January 2006

Big Day! Most importantly, today’s my beloved husband’s birthday. I want to wish him a terrifically happy one and tell him that he not only hung the moon in my life, but he positioned the sun as well. You make each day better than the one before and when you aren’t yapping about my driving (clicks and whistles), you’re darned near perfect.

Secondly, my Denver Broncos play today - so I’m definitely in pre-game form. If they don’t win I think I’ll be in a funk for weeks…. My sport’s world has been kind of eratic lately - Tony Stewart (My driver) won it all, but my St. Louis Cardinals came up short. Again.

My Kentucky Wildcats are giving us all kinds of drama with the season they’re having - I nearly ate a throw pillow during yesterday’s game. Thankfully they won on a shot at the end and my pillow is still around.

I have a birthday cake to make, game snacks to fix, and jitters to work out, so I’m out.

Happy Birthday my love!

Broncos, Stampede the Steelers!

Make each moment count double!
Joi!

My family went to the theater last night, we saw “Last Holiday” with Queen Latifah and LL Cool J (Adorable and fun movie - I all the way recommend it. )

Before we even got into the theater, we witnessed somewhat of a cross between a comedy and a tragedy. On the lot next to the theater, a little angry group had gathered with posters of hate and scowls firmly planted on their faces. One cat even had a megaphone. Hopefully their embarassingly small number (less than eight) indicates that our city (Owensboro, Kentucky) has more citizens who possess minds than it does those who lack them. As you probably could guess, it was Brokeback Mountain that had them foaming at the mouth.

This would be me not getting it. Self righteous, self important people are protesting Brokeback Mountain because of what? A few of the characters happen to be gay? Do these morons think that no other movie ever shown at the theater has included homosexuals?? And even if there hadn’t ever been gay men or women portrayed in movies….even if this was the first to ever do so…. So What? So Freakin’ What? I’ve never seen their pitiful little group out there taking a stand against violent movies, against nudity, against movies containing profanity, against movies heavily featuring other crimes…… but you let a couple of harmless gay cowboys come riding along and you get a dude searching the aisles of Wal Mart for a megaphone while his little team of misfits spews ignorance on poster boards.

Even if they had a legitimate beef….which they don’t…..this would be an ignorant way to express it. They just made perfect asses of themselves, that’s all. They made me (and probably countless others) want to see the movie in spite of them.

And a word to the unwise, if you ever want to wave signs in the air, first of all don’t be so bold as to tell everyone what God wants or doesn’t want. He’ll speak for Himself. Furthermore, don’t claim to be about God’s business while one of your signs childishly declares that the theater is owned by “bastards.” Like I said - perfect asses.

If it hadn’t of been so cold and if I didn’t have a personal code against talking to human jackasses, I’d have asked them, “What are you so afraid of?”

Funny isn’t it, the battles people pick to fight? The money they spent on that foolishness could have gone to much better use. The time and energy they’re spending could most definitely be better spent. We’ve got men and women overseas who never know what hell the next minute will bring, people who are homeless and hungry in our own country as well as overseas, and countless diseases claiming lives and robbing happiness.

If these people would stop to think about the things that matter the most they’d feel just like they should. Ashamed. Man, it’s a movie….and they’re helping to make it a very successful one at that. I’m sure the producers would say thank you. If they speak to human jackasses.

Make each moment count double and go see a couple of movies!
~Joi

I’ve been getting all geared up for a web design job ahead of me. It’s considerably different from ones that I’ve done previously, and I’m at once inspired and intimidated, excited and overwhelmed.

Needless to say, it’s been on my mind a lot lately - looming ahead, refusing to be missed by my mind’s eye!

But something gave me perspective yesterday afternoon, during a period of time when the website wasn’t even on my mind. My daughters and I were taking the trip from the town we live in (Owensboro) to the town my mom lives in (Madisonville). Lots of back country roads, twists, turns, small towns, etc. It’s like a 45 minute lesson in what makes Kentucky Kentucky - the small towns, the horse farms, the people who wave as though you’re family.

Anyway, I was talking with my favorite girls and I noticed the road about a mile up the way, after a particularly impressive twist and turn. It went upwards - a huge hill. When the trees are all full and green, the view is obstructed, but through the winter branches, the road’s heavenly ascent was impossible to miss. I was surprised to see that it was such a big hill. I mean I’ve driven this road hundreds of times and never really realized the size of the hill I was racing up.

Then the reason hit me. When we’re in the middle of something we don’t realize it’s impact. It’s at it’s worst when it lies ahead. The speech that has to be delivered next week, the oral book report due in class tomorrow, the presentation that has to be given next month, the website that’s waiting to be built….

I think that when things are ahead, they’re more intense and huge. When they’re in the past, they’re often smaller (like things get in your rear view mirror as you drive away.) But when they’re in the here and now, we find a way, make a way and do what needs to be done.

We go up the hill……sometimes because we want to, sometimes to get where we’re going and, I guess, sometimes because there’s no alternative!

Anyway, the hill taught me a lesson and eased my mind. As I drove up the hill, I thought to myself, “You’re nowhere near as big as you seemed back there.” I expect to say something similar to a particular website in a day or two.

Have a rockin’ weekend.

Make each moment count double,
~Joi

Below is a link to a very interesting article on Power Learning. That’s a concept I can get behind!

Make each moment count double,
Joi

Ever gotten into your car and taken off driving - unsure of your final destination? You know you’re looking for something in particular - a restaurant or, if on vacation, a hotel. That’s pretty much the approach my family always takes. We just take off and see where we end up.

That’s kind of what’s happening with this post. Esssentially, I just got into the car, buckled up and am headed off. In the same way we’ll take off knowing we want lunch, but not knowing where we’ll eat… I know I want to say something but haven’t a clue what I’ll say!

A new audiotape from why-in-the-name-of-all-that’s-Holy-won’t-he-die Osama bin Laden warns that plans for attacks in the United States are under way. So, the mind is left wondering, what sort of fresh hell might we wake up to tomorrow morning?

Of course, not everyone wakes up to a fresh new hell courtesy of a maniacal mad man. Most people find themselves thrust into their own personal hell because of horrific twists of fate. One of my husband’s friends recently received a call from his lovely wife after she saw the doctor. She was told she has Muscular Dystrophy. He rushed home to her side and into hell with her. Fate didn’t care that they were a happy young couple. Fate didn’t take their two young sons into consideration. It just struck, from out of the blue.

None of us know what we’ll wake up to on any given day. I recall a September 11 when I most definitely didn’t get from Good Morning America what I’d expected to. No celebrity chefs, fitness tips or chipper weather that morning. Just hell. Like we hadn’t seen in a while. I really, really, really wish I could say with absolute certainty that it was like we’ll never see again.

Hmmmm. Still not sure exactly where I’m heading. I guess I just want to remind us all to make life all that it can be, not to take any person or any moment for granted. Life’s too precious for hate, anger, pettiness, or selfishness. Let go of what doesn’t matter and nourish that which is most important.

Reach out to others - email, call, IM, write, send notes…. We ought to strenghten our relationships, we’re all in this together.

Finally, make a point of giving to those who need it each and every week. Whenever you can, whatever you can. Spread happiness, love, and most of all, Hope.

Take care and….
Make. Each. Moment. Count. Double.
Joi

“To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing.” - Eva Young

Have you ever made the mistake of staring at all the things on your desk all at once as opossed to looking at each thing individually. When we do that, we pretty much kiss progress good-bye along with our sanity.

I still sometimes fall into this trap, then I have spend even more energy mentally scrambling to crawl out of it.

As I’ve said before, I’m a web designer/graphic artist, have 12 blogs, 15 websites, run a web hosting business, and a web publishing business. On top of that (and of course, more important than that), I have a house, family, and cats to care for - as well as hobbies like cooking, writing, reading, dreamology, yoga, movies and tennis.

So, like most people, I stay busy. Sometimes it can get overwhelming, because there are times when I stare at all the steps that need to be climbed, rather than each individual step. When I do that, I paralyze myself, because no steps are taken, literally. I’ve found that the only remedy in the world is to just make a move: take that first step. Then, your one step closer. Then you take another one. Another step closer. It seems that you gain momentum with each step taken and, before you know it, what started out as “overwhelming” becomes “invigorating.” You end up finding strength that you’d forgotten you had. That comes in handy for the rest of the climb!

The more we climb, the more we can climb because the more we do, the more we can do.

Make each step count double,
~Joi

Okay, we’re 17 days into 2006, how are those resolutions going? Personally, I’m breaking even:
A book I’d ordered myself to finish by the 15th hasn’t even been opened, but I’ve been cutting back on red meat.

The closet from the third circle of hell is still the closet from the third circle of hell, but I’ve been exercising everyday.

And so on and on…

I’ve noticed a little trend. I do, essentially, that which I want to do. If it’s important to me, I find a way to do it. It’s that other muckety muck that I struggle with - you know, closets and dry, “good for your brain books”. I need to work on that. But you could drive a truck between I need to work on that and I want to work on that.

I suspect that, to some extent, this is true of most of us. If it matters to us, we find a way, make time, figure it out, etc. Perhaps the trick lies in somehow making it matter to us. You think?

I mean, I love fitness and health, maybe if I looked at cleaning that horrid closet as working out…..and maybe if I catch myself at a weak moment before I recognize it for what it really is…..maybe, by this time tomorrow that closet will be organized and glorious.

Then, maybe I’ll be so physically exhausted that the decidedly un-Koontz book will find its way into my tired hands and compel me to read it. My defenses will already be down, and it may stand a chance.

Make each moment count double,
~Joi

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned my love of quotes before on this blog. I collect them, and have done so for years. I have them organized by subjects as well as by speakers or authors. I can’t tell you how many times a week I reach for my Martin Luther King, Jr. collection of quotes. This man possessed so much wisdom and depth and articulated that wisdom with class.

Had Martin Luther King, Jr. been born the year he died, I fully believe he would have a different title today: President Martin Luther King, Jr.

Below are some of my favorite quotes:

“All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.”

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

“Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.”

“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

“Ten thousand fools proclaim themselves into obscurity, while one wise man forgets himself into immortality. ”

“All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem. “

“I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.”

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. “

“The church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.”

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

“I submit to you that if a man hasn’t discovered something he will die for, he isn’t fit to live. “

“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men. ”

“…And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. So I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. ” (From a speech given the day before he was murdered.)

“When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.”

“Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ “

I encourage you to read more about Martin Luther King, Jr. His was a fascinating life, albeit one that ended way too soon.

Make each moment count double,
~Joi

Martin Luther King, Jr., Whitney Houston, Adolph Hitler, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Aniston, Janet Jackson, Mike Tyson, Martha Stewart, T.O., J-Lo, John Daly, Michael Jackson.

They’re back!

Like I said in the previous post, I had spent Friday thinking about Oprah Winfrey and the amazing name, and life she has carved out for herself. The most beautiful thing, of course, is that she carved out this amazing life not only for herself, but for countless others as well.

(As a sort of a little side bar, when you see celeberities, ask yourself these questions: At the end of their road, how many lives will they have really touched? Was their life lived selfishly or did they try to better the lives of others in any way? It’s sort of a sunshine thing - people like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie believe the sun shines only on them. They doubtfully care if anyone else feels its rays or not. But people like Oprah, Bono and Angelina Jolie realize that they are only part of a greater whole, and they want others to feel the sun’s rays as well as them.)

Back to our little group - Saturday, while thoughts of Names were still buzzing around my head, I listened to one of my Whitney Houston CDs. As she and I were belting out “Saving All My Love For You” - I was reminded of just how much talent this lady has. Amazing, amazing, amazing voice. I’m not sure there’ll ever be another one quite like it. And, beauty…oh please! Singers and actresses, compared to Whitney when Whitney was Whitney, only think they’re beautiful. This gal, when sober and sane, is so gorgeous she embarasses herself! And she was always so well spoken, charming and funny in interviews - decent and lovely, inside and out.

Then, Whitney misplaced Whitney and hasn’t found her since. In the 80s, when you heard the name Whitney Houston - you thought of beauty and talent. Someone who all the girls wanted to be and all the boys wanted to be with. Then, the glass slipper fell off and she never seems to have had the good sense to go find the darned thing and put it back on! She’d rather clunk and stumble around. As a fan, I’d love to see her get her act together and make her name mean something worthwhile again.

Other people have done it - the name repair process. Look at the Boston Red Sox, their name once often came along with the word “jinxed”. That didn’t suit them, so they traded it in for “champions.”

Martha Stewart, after her misunderstanding with right and wrong, hasn’t gone into hiding. She’s fighting for respect and, in turn, for her name. I believe that she’ll soon wipe the tarnish off and get that luster back. Why? Because it’s important to her and she’s fighting. My money’s on the fighters, every time.

John Daly’s another fighter. He’s also another one that realizes the sun’s rays are far-reaching. He gives back, and I respect that. He’ll soon have a new show on the Golf Channel called The Daly Planet and I can’t wait to see what all he gets into! He’s made mistakes, but he’s fighting to rise above them. Like Martha, I believe he will.

Personally, I want to see T.O. and Janet Jackson fight. No, not one another, I like Janet too well! Neither of them has, IMO, done anything that horrible or hideous. Bad decisions? Sure, but who (aside from Oprah!) is immune from those? The more time passes without them doing something worthwhile, the more rooted their names will become in the past. They each need to go out and do something right and start fighting for their names.

Imagine what would happen if they got involved with somehting really, really worthwhile - put their time and money into a project that helped others? Everyone would benefit.

Jennifer Aniston’s an example of when your name takes hits and you weren’t the one swinging! No one could be handling themselves any better, though, and the class she’s showing is making her even more fans.

If you look at the list of names at the top, you’ll think of certain words as you read each one. Some good, some bad. The thing is, you and I - on a decidedly lesser scale - are the same way. We have all made our name mean something…..for good or bad. If bad, it’s not too late to do something about it.

I was mending one of my daughter’s pairs of jeans yesterday, where she’d ripped them on a bicycle. I mended that area so tightly that it’s even stronger and better than it was before the damage. A reputation can be mended just as well. It just takes work. And guts.

Make each moment count double,
~Joi

Martin Luther King, Jr., Whitney Houston, Adolph Hitler, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Aniston, Janet Jackson, Mike Tyson, Martha Stewart, T.O., J-Lo, John Daly, Michael Jackson.

Can you imagine being at a dinner and sitting at the table with that group? As long as I got to sit between Oprah and Lincoln, and far away from AH and MJ, I’d flat out enjoy myself. I’d actually pay $$$ to witness a MT meets MS - I don’t know which one would run for the door first!

The reason this dubious little group led the post off is because I’ve been thinking again. Yes, even on a weekend.

I started thinking about Oprah Friday, because my husband was talking to one of our girls about education. He was saying how females had to work twice as hard as males to get as far. Things are getting better in our society, but they’ve by no means arrived. Sad to say, it’s the same with equality of the races - I believe a person who isn’t white has to work twice as hard as well. I was thinking about that and one of my favorite people popped into my mind - Oprah Winfrey. The lady is a black female, meaning that she had to work twice as twice as hard!

Think of the name this lady has made for herself. When you hear or read the name, Oprah Winfrey, you think of a lot of adjectives. And they’re all good. Think about it, hers is one of the few famous names that doesn’t come with baggage. If the only thing anyone could ever say bad about you was that you once battled a weight problem, you’ve done more than well for yourself, and you’ve put pride and dignity on your all-important name.

To really emphasize what I’m saying, think about this: If you were to read in the paper tomorrow that she had been accused of stealing money or cheating on her taxes, you’d never believe it. Your reaction would be like mine would, “Somebody made a mistake”….or….”Somebody sat her up!” I can’t think of anything bad that I’d believe of her. Her reputation is one of fairness, generosity and honesty.

She created her name, wrote it in high places and she lives up to it daily.

Oprah, unlike so many people in or out of the limelight, knows that making and keeping a name for yourself not only is hard work - it’s hard daily work. You don’t do something amazing and then rest underneath your tree of fame. You keep on going, doing one great thing after another - why settle on one tree, anyway, when you can build a forest!

Make each moment count double,
~Joi