What Life Has Taught Me

About the elusive subject of happiness, at least...

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From my youth I learned enthusiasm, and that there is never a wrong time to enjoy what was around me.
From enthusiasm, I learned inspiration, and that just because you have it doesn’t always mean you’ll succeed.
From inspiration, I learned diligence, which kept me faithful when inspiration left me.
From diligence, I learned discipline, and that just because you “can” doesn’t mean you “should.”
From discipline, I learned self-control, which taught me to use what I knew over what I felt.
From self-control, I learned knowledge, and that if you know something on the subject you should say it.
From knowledge, I learned wisdom, and that sometimes it’s better if you don’t.
From wisdom, I learned judgment, and that no one was “better” then me.
From judgment, I learned grace, and that I was just as “bad” as they.
From grace, I learned understanding, so that I could know what others were going through.
From understanding, I learned thankfulness—that I wasn’t too badly off.
From thankfulness, I learned praise, and that it’s better to give it to others then to yourself.
From praise I learned honesty, which enabled me to accept praise from others.
From honesty I learned modesty, so I could tell others if they were praising me when credit was not due.
From modesty I learned humility, so that I could uplift others rather then myself.
From humility I learned patience and that the best things come to those who truly do wait.
From patience I learned to take time, and that both food and kissing are best done slowly.
From learning to take time I became calm, and realized that stress does not help anything.
From being calm I learned trust, and that it never can hurt too much.
From trust I learned friendship, and that life is only worth living when lived with others.
From friendship I learned forgiveness, and that being angry only hurts you in the end.
From forgiveness I learned gratitude, and became thankful when others forgave me.
From gratitude I learned compassion, and wished for others to know I cared for them.
From compassion I learned love for another, and not just for them but for mankind.

And it was then that I learned that I already knew what it meant to be happy.

Is Sacrifice Weak?

"But I say unto you: love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you."--Matthew 5:44


Lets be honest with ourselves, any fool can break something up or tear something down. It doesn't take a lot of talent to destroy--but to build?--that can take a lifetime. Anyone can spout off a cutting comment to someone, its a lot easier to do something for yourself then to do something for somebody else. And I'm not talking about doing something that doesn't cost you anything, or something that you can both enjoy together. I'm talking about doing something for somebody even if you don't really want to, even if it hurts, even if you don't like the person. That is truly giving. That takes an extraordinary individual to perform because its building something. It doesn't take any strength to tear something down, but to give takes everything.

Knowing that, why is it then that we think that such giving--even to our own such hurt--is weak? Why do we so often believe that to forgive and FORGET is weakness when it takes so much effort to accomplish?

Forgiveness is a sacrifice; to give--especially when you know that it'll hurt you and you'll receive nothing in return--is a sacrifice. If it takes more strength to do these things, to build rather then destroy, why then do we think that such sacrifice is weakness instead of strength?

Dribble

Forgive this piece of nonsense... some things, sometimes, just have to be said.


I mentioned something to you
A wit of truth, or paint;
And you laughed slightly
At my observation.
I didn't care if you laughed or not,
Just wanted to see
Your smile.

And I looked into
Your saucer eyes
Of turbulent opal
And I didn't feel very big.
But very,
Very small.

Happy Birthday, Darling Dear

Sweet sweet darling, sweet tender tender sweet sweet darling pineapple grove... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I was going to do something spectacular, you see. Make a poem or something pretty. However, you demanded a post now and so, being the birthday girl and all... a post is what you will get.

Um.... damnit... I was never too good at impromptu. Think... think

Aha... what did the Blonde say when she saw cheerios?..... "Oh look, Doughnut seeds!"

Hehehe... Happy Birthday Elley. Eighteen now, huh? Supposed to be one of the best years of your life so yeah... live it up doll. Drink lots tonight and smile, (I've been told it makes you look pretty.)


P.S I know the picture is a tad old... but I don't have a recent one (hint hint)

Artistic Tribute 8

Its been awhile since I've done one of these. This tribute is for Arthur Rimbaud, the great visionary, and his poem, "The Dance of the Hanged Man" This piece captures me with its imagery especially.


On the black gallows, one-armed friend,
The paladins are dancing, dancing
The lean, the devil's paladins
The skeletons of Saladins.

Sir Beelzebub pulls by the scruff
His little black puppets who grin at the sky,
And with a backhander in the head like a kick,
Makes them dance, dance, to an old Carol-tune!

And the puppets, shaken about, entwine their thin arms:
Their breasts pierced with light, like black organ-pipes
Which once gentle ladies pressed to their own,
Jostle together protractedly in hideous love-making.

Hurray! the gay dancers, you whose bellies are gone!
You can cut capers on such a long stage!
Hop! never mind whether it's fighting or dancing!
- Beelzebub, maddened, saws on his fiddles!

Oh the hard heels, no one's pumps are wearing out!
And nearly all have taken of their shirts of skin;
The rest is not embarrassing and can be seen without shame.
On each skull the snow places a white hat:

The crow acts as a plume for these cracked brains,
A scrap of flesh clings to each lean chin:
You would say, to see them turning in their dark combats,
They were stiff knights clashing pasteboard armours.

Hurrah! the wind whistles at the skeletons' grand ball!
The black gallows moans like an organ of iron !
The wolves howl back from the violet forests:
And on the horizon the sky is hell-red...

Ho there, shake up those funereal braggarts,
Craftily telling with their great broken fingers
The beads of their loves on their pale vertebrae:
Hey the departed, this is no monastery here!

Oh! but see how from the middle of this Dance of Death
Springs into the red sky a great skeleton, mad,
Carried away by his own impetus, like a rearing horse:
And, feeling the rope tight again round his neck,

Clenches his knuckles on his thighbone with a crack
Uttering cries like mocking laughter,
And then like a mountebank into his booth,
Skips back into the dance to the music of the bones!

On the black gallows, one-armed friend,
The paladins are dancing, dancing
The lean, the devil's paladins
The skeletons of Saladins.

Happy Valentines

Well, whadaya say? Will you be my Valentine?

Sex Is Jamacian!

Here, watch this, you'll understand:

Memories Taste Like Cyanide

And, all that said, this past week I've been thinking a lot about you.

I even remember what song was playing last time I danced with you. Heck its weird, I know, considering just how bad a memory I have. But everything about it--about you--I remember almost vividly. I held you so tight I was afraid I was crushing you, but you were squeezing just as much, so I figured you were o.k. I remember how I sneaked you and some other chicks to the boys cabin and, when security was coming, you and Laura started freaking out and I had to cover for you.
I remember so much about alot of things that happened between us. I remember I promised once to bring you Vodka and ended up drinking it all a few days before I went to see you. I remember the first time your eyes shone when I said they were pretty, and I remember once that I sang you to sleep. I remember when I was 15, in Corpus. I was sunburnt to the point of blisters, and you were wearing only a towel while waiting for the shower. I thought for some moments then that I liked you...heh... little did I know then that you meant far much more then even, "love" could ever mean.

Sometimes I wish you'd still be back, but heck, thats life. We grow, people move, and sometimes things change. I'm glad your finally where you want to be though, somewhere where since I met you you always wanted go to. Even if I miss you I'm glad for you; I would never trade your happiness for anything.



Drop a line or three sometime darling, stay away from too much red meat and salt, and always remember that your very beautiful and very, very, special to me.

Theory on the Mediterranean Sea

There is a theory that, over the past few weeks, I have been formulating and that now I would like to share with you. At first it just seemed like an idea, like one of the ones that people think up while doing JJT. But since studying more on it, I’ve found that it actually could be possible.
The theory: The Mediterranean Sea, and possibly the Black Sea as well, were not really seas originally but were formed with the sinking of Atlantis.
Now, before you start saying anything, let me present the facts to you that support my argument and then you can decide for yourself. But first, let me tell you how the idea came to me.
I was taking some extra Word during quiet time and, coincidentally, was reading that old letter about Atlantis and the Canaries. In it, Dad states:

“WE WERE DISCUSSING THE CANARY ISLANDS, THEIR ORIGIN AND HISTORY, wondering how long people had lived here, and we remembered that legend had it that the Canaries were the only remaining part of the Lost Continent of Atlantis which was supposed to have sunk beneath the Atlantic Ocean ages ago.--And I was wondering who the people are that live here and how they got here.

2. SUDDENLY I SAW THE SEVEN ISLANDS AS SEVEN MOUNTAINS with many people climbing up the mountains to escape from the sinking continent!”

Now, assuming his vision was true, we may logically assume that the Madeira Islands are also former mountains, which leads us to take a look at the first fact.
Fact: Both the Canary Islands and the Madeira Islands are only a hundred miles from the Iberian Peninsula; the Canary Islands are about sixty miles away from Western Sahara. The water around both island chains—but especially the Canaries—is significantly shallow, almost as shallow as the Mediterranean itself.
Now, I would like to draw your attention to the map below and ask you that—in order to fully understand what I am saying—you download it so you can zoom in and out:






As you can see on the second map, next to the upper-left corner, lay both islands chains of which I have spoken of. Some miles to the east, there is a range of elevated terrain that stretches from the southern cost of Portugal towards the Madeira Islands.
If you will now look at the first map, you will notice that the range forms an undersea plateau-base that stretches around both sides of the Iberian Peninsula, north to the southern beaches of France, and east towards Sardinia. On closer inspection of the second map one will also notice that a similar plateau begins near the Canary Islands and, as seen on map one, you will find that it reaches the western coast of Morocco and from there clings to North Africa and continues east all the way to the Nile Delta.
It is upon this ground that I make the first defense of my argument. As anyone that studies geography will agree, plateau bases are the precursors of mountain ranges. Plateaus are heralded by plains, and plains by wetlands or valleys. This order does not necessarily contain all of the lower elements, but such is usually the case. Now, knowing this, it brings us to the question: what lies further into the median of the Mediterranean Sea, seeing as these plateaus do not reach far into the interior? The answer: lowlands. Going south by southeast from Italy and the isle of Sicily, and back northeast on the vertex of Crete, we can see a large swath of lower-level lands that reach almost to the shores of Palestine and Turkey.
Just south of Crete, in the Libyan Sea, and at almost equal latitude with Israel’s northern border begins another rise in the ocean bed. Following the longitude through the center of Crete it continues to rise and cuts all the way and makes up the submerged floor of the Aegean Sea. This bed—given the geography—is similar in structure to many of the highland regions of Europe; and it is a known fact that on both the eastern coast of Greece, and the western coastline of Turkey, it is all mountainous territory. The same formations can be seen, though not to the same degree, on the western shores of Italy and the north coast of Sicily.
As for the Black Sea, the formations are entirely the opposite. If you will take a look at the first map, you will notice that there is a ring of depression, similar to the underwater plateau ring around the Iberian Peninsula and, further into the sea, comes another depression in elevation resulting in even deeper waters.
Now, knowing the basic, submarine geography of both seas I would like to make a hypothesis. Suppose a giant dam were to be placed inside the Straight of Gibraltar, and the water in both the Mediterranean and the Black seas were drained. What would we then notice about the geography? All around the former coast of Southern Europe we would notice plateau and highland regions that lead directly to some of the highest elevated portions of the continent. On the former coast of North Africa there would be the same occurrence, but not in such drastic measures, as that coastline is less elevated then that of most Southern Europe. Also, with the water drained, one would find the mountainous regions of Turkey and Greece combined to form a new mountain range, one that has remained underwater simply because it was of lower elevation then the coastlines of both those countries.
It is upon elevation and depression that I make my second defense. As looking at the first map will easily show, most parts of all continents touching the Mediterranean Sea are elevated past normal sea level. That would mean that, if the hypothesis is correct and water from the Atlantic flooded the Mediterranean Basin with the sinking of Atlantis, the coastline of these continents are at their present state simply because their elevation allowed them to escape the rising waterline. The few exceptions to this argument of extensive elevation are the coasts of Libya, Lebanon, Israel, and parts of Egypt. However, it because these coasts are at the tail end of a submarine valley, but as you can see in the second map, the ocean bed does rise some before it touches any of these countries, thus explaining how they would escape submergence. The said coastlines of these countries are, coincidentally, well above sea-level as well in most places.
The third defense of my hypothesis is the Nile Delta and its origins. It is a known fact that the Nile River flows outward from its beginnings in Lake Victoria and out into the Mediterranean Sea. However, back to the Hypothesis of Draining, if one takes the water out from the Mediterranean what do they find? North they will find the aforementioned highlands of the Aegean, but what about south of Crete? Conclusion: valley. A well, fed valley too it would have been, with the Nile River flowing straight into it. It would have extended from near to the toe of Italy eastwards to the western coast of Asia Minor, a perfect valley that led up to the rugged terrain of the mountains north between Greece and Turkey.
Therefore the conclusion: Atlantis stood as a land barrier between the Atlantic Sea and the Mediterranean Basin. When Atlantis sunk, the barrier was lost and a vacuum was created in which water rapidly poured in, swallowing the entire Basin and submerging its former geography. Within a matter of days the water overran the lower peaks of the Aegean Mountain range, forming what is now known as the Aegean Sea and, soon afterwards flooded the second valley that is now known as the Black Sea. The sea levels discontinued its rise once the vacuum was filled and the result was the coastline we now know of today.