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Don't wait because waiting implies that you don't like this moment and you are waiting for the next. Practice being. Being in the moment and living it. I'm going to try this as often as I can think of it.
Cape Cod
When I opened my email this morning I never in a million years expected to find a message from Jayel Aheram requesting that I contribute something to his blog. Jayel is a marine currently serving his country although I confess I think of him as an artist first with the backdrop of war his canvas.
I discovered Jayel's heart rendering photos when Rosie O'Donnell featured him on her blog a while back. I was stunned and moved to tears at the compassion his work has for a war torn country. He showed me and others a side of Iraq that only someone who is living there could see. I began following his work closely and as I left yet another comment on his blog I told a friend laughingly: "I think I'm stalking a marine. I hope he doesn't mind."
I couldn't help myself, I was so intrigued with his translation of American culture played out in a middle eastern country. Now he wants me to write something for his blog? There is no way I could refuse, in fact I feel honored. I will put forth my best effort as once again the Internet reveals itself to be the great connector. Stay tuned.
See the artist and marine himself right here:
I just returned from the polls and yes of course, I cast my vote. I've been chomping at the bit to this for months. I wavered a bit there for a minute, but click below to see who I went with in the end.
Yesterday it was announced that an old Clinton foe, Richard Mellon Scaife is backing Hillary. This extremist is the man who financially backed exposing Bill Clinton as a philanderer when he was still governor of Arkansas. Hillary who claims she won't meet with America's enemies if she is president met with this neo-con and accepted his endorsement. Talk about getting into bed with the devil. How do people compromise their personal integrity for world power gains? I believe that is a spiritual question every person must ask themselves in regard to our leaders. On one can I can adire her for meeting with an "enemy" but on the other hand it is a direct contradiction to what she claims she would do for the United States in lew of starting wars.
As a person who gave up on religion (long ago) for spiritual fulfillment, I can relate to anyone who is looking for an inner belief system and real meaning in their life. I'm not interested in any religion or it's doctrine. I'm interested in a new way of looking at the world around me, being of service to my fellow man and living by example. Watch this clip some right wing religious fanatics have made regarding Oprah and her new Internet course study of Eckhart Toile's book, A New Earth. No, I have not read the book yet but it is something I will add to my summer reading list. Watch the video and see the fear mongering begin.
As Barack Obama pushes out in the lead he becomes a huge threat to the religious right. They have had control for far too long. They got their war, they got every politician pandering to their religious doctrine under the guise of patriotism and they don't want to loose the upcoming election to a bi-racial (yes race plays a part in it), liberal, Democrats. The spin, threats and lies are just beginning. We better ready ourselves to listen to our intuition and shut out the noise that will be coming fast and furious in an effort to confuse us.
Instructions on Gratitude
by David Steindl-Rast, OSB
Whatever is given is a gift—even the most difficult experiences and traumatic events can be seen as Wake-Up calls, and therefore gifts. And the appropriate response to any gift is gratitude. In the depth of our heart, we can turn fear into courageous trust, agitation and confusion into stillness, isolation into a sense of belonging, alienation into love, and irrational reaction into Common Sense. The creative imagination of gratefulness will suggest to each one of us how to go 3. about this task. Here are five small gestures that can help you show gratitude and stay awake.
1. All gratitude expresses trust. Suspicion will not even recognize a gift as gift: who can prove that it isn't a lure, a bribe, a trap? Gratefulness has the courage to trust and so overcomes fear. The air has been electrified by fearfulness these days, a fearfulness fostered and manipulated by politicians and the media. There lies our greatest danger: fear perpetuates violence. Mobilize the courage of your heart, as the truly awake ones are doing. Say one word today that gives a fearful person courage.
2. Because gratitude expresses courage, it spreads calm. Calm of this kind is quite compatible with deep emotions. Join the truly compassionate ones who are calm and strong. From the stillness of your heart's core reach out. Calmly hold someone's hand today and spread calm.
3. When you are grateful, your heart is open—open towards others, open for surprise. During big wake-up calls in your life, or in our collective lives, we often see remarkable examples of openness: strangers helping strangers often in heroic ways. Others turn away, isolate themselves, dare even less than at other times to look at each other. Violence begins with isolation. Break this pattern. Make contact with people whom you normally ignore—eye-contact at least—with the agent at the toll booth, the parking lot attendant, someone on the elevator. Look a stranger in the eyes today and realize that there are no strangers.
4. You can feel either grateful or alienated, but never both at the same time. Gratefulness drives out alienation; there is not room for both in the same heart. When you are grateful you know that you belong to a network of give-and-take and you say "yes" to that belonging. This "yes" is the essence of love. You need no words to express it; a smile will do to put your "yes" into action. Don't let it matter to you whether or not the other one smiles back. Give someone an unexpected smile today and so contribute your share to peace on earth.
5. What your gratefulness does for yourself is as important as what it does for others. Gratefulness boosts your sense of belonging; your sense of belonging in turn boosts your Common Sense. Your "yes" to belonging attunes you to the common concerns shared by all human beings. We have only one enemy, our common enemy: violence. Common Sense tells us: we can stop violence only by stopping to act violently; war is no way to peace. Listen to the news today and put at least one item to the test of Common Sense.
Brother David Steindl-Rast is a Benedictine monk who has spent the last 35 years building bridges between religious traditions. He is the author of Gratefulness, The Heart of Prayer and other books.
"Conservatives, and especially the *neo-cons, got this sentimental idea into their heads that all Iraq needed was a taste of American-style freedom and all would be well. They thought, "Sunnis, Shiites--forget all that. Once these people get a load of us and what we're offering, they'll come drifting out of their homes wiping away tears of gratitude and welcome a new post-Saddam era of democracy." It was a grand plan: creating a new, oil-rich, democratic ally in the Middle East. Too bad it was based more on naïve, fairytale wishes than on any semblance of practical reality." ~Bill Maher
Don't you love Anderson Cooper as a lady in waiting?! I love Andy he is my favorite. (photo by: zaiusnation.blogspot.com/)
*Neoconservatism- is a political philosophy that emerged in the United States from the rejection of social liberalism and the New Left counterculture of the 1960s. It influenced the presidential administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush, representing a realignment in American politics, and the defection of some liberals to the right side of the political spectrum; hence the term, which refers to being 'new' conservatives.[1] Neoconservatism emphasizes foreign policy as the paramount responsibility of government, seeing the American role of world's sole superpower as indispensable to establishing and maintaining global order. ~Wikipedia
Yes, I'm still hooked on Twittter. Don't forget to check my Twitter link located at the bottom right corner of this page for the daily goings on of your girl.
Me yesterday morning @ 7 AM.
The ABC switchboard phone number: 212-456-7777
I called the number. You will get an operator so tell her you have a complaint. She will put you through to a recorded crap message just wait for the prompt and hit 1 for News. Tell them George Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson should lose their jobs so they might feel what the rest of America feels in order to make penance for asking so many non-consequential questions.
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Washington Bullets by The Clash
“Washington Bullets” is a very perceptive analysis of American foreign policy and it has certainly more than held up over time. When you listen, remember that the album, Sandinista, was recorded in 1980, almost 3 decades ago!
Members of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests demonstrated outside St. Dominic Church in Washington, asking the pope to meet with the families of abuse victims.
This photo breaks my heart because these kids look like every kid I went to school with. Thus far has offered no direct apologies for his handling of the Catholic church pedophile sex scandal. (Read story here.)
*Today's Update on the Story:
By VICTOR L. SIMPSON,AP
WASHINGTON (April 18) -
Well over 4,000 priests have been accused of molesting minors in the U.S. since 1950, and the church has paid out more than $2 billion, much of it in just the last six years, after the case of a serial molester in Boston gained national attention and inspired many victims to step forward. Six dioceses have been forced into bankruptcy because of abuse costs.
Pope Benedict XVI prayed with tearful victims of clergy sex abuse in a chapel Thursday, an extraordinary and likely unprecedented gesture from a pontiff who has made atoning for the great shame of the U.S. church the cornerstone of his first papal trip to America.
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Jon Stewart Eviscerates Media's Pope Coverage
George Bush to Pope: "Thank you your Holiness, awesome speech."
04/11/2008 | Bill Maher | New Rules
Pope: I Am "Deeply Ashamed" Over Clergy Sex Abuse
Chanel Nail Colour in Miami Peach. I love it, it's so fresh and takes me right back to South Beach. (via StilettoJungle)
I made this collection and I call it, Summer of Chanel:
I love scones with strawberry jam and clotted creme (when I can get it). Lately, I have been buying "just add water" scone mix at TJ Maxx and they are delicious. You can't beat them in the morning with coffee or a later snack with tea. The "just add water" variety are really good and needless to say, easy to make. Scones make the weekends seem sweeter.
Spring is finally here and I'm thrilled. Suddenly I have an urge to go out more and fortunately plans have surfaced for this Saturday night. I want more, something different in every aspect of my life. Lately a kinda of loneliness creeps in and I blame it on the weather but then I remember fulfillment isn't going to be about anything outside myself, the change will have to come from within.
I like my job. I mean my job is hard and stressful at times but I enjoy it. I enjoy being around kids for the most part. The kids I'm around make me laugh and they are really good. Yesterday I brought them dough nuts in the morning and one kid was so surprised she said, "Oh wow this is like April Fools day!"
With kids it doesn't take much. They find joy in everything and they are always in the moment. Being around kids is keeping me young, I can tell.
Have you noticed the resurgence of those 1970's smiley faces? I see them everywhere now.
Vivian Westwood is 67 years old today and I want to look just like this when I'm her age. Now with me being American and all, I will undoubtly look a little more well preserved but damn this woman oozes style. I want my nieces to drag around with me while I play my role as the fabulous Auntie. What fun!
Roseanne
A doctor tells a guy: "I have bad news. You have Alzheimer's, and you have cancer." Guy says, "Thank God I don't have cancer."
Jackie Mason
Hillary Clinton says she's the most qualified because she was married to a president for eight years. Now let me ask you, if a brain surgeon quit his job, would everyone in the operating room say, "Wait, let's get his wife."
Lisa Lampanelli
I was watching Gene Simmons' TV show, "Family Jewels." Or as it's known in the business, " 'The Osbournes' Without the Talented Father."
Laura Kightlinger
After miraculously surviving two heart surgeries, pneumonia and a mild stroke, at 82 my grandfather was no longer able to care for himself. Now he lives with my aunt who spoon-feeds him, takes him to the bathroom, etc. Proof that what doesn't kill you makes you a burden to someone else.
Bill Maher
Barack Obama bowled a 37. Is he black enough for you now?
Bobby Slayton
I got a teenage daughter and a menopausal wife. One's getting breasts, one's getting whiskers. My life is over.
Jeffrey Ross
John McCain is so old that running for President is on his bucket list.
Tomi Walamies
My uncle is in a coma - he's living the dream. (Paul Provenza's favorite)
Nick Dipaolo
I think I might vote for Barack Obama. Because I live in New York City and have been giving black guys change for the past 10 years. I want to see what it feels like for a black guy to give me change.
Artie Lange
Alex Rodriguez never gets clutch hits in October, yet his fans insist on comparing him to Babe Ruth. So A-Rod tries to get as close as he can to Ruth-type achievements. Before the playoffs last year, A-Rod went to a hospital and promised a dying kid that he'd ground out to second Base for him. And I was at the game, people, it's true - A-Rod pointed to second Base.
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog
At the Tony Awards: I'm here with Harvey Fierstein, nominated tonight for the "I Hate Vagina Monologues."
Seth Herzog
I took nine years of French, but I can't remember any of it. I realized on the plane ride over that if someone doesn't ask me what color my hat is, I'll have nothing to talk about for two weeks.
Earthquake
You know why the US can't find Osama Bin Laden? They're using the wrong agency to look for him. Don't send the Army, Navy, Marines or the CIA - send Child Support!
Harland Williams
I was eating an orange the other day and a friend said, "Did you know nothing rhymes with 'orange?' " So, I threw the orange at his head and said, "Now your face is swollen red 'cause I just threw an orange at your big fat head. Does that rhyme with 'orange,' you jackass?"
Conan O'Brien
To America, there's just something about Charlie Sheen working with children that "feels right."
(Bill Maher's favorite)
Wendy Liebman
My husband wanted one of those big-screen TVs for his birthday. I just moved his chair closer to the one we already have.
Seth Meyers
During a "Weekend Update" segment about Eliot Spitzer: And you wanted to have sex with a hooker but you didn't want to wear a condom? Really?!? That might not be scary if you were client number 1, but you were client number 9. I wear a condom if I'm ninth in line at the deli.
(Robert "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" Smigel's favorite)
Hannibal Buress
I got a fortune cookie today. It said I should invest in something fun on four wheels. I don't know if that meant I should get a new car, or a prostitute on one roller skate.
Louis C.K.
On his daughter's diaper: There was so much poop. It didn't look like a baby's poop. It looked like a 55-year-old alcoholic took a dump
(Nick Dipaolo's favorite)
Emo Philips
Cellphones are like a dog's nipples. You don't have to shout into them!
Nick Thune
Tupac Shakur's mother was a Black Panther. His father was a regular panther. (Russell Peters' favorite)
Jonathan Katz
I was a kid during the height of the Cold War. If I did something wrong, my parents just accused me of being a communist.
Jim Florentine
I'm sick of Heather Mills. Now that she's divorced, let her go marry the drummer from Def Leppard. They can rub their stumps together.
Ophira Eisenberg
I'm still in my first marriage. I know, it's wrong to talk about it so temporary like that. My current husband hates it when I do that.
Jim Norton
I never liked Eliot Spitzer until he got busted with a hooker. Then I was sorry to see him leave office. I felt like there was finally someone in the government who represented my interests.
Sean Keane
My girlfriend said, "I hate it when you finish my sentences." So I said, "Period."
(Harland Williams' favorite)
George Carlin
Why do they put alcohol on the arm of a death row inmate before they give him the needle? Are they afraid he might get an infection?
(Jackie Mason's favorite)
Greg Proops
They say Hillary Clinton has a bad personality. Really? I forgot about Dick Cheney's wow factor.
Robert Duchaine
Almost all serial killers are men. That's 'cause women like to kill one man slowly over many, many years.
(Bobby Slayton's favorite)
David Brenner
Gasoline prices are highest in Hawaii, closing in on $4 a gallon. President Bush said, "See, I told you it wasn't only in our country!"
John Oliver
One hundred and fifty years ago, England was fueled primarily from burning Catholics. It's a naturally renewable resource.
(Seth Herzog's favorite)
Liam McEneaney
They say gay people have "gaydar," which lets them figure out who else is gay. Waiters in expensive restaurants have something similar, called "poor-dar." They always know I shouldn't be there, and I can tell by the way they talk to me: "Sir, can I take your coat - out back and burn it?" "Can I call you a car - or will you be riding a boxcar out of town?"
Carolyn Castiglia
My mom says to me, "Honey, I don't want you to think I have diabetes because I'm fat. I have diabetes because it runs in our family." I said, "No, mom, you have diabetes because no one runs in our family!" (Adira Amram's favorite)
David Wain
Have you heard they're doing a sequel to "Brokeback Mountain?"
No, what's it called?
"Brokeback Mountain 2."
Desiree Burch
I don't wear vanilla-scented lotion or perfume. Most girls love that crap, but I can't do it. 'Cause I can't be the fat girl that smells like Rice Krispie treats. Can't do it. People are all like, "God, Desiree! Did you eat again?!"
Marc Maron
It's significant Barack Obama is running. I think it's important for black people to have a chance to be misrepresented by one of their own.
(Greg Proops' favorite)
Todd Levin
I just got engaged. My fiancée won't take my name because "Lisa Levin" sounds awful. So she's just going to remain Lisa Hitler. I understand - it's a family name.
Josh Comers
I had a bully as a kid. He was dyslexic, so he used to stick "Me Kick" signs on my back. Then everyone thought I was the bully - with bad grammar and the courtesy to give a heads up.
(Liam McEneaney's favorite)
Freddie Roman
A couple is married for 47 years and the woman dies. At the funeral, the pallbearers swing the coffin, which hits a wall. From inside the coffin, the woman yells, "Oh, my God!" She lived another four years. She dies again. The pallbearers are swinging the coffin. The husband yells, "Watch out for the wall!" (David Wain's favorite)
Dave Attell
I hate to travel. I guess it's because my father used to beat me with a globe.
(Todd Levin's favorite)
"Anderson is really generous in his description of the crazy lady. “I don’t know if stalking is the right word exactly… but emailing me aggressively for the last two years.” Talk about diplomacy. Most people would say something like, “Look there is this mentally deranged whack job who’s batshit crazy and stalking me.” The worst thing he said was, “So that was kind of creepy.” He also mentioned that he had no idea what his stalker looks like. Something tells me I should probably spend less time chilling around Columbus Circle hoping to run into Anderson Cooper for the next few weeks." ~ (Source)
Listening: Public Enemy, Ice Cube, Eazy E, The Coup and of course RAGE all on my i-Pod. I really liked NWA and the Geto Boyz especially Mr. Scarface. Every now and again I revisit them and wonder where are some of the people I knew back in the early 90's.
Watching: Recently I watched Atonement and The English Patient. Two tragic love stories that really would send me into a deep depression if it were that time of the month. I've learned a secret with tear-jerkers, fast forward through a lot of the film. Try it, it really spares you from getting sucked in.
Reading: Really and truly all I have been reading are blogs and political sites lately. Summer is coming and I'm sure I will dig up a few books by then.
Wearing: Still wearing my knock-off UGGS but today I slipped on my SPANX and relived their magic. I love SPANX.
Wanting: I want a new mattress and a new DVD player. I have no idea what kind of mattress to get, but I know I want a Sony DVD.
NWA - We Want Eazy
I was one year old when MLK made his "I have a dream" speech. I was 5 years old when he was killed. It wasn't that long ago and that's stunning when you think about. Growth is possible. I can feel it, can you?
Some of my personal African-American influences:
Today, options are different:
Even though Amy Winehouse and her friends look like they haunt houses for a living, you have to love the fact that they offer the paparazzi tea; so British I love it.
Old Fish face Himself, Larry King.
Everyone in the blogosphere is talking about Jesse Ventura on last night's Larry King Live. I know it's painful to watch King, but listen to the former governor and Navy Seal tell it like it is. Some people felt he went a little crazy. Personally I think ignoring this criminal administration is crazy so Ventura was good by me.
Bellevue, the striking 1931 Italian Renaissance-style onetime psychiatric hospital on First Avenue in New York, may be turned into a luxury hotel. The name "Bellevue" has become generic for "loony bin," and among the so-called loonies who stayed there are Norman Mailer, Edie Sedgwick, and Charlie Parker. "Our patients were not normal New York neurotics, but very sick people – otherwise known as crazy," said Dr. Frederick Covan, who was the chief psychologist there for 14 years. If it becomes a hotel, they can expect the same clientele. (NY Post; photo: Gottscho-Schleisner Collection, Library of Congress, source: WOWReport)
Years ago I had a friend who worked at Bellevue and late one night she took me on a tour. I can tell you that this was easily the most terrifying place I have ever been in in my life! I've worked at inner city hospitals and drug rehabs but I had never experienced this level of fear.
It was like something out of the worse horror film you have ever seen. The people were roaming the facility and looked completely deranged. The building was so bleak and dismal it just added to the terror. I have nothing but compassion for the mentally ill and this place was not suitable for any ailing human-being. How mental illness can sentence a person to a life in this place is beyond any understanding I have. I asked my friend how on earth she managed to report to this place every day for work. As I looked around and shuddered, I couldn't wait to leave.
