When God created kitty cats,
He had no recipe,
He knew He wanted something sweet,
As sweet as sweet could be.
He started out with sugar,
Adding just a trace of spice,
Then stirred in drops of morning dew,
To keep them fresh and nice.
He thought cats should be soft to pet,
Thus he gave them coats of fur,
So they could show they were content,
He taught them how to purr.
He made for them long tails to wave,
While strutting down the walk,
Then trained them in meow-ology,
So they could do cat-talk.
He made them into acrobats,
And gave them grace and poise,
Their wide-eyed curiosity,
He took from little boys.
He put whiskers on their faces,
Gave them tiny ears for caps,
Then shaped their little bodies,
To snugly fit on laps.
He gave them eyes as big as saucers,
To look into man's soul,
Then set a tolerance for mankind,
As their purpose and their goal.
Benevolent ... and ... generous,
He made so many of them,
Then charged, with fatherly concern,
The human race to love them.
When one jumped up upon His lap,
God gently stroked its head,
The cat gave Him a kitty kiss,
"What wondrous love," God said.
God smiled at His accomplishment,
So pleased with His creation,
And said, with pride, as He sat back,
"At last. . .I've reached purr-fection!"
Friday, April 24, 2009
Ambulance Down In The Valley
Ambulance Down In The Valley
T'was a dangerous cliff as they freely confessed
though to walk near its edge was quite pleasant.
But over its sides slipped a Duke and a prince
and it fooled many a peasant.
The people all said something would have to be done
but their projects did not at all tally.
Some said, "put a fence around the edge of the cliff,"
others, "an ambulance down in the valley."
The lament of the crowd was profound and loud
as their hearts overflowed with great pity.
But the ambulance carried the cry of the day
as it spread to the neighboring cities.
A collection was made to accumulate aid
and dwellers in highway and alley,
gave dollars and cents not to furnish a fence,
but an ambulance down in the valley.
For the cliff is alright if you're careful they said,
and if folks ever slip and are falling;
it's not the slipping and falling that hurts them
so much as the shock down below when they're stopping.
And so for years as these mishaps occurred
quick forth would the rescuers sally,
to pick up the victims who fell from the cliff
with the ambulance down in the valley.
Said one in his plea, it's a marvel to me
that you'd give so much greater attention
to repairing results than to curing the cause, why
you'd much better aim at prevention.
For the mischief of course should be stopped at its source;
come friends and good neighbors let us rally.
It makes far better sense to rely on a fence
than an ambulance down in the valley.
He's wrong in his head the majority said.
He would end all our earnest endeavors.
He's the kind of a jerk that would halt our good work,
but we will support it forever.
Don't we pick up them all just as quick as they fall,
and giving them care liberally.
Why a superfluous fence is of no consequence,
if the ambulance works in the valley.
Now this story seems queer as I've given it here,
but things oft occur which are stranger.
More humane we assert to repair the hurt,
than the plan of removing the danger.
The best possible course would be to safeguard the source,
and to attend to things rationally.
Yes, build up the fence and let us dispense
with this ambulance down in the valley.
T'was a dangerous cliff as they freely confessed
though to walk near its edge was quite pleasant.
But over its sides slipped a Duke and a prince
and it fooled many a peasant.
The people all said something would have to be done
but their projects did not at all tally.
Some said, "put a fence around the edge of the cliff,"
others, "an ambulance down in the valley."
The lament of the crowd was profound and loud
as their hearts overflowed with great pity.
But the ambulance carried the cry of the day
as it spread to the neighboring cities.
A collection was made to accumulate aid
and dwellers in highway and alley,
gave dollars and cents not to furnish a fence,
but an ambulance down in the valley.
For the cliff is alright if you're careful they said,
and if folks ever slip and are falling;
it's not the slipping and falling that hurts them
so much as the shock down below when they're stopping.
And so for years as these mishaps occurred
quick forth would the rescuers sally,
to pick up the victims who fell from the cliff
with the ambulance down in the valley.
Said one in his plea, it's a marvel to me
that you'd give so much greater attention
to repairing results than to curing the cause, why
you'd much better aim at prevention.
For the mischief of course should be stopped at its source;
come friends and good neighbors let us rally.
It makes far better sense to rely on a fence
than an ambulance down in the valley.
He's wrong in his head the majority said.
He would end all our earnest endeavors.
He's the kind of a jerk that would halt our good work,
but we will support it forever.
Don't we pick up them all just as quick as they fall,
and giving them care liberally.
Why a superfluous fence is of no consequence,
if the ambulance works in the valley.
Now this story seems queer as I've given it here,
but things oft occur which are stranger.
More humane we assert to repair the hurt,
than the plan of removing the danger.
The best possible course would be to safeguard the source,
and to attend to things rationally.
Yes, build up the fence and let us dispense
with this ambulance down in the valley.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Where You Headed?
Where You Headed?
A
taxi passenger tapped the driver on the shoulder to ask him a question.
The driver screamed, lost control of the car, nearly hit a bus, went up
on the footpath, and stopped centimeters from a shop window.
For a second everything went quiet in the cab, then the driver said,
"Look mate, don't ever do that again. You scared the daylights out of
me!"
The passenger apologized and said, "I didn't realize that a little tap would scare you so much."
The driver replied, "It's okay, thats not really your fault. Today is my first day as a cab driver. I've been driving a funeral van for the last 25 years."
From: Krissy
A
taxi passenger tapped the driver on the shoulder to ask him a question.
The driver screamed, lost control of the car, nearly hit a bus, went up
on the footpath, and stopped centimeters from a shop window.
For a second everything went quiet in the cab, then the driver said,
"Look mate, don't ever do that again. You scared the daylights out of
me!"
The passenger apologized and said, "I didn't realize that a little tap would scare you so much."
The driver replied, "It's okay, thats not really your fault. Today is my first day as a cab driver. I've been driving a funeral van for the last 25 years."
From: Krissy
Sunday, April 19, 2009
A Special Puppy.
A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the 4 pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his over alls. He looked down into the eyes of little boy.
'Mister,' he said, 'I want to buy one of your puppies.'
'Well,' said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, 'These puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money.'
The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer.
'I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?'
'Sure,' said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle. 'Here, Dolly!' he called. Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse.
Slowly another little ball appeared, this one noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up...
'I want that one,' the little boy said, pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, 'Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would.'
With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, 'You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands. '
With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup. Holding it carefully he handed it to the little boy.
'How much?' asked the little boy. 'No charge,' answered the farmer, 'There's no charge for love.'
The world is full of people who need someone who understands. ..
Shaaron and the furbabies
'Mister,' he said, 'I want to buy one of your puppies.'
'Well,' said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, 'These puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money.'
The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer.
'I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?'
'Sure,' said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle. 'Here, Dolly!' he called. Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse.
Slowly another little ball appeared, this one noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up...
'I want that one,' the little boy said, pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, 'Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would.'
With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, 'You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands. '
With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup. Holding it carefully he handed it to the little boy.
'How much?' asked the little boy. 'No charge,' answered the farmer, 'There's no charge for love.'
The world is full of people who need someone who understands. ..
Shaaron and the furbabies
> What is twitterpated?
> What is twitterpated?
remember the Disney movie Bambi?
- all the animals in spring were
twitterpated? - spring fever...lol
remember the Disney movie Bambi?
- all the animals in spring were
twitterpated? - spring fever...lol
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Kitchen Shrink: Meet your personal defense weapon - garlic
LIFE > FOOD & WINE
Unrated
Kitchen Shrink: Meet your personal defense weapon - garlic
Apr 15, 2009
By Catharine L. Kaufman
- La Jolla Light
To ward off viruses, bacteria, inflammation, fungus infections, cholesterol gremlins, digestive ails, scratchy throats, colds and creatures of the night such as mosquitoes, ticks and the occasional vampire, eat a smashed or sliced clove of raw garlic with your buttered toast about once a week on one of your stay-at-home days.
A good reminder of this practice is the upcoming National Garlic Day on April 19 - appropriately coinciding with Earth Day, which is April 22.
Although garlic has been dubbed as the "new" superfood by health-food gurus, this first cousin to the onion, leek, chive and shallot and member of the lily family has been around since biblical times. Pharaoh discovered that this magical herb kept the slaves, who were toiling in close contact with one another, fortified and virus-free while building the Egyptian pyramids.
The ancient Greek athletes did garlic-loading in preparation for the Olympic Games, the soldiers ate cloves before their battles, while midwives hung garlands of garlic in the birthing rooms to keep the evil spirits at bay.
For thousands of years, garlic has not only been used as a repellent for various cooties and an offering to the gods, but also for assorted medicinal purposes. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, prescribed the miraculous bulb as a cure-all for everything from healing infections and wounds, like an herbal Neosporin to cancer, leprosy and digestive disorders.
Recently, garlic has even been given the moniker of "vegetarian Viagra" as a male-enhancing aphrodisiac, followed by a fresh sprig of parsley or three or four coffee beans chewed raw as a breath deodorizer.
Raw garlic is loaded with allicin, a potent sulfur compound that has been credited with having the power of killing 23 types of bacteria, including salmonella and staphylococcus (and endowing garlic with its infamous odor).
Garlic also contains vitamins A, B6 and C; selenium; magnesium; potassium; calcium; zinc; and flavonoids. making this "stinky rose" a powerhouse antioxidant and immune booster as well as a heart healer by lowering bad cholesterol, regulating blood pressure, improving circulation and preventing stroke.
Studies have also shown that garlic's allicin promotes weight control, kills parasites, boosts the body's defenses against allergies and is a good friend to diabetics by lowering insulin and triglyceride levels.
Drink a garlic cocktail with a crushed clove in a glass of vegetable juice or some lukewarm H2O (but not on an empty stomach) for a quick detoxifier, or treat a skin ailment by rubbing a raw clove directly on a cold sore, wart, blemish, athlete's foot or other skin disorders.
Some garlic advice and a couple of words of warning:
Elephant or Russian garlic is a hybrid of the leek plant and is not the real thing. So don't be enticed by the humongous garliclike cloves that are super-easy to peel and yield huge bulbs.
Stick to the real thing.
Don't O.D. on the stuff. Two to 4 grams a day is ideal. Too much of a good thing can cause heartburn, stomach woes and allergic reactions, even toxic effects. Once again, moderation is standing advice.
Don't cure raw garlic in olive oil at room temperature, as this can create botulism.
Raw has more healing properties than cooked garlic, as the allicin degrades with heat and loses some of its anti-viral and microbial properties.
Since garlic can thin the blood similar to aspirin, those who are taking blood-thinning medications already should be cautious with their garlic intake.
Finally, garlic is toxic to cats and dogs, so don't add it to Bailey's bowl.
My culinary contribution is one of our favorite family recipes for garlic citrus duck. It is so scrumptious, it'll take your breath away.
Crispy Garlic Citrus Roasted Duck
- 1 fresh or frozen duck (5 pounds)
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon of paprika
- 1 orange
- 1 lemon
- 1 sweet onion
- 4 gloves of garlic, 3 sliced, 1 whole
- 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
Rub the whole garlic cloves on the skin of the duck. Sprinkle the duck inside and out with the salt, pepper, paprika and thyme. (You can marinate overnight or up to three nights.)
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Add the whole peeled onion, half an orange and half a lemon to the cavity. Make slits in the breasts and insert small slices or wedges of lemon, orange and the garlic slices beneath the skin. Brush a generous amount of the olive oil on the skin.
Place the duck breast side up on a roasting rack. Roast for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F. Roast for 30 minutes longer, piercing the bird every 10 to 15 minutes with a sharp fork. Turn the duck on the other side and roast for another 15 minutes. Return the duck breast side up. Roast for 15 minutes longer.
Prick the thigh. When the juices run pale yellow, the duck is done.
Catharine L. Kaufman
Columnist of Kitchen Shrink. If you'd like to chew the fat, talk turkey or beef about something, e-mail kitchenshrink@san.rr.com. Check out The Kitchen Shrink and company's healthy eating blog at www.FreeRangeClub.blogspot.com.
Unrated
Kitchen Shrink: Meet your personal defense weapon - garlic
Apr 15, 2009
By Catharine L. Kaufman
- La Jolla Light
To ward off viruses, bacteria, inflammation, fungus infections, cholesterol gremlins, digestive ails, scratchy throats, colds and creatures of the night such as mosquitoes, ticks and the occasional vampire, eat a smashed or sliced clove of raw garlic with your buttered toast about once a week on one of your stay-at-home days.
A good reminder of this practice is the upcoming National Garlic Day on April 19 - appropriately coinciding with Earth Day, which is April 22.
Although garlic has been dubbed as the "new" superfood by health-food gurus, this first cousin to the onion, leek, chive and shallot and member of the lily family has been around since biblical times. Pharaoh discovered that this magical herb kept the slaves, who were toiling in close contact with one another, fortified and virus-free while building the Egyptian pyramids.
The ancient Greek athletes did garlic-loading in preparation for the Olympic Games, the soldiers ate cloves before their battles, while midwives hung garlands of garlic in the birthing rooms to keep the evil spirits at bay.
For thousands of years, garlic has not only been used as a repellent for various cooties and an offering to the gods, but also for assorted medicinal purposes. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, prescribed the miraculous bulb as a cure-all for everything from healing infections and wounds, like an herbal Neosporin to cancer, leprosy and digestive disorders.
Recently, garlic has even been given the moniker of "vegetarian Viagra" as a male-enhancing aphrodisiac, followed by a fresh sprig of parsley or three or four coffee beans chewed raw as a breath deodorizer.
Raw garlic is loaded with allicin, a potent sulfur compound that has been credited with having the power of killing 23 types of bacteria, including salmonella and staphylococcus (and endowing garlic with its infamous odor).
Garlic also contains vitamins A, B6 and C; selenium; magnesium; potassium; calcium; zinc; and flavonoids. making this "stinky rose" a powerhouse antioxidant and immune booster as well as a heart healer by lowering bad cholesterol, regulating blood pressure, improving circulation and preventing stroke.
Studies have also shown that garlic's allicin promotes weight control, kills parasites, boosts the body's defenses against allergies and is a good friend to diabetics by lowering insulin and triglyceride levels.
Drink a garlic cocktail with a crushed clove in a glass of vegetable juice or some lukewarm H2O (but not on an empty stomach) for a quick detoxifier, or treat a skin ailment by rubbing a raw clove directly on a cold sore, wart, blemish, athlete's foot or other skin disorders.
Some garlic advice and a couple of words of warning:
Elephant or Russian garlic is a hybrid of the leek plant and is not the real thing. So don't be enticed by the humongous garliclike cloves that are super-easy to peel and yield huge bulbs.
Stick to the real thing.
Don't O.D. on the stuff. Two to 4 grams a day is ideal. Too much of a good thing can cause heartburn, stomach woes and allergic reactions, even toxic effects. Once again, moderation is standing advice.
Don't cure raw garlic in olive oil at room temperature, as this can create botulism.
Raw has more healing properties than cooked garlic, as the allicin degrades with heat and loses some of its anti-viral and microbial properties.
Since garlic can thin the blood similar to aspirin, those who are taking blood-thinning medications already should be cautious with their garlic intake.
Finally, garlic is toxic to cats and dogs, so don't add it to Bailey's bowl.
My culinary contribution is one of our favorite family recipes for garlic citrus duck. It is so scrumptious, it'll take your breath away.
Crispy Garlic Citrus Roasted Duck
- 1 fresh or frozen duck (5 pounds)
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon of paprika
- 1 orange
- 1 lemon
- 1 sweet onion
- 4 gloves of garlic, 3 sliced, 1 whole
- 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
Rub the whole garlic cloves on the skin of the duck. Sprinkle the duck inside and out with the salt, pepper, paprika and thyme. (You can marinate overnight or up to three nights.)
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Add the whole peeled onion, half an orange and half a lemon to the cavity. Make slits in the breasts and insert small slices or wedges of lemon, orange and the garlic slices beneath the skin. Brush a generous amount of the olive oil on the skin.
Place the duck breast side up on a roasting rack. Roast for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F. Roast for 30 minutes longer, piercing the bird every 10 to 15 minutes with a sharp fork. Turn the duck on the other side and roast for another 15 minutes. Return the duck breast side up. Roast for 15 minutes longer.
Prick the thigh. When the juices run pale yellow, the duck is done.
Catharine L. Kaufman
Columnist of Kitchen Shrink. If you'd like to chew the fat, talk turkey or beef about something, e-mail kitchenshrink@san.rr.com. Check out The Kitchen Shrink and company's healthy eating blog at www.FreeRangeClub.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Morality as Harmonic Chord
I found this from a clipmark of a Stumbleupon site. Thought it was good.
Spirituality → Discussion •
Morality as Harmonic Chord
mollybrogan Apr 3, 10:54am
"Love thy neighbor as thyself" or the golden rule, can be found with
slight variations throughout philosophy and religion, here are a few:
Judaism: "...thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.", Leviticus 19:18
Islam: "None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." Number 13 of Imam "Al-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths."
Native American Spirituality: "All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One." Black Elk
Shinto: "The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form"
Confucianism: "Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you" Analects 15:23
Why is this important? Why is morality essential to the fabric of our lives? It prescribes consistency and allows our actions to be in harmony with our desires. It provides an internal compass that we can use to navigate society. How we apply the golden rule, or how we are able to treat others the way we ourselves would like to be treated, tests our moral coherence.
What do YOU think?
PeacefulWalks Apr 7, 7:51am
Perhaps the foundational motivation is most simply expressed by your Black Elk quotation - "All is really One". On an at least a subconscious level, we may all realize that there is no separation among ourselves, that the "harmonic chord" connects us all. Consequently, how we treat others is in fact, how we treat ourselves.
Spirituality → Discussion •
Morality as Harmonic Chord
mollybrogan Apr 3, 10:54am
"Love thy neighbor as thyself" or the golden rule, can be found with
slight variations throughout philosophy and religion, here are a few:
Judaism: "...thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.", Leviticus 19:18
Islam: "None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." Number 13 of Imam "Al-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths."
Native American Spirituality: "All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One." Black Elk
Shinto: "The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form"
Confucianism: "Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you" Analects 15:23
Why is this important? Why is morality essential to the fabric of our lives? It prescribes consistency and allows our actions to be in harmony with our desires. It provides an internal compass that we can use to navigate society. How we apply the golden rule, or how we are able to treat others the way we ourselves would like to be treated, tests our moral coherence.
What do YOU think?
PeacefulWalks Apr 7, 7:51am
Perhaps the foundational motivation is most simply expressed by your Black Elk quotation - "All is really One". On an at least a subconscious level, we may all realize that there is no separation among ourselves, that the "harmonic chord" connects us all. Consequently, how we treat others is in fact, how we treat ourselves.
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