Excess (with the shiny comes the tarnished)

My last blog was about an average couple doing something unexpected and really quite nice.....this one is about something that hopped off the headlines and offended me this morning.






Richest Man In India Builds $1 Billion House


What would you do if your net worth were $22 billion? If you were Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani, you might build yourself the world's most expensive home. As designed by Chicago architecture firm Perkins + Will, the in-progress glass-tower is estimated at $1 billion and is known to feature, at the least, a health club, multiple "safe" rooms, 3 helipads, 168 parking spaces and require 600 servants to maintain, and physically, the structure stands at 27 stories, or 570 feet tall.

According to the Mumbai Mirror, the tower will also contain:

Floor for car maintenance Sources said the Ambanis would prefer to have all their cars serviced and maintained at an in-house service centre. This centre will be set up on the seventh floor.

Entertainment floor
The eighth floor will have an entertainment centre comprising a mini-theatre with a seating capacity of 50.

Balconies with gardens
The rooftop of the mini-theatre will serve as a garden, and immediately above that, three more balconies with terrace gardens will be independent floors.

The 'health' floors
While the ninth floor will a 'refuge' floor -- meant to be used for rescue in emergencies -- two floors above that will be set aside for 'health.' One of these will have facilities for athletics and a swimming pool, while the other will have a health club complete with the latest gym equipment.

Family
The four floors at the top, that will provide a view of the Arabian Sea and a superb view of the city's skyline, will be for Mukesh, his wife Neeta, their three children and Mukesh's mother Kokilaben.

Air space floor
According to the plan, two floors above the family's residence will be set aside as maintenance areas, and on top of that will be an "air space floor," which will act as a control room for helicopters landing on the helipad above.


Watch a video of the tower's progress here:



Granted...the economic stimulus from building this monster will help the country. Plus it's creating 600 jobs.....servant class jobs in a very class/caste based society.....but SERIOUSLY!!! a billion dollars for a house...1 house...when you have filth filled ghettos and starving children on the streets?

Hopefully he'll be able to look out the window of the huge tower and actually SEE the condition of his people.....then maybe he'll use some of that other 20+billion dollars he has in his larder to actually make a difference.


he could have spent a million or 10 on a mighty fine mansion..then used the rest feed, house and educate a lot of children.

Random Acts of Shiny

Before I hop back up on my soapbox I'd like to share one of those positive ripples I was talking about earlier in this blog with you.





Is that not the BEST wedding entrance ever? Those are people who really understand taking joy in the moment.

it gets better....


Jill and Kevin met when Kevin’s childhood friend, Jeff, married Jill’s college friend, Ann, in 2005. They were both in the wedding party. Jill could not resist Kevin’s wit and charm. Kevin could not resist Jill’s intellect, nor her remarkable dance moves.

SO wedding's have a very special level of meaning for both of them...

The response to the video was so overwhelming they decided that they'd try to direct all of that outpoured energy into a positive direction

so they posted a website http://www.jkweddingdance.com/


The couple writes:

We have been through a lot in life, but have come through each experience stronger and more in love with each other. Our experience since we posted the video has been incredible. We would never have expected this response to our wedding entrance in a million years.

We hope to direct this positivity to a good cause. Due to the circumstances surrounding the song in our wedding video, we have chosen the Sheila Wellstone Institute

Sheila Wellstone was an advocate, organizer, and national champion in the effort to end domestic violence in our communities.

We are so grateful for all the love, kind words, and joy that have been shared with us from around the world. It has moved us deeply and filled our hearts.

If you would like to contact us, email jkweddinginfo@gmail.com

Never stop dancing.

With so much love,

Jill and Kevin



.The "circumstances" refer to the domestic abuse allegations directed toward Chris Brown, who sang the song in the video.


So Kudos to J&K for sharing their joy.....and then taking it a step further


Keep dancing indeed.

That's not fair...(Dangerous Beauty part 2 will happen later)

I hear that phrase almost every day while I'm sitting at my desk working - my front porch and yard seems to be the gathering place of choice for the neighborhood kids and they are all about the fairness.

No, I don't have children....but they have me. My upstairs neighbor has a 6 year old and the 'hood' (I mean that literally) that I live in is full of youngsters. My yard and porch are their playground of choice. I don't mind...I love hearing them laugh and play (even though they do occassionally sound like a zoo full of howler monkeys in full voice). As long as they obey my rules (1- Be kind to one another 2- no hitting or killing each other..it makes a mess and I don't want to clean it up 3- no name calling and 4 - pick up after yourselves) it's a mutually beneficial arraingement.


Any hoo..
I was working (a state that I pretty much stay in) yesterday when I overheard my little neighbor complaining very loudly about the manifest unfairness of one of her playmates.

Ari and ZuZu( and yes..the child's middle name is Petals...I shit thee not) were arguing over a trinket.

Ari had given ZuZu said trinket a couple of weeks ago and wanted it back. ZuZu said no. Ari pointed out that it was really her trinket and that if she didn't get it back that she'd be in big trouble because her Mama was asking about said item. Zuzu said that she'd given ZayZay ( what?! I swear to god I don't make these names up!)the trinket in exchange for a trip down the hill in his new ride (a shopping cart tricked out with cars and streamers)At which point Ariana burst out with the "that's not fair!" Zuzu paused to think about it for a moment then said " Sure is fair! it was mine...so I could do whatever I want with it. It's all on you if you get into trouble"

That got me thinking about the nature of fairness

How many times a day do you say or think "that's not fair"

I do it all the time..because..hey..face it..life's not fair.

Can you imagine what it would be like if it were?

On one hand I'm practically drooling at that scenario, on the other....I look at the amount of grace that various friends and I have recieved and am profoundly grateful for some of that lack of fairness.


To be fair...hmm interesting choice of word
I suppose I should pick up Ms.Dictionary and define fairness and then break it down.

fair 1 (fâr)
adj. fair·er, fair·est

1. Of pleasing appearance, especially because of a pure or fresh quality; comely.

Hmmm.. that sounds rather nice. I mean..who doesn't want things to be pure fresh and comely...of course then you get into the question of who gets to define what's comely




2.a. Light in color, especially blond: fair hair.b. Of light complexion: fair skin.

Okay..now that doesn't sound good at all....not that I have anything against pale blonds I just prefer things the way they are with all the wonderful variety. Can you imagine a world filled with nothing but pale skinned light haired people? It would be like visual custard.


3. Free of clouds or storms; clear and sunny: fair skies.

That'd be nice for a few days...but without the rainy days we'd die out pretty quickly..imagine nothing but sun day after day after day. No snow angels, no amazing storms, no rainbows, no cloud animals - no....I don't think I'd like that at all.


4. Free of blemishes or stains; clean and pure


Okay, we're back to custard. Now I like custard..but all custard...all the time?

5. Promising; likely: We're in a fair way to succeed.

That one's not so bad. but if it's always fair... as in you're always likely to succeed...wouldn't some of the joy go out of the success?

6.
a. Having or exhibiting a disposition that is free of favoritism or bias; impartial: a fair mediator.
b. Just to all parties; equitable: a compromise that is fair to both factions.



I like that definition! even though there are times when I really do WANT there to be bias, I mean who doesn't like having things go their way? But..can you imagine if the world and powers that be were equitable to all? that would be a marvel.

Synonyms: just, equitable, impartial, unprejudiced, unbiased, objective, dispassionate
These adjectives mean free from favoritism, self-interest, or preference in judgment.

Just stresses conformity with what is legally or ethically right or proper: "a just and lasting peace" (Abraham Lincoln).

Equitable implies justice dictated by reason, conscience, and a natural sense of what is fair: an equitable distribution of gifts among the children.

Impartial emphasizes lack of favoritism: "the cold neutrality of an impartial judge" (Edmund Burke).

Unprejudiced means without preconceived opinions or judgments: an unprejudiced evaluation of the proposal.

Unbiased implies absence of a preference or partiality: gave an unbiased account of her family problems.

Objective implies detachment that permits impersonal observation and judgment: an objective jury.


hmmm can we pick an choose which meanings of Fair we want to apply?
No...we can't.
Life's like that.

Life isn't fair...

If life were fair I have friends who would be dead 20 times over because they've done some stupid shit and in all fairness should have paid the full measure of consequences for it.
....I'm glad they didn't

Hell..by that token I'm pretty glad that life isn't fair for me - otherwise things might be much much worse. I'm by no means Atilla the hun but if I'd gotten my just deserts a time or two I assure you I wouldn't be sitting here typing out this blog.


Sometimes I'm profoundly grateful for life not being fair.

Dangerous Beauty... part one

I look around me and I see women putting themselves through absolute hell to reach and maintain a beauty ideal that isn't even remotely based on reality. We're a product of mass brain washing...
The media bombards us daily with images of what we're supposed to look like. They show us an ideal form that most of us can't even begin to hope to attain.

Actresses and models - our visual rolemodels have personal trainers, diets a pampered racehorse would find restrictive (usually prepared for them by a chef), a fleet of hair stylists, makeup artists, clothing designers, dressers, plastic surgeons, foundation garments that lift, seperate, grind together push pull tape and tug their bodies into the "perfect" most desireable configuratation. ....The images we see on our screens and in our magazines are polished within an inch of their lives before they make it to the screen, expertly lit and shot and then taken into computers and every flaw imagined and real is airbrushed out before we see them and then they're held up as "the norm" what a real woman should look like....


We see these images...they become our emotional holy grail.
Men want them (I'm writing this from a female heterocentric perspective I know men have their own visual demons)...women want to be them and both are doomed to disappointment because they're chasing illusions. They're questing for phantoms created on a computer screen...or on the operating table..or in the makeup chair.


How can the average woman/mother/teenager even begin to hope to live up to such a rarified ideal? We have only ourselves to rely on...no support crews of groomers...usually limited budgets.. and photoshopping just isn't usefull when you're walking around on the street.


Normal people ....regular every day folks...have wrinkles...they have expressions...they have flaws..they have flab...gravity works.

And in each and every form there is some beauty..simply because that is the person as time made them.

I'd like to think that we're more than the sum of our parts.
I know that I'm more than just a collection of body parts - hell if it came down to just my body parts by todays standards I would be one of the most unlovable people on the planet - I'm morbidly obese, I have scars, no breasts to speak of (and what I have are proof positive that gravity works), my hair is an unruly mess of half curly half straight reddish mud brown. I wear glasses, I have uneven teeth, I'm plain as toast without butter and I'm short.

Housed in that less than cosmo perfect shell is a sharp mind a warped sense of humor a loyal heart, a smidge of talent and a collection of skills that I'm beginning to note are not commonplace.

Yes, I have image issues...mostly brought on by people treating me like a second class citizen. Some brought on because despite being a semi-rational human being I buy into the hype. It's hard to feel like a human being when people turn their noses up at you.


then part of me questions..what's wrong with simply being as god and time made you?

and now for something completely different

I'm working on a nice meaty blog post about beauty and how our expectations have been warped by the media but it's taking me a bit of time to put together...in the interim...check this out!






Now pardon me while I face the west and bow to a true photoshop master.

.....I have been outshopped.

Faith...

With love understanding ...and a bit of faith we can work marvels.




This is a story about a dog who was born on Christmas Eve in 2002. she was born with 3 legs - 2 healthy hind legs and 1 abnormal front leg which needed to be amputated. Of course she couldn't walk. Her first owner also did not think that she could survive. Therefore, he was thinking of putting her to sleep..

At this time, her present owner Jude Stringfellow came into her life and wanted to take care of her. She was determined to teach and train this dog to walk by herself
She thought, all we need is a little faith. Therefore she named her 'Faith.'


In the beginning, she put Faith on a skate board to let her feel the motion - it wasn't the best solution because Faith kept falling off. Later she used peanut butter on a spoon as a lure and to reward her for standing up and jumping around. Even the other dogs at home helped to encourage her to walk. Amazingly, after only 6 months, like a miracle, Faith learned to balance on her 2 hind legs and jumped to move forward. She now walks upright like a human being and brings joy to everyone who meets her.


She's a living breathing illustration on overcoming hard hands you're dealt. In life there are always hardship.

Perhaps all you really need to get over those hurdles is a little love, some hard work and ...someone to believe that you CAN do it.


Life is a continual demonstration of the power of thinking positive and having faith.

Believe in yourself.

Never lose faith.

enough...

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear..

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good- bye.


I wish you...enough.

I've never wanted to hurl a teacup at the Mona Lisa...

I was just reading the headlines while having my morning grapefruit juice (hey don't judge.. it's vitamen C and better for me than the vat of coffee that I really WANT to drink.) and it seems that yet another loony has attacked a piece of art. Fortunately Mona is behind bullet proof glass so she was completely unphased by this latest attack.

Look at her though...she's all caged up. That's rather sad for all the art students who'd really love to get close enough to check out the brush strokes.

For some reason throughout history there have been people who just go off their nut and suddenly attack art. Mona's glass cage came about after someone threw acid on her back in the 50s.





The "Night Watch" by Rembrandt is another famous work that seems to inspire violence. It's been slashed, stabbed and given the acid treatment too - fortunately Rembrandt used a whole lot of varnish and the acid attack merely brushed the surface of that and ultimately resulted in the piece being fully restored ( whoo hoo..thank you crazy person!).


What can I say? Art provokes response....at least successful art does.

Go to your local museum ..or if you don't have a museum handy go online and browse for art - it's all over the place.

Look carefully...you'll find pieces that move you (hopefully not to vandalism)

Art is the way we chronicle our lives..sometimes its what we use to make sense of things that are too outrageous for putting into words. It's a means of expressing outrage. Images that may outlast the history books biased reporting of "the facts"



One of my personal favorites is "keep your coins..I want change"

preach it brother.

Ripples in a pond.

I suppose you could say that this blog is my pebble into the virtual pond.
It's an imperfect metaphor but have you ever dropped a pebble into a pond or watched as rain fell into a puddle each drop makes ripples that spread out getting progressively larger.

Each person in the world represents a portion of the greater whole... we're all drops of water in the bucket..pebbles tossed into the pond. our actions no matter how insignificant produce ripples that whether we see them or not affect the world around us. Each and every single drop makes a difference and adds to the whole ...every pebble causes change...

Some pebbles/drops are bigger than others(Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, Hitler, Jim Jones, Ghengis Khan, Nelson Mandella) those usually make a splash and cause bigger deeper ripples. There are both good and bad pebbles/drops, it's up to each of us what sort we become...

Free will, baby - it's God's greatest gift and biggest cosmic practical joke (and lets just be clear here...by God I mean the supreme creator of the whole she-bang as I personally see him/her....your God or lack thereof is your own personal choice and I'm cool with that ... it's all good. At the end of the day it comes down to whatever gets you through the hard times...and I just happen to believe in God and mine has a wicked warped sense of humor- just look at the duckbilled platypus, sex and the Bush family - somebody somewhere is laughing their ass off while we poor hairless monkeys scramble about trying to figure those things out.).


But that's a whole nother post... for now it's all about ripples.


Each drop/pebble causes a ripple..each ripple spreads out growing larger as it goes -
You want to test that?
Do something kind for a complete stranger with absolutely no expectation of thanks or even acknowledgement.
You'll feel great...and so will they...odds are pretty good you'll enjoy the feeling so much you'll want to do it again...congrats..you've started a ripple in your own internal water... odds are good that the person you helped will go on and either help someone else or they'll tell someone about the nice stranger who helped them out and brightened their day and that person will smile and carry the story and sometimes the sentiment and action on with them.
At the very least you'll most likely each go away from the moment smiling...the funny thing about smiles is that when you give them ...they get returned and spread.


One of the coolest illustrations of rippling has to be Juan Mann's Hug Project



It never fails to make me smile - see there..one pebble..causing a ripple...that caused another.
To find out more about Juan - go to his site
http://juanmann.com/



I think that the point of this post is to show that one person can make some sort of difference in the world...it's up to the individual to decide what he or she wants that difference to be - positive or negative.

Liberty and justice ...for all

There are days when I think back on my experiences in grade school and reflect on the simple things like saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag every morning.

I wonder if we shouldn't start saying that pledge again.

We may want to...

if for no other reason than to imprint the words "With Liberty and Justice for all" on the hearts and minds of our country's future leaders.

Have you ever thought about those words? They're so simple and yet so very powerful
Lets break them down.

Liberty
Do a quick google and you'll find that

Liberty means a lot of things but the ones that stand out to me the most are

* autonomy: immunity from arbitrary exercise of authority: political independence

* freedom of choice; "liberty of opinion"; "liberty of worship"; "liberty--perfect liberty--to think or feel or do just as one pleases"; "at liberty to choose whatever occupation one wishes"


* personal freedom from servitude or confinement or oppression


Wow, pretty powerful stuff...and we used to pledge every day that our country stood for Liberty.

Liberty and justice...

Not just one but both

Liberty...
AND
Justice

Like Liberty...justice has a lot of flavors
one dictionary defines it thus : the quality of being righteous or fair. Many philosophers, theologians and others define justice as the proper ordering of people and things. Behind the concept of justice lies the notion of balance--that people get what is right, fair and appropriate. Justice also includes the notion of upholding the law, as in the work of police, judges and the court.

When I was a child some 40 years ago... we pledged every single day to stand in support of a flag that stood for Liberty and Justice
for all...not just one...ALL.
Then somewhere along the way someone...somewhere decided that a pledge that said we'd stand in support of liberty and justice was somehow stunting someones rights...so the pledge stopped being said.
and that makes me sad.

Right now we really need to stand and pledge our support for liberty and justice...for all
Before someone nips in and takes those basic rights from us.

Every person has the right to liberty...every person has the right to justice...and our constitution even grants every American the right to pursue happiness (not to have it given to you on a platter..but by golly you can sure pursue it and if you manage to chase it down and catch it...yay you!).