Irresistable

 One of my top 5 favorite actresses and her sidekick.

I stumbled across this unexpectedly and couldn't resist posting it.
I am speechless:-)

The Longing Within Us and The Promise of Death

St. Augustine's restless heart longed to be with God.

It occurs to me that this longing is within all our hearts and that we spend a good part of our lives feeling the tug without understanding where it comes from or directs us to. Hence the melancholy mystery of life, sometimes subdued in sadness, other times frenzied by bitterness, or confused by anger and frustration, and yet, quite often surprised and puzzled by an inexplicable joy ...a momentary flash of God's goodness ...a stranger's kind act...a beautiful sunset or haunting melody...a realization that regardless of our circumstances life is indeed a gift to be made the most of.
*********************************************************************************

Is a 'fond' recollection of a past event/person-an experience that wasn't necessarily happy at the time but which is remembered 'fondly'-is that fond recollection (the illusion of fondness if you will) actually the anticipation of an unfulfilled desire which will be realized in eternity? 
Have you ever wondered whatever happened to all the people you have ever come into contact with? Childhood friends and school mates? Former co-workers and neighbors? What part did they play in our destiny? What part did we play in theirs? The things that happen to us and others, some expected and others totally out of the blue...is there a rhyme and reason to it all?

Augustine's restless longing was fueled by the mystery of life and the need for answers. This is the way of the world - God's great creation.  There are hints of the answers all around us, hints of of God's goodness, some mentioned above, and many more examples that could be cited. The thing they have in common is this: they are short lived. Just when we think we have captured the genie in the bottle, it is gone.
So the mystery continues and the longing envelopes us and the only possible answer lies beyond the grave in eternity.
Ironically, with all that life promises us, it is death that serves as the passport for where we need to go to find the answers which will still the restless longing.
***********************************************************************************
Hieronymus Bosch of the Middle Ages pictured a soul's Ascent into Heavenly Paradise thus:

DQ vs BQ

Decades ago when last I worked for pay, there was a unique way of promoting people that required entry onto the BQ list, which is an abbreviated way of saying 'best qualified'.

Depending on one's experience, performance evaluations, courses taken, brownie points, skin tone, accent and -in situations involving particularly attractive females- sexual proclivities, one amassed a certain amount of points. As long as you could attain a set number, you would qualify for the BQ list and those on the list would be interviewed for the position at hand.

Once you reached this point, all bets were off as the interview process was highly subjective and given to abuse. It was also outside the appeals process in the event one felt unjustly treated.

At this point I would like to say that I have nothing further to say about the nefarious BQ list having spent an inordinate amount of time railing against it many decades ago when last I worked for pay. I mentioned it only in passing. I was reminded of it by a book I am re-reading for the 3rd time, Don Quixote. It struck me that the man from La Mancha's initials are DK. I don't know why I considered that out of the blue, but I did and that in turn brought to mind the BQ of bygone days.

In mentioning Don Quixote, I would heartily recommend it. The version I am currently reading is the latest translation, a relatively recent one from 2003 done by Edith Grossman. http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Don-Quixote/?isbn=9780060188702

***********************************************************************************

While I am recommending mid Springtime reads, for non fiction fans there is a timely retelling of how the good old US of A got into the first World War. If you thought presidential perfidy is something of recent hatching, I invite you to read The Illusion of Victory - America in World War I by Thomas Fleming. http://www.amazon.com/Illusion-Victory-America-World-War/dp/046502467X

For the penurious among you, feel free to check it out at your local library under the call number 940.3F. While many of our public libraries have succumbed to romantic fiction and more strenuous forms of pornography, there are still not a few branches where this enlightening book is available. Get it before the reconquista is finished.

Mirable dictu or And The Winner Is:

And what say you?

The rain falls and the grass grows and the tree frogs warble in ecstasy...

And we try desperately to find a winner among today's headlines...

Somewhere in California a teacher prevents a student from displaying the American flag so as not to upset another student...

The Girl Scouts now have literature mocking the Catholic sacrament of marriage as well as web site links to Planned Parenthood and the wonderful advice that satanic organization is all too happy to dispense...

The U.S. debt ceiling limit has been reached and the Treasury Secretary advises he will now begin pilfering, er, borrowing, from the federal pension funds to meets obligations...

The leader of Iran may be the next head of OPEC, but not to worry, the head of the International Monetary Fund- you know, that global bank that the U.S. taxpayer supports and which redistributes $ to third world paupers, one Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been arrested and charged by NYC detectives with raping a hotel maid.

Strauss-Kahn was also the heavy favorite to take over the French government and now even the Frogs are not sure they want him. His reputed comment "What the hell...she was only a maid" was accepted by his wife as justification, but it's not sure whether NYC authorities will be equally sympathetic...

In Cannes the movie freaks give a 10 minute standing ovation to a silent movie, which if for no other reason than being free of verbalized Hollywood bullspit deserves a standing ovation...

In between takes, Egyptian Moors kill hundreds of Christians and out State Dept applauds the success of the new found Egyptian democracy and Jews and Palestinians pull each others arms and legs off, nothing new there...

Republican pol Huckabee announces he will not seek the GOP nod for president in 2012 and Newt Gingrich inflames conservatives by saying everyone should have health insurance and Ron Paul is leading the pitchfork brigade against the Federal Reserve while Sarah is still out hunting and Herb Cain, a black man, is exciting some Rebubs and wouldn't it be great if we had a black conservative to run against the messiah in chief? my side splits along with my head in convulsive laughter...

And the winner is:

A Saudi woman defied authorities by driving a car. She was last seen being dragged out from behind the steering wheel. There are reports she will be/ has already been stoned to death for violating the Saudi ban on female drivers. This is a hard one...on the one hand stoning for driving a car?... then again...female drivers...

***********************************************************************************

And So It Goes...

Some earnest politicians seeking the Republican nomination to run for president in 2012 had a debate the other night. One could get a good idea of which way various news outlets lean by their headlines the next day. One had Ron Paul the winner, another had Pawlenty the victor, another had Santorum ahead and yet another had someone named Cain in first place. Someone for everyone opposed to the anointed one.

Does it matter who gains the nod to run against the incumbent?

Does it matter who wins in 2012?

Does it matter whether I step on the beetle crawling across my path?

I know; I know, the Butterfly Effect and all that.

I say: Hooey!

Let's face the sad fact that we are ruled by the invisible 1%. The multi-millionaires and billionaires who control the world's finances and who also control the politicians who - ostensibly - represent us and protect the constitution and determine the future direction of our country according to the will of the people, blah, blah, blah.

It's quite a comedy. Like the mighty K. Vonnegut once said, The people who run for president are insane. Or, words to that effect. The same adjective can be applied to those who believe there is a material difference between any of the candidates for president regardless of party.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ talks

and

nobody walksAnd after ten long years of lugging that kidney dialysis machine over the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan, avoiding detection by every intelligence apparatus in the world, Osama is finally laid to rest by Obama, or at least dumped in the sea , some sea they say, some sea not too far from the barren reaches of Pakistan. Our erstwhile representatives claim such burial is in accordance with Muslim custom, although after 1,400 or so years in the desert, Muslim custom (up until now at any rate) called for burial in the ground, facing East towards Mecca.

From my lips to God: When asked for proof of the kill an indignant government spokesman posited the possibly rhetorical question Do you think your government would fabricate such a story? There were photos of the now one eyed Osama, but they were too gruesome for the public to see, besides they might inflame Muslim terrorists around the world, not that killing their leader wouldn't.

And then, our same erstwhile leaders also claimed at various times that Osama was holding a gun and firing and he was also weaponless; he used his wife as a shield and he didn't; he was shot resisting and he was shot where he sat; there were orders to take him alive and orders to kill him on sight; our erstwhile leaders watched the action live on TV in the White House and Madam Secretary of State can be seen holding her hand across her mouth and gasping at the horror of it all, but wait, the actual attack was blacked out for 25 minutes with no broadcast of the actual shooting transmitted and Madam Secretary was actually suffering from allergies...and where have you gone Kurt Vonnegut...the exquisite joy you would have describing such historic events.
One may safely say that you could survive quite well without subjecting yourself to the insults, absurdities and outright lies of the daily news. I am willing to wager that doing so would have several positive side effects, e.g. lowering your blood pressure.

I am going to avoid all news reports via paper, audio and visual for an extended period and will report back with the results. In the meantime remember Ben Franklin's advice: Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see , or Twain's Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you read, or , my personal favorite the illiterate Italian firebrand Garibaldi's Don't believe anything you hear or see.