Great Pictures

DON’T FORGET VALENTINE’S DAY ~ FEBRUARY 14

HOW DO I LOVE YOU? LET ME COUNT THE CALORIES

THE CHICKEN WING CUPCAKE

What Bugs You? ~ The Republican Presidential Race Bugs Me!

There are a few things out there that are universally annoying

– like fingernails on a blackboard

~ “It seems to be something intrinsic about that mix of frequencies,” Lichtman says. “The change in volume rapidly – it’s called ‘rough’ in acoustics – most people’s ears don’t like that stimulus.”

or the GOP candidates.

“It’s extremely well-established, when you’re getting lower-quality information coming in, you’re having to work harder to understand and reconstruct it.”

Now I know why the GOP Candidates bug me so much.

While there are plenty of irritants in the world, there aren’t a lot of ways to alleviate that sense of annoyance. Palca points out that they’re part of human life and they’re something that everyone has to deal with from time to time.

But there are some techniques that people can use — distracting yourself if you’re stuck in a long line or something Palca calls “cognitive restructuring.”

“You can tell yourself that that mosquito is just a part of the life flow of the world and I shouldn’t be mad,” he says. “It’s just trying to do what it was genetically programmed to do.”

Basically, though, the bottom line is that you’re stuck, it’s annoying, and that’s part of life.

From:

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY

Groundhog Day is a holiday (not official) celebrated on February 2 in the United States and Canada. 

Groundhogs are woodchucks, members of the squirrel family, marmots, sometimes called “whistle-pigs.” 

According to folklore,

if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter-like weather will soon end.

If it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks.

The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. ~ wikipedia

Full name of Punxsutawney Phil

~ ”Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages,

Prognosticator of Prognosticators and

Weather Prophet Extraordinaire.”

In Canada, it was 1956 before Wiarton Willie ( Canadian cousin to Punxsutawney Phil ) became a household name for his early February prognostications. Wiarton is a pretty town of 2,300 on the Bruce Peninsula between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.

In Scotland, the tradition may also derive from an English poem:

As the light grows longer
The cold grows stronger
If Candlemas be fair and bright
Winter will have another flight
If Candlemas be cloud and rain
Winter will be gone and not come again
A farmer should on Candlemas day
Have half his corn and half his hay
On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop
You can be sure of a good pea crop

The Groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, is right about 40% of the time!

What day is today?

Over breakfast one morning, a woman said to her husband, “I’ll bet you don’t know what special day this is.”

“Of course I do,” he answered as if he was offended, and left for the office.

At 10:00 a.m., the doorbell rang and when the woman opened the door, she was handed a box of a dozen long stemmed red roses. At 1:00 p.m., a foil-wrapped, two-pound box of her favorite chocolates was delivered. Later, a boutique delivered a designer dress.

The woman couldn’t wait for her husband to come home.

“First the flowers, then the chocolates and then the dress!” she exclaimed. 

“I’ve never had a more wonderful Groundhog Day in my life!

***

Two Great Gifts For Valentine’s Day

For that Special Valentine in your life,

you might want to consider the following two GREAT GIFT IDEAS.

They are free

No tax

No special equipment needed,

No batteries or parts

Always arrive on time

Guaranteed to please

Extremely Personal

Shipping is free

and they are returnable

A MASSAGE

AND A HUG

Just open up your arms

And open up your hearts.

Research shows that our skin is teeming

with nerve fibres which spring into action when we are

cuddled, hugged, massaged or gently touched. 

They transmit the information back to the brain’s emotional hub,

creating feelings of pleasure.

Did you know that, if you visualise, you can actually hug on the phone? ~ Shelly Long

Where I live if someone gives you a hug it’s from the heart. ~ Steve Irwin

A hug is like a boomerang – you get it back right away. ~ Bil Keane

But remember,

a hug without a squeeze

is like apple pie without cheese.

A Curler’s Valentine Message

Humorous and Inspirational Quotes and Sayings About Valentine’s Day and Love

Please be my Valentine!

Valentine’s Day is a time when we search out romantic quotes and sayings about love for a Valentine’s Day card.

Many prefer a humorous love quote or a funny Valentine’s Day saying.

Here are just a few:

“I don’t understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine’s Day. When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon.” ~Unknown

“Valentine’s Day is when a lot of married men are reminded what a poor shot Cupid really is.” ~Unknown

“I wanted to make it really special on Valentine’s Day, so I tied my boyfriend up. And for three solid hours I watched whatever I wanted on TV.” ~Tracy Smith

• “Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.” ~ Robert Frost

• “Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” ~ Robert Heinlin

• “If you ever think of me out of the blue, just remember it’s all the kisses I’ve blown in the air finally catching up with you.” ~ Unknown

• “At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet.” ~ Plato

• “Life’s greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved.” ~ Victor Hugo

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• “Love is grand. Divorce is a hundred grand.” ~ Unknown

• “I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.” ~ Mother Teresa

• “Love doesn’t make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” ~ Franklin P. Jone

• “Like the measles, love is most dangerous when it comes late in life.” ~ Lord Byron

• “When you’re in love with someone, it inspires you and gives you hope. You have faith that even if you can’t be with them on earth, that if God wills, you will be with them one day in heaven.” ~ Unknown

• “Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.” ~ Henry Louis Mencken

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• “The hottest love has the coldest end.” ~ Socrates
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• “Immature love says, ‘ love you because I need you.’ Mature love says, ‘I need you because I love you.’” ~ Erich Fromm
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• “Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love.” ~ St. Francis of Assisi
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• “You can’t buy love, but you can pay heavily for it.” ~ Henny Youngman
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• “Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don’t know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of withering, of tarnishing.” ~ Anais Nin
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• “A life without love is like a year without summer.” ~ Sweedish Proverb
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• “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” ~ Helen Keller

**

The American Economy ~ A Puny Perspective

Soon, with the economy so weak, upwardly mobile Americans will not even a ford to live in their cars!

Plain and simple, everyone’s fuming, except the 1%, about the widening gap between the rich and poor!

The Government auto know that they need to increase the taxes of the rich. The profits of Big Companies are too high. Money needs to be distributed better in our society. I am writing this column so that I might be able to help steer politicians in the right direction. Otherwise, they are headed on the highway to hell. I am shocked by how much we have been lead astray by those in power. We have been conditioned to believe that this is an acceptable way to live. Putting pressure on your local politicians and aligning ourselves with those that appreciate the damage that has been done, may help us gain real traction.

I don’t acclaim to be an export on this issue, but gimme a brake! I think it’s my civic duty to report these facts. My mercury is rising and I don’t think we should dodge the problem. There are just too many people who can’t a ford to fill up their car which is a tragedy in America and such a saab story!

We are sadly cadilacking in support for the poor.  Many homeless people have lost their dignity and are a shell of their former selves. I may be clutching at straws but I’m tired of doing nothing. I’m not too sure which direction America is steering but the current way of thinking needs some serious repairs.  We need to take this issue wheely seriously, unlike some politicians who take a blinkered perspective and are just fuel of scrap. Many, like Rick Scott, give an automatic response that the homeless and poor are lazy and it’s their fault. We should work hard in order to help shift their attitudes because, quite frankly, I don’t like their tune. Some recent leislation that helps corporations should just be scrapped or reversed. Lately, many car dwelling people are running on empty, are driven to dispair, have no where to turn, and are just plain exhausted. Their dreams of days down on the beach will have to take a back seat for quite a while because they can’t a ford to drive there.

Big Business and politicians, in their efforts to drive down costs, have their blinkers on and have ignored the long term consequences of such a strategy. The window of opportunity is closing rapidly. We need to put the pedal to the metal and fire on all cylinders to get things rolling. It would be a great disservice to the poor if we didn’t explore all the avenues open to us. If we work together wheel be able to put pressure on politicians and big companies many of whom I’m not a fan of.

We need to gear up for a fight to help those in such tire straights and not allow this cause to stall.

 I hope we can inject more money to help advocacy groups so they can accelerate this one through the courts. Hiring top lawyers may be the key to success and provide a spark of hope. Unfortunately, many of these types of actions get suspended or stalled in the court system.

It’s no use being cranky and continuing to fume about this issue. We need to spring into action inorder to make any kind of dent in this problem! Remember, ‘The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease.‘  A good place to start is to form a government panel before our efforts hit the skids. What ever happens, it looks like a bumpy road ahead for the middle class and the poor.

Unfortunately, I carn’t think of what else to write because I have engine block,  so oil leave now…

How to save America.

Politicians and big business need to be less selfish and greedy!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY MOM AND DAD

“A Daughter is a Little Girl who grows up to be a Friend”

My heroes are and were my parents. I can’t see having anyone else as my heroes. Michael Jordan

“The family is the school of duties – founded on love” ~ Felix Adler

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY FRIENDS