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An 80 year old lady was being interviewed by the local news station because she had just gotten married - for the fourth time.
The interviewer asked her questions about her life, about what it felt like to be marrying again at 80, and then about her new husband's
occupation. "He's a funeral director," she answered. "Interesting," the newsman thought.
He then asked her if she wouldn't mind telling him a little about her first three husbands and what they did for a living. She paused for a
few moments, needing time to reflect on all those years. After a short time, a smile came to her face and she answered proudly, explaining that she'd first married a banker when she was in her early 20's, then a
circus ringmaster when in her 40's, later on a preacher when in her 60's, and now in her 80's, a funeral director.
The interview looked at her, quite astonished, and asked her why she had married four men with such diverse careers.
I told QM thank you for the lovely stamp she made me, but I never said a proper thank you to the woman who made several at my request, and did an admirable job for me.
So for all your work, patience, creativity, late night conversations, fat under dressed hippos, laughter, tears and friendship...
NEW YORK -- Dan Fogelberg, the singer and songwriter whose hits "Leader of the Band" and "Same Old Lang Syne" helped define the soft-rock era, died Sunday at his home in Maine after battling prostate cancer. He was 56.
His death was announced in a statement by Anna Loynes of the Solters & Digney public relations agency, and it was also posted on the singer's Web site.
"Dan left us this morning at 6:00 a.m. He fought a brave battle with cancer and died peacefully at home in Maine with his wife Jean at his side," it read. "His strength, dignity and grace in the face of the daunting challenges of this disease were an inspiration to all who knew him."
Fogelberg discovered he had advanced prostate cancer in 2004. In a statement then, he thanked fans for their support.
"It is truly overwhelming and humbling to realize how many lives my music has touched so deeply all these years," he said.
Fogelberg's music was powerful in its simplicity. He didn't rely on the volume of his voice to convey his emotions; instead, they came through in the soft, tender delivery and his poignant lyrics. Songs like "Same Old Lang Syne" — in which a man reminisces after meeting an old girlfriend by chance during the holidays — became classics not only because of his performance, but for the engaging storyline, as well.
Fogelberg's heyday was in the 1970s and early 80s, when he scored several platinum and multi-platinum records, fueled by such hits as "The Power of Gold" and "Leader of the Band," a touching tribute he wrote to his father, a bandleader.
Fogelberg put out his first album in 1972.
Fogelberg's songs tended to have a weighty tone, reflecting on emotional issues in a serious way. But in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 1997, he said it did not represent his personality.
"That came from my singles in the early '80s," he reflects. "I think it probably really started on the radio. I'm not a dour person in the least. I'm actually kind of a happy person. Music doesn't really reflect the whole person.
"One of my dearest friends is Jimmy Buffett. From his music, people have this perception that he's up all the time, and, of course, he's not. Jimmy has a serious side, too."
Later in his career, he wrote material that focused on the state of the environment, an issue close to his heart. His last album was 2003's "Full Circle," his first album of original material in a decade.
A year later he would receive his cancer diagnosis, forcing him to forgo a planned fall tour. After his diagnosis, he urged others to get tested.
Japan scientists develop fearless mice By KAORI HITOMI, Associated Press Writer
Thu Dec 13, 7:01 PM ET
Cat and mouse may never be the same. Japanese scientists say they've used genetic engineering to create mice that show no fear of felines, a development that may shed new light on mammal behavior and the nature of fear itself.
Scientists at Tokyo University say they were able to successfully switch off a mouse's instinct to cower at the smell or presence of cats — showing that fear is genetically hardwired and not learned through experience, as commonly believed.
"Mice are naturally terrified of cats, and usually panic or flee at the smell of one. But mice with certain nasal cells removed through genetic engineering didn't display any fear," said research team leader Ko Kobayakawa.
In his experiment, the genetically altered mice approached cats, even snuggled up to them and played with them. Kobayakawa said he chose domesticated cats that were docile and thus less likely to pounce.
Kobayakawa said his findings, published in the science magazine Nature last month, should help researchers shed further light on how the brain processes information about the outside world.
Kim Dae-soo, a neural genetics professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Seoul, who was not involved in the research, said Kobayakawa's research could explain further what fear is, and how to control it.
"People have thought mice are fearful of cats because cats prey on them, but that's not the case," Kim said.
"If we follow the pathway of related signals in the brain, I think we could discover what kind of networks in the brain are important for controlling fear."
___
Associated Press Writer Jae-soon Chang in Seoul contributed to this report
Canada's post office and police are trying to track down a "rogue elf" who wrote obscene letters to children on behalf of Santa Claus, a newspaper reported on Friday.
The Ottawa Citizen said at least 10 nasty letters had been delivered to little girls and boys in Ottawa who wrote to Santa this year care of the North Pole, which has a special H0H 0H0 Canadian postal code. Return letters from Santa are in fact written by an 11,000-strong army of Canada Post employees and volunteers.
"We firmly believe there is just one rogue elf out there," a Canada Post spokeswoman told the paper.
Canada Post's popular "Write to Santa" program -- which last year delivered more than a million letters to children in Canada and around the world -- has been shut down in Ottawa until the offender is caught.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Peter Galloway
Last night my sister and I were sitting in the den and I said to her, "I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle to keep me alive. That would be no quality of life at all. If that ever happens, just pull the plug."
So she got up, unplugged the computer, and threw out my wine.
I often read through several journals on here daily, mostly because they belong to people who are intelligent, open, and honest about life, love, and the pursuit of happiness, or their version thereof. And I oft times get a kick strolling through some of the other journals at random, just for the odd giggle or quirk or sheer out and out retardation of the person writing...
As for the general consensus that those of the teenage persuasion who spout off with the time worn "tis better to have lost" yadda yadda yadda.....
I agree in principal with both Khayman and STABB. These kids are too young to have, as of yet, had the experiences to make such an assumption, much less quote it as if it were carved in stone. It lands squarely in the same corral with the ones who are so blatantly in your face about their sexuality- "I'm BI" " I'm GAY" "I'm PURPLE" et al.....You ain't been around long enough to know for sure what you are, what hurts the most, etc. And don't even THINK about dive bombing me with the obligatory "You're just too old to remember what that feels like".....
I am old enough to know better, and young enough to do it anyway. I am old enough to remember what it was like to moon over that one guy in high school because he was everything I thought I wanted, only to have him step on me like so much trash. Years later I learned that he not only "became gay", but died from AIDS. After 25 years, I STILL cried for the better part of the day over him. I can remember what it felt like to be so in love with someone in college, only to have him leave me and go overseas for over a year, and to feel like my life had stopped until he came back, only to marry him and then find out what he REALLY thought of me. I can remember what it felt like to find someone on line I thought I could talk to. To open up to, and be completley honest, both with myself and him. And he....played me...he used me for his own personal enjoyment long distance, and led me a merry chase across the US. And THEN I found out that not only had he done this unspeakable thing to ME, but to several other women on the same site. Only I was stupid enough to buy so far into it that I traveled half way across the United States to be with him, to share a life with him, only to be left adrift in a strange place, miles from anyone I knew, and him refusing to talk to me at all...
Those things stay with you, kiddies, they help you to grow and learn and make yourself better. They give you the chance to hurt, and grow from the pain, and hopefully teach you not to make the same mistake twice. Sometimes you still do, but you always learn, whether you like it or not.
It isn't better to have loved and lost- it is better to have learned form the pain, rather than to have never experienced it at all. For how will you EVER know to appreciate the best things and people in life, if you don't have bad things and people to compare them to, thereby giving you a reason to thank GOD everyday that you came through all that a better person, alive, and willing to try again?
Live and learn kids, but don't preach to the choir....people like myself, Khayman, STABB, and many others on here have been there, done that, and yes...
NOW THIS IS A STORY WORTH TELLING. THIS STORY EXEMPLIFIES GUN CONTROL AS IT SHOULD BE.
Shotgun preteen vs. illegal alien Home Invaders, Butte, Montana
November 5, 2006
Two illegal aliens, Ralphel Resindez, 23, and Enrico Garza, 26, probably believed they would easily overpower home-alone 11 year old
Patricia Harrington after her father had left their two-story home.
It seems the two crooks never learned two things: they were in Montana and Patricia had been a clay shooting champion since she was nine.
Patricia was in her upstairs room when the two men broke through the front door of the house She quickly ran to her father's room and
grabbed his 12 gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun.
Resindez was the first to get up to the second floor only to be the first to catch a near point blank blast of buckshot from the 11-year-old's knee crouch aim. He suffered fatal wounds to his
abdomen and genitals. When Garza ran to the foot of the stairs, he took a blast to the left
shoulder and staggered out into the street where he bled to death before medical help could arrive.
It was found out later that Resindez was armed with a stolen .45 caliber handgun he took from another home invasion robbery. That victim, 50-year-old David Burien, was not so lucky He died from stab wounds to the chest.
Ever wonder why good stuff never makes NBC, CBS, PBS, MSNBC, CNN, or
ABC news....
Now that is Gun Control
Thought for the day Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented immigrant" is like calling a drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"
2. Always identify people in your yard before shooting at them.
3. It's considered poor taste to take a cooler to church.
4. If you have to vacuum the bed, it is time to change the sheets.
5. Even if you're certain that you are included in the will, it is still considered tacky to drive a U-Haul to the funeral home.
Dining Out
1. If drinking directly from the bottle, always hold it with your fingers covering the label.
2. Avoid throwing bones and food scraps on the floor as the restaurant may not have dogs.
Entertaining In Your Home
1. A centerpiece for the table should never be anything prepared by a taxidermist.
2. Do not allow the dog to eat at the table no matter how good his manners are.
Personal Hygiene
1. While ears need to be cleaned regularly, this is a job that should be done in private using one's OWN truck keys
2. Proper use of toiletries can forestall bathing for several days. However, if you live alone, deodorant is a waste of good money.
3. Dirt and grease under the fingernails is a social no-no, as they tend to detract from a woman's jewelry and alter the taste of finger foods.
Dating (outside the family)
1. Always offer to bait your date's hook, especially on the first date.
2. Be aggressive. Let her know you're interested: "I've been wanting to go out with you since I read that stuff on the bathroom wall two years ago."
3. Establish with her parents what time she is expected back. Some will say 10:00 PM; others might say "Monday." If the latter is the answer, it is the man's responsibility to get her to school on time.
4. Always have a positive comment about your date's appearance, such as, "Ya'll sure don't sweat much for a fat gal."
Weddings
1. Livestock, usually, is a poor choice for a wedding gift.
2. Kissing the bride for more than 5 seconds may get you shot.
3. For the groom, at least, rent a tux. A leisure suit with a cummerbund and a clean bowling shirt can create too sporty an appearance.
4. Though uncomfortable, say "yes" to socks and shoes for this special occasion.
5. It is not appropriate to tell the groom how good his wife is in the sack.
Driving Etiquette
1. Dim your headlights for approaching vehicles, even if the gun is loaded, and the deer is in sight.
2. When approaching a four-way stop, the vehicle with the largest tires always has the right of way.
3. Never tow another car using panty hose and duct tape.
4. When sending your wife down the road with a gas can, it is impolite to ask her to bring back beer.
5. Never relieve yourself from a moving vehicle, especially when driving.
6. Do not lay rubber while traveling in a funeral procession.
Two Reasons why it is hard to solve a Redneck Murder:
Wis. drivers line up for gas at 33 cents Fri Dec 7, 11:28 PM ET
00:07 Dec 09 2007 Times Read: 916
Dozens of drivers made a mad rush for cheap gas after a station employee accidentally changed the price to 33 cents a gallon.
An employee closing Trig's Minocqua Shell for the night mistakenly entered the price of a gallon of gasoline as 32.9 cents instead of $3.299 on Monday night.
He left about 10 p.m., but drivers could still use their credit cards to buy gas.
Word of the bargain spread fast in the rural northern Wisconsin community, with 42 people buying 586 gallons of gas in an hour and 45 minutes. One person had pumped 27 gallons and two purchased 18 gallons.
Local police saw the horde at the station and called store manager Andrea Reuland, who went to the station and pushed the emergency stop.
"There were cars two deep at each of my pumps," said Reuland, who knew many of the drivers and told them they were being dishonest — the main store sign had the correct price.
"I was very upset that there's that many dishonest people," she said. "They knew there was a problem, and they took advantage of an employee's mistake and I think that's terrible."
The employee, who has been there for about six months, had changed the gas prices 25 times in the past six months.
"It was an honest mistake," Reuland said. "I could have done it."
Area residents were still talking about it Friday morning.
"Was it you guys?" a woman in the station asked Reuland. "Why do I always miss the good stuff?"
To all you old law dogs now just lyin' in the shade, current pistoleros and other fervent Second Amendment believers: I would rather be your friend, but if you are not interested in that, I am prepared to be a capable and efficient enemy. This is the law: The purpose of fighting is to win. There is no possible victory in defense. The sword is more important than the shield and skill is more important than either. The final weapon is the brain. All else is supplemental. As John Steinbeck once said :
1. Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.
2. If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck.
3. I carry a gun cause a cop is too heavy.
4. America is not at war. The U.S Military is at war. America is at the Mall.
5. When seconds count, the cops are just minutes away. (but shoot first anyway, then call 911)
6. A reporter did a human interest piece on the Texas Rangers. The reporter recognized the Colt Model 1911 the Ranger was carrying and asked him 'Why do you carry a 45?'. The Ranger responded with, 'Because they don't make a .46.'
7. An armed man will kill an unarmed man with monotonous regularity.
8. The old sheriff was attending an awards dinner when a lady commented on his wearing his sidearm. 'Sheriff, I see you have your pistol. Are you expecting trouble?' 'NO Ma'am. If I were expecting trouble, I would have brought my rifle.' (Winchester Model 94 30-30 Cal. and loaded with Winchester Silver Tips, no doubt).
9. Beware the man who only has one gun. HE PROBABLY KNOWS HOW TO USE IT!!!
...when I was young, we had certain traditions in my family...
We always had turkey for Christmas...
We always had presents form Santa...
And the only time we could sit in front of the tv and eat dinner was when three things came on...
The Wizard of Oz
The Sound of Music.....
And Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.
We got to sit on chairs in front of tv trays, and eat dinner to the sounds of "Holly Jolly Christmas" and "Silver and Gold", and be kids. Just enjoy the season, without having to worry aobut what was PC and what wasn't. Just revel in the tree, the paper, and the lights, and watch this gem of a Christmas special. I loved it, and it is one of the fondest memories I have of growing up in Georgia in the 60's...
Tonight I was making dinner and settling down in front of the tv, and lo and behold, what is on at 8 pm, just as I tune in, but Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer. It was such a comfort, almost like a giant hug from both my parents, who have since passed away, to sit on the couch, eat my dinner, and watch Rudolph...
Ozone created by electric cars now killing millions in the seventh largest country in the world, Mexifornia, form erly known as California. White minorities still trying to have English recognized as Mexifornia's third language.
Spotted Owl plague threatens northwestern United States crops and livestock.
Baby conceived naturally. Scientists stumped.
Couple petitions court to reinstate heterosexual marriage.
Last remaining Fundamentalist Muslim dies in the AmericanTerritory of the Middle East (formerly known as Iraq,Afghanistan, Syria and Lebanon).
Iran still closed off; physicists estimate it will take at least 10 more years before radioactivity decreases to safe levels.
France pleads for global help after being taken over by Jamaica.
Castro finally dies at age 112; Cuban cigars can now be imported legally, but President Chelsea Clinton has banned all smoking.
George Z. Bush says he will run for President in 2036.
Postal Service raises price of first class stamp to $17.89 and reduces mail delivery to Wednesdays only.
85-year $75.8 billion study: Diet and Exercise is the key to weight loss.
Average weight of Americans drops to 250 lbs.
Japanese scientists have created a camera with such a fast shutter speed, they now can photograph a woman with her mouth shut.
Massachusetts executes last remaining conservative.
Supreme Court rules punishment of criminals violates their civil rights.
Average height of NBA players is now nine feet, seven inches.
New federal law requires that all nail clippers, screwdrivers, fly swatters and rolled-up newspapers must be registered by January 2036.
Congress authorizes direct deposit of formerly illegal political contributions to campaign accounts.
IRS sets lowest tax rate at 75 percent.
Florida voters still having trouble with voting machines.
COMMENTS
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