A Li'l Sum'pin for BOBBIE and Other De Kelley Fans

Click on the following links and feast your eyes on photos galore of De:


http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=slv1-mdp&p=DeForest%20Kelley

http://www.starbase972.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=291 (This is an Israeli website; you wil scroll down from the LEFT, not the right)

http://www.klhalliday.com/DeKelley/Index.htm


If you know of any others, please leave a comment and direct fans to the other websites with lots of photos of De. Thanks!

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Tomorrow night it's likely I'll be at my church showing other ladies how to create home-made greeting cards with stamps, stickers, and other stuff, so it behooves me to write something tonight, or you'll think I'm a flake. I feel like flaking tonight, but cannot countenance it since I'll be flaking tomorrow...

Therefore...

I shall blog!

Alison Winter is about to sally forth on her pilgrimage walk in Spain for a number of weeks. Let's all pray for her while she's away. She'll be on her own and the weather can get awfully hot (and cold, nights) where she'll be walking... so I'm sure prayers are greatly appreciated.

Rosie O'Donnell has left The View (I haven't watched the show in years, but the news is all over the Internet and therefore unavoidable -- like Lindsay Lohan's and Britney Spears' troubles) and I've decided I should be her replacement, if the show is out of Hollywood. (If it's out of New York, fuggettaboutit.)

Why? I'm sure that with just a little bit of effort I could become as big a pain in the butt and just as big a ratings booster as she was. :)

Why? Because I'm the opposite of an Elisabeth Hasselbeck politically . Does that surprise anyone? Probably, since I'm a born again Christian... but I'm a former Democratic liberal leaning more conservative but definitely nowhere near Republican (if Bushies reflect current Republican ideology, count me OUT!) as I get older... sorta wobbly, you see, but once I catch my balance, I think I will be in just about the right position to make some sense, at least to myself if not to others... (Don't I sound entertaining already?!)

Why? Because I would like to make a ton of money (which I will need in order to retire when I'm 70) so, why not a television gig?! I have an interesting background, a brain...

Okay, I'm joking. Really. About the TV gig idea, I mean -- not about the interesting background and brain.

I would just like to get off dead center financially in the near future. I now have a job I absolutely love -- why not also find something that brings in some real money? Sorry to disappoint, but being a copy writer in Tacoma does not allow many of us in this city to acquire substantial money toward retirement, which I seriously need since I'm 56. In fact, I could be making more money as an executive secretary than I'm making right now, but I have "been there and done that" for too many years already, so I will be a copy writer until... God only knows ... what... when...where... I only know it'll be in Tacoma near my family, because they'll always be based here and I came back to be near them!

The sky's the limit, really. "Bloom where you are planted." I realize now (belatedly) that I can do anything in the writing/presentation realm that I set my mind to doing. It took thirty-five years (and being born again, and this stint as a wage-earning writer) to realize I really can do this for a living, but now that I do realize it, I'm going to reach out for the brass ring! I need more money in order to retire for at least a few years before I croak, and my worth is superior to the compensation I'm currently receiving ... so... who's the only person keeping me from acquiring more money? (Surprise! It's not my boss -- it's ME!!! It has always been me -- settling for "good enough; barely scraping by is adequate as long as I'm happy.") No longer!!! I will say "Yes!" to more abundance in my life from this day forward and see where it leads!

"Do what you love -- the money will follow." Old axiom. It worked for Walt Disney, for George Lucas, for Steven Spielberg.. it even worked for (Tiptoe Through The Tulips) Tiny Tim and brainless George "W"! Why not me? Why not YOU!?

If you know of anyone in need of a good writer (part-time, telecommuting evenings and weekends), let them know about me, will you? I'm not eager to leave my place of employment, but am aspiring to work after hours and weekends to make extra money unless a better-paying full-time writing or presentation opportunity presents itself here in Tacoma (or virtually, in telecommuting fashion.)

Thanks!


"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you hope and a future."


http://www.frontiernet.net/~jimdandy/specials/blessed.htm

OKAY, WHO TURNED UP THE FURNACE?

It's in the mid-80's here in the Pacific Northwest today and that's too hot for me! We have humidity off Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean here, so mid-80 is like 99 in Arizona and I didn't move to Arizona for a sterling reason: TOO D_____ HOT!

The saving grace around here is that this kind of weather usually only lasts a day or two at a time from May-September, so we know it isn't going to do this to us all summer long. As mentioned before, I love four seasons and this is the major reason: No matter how uncivilized the weather becomes, we know it's not going to stick around long enough to become a pain in the pa-toot.

One of our copywriters at On-Hold Concepts (www.onholdconcepts.com) is out for surgery on a knee this week (Ow-ee! Get well soon, Keith!) and while he's out Brian and I are handling a few of his accounts. (He worked ahead so most of his accounts are taken care of. Super thoughtful man, is Keith!) So far, there haven't been many of his clients needing help. I've handled two quick things and one slower/still pending thing. Two days to go until the weekend;I think we'll be fine...

I walked twice yesterday, morning and evening, for a total of almost five miles. I was planning to do that today, too, but the heat is too intense this evening for this wimp-ster. I'll walk when it's close to eighty, but not when it's 85. This morning when Vernita and I walked it was 60 degrees already at 6:45 a.m., so I knew it was gonna be a scorcher...

Yesterday's blog elicited a comment from someone who claimed to be the One personally responsible for the coming End Times. Needless to say, I didn't allow his comment to come to light. I have quite a secure feeling that God is not going to communicate with me (or you) through this blogspot in quite as blatant a manner as this post-er was suggesting! It's nice to have control of who gets on here. This is the first time I have ever turned down a comment that someone wanted to post, however. The people who visit my blogsite are largely De people or church/synagogue folk, and De people are good people, and good people are quite often godly people... so the party we have here is generally lovely and lively... and we'll keep it that way. Even the Inquisitor keeps his questioning peaceable, respectful and friendly. He's a keeper, for sure! His last comment on "Bring on the End Times if I don't have to hear any more about Lindsay Lohan!" nearly put me on the floor -- and I was at work when I logged on for a moment to check e-mails and ran across that, so it was NOT the time to fall on the floor!

"What's with you?"

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

"Want to share?"

"The End Times! Linday Lohan! HA HA HA HA HA!"

Somehow I just don't think it would have translated well at work -- do you?

The Inquisitor Is Back -- FUNNY GUY!

The Inquisitor writes:

You wrote:
"Without the re-establishment of the Nation of Israel, the end times would be delayed even further... and I don't know too many people who want to see that happen. "

Um, I think I would be one of those people! Do we really want an "end of times"???!
Is that what it's all about, just reaching this point? Then, what is the point?
Enquiring minds want to know!

I responded:

The end times have to come before heaven on earth is established. According to the Bible. Of course we want the end of THESE times to come, so that the present prince of this world (Satan) and all the people he is stroking, arming and directing are taken out!

The end times aren't the END -- they are the beginning of the new heaven and new earth -- a re-establishment of the earth God planned. That's why evangelists are so eager to get unbelievers under the banner of the SAVED so that when the end times come, they are protected from suffering the consequences owing to the fallen prince and his minions in the world...

Evangelists are trying to save lives for eternity. That's ALL!

It will happen -- the end times. The question is: Who will be onboard bound for glory and who won't?

I hope you and yours will be onboard. That's the HOPE! Got it, now?

Me

The Inquisitor Followed Up With:

If I don't have to read or hear about Lindsay Lohan getting drunk anymore, then yes, I'm all for it. ;-)

Thanks Kris.





Funny guy! I can't wait to meet him in Vegas in August!

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Trust in abundance (from "HIGHER AWARENESS")

"Once, when we were discussing a world peace project with my teacher somebody asked him, ‘Where is all the money going to come from?’ And he replied without hesitation, ‘From wherever it is at the moment.’"

Fear, doubt, anxiety and disbelief all serve to repel abundance from us. Faith, love and gratitude for the gifts of our lives keep energy and abundance flowing. The more we trust in our well being, the more it will be realized.

"Manifestation is an act of trust. It is the soul pouring itself out into its world, like a fisherman casting a net to gather in the fish he seeks; with each cast properly made, we will bring what we need to us, but first we must hurl ourselves into the depths without knowing just what lies beneath us." -- David Spangler

Top O' The Morning!

...and boy howdy, is it ever TOP of the morning! I've been awake since before 6 a.m. Just went to H&L Produce for some fresh fruits and veggies for me and for a pound of cheddar cheese for Aunt Tod. Before that I went through all of her stored boxes (oh, joy..) looking for a few items she wants brought to her. I didn't find all she wanted, but found enough extra things that perhaps she will be satisfied.

When Wal-Mart opens (if indeed it's open today -- Memorial Day) I need to go there and get Equate and baking soda for her. This time I'm getting enough for three weeks and she will need to find a place to store it, because with gas prices the way they are, I am calling a halt on weekly trips. I shop strategically for myself for that reason and need to get her into the habit of thinking that way, too. (She hasn't driven in eight years and probably doesn't realize what it costs to go galavanting for two items every single week.)

I didn't sleep well last night -- at all. I think I'm experiencing a modified "dark night of the soul" -- MUCH modified from past years (pre-born-again) when I would get into a blue funk for weeks on end.

At certain times I will focus on what's wrong with the world (did you notice a change in my blogs recently? You can almost pinpoint the day!) and that will blot out for a time almost everything that is RIGHT with the world, which is really almost everything except for what human beings bring to it in their all-too-frequent unconscious/unconscientious moments. In these darker moments, I am always reminded of a quote by Mark Twain. In his early 70's someone noticed that his writings were becoming darker, more cantankerous, more gloomy than before. An interviewer mentioned the change to him and he later wrote, "People call me a pessimist in my old age, but I'm not. I am an optimist -- who did not arrive."

God, I pray I won't ever become what Mark Twain became! I want to arrive at the promised land (this side of heaven), not just always be headed there!

I always cut Twain a lot of slack that I cannot cut for myself. By his early 70's he had lost his entire family, and his entire fortune at least once in speculative adventures such as an early prototype of the typewriter. I'd say he had serious reason to be a little less chipper than he was as a lad when all lay before him and he was in love and had a family he loved who loved him...

Late in his life he wrote such things a WHAT IS MAN? (a diatribe against the human tribe, and quite instructive if you have the stomach for it -- although not entirely fair, I don't believe) and a few other things that really rag on humans for being as fallen as they are. I could do that... but it's going to get us nowhere. WE know we're messing things up royally. It is only through forgiving ourselves and others that we snatch enough strength back from powers of darkness to fight the battles that need to be fought. Every moment we sit and self-flagellate and condemn and criticize others is a moment we can be spending turning the world around by offering a kindness, a blessing, a moment of sanity into the environments surrounding us.

I have always been peaceable and joy-filled at base. I have often been driven (or allowed myself to be driven) into manifesting "righteous indignation" at the unfairness and callousness of some people or policies, but then I always return to "center" and realize I need to resign as General Manager of the Universe and send out what I WANT (shalom in its entire, truest form), not more of what I am so good at RAILING AGAINST: impatience, condemnation, bitterness, etc.

Accentuate the positive. "“Whatever is true…whatever is noble…whatever is just…whatever is pure…whatever is lovely… meditate on these things.” Philippians 4:8 In these things we find God. All else is chaff, and should be blown away with a breath of kindness. It's God's province to judge it, not ours.

I love MAN OF LA MANCHA. I am Dawn Quixote. I usually see what is possible, not what is. Robert Kennedy often quoted George Bernard Shaw: "Some men see things as they are and say, 'Why?' I dream things that never were and say, 'Why not?'"

Why not try living and loving the way we want others to live and love -- with gracious attitudes and forgiveness evident in abundance? Why not mend fences rather than building higher walls?

It always seems so possible inside my heart. Why is it so hard outside? Is that because the Holy Spirit lives in my heart and the world is in enemy hands (powers and principalities of darkness), as the Bible states? It seems that way.

The only way to transform darkness is to switch on a Light. Darkness must flee when Light enters the room.

Let's do all we can to bring light into every life, into every room... Let's light up the world with God's Love!

Ooh-Whee! I Seem to Have Opened a Can of Worms!

Gee, based on Alison's response to my last blog, now it seems even our allies are ticked at us and have been for some time! Can't say I blame them a whole lot. I just hope the citizenry of this world understands that our elected officials seldom reflect the true nature of America... nor do most movies... That's why I'm glad Alison is coming over to stay for a while. She needs to be here long enough to get a glimpse of the REAL America. It's isn't perfect by a long shot, but it's better than the press it has been receiving... and much, much better than its present leadership.

We need to keep voting to keep elected officials accountable, no matter how disappointing the results may be even when there is a regime change. At some point they will figure out that American policy -- foreign and domestic -- is best when it's focused on lifting people up instead of putting them down.

As for Britain giving Israel Palestinian land in the mid 40's -- I think LEARN THE BIBLE IN 24 HOURS will show that it was God's plan for Israel to be re-established within its historical boundaries on the exact date that it was re-established (I'm sure without the knowledge of the English politicians who put the measure through!). I won't argue with God. He knows what He's doing -- He has been doing it since He created all that is and set it in time!

Without the re-establishment of the Nation of Israel, the end times would be delayed even further... and I don't know too many people who want to see that happen.

From HIGHER AWARENESS...

"God has no other hands than ours."
-- Dorothee Solle

"One act of beneficence, one act of real usefulness, is worth all the abstract sentiment in the world."
-- Ann Radcliffe

"Past the seeker as he prayed came the crippled and the beggar and the beaten. And seeing them... he cried, ‘Great God, how is it that a loving creator can see such things and yet do nothing about them?’... God said, ‘I did do something. I made you.’"
-- Sufi Teaching

I'm sitting here trying to decide whether to go to church today. Isn't that odd? Here I am this hyper-spiritual, almost evangelical type (most zealous, yes, most zealous!) and I am noodling skipping church this weekend! I didn't go last week or the weekend before, either -- but those were for better reasons. I didn't go on Mother's Day because I'm not a mother and my mother is gone, so it's a rough day for me; and I didn't go last weekend because I was exhausted and needed a full weekend to really catch my breath.

I could claim the same this morning after working my buns off Friday night and most of yesterday getting the condo ready to show. But the actual reason I'm thinking of skipping is that this is Memorial Day weekend and there will be an honor guard and salutes to the military lost in all the wars. This annual ritual always puts me in tears -- and I just don't want to go through that today.

It's also because I will be reminded in a stark way once again that there is a nasty war going on in Iraq, a war I find objectionable; that men, women and children (Iraqi men women, and children and U.S. servicemen and -women) are in harm's way and dying and our country no longer resembles a Liberator of Iraq as much as it resembles a scrappy, ill-advised bully. It turns my stomach.

God bless our military men and women who truly felt called at the start of this mis-directed action against "terrorism" and those who, daily, still feel the call to serve. I just wonder how many of them still feel that way... I'll bet they'd rather be in Afghanistan looking for the masterminds of September 11th than in Iraq... but now Iraq has become a magnet for terrorists of all nationalities and the Iraqi people are innocently caught in the middle of a fierce, 24/7 battle in which a few high-level U.S. government officials chose to engage. At the beginning, I heard two friends say, "Well, better to fight terrorists over there than over here in our own streets!" How nationalistic and egocentric is that?! "Let's fight our battles in other peoples' countries so we won't be overly inconvenienced by it." I can understand why so much of the rest of the world thinks we're spoiled rotten colonialists.

Our terrorism battle didn't have its genesis in Iraq; Iraq had nothing to do with September 11th. So we are fighting in a THIRD country a battle that should have been confined to two -- the U.S. and Afghanistan. I think we would have received additional military support from other countries had we focused on the job at hand and not diverted our military might to Iraq. We would still have created a "terror magnet" but it would have been in the "right" country: a country that has been a base of operations for and a training ground for terrorists for decades. It would have been the right target and the better strategy.

Yeah, Saddam Hussein was a bully. There are also many other bullies, some with real capital and instinct for regional domination and weapons of mass destruction. How many of them can -- or should -- the U.S. take on unilaterally to make the world safe for democracy or -- let's face it -- for continued global-population existence itself?

I'm not an isolationist, either. I just feel in my gut that we have let the military industrial genie out of the bottle and where it will take us is closer and closer to global annihilation. Congress has now authorized more spending, once again allowing the Bushies to continue to engage Iraq militarily (even as Bush's own people jump ship every other week and write books about what a disappoinment the President became to them over time) -- a Congress we voted to secure because we felt it was time for things to change! I'm beginning to wonder if Democrats are as stuck in the muck and mire as the Republicans! Perhaps it's time to start voting Green and Independent to see if that strategy provides office-holders who give a rip for something other than "politics as usual" as presently exercised on Capitol Hill.

That said, I think a Clinton/Obama or Obama/Clinton ticket would be a breath of fresh air. Let's see how a woman and a black man guide the country and put to rest once and for all the prejudice that the American Presidency is the sole province of Male White Anglo Saxon Protestants.

But back to church-going and Memorial Day. As I age, ritualized remembrance (on such and such a date) means less to me while unscheduled moments of remembrance mean much more. I have recently been getting the mental impression, "Moderation in all things." Even church activities. God is everywhere, not just in church! Confining Him to four walls is strait-jacketing Him!

But one thing I don't want to become is a pain-in-the-hind-end proselytizer -- in this blog or anywhere else. Where spirituality naturally works and fits, fine. De did that and my Grandma did that, but at no time did I ever hear from either of them that religion should become the be all and end all of most conversation. It was De's and Grandma's gracious love and personalized attention that lassoed me in; it was only later that I realized that what I was seeing in them was God's love: pure, agape blessing, mercy and grace. That's Who I want to reflect... the God I love and serve... but without any underlying pressure (self-willed) to convert everyone I meet!

Conversion is the Holy Spirit's province. I am charged only with tilling the soil and planting a seed.

Is Million Dollar Baby A True Story? Val Barrett Does the Research!

My long-time friend Val Barrett (nee Chase -- we were acting buddies and aspirants in high school) has done some research to the burning question above -- and we're still a little unsure! But here is what she uncovered...


The screenplay is by Paul Haggis, who has worked mostly on TV but with this earns an Oscar nomination. Other nominations, possibly Oscars, will go to Swank, Eastwood, Freeman, the picture and many technicians -- and possibly the original score composed by Eastwood, which always does what is required and never distracts. Haggis adapted the story from Rope Burns: Stories From the Corner, a 2000 book by Jerry Boyd, a 70-year-old fight manager who wrote it as "F.X. Toole."

Rope Burns: Stories From the Corner," a collection of short stories based on the experiences of long-time fight manager and cut-man Jerry Boyd, writing under the pen name F.X. Toole, was published in 2000 by Harper Collins. Toole was 70 at the time and had been writing and battling rejection letters for forty years. "Rope Burns" was his first published work. Soon after its publication he was commissioned to write his first novel, an epic story set on the Texas-Mexico border. He died on 2 September 2002 at age 72, just before his novel was finished. "Rope Burns" was dedicated to Jerry's partner and longtime friend Dub Huntley.

The movie is based on three short stories from Jerry Boyd's book: "The Monkey Look," "Million $$$ Baby" and "Frozen Water." Some parts of the introduction were used as well.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but.......sounds like perhaps a compilation of people the author ran into over his course of years. Val

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There you have it... clear as mud! I guess I will assume, from this, that the story is derivative and may or may not be true regarding an actual individual woman fighter. That happens a lot in Hollywood! Sure would like to know if the ending was real or fabricated (paralysis, euthanasia, disappearance of fight trainer). If fabricated, I'm still ticked!

Great job of research, Val! Thanks for taking the time!

Gadzooks! One Tired Lady Here... But In a Good Way!

I spent four and a half hours after work last night cleaning my carpets. To quote our favorite doctor: "Oh, joy..."

Before I did that, of course, every single item that didn't need to be in the house was placed into the garage because at some point I will be listing this condo for sale and I want it to be House Beautiful uncluttered when I do that. Of course, now I will need to spend Monday in the garage putting all the stuff into boxes... but hey, once I do that, it will all be ready to MOVE to a new duplex... whenever the good Lord decides it's time for Jackie and me to find the perfect duplex!

Okay, let's fess up here: maybe not every single "unnecessary" item went out into the garage yet (I am living here still, after all!), but I did make a serious dent and will slowly simplify even more. I'm looking around my den right now (where most of my stuff is, usually) and I realize I still have a couple boxes' worth of stuff that COULD go out: decorative vases, small gifts from a De fan in Holland, some photos of De, three copies of Terry's book, none of my own (they're in the garage already), stationery, envelopes; five super-special stuffed animals...

I don't collect stuffed animals but during my life have found just a handful of ones I couldn't leave on their shelves in the store: a post-September 11th bear that sings AMERICA in its entirety (proceeds went to the Sept 11th Fund for the families of victims); a pastel multi-hued Easter bunny that I chose as my souvenir from Vegas the year my sisters and I met there for horseback riding, a few shows and a walk in a cactus garden; a serval that one of my bosses, Al Foitag, got me not long after Deaken passed away (I screamed and hugged it tight right in the office at Warner Bros); a Year 2K Happy New Year bear; and a llama with real llama fur... There is one more bear, but he's at work. (He holds my "remember to call this client back" note when I reach someone and they want me to call them back at a later time the same day.) I also have a little angel that plays music that I gave Mom when she was dying; I got it back after she passed away; and I have the bear Dad gave her during that time, too.

OK, so I have eight stuffed animals. All are mementos of special occasions. You know I used to work for an animal welfare agency, don't you? And that I rehabilitated orphaned wildlife many times? You KNOW I'm an animal nut, don't you? Well, now you do, if you didn't before...

Back to carpet cleaning. I have three cats -- all aging, all rescued -- so carpet cleaning involves vacuuming thoroughly and then using a dry compound and an orbital machine. As the orbital machine does its thing, it digs out any cat hair that has embedded itself into the carpet.

One of my cats -- Ashley -- is a gorgeous long-haired Persian-looking guy. He's sweet as sugar and has the IQ of a donut. Luckily his hair is the non-matting kind, but it is wispy, so when it comes off on its own (not into a brush), it can quickly waft to a hidden location and embed itself in the carpet, usually along a wall or behind a couch (because otherwise I see it and grab it as it's wafting by).

Well, I got about half a handful of embedded long hair out of about 850 square feet of carpet. I consider that pretty good. With three cats, I try to stay on top of vacuuming and grooming, but it's when I clean the rugs that I find out how well I have been doing. I feel pretty proud of myself this time!

The only areas that really needed cleaning were the entryway and the carpet just off the kitchen (part of the entryway), but I always do the entire expanse every time, because dust happens, and dander happens, and -- no, s--- doesn't happen, thank you very much. My kitties are litter pan fans, for which I am immensely grateful, and I too am housebroken as of this writing (I hear this sometimes changes as we age, and in the interest of accuracy, I wanted to mention this, in the event someone reads this blog in twenty years and things have changed by then)! There is the occasional upchucked hairball or the occasional "I ate too fast" barf (okay, too much information here -- I know) , but I always hit those right away with a pet store product so there are zero stains on my light-color carpet ... except for a few dots in front of the washer where someone (who else? I live here alone!) spilled a few minuscule drops of bleach when she put bleach in the washer... They are hardly noticeable, and I learned my lesson...

Later this morning I believe Aunt Tod wants to take a trip to Wal-Mart for some baking soda, not because she's baking, but because she washes her clothes in it. It's hypo-allergenic (she's sensitive to most cleaning products) and it keeps her clothes looking absolutely new, even the ones that are 20 and 30 years old, so I think I will try it, too. (Then again, she has so many clothes that maybe she only wears an outfit once every 20 years and that's why they look brand new... Dunno... but she swears by baking soda and I believe her.)

Bobbie Bobstein tells me a simcha is a "blessed event" in Hebrew. (Those of you who read the blog about the tree planting in Israel in Mom's memory remember that I asked her, "What's a simcha?") Bobbie also tells me that MILLION DOLLAR BABY is a true story. I will not argue, but... I will not argue... but...I think she is mistaken there. Will someone do some research and prove it to me? I spent about five minutes looking and didn't see any reference to it being true. I will hate the movie less if I find out it was based on a true story... because the lady fighter did realize her dream in the movie, and then she died. I hope we all realize our dreams before we die!

I hate to relinquish this blog for today, but it seems I'm out of things to report! If that changes, I'll return. If not, hey! I'll see you tomorrow!

Ciao for now!

Dreams and Spankings...

Last night I had a dream I was moving back to a home I lived in when I was 30 (on my parents' property). When I walked in the front door and into all the rooms, I found all of Dad's work shop stuff stored in every nook and cranny of my house to a point where there was a small path leading through every room and no room for anything else!

Now, there’s a message! I was pretty miffed, to say the least, and going to require him to move it out.

I think what stopped me from moving forward for so many years was Dad’s “stuff” that invaded my life: his assertion that I would fall flat on my ass, etc. Had I insisted earlier on moving that crippling prophecy out of my psyche, I would have progressed faster (without as much fear and trepidation) toward the kind of life I am now living – in the spirit, with the muse – living the goal I always had for myself.

But even in the dream I had a hard time feeling mad at Dad for more than a few moments… In the dream, his shop had burned down and the only place he had left to keep anything was with me. That, too, was a metaphor of his life. He needed to have his stuff in our lives because his own life had pretty much burned down around him before he was ten. (He was an unwanted fifth child and photos of him even as an eight year old show a very sad-looking little guy who looked pretty lost and alone.)

I think my compassion has enabled me to forgive many unpleasant aspects of the way Dad lived and treated those he loved. If I had missed the experiences I had being raised under his roof, I would perhaps never have known emotional hardship, and without that, I may not have learned compassion for others and ultimately for him…

When Melody (Jackie’s best friend from childhood) was here last weekend, we were discussing birth order and she mentioned that the middle child is generally the peacemaker and peacekeeper. (I am a middle child.) Jackie looked at me and said, “Not in Kris’s case!”

I was taken aback, as was Melody. Melody insisted, “Yes, she was!” and Jackie said, “No, she wasn’t!”

I kept silent, since this was about other peoples’ impressions of me (which can be painfully instructive if you’re strong enough for it!). Melody said, “Kris was always peaceful, in her bedroom writing or out with the animals.” Jackie said, “No, she wasn’t! There were times when she was very UNpeaceful! The time she took ______ on for holding a knife to my throat, and another time when she almost pummeled ______ for being a tormentor.” And Melody said, “There you go! She was being a peace-keeper at that point. Peacekeepers aren’t always peaceable, you know!”

And Jackie got it. She looked at me, mouth a bit open, experiencing an “Aha!” moment.

Whenever I was belligerent as a kid it was nearly always because someone else had overstepped the boundaries of civilized interaction with someone else. (I will usually allow someone to trample on me pretty good before I’ll call a halt; I am much quicker to react when someone else is in harm’s way.) In childhood and teenage years I was usually in my bedroom doing my own thing (writing or reading) – engaging my mind in some mythological noble pursuit.

I used to wonder why solitude was so compelling to me, but looking back I certainly understand it now: Outside my bedroom door was utter emotional chaos! Dad was the personification of the Tasmanian Devil. Big sis was all too often engaged in calling her sisters “Fatso” “Retard" and the and other equally-negative appellations. Jackie, the baby in the family, hit both of us over the head with a wooden spoon when she was a toddler (with Dad’s help -- he carried her on his shoulders so she could catch and bash us) and developed a bossy attitude -- which I actually treasure most of the time these days! No one else can say "Kris" to me the way she does and make it sound like a reprimand! Any time she disagrees or thinks I'm all wet, I'll get a "Kris" that sorta corrodes the lining of my stomach... What she's saying is, "I am trying to be peaceable here, but you are so far off base you are on the moon!"

In the Smith family, Mom and I were two peaceable types existing in a tornado alley of related lunatics! (I say that with a laugh and a lot of love!)

(Mea culpa -- there were many times when I too engaged in cruel verbal jousting; but usually only because it seemed to me almost impossible to be truly heard in our family when I was peaceable and quieter. I remember thinking one time, "The only time Dad really listens to me is when I'm riled to the boiling point or so freaking upset I can hardly breathe I'm crying so hard...")

I love my sisters with all my heart, and I loved my mom and dad (and still do). None of this is intended to belittle anyone. It’s just amazing what looking back in love does to one’s perspective. We were all just “out of control” – the others all-too-often launching verbal assaults and Mom and me off in our little cocoons of stolen moments of solitude, temporarily escaping the stress of chronic emotional uprisings.

I just wanted to be left alone. I still do when people start to get dicey and unpleasant. That’s no way to live, really – at the end of two extremes: unmitigated tension and sublime meditation. But it was so at our place.

Yet other kids often told us they wished they lived in our family – so others had it much, much worse. I have since heard horror stories of other childrens’ lives. My childhood may have left scars but no gaping wounds that refuse to heal… There was no sexual or physical abuse. Oh, I was spanked a few times as a child, and swatted well once as a teenager, and deserved every one of them!

I don’t consider spanking abusive; sometimes it was the only thing that could capture my attention and make me STOP and LISTEN to what Mom was telling me! I think kids who are never spanked don’t realize that there are actions and activities that are wholly unacceptable. Spanking should be reserved for those moments: e.g, when a child is tormenting an animal or another person, or running headlong toward a busy street. “YEOWCH!” is a wonderful, effective way to instill vital lessons!

Matters of safety and decent interaction need to be enforced physically the FIRST time (and any subsequent times they occur) so that a child has a Significant Emotional Experience and SEEs that THERE IS A VERY SERIOUS CONSEQUENCE FOR DISOBEYING THIS PARTICULAR RULE. Time outs and time in the corner should be for minor violations (failure to put toys away, interrupting, having an attitude, etc.). Stuff that can get a kid killed or actions that willfully injure another living being (animal or human) should be met with the strictest form of discipline – a heated up hind end! In my opinion. I’m not trained as a child psychologist and I’m not a mother, but this is how I would raise up a child in the way he or she should go… My Mom did it for me (spanking), and I’m no worse the wear for it – and probably a whole lot better than I would have been without strict limits on the parameters she set for me.

Mythology and Reality Are Cousins...

Last weekend I began working on the Las Vegas presentation. I'm about three pages into it and will worry it to death and resurrection before I feel it's just right. But now that I have begun to re-read THE POWER OF MYTH (by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers), I feel compelled to pull some mythology quotes from the book and add that to the mix. After all, for the Vegas audience, STAR TREK is perhaps its most prevalent and precious mythology…

In the book (and PBS television special, I presume) Campbell and Moyers explain the difference between two words that we often use interchangeably in this AMERICAN IDOL-addicted culture: celebrity and hero. There is actually a significant distinction between the two terms.

A celebrity does what he or she does out of a need to express him or herself and out of a need to be recognized for it. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that because the result is a blessing, regardless of the celebrity’s focus or intention (mainly upon self).

A hero does what he or she does for others, sometimes to the point of death (physical, emotional, or symbolic).

A celebrity can also be a hero -- but usually not simultaneously.

It’s when a celebrity truly transcends the limelight aspects of their creative lives and enters the realm of service, not for his or her own need for adulation or adoration (and, again, we all have that need), but because there’s a genuine compulsion to bless, support, help, or validate other human beings. Heroes are far larger than the egos and neuroses that inhabit them.. They truly believe that “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.”

While it’s customary in our society to say that we believe in the Vulcan philosophy just quoted, our individual actions often betray our proclamation and reveal it as largely lip service. "If it ain’t about us, or ours, it ain’t all that important," is a common perspective out there in the world.

To find today’s heroes, you have to visit

• a place of worship where people are working hard to learn, to absorb God's essence into the core of their own being , and then to step into the gap as the potent and merciful image-bearers that their God says they are (this is the environment in which De grew to adulthood; his father was a preacher)

• or a police department

• or a military base

• or a home with a sick, feverish child -- or even a perfectly well one! --

....to find more than a handful of everyday heroes, people whose daily lives are being poured into others as a matter of intent -- as a goal, as a blessing, and for no reason other than to protect and serve.

If they receive attention or notoriety for their heroic deeds, they discount it. True heroes know that what they do should be the norm, not the exception, and so they don’t consider it anything unusual or extraordinary. It’s just "what they do" because anything less is just not enough…

Of course the rest of us recognize how blasted special most of them really are, but if we treat them the way we feel they should be treated they will have none of it.. not comfortably, anyway.

When I first met De, he was a celebrity to me. It didn't take many meetings with him before I realized that I no longer viewed him as merely celebrated -- he was absolutely heroic.

We - STAR TREK FANS - made De a celebrity. The Holy Spirit made him a hero -- a man to whom extending grace and blessing was second nature...

We all know how extraordinary we think he was... and he was... but he never "got" that, which is why he was able to remain as humble and unaffected as he was by the notoriety thrust upon him during and after the television series made "Bones McCoy" a household name.

What those of us who met or knew De remember most about the man is not that he acted -- but that he reacted.. he responded... He listened, and cared and blessed everyone with whom he came into contact.

I never, in all the years I knew him, saw him do anything other than accept and bless those with whom he shared moments: at a convention, at work, in the market, or in his home. He was the personification of the quote,"Everyone you meet is experiencing some sort of trial. Be kind."

He was an inspiration to me.

I Have To Pass Tonight... Much More Tomorrow!

Jackie and I took Aunt Tod to IHOP tonight to celebrate her 94th birthday. She had a wonderful time and the servers at IHOP treated her like a queen -- free meal, free ice cream strawberry sundae, hugs all around. It was glorious. She was beaming like a kid.

Jackie brought her a lovely plant and I bought our dinners (had planned on getting all three dinners, but IHOP blessed Tod with hers, since IHOP is her favorite resaturant.) No, this is not a commercial for IHOP, but I do think we will be taking her there about once a month to watch her enjoy a meal. It really made her day, which of course made our day!

It's 8:30 and I just got home and have a headache (actually have had it all afternoon except during the meal -- or if I had it then, it was forgotten in joy), so I'm going to wish you all a good night and will resume this tomorrow.

Do something terrific for an elder who isn't accustomed to being fussed over if you want to find something to smile about. It's as big a treat to the giver as it is to the receiver!

"The Power of Myth" by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers

Terry Rioux gave me an autographed copy (autographed by Bill Moyers) of THE POWER OF MYTH several years ago and I got started on it but then put it away. Just pulled it out again last night and started reading it again. It is a truly remarkable book. I encourage you to read it.

The back cover of the book reads, "To Joseph Campbell, mythology was "the song of the universe, the music of the spheres." With Bill Moyers, one of America's most prominent journalists, as his thoughtful and engaging interviewer, The Power of Myth touches on subjects from modern marriage to virgin births, from Jesus to John Lennon, offering a brilliant combination of intelligence and wit.

"The symbols of mythology and legend are all around us, embedded in the fabric of our daily lives, and the Moyers-Campbell dialogues are a welcome guide to recognizing and understanding their meaning." Cincinnati Post

"The Power of Myth" is a glittering explanation of a literary world of the spirit... Scintillating conversations and provocative ideology are rampant in this book, as they are in the broadcasts themselves." Pasadena Star-News

Newsweek wrote: Campbell has become the rarest of intellectuals in American life: a serious thinker who has been embraced by the popular culture."

It's worth the read and the wonder. Try it! You'll like it! Especially you creatives out there! This book should convince you that what you do is important to our mental, emotional and spiritual well-being in many instances.

Without our mythologies, we are aimless wanderers, understanding not where we are going or what the goal of the wandering should be.

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Terry Lee Rioux Will Be In Vegas, Too!

Just received an email from Terry Lee Rioux (author of FROM SAWDUST TO STARDUST, The Biography of DeForest Kelley, Star Trek's Doctor McCoy). She wanted to know if I have room on my floor for one more. Hey, I'll FIND room on my floor (or somewhere else) for one more! I haven't seen her (except in pictures and magazine articles) since Sept 2001. That was the last time she was in Hollywood to do research on her book. She and I experienced the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon from the same living room couch... It will be nice to see her in happier circumstances!

I don't think Terry will be appearing in Vegas, but those of you coming to see me will probably get to meet her, too. Perhaps she'll bring some books and join me at the book table. (You'll have to buy my books ahead of time or buy them at the Creation table, because I won't be bringing any along this time.) If you want to meet Terry, just let me know and I will see what we can do to get an evening time gathering of some sort, perhaps around a common dinner table on Friday or Saturday evening, with everyone paying their own bill, if there's enough interest in doing something like that...

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The certificate from the Jewish National Fund arrived in the mail today. It reads: Trees for Israel: (then in Hebrew and in English a quote from the Bible) "When you shall come to the land you shall plant trees." Leviticus 19:23

The certificate reads:

A tree has been planted in memory of Dorothea Hope Smith. Reflecting on Your Dear Mom for Mother's Day. May this serve as a living tribute to her memory, Bobbie and Joel Bobstein.

The back of the certificate reads: For over 100 years, Jewish National Fund has been the caretaker of the land of Israel, on behalf of its owners -- Jewish people everywhere.

Today, after planting over 240 million trees, JNF is continuing to fulfill its mission through the Blueprint Negev initiative, supporting Israel's newest generation of pioneers in developing the Negev desert. Together, we will continue to strengthen the land of Israel and improve the quality of life for all Israelis in the next century and beyond.

By planting trees in Israel, you have helped curb global warming. Trees help to offset human carbon dioxide emissions by absorbing CO2 -- the primary greenhouse gas and a main cause of global warming -- from the atmosphere. On average, a single tree will absorb one ton of CO2 over its lifetime.

For more information about the work we do in Israel, or to make a donation, please visit www.jnf.org or write to Jewish Natonal Fund, 42 East 69th Street, New York, NY 10021.

To plant more trees, or to learn how you can use tree certificates as invitations for your next simcha (okay, Bobbie and Joel, what's a simcha?), please visit www.jnf.org/store or call 800-542-TREE (8733). Contributions are tax deductible.

What a great way to memorialize a loved one -- by contributing to the natural environment in Israel! Someday, God willing, I will travel to the Holy Land and look upon a vast grove of living memorials and know that my Mom's tree stands among them...

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I am inordinately weary this evening and it's only Monday! I stayed up to watch MILLION DOLLAR BABY last night on television (I n-e-v-e-r watch television but had heard enough about this movie that I decided to watch it and see what all the Oscar hoopla was about.) Must admit, it was very well done. The acting was exceptional, especially Hilary Swank, her "trailer trash relatives," and of course Morgan Freeman.

It was a very upsetting movie in a lot of ways. I sometimes wonder why stories like this are written unless they're based on a true story. I don't think this one was. PAY IT FORWARD was based on a true story and so the ending (the death of the young man played by Haley Joel Osment) was unchangeable -- the rest was noble.

In MILLION DOLLAR BABY, we have a tragedy and a euthanasia that are scripted, not historical. Both are well-executed.. but I was left wondering, "Why did the writer want us leaving the story feeling the way we left it feeling?" There is so much real tragedy in the world. SCHINDLER'S LIST, I get. BOBBY, I get. History, I get. But creating a fictional story that engages our emotions and then rips us to shreds -- that's entertainment?! I dunno. Had I known how it was going to end -- with the defeat of the Swank character -- I would have gone to bed sooner. But then, I have never been a fan of boxing movies. Too much great, gruesome make-up work. Violence.

I am so sick of violence. I want Hollywood to make films that reflect some good news without it being directed always at people under 10. The world needs hope and encouragement. MILLION DOLLAR BABY's message is, "Go after your dreams with all have inside you but don't expect them to come true. S--- happens, baby."

I grew up hearing that message at home. Hollywood (back then) is what gave me the hope that got me where I am today as a writer. It's a shame that "success" to the Swank character resulted in trailer trash relatives who didn't appreciate her in any way except as a cash cow, and a devastating injury in the ring that left her paralyzed and wanting to die...

It's almost as depressing as THE BOOKS OF ECCLESIASTES AND JOB IN THE BIBLE! But in the Bible in both instances, there was a happy ending: "God's grace is sufficient for you."

In MILLION DOLLAR BABY we don't even know what became of the Eastwood character. He just disappeared, never to be seen again? Did he commit suicide because he felt he violated God's commandment, "Thou shalt not murder?" Did the priest ever see him again?

What happened? I care and it wasn't even real. That's why it feels like a rip-off to me.

I guess there's a reason why I so rarely go to the movies... so many of them leave me feeling worse than I felt going in!

Jamie Lee McNiven is THREE!

We will be celebrating the third birthday of one of my grandnieces' (Jamie Lee McNiven) this afternoon at her parents' home. Another grandniece, Elizabeth Foxley, turned nine on Monday and I still have her gift in my car, unable to get away all week to give it to her, so she will get her gift today, too!

I got Jamie Lee a couple of little things -- a 24-piece Care Bear puzzle and a Songs Of Jesus book with buttons she can push to play the songs as her mom or dad and her sing along and look at the words in the book. She is a music lover -- has been from the beginning (as if three isn't "beginning" enough!) so I think she will really love it. I'm glad there are eight or nine different songs on it, well-performed, or her folks might have to bury it under a pillow after a while!

Jamie and her family and Lizzie and her family attend (and serve in) churches regularly. A few years ago I also bought the Nest Publications cartoon Bible series (videos and cartoon workbooks/coloring books created by former Walt Disney cartoonists and theological Judeo-Christian masters) for all four grandnieces. Lizzie (nine), Casey (six) and Isabella (almost 4) have been enjoying them for some time now, but Jamie is still with Veggie Tales, Barney, and the rest of the junior set gang. This particular cartoon Bible series is probably the best legacy gift I can give the kids. They really dig them. They are equal parts Old and New Testament stories -- the history of the people who God claimed as His own, led, protected and blessed (and also disciplined strenuously at times for willful disobedience and for failing to live up to His most basic standard of holiness, the Ten Commandments).

I have watched several of the DVDs and have been impressed by how well they follow the Bible stories in language that expresses the awe and reverence with which people in Biblical times considered their God (or G-d, in Hebrew expression) to be. To the Hebrews, the name of the Almighty is, to this day, so holy and revered that they are forbidden to say the name or to write it in its entirety since even G-d's chosen are unclean (sinners) and unable to approach a holy (perfect, unblemished) G-d . That's how we got the universal praise word HALLELU-YAH -- HOLY IS THE NAME OF YHWH -- or YAHWEH.)

Our Judeo-Christian background is BEYOND fascinating -- it's CAPTIVATING when studied, adopted, and reverenced! It sure gives one a deeper sense of our origins and destiny than the thin theory of Darwinism (an "educated guess" appearing less likely every day as fossils and other archaeological artifacts come to light) that we came from apes. Everything everywhere came from God -- even apes, animals I have a great affinity for because they are so much like us mentally and physically (but so are elephants and dolphins like us mentally!) -- so I consider all animals placed under our dominion by God to be worthy of the protection and respect that God expects us to show toward them and our environment.

Mark Twain once joked, "I think God invented man because he was disappointed in the monkey." Nothing God makes disappoints Him except us -- and even we seem to exasperate Him more than we disappoint Him! Like a good parent of toddlers, he just keeps considering us unfinished, lost but running headlong with great joy toward a busy freeway with a razor blade in each hand! He seems to regard us as willing participants in our own unwitting self-destructive aspirations.

But He wants to redeem us because we were created to be his image-bearer and we are (it's obvious by now, isn't it?) incapable of reflecting him perfectly. Occasionally we see glimpses of Our Father in heaven in our mirrors or inside our hearts, but not repeatedly, not reproducably at each and every turn the way we were designed to be. That's why He sent His Son (a perfect reflection of Himself; "in Him I am well-pleased") to live the sinless life designated to (and failed by) us so that we would have a role model and a release (redemption, salvation) from our inability to get the job done right in our own strength.

Not long before Jesus ascended to heaven forty days or so after His resurrection, He told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Paraclete -- the One Who would come alongside them and give them power and the ability to resist demonic influences and be as He was on earth. Right on time, the Paraclete (Holy Spirit) came at Pentecost and since then there's been a spark of the divine taking up residence in our bodies, giving us spiritual insights and tendencies that we wouldn't otherwise spend much time paying attention to.

Those who come to know and to love the Living God did not get there by choice so much as they did by divine intervention. The Bible says, "You did not choose me. I chose you." Boy howdy, is that true in MY case! I was just stumbling through life the best I knew how until that week in early September 1999 when the Holy Spirit began to beckon me with the sweetest, most compelling, unconditionally loving voice I had heard since De: "You need to be baptized..."

I needed WHAT!? Weirdest interstellar communication I ever received in my life! Over and over again, a time or two a day, for over a week...

"You...need...to...be...baptized."

Me?

"YOU...need...to...be...Mine."

Oh...my....G-d!!!!

I made a card not long after and framed it. It reads:


"Father God... You spoke the universe into existence... and ... you spoke to me... Unfathomable... Incredible! AMAZING! I BELIEVE!!!"

I never, ever, ever, ever, ever want to "get over" that sweet sweet experience... that invitation to enter into His Kingdom,which God has been ushering and adopting His children into over four and a half millennia!

If He ever calls you.. if He has ever called you and you didn't respond... RESPOND!

He wants you! I know it sounds absurd... why would He care so much about one individual soul? BUT HE DOES!

The answer to all success in life is this: "Seek ye first the kingdom of G-d, and all these others [necessities and blessings if life] will be added unto you."

If you seek the cart (success) before you harness the horse (the power of God), you are going to be pushing that sucker yourself!

Apologies... I'm Blog-Challenged!

I got so wrapped up in a private email conversation with Bobbie Bobstein yesterday and today that I totally spaced on writing a blog yesterday... and here it is 4:36 Saturday afternoon and just realized I hadn't written one today yet, either! Hey... writing is writing! As long as I'm writing, I'm totally happy! I just have to remember that others can become totally UNhappy if I don't keep my commitment to blogging.

I hereby recommit!

It isn't like I have missed a lot of blogging days since I started this in February, is it? Perhaps three? That's pretty good!

This morning I took my 93 year old aunt to Wal-Mart, the Dollar Store and Safeway for some essentials and then my sis Jackie and I went out to drive by some duplexes a realtor friend told us about. We looked at four and chose two to actually make an appointment to see sometime this week. One was built in 1998, the other (a two-story converted home) in 1956. We both like both (to drive by). The yard is very small at the older place, so Jackie is not keen on it, although its location is just great commute-wise for both of us. The newer one would involve a commute, but not a too-hairy one... so we're going to take a look-see and make a decision: pick one of these two or keep on looking! We're in no hurry, but we are motivated to find something that will give us both grins and a feeling of "we're home!"

Anne from Australia called this afternoon. She says it's cold there (near Adelaide) today. It's cool and rainy here in Tacoma. Well, rainy off and on, as is usual with Tacoma-area weather this time of year.

I enjoy the variety of weather we receive. I got awfully tired of desert weather when I lived in North Hollywood for 13 years. There are self-proclaimed "desert rats" who love desert weather, but they usually weigh 99 pounds soaking wet and are thin as reeds. That does not reflect my characteristics. I am okay with 75 degrees Fahrenheit, but not much above that. And if it's humid and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, that's too warm for this kid... The fans go on and if I'm at home I'm in my underwear... Heat and Kris are not friends.

I've been praying for some people this week: Barbara Hendrickson, who (as you know) lost her husband Rick a couple months ago... Mark Ballard, a teacher in Texas who lost his wife several months ago... Alison, who is beleaguered in a number of areas... When I have what I consider a rough day, I think about people who are going through loss the way I was seven years ago when I lost my mom, DeForest Kelley, and my dad in a 14-month period and whatever is bugging me that day seems picayune and at times even childish. My mom was a great one for telling me, "If this (whatever I was going through at a particular time as an angst-ridden teenager) is the worst thing that happens to you in your whole life, you'll be lucky." At the time she said it, I thought it was a pretty indelicate thing to say to me, but you know what? That piece of advice has stayed with me and it works like magic almost every time I am in some kind of situation where I think life stinks or something isn't fair.

Even when Mom was dying of brain cancer she was counting her blessings: "I'm just so fortunate that I have this kind of cancer rather than so many other kinds. It isn't particularly bothersome [pain management worked in her case] and when I go in for chemo and radiation I look around at little bald-headed children or at bald-headed moms with young children at their knees and it's impossible to feel terribly sorry for myself. I've lived my life and my children are grown and on their own..." When you have a blessings-conscious parent like that, you are blessed! I am one child richly blessed by a Mom who always reminded me of the silver lining attached to every cloud.

Rick Hendrickson is being memorialized by Yuba County at Animal Control for his lifetime commitment to the well-being of animals. Barbara sent me photos of the reflection point where a plaque honoring her husband is displayed. There's an ornate bench there. Rick was truly Yuba County's Steve Irwin -- a truly dedicated animal advocate...

Mark Ballard's wife will be memorialized and remembered during the dedication of the Shelley Sullivan-Ballard Reading Center in Mark's (and Shelley's) school library soon. My Mom is being memorialized with a tree planting in the Holy Land very soon, compliments of Bobbie and Joel Bobstein.

The best thing about the above is that all of the people being remembered truly LIVED -- and not for themselves alone. Rick lived to alleviate and eliminate suffering in animals. Shelley lived to educate, inform and inspire students, as does her husband/widower Rick. My mom lived to serve and to come alongside people who needed grace, help and mercy (my Dad among them).

None of us have a clue what our ultimate legacies will be. We may think we do, but I have a feeling we're pretty far off the mark. We're really too hard on ourselves in some ways and not hard enough on ourselves in others! An example: My dad could be a real bear and as a result didn't like himself much (nor did we like him much on hundreds of occasions), but what we recall most, seven years after his passing, are the times he was sober, reflective, vulnerable and honest -- the times we recognized his woundedness and were able to fully and completely forgive him. Despite the damage a dysfunctional upbringing inflicted upon him, we know he would have given his life to save ours.

Our legacies are probably more secure than most of us believe -- and will be better than most of us believe we deserve. That's one very noble aspect of our humanity. Moments of love and connection are what's remembered after someone dies -- the rest, the chaff of their imperfect actions, is expelled from the memory while any essential, un-damaged goodness of the person remains. In the same way that a beautiful pearl is formed around a source of irritation (a grain of sand) inside the shell of an oyster, our legacies are formed... At the end, the grain of sand (the source of irritation) becomes invisible and impotent, safely sealed inside the pearl of great price and we treasure what was most real about the person. Their love. God's love made manifest in a human soul.

Yes, I Did It Again....

I just invested in another Bible -- probably my fourteenth or fifteenth. I have different versions to keep the Word fresh and new and because most of them are Study Bibles or Life Application Bibles and the sidebars and mini-articles in each of them give me fresh new insights... I want to grow in understanding every time I dive into one, so this is how I keep it always before me without every feeling I've truly memorized it or become an expert. I have in NO way become an expert - but I am decidedly an expert at remaining in love with the living Word because I invest time, money and effort to "Make It So!(to borrow a well-worn phrase in Trek fandom)

My newest acquisition is Charles F. Stanley's Life Principles Bible. If you're at all familiar with television evangelism, Charles F. Stanley is someone you probably already know and enjoy. In many ways, he reminds me of De in appearance, so I sometimes imagine "De would have been similar to Dr. Stanley if he had gone into the ministry the way his preacher father wanted him to." Of course, De would have been different -- he didn't come across the way Stanley does; he would have been a little more "fun", I think (no denigration to Dr. Stanley intended; he's a phenomenal teacher and preacher; no two people are ever that much alike unless they're twins or imitators)!

I went to Amazon to read the reviews about the Stanley Life Principles Bible and came away convinced that perhaps it should have been my FIRST life application Bible had I known about it sooner... but then, no... I just checked and it was published in 2005. I was already well on my way by then, having bought an NIV Study Bible and begun Pastor Alan Meenan's live Word Is Out Bible Study while in Hollywood in 2001 (http://www.thewordisout.com/; http://www.churchforthenations.org/).

Thumbing through this new volume, I can certainly recommend it to people new to the faith. It's designed, says the back cover, "to lead believers into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. "

Key features include 30 Life Principles articles to highlight the essentials Dr Stanley has gleaned from 50 years of ministry for successful Christian living; What the Bible Says About... articles derived from Dr. Stanley's teaching to bring scriptural insight to your life; Answers to Life's Questions...about the challenges you face every day; Life Examples articles that show you people in the Bible who have "been there;" and hundreds of God's Promises in the Bible are highlighted to encourage you, strengthen you, and fill you with hope; and thousands of Life Lessons help explain key passages as you read them.

It's a good one. If you don't have a Bible yet, this is a good place to start. I also love The Message by Eugene Peterson -- a paraphrase of the Bible in today's colloquial English, for people who want the Bible to "come alive" before them and make sense for today's world.
But the Bible always makes sense, so find the version that doesn't cause an aversion (one you can easily read and comprehend and enjoy) and you will be on your way...

I can't recommend anything more highly than I do Pastor Alan Meenan's sermons and Word Is Out study, however (website URLs above). Pastor Alan introduced me to the Living, Loving God, explaining Him and the Bible in such a way that I was often in tears at the immense love our Creator has for us. How we must disappoint Him at times... but that has never stopped Him from remaining head-over-heels in love with us. I encourage you to visit Pastor Meenan's websites and hear his teachings. I also encourage you: In lieu of getting me gifts for birthdays or holidays, make a donation to The Word Is Out so Pastor Meenan can get the Word to all the nations of the world in the way he has brought it to those of us fortunate enough to have spent time as his students. I don't think anyone who sits under Meenan's understanding of the Bible will ever fail to flourish as a child of the Most High God.

My aim in life is to discover how to love God and others as much as God loves us. I reckon I won't achieve it until I'm Over There and have been transformed to His exact likeness, but while I have breath in me I will continue to try to re-make myself in His image, to shine so brightly that others will also want to become reflectors of God's infinite mercy, grace, peace and Love...

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Bobbie Bobstein writes:

Loved yesterday's blog message (We are the only people we will spend our entire lives with. Who would we rather disappoint at their end of our lives, people who are out living their lives the way they see fit, or ourselves?)

Also, Tuesday's part about what others think of creative people "Because artists love what they do, the rest of the public considers it frivolous AND people thinking actors, writers and musicians are taking up valuable space and ought to get real jobs." I DO believe, as you do, that we need creatives to TEACH us, encourage our own imaginations and bring art and beauty into our lives. They are as necessary as the air we breathe.

But when you said "When we do take jobs as a necessity to stay afloat financially, we need to put a deadline on them and we need to spend a few hours every day (before or after work hours) working on our REAL goal: taking steps to segue from the "necessary" service to the "sublime service."

THAT is what reminded me of Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening"... you sure do have a great memory for so much of it!!! Where it speaks to me in relation to what you said is this:

The big-shot who owns the woods, lives in town and does NOT know of the beauty he possesses ... he's only doing the business, paying the bills.

The trespasser on his property, though, has seen the beauty of G-d's creation and has been mesmerized by watching Nature work its magic.

The pony, like the owner in town, also does not SEE - he impatiently shakes his bells, wanting to move on and do the business at hand. Practicality and the call of the Present keep him blind to the treasure all around him.

Ultimately, the trespasser succumbs to the needs of the day and trades his awe for the necessities he must cover in the miles before day's end. BUT, unlike the other 2, the LAST LINE REPEATED shows that the trespasser is also aware that the constant battle to balance the "necessary service with the sublime service" will follow him all the miles in his life to come, until his FINAL SLEEP.

And one more thing - perhaps in imitation of life, the apparently lyrical content and easy flow of Frost's poem is actually governed by a rigid rhyme-scheme. In each quad,(except the last) the 3rd line's last word does not rhyme with the rest in its group ... but DOES form the sound of the next quad's rhyme pattern:

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.


Anyway, thanks for plucking this jewel out of my misty memory and putting it on the FRONT PAGE, where it belongs!

And, when you say "Methinks you needs must come to the con " METHINKS, you have a hint of Shakespeare in your verbiage as well as in your pen! I will do my best.

We watched "the Law & Jake Wade". Seeing De take an arrow at the end is only what I imagine will be basic training for his scene in "Apache Uprising"!!! Before Joan returns to NY, we have more in De's mini-film-festival to see.

Enough blather for now. Oh, got the May-June issue of ST mag. Have not had a chance to really look thru it well but I don't think I see your interview in there! If not, I will try the next issue ... but it's too expensive to be looking further.

Bye 4 now.......... Bobbie

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Bille Rae Walker will tell me as soon as she learns in which month our STAR TREK MAGAZINE interview will appear. I will keep you posted. It has been such a long time since Billie Rae interviewed me, I don't remember a single question she asked, so the interview will be as big a surprise to me as it is to y'all! I'm looking forward to finding out what she asked and what I said! In the meantime, in case you missed the podcast interview at Treks in Sci-Fi, here's the link again. http://www.treksf.com/podcast/Treksf.com_79_Real_McCoy.mp3

(Hey! It was my first-ever radio interview: Put on your grace face and deal with it!)

FROM INNER JOURNEY.... For All Creatives Everywhere!

Intuit and do it.

"If doubt is challenging you and you do not act, doubts will grow. Challenge the doubts with action and you will grow. Doubt and action are incompatible."
-- John Kanary

To reap the greatest benefits from intuition, we need ACTION. Be in motion. Act as if your highest expectations have already happened. Be in front of more opportunities and people. Let go of any blocks or attachments. Create mental space and physical space. Plan your work and work your plan.

Miracles rarely happen by doing nothing. Most miracles happen through other people.

What actions can you take that will move you towards your goals?

"Never forget that life can only be nobly inspired and rightly lived if you take it bravely and gallantly, as a splendid adventure in which you are setting out into an unknown country, to meet many a joy, to find many a comrade, to win and lose many a battle."
-- Annie Besant

"Raise Up a Child In The Way He Should Go..." REAL MEANING

I was surprised and very pleased to learn that the Biblical passage, "Raise up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it" does not, as is usually stated, translate to, "Make your children aware of their faith background and when they grow up they will remain faithful." Oh, it means that, of course -- but it means more than that even though that is obviously of great importance in and of itself.

What the passage means in its essence is that parents are supposed to discern what it is about each of their children that uniquely energizes them. They should find out what their children are passionate about -- and as long as it is of good repute and beneficial to society, the child should be encouraged to pursue it and possibly even to make it a career.

So! If a kid loves building things he might decide to be a builder; if she likes to take things apart, she might decide to be an analyst or a fixer of equipment and machines; if s/he likes to sing and dance and make people laugh, s/he might decide to become an entertainer. WHATEVER a child finds joy and personal expression doing, parents and elders are advised to encourage them to keep doing it! It is when we are passionate about something that we dedicate extensive time and heart so that we become excellent at it.

Words can bless and they can curse. God created the universe with his words. We create ours with ours, too. Out of our mouths and hearts come life and death. Do you think that's an exaggeration? Consider this:

How many children have been given a morbid sense of their place and worth because an adult carelessly placed into their minds (in moments of frustration or exhaustion) that they are slow, sloppy, unattractive, lazy, a dreamer, stupid? Far too many!

Just because a child doesn't want to be a mirror of his or her parent as an adult does not make him or her "stupid" or "lazy." Nor does it suggest that the child is going out of his or her way to show disdain for a parent.

It is simply a matter of "Which life do I want to live -- the one God gave me a passionate vision to do, or one my parent or someone else thinks I would be a better fit for, to satisfy their criteria rather than my own?"

We are the only people we will spend our entire lives with. Who would we rather disappoint at their end of our lives, people who are out living their lives the way they see fit, or ourselves?

It's a no-brainer.

Life the life God gave you the passion to live. He gave you life that you might live it abundantly. Don't squander it wondering what other people think of your vision.

They're so busy with their own visions for themselves that you very rarely enter into their thoughts, anyway. That's a fact of life!