Thoughtful Prose.......

[infamous]

Life:

 

Struggling from one moment to the next,

fearful of what lies around the corner.

Seeking to gain the upper hand,

to survive and overcome the pain.

 

Life can be a power struggle,

where few win the biggest prize.

But for some, being content to just live,

to love, and to share, brings satisfaction.

 

.........................Infamous

[Boerseun]

Interfering in Infy's thread,

expounding on something he said,

I'd have to say it's a blast

when my mind I cast

to get all these things in my head

[Racoon]

Life is but a dream, :hihi:

so row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. :naughty:

 

And if you come across a water fall,

Get the hell out of it!

 

Paddle to shore,

Dry off in the sun,

Laugh at Death!

 

He'll get you one day eventually,

But for now life is yours!

 

:hihi:

[infamous]

Content...........

 

Moments turn into days,

days into years.

Time passing without excuse,

nor asking permission.

 

Life goes on they say,

when nothing else works.

As it began, so will it end,

leaving little or no evidence.

 

Yet inspite of these facts,

I find contentment.

Even though the truth remains,

one minute after I'm gone,

 

All will forget my being,

for life goes on they say.

Never-the-less, I was here,

and I made a difference.

 

My presence caused ripples,

across this pond of reality.

Events in time were colored,

by my artists pen and brush.

 

.....................................Infy

[hallenrm]

I fret with trifles, uselessly discuss

Each truthless rumor of the worlds affars;

Make furious plans of no importance; fuss

About the least disturbance of my day.

I want appreciation. I demand

Unfettered passage to my will. I grow

To others' loss, and climb, until I stand

On the pinnacles of self engendered woe.

When truth is enemy to self I lie;

Unless for profit why should I be kind?...

[InfiniteNow]

A thumbnail sketch, a jeweler's stone

A mean idea to call my own

Old man don't lay so still you're not yet young

There's time to teach, point to point,

Point observation, children carry reservations

Standing on the shoulders of giants leaves me cold, leaves me cold.

A mean idea to call my own, a hundred million birds fly

 

Singer sing me a given, singer sing me a song

Standing on the shoulders of giants everybody's looking on

(Old don't lay so still you're not yet young,

there's time to teach, point to point,

point observation, children carry reservations).

Standing on the shoulders of giants leaves me cold

A mean idea to call my own, a hundred million birds fly away, away.

 

I am king of all I see, my kingdom for a voice

Old man don't lay so still, you're not yet young

There's time to teach, point to point

Point observation, children carry reservations

Standing on the shoulders of giants leaves me cold

A mean idea to call my own, a hundred million birds fly away

 

Everybody hit the ground. Everybody hit the ground.

[hallenrm]

Withdraw the mind,

Be still,

Be no more there.

 

Be unaware

Be silent,

See light with closed eyes of Darkness.

 

In poise.

Without desire

A mind set free

Abiding nowhere.

[Pyrotex]

Lessons from the Game of Poker

By Nelson Thompson, 2005

 

Mark Twain said that if a foreigner wanted to understand the American character, he had to first understand the game of Poker.

 

My father, Johnny Finch Thompson, was a character, and to understand him, you must follow Twain’s advice to the letter. More to the point, some of the most important lessons of life that I ever learned came from his experiences with Poker, and from my own. Indeed, he often used the game of Poker as a metaphor of Life itself. Life is a game, if you will, with rules and winners and losers.

 

JF was the youngest of nine siblings. Indeed, when he was born, his oldest brothers were married and having kids of their own. His mother gave him a deck of cards when he was five years old, and taught him to play some simple games. By the time he was a teenager, he could whip anyone in his family at any card game. And his family played a lot of card games.

 

He hitchhiked to the University of Alabama in 1930, with a single change of clothing and a five-dollar bill his father had given him. He found a Poker game. Three days later, he paid his tuition for the semester in full, bought his books, paid for room and board in Woods Hall, and rented a car. Over the next four years, he put himself through college by running a gambling ring out of his room in Woods Hall. Over his door was a hand-made sign that said: “Any game that you can name, For any amount that you can count”.

 

Indeed, he played many card games for money, including Cribbage, Rummy, Canasta and even Bridge. But by far his main source of income was Poker. During World War II, while stationed in New Guinea and Australia, he sent over $10,000 in Poker winnings back home to my mother.

 

He gave up gambling when he and my mother moved back to his home town, Russellville Alabama. He settled down, became a business man, found religion, and became one of the most respectable and admired citizens in town. He gave up Poker, but he never forgot the lessons he learned from that game, and he passed those lessons down to me. Here are a few of them.

 

(1) Shortly after moving to Russellville, a customer came into my father’s grocery store and complained that he had lost his paycheck to two disreputable brothers up on the north side of town in an all-night Poker game. JF said, “You know those two scoundrels are cheats. Why they pass more cards under the table then they deal on top. Why do you play with them?”

 

To which the customer pleaded, “Johnny Finch, it’s the only game in town!”

 

Life is the only game in town – the only game truly worth playing. You can bury yourself in books, television or movies, you can bury yourself in booze and drugs, you can actually live in Virtual Worlds to be found on the Internet, and many do. But in terms of real rewards, none of them can compare to Life.

Sure, Life isn’t fair. Sometimes the deck is stacked against you, sometimes it’s even rigged. But it is the only game in town. The fact that the odds are against you is no reason not to play.

 

(2) Have you ever played Poker for toothpicks or matches? No you haven’t – that’s not Poker. The risk of losing real money makes Poker the game it is – remove that risk, and it’s not Poker. If you don’t live at risk, you’re not living. College, marriage, raising kids, starting a business, joining the military, changing careers in mid-life – these are all risky ventures. Life is inherently risky. Remove the risk from Life, and it’s not Life.

 

(3) JF found me and my brothers playing Poker in our bedroom one afternoon. We had invited a couple of schoolmates, and there was more money on the bed than any of us would see in a month’s worth of allowances. My father cheerfully asked to join, and fished some bills and loose change out of his pocket. It took him about half a dozen hands to take every penny on the bed. He stuck it in his pocket, thanked us, and left. None of us ever saw a penny of that money again.

 

The lesson I learned from that was exactly the lesson he wanted me to learn. Life is real. Your actions have real consequences. If you play with fire, you might get burned, and you don’t get a second chance to do it over again. If you’re not prepared to take the risks in Life, you may lose that which you hoped to gain. Life is too important not to take seriously.

 

(4) JF told me, “Anybody who sits at the Poker table and expects a friendly game is a half-smart. Either you play to win, or better go fishing and save your money. And if you choose to play Poker, do your very best and still lose, get up with a smile and leave with no regrets. That way, you’ll be invited back next time.” Life, like a well-played game of Poker, is often hard work. There are no guarantees. But the odds favor the person who is willing to set aside his anger and his regrets, who is willing to learn how to get along with others, and who is willing to do the hard work necessary.

 

(5) JF told me, “People will tempt you with exotic variations of Poker, with deuces wild, jokers wild, one-eyed jacks wild. Don’t do it. Stick with straight Poker where you know the odds.”

 

There are rarely any easy shortcuts to success in Life. Any deal that sounds too good to be true, probably is. Greed and the promise of easy money can seduce us to do some pretty stupid things. Pick your path in Life where you know the rules, and know the odds. Focus on what you do best. In the long run, you’ll come out ahead.

 

(6) When I was in college, I played Poker with several other residents in my dorm. On average, I neither won much nor lost much, but I used the opportunity to brush up on my social skills.

 

One evening, a new kid asked to join our game, and from the first, he had some odd behaviors. He watched the deck of cards like an eagle while we shuffled and dealt. He said that he believed he could follow the position of selected cards within the deck.

 

Now, none of us took that at all seriously. We shuffled well and often, and the idea that anyone could follow, say, the Ace of Spades, and know within three cards where it was in the deck was silly. All the same, we stopped inviting him to our games. We didn’t want to play with him. We didn’t trust him.

 

If you want invitations to play the Game of Life with the “big boys”, play with integrity. Don’t cheat. Don’t even look like you might be trying to cheat. Poker and Life must be played ‘clean’ or somebody’s just begging for trouble. At the very least, people will talk about you behind your back, and you may find that you’re not wanted around any more.

 

(7) JF told me, “If a stranger shows you a sealed deck of cards, and bets you ten dollars that he can make the Jack of Spades jump out and squirt cider in your ear, turn around and walk away. If you take the bet, you’re a chump, and you’re gonna wind up with an ear full of cider."

 

(I didn't know until years later that he was quoting a line from the movie, "Guys and Dolls"!)

 

There are unscrupulous people out there. There are things you do not understand. There are traps waiting for you around the corner. But that’s Life. We all have to deal with pitfalls, accidents and evil intentions. But if you exercise good judgment, based on experience and sound reasoning, you can keep those kinds of things to a minimum. Don’t be a chump.

 

(8) JF told me that the secret to winning Poker: understand what Luck really is. Luck to some folks can be influenced by charms or mantras. Some folks beg for Luck out of desperation. Some folks believe they somehow deserve more Luck than the next guy. The truth is, Luck doesn’t care. It cannot be trusted or appealed to.

 

Many a Poker player accused my father of being incredibly lucky. He just grinned at them, and said, “You know, I find that the more I study this game, and the more I study the players across the table from me, the luckier I get.”

 

The lesson to be learned here? Ninety percent of ‘Luck’ is study, practice, preparation and diligence.

 

(9) My teenaged years were pretty bad. My wheelchair seemed to be a barrier between me and everything I wanted to do. I had few friends, and some years, none at all. After school, I was stuck at home because I couldn’t drive. I worked up the courage one day to express my anxiety to my father. How was I going to go to college? How would I ever find a girlfriend or get married? What kind of job would hire me?

 

My father listened quietly while I stammered out all my worries and fears. He didn’t have any easy answers. But he held out all the hope that I would ever have.

 

He said, “Your old man has played a lot of Poker with a lot of people. Sometimes I lost but more often I won. And from all that experience I can tell you this: the winner is rarely the person who is dealt the best cards – most often, the winner is the person who cheerfully accepts the cards they are dealt, and plays them better than anyone else.”

 

He was right.

 

The game of Poker is more than merely an icon from the American West, or a prop from your favorite cowboy movie. Poker earned its place as a metaphor for Life itself. Life is inherently risky, but we can manage those risks by being observant, by learning from mistakes, by using your head, by demanding integrity from yourself and from others, by being diligent, and by carefully balancing your fears with your desire for a better future. Follow your heart, yes. But also follow your reasoning.

 

(10) Oh, yes – and there’s one more final lesson to be learned from Poker. And this may be the most important lesson of all.

 

Trust your spouse, your children and your family. Trust the members of your spiritual community. Trust all those who through their accomplishments and character have demonstrated that they deserve your trust.

 

But always, always, ALWAYS – cut the cards.

[TheBigDog]

My 3rd son recently wrote a story for his 4th grade class. The students voted and he won second place in his class, which makes this dad extremely proud. So I thought I would share it here with my friends, so here it is letter for letter...

Once upon a time there lived a soft toy jack in the box named Jack, and he was very unhappy because he had no toy friends. Jack was a medium sized toy with red, blue and yellow pajamas, and he lived in a plastic box. Jerry was a ten-year-old boy that liked to collect jack in the boxes, and his collection was almost complete. Jerry's bedroom is a sad, dark blue room with a lot of jack in the boxes in the closet. On Ground Hog's Day in the especially cold year of 2000, Jerry had brought Jack home to live with him and the other Jack in the boxes. All of the other jack in the boxes in Jerry's room is very happy but poor jack is always sad.

 

Jack has no friends because he looks ridiculous in his colorful pajamas, so he cries all day and all night. Jack was made at a toy factory and they put the yellow and blue pajamas on him. His hat has red, yellow and blue on it, and the other clowns laugh because it matches his red hair. The red wrists and red ball on his belly are the same color as his red cheeks. Jack wished that he had some friends to make him laugh.

 

Jerry sees that Jack is alone because he is crying all the time, so he tries to help him. Jerry tries very hard to make Jack happy because he knows that if Jack learned to laugh, he would be happier. Jerry could close the closet door so that the other Jack in the boxes doesn't see Jack anymore but that wouldn't work. Jerry decided to tell Jack a knock-knock joke, but he still cried. Jack finally laughed so hard shen Jerry told him a plain joke that he forgot to cry anymore. The whole room of Jack in the boxes told jokes and make Jack laugh and Jack was happy since he had a lot of new friends.

Bryan is a high functioning autistic. While he is making steady progress the gap of emotional and social development between him and his peers gets wider each day. There are times that it is difficult to get him to engage in non-fantasy conversation. But in reading this I can see that he does feel and understand the emotions that he has so much trouble expressing through spoken words and actions. And the fact that his work was recognized by his peers at all (kids can be very cruel to the weirdo) renews my hope that the kid is going to be just fine.

 

I am tempted to analyze this like I would a work of great fiction. In the story Bryan is represented by both Jerry and Jack. Part of him longs for the comfort of his fantasy world of toys. Part of him longs for real friends and real interactions that are so difficult for him to master. The Jack part of him represents the REAL person who wants to have fun with the other kids. Jerry is the creative imaginary side of him who he is turning to for a solution, because he feels so much more comfortable in the imaginary world. He demonstrates that he cannot let the imaginary part of him hide him from the real world by closing the closet door, where the real world, the other Jack-in-the-boxes exist. He must face it, and find a way to belong. And he does it through the humor of his imaginary side.

 

Brings a little tear to my dad-eye. :hihi:

 

Bill

[Pyrotex]

My 3rd son recently wrote a story for his 4th grade class. The students voted and he won second place in his class, which makes this dad extremely proud. So I thought I would share it here with my friends, so here it is letter for letter......

 

Thanks, Bill.

That brought a little tear to my eye, too.

Nelson

[InfiniteNow]

There is truth in love.

 

YouTube - Suheir Hammad - Def Poetry http://youtube.com/watch?v=0fhWX2F6G7Y

 

Cheers.

[InfiniteNow]

And you call it Islam

Call it what you will

But call it NOT Islam

This is so senseless a Vendetta gory to the core

It’s bloodshed alright

And you call it Islam.

Have you lost your mind?

Have you any sense at all?

Have you no heart of your own?

Don’t you feel the pain?

Islam's about love

It's not about fear

It's a call to unite

In friendship and support

And compassion’s the way.

Have you no heart...

That flying bone...what if it were you?

That broken home yours alone?

The flying tears close to home?

Oh, how you haste to hate!

Your ignorance is deep

A Sharon in my garb...

It’s not what you think

Go read your book

Murder not in my name

You destroy a being and walk away like the mad

And you call it Islam.

The Maker of life is the beloved of man

The Cherisher Sustainer of all that's on earth

He’s not your Lord alone but the Lord of all.

Go find your way

This is Satan’s day

To humanity’s shame

Your ignorance's deep I’m sorry to say

You block my light

You blacken my eye

And you call it Islam...

by Safi Abdi

[Queso]

Auroraborealoon,

 

a universe ALIVE and

 

b l i n k i n g.

 

Wiping electrons in plasmatic fire baths right

 

from our magnetic skies-

 

There's treasure hiding

 

behind those eyes

 

and nowhere.

[infamous]

Our words;

 

Etched in time,

our words expose,

the hidden side,

of our inner self.

 

Whether proud, or

shamed we stand,

convicted of the truth,

our words reveal:

 

The essence of who we are..........................Infy

[infamous]

Sunrise of war............

 

I woke this morning

to the sounds of war.

Thunderings and flashing,

crying in the streets.

 

Grip of fear holding my

breath in desperate awe.

Future plans burnt up

hope fading like vapor.

 

Ohhh man, your foolishness,

why the lying vanities?

Was peace not better,

than this insanity wrought?

 

Look and see your folly,

for all is lost, lost, lost.

No repair for the injury,

so great the cost, so great the cost.

 

Pull the earth over your eyes,

hide yourselves in the caves.

Surrender earth to it's beasts,

for this is the end of days.

 

.............................Infy

[infamous]

Wrong side of the tracks.............

 

 

Discouraging, this life some live,

always short of things in need.

Dirty trousers, ragged and torn,

Oh, from this misery to be freed.

 

Gazing thru eyes in dispair,

are children hungry from want.

And yet the wealthy stare,

and loose with tongue they taunt.

 

Why do the children suffer so,

this cruel fate so often delt?

While others live in riches,

with little sympathy felt.

 

Who built these dividing tracks,

that separate our brotherhood?

Are we not all commonly made,

from the same flesh and blood?

 

Tear down those walls and dig up these tracks....................Infy

[infamous]

Give me some space...............

 

 

From where do they all come?

Crowding and pushing aside.

All with separate agenda,

trying to climb on and ride.

 

Ride this insane transport,

of human flesh and bone.

Going nowhere in hast,

just want to be left alone.

 

With little air to breath,

masses of flesh push on.

Twisting and turning like worms,

begging to be left alone.

 

Give me some space,

I shout into the din!!

I'm sick of all this flesh,

pressing against my skin.

 

.............................................Infy