Meanwhile...

Meanwhile...
Oh, yes, --- I write in a lot of genres, including Noir mystery and romantic western. I also re-tell traditional folk tales and make old fairy tales carefully cracked. I'm often awake very early in the morning. A cuppa, and fifteen minutes later I'm usually writing something. ;)

Friday, January 6, 2023

You can do it, --- at any age...


"At age 23, Tina Fey was working at a YMCA...

At age 23, Oprah was fired from her first reporting job...

.At age 24, Stephen King was working as a janitor and living in a trailer...

At age 27, Vincent Van Gogh failed as a missionary and decided to go to art school.
At age 28, J.K. Rowling was a suicidal single parent living on welfare.
At age 28, Wayne Coyne (from The Flaming Lips) was a fry cook.
At age 30, Harrison Ford was a carpenter.
At age 30, Martha Stewart was a stockbroker.
At age 37, Ang Lee was a stay-at-home-dad working odd jobs.
Julia Child released her first cookbook at age 39, and got her own cooking show at age 51.
Vera Wang failed to make the Olympic figure skating team, didn’t get the Editor-in-Chief position at Vogue, and designed her first dress at age 40.
Stan Lee didn’t release his first big comic book until he was 40.
Alan Rickman gave up his graphic design career to pursue acting at age 42.
Samuel L. Jackson didn’t get his first movie role until he was 46.
Morgan Freeman landed his first MAJOR movie role at age 52.
Kathryn Bigelow only reached international success when she made The Hurt Locker at age 57.
Grandma Moses didn’t begin her painting career until age 76.
Louise Bourgeois didn’t become a famous artist until she was 78.
Whatever your dream is, it is not too late to achieve it. You aren’t a failure because you haven’t found fame and fortune by the age of 21. Hell, it’s okay if you don’t even know what your dream is yet. Even if you’re flipping burgers, waiting tables or answering phones today, you never know where you’ll end up tomorrow.
Never tell yourself you’re too old to make it.
Never tell yourself you missed your chance.
Never tell yourself that you aren’t good enough.
You can do it. Whatever it is."


Our children imitate us...

 

They asked her: "How did you persuade your child to read instead of playing with smart devices?" She said: "Children don't hear us, they imitate us."


Some Absolutely Great Depression Tips!!...

 

Take a shower. Not a bath, a shower. Use water as hot or cold as you like. You don’t even need to wash. Just get in under the water and let it run over you for a while. Sit on the floor if you gotta.
Moisturize everything. Use whatever lotion you like. Unscented? Dollar store lotion? Fancy $48 lotion that makes you smell like a field of wildflowers? Use whatever you want, and use it all over your entire dermis.
Put on clean, comfortable clothes.
Put on your favorite underwear. Cute black lacy panties? Those ridiculous boxers you bought last Christmas with candy cane hearts on the butt? Put them on.
Drink cold water. Use ice. If you want, add some mint or lemon for an extra boost. I always use lemon.
Clean something. Doesn’t have to be anything big. Organize one drawer of a desk. Wash five dirty dishes. Do a load of laundry. Scrub the bathroom sink.
Blast music. Listen to something upbeat and dancey and loud, something that’s got lots of energy. Sing to it, dance to it, even if you suck at both.
Make food. Don’t just grab a granola bar to munch. Take the time and make food. Even if it’s ramen. Add something special to it, like a soft boiled egg or some veggies. Prepare food, it tastes way better, and you’ll feel like you accomplished something.
Make something. Write a short story or a poem, draw a picture, color a picture, fold origami, crochet or knit, sculpt something out of clay, anything artistic. Even if you don’t think you’re good at it. Create.
Go outside. Take a walk. Sit in the grass. Look at the clouds. Smell flowers. Put your hands in the dirt and feel the soil against your skin.
Call someone. Call a loved one, a friend, a family member, call a chat service if you have no one else to call. Talk to a stranger on the street. Have a conversation and listen to someone’s voice. If you can’t bring yourself to call, text or email or whatever, just have some social interaction with another person. Even if you don’t say much, listen to them. It helps.
Cuddle your pets if you have them/can cuddle them. Take pictures of them. Talk to them. Tell them how you feel, about your favorite movie, a new game coming out, anything.
May seem small or silly to some, but this list keeps people alive.
**Your absolute best won’t ever be good enough for the wrong people. At your worst, you’ll still be worth it to the right ones. Remember that. Keep holding on. In case nobody has told you today I love you and you are worth your weight and them some in gold so be kind to yourself and most of all keep pushing on!!!!
**copied and pasted, feel free to do the same**
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️


King Arthur's Legendary Forest, Broceliande, --- was it REAL???...






 

Shangri-La... Did it EVER really exist???...


I read James Hilton's 1933 novel and loved it... Travelers are "kidnapped" by plane to a remote and snow-covered mountain range in the Himalayas. They are led by guides through a cave to look down on a valley of idyllic perfection, --- the Valley Of The Blue Moon. It is the site of a monastery whose head llama is very old. But, later the travelers discover that he is hundreds of years old and that the place allows those who reside there to become almost immortal. Below in the videos are a few thoughts about Shangri-La... I hope you enjoy watching them... 


 
Ancient Tibetan scriptures mention the existence of seven such places as Nghe-Beyul Khembalung. Khembalung is one of several Utopia beyuls (hidden lands similar to Shangri-La) which Tibetan Buddhists believe that Padmasambhava established in the 9th century CE as idyllic, sacred places of refuge for Buddhists during times of strife.

Possible sources for Hilton

In a New York Times interview in 1936, Hilton states that he used "Tibetan material" from the British Museum, particularly the travelogue of two French priests, Evariste Regis Huc and Joseph Gabet, to provide the Tibetan cultural and Buddhist spiritual inspiration for Shangri-La. Huc and Gabet travelled a round trip between Beijing and Lhasa in 1844–1846 on a route more than 250 kilometres (160 mi) north of Yunnan. Their famous travelogue, first published in French in 1850, went through many editions in many languages. A popular "condensed translation" was published in the United Kingdom in 1928.

Current claimants

Hilton visited the Hunza Valley, presently located in the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilgit−Baltistan, close to the China–Pakistan border, a few years before Lost Horizon was published; hence it is a popularly believed inspiration for Hilton's physical description of Shangri-La. Being an isolated green valley surrounded by mountains, enclosed on the western end of the Himalayas, it closely matches the description in the novel.

Today various places, such as parts of southern Kham in northwestern Yunnan province, including the tourist destinations of Lijiang and Zhongdian, claim the title. In 2001, Zhongdian County in northwestern Yunnan officially renamed itself Shangri-La County, Xiānggélǐlā in Chinese (香格里拉).








Life has many chapters...

 


One bad chapter doesn't mean the end of the book. 💖💖💖


Thursday, January 5, 2023

Quick & Easy Homemade Tomato Rice Soup...

 

Quick, easy, cheap & delicious: recipe for tomato rice soup... Cook rice in large pot, add a can of spaghetti sauce, a can of condensed milk, some water to taste, about 2 inches of a stick of butter or margarine, garlic powder, chicken bouillon to taste, a bit of pepper and some Italian seasoning to taste. Put cubes of cheese in the bowl before you spoon the soup in. Serve with Ritz crackers.
Yum... Enjoy.