My Face

My Face
I see the shadows and the dark circles; the craters and the oozing sores. And as I slowly turn, here and there, I see spots of light, flecks, actually.
I have six and a half billion cells living on my face. Twenty-four thousand of my not-yet-matured cells die… every single day. Half, or over three billion subsist. No wonder I am not a pretty sight. And nearly all of my six and a half billion cells have a beef against other cells. What a mess…
How many can actually think? Or do think? Or live positively? Not many, but those are the flecks of light I see from far away.
I come closer, much closer. The closer I get, the uglier my face is. I am in despair, wanting to be beautiful and inviting, but no matter how much make-up I slather on, no matter how much rouge I cover my face with, no matter how many “surgeons” I employ, the ugliness of myself shines through.
What can I do? Scrape the ugliness off my face, leaving only the flecks of light? How beautiful would I be! But I have neither the power nor the stomach for it. Anyway, I have this very stupid belief that there has to be some fleck of light in every one of those cells. How do I activate that light? How do I make every one of them shine? I would love to cast a spell; a spell so powerful it deletes memory and inserts positivity. A spell so profound, it turns the nature of my cells away from greed, destruction and hate. Away from the hunger for power and away from being de-sensitized; away from fear of differences and towards curiosity.
Ahh, but I am a dreamer… I have no spell. The only spell that could (and probably will) work, is a deep-cell peel, using the most horrendous chemicals; chemicals used by ugly and negative cells to cause more boils, more oozing sores until my face can stand it no longer and I will be defaced.
And then, from far away, very high up above, I will see the new skin: yet unblemished, clear with promise and I will hope that my new cells will carry the DNA of memory of what brought them to light. And maybe, a big maybe, they will know how to shine.

Human kind

He sits there on the day and on the night, his belly resting on his spreading thighs and I wave just to give him some humanity. And I ask myself is he there or where are the places he could be? And the questions walk along with me while I see other people and things and comprehend them.
I walk down the path and trip a little on the slant while thinking how it is we come to terms with our sitting and bellies and what can we do? We can weed the patch around us and plant flowers or herbs and give them to passers-by with a smile and then the place itself is different. Do we have the energy for that? And if we push ourselves the first time, the second time pushes us and the third someone approaches with tomato seeds and we talk. And the times after that someone brings a book and we read and someone else brings a photograph and tells its story and then we share the chair and the belly jiggles in human delight.

Anti (although J says no)

J (the guy who shares my cooking), says I should never blog about things that upset me or worry me: who would want to read about that? The thing is, what upsets me and worries me is a little word; a small, four letter word: anti. Although comprised of only 15.4% of the entire alphabet, it resounds, booms, and screams from every and any media. It is the staple word and thought of most of the world's population. (From where do I get that fact? From reading newspapers, surfing the Internet and watching news and other delightful commentaries on TV).
Yes, I know I can watch reruns of All in the Family or read Little Woman. What I do not know, is where all this anti comes from? So much of it! Just imagine: if you are white, a woman, Jewish and living in Israel, you have four antis; if you are black, American, a woman, and you are a Christian, you have four antis. If you are a male Moslem, born in Turkey and working in Germany, you have four antis. If you are an atheist, a woman, a lesbian, born in Belfast, living in the Arab Emirates, we arrive at five antis.
Aren't we lucky? The way we are going, not only will we never run out of antis, we may even arrive at a nine or ten point anti!

Does it bother me?

Hate mongers, power seekers, racists: do they bother me? Of course they do! Do I do anything about it? Well, you see... I'm so busy right now... trying to keep my head above water... work projects, family, finances... Maybe when I have some time...
Apparently, all the negativity does not bother me ENOUGH to do something.
I went for a walk this morning, and all I could think of was what a woosie I am; doing nothing!
Decision: I WILL do! But what? Write letters to newspapers? Educate my grandchildren against all of the above? Done that... I hope they can cope in this world without joining the hate brigade.
Any suggestions? Anything at all? I am open to even the tiniest way to change our world to a more positive place.

Time

Yesterday was Sunday... I'm sure of it! Today is THURSDAY? How does this happen? "Time flies, on the wings of time..." Henry Van Dyke said
"Time is:
Too slow for those who wait,
Too swift for those who fear,
Too long for those who grieve,
Too short for those who rejoice;
But for those who love,
Time is not."
Just to reassure myself, I sat and watched the clock for 60 seconds. It took an inordinate amount of time. I feel much better now.

Sleep deprivation and Iran

Sleep deprivation... ha! New Year's resolution to get quality sleep... yep, sure, done that!
One son plus wife in China... don't worry about flight security, plunging temperatures and everything in-between. One grandson falling and hitting his head (did you hear the plonk?); no worry, he'll be fine. One father-in-law critically ill... nothing to be done... don't worry. No water supply to house for two days (fixing of pipes): use more perfume and don't pee.
Iran laughing maniacally at the world... Hezbollah growing more popular every day... Al Qaeda plotting in its underground world of hate and more hate... the Israeli-Palestinian "peace" talks stalled... USA not coming out of its jobless mode fast enough... BUT
To hell with the pipes and the Hezbollah! I do what I can, with what I have, to make a small, positive difference every day. Most people do. Many others (mentioned above) do what they can to make a negative difference... let us try to outnumber them... that is the only weapon we have.

THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS: NYTIMES: OBAMA MORTGAGE PROGRAM A MISERABLE FAILURE

THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS: NYTIMES: OBAMA MORTGAGE PROGRAM A MISERABLE FAILURE

What is Life?

Is it a time allotment given to us to fill? How much of this time allotment do we use trying to figure out what it is? The answer is: it just is. We try to "find ourselves" when we already ARE; we fill it with questions and analysis, instead of LIVING it.
As we approach the upper edge of our time allotment, with nearly no time left, we throw our questions and analysis in the garbage and we LIVE. Why not do this when our time allotment has lots and lots left? Because we are "taught" to behave in certain ways; we are taught that there are expectations to be filled; we are taught that LIFE has demands and rules. Does it? Does LIFE have demands and rules? The only demands and rules I can agree to are simplified in the Ten Commandments, and I am not a religious person. Or, my mother's favorite saying: "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Other than that, breathe freely, enjoy whatever gives you pleasure, fill your time with appreciation of everything that inspires awe, do what makes you feel good about yourself.
No matter how long your individual time allotment is, it is always too short, so USE it; do not abuse it.

Guiding Social Behaviors

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Guiding Social Behaviors

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Social Interaction

Are parents responsible for the behavior of their grown children?
You are invited to friends for dinner. A grown son or daughter of the hosts is at the table. He/she speaks in strident, dismissive and belligerent tones. The hosts pander to the son/daughter, while you feel exceedingly uncomfortable. You try a change of subject, hoping the offspring will not enter the conversation, but he/she continues the attack mode.
What are the social expectations of a) the hosts and b) the guests in such a situation? I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
At Slideshare, I found (and agree with) the following information: www.slideshare.net/.../guiding-social-behaviors - United States.

2010: It's raining technology!

Who can keep up with the technologies we already have, and those which will imminently rain down on us: personal DNA to protect our writing; A dip in nanotube ink turns ordinary office paper into a high-energy electrode; Advances in antiaging drugs, acoustic brain surgery, flu vaccines--and the secret to IQ. www.technologyreview.com
Just a nano-drop in the inventor's bucket... here comes the deluge! Not only do I find it nearly impossible to keep up from an information standpoint, I cannot imagine being able to understand how many of these new technologies work. But then, I do not understand how my Alpha MITO works or my iPhone, but I do enjoy them tremendously.