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Category Archives: Friends, Family, Life
Happy anniversary Mom and Dad
I wanted to offer this from my personal blog here on the Web. It was an honor to play a few songs for you on my old guitar. Your love has given me and all your children so much to learn from. Emma is here and she says hi 🙂
I didn’t know who to go to for help – hunger in Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Inquirer profiles the lives of families going hungry in Pennsylvania’s First Congressional District, home of a few of my old neighborhoods, Kensington, Fishtown, Frankford in Philadelphia: “A Portrait of Hunger”.
There is no excuse for letting anyone go hungry in the richest country in the world. None. The article points to three main culprits: a lack of paying work, a lack of guidance to services that can help, and the bureaucratic complexity of applying for those services as root causes.
It was the same for us when I was growing up and when I was out on the streets, sleeping on trains, I didn’t know who to go to for help, or how.
The comments posted on the article really go far in showing how low our culture has become in kicking people when they are down and blaming them entirely for their circumstances.
We’re all in this together. For some great commentary on this, check out Susie Madrak’s latest post. Like her I can still remember when my family needed help. I can remember being in line for a block of cheese at Bridge and Pratt. I remember all too well the chuckles of some at school due to the quality of my Salvation Army and Goodwill bought clothes. I remember the Salvation Army Santa Claus visiting the family to drop off some toys to make our Christmas brighter.
None of us are 100% self made and choosing to belabor that some people need help, instead of offering TO help, does no one any good. Please, if you are able, find some way, any way, to lend a hand.
Resources:
Shozan Jack Haubner: “Mark my words, times are tough and the ground is fertile. That seed will grow.”
Utne: “The Angry Monk”:
Through each other we discover that if we have the heart–the willingness, the strength, the courage–we have the capacity to plant the seeds of kindness, compassion, forgiveness; seeds of a laid-back humor, a sense of letting go. But your heart must be quicker than your mind. Trust me, that organ between your ears is always spoiling for a fight. Its job is to divide and conquer. But the real fight is taking place inside you, within the “dharma organ,” the heart, where the challenge is to unify and understand; where the seeds of love and compassion are struggling to lay roots.
Lend this struggle an ear. Just pause for three seconds. One banana . . . two banana . . . three banana . . . . Pause and listen. Pause and breathe. Pause and gather your scattered, wild energies, your shattered soul . . . before you fling that seed of hate into the wind.
Mark my words, times are tough and the ground is fertile. That seed will grow.
On Being a Puppetmaster
YouTube: “Jim Henson on Making Muppets 1969”:
Whew! Glad the past month or so is over!
By the end of last week I was feeling run down.
Simultaneously with helping relaunch Xfinity.com (and playing a role I’m not used to playing – but looking to do much more of (hopefully did well at it) – everyone did a fantastic job), Richelle first got an ear operation (new tubes), then went on vacation, then came back with a cold. There were three birthdays (including mine and on the 21st, Mom (miss you Mom). The 9th anniversary of my nephew passing away from SIDS (miss you Hunter). On top of that, Dad was dealing with something that looked scary health wise, and a friend had a mastectomy (she’s doing great – I’d love to have her strength). They are the two who were dealing with real stress in the circle of my life – my thoughts have been with them both amidst all this. Oh and Emma went back to school. Although no stress there – she was all systems go, she loves it. She keeps the spring in my step.
My apologies on missing emails, tweets, comments, and more.
This is water. Hopefully I’ve done a good job of staying in the moment.
I hope you have a great Labor Day
I hope you have a great Labor Day.
NYTimes: “Labor Day, Now and Then”
The Library of Congress: “This Day In History”
Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County
Recent HBO Documentary, “Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County”, is a must see. It is a must see because it helps reveal the struggles of the working poor, by letting the children who are experiencing it speak for themselves.
It’s on Comcast, On Demand under Premium Channels – > HBO – > Documentaries – > Short Films, and on Fancast.
YouTube: “HBO Documentary Films: Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County Trailer (HBO)”:
Our greatest freedom exists in the space between
Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl wrote in his book, “Man’s Search for Meaning”, “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
I originally read of this from Steven Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, a book I highly recommend. “Man’s Search for Meaning” is on my soon-to-read list.
His work was branded unfit for children
Mental Floss: “Shel Silverstein’s Unlikely Rise to Kid Lit Superstardom”
There will be a long form movie version of “The Giving Tree” someday.