In Roughly Nine Hours

As the clock strikes midnight...
Eastern Time...
In, we usher the 2012 year...
an arbitrary start point, if you ask me...
Is it really that big of a deal?

Happy New Years to all...and may all of your dreams come true...whether its tonight, tomorrow or the following day...the instant you yield your pursuit of your dreams, is the same instant that you concede defeat...


P.s. In the Chinese Calander
The start of the new year is January 23 rd
About three weeks away
See, all relative

My Year in Review

I've spent the majority of 2011 dealing with family and persistently attempting to convince Kathryn to lend an understanding ear in my direction...all of it has come with a cost.  Kathryn consistently tells me to "Fuck Off"...intermittently allowing her essence to calmly grace my presence...How sweet of her. She tells me that I'm too serious, not very funny, that I need better taste in clothes, take better care of my hair, plus that I should invest in pedicures and a better dentist. Anything else?
Oh, yeah...she has defined herself as a "bitch when she wants to be"...I have another descriptive term that I would use to more accurately describe what I observe through her words and actions.
Yet, she claims I'm the one with the crazy harassing tone?
Her words reverberate through my soul...a soul she denies has any substance or understanding...a soul that is unable to handle and understand her...
Yet I feel that i can be very successful in knowing (understanding) how to please and compromise her world...am i truly Unable too?  My natural gift resides in understanding and empathizing what others feel.  Perhaps she is the one unwilling to allow me to do so...
I can Tranquilly soothe her anxiousness, serenely lull that uncontrollable traffic that floods her mind...unclutter those instances of overwhelmed nervousness. I know who I am and I know what I am capable of. My mood is like atlas, I can suspend the world over my shoulder as I quietly view all commotion...from any direction...not quite a sissophian feat, but it certainly feels like one.
A lot of dots connected in my mind when I read an article by Amy Harmon, Journalist for the New York Times. Her article was published in the Monday, late edition Newspaper. The Title of the article is "Navigating Love and Autism" and the story is a detailed account of two college students with Asperger Syndrome attempting to navigate a relationship. I found many parallels between Jack Robinson and Kristen Lindsmith with Kathryn and myself. I understand the purpose behind her motions, the motive that motors her mind...and in turn the words she chooses to share with me...in all it's awkwardness, she does continually communicate with me even though her "advisers" recommend that she doesn't. Are these advisers truly after her own best interests? Or do they have an agenda of their own?
I offer absolutely no threat to Kathryn, only comfort. This is a case of Much Ado About Nothing. It truly is. She screams No, but looks to see what I am up too...seemingly uninterested in my whereabouts...yet curiously on my outskirts. She claims that she holds no resentment, yet her words only insult and Criticize...
Kathryn is very lucky, that I understand her inner workings...perhaps even better she does. The dust will eventually settle, yet will she be lucky enough to have me there then? If allowed too, this entire situation would turn on its head and expose a completely new face.
After all, I am not writing about Fluttershy or Twilight Sparkle here...or am I?

Neither a Movement, nor New..."New Atheism"

This is a belief, that with Scientific Thinking...Religion can be Countered, Criticized and Exposed through Rational Argument wherever it's influence arise. The Underlying foundation for "new atheism" is predicated upon the structured thinking linked to a valid and verifiable Scientific Hypothesis...anything having Effects on the Physical Universe should be subjected to a hypothesis which can either be Validated or Falsified through Tests and Examinations (via standard methods of Science). The prevailing basis of the "New Atheism" argument is that Naturalism

 *(which refers to the philosophical viewpoint that the natural universe and its natural laws and forces (as opposed to supernatural ones) operate in the universe, and that nothing exists beyond the natural universe or, if it does, it does not affect the natural universe that we know)*

is an acceptable explanation for anything that gets observed in this (our) Universe...from the furthest galaxies, to the Origin of Life (including species, Inner workings of the Brain, AND even the existence of Consciousness)...NOWHERE in this argument is it necessary to introduce God, the supernatural or any religious fanaticism...

"Absence of Evidence, is evidence of absence"

when evidence can and should be expected

Is Our Ultimate need to reasonably explain? To logically deduce and reveal truths of mysteries that shroud our existence...???

The capability of Investigation...in order to legitimize all Supernatural claims and popular (or non-popular) beliefs!
But
To explain ones Moral Value and Ultimate meaning...that is where no empirical data is needed for any explanation...

There is an explanation in everything, well almost everything...No Need to Ever Justify or Explain who you are...just let life roll into the unstoppable cycle that it is!
Yet, again...nobody is perfect! Right?

Judith S. Beck Ph. D. Says

What's your personality? Are you self-disciplined and orderly, or are you more on the indulgent and impulsive side? Recent research from the National Institute of Health suggests that these personality traits could very well help determine your weight.

A whopping 68 percent of Americans are overweight or obese. According to researchers who studied more than 1,000 individuals across 50 years, personality traits may be, in part, what's keeping them from maintaining a healthy weight.

According to research, the primary contributors to obesity -- unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles -- can lead to heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, arthritis, psychological consequences (e.g., lower self esteem) and a significant shortening of life. Since body weight can be representative of lifestyle, researchers have hypothesized that personality traits may influence one's ability to maintain a healthy weight. It turns out they may be right.

Key findings published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggest that individuals with impulsive personality traits tend to be more overweight and obese; those with higher levels of conscientiousness tend to be leaner and of normal weight. [1] And weight does not appear to influence personality. Considering that a certain level of self-discipline is critical to sticking with a healthy diet and exercise plan, and that impulsive people tend to overindulge and succumb to temptations of both food and alcohol, these finding makes sense.

While basic personality traits tend to be static and resistant to change, expression of these traits is adaptable. This means that certain interventions can help modify characteristic adaptations that influence weight. For example, individuals with high impulsivity and low conscientiousness may benefit from learning to plan menus and schedule regular meals, and respond to the thoughts they have that get in the way of their sticking to a healthy weight loss program.

The World According to George

Insanity via Thickheadedness...


"Some simple facts about Men and Women...
Women are unreasonably Crazy,
Men are creatively Stupid!
The main reason why, that
Women are Crazy...is that men are Stupid"

-Words of Wisdom from Mr Carlin

It is said that We (the People) Have a Third Eye, but what if its Blind?

Today's Topic is MindBlindness...
It is the theoretical inability to observe and process the probable mental states (emotional, beliefs, desires, intentions,imagination...etc) of another individual that may determine what their actions/reactions will be. This often leads to major obstacles of communication and closeness between people...often enough, leading to feelings of low empathy levels due to these misunderstandings.
So...
Is it truly a lack of Empathy...or a lack of Understanding?
Better, question...do they care to understand?
Mindblindness is often connected to Autism, yet Autistic individuals have pets whom they are very nurturing (very loving) towards...is there empathy in nurturing? Very Much So...Yes!
So, to assume that a distant individual...(seemingly unwilling to compromise), may not fully understand cues (whether they are verbalized or transmitted through body language) at hand to work towards a common goal of understanding.
You can not make someone else care, but it would be nice if they did.
and
When they seem like they might, that is one small step in the same directed path...
every journey starts with an initial step...followed by an endless walk...
TO WHERE, i yet have to find out

My question to you...

How many people celebrate Christmas in the World?

Wiki answers my question by stating that there are roughly 2.1 BILLION (about 33% of the world's population) Christians on this planet, and at least One in Three will celebrate.

So, for a lot of folks...today and tomorrow is a big deal...so, to show my respects for those individuals I will remain unplugged.
Since Christmas is not a big deal for  me (It never was, and that upset some of my relatives growing up...namely my mother)...remaining on cue, I could do!
Nonetheless, since
This time of year was never, truly that exciting for me.  I am not religious, Never Have Been...but to think of me as ignorant to what is beyond the here and now...is to grossly miscalculate my principles...so many people seem to do that very thing, sell me short...
To Quote a fellow I know by the name of Chip Pidgeon
"People seem to sleep on you, big mistake"

I am highly spiritual and very aware of who I am and how I can contribute...contribute to whom, and what?
To anyone and everything or anything I can...If everyone thought this way, then this world would definitely be a better Place.
Merry Christmas to my Christian practitioners...and may EVERYONE have a wonderful couple of days...keep in touch with your loved ones and remind them of How Important they are to you!  Always remind them, because you never know when the fine endpoint of their here and now will come...

You think nobody understands?

http://www.pawnation.com/2011/12/20/talking-dog-sympathizes-with-your-plight/?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl4|sec3_lnk1%26pLid%3D122353

Who is this "Michaele" Salahi

Some people, I suppose need that "thrill"...that sense of "excitement"...of pulling off the absurd or ridiculous, of convincing others of false truths. It is a very bizarre pathology. Do these individuals, not realize that their shrouded truth with inevitably be revealed? Reminds of a story with a local travel agent. She "booked" an extensive family vacation for her NEIGHBORS! They paid and prepared for their trip. When the day came, the family met at John F. Kennedy International Airport...only to find that their itineraries were a mere facade of a vacation that didn't actually exist. Needless to say, this family pressed criminal charges against their neighbor. Don't these folks realize it eventually all catches up with them!!!

These people exist, unfortunately...meet Michaele...
Former "Real Housewives of D.C." star Michaele Salahi has been busy throwing out some ugly allegations against her estranged husband, Tareq Salahi. However, Taraq isn't staying quiet about his soon-to-be ex, and told me that her lastest accusations are just the latest in a string of lies.

"She's a piece of work. First it was she found true love with Neil Schon [of] Journey and now that she lawyered up, they are grasping for a way out so she doesn't have to pay up her side of our financial obligations," Tareq told me. "When I spoke to Michaele yesterday, she said she didn't know her lawyer wrote those things and was sorry. ... I doubt that. She is very calculating and devious. So now, she says, after 12 years, I'm suddenly controlling or abusive ... When in fact I loved her, and did everything to support my wife and put her on a pedestal to make her a shinning star. I really think Michaele thinks she's still on 'Real Housewives' and needs to create drama."

Tareq also points out that this isn't the first time Michaele has twisted the truth for a shot at publicity or sympathy.

"Michaele is a well-known and documented liar from 'The Real Housewives of D.C.' to our personal life with her other false statements such as being a Redskins cheerleader, Victoria's Secret model, college graduate, her M.S. ... Everything was a lie in our marriage," Tareq explained. "Michaele abandoned her home, committed adultery and lied to all her friends. Michaele lied about her real home [when] filming the 'Real Housewives.' Michaele lied to her husband about attending college. Michaele lied to her own friends, family and cast about an eating disorder. Michaele lied to the public about loving our dog Rio. In short, nearly everything told me was an apparent lie."

In a case of "he said/she said," it appears as though the former couple's very public drama is far from over.


Hey Micaele

No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Luk 16:13)

Brought to you from Owl City Blog

10 Myths About Introverts
I recently stumbled across a blog written by Carl King about the phenomenon known as the introverted human being and it struck a major chord with me. After each bullet, I felt like standing up and shouting “YESSSSSSSSS!” at the top of my lungs because these points (made by author Marti Laney, Psy.D) are total home runs. As an extreme introvert, this is like sweet manna from heaven.



I was lucky enough to discover a book called, The Introvert Advantage (How To Thrive in an Extrovert World), by Marti Laney, Psy.D. I feel like someone has written an encyclopedia entry on a rare race of people to which I belong. Not only has it explained many of my eccentricities, it helps me to redefine my entire life in a new and positive context.

Sure, anyone who knows me would say, “Duh! Why did it take you so long to realize you’re an Introvert?” It’s not that simple. The problem is that labeling someone as an Introvert is a very shallow assessment, full of common misconceptions. It’s more complex than that. (Since Carl King is talking about it, it has to be.)

A section of Laney’s book maps out the human brain and explains how neuro-transmitters follow different dominant paths in the nervous systems of Introverts and Extroverts. If the science behind the book is correct, it turns out that Introverts are people who are over-sensitive to Dopamine, so too much external stimulation overdoses and exhausts them. Conversely, Extroverts can’t get enough Dopamine, and they require Adrenaline for their brains to create it. Extroverts also have a shorter pathway and less blood-flow to the brain. The messages of an Extrovert’s nervous system mostly bypass the Broca’s area in the frontal lobe, which is where a large portion of contemplation takes place.

Unfortunately, according to the book, only about 25% of people are Introverts. There are even fewer that are as extreme as I am. This leads to a lot of misunderstandings, since society doesn’t have very much experience with my people. (I love being able to say that.)

So here are a few common misconceptions about Introverts (I put this list together myself, some of them are things I actually believed):

Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk.

This is not true. Introverts just don’t talk unless they have something to say. They hate small talk. Get an introvert talking about something they are interested in, and they won’t shut up for days.

Myth #2 – Introverts are shy.

Shyness has nothing to do with being an Introvert. Introverts are not necessarily afraid of people. What they need is a reason to interact. They don’t interact for the sake of interacting. If you want to talk to an Introvert, just start talking. Don’t worry about being polite.

Myth #3 – Introverts are rude.

Introverts often don’t see a reason for beating around the bush with social pleasantries. They want everyone to just be real and honest. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable in most settings, so Introverts can feel a lot of pressure to fit in, which they find exhausting.

Myth #4 – Introverts don’t like people.

On the contrary, Introverts intensely value the few friends they have. They can count their close friends on one hand. If you are lucky enough for an introvert to consider you a friend, you probably have a loyal ally for life. Once you have earned their respect as being a person of substance, you’re in.

Myth #5 – Introverts don’t like to go out in public.

Nonsense. Introverts just don’t like to go out in public FOR AS LONG. They also like to avoid the complications that are involved in public activities. They take in data and experiences very quickly, and as a result, don’t need to be there for long to “get it.” They’re ready to go home, recharge, and process it all. In fact, recharging is absolutely crucial for Introverts.

Myth #6 – Introverts always want to be alone.

Introverts are perfectly comfortable with their own thoughts. They think a lot. They daydream. They like to have problems to work on, puzzles to solve. But they can also get incredibly lonely if they don’t have anyone to share their discoveries with. They crave an authentic and sincere connection with ONE PERSON at a time.

Myth #7 – Introverts are weird.

Introverts are often individualists. They don’t follow the crowd. They’d prefer to be valued for their novel ways of living. They think for themselves and because of that, they often challenge the norm. They don’t make most decisions based on what is popular or trendy.

Myth #8 – Introverts are aloof nerds.

Introverts are people who primarily look inward, paying close attention to their thoughts and emotions. It’s not that they are incapable of paying attention to what is going on around them, it’s just that their inner world is much more stimulating and rewarding to them.

Myth #9 – Introverts don’t know how to relax and have fun.

Introverts typically relax at home or in nature, not in busy public places. Introverts are not thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. If there is too much talking and noise going on, they shut down. Their brains are too sensitive to the neurotransmitter called Dopamine. Introverts and Extroverts have different dominant neuro-pathways. Just look it up.

Myth #10 – Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts.

A world without Introverts would be a world with few scientists, musicians, artists, poets, filmmakers, doctors, mathematicians, writers, and philosophers. That being said, there are still plenty of techniques an Extrovert can learn in order to interact with Introverts. (Yes, I reversed these two terms on purpose to show you how biased our society is.) Introverts cannot “fix themselves” and deserve respect for their natural temperament and contributions to the human race. In fact, one study (Silverman, 1986) showed that the percentage of Introverts increases with IQ.

It can be terribly destructive for an Introvert to deny themselves in order to get along in an Extrovert-Dominant World. Like other minorities, Introverts can end up hating themselves and others because of the differences. If you think you are an Introvert, I recommend you research the topic and seek out other Introverts to compare notes. The burden is not entirely on Introverts to try and become “normal.” Extroverts need to recognize and respect us, and we also need to respect ourselves.

-Carl

Synchronicity

The experience of two or more seemingly unconnected events that converge upon and create a meaningful Occurrence...Incident...Happening
This was a major theme in yesterday's discussion with Kathy Chang Lipsenthal's Article
Funny how that word resurfaced to me again!  Last Night...

"And this shall be a sign unto you;

Ye shall find the babe wrapped in

swaddling clothes, lying in a mager"

Luke 2:12

Narrow minds only know to walk tight paths;
Open your mind to your environment, to their/your surroundings...
and will never regret it...
But ignore it, there will never be any regret either...
Just ignorance from a path not traveled



P.s.

Make no store of wealth for yourselves on earth, where it may be turned to dust by worms and weather, and where thieves may come in by force and take it away. (Mat 6:19)

Lesson Plan # 59 Georgia

Rich in Human History that dates back to the Paleolithic Period...it's an "Independent" county that basically sits in between Russia and Turkey and borders on the Black Sea. Most recently making news in the 2008 South Ossetia war with Russia...
There was a known Political System, advance metallurgy and Goldsmith techniques that date back almost Twenty-Eight2800Hundred Years here. See that, politics and corruption go back a long way (Elliot "number 9" Spitzer told me that once).
Interestingly enough, this is also Home to one of the Oldest Christian Churches...establishd 1st century by Apostle Andrew the First Called...this country is predicated upon separating church from state.
Irrelevent of religion, culture, race, gender etc...
I accept all as one, until proven otherwise!

Why Do Pez Dispensers Have the Shape that they Do?

Well, long story Short...let me preface it by saying how Anti-Corporate I am (factored by my continual fascination with Conspiracy Theories)...
Remember those Gum candies shaped like Cigarrettes?
Well, Don't Pez Dispensers look like lighters?
Just putting out there the obvious, that most won't think about...but that is me, my mind constantly flows full throttle forward...my brain in jammed in hyper-drive.
Is it better to be ignorant and happy, or aware and suspicious?
I say don't buy cigarrette gum or Pez for children!

Do you believe in Chance? Destiny? Coincidence?

This Article was written by Kathy Chang Lipsenthal...and it centered around her late husband Lee. Rest in Peace Dr. Lipsenthal


My husband Lee Lipsenthal didn't believe in coincidences. Instead, he believed in synchronicity -- what Carl Jung called the "coming together of inner and outer events in a way that cannot be explained by cause and effect and that is meaningful to the observer."
Whenever I'd remark on the coincidence that a patient I'd been concerned about showed up in my clinic or that a friend I'd just been thinking about called me out of the blue, Lee would smile knowingly. "Is it really a coincidence?" he'd ask. "Or is it synchronicity?"

I was always the scientist, wanting to see physical proof before believing in something that I couldn't explain logically, but Lee was always able to trust in things he couldn't prove. Not only did Lee believe in synchronicity, but he also believed in signs, past-lives, and the power of dreams.

In fact, he told me many years after we were married that before we ever met he had a dream in which he was standing at a wedding altar next to an Asian woman with long, dark hair. On the first day of medical school, as soon as I walked into the hall for orientation, he had recognized me as the woman from that dream. (Never mind, of course, that I had a boyfriend at the time and wasn't all that interested in the nervous guy from New Jersey who was my academic competition.) But he believed in that vision so powerfully that he waited patiently for me; it was a year before we kissed. And then, before beginning our third year of school, we were married.

Was Lee's dream and my attending that particular med school merely coincidental? Or were they synchronous events? I was never entirely sure. I just didn't believe the way he did.

Lee had always been intuitive; he always seemed to know things before they happened. It was an aspect of him I'd attributed to his meditation -- being tapped into something larger -- and that I'd appreciated and even embraced. But when he began to explore past life regression, I thought that my stable physician husband, the medical director of a research institute, was losing it.

I tried to understand. I read Brian Weiss's Many Lives, Many Masters, about Weiss's experience with a patient and her past-life regression. I listened as Lee patiently taught me about Carl Jung, Stanislav Grof, and many other psychotherapists who have written much about spiritual crises. I learned that many people going through difficult moments in their lives had spiritual awakenings, some of which included past lives but all of which included the awareness of the "bigness" of the universe. But was I a true believer? Not exactly.

Then Lee passed away from esophageal cancer in September. My son and I wept in the car as we left the hospital. The car stereo was tuned to NPR, and the hum of freeway traffic added another layer of sound. Through the veil of our shared misery, we suddenly became aware that there was another sound emanating from my purse on the floor of the passenger side of the car.

I reached in and pulled out Lee's iPod. It had turned on spontaneously--and as most of you who own these ingenious electronic Apple devices are aware, it is not easy to accidentally turn on an iPod. The song playing was Heaven Weeps. Just a few weeks earlier, Lee had mentioned out of the blue how much he liked that quirky song. I told my son the story, and he just smiled, shook his head and said, "Oh, Dad!"

When we had been told the devastating news that the Lee's cancer had metastasized and that there were no curative options, I tearfully asked if he could send me a sign when he died. Was this it? I still wasn't sure.

It makes sense that I felt Lee then, as Jung noted that synchronicity is more likely to occur when we are in a highly charged state of emotional and mental awareness. That's why times of trauma or turbulence -- as with a death or birth -- can push us towards openness and vulnerability. We're also more likely to experience synchronicity when we are in a receptive mindful state, as is the result of meditation.

It turns out that I was not the only one who had had visits from Lee. His publisher told me how the lights in her hotel room flickered on and off when she came out to California for Lee's memorial celebration. Lee's long-time colleague was conducting a workshop in Italy in his stead, and when she turned on her computer to begin her Powerpoint presentation, a photo of Lee popped up on her computer screen. She hadn't looked at that photo in years, and it had never been her screensaver.

Could this really have been my Lee trying to tell everyone he was all right? Was he having a little fun with us from beyond?

Although I profess to be a skeptic, I am also open-minded, and I truly, desperately want to believe that there is something out there greater than all of us. I want to believe that after death our soul/spirit will continue on, that there are more journeys for us, and with each journey, more lessons for us to learn. I find myself asking -- as the Peggy Lee song goes -- "Is that all there is? Is that all there is, my friend?" I want to feel hopeful throughout my life and into death.

Lee was the love of my life, and I miss him every day. These signs have been a huge part of helping me heal. Is it wishful thinking on my part? Maybe. But I'd like to believe that Lee is letting me know that he's out there watching and waiting for me.

The thought lifts me up at times of despair and grief. Since his passing, I've been practicing meditation more, and learning to be more open and present in the moment.

After all, just in case that is Lee, I don't want to miss any of the signs as they appear.

Can a Person LOVE A Machine more then a Spouse?

As if Relationships aren't complicated enough...meet the destined direction of the future...I've seen it. People are losing their "human" touch. It is easier to deal with a machine...machines are more reasonable to command. Why must people insist on controlling others? None the less, here is what another Blogger has to say on people skills and relationships.


When the anatomically correct, customizable, touch-responsive, personality-changing sexbot named Roxxxy was unveiled at the Adult Entertainment Expo last year, it -- she? -- was met with a lot of snarky responses. Only losers and perverts would be interested in shelling out $7,000 for a glorified sex toy, many said.
Inventor and TrueCompanion founder Douglas Hines doesn't see it that way. With about 4,000 pre-orders, Hines believes artificially intelligent robots such as Roxxxy are "the future of robotics."
It also maybe the future of love and marriage, if you believe artificial intelligent (AI) expert David Levy, author of Love and Sex With Robots.
According to Levy, human-robot sex, love and marriage is inevitable -- perhaps as soon as 2025. He predicts that robots may not only be more lovable and faithful than many humans, but they may even be more emotionally available than the "typical American human male." Not only will they make us become better, more creative lovers, but they also will offer those singles who feel a void in their emotional and sexual lives and married couples with differing sexual needs new, nonjudgmental ways to be happy and healthy.

Even if you can't wrap your head around the idea of loving a robot (let alone marrying one), imagine that for a certain percentage of the population it's not only not fantasy but preferable to relationships with humans. What will that mean for us as a society as a whole?

Although Levy believes that the "availability of regular sex with a robot will dramatically reduce the incidence of infidelity as we know it today," he also acknowledges there may be some potential sticky points. "(S)ome human spouses and lovers might consider robot sex to be just as unfaithful as sex with another person."

And that's what caught the interest of Sonya Ziaja, a San Francisco Bay Area attorney who blogs at numerous law and policy media outlets as well as her own, Shark. Laser. Blawg. After reading about Roxxxy, Ziaga says she wondered about hypothetical situations in which a sexbot might create some legal headaches. "It was most fun to discuss those (situations) in which laws that were designed to regulate interactions between humans suddenly faced (with) the prospect of regulating interactions between humans and machines," she writes.

And what could be more fraught with legal dilemmas than a love triangle among a married couple and a sexbot? How that might impact a divorce? That's what Ziaja explores in her paper, "Homewrecker 2.0: An Exploration of Liability for Heart Balm Torts Involving AI Humanoid Consorts," which she presented at the 2011 International Conference on Social Robotics that took place in Amsterdam at the end of November.

"If the doll's owner becomes enamored with the doll, and leaves his spouse, can the spouse sue as she or he would be able to if the interloper had been human? And who would be sued? The manufacturer? Inventor? The AI itself?" she questions. "(S)o long as we're intent on adding socially interactive AI into situations that would ordinarily be only human. ... socially interactive robots need to be 'safe to play with' in a way that manufacturers of toaster ovens never had to imagine."

Ziaja isn't promoting or rejecting robot relationships (nor is she intending to offer legal advice); all she wants to do is explore what Levy suggests will be a not-too-distant reality. If humans and robots are going to get entangled romantically, what does that mean if things go awry? Her analysis, relying on heart balm torts, should make any spouse contemplating love -- or just a roll in the hay -- with a robot take notice.

Ziaja was kind enough to answer my questions by email:

Q: It sounds like a bad sci-fi film: A Robot Wrecked My Marriage. Can robots really be homewreckers?

A: If robots are designed to be social companions and sexual partners, it's foreseeable that those robots could contribute to the dissolution of relationships between humans.

Q: What exactly are heart balm torts?

A: In the most basic and general sense, heart balm torts allow someone who is in a protected relationship (usually marriage, but it can be parent-child) to sue someone outside of that relationship for interfering with it. So, for example, alienation of affections -- a type of heart balm tort -- allows a married person to sue a third-party paramour for damaging the relationship. In other words, if Alice, the wife of Bob, has an affair with Charles, Bob, the husband, can sue Alice for money damages. Of course, the husband in this case would have to prove specific element depending on the type of tort.

Q: Aren't there just eight states with heart balm torts, Illinois, Hawaii, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah and New Hampshire? So, would it only be a problem if you lived in one those states?

A: The argument in my paper isn't that the heart balm torts necessarily directly apply to cases involving robots in any particular jurisdiction. Rather it is that law can adapt to new technologies by reviving old torts.

Q: In what way would heart balm torts with a human-robot relationship be the same as with two humans? In what way would they be different?

A: There is a possibility of combining social-based or emotionally based torts with more traditional product liability theory -- something that creators might want to keep an eye on. Social robots as products, because of their social nature, have the potential to cause social and emotional harm. This is something that designers and manufacturers never really had to think about before. The short take home is this: Robots are not toasters.

Q: Robots Unlimited and Love and Sex With Robots author David Levy predicts marriage between humans and robots will be common in 50 years; what kind of headaches does his create for lawyers? What about for the creators of the robots?

A: I think the challenge here will be for the creators and policy-makers to agree upon who should be held liable in cases where robots cause social harm, and some common standards to potentially limit liability.

Q: Let's say a husband fell in love with his sexbot and decided he enjoyed her company more than his wife's. Could the wife sue for divorce, and whom would she sue? What if a robot and a human marry and adopt a child; could the female robot end up with custody?

A: There are many hypothetical situations where human-robot interactions could lead to outlandish and sci-fi-like results. But, there are also many steps that would probably occur well before. For example, establishing what level of responsibility -- both social and legal -- for which people are willing to hold robots or their creators accountable.

Q: Do you think robots will create more marital headaches than benefits?

A: I think that will depend on how robots are designed and what people expect from them.

Article written by
Huffington Post blogger Vicki Larson

FYI

For Your Information, I have never liked this abbreviation...it strikes me as condescending and pretentious...Anyhow, My NEW YEARS RESOLUTION is...drumrollllllll.....
That I will refuse, yet again to make one!
Serious, why should I wait until January F1RST to make a plan of action for upcoming good intentions?
I should constantly be making those sort of point of progressions...I shouldn't have to wait until a day whereby the majority of the world will be sporting hangovers to initiate my " new" corrective plan of action. Complete and Utter Nonesense. If I see a possible problem today, I should deal with it Immediately...not wait until "after the holidays" to resolve my matters...nor should anybody else!

P.s. Here is an idea to all of you
In case you may be looking for suggestions
REDUCE <=> REUSE <=> RECYCLE
Just an idea, be mindful of your surroundings
We are all guest on this Living Planet
Show your Respects
and
Be Thankful for it

Just in Case

If Kathryn forgets, or, outrights neglects to inform you RoseMarie (if she does remember and follows through, then this is bonus!)...happy 58th Birthday, may there be may more blessed and healthy Celebrations to come!
You'll receive this (my) blessing, just in case you to stumble upon it Today :)

I prefer it Red

No one man or woman...can ever OWN wine...we just merely rent it
Becoming not only a companion, but confidant
A joy to toast or sip
It shares in talk and laughter
It can accompany any journey
making it into a finer moment

I have been told, by more then One that it is vain of Me (or for that matter, any) to sit down and write...if, or even why, I (We) won't stand to Live
Walk, trot...or even run
Through the Valleys, roads, cliffs...up to any Mountain Top
Soar, from high Up in the sky...land low on any shore
Untie from the pier...sail the world through Virgin Eyes
No Realm goes Unexplored
Nor any thought goes unexamined
Bold disclosures Unearthed, for there exists an Eternity In Every Moment...herein lies the reaped reward of success met unexpected in the most common of hours
BUT...lose your aspirations, and you cease to exist!

Yield and you become obedient...just another slave of many...leading Life with a (un)defined line of Quiet Desperation
but, Think of Oneself (yourself) and determine fate on your own terms
THIS universe is much more VAST then any which way (anyone of US) can View IT...stare with your eyes at THIS, like a Blank Canvas...and Use your Imagination to Fill IT
For time can never be Killed without Damaging Foreverness

As Long as you realize, your heart, much like mine...is forever inexperienced
No one is every truly ready, just step forward and Live IT
that is our ONLY true Gift

P.s.

I prefer to be alone,

I have never found

a Companion

so Compatible

as Solitude

I wrote to my Friend Fiore

"Rather than Love, Money or Fame...Give me Truth!" Henry David Thoreau

Truth is the Poison Pill...that numbs Ignorance and shields Innocence
Obliviousness....Unawareness...Incognizance
Being a Gift all on its own...A non-direct tool that protects the mind and heart
It needs, BEGS to be asked..since Ignorance leads to Bliss...do you really Need to Contest it?

P.s. Is there Male Menopause?
Answer with Honesty rather than ignorance!
It's about time, I go and get ROLFED...oh God, am I going through Menopause?

Learn to Love

with all your Heart...and know how to Accept the unlovable side of others...
For anyone can Love a Rose....but it takes a Great Heart to include the Thorns...

Yes, its True Ms Santomauro...
Therein lies the Beautiful Truths and Loves of this World's Ugly Stubbornness that Pokes and Prods at anyone and everyone...without grace, kindness or forgiveness...and absolutely without mercy or vindication!

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bordered by Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro. This country which has held it's independence since the Yugoslav wars splintered the Socialist Fedral Republic of Yugoslavia into six seperates countries in the early 1990's. This country is dominated by three constituent peoples (ethnic groups): Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats. Bosnia has been fairly active with human civilization since the Neolithic Era. This is the Fifty-seventh country to become exposed to Human Dynamics and Interpersonal Connections. Share and spread, as I will do the same! Thank you.

Frustrated by Others Stupidity?

I often find myself, stuck at the back of the room...with hand raised with the RIGHT answer, waiting to be asked...
People rarely take the time to actually listen...
Anyhow, everyone else gets asked...
So here is Maria


As Maria Robinson once said, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”  Nothing could be closer to the truth.  But before you can begin this process of transformation you have to stop doing the things that have been holding you back.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you.  If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you.  You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot.  Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth.  And remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends.
Stop running from your problems. – Face them head on.  No, it won’t be easy.  There is no person in the world capable of flawlessly handling every punch thrown at them.  We aren’t supposed to be able to instantly solve problems.  That’s not how we’re made.  In fact, we’re made to get upset, sad, hurt, stumble and fall.  Because that’s the whole purpose of living – to face problems, learn, adapt, and solve them over the course of time.  This is what ultimately molds us into the person we become.
Stop lying to yourself. – You can lie to anyone else in the world, but you can’t lie to yourself.  Our lives improve only when we take chances, and the first and most difficult chance we can take is to be honest with ourselves.  Read The Road Less Traveled.
Stop putting your own needs on the back burner. – The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too.  Yes, help others; but help yourself too.  If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, that moment is now.
Stop trying to be someone you’re not. – One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you like everyone else.  Someone will always be prettier, someone will always be smarter, someone will always be younger, but they will never be you.  Don’t change so people will like you.  Be yourself and the right people will love the real you.
Stop trying to hold onto the past. – You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.
Stop being scared to make a mistake. – Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing.  Every success has a trail of failures behind it, and every failure is leading towards success.  You end up regretting the things you did NOT do far more than the things you did.
Stop berating yourself for old mistakes. – We may love the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things go wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and things that are right for us.  We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past.  But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future.  Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.
Stop trying to buy happiness. – Many of the things we desire are expensive.  But the truth is, the things that really satisfy us are totally free – love, laughter and working on our passions.
Stop exclusively looking to others for happiness. – If you’re not happy with who you are on the inside, you won’t be happy in a long-term relationship with anyone else either.  You have to create stability in your own life first before you can share it with someone else.  Read Stumbling on Happiness.
Stop being idle. – Don’t think too much or you’ll create a problem that wasn’t even there in the first place.  Evaluate situations and take decisive action.  You cannot change what you refuse to confront.  Making progress involves risk.  Period!  You can’t make it to second base with your foot on first.
Stop thinking you’re not ready. – Nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises.  Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.
Stop getting involved in relationships for the wrong reasons. – Relationships must be chosen wisely.  It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company.  There’s no need to rush.  If something is meant to be, it will happen – in the right time, with the right person, and for the best reason. Fall in love when you’re ready, not when you’re lonely.
Stop rejecting new relationships just because old ones didn’t work. – In life you’ll realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet.  Some will test you, some will use you and some will teach you.  But most importantly, some will bring out the best in you.
Stop trying to compete against everyone else. – Don’t worry about what others doing better than you.  Concentrate on beating your own records every day.  Success is a battle between YOU and YOURSELF only.
Stop being jealous of others. – Jealousy is the art of counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own.  Ask yourself this:  “What’s something I have that everyone wants?”
Stop complaining and feeling sorry for yourself. – Life’s curveballs are thrown for a reason – to shift your path in a direction that is meant for you.  You may not see or understand everything the moment it happens, and it may be tough.  But reflect back on those negative curveballs thrown at you in the past.  You’ll often see that eventually they led you to a better place, person, state of mind, or situation.  So smile!  Let everyone know that today you are a lot stronger than you were yesterday, and you will be.
Stop holding grudges. – Don’t live your life with hate in your heart.  You will end up hurting yourself more than the people you hate.  Forgiveness is not saying, “What you did to me is okay.”  It is saying, “I’m not going to let what you did to me ruin my happiness forever.”  Forgiveness is the answer… let go, find peace, liberate yourself!  And remember, forgiveness is not just for other people, it’s for you too.  If you must, forgive yourself, move on and try to do better next time.
Stop letting others bring you down to their level. – Refuse to lower your standards to accommodate those who refuse to raise theirs.
Stop wasting time explaining yourself to others. – Your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe it anyway.  Just do what you know in your heart is right.
Stop doing the same things over and over without taking a break. – The time to take a deep breath is when you don’t have time for it.  If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.  Sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things clearly.
Stop overlooking the beauty of small moments. – Enjoy the little things, because one day you may look back and discover they were the big things.  The best portion of your life will be the small, nameless moments you spend smiling with someone who matters to you.
Stop trying to make things perfect. – The real world doesn’t reward perfectionists, it rewards people who get things done.  Read Getting Things Done.
Stop following the path of least resistance. – Life is not easy, especially when you plan on achieving something worthwhile.  Don’t take the easy way out.  Do something extraordinary.
Stop acting like everything is fine if it isn’t. – It’s okay to fall apart for a little while.  You don’t always have to pretend to be strong, and there is no need to constantly prove that everything is going well.  You shouldn’t be concerned with what other people are thinking either – cry if you need to – it’s healthy to shed your tears.  The sooner you do, the sooner you will be able to smile again.
Stop blaming others for your troubles. – The extent to which you can achieve your dreams depends on the extent to which you take responsibility for your life.  When you blame others for what you’re going through, you deny responsibility – you give others power over that part of your life.
Stop trying to be everything to everyone. – Doing so is impossible, and trying will only burn you out.  But making one person smile CAN change the world.  Maybe not the whole world, but their world.  So narrow your focus.
Stop worrying so much. – Worry will not strip tomorrow of its burdens, it will strip today of its joy.  One way to check if something is worth mulling over is to ask yourself this question: “Will this matter in one year’s time?  Three years?  Five years?”  If not, then it’s not worth worrying about.
Stop focusing on what you don’t want to happen. – Focus on what you do want to happen.  Positive thinking is at the forefront of every great success story.  If you awake every morning with the thought that something wonderful will happen in your life today, and you pay close attention, you’ll often find that you’re right.
Stop being ungrateful. – No matter how good or bad you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life.  Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs.  Instead of thinking about what you’re missing, try thinking about what you have that everyone else is missing.

Double + at Fifty Plus

Article by Lisa Helfend Meyer

Just as the baby boomer generation has challenged social and cultural norms during previous decades of their lives, this group of 70+ million Americans is now redefining expectations of middle-aged and "senior" life. For personal fulfillment or economic necessity, they are changing careers mid-life or plan to work well past the standard retirement age of 65. Once again they are breaking the proverbial "glass ceiling." To maintain their youthful appearance, baby boomers have embraced an arsenal of anti-aging weapons from Pilates, yoga, meditation and elliptical training to the Mediterranean diet and the latest cosmetic surgery procedures. And increasingly for many baby boomers, a divorce after 20, 30 or more years of marriage is a central element of their third-act plans.

Statistics from the National Center for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University show that despite the overall divorce rate in the U.S. dropping over the last 20 years, the divorce rate among people age 50 and over has doubled. For a generation raised on the principle of having it all, the promise of "until death do us part" has changed to "until the kids are grown" or "until I find out what really makes me happy."

The phenomenon even has a name: grey divorce.

In my practice as a family law attorney in Los Angeles, baby boomers now make up a larger percent of my clients. I see interesting differences between the grey divorce and when spouses divorce under the age of 50.

Children

In general, if boomer couples have children, they are high-schoolers, college-age or grown. This means there's not as much conflict and fighting over custody and child support as when young children are involved. Usually grey divorce parents have already devised a parenting plan, which is in large part dictated by their children. The reality is that teenagers vote with their "feet." If they don't want to go to a parent's home, they simply won't go.

Money

Even in the midst of today's economic meltdown, boomers may be in a better financial position to get divorced than younger couples who can't afford the cost of living separately or even the expense of the divorce itself.

However with more assets to divide, divorcing boomers potentially have more to fight about when it comes to a property settlement and spousal support. Financial settlements take on heightened importance when the supported spouse has limited earning power after being out of the workforce for years or the supporting spouse has fewer years to work. Both recognize that whatever they take away from the marriage may have to see them through their impending "senior" years. Some may have significant savings that they are eager to use on pursuing their idea of happiness or self-fulfillment - whether that means that long-awaited tummy tuck or a safari to Africa.

I recommend that supported spouses negotiate for a well-rounded portfolio of assets that would include a residence, retirement and non-retirement financial accounts. I also focus on negotiating for support beyond the other spouse reaching the age of retirement. In addition, I counsel clients on the importance of saving a portion of their support. For the supporting spouse, we try to limit or reduce the amount and length of support. For example, if they pay higher support for a shorter time, this may free them up in later life.

Emotional Toll

While you often hear divorcing boomers say that they have simply grown apart from their spouse and no longer have anything in common to keep them together, acts of infidelity are also a prime cause of splits among this group. When a long marriage ends because of one partner's cheating, the sense of betrayal and pain for the aggrieved partner is particularly profound. They feel as though their whole world has been destroyed and often their sense of self-esteem is crushed. It takes great sensitivity and compassion to help these clients work through the most difficult time in their lives and emerge from their divorce prepared for the future.

I encourage them to work on reframing their thinking. Rather than focusing on the past and their loss, the divorce gives them an opportunity to create a new life and reclaim the happiness they deserve.

With the average life expectancy in the U.S. nearing 80 years and boomers inclined to keep pursuing their definition of personal happiness for every one of those years, I'll wager that we'll continue to see a boom in grey divorce for some time to come.


I personally get it, people change leading to a misappropriating compatibility fit down the road. I found as a whole people get into marriages before they "know" themselves...how can you know what you want if you don't know yourself?
Better Yet
When you know yourself, you know what you have to offer. In the right situation, if what you have to offer is what your counterpart would benefit from...and...if you know what you are looking for and SEE it in this other individual...then, perhaps it's a good fit at this VERY moment...otherwise...
It then becomes an issue of how the personal relationship evolves. What direction it takes, and how RECEPTIVE the people in the relationship (how committed) they are in working towards a commonality. Communication is key here. A major factor.
Just be open and honest...keep working to figure problems out. Problems never recede...they never disappear. Unsolved problems become the Albatross that drives divorce.

Fifty56Six

A Micronesian nation of 29 atolls and 5 isolated islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Just West of the International Date Line and just North of the equator...an independent country since 1986 (a Great Year for many reasons!).
Between the years of 1946 to 1958, this was the site of the Pacific Proving Grounds...The United States test Sixty67Seven Nuclear Weapons here...six plus decades later, which has lead the way for countless Godzilla movies (plus+points for mentioning Godzilla).
FYI: Castle Bravo was the largest nuclear test the USA has ever conduct (and did so here)...and in 1952, THE HYDROGEN BOMB (code name "Ivy Mike") test actually destroyed two of the Islands here.
In 1956, the Atomic Energy Commission regarded this area as "the most contaminated area on the planet". Lovely! Vacation anyone?
To date, the US government has paid almost 800 Mi$$ion Do$$ars in health care to the residents of this country...many more ongoing cases still linger.

On a lighter, much more environmentally friendly note...in October of 2011 (just two months ago), Their Government declared Two Million Square Kilometers of the surrounding Ocean as a Shark Sanctuary (the World's Largest of its kind)...sharks here are protect from being Kept by fishing boats.
Also...
In 2007, Witon Barry (of the Tobolar Copra Processing Plant) announced that the power authorities, private companies and entrepreneurs here are/were planning on experimenting with using coconut oil as an alternate fuel source for vehicles, generators and ships.
The climate here is Hot, and the wet season is from May to November.
Welcome readers from Marshall Islands, the fifty sixth country to participate on this ongoing blog in Human Dynamics.

Nature is Wizardry

Fantastical in its beauty. Vibrant with life. Mythical in dimension. Seductive with lore. Loyal with unpredictability... Ever changing and everlasting...

To explain my plight, I need to deeply invest a significant focus to the depth of my spirituality and all associated endeavors...welcome to A Spiritual Adventure of this Blogger. True spiritual expression occurs when one can segregate from their impalement of the tangible world and the materialism that engulfs that culture...basically to break away from the dominance of the Animal Instinct. Funny how "True" Substance is not something that you can touch and hold, Not So Easy to see or show...
It
Is
Where detachment leads to awareness, and connection comes via disassociation.
Once a heightened level of awareness is reached...
...to allow oneself to Not accept recognition of any negativity or disinclinations (all undesirable events or actions).
L I B E R A T E
Becoming able to...
Release, emancipate...and let the transient tangible world walk its short course without allowing it to affect the psyche. For the psyche holds the key to perception. Perception is the integral ingredient in maintaining a grounded spiritual sense.

"Nearly everything we do is insignificant...yet it seems so important that we get it done"

- Mohandas Gandhi

I read from a butterfly, fluttering in the Outback....whispering softly
"I'm not trying to Preach or Teach...nothing I can say or do will ever help anyone achieve any type of mystical union or any form of enlightenment.". So true since personal growth is contingent upon the individual's ability to externalize their own personal internal expansive "awareness"...irrelevant of what surrounds them. Anyhow, truth be told...About all that I can do, is possibly offer a wine pairing suggestion with your lunch or dinner...and even that could be suspect.

For the record, I am considering Playing a Prank on Joe. Since he has not been reading the Blog, he will never know of my intentions. I must say that this would truly be one discussed for an entire lifetime.

P.s. I found a little Blog

written from the Opposite side of the planet

I absolutely adored it so much

That I will give my readers an Opportunity

to read it for themselves

http://journal.notmyself.org/

What was the MOST Annoying thing that Juliet Jeske kept on hearing from People after Juliet Left her Husband?

"I Know exactly how you feel, I just broke up with my boyfriend."

Yeah, Great!
I know that my friends who told me that were trying to make me feel better. They were trying to show empathy and a shared experience with mine. But a relationship -- even a long-term one with cohabitation -- is not the same as a marriage. If it was then same-sex couples wouldn't be fighting for the right to marry all over this country

For starters, there is the ceremony. When you start dating someone you don't throw a "Hey look we just started dating party." You might have a housewarming if you move in together but with a marriage there are usually one or more bridal showers, an engagement party, a bachelorette party and finally the big, obnoxious wedding. I remember mine as if it were yesterday and when I stood there in the dress facing both sides of our collective families turning to watch me walk down that aisle, I thought to myself:

So this is why we have weddings, to guilt us into staying together.

All of these parties, rituals and ceremonies add a sense of permanence to the union. Your families become legally linked to one another; everything becomes part of the public record. And although getting married is easy enough, getting out of it can be a quagmire.

I always want to say to the person who just broke up with their non-spouse partner:

Did you have to go to a lawyer to break up?
Do you have any stocks or mutual funds in both of your names?
Do you have property with this person?
Do you have children?
Did you just have to go do your taxes with your ex?
Do you live in fear that your ex will financially ruin you before the divorce is final?
Do you have to pay alimony to your ex-partner?
Is your partner hiding marital assets or income earned during the marriage?
Is your ex contesting the split or slowing the process down?

As difficult as a breakup is, even a long-term live-in partner is not the same as a husband or wife. With some long-term relationships shared assets or children might be an issue but in most cases they are not. With a boyfriend or girlfriend you can usually just walk away. You don't have to go to court, you don't have to file for legal separation, you don't have to protect your assets. The only real legal benefit to being non-married is that if you have your own health insurance you don't have to worry about losing it when you get divorced. Because of all of the legal ramifications, especially with those involving children, divorces in some states can drag on for years before they are resolved.

I had a non-contested divorce with few assets and my ex and I spent over $2,000 on the divorce; I had to go to court about five times before it was over. Since I was the one who filed, I was the one who had to appear to drive the paperwork through the system. I remember waiting in line trying to hold back tears to get my certified copy of my divorce. I had to get this document to split in half some of our assets and to legally declare to the universe that we were no longer husband and wife. Our divorce was easy, it only took eight months in NY state, but some of my friends with children are still battling with their exes years later. Eight months, thousands of dollars, and multiple court appearances isn't exactly the same as moving my stuff out of a boyfriend's apartment.

Juliet sounds a bit bitter in her article above, she may have legitimate gripes with her former spouse...but each relationship is unique, and it's certainly possible to have a very involved relationship whereby no marriage certificate exists for. But those cases are rare (and mostly found in Europe). The American society seems almost predicated on "legalities"...lawyers can and do suck, every penny if they can (well some do while many others may not, i shouldn't generalize about people). Nonetheless, you get married to be protected. So what Juliet really is trying to say here?

Aside from all legalities, their is an element of permanence that exists with marriage that is absent with a non-legally binded relationship. From the very start of a marriage...the festive ambience as two families unite into one...creates a sense that, this will never end...but it does, more times then not. It is a part of a grandeur ritual that BINDS TWO:TWO, going well beyond then just just two people living together...hence, why the fall is often unwelcome and ugly...outright harsh (for everyone). There isn't a single divorce that I know of that has left anyone feeling warm and fuzzy. Whether the divorce was forceful and/or quick, long and drawn out...it always ends in damaged spirits (the severity often depends on the strength of the individual)...for the person being left behind, as well as, the person wanting to move in a different direction...everyone loses something! A break up is similar to building a wall and separating two rooms...with a divorce, a demolition team flattens an entire structure that two people spent a significant effort erecting. A break up is very different then divorce....so, next time you hear:
"I know and understand what you are going through"
Smile and politely nod, and hope that they never actually do.

What is the Definition of TEBOWING?

First of all, it's a verb, in case you did not already know.  Therefore, we are dealing with a word detailing an action...and that action would be when..........

You get down on one knee...

...with head bowed...

...and you start to pray...

...and pray some more.

AMEN!
Even IF, everyone else around you is doing something completely different.
Can I get a hallelujah!!!

That has been my life story for the past year...I finally have a word for what I have been doing...I have been TEBOWING!


Some advice for last minute Holiday shoppers, I know the perfect gift for any enthusiastic football fan.  Choose the color Green though, there is something special about that color!
http://tebowing.spreadshirt.com/definition-of-tebowing-gator-blue-t-shirt-A8390919 

Curious Circle

What you think, as in your thoughts lead way to your words...
Words create descriptions, that inspire Actions...
Repeated Actions will become Habits...
Your Habits, illustrate Your Character...
Which ultimately defines and directs your destined path...

"Moral Excellence comes about as a result of habit"
Just, Temperate, Brave habits...

Ouch!

A New Jersey woman faces involuntary manslaughter charges after she allegedly administered a fatal penile injection to a 22-year-old man...the words fatal and any variation of the word penis in the same sentence jars some aspect of morbid curiosity...and so goes Kasia's story.
Meet
Kasia Rivera, 34 year old woman living in East Orange, NJ. Our alleged "Doctor" injected silicone into the penis of the late Justin Street when the 22-year-old visited Rivera's home. This is the site of where she performed (or administered) unauthorized medical practices and Operations...and along with performing all these "alleged" aggressive and unnecessary medical-like procedures, she also is a self admitted Loyal and avid fan of the television program HOUSE. Who doesn't like Hugh Laurie?

One day after the May 6 visit, Street died from silicone embolism, medical examiners said, according to NBC New York. The poor bastard, he didn't even know what to do with his thirteen hour long erection...I say it was his broken heart that ultimately led to his demise...it's all speculation anyhow. Poor, poor Justin!

A medical examiner determined Street's death a homicide, leading authorities to launch an immediate and urgent investigation as to what happened to Justin...well, according to MyFox New York. Of all the victims here, none feels more resentful then good ole Justin's girlfriend...this lass hadn't seen her chap for two L O N G days...prior to his untimely departure.

Rivera's bail is set at $75,000. She is charged with unauthorized practice of Grotesque medicine, silly manslaughter, using tacky needles with unrefined and vulgar injection practices...who else wants a refund?

DEATH by PENIS INJECTION is a rough way to go, sorry Justin.

Fear makes Strangers of People who would be Friends

Your patience may be bitter, but the fruit that Flourishes is Irresistibly Sweet

When riding through the tide of time and thinking...
thinking of a Past...
Survived by this present moment
Always Know and
REMEMBER
you have a friend
who will Forever Last

An Insecure and Evil Friend is more to be feared then any Wild Beast...
for the beast may graze and wound your body...an evil friend will permanently scar your mind, body and soul...
-Buddha

WORD to the WISE
P.s. Is it necessary, truly
Utterly Important
To share wisdom with the wise?
...one would think that it would be
the dopeishly dim-witted ones
In Urgent Need for advise...

Georgia Pellegrini's Story...a Hunter's plight

" I used to spend late summer evenings at elegant parties on New York City rooftops. Which particular rooftops I do not know because there were so many of them on those nights that they all blended together in one boozy medley of tinkling ice and breezy laughter. It was a lifestyle I had adopted post-college, a path of least resistance offered to me by an impressive female recruiter who dangled dollar signs in front of me and made me feel there was nothing I couldn't do. And on those careless Manhattan evenings, fresh from four years at an all-women's college in New England and four years at an all-girl's high school in Manhattan before that, it certainly felt that way.
There was so much I could do, but I never imagined that in a few years I would want to be spending my evenings not sipping cocktails with my stylish friends with a Manhattan sunset at our backs but with camouflage-clad men drinking aged scotch in Styrofoam cups around a campfire on the banks of the Mississippi river, a brace of freshly plucked ducks at our feet. There are moments, with a cloud of duck feathers floating in the air around me, that even I wonder how I got here.

As a child, I spent my days on the same land that my great grandfather harvested in the Hudson Valley. There were mornings when I pushed a fat worm onto a hook and fished for trout for breakfast. I foraged in the woods for wild edibles, too, inspecting guidebooks with scholarly interest.

One day I mentioned that I was bored in school, which prompted a trip to Manhattan, a slew of interviews at all-girl's schools and, soon, a uniform fitting. It wasn't long before I was jumping between two very different worlds only 13 miles apart -- the one where I roamed the halls with Ivanka Trump, and the one where I shoveled chicken manure.

I went on to Wellesley College and a prestigious job in finance at Lehman brothers. But it was a life that nourished my bank account and never my soul, and I found myself watching the cafeteria dinner cart roll by night after night and thinking -- this can't be what I want for myself.

The silver lining in doing something that doesn't make you happy is that it forces you to think about what you're doing when you're at your happiest. For me, it was always cooking. As a child I spent afternoons with my neighbor, a kind of surrogate Italian grandmother, hovering in her kitchen and watching her cook. On Sundays I sat with her and her extended family at a long table eating lunch, which bled into dinner, which faded into late-night board games. I realized that one's sole job as a cook (beyond basic sustenance) is to bring people pleasure, to make them happy at a table among friends. And happiness is what I wanted. So I traded in my laptop for a set of knives, my stilettos for chef whites, and enrolled in culinary school.

Not long after I was working in farm-to-table restaurants in New York and eventually in France. But it was at the very first restaurant where I had my watershed moment, the one that led me away from Manhattan and into countless duck blinds and deer stands.

One fall morning at Stone Barnes, the lauded farm-to-table restaurant on the Rockefeller Estate, I was told we were going to kill five turkeys for the evening meal and we were going to get them the old fashioned way -- cutting their windpipes with our bare hands.

In that moment, for the first time in my life, I considered becoming a vegetarian. And just as quickly I thought, "If I'm going to be a chef, then I'm going to eat meat." And if I was going to eat meat, I needed to be able to kill it myself.

That first turkey kill was emotional and intense; it awakened a dormant part of me -- something primal, perhaps that original human instinct. It made a kind of sense I could feel deep within me, the kind that makes me want to be a true omnivore. In that moment, I realized that while it was remarkable to meet the food artisans who brought ingredients into these high-end restaurants I worked at, it wasn't enough for me. I wanted to take part in every part of the process, I wanted to pay the full karmic price of the meal. And so I set out to learn how to hunt.

They say you always remember that first time. For me it was a turkey hunt deep in the Arkansas Delta with the Commissioner of Fish and Game in the state of Arkansas. Most hunters would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to have him as a hunting companion, but because he was a friend's cousin, he agreed to accompany me as a favor. He sprayed me with a cloud of OFF, and we set out into the woods along the Mississippi River in the pitch black, listening to nature wake up -- the owls always first, followed by the other birds, and sometimes the turkeys, agitated by the owls' sound. We sat against a tree and sometimes walked along the levee of the Mississippi, perhaps for hours or maybe just minutes -- time moves differently on a hunt. I watched him call a turkey in with a mating call, an old tom that danced like a fine-feathered Fred Astaire strutting along an open field, dragging his wings behind him in a train of color, making a low drumming and spitting sound.

In those moments, or minutes, or hours that I watched it unfold, my heart felt too large to fit into my chest, and a I could hear better than I ever had before, I could see better, I could smell better and my skin felt more alive. As I raised my shotgun and met the bead at the end of the barrel with the old tom's head, time no longer existed, only that moment did. And as I pressed the trigger and heard the woods explode and watched the old tom's wings flap and rise higher and higher into the trees and out of sight, I felt my cheeks burn. It was a strange new cocktail of exhilaration and shame as I realized I'd missed. But I had been indoctrinated into a brave new world -- I was becoming a hunter.

The people that I've met along the way since then, and the experience of knowing what happened to my ingredients on the journey to my plate has made me a more thoughtful chef, a more careful eater, and a more awake human being. And the food tastes so much better that way -- in fact, it has never tasted this good."

At the moment, it is only speculation...but Georgia is currently a highly active aspiring member of the National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America and the National Assciation for Gun Rghts. Her plan is to slowly rule over one group at a time...her dream appeal would be to become a dictator of a state...Idaho strikes her fancy the most, South Dakota is Second, Montana is third, Puerto Rico is fourth. She draws her inspiration from Sarah Palin and hopes that all Americans understand their Privledges to bare arms (with fingers of course!). Georgia, aim high and shoot straight...no Dick Cheney-like episodes here. Thank you.

55...X-Roads of the Mediterranean Basin

Syria sits on the North and East and Israel to the South...
Home of Byblos...considered to be one of the Oldest continuously inhabited Cities on the Planet...evidence suggests that Humans have lived there for over the last 7SevenThousand000 Years...War and Turmoil has plagued this land ever since...more then likely will continue to do so, until Human Instinct and general Philosophical views change in regards to how people need to treat each other in respect to tolerating political and religious beliefs and practices.
Welcome readers of Lebanon!  Here to a forum that holds no prejudice...Here, where we are all equals...irrelevant to what your look, orientation, race, political and/or religious affiliations may be...People are all equals, so why is it that there is this aura of pretentiousness that exists with certain individuals?  Why do all cultures believe that they own THE right to be considered the Cream of Humanity?  Why do people often believe that they are always in the right...and the rest of the world that opposes their views in the wrong?
When the world Truly Discovers...that everyone is an equal...No One Man or Woman is better suited to a Higher, Entitled standard of life...maybe then, this nonsensical fighting may cease...
We all Live on this planet together...all of us.  Then we should figure how to mindfully cohabit...Coexist...without spite, anger, hatred and jealousy.
I am not trying to preach or persuade, nor am I saying that I hold any better truths...I am no more enlightened then the rest...But I do recognize that we certainly do not treat each other well...We can always do better, we just need to try...

"Je ne Regrette rien"

- Edith Pilaf

In comparison to
ANGER!{Anxiety}...boredom...[DISappointment]::FEAR::$Guilt$£Jealousy¥Sadness£

Even though it is considered to be a negative emotion
"What was I thinking...to do something like that?"
Regret is a Conscious emotion most likely to MOTIVATE us to...
Drive decisions...make better future judgments
Avoid undesirable behavior
Improve our social relations
Deepen self awareness
Refine OUR understanding of our environment
It's an Emotion that works on our will, only if their is a benefit to be had...a difference that can be made...Yes, I Can DO Better!
Otherwise,
In the absence of a possible benefit...regret is NEVER experienced.

The Well of Regret dips deep into our inner self like no other emotion...Feeds off of what we Value, what we want Out of Life, How we should be Acting like in life and WHO we want to be...

I have Yet to meet anyone who can accurately predict the future...OR...return to the past and undo an injustice or foolhardy act

Regret, an emotion that reminds us of failures at the grips of feeling powerless...Out of control...It may be uncomfortable, but to experience regret only helps us redefine our direction...which in turn, makes us profoundly human...for those who have NO regrets, truly exist in a spiraled void of empty emotion...
Fight regret...would mean to stop a beating heart...
Regret,
Reliving past hurts...No wonder we fight this emotion.

P.s. Kummerspeck

otherwise known as "Grief Bacon"

My advice to you?

Don't become a Grief Bacon

The Terroirist Highlights Shinn Estate Vineyard

This Article, about one of my favorite Vineyards out on the North Fork of Long Island...is brought to you by Rebecca Canan


Each week, as regular readers know, Terroirist poses 16 questions to a winemaker. This week, we’re featuring winegrower Barbara Shinn of Shinn Estate Vineyards in the North Fork of Long Island.
I met Barbara a couple weeks ago during a Columbia Business School Wine Society trip to the North Fork. Visiting her vineyard was definitely one of the most memorable parts of our trip. Barbara patiently walked us down the aisles of vines and explained Shinn’s biodynamic philosophy. While initially it seems a little heady, it starts making sense logically and even a little “emotionally” as you understand the process of respecting nature and become more aware of the quiet, yet very dynamic, life around you in the vineyard.
After our walk, we escaped the brisk fall air and went into the cozy tasting room to sample a few of Shinn’s creations. These are some tasty, expressive wines. I especially enjoyed the non-oaked Chardonnay (pear & fresh apple, but still a creamy richness), 2010 Rosé (a cool smoky/spicy character with dried cherries), Red Blend (greener red fruits and white spice), and the 100% Petit Verdot from 2007 (secondary flavors dominate with a spicy earthiness and a background of dark fruit).
Something special is definitely underway at Shinn. Read more below about Barbara and her experiences as the farm’s winegrower.

What’s open in your kitchen right now?

Several things. From our winery: a bottle of our Eau De Vie distilled from Cabernet Franc and Seyval Blanc, a wine we call Veil 2010 which is a Sauvignon Blanc Semillon made in a very oxidative style, our Pinot Blanc 2010, our Estate Merlot 2008, a bottle of Chateau Rieussec 2001 Sauternes, and a completely undrinkable bottle of red French wine. Tonight we will finish the Pinot Blanc, Veil and Merlot and probably the last little bit of the Sauternes..

How did you decide to pursue a career in wine?

David my husband and I owned restaurants in NYC for many years and we needed to get back to nature. Farming wine has been a life changing experience. We have changed our philosophy about nature, life and our place on this planet.

How did you learn to make wine?

Our wine lists at our two restaurants in NYC were entirely east coast wines. David and I were drawn to the Long Island wine region and made a lot of friends out here. The wine community is very friendly and although I learned a lot about growing and making wine previous to planting the vineyard, I am amazed at how much I learn every single day in the vineyard and the winery. The vineyard is so entirely dynamic, just as Mother Nature is, and the vines are beholding to the soil they are rooted in and the workings of the sky up above. Most times I feel like an observer and Mother Nature either nudges or shoves me into where I need to be and what I need to be doing. I guess I have to like being pushed around a lot to grow good wine.

How do you spend your days off?

You know, I don’t really consider any day a day off because I am pretty happy doing everything I do. More than anything I take moments away. I watch my bees launch away from the hive and zoom back in. I read a lot on Biodynamics. David and I will walk on the beach together. I look for beauty. Just now I was walking a student of wine through the vineyard and there was pennycress and dandelions blooming. It was beautiful because this is December 3rd! My neighbors cherry tree bloomed this week, it was startling to see.

Who are your favorite winemakers in history?

I have never thought about that. But as far as inspiration I look to artists in history. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy is dear to me, his photographs of objects and their mysterious energies are brilliant. His portrayal of objects was all about intent and importance and farming wine is like that. Great wine comes from farming with intention and you can’t understand the art of farming if you are not an artist. Wine is farming, wine is art.

What new winemakers are you most excited about, and why?

It is more the movement of some winemakers around the world who are going back to simpler ways to make wines. Little or no manipulation in the winery, spontaneous fermentations with native yeasts, gentle handling, letting a wine become what it is rather than what it is supposed to be. This type of winemaking begins to erase the divide between the wine grower and the wine maker.

What mailing lists, if any, do you purchase from?

I don’t subscribe.

What’s the best wine you’ve ever tasted? The most interesting?

Several experiences:
*Sitting alone at the bar at Veritas in NYC having a glass of Chateau Yquem.
*Sitting at the bar alone at Restaurant North in Armonk, NY having a glass of N. Joly Coulee de Serrant 2003
(Wine is such good company when you are missing your husband)
* Our 2007 red wine named Grace. We only made 3 barrels so it will be gone too soon.
*With David at Galatoire’s in New Orleans drinking a bottle of La Lune 2006 from Anjou
*A bottle of Viognier from Barboursville Winery, Virginia
*Being alone in the vineyard during 2010 harvest, early morning, picking a few Sauvignon Blanc grapes in the rows slated for our dessert wine and having the grapes burst through my mouth with their nectar. I swooned.
I’ve never done a list like this and I am surprised they are all white wines except for our Grace.

What’s the oldest bottle in your cellar? The most expensive?

I don’t really pay attention to this so I’ll have to pass.

If you had to pick one red and one white to drink for the next month with every dinner, what would you choose?

Well, it would have to be something I grew, so Our Haven Sauvignon Blanc Semillon for the white. It has a rich complexity that will be nice for during a winter’s month. For the red I would choose our Grace and do a trial where I kept bottles opened for weeks and followed the progress. It is a big wine.
What’s your biggest challenge as a winegrower?
Organic growing on the East Coast. Our soil work, vine nutrition, insect suppression and weed management are always organic. In some years I can control fungus organically and some years not. In the rainy years our total materials are still 95% to 98% organic. My goal is to become certified organic and Biodynamic.

What’s your favorite wine region in the world — other than your own?

Mendocino, California

Is beer ever better than wine?

Never ever.

What would people be surprised to know about you?

Is this a Barbara Walters moment?

If you weren’t making wine for a living, what would you be doing?

In college I considered working for the National Parks service as a career. I’d make a pretty good ranger.

How do you define success?

Being comfortable with yourself.