Sending Joy – An Introduction

I want to introduce you to a very special woman whom I have known for many years. We first met at an online writer’s group. From our first contact, I knew this lady was a unique individual. She was incredibly perceptive and very gentle in her words and actions. Soft is the word that comes to mind. You know how some people are just like a soft, clean light? Well, that’s Sharie in a nutshell.

Sharie is the friend I mentioned previously, that I was helping set up her own blog. She is probably one of the most spiritual individuals I have ever met (and when I say spiritual, I don’t mean religious) and her strongest desire in life is help others and to see the world and all its inhabitants at peace.

Her new blog is called Sending Joy – A Place to Soothe the Spirit. In order to tell you what her blog is all about, I quote her own words here:

I truly believe that everyone just wants to be happy. Most of us search for happiness in the world or in another person, or in things, jobs or money. And we’re always disappointed because it’s never there. It’s in a place we forget to look. Right inside ourselves. I have been a student of A Course In Miracles for seventeen years. During my studies and through interaction with other Course students and under the guidance of some amazing Teachers I have developed a whole new way to see the world and everyone in the world. I have learned things like “forgiveness is the key to happiness” and ‘we are all entitled to the miracles of peace and love and joy’. I have been a spiritual teacher for many years.

Through my dear friend, Annie, I have learned of a new venue called WordPress where she helped me build a lovely Spirit Space called Sending Joy . Anyone interested in tapping into their own joy, wanting to empower themselves by gaining a new understanding of who they are and why they’re here, having a question they want answered, wanting to communicate with a like mind, or just needing a moment to rest their spirit, is welcome to visit me.
Peace, Sharie

I would ask all of you to give Sharie a visit, read a few of her posts and her poems and see if it is a peaceful place you might want to visit again. I can promise you, you will never meet anyone quite like her and you’ll be glad that you did.

Blogrolls…What Are They Good For?

I was just having a conversation the other day with a fellow blogger about blogrolls. It seems he/she was doing some reevaluation of his/hers (notice how I am consealing their identity – hehe) and discovered that many of the bagillion (yes, that is a word) blogs they listed on their roll was not reciprocal. It really chapped his/her hide (as they say in that salsa commercial). And by osmosis, mine too.

We discussed at length our philosophies about blogrolling – who, when, where, how and both of us seemed to have the same thoughts in general. Linking should be reciprocal.

I have to admit, I didn’t always feel this way. When I first started out I essentially just blogrolled anybody whom I liked and of course, anyone who linked to me (as long as I was aware of it, and sometimes I’m not). But after several months I began to notice that a lot of the people I linked to did not return the favor. So, rather than just cutting them off my rolls I visited even more, commented even more so that they would have that V-8 moment and say, ‘doh, I need to blogroll WC.’ Did that work? Ah…not so much…. Scratching head here.

This floored me.because I couldn’t fathom why a person would not link reciprocally (is that a word, really?). It seems only fair and good manners, right? Well, not to everyone. I didn’t want to be a baby about it, so I just left things as they were. I mean, why not, I liked their blogs or what they said/wrote and liked to read them, so why shouldn’t I?

Well, after talking to my friend I started to see why not. The blogging world is built on links and referrals. It is the ultimate in networking and linking up is the way we introduce our good buddies to other of our good buddies or favorites. Because we want to share what and who we like with all our other friends. And we want them to share us with their good buddies/favs too. That’s the whole idea, isn’t it?

Anyway, I’ve now decided that all my links will be reciprocal. Anyone who links to me, I will link right back. So, please, if you have linked to me and I’m not linking to you, let me know and we’ll fix that right up. I truly appreciate the linkage and want to return the favor.

On the other hand, I will remove links of those who don’t link back. It’s not personal, but it doesn’t seem fair to let another blogger take advantage of your network if they aren’t willing to let you take advantage of theirs. Know what I mean?

Anybody else have thoughts on this?

WC

Blogged Myself Into a Coma

Sleeping in. Talk amongst yourselves. Hope you’re having a good weekend.

WC

Really Stupid Shit

 

Since the internet is filled with stupid shit, I thought I’d get in on the act. Hence my favorite stupid shit, and stupid shit that is just stupid:

Favorite stupid saying: You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose but you can’t pick your friend’s nose. (How come?)

Favorite stupid movie: Monty Python’s Holy Grail. I especially love the horses they use and their many special effects.

Favorite stupid food: Artichoke, steamed with mayo for dipping. This is a stupid food because 1) who the hell figured out you could eat it? 2) who the hell figured out how to cook it so you could eat it 3) and  how did anybody convince anybody that you should all sit around an artichoke, pulling off leaves, dunking it in mayo and the scrape the meat off the leaves?

Favorite stupid sign:

Favorite stupid car: The original VW Bug. First of all, who wants to drive something called a bug? It conjures visions of motorized cockroaches or something. Then there is the engine in the back. And of course, the ever popular heating system (has anyone ever felt warm on an icy day in a VW Bug?).

Favorite stupid song: Weird Al Yankovich’s “Eat It.” Nuff said.

Favorite stupid website: Stupid.com – yep there really is a website by this name and you can check it out here. In fact, I purchased many stupid Christmas gifts from them this year and they were a hit. Don’t believe me? Ask Michael at Smoke & Mirrors.

Favorite stupid dance: The pony. For those of you who have never heard of this dance or seen it performed, see if you can find some old American Bandstand reruns. It’s worth it and hysterically funny.

Favorite stupid children’s character: Barney the purple Dragon. Not only is he huge and purple but he is butt-ugly. If I were a kid I’d be afraid of that sucker. And also somebody needs to work on the lyrics for his songs.

Favorite stupid tv show: Friends. A bunch of 20-somethings (who are really a lot older than that) have adventures in the big city. They are all struggling, lost, have career and life issues but live in a really cool apartment in the village, dress in all the latest fashions, go to fancy restaurants for dinners and have problems like jellyfish bites, whether or not to kiss Rachel, getting rid of annoying girlfriends and sibling rivalry. Great fun.

Things that are just stupid:

1. Bicyclists can ride on the open road but cars can’t drive on bike paths.

2. Joggers jog to become more fit and healthy but jog along heavily traveled roads – can you say carbon monoxide?

3. People who don’t pay taxes are pissed that they don’t get refunds.

4. Indecivise customers at fast food restaraunts.

5. Diet coke & chocolate cake.

6. Frisking old ladies at airports in case they’re terrorists.

7. Road construction during rush hour.

8. Cheerleaders at pro basketball games – for that money, they don’t need encouragement to cheer – you bet your ass they’re going to.

9. Pocket protectors – you might as well just stick a post-it on your head that says “Geek & Loser.”

10. Stop signs in California (more like avoid the oncoming car, signs).

Okay – that’s about all the stupid shit I can come up with tonight. I’ll let you know if I think of anything else.

WC

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

Hey Everybody, I wanted to do a quick post and introduce a couple of blogs that I think are fabulous.

Never Goodbye is brand new and authored by a friend of mine, Popsgirl. Not long ago, she discovered her father was suffering from dementia and has found herself in the role of caretaker. No easy task since she is in L.A. and her father in Alabama. She began journaling the experience to give herself some perspective and as an outlet for her feelings about the situation. She has a decidedly humourous take on the rocky road that life has put her on and offers, I think, an interesting take on the situation.

For her take on the whys and wherefors, check out her post – Short End of the Memory Stick Sometimes not remembering what happened yesterday or even five minutes ago has its advantages. Yesterday doesn’t drag you down or rob your attention from what’s happening now, and every moment is new and fresh, leaving you to enjoy life today. That’s one way to look at it.Throughout the travails and memory loss, my dad maintains his sense of humor. That passed down trait of “perceiving the humor in life” serves us both well. Dad’s memory slippage continuously rides a teeter-totter between lucid moments when he remembers his telephone number and moments of complete disorientation when he can’t find a glass in the kitchen. The same cupboard housing glasses for twenty-five years eludes him. You never know on which side of the teeter-totter he will sit. Laugh with us and shed some tears as I tell you some stories about my dad.

The second blog is Keeping the Promise…faith in action Authored by Andrena, a lovely woman whom I’ve recently come in contact with. She is originally from the South Bronx..came to Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia almost 4 years ago. Will be finishing up in December and will be waiting for her own church Her husband passed away 13 years ago from AIDS and is herself HIV positive and has been coping with that for several years.

In her own words I started the ‘get a grip’ back in 2002…started blogging cause everybody else was doing it…’started keeping the promise’ a few weeks ago…when i came back from Toronto, Canada for the AIDS conference (got a few tatoos, tongue ring, nose ring, another ring :-)…dreadlocks down my back..) She also served in the US Army for six years and came out as a Drill Sergeant. No cream puff, to be sure.

The blog: For me, my part in keeping the promise as a religious leader is to put a face to the HIV virus, and speaking publicly in congregations about myself in order to eliminate the stigma, discrimination often associated with this disease. Don’t know what (the blog) is going to evolve into. Right now, it is just used for my reflections on the conference, things i learned at the conference, and as I am waiting on interviews to be public, and as I begin speaking at functions, it will serve for those reflections. What it will evolve into, if anything, is not certain yet. I welcome people reaching out.. It would be great if you guys could pop by, say hello and look around. I’m sure both Popsgirl and Andrena would be delighted.I have added both blogs to my sidebar as well.

Thanks a bunch.

WC