RedJessi

I think Cross got the most action at PiP!

I got this in my email and though there might be people around these parts that were interested!

http://survey.iarchives.com/fnsurvey/email/emailc7cb892018244677a66f4d9348645acc.html

Why for swollen??

Much thanks to Callenish and Salty for again giving me a place to lay me head. Also to Mickey & Kate for last minute seamstering and for getting me dressed (and undressed...and dressed....and undressed....and dressed....). To Rats and Matty and Israel and Brian and Mickey and Kate for the photofighting. To Mission for the wonderful dinner with Mickey and Kate in the city proper. To Mary Diamond and Captain Sterling for helping me with me shoes. And to each and every pirate in attendance for being utterly brilliant fun to be around!

Add me to Mercury, good sir

This?

So. Awesome.

Fantastic photos MAD Dogge!

Oh, Patriot Pirates is one that I need to remember to add to me list!

Just finished The Strain, by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. True to del Toro's movies, it's creepy and atmospheric. But if you like typical, romantic style vampire stories, this is NOT for you. If you like your vampires as murderous bastards fit only for beheading, then join me in delight! These bloodsuckers have no capes, stay hidden during the day, don't sparkle and are not vegetarians. In fact, they don't even have toothy fangs. What they do have is a rabid virus that overtakes and rewrites the host DNA, so that to be sustained they must consume blood. In extremely large quantities. It's the first of a trilogy and it's fantastic thus far!

EXCELLENT job, Mission, as always!!

The rum: It was Kilo Kai, not Riki Tiki Tavi (But if Mickey and Kate decide to switch from wine and mead to rum, I think they should appropriate the name!)

The plant: The name Angel's Trumpet refers to the large, very dramatic, pendulous trumpet-shaped flowers that can be white, yellow, pink, orange or red, and have a delicate, attractive scent with light, lemony overtones, most noticeable in early evening. Flowers may be single or double. All parts of Brugmansia plants contain dangerous levels of poison and may be fatal if ingested by humans or animals, including livestock and pets. Contact with the eyes can cause pupil diliation or unequal pupil size. Some municipalities prohibit the purchase, sale, or cultivation of Brugmansia plants. (Thanks wiki!)

The auction: Mission, Mae, Brig and their friend missed the infamous kiss due to leaving to pick Jack up at the airport. A non-pub pyrate (friend of the Jack Sparrow that participated in PiP last year) decided at the last minute to add a kiss to the auction. Alas, the poor lad had not figured out that pyrates of our ilk have a rather twisted sense of humor (and after the auctioning of Israel Cross, he has only himself to blame for this lack of insight!). As such, much to his likely dismay, all the individuals bidding on said kiss were men. The prize ended up going to Cross for $12. Deciding to sweeten the pot I asked Mickey Souris to help me out: as I spent most of the weekend sans voice, I needed his vocal power to make a bid for me. Another $10 for a long kiss. Next thing we know, people are adding music and candlelight. Lots of candlelight, so people could get good, romantic pics! (expect to see them soon, I'm sure!)

To be fair, that could be a pic of him from this year too.

Yeah, it was my first real vacation in 7 years ("real" denoting that it lasted longer than a weekend, as my usual excursions from the working world are no longer than Friday, Saturday, Sunday - as pip will be). I was there for 16 glorious days, and had a wonderful time. Even with all the flooding!

Sorry I missed November! It was a busy month - and I spent most of it out of the country. I will get back into the swing of this after PiP!

I am back from Ireland. Still on Ireland time however (falling asleep before 9pm, waking before 5am) and with the dregs of a cold clinging to me. I am still planning on driving down Friday evening though - I have a bottle of rum at the ready!

sorry for holding up the works - mine just got sent out today

Thanks Callenish - I think this is more inline with my idealist-champion personality though. LOL

There once was a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon. 

One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.

"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.

"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."

He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves.

So it is with our lives. Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbors to live in peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn. 


Thanks Badger - it is GREAT to see other people contributing here!

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize.

5. Name the last five Academy Award winners for Best Actor and Actress.

None of us remembers the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They're the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Now here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. Name three teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worth while.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson?

The people who make a difference in your life aren't the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They're the ones who care.

Just making sure someone was paying attention

Also amusing myself

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; It just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first the Donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, Never giving up! Shake it off and take a stepup.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.

Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.

Live simply and appreciate what you have.

Give more.

Expect less.

NOW .............

Enough of that crap... The donkey later came back, And bit the farmer who had tried to bury him. The gash from the bite got infected and the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock.

MORAL FROM TODAY'S LESSON:

When you do something wrong, and try to cover your ass, it always comes back to bite you.

I know, isn't that fabulous?! (Me too)

Even better - I WON it during last weeks pubquiz tournament finale. My team came in 2nd place and we each got 2 bottles of alcohol. I got the Kila Kai and a bottle of Lambic.

I got a bottle of this ready to go:

Next up: Ron Atlantico Private Cask will need to be secured.

Today's dose is a bit lengthy - but I think well worth it. It's from one of my most favorite books - the Tao of Pooh. As in Winnie the Pooh, yes.

"You see, Pooh," I said, "a lot of people don't seem to know what Taoism is..."

"Yes?" said Pooh, blinking his eyes."

So that's what this chapter is for - to explain things a bit."

"Oh, I see," said Pooh.

"And the easiest way to do that would be for us to go to China for a moment."

"What?" said Pooh, his eyes wide open in amazement. "Right now?'

"Of course. All we need to do is, lean back, relax, and there we are."

"Oh, I see," said Pooh.

Let's imagine that we have walked down a narrow street in a large Chinese city and have found a small shop that sells scrolls painted in the classic manner. We go inside and ask to be shown something allegorical - something humorous, perhaps, but with some sort of Timeless Meaning. The shopkeeper smiles. "I have just the thing,", he tells us. "A copy of The Vinegar Tasters!" He leads us to a large table and unrolls the scroll, placing it down for us to examine. "Excuse me - I must attend to something for a moment," he says, and goes into the back of the shop, leaving us alone with the painting.

Although we can see that this is a fairly recent version, we know that the original was painted long ago; just when is uncertain. But by now, the theme of the painting is well known.

We see three men standing around a vat of vinegar. Each has dipped his finger into the vinegar and has tasted it. The expression on each man's face shows his individual reaction. Since the painting is allegorical, we are to understand that these are no ordinary vinegar tasters, but are instead representatives of the "Three Teachings" of China, and that the vinegar they are sampling represents the Essence of Life. The three masters are K'ung Fu-tse (Confucius), Buddha, and Lao-tse, author of the oldest existing book of Taoism. The first has a sour look on his face, the second wears a bitter expression, but the third man is smiling.

To Kung Fu-tse (kung FOOdsuh), life seemed rather sour. He believed that the present was out step with the past, and that the government of man on earth was out of harmony with the Way of Heaven, the government of the universe. Therefore, he emphasized reverence for the Ancestors, as well as for the ancient rituals and ceremonies in which the emperor, as the Son of Heaven, acted as intermediary between limitless heaven and limited earth. Under Confucianism, the use of precisely measured court music, prescribed steps, actions, and phrases all added up to an extremely complex system of rituals, each used for a particular purpose at a particular time. A saying was recorded about K'ung Fu-tse: "If the mat was not straight, the Master would not sit." This ought to give an indication of the extent to which things were carried out under Confucianism.

To Buddha, the second figure in the painting, life on earth was bitter, filled with attachments and desires that led to suffering. The world was seen as a setter of traps, a generator of illusions, a revolving wheel of pain for all creatures. In order to find peace, the Buddhist considered it necessary to transcend "the world of dust" and reach Nirvana, literally a state of "no wind." Although the essentially optimistic attitude of the Chinese altered Buddhism considerably after it was brought in from its native India, the devout Buddhist often saw the way to Nirvana interrupted all the same by the bitter wind of everyday existence.

To Lao-tse (LAOdsuh), the harmony that naturally existed between heaven and earth from the very beginning could be found by anyone at any time, but not by following the rules of the Confucianists. As he stated in his Tao To Ching (DAO DEH JEENG), the "Tao Virtue Book," earth was in essence a reflection of heaven, run by the same laws - not by the laws of men. These laws affected not only the spinning of distant planets, but the activities of the birds in the forest and the fish in the sea. According to Lao-tse, the more man interfered with the natural balance produced and governed by the universal laws, the further away the harmony retreated into the distance. The more forcing, the more trouble. Whether heavy or light, wet or dry, fast or slow, everything had its own nature already within it, which could not be violated without causing difficulties. When abstract and arbitrary rules were imposed from the outside, struggle was inevitable. Only then did life become sour.

To Lao-tse, the world was not a setter of traps but a teacher of valuable lessons. Its lessons needed to be learned, just as its laws needed to be followed; then all would go well. Rather than turn away from "the world of dust," Lao-tse advised others to "join the dust of the world." What he saw operating behind everything in heaven and earth he called Tao (DAO), "the Way."

A basic principle of Lao-tse's teaching was that this Way of the Universe could not be adequately described in words, and that it would be insulting both to its unlimited power and to the intelligent human mind to attempt to do so. Still, its nature could be understood, and those who cared the most about it, and the life from which it was inseparable, understood it best.

Over the centuries Lao-tse's classic teachings were developed and divided into philosophical, monastic, and folk religious forms. All of these could be included under the general heading of Taoism. But the basic Taoism that we are concerned with here is simply a particular way of appreciating, learning from, and working with whatever happens in everyday life. From the Taoist point of view, the natural result of this harmonious way of living is happiness. You might say that happy serenity is the most noticeable characteristic of the Taoist personality, and a subtle sense of humor is apparent even in the most profound Taoist writings, such as the twenty-five-hundred-year-old Tao Te Ching. In the writings of Taoism's second major writer, Chuang-tse (JUANGdsuh), quiet laughter seems to bubble up like water from a fountain.

"But what does that have to do with vinegar?' asked Pooh.

"I thought I had explained that," I said.

"I don't think so," said Pooh.

"Well, then, I'll explain it now."

"That's good." said Pooh.

In the painting, why is Lao-tse smiling? After all, that vinegar that represents life must certainly have an unpleasant taste, as the expressions on the faces of the other two men indicate. But, through working in harmony with life's circumstances, Taoist understanding changes what others may perceive as negative into something positive. From the Taoist point of view, sourness and bitterness come from the interfering and unappreciative mind. Life itself, when understood and utilized for what it is, is sweet. That is the message of The Vinegar Tasters.

"Sweet? You mean like honey?" asked Pooh.

"Well, maybe not that sweet," I said. "That would be overdoing it a bit."

"Are we still supposed to be in China?" Pooh asked cautiously.

"No, we're through explaining and now we're back at the writing table."

"Oh."

"Well, we're just in time for something to eat," he added, wandering over to the kitchen cupboard.

Got the MRI approved. SUCK IT AETNA! I go next monday.

If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.

~ Ray Bradbury

The latest:

The physician who reviewed my claim and denied the medical necessity of the thoracic MRI to view my spinal canal and determine where my nerve problems are: Dr. Michael Bishop, OBGYN. *head desk*

I am honored this was the thread you chose!