America's favorite

Sunday Sermon

Today's sermon:

Hype

There are so many songs written by artists now gone that have influenced me so deeply. John Lennon, Jim Croce, Peter Allen and of course Harry Chapin and I only name a few. I saw him live one time in Hartford and he signed the concert booklet I bought on the way out. He donated so much of the proceeds to world hunger and worked tirelessly for the cause.

I saw a show on Harry Chapin one time and Harry asked Bruce Springsteen if he would like to start donating concert money to world hunger. Bruce was telling the story and he basically said no and told Harry he was a better man than himself.

I thought of this very special song the other day.


Remember When The Music

Remember when the music
Came from wooden boxes strung with silver wire
And as we sang the words, it would set our minds on fire,
For we believed in things, and so we'd sing.

Remember when the music
Brought us all together to stand inside the rain
And as we'd join our hands, we'd meet in the refrain,
For we had dreams to live, we had hopes to give.

Remember when the music
Was the best of what we dreamed of for our children's time
And as we sang we worked, for time was just a line,
It was a gift we saved, a gift the future gave.

Remember when the music
Was a rock that we could cling to so we'd not despair,
And as we sang we knew we'd hear an echo fill the air
We'd be smiling then, we would smile again.

Oh all the times I've listened, and all the times I've heard
All the melodies I'm missing, and all the magic words,
And all those potent voices, and the choices we had then,
How I'd love to find we had that kind of choice again.

Remember when the music
Was a glow on the horizon of every newborn day
And as we sang, the sun came up to chase the dark away,
And life was good, for we knew we could.

Remember when the music
Brought the night across the valley as the day went down
And as we'd hum the melody, we'd be safe inside the sound,
And so we'd sleep, we had dreams to keep.

And I feel that something's coming, and it's not just in the wind.
It's more than just tomorrow, it's more than where we've been,
It offers me a promise, it's telling me "Begin",
I know we're needing something worth believing in.

Remember when the music
Came from wooden boxes strung with silver wire
And as we sang the words, it would set our minds on fire,
For we believed in things, and so we'd sing.





~ Harry Chapin ~

Rodney

Rodney
Originally uploaded by thepoemster.

Last week Nicman's dear friend Rodney passed away.

I have prepared this sentiment in honor of Rodney, a friend of a friend.

Rodney lost the ability to see with his eyes when he was eighteen years old. But what I know from all Nic has told me is his vision and insight was better than that of most sighted people. Nic met Rodney in a time of turbulence and found in him a beacon that he could trust for guidance at all times.

Lights used for navigation are not meant to provide the false sense of security of totally illuminating the landscape. They serve as indicators of where you are at present in relation to where you may wish to be. Many times the most insidious danger lie hidden and even daylight may be of no help at all.

In each of our lives we all have different trials we need to meet. Arguably, there is no textbook or manual on you or me that I know of. We can however compare notes and provide support in a limited sense if we choose to. Limited only by the amount of understanding and compassion we can show for others. Kept in check only by being too judgmental and lessened when this trust waivers. It has to be there at all times, steady and true.

In one's lifetime, a person is fortunate to run across a beacon such as this and it is the exception rather than the rule. In one's lifetime, a person is fortunate to know one person who they can truly call a friend.

Oddly enough, for one who sat in darkness, Rodney emitted more steady guiding light than a thousand "seeing" people.

His life was a beacon for those that knew him and shared in his life and now as I write this I am reminded as to the true meaning of the word "friendship".

This light,from the beacon of friendship, like that of the stars above, remains. It will guide those that take the time to look for it and make the effort to care... forevermore.

America's favorite...

Sunday Sermon

I finished my product review post for the Honda on the post prior to this.

And I can say with honesty that I didn't do it for the money. I just thought I would put in a plug for a company that isn't producing junk that takes energy to build and then energy to melt down and recycle in order to perpetuate this vicious cycle. Too many things made today are not only prone to breaking but in fact are broken when you buy them. Some electronics items I've bought recently didn't even last a year without some kind of trouble.

Rebates drive me crazy because I want the rebate but I am a procrastinator and often times there are too many hoops to jump through for me to get it done. This leads me to another plug for another company and a product review from the same at the same time or at least so close together that it will be indistinguishable from the latter.

It's the Pacific Digital DVD writer (internal for 59.95 (after $30 rebate at Staples, The Office Super Store.

At Staples they have introduced the "Easy" button in order to fill out and apply for rebates online instead of through the mail with UPC label and receipts and all the other happy horseshit they require.

Good work Staples!!!!

I have bought and installed 4 Pacific Digital internal drives in the last 4 years and all of them have delivered flawless performance. From time to time they almost give their stuff away and this is one of them. So if you're way behind the curve like me now is a good time to upgrade and a good time to sashay your ass down to Staples in order to do so. Support them for the sheer brilliance of this latest gimmick to promote sales because they deserve it for this one. I was so happy I bought a new file cabinet from them today and some dvds as well as a game for my kid.

I filled out my rebate as soon as I got home and I feel good. Whenever I can I'm buying stuff at Staples for leading the way and after a while it will become the norm as all will have to follow suit.

Kudos Staples