Random Thoughts

FB Memory from 2 years ago:

My Christmas wish is this. I wish all people achieve the heights of what they are capable of. Not everyone's a scientist or engineer but everyone has the ability to be the best they can be in all areas of their life.

Man is a heroic being meaning we have the ability to achieve greatness in our lives. Have at it no matter what your limit is.
 
This is so unequivocally important.

Pure brilliance by Rudyard Kipling.

"If"

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!


Mandalay



moulmein.jpg
BY THE old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' lazy at the sea,
There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks o' me;
For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the temple-bells they say:
"Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay! "
Come you back to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay:
Can't you 'ear their paddles chunkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay ?
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!
'Er petticoat was yaller an' 'er little cap was green,
An' 'er name was Supi-yaw-lat - jes' the same as Theebaw's Queen,
An' I seed her first a-smokin' of a whackin' white cheroot,
An' a-wastin' Christian kisses on an 'eathen idol's foot:
Bloomin' idol made o' mud
Wot they called the Great Gawd Budd
Plucky lot she cared for idols when I kissed 'er where she stud!
On the road to Mandalay...
When the mist was on the rice-fields an' the sun was droppin' slow,
She'd git 'er little banjo an' she'd sing "Kulla-lo-lo!
With 'er arm upon my shoulder an' 'er cheek agin my cheek
We useter watch the steamers an' the hathis pilin' teak.
Elephints a-pilin' teak
In the sludgy, squdgy creek,
Where the silence 'ung that 'eavy you was 'arf afraid to speak!
On the road to Mandalay...
But that's all shove be'ind me - long ago an' fur away
An' there ain't no 'busses runnin' from the Bank to Mandalay;
An' I'm learnin' 'ere in London what the ten-year soldier tells:
"If you've 'eard the East a-callin', you won't never 'eed naught else."
No! you won't 'eed nothin' else
But them spicy garlic smells,
An' the sunshine an' the palm-trees an' the tinkly temple-bells;
On the road to Mandalay...
I am sick o' wastin' leather on these gritty pavin'-stones,
An' the blasted English drizzle wakes the fever in my bones;
Tho' I walks with fifty 'ousemaids outer Chelsea to the Strand,
An' they talks a lot o' lovin', but wot do they understand?
Beefy face an' grubby 'and -
Law! wot do they understand?
I've a neater, sweeter maiden in a cleaner, greener land!
On the road to Mandalay...
Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst,
Where there aren't no Ten Commandments an' a man can raise a thirst;
For the temple-bells are callin', an' it's there that I would be
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, looking lazy at the sea;
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay,
With our sick beneath the awnings when we went to Mandalay!
O the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay !

One of my favorite Kiplings, all for this GRAPHIC ANCHOR LINE:
BY THE old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' lazy at the sea,
There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks o' me;
For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the temple-bells they say:
"Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay! "
Come you back to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay:
Can't you 'ear their paddles chunkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay ?
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!
'Er petticoat was yaller an' 'er little cap was green,
An' 'er name was Supi-yaw-lat - jes' the same as Theebaw's Queen,
An' I seed her first a-smokin' of a whackin' white cheroot,
An' a-wastin' Christian kisses on an 'eathen idol's foot:
Bloomin' idol made o' mud
Wot they called the Great Gawd Budd
Plucky lot she cared for idols when I kissed 'er where she stud!
On the road to Mandalay...
When the mist was on the rice-fields an' the sun was droppin' slow,
She'd git 'er little banjo an' she'd sing "Kulla-lo-lo!
With 'er arm upon my shoulder an' 'er cheek agin my cheek
We useter watch the steamers an' the hathis pilin' teak.
Elephints a-pilin' teak
In the sludgy, squdgy creek,
Where the silence 'ung that 'eavy you was 'arf afraid to speak!
On the road to Mandalay...
But that's all shove be'ind me - long ago an' fur away
An' there ain't no 'busses runnin' from the Bank to Mandalay;
An' I'm learnin' 'ere in London what the ten-year soldier tells:
"If you've 'eard the East a-callin', you won't never 'eed naught else."
No! you won't 'eed nothin' else
But them spicy garlic smells,
An' the sunshine an' the palm-trees an' the tinkly temple-bells;
On the road to Mandalay...
I am sick o' wastin' leather on these gritty pavin'-stones,
An' the blasted English drizzle wakes the fever in my bones;
Tho' I walks with fifty 'ousemaids outer Chelsea to the Strand,
An' they talks a lot o' lovin', but wot do they understand?
Beefy face an' grubby 'and -
Law! wot do they understand?
I've a neater, sweeter maiden in a cleaner, greener land!
On the road to Mandalay...
Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst,
Where there aren't no Ten Commandments an' a man can raise a thirst;
For the temple-bells are callin', an' it's there that I would be
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, looking lazy at the sea;
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay,
With our sick beneath the awnings when we went to Mandalay!
O the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay !

One of my favorite Kiplings, all for this:
 
Did anyone watch the Bee Gees How can you mend a broken heart documentary on HBO Max? We watched it last night, I enjoyed it even though I only liked their earlier music
 
Did anyone watch the Bee Gees How can you mend a broken heart documentary on HBO Max? We watched it last night, I enjoyed it even though I only liked their earlier music
No, never have but it sounds quite interesting. I will check it out.
 
I think wasting/throwing away food is my biggest pet peeve. It pains me to scrape a guest's plate into the trash.
 
I think wasting/throwing away food is my biggest pet peeve. It pains me to scrape a guest's plate into the trash.
It did me too. I was always trying to box up 3/4 of a filet before they could say they didn't want it just so it wouldn't get wasted. Then 1/2 the time they would leave the box behind on the table...
 
From my dearest of friends that I met through my parents during a huge fight for property rights in the '80s and '90s. This is a small town NH woman that took on the world back then, even testifying before congress like Justice Amy Coney Barret without notes and all the statutes from memory. Wow!!

She reminds me of Tulsi Gabbard as far as smarts and looks when she was younger, although she is in no way a D but also Ms. Kelo who fought for her property all the way to the Supreme Court in Kelo v. New London.

Her husband is a big brilliant historian, mountain man, logger.

Freaking Cheryl is just an amazing woman and artist. I am blessed with such great people in my world.

Cheryl:

Just finished my husband's Christmas present ... Here he is, driving his 1930 Stewart truck through the covered bridge near our house.

"1930 Stewart" 15" x 11"
Watercolor

1.jpg
 
From my dearest of friends that I met through my parents during a huge fight for property rights in the '80s and '90s. This is a small town NH woman that took on the world back then, even testifying before congress like Justice Amy Coney Barret without notes and all the statutes from memory. Wow!!

She reminds me of Tulsi Gabbard as far as smarts and looks when she was younger, although she is in no way a D but also Ms. Kelo who fought for her property all the way to the Supreme Court in Kelo v. New London.


-------------------------------------------------
Kelo v New LOndon to me is one of the most egregious Supreme Court descisions of this century ( Plessy v Ferguson and Dred Scott were last two centuries though Kelo was not as big of an issue. But, property rights are important and it bothers me.... I t was 5-4 and I wonder if it would be different today...
 
Posted this on our great sister site, Boston Sports Uproar but really want to share what may be a great Christmas memory with you guys:


So this happened last night on Christmas Eve.

I was hyper-lonely and my BFF Jo ditched me for her new guy even though we promised we would never let each other be lonely, ever. I was really freaking hurt and pissed. Still am a bit.

But when her guy, Jeff learned about what was going on he wasn’t thrilled. He called me and me and him and Jo chatted for 3 hours on the phone and he is sending her over to pick me up to spend Christmas with them.

Not happy that Jo has a guy and it’s not me but he seems like a great guy and I am so thankful to have somewhere to go on Christmas with a loved one cuz I really didn’t.

Have to rethink my thoughts on Jo’s priorities for me. But this gonna be a good day and night as I’ve been asked to spend the night.

Merry Christmas, everyone. Love you guys.
:heart:
 
I watched 'My Octopus Teacher' yesterday, and encourage all here to watch it as well. Such a beautifully filmed and emotional documentary.

The world is an amazing place.
 
Been watching Anne with an E with Jo and it is spectacular and so well principled. I, somehow never read Anne of Green Gables but she tells me this adaption is quite accurate.

Jo looked at me last night and said that Anne is totally a female me with her good brain and intentions and a motor mouth that gets her into trouble. :rofl: :beer: ❤️
 
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