"I cried last night"

I cried again last night for the poor souls who are suffering on the Gulf Coast. I cried and I prayed. God help them, God help us all.

I'm energized, rejuvenated, and just feeling happy"

O.K. Kids. Time to start playing again. And one thing that I am doing for all of you is now playing some great music for you as you read my blog. Hopefully, each blog will come with a new tune.
At the present time I don't have the storage capacity to keep the tunes when they are moved into the archive section, but I am working on that also.

If you have Real Player installed click here , Real Player will start streaming the audio onto your computer within seconds.

If you have Windows Media Player installed click here, and the audio will start streaming as well.
If necessary, minimize the windows and then continue reading the blog. I mean that's the reason you came here in the first place. Oh yeah, don't forget to turn up your speakers. Geez, do I have to tell you everything!
And, if you can't do any of that then just hum while you read my blog.
So anyway, here's one of my favorites artists, Willie Nelson, as he sings an appropriate song as we finish up our countdown and "get on the road again.
One quick note.
I want to say thanks to everyone who has stuck with us over the last couple of months while we have been going through some difficult times.
We really appreciate your friendship.
Now on with the show!!

New Format

My blog is currently being redesigned. If you would follow the new link , you can get to my new design that I am updating. Thanks

"The Road Not Taken"

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;"........

Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken gives me a sense of serenity in knowing that often times in my life I have chosen the less traveled path and have been a better person for making that choice. It wasn't always the route that came without pitfalls and caused me to stumble, but it was a lane that brought me in touch with people that have shaped my life.
Every day we have choices that we must make. We choose to either take the pathway that is filled with road signs directing us to our final destination, or we choose to struggle and find our own way sometimes falling down in the process.

But, after we make our choice of a less familiar way, we find that what appeared to be a difficult decision was in fact quite easy after all. My footsteps were not on a primrose path but they weren't difficult either. When I lost my balance I seemed to always have a friend who would lend me support or would find the strength to right myself from within.
I wouldn't have it any other way. The stories I share here are only remembrances of those times and faces of the many people I met along the way.
The thrill of discovering something new each day gives me the incentive to journey where most people haven't trod. My list is long to unearth new treasures and add to the bounty that I now possess. My only obstacle is time.
Will the hourglass be empty before my coffers are full?

...."I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

As long as I continue to learn and experience life and choose the road not taken, I will die a man with more than his share.

"What makes us who we are"

Pattye said to me the other day, "Tom, you really know how to entertain yourself".
It was in response to either something I said or wrote in a blog although I can't even remember what it was about but I guess I was feeling pretty good about it and was laughing to myself.
That's not unusual.....me laughing to myself, or singing out loud or whistling.
My wandering mind is usually somewhere other than where it is supposed to be at any given moment. Is this what is now termed Adult Attention Deficit Disorder (AADD)?
I don't know and really don't care. I have fun with myself and am usually my own best friend.
How did I get this way? Did it start early in life?
Has it evolved from simple growth and maturity and my becoming at peace within ? No, that's not it, because I have been acting this way since I was a little kid.
What is it then?
What makes me laugh and what makes me able to make others laugh?
I guess deep down I'm just a happy kind of guy.
Oh, I get pissed off enough, people around me can attest to that. But, after I vent I am able to just find something new and begin again.
A good friend, Ben Campbell, was the manager of the Jewish Community Center in Dayton, where I worked for several summers during my years in college.
He had the answer to all of life's problems.

"Illegitimis non carborundum" which loosely translated means "Don't let the bastards grind you down".
It is kind of my motto.
Assholes are always going to be assholes. You can't change them. Most of the time you have to live with them. But, you don't have to let them make your life miserable.
You and I both know there are some people who spend their entire life wishing they were somebody else. They are so caught up with their misery that they hate their life. They feel doomed to the life of Sisyphus , a mythological character doomed to rolling a rock up a hill only to have it roll back over him. That poor soul.
I could have solved his dilemma. Either quit pushing the damn rock or get the hell out of the way when it comes back down. Pretty easy huh?
Get rid of your burdens. Find something you enjoy doing and if it doesn't work out, then let it fall to the wayside and find something new.
And most important. Laugh. Laugh all of the time. And sing and whistle. And if you can't do that then hell, just hum. It's good for the soul.