Saturday, January 28, 2006

THROW DOWN YOUR ARMS


Sinead O'Connor Posted by Picasa
This is the first music review for THE WHOLE IN THE DONUT.
I recently bought "Throw Down Your Arms" a wonderful cd recorded in Jamaica. It features Sinead on vocals with Sly & Robbie performing the reggae rhythm section. And yes the percussion and bass do smoke. Cool Jamaican horns also float through this marvelous music.
Sinead seems to have developed an Irish affinity with the Island of Jamaica and it seems as if she is having a spiritual experience with the Rasta lifestyle. There is so much to be praised about "Throw Down Your Arms" that it deserves a turn on your CD player. You can sample some choice cuts on her website:
http://www.sineadoconnor.com
By the way I made some slight changes on the format of my blog. You now don't have to be a blogger member to make a comment. So please feel free to express yourselves. Respect now.
Also I have a included a site meter so that I can see how many hits I am getting with this developing creating endeavor.

Friday, January 27, 2006

Mozart"s Miracle

Charles Dumas, the chief international economist at forecasting firm Lombard Research in London, said in a note to investors: "It will take a miracle as fine as Mozart, 250 years old today and as fresh as new, to prevent a sharp U.S. slowdown in the second half of 2006, probably to nil growth" by the fourth quarter
January 27,2006

Thursday, January 26, 2006

IS YOUR GLASS.....?

Coping with Negative Thoughts
DR ANDREW WEIL says:
Are you a "glass half empty" or a "glass half full" kind of person? Research shows that looking at the positive side of things is better for your health - optimists have been shown to do better than pessimists in almost every aspect of life, including how well their immune systems function. If you tend to be negative, there is good news: Optimism can be learned. The process begins with the identification of self-defeating thoughts. Once you become aware of habitual thoughts that lead to negative emotions, you can begin to substitute positive ones. For example, whenever you notice yourself reminding on a negative theme like, "I am worthless and this latest setback just confirms it," you can consciously substitute, "This setback is just something that happened; I will get through it, because I am capable and resilient."
DAEPRO says:
It is so easy to come down on yourself or others. Sometimes I look at the wonders all around me and at other times I see nothing but doom & gloom. I ponder what makes me change perspective so randomly. Is it related to events, body chemistry, lack of natural sunlight or just a plain blue mood.
I think that these moods make us human and feeling them whether joy or grief must be felt like waves in the ocean. Optimism is a gift and when one feels it they should be very grateful.

Saturday, January 21, 2006


January thaw Posted by Picasa
Saturday, 21 January 2006
7 am. 37 degrees, clear.
In early November, I always begin to hope that we’ll have a mild winter. Hoping anything about the weather is ridiculous, of course. The farmers I know do plenty of complaining about the weather—it seems to be part of the job description. In any case, we are having a mild winter—alarmingly mild. Today it will reach nearly 50 degrees. It’s not unusual to have a January warm-spell. But what that usually means is a week with highs in the mid-30s. The snow is gone, except on the north-facing slopes and where the plow has piled it high. The chickens are having what we call a poultry holiday—turned out of their yard to go wherever they like. The veterans head for the spots where the horse ha been over the past few months. The new roosters—part of a late-summer brood—stand inside the yard looking out, a little dazed, unable to find the gate. A young rooster, just at 20 weeks, has no brain to speak of. It has only urges. It is drugged by desire.
These roosters are part of a batch of day-old chicks we bought last spring.. Some poultry breeders will sex the chicks for you, but this batch was, as they say, straight-run. In other words, we ordered 2 dozen chicks in whatever sex-distribution nature happened to provide. In our experience, that means 80 percent roosters. A rooster with his own small clutch of hens acquires a certain majesty, a clarity of purpose, even a kind of chivalry. But these birds are just at that awkward age—oversexed but understanding nothing about courtship. They loiter in gangs at the corner of the chicken house. They would be smoking and wearing iPod earbuds under their stocking caps if they could. A real farm family would eat them, of course. We have done so in the past. The problem wasn’t the murder so much as the feathered corpse. Now we order females when we can and place our excess roosters in foster homes. We’re hoping to do so again this year. Everyone needs an alarm clock.
Where the snow has withdrawn, the grass is green and brittle. In the woods, there is a felt of matted leaves, pressed down by the weight of the snow. The horse revels in the good footing, and so do I. They stand broadside to the sun in their heavy coats. Here is what weather means now. A day like this comes as a gift—a respite, a precursor of spring. And it comes as a warning, as a sobering question. Is this just an anomalous day in an ordinary winter or is it part of a season whose anomalous warmth is now to be expected? I do not doubt for a moment doubt the overwhelming evidence of global warming. I’m old enough to have grown up when a warm day in January did not carry any foreboding with it, even though we were already busy building it in.
I regretfully did not write this but I could really relate. I think it is beautifully wriitten.
I did take the accompanying photo though.

FUN IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM

Hey Colleen. Thanks so much for helping us out this morning. I am really glad that everything turned out okay. I am sure that you probably guessed that Presley is fine & off to see her friend in Rhode Island and then the both of them will head back Sunday to check in at the dorms at Conn. At least she is heading in the right direction. She ate a bagel and had some of that delicious Cooley Coffee. My plan to determine if she is good to go was to have her visit the the gym give herself a vigorous workout and if anything starts to bother her lets deal further. She went to the gym felt great, took a shower and we all said good bye in the drive way. Interesting morning.
Hope Ron our neighbors procedure goes routinely and he will be home tomorrow. I plan to drop off some comic books for him at the house tomorrow.
I appreciate the good will and smiles you extended to us and really glad CDH was there in this little emergency, which ultimately turned out to be something to laugh & wonder at. Say thanks to the Dr Domenic ......?
Let me know about the party next week. Feel it out if I am really welcome. I'm not ready to be a party crasher at Ellens.
Peace out
Dw

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Time is always the enemy


TIME IS ALWAYS THE ENEMY Posted by Picasa

I have frequently used this expression and in many ways it is correct. It is time that causes the rose to wither on the vine or a man to wrinkle and dry up like a prune. We all know that we cannot slow or stop this ever present force. We have learned how to defy gravity but to resist the passage of time remains a complete mystery.
Perhaps time is not the enemy when it brings wisdom & experience. If only we can accept those traits as a trade off for the inevitable slow decline of our vitality.
"I do not wish to obtain immortality by doing something astonishing or important. I wish to obtain immortality by not dying." Groucho Marx

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Is it not normal to be normal

I was walking on the Upper West Side of Manhattan during a snowy afternoon on New Years Eve with my friend Peter. We began discussing the whole in the donut and he said that when he reads this blog he realizes how normal I am. He looked at me and then said that he feels envious of that. I thanked him and said that I often don't feel all that normal. It is though through the eyes of someone with many struggles and conflicts that I may appear stable and set in life. My conflicts these days are mostly internal and not easily seen by the outside. Issues like letting go and taking risks often plague me now. Perhaps I keep them well sublimated. If it were not for the wood splitting and running while watching the sun rise over the moutain I think I would be allot less adjusted. I am off to watch that sun start the day right now.

Monday, January 02, 2006

New Years Eve view of Manhattan skyline from Williamsburg,Brooklyn. 2005


In Carhartts & Cattle Dog they left them with the Fifth Ave Doorman as he announced their entry into the High Def world. The Subaru proudly headed south to Brooklyn. An adventure for all. Lavish Parties and Night Photography from the Piers. Different worlds but still a family.