What Defines Cowardice?

Is silence cowardice? If you remain silent when you witness something that is clearly wrong, are you not only guilty of cowardice but also of complicity?

Well, Thats An Interesting Tidbit...

The man who wrote "Dazed and Confused" (yes, that "Dazed and Confused") also wrote the "I'm A Pepper", and "Be All You Can Be" advertising jingles.

Jake Holmes, heckuva talent.

Jimmy Page liked "Dazed and Confused" so much he lifted it and claimed it as his own. A few years of court action later and Jake Holmes is now rightly identified as the true creator of the song.

Never Underestimate The Power Of Luck

The topic of failure came up this afternoon, or more specifically, the topic of why most people fail came up. 

As is common among most groups of people who entertain this particular topic for a long enough conversation, eventually several opinions were shared as to "why" people fail.

Some of the "whys" that were mentioned this afternoon were; being unprepared, listening to people who doubt your abilities, not having a plan, being afraid, overthinking, diluting your efforts, not being realistic about what you can and cannot control, half-measures, being unwilling to make sacrifices, letting your ego run the show, not asking for help when needed, and losing focus.

Which are all true enough, but also a bit clichéd. 

For all the truth in those listed reasons, there is also another factor that is rarely mentioned as a reason why people fail, but one which I frequently bring up in conversations of this nature. 

And that factor is luck.

Luck is huge.

Mentioning that I believed luck was a major factor in failure got me both sidelong glances and nods of agreement. 

There were comments along the lines of "You have to create your own luck" or "You have to learn to manage the circumstances that come your way" That completely missed what I mean by luck.

I just deleted a couple of paragraphs that illustrated how much luck factors into success and failure, as the words seemed not only insufficient, but a bit heavy-handed (stuff like "what about losing your sight halfway into your endeavors, or being hit by a car?")

I'll have to let my opinion stand at "Luck is huge."

Zephyr, Formerly Known As Samantha

Her parents had named her Samantha but she preferred Zephyr                                She introduced herself as such to new acquaintances                                                    But everyone eventually addressed her as Zep

She hated wearing pants or shorts,  preferring sundresses                                          Or loose-fitting, oversized T-shirts draped over flowing skirts

And she loved to swear -                                                                                            Not under-her-breath mildly like an exasperated fast-food restaurant manager

        But loudly, every-third-word a vulgar epithet                                                                                                                    Like a frustrated building contractor

Each week for at least one entire day, she went barefoot                                          She said it was necessary to keep her feet in tune with the Universe

Kaitlin Spruces Up The Place

 

Need to add a little pop to the exterior walls of your apartment complex? Hard to go wrong with a couple of murals by Kaitlin Ziesmer

All The Sunshine You Can Handle

 

The Conditions That Lead To The Fall

 Walking around as if he was still king                            Of a country now completely deserted And desecrated    

Which will happen after a few years of                              Ruthless tyranny                                   Now he sits on a throne made of sillystring

Never learned to appreciate the lesser things                    Staring out at a boulder strewn field            That offers no sustenance                                  Only frustration                                             Going to have to learn to enjoy                                        Lesser things

Transfer your fears to the rear at the next stop  Never pause to refresh, pause to actualize             Continue to modernize                                  Never pause to refresh, pause to actualize             Continue to modernize

Monarchs in exile swimming in mineral spirits               While the peasantry build                                             Newspaper sailboats                  Set ablaze in front of the dockside                                         Fireworks factories                Dropping anchors that weigh                                              Ten thousand tons

It all makes sense if you understand                                      The allusions                                     All makes sense if you understand                                  And strip yourself of                                                           Delusion                                    

Disheartened & Disappointed By A Machine

 Ever have your computer unexpectedly shut down completely, and then require you to restart from zero in order to get it back up?

By zero I mean resetting everything - as if this was the first day you took the computer out of the box and set it up.

I have, just this morning, and it sucks. Have to re-install everything and hope I can locate files that seemingly no longer exist.

Oy vey iz mir.

Just Another Talented Chainsaw Sculpting Musician From Zimbabwe

 

Triumph Of Hygiene & Science

 The Global Pandemic caused by CoVid-19 appears to be ebbing, at least in the Western hemisphere. 

This is due to a number of factors, and by far the two most prominent are hygiene and science.

Hygiene, proper hygiene, and by that I mean cleaning yourself and surfaces you come in contact with thoroughly in order to prevent the possible spread of CoVid-19 (to you from someone who had been infected, or from infected you to someone who had not) is now a habit for millions upon millions of people across the globe.

Lets keep it that way - no need to fall back into slovenly habits simply because if feels safe to be able to do so. 

Because it isn't safe, it just feels that way.

Science of course stepped up in a big way, specifically medical science. 

Computers, those incredible storehouses of information and calculating prowess, were used by thousands if not millions of medical researchers - virologists, immunologists, infectious disease experts, Nurses, Doctors, etc., to share their research, their progress, their experiences in the fight against this disease - cross country, cross cultural, cross everything cooperation on a scale never even glimpsed in the history of the world, and it worked rapidly (relatively) to develop not only the vaccines that are now being used to save millions, but better treatments for those unfortunates who have contracted CoVid-19.

Let's keep that level of cooperation up, too. It's the true path to world peace.

The Absent Minded Nature Of Transitional Regret

 In an attempt to make sense of all that had transpired she sat down with a notebook and wrote out everything she could remember about the affair, from the first day of their acquaintance until the morning she woke up alone.

It didn't work. 

Despite rewriting the two and a half pages that covered what she considered the "crucial episode" three different times, she still could not explain, to herself nor any other person, what happened.

Story of her life, she mused internally - she meets people she considers perfect, and days or weeks or even months later they reveal themselves to be the exact opposite.

All the while she herself was, of course, without fault.  

The 1,345,776th Path To Spiritual Enlightenment

For the past couple of decades I have driven east on Mississippi avenue about a mile or so at least four or five times a month on my way to the hardware store or some such eastbound destination, and during each trip I have driven past an unusual little temple which has never failed to catch my attention.

Today I decided to stop and see what it was about.

The unusual temple is home to a religion known as Eckankar, and it turns out that it and I have something in common, in that we were both birthed in San Diego.

Eckankar was founded in San Diego by a man named Paul Twitchell in the year 1965, and 1965 was also the year Eckankar was registered as a company in California by Mr Twitchell and his wife.

I did a little research on Mr Twitchell and his Eckankar company / religion and discovered that there are a whole lot of similarities between Eckankar and a number of other religious movements that sprung up in the 1960's, especially on the west coast of the United States, and especially among those who had gotten a taste of L. Ron's concoction and found it lacking (which Mr Twitchell did indeed do).

I also was surprised to discover there are two other Eckankar temples in Colorado (known as "Golden Wisdom Temples"), and over 360 worldwide - all of them devoted to the promulgation promotion of Mr Twitchell's teachings.

One of the main practices of Eckankar is the chanting of the word "Hu", in sessions lasting from 15 to 30 minutes. Chanting "Hu" is necessary in order to fully experience the Eckankar path to spiritual enlightenment.

If you are interested in learning how to chant "Hu" for 15 to 30 minutes a day, there are sessions at the temple every Sunday at 10:30am. Newcomers are always welcome.

Oh wait, this particular ECK temple is temporarily closed, so you'll have to resort to visiting the website for some self-directed "Hu-ing". 

 Alternative religions fascinate me to no end. There seems to be a never-ending supply of people who proclaim that traditional religions are corrupt or failures, and that the only true path to enlightenment is something they just discovered (or saw the light, was bequeathed, dreamt up, etc.)

Turning Worms & Contradictions In Terms

 Thought he was born to be a rebel

                                            Never going to compromise

                Now he's wearing suits

                Must have over three hundred ties

                                       Unironically

   Thought of nothing but living in the moment

                Not the slightest concern for tomorrow

                             Now carefully measures every word 

                Does everything he can to avoid eating crow

You May Find Yourself At The Wrong End Of The Rainbow...

 Well, can't say I have much in the way of encouragement to relate to you...sometimes that's just your lot in life and all you can do is adjust your worldview from one of frustration to one of determination and figure a way to move on from there.

Or not - ball is in your court, regardless of the fact that you never asked for the ball - or even wanted to be on the court for that matter.

Y Un Buen Día Para Usted, Señor

 

Stabilizing The Disaster