Winning Must Be The Ultimate Goal, Nobody Remembers the Losers

They were wrong. Living by Republican ideals, I outlasted them. I ran those socialists off their "benefit everyone gardens" and took the food myself. Exposure, starvation, disease, they deserved no protection from any of it. I put a stop to their Democratic cooperation and defeated them. I won, I'm the last person on Earth...

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Falling in Fall.

I think I may be falling in love. She's cool, and calm, everyone around here knows her. She has a smoothness and a beauty I'm beginning to take notice of and to appreciate.
She reminds me of when I was younger, in another time, another place. I think I'm falling for this city.

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New Life

Today marks the start of a new life for me. I'll be driving to a new city, starting a new job come Monday.

I'm so happy to have met the people I have in my last two (simultaneous) jobs, I've met some great people.

Please pray for me in my new life.

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55 Flash Fiction - She Doesn't Know

She's taken more than any man could ever take. Her heart is so pure, so loving, and she sometimes feels like a bother.

I reassure that she is what she so obviously is, in long conversations, their tangents and returns. She seems to need those.

She doesn't know it is I, who am dependent.

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55 Flash Fiction - Thorpadine

Thorpadine. No meaning, context, memory or reason for it to pop into mind.

Upon a web search, it returned nothing. The word, the thought, disturbed. Total nonsense, this Thorpadine. Not an element, compound, drug, flavor, process, or name. Nothing to have triggered the word's popping up.

His thought was, "Be glad you didn't think it."

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Blessings and Thankfulness

There are blessings we overlook almost everyday, family and friends. Those who help us, and those who actually care.
Those who change us for the better without ever raising their voices, with just their demeanor, attitudes and kindness. Those who do not bully, but show us in their own way.
Thank God for these blessings.

___________________
Its a 55, but not fiction, rather a Thanksgiving, so I'll post it on a Thursday like Thanksgiving holiday.

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55 Flash Fiction - Tim & Sal #24

Sal: "Heavenly Father, Holy and blessed is your name.
All as you wish.
Please provide our needs.
Forgive us as we forgive.
Help us to avoid evil.
Everything is yours, always.
Amen."

Tim: "Amen. An abbreviated modern form of the Lord's Prayer..."

Sal: "Yes, something to remind us to be better than what we might."

_____________________
I hope it helps us towards that. I have to offer a prayer, and hope and thankfulness. It seems that we so often forget what we have, we need, what we shouldn't and why, and what we wish. I wish we'd all learn forgiveness, especially myself, that we get that which we require to live, that we treat one another with respect, that we remember that our presence here is only temporary...
I cannot say it all. I also submit the following song from my first year of high school, I hope you enjoy it, it doesn't sound as good as I remember, but I imagine the record could be worn considering the year its from, vinyl records were subject to actual physical wear, unlike optical media.


Here's another, not in English, but in Aramaic...

Quite lovely.

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Thank God for Good News

Thank God for indications of an upturn. I just hope its not too little or too late.

No thanks to the village idiot from Texas, whose spending without regard for where the money comes from got us into this mess.

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YAAAAY! No More Bush/Cheney!

By this time (I'm writing this Sunday 1-18-2009 ~4:05 PM), Mr Obama is now Mr President, and GW Bush and DICK Cheney have been removed from head of the US Administrative Branch. I say "Welcome Mr President, may God's right hand guide you to lead as a real leader should."

To the former Prez and his puppet-master, I say "May karma come to you for all the wrong you have done."

To everyone in America, I say "May we never forget how we have been betrayed by the bait-and-switch spawns of Hell, GWB and DC."

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Heartfelt Wishes

A child, the hope for the future.
Perhaps peace will come from here, the peace mankind seeks too little.
The peace that mankind deserves.
Perhaps that one gesture, that single need filled by this child.
From the sinner that I am, the outcast I have allowed myself to be.
Please, God, bless her.
My child.

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Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! I've accepted an offer and start Tuesday at a new contract job. I can't tell you how much this means to me, so I'll let Leonard Cohen say it.



BTW. Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Buckley, and KD Lang do nice renditions of this song, and there's Lots of others, too. Nice song, Mr. Cohen, thank you.

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Happy New Year!

To all, even those who do not read this today, I wish for you a wonderful year, full of happiness, prosperity, love, freedom, and peace.
May all of your dreams be happy ones and may all the happy dreams that conform with the laws of physics become reality.

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Silent Prayer

My good friend, whom I've never met,
the one with a heart of gold.
The one who has fasted in prayer for me.
The one who has been there in spirit, has an illness and needs your prayers.
Just as I do, for different reasons.
Thousands of miles and close still.
I treasure your spirit.
_______________________

I know it's supposed to be fiction, but this isn't.
I need a job, so I need your wishes, good luck and prayers, my friend needs them to get over illness.

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The Nicest Neighbor Ever

I was taking out my garbage this morning, and my next door neighbor was outside combing his cat. Now I hardly ever get a chance to speak with my neighbors, so in passing, we exchanged greetings. On the way back I commented how it was the biggest cat I'd ever seen. We started talking after he'd told me that the cat was 35(!) pounds. I told him that that was bigger than a turkey, and he told me some of the neighbors had told him the running range of his cat was about 15 feet. We joked about it a little, and he inquired how things were going, and somehow I stated that I was finally looking for a job.

He was very nice(as he usually is) and we spoke about plans for Thanksgiving. He was telling me that he might go to a local restaurant. I told him I had no plans, and had spoke with my daughter and wasn't sure if she was looking for an invitation, or was going to invite me. He told me that his sister was visiting. We finished our conversation with discussion of how we thought each of the other of us were good neighbors. He was about to trump me on that count.

I was sitting at my computer, looking for local jobs with qualifications similar to my skill set, and heard a knock on my door, and speaking outside. I peeked out the peep-hole and it was him. I opened the door, and he was standing with his sister, she with a bottle of wine, and he with a huge box with bags on top of it. He had gone to the local grocery store and bought an entire prepared meal for 7-10 people for me, so that I could invite my daughter to Thanksgiving. I was overwhelmed with emotion, as I was not expecting such a gesture. I almost cried right there in front of him and his sister.

I have something to be thankful for, more Thanksgiving dinner than I would ever prepare and something new to be grateful for, a great neighbor.

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Gratitude

In the spirit of Lime's Da Count, I'm going to express my appreciation and gratitude for the Bloggers out there today. I'd like to say my "thank you"s and give just a few reasons for my gratitude. I will not be listing all of the reasons, due to time and the slow inevitable loss of my mind... uh, I mean memory(not that I have any mental condition (that is to say, none that I know of (which isn't to say, I might have such a condition (I really don't know, maybe I've forgotten (if I did have one and had been told, would I remember?))))).

The first person I will thank is Mona. Mona has been commenting on my blog for most of the time I have been blogging, she even commented when I was too tired and/or busy to blog. She has been a valued friend, with a heart the size of India. She's creative. She's sensitive. She's funny. We talk a lot with each other (not that we really talk, its all written (this isn't to say she doesn't really talk, she's told me she actually does.))

I'll list people in no other particular order here, just as they come to mind, I'm not showing any favoritism (this is due to my disorganized mind.)

There's Snow Elf. I'd like to thank for being such a sweetheart, and for the vivid writing skills she exhibits. Its always a pleasure to read her posts, even if she seems to think she's complaining. She can be quite funny also, and obviously loves her children very much. Its nice to see someone who understands the importance of raising children and giving them such good values. She's quite the busy girl, and for her to take the time to post such wonderful writing is a treat to the rest of us.

There's Serena Joy (I call her SJ.) I enjoy reading her blog everyday (I wish I were so inspired to find something to post about everyday.) Her intelligence and acceptance of others is exceptional. Her challenges are fun, and her Boudreaux shorts are hilarious. I avoid some of the material she wants us to try, because either my cynical side would get the best of me, or I'm just too lazy, I'll leave the determination of that choice for you to decide.

There's G-Man or Galen or as I call him, just G. He's always good for a laugh, he has some rather esoteric tidbits of information he shares, and he's one of those rather enigmatic white collar workers by day and biker by night guys. It shows a rather complex personality, even if he claims otherwise (not that I've ever seen him claim otherwise (he does claim to be low-tech (how low-tech can he be though? (he does palindromes.))))

Then there's the cat that blogs, Top Cat. He's been somewhat imitated by Dan's (we'll get to him later) posting from a sockpuppet "Lulu." There was no comparison though, TC (that's what I call him) is a very cool cat (pun somewhat intended,) and "Lulu" was, well to put it mildly, catty. TC is always, always nice. He's even nice doing SJ's Bastardizing the Bard, his was the only one that wasn't mean (including my own.)

There's Lime, whose blog is really very much a model of what we should all be feeling. She's very loving of her family and friends. She's experienced much that life has to offer, some of the stuff being foistered upon her, and she shows the grace to pass through it with an admirable countenance. She does the Friday Flash 55s as many of these bloggers do. Her fascination with tie dyed items is pretttty darned cool, too.

There's Jillie, an old soul in a young body (I hope I got that right.) She seems to love and celebrate life as much is humanly (and financially) possible. She has a discriminating eye when it comes to mean, and she's not afraid to call it, I admire that. She is fiercely protective of her friends, and she seems to have many friends. You go, Jillie. Oh, and did I tell you? Jillie rocks.

Barman or Bryan is another of the Tres Amigos (or is it Quatro?(or is it indeed Tres Amigos and Uno Amiga?)) from the same region as TC and G and Sign Gurl (more on her later.) Another nice guy, he does a lot of photos and knows who his friends are. He's still getting his blogging legs, but I'm sure once he figures out what he wants to blog about, what his passion is, he'll be great.

There's Mike Minzes, a passionate kind of guy, with a willingness to give praise to the talent he sees. He has a lot of irons in a lot of fires, but he doesn't burn anyone (a testament to how cool he is.) I've written about him previously, so if you want to know more about him, check out my older posts. Awesome Blogger Dude. Did I mention his predilection for Chinese fare? Yeah, he likes it.

I have also of late begun reading with some interest the blog of S E E Quine, or Sara. She's a critical thinker, heck, she's a thinker. That's a rare thing, but it seems to be more prevalent amongst bloggers (this could explain what I like about blogging.) She's got lots to offer in the realm of intelligence, thinking, creativity, art and of course, opinions. She's quick. She's one of the very few that I have employed gnitirw sdrawkcab with and didn't have to explain it to. She instead replied in kind. I think when she hits her stride, she'll be quite in demand from whatever field she enters.

There's some I haven't said much about and will put off for now, too.

My point is that I appreciate all of you. I am thankful I've come across your paths, and I consider each of you friends. Thank you, for being who you are.

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Mike Minzes

Mike Minzes is one of those bloggers everyone loves. He runs a number of blogs in addition to working at his job, and always has good things to say about others and their work.

One of his blogs is simply for the sole benefit of others,
Disaster Recovery Discussion Board - DRDB.
The purpose is to help others prepare for things that might be life threatening, or make life miserable without some preparation. Very altruistic, this.

Some of his others like The Experiment and The Experiment - A Thousand Words are for others' entertainment and the sake of being creative, something that benefits others, also.

Of course one is for his personal benefit, and may help others by keeping them informed, but Mike also maintains Mike's Homefront, a blog much like the rest of us do, a very social centric site.

Mike has chosen me for an award, for which he is infinitely qualified, showing once again how magnanimous he truly is. Thank you , Mike. I aspire to earn it and will endeavor to do so.


I understand that I am to nominate 5 others for this award also, so I will be presenting to the following dudes:
Galen, who's Mr. Knowitall is a humorous, sometimes irreverent, always enjoyable site.
Top Cat, who's Open Window is a humorous, thoughtful, loving, and enjoyable site.


And I will be nominating the following dudettes Mike's modified award, since I don't think only dudes can be awesome:
Mona, who's Two Bits is full of love, poetry, amusing stories, culturally educational, funny, and is an enjoyable site.
Snow Elf, who's Just Another Ironic Coincidence too is full of love, wonderfully crafted stories and is an enjoyable site.
Serena Joy, who's Parenthetically Speaking... is an intelligent, fun, humorous and is an enjoyable site with occasional activities to stimulate the mind and creativity.

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Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to all.
May love, peace and prosperity be enjoyed by all.

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More good thoughts from coffee

Mmm. More coffee. I love it. I love having coffee with friends. I love my friends. I don't have a lot of friends, but the ones I have are the best people in the world. There are parts of them that I wish I were more like. I can count them on one hand, the ones I can consider true friends. They are the ones I can ask, the ones that care about others, not just me, and are willing to help. And I hope they realize they can ask me and get willing help. I don't have much to offer but help, I'm a simple man.

I don't need much in the way of material things, and probably have too much in that respect. I'm somewhat of a packrat, storing away things that I should likely trash, in case I can either fix it down the road or use it to fix something else. I am quite handy with tools, and work on things from a diverse number of fields. I fixed a digital clock yesterday, that had been flashing the display for months. Did I mention I love tools? I'm the kind of guy that will make tools if the tools will make the job faster and easier, be they hand tools, or software tools. I will usually try to make them as general purpose as possible, unless it is some task that is done repeatedly on a frequent basis, in which case I try to simplify the task.

Yesterday's VBScript is a general purpose tool, it can be used to classify group memberships,or can be used to classify actions taken, it might even be used for classifying insurance applicants or any number of other classification purposes. Use your imagination, that's why you got to keep it since childhood. Imagination is my friend, make it yours. If necessity is the mother of invention, then surely imagination is the father. Its those images from our imagination that become the goals that we seek, if we are wise, and want to be happy.

Chas, The Analyzer

BTW. Just because imagination is my friend, doesn't mean that I have imaginary friends. ;D

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Self

Saturday. The weekend, the reason we work through the week. A bit of our lives we can call our own. The opportunity to visit those we love, those we are connected to, those that are important to our well being. So much to say and not enough time or words to say it. The chance to look around and take stock. The chance to sleep in for some. Cartoons and sci-fi, movies and food.

I thank my lucky stars, thank life, the sun, the source of all that is good, thank the universe, thank god. I believe in something more than us, than what we can see, then again maybe its just the confluence of chance and circumstance. I can't be sure, but there is the wise words that go something like, "I'd rather believe and find there is no God, than not believe and find out there is."

I don't believe in attending organized church services, though. I'd rather not have someone with an ulterior motive telling me what he thinks, too many have been led astray, been fleeced, been told who to vote for, have lost their lives, have taken others lives. I can't condone the holier-than-thou attitudes I have seen, the indirect manner of teaching people to hate, when the thing that should be taught is to love. Religions are almost entirely made up of groups who hold the idea that the only true religion is their own.

If god is everywhere as has been held out, then wouldn't he be as diverse as we are? Wouldn't all people be doing those things that they are supposed to? Gee, I suppose that my attitude may need to consider that last line, maybe that's the way they are supposed to be. I suppose even my acceptance of others needs work, and I try not to be judgmental of others, but I suppose I am being judgmental about others being judgmental. Oh well, ce qui sera, sera. I suppose that you just can't win at some things. Or maybe I'm just being a hypocrite, but that isn't my intention.

I hold on to things like my own (twisted?) sense of mores, even when it isn't good for me. I haven't much, but I have my sense of self, and that's what makes up most of what I perceive as me. When you do something against what you believe, you risk losing your sense of self. Believe me, I know, I've done it. It takes a lot to find yourself afterwards. Some people do it for their jobs, so you wonder, "How could someone give up that much of themselves, for so little?".

Honor. I have my honor when I don't violate those things that define to me, who I am. Besides, I don't like to feel guilty.

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