A What????

I'm always fascinated by the ingenuity of others and the way in which they live and survive, but surfing through one of my many "widgets" on my Google Home page I came across this one:

http://readymademag.com/projectsblog/project.php?project=E647O7OFBJIMTN0

I enjoy so many projects of creativity of different cultures and styles as well as artists and writers. Since I'm a bit of a "Jackstress of all trades" and "Mistress of none", I have to say that when I find a bit of a valuable time for myself, I can get trapped into a spatial realm of creativity and fascination here in my PC.

Which leads me to wonder with all of the YouTubers, Widgeteers, Photoshop-pers, Bloggers, MySpacers and Wanna-Bes that Wanna-Do-Someday, like me, out there in this world of the Internet Highway and byways of pixels and bytes, just what is on your "Home Page" or Desktop?

I'll give you a synopsis of a few of mine:

At the moment for my desktop wallpaper it consists of a beautiful picture of the Aurora Borealis, and by the time you read this, I'll have probably changed it. It's adorned with icons that I really don't have a clue as to how they got there, and I'm afraid to click on a few for fear that they will lead me into a realm of the part of my brain that gets confused and frustrated easily.

So I tend to just leave them there in hopes that one day, they'll like some of my other items have done that I've saved to some folder, in a deep, dark, hidden file of the UnKnown somewhere in the hard drive of my PC.

Along with my icons of mystery, I have a "gadget" which rotates pictures from my personal folder of my adorable family and a few unfamiliar photos that I'm not quite sure where they came from because I can't seem to locate them in my personal photo albums. They're nice to look at as they scroll on by, so I won't stress about them there. But really, how did they sneak in there?

Then I have a few other gadgets that I haven't seem to have a need for, yet. But just maybe one day, I will use them before they go extinct or become a part of the relics of the past as this type of Addon gadgetry tends to do quickly.

Now, on my "Home Page" there is an array of designs with different category of tabs for clarification of importance such as News, Recipes, Gardening and Crafts, and last but not least, Random Pages. Each tab represents an order to my sanity of this confusing world that stays on 24/7. I've yet to recall what or where certain topics of interest are within these pages. I really and truly thought I was simplifying the process of filtering by adding what I wanted to know about, but it's only made me more confused and curious all at the same time. Now I just add everything to the Home Page where I can easily access it.

The Home Page is my favorite of all "tabbed" pages. I have lovely music playing from one of my many playlists in the background as I read over the day's updates. This familiar page is full of art works from various creative people from whom I glean inspiration, such as Elizabeth Perry who blogs a lovely page of her artworks called "Woolgathering"http://www.elizabethperry.com/woolgathering/, and other various RSS feeds (which took me awhile to figure out how to access this wonderful button) of fascinating people of various creative talents and gifts. I now proclaim myself to be a RSS feed addict!!!! as well as a Widget addict!!! of which I have on my main page of my Blogger as well.

I'm always anxious to see what my Home Page is going to show me when I log into my PC. I'm a member of various groups in different places and I can access all of the great writers, creative ingenuities and crafts people, whom I admire, of these realms by adding them as RSS feeds to my own page. So now you can have a better picture of what my "Home Page" consists.

Maybe next time I'll discuss the Bookmarking of various sites and pages issues that I deal with as well as the numerous "sign-in" and "log-in" world of confusion to access the pages within those places of my Bookmarks. Oh what a tangled web I've woven in this contraption.

What's on your Home Page?

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY......

Hunley Crew Burial
Lieutenant George E. Dixon
Arnold Becker
Corporal J. F. Carlsen
Frank Collins
Lumpkin
Miller
James A. Wicks
Joseph Ridgaway


April 17th, 2004

The morning was warm, and the waters off Charleston Harbor were unusually calm. It was perhaps the same sort of sea Hunley commander Lt. Dixon was waiting for in 1864 when he and his crew launched the experimental vessel that began the age of modern day submarines.

But this day would not mark the beginning of the Hunley crew's mission, but rather the completion of their century long journey to a final burial. On April 17th, 2004, the submarine pioneers that manned the first successful combat submarine were buried.

The ceremony began at 9.15 am with a memorial service at White Points Garden. Immediately after the ceremony, horse drawn caissons followed by a 19th century period dressed procession led the crew to the their final resting place. The procession marched 4.5-miles through downtown Charleston, and ended at Magnolia Cemetery. The Hunley's eight-man crew was then laid to rest next to others who lost their life on Hunley test missions.

A Celebration of our Nation's History

The Hunley crew's burial required nearly a year of planning and volunteers gave thousands of hours of their time to ensure the crew's interment was a memorable and dignified event. The burial was attended by tens of thousands of people who came to honor the crew and witness this historic moment. Visitors came from around the world including Australia, Germany, France, and Great Britain.

Additionally, the Friends of Hunley research team was able to locate descendants of 3 of the crewmembers, and they participated in the burial of their ancestors. Family members of Frank Collins, James Wicks, and Joseph Ridgaway were in attendance as well as a descendant of Queenie Bennett, the woman historians believe gave Lt. Dixon his life saving gold coin. The attendance of crewmember descendents and the overwhelming amount visitors made the burial not just solemn and inspirational event, but a celebration of our nation's history.

Hundreds of journalists came to Charleston to cover what many have called the last Confederate burial. The Hunley crew's faces and biographies were on every news network and in every major paper in the U. S. as well as many overseas. Because of this, when the crew was buried, the world was not watching strangers being laid to rest, but rather people whose faces we now knew and personal histories we can remember.

The Hunley Crew's Final Journey

The crew's journey to this day began on February 17th, 1864, when they achieved a maritime first by sinking the USS Housatonic. After the Hunley successfully completed its mission, the sub's crew signaled to shore that they were on the way home and then mysteriously vanished. Since then, the fate of the Hunley and her crew became a part of American legend and intrigue.

When the Hunley was finally located in 1995, one of the main goals of the Hunley Commission and Friends of the Hunley was to bring these maritime pioneers home and lay them to rest with honor. Warren Lasch, Chairman of Friends of the Hunley, explained the importance of that goal in his burial remarks when he said, "All Americans have a responsibility to preserve our nation's history, and we all have an obligation to honor the achievements of the generations that came before us."

The Hunley crew's 140-year journey of maritime achievement, technology and intrigue finally has ended with the burial fate had for so long made impossible. Now, at last, they are at rest.

http://www.hunley.org/main_index.asp?CONTENT=CREWB

BeautyTips

Beauty Tips
by Audrey Hepburn

For attractive lips,
Speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes,
Seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure,
Share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair,
Let a child run his fingers through it once a day.

For poise,
Walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed. Never throw out anybody.

Remember: if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find One at the end of your arm. As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

Soulgazer's February 14

Being a Valentinian Gnostic, this day has a special place in my heart; It may be a different St Valentine then our Gnostic St Valentine, but the names are the same!

Each year at this time, those who have grown up in a christianized culture spend a little time thinking about love. Cards are bought for parents and grand-parents, favorite cousins and sons and daughters. Even perfect strangers are often greeted with a smile that is just a shade warmer than that same smile will appear to be on Feb 15th!

Young men and women will be exchanging gifts, or more likely, looking for that perfect somebody to exchange a gift with!

Every once in a while, I meet somebody who says that they are holding out for their soul-mate. Today that term is used so loosely, that everybody who falls in love swears that they have found their soul-mate!

Well, it is not required that you fall in love with your soul-mate, in fact, it might be easier on you if you didn't! What? Soulgazer, what do you mean by that?

Let's explore some of the mythology together. Today, there is a whole mythos built up around the modern idea of a soul-mate. Data is fed into computer programs, where it is given a numerical value, and if you were really really honest, and the match was really really honest, the numbers tally up and you have a mathematical match. In theory, if everybody in the world would do this, all those quantitive numbers would reveal the one person in the world that you would be happier with than anybody else!

A Mathematical Soul-mate!

There is a far far older mythology, several in fact, that illustrate the Spiritual Truth of soul-mates. In our Gnostic Mythos, we have Jesus as the physical manifestation of the Crestos, or Divine Love, and His earthly companion, Mary Magdelene. Mary, in ancient Gnostic mythology, was the physical manifestation of Sophia, or Divine Wisdom. So, in this mythology, we have the Logos, or Word of God, made up of Love and Wisdom in the heavenly plane, splitting as it comes to earth, and finally reuniting as one force.


This is carried forward in the hermetic mysteries, as applying to all men and women. In the Gnostic, the term Soul-mate was not used, but a synonym term, "twin-flame". All humanity, before it is born to earthly parents, starts as a single flame of spiritual essence. The Soul leaves the divine realm, and is split into it's male and female components, and given a proper fetus to indwell. Thus the male-female soul is born in two pieces, separated by whatever distance, and usually no more than a couple of years. Taking up residence on earth, the soul pair lives parallel existences, each learning what it needs to learn to become a single soul again.


Plato wrote about soul-mates in his "Symposium". Zeus, is credited with dividing the souls in half in that mythology, but the basic mythos stays the same.

Shouldn't everybody wait for their soul mate? No. Not one person in a hundred meets their true twin flame. God decides who will and who won't meet their soul mate. A person who hates their self, or finds their own self somehow inadequate will despise their twin flame, who is, after all, a part of the self that they despise. And besides, Life is about learning how to love, and Love sometimes is not appreciated unless it is worked for.

Now remember when I said that the male and female were split in half and live parallel existences? It always holds true! And no, you would not always be happy with your soul-mate! What if you were a gay man? Your soul-mate would be a lesbian, and vice versa!

What's the big deal about soul mates then? Because, when it works, it works like no other. Like having a jig-saw puzzle with all of the pieces leaping into place of their own accord!

There is often a metaphysical phenomena that occurs when soul-mates meet for the first time. When I met my soul-mate, there was a momentary suspension of reality, after which we simply seemed to take up from where we left off yesterday. I have met other soul-mate couples who have reported the same phenomena.


There is other mythology associated with soul-mates. Soul mates are supposed to call to each other through the ether, desperately trying to find each other, when they are finally ready to meet. I imagine that this has inspired a lot of love sonnets and songs to no body in particular, as often these days neither individual will have any idea what is happening to them!

So don't forget to send your sweetie a Valentine Card! And maybe some chocolate!

submitted with permission from Soulgazer
http://www.alienlove.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=3847

WORK HARD, PLAY HARDER AND NEVER GIVE UP YOUR DREAMS

Let me introduce you to three great fellas. Jonathan Spell, Sam Strickland and Jason Stinson.

I'm a big fan of On By Seven from Columbia, South Carolina. ON BY SE7EN is a hard working three piece Alternative Rock band from Columbia, SC. ON BY SE7EN brings out a solid rock sound influenced by the likes of Live, Everclear, Collective Soul, and more. Upon this foundation, the band builds its unique brand of alternative rock with emotional and powerful lyrics spinning tales of times past, loves lost, and life in general. http://www.onbyseven.com/bio.php

Of course, I do have a special interest in this group of fine musicians because the drummer is my son, Jason. They all have full time jobs in order to support themselves and service their community, but their passion is playing music for the people and living out their dreams. They are hardworking, fun and very gifted fellows who not only support each other, but many others in their field of entertainment as well. For those of you who have never heard of them, please take the time to go visit them at http://www.onbyseven.com/ and feel free to bookmark this page for updates and let them know what you think of their music. If you happen to be on MySpace, you can check out their pages as well:
http://profile.myspace.com/OnBySeven

Jason will be having to "sit out" for a few months while he is recuperating from his up coming shoulder surgery as he explains on the website the chain of events which brought him to this decision:

Well first let me say thanks to all of you that came out and rocked Headliners with us last Tuesday night. We all had a great time and can't wait to do it all over again. Currently we are all taking a breather, and just chillin' for a while. We are working on a few more shows for February and March and then we'll be looking toward the summer. Also, be sure to read Jason's Blog on our MySpace!! Jason lays it all out for you folks about his arm, his up coming surgery, and what's to come. We'll be keeping you all updated here and on our MySpace with Jason's progress so keep checking back in. Till then...

Rock On!Posted by: Johnathan

I wish you the best of everything and many blessings to you On By Seven! and remember fellas........

Work Hard! Play Harder! and Never give up your Dreams!
I love you, Mom.

~HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SOULGAZER~

Hello my darling,

I can't be with you on this precious day, but know that I'm thinking of you and that you are always in my heart, dancing with my soul, whispering in my ear and forever on my mind.

This is my gift to you because it reminds me of "US" and that's what keeps me going here so many miles from you.

Just always remember that I will always go on loving you, "Forever and a Day".
Your Rainbow

ALEX JONES INTERVIEWS WILLIE NELSON~2/04/08

WILLIE NELSON PEACE RESEARCH CENTER

http://willienelsonpri.com/category/willie-nelson

A Peaceful Solution

April 29th, 2007 Jay Posted in Arts, Peace, Willie Nelson |

written by Willie & Amy Nelson on April 29th, 2007
at 3:03am on the bus in California, on the way to Coachella.

There is a peaceful solution. It’s called a peace revolution.
Now let’s take back America.
There’s a war and we’re in it, but I know we can win it.
So let’s take back America.

It’s a dream, so believe it.
Now get ready to receive it.
And let’s take back America.

And when the war is over and we’ve won it
let’s remember how we done it so we don’t have to do it again.

There is a peaceful solution. It’s called a peace revolution.
Now let’s take back America.
There’s a war and we’re in it, but I know we can win it.
Now let’s take back America.

There was a peace resolution
and a peaceful revolution
and the peaceful solution saved America

"THE HIGHWAYMAN"

The Rule Is You Can Only Use One Sheet of Paper

Competition sponsored by the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.

Collections of Moments In Time....

At the end of my day I have a journal beside my bed and I write thoughts that cross my mind as I'm quieting the moments of the day. These are collections from moments in time when I want to Be Still and know that God has blessed me in many ways...........................

"I laugh at life before it laughs at me."

"When you have a plan, place it in God's hands."

"We are but stardust evolving, spinning into a collective form to create a masterpiece for our Creator."

"I am living with adversity. Wait until you see how it all ends...."

"I can't think of a more exciting and adventurous life than living with adversity. It's challenging, it's rewarding all in one swift, shift of motion."

"We keep looking for the light at the end of our tunnel, when we should be looking at the light within ourSelves."

"I hope to make every day a holiday with all the glitz and glitter, excitement and joy that God provides for me. Why should I limit myself to just the seven we recognize on our calendars of events for the year? Every day is an event, so I say, Celebrate Today!"

"I don't dream of fancy dinners at expensive restaurants. I dream instead of a serene setting of ambient lighting, under the stars that are the candles flickering and twinkling in the night as the ocean sings it's rhythm that soothes the soul and the moon dances with the shadows of the trees as I sit at my table that God prepared for me."

"Attitude....
overcome it,
change it,
accept it,
own it,
forgive it,
embrace it,
and the world changes with it all around you."

and I leave you with this quote that I can not claim as mine which I collected from a passage of reading at some significant moment in my life......

"God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, nor sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears and light for the way."