paradise ali

George Carlin died yesterday.  He was such a brilliant comedian.  I got this in an email a while back.  It was written by George Carlin after his wife passed away and shows a different side of him.  It is poignant and eloquent and brought me to tears when I first read it. 

A Message by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.

We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete…

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.

Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Found an inspiring little clip of a man who turned all of his yard into edible planting space.  He has raised beds in the front yard, side yard, back yard and driveway.  He and his adult kids eat well and sell the excess to local restaurants.  He believes that his family is recession proof because of their gardens and frugal lifestyle.  They even make their own bio-diesel from used cooking oil they get from local eateries. 

With the ridiculous price of gas and transportation, the price of just about everything we use is skyrocketing.  I really like the idea of growing my own food.  In addition to the veggies, I hope to someday have a few bantam chickens for eggs.  (I doubt that even my meat eaters would actually want to eat the chickens after raising them!)  We currently have a compost bin and I hope to also start a vermiculture set up soon. 

Hawai`i is way too dependent on the import of oil and other necessities.   Sad when you think that we have the perfect place for farming and aquaculture.  We also have almost ideal conditions for solar, wind power, hydro and wave power, bio-diesel and even stinky geothermal. 

Everyday, but especially today, on this Memorial Day, we honor our brave military and the sacrifices they and their families made.  May the coming year bring back to us those who are in harm’s way and may we have the opportunity to embrace the peace for which so many gave their lives.

Our Gift to the Fallen
© 2007 Charlie Gragg

For each soldier that has fallen so that many may stand
We honor their spirit as they pass to God’s hand
For without their sacrifice we would live forever in fear
We pray for their loved ones and provide a salute and a tear
God help us heal the wounds of hate and the misery of war
That is our gift to our fallen heroes that are amongst us no more.

"God help us heal the wounds of hate and the misery of war."  I love our soldiers but I don’t support war.  I wish our leaders would choose a different way.

Beautiful, powerful photos by Joe Philipson of Philipson Photography.  The photos above are from his Flickr photostream.   Some rights reserved.

A so called church group came to Hawaii to say that "God hates Hawaii" supposedly because they believe "Hawaii tolerates homosexuality and adultery."  I’m not even going to type their name.  They are the same "church" that owns and operates hate sites on the net and pickets the funerals of gays.  They also protest at the services for our military killed in action in Iraq because they claim that God is punishing America for its tolerance of homosexuality.  Per Wikipedia, the group expresses

. . . condemnation of homosexuality, Roman Catholics, Muslims and Jews, as well as populations it believes are supporting the aforementioned groups, including Chinese^[4], Swedes, Canadians, Irish, British, Mexicans and Americans.

Heh! So I guess Hawaii is in very good company!

The group, itself, is not worth mentioning.  What is worth mentioning is Pastor Wayne’s smiling response in this article and accompanying video from KITV.

We all know that people can say what they want to, whether it’s true or not.  One of the things about our country is it gives people the right to be deceived, if they want to. But we all know in the Bible, first John, it says ‘God is love’ and, in him, there is no hate.

Amen!

To the group members:  Enjoy your stay in the islands, thank you for contributing your money to our economy and, of course, Aloha!

Added–Linkmeister also has a take on this situation here.

Feeling much better today. Check this out! This is the most incredible art thing I’ve seen in a long while–

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”

–Randy Pausch

Once upon a time, my friend and I used to go to church on Sunday mornings.  It wasn’t always easy being as both of us were single parents with little kidlets in tow.  We’d go and sit on the stackable chairs set up in the gym  and listen to the sermon intently.  Periodically, we’d smile knowingly at each other.  It always felt like the message of the day was specifically meant for us.  Somehow, no matter what was going on, the Universe knew exactly what we needed to hear in order to understand, accept, or make the best of it. 

Fast forward many, many years.  The other day, Beta and I were clashing and we weren’t really on speaking terms.  I felt like she was being a spoiled, selfish, Princess Beotch and she felt like I was the Queen Witch Supreme.  She was running the hot water while she was washing the dishes and I wanted her to conserve hot water by washing the dishes, then turning on the water and rinsing.  We were feuding over dishwashing techniques!  Well, I came across a lecture by Professor Randy Pausch of Carnegie Mellon University.  It was long but I found myself drawn in to the presentation of this man, this son, this husband, this father.  The lecture was about achieving your childhood dreams but it was presented in such a fun, upbeat and entertaining way.  Professor Pausch is dying of pancreatic cancer. At the time of the lecture, it was one month since his doctors told him that he had three to six months of good health left. His circumstances and what he had to say were so moving, I cried.  Talk about putting things in perspective!  He shared wisdom and advice that I could take to heart and appreciate and pass on to my own family. 

I have time to have fun with my kids, time to encourage them, time to try to teach them the hard lessons that I learned the hard way.  Life is to short for the negativity and strife.  The Universe still finds a way to tell me exactly what I need to hear, when I need to hear it. 

The video below is Professor Randy Pausch’s reprisal of “The Last Lecture” on the Oprah Show.  It is much shorter but it gives you a taste of the full lecture which you can learn more about at the Carnegie Mellon University site.