"Nice Things:

Recent comment on FaceBook: 

"When you work 2 jobs AND go to school you deserve to reward yourself with nice things, because you have EARNED them, no-one can take that from you!!!"
One response: 
" I wish I had that mentality. Nice things tend to make me feel guilty."

The Great George Carlin

MY reaction:

George Carlin said:
"Surround yourself with what you love , whether it’s family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge."

In the immortal words of drag star and world supermodel RuPaul, "Gurl, you don't have to tell me twice!"

I shared this philosophy decades ago, but there ain't nothin' like having the power of one of my favorite people - George Carlin - blowing a hurricane-force wind under my feeble, struggling wings!

(Note:  Just out of curiosity, I just counted the things that George said we should surround ourselves with, and I have 6 of the 7.  Not a bad average, if I do say so myself!)

Good God, I'm glad that I don't have that complex! (Nice things making me feel guilty.) If I did, I would need the entire range of resources from Dr. Freud, Dr. Phil, Oprah Winfrey and Jesus to cure me, because I do, indeed, like "nice things!"

Growing up, the people that share my gene pool tried to tell me that I wasn't worthy of nice things, I had no talent or skills, nor did they instill the value of taking care of one's appearance or possessions.

(Hindsight being 20 / 20, and having a few decades of age on me, I now realize that jealousy and laziness on their part is, indeed, more insidious than any cancer, especially considering the fact that they are jealous of a disabled person. The laziness is another show, entirely.)

I told them to rot in the self-inflicted Hell that they are currently STILL rotting in, and I plodded on, in a *forward* direction.

1) Even though I definitely do not live in a 'Ladue house', I have a Ladue address. I live 8 miles from St. Louis' city center, in the suburb of Ladue, which is the wealthiest zip code per capita in the state of Missouri.

2) I *neva, eva* leave the house looking less than I do in my profile pic.

I don't care about religion or personal beliefs. Nobody has ever come back to tell you 'what it's like on the other side.' This life ain't no dress rehearsal, baby. Live it like it is your last - because it probably is. I have picture proof (and not of myself!) of the fact that "regret" is, indeed, a bitter pill to swallow.

Since we are on the subject of final farwells, this, my friends, is the result of 'liking nice things':

This is the grave of Rudolf Nureyev, a legendary ballet star.  He was an avid collector of beautiful carpets and antique textiles.  His grave features a tomb draped in a mosaic of an oriental carpet.  This 'carpet' is actually an intricate tile-work mosaic, in phenomenally matching colors to a faded 'Oriental' rug.  This, my friends - is HOW YOU DO IT!
 

For other close-up photos of this fantastic monument, click here:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=4047&PIpi=130208

(Now the question picques my interest:  I wonder which carpet pattern the craftsmen / artists used for this mosiac tile masterpiece?)
- Michael

Getting A Ticket to the Freak Show

Escaped Family, Been there, done that!

I love George Carlin.  I second his motion, and I will add this amendment:

My general philosophy is this:

Since America - and most Americans - are from a HUGE melting pot of cultures, then why not take advantage of that face, and enjoy as many other cultures as it is humanly possible to explore?

IN NO WAY would I want, just as one quick example, an Asian Indian (from India) to muddle, mix or or otherwise generalize their customs or culture, including art, clothing, food, religion, etc with any other culture. Anybody that has ever experienced Hindu (or other Indian) culture with an open mind would be the first to admit that any 'watering down' or mixing this culture would be a great loss to this world. The beauty lies in a purity that took place literally thousands of years before the first European ever set foot on the land that would later become The United States of American.

The same can be said for many other world cultures, including but definitely not limited to: Chinese, Japanese, Mongolian, Moroccan, etc.... etc... etc...

So..... Since we are all 'mutts', then take advantage of that 'muttness' by sampling the entire world. If somebody (Hindu, just as one example!) is bound to their culture by ancient tradition and ties, and they will never even temporarily break those binds to sample the rest of the world, then it would be in our best interest to NOT let their sacrifice be in vain.

Now - go forth and SAMPLE! (And much in the same manner as visiting a National Park, etc, "Take only memories... and leave only footprints."

Well.... let me amend that rule: "Take only genuine hand-made souvenirs that were made by natives of that land that were made possibly for sale but NOT for the tourist trade."

(People that buy souvenirs in Paris, for example, that were "Made in China" or people that are visiting Beijing that buy souvenirs that were "Made in the USA" should burst into flames!)

- Michael