A Moonshooters Diary

In my wanderings over thither and yon in the vast realm of the internet , I keep finding many things and people that inspire me to grow... because I figured out that I've still got plenty of time and a bunch of room to do that. I'm not like a potted plant... root bound . Today I'm going to focus on one...Gretchen Rubin and her Happiness Project. She's not only fun to read, but inspiring. In fact she's inspired me to get my own Project off the ground. There are a few things about happines s that I find interesting. 1. I'm the only one that knows me as well as I do, so I'm the only one who knows for sure what makes me happy. 2. If I'm in a mood where I choose not to be happy, God and all his angels aren't going to change it. And if I'm not happy...who wants to be around me? Hey, even I don't want to be around me... but I'm stuck. 3. Happy is a lot more fun than most of the other moods I can think of. And I love to have fun... so my goal is

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. Henry Ford Hmmm. Maybe that's why I still feel so young. There's not a day goes by that I don't learn something new. I figure as soon as I get to the point where there's nothing else I want to learn, then I'll be a Mister Know-It-All and stop growing...and I can't see that happening. In this lifetime anyhow. Now my body has different ideas about the 'youth' thingy. I look in the mirror in the morning and there's the unanswered question staring me in the face. Who are you and what happened to John? It's not exactly what I say every day...but the question does pop up now and again. So am I young? You betcha. I still 'hear the bell' (Polar Express) and I still believe

The other night I had something happen that I can laugh at because it happened to me. At the time I would have numbered somewhere among my 'most embarassing moments.' But looking back, it's yet another reason to count my blessings. This is what happened. I was taking the baby, aka Cherokee Elvis, out to the backyard to pee and... whatever. It was just as the 11 o'clock news was starting. Carrying him in my arms, I opened the back door to our enclosed porch, stepped on the one step I had to get down and...kawabanga kaboom. I slipped on the ice and fell onto the blacktop on my patookis. My first thought? " God, I hope no one sees me like this." Huh? Now I knew I had hit my head on the siding because I felt it, my pants are covered with snow, I'm sitting on the ground...and I'm worried about my 'image'? Do you know what the baby was doing while I was sitting there? The little twerp was not paying a bit of attention to me. He was s

I have been trying to find out who said, "Live like it's your last day on earth and learn like you will live forever." Can anyone help me out on that one? I like it. If today were me 'last day', what would I choose? Happiness would be my first choice. Of course I would like my last day to be a happy one...like I should want it to be unhappy? Duh. But that is only the choice that I can make because I'm the only one who knows for sure what makes me happy. I think a lot of times that I've lost the power to be happy because I've looked for something or someone outside myself to make me happy. When 'it or they' don't come through with the goods as I expected...then I walk around with a puss on my face and am disappointed. Of course, like 'it or they' let me down. Now this is the way I'm figuring it out. If, when I wake up in the morning and decide before my tootsies hit the floor, that I'm going to be happy...hey, I&

Nope...you have not reached another 'cooking show' with oodles and oodles of fun recipes. This is my idea of how to handle what's on my plate for today. First...let me digress for a moment. Or maybe two moments. I have found from growing up in Cleveland, Ohio beside the beautiful Lake Erie and Cuyahoga River (before it became so polluted that it caught on fire) that crappy/crappie...although they sound the same have two separate meanings. They also have something in common. Unless handled properly...they both stink. Crappie is the name of a fish that looks like this. Here goes....I'm pulling out my magic wand and am going to produce a picture of one and insert it right here. Whooosh. (A picture's worth a thousand words 'they' tell me). THIS IS THE SPOT WHERE THE STUPID PICTURE IS SUPPOSED TO BE. Hmmm, my whooooosh didn't work this time...I'll have to work on it. LOL In the meantime, take my word for it. A crappie is a 'fish'

Do you like the way Shakespeare writes? I'm going to have to fess up to that one. I don't. I had problems reading his works when I was in high school...and now more that 50 years later, still the same problem. It's just too much work to translate English into English. I admire those that can. I consider myself to be 'well-read' but after trying to tackle his 'stuff' my image as an intellectual goes...poof...right out the window. Yet...some of his short quotes stick with me. Like the one from Hamlet... "To BE or not to BE, that is the question." I really like that one...because I can play with it. To be or not to be... what ? Now, the word BE means in the present. Not 'was'...not 'will be'...but what is happening NOW. It reflects the choices I make every day. And let's face it...the only time I can make any sort of a choice is in the PRESENT. There's another quote that just popped into m

The ring that I wear on my right pinky finger draws occasional coments from people because it is unusual. The background is an elongated oval and it has two masks on it. The top one is comedy with the upturned mouth :) and the other tragedy with the :( ...sourpuss expression. Back in my casino dealer days I used to have a collection of rings that I used to change when I changed my watches. Hey, ...a guy who's stuck in a uniform has to change his 'outfit' somehow. :) . The were different and while I was dealing up the cards occasionally they would start a conversation. The one that I'm talking has now become symbolic. At one time many moons ago, I spent four or five seasons volunteering at the Reno Little Theater. The Greeks used comedy/tragedy mask to depict drama...and it's cool to have it on a ring. My ring seems to jump out at people who are interested in the theater. Wallah...a conversation begins. It also represents 'life' to me. That's th

Ever since my mama taught me the ABC's, I've found them to be one of my favorite toys to play with. Then came reading. If D O G were turned around it would spell G O D. That was my first profound thought that I remember. Somewhere along the line, and I'm clueless as to when, I realized that all the words in the English language were made up of only 26 letters. And they could all be found in the dictionary. Hmmm. The parents of an inquisitive only child find ways of keeping the little guy occupied while they were doing the adult things necessary in life. As soon as I learned to read, they bought me my first dictionary. If I caught them at a 'bad time' when they couldn't stop to answer the endless 'what does that mean'...they resorted to saying, "Look it up". Soon I found out that it was easier to do that then to put my book down and go chasing around to find someone to tell me. I've be doing that ever since. The fun part is , I

Our baby...Cherokee by name is one smart cookie. He has been easy to train since the day we brought him home eight years ago. The day after he arrived in our home he learned not to 'go' in the house. We take him out on a leash and he does his business in the yard. He sits by the door and in his cute little way announces that he has to take a walk. That is a mixed blessing. It's great when the weather is good, but not so hot when it's snowing out. I tried before the first winter came to paper train him to go on the back porch. But the pooch has a mind of his own. His answer was to look at me like I'd lost my marbles...and head for the door. Nuh, uh. He wasn't havening any of it. So outside it is...rain or shine, but NEVER in the house. I've tried to teach him to be bilingual. I sat him on my lap and told him to say 'meow'. He looked at my, again like I was nuts and said...nothing. After a few language lessons I made progress. No he can get close. He&#

Since moving to New England, winter has come to mean several things to me. One of them is...it's time to put away the shorts and sandals and haul out the boots and long underwear...just in case. Why do I wear shorts at my age? Sylvia says that I have good legs...for a guy. ' If 'ya got it, flaunt it' I always say. And besides...they're comfortable. Long underwear on the other hand is also comfortable...once they're on. But trying to get into the puppies isn't. I have big feet, long legs and takes a lot of grunting to get them on. Today is another 'long-underwear day, the same as yesterday. But I'm a quick learner. Guess what I'm wearing. Yesterday began the same as usual...in the morning. It was a work day at my day job. Because I'm not about to turn into a mountain goat and take the shortcut...up and down hills...to get there by walking, I take the long way around via two buses. The tricky part is making connections. If I mi

There was I time in my life, when I thought that patience was my strong suit. Not any more. Now that I'm journeying into the self-discovery thingy I find that that 'suit' has a lot of wrinkles. Some of the things that I AM patient with does take the patience of a Saint but I'm afeard my halo has a wee but of tarnish on it, too. The conclusion I've drawn on that idea is that I'm not perfect...like it took a rocket scientist to figure that out. For the most part, learning for me is fun. But if it comes to learning something that I don't find interesting or fun or useful, my patience takes a nose dive off the cliff and I lose it. As I see it, since I'm living in a fast paced universe and as long as I'm here, why not have as much fun as I can with my free time. 'Cause having fun takes no patience at all. Rosalind Russell's line about 'life being a banquet'...from the movie Auntie Mame, got me to thinking. She's right. A lot of my tw

One of the most fun projects I can think of that makes me happy is called Looking Stuff Up . I'm a guy who finds more questions in the answers I get than most. I'm curious about...everything. Been that way since I was old enough to ask questions. Then when I find something cool...or I think is cool, I like to share it. That hasn't changed either. Time for sharing. The Happiness Project is the name of a book by author, Gretchen Rubin. Last week while going through my email I found one refering to the name in the subject line. Sometimes my 'mouse' seems to have a mind of it's own and I find myself in places that range from...oh, well to WOW. Gretchen's blog was a 5 star WOW. I loved it. At the risk of sounding like some sort of an informed critic...which I'm not, I'll tell you what I found. The blog is a year's collection of information that the author based her book on. Plus personal insights and tips on being happy. If