Tag Archives: life

Elegy to George Carlin – an original piece by Utah poet

My friend Eileen McCabe wrote this piece.  She was scheduled to perform it at the Utah Arts Festival last night.  She altered the F-word, although she “had every intention of performing it with glee” (her words) at the Festival.

George Carlin said “F**k Hope”

“F**k Hope?”
F**k no, George!
You gave me more hope than
any holy trinity of bloviating control freaks.

Hope and ranting rage
against Nixon, Reagan, Catholic dogma and injustice.
Hope and the courage to be despised and taunted
and alone in the support of principle.
Hope and permission to commit trespass 
and sit in lockup under guard of gas masks and attack dogs.
Hope and the knowledge of the effect of language
to push boundaries and open hearts.

Hope isn?t the milk and cookies before bedtime
that lures you into a false sense of security.
Hope is the rudderless, whiskey-barrel boat
that sails on a windy wing and a prayer for guidance.
Hope lies not in feel-good speeches and on-line petitions
but in feather boas and bombast, human shields and barricades.
Hope is that itching, fist pumping irritation
that upthrusts middle finger and taunts you into action.

We used to shout at Nixon, ?Make Love not War!?
Let us joyfully copulate with hope;
make lots of little hopes
little black, brown, red, yellow
pink, blue and white hopes
who will go and f**k more hopes
till we breed away lethargy and despair.

Rest in hope, George,
and rest in peace –
as if that were possible.
F**k.

In Memory of George Carlin – George Carlin on Age

George Carlin on age

IF YOU DON’T READ THIS TO THE VERY END, YOU HAVE LOST A DAY IN YOUR LIFE. AND WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED, DO AS I AM DOING AND SEND IT ON.

George Carlin’s Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we’re kids? If you’re less than 10 years old, you’re so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

‘How old are you?’ ‘I’m four and a half!’ You’re never thirty-six and a half. You’re four and a half, going on five! That’s the key

You get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

‘How old are you?’ ‘I’m gonna be 16!’ You could be 13, but hey, you’re gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . YOU BECOME 21 YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There’s no fun now, you’re Just a sour-dumpling. What’s wrong? What’s changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you’re PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it’s all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn’t think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You’ve built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it’s a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80’s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30 ; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn’t end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; ‘I Was JUST 92.’

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. ‘I’m 100 and a half!’
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay ‘them.’

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. ‘An idle mind is the devil’s workshop’ And the devil’s name is Alzheimer’s.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

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

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don’t take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,but by the moments that take our breath away.

And if you don’t send this to at least 8 people – who cares? But do share this with someone. We all need to live life to its fullest each day!! 

Life

Sometimes it takes the miracle of birth to put everything into perspective.  I was priveleged enough to witness the birth of my second grandchild last week, a boy.  What an experience.  An experience that confirms my convictions more than ever to do my little part during my lifetime to stand up against the injustices to life and the planet and work towards a better world for the life with which it is inhabited.

Abortion, Life, the planet, and human existence

Yesterday I received and email from someone (whom I had never heard of or met, to the best of my knowledge) asking me my position on abortion.  Here is how I responded:

I support a woman’s right to choose safe, legal abortion and believe that reproductive  and health issues must remain a medical matter between individuals and their health care  providers.

The questioner responded back to me with something to this effect:
I’m sorry.  I pray that someday you will live up to  “I pledge allegiance to all life and its interpendent diversity.” (referring to my “Pledge to Life” in my left sidebar)

My response, via this blog only (I have invited the person who emailed me to continue the discussion on this blog so that others may also join in – the person responded to that email, after requesting no further email communication, with I understand. The truth is not always easy.):

This person obviously has an egocentric and narrow-minded view of life – “all life”.  While entire species and habitats, upon which humans rely for its very existence, are being destroyed and becoming extinct, this person is concerned with only one aspect of life – human life.  People like this expend energy on addressing only human life as if it were the end all and be all of life.  If humans died off, the world would not be in jeopardy. Life would continue to thrive ( dare say it would also not only thrive, but would be better off without the destructive impact of the human species….).   If the blue green algae dies off, as one example, humans are doomed.

“Life” began before humans.  “Life” is being destroyed by humans.  I suspect that the possibility exists that “Life” will likely re-generate itself after the human species dies off because of the destructiveness to “life” it in which it engages.

I encourage people to take some time and view the video clips on life at Global Mindshift.

Update

Oh my goodness, I have not updated this in such a long time. Since I last updated, my life has gone berzerk!

I accepted a new position at my school, Director of Special Eduaction Services. Boy am I SWAMPED! My life has been totally centered around school since then. Plus, running a political campaign and other projects – has had me totally unable to pay attention to this blog. Not to mention my gardening and crocheting!

Since I last wrote, Carmen has moved to Maryland to be with my son. The baby is due around December 17. Today, however, Carmen has been having contractions all day – hopefully just Braxton Hicks contractions, we’ll see.

My daughter, Emily, was in a bad car accident the other day. She is o.k. but has a lot of injuries.

Tom took the position of Building Manager at our school, so a lot of our time, too, is spent at school because of the work he has to do.

But we are really enjoying life right now and looking forward to our new grandson. We will see him (if he is born then!) on December 24 when we travel to Maryland.

Getting Away

It was nice to get away and enjoy nature. Here are photos of our trip to the San Rafael Swell and Goblin Valley.

Finally a “break”

I’ve been putting in 10-14 hours a day trying to get my school moved. We aren’t quite finished yet, but Tom and I have decided to not work this weekend. This temporary schedule has interrupted my regular schedule in every way, including blogging, activism, and attending to things at home like my garden. I look forward to ending the move and getting back on track.