Friday, February 27, 2009

Grateful for Humor - I know we have all spoken to this guy!

Mujibar was trying to get a job in India.

The Personnel Manager said, "Mujibar, you have passed all the tests, except one. Unless you pass it,you cannot qualify for this job."

Mujibar said, "I am ready, Mister Manager."

The manager said, "Make a sentence using the words Yellow, Pink and Green."

Mujibar thought for a few minutes and said, "Mister Manager, I am ready"

The manager said, "Go ahead."

Mujibar said, "The telephone goes green,green,..........green,green, and then I pink it up, and I say,"Yellow, this is Mujibar."

Mujibar now works at a call center.No doubt you have spoken to him. I know I have.

_____________________

With a giggle of mirth for my friend Ralph, with whom I just had an e-mail conversation about Tech Support. Life is so synchronous!

Blessings,
Cathryn
www.moonsinger.com
"If the Start Windows Restart when Windows starts check box is checked Windows Restart will start automatically every time Windows is started." ~Actual excerpt from a windows program help file.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

When Are WE Going to Get Over It?


A black friend of mine sent me this article a couple of days ago…. And it touched my heart. Sitting with it in my consciousness for a couple of days, I have decided to share it. Below the article you will see my reply to my friend.

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Andrew M. Manis: When Are WE Going to Get Over It?



For much of the last forty years, ever since America "fixed" its race problem in the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, we white people have been impatient with African Americans who continued to blame race for their difficulties. Often we have heard whites ask, "When are African Americans finally going to get over it? Now I want to ask: "When are we White Americans going to get over our ridiculous obsession with skin color?

Recent reports that "Election Spurs Hundreds' of Race Threats, Crimes" should frighten and infuriate every one of us. Having grown up in "Bombingham," Alabama in the 1960s, I remember overhearing an avalanche of comments about what many white classmates and their parents wanted to do to John and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Eventually, as you may recall, in all three cases, someone decided to do more than "talk the talk."

Since our recent presidential election, to our eternal shame we are once again hearing the same reprehensible talk I remember from my boyhood.
We white people have controlled political life in the disunited colonies and United States for some 400 years on this continent. Conservative whites have been in power 28 of the last 40 years. Even during the eight Clinton years, conservatives in Congress blocked most of his agenda and pulled him to the right. Yet never in that period did I read any headlines suggesting that anyone was calling for the assassinations of presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, or either of the Bushes. Criticize them, yes. Call for their impeachment, perhaps. But there were no bounties on their heads. And even when someone did try to kill Ronald Reagan, the perpetrator was non-political mental case who wanted merely to impress Jody Foster.

But elect a liberal who happens to be Black and we're back in the sixties again. At this point in our history, we should be proud that we've proven what conservatives are always saying -- that in America anything is possible, EVEN electing a black man as president. But instead we now hear that school children from Maine to California are talking about wanting to "assassinate Obama."

Fighting the urge to throw up, I can only ask, "How long?" How long before we white people realize we can't make our nation, much less the whole world, look like us? How long until we white people can - once and for all - get over this hell-conceived preoccupation with skin color? How long until we white people get over the demonic conviction that white skin makes us superior? How long before we white people get over our bitter resentments about being demoted to the status of equality with non-whites?

How long before we get over our expectations that we should be at the head of the line merely because of our white skin? How long until we white people end our silence and call out our peers when they share the latest racist jokes in the privacy of our white-only conversations?

I believe in free speech, but how long until we white people start making racist loudmouths as socially uncomfortable as we do flag burners? How long until we white people will stop insisting that blacks exercise personal responsibility, build strong families, educate themselves enough to edit the Harvard Law Review, and work hard enough to become President of the United States, only to threaten to assassinate them when they do?

How long before we starting "living out the true meaning" of our creeds, both civil and religious, that all men and women are created equal and that "red and yellow, black and white" all are precious in God's sight?

Until this past November 4, I didn't believe this country would ever elect an African American to the presidency. I still don't believe I'll live long enough to see us white people get over our racism problem. But here's my three-point plan: First, everyday that Barack Obama lives in the White House that Black Slaves Built, I'm going to pray that God (and the Secret Service) will protect him and his family from us white people.

Second, I'm going to report to the FBI any white person I overhear saying, in seriousness or in jest, anything of a threatening nature about President Obama. Third, I'm going to pray to live long enough to see America surprise the world once again, when white people can "in spirit and in truth" sing of our damnable color prejudice, "We HAVE overcome."

**************************************

It takes a Village to protect our President!!!


___________________________________


Andre,

Thank you for this…. And I personally am sorry that it’s even necessary. I grew up I in Texas, and had the benefit of a wonderful black woman in my life who taught me much about the sameness of black and white – what we shared as human beings – as well as giving me a context to see a different point of view from many of the white people in my life. Although it was not a ferocious and obvious kind of prejudice in my family and social setting, it was there as an undercurrent – a subtle kind of “us” and “them” mentality.

There have been many times I have been ashamed of the people who call themselves Christians and preach hatred – and most of them are white. And there were times, when I lived in Denver and worked in a predominantly black neighborhood, that I experienced racist hatred from blacks to whites.

It’s so sad that this type of perception and consciousness happens at all. And I admit to being astonished that the kind of rabid racism that I was aware of in the deep South of my childhood days still exists. But still, I am so encouraged by the changes in consciousness that I have seen in this country during my 63 years, and I am so proud that we have, in fact, elected Barack Obama. I LOVE this man, and his wife, and his family, and every time I see them I burst into tears of gratitude for the whole thing. I cried throughout the Inauguration, and I cried throughout his “not state of the Union” speech the other night.

And I, too, pray every day for the safety of Barack Obama and his family, for increasing cooperation from the members of Congress for his programs, and for the raising of consciousness of ALL people. My feeling is that the light is increasing at a faster rate than we might think from the surface appearance of things.

Blessings,
Grateful Woman Shakura MoonSinger
www.moonsinger.comwww.dancingpeace.blogspot.com
“I believe the American people are decent people. They get confused sometimes because they get bad information or they're just busy and stressed and not paying attention. But when you sit down and talk with them, you're struck by how tolerant and loving they are.” ~Barack Obama
“I'm determined to disagree with people without being disagreeable. That's part of the empathy. Empathy doesn't just extend to cute little kids. You have to have empathy when you're talking to some guy who doesn't like black people.” ~Barack Obama

Monday, February 23, 2009

Chris Bliss Amazing Juggling Finale

This is amazing! I'd have to call this "hand dancing,"



Blessings,
Grateful Woman Shakura MoonSinger
"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." ~Albert Einstein

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Cat Appreciation and Humor

This morning when I took my bath, my cat Isis joined me and took catnaps - alternately napping and purring - behind my head while I relaxed in the tub. And a couple of times she got up to play with the water, dipping a tentative paw in the water, and then shaking it off, or drinking by scooping the water and licking it off her “hands.” It was wonderful having her company there. So today I’m grateful for cats. Here are a couple of my favorite writings about cats – a poem and a humor piece.
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Landlocked in Fur

I was meditating with my cat the other day
and all of a sudden she shouted,
"What happened?"
I knew exactly what she meant,
but encouraged her to say more -
feeling that if she got it all out on the table
she would sleep better that night.
So I responded, "Tell me more, dear,"
and she soulfully meowed,
"Well, I was mingled with the sky.
I was comets whizzing here and there.
I was suns in heat, hell - I was galaxies.
But now look - I am landlocked in fur."
To this I said,
"I know exactly what you mean."
What to say about conversation
between mystics ?

~Tukaram, from Love Poems From God
Giving A Cat a Pill
1 - Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth pop pill into mouth.
2 - Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.
3 - Retrieve cat from bedroom and throw soggy pill away.
4 - Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.
5 - Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.
6 - Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold from and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while placing wooden tongue depressor into mouth. Drop in pill and rub cat's throat vigorously.
7 - Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered ceramic figures from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.
8 - Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, open mouth with pencil and blow down drinking straw.
9 - Check label to make sure pill was not harmful to humans, drink a glass of water to take taste away. Apply bandage to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.
10 - Retrieve cat from neighbor's shed. Get another pill. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck, leaving head showing. Open mouth with desert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.
11 - Fetch screwdriver from garage and put door back on hinges. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot.
12 - Ring fire department to retrieve cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrap.
13 - Tie cat's front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table, find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed, force cat's mouth open with small wedge. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of filet steak. Hold head vertically and pour 1/2 pint of water down throat to wash pill down.
14 - Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room, sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from eye. Stop at furniture shop on the way home to order new table.
15 - Kick yourself for not adopting a hamster!

~Author unknown to me.

Blessings,
Grateful Woman Shakura MoonSinger and Isis
"Cats and computers. Bring them into your home and your life is no longer your own!" ~Author Unknown

Poem - The Night House

The Night House


Every day the body works in the fields of the world
mending a stone wall
or swinging a sickle through the tall grass --
the grass of civics, the grass of money --
and every night the body curls around itself
and listens for the soft bells of sleep.


But the heart is restless and rises
from the body in the middle of the night,
and leaves the trapezoidal bedroom
with its thick, pictureless walls
to sit by herself at the kitchen table
and heat some milk in a pan.


And the mind gets up too, puts on a robe
and goes downstairs, lights a cigarette,
and opens a book on engineering.
Even the conscience awakens
and roams from room to room in the dark
darting away from every mirror like a strange fish.


And the soul is up on the roof
in her nightdress, straddling the ridge,
singing a song about the wildness of the sea
until the first rip of pink appears in the sky.
Then, they all will return to the sleeping body
the way a flock of birds settles back into a tree,

resuming their daily colloquy,
talking to each other or themselves
even through the heat of the long afternoons.
Which is why the body -- that house of voices --
sometimes puts down its metal tongs,
its needle, or its pen
to stare into the distance,
to listen to all its names being called
before bending again to its labor.

~ Billy Collins ~

(Sailing Around the Room)

Blessings,
Grateful Woman Shakura MoonSinger
"Is it reality we must awaken from . . .
or the dream that we must realize?!"
~Julie Hackett, 1994

Friday, February 20, 2009

Gratitude for Music

I have loved music ever since I was a very young child. I remember a time at age three, when I heard a song on the radio that I thought was wonderful.... and I decided right then that I would be a singer. Not a professional singer, especially. I don't know if I understood the concept at that young age. But I knew that in this life I would sing every chance I got. And I began really LISTENING to the music around me.

So my first post is to offer you an experience of music that I love when you visit this blog. There are 3 music players to choose from at the bottom of the opening page. The default setting will shuffle the songs randomly. If you don't like what's playing, scroll through the list and choose something else by clicking on the song title. The songs arranged alphabetically, as much as possible. In a few cases the musician is listed first and the song last, instead of song title first. That is beyond my control!

The RED PLAYER represents a selection of my favorite music from the last -- OMG -- more than half a century! Yikes! Oh well.... life goes on! There are many different types of music here, from a few oldies of the 50's and 6o's to relatively new music -- a little classical, a little country, rock & roll, blues, some folky things, and some spiritual / mantra music!

The GREEN PLAYER contains a selection of song I've discovered in the last few years.

The BLUE PLAYER is a selection of r-e-a-l-l-y oldies from the 50's and 60's -- the music of my high school years and early 20's, for those who were also there and like that old rock and r & b, or for those who are doing studies of past cultures ;-). Hey, it was FUN!

Enjoy!

I got these music players from http://www.playlist.com/ and it's SO easy to set up! They have a great system -- very user friendly. If you have a website or blog you might want to get your own music player. They have a massive collection of music to choose from, although I couldn't find everything I searched for. Some lesser known artists are not there, and some lesser known songs by the artists that are there. And be sure to LISTEN to your choices. You might find quite a few recordings of the same song, varying in sound quality, and some turn out to be covers of the original by other people, even though they are not always identified as covers.

I had great fun creating this playlists, and I hope they provide enjoyment for those who visit me here!

Musical Blessings,
Grateful Woman Shakura MoonSinger
"My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require." ~Edward Elgar