Sunday, July 31, 2022

Cool as Ice


 Here’s a very tiny slice

Of someone’’s bold advice

Smear at fear and roll the dice

Don’t be squeaky like young mice

Or drink cheap champagne  on ice

If choice exists then please choose nice

I’ll be glad to tell you twice

Peace and Joy are worth the price


Saturday, July 30, 2022

Say cheese—cake?


 Say Cheese—cake that Is


So today in the U.S> it is National Cheesecake Day.  Like so many other days we celebrate food and like many other foods cheesecake can be a symbol of much more.  What’s that mean… well take for instance caviar vs bologny —and speaking  of bologny just keep reading.


The History  of Cheesecake?  


Like the history. Of many things like civilization, organized farming, and circumcision, the history of this dessert is a bit blurry.  The Greeks get credit for “inventing” it because they wrote down the recipe.  Now this is about as reasonable  to believe as Columbus “discovering” America when there was already other humans here—oh well lets lumber ahead.  

Of course the Americans had to get their own type of cheesecake going which is really the reason this day appears in the Seeking Peace and Joy Universe.  


You see the story has it that our cheesecake was invented due to the fact someone was attempting to recreate some softer French cheese but it came out too soft and was so tasty it couldn’t be just thrown away so….


Seeking Peace and Joy… and Cheesecake?


Well of course… you see seeeking peace and joy often involves trying something (an experiment) and finding that the result is unexpected…and then… well seeing what you have where you are and doing what you can with that.  The ultimate experience turns out better than the brief disappointment  brought on by the fact that didn’t go exactly as planned at the start.  


Okay you can count on things like this happening when seeking peace and joy and experimenting but don’t expect  you results  to be a string of nationwide restaurants that seem to thrive even though they are called factories.  You know calling things something they aren’t  is another American tradition like honest politicians—well I guess history tells us things aren’t always what they seem (remember that Trojan Horse thing?…


Oh and cheesecake can retry much come in any flavor not only because it’s basically whatever you want on a graham  cracker crust… but because it’s not really cake so it doesn’t have to follow the rules for cake…. And speaking of folllowing the rules…this post is shorter than  many because I’m not following my own rules of giving people at least a couple of minutes worth of reading ….oh well..Let them eat cake!!

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Hey Don’t—Maybe?


 Don’t steal the music from our musical chairs

Don’t throw your hands up like nobody cares

Don’t discount the nature of private affairs

Don’t trivalize the burdens that your fellow man bares

Don’t laugh at the shoes that the working class wears

Don’t swallow like sheep what the loudest voice swears

Don’t throw away fabric if you can sew a few tears

Don’t stomp on the dreams of the child who dares


Wishful Warnings-

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Words WITH Friends


Words With Friends Day and More…


Well here sit it’s day 200 and the “day” calendar says it’s “Words with Friends” Day and also Daiquiri Day—both are are worth shining a little Seeking Peace and Joy illumination over.


Put quite simply this blog and the related podcast —there’s a link on this page) ARE in my mind and soul “words with Friends.”  In so many ways that phrase “words with friends” captures  what the blog and podcast hopes for.  They are perspectives, observations, hopes, dreams, impulsive thoughts, and smatterings of lessons that I’ve stumbled across and feel compelled to share.  These musing are not advice insomuch as there’s no guarantee they would be helpful and also this whole seeking peace and joy  thing has always been intended. A s my putting the pieces of the compass I use to seek peace and joy.  I’m not much for telling anyone where to go whole folks have often. Rightfully so told me where I can go.  


Anyway…. Words are the currency I have to share and like to use to say “hey friends…. Life is too short to learn from our mistakes.unless we learn from the mistakes and adventures of others as well.” That’s why we need a “red-facebook” where we could only post anonymous or after the fact screw ups for each other.  We don’t need all the smiling photos all the time as much as we need to know we are with each other as we stumble, get up, rub the sore spots, and go forward with curiosity  and caring.   

My reward for sharing words with friends has been encouragement to keep writing and more importantly I’ve dragged my meaning—making process out into the sunlight well most of the time.  For me it puts the “why” and what’s next? Squarely in the present for a good look and doing this spits out the clues I need to make choices or recover from them or at least  to have the ability to strip away most of the fear I have  of future mistakes and worries.  That’s what I get from this deal and holy crap that’s one special gift these words with friends gives me every time I pound them out.   Thanks and Bless You for reading and listening


P.s.  it’s also National  Daiquiri Day and if you were all here today we’d break out the lime (or strawberries) and yo ho  ho a bottle of rum and drink to friendship knowing that this drink became popular because during WWII other blue spirits became scarce.  Necessity is the mother of invention and relaxation with a fruit drink laced with rum or tequila is the crazy uncle of some people’s creativity I suppose.  


Anyway the point is… I can’t.share a drink with some or all of you  and some of you have made the wise decision to shun the mind altering  drug involved.  I do however  salute all of you my friends and that’s enough words for today. 


 

Thursday, July 14, 2022

Great combinations the miracle of mac & cheese and peace and joy


 Another Popular Combination-Mac and Cheese


Yesterday was a “big Life” day for a whole lot of reason and the blog and podcast would generally feature some of the events of that day, however sometimes thoughts need to be allowed a chance to brew a bit….so you are reading and hearing this instead.  


This blog and the related podcast is about one of the most robust combinations around…Peace and Joy.  However, our neighbors to the north… Canada might make a sturdy argument for a different combo… they wouldn’t make a strong or violent argument…they’re Canadian (a mostly well-knob and earned stereotype for the polite nation…


So the combo to be featured  come in a blue box and is loved by kids of all ages.  Okay and is known as “Kraft Dinner” from Winnipeg to Nova Scocia Yep Mac and Cheese.  


Just like Peace and Joy can come in lots of varieties and down many paths… you can get Mac & Cheese in about 50 varieties worldwide and it sells to the tune of a million boxes a year.  People use the food staple  in many combinations and even in magnificent art projects.  A lot of folks like just the plain product, however Ketchup  is the preferred topper of this for many.  Sure many fancy variations (usually home-made) are found in restaurants but when trying to set eating records only the standard blue box will do.  By the way the record for eating one full box prepared according to the box?  Well hold on to your intestines …


A full box was gulped down in  1 minute 2.14 seconds.  


Well one must wonder if that sped allows  a person to savor the meal and sometimes I wonder if we take enough breaths to savor good days or weeks on our journey or do we just consume, consume, consume and wait for the blue box we call life to switch  from Sponge Bob to Scooby Doo or the other way around?   


Anyway one combination Peace and Joy salutes Mac and Cheese on it’s. (U.S>) National Day and adds a polite nod to the North “ay”.  


Sunday, July 10, 2022

Thoughts On a Birthday —What a Trip


 Another Trip—around the sun?


So birthdays…more or less like time are a human invention designed to mark off chunks of experiences in ways we can all relate to.  


Here are some thoughts about my birthday that I’m not sure I can explain or that most of you can relate to, however, trying to connect is always worth a shot.  


First—Birthday Cards



This is one of my happiest birthdays ever because I didn’t receive one card!!!What you ask why would somebody be happy for NOT getting a single card.  Well here’s the thing.  If you take the average cost of a card these days…let’s say $4.00 and add the amount of money spent on the gas used to get the card maybe a$1.00  then you pile on the value of the time you might have spent doing something. Like work for an hour  $7.50 (it isn’t taking an hour to get me a card00right) Then throw in the cost of a stamp and you have roughly $13.00 invested in a card.  Now counting the social media hits about 80 people wished me happy birthday.  Since none of you spent  $13.00 that means nearly $1,040 dollars was saved by people. Who can use that money to change their lives  or the world in ways that are far more creative than reminding me I’m old.  


Next. No candles!


This year I didn’t get any cake/cupcake  with any candles involved.  Of course at this point  local open burning ordinances are likely to discourage or prohibit  lighting  this many candles, however, I’m still wondering why we have this tradition in the first place.  Let’s think about this shall we.  

Imagine sending a note to the parents of the kids your kids go to school with etc and that note said.  


Hey Maria can your son Joe come over for a couple of hours and eat some sugar that my son has blown on several times and spread spit all over?  Sure Joe will have fun because we’re also going  to blind fold him and other kids and let them swing a stick at a bag of things that will rot their teeth  and don’t worry just because that will be hanging from a light.  There’s really not much of a chance that the light bulbs will hit him specifically.  


Gifts—Wow did I get some!!!

I’m not going over the whole list because most of you will just get jealous but I want to say they included things related to music and sports…and more importantly…they allowed me to do time traveling.  What?  Yep I met a Green Bay. Packer who signed a hat and turned into a 10 year old boy shaking his hand…Now  was his hand large?  Let’s just say I didn’t really know that they made humans in that size.  I talked with and texted with people I’ve come to know in every era of my life and have interacted with for all types of reasons.  This reminds me of how tossing a little positive rock in the pond of the universe creates  marvelous ripples that sometimes intersect and sometimes don’t, yet always provide the energy needed to make a difference.   

Was there any down side to my birthday…. Of course… I celebrated it with gusto and it reminded me that I don’t celebrate enough days with gusto.  I started thinking about toys (because 10 year olds think about toys) and realized that NERF has changed from a type of soft ball to a type of juvenile  assault weapon clone.  The Game  of Monopoly  has become  the favorite purpose of  people who might share the resources of our planet with a bit more generosity, and I stopped drinking  early because I can’t drink as much as I used to….however as my (RIP) friend Bob often reminded me …We don’t drink as much as we used to—then again nobody could….


So…. This birthday was a trip and also a part of a trip …the next trip around the sun…. Thank you all for making every spinning  cycle called a day a fascinating  thing for me.  As the trip around the sun moves along I’ll try to send thought of gratitude and peace and joy your way…but no cards or cakes with candles…


I may however wander around blindfolded swinging a stick and hoping for treats… that’s life you know


Wednesday, July 6, 2022

S’more Wisdon?


 After a couple of days spent saluting democracy or representative republic as it were it became evident that summer is not only in full swing,but is barreling forward at breakneck speed.  On a rather Morose aside what exactly is breakneck speed?  Is there a speed so fast that when something goes past. And you move your head to see it  the torsion breaks the watcher’s neck or is it a speed at which  let’s say if you had a wreck your neck would be broken?  If it’s the latter then the speed your neck is going is likely zero when it cracks and so most things at most times are going at or near that speed.   I know it’s a technicality, however, it does beg the question “do other speeds get described  in such a manner?”  So can you be traveling  at sprained ankle speed or muscle cramp speed, or a brain freeze clip?


Okay back to the calendar  moving like  a twitching eyebrow pace… yesterday was the day after the big summer holiday and it was also “Grahm Cracker Day.”  

Now what do we know about these crackers?  Well when Grahm invented these  crackers they weren’t invented to be tasty.  Grahm intended them to taste  bland (not adding any sugar to a largely unrefined  flour brick-like deal.  Grahm would have frowned on putting a piece of chocolate on one and throwing a flaming marshmallow on.  He wouldn’t have encouraged  putting frosting in between two halves of one or making a sweet pie crust from them.  In fact, Grahm wanted these to be  so bland that focusing on eating them might actually make folks less lustful.  Yes…you read that correctly.  Grahm claimed that these crackers would lesson sexual drive…. But after honey, sugar, and the tinkering of Girl Scouts…Grahm’s hopes were definitely dashed.  Which brings us to the Peace and Joy aspect of this.


You see….. the cracker  was out there in the world and then people started to say “how can we make this better?  How can we keep some of what it was and let other people in on something that can be better?  What can we add to it like a piece of candy?  What events (like family campingK) can be made better by changing this?  This leads to the question—


What can we find in distasteful things that might be transformed by our creativity?  Can we morph something rather ordinary into a crusty foundation for something spectacular like ice cream pie?  Well it might mean we have to crumble it up and reshape it—-right?  Do we have the courage to reshape and reconsider things in ways that might be fabulous?  


And speaking of change I saw this little meme today that seems to fit…. 


Life does not come wih a remote… if you want to change it you have to get up and change it yourself.  


Monday, July 4, 2022

The American Spirit Part III Working for Freedom


 We had a king a smug old bruit

So we gave the Union Jack  the boot

And chose a rather untried route

Make our own laws -oh most they suit

And when they don’t we recompute

Must trust in them or all is mute

Hard work it is this freedom’s fruit

Brings Pride Today —Stand and Salute


Freedom Rings

Sunday, July 3, 2022

The American Spirit Part II We Declare


 Hark and hear a tale of we

It started with but ten plus three

Said there you king we disagree

Taxed with no voice-refused our plea?

Into the Bay we’ll toss your tea

We’ve had it with your tyrany

We’ll send this note across the sea

It says so long we shall be free


We Declare

Saturday, July 2, 2022

The Spirit of America Part I


 This might be valued like a jewel

A thread of wisdom from the spool

Of lessons once we learned in school

In living rooms and vestibule

When kindness still seemed rather cool

And not for dollar signs we’d drool 

Like the northern end of a southbound mule

What’s that? Of course—the Golden Rule


Unto Others