Happy Birthday, Dad

“If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.” Thich Nhat Hanh

“Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.” Dalai Lama

Today is your birthday, Dad. You would have been 90 years old. It was ten years ago today the last time I wished you a happy birthday and was able to hear your voice. You were so happy about reaching your 80th birthday. Little did we know when we talked that day that three short months later you would be gone from us without warning. It has been quite a tumultuous decade.

I am sure we would have talked many times about so many different things like we always did. I know politics would have been at the top of our list. You would have been appalled at the way Colin Powell was treated by the Bush Administration. You were an old Army man and you would have expected that the government would have told him the truth about Iraq and not sent him to lie to our allies. I can hear you raging now. I remember how excited you were when I told you he was coming to the bookstore where I was working and I would try and get you an autographed copy of his book. How proud you were when I was able to send you the autographed book. I can still see it on the bookshelf. I think you would have agreed with Colin Powell about Barak Obama and in spite of telling Mom that you were going to reregister as a Republican we both know you would have continued to vote Democrat. Hey how about Indiana actually going Blue?

Your children are doing okay. We got your wife to retire finally. Of course we had the help of a little black cat that has wormed her way into Mom’s heart. I bet you would have liked Pixie but of course you would never admit to Mom that you did. Your oldest son’s politics have gotten even further to the right but as you always said his head is up in the clouds and locked. You have an English daughter-in-law now. You two would probably have some interesting conversations. Your youngest child celebrated 25 years of marriage and is a published author now. It was a hard fight but we finally got some help for your next to youngest child. Government regulations and red tape are the pits aren’t they?

I know you would have been thrilled with the way your only grandchild has turned out. She has triumphed over adversity and is on her way to a Masters degree in psychology/Human Development. She has changed the way that many people view the homeless after being dumped by her ex. She now has a wonderful husband and the father that her three children deserve. She has become politically active and has dedicated her life to helping others. You would be so proud of her. I know I am.

And your only daughter has turned into you. I am the one they all come to now to help with problems. I am the shoulder they cry on. I am the one surfing the web to find answers to all sorts of problems. I guess it is fitting that I have taken over your library here. Of course I brought a lot of my books with me but many are ones that you and I shared. We lost one of our favorites authors, Tony Hillerman. I am rereading some of his books and remembering the New Mexico that you and I loved to explore when I was a child and we lived there. You and I loved exploring the ruins and we soaked up the history. We did the same with the California missions.

There are so many things that I would love to sit down and talk to you about. There are so many movies I want to show you. There are so many new books that I want you to read. In the time we had together we explored outer space and wandered through the weird and unexplained. You and I traded so many books on the Bermuda Triangle and other weird things. We both love a good ghost story. And though I miss you so much I know as long as I can remember to think and wonder and explore that you will always be with me. The picture is for you Dad and is called The Golden Years because that is what we had together. Happy birthday, Daddy.

Don't Let It Snow

“Without freedom from the past, there is no freedom at all, because the mind is never new, fresh, innocent.” Krishnamurti

“Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.” Dalai Lama

We got clobbered with snow last night. There was no way that I could get my car out of the driveway and no way I could dig my Mom’s car out so I ended up staying home along with two-thirds of the office. I spent much of the day making some cosmetic changes to my web site. I’m still doing research on how to set up a web based art business. It is definitely something I will try to do this year.

Other then that I spent the day trying to get over the after effects of the asthma attack from shoveling the car off yesterday afternoon tying to get home from work. That and thinking very nasty thoughts about the person who wrote the song with the lyrics “let it snow.” ;-)

Happy Chinese New Year

“The Great Way has no gate: there are a thousand paths to it.” Wumen

“Share you knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.” Dalai Lama
Yesterday started the Year of the Ox. I showed my Mom the Chinese Zodiac book I had made. She decided she wanted to be an Ox even though she was born in the Year of the Tiger. ;-)

You can find my art and information on the Chinese Zodiac here.

Walk on the Wild Side

“Now may every living thing, young and old, weak or strong, living near or far, known or unknown, living and departed or yet unborn, may every living thing be full of bliss.” Buddha

“Whether they belong to a more evolved species like human or to simpler ones such as animals, all beings primarily seek peace, comfort, and security. Life is as dear to the mute animals as it is to any human being; even the simplest insect strives for protection from dangers that threaten its life. Just as each one of us wants too live and does not wish to die, so it is with all other creatures in the universe.” Dalai Lama

My newest picture came just before I renewed my membership in three environmental and wild care groups. I believe in trying to support groups that are trying to help preserve and care for this planet.

Ain't No Big Thing

“Your way is the best for you, but that is no sign it is the best fir another.” Swami Vivekananda

“Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, Respect for others, Responsibility for all your actions.” Dalai Lama

“Michele is very forgiving.” A simple sentence but it had a profound emotional impact on me. A coworker spoke it. A couple of coworkers had ordered out for pizza and in their pique at other coworkers who were being their normal obnoxious selves they had forgotten to ask me if I wanted to order too. They had apologized and but I didn’t feel slighted or left out. To me it wasn’t a big deal. I knew they were upset and did not intend to leave me out. As my Hawaiian friends would put it “ain’t no big thing.”

It comes down to a matter of priorities. What is really the most important thing? Is it important to hold a grudge against those who have hurt you in some way or is it more important to let go the anger and move on? It is a question we face not only as individuals in our own lives but as citizens and part of the governmental process.

Where do we go from here and for that matter where do we start? What should our priorities be? My personal starting point has always been who or what does it help or at least not harm. If we look at the problems we are facing as a country and a world we need to ask ourselves would this action help or hurt.

Being employed in health care business for the last ten years one of my top priorities is better and affordable health care. Real science needs to be funded in order to find not only a way to heal but to prevent illnesses in the first place. Cancer and heart attacks have taken a lot of my family and friends. There has to be a cure for both.

I got my 401K statement yesterday and I have lost money again. If it keeps up the way it is going when I’m ready to retire I will owe them money. The economy has to be a top priority. I am tired of calling customer service for various companies and getting India and people who claim their name is “Fiona.” I am tired of companies closing down and out sourcing departments so the CEOs get a huge fat bonus and the common working men are struggling to keep their heads above water. People need to work and the rate that we are losing jobs in this country is frightening.

We need to get our soldiers home as soon as possible. They have placed their lives on the line long enough. We need to take care of them properly when they do come home.

We need to do something about this planet and its environment. It is the only home we have. If we lose the Earth we have no place else to go because science has not been funded enough to open up the possibility of living on another planet.

The people who have broken the law and violated the basic human rights of others need to be held accountable. The important thing we need to remember is that we have to proceed within the law and uphold human rights ourselves. If we do not then we become what we fight against.

It is the last thought that I base my life on. I don’t like working with several of the people in my office because their purpose in that office is to try and see how many people they can get into trouble. They are out for themselves only. They are petty and mean spirited. I can order my own pizza. I would rather have friends and not make waves over the small things in life. It ain’t no big thing.

“Always forgive your enemies – nothing annoys them so much.” Oscar Wilde

It's Cold Outside

“You have to stand against the whole world although you may have to stand alone.” Mahatma Gandhi

“For a better, happier, more stable and civilized future, each of us must develop a sincere, warmhearted feeling of brotherhood and sisterhood.” Dalai Lama

I finally got my computer back. The art computer died a couple weeks ago and I haven’t had the high speed Internet or the ability to do my best art. It has been a long week and a half. It cost close to $250.00 to get it repaired but it was worth it. It is spurring me to something I should have done a long time ago and I am actively exploring setting up the art business on line. I can then write off repairs etc. to business expenses. That is what I did when I lived in California. I just need a resale license out here.

I am still in a floating high from yesterday’s inauguration. I think Obama’s speech was absolutely beautiful. I hope that the people of this planet and our nation will accept the open hand and try and work with him to ensure peace and prosperity in our country and in the world. I was impressed how he hit the job running this morning with already contacting the leaders in the Middle East to try and help broker a lasting peace there.

Something happened at work today that has left me rather stunned. I mentioned a couple of months ago how a coworker had told me that she didn’t like the person she had become by trying to fit in with some people at work who to be blunt are not nice people. They are selfish and spend so much of their time trying to get other people in trouble. Today the lady told me that she had flat out told them she was not going to play their game. She did not like the way they had treated me and ganged up to try and get me in trouble. All it got them was my taking the time off to get well which left them doing my work as well as theirs. It really touched me that someone had come to my defense like that and I was deeply touched that she let me know.

It proves the old adage of what goes around comes around. I had always been nice to this woman and now the niceness is being returned. I wasn’t nice because I wanted something in return. I was just being myself. My nature is not one of being nasty although if pushed too hard I can explode. Generally though I try to get along with people. It is good to see this person returning to her true self. Shakespeare was right “too thine own self be true.” I may not be the best in the world but I am the best me that I can be. What you see is what you get.

Ode to the African-American Girl in Second Grade

When I was in second grade we lived on the Army base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This was before the real start of the civil rights movement. While the Army wanted blacks to fill their ranks they also didn’t want to give them the same deference as they were giving the white personnel. At my school the girls out numbered the boys. The school was into dancing and especially folk dancing and I must admit our dance teacher did try and bring in every ethnic group she could for that area. I had one of the boys as a partner. I thought he was pretty yucky. The one black girl in our class was partnered with another girl who decided she didn’t want to dance with her. She wanted my partner. I will never forget how embarrassed I felt when the teacher brought me up in front of the class because I was willing to switch partners. Yes I was being unprejudiced but I was also a kid who happened to like the black girl and thought of her as a friend. I was one of the few people who would play with her at recess. So today as we get ready to inaugurate our first African-American President I am taking time to think about those long ago days of second grade. This was a poem I wrote a few years ago. I hope the girl is still alive today and in Washington DC cheering our president on.

Ode To The African-American Girl In Second Grade

The years have made me forget your name.
Your smile? No.
Your warmth? Never.
You taught me something.

Second grade.
A long time ago.
Black - White -
Human - Love -
Yes.

Dancing. A free expression of the soul.
Not enough boys - Girl's partners -
I had a boy.
She wouldn't dance with you.
Why?

With quiet dignity you took it.
She wants my partner. Yes.
Dance with me. Yes.
Good. I like you.

They hurt you.
Why?
They pushed you down.
You cried. I cried.
Your blood was red like ours.
You were the same as us.
Why did I think your blood
Would be a different color?
Foolish child.

I think of you.
Do you think of me?
Sometimes?
Do you hate us all?
I hope not.
For we're all the same,
You and I,
You taught me that.
Thank you.