What do people say when they talk (pray) to God?

     Do you need a quite, calm place to pray or talk with God? or Can you talk to him while driving to work in rush hour traffic?  How do you talk to God?   Do use standard prayers or just have a conversation?

     Written prayers become boring to me, it's like listening to the same song on the radio all day long day after day.  So I just talk to him like a friend.  All of us ask things from God but do you say thanks to him when things work out to your favor?  Here's a typical prayer (with variations) I might say to God.

     Good morning God! I just wanted to say thanks for all the help you’ve given my family; I appreciate it a lot.  Everything is going pretty well today so I won't take up too much of your time because I know you’re busy.  I am trying to do my best in dealing with others but sometimes I get upset with those idiot drivers I see in traffic, sorry, I know you created them so there not really idiots but sometimes they act that way.  I will try to be more patient; maybe they are having a bad day.  Thanks catch you later, good luck solving those world problems.

     Does God get stressed out hearing of all the problems in the world or maybe the way people react to the problems?  Do people only talk to God when there’s a problem or do they also talk to him when things are going well?  Does God have a sense of humor? Well of course, look around at all the funny things in life.

     I find comfort in talking to God, without always asking for things; truthfully he already knows what you want anyway, so sometimes I just like to say "Hi".  I don't know if others will think of my conversations to God as prayers but it's the way I pray, short and casual.

"Hi God, how's things, here's a new one."
"A man walks in to a bar carrying a duck, What! you've heard it, How can that be? Oh! You wrote it, got ya! I should have known."  "Just Saying...."

What's in your "Junk" Drawer?

     I bet everyone has a junk drawer.  Ours is in the kitchen, it's a handy place to put things you don't need now but you might use in the future.  Having a junk drawer has saved me many trips to the basement to find a screw, pliers, twist ties, etc.

     My wife (Mimi) has occasional mentioned that we need to clean out the junk drawer.  I have to admit it has a lot of junk and you can feel the heavy weight of the drawer when you pull it out, but if we cleaned it out we could no longer call it a junk drawer.

     So I decided I would take an inventory the junk drawer, just to see if it contained anything unnecessary.  Here's what I found, many screws, bolts, nuts washers, batteries, glue, plastic golf ball, hammer, screwdriver, pliers, tin snips, variety of tapes, electric outlets/covers, hinges, matches, key holder, taillight bulbs, flashlight, lighter, key holder, zip ties, tape measure, tire gauge, razor blades, plastic things, door stops, sockets, padlock, electrical tape (I've been looking for that), wire, string, keys to who knows what, spark plug remover, air freshener, magnets, fuses, plus odds & ends that I'm not sure what they go to and a piece of cinnamon toast, Nah! I'm just kidding about that.

     That is quite a collection and I'm sure if I would dig around a little I could find a few more special things in our junk drawer.  I guess in the time it took to inventory the junk, I could have purged a few items, but that was not on my agenda for the day.  I wonder what the weight capacity is of a junk drawer?  I may be pushing the limit.

     I found it to be oddly entertaining to search around through the junk drawer discovering objects that we had forgotten.  It was like a miniature adventure without the danger.  In an effort to find out what the oddest thing I had in the junk drawer I decided to go back in and make a deep dive into the drawer.  I emptied the junk drawer out into a bucket then found what I considered to be the 2 best candidates.  It was a close race between 2 items, dental floss and Q-tips but I chose the floss; well let's call it "Guest Floss" for visitors.  With all the concern about germs, Who wouldn't want to use floss from a junk drawer?  With everything now in a bucket, this would be the perfect time to dispose of a few items..............but no I decided to put them back in the junk drawer.  It's junk going into a junk drawer, a perfect marriage.  Anybody need some floss?

Changing the World is like Eating an Elephant

     Both sound like an impossible task.  So how do you eat an elephant, simple one bite at a time? How do you change the world, a little bit at a time? You first change yourself then the way you treat others.  You start small and eventually you efforts may change others.  It works like the domino effect, expanding and multiplying when others take up the challenge.

     It's like a snowball rolling down the hill, picking up speed and growing larger with each revolution.  It all comes down to science and persistence.  The world can change in a positive or negative way.  Negativity is just as powerful as positivity but it seems like it's fueled by fear, greed, etc. basically a negative approach to life.  It appears that some people feel entitled and in an effort to support this entitlement they justify any action to get what they want.

     I know in science we are told that two negatives make positive but that is not true in the rest of life.  I think we can all agree that the violent death of someone is tragic especially for the family.  The thing is there are many tragic events happening to people around this world, now and in the past.

     As individuals how we react to a tragedy is a defining factor on how we will recover and move ahead.  Negative actions generally bring about negative results.  I'm not suggesting that the tragedy be ignored but that it be a catalyst for positive change, burning buildings and destroying communities does not bring positive change.

     It's right to honor and learn from the past but living in the past will cloud your mind and attitude.  It seems many today many people are living in the past siting injustice from the past as reason for there actions of today.  Atrocities of the past are just that in the past, don't forget them but don't use them in a negative way.  There is no nationality or religion that has been mistreated more than the Jewish people during WWII but their positive recovery without negativity explains their progress.  They haven't forgotten their roots or history but they have moved forward in a positive fashion. Yet, there are others that are living their lives as if they were the ones mistreated during the historical past.

     Let's take a bite out of that elephant in a positive way and change the world one day at a time.  "Just Saying..."

Gravy Bread a Forgotten Delicacy

     Memories are funny things sometimes a past memory seems to manifest itself out of nowhere.  It happens to everyone but sometimes we may to too busy to pay attention to them. They may be of some importance but more likely they are just forgotten moments of the past that somehow have resurfaced.

     While eating a roast beef sandwich, I happened to remember being a kid and having pot roast, which was good but the real treat for me was the gravy left on the plate.  It was a real treat to soak up the gravy with a piece of white bread; it was almost like dessert. There was always extra gravy in the pot so adding spoonful to your plate meant the gravy bread was sopping wet and tasty.  When I grew up gravy did not come in a paper pouch from the grocery store, it came from the melted beef fat, full of flavor, but not that healthy.  I'm not sure why but I looked forward to the gravy bread much more than the beef.

     Another favorite food indulgence of mine was fried puffed wheat which was fried in a skillet with butter then sprinkled with sugar. This would not be considered a healthy food choice today but when I was young there was no distinction between healthy and unhealthy food, it was all just food.  The puffed wheat used in this breakfast dish was unflavored with the consistency and taste similar to how I imagine styrofoam would taste.  However when it was fried, back then everything was better fried, it was tasty especially when you added the sugar to this buttery concoction. Cooking it seemed tricky because if you left it on too long the wheat puffs would shrivel and become hard.  There always seemed to be a few hard pieces but that was easy to deal with.

     One other breakfast item I liked was fried mush, I know it sounds disgusting, even as I say the words now "fried mush" it does not seem appealing to me.  As I remember mush was a block of cornmeal that my Mom would buy.  She would cut off a slice about 1/4 inch thick and pan fry it in oil or butter until it was golden brown on both sides.  I would pour pancake syrup on this crusty entree and enjoy it immensely.  Truthfully, if you think about it you could pour syrup on cardboard and it would be palatable. This breakfast delicacy is another item that would not be considered a healthy food choice today, but again it didn't matter then.

     Our lifestyles change which brings about changes to our diet without realizing it.  I can't remember the last time I had gravy bread, fried puff wheat or fried mush but I'm sure my brain has probably enhanced that memory so it's best left as a pleasant memory from the past.

Connected to the World but Unconnected to Life

     I'm sure many would agree with all the electronic devices and the many social media sites that the world has grown smaller and we are closely connected to every aspect.  But it seems to me that being connected to the world has broken our connection with the important things in life.  Social media keeps us informed about what movies our friends like, their favorite recipes, recent trips even what they ate for lunch or what concert they are attending.  I think this is the perfect way to communicate these casual interest or activities, but for a more personal touch, it would seem to me a phone call or a visit would be more valued and appreciated.

     We can't fulfill all our obligations to others with a Facebook post or even a text.  Sometimes hearing a persons voice is the perfect way to stay connected.  Showing an interest in someone's life is healing and empowering to both you and them.   You can boost to your personal connections with others with just a simple telephone call.

     So here's my suggestion, make a plan to call your Mom, Dad, brother, sister, or friend on a regular basis, just to talk, you know to catch up with each other and do this without any agenda.  Stay connected to each other because being connected to others is really what makes life worthwhile.  Don't wait for them to call, you can be the first to call.  "Just Saying..."

Ice Cream Takes the Fullness Away

     Go ahead call me crazy, I don't care but ice cream takes the fullness away, it's a little known fact, well at least it's little known belief of mine.  Broken cookies have no calories because they leak out, that might be lie but doesn't it make you feel less guilty about eating a broken cookie.

There are a number of old wives tales that give advice or warnings, here are just a few:

Step on a crack and break your mothers back

A rabbits foot brings good luck (well not so much for the rabbit)

Pulling out a grey hair will cause ten more to grow. (better grey than bare)

If the palm of your hand itches you will be getting some money (I can't recall that ever happening)

Walking under a ladder will bring you bad luck

Breaking a mirror will bring you 7 years of bad luck

If you use the same pencil for a test that you used for studying the pencil will remember the answers (Dammit I wish I had known that).

     There are many more old wives tales most of which I can't verify as true but I know if I have that full feeling that a small scoop of ice cream will take the fullness away.  It may not make any sense to you but it seems to work for me every time.

     Eating bacon lubricates your joints, that may not be in the medical journal but I believe if you always deprive yourself of life's pleasures you will be missing out on a part of life, just don't over indulge.  Here is a recent quote I heard from a friend "Refrigerated desserts have less calories".  I like that, it has some believability.

     I'm sure all people have their own beliefs or traditions that may not be based on scientific fact but that doesn't mean they don't work.  Sometimes we just need to believe in them.

Post Cards, Birthday Cards and other Hand-written notes

     I was looking through an old box of stuff that my mom had saved and I found some old post cards some of my friends sent me when I was just a young boy.  I'm sure their parents made them write the postcards but it was still fun to read them again even though they contained nothing of great importance.  There was something intriguing about reading a post card that was written over 50 years ago, it brought back happy memories.

     When was the last time you received a postcard?  How many Christmas cards or Birthday cards do you get now versus 10 or 20 years ago?  Do you still get thank you notes for gifts?  Written communication has changed because of Facebook and other similar sites.  I'm not saying that's all bad but different in that it doesn't seem as special to get a birthday greeting on Facebook as it does getting a birthday card in the mail.

     Hand written letters and post cards seem to have totally disappeared, which is disappointing because if someone takes the time out of their day to handwrite a letter or set aside a little time during their vacation to send you a post card they value your friendship.  Writing a birthday post on Facebook is nice but requires very little effort.  Don't get me wrong I appreciate it and make these post as well.  It's an easy way to stay connected, which is important plus you can connect with old friends that you may have lost contact with but if you receive a handwritten birthday card it just seems a little more personal.

     I've noticed with all the electronic communication (text, tweets, post, etc.) that we use more acronyms which is not necessarily a bad thing but it seems like we are losing our ability to write in proper English.  I know language changes over time, we no longer use thee and thy in our daily communications like people did many years ago, but I have to believe that this strange FaceBook Language will create a bigger communication gap between generations.

     Would you want to read a book sprinkled with all these FaceBook acronyms?  I wouldn't but the truth is some people may be fine with that.  To me words create pictures and well-written phases using descriptive words expand your imagination allowing you to create your own scenes to fit the written words.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that your choice of words makes a difference and have an impact.

     I think Facebook and the other social media sites are great ways to stay in touch with others but I hate to think it will completely replace other forms of communication.  

     Here's how I imagine a future heartfelt Facebook post to be:

"Happy Birthday we're having great time on vacation, wish you were here, we will be here through Christmas, so Merry Christmas and thanks for your generous gift."

Done and Done "Just Saying...."

Women wear outfits, Men wear clothes

      We all know that men and women have many differences but despite the obvious ones, the importance of clothing, outfits and wardrobes is one that comes to mind.

     No matter what a man is wearing be it a 3 piece suit or something more casual like jeans and his favorite sweatshirt, it's not an outfit it's just clothes.  Women wear outfits, their blouse, jacket, skirt or pants must all be coordinated and lets not forget their shoes.  I've seen well-dressed men but I have never thought of them as wearing an outfit.  I have seen men wearing a silk shirts on occasion and if I saw a male friend wearing a silk shirt I might give him a hard time, by telling him "That blouse is stunning, it really makes your eyes sparkle".  The simple fact is it's still just a man wearing clothes not an outfit.

     Women complement each other about their clothes many times saying "That's a pretty outfit you are wearing".   I have heard on occasion, men compliment another man about his clothing but it was in words much different than the women's compliment.  It would be like, "Awesome Harley jacket" or "Where did you get that cool 3 stooges t-shirt".

     Women are much better at matching colors and styles, generally speaking.  I may not be your typical example of a well-dressed man, in fact I know I'm not.  My philosophy is that any color t-shirt goes with blue jeans because it's not about the color but what the t-shirt says (logo, catchy phrase, etc.).  I wear sweaters when I feel the need to get a bit dressed up, but I don't become overly concerned about color coordination of the shirt underneath and the sweater, I mean really how much of the shirt is even showing and sometime contrasting colors make a statement.  I think my wife might disagree, in fact I know she does, she at times has said "Don't wear that shirt, you look like a doofus".  Which I respond "Great, that's kinda what I was going for".

     Men do have their favorite clothes, which I personally believe your favorite clothes go with anything in the closet.  Which brings up another point, women's closets contain wardrobes (clothes), which I think means a group of outfits but I'm not 100% sure.  Men’s closets however just have clothes, they aren't considered wardrobes, mainly because every shirt is interchangeable with every pair of pants. It may be a subtle difference but distinct.  Women frequently change outfits throughout the day but most of the time men will be wearing the same clothes in the evening that they put on in the morning.  The exception for men is going to a formal event like a wedding when a suit is appropriate, so of course men will change into a suit for that occasion but don't be surprised if underneath that dress shirt he's wearing a Superman t-shirt.  Why not, it seemed to work well for Clark Kent.