A Moonshooters Diary

One of the funnest things I can think of are some of the quotes that I come across that I find interesting. This is one of them. "Finally I am coming to the conclusion that my highest ambition is to be what I am. That I will never fulfill my obligation to surpass myself unless I first accept myself and if I accept myself fully in the right way, I will already have surpassed myself." That's pretty powerful and profound stuff. I like it. I had to read it a couple of times to understand what the dude was talking about. I'll have to admit that I do have a few duuuuuuh moments every now and again. But sometimes...since I'm not an expert on anything , I have to put my own meaning into the words I read. My conclusion, (and 'old Tommy boy' was talking about himself when he wrote it) was that unless I accept myself today just as I am, I will have no regrets about the past, because it's the choices that I made that make me who I am today It took me 71 plu...

Today I was reading a blog written by someone who described several time periods in their life and it got me to thinking about...my hair. I was one of those dudes who was a teenager in the 50's and boy oh boy, hair for a guy back then was a trip. This is what I was doing with Brylcream in 1954 when I was 16. The ads sang, Brylcream...a little dab'll do ya. Yeah, right. Maybe for some guys...but not for me. My folks kept asking me if I was eating the stuff 'cause I kept running out. The top right picture was when I was 18 and into the bird's nest style . My hair dressing of choice was called Dixie Peach. It was a thick, perfumey substance that held my unruly hair in place. And took forever to shampoo out and get off my hands. But it made the half-hour I spent every morning combing every hair into place worth it. It wasn't vanity...it was styling. By the time I turned 19 (top left) I was in the Air Force and had to go shorter and more conservative. VO5 was my hairdre...

One of the fun things I love to do is share some of the ideas that pop into my head. Yesterday, I was sitting at the kitchen table sipping a cup of coffee and I realized what the saying meant, "Live today like it was your last day on earth." Hmmmm. Interesting. Then the light bulb came on. I understood...at least I thought I did. So what does it mean to me? Simple. PAY ATTENTION TO TODAY...'cause it's going to be the last today that I can scratch off the calendar. As I see it, life is like a calendar. There are 30 days in a month...roughly. Hey, some months have more days, some less with just enough variation to keep screw up my bill paying schedule. That's what they must mean by flex-pay. But like clockwork, life comes to me in handy little bite-sized, 24 hour pieces. It's a lot handier that way and a sometimes a heck of a lot less scarier. A whole MONTH or WEEK at a time is a heck of a mouthful to digest or to chew on at one time. I'm not into either h...

Among the many things I think about is why men and women have such a hard time understanding each other sometime. After all, they're are each the flip side of the 'human coin'...like nickles. Then I thought some more. Which is more valuable? They are both the same. One wouldn't be worth a nickle without the other. But they see each other differently. Why? Because they are different and THINK different. Now this is just a guy's opinion...for what it's worth. As I see it, and it's only a theory mind you, the problem lies in perception and communication. A guy may see things one way, whereas a gal might see it another and many times they argue about who's right and who's wrong...and they're both looking at the same thing and they are both right...or in some cases both wrong. I think if two people of the opposite sex could sit down and communicate to each other how they see it and the other LISTENS and then they reverse the roles, then ma...

When I was a kid I used to have my heros. For the guys I had Superman, Batman, Spiderman. And being nonsexist from an early age, I also had heroines. Wonder Woman was no slouch and Sheena, Queen of the Jungle ran a close second. Now that I'm supposed to be an adult...at least I look like one, that kinda faded into the past. I like certain people for certain reasons but it's not the same... until I started reading some of Will Rogers stuff. What a hoot and a half he is. That's who I want to write like 'when I grow up'...if I ever do. By coincidence he came from the same planet as I do...Earth, but he had Superman powers to make people laugh. He describes his background. "My relatives didn't come over on the Mayflower but they were there to greet the ship when it docked." Hey...I think that's funny. He had another one that goes..."There are three kinds of men. Those that read. A few who learn by observing. And the rest who have to pee...

March 17th is a day of fun and laughter, thanks to St. Patrick and the Irish. Hey, today...everyone (almost) is Irish. Me included. While I was doodely bopping around the web I found this little guy who says it best... Wiley.

Does paying bills really make me happy? Sure it does. I used to think that bill paying time was a chore that I didn't particularly like. In fact, I hated it. There were so many other things I could be doing with my time...and my money. Now that I'm a little older (but not much wiser, LOL) I've had a change in thought about the whole deal. I started thinking about it. Bills are those annoying thingies that come attached to something I either use, want or need. Hmmm. Bills are a fact of life in a cash and carry world. No bills...no attachments? Hey, that's like throwing the baby out with the bath water if I don't want bills. So I separated the bills into two stacks. The good kind and the not-so-good kind. Paid and unpaid. Now I can have fun sitting down and writing the checks to put some of my bills in the History file in my drawer. And the upside of the whole thing is that in order to pay anything, I already have to have the money and I don't have to worry abou...

Every now and again I come up with a brilliant idea. At least at the time, I think so. Now I have a pretty smart dog. Cherokee Elvis is a Bichon Frise and is going to have his...holy toledo, his eighth birthday next month. We communicate pretty well, considering, but he has one annoying habit. He barks at the time I'm least expecting it and I jump a mile One day, I had him sitting on my lap and I asked him, Why do you bark like that and scare the crap out of me? Just like he knew what I was saying, he turned around and looked my square in the eye...and if I could read his mind at that moment, I imagine his answer would be, Because I'm a dog, you idiot. What do you expect me to do? Meow? That gave me an idea. I'll teach him to be bi-lingual. So I'd sit him on my lap like I had good sense and say to the smart dog...meeeeeooow. At first he just looked at me like I was nuts. No response. But after a time he'd sit by the hall door, screw up his mouth and go....mmmrrrrr...

"Life is a banquet and most poor fools are starving to death." I first saw the movie, Auntie Mame, in the late '50's. Am I dating myself? So, I'll risk it. Anyhow that was and is one of my favorite 'high energy' movies. Rosalind Russell did a fantastic job of portraying Mame Dennise, an out of work woman at the beginning of the depression. She was a woman saw life differently than most and wasn't afraid to speak her mind. She went down paths where 'angels feared to tread' and spoke lines that really floated...and still float my cork. If I were going to throw a party, Rosalind Russell as Mame Dennis would be one of the guests I would invite to my 'banquet.' There are so many things that I enjoy today that haven't changed. I love to be happy because I love the energy it gives me. And I don't need an energy drink to do it. As I look at the 'banquet table' life sets before me TODAY... 'cause that's all I've g...

Every morning that I wake up is a surprise...a new adventure. Maybe it looks like 'the same old stuff, different day', but I'm discovering that it's 'new stuff' different day. While I was sleeping something changed. At times I have to look very closely in order to see it...but the change is there. For the longest time I tried to figure it out. Then it hit me. The ahaaaa moment. What changed? ME Heh, heh. I've grown...not much in some stuff but by leaps and bounds in others. I love growing. Older...and stronger. Well, mebbe not physically...but stronger. I love the saying that says, "...anything that doesn't kill you makes you stronger." I'm here as living proof that I made it. Now I've got something to work with. And I love the idea that I'm going to look for all the things that I can to make me happy. This morning I woke up to snow. Blahhhhh. But then I live in New England so what can I expect? Florida...