And the real meaning is.......................

The fair is over. I suppose the real meaning of life wasn't to be found at the fair. We missed the chickens and then in addition to the art, which may be the real meaning after all, we wandered off into the part of the fair that isn't really part of the fair. I remember "Pleasure land" was the name of the little group of rides just to the North of Ross Park. A merry go round, a Farris Wheel, and a place that sold Cotten Candy come to mind. I remember the horses on the Merry Go Round. They seemed to have a "life of their own" and often over the years as I have looked a little closer when I see a MGR Horse and it seems to me that the Merry Go Round horses are a step into a new world. The new world I see when I look closer is fantasy to some but reality once you arrive..................... Perhaps the horse is just bored, maybe it was Alice who was bored reading her book. Maybe a white rabbit would soon run by. Bet he would be wearing a coat and carrying a watch, and just worrying about being running late. Folks in the real world who are late probably aren't worried about it, by the way. I suppose the horse wouldn't fit, but Alice would, so she follows and goes down the rabbit hole. In this new world, that is anything but old, one falls very slowly. She falls and at the bottom is a hallway and it has nothing but doors and they all seemed locked. A key is found, then a door, and it opens into a beautiful garden. I suppose Alice is still in the real world, that is also old, and she, in her earthly state, can't fit through the door so she looks around and on a table in the hall, did I mention that the hall of doors had a table, sees a bottle. The fine print that is pretty big actually says, "drink me". In this new world your food has labels telling you what to do rather than what is in it. It didn't say why she should drink by the way but it did causes her to shrink to a size small enough to fit through the door. Well that is the point. What I am saying is going through that door is the pont. Horses on Merry Go Rounds can be a way to slide into a new world, and get to and through the door, and once you do you learn the real meaning of life..........................................

a new post. the name will change soon, I suppose

This first draft blog will be added to later, maybe. Last weekend I had over 100 people from 7 or 8 countries come on to this blog. Now normally I have 5 or 6 at most on the weekends and during the week a lot less check this blog so I have to ask myself "why" did I have all those hits last week. A few seemed to stay on the blog for a long time? The blog meter that is a no charge way to find this stuff out gave me this information. Not that I go looking for this feedback it just automatically shows up every Thursday and is interesting, at least it was this last week. Maybe some word captured some sort of sort?

you can't rollar skate in a buffalo herd

You can't rollar skate in a Buffalo herd
But you can be happy if you have a mind to
You can't take a shower in a parakeet cage
But you can be happy if you have mind to
Lyric's by Roger Miller

















Today started out the day by talking to the cat. Not that this happens much but it is one thing that made today different. It sort of is a reality check . Then yesterday I misspelled "roam" implying that the buffalo had been in the "room" perhaps. Course cowboys don't spell but I am about as far off from being a cowboy as you can get. The other day I asked a young person how to spell nozzle. Somehow I had it in my mind that it must be "nossel" but that looked weird. So I asked and no one knew how to spell it. That seems weird looking back. How hard can it be to be able to find someone that can spell nozzle.

Might be a buffalo in the room, or maybe they are just out roaming

Home on the range............. this weekend. About to go out and run 10. In the movie "Dances with Wolves" I particularly liked a scene where our hero was sleeping and it seemed like the earth was shaking and thunder was all around. He got up and ran to the top of a small hill and it was the "buffalo". It was a great scene. Running a long run leaves one plenty of time to contemplate everything, and then nothing, and at times both thoughts follow each other. One is not necessarily any better than the other. In fact it may really be the case that rather than "everything vs's nothing" the real issue may be whether the sky it truly inspiring, the sun perhaps reflecting just right and the air in ones face. Worth stopping with ones hat tipped down and giving it all some thought or maybe thinking about nothing.................................

The other side of the street.

I have preferred to have a pencil in hand at work. I have been guilty of biting my pencils, a lot. Likewise I like longer pencils and I like to keep them sharp. Electric pencil sharpeners are useful. Good erasers are a plus. I have a few journals near my desk at home. The one I open the most is my running log. Looking over at the journals I notice the running one and find that I also have inside this one "several sections". The first section, after the running section, is titled "Funny". The first page has a cartoon showing a cow laying on a couch in a Head Dr's Office. The caption says, "No, I wouldn't call you a mad cow exactly- I'd say you're a cow with issues". Truth is I have meet a number of those folks over the years. Another says, "For the next 27 days I'll be conducting a non-stop sales meeting on why we're not making enough sales calls". The next tab is titled "Correspondence with friends and family". This one is pretty weak since my contacts files in my email are hundreds of times larger. Next is "Thoughts and Poems" Some of these I wrote. Some are quote copies. Most are in a larger file on the desktop. The next is "Friends Past". Pictures............ Mark L., Norris W., a note from Garr, a cousin, and a cute little boy from the past. Somewhere I have a picture of Klppinburt standing by his 1940 something K whopper I need to find and get in this book. Not a lot of stuff really but somewhere to park the pictures. I do have others. A little book titled "Notes on Trip to Korea" another titled "Daily thoughts, Family Photos. ect". In this one I have a section where I just wrote whatever I thought of on some days. On 1/20/08 I wrote "Monday Tomorrow is KJ's birthday." Another section on Family where I pasted in a picture of a Pillsbury Doughboy getting run over by a big old steam roller. One person for sure will laugh again when she reads this. Below I have three larger books. Each is a picture album. Then another is a bunch of stuff on history of some relatives. A little to the right of these books are a dozen or so binders full of stuff.

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Last night I was reading a book about reading, again. Ann Q. wrote this little book and it is interesting to see her present her love of reading by telling the reader over and over that she grew up loving reading more than anything else. She claimed that as a youth she would prefer to stay inside and read to anything. I think that would have been fine but then I can't claim that anything like that was true for me. I enjoyed getting out and my challenge was trying to see what the world really was.

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Asked about "social structure" for a project by a great young man I wondered a bit if we can really move our own social structure. I recall how motivating it was as a young person to visit cousins I had who had lived in many places across the country and seemed to really be into books by the way. It was clear to me that they lived in a world that I didn't know and I wanted to move into that world.

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The key to moving in a positive direction in life is knowledge. Even, no I think especially knowledge of what is on the other side of the street is critical. For the author who loved reading more than anything it was a tool to seeing the other side of the street. One ought to. and in my opinion should want to know more, to learn more, to understand more, to be able to think deeper.

Cows, Rabbits, Pie, Photo's and Heuvos

Huevos Rancheros, is potentially a new menu item at work. I took the HR picture and KJ "touched it up" some. Since my last picture, from a couple of weeks back, was just of a couple of feet (mine) this may be a jump into "beyond", to post this picture. It may well be the case that this blog is "winding down", at least for a while. Feet, breakfast menu items, may or may not be an improvement in posting of daily thoughts? The direction is indeed changing. Probably the best item I could write about in terms of the last weeks activities would be the "revelation" of MJ's laptop password. Seems at though he mentioned "that place that remains nameless" followed by "three six's", and used it as a password at his work. I will say that the best part of this insightful approach was to have watched his Mom laugh "hard" when told. Looking back at the week lots of things stand out. We went to the "Fair". This is the last time I am going to stand in line and wait for a piece of pie. It was good. Kj's was better. She had the Apple Green Chile pie. It looked very good. It was a surprise to find at the fair only a very small "Photography" building. What really sort of stood out was the big old poultry barn full of rabbits in cages. It is interesting to see the different little "rabbit faces" and all the different sort of personalities. I can tell you rabbits seem to be more individualistic that cows. Then on the other hand the disappointment of the day was the fact that the poultry barn, being full of rabbits, meant that there were no roosters. We asked a lady in the Rabbit barn where the roosters were. She said they were at her house? She added that in a couple of days the rabbits were leaving and the roosters, and hens I suppose, were coming. Big disappointment my fair buddy. Loved the fair. Another highlight was watching the show Mama Mia for the 2nd time. 3rd for my companion. I have given some thought as too what show MJ and I might go see next week when I am "on my own" while KJ is up North having a great time. So that ends the short recap of theme of what we each found

in this place called "the last little while".......
William Butler Yeats

O Rocky Voice, Shall we in that great night rejoice?

What do we know but that we face

One another in this place?

But hush, for I have lost the theme,

Its joy or night-seem but a dream

feet 2

The picture was taken because my legs were so brown not necessarily because my feet looked like they had been dipped in bleach. They weren't by the way. I suppose it could be concluded that this blog "hit bottom", finally, but then if we put it up to vote the problem is that we only have about 5 registered voters.................... and that total might be a little overconfident on my part. If the total it is true however I figure my vote counts "6 times". Anyway after 10 miles today it wasn't my legs that were tired but I was indeed a little more tired than usual.
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I forwarded a copy of this picture to my running friend of 25 years, up North, just to say hello, so I have gotten a lot of "mileage" out of this picture. Since it is "Labor Day" I guess ? there is more to celebrate than my feet.
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Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed

on the first Monday in September. The holiday originated

in 1882 as the Central Labor Union (of New York City)

sought to create "a day off for the working citizens".

Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most

Americans as the symbolic end of the summer

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Summer ending today with this holiday and that is ok since Fall is the best time of year in my opinion. Today was the first day that I opened my office window and just let the air come in.

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The Poet’s Mind
Vex not thou the poet’s mind

With thy shallow wit;

Vex not thou the poet’s mind,

For thou canst not fathom it.

Clear and bright it should be ever,

Flowing like a crystal river,

Bright as light, and clear as wind.
Alfred Lord Tennyson

Fire

Do not go gentle into that good night
By Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end

know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

This week an old guy took me aside and mentioned the word "geezer patrol". I was pleased that he wasn't referring to me and may have felt some relief from the "patrol" in just talking to me but then how we see our self may not always be close to how others see us. Actually I think how we see our self has a lot to do with how others see us but the more interesting issue is what is it that old men fear. Dylan Thomas's poem captures it well. The dying of the light. Does the "fire' within us rage and burn and get stronger or is it dying. The light or fire within is the question. The dictionary says that fire is the heat and light energy released during a chemical reaction. Depending on the substances alight, and any impurities within, the color of the flame and the fire's intensity might vary.

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I think that "tears" may be the indicator of heat and fire and even light. Within we "feel strongly" and the heat drives the "tears" outward.

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Things that bring tears

Little Girls

Little Boys

Soft songs

Stories of Love

Loved Ones

Family

The Lord

Flowers

Sky

Mountains

Testimony

Wind

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."

Today's walk with KJ had a little crispness in the air. Enough so to make it comfortable and enough to make some movement of the air noticeable. One of the things I like about running is the "air'. The air made me think of the scripture above. It was an interesting way to show Nicodemus that his own worldly knowledge and experiences was just not enough to understand the things of God. Of course he who told him this probably knew the answers to his questions and all he had to do was believe or just want to believe.

Earth

KJ took this picture and posted it on her blog. The picture is just amazing. The flower is pretty good too. Capturing this image is a talent that helps one stay positive. The other day I was driving behind a car and saw a bumper sticker. It said something about the "Earth" and I at first figured it would be a save the earth type comment and would be more or less political in motive. Anyway I had to speed up a little to really see what it said but it said............"We don't own the Earth, the Earth owns us". As impressed as I was with the thought I don't claim to have it down exactly here today but the thought is pretty significant. When you see a flower like this or look up to the mountains it is pretty clear that the "Earth" indeed is in charge as far as were concerned. I have always been amazed when I fly somewhere and as I look out of the window down at the Earth. It is so much bigger than we often think. Our place on the Earth and in the Universe is pretty small yet we find so much of the real beauty of it all "at our disposal".

A truck, brownie and the morning pages

A few years ago I was reading a book about writing and it offered some advice that in a way this blog has sort of been the application of for me. The advice was to write everyday and to write for a while about "nothing". Nothing really is better described as just writing about whatever crosses your mind. The book called that process writing ones "morning pages". No suggestion was made that anyone but the writer would actually read the morning pages and that could be just as true for this blog. I have thought about printing out my blog pages and saving them in a small book since they do capture a lot of favorites, memories and "stuff".

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Looking back at the week things that stand out are:

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1. At work we added a "new brownie" to the menu. We needed a professional picture of the brownie quick. The project was given to KJ who, when I got home, took the shot.

2. I ran mid week 6 miles with a friend not having run at 5 AM midweek since we left the "cove"

3. Our home was taken off the market this week. No sign out front.

4. I played 18 rounds of Golf on Friday, something I haven't done in a few years.

5. Unpacked some of my "clutter" for my office making the office more like it was and what was missed for too many months.

North to Alaska, at least that is where the pictures were shot.

The flowers I posted yesterday came from an email a friend sent. Today another friend sent a email with a bunch of attachments and many of them were "bears". He used to live in Alaska and they went back to see the grandkids, ect., and he took a lot of "bear" pictures. Yes I did in fact send him an email asking how he could justify so many bear pictures and so few grandkid pictures? Wonder what his answer will be. Looks like a fine fine stream to be in, if of course the bear wasn't there.

Nice backdrop, great flowers

Is it possible that the "dirt" is as much of what makes this a great picture as the flowers? I recall times many years ago when I often saw these type of flowers on the side of a hill or in a field alone with sagebrush. That raises another question as to whether it is the memories that make the dirt and the flower so interesting?
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Growing up I lived by a river. The backyard was just dirt and these flowers found places to spring up. Across the river was a small park with many flowers and they had a place there also. I recall them on our Grandparents farm near the fences and in a country cemetery. Most of those places found the flowers growing in dirt more or less, alone.
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A picture can bring much more than what is first seen.

Good Movies...........................

One of the Best

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Writing about

movies that we like is pretty easy to do. It is especially easy if all you have to do is list the ones you like the best. I liked, Mamma Mia, Dances with Wolves, Peggy Sue Got Married, Somewhere in Time, 2001 a Space Odyssey, and a lot of others. As far as "the others" are concerned. Here ya go.................

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Apocalypse Now

(Back to the Future

Beetle Juice

Blues Brothers

Braveheart

Die Hard

Dumb & Dumber

Elephant Man

Escape from Alcatraz

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Few Good Men

Finding Nemo

Finding Neverland

Fish Called Wanda

Forrest Gump*

Fugitive

Gandhi

Ghost Busters

Good Morning, Vietnam

The (1985)Green Mile

Groundhog Day

Hamlet

Little Shop of Horrors

Mad Max

Matchstick Men

Matrix,

Million Dollar Baby

Monsters, Inc.

Once Upon a Time in America

Pirates of the Caribbean, all of them

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Platoon

Raging Bull

Raising Arizona

Romancing the Stone

Schindler’s List

Shawshank Redemption

Sixth Sense

Stand by Me

Star Wars all of them

Terminator all of them

Toy Story

Transformers:

Walk the Line

Wall Street

WarGames

When Harry Met Sally

professional skills of value are present in selling

Good writing is probably a little like salesmanship.
Selling is often thought of as a poor way to make a living or a less than polished approach to being part of society. I would disagree with that idea and suggest that being able to really sell something takes a great deal of skill. Selling in my opinion requires many skills and a great deal of thought and effort. First off I would reject the idea that we really every cause someone else to buy something they don't want or need and the idea of a "pushy" salesman tricking the buyer into something they don't want is "not salesmanship" and in fact is not really selling. The first question a seller needs to ask is what is it that the buyer wants or needs. This question requires often "asking" and always listening. If you know how to listen the question of how to sell answers itself. A customer or buyer or whomever you are talking to will tell you what they want or need if you ask the right questions. Nothing wrong with "what is it that you want?" as a question but often you have to go a lot deeper and various ways of asking "why" will open up those doors. So what if the person you are working with wants or needs something that you have no way of providing? Really finding out what a customer, buyer or person might really want takes a lot of listening. The process probably has a payoff in and of itself for both parties. Most people want to be understood. Honest feedback can be valued as much as if the actually need were filled. Or an honest answer that you have "no clue" as to how to provide what is needed by iteself can be fine. Also there is nothing wrong with suggesting where and how the need may be filled by someone else.
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Good writing fills a need for the reader. Selling can fill real for a buyer customer if the right approach and work is done in the process. A big difference in writing and selling for me is where the "voice" for the next step in the process comes from. In selling it is all about listening. In writing I listen but can't find the customer. I just hear my own voice and I guess I haven't really listened as of yet.
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Did someone say something?

We feed our thinking with our own choices

The name Lobo means wolf and the origin of the name is Spanish. Then again it has a lot to do with the University of New Mexico. When the Lobo's come to town it usually means one of the sports teams have landed.

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On my desk I have a picture of a "wolf" (No lobo pictures, except on this blog) with the words "feed the good wolf" on it. "Way back when"...................... I posted a story about "the good wolf and the bad wolf" inside each of us. The point was that the one that took control was the one that was fed. This all reminds me of a book I opened up yesterday that had a chapter titled "Zeal without Knowledge". It focused on the idea that we create ourself with each thought that we let go through our heads. Each of us has little choice but to "keep thinking" and the way our minds work is to move from one individual thought to another. The mind works with and focuses on whatever it is fed. Each choice of a thought expresses a preference and builds up the world we individually occupy. The conclusion of the chapter is that we create ourself. It also says that we can go a little overboard. Once we accept that we can "create ourself" we can become so focused on the process that the process itself is the overall goal. We become zealous in our foucs. Gaining real and lasting knowledge probably is a matter of choice rather than just a zealous desire. One can't hurry up and get smart, even if one chooses too........................ya think?

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Seeing with new eyes speeds up the process of change

I was looking at a book the other day and these words caught my attention:

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"there are some periods where creative and disruptive

forces reach maturity and combine to speed up

the normal process of change. We encounter the

clash and the fusion of old and new on every side,

in science and religion, politics and economics,

law and literature, music and architecture.

It is the impact of modernism upon medievalism

which gives the age its peculiar character. ........

it was in the name of conservative tradition

that the great rebellion in politics and religion was conducted."

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Now the question is when was this written and for what time period was this message intended. I have for the purpose of showing some clues as to "when" posted pictures of the shelf just about this computer. It could of course be about the 1920's or the 1950's or the 1960's or even the 1980's. Maybe this fits the last half of the 1800's. As a matter of fact I find the last half of the 1800's fascinating. Lincoln being at the center point of this time of change. Some might find the age of the computer in the late 90's and today to be a central point. Maybe it was just a few days ago when I just figured a poem of my own was fine. Who knows................

Well the book, as you will see in the picture, was "English Literature in the Earlier Seventeenth Century 1600 - 1660.

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Proust
The real voyage of discovery consists
not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes.

Solemn Light

The quality or condition of being solemn is what is meant by solemnity. Solemnity may be a trait rather than a particular "state" or condition. Solemnity, it would seem, must be "about something" . True beliefs, things that matter a lot. Whatever it is that is at the core or center impacts the outer layers. *

Land and sky, reach out
Embraced by the old
Touched with light
A new world
Desires for right

Vantage Point

Looking back over a lot of years wondering when the best of times really was and then again wondering if it would be fair to label anything the worst of times. Truth is the times have been so much on the good side that worst is an unfair label even for the troubles. Doesn't mean that challenging times have not occurred. In fact some of the challenging times seem to come in the middle of some of the best times. Best times would include a long list..................
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1 All the days, and every day that I have known KJ
2. Early years with just the two of us
3. Time following each child
4. Time when all were under one roof.
5. Times when we are all together.
6. Much about the ABQ time
7. Much of what we did to our Fortuna house
8. Zach's mission
9 MJ's move to ABQ
10. The arrival and time spent with each grandchild
11. Being with Jeff N, anytime
12. In many ways, "now".
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I like the way Dickens put the words together in the first of "Tale of Two Cities". The impact is in contrasts. It is tempting to see contrasts around us but it would be an overstatement to try to balance the extremes because the good so far outweigh the contrasts otherwise.
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Tale of Two Cities
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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,

it was the age of wisdom,

it was the age of foolishness,

it was the epoch of belief,

it was the epoch of incredulity,

it was the season of Light

it was the season of Darkness,

it was the spring of hope,

it was the winter of despair,

we had everything before us,

we had nothing before us,

we were all going direct to heaven,

we were all going direct the other way
Charles Dickens

Plenty to Imagine ..........running or not

John and Albert on my mind today.....................

When I run I often listen to my IPOD and one of the songs on my "long" list is Imagine by John Lennon. I have always liked the song but then there are things to not like about the song too. The song, "perhaps", take a point of view that there is now heaven and really only now, but then "perhaps" that really is just a backdrop or tool to frame the idea of living "now" better. Earlier this week I have found a new theory by Stephen Hawking about the formation of the universe very interesting. In this theory, the early universe can be described by a mathematical object called a wave function and, in a similar way to the light particle, the team proposed two years ago that this means that there was no unique origin to the cosmos: instead the wave function of the universe embraced a multitude of means to develop. Imagine............the big bang theory is being replaced. This new idea suggests that everything that there is expanded from the size of an atom.