A child asked his father, “How were people born?” So his father said, “Adam and Eve made babies, then their babies became adults and made babies, and so on.”
The child then went to his mother, asked her the same question and she told him, “We were monkeys then we evolved to become like we are now.”
The child ran back to his father and said, “You lied to me!” His father replied, “No, your mom was talking about her side of the family.”
Bob was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife was really angry. She told him, “Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE!”
The next morning he got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway. Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, brought the box back to the house. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.
A woman was taking an afternoon nap. When she woke up, she told her husband, “I just dreamed that you gave me a pearl necklace. What do you think it means?”
“You’ll know tonight,” he said. That evening, the man came home with a small package and gave it to his wife. Delighted, she opened it to find a book entitled, “The Meaning of Dreams.”
It doesn’t matter these days as I am taking time out to get a book published and another one is in the works. However, as a former Fashion Editor for a fashion magazine, I didn’t do the mundane task of putting the articles together. There were others who were computer savvy or rather tech savvy who did the job of getting the articles ready for publication. I just did the writing part but the rest was left to a team which was a good thing because I am a technology klutz or rather I hate anything new that creeps in while I am not looking and disrupts my day to day existence!
I’m sure technology has added to and made things easier in the publication world and the world of writing but I still dig in my heels when I see something new that needs me to brush up on computer technology. Just this morning, I wanted to log into WordPress and I got a white screen. Nothing more! I later found out it was called the Death Screen! I had to Google putting my frustration aside and it gave some tips on how to rectify that problem. One was to clear the Cache. What the hell was that?!! Anyway, I found out and cleared the Cache whatever that is and got it to work. Not a klutz after all but I hate new technology and I also understand that it is needed in today’s fast paced world of ours.
This is a hard one for me because more often than not, I tend to beat around the bush instead of saying a plain, loud, no-nonsense NO! This mentality tends to interfere with my goals because it takes longer and a roundabout way to get there.
I think that being “nice” means bending over backwards to accommodate people or things that don’t serve me. It takes a long time to say no and to mean it. I am learning and getting stronger as I go along. However, this has its downside as well. I’m known as being complicated but it is a title that I am learning to wear proudly.
It takes focus to achieve your goals and if you let things that don’t matter, people who distract you, and softness to sway you, it gets that much harder to achieve. I am developing a hardcore mentality which doesn’t always serve me well but it is leading me on the right path and that matters. It is still a learning process.
Update: I wrote this piece way back when he was eyeing his second-term, unfortunately he made it. However, the insults, the bullying, talking out of both sides of his you know what, the all about me concept, and add aggression to it and you get the full picture of his presidency. Oh, I forgot lying. He does it like a pro and without flinching. Is his presidency on a downward spiral? Looks like it but who knows? He might survive this debacle as well. One thing is for sure, Iran is giving as good as it gets and they have got his “goat” right now!
The man with the not so HUGE hands and the perpetual orange face decided to take it one further when faced with questions at the National Black Journalists Association Convention. Shocking is not the word for it but stupidity sure is. His answers did not make sense and his rant, well that is typical Trump.
He went from calling a reporter rude, nasty and wasting his time and as if that wasn’t enough he resorted to racial tropes saying that VP Kamala Harris “happened to turn Black” during her political career as if it was a pre-planned choice.
The man is old, his cognitive skills are declining, his IQ is questionable especially in light of his recent rantings on why Harris, a product of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father should NOT call herself BLACK! His vicious insults hit below the belt and he takes the saying, “When they go low, we go higher,” to a new all-time LOW. The man doesn’t even know what that means. His motto is, “When they go low, I go much lower and stay there to wrestle in the mud!” Perhaps, insults is all he has left of a crumbling political landscape as he watches it take a dive knowing full well that he doesn’t stand a chance against Harris, debate or otherwise.
Harris has made it crisp and clear. “If you’ve got something to say, say it to my face.” The gauntlet has been thrown, let’s see if the orange TV personality and former president will accept the challenge. One thing’s for sure, it will be a massacre of the worst kind. Going up against a former prosecutor is a daunting task but pair it with a much younger individual and you’ve got disaster on your hands. “Old,” “feeble,” and all the other derogatory insults he piled on Biden is coming back to haunt him and rightfully so. What goes around, comes around.
“Ding-Dong,” or not, Harris is ready to trump Trump and not in a subtle manner either. The lady has her wits about her and she knows exactly where to hit to draw the least amount of blood but enough to slay the dragon or rather an “old” and “feeble” man who deserves trumping. She is capable of doing it without so much as an insult or histrionics. The wannable dictator and convicted felon needs to be shown the door and who better than Kamala Harris to do just that.
Harris is well on her way to victory having garnered enough votes to become the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee and having raised $310 million US in July, double the amount Trump did in the same month. She is gaining in strength and popularity and driving Trump off his rocker!
Rihanna said it best in her song, “Take a Bow,” and it goes like this.
“But you put on quite a show
Really had me goin’
But now it’s time to go
Curtains finally closin’
That was quite a show
Very entertaining
But it’s over now
Go on and take a bow.”
Hey Donald, don’t let the door hit you on the way out!
I’ve always had the ability to paint pictures with words. I don’t know if you would call it a talent but it is something that I have noticed and others have noticed it too.
I can’t sing, I basically croak! My mom and sister were really good singers and I always envied that ability. Next to them, I was a sore thumb that stood out for more reasons than one. However, I realized that I had another skill and that was painting pictures with words. This skill comes in handy when I’m writing and I want people reading my stories and articles to picture or to experience what I’m saying or to keep me company along the way.
I am grateful and thankful for this gift and I do put it to good use especially when I go walking in nature. I capture what I see in my mind and later I add words to it. Somehow, it works and when I do go back and read what I’ve written, one question comes to mind. “How did you do that?”
A gift? Maybe. Whatever it is, it is nice to have since it helps me on my writing journey.
Daily writing prompt
What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?
I AM PLEASE TO REPORT THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN, HAVE HAD, OVER THE LAST TWO DAYS, VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST, BASED ON THE TENOR AND TONE OF THESE INDEPTH, DETAILED, AND CONSTRUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS, WITCH WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTIVE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD, SUBJECT TO THE SUCCESS OF THE ONGOING MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.
PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP
Hmm….I must say he is getting good at walking back. Why is the message in all caps? You have to ask him that along with the spelling mistakes. I’m waiting to see what Iran says about this. They’ll probably have a different take on it. Where is he getting this from? United States of America and Iran have had very good and productive conversations over the last two days? Delusional and not all there but at least the world is not going to hell in a hand basket!
Here is Iran’s response.
Iran’s foreign ministry had this to say:
“We deny what US President Donald Trump said regarding negotiations taking place between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Can you trust someone who can’t spell “which?” Perhaps he had witch hunt on his mind which would make sense because this saber rattling of the highest order was just that. Is he going to claim a glorious victory? What do you think?!!
Update: I wrote this during Trump’s first term and nothing has changed it seems. If anything, he is shooting off “bullets” before his mind can catch up with him! The bully is front and center and he is using the office of the presidency to back him up. Talks of taking Greenland by force, talking down to the allies and single-handedly dismantling the “Old World Order” is all within his grasp and he is leaving nothing to chance. Now, he has issued an ultimatum to Iran thinking or rather not thinking which is more the case. The problem is Iran is not taking it sitting down and it looks like the “bully” has met his match! Time is running out and it is a wait and see approach now. “Playing chicken” is not going to end well for the man in diapers but that hasn’t stopped him before so why should it now? Will he walk it back as he has done before? We will find out soon enough.
This is what I had to say back then.
The 45th President is in hot water again and this just days after the controversial firing of FBI Director, James Comey. The president alleged that the firing was due to Comey “not doing a good job,” and instead of leaving it at that, he went on to tweet a thinly veiled threat suggesting that there was a taped recording of his conversation with Comey further adding, “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press.” That threw him into the eye of the hurricane where he has been ever since.
As if that wasn’t enough to throw his presidency into a downward spiral, the president was off and running to his next debacle. This one involves allegations that he divulged classified information to Russian diplomats in the Oval Office. The Washington Post reported that Trump revealed highly classified information on the Islamic State group during his meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador, Sergey Kialyak. Yes folks, ignorance is bliss and where the new President is concerned, it’s enough to “sink ships,” or his Presidency.
The latest morsel of “red meat” was just what the press needed to send them scrambling to get the best angle on the developing story as dreams of “impeachment” riddled through the minds of die-hard Trump haters. Not so fast people. There is such a thing as damage control and the White House has been doing just that sending in the “big guns” to take care of business. If Spicer’s “stare down the press” tactics hasn’t worked, well, maybe sending in National Security Advisor HR McMaster might just do the job. In his no-nonsense fashion, he denied that the President had revealed, “Intelligence sources or methods,” but reviewed, “a range of common threats to our two countries including threats to civil aviation.” Was that enough to calm the “storm” and bring it to a screeching halt? Guess again.
Trump’s questionable tweets and actions have put his Presidency in turmoil once again and not even all the President’s men and women can put it back together again. This latest drama is one of his own making and if he doesn’t stop shooting off tweets from the White House during the early morning hours instead of getting some sleep, this situation is only going to get worse. Perhaps, he should take a tip from the 44th President, Barack Obama, when the going gets tough, go golfing. There is no better way to let off some steam than by shooting a small ball into a round hole at the same time cussing under your breath about all the wrongs of the world that needs righting. A surefire way to keep the lid on an explosive situation and you come off looking like a winner.
One last thing, the office of the President deserves a modicum of decorum and spouting off “secrets” at the drop of a coin and shooting off tweets like a teenager is not the way to get it.
Cool in the shade and not so hot in sunshine. It is exactly the kind of weather we are having now and I love it. I am not a fan of hot weather, sweating it out is not my kind of thing and when it gets hot in Europe, it gets unbearable because some “people” love sweating versus turning on the air-conditioner.
Most homes don’t have this essential element to cool it down in the heat of summer. “Comfort cooling” as they would like to call it does not justify the expense of installing, operating and maintaining A/C. Plus, there are not enough hot days each summer to justify that kind of expense.
When it does get hot, unbearably hot, people have fans. I’ve invested in two Dyson fans that help to keep the place cool. However, the living room remains nice and comfortable in summer because it has stone floors and that is a nice feature of this house.
Coming back to my favorite type of weather, I would say a mix between cool and warm. Spring and fall offer this kind of weather and I love these two seasons for the comfort it gives in walking and being able to enjoy the surroundings without worrying about the damage too much sun is going to cause. Plus, I have a sun allergy, not something serious, but if I stay out too long and directly under the hot sun, my skin lets me know and not in a nice way!
Zig Ziglar called it the healthiest of all human emotions and it is one that is often overlooked in our day to day existence of what we call “living.” It is unpretentious, it takes its place quietly in the ranks of emotions and waits to be recognized like a step child who is often left wanting. More often than not we walk past without giving it the recognition it deserves.
“Gratitude helps you see what’s there instead of what isn’t.” Unknown
What is gratitude?
Simply put and according to graygroupintl.com, “It is a deep sense of appreciation for the good things in our lives, both big and small. It is about recognizing the positive aspects and expressing gratitude for them. When we practice gratitude, it not only benefits our mental health but also our physical well-being.”
If it is that important, why hasn’t this poster-child for good mental health been given more attention and accolades?
Perhaps, it is because as humans we have a tendency to overlook the “good stuff” and we tend to focus on the lack thereof and all the negatives it entails. If only I had this, then life would be so much better is the mantra we wear with pride and have hone it to an art form that we are blinded to the abundance that surrounds us.
“Wear gratitude like a cloak and it will feed every corner of your life.” Rumi
Practice it daily and it will turn your life around. I still haven’t grasped this concept of being grateful but I am working on it.
How do you practice gratitude? According to mindful.org, the people in the know, it starts like this and if you do it regularly, “it is a game-changer; it has far reaching effects, from improving our mental health to boosting our relationships with others. Living your life with gratitude helps you notice the little wins— and over time strengthens your ability to notice the good.”
Start by observing. Notice the thank yous you say.
Keep a journal of all that you are grateful for and believe me there is plenty to be thankful for.
Make a vow to be grateful everyday.
Meditate – anchor yourself to the good things in your life. Be mindful and live in the present.
The day before was a tough day. Things just didn’t go the way I wanted it to and so my focus was on all the bad stuff which in turn helped me to go further down the rabbit hole. At the end of the day I decided that today would be better. The gratitude part didn’t come till later. I went ahead and booked a massage and as I was lying on the table, face down and staring into nothingness, listening to the soothing music in the background, a small voice said, “Say thank you.” I did and I repeated it several times just in case it didn’t hear me the first me! As the masseuse applied gentle strokes to my back, I realized that I was surrounded with and by abundance.
I slowly started counting off the things I was grateful for and the list was never-ending. The gorgeous day, the blue skies, my friends, the people who cared about my existence and last but not least the wonderful massage that helped to soothe my frazzled nerves. It was a game-changer. I walked out of there with a smile on my face, my woes forgotten for the moment at least and well-prepared for the day ahead.
If you can’t afford a massage even the simplest of things will do it. Go for a walk, pay attention to the sights and sounds, things that help to lift up your soul. It could be as simple as taking in a deep breath, or watching a bird in flight or a tree in bloom, its colors mesmerizing and the scent wafting by better than any artificially manufactured perfume but most of all say, “THANK YOU.” Be grateful for the abundance surrounding you, the roof over your head, the food, nature and all the little and big things that help to make up your life and soon the glass will no longer be half empty but overflowing. A friend said to me, “you need to do what you preach,” and he is right. Thank you friend for being my friend!
Practicing gratefulness is helping to turn things around in my life. It doesn’t come easily but the more I say thank you and appreciate what is around me, the less I see the negatives not that they aren’t there mind you, but to a lesser extent. This too takes time.
“When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.” Tony Robbins
I remember her well. She was young and beautiful but more than that she had a great smile and a quiet way about her. I loved being in her class and somehow I had caught her attention. She would give me an encouraging nod and sometimes outright praise. This stoked my young ego and got me interested in English and in writing in particular. I made it my mission to excel in it!
I was in elementary school and the homework was to write a story, a fictional one. Mine was about a lion, that’s all I can remember but she held it up to the class and said, “This is a beautiful story.” It was the start of my writing career. The lady had no idea that she had set a fire ablaze. Then one day she said, “Tia, come on up and show them how it’s done.” Believe me I was oozing with pride as I walked to the front of the classroom and started writing on the board. Afterwards, she patted me on the head and said, “Well done!” My passion for writing had an outlet and I was on my way.
The English teacher didn’t know it at the time but her kind words, her motivation and her ability to bring forth the talent within me had set the wheels in motion. I became a whizz at writing. My first story made front cover and I was 16 at the time and since then I have written and published thousands of articles. I got my start in a classroom a long time ago from a person who nudged me gently in that direction and nurturing that potential she give me the tools to move ahead. Sometimes it takes just one person to see potential and to light that flame and she did.
Her impact on my writing career was tremendous so thank you.
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