A Complaint Free World

This non-profit organization contemplates the positive impact of a complaint free world. Suggesting that people try to remain complaint free for 21 days, and after that, they say, uncomplaining behavior will turn into habit. Cool concept!

A Dream Come True, Well Sort Of...

When I sleep, I dream. And when I dream, I dream vividly. Always in color and with, what seems to be, purpose. Typically, I know that I'm dreaming, and I have a slight ability to alter what is going on; if I try. Also, I have no problem remembering my dreams when I wake up. Normally my dreams help me see things in my life from a different prospective. Like a bridge, my dreams connect my subconscious to my conscious mind. Sometimes they can have a foreshadowing quality about them. My dreams don't necessarily predict exact events, but they do allude to certain situations or people. This brings me to the real topic of my post, which is a dream I had the other night...

So, I was in my aunt and uncle's house, and immediately I knew something was wrong. I walked into the living room and a short, fat, balding man, who looked about 50 was lying in a pool of blood- obviously dead. I screamed and ran up stairs. Then there was a period of time that elapsed and I came out of the bedroom I was staying in. I saw my cousin(one of six brothers in the family) and this feeling of fear came over me. I ran up and gave him a hug. I told him I was really scared and didn't know what to do. Then he was gone and I was back downstairs, and there was no body. I started to question my aunt and of course she looked at me like I was crazy. She introduced me to this weird older lady and then I woke up.

After I woke up I had a real uneasy feeling. My grandpa who is 92 lives in that house, and I haven't heard from any of them in a while. So, I decided I would call and make sure they were ok. Well, I hadn't gotten around to it yet, and later that evening I got a phone call. It turns out my grandfather had a heart attack about 4 weeks ago and no one told me. He is doing ok, but there is really nothing the doctors can do as far as a full recovery. He's just old. :(

Anyway, strange...my dreams just have a way about them.

Fast Food Lethargy

About every six months or so I make the mistake of eating at McDonald's. It seems that after a certain amount of time the effects of Super Size Me (great documentary) ware off, and I conveniently forget that eating anything from this popular fast food establishment renders me so lethargic that I am virtually incapacitated for the rest of the day. After such incidences, I can be found sprawled out on the couch trying to recover from, an all to familiar, sodium induced coma. Yesterday, the seemingly harmless Egg McMuffin meal was my downfall. Hopefully, now that I have all this documented I can avoid future occurrences. Some how I doubt it.

Love After Love

I started reading The Time Traveler's Wife, and before I even made it to the prologue I came across this poem by Derek Walcot. I like it. A different sort of love poem.

Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

Derek Walcott

Help Stop Puppy Mills!

It’s the Holidays…so give to a good cause. Help the Humane Society expose puppy mills, and pass legislation to make them illegal. Click Here to Donate

And if you are giving someone a puppy this season make sure you adopt from your local shelter or dog rescue. :)

Teacher Calls Police After Hearing Guns N' Roses On PA

This is so funny; I had to post! :) Apparently a teacher in Connecticut mistook someone singing the Guns N' Roses song Welcome to the Jungle for a death threat. You know..."You're in the jungle baby; you're gonna die." She even barricaded herself in a classroom. I couldn't help but laugh at this story!

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Rescuing Sprite

The last book I read was called Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish by Mark Levin. What a great book! I laughed, I cried, etc, etc. What I really loved was how this seemingly typical story, of a family, their pet dog, and his life and death, turned out to have a lot of substance. In fact, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone suffering from the loss of a pet. I wish this book had been around a few years back; my life took a sharp downward turn when I lost both of my dogs, unexpectedly, within the span of 4 weeks. In Rescuing Sprite, Levin touches on some deep philosophical stuff, and at one point with an unlikely source-Rush Limbaugh. So grab your your pet, curl up, and read Rescuing Sprite. It's certainly worth your time!

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year

Thought this was interesting. Merriam-Webster Online held a vote for their word of the year, and this word was the winner.
1. w00t (interjection)
expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word "yay"
w00t! I won the contest!
These words were the runner ups.
facebook
conundrum
quixotic
blamestorm
sardoodledom
apathetic
Pecksniffian
hypocrite
charlatan

Journeyman is Canned...Damn!

I don't like to watch too much TV, so I try not to get hooked on new shows, but once in a while I'll catch one that is just too good to turn off. Journeyman is one I can't resist. In the vain of Quantum Leap, Journeyman in it's basic form is about a time traveler whose purpose is to travel through time to change the outcome of different situations. I love a good time traveling adventure, so naturally I'm pretty perturbed with the network's decision to not continue the show into next season. In fact, they are not even finishing this season past the episodes they already have filmed. Ok, so my thought is... what is wrong with the avarage american TV viewer? They can sit for hours captivated by brain dead shows like Deal or No Deal, but can't even tune in for one hour a week of time traveling fun. Blah!

The Murderer is Sentenced

Today Michael Vick was sentenced in Federal Court for his role in a dogfighting ring. (aka- horribly torturing and murdering innocent dogs for profit) I could get into the specifics, but everyone knows by now the brutal way the dogs were treated. I guess I am pleased with his sentence which includes 23 months in jail, (of course he won't do the full time, but at least it's something.), a fine of $5,000, and 3 years of probation after he is released.
So after I read the article, I started to think about how much positive impact this case and all the publicity surrounding it is bound to have on preventing and stopping dogfighting rings in the future. That thought made me happy! And I would like to say that if I was in charge of Vick's sentencing I would insist that he pay his $5,000 fine, if not more, directly to an animal shelter.

The Boxer

My neighbor's dog has captured my heart! This beautiful boxer is left outside ,to pace in a tiny concrete yard, nearly all day and night. He wines, whimpers, and tries to jump over our shared gate to play with my dogs. I'm afraid that one day he will actually make it over and end up hurting himself. Poor guy!

Bundle of Cuteness

My cousin Alicia's newborn Ira. This picture made my day! At first I thought he was yawning, but he may be screaming. Aww, what a cute baby!

Photo Contest Winner

Kudos to my dad for winning 4th place in the nature category of Oceanside Magazine's photo contest! The picture is appropriately titled "Crooked Tree on the Strand." Visit his website for more photography.