Watch: Shane Koyczan’s ‘To This Day,’ Anti-Bullying Poem

I saw this video on Huffington Post this morning. After watching it I read the comments and there was one comment that made me stop and think. This person said that it took 30 years for the Quit Smoking campaign to take hold that we should expect it to take at least that long to see any results from the anti-bullying campaign.
If that is true I find it unacceptable. We don’t have that time. That would be 30 years filled with broken hearts, crushed egos, painful silent tears, suicides and lost children. No.That is unacceptable. Why do we expect children to tolerate hate? .
I live in a county that is struggling with an issue that should not be as much as a firestorm as it has proven to be. Not in the year 2013. A local middle-schooler, Bayli Silberstein, with the support of other kids, parents and teachers is attempting to organize a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). The club would help to address the bullying issues within our school and to support gay students. I our backwards, predominately redneck county this issue has become national news. The ACLU responded by requesting that the Lake County school board allow the club to form. Not surprisingly, the school board’s response was to consider banning extra-curricular programs for all middle schools in the county. This is bullying. To make a child feel unaccepted and unwanted for any reason, is morally wrong. On Sundays when these people stand in church in their self-righteous robes of self-satisfaction do they think of the pain that they cause others by making them feel unwanted? I am sure they do not. Read: Lake County school board meets over gay-straight alliance club
Bullying is wrong and many of us have felt the effects of it and carried it through our entire lives. How many times have we heard, “Oh, they are just being kids” Or “Kids are cruel”? That’s not the real problem, is it? Kids learn their behaviors from the adults around them. Not just parents, but teachers and yes, even school boards.
We don’t have 30 years. Bullying must end now. Sticks and stones do not hurt more than names. I read a statistic that said 77% of kids have been verbally bullied. That means you, your best friend, you brother, your sister or your child were probably bullied. Maybe you were the bully.
We don’t have 30 years.

What’s On Your Bucket List?:Terminal NASCAR fan fulfills dream of going to the Daytona 500, then passes away in infield

Here is a wonderful article about a really neat guy. It is sad but at the same time it is inspiring. Even though Mitch Zannette knew he only had a few days he made plans, lived out a dream, smiled, laughed and enjoyed his last moments with a family he loved surrounded by the sport he loved. I hope when my time comes that I can show that kind of grace.

My sincerest condolences and prayers to his family and friends.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nascar–nascar-fan-fulfills-lifelong-dream-of-going-to-the-daytona-500–then-passes-away-in-infield-050317237.html

Let’s Get In a Good Mood on This Rainy Sunday: Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band

I love the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band. I am thinking that the lead singer Noah Hunt would make a good second husband. Well, maybe not a husband but I am sure you get my drift…lol. If you like insanely amazing guitar playing you will find it with Kenny Wayne Shepherd.
Other videos:

What a great way to spend some time this rainy Sunday.

A Little Boy in a Big Life

Just when I needed some perspective God provided this story of a beautiful little boy and his amazing parents. Find grace in your life. It’s always there but sometimes you have to look harder than other times.
To learn more about Joel visit:
http://www.joelevangreen.com
http://www.hesnotdeadyet.com

Would Emmett Till Have Read the book “Wash” by Margaret Wrinkle?

I am reading an interesting, thought-provoking book that at times made me feel like someone punched me in the gut and at others took my breath away with tenderness. This book tells of the complicated relationships that occur in a society where it is OK to own another human being.
The book is Wash which brilliantly delves deep into the minds of slaves and their owners in the newly minted United States of America. It blows my mind how she captures their individual voices. I have spent time in African American history and literature studies and I will say that this book should be included in the curriculum for both.
The economics of slavery here and around the world has always been complicated. This book delves picks at the festering sore on the body of a nation that allowed human beings to be a commodity. Richardson, a slave owner who returns after spending years in the Revolutionary War is released from a prison camp to come home to find his farm near ruin. He decides to use his slave Washington as a breeder-for-hire. Imagine that. Wash and the women of other plantations are forced to breed mostly under the watchful sometimes lustful eyes of their captors. Wash is shunned by the women and hated by the male slaves.
There are so many layers to this amazing work that I don’t want to go into here. I would love for you to pick up this book. As I tell my children when we discuss the sad times in our history when we forgot we are human that the only thing that stands between us and another era of hate is our knowledge of the past.
It is important to remember and educate our generations. I read about an incident recently that puts that in perspective for me. Rapper, Little Wayne, included some lyrics in a recent song that mentioned a young man named Emmett Till. If you don’t know who Emmett Till is please take a few minutes and educate yourself on what the hate of racism looks like on a 14 year old boy. The lyrics were very offensive especially to the family of Emmett Till. Stevie Wonder has also spoken out on this incident. In my opinion, if Little Wayne truly understood the history of African-Americans and what his forefathers suffered so that he can have the right to create the lifestyle that he has created for himself, he would NEVER had included Emmett in his song.

I used the story of Emmett Till’s to teach my children what damage racism can do. I believed that by them being shown what happened to someone their own age that was hated solely for the color of their skin that they would understand racism in a more personal way and they do. They are now grown and when I mentioned the Little Wayne controversy they were appalled and saddened.

Read “Wash”, share it with your children, other family and your friends. Thank You Margaret Wrinkle for an amazing journey.
If you do read this book I would love to hear your thoughts.

On The Way To Your Mountain: Neil Gaiman Commencement Address

This video is inspiring, funny and a must-see if you are trying to do anything. As Neil says, ” When things get tough…make good art.” I don’t strive to be the best, what a weight that would be to carry. I strive to be the best I can be. On that day. Doing what I am doing at that time. If I worked every day to be THE BEST how much work would I get done? I would constantly be erasing, revising, rethinking. I wouldn’t get done what needed to be done. But if I am trying to the best I can be that day, well I can succeed. I don’t allow impossible to exist because most of what I know I taught myself in bits and pieces. I’m not completely uneducated but when someone tells me there is only one right way I usually ignore them and figure out my best way to do that thing. Now there are some things that there is only one way to do them and I try to listen to these instructions or remove myself completely from that situation. These things usually involve fire, weapons, traffic and anything with a warning label.

We all have to find our way and our walk to the mountain takes different path and some of us walk slower than others but hopefully we will get there.

By the way, if you have never read the book Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimen. Read it. Wonderfully writing and a great story. This is one of the books that I will always keep on my bookshelf and every once in awhile I reread it so I am reminded what great writing can be.

Stress: The Word of the Day

I know that I have issues with time. I hate being late. I account for every minute of my day and everything is on a schedule. If I didn’t operate this way how would I run a freelance business, work 4 nights a week, and take three classes?
Today my schedule is a wreck. First, I get up this morning and the car is making a crazy sound. So I had to rent a car. This process put me behind two hours. I already had an insane day of cleaning, banking, shopping and appointment to look at a property, I need to write 4 articles and start on this week’s schoolwork. Now I am stressed out and aggravated.
Luckily I woke up early (thanks to a howling neighborhood cat) at 5:20 so I did finish the two logos I was working on. My Dad is coming to visit tomorrow and I need to get ready for his visit.
Now on top of that after seeing the above picture all I can think about is chocolate cake. Arggghhhhhh!

Let’s Dance and Spread Some Awesomeness

More awesomeness from Kid President. If this kid doesn’t inspire you to be a better and more awesome person I don’t know who will. I think we all strive to “be” something. Maybe you want to be rich. Or Famous. Or more likeable. But is we all just tried to be more awesome we would have everything that we need.

Definition of AWESOME according to Mirriam-Webster online dictionary:

1: expressive of awe
2 a : inspiring awe
b : terrific, extraordinary
— awe·some·ly adverb
— awe·some·ness noun

Wouldn’t it be great to live in awe of each day. I am always grateful for each day, I really am but I think I need to work on awesomeness. I need to be more awesome, see other people’s awesomeness and create more awesomeness. This is my year of AWESOME!!!!! So………………LET’S DANCE!

True Love: Is There an App For That?

There are around 54 million single people in the U.S. Depending on where you live your choices may be limited or you can be too busy to hit the streets in search of that perfect person. Many single men and women are turning to technology when seeking a mate. Some are looking for a casual “hook-up” while others are looking for the bride or groom of their dreams. In 2009, Michael Rosenfeld of Stanford University and Reuben Thomas of the City College of New York questioned 3000 American couples and found that 30% met online. Meeting online was the third most common way to meet. That would explain why dating sites such as Match.com, Plentyoffish.com, Zoosk.com, eHarmony.com and others are so popular. Some of these sites charge a fee but others offer their services for free. According to StatisticBrain.com, 17% of the people who meet through an online dating site get married.
Many of the online dating sites offer apps that will allow you to update your profile from your phone or browse for that special someone. There are also apps such as Skout that works as a GPS system that finds singles in your area or Speed Date, where you take part in a 3 minute online speed date. That’s not all.  There is also an app for when your date goes completely wrong it’s called Date Escape, available on iTunes, it sends you fake calls and texts so you can exit gracefully.

As a single woman I have never been comfortable with online dating but it seems to me that it can be a good way to window shop. I haven’t found anyone who piques my interest in quite awhile. I would love to find someone to hang out with but it is difficult to find a guy that understands that I have a very busy life. To be honest, I haven’t been very motivated to find someone to share my life because I have an awesome life just the way it is and sometimes relationships can bring bad juju. So, what kind of guy am I looking for?

Wanted: Single man over 40 with a great sense of humor and you must be interested in the world around you, you must be intelligent but not pompous, you MUST NOT watch Fox News or be a Rush Limbaugh fan. You must be motivated to lead a good life. NO WHINERS. Great conversation is my biggest turn on. My biggest turn off is sloppiness. If you are a couch potato, with a beer belly and thinks fart jokes are funny, it is best that you move on to someone else.

Am I asking too much? Happy Valentine’s Day.

The Cat and the Post Office

Change. One of the few things in life we can count on happening. It can bring great things into your life or tragedy. As you well know our lives are in a constant flux and every moment is impacted by our surroundings and energies around us. Take for instance you walk into work in a great mood after just finishing a cup of coffee with one of your best friends. You are on cloud nine. As you step into your building you realize that something is off . You look around and there is not a smile. What the heck happened while you were gone for 15 minutes? Turns out your company just announced that they lost a large account. You can almost hear the death knell. Something like this is going to have an impact on almost every person in the company. What would be your reaction? Would you join many of your co-workers in mourning or would you start thinking about what opportunities can be pulled from the situation? Are you the guy who thinks that by losing that client it will leave room for a different client that maybe has deeper pockets and allows for more creativity? Or are you the guy who looks at change as an insurmountable obstacle that blocks your path to happiness?
I’m not saying anything that has not been said before but I do think our reaction to change is the key to our true happiness. If we are the people who bang their heads against a problem and try to wrestle it into submission it will bring a lot of adversity and pain into our lives. Shit happens. We can control some factors in our lives but not as much as we would like to. So as evolving human beings we need to take a step back when crazy stuff happens and look at the problem objectively. I recently read something about a guy who used to love his job. He was the first one there, last one to leave and earned more clients for the company than anyone else on the sales force. And then one day he was passed over for a promotion that he thought he was amply qualified for and he deserved it. That’s when he quit his job. He did not leave the company but he disassociated himself with his position. His sales fell, his attitude around the office changed and he began to resent going to work. He wallowed in his problem. It seeped into every pore of his body and affected his work and home life. His reaction to that specific situation colored everything that he did until he finally exited the company. That is such a self-defeating attitude. If you don’t like where you are standing…MOVE!
These types of changes are scary stuff but if that guy had stepped back and evaluates the situation maybe he would find out that with his experience and drive that there is a company out there that would love to have him on board and that will hire him into the position that he were just passed over for. Or maybe this gave you the opportunity to start his own business.
I try to look at change as opportunity but sometimes it is tough. But I do know that if you waste your energy beating up a problem instead of embracing it and finding way to work through it or around it you ‘re not going to get very far and it will change the way you perceive yourself and your environment and surround you in negativity. That I will not have in my life.
You may be asking yourself as you get to the end of my rant, “What in the hell does any of this have to do with a cat and the post office. Here’s why:
Hasbro Gaming announced that the sturdy little iron Monopoly piece will be replaced by a cat.
The Untied States Post Office will announce that they are shutting Saturday mail deliver down in August. There is some controversy surrounding this action.
I’m going to miss the weird little iron that caused me to think every time I sat down to play a game, “Why in the hell did they choose an iron?”, and I’m going to miss getting my mail on Saturdays. I’ll tell you something, it’s not going to ruin my day or even one second of my life. Believe it or not there are people going off the deep-end about these two issues. Please don’t think that I am totally disregarding the impact on postal employees, I’m not. I get that. It’s the regular Joe that is crossing his arms and stamping his feet. He’s inviting negativity into his lives and letting it throw mud pies at his happiness.

“And that is how change happens. One gesture. One person. One moment at a time.”
― Libba Bray, The Sweet Far Thing

Photo Courtesy of: http://streetcatrescue.webs.com/contact.htm