Touched

I'm sure we've all been touched by something at some point in our lives. Clearly the recent events in Connecticut that took so many innocent lives touched most of us. The young man that committed the act was also clearly touched  -  unbalanced mentally.

Sometimes the most seemingly insignificant actions stir us emotionally -  a look, a smile or a knowing nod - something shared between two people.  Sometimes something as simple as a song -

A book can touch you in ways you never knew imaginable.  The bible is an obvious choice for many. Others prefer works by J D Salinger, Jack Kerouac and others. 

Sometimes a line in a movie touches us - stirs us emotionally

To be touched is to be human.  It is - some might say - at the core of our humanity. Most people at some point in their lives need inspiration. We need to be touched by someone or something to get past some crisis real or imagined. We are communal beings. 

And how did this all start?

Go ahead - make my day and be touched by another member of the LBC -  Delirious, gaelikaa, Grannymar, Maxi, Maria SF, Padmum, Paul, Ramana, The Old Fossil and Will. 

Risk

Tis an appropriate topic for today.  When you fail to have sufficient backups and your computer dies - as mine did 2 days ago - you RISK all manner of grief trying to get back online.  Trust me - all manner is real, especially when jumping into the modern world of Windows 8 and IE 10 from XP and IE 8.  So that's my tale of woe & risk - I know the sky is NOT falling but I resent having to read all this mew stuff.  GRRRRRRRRRR.

 

 

Please check out what my smarter cohorts have to say on the subject - Delirious, gaelikaa, Grannymar, Maxi, Maria SF, Padmum, Paul, Ramana, The Old Fossil and Will.

Ramana

Music

Music.  It's an art form that varies widely by cultures.  It's quarter notes, half notes, notes, scales, bars, 4/4, 5/4, harmony, octaves - does anyone really know what an octave is? Who really cares? Fact is, throw bits and pieces of all those things in a bowl, mix them up, add some cultural spice, an instrument or 20, some people and you have music.  Examples to follow - like you didn't expect that. :) Check out a couple of them.

You know music -  it soothes

It stirs the soul

Some "orchestras" use very few instruments



Music crosses cultural divides.  This song was a huge hit worldwide in the 60s in the US - all in Japanese.  We had NO clue what the words meant but the beauty of the melody and the emotion the song generated made it a hit.

 

Now about those octaves.... here're a couple of ladies with amazing vocal range



By now you've guessed  music is very important to me. It always has been but these days frankly it is a large part of what keeps me as sane as I am. If I had one day left and could listen to 10 songs only, today those songs would be - in no particular order - Pachelbel's Canon, Frank Sinatra's Cycles, Springsteen's Born to Run, Ed Ames - Who Will Answer,  Kenny Rankin's Peaceful, Beatles A Day In the Life, We Five You Were On My Mind, Stones Get Off My Cloud,  Gin Blossoms Follow You Down and Mozart's Symphony 40 and Dave Brubeck's Take Five. Yes - I know that's more than 10.  Oh well.  A somewhat eclectic mix that changes daily.  I leave you with this...

 Check out what Anu, Delirious, gaelikaa, Grannymar, Maxi, Maria SF, ocdwriter, Padmum, Paul, Ramana The Old Fossil and Will have to say on the subject of music.

Doom and gloom

Doom and gloom.  Woe is me. The sky is falling! Things are sooooooooo bad they cannot be fixed. It's an attitudinal thing. It's all around us and if you choose to buy into it in any given circumstance you'll pay a price. That price obviously has a direct correlation to the specific incident/circumstance involved.

Doom and gloom opens the floodgates for great comebacks and great leaders. History is full of them in every endeavor imaginable. Sports, politics, individuals.  People not giving in to doom and gloom and reaching deep inside to "win" the battle at hand. 

Sports are rife with great comebacks. Baseball has many including Bobby Thomson's  walk-off home run in 1951 - the classic "shot heard round the world"

More recently the current world champs from San Francisco had 2 amazing comebacks in consecutive playoff series to even reach the World Series which they promptly swept.

Life presents us with challenges on a daily basis.  Most of us have been behind the eight ball at some point on our lives.  Get behind on the bills - worry about making ends meet.  Just providing the basics becomes a challenge - shelter and food.  But somehow we muddle through.  Some believe it's God's will.  Others simply work hard to fix things. They don't buy in to the notion that the situation cannot be fixed - they simply press on until it is.  Again - it's an attitudinal thing. Some folks simply don't  have a glass - others work at keeping that proverbial glass full. The latter provide the rest of us with examples - they are leaders of a sort even though they may not see themselves that way.

Individuals have overcome great difficulties - think Helen Keller, Thomas Edison, that distant cousin that overcame drug addiction.  Heroes all because they did not give in to d&g.

These days there is doom and gloom here and in India to name 2 countries when it comes to politics.  Corruption is rampant in many levels of government. Here there is a great divide between the right and left - make that the extreme right and left. Both sides claim the end is near and our great country is doomed thanks to the other guy.  India has so many parties just keeping track of it all is confusing - and I have a degree in political science for crying out loud.  But I suspect a leader or leaders will emerge in both countries to find a resolution.  

Religion is a great contributor to d&g. Here in Texas a pastor at a megachurch has declared Obama's re-election signals end times. I suspect if he wasn't half black he might think differently but that's the subject for another blog.  Seems every Tom, Dick and Harry reads some tragic current event into something from Revelations.  Again. They keep trying. And then there were those pesky Mayans.  They gave real specifics to their d&g.  We'll know soon enough if they were correct.  

The reigning champions of d&g have to be the global warming crowd. There's "real" science to back both sides of the argument.  Can it be that this time the sky really is falling?  Sigh.  It's all so confusing - but it behooves us to solve this one  That is  certainty.

So thanks Padmum - for this enlightening start to our Friday. Wonder what the others have to say? Check out Anu, Delirious, gaelikaa, Grannymar, Maxi, Maria SF, ocdwriter, Padmum, Paul, Ramana The Old Fossil and Will.  

Rains

Rains - water from the skies.  Drought busters.  Flood makers.  Like most things, good and bad.  Not enough or too much can be very very bad. Anything in between is usually a good thijng.

Here in Texas - right smack in the middle of tornado alley - we are prone to thunderstorms on a regular basis. I must be odd - I love them.  When I was a kid in Colorado I'd lay on the front lawn and look up to the sky during thunderstorms - when I wasn't sailing boats in the gutter. Clearly I didn't know how destructive thunderstorms can be, although frankly even if I did it wouldn't have mattered. There's just something about watching the power of mother nature that is awe inspiring.

Then there's the rain I exeriencd n Hawaii when I ived there.  It'd rain for a block  and then the sun would shine and dry me out.  My Suzuki 550 was always looked clean. It was also my only mode of transport. Oh damn - poor me.  Stuck in Hawaii with just a motorcycle. Nothing like hopping on your bike in shorts, aloha shirt and flip-flops and cruising the neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights in the rain. I miss Hawaii.

Most interesting thuinderstorm I can recall was seen out the window if an airliner winging its way back to the Bay Area from a Caribbean cruise vacation.  Off to the north was a massive thunder boomer somewhere over Kansas and in the blackness you could see lightning bolts shoot all the way to the ground.  It was a spectacular light show, dfar better than any ever seen at a club in SF way back when.  Of course in the middle of such a storm all you wonder is who'll stop the rain.

The thing about rain I love is its cleansing effect.  The smell after a rainstorm is amazing. Its no wonder companies make a fortune trying to emulate that smell in shampoos and other personal care products. None really capture the purity though.

Nothing relaxes me quite the same way as the sound of rain. All of the days troubles seem to disappear when I sit back, close my eyes and just listen.

That's a quick take on rains from shackland.  Check out what the other LBC members have to say on this weeks topic - ....Anu, Delirious, gaelikaa, Grannymar, Maxi, Maria SF, ocdwriter, Padmum, Paul, Ramana The Old Fossil and Will.  

Pleasure

Pleasure.  A rare commodity for me these days.  Hang on a sec while I pour a glass of whiskey.....


We'll start here   with an Irish Show Band from the mid sixties....

That's a soothing start - nice to relax to while sipping that whiskey, just what's needed after a long day.

Now things are moving along nicely

Brit take on blues - sort of -

Time for a little reflection - I've heard this is Dylan's fave version

One more Dylan tune

A little rockin - a great road song while driving

Winding down now...

Last one - for I really am just an old folkie at heart

So now you see how music brings me pleasure - by listening to it and sharing it.  Ands that's a take on Pleasure 

Check out what the other LBC members have to say on this weeks topic - ....Anu, Delirious, gaelikaa, Grannymar, Maxi, Maria SF, ocdwriter, Padmum, Paul, Ramana The Old Fossil and Will.  

This Will Be My Epitaph

This weeks LBC topic comes from Maria in SF -

I suppose in my case it will come down to one of two -

1) So I'm down and so I'm out but so are many others
2) Never confuse fat with stupid

Anyone that really knows me will probably think both choices somewhat logical and I'll leave it to the person I've selected to distribute my ashes to make the final call.  If these are in any way confusing you don't know me but not to worry.  It doesn't matter. The curious question is if it ever did.

Guess we'll never know.

Check out what the other LBC members have to say on this weeks topic - ....Anu, Delirious, gaelikaa, Grannymar, Maxi, Maria SF, ocdwriter, Padmum, Paul, Ramana The Old Fossil and Will.