The Game of Life

The present moment is the field on which the game of life happens. (Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth, p. 115)

It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another, but above all, try something. (Franklin D. Roosevelt in The Book Of Choices, by Mike Magee, M.D., p. 146)

Too often those who should be leading are standing in the way. (Warren W. Wiersbe, Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, p. 252)

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Cyndi and I went for a nice fifty-minute, four-lap walk at Schrom Park yesterday. This was my first walk at the park this year.

I updated my music catalog file yesterday. I was surprised at how many CDs didn't have a number assigned yet. This morning I posted the last five CDs to the catalog I keep on my computer.

Last night I listened to the two Renee Fleming CDs I bought. On her By Request album I really like the Bachianas brasileiras No. 5: Aria (Cantilena) by Villa-Lobos. It's amazing how many interesting used CDs are available for $2.00 or less.

Mr. Dickie
28/Feb/2011 8:02

The Voice In The Head

The voice in the head tells a story that the body believes in and reacts to. Those reactions are the emotions. (Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth, p. 135)

If you're supposed to do something - stop thinking about doing it and DO IT! (Steve Case, Everything Counts, 20 February)

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During the afternoon yesterday the weather was nice. Melva and I went for a walk in the neighborhood. We are one of the few couples who do this. Afterward we went to the double thrift store on New Hampshire Avenue. I hit the CD jackpot again. I spent $12.28 and came home with ten CDs. It's time to update my music catalog again.

• Josh Groban - Closer - $1.91
• 101 Strings - Love Collection (3 discs) - $1.91
• Aaron Tippin - Read Between the Lines - $1.41
• Karrin Allyson - Azure Te - $1.41
• Anna Netrebko - Opera Arias - $1.41
• Renee Fleming - Verisom - $1.41
• Renee Fleming - By Request - $1.41
• Pinchas Zukerman and St. Paul Chamber - Vivaldi - Four Seasons - $1.41

I also purchased a two-CD National Geographic Trip Planner for 80 cents. There are photos on one of the CDs that can be used without installing the software.

I posted a Most Wanted piece about one of the Peter Yohos to MyBox. Before the day was over I received responses from Tim Yoho and Vernon Anderson telling me where he fits into the Yoho family tree. I'm going to add their comments to that webpage and post it again.

Mr. Dickie
27/Feb/2011 7:21

Clutter

Today make a sincere effort to eliminate errors... (Helen Steiner Rice, From The Heart, 23 January)

In what ways can you clear the clutter and begin living as if every moment matters? (The Upper Room Disciplines - 2003, 23 January) 26/Feb/2011 8:11

One Of These Days

One of these days is none of these days. (English Proverb in The Book of Choices by Mike Magee, M.D., p. 67)

Today accomplish at least one act of kindness no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. (Helen Steiner Rice, From The Heart, 22 January)

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Yesterday I made three new Facebook friends: a niece in Panama; a distant cousin in Illinois; and a Yoho researcher in Ohio. I haven't met any of them face to face. I'm looking forward to renewing my acquaintance with my genealogy researcher friend and to getting to know my two relatives better.

Mr. Dickie
25/Feb/2011 8:22

Team Work

... there's a dark side to being defined as a "team member." We can abandon common sense and lose creative self-reliance if we let ourselves be completely swallowed up by any team or company.
(Earnie Larsen and Carol Hegarty, Believing In Myself,24 February) 24/Feb/2011 8:27

A Little Story

Many people don't realize until they are on their deathbed and everything external falls away that "no thing" ever had anything to do with who they are. (Eckhart Tolle, The New Earth, p. 43)

Most people are so completely identified with the voice in the head -- the incessant stream of involuntary and compulsive thinking and the emotions that accompany it -- that we may describe them as being possessed by their mind. (Eckhart Tolle, The New Earth, p. 59)

Every complaint is a little story the mind makes up that you completely believe in. Whether you complain aloud or only in thought makes no difference. (Eckhart Tolle, The New Earth, p. 61) 23/Feb/2011 7:43

Humility

Humility is the source of all true greatness: pride is ever impatient, ready to be offended. He who thinks nothing is due to him, never thinks himself ill-treated. (Fenelon in Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, by Warren W. Wiersbe, p. 276)

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Last night Melva drove home from work with ice freezing on the car and windshield. During the night some snow fell on top of the frozen rain and sleet. Today the federal government granted liberal leave, the county schools closed. Cyndi was ready to go to the subway earlier than usual. I was doing my morning reading and didn't go out to warm up the minivan. I decided to use Melva's car because it was under the carport. Traffic was light going down the hill and coming back up. The road surface of the hill was a little slipper. Route 450 was clear. The temperature is supposed to warm by noon. I decided to just let the sun melt the ice off the minivan. Melva has a work meeting at 11:00 a.m. She shouldn't have any trouble getting there.

I'm posting some of my descendant charts in the HTML format to MyBox where I can share them with folks I know. Yesterday I posted eleven obituaries to my obituary blog. There are about another thirty-six in the set I found.

Mr. Dickie
22/Feb/2011 8:33

Ego

Many mental disorders consist of the same egoistic traits that operate in a normal person, except that they have become so pronounced that their pathological nature is now obvious to anyone, except the sufferer. ...

The stronger the ego in you, the more likely it is that in your perception other people are the main source of problems in your life. It is also more than likely that you will make life difficult for others. But, of course, you won't be able to see that. It is always others who seem to be doing it to you.
(Eckhart Tolle, The New Earth, p. 118-119) 21/Feb/2011 20:57

Living On Purpose

Adhere to your purpose and you will soon feel as well as you ever did. On the contrary, if you falter, and give up, you will lose the power of keeping any resolution, and will regret it all your life. ... Stick to your purpose. (Abraham Lincoln, letter to Quintin Campbell, 28 Jun 1862)

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The high winds yesterday got under the shingles on the west side of our house and did some damage. I wonder if that is a sign that the entire roof is failing. I guess I'll find out when I get someone to come and take a look this week.

This morning I saw three robins in the front yard.

Melva finished a quilt project. I helped by doing the printing for the label she affixed to the quilt. We took some photos last night. Today she will give it to one of her young female customers.

This morning I located my little yellow sport radio. It's one you can wear on your arm while walking or running. I'm going to listen to it while I'm working at the computer.

Mr. Dickie
20/Feb/2011 08:37

This Is Life

Are there ... things in my life that have spoiled because I'm cautiously "saving" them? Or special moments that have passed because I'm wistfully "waiting" for the right time? (Mary Lou Carney in Daily Guideposts - 1990, 26 December)

This is life. It's not about death and sacrifice. Get rid of what you don't need. Live! (Steve Case, Everything Counts, 8 January)

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Yesterday afternoon I made a forty-six mile trip to the Quantico National Cemetery at Quantico, VA to attend the graveside service for college classmate and fellow ROTC graduate, LTC Terry Lloyd Crawford (October 2, 1939 - February 14, 2011).

Mr. Dickie
19/Feb/2011 9:33

Negativity

Negative states such as anger, anxiety, hatred, resentment, discontent, envy, jealousy, and so on, are not recognized as negative but as totally justified and are further misperceived not as self-created but as caused by someone else or some external factor.

Whenever you are in a negative state, there is something in you that wants the negativity, that perceives it as pleasurable, or that believes it will get you what you want.
(Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth, p. 110-111)

Keep Your Voice Down

It would save a great deal of heartbreak in this world if we simply learned to keep our voices down and if, when we had nothing good to say to a person, we did not say anything at all. (William Barclay, The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians, p. 159)

******

After doing some business at the bank yesterday I stopped at the bookstore in the library. I found three CDs in almost new condition for $2.00 each. I bought: Sara Evans - Born to Fly; Kelly Willis - Easy and Luis Miguel - Complices. I'll give Melva the Luis Miguel album to play in her car. I hadn't visited the bookstore in several months because I heard a rumor from one of the volunteers that they were going to close. I enjoyed visiting with friends: Joan, Daniel and Ed while I was there.

Mr. Dickie
17/Feb/2011 7:52

LTC Terry Lloyd Crawford

It is easy to fly into a passion -- anybody can do that -- but to be angry with the right person to the right extent and at the right time and with the right object and in the right way -- that is not easy, and it is not everyone who can do it. (Aristole in Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, by Warren W. Wiersbe, p. 266) 16/Feb/2011 7:46

******

Yesterday I participated in two nice phone conversations with college classmate, Jim Rowe. I made the first call and he made the second call to me later in the evening. After the second call I sent a message to our classmates on my Facebook PittState mailing list, informing them of the death of LTC Terry Lloyd Crawford. Jim and Terry went to public school together in Pittsburg, KS. In college they were fraternity brothers in TKE. Terry served twenty years in the U.S. Army and then had a second sixteen year career at U.S. Postal Service headquarters in Washington, DC. Burial will take place on Friday, February 18th at Quantico National Cemetery near Quantico, VA. May he rest in peace.

Mr. Dickie
16/Feb/2011 7:59

Survival and Success of Liberty

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. (John F. Kennedy, in The Book of Choices by Mike Magee, M.D., p. 109) 15/Feb/2011 8:13

Happy Valentine's Day!

The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves. (Abraham Lincoln in The Book of Choices by Mike Magee, M.D., p 109)

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Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Mr. Dickie
14/Feb/2011 8:11

These Are The Times

These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country, but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. (Thomas Paine in The Book of Choices by Mike Magee, M.D., p. 109)

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I renewed contact with Tim and Bill Yoho both of whom work on the genealogy and history of the Yoho family. I called Bill. We had a nice talk. I extended Box.net access invitations to both of them. I'm looking forward to keeping in closer touch with them via Facebook.

Mr. Dickie
13/Feb/2011 8:07

Strathmore

Do all the good you can, and make as little fuss about it as possible. (Charles Dickens in The Little Book of Virtues, 4 February)

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Yesterday we picked Cyndi up after work. During the afternoon she was at a meeting in Frederick, MD. After the meeting she got on the Red Line of the subway at Shady Grove station and rode the train for four stops to the Grosvenor-Strathmore station which is just outside of the Beltway. We met her in the Kiss and Ride area. We used our cellphones to talk to each other after she got off the train. This was the first time any of us had been to this station. I'm interested in this station because the relatively new Strathmore auditorium is across the street. I think I would like to get tickets to attend a musical presentation there. I believe it would be easy to take the Red and Orange subway lines to the event.

Books were on sale for half-price yesterday at the thrift store. I bought three: Black Pearls by Eric V. Copage; The Little Book of Virtues and Wisdom of the Ages by Dr. Wayne Dyer. I have a hunch that I'll find some good quotations in all of them.

Mr. Dickie
12/Feb/2011 8:06

Pitfall

If you go running off before you're ready, you'll likely encounter a pitfall that could have been avoided had you only waited ... (Steve Case, Everything Counts, 19 January)
11/Feb/2011 8:13

Promises

Promises are not to be made carelessly or broken with impunity. (Warren W. Wiersbe, Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, p. 192)
10/Feb/2011 10:54

Plural Society

We are now at the point where we must decide whether we are to honor the concept of a plural society which gains strength through diversity, or whether we are to have bitter fragmentation that will result in perpetual tension and strife. (Earl Warren, in The Book of Choices by Mike Magee, M.D., p. 99) 9/Feb/2011 7:32

Green Bay

What is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents. (Robert F. Kennedy, in The Book of Choices by Mike Magee, M.D., p. 98)

******

I'm going to take my Green Bay jacket out of the closet and wear it for a few days. Congratulations Green Bay Packers!

Mr. Dickie
8/Feb/2011 7:56

The Opposition

In a democracy, the opposition is not only tolerated as constitutional, but must be maintained because it is indispensable. (Walter Lippman, in The Book of Choices by Mike Magee, M.D., p. 98)

Relevant Listening

I am not so much concerned with the right of everyone to say anything he pleases as I am about our need as a self-governing people to hear everything relevant. (John F. Kennedy, in The Book of Choices by Mike Magee, M.D., p. 98)

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Yesterday I worked on a snail mail letter I'm planning to send to a friend who doesn't have a computer. The letter will accompany some Conger genealogy I printed out to share with him.

I also worked on adding some Manning information to my Conger / FitzRandolph data.

Mr. Dickie
5/Feb/2011 9:05

How It Is

"Well, right now, this is how it is. I can either accept it, or make myself miserable." The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it. (Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth, p. 96)

There are many people who are always waiting for the next thing to react against, to feel annoyed or disturbed about - and it never takes long before they find it. (Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth, p. 65)

... a grievance [is] the baggage of old thought and emotion.
(Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth, p. 66)

When you complain, by implication you are right and the person or situation you complain about or react against is wrong. There is nothing that strengthens the ego more than being right. (Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth, p. 67)
4/Feb/2011 7:50

Road Less Traveled

Two roads diverged in a wood and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
(Robert Frost in The Book of Choices by Mike Magee, MD, p. 17)
3/Feb/2011 8:22

******

Silly me! The other day I bought a two-CD set. This morning I tried to play the second CD and discovered that it's a video disc. Oh well, you win some and you lose some.

Mr. Dickie
3/Feb/2011 8:25

I Hear You

We can't always control life, but we can take charge of our reaction to it. (Sortor and McQuade, The Word On Life, 22 December)

We shouldn't believe the first argument we hear. The opposite side might make more sense. (The Upper Room Disciplines - 2008, 18 January)

******

This morning rain is falling and the temperature is above freezing. The winter storm is passing to the north of us. We dodged another bullet. It's a good time to count our blessings.

Last night I watched part of a good program on BYUTv about the mismanagement of Yellowstone Park over the years. They had a lot to say about what happened after man killed all of the wolves in the park. It wasn't too long until the herds of elk and buffalo exceeded the capacity of the land to sustain the animals in winter. The account makes you wonder why man can't just leave things alone.

There are two business changes going on in the neighborhood which aren't good omens for the future. Bill's Hardware the small independent store, about a half mile from our house is closing. Eagle Checking where we went to use Western Union sold out to Cash Depot. Most of the equipment in the place was removed and all of the employees were laid off. Yesterday there was only one employee in the place. After waiting about fifteen minutes I left to go looking for another Western Union office.

Mr. Dickie
2/Feb/2011 7:37

What Is Right And What Is Wrong

Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. to decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may. (Mark Twain in The Book of Choices by Mike Magee, MD, p. 89)

When a nations leaders have their priorities confused, the nation will suffer greatly. (Warren W. Wiersbe, Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, p. 206)
1/Feb/2011 9:04