Quick, before your next meal read this from Whats Up down South
IN THE BEGINNING
In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth and populated the Earth with broccoli and cauliflower and spinach,green and yellow and red vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.
Then using God's great gifts, Satan created Ben and Jerry's and Krispy Kreme Donuts.
And Satan said, "You want chocolate with that?" And Man said "Yea," and woman said, "And another one with sprinkles." And they gained 10 pounds.
Continued...
David Blaine [12:07 PM]
First Day of Summer So in the northern hemisphere today is the summer solstice. Although we will see more daylight today than any other day of the year, the traditional summer temperatures lag behind a few weeks. At least they do in Michigan. It was below 50 degrees farenheit when I got up this morning. After checking my email I pushed off on an 8 mile bike ride followed by a 1 mile run. I had three deer greet me along the way, waving at me with their white tails as they ran in the other direction. After a shower and some fresh clothes I set out for work in my convertible, top down and the heater on. It is summer after all.
David Blaine [9:30 AM]
Feast of Corpus Christi Today is the feast day of Corpus Christi, a Catholic Holy Day. Corpus Christi means the "body of Christ". What is celebrated is the institution of the sacrament of Holy Eucharist, or Holy Communion.
When I think of the body of Christ I think of the faithful believers who live on earth today. A popular catch phrase in the past year or so is "What Would Jesus Do?" Perhaps you have seen people with wrist bands emblazoned with WWJD on them. Regardless of what you think Jesus would do, if he is going to do it right here and right now, hes going to need to do it with your or my hands. Whatever he is going to say is going to have to come out of your or my mouth. My belief is that the difference between a good person and a Christian, is that the Christian would pause to reflect on what God wants before making decisions and taking action. When that person can then alter his actions to do what he feels is right, regardless of his own desires, I would say he was a Christian. Knowing the will of God is no easy task, and many an evil thing has been done in the name of God over the years. Reading scripture, praying, meditating, all lead a person to a sense of peace and a confidence that he understands God's will. We are all imperfect and will fall or err from time to time. I don't feel that gives us the excuse to quit. I feel that God forgives us when we err, and that we pick up again where we left off. I am not a preacher. I am not preaching. I am only sharing my views, the purpose of this page. I'm sure there are Catholic clergy and many others who would be glad to point out the flaws in my logic and my theology. God bless them. I do feel that if Christ were here right now he would not be a nationalist. That is why, if you read my very first post here, you would understand why I call this site "Smile At Me" Perhaps it should be subtitled "Bloggers Without Borders"
David Blaine [8:29 AM]
Walking the Walk
"If you want to feel like you've sprouted wings, push yourself to embrace change with open arms, force yourself to grow adept at adapting to the new and eschewing the old ways. Then you will be able to smile while all about are grimacing." Do you remember that post from a couple of weeks ago? Well today at work a lot of people had their world come tumbling down. No, no one got laid off, although one person quit. What happened? Just change. A new management system, new processes. We were told about it in my department today, it will go into effect Monday. There will be new managers starting. All the questions aren't answered yet. Who will be my boss? How will this affect my pay plan? No one is sure. I do know that it is being done for the good of the organization, a for profit organization, so in the greater scheme of things, it's got to be better for all of us, including me. I've been here almost ten years. I've very seldom felt taken advantage of, and the few times I complained, something satisfactory was negotiated. So today I can report that yes, I'm smiling while many, though not all, are grimacing.
David Blaine [5:11 PM]
Being good to someone you really care about. Yourself. What do you need today? A relaxing bath? A walk, or some other exercise? A special food you love but seldom bother to make or buy for yourself? Take care of yourself first. Why? Not because you are selfish, but because when you take care of yourself first you will be better prepared to take care of the other people in your life. Those people you really care about.
David Blaine [8:20 AM]
Good Bites for June 16, 2003:
* The rate of teen deaths is dropping significantly. In 1990, 71 teens out of 100,000 died by accident, homicide, or suicide. By 2000, that number had plummeted 28 percent to 51 deaths. -Kids Count 2003 report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation
Credit Good News Network.
David Blaine [11:58 AM]
Enetation Comments Man Of Heas switched to Enetation comments at his site, and I really liked his template. Then last night I realized I could probably customize my template just as he did. Voila, no more comments, smiles now. How do you like it? Check out Man Of Heas template too.
David Blaine [6:07 AM]
First Ride A, my 20 year old son, went for his first bicycle workout yesterday. He called me at work to ask if he could take my old bike, which was fine with me. When I got home he was just getting ready to take off. I went in and changed into my riding clothes and set out to try and catch up to him. I met A on his return, about a half mile from his turn around point, so he had gotten about a mile ahead of me. I asked him if he had brought any water, as he was puffing pretty good. No, he had forgotten about that. I hadn't. After he had a drink we started back. When we got home and put the bikes up A had to go for a walk, his legs were pretty stiff. maybe today we'll go for a run. I was glad to see he was really going to train for this, I was starting to think it had just been something he spoke about on a whim. The best part was my wife didn't mind us going, and held up dinner for us. Something that didn't happen when it was just me going out.
David Blaine [6:04 AM]
The weekend This morning I've arrived at work with that washed out feeling I recall from back in the days when I used to drink too much and not get enough sleep. Oddly, I have had plenty of sleep including naps this weekend, and only had 4 beers all weekend. I am chalking it up to time out in the sun and hard exercise to excess. And the 4 beers. I think I'm going to really hate it when I really get (future tense here) old. I also am cutting back on caffeine, drinking decaf coffee later in the day and evenings. This has helped my sleep, but may be leaving me a bit groggy in the mornings. Summer seems to have arrived, with a cool off lake breeze, this weekend. This next week should provide lots of chances for running and cycling, and maybe even swimming. I checked out a neighbors pond on Sunday and it felt warm enough to try swimming in a wetsuit.
David Blaine [10:15 AM]
Morning Visitor This morning I was putting out nectar for the Orioles and an iridescent green hummingbird flew up and hovered over my shoulder as if to let me know he was getting impatient for his breakfast. I have creatures depending on me that I don't even know about.
David Blaine [9:12 AM]
Actions VS Words I've never really been one to say I'm sorry. Oh, I say it for the little things like bumping into someone in the hall, but when you need it most, nope. One reason might be ego, that gets in the way a lot, but the real reason saying I'm sorry doesn't agree with me is, it's so trite. It's too easy. I recall a time when I was a young businessman just starting to travel and meet the types of people that don't live in small rural Michigan towns. I was speaking with some Orthodox jewish men, the ones who wear full beards and always have on their yalmukas.
I don't remember what transpired, but it was nothing big, perhaps I interrupted their conversation, and I said, "I'm sorry".
The older man was silent a moment, stared at me, and said, "are you really?" I inquired, "really what?" "Sorry" he said. "Excuse me?" I replied, not sure what was going on. "Never mind" was his final contribution to the dialogue, and we went about the rest of our business. I thought about that for a long time. It was like I was being subjected to an inside joke, but I think I got it after the fact.
There is a co worker who has had run ins with me a few times. I get along OK with everyone at work, but this fellow and I don't see eye to eye, and I neither of us thinks we are wrong.
The other day he was driving his truck loaded with lumber, and I was behind him. This was outside of work, on our personal time. B pulled away from the light too fast (damned kids) and he actually pulled out right from under the lumber. All the wood sat in a really neat pile on the street, just the exact same way it had been arranged on the bed of his truck a moment before. I put on my 4 way flashers and helped him reload the truck with only a few words.
You could feel a lot of tension melt away, and I didn't have to say I was sorry. And he didn't have to ask "really?"
David Blaine [7:07 AM]