I miss you Sam!!

I miss you Sam!!
I miss you Sam!!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Shadow Shot Sunday!

Get out the magnifying glass, get into your best sleuthing clothes and start prowling your environment looking for those wonderful, but sometimes elusive shadows. This fun and challenging meme is hosted each week by Tracy over at Hey Harriet! Click on the link under the blog title and sign up to play!!

Our sun has definitely found another place to shine and it is rainy, chilly and gray! So, back to the files! Hope you all enjoy a great weekend!  Turn off the TV, shred the newspaper, put on some of your favorite music and find as many reasons to laugh as you can!
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
Mohandas Gandhi

Happiness seems made to be shared.
Pierre Corneille

If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired
their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we
could have a paradise in a few years.  Bertrand Russell
 

Friday, November 11, 2011

Weekend Reflections

Weekend Reflections is hosted by James each week beginning Friday at 11 AM Eastern Standard Time. It's another wonderful way of opening your eyes to new and different kinds of beauty. Click on the web address under the blog title and sign up to play with us!

Wishing all of you a wonderful weekend filled with all the good things! Turn off the TV and radio, toss the newspaper and play with the Bloggers -- believe me, we have a lot more fun than most people these days!!

Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness.
Richard Bach

Happiness never lays its finger on its pulse.
Adam Smith


Where is home? Home is where the heart can laugh without shyness. Home is where the heart's tears can dry at their own pace.  Vernon Baker

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Sky Watch Friday!

Time to share your skies, the beauty over your world, the clouds, the colors! Sky Watch is hosted each week by  the Sky Watch team of  Sandy, Wren and me. And this week as every week, we remember Klaus and know that he joins us in spirit! Join us and the many people from all over the world who share theirs with us each week! Click on the address under the post title to be taken to the SWF website where you can sign up

Despite the politics, the worldwide concerns, the anger and the frustration, the skies continue to offer beauty, relief and refreshing views. The trees continue to turn a few leaves at a time and sometimes a whole tree almost overnight! Our temperatures have been relatively mild and we've enjoyed some sunshine this week as well as rain. So, here are the views I want to share with you along with the wisdom of others! Smile, laugh, love and enjoy!

All the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing, and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway.
Harry S. Truman
 

Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so.
Gore Vidal

It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes.
Andrew Jackson

A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Evening, Wisdom and Beauty

Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so. Robert Green Ingersoll

Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open.
John Barrymore

But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?
Albert Camus

Wednesday Humor!

• On-Line Company Names:


All of the following are, or at least were, legitimate companies that didn't spend quite enough time considering how their on-line names might appear - and be misread! These are not made up.

1.. "Who Represents" is where you can find the name of the agent that
 
represents any celebrity. Their Web site is www.
whorepresents.com.

2 . "Experts Exchange" is a knowledge base where programmers can
 
exchange advice and views at www.
expertsexchangecom. 

3.. Looking for a pen? Look no further than " Pen Island " at www.
penisland.net. 

4.. Need a therapist? Try "Therapist Finder" at www.
therapistfinder.com.

5.. There's the "Italian Power Generator Company" at www.
powergenitalia.com 

6.. And don't forget the "Mole Station Native Nursery" in New South Wales, Australia, www.
molestationnurserycom.

7.. If you're looking for IP computer software, there's always www.
ipanywhere.com 

8.. The "First Coming Methodist Church " Web site is www.
comingfirst.com 

9.. And, finally, the designers at "Speed of Art" await you at their wacky Web site, www.
spedofart.com.

• The Economy Is So Bad:
-- Jury duty is now considered a good-paying job.
-- Banks are now mailing us pre-declined credit cards.
-- African TV now shows "sponsor an American child" commercials.
-- CEO's are playing miniature golf.
-- Exxon-Mobil had to lay off 25 Congressmen.
-- ATMs now give IOUs!
-- A stripper was bruised when her audience showered her with rolls of pennies.
-- Mormon polygamists now have only one wife.
-- If the bank returns your check marked "insufficient funds", you ask if they mean you or them.
-- McDonald's is now selling a quarter-ouncer.
-- Beverly Hills parents are firing their nannies and learning their children's names.
-- A truckload of Americans were caught sneaking into Mexico.
-- A picture is now worth only 200 words.
-- They renamed Wall Street "Wal-Mart Street".

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Evening, Wisdom and Beauty

A friend is one who walks in when others walk out.Walter Winchell

Life is the first gift, love is the second, and understanding the third.   Marge Piercy
-

Life is the sum of all your choices.    Albert Camus

Christmas 2011 -- Birth of a New Tradition!

 As you know, I try not to use my blog for politics or even social issues as a rule, but a friend sent this to me and it surely resonated with me, so I decided to share it! Some great ideas for the holidays!!
As the holidays approach, the giant Asian 
factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles 
of cheaply produced goods --merchandise that has been produced at the expense
 of American labor. This year will be different. This year Americans will give
the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse 
that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American 
hands. Yes
 there is!!
It's 

time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt
box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?  Everyone -- yes EVERYONE
 gets their hair cut. How about gift certificate from your local American hair
salon or barber? 
Gym membership? It's
appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.
Who wouldn't

 appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned detail shops and
car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift
certificates.
Are you one of those extravagant givers
 who think nothing of plonking down the Benjamines on a Chinese made
flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift  receiver would like his driveway
 sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games
at the local golf course.
There are a bazillion owner-run
restaurants -- all offering gift certificates. And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen 
breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting
 your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their 
doors open.
How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or 
motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?
My computer could use a tune-up, and I

KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up

and running.
OK, you were looking for something more

 personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves.

They make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes.
Plan your holiday outings at local, owner

operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip. And, how about going out

to see a play or ballet at your hometown theatre.
Musicians need love too, so find a venue
 showcasing local bands.
Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to 
buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a five

 dollar string of light, about fifty cents stays in the community. If you have

 those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice

 BIG tip.
You see, Christmas is no longer about 
draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering 
city. Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging American small
 businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care 
about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come 
back to us in ways we couldn't
 imagine.


 THIS is the new American Christmas tradition.
This is a revolution
of caring about each other, and isn't 
that what Christmas is about?


Monday, November 7, 2011

Our World Tuesday!!

Time for "Our World" again! This is a wonderful way to find the beauty, the fun, the good and even the bad things about Our World and to share them! Hope you will join us! Click on the link  to go to the Our World site and sign up!!
http://ourworldtuesdaymeme.blogspot.com/

It's pretty cold, but we've had a couple of great days and I enjoyed a brief visit to my old neighborhood and the harbor! It was great to see the mountains and the beaches! The rain returns today -- at least some showers, but I've had my fun for the week, so I'll share that with you as I wait for the rain. Have a beautiful week, laugh and giggle whenever you can and don't worry about tomorrow!

Happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold; the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul.
Democritus

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt

People with many interests live, not only longest, but happiest.
George Matthew Allen 

Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile.
William Cullen Bryant

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Evening, Wisdom and Beauty

A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.

Joy is not in things; it is in us.   Richard Wagner

Let me never be afraid of endings or beginnings. Teach me to embrace all of life with joy.  Helen Lesman

Pets Forever!

Hey guys, get up off your tush and lets go see Bozo over at his pad in Mumbai! It's always a fun time when we all get together and talk about what's been happin', Bro! You know? Get your human to click on the Post Title, that'll take them to the website where you can sign up! I'll be waiting for you!!

Hey, guys! Can you see me?
How about now?  Don't I have a cool room? And it's ALL MINE!!
But if any of you are ever in Seattle you're welcome to come visit me and I'll show you around!! Just ask for Sir Sam, Esquire!  No, I don't know what that means, but I thought it sounded good!

What Can I Say?

What Can I Say?
I'm interested in almost everything. Use to like to travel, but it's too expensive now. I take Tai Chi classes, swim, volunteer in a Jump-start program for pre-schoolers. I'm an avid reader and like nearly everyone these days I follow politics avidly. I'm a former teacher and Special Projects Coordinator for a Telecommunications company, Assistant to the President of a Japanese silicon wafer manufacturing company. Am now enjoying retirement -- most of the time. I have two daughters, one son-in-law and two sons scattered all over the country. No grandchildren.

Portland Time