin’
2020 The Definition Of A Modern Republican Senator
#45 Has Got To Go
2019 Just Rewards
2018 Diet Resolutions For The New Year
Day 3: Late December Diet / Fast
2017 Daily, Mr. President, Daily
2016 We Did This
2015 I’m Talking To You
Forced (Again)
2014 We Are Not A Fearful Nation!
2013 Risking Truth
2012 Working On Reality
2011 Massive Contradictory Changes

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It’s doing your job the best you can
And being just to your fellow man;
It’s making money – but holding friends
And being true to your aims and ends;
It’s figuring how and learning why
And looking forward and thinking high
And dreaming a little and doing much.
It’s keeping always in closest touch
With what is finest in word and deed;
It’s being thorough, yet making speed;
It’s daring blithely the field of chance
While making labor a brave romance;
It’s going onward despite defeat
And fighting staunchly, but keeping sweet;
It’s being clean and it’s playing fair;
It’s laughing lightly at Dame Despair;
It’s looking up at the stars above
And drinking deeply of life and love.
It’s struggling on with the will to win
But taking loss with a cheerful grin;
It’s sharing sorrow and work and mirth
And making better this good old earth
It’s serving, striving through strain and stress;
It’s doing your noblest – that’s Success!
   —    Written by:  Berton Braley
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On This Day In:
2021 Someone Should Tell Senator Joe Manchin
One Of The Things We Need
2020 Boxing Day 2020
Fractal Branches
Advice For Sons, Too
2019 Almost Soulful Pleasure
2018 Cursive In The News
2017 Coffee Crunch
2016 Preparation
2015 Scarcely Asked
2014 They Resemble Us
2013 Both
2012 That’s Success!
2011 Losing At Dominoes
2010 1,001

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The universe is exploding, racing out in all directions from a central point.  What, then, exists at the central point?  Nothingness?  Is it possible that the very heart of the material universe is a void?  Absolute emptiness?  Maybe the same thing is true of life:  perhaps men should be warned against seeking too much, against probing too deep, lest they fall into the emptiness.  Inside all truth is a vacuum, and you must stay clear of it or it will be drawn into you.
     —    anonymous
[To which I can only respond:  “Naw…”    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021 Live Well
Lately
2020 Every Touch Vibrates
When She Smiles
2019 Six Reasons Why #DumbDonald Will Always Be A Failure
2018 The Trouble With Bookstores
Another No Chew Diet
2017 Biased World View
2016 Control In The Age Of Entanglement
2015 Okay, Maybe Not Ceaseless
2014 Can Do
2013 Are You Helping?
2012 Inside All Truth Is A Vacuum
2011 So, Whom Are We Trying To Fool Then?

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What I am trying to do is to discover why God included humans in the Universe.
     —    R. Buckminster Fuller
From:  “Critical Path” (1981)
[I’m still trying to figure this out too.  In the meantime, good will to all mankind!!  Merry Christmas, everyone!    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021 Christmas Wishes For 2021
This Simple Phrase
2020 Christmas Wishes For 2020
Best Wishes For All
2019 My Thoughts About The X-mas Turkey…
2018 Merry X-mas – 2018
2017 Focus On Christmas — 2017
2016 Merry X-mas – 2016
2015 Merry X-mas – 2015
2014 Merry X-mas – 2014
2013 Merry X-mas – 2013
2012 Merry Christmas – 2012
2011 I Have Seen

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Thinking

If you think you are beaten, you are
If you think you dare not, you don’t,
If you like to win, but you think you can’t
It is almost certain you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will
It’s all in the state of mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.
   —   Written by:  Walter D. Wintle
[I’ve added the poem above (another of those “positive thinking” / optimistic view poems I like so much) to my Poems page.
I guess we do become our philosophy…
Enjoy!   —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021 Everything Good In You
Within Your Heart
2020 Keeping Christmas
What Will You Give?
2019 Looking Forward To Tomorrow (2019 Version)
2018 Not One Cent!
Looking Forward to Tomorrow
2017 Make Glad The Heart Of Childhood
2016 Sincerest Flattery
The President-elect: Making Spirits Bright
2015 What Are You Looking At?
2014 Ite, Missa Est
2013 I Hear Voices
2012 Positive Thoughts
Hope Works
2011 Look! Up In The Sky…
Humility Before The Unknowable

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The man who hopes believes in a better future.
He is someone who works to make his future happen!
    —    an anonymous quote from my eighth grade graduation program
[I find it interesting how many times and in how many ways “hope for the future” was inculcated into my life from an early age.   —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021 Everything Good In You
Within Your Heart
2020 Keeping Christmas
What Will You Give?
2019 Looking Forward To Tomorrow (2019 Version)
2018 Not One Cent!
Looking Forward to Tomorrow
2017 Make Glad The Heart Of Childhood
2016 Sincerest Flattery
The President-elect: Making Spirits Bright
2015 What Are You Looking At?
2014 Ite, Missa Est
2013 I Hear Voices
2012 Positive Thoughts
Hope Works
2011 Look! Up In The Sky…
Humility Before The Unknowable

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Anxiety is inevitable in an age of crisis like ours.  Don’t make it worse by deceiving yourself and acting as if you were immune to all inner trepidation.  God does not ask you not to feel anxious, but to trust Him no matter how you feel.
    —    Thomas Merton
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On This Day In:
2021 And Still Don’t Understand
Unconditional
2020 I Hope She Keeps Laughing
Christmas Is Near
2019 Ruff Clean
2018 Sounds Like A Blog To Me
2017 My Fear For America
2016 Proceeding Still
2015 Seeing Rainbows
I Am A Runner
2014 The Law Of The Perversity Of Nature
2013 One Standard Deviation
2012 High Anxiety
2011 And I’m Taking Me There
2010 1,000

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…That all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noon-day brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and that the whole temple of Man’s achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruin – all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain, that no philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand.
     —    Bertrand Russell
[I do not dispute the eventual destruction of the earth or of our solar system.  I dispute the inevitable destruction of mankind and man’s spirit.  Barring an “extinction level event” before we are able to colonize space and visit other stars, man will endure.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021 Climate Change Is Already Raising Sea Levels
Running From You
2020 Speaking For Us
Tears Don’t Wash Away
2019 Foundational Pillar Of Civilized Discourse
2018 Seven Minutes. Not Six, Not Eight
2017 Falling Forward One Step At A Time
2016 And Without Expectation
2015 Just Do It
I Am A Runner
2014 Some Things I Learned (Mostly) In The Army:
2013 Who You Are
2012 Mine Stands
2011 Aversions

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When you love a woman, you tell her that she’s really wanted.  You tell her that she’s the one, ’cause she needs somebody to tell her that it’s gonna last forever.
You got to give her some faith – hold her tight.  When you love a woman, fight for her.  And tell her that you would rather be alone than with anyone else!  Respect and trust will go a long way.  A little tenderness – gotta treat her right.  She will be there for you, taking good care of you.
     —    From the blog:  http://wanderlass007.wordpress.com/
The specific blog post was:  http://wanderlass007.wordpress.com/2012/12/02/when-you-love-a-woman/
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On This Day In:
2021 Being Constantly Great
Hopeful Realization
2020 Sapping Joy
Blew Out My Flip-Flop
Really Wheelie
2019 Word Up
2018 But Much Is Worth Learning
2017 Mr. President, About Global Warming
2016 Starting To Stumble
2015 Begin Combat
I Am A Runner
2014 Just Dig ‘N It, Why?
2013 Additions
The Object Of Instruction
2012 Telling Her
2011 On Torture

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