I talk about meditation, wonder about it, have no doubt that it's important, but still haven't done it. A good lesson to learn this year, stop talking and start doing. And so, since I have no personal experience, the following words are not mine -- but I think these words are important, whether used for meditation, or otherwise. The duck story is so meaningful and says so much about our state of mind -- helps us visualize how we set our own limits, create our own reality -- but reality is simply what we make it. Choices folks, it's all about choices!
“Although meditation has been described as a reflective mode of thought, a more accurate definition might be a mode of "no thought....
The power of meditation is perhaps best illustrated through the following Zen puzzle: Close your eyes, and in your mind picture a duck inside a narrow-necked bottle. Now, without breaking the bottle, get the duck out.
OK, time's up. Now did you give up and feel frustrated or depressed because you always give up, you loser? Or did you feel elated because you got the answer and think you're better than the rest of us? The answer is: The duck is out. Just like that. You put him inside the bottle in your mind, you can take him out the same way. http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-hew-myturn30-2009mar30,0,1220023.story
178 comments:
Jan, I hope you let us know how little Abigail is doing this morning.
Jamie linked this over at TM and I am so impressed with it. A very touching blog. I haven't gone back to read her past stuff, but I plan to. It's simply called: 'Mimi Writes.......', and even the colors and setup made me feel more relaxed. Thanks to Jamie for linking it:
"And a proud American I was.
I know some of this is out of the President's control. I know this is not all his fault. I would not take back my vote based on what I knew at the time and the motivating factors I believed to be true that justified my choice - the need for a changing of the guard. I voted on the premise of HOPE and optimism and pride in a country that could stand united for one day and elect a man of color to the highest office in the land. I am still proud of that. I still have my little sticker stuck in the corner of a scrapbook page marked HOPE.
BUT - and it's a big but - I voted on the premise of transitional change. I wanted a shaking up of the status quo; and while I know that does not happen overnight nor am I privy to what goes into his decision-making, I did not expect the wind to swing first in the other direction so brutally.
I did not expect to be discouraged in the first quarter of the game." http://mimiwrites.blogspot.com/ http://mimiwrites.blogspot.com/
"I was out with my Monday Night gang this evening, and came home to news from my brother that my niece "went early" and had her baby today...a boy, Jace Addison, all are well. With two babies in one day, can we claim "Swamp Twins?!"
Ivy, Congratulations! I'm just now catching up on comments from the last thread, and saw this. Hope you'll let us know more about little Jace (a really nice name, by the way).
Finally got back to catching up on the last thread:
“ I'll get to spend some time with a pair of very cute 8 year old identical twin boys. I'm having a lot of fun catching up with my 'nephews', their wives and children.”
Don, that sounds like great fun. Good weather and time with your family. Hope you’ll share more about your twin nephews, as well as the other children.
Carol, Hope everything is OK once you get over to check out your other house.
Again, it’s amazing how warm weather in the 30s can feel after what we’ve just experienced. Our poor heaters are actually able to do their job, when the weather is half way reasonable. They can only bring the temperature up so far, when we don't have th best insulation.
Many thanks for the baby-gratulations, y'all, though I had nothing at all to do with it. lol
I think Jace is an interesting name too. I will be interested to learn how they decided on it...name-options and gender were kept a secret until the roll-out. 6 lbs., 20"...slim and tall...? That would be in his genes. His Gramps is a one of a pair who weighed 2 lbs each at birth and are now 6'1''.
Chloe,
Perfect post for a pondering place...
Back on line now. Will start to catch up in between exercises....que pasa.!
"That would be in his genes. His Gramps is a one of a pair who weighed 2 lbs each at birth and are now 6'1''."
Wow Ivy, that is tiny. There must have been a lot of worrying going on there for a while. Glad to hear Jace is a healthy (almost 7) pounds. Can't wait 'til you get more of the particulars, and am hoping you'll share them with us. I'd even like to know eye color from you and Jans little family arrival. I want to know everything... LOL!
Ivy, I'm always looking for signs -- I'm on a constant search. I like to use them to change myself in some way, or at least I try to make an effort. I'm often not successful, but it doesn't stop me from trying.
The thing is, I know that to change the world, we first have to change our mind, and so I try to always keep that in mind.
Welcome home, Solar. As always, you were missed.
What I said about changing... here's what my horoscope said today: 'Others might be feeling touchy -- Keep any raucous opinions to yourself.'
Any time I check it, it seems to have something slightly insulting to tell me. But what can I say, there's my 'sign' for today.
Ha!... keep my opinions to myself. How rude!!
Chloe,
You being insulting is like what a priest said about hearing the nun's confessions. A bit like throwing cotton balls against the wall.
They're not my real nephews, though the youngest is my Godson. That was back in the permissive days of the Catholic church when a protestant could be a Godfather.
Their father was a very good friend of mine, but passed away during a very bad asthma attack a few years ago.
I just found out, and have been trying to step up a bit as an old man in their lives. They seem to appreciate it, and I know stories about their father they've never heard. He was quite the remarkable man.
While re-uniting I got to hold a baby for the first time in years the other day, and all this baby talk reminded me of how precious that was.
i still remember these boys as toddlers fresh off the plane from the Philippines. Hard to imagine they're fathers now too.
First of all: Im a swamp uncle; twice.....congrats to Jan, and Ivy. It will be fun to see the pics...
Don your nephews at age 8 are perfect to have fun with...I like them from 5yrs old 12..after that you can have them back ...until 30
Ha Solar,
Teens are certainly a challenge. I've never recovered from my year teaching high school. :^)
Chlo,
Nice post. Just before I turned on the comp. and at least every other day, I try to concentrate on meditating...I watched Jim Lynch, And Professor Hagelin teach some of it on occasion....
Jim Lynch is/was a big Movie producer, and J. Hagelin was the one that ran for the third party called The Natural Law Party in 80, and until the 2000 elections for potus.....he dropped out because of the lack of Money....the had m emebers that were elected to office in 44 states..
I will see if I can find anything that is current about his NY office...he teaches transcendent mediation..
Don,
As an Uncle, im always in trouble with my family. They ask the children where they got that phrase from..who taught you to say that...last time I saw my two year old niece, we were playing wit her architectural drawings that I gave her (form a house that I built) she wants to be an Architect...
I kept saying that's cool, when she said somethings, and when she kept interrupting, I said give it to me later...in a way that made it fun..and go away kid you bother me ( w c fields ).....my Sisters son Al was amused,,but his wife Veronica wasn't...the little one kept telling her...yeah thats cool, or when she was talking to her.....she said...give it me later
I like teens,and think that Family members other than Mom and Dad, are important to them....I know that some of my Nieces and Nephews prefers to talk to me sometimes, before the do to shier parents.....I never lie to them, and make sure that I talk to them like an adult....My son Tom told me once that I was voted Best Uncle.....thats cool.!!
Chloe,
Sorry, that should be David Lynch, on Jim ....
Chloe,
http://www.tm.org/
I remember going to a TM meeting as a teenager. Flying and your own special mantra. Turned out all of the mantras were based on your birth month. :)
I settled on self-hypnosis, and don't do it often enough. I really notice a difference in my dreams when I do, I do a lot of visualization in meditation.
I squeezed the duck out Tom and Jerry style. Much funnier. :)
I got the duck out by bending the bottle..like a spoon..a little at a time...and she was free.......she made a nice dinner....
"I squeezed the duck out Tom and Jerry style. Much funnier."
"I got the duck out by bending the bottle..like a spoon..a little at a time...and she was free"
Ha! You two guys have got to be the best sports ever.
I always just break the bottle. But I don't hurt that cute little duck when I do it. I'm very gentle.
Most things that I want to fix, I just throw them on the floor and that does the trick. But couldn't do that with the bottle. I might have hurt the duck, so I used a small hammer, and very gently tapped on the side until I got the job done. Took a while, but it was worth it. :)
The whole thing about the duck ( not the tape ) in the bottle, was to let it out, using your mind.....a hammer?.... now I know why Emma like noisy toys.....
Thanks for the link Solar. It's a good one.
That self-hypnosis idea is something I should look into also.. I can't really see myself being self-hypnotized, but it seems a good way to work through affirmations and to make the mind focus on what's important.
Where meditation is a process to clear thoughts from your mind (?), hypnosis would be to implant thoughts and to make positive suggestions to yourself, I think. Am I on the right track?
I was going to say that I got the duck out by; plucking it....
Glad you didn't. Plucking hurts.
"While re-uniting I got to hold a baby for the first time in years the other day, and all this baby talk reminded me of how precious that was."
Don, words escape me (ha... unusual) to say how sweet that was, the way you said it.
How great of you to be there when that family needs you. I'm sorry for the loss of your friend, and hope you enjoy getting to know him again through his children and grandchildren.
They are both visualization imo, I prefer the trip of TM...wish that I actually had training in it...what I learned was on my own...not enough to do it on demand, and in depth....
Hypnosis the power of suggestion....don't know too much about it...
Did you see the story Solar, that they're sending 3100 troops from Fort Hood to Afghanistan?
.. plus, I'm not very open to the power of suggestion either.
On the other hand, many years ago I did write a group of affirmations and they all came true eventually. Have you heard of that?
You write them down on index cards, or whatever, and then say them daily (at least morning and night) in a way that assumes they've already happened (emotions are important, be believe and feel them). Eventually they do.
.. that is, eventual they manifest themselves into your life. It works with any kind of change you want to make in your life, including financial gain.
I figure you probably don't believe in this one, because you said you don't like self-help books.
"what I learned was on my own"
... that's usually the best way to learn things Solar, imo. You integrate them into your life as you go. Very meaningful.
Chloe,
He will send troops to the pak area, and then redepoly to other parts....as I told Max, and Xr over at tm...he would not send any to Yemen.....it would make him look to war like.....but he will use a lot of drones, and contractors....strike that...mercinaries......and more of our tax money to pay off what ever puppet we will support....the new big business in that area, is to grow insurgents....enough of them...and then get American money......lots of it.......in yemen....if he gives them 100 mil....that is like striking it rich, for a whole lot of people...
Thats right Chlo, no self help books for me.
The very first ones that I read....were about how to make your self a better business person....to little volumes, that didn't say anything...just pictured someone up on the stage, giving a rah-rah lecture....seen a lot of them....
Real ones, to me were when the chamber of commence were in the same meetings, and we planned sales, marketing strategies...according to needs...a one size fits all, is not the answer...
to=two,,,or dos
If you have little ones.....now is a good time for them to learn in two or more languages....we are teaching ours in Spanish and English at the same time....even a little German, words by a teacher, or one of them....they are sponges, and will learn them all....
Same with anything else...I talk to them about the heavens..the stars, so far the parents don't mind...they are very heavy into religion....they read to the children every night about it....but I have faith...thats right faith, that they will see the difference once they start learning the sciences....let them choose at that time....but the other way is just brain washing to me....or indoctrination...
I was just over at TM and there was a new thread up with 5 comments (one mine), then when I tried to make another comment on it, I got an error and the thread disappeared.
Dejavu to April fools day.
More of a hypnotic state. I count from 10 back until my eyelids close, telling myself to relax.
Then I imagine a circle and draw and erase the letters A -Z in the circle. Alternating that i go through and relax every muscle from my head to my toes.
By then I'm pretty relaxed, and I put up kind of a movie screen in my mind and let my mind show what ever it wants, trying not to think any words. At first it's kind of scattered, but the more often I do it the more cohesive things on the screen get.
Solar, You're talking about a different kind of self help book, I think. That one you recommended to me a while back falls into that category, imo. I had it on my old kindle, but when it broke, I lost it.
I was really enjoying it too, but reading it very slowly in between other books I was trying to finish. Now I can't remember the title.
I'm making a copy of your instructions Don, so I can try it.
One things for sure, Solar and I have the counting backwards thing down. :)
Don,
I do basically the same....always helps me relax and helps me feel different brain mappings...I lie down on the floor...(outside on the lawn..on nice day's) extend bot feet, and arms spread them out.....and concentrate on every part of my body...I can feel my left toe...eyelid, right ear, or just think about thinking...that it the hard part...the agreements of thinking.....receptions, that led to emotions, and feelings...
Chloe, Yes we do....I really enjoyed it too....going to thing up another one....wanna know....no strike that....
thing=think
Ivy,
Congratulations on the birth of your great nephew, Jace. I also love that name. All these babies are getting me even more excited(if that's possible)about my grandchild due in July.
Chloe,
Love your post on meditation. I need to try it but I have such a hard time clearing my mind of everything. I do use what I guess would be self hypnosis when I go to the dentist. I won't take the shots when I need dental work done. I sit and totally relax and visualize some beautiful place I've been before the dentist comes in. When he starts drilling I try to take the painful experiences and turn them into interesting experiences. So far it has worked and I love leaving the office without my face being numb.
Mary,
It's like exercise. It gets easier the more often you do it. They say the brain actually changes in people who meditate or pray often.
I've never understood the long prayers myself.
PS--I had some really bad experiences with dentists when I was younger and that's one of the reasons I won't take the shots.
Chloe,
"On the other hand, many years ago I did write a group of affirmations and they all came true eventually. Have you heard of that?"
I have heard of that before and wanted to do it but never did. However, I am going to this afternoon. If nothing else, it will remind me of things I need to do to make the affirmations come true. Thank you.
"I do use what I guess would be self hypnosis when I go to the dentist."
Hi Mary, July will be here before you know it. That baby is lucky she/he is going to be born in the summer, especially since they live in Chicago.
I don't know how you do that at the dentist Mary. I don't even want to think about it.
Mary, Thank you.
You saying you're going to do that today makes me think that I will too. I know it works, but in so many years, I haven't done it.
Just remember, it takes time. The theory is that you tap into the universal consciousness and those things will naturally manifest if you're sure they will. I don't know exactly why it works, but I do have a strong belief that, well... I have to borrow that book title: 'Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it will achieve' ... or something like that (paraphrasing).
... there's no doubt Mary. 'What ever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve...(and I must add) undoubtedly.
Mary,
that is great, what you do with the Dentist....U use the mind to use its mechanism of fooling the body about pain.....they mind gives us the natural pain chemicals that are called for...U manged to use these, instead of the ones that your doctor give U...I forgot what they are called...
Chloe, Like Don said, it get's easier the more you do it and I've had to have alot of dental work done. I can handle alot of pain for short periods of time if I do feel any pain.
...well, I have a very low pain threshold, so I wouldn't even consider doing dentistry with numbing. But I have to hand it to you Mary, for being able to control your thoughts that well. You'll be a natural, with the things we've talked about today.
Solar,
Exactly. When he hits a nerve and it sends those shocks up and down your spine, I tell myself how interesting that feels instead of how painful.
Mary, was just reading about this the other day:
Natural Analgesia....or false body mappings occurs under certain circumstances when the brain filters out nociceptive body signals...The brain effectively eliminates from the central body maps the pattern of activity that would permit the experience of pain....
I also have a very low pain threshold and dentistry is about the only time I can use that self hypnosis trick. When I broke my arm, I was looking for Dr. Kavorkian(may be misspelled). He was in jail at the time or I might not be writing this.
Ignoring pain, had a good deal to do with evolution...it helped to ignore it when being chased by a lion,,or something that caused a wound....run Maria Run.....
I think I've mentioned my mother's obstetrician used hypnosis on my mother for child birth. He had conditioned her to feel no pain on a key phrase, and she says when it came time she didn't.
Interesting Solar. I've heard your seratonin levels will affect pain perception as well.
Our birdbath finally unfroze today. I've been out chopping ice for them every day lately.
I forgot to add, in my last post...or being chased by an a attorney...
Mary, Funny. U sounded just like Carol.....
Don, I know U like to think big thoughts...and I would like to submit to U that after the brain grew our body... it also developed a way for the body to keep it informed of its health....every minuet of the day and night it is getting reports of it's condition.
We're having a heat wave. Can you believe it is 63 outside today.
My nature gift today was a lengthy visit from my pair of resident red-shouldered hawks. I had the opportunity to study all their field marks and to distinguish the differences between between the pair. One key difference was he ate a hearty lunch while she watched and "dieted."
Jace's almost-two-years-old brother has given him the nickname "Ace." That is so cute!
I believe that Solar. My family believes in listening to what our body is craving to decide on what to eat.
What amazes me is people who put off their death until after an important event. How does that work? That's an amazing amount of control over the body.
I find what Mary does with her pain..incredible...more about it:
There is no evidence about how she interfeeres with the brain..the interference occurs, Nuclei in the part of the brain stem tegmentum known as the paeriaqueductal ( don't know what im talking about here, t he names;..but I do like to read about them) they dispatch messages toward the nerve pathways that normallly would convey signals of tissue damage and lead to the experience of pain....those messages prevent the signal from passing on.....as a result of the filtering we get a false body map....the dependence of feeling on the language of body signals still is affirmed. It is just that what we actually feel is not exactly what we would have felt without the wise interference of the brain.
this interference is the equivalent to taking a higher dose of aspirin or morphine, or behind placed under local anesthesia....except that the brain is doing it for U, and it all comes naturally.
The Morphine metaphor applies quite closely because one of the varites of this interference used naturally and internally generall morphine analogues.......Opioid peptides, all of them naturally manufactured in our own body, they are called "endogenous" They include the endormorphines, enkephalin, and dynorphin, in addition to the endorphinns. These molecules bind to specific classes of receptor in certain neurons of certain regions of the brain....
On some occasions of need, nature provides us with the same analgesic shot t hat the compassionate physician administers to the suffering pain......
Sorry that was so long....Carol will probably have something to say...
Speaking of pain and the mind, an interesting link between IBS and seratonin.
Natural Standard
I found this site through the NIH, so would assume it's a bit more scientific.
Don,
"What amazes me is people who put off their death until after an important event. How does that work? That's an amazing amount of control over the body."
That is amazing...the sheer will to finish something started...and also the ability to come back from death...the mind won't let go...and in some cases people are said to come back from death...
I don't buy all of that stuff, about lights..and walking on clouds...none of that...
I have been told that when my Father was young he had some kind of stroke, was said to be dead, and then started to breath again, afterwards....no body wanted him...not St Peter, or Saint Lucifer....
Don,
Im reading for the 2nd time..and probably will a third time...
Antonio Damasio's book. "looking for Spinoza, Joy, sorrow, and the feeling brain"
I have extended it from the Library, 5 times now....the problem is that Im reading other things, at the same time....have to stop doing that......I think that you would like it a lot,,,and it would introduce you to spinoza, if you didn't know about him....he was the one that wrote the "Ethics".
Well, I have been only gone a day or so...and talked enough for a wk....a little later.!
So many people having babies that I was hoping that was why my belly is growing. No such luck.
I sure could use some TM today. I'm wound up tighter than a tick. I'd have to be heavily sedated just to get in a comfortable sitting position to try TM.
The temp in the kitchen here is still 59 so I'm still chilly inside. I hate to crank up the heat when it's 63 outside.
On my way home I went by the house to turn on the water and see what the verdict was. Lucky? No such.. I have a new sprinkle system up under the back porch. I think one leak is where a water line comes into the hot water heater. I couldn't drain my hot water lines. I turned the water back off.
I'm not sure how many more pipes might be broken but this one is going to be a serious challenge. It's under the porch, low to the ground and behind the pool pump. Probably the most inaccessable place it could be.
I put in my call to the plumber. I'm on the list. I'm thinking they may have to tear off the back porch just to get to it. I guess I'll get to know all the neighbors at the laundramat pretty well. Maybe I can invite them to my next Christmas party.
I never have been able get thru any really cold weather without pipe losses at the house, even when I lived there and ran the water the entire time.
"I have been only gone a day or so...and talked enough for a wk...."
Are you kidding Solar. The more you talk the more we like it. Get back here!
Anyone interested in reading this article?
A leading health expert said the swine flu scare was a "false pandemic" led by drug companies that stood to make billions from vaccines, The Sun reported Monday."
Here's the lazy link, too pooped today to work any harder than I already have. Rough day at prison camp.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,582749,00.html
"
Carol, What a terrible day.
Maybe this thing with the pipes leaking at your house is the push you need to move you closer to selling it (after it's fixed)? I often look at things that happen that way, that they happen for a reason. Think about it, one less headache Carol
I just heard that about the flu Carol. Unbelievable.
Anyone want to know which Bush official stood to make the most money on a pandemic? Anyone? Oh, go ahead and guess.
Donald Rumsfeld, ex-CEO if Gilead Sciences, maker of Tamiflu.
Feel good Carol.
Does your water heater need to be emptied and turned off until repairs are done?
When I was leaving from work to head to my house to check my pipes, I set my truck alarm off getting in it. It took awhile to get it to shut up and then I saw a big spulge of bird shit on my windshield right in the center of my line of vision. I thought right then, this is not a good omen and this day looks like it will continue to be shitty. I was right.
Did ya'll read this?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dylan-ratigan/the-case-against-geithner_b_419265.html
I told ya'll a while back on TM, that this guy was trouble. My intuition screamed it.
I have the water turned off Don and the tank turned off. I hope that is enough. I don't think it can drain with the valve coming in turned off.
What a nightmare, Carol. So sorry you have to go through this...prompts the proverbial rabbinical question, why do bad things happen to good people?
Yeah, though it's safer to drain the tank when it's off like that. I was thinking it might have drained because of the leak.
Don, I don't know how to turn off the power to the tank and don't want to burn it up.
Ivy, I'm sure there are many people here in the unprepared south in same boat I'm in. This wasn't a surprise. It would have been a surprise if I didn't have pipe problems.
Chloe is right. Time to simplify. I need to make some big changes but I'm not good with change.
Very interesting topics today.
Mary, I don't how you can blot out the pain in the dentist's chair. I always ask for the needle. It does sting a minute and you are so right about the numbness. I just don't want to feel the drilling. Like you, I have had so much dental work done. You are amazing to be able to do that.
Did anyone else on this blog take the H1N1 flu vaccine? I really loved this part of the article:
"But there is worse to come. The vaccine developed by Novartis was produced in a bioreactor from cancerous cells, a technique that had never been used until now."
Everything I was hearing was that the vaccine was made the same way the seasonal flu vaccine is made.
Carol, the news of all your plumbing problems at your house is terrible. Wish we could all come and help you either fix it or all get drunk to help distract you.
When we first bought this house, we kept having water back up in the basement. Every time it happened we would call a plumber. John and I are worthless when it comes to stuff like that. He would fix it and a week or so later it would happen again. We wound up having to have a bunch of new lines put in outside to the city's big line to the sewer,and we had to have a lot of other plumbing done too. We have a crawl space and basement so didn't have to tear out too much. In the end we spent $10,000. getting it all fixed. That was 2 years ago and no problems since. This all happened within 1 & 1/2 years of buying the house. Its a 50 year old house. Need I say more.
"Time to simplify. I need to make some big changes but I'm not good with change."
Carol, I was afraid you'd be mad at me for saying it. If you want to do it, you can. Once you make up your mind, the rest will be easier than you think. You've got to make your life easier, before you get much older, because as we all know, things get tougher.
If y'all haven't read Craig's new post about Obama, you should. He's pissed
Carol, Whatever you're thinking, it's important to write it down, just like you do when you make your lists. That tends to clarify things, clarifies your thinking.
They're starting to really want to loan money right now, so it may be a good time to sell. In order to not pay capital gains, you need to call that house your primary residence. So tell the real estate agents, and the person doing your taxes, etc. you're staying out at the camp because of the pipes, but the house is your primary residence (which is true, because you need to live somewhere 2 years (at least in Tx.) for it to be your primary residence).
"why do bad things happen to good people?"
Sometimes Ivy, I think these things happen to push us in different directions. I honestly think Carol can turn this into a positive. Then she'll look back on it later, and think how lucky she is that everything happened just the way it did.
Chloe, Craig is one pundit/journalist who is actually interested in pointing out the real problems with our politicians instead of looking for brown streaks in their underwear like so many of the others. That's why I love him.
Sorry, I'm in a mood today. Hmmmmmmmmm. Is that how I start that TM. Hmmmmmm
FYI,
Reminder everyone. American Idol starts tonight. Simon Cowell's last season and Ellen DeGeneres's first.
It might help just as much to go over to Craig's TM and fight a little Carol. Patsi's there, and it's a lot of fun. Don't ever underestimate the benefits of a good argument.
Griping is good for the soul!
Carol, I really meant it when I said I think this can turn into a positive for you. Don't be sad, be mad instead.
Chloe, I became addicted to cable news and TM when I was in that aggitated kind of depression. Yes there are some healthy outlets for my current state of aggitation.
I watched just a few minutes of Morning Joe yesterday, checked in on TM and purused Huff Post today. Got a real attitude going now. I'm game for a fight.
Guess I'll get my Dish Network out here next.
Whew...back over here where it's safe. lol
Carol, No U don't mmmmmm
I start TM by breathing right...I put my hands behind my neck,( or behind the back ) and try to bring my elbows in line with my shoulders.....I take a deep breath....all the way down from my stomach, and breath thru the nose...and let it all the way out from my mouth....do this for a cpl of minuets .....this will help you to open up the air ways and feel right....
As far as dental work, I always try to get the funny gas along with the shot.
Ya'll, I wouldn't even pretend to think that any of my trival problems hold a candle to some of the poop going on in our government these days. We need some fighting mad citizens.
When ever I needed dental work, I just went over to the biggest guy at the bar, and told him my joke about his sister....took the bad tooth right out, with a left hook...hahaha
I never cared for this part of "Idol" where they showcase all the fools.
Have U heard the one about the atty. from Ct. with the tooth ache...she was meaner than.........
"Whew...back over here where it's safe. lol
As far as dental work, I always try to get the funny gas along with the shot."
LOL Ivy. I just love your attitude!
What happened, TM tired everyone out or are
you all watching American Idol?
Carol, you asked if it bothers me that baseball
players used steroids to become super players.
Oh, & that applies to all sports, not just baseball.
Short answer. It does not.
During the 'steroid' era, the various drugs
were not banned by the sport, MLB (the owners),
the union, and the players themselves, all benefited from the 'super' players accomplishments.
After the 1994 strike, they wanted to get the fans back in the seats so whatever was going on was tactitly condoned, at the minimum.
Further, its always about money, the players
want an edge to be able to earn more money,
& while the future consequences may cost them
their health or in some instances, their life,
the driving force of enhancing performance is
the dollars one will get in the end.
And the owners wanted to make more money, which
has occurred since the strike year.
No way to change that dynamic, it is always the
money & I can not argue with an athlete that
wants to get the most while he can...
The only apparent consequence to those who
did take performance enhancing drugs, or may
still be doing so (hgh is apparently the supplement of choice now, or so the rumor goes)
may be the exclusion from the hall of fame, which apparently is not enough to have stopped
them from trying to get stronger, better, etc.
She is alive-alive.!
Personally Coreen I don't care for the concept but I'm not that big of professional sports fan anyway. Just hope the young people in high school and college don't do it because steroid use is dangerous and many of them won't get the chance to exchange a healthy life for money.
I stopped watching a lot of sports, when it became apparent that all they want is $, from high school now. College sports are also big business. I forgot what the average couch makes...3 mil? and when at the professional level, it is all about the athletes performing for the big corp owners...and guess how much the tickets are, and how much that soda/beer and a hot-dog will cost you??
And breaking news...
Someone better keep an eye on Solar tomorrow.....
Seems a mystery object from space is going to whiz close to earth & scientists are stumped as to what exactly it is...
But we know don't we!!!....
AP Mystery object to whizz by Earth Wednesday
I suspect that young people in high school, both involved in sports & otherwise are pretty
savvy about steroids, hgh, etc...to my understanding one of the first places that people were able to get steroids, etc, were at
gyms, health clubs, and that the bodybuilder
industry was among the first to push the uses
of such things.
Hey U calling me spacey?? or a big rock?
A big rock star.....
:-))))
"I started taking anabolic steroids in 1969 and never stopped. It was addicting, mentally addicting. Now I'm sick, and I'm scared. Ninety percent of the athletes I know are on the stuff. We're not born to be 300 lbs or jump 30 ft. But all the time I was taking steroids, I knew they were making me play better. I became very violent on the field and off it. I did things only crazy people do. Once a guy sideswiped my car and I beat the hell out of him. Now look at me. My hair's gone, I wobble when I walk and have to hold on to someone for support, and I have trouble remembering things. My last wish? That no one else ever dies this way."
Lyle Alzado
Carol, I remember Alzado, he played for the
Raiders, an arch enemy of my Jets....and he
paid the ultimate price...
I am so pleased that so many people went back to read Mimi. Those of us who have been with her through the death of her beloved father know how special this lady who launched the peace globes really is.
Now on meditations. Relax folks. I've been putting myself to sleep in ten minutes flat for forty years. It is worth doing and worth learning. Then use it to make whatever doesn't work in your life easier.
Nasa is no longer going to explode asteroids that threaten earth any more like they once were going to...all this did was make smaller asteroids...and would still hit us.
Now what we are going to do is to steer it away, by planting mild explosions on them, to make them miss us...and a cpl of other things in the making...
If I can get to bed early, I can listen to a re-run of last night's Coast to Coast AM program:
"Research scientist Sean Carroll spoke about dark matter and dark energy, the physics of cosmology, and the origin of time asymmetry including time travel. By 1998, the major constituents of the universe were known, mass such as planets and stars comprises just 4%, while dark matter is only 23%, leaving 73% as dark energy-- the energy of empty space, he detailed."
Solar, have you ever heard any of the programs they have on Coast to Coast AM. It's a nationally syndicated radio show. The main show doesn't start until midnight here but some nights they re-run the previous night's program.
That flying thing that is supposed to whiz past us is supposed to be between 30 and 50 feet wide. Just big enough to land on my house and take care of some of my problems. Should I put an X on my roof?
Actually that radio program puts me to sleep at night. The more interesting the program and the more I want to hear it, the faster I fall asleep.
Now that might prove interesting, Carol...
Wish I could get George Noory, but the station
he is on, has an awful signal, so I never hear him anymore, used to fall asleep hearing about
the chupacabra, the mayan prophecies, ufo's,and on & on.
So goodnight & pleasant dreams....
Nite.
George is real popular with truckers and prisoners.
coast to coast am...no I havent...but maybe I will when I can't sleep...Jamie is lucky, she said that she falls asleep in ten min flat...sometimes it takes me up to two hrs.....
Another lazy link:
http://www.coasttocoastam.com/
Chloe,
I don't know if that's a sunrise or a sunset. Either way, it made my day.
I have a radio with a white sound generator and listen to ocean waves all night. I miss living on the coast.
I do believe some of these journalist and the media are in on this game to divert our attention away from some of the real serious issues going on. Those two monkeys with their tell all book, Game Change, are stirring shit. Arent they the ones who threw that Harry Reid quote out there as red meat for the GOP?
I heard a little blurb of the Rachael Show online last night and she was going to town on Sarah Palin, again detailing every dumb thing she said and then later I tuned in for a few minutes of Keith and he was going after McCain. We are over that already. With everything that is going on, how do they have time for this BS?
I think that most of Sarah bashing going on, especially at MSNBC, just shows how afraid they are of her. They are shaking in their boots and it's obvious.
Sarah's not a rocket scientist but neither are many of the viewing public. Can't say that most of those other cable new's shows haven't dumbed down and sillied up most of their programs.
And I don't have time for TM but I do come here as a form of escape. It calms me down. I can take some deep cleasing breaths here.
Ya'll might need to help me set some goals, get some positive things accomplished. But if 2012 is it, I don't want to waste my time with things I'd rather not do.
Jack said over on TM that he and his wife are booked for the next few days at the Hilton on the wharf in San Francisco. It really looks beautiful: Hilton on Fisherman's Wharf
I stayed in San Francisco for seven week for job training many, many years ago. It's got a personality of it's own. Plus we visited there several times, stayed at the St. Francis one of them. Seeing the picture and hearing Jack talk about it made me slightly nostalgic (but not nostalgic enough to make any plans to go there :).
I can hear our huge mob of birds stopping by and making lots of beautiful noise this morning. They come through Houston every year about this time, and I mean there are not only hundreds, but thousands.
I'm not sure what kind they are, but they all land together, on tree, wires, wherever they can land for a rest, then all take off again together.
Carol, They must come through Louisiana also, about the same time. Do you see them? I just love it when they come through here, but they'll be gone in not too long.
" I miss living on the coast."
Well then Don, I now see the attraction to Florida. I hope one of those jobs come through for you.
If you love living on the coast, then that's where you should be! And I can completely understand the attraction.
Carol, Still wondering why MSNBC so obviously chose to assist in trying to destroy Hillary Clinton during the primaries, & with their efforts to undermine Sarah Palin ongoing, I continue to wonder why MSNBC seems to relish in destroying women in particular.
I do not watch MSNBC, & the few moments in the
am that I pass by, just the way Mika is 'used'
offends me.
I do not watch Rachel, I used to listen to her
on her radio show before she became Keith's
protege, but after her primary performance, I
would not & do not watch her show either.
Coreen, I agree with everything you just said about MSNBC, Mika and Rachel - as well as their effort to destroy Hillary. It's got to have something to do with management, as well as who owns them, since it was so well orchestrated.
Maybe we should try to find out more about their connections some time in the future.
I also feel sure that the whole election and the turn it took, had everything to do with the idea that she was going to take on the Health Care Industry. It's just that the scope of it all is hard to fathom.
"Seems a mystery object from space is going to whiz close to earth & scientists are stumped as to what exactly it is...
But we know don't we!!!...."
What a ride i t was.....wonder if Hubble telescope took a pic of me....
I haven't watched any cable except Cnn, and thats limit....I do like Rick Sanchez, Fareed Zakaria, and Christne Amapour...
I was watching cnn for a little while....sad news about the people of Haiti....
Coreen,
Going to send you some nice weather for a change...the forecast for the next 10 days; are supposed to range from 32 and sunny-to a high of 40 by next tuesday...and then rain for three day's not bad for Jan, imo......see what me whizzing by earth did......
Solar,
You are up to something mischievous, no doubt.
(^_~)
Looks like my new virus protection is blocking blogpost. Maybe it's trying to tell me I talk too much.
I think with Fox, MSNBC, any media channel it's what ever will make them the most money. They saw money in supporting Obama, they see money in bashing Sarah. The publicity she's getting from them should be making her a fortune in book sales.
At the end of the day I don't think profits has a party.
Hey Don,
I was just going to post, that U were having trouble posting....glad that you figured it out...I was just thinking that U were due to make a few posts....and I will tell you that U should not pay any attention to blogspot..you don't talk too much......just stop talking with your mouth full......hahaha I can't make it out sometimes.....
Ivy,
Me mischievous? Me..... (~_^)
"MSNBC, any media channel it's what ever will make them the most money. They saw money in supporting Obama..."
Don, do you know that msnbc has been making money for ge's bottom line, in particular since
it decided to have its on-air talkers trash Hillary & fawn over Obama, to my knowledge that is not the case, and while media does want to increase its audience & its revenue, msnbc remains 3rd of the 3 cable news networks overall, & while it is 2nd in prime time, together with CNN prime time, the combined audience does not even close to fox news numbers.
Further, it is my understanding that GE has
been looking to sell nbc/et al, for quite some
time & it will be interesting to see if the Comcast deal goes through the course that the spin on nbc, et al takes.
I turned off the virus protection to see if that was it, and when I turned it back on everything was fine.
Guess that makes you a star cowboy solar.
keith and rachel have done well since the campaigns. keith was matching bill-o in key demographics for a while, and rachel was outperforming cnn in her time slot.
i don't know what they're doing lately.
The sale of nbc to comcast makes sense due to content and providing content. It was never a good business move for ge.
Comcast is already getting 25% of the m arket, and is after anything that will make it more $. I think that they own the local spanish stations, and want the foreign ones...and eventually charge for local broadcasting???
Don,
U could also list that the swamp be in your allowed category, in your virus program no?
For a brief time I believe olbermann was close to oreilly in the 25-54 demo, but not sure that continued for any significant time, however, still do not believe that the blip in the demo group added to the profitability bottom line. As for Rachel I believe her audience share is stagnant & at best just ahead
of cnn.
It still remains that msnbc deliberately decided to do whatever it could to destroy a
candidate & blatantly cheerlead for another, and as far as I am concerned, it was an effort to undermine a woman candidate, nothing else, not driven by any profit motive, which as I said earlier in response to Carol's observation they continue now with Palin.
The attacks on Hillary & the adulation for Obama which continues to this day, were not
to generate profits for GE.
I miss my satellite antenna, I used to get The LINK news station...real world news about anything..and music from all over the world...had a lot of University channels that I miss also....stuck with cnn for a while.....won't even go near any other station.....
I came across this quotation just now, and it seemed it belongs here on this thread about contemplation (meditation), and on this day when so many are grieving for Haiti...
"The wisdom of God comes to you and me, not in earthquake, wind, and fire, but in a still, small voice."
~ Wayne E. Oates
Coreen,
I agree with everything that U are saying.....and that shit Mathews led the way.....he was a major part of the women bashing....It came to a point..where I had to choose not to throw something at the tv, or shut it off....it has been 2 years now...and I still won't go anywhere near msnbc
Solar,
The venom that dripped from his mouth along with his spit towards anything Clinton was vile
& contemptible and as you can see I remain as was evident last night with others at TM, the anger that most of us feel still lingers.
That book Game Change brings it all back again as it is just another hit job on Hillary, Bill as well as the other candidates, & while I have not read(only the excerpts leaked by the author's people) nor will buy the book, I am pretty sure there are no negative slams about their hero, aka, Pres. Obama....
A particular passage that has been leaked involves unsubstantiated claims that Hillary
knew Bill was carrying on during the campaign
& that they had a team to address that in the
event it came out....rank speculation, that
the 'authors' (I use that term loosely) do not
provide verification for, but yet again spread
rumor & innuendo in an effort to further undermine all things Clinton.
I do not watch msnbc either, and each time I
pass it, the bits I hear still annoy me....
I would love it if Comcast did wind up controlling msnbc & then told those '....heads'
to either change their tune or get lost...would be interesting to see just how
they would act....would they suddenly sing a different song or leave the job....
Yeah, but Matthews has always hated anything Clinton. I was beginning to wonder if he'd switched parties he talked against Bill so much.
So Don, does that mean that Matthews attacks
on Hillary, were not motivated by getting a larger audience & profits for GE, but from
personal hatred for the Clintons.
Profits & audience was never the motivation
for the co-ordinated efforts to undermine Hillary by Matthews, Olbermann, Rachel, Barnacle, Wolf, Robinson, (& those I don't remember).
Pat Buchanan & Craig Crawford were the only two supporting/defending Hillary against
the attacks back then.
Coreen, Don,
What upsets me more than anything, is that I didn't know while watching msnbc, and how they changed from the station that i used to like watching.....
Is that I was in real time watching the liberal side of the Dems change as well....it was my way or the highway, just like Bush said....and the way that they defended Obama 100%...I never thought that the Dems. could match the R's with the way that they hated the other side so much......Im i making any sense?
I just don't think it had anything to do with Hillary being a woman. They saw the better story in Barack and that's who they backed.
Same with Palin. Liberals love to bash her and that's where the story is.
You may be right Don, but I think the promise of advertising money was involved too. The more Obama collected, the more popular he became (and vice versa). Of course, the way you put it is the same thing, the idea of a better story is also about money and advertising revenue. Which also tells me they may have had some big advertising customers who were backing Obama too. Everyone 'always' follows the money.
As far as the misogyny that they used to bash Hillary... well that's what those who want to destroy you do, they look for what they consider to be your weak spot. And woman bashing may have worked for the audience they were aiming at. Plus, they knew it would put her off balance.
Very precisely planned. They were out to win, and were willing to do whatever it took to do so.
Yep Chloe, same reason a cute blonde missing on some Caribbean island headlines the news for weeks despite real news going on.
US media has always been very biased. I didn't realize it until I was stationed in Turkey and started listening to the news from multiple countries. There wasn't a lot of difference between US news radio and pravda, the motivation was just different.
Chloe,
Very well said, and it was planned by the owners of the stations..they are just another moving part now, in getting what the big corps want...and so are the Newspapers.....one side against the other...thanks
Carol, Our buddy, Tiger Woods, is reportedly in rehab for sex addiction. Seems a little late for that, doesn't it? Knowing he's doing it to try to rehabilitate his public image. Good luck with that Tiger. http://www.hollywoodlife.com/2010/01/13/tiger-woods-enters-sex-rehab-hes-reportedly-at-the-meadows-in-arizona/
"the motivation was just different."
Yep, it's always about motivation. Everyone has an agenda, and heaven help us if we get in the way.
Solar, All that stuff you've been saying about 'Big Business' owning us is starting to be more obvious all the time. The giant owns the giant. It's getting more difficult all the time to know where one ends and the other begins.
Chlo,
Our little warm up, should mean that you will get real warm weather coming up.
You know, isn't all this stuff we're discussing now the important news that came out of this well watched election.
It's really is ironic when the media 'becomes' the story. How do we stand a chance guys. We no longer know whether we hearing the truth or lies, except in hind site.
Solar, It was 63 yesterday, 58 today, and 63 again tomorrow (with a low of 50), then colder by Sat. But right now, it already feels downright warm. How is it your way?
I never hear you complain Solar. Never.
... I'll check back in a little while, to see what you're all up to.
Yes, the weather is a warmer but I'm still wearing my longjohns and haven't broken a sweat yet. It could be a tad warmer. I've gotten so cold intolerant this year.
Got some stuff accomplished after work today that lightened my horizons just a little. Monday, they are going to move my satelitte dish out here to the camp. Off for Martin's
BD.
Been thinking about doing that for a while. I've been paying a fortune for my service at the house and then trying to find something on 4 Network channels out here. Dumb. But I did break my addiction to cable news.
I still don't want to watch any MSNBC except maybe that Dylan Ratigan show. Listening to a video of some of his program on Huff Post yesterday at MSNBC excited me even though what he said pissed me off. He's someone who is calling the crooks out.
I really grew to like Keith O when he would call Bush out on some of his shit but ya know, he really waited until he was sure that just about everything was disgusted with Bush before he went after him. He didn't really show any bravery. He's a big wuss who thinks he's tough.
I also forced myself to sit in my truck until I went thru about 50 lbs of mail. I always took the urgent bills out but left the rest in the back seat because I didn't want to junk up the house.
I found a check where I had overpaid a Doc. I still have two days before the, cash in 90 days, runs out. Whew! My truck should now get better gas milage and I'm 30 bucks richer. Good day.
Yay Carol! I love surprises like that.
Dylan is the only one I watch on MSNBC. Watching everyone avoiding talk about Greenspan when Andrea Mitchell is around is interesting but sad.
I like Shepard Smith, I think he's similar. I gave up the news shows for the New Year. I don't think it does me a bit of good.
Evenings have been reruns of Bones and NCIS.
This evening, I looked closely at my 4 containers of mixed variety leaf lettuce I planted a while back. I was just getting ready to start harvesting some leaves for a young spring mix salad before our deep freeze hit.
I'm happy to say they look like they haven't even seen a bad winter. Two of the worst nights I huddled them up with all my herbs, and threw a couple of light blankets over them and said good luck. The other two nights they were on their own. My herbs, my pansies and my petunias also made it. They survived that 18 degree freeze. What a miracle.
I like Shep Smith also Don. When most of the liberal leaning cable news shows were bashing Hilliary, I switched to Fox. I was going to show them. I really liked Shep but I couldn't do much of Bill and couldn't do any of Hannity. I did a little of what's her name.
It's weird that leaf lettuce can melt in my refrigerator if it is a little too cold but it handled the deep freezer outside just fine.
If Tiger is to have any chance of saving his family, his career, and perhaps his life, this is the best move. "The Meadows" is an amazing place. Some of the leading experts in the field of recovery are associated with it. It is not a "celebrity vacation hideaway." I wish Tiger and his family the best.
Greta?
Even my pansies are looking bad. My strawberries look perfect though. Never woulda thunk it.
Chloe, I just don't see Tiger as really caring much about his wife/marriage. His behavior was more than just a sex addiction. His behavior must have totally humiliated his wife. He doesn't need to be married.
Oh yes Greta.
I think you're right about Tiger, Carol. I think his wife thinks the same thing too. I read that she's told others that she's 'so over him'.
Hope someone has a new post brewing in there head by the time we have another 30 or so comments here. Maybe by tomorrow morning??
... still think it's nice what you said about Tiger and his family though, Ivy. Very kind. I am sure that whatever happens, they'll all come through this better off, in some way or another.
Good to hear your Spring Mix made it through the freeze Carol. Pretty amazing. That's my favorite salad lettuce.
"Palin's first appearance as an on-air analyst with the network, on Tuesday night's "O'Reilly Factor," drew 3.954 million total viewers — more than everything else on cable news in the 8PM hour combined. CNN's "Campbell Brown" placed second with 999,000 total viewers, MSNBC's "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" placed third with 906,000 total viewers, and HLN's "Nancy Grace" placed fourth with 704,000. It was also enough to beat ABC's primetime programs from 8:30-11:00."
Huff Post
Eat your heart out Keitho.
Even one of the other girls beat old Keith.
"Palin's first appearance as an on-air analyst with the network, on Tuesday night's "O'Reilly Factor," drew 3.954 million total viewers —"
3.954 mil uniformed viewers before they tuned in, and 3.954 mil uninformed at the end of her analogy ....all tabloid bs now....
It's going to get boring over at the trail again.....nothing but Palin, palin, palin, and some occasional palin.....
Yep Solar. But you have to admit it is kinda fun to see old Keith lose out to a dumb girl.
I don't think that she is dumb, just that she is not savvy, she will look smarter than some of the women that I have seen on fox, and just as good to look at....
She's smart like a Fox.
U funny.!
I think Sarah is where she wants to be. Don't forget she has a degree in communications and used to be a sports caster.
If she does have future ambitions, she's in a good location and job to learn from a lot of experts.
Ya know when the world's focus is on hate, greed, war, terror, the universe seems to give us an opportunity to show a different side of our human nature, love, caring, sharing, and pulling together.
And maybe if we spent more time showing the better side of our human nature, we wouldn't need so many of these opportunities to redirect our focus.
And then there are those who demonstrate that they don't have a better side of their human nature like Rush L! You would think he would have the good sense to just to keep his dumb mouth shut.
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