The Day After....

Christmas was AWESOME!

I spent the majority of the day with The Mama and her cronies. I had sooo much fun. Of course, the highlight was just sitting and enjoying some quiet time with mom, but the festivities....OMG.

It took place at a 55+ community where SnowBirds from all over the US and Canada converge for the cold northern months. Mom had volunteered to serve the meat at the community dinner.....3 12 lb turkeys and 6 big ole hams. Everyone that comes brings a dish to pass..of course I watched as close as I could to see who brought what cause I'm not down with OPF (other peoples food).

I ate so much of the sugary ham I swear I could still smell brown sugar and ham juice coming out of my pores this morning. Mmmmmmmm yes it was a gluttonous day and no, I don't feel bad about it.

Late afternoon, I left and headed back to Tampa to stop in to my adopted, extended family's gathering. What a great time. I sat and talked for some time to my friend Lesli's grandmother and learned that Lesli's cousin who just had a baby a couple months back was her first great-grandchild! How beautiful the look in her eyes as she spoke about how happy she was to live to experience this. Sammy and Gabrielle are such beautiful spirits and I am so blessed to have them and everyone they have brought into my life.

On the drive home, it again hit home how many things, wait not things, people I have in my life....and on these holidays, to have sooooo many of them sitting around me all at the same time......the bounty of love and friendship can be a little overwhelming....but in a good way, I'm happy to handle it.

Peace. Out. Dale

Peace On Earth

It's here again. The time of year that everyone is drunk on the 5 times distilled liquor of goodness, kindness, joy and peace.

I did partake in a couple of my Christmas rituals again this Christmas Eve, watched It's A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol (1938). I love those movies for the message of REMEMBER.

Seems to be that as the year goes on the buzz clears and the hangover fades, most go back to the state of 'what's in it for me'.

Don't believe the hype, it's not what, but who's around you that matters. More importantly, what you do to keep the spirit of life in abundance all year long.

Keep the faith, love and Spirit in your heart folks, we're all in this together....365/24/7

Merry Christmas...and remember...."teacher said, everytime a bell rings an angel gets their wings". Ring out!

Peace. Out. Love ya . Dale

The Christmas Tree

I snapped a couple pics of my Christmas tree to share. Decided to go kinda old fashioned this year. Pull different styles of gold balls, a huge bow for the top, gold ribbon streamers and tucked in some red silk poinsettia flowers. All white lights.

If you're wondering about the drama queen curtains.....there are five of them that usually hang straight down, but I had to tuck them up on the rod so that I could see the tree from my little hang out area on the patio behing the tree.

Pay It Forward...how about pay it backward

I heard a really great story at the end of the news tonight.

It happened at a Starbuck's in Miami.

A man, who was a Tai Chi instructor, was in the drive thru waiting for his order and the guy that was behind him started and kept blowing his horn.

He decided to buy the man's drink. Not as a random act of kindness, but as an act to hopefully change the guys conscienceness. I think it worked, because the guy did the same thing for the person behind him.

This started a chain reaction and it continued all day long. How cool is that!

Rock on Tai Chi instructor guy!

Peace. Out.

Guess Christmas is no more. It's now Holiday. How sad.

OK yall...I have reached my mental limit trying to understand the convoluted, PC usage of HOLIDAY.

1st question: WTF? Why do I have to disguise celebrating Christmas?

2nd question: Kwanzaa Starts the day after Christmas. Why do I have to disguise celebrating Christmas? Why would someone be upset with Christians celebrating Christmas?

3rd question: Chanukah starts at different points in time, but all the Jewish folks I know celebrate their beliefs and don't have a problem with Christmas. The Christians I know don't have any issue with Jews celebrating Chanukah. I know a Jewish woman at work that hands out Christmas cards to her coworkers.....not sure they don't return the favor, but that's another rant...so again, why do I have to disguise celebrating Christmas?

4th question: There was a home for kids that did not have their own families that came to the office to sing. The email said they were here to sing "holiday carols". Silent Night, King Winceslas are Christmas carols, not holiday carols. Didn't see any fires, riots or effigies burning in the parking lot. Didn't hear anything that was unfamiliar. No songs that were Hebrew or anything that I would identify as part of the Kwanzaa celebration.

HOLIDAY DECORATIONS: Christmas trees, mangers, angels, SANTA.....these are not holiday decorations.

I'm really and truely not getting it. I have been part of a Christmas celebration since I was born. Now I can't say Merry Christmas out loud because it might offend someone?

Again......we return to question number one.

Don't get me wrong....Everyone that knows me, knows I love and respect any and all personal choices and beliefs. I have absolutely no problem with the celebration of Chanukah or Kwanzaa, but please, being in the closet is not the way to lead a life and stop making me feel self conscience about being and believing what I do. Dang!

PS.......Merry Christmas yall.

Imagine

Wow, 27 years have passed. John Lennon was taken away from us 27 years ago yesterday. I spent yesterday afternoon sitting in a local park enjoying a beautiful warm day sitting under a tree for hours. It was awesome to just BE.

Growing up, I always heard about how folks all remembered where they were the day JFK was assasinated. I was 5 months old.

I remember the day John Lennon was assasinated.

I was in my sophomore year of high school. I remember coming home that night and seeing it
on TV. I spent the whole night in my room. Seems that most of the people in my life weren't terribly upset or just basically apathetic.

John Lennon was an extraordinary human being and his humanitarianism should be honored. I am glad I, amongst many others, can still hear the echo of his soul.

John Lennon once said "If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there would be peace."

Love someone or something today... at least check out the Dream Site

Peace ...... Pray for real peace.

Moving Day

Today I got to help my friend Lesli move to a beautiful townhouse she is renting on Harbour Island. I am sooooo jealous of the the space...it is so well laid out and has a 2 car garage!

I know moving ourselves or someone else isn't something that we look forward to doing, but it was truly a really fun experience.

I met Lesli, her bro Miles, and her Mom Gabrielle (one of my favorite hippies of all time) at Lesli's house. We spent as much time standing, sitting around laughing as we did moving belongings into 2 trucks and a minivan. It was a great time.

I love these folks with all my heart and felt really blessed to have friends I could help.

And to top it all off, I was home in time to watch the Bucs romp the Saints! 27-23.

Scooooooooooore! Was the word of the day all around.

Life is good!

Peace. Out. Dale

A Charlie Brown Christmas

As promised, the first one on air is the Charles Shultz classic.

Tomorrow (Tues 11/27/07) at 8pm EST on ABC.

Happy Thanksgiving

Just thought I'd share this year Thanksgiving photo my friends Thom and Ray sent of their boy, Brutis.

I have....

I have a great mom

I have family and close friends

I have a job I love

I have the the most eclectic group of coworkers that ROCK

I have a job I love doing

I have a refridgerator, cupboards, pantry full of food

I have a home that I own

I have meat on my bones

I have more furniture than I need

I have electricity and clean water

I have a bed

I have a blog I can rant on

I have happiness

I have had love

I have been loved

I have found peace with myself

I have choices

I have freedom

I have made a list

I HAVE a list

I have a list that is only a fraction of what I am thankful for.

Find peace, love and acceptance within yourself, for yourself. Life will bend to you.

It's a fact, Jack.

Peace. Out. Dale

Fun Post

OK, so my last post on Friday was kinda whiney and self absorbed...sorry, but this is where the voices in my head dwell.

On a better note, the holiday Schultz and Rankin/Bass classics are rearing their much anticipated heads much to my super-sized glee. Yep, they've been around as long as my memory serves and I hope they never go away. The best Christmas...not HOLIDAY, shows ever.

Even though I'm not of the Christian denomination, I love Christmas because it commands belief in people and hope. We always need hope, love and humanity and I always hope that the the love within our humanity will prevail.

Get ready for many posts in the coming weeks about all of the above and much more. You know the voices can go on and on about things trivial and relavant (to them anyway).

Next Tuesday, 8pm, 11/27 is Charlie Brown Christmas....don't miss it or you're not a kid anymore....that would suck and I'm sorry for your loss.

Peace, nub ya! D...

Wow!.....That really sucked!

Yeah Friday! This work week (even though I was off on Thursday), totally sucked! Nothing has seemed to go right. Frustration was the theme of the week...haven't experienced that in quite a while. It's already been decided that will not be repeated next week.... Outside of work, it's all good.

At work this week I just had to keep thinking of something I heard somewhere......

"If the mountain were smooth, you couldn't climb it".

Peace yall.

Added a new element.....check out the header

I was checking out my friend Enoch's blog and noticed a photo he took that is totally incredible.

He's an extremely talented photographer. I've always loved taking photos myself, but never to the extent of others that I have come across. ...he's one of 'em.

It really is a true gift to be able to show others what you "see".

I added it to the header of this blog, I'm sure if this is not cool he'll let me know, but in the meantime I plan on enjoying it.

These are Roman milestones, but this is about one of mine...

Milestones are kind of bittersweet. They can leave a little bit of sadness for the time that has passed and will never be tasted again, but can also be sweet as they always leave the memory of the taste and the yearning and drive for more of it. Sweet addiction to life.

Kinda sad that I nearly tripped over the little stone that marked one year of selling my house, the end of a 10 year relationship and the beginning of one of the most fulfilling years of my life.

Last November 10th, my ex and I sold our home and I purchased my condo......one whole year has passed. I have found great joy and freedom, personal peace and a rebirth of ME...ALL OF ME!

The previous 10 years of my life is in no way a regret. I learned a tremendous amount about my strenghts and weaknesses. The greatest thing about those years is the friendships and family I have been given. They were there to share in the stronger moments and shore me up during the weaker moments even while they may have been having those weaker moments themselves. I'm very happy for the inanimate things in my life, but truly greatful for the beautiful people that have let me into theirs.

Ya might think it's a little early to be counting blessings.. it's something I did infrequently in the past, but have learned that it is and should be a daily ritual.

If you stop, just for a whole sixty seconds, everyday and look at your surroundings and think of the people in your life, you will know you are among the luckiest people in the world.

Special props to The Mama, Sammy, Gabrielle, Lesli, Steve, Gabby, Celeste and Patte......thanks for standing up for me when I needed it and also for staring me down when i needed it. Much LOVE. Me.

Ralaxing Weekend...Ahhhh

Didn't do too much, just hung loose, did a couple of chores, got some groceries and watched HGTV, Football and movies.

Movies were pretty cool.

Watched Mr. Brooks (thanks Knockie) a pretty creepy movie. Not really into Kevin Costner that much, but all in all, a pretty good movie.

Fantastic Four, The Silver Surfer.....great escapism.....love the superheroes, guess I'll never grow out of that.

Hostel 2....... Not as gory as the first one, got to be somewhat campy....not recommended for horror genre fanatics like me.

Yeah, I know, sounds pretty boring, but I'm pretty recharged too, so it's all good. Peace.

True Confessions.....

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!I NEED to dance! Next stop, Dancing With The Stars....BooYah!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !

Happy Halloween!

Here's a really fun picture of my friends Thom and Ray's boy Brutus! Bark at the moon!

Role Playing

It's the day before Halloween (Halloween Eve?) and all the talk about costumes and dressing up reminded me of a pretty funny video someone had sent me quite a while back.

CAUTION/CUIDADO:

Not safe for work, definitely not safe for right wingers, conservatives, prudes, legislators of morality, etc....

There has, of course, been talk of ghouls, goblins and the omnipresent BOGGIEMAN!

The creep many of us dreaded in the dark when we were small, I'm glad to see there are some brave children out there ready to take him on.......check it out. Kassie kicks butt!

A Call To Young Americans

I was poking around You Tube's politics posts and found another great rant from Davis Fleetwood.....a call to action for America's next movers and shakers. ....aka da chil'uns

Check it out HERE

Hang in there Roni......

Which Witch is which....... palms have been up sending you and yours a shield.

Peace and cover....Dale

The Black and The White

Read something that became my quote of the day and a thought to carry for all the days.

Life is 10% Black. Life is 10% White. Life is 80% Gray.

The gray can go either to black or white, you decide that.

Peace....Dale

If everyone cared and nobody cried

Got to feelin a lil bit exasperated again watching the news tonight when the top story was the collegiate ranking of the local college team and other tasty morsels on the smorgasbord of crapola. This too was followed by some incidentallies and then finally, they remembered that there was a "war" and gave todays body count. Another Whadafxup moment.

Let us not forget what's happening folks.

While hoping that a lot of us do still care about what matters...thought of a song I'd heard...kinda made me feel like someone else was thinking outside the boobtube too... kinda cool.

Thanks Nickelback for my 'today's musical interlude'.

Click here if you want to see my musical interlude. (doh! kinda on the boobtube-ish thing too.)

Peace, Love ya

Al Gore - Nobel Peace Prize Winner

As disappointing as it was to watch Al Gore get shafted in the election outcome a few short years ago, it's kinda nice to see the good guy win.....win BIG!

To be honored with recognition of this caliber is amazing. Applause, Applause, Applause!

An Inconvenient Truth leaves most all that see it with a renewed respect for Mother Earth and a better understanding of personal responsibility in her care.

To those of you who pishawed me, touting the "other studies" that dispute the message, I say to you again.... while you read these alternative messages, look at the sources. Many of these organizations (i.e. Global Climate Coalition and the Information Council on the Environment) that seek to reposition global warming as theory rather than fact are in fact created and funded by individual companies and industry associations—representing petroleum, steel, autos and utilities, for instance.... those with the largest carbon footprints and no plan to do anything but take the money and run.

Another interesting opinion from Davis Fleetwood can be found by clicking on his name.

Finger Lakes, the 'saga' continues

OK, back to the saga.....

Sunday was a beautiful reminder of the riches in my life.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.....As your higher power as my witness....I worked my ass off. Painted, painted and painted. Walls, ceilings, baseboards, window/door trims and doors. My sciatic nerves still are in recovery. I jokingly told The Mama that she still has not forgotten how to work her kids to death (I used to accuse her of this in childhood). We laughed, I silently suffered like a big whiner.

The painting turned out so well that on Thursday, The Mama now wanted to dress the windows! YIKES! Little does she know that I'm missing that gene, but off to the mall we go (45 mins away) to look at curtains and the assundry window accessories. Sweet mercy....save me someone! We end up with some curtains for her bedroom and the living room.....along with the "extras".....decorative rods, sheers, drapes, valances, scalloped tiers (I did learn something).

Thursday was basically spent putting up all the brackets, rods, thingamajigs, and doodads that keep the material in the windows.

Friday! Yea! I got The Mama to drive me to the local Harley store so that I could get my souvenier T-Shirts. I also got her to take me to Seneca Lake (the Finger Lake that is in the middle of town). It was a little chilly, but oh, the trees and Canadian Geese, wild flowers...can't see that in FL.

The Mama is kinda jaded to these things and found it hard to understand me just standing there and "staring", I wanted to burn as much of the beauty as possible into my mind.

Friday night, more time with the Bingo Junkies that look like my cousin, her partner and partner's sister. LOL......we had SO MUCH FUN!

Saturday morning, I woke up at 4am to get ready for the flight home. Went walking out on Mom's back deck in my usual morning getup....shorts, tank and barefeet.......OMG..WTF it's 45 degrees......ran back in like a big giant puss and put on some clothes.

The flight home, was actually one of the trips highlights. I was sitting on the 2 seat side of the plane (window seat). This Big RedHead sits next to me. We look at each other and start laughing! Holy Shit....I've found another long lost soul friend. We hit it off IMMEDIATELY and proceeded to belly laugh ALL THE WAY back to Tampa. We laughed about everything and nothing....so much so that we were annoying many fellow travelers (the couple in front of us pushed their seats back really hard into our knees). There were 3 women in the row behind us on the other side that kept wanting to come sit in her seat so that they could laugh too (loved them). The flight attendants thought we'd lost our minds, but the laughter kept them coming back and we got lots of tiny biscotti's and cokes (just what we needed...more sugar).

To sum all this up......I have not spent this much time with The Mama since I was a teenager.

How much you can miss in life if you don't tend to it. This will never happen again.

The drive to the airport was a long, cathartic "moment". Share love with everyone in your life....it's a real short visit.

That pretty much sews it up..............Peace, Love and Thanks to The Mama....

Finger Lakes, NY

So I'll try to break this past week down to fit in a nutshell. Prolly gonna be more like a coconut shell.

Sunday morning, after getting about 3 hrs of sleep (very anxious, sleep did not come easy) i wake up at 245am. I stumble about trying to fix the Good Morning Juice through some very reluctant eyeballs.

At 4am its off to the airport. I stand outside smoking a butt still trying to pull my wits together enough to get through the check in/security ordeal. All goes well, They didn't find anything over 3 liquid ounces that may make the plane explode so, on to the plane and off to the North.

After a brief stop in Atlanta, off to Rochester NY. When we land the pilot comes on the mic and says something that sounded like the Peanuts "waa whaaa waa whaaa, waa whaa". I turned to the woman next to me and ask, "what did he say?" She responds with it's clear and 58 degrees.
SWEET MERCY! 58 degrees and here I am in shorts and a short sleeve shirt. Thankfully I brought some leather.

So we all deplane and I'm walking through the airport and spot a guy that was on my flight....Dude, 'cuse me, where's the baggage claim? "Follow me, I'm going that way" Cool....a local. So we walk a short way and he points me down a corridor and says, just follow the signs and you're all set. OK, thanks man, but I've got one more question for you....where is the shuttle? He looked a little confused and asked me "what shuttle?" Why, the shuttle to the main terminal, says I. The guy started laughing and said, "Dude, there is not shuttle, this is the airport, we're not that big here". Oh, thanks for helping me out.

I stand outside looking like a kook with my white cargo shorts, sneakers and leather jacket on. Folks are driving by me staring, prolly thinking, he must not be from around here.

I'm waiting outside the terminal at the arriving flights curb waiting for the Mama to pick me up and my cell phone rings. "Dale, it's Mom....I'm here and don't see you...wave your arms." I do.
Again, more staring cause there's not another vehicle around. Turns out, Mom is waiting for me in the departing flights section......we laugh, I continue to wait and shiver while being looked at like I just came out of a manhole.

Mom finds me and we take the 'hella scenic' route back to Geneva. I keep asking whats up for the afternoon and dinner and she's just real vague....."we'll figure something out".

So we get to her new house and there are my cousins waiting in her backyard for me. The smiles were incredible to see. After a lot of hugs, tears I got the plan....they had planned a big ole BBQ in my honor (choke, sniff). I haven't seen some off my peeps in well over a decade. I 'remet' their kids, now grown adults and marveled at how much they'd all aged.

When I used to go see my cousins we'd always hang and then go out partying....now we did what they do now......yep....BINGO! Shhhh, If you tell anyone, I'll call ya a liar to your face!

More to come tomorrow, been a long day and need to keep the carpel tunnel at bay.

I hate packing

I LOVE travel, but I HATE packing....not dislike, but hate. So while I dwell on what to pack, I sit here doing a couple of things I do extremely well....procrastinating and surfing the web. Yes, I can do these things simultaneously, WHAT A TALENTED GUY I AM!

While surfing (dood) I came across something a little strange and it reminded me that I have a whole assortment of "odd" things I've found. I have decided to share a few with you. Maybe a little disturbing at first, but there can be some humor found in them too. Believe me, I have more and I'll share them another time.

#1 Hello Kitty Gun - WTF? This is disturbing on many levels.

#2 Sex Snorkel.....OK now, how demanding is she? Really?

#3 Jonny Glow...... Even has it's own animated "mascot" PeeDude. Click to see it yourself.

A big fat F.U. to the bullies of the world ROCK ON!

Almost forgot that I wanted to jump on the bandwagon of RIGHT ON's to a couple of seniors in a Nova Scotia high school!

In case you haven't heard, a 9th grader was being harassed for wearing a pink polo shirt to the first day of school. Some jerks were calling him a homo and the like.

Well, a couple of 12th grade guys heard what the kid endured that day and decided to do something about it. These guys went out to a discount store, bought 50 pink tanktops. They went home and started emailing their peers and got more help than they anticipated.

The next day they handed out the shirts in the lobby and the school was, er, flush with pink.

This completely ticked off the bullies, but what could they do when most of the school was united against them. The story is really cool, so if you want to read it from their local paper just click HERE.

Pink..... it's the new black!

Leaving for NY on the Vernal Equinox

So tomorrow morning I'm on a 6am flight to NY to visit family and see some folks I haven't seen in nearly 25 yrs. Really looking forward to it. Will be spending the first couple days painting Mom's newly acquired house. Hoping to get it done fairly quickly so I can have a couple days to just hang out, kick back and relax.

Only thing is...what the H E double hockeysticks was happening when I booked a 6am flight? I'll have to be up by 3am to get enough caffeine in me to get my fat ass to the airport by 430.

An additional definition of the word FRIEND: A person that is willing to get your butt to an airport at 4 o'clock in the morning.

PS: Am now being more aware of my surroundings and wary of any tap dancing in the men's rooms. Who knew a little softshoe was some kind of morse code.

WTF do I think? More of my bitchin'

I have been asked 3x in the last eleven days "Dale, What do you think about .....?"

It's normally kinda flattering when asked your opinion...or so you'd think

How about this...

Q: Dale, what do you think about/what's your opinion on dot dot dot?

A: Blah blah blah..Dale's jargon, blah blah blah..more experience explained..blah blah blah

Then to be faced with a face full of dejection or anger because I didn't give the "right answer"?

What is this horseshit? Don't ask ANYONE what they think if all you want is for them to tell you what you WANT to hear.

Grow up and give the rest of us prophets and seers a break. Love ya! Suck it!

BTW....weather was BEAUTIFUL today...totally awesome Florida day....Low humidity, 88 degrees, strong breezes...Lovin it with my positive peeps and hopin for you negative freaks.

2,974 Blessings Lost.....Have you acknowledged your blessings lately......

184 lights were dimmed at the Pentagon

United 93 held 40 Blessings that were set free of earthly bindings in a field in Pennsylvania

Life is Good

Nothing out of the ordinary the last couple of days. The shorter work week was cool. Charlie invited Ric, Tim and I over for dinner Saturday night. Went to breakfast this morning in St Pete with Ric, Charlie, Nick and Phyllis. Bucs first "official" season game is on in a few minutes.

And, yes.......Life IS good.

Work Work Work, Ahhh a day off from the grind

Not really sure why twice now sock monkeys are feelin me, but once again there one is. Not even actually looking for them, but just doing my usual Google searches and they seem to be popping up.

Had a great Labor Day weekend. Spent Friday night just getting back into sync with myself after another busy week.

Saturday, our intent was to go to a BBQ with a bunch of friends in Gulfport and then all head out to the Gecko Festival. Never ended up getting to the festival because after a lot of food and drink, the chairs all came into a very large circle and the conversation and laughter lasted a lot longer than anticipated. Before we knew it, it was nearly midnight and time for home.

Sunday was spent running errands and then to an evening of pizza and one of those sunsets that only come after a very welcome early evening monsoon cools it all down for the night. Lots of pink and gold in the sky lighting up all of the lingering dark clouds.

Monday....Painting Ric's bathroom and the soffet(sp?) in his kitchen and hanging out just relaxing enjoying a paid Monday off.

Jenna Bush Engaged, Texas Keg Distributors in a Panic

With the engagement party blowout, the inevitable couple’s shower sloshfest, the “let’s choose stationary” and wedding dress fitting happy hours, and the 17-day bachelorette party leading up to the 172 kegger reception at the ranch, Texas residents may want to start stocking up on booze rations now.

And we would expect the tightest security in history, as the Secret Service struggles to keep Dick Cheney unarmed and prevent leaked photos of W. doing Jello shots out of Condi’s navel.

In a statement, the White House confirmed the good news, writing "President and Mrs. Bush are happy to accept the resignation of Jenna Bush.

A Man and the Moon

Hmmmmmmmm........ A Lunar Eclipse and Roberto Gonzales announcing his resignation all within the same 24 hr period of time.

Still doubting the powers and goodness of the moon Goddess?

'Nuff said.

Peace.

Post Turtle

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75-year old Texas rancher, whose hand was caught in a gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to former Texas Governor, George W. Bush and his elevation to the White House.

The old Texan said, "Well, ya know, Little Georgie Bush is just a ' post turtle'." Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a 'post turtle'was.

The old rancher said, "When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle."

The old man saw a puzzled look on the doctor's face, so he continued to explain, "You know he didn't get there by himself, he doesn't belong there,he doesn't know what to do while he's up there, and you just want to help the dumbshit get down before he hurts himself."

Pay It Forward

Went to Albertson's after work yesterday to pick up a few things. Got to the express lane with my basket of stuff and started emptying it on the belt. I noticed a guy behind me with a bag of parsley or some type of herb. I asked him if he wanted to step in front of me. He smiled, nodded and thanked me.

He finished paying for his bag of herbs and turned around said thanks again and gave me a card for a free meal at Pollo Tropical! Turned out he was a manager at the newly opened franchise. Cool Beans!

It was a nice reminder that being nice normally doesn't cost anything but a few seconds of your time and also inspires others to be kind in return....maybe not to you, but to someone they stumble across.

Keep the happiness level of the world at maximum capacity people!

When You Are In Deep Trouble, Look Straight Ahead, Keep Your Mouth Shut and Say Nothing.

Kathy Griffin

Went to Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater last night to see Kathy Griffin. Frigin' HILARIOUS! The woman is a self professed "D-List" celebrity, and I think she'll never rise above maybe C-List only because she skewers everyone and anyone in Hollywood with her observations and sharp tongue.

Kathy Griffin..in Clearwater...Oh Yeah she ripped the Scientologists to shreds...along with their savior Tom Cruise, The Clear One.

One more comedian in town this week.....remember Judy Tenuta? Oh yeah, the Love Goddess is coming to The Improv.

Two "moons" on August 27, 2007 - BIG FAT LIE

Just got an email stating:

Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky Starting August.
It will look as large as the full moon to the naked Eye. This will happen On Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles of earth. Be sure to watch The sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am. It will look like the earth has 2 moons. The Next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.
Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY Will ever see it again.

This a BFL.......Check it out HERE to read why if you don't believe me.

Cute, but still kinda sad.

I almost forgot to put this out here.

Yesterday, on my way to St Pete, I needed to stop at the bank to get a little bit of cash. I pulled in through the ATM drive around thing. I was pulling up along the drive thru windows just before the ATM and couldn't believe it....at the jog in the building, there was a mama duck sitting on what looked to be about a dozen eggs.

At first I thought how cute, how cool and snapped a pic with the cellphone and pulled up to do my business with the machine. While I was waiting for it to spit out my cash, I was looking around at the 4 lane road and at the mini strip mall across the street and thought this is really kinda sad. The mama was probably at a loss as to where to lay her eggs with all the development around. Since there are really no trees or bushes around, she found the mulch at the side of a stone building in the shade as the best bet. That's really wrong.

I was glad to see that the employees, or someone, was empathetic/sympathetic enough to put out some fresh water for the mama.

Makes you rethink priorities when you see more nature displaced for our own selfish conveniences.

La Vie En Rose

Went to see La Vie En Rose this afternoon at the Paradiso Beach Theater on St Pete Beach....what a great movie. It is a biopic of Edith Piaf. Not a pick-me-up, but awesome music and performances. HIGHLY recommend it. If you want to check out the movie site before going, Just click HERE.