True Love

This one defiantly goes in the "What the heck do I know file", but it popped in my mind and I thought that I would give it a go.
No matter how big, strong, tough or independent we are we have this deep down need to be "where someone loves us... best of all"(Quote from "Where the Wild Things are", by Maurice Sendak). It's easier when we are young and we haven't been through the storm. We still believe in the fairy tale ending, "happily ever after". As we get older though, and get the inevitable battle scars that come with life, we tend to stop believing that Sleeping Beauty is just around the corner waiting for loves first kiss to awaken, or that Prince Charming is on his way to rescue us from the dragon, just in the nick of time.
Amazingly though, even the most jaded of us still hold on the one fairy tale; "The Frog Prince". We believe that if we kiss the Frog, they will turn into a Prince. When they don't, well we kiss them again, maybe differently this time. We spend quality time with them, we bribe them with how good the relationship would be if they would only turn into a freakin' Prince, and of course.. they don't. Or maybe they do for a little while. Heck the Frog does love you and wants to make you happy, but at the end of the day, they are just a Frog. Eventually, in the real world, the Frog gets tired of feeling inadequate all the time and moves on.. Or the Princess realizes that this will never be anything more that a Frog, and they move on... then it's  BAM, one more huge scar on the road of life for both of them.
I freely admit, that I am the last person that should be giving advice on relationships, but that being said, when has that ever stopped ANYONE from saying their piece. Besides sometimes the best person to give you advice on how important it is to not quit your job to become a freelance artist, really is the homeless guy in the street.
My thought is... Maybe it's time to stop looking for Prince's and Princess's, maybe it's time to start looking for Frogs. Everyone has qualities, talents and characteristics that we can respect, admire and even love... That's the easy part. It's easy to love the Deep, Rich chocolate cake with the decadently sweet icing. Anyone can do that(well except me, I don't like chocolate cake, but you get the point hehe). What's harder is to love those dried up pieces of cake and icing crumbs that get scraped in the trash before cleaning the dish.
While that may work for cake it doesn't do a thing for people, because if you love someone with your whole heart... then you don't just love the Prince(ss), but the Frog as well. Hence maybe it's time to appreciate Frogs... Frogs are real, they are not "pretend" like Prince(ss)'s. 
I am not suggesting that we should not have standards, or that we should settle for second best. I am just saying that perhaps  picking  our Prince's and Princess's who's inner frogs make us smile might not be such a bad idea, and if we don't find such a creature.... there are worse things in life than being alone, ask any physically abused or emotionally starved married person.
As for me... I will not settle for a mere Princess. If I give my heart away, it will be to nothing less than a Mona Lisa, and her frog will make me grin from ear to ear....


But maybe that's just me.


Peace Kiddies

Who knew

I have never been a fan of sports. I find them boring. I don’t get them and have never understood the appeal. My list of most boring sports in order are ;

1) Soccer... I mean come on, a bunch of guys kicking a ball in a 2 big field? I'd rather have a root canal.

2)Golf

3)Baseball

4)Football

5)And the least boring... but still not exciting, would be Hockey

Asking my sports minded buddies what it was all about, most just answered by saying things like... “I don’t know man, it’s just awesome” .. Oh now I get it, thanx.

I grew up with no dreams of making the big league, truth be told, when I was a kid I thought it would be kool to be part of the Ice Capades(There’s a deep dark secret that no one should EVER know).

While my much hipper and cooler brother was playing on hockey teams, and consequently keeping company of these very attractive creatures called "Girls", I hung out with the nerds in the science club(yeah I didn’t date much in high school).

So imagine my surprise when a couple of days ago, I found myself at a major league baseball game. What was even more of a surprise was that I had been looking forward to it for almost 2 weeks. All I can say now is.... I get it. I mean what a blast. Right from the awesome way the national anthem was sung, to the strikes, hits, pop flies... I asked so many stupid questions trying to figure out what was going on that when I ordered a hot dog and the vendor offered to cut it up in bite sized pieces so I wouldn’t choke.

People actually do “The wave”, which I missed every time but once, when I quit watching the game and just concentrated on “catching” the next one. Everyone started cheering once and when I asked why I found out that someone had stolen a base.. I missed it because I was staring intently on the batter.

I’m not a die hard fan though, because I was feeling bad for the visiting team. No one was cheering them at all, and I wanted them to get at least one run in, so they could go home with even a little dignity. Alas that wasn’t in the stars, because the Jays RULE and Tampa Bay Drools.

So now, I can`t wait for my next game... Except next time I want some Jays Gear, to show off my team, and I want to see if I know enough now that the Hot Dog vendor won`t offer to cut up my frank.

I still think that soccer is more boring than watching trees grow (sorry to my European friends).. But it does make me wonder what it would be like to see a Football or Hockey game. And if anyone ever ask me what the appeal is I`ll say "I don`t know man, it`s just AWESOME!!!!"

Who says you can`t teach an old dog new tricks. :-D

Peace Kiddies

Nature.. Gods way of letting us know that he's still there

I live in a townhouse, in a typical city. I don't see any bears, moose or mountain lions at my place. The other night however, I left my humble home only to see about 15 of my neighbors staring intently into space. When I asked one of them what everyone was looking at she told me "Fireflies". Sure enough, as I stood with the small crowd, I saw the familiar green flicker of many of the little flying light bulbs . It was actually quite cool. I stayed for 5 mins or so, but then was reminded by the growling of my stomach the reason for this particular outing... Hunger, and no food in the house. So I left my enraptured neighbors to their light show and left for some needed groceries.

Nature is one of those things though, that no matter how insanely fast life gets, it always makes us pause to wonder.

I LOVE ducks, and squirrels. Chipmunks and raccoons, although I did hear a horrifying raccoon story the other day from a friend that makes me believe that raccoons are just like people. For every 100 of them, 99 are good and 1 needs to be shot . I digress, I would stop my car on the way to the ER, if I were alone, to watch deer in a field. As it turns out, I am not alone in my fascination for wild life. Being anywhere near it, just makes us calmer and feel better.
We even bring it home with us. Most of us own a dog or cat, and try to keep alive at least 1 house plant, heck I have a tree in my kitchen(No idea what kind it is), that is immortal. No matter how badly I neglect it, it just keeps growing and thriving.

While not everyone goes to the park to feed the geese when they are feeling blue, it always pulls me out of the doldrums.

What is the point of today's Blog? None really, except that it is a beautiful summers evening, there are birds singing and I`m going to go and pick up some peanuts and feed some squirrels. For some silly reason, that makes me really happy.

Or maybe that`s just me.


Peace Kiddies

Borrowed from someone else

This story isn't mine, but was actually borrowed from a gentleman by the name of Shane Boehmer. It has a great message and I thought it was well worth passing along.
Enjoy kiddies, and Thanx Shane



One day I had lunch with some friends. Jim, a tall, balding golfer type about 80 years old, came along with them---all in all, a pleasant bunch.

When the menus were presented, we ordered salads, sandwiches, and soups, except for Jim who said, "Ice Cream, please. Two scoops, chocolate.

I wasn't sure my ears heard right, and the others were aghast. "Along with heated apple pie," Jim added, completely unabashed.

We tried to act quite nonchalant, as if people did this all the time.. But when our orders were brought out, I didn't enjoy mine.

I couldn't take my eyes off Jim as his pie a-la-mode went down. The other guys couldn't believe it. They ate their lunches silently and grinned.

The next time I went out to eat, I called and invited Jim. I lunched on white meat tuna. He ordered a parfait.
I smiled. He asked if he amused me
I answered, "Yes, you do, but also you confuse me.

How come you order rich desserts, while I feel I must be sensible? He laughed and said "I'm tasting all that is Possible.

I try to eat the food I need, and do the things I should. But life's so short, my friend, I hate missing out on something good.

This year I realized how old I was. (He grinned) I haven't been this old before."
"So, before I die, I've got to try those things that for years I had ignored.

I haven't smelled all the flowers yet. There are too many trout streams I haven't fished. There's more fudge sundaes to wolf down and kites to be flown overhead.

There are too many golf courses I haven't played. I've not laughed at all the jokes. I've missed a lot of sporting events and potato chips and cokes.

I want to wade again in water and feel ocean spray on my face. I want to sit in a country church once more and thank God for His grace.

I want peanut butter every day spread on my morning toast. I want un-timed long distance calls to the folks I love the most.

I haven't cried at all the movies yet, or walked in the morning rain. I need to feel wind on my face. I want to be in love again.

So, if I choose to have dessert, instead of having dinner, then should I die before night fall, I'd say I died a winner, because I missed out on nothing. I filled my heart's desire. I had that final chocolate mousse before my life expired.."

With that, I called the waitress over.. "I've changed my mind, " I said. "I want what he is having, only add some more whipped cream!"

Be mindful that happiness isn't based on possessions, power, or prestige, but on relationships with people we like and respect. Remember that while money talks, CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM SINGS!