Happy is sad....

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Good Morning Friends,

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Today is Friday May 15, 2009

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Here is the song of the day for you....

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Sad Movies by Sue Thompson

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1961

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And, here are a few snaps from work yesterday....

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Lions Gate Bridge above




Alex Fraser Bridge above
and below....

The pony below is just another
reminder that Saturday is
a racing day, and it is also
the Cloverdale Rodeo, which takes place at the very
same place as the harness
races..so it looks like a very
busy weekend here....

So, I hope everyone is feeling OK. I am feeling better now and the weather is supposed to be better as well.

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Vancouver, B.C. Webcams

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Thanks for stopping in and I hope you like the sad movies song. Even the sad songs were happy back then don't you think?

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Have you hugged a fly today?...

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Good Morning Friends,

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Today is Thursday May 14, 2009

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It is an interesting world isn't it dear friends? A fly is a creature just like you and me. God created you and he created flies. How come? Why did God need to create flies and insects for that matter? In his grand design he created something as wonderful and complex as you and I, and in the same breath he created this pesty thing called a fly. Flies are a nuisance and they are everywhere. Especially now that summer is upon us these creatures are very plentiful and will become even more so. Haven't you ever wondered why God needed to create all of these creatures that some of us find annoying and whose role in life seems merely to bother us and nothing more? Look at all of the animals on the land and on the sea that he made, composed of every shape and of untold colours and attributes. God truly must have had a great time making all of these up the way he did. Well, the Christians tell us that man is made in God's image so we must have something in common with the Great Man. And, surely then these pesky little insects, and in fact, all living things must have something in common with the Great Entity. I would say that something is the will to live if nothing else..The thing is, we just conduct our will to live in our own ways that is all.

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You know, some of the philosophers that I am reading about right now talk about this thing called the will. Some call it the ' thing in itself ' and the like. It is just some kind of force that is at work that is all. Anyway, we all want to live so I guess that is something that all of us have in common, and that includes me and God and that little pest that you see above. Look at him scratching as he goes about his business. Isn't he cute? Flies are great producers of others as well as I am sure you are all aware as well. So, that is one thing that is surely contained in this thing called the will I suppose, the will simply wants to reproduce itself and to make itself and its desires known.

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Haven't you ever wondered why the universe is organized the way it is or even why weather systems develop and become organized, or in fact, why anything occurs at all the way it does? Are these things nature at work or is it God at work? Are nature and God the same thing? That is something called pantheism by the way. Well some people think that is so. If this is the case then you would have to surmize that nature has a consciousness and is able to think just like you and I. I really believe that is the key to life you know, understanding consciousness that is. At some point, nature gets her act together and organizes and creates life. You and I are examples of life; matter has come together and organized itself to make something come alive. And, it did the same thing for that little fly as well. That fly is an organized piece of work and just like and I and has every right to exist and to be a pest. What gave it that right to exist? The will and the organization behind that will is what made it happen. Do you think this little fly thinks about things like that? Not necessarily I suppose, but it does think about some things - things like eating and surviving and reproducing are things that it does. And, those are the kinds of things that you and I are interested in as well are they not? So, how come some people think that flies are pests if they are like you and I? Sometimes I just don't get it.

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Thanks for reading and have a nice day. Don't forget: racing is coming up again on Saturday, so that is something to think about as well. See you there if you are coming

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Song of the day:

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Thinking of the customer

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Good Morning Friends,

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Today is Wednesday May 13, 2009

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Back to work dear friends and that means thinking about the customer and his needs. Dedication is the key in the courier business, as in most other businesses as well. I am sure the woman pictured above is also dedicating herself to something.

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Dedication and commitment is a great thing I think you would agree. God is lucky to have a great staff composed of priests and nuns and the like. Maybe that is why religions like Christianity are so successful, because they have a dedicated staff. Well, I am sure that is part of the success story anyway. Someone had to do the organizing and as you can see they did a pretty good job. Yes, organization and control is important to the success of any business, whether it be religious or otherwise.

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So, all in all, business is business no matter how you look at it. And, just what is business you might enquire? Well, simply put, a business is an enterprise engaged in some activity to which a certain outcome is expected. Some businesses are money-oriented, while others are done in the public service. But, the commonality among them all is that they are focused on some activity to produce some sort of result. I, as a courier am in the business of serving customers who want something delivered to somebody that lives in some place. That is my business. Now, if you look at something like religion and God, for example well they are also engaged in some kind of a business as well. The representatives of God, such as the lady above are in the business of getting the message of God and Christ out to the public; they want people to know about God and what he can do for them; and in return they want the people to worship him. So, as you can see there is kind of a bargain going on as well. There is always some kind of a consideration going on in any kind of a business; a quid pro quo if you like. God does not come free and there is a price to be paid for his services. And, so it is with the courier business. I am performing a service for the customer who is going to pay me some money to do that service.

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So, as you can see there is always some sort of a cost in any kind of a business, whether religious or otherwise. That is just the way man organizes himself with his peers and it is the method by which he conducts his business. I think this basic business fact says a lot about the mentality of man and particularly his nature; in any relationship with his fellows and in particular, any exchange of services and the like will come with some sort of a cost; that is just the nature of business.

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Thanks for reading and have a nice day.

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Vancouver, B.C. Webcams

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source of picture here

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One more day....

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Good Morning Friends,

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Today is Tuesday May 12, 2009

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Have have always liked landscape art. I remember when I was a child I was constantly drawing mountain scenes and the like. I guess it is just part of my personality to do so. I liked to draw the trees and the snow and the beautiful skies, rivers and lakes, and the shadows that were cast about the snows of the mountain peaks. All of the things of nature grabbed my attention and made me happy. I guess that is why when I was in the carnival business and travelling about the country that I was truly a happy soul indeed. So, nature, like music has a soothing effect upon me. And the picture above? Well, I think it is soothing also, in its own way of course. It is a bit melancholy don't you think? You know, sad in a way. But, that is life isn't it - just a series of moods, I mean. I guess as humans that is what we do for a living, so to speak, we anthropomorphize everything; we see life in everything, whether dead or alive. Maybe that is the essence of the human spirit; to see life in everything - it is the natural positive condition of man. And, maybe that is because there is life in everything. So, maybe seeing human characteristics in everything is not such an irrational occupation after all and really just explains human behaviour in a manner that we might not have thought about before. And, maybe that is why man believes in gods and creates them; these are his expressions of hope. And, as for the picture it is a bit gloomy isn't it? Well, as gloomy as this picture looks I see some hope in there - do you?

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Anyhow, last day off and then back to work tomorrow. Talk to you all later and have a nice, gloomy day.

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Vancouver, B.C. Webcams

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Picture found here

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Mellow Monday

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Good Morning Friends,
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today is Monday May 11, 2009
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. Still resting up and enjoying my days off as best as I can. My picture today is of an individual sleeping. Perhaps he or she is enjoying the day off as well. Sleeping is an important human function, I think. How so? Well, in sleep one takes a break from the reality and pressures of life. Maybe sleep is the only enjoyment a person has if his life is filled with turmoil, for example. Perhaps something is weighing heavily on his mind and sleep gives him a chance to rest and to be rejuvinated so he can live life and deal with it properly sometime in the future.
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Sleeping also allows one to dream and to have fantasies, or even nightmares. So, sleep can be a risky business as well. How many times have you woken up right in the middle of a nightmare; perhaps someone was going to take your life. Dreams and sleep therefore can be very dangerous things indeed. But, on the other side of a dream is one's waking reality as well. And, comfort comes knowing that these horrible events were only occurring in your mind.
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For me, personally, sleeping and dreaming has been a mostly positive experience. For it is here that I get to dream about the people that I like and think about alot in my waking hours. So, I guess my brain is doing some work for me even while I am sleeping. Dreams and fantasy are really wonderful things when you think about it. Just how creative is your brain anyway? Well, I cannot speak for anyone else but my brain and my dreams are really wonderful things. Very often I wake up in the morning or even in the middle of the night and the dreams are still fresh in my mind. And, they are mostly positive dreams too, so that is a good thing as well. I guess dreams are your inner expressions and your inner desires at work. Maybe work is the wrong word to use if you think your brain is taking a break from reality. But, then, maybe your brain really does not take a break, but is simply working in some other mode of operation. Who is to say for sure about these things. All I know is that is my brain can produce good thoughts for me while perhaps working in overtime and that is OK by me. I say if someone else or thing wants to work while I am resting then who am I to complain about the matter anyway?
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The final thing about sleep and rest is that it allows us to have a different perspective when we wake up. A lot of people are refreshed and glad to be alive when they wake up and that is a good thing of course. Most humans are happy that they are going to get to live for yet another day and to enjoy the fruits of life. I remember in the past, that it was sleep and time that pulled me out of some very difficult positions. For example, I remember thinking about this one person for quite a while and it was a very difficult situation indeed. But, in sleeping, one tends to forget things and is removed from pressure and the business of being focused on one thing or person. Sleep takes you away from these things and allows you to be energized and to be free of turmoil. And, sometimes when you wake up all of your problems have gone away and you feel wonderful and relaxed and free. So, sleep is like a cleansing process; it is cleaning your psychological laundry for you and making you fresh and relaxed again. But, just a note of caution here dear friends. Sometimes the mind is involved in things that are of a very serious nature; they are simply compelling and overwhelming. Sometimes the mind cannot do the job it is expected to do. And, why is that you may enquire? Because sometimes the mind has to deal with something that it feels that it cannot handle alone; it is simply too much; it is like putting too much laundry in the machine and the machine malfunctions. Well, it is the same thing in human relations as well. So, don't expect your mind to perform miracles for you as it is only designed to perform under certain conditions. Sometimes the warranty that comes with your mind is not worth the psychological paper that it is written on. Sorry to be so negative about an otherwise happy topic but it is better to be honest about these things dear friends. Sometimes emotional things are not that easy to fix and you may find that life has a way of introducing you to very unexpected things. I think the mind is trying to tell you something under these conditions; it is telling you that it cannot do the job alone. As wonderful as your sleeping brain is it can only do so much for you.

above picture found here

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Happy Mother's Day

Today is Sunday May 10, 2009

Good Morning Friends,

Happy Mother's Day

The snap above is White Rock in the morning. I took this while at work last Friday.

The pic below is downtown Vancouver on Friday as well. There were four cruise ships in town apparently, and this is one of them. I suppose they are all on their way up to Alaska. So. I guess Karen up in Alaska might have a chance to check this boat out as well when it finally docks there.

Off to the left is Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) again. I am still reading about Arthur and trying to get hold of his main ideas. You can read about him in other parts of my blog as well. We have many similarities me and Arthur do. Not just his bachelorhood, but his relationship with women is also interesting as well. He was really hard on women, but there is more to him than that so I will not hold this aspect of his character against him. His big thing was something called the World as Will and Representation or Idea. Simply put, the will is evident in all things, such as the world and the universe, and even man, since he is made up of the same things as found in the universe. The will is just that thing which is unknowable and unexplainable, but it does exist. This is the so-called ' thing-in-itself ' and is something that Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) talked about as well. And, this thing represents itself in all of the objects that we can see around us; everything is the manifestation of this will. That is the simplicity of the thing and that is what I have learned so far. Schopenhauer, like other German philosophers was also an idealist; everything that man experiences is idea, but for him this idea is part and parcel of the will; it is its manifestation. Life, in this respect may be considered as a dream or a shared illusion.

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Schopenhauer was also an atheist like me, so that is something else in common that we have. And, he thinks the world is a completely irrational place and that man's only purpose in life is to survive; man is never satisfied and life is filled with pain and with wishes that are never completely satisfied; man is constantly striving for more and basically is never satisfied because of the demands of his will.

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Schopenhauer was also very interested in the idea of love. And, that makes him special as well since most philosophers do not spend too much time on this topic. So, once again we have something in common. Love is one of my areas of interest as well. I think love is a very big deal since most of us strive for this thing and it is part of all of our lives. Man needs and seeks out love; it is part of his nature in my opinion. I think Schopenhaer's failed love life forms part of his philosophy and that is why he wrote the things that he did about women.

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Finally, Schopenhauer was interested in music and its effects on man. Music is one of those aesthetic, or intrinsic value things and gets to the root of the problem of understanding man's will; music is another one of those things which relates to idea. Remember, there is the will and there is the idea, which is the manifestation of the will. The important thing to note about Schopenhauer is that he thinks that Will and Idea are actually the same thing, occuring simulataneously, such as like two sides of coin. His views are different from those of someone like René Descartes (1596-1650) and his ideas about dualism, for example; that one is affecting or having an influence upon the other. I think music is important though because it affects the ego and it makes us feel good when we listen to it. In my opinion music is a very important feature of the human animal; it soothes him and that is a very good thing. Here is what I think the importance of music is: I think music is that thing which man uses to express idea and is an emotional response to the demands of the will. It may also be an attempt by man to understand will as well, or maybe even to appease it. One final point about Schopenhauer. He thought that the emotions should be controlled. In this respect his views are similar to the philosopher Baruch Spinoza(1632 – 1677) who thought that man's emotions and desires can be controlled by simply understanding them and their origins. Spinoza is another philosopher that I have mentioned in my blog; he was also a bachelor. So, you can see why I am interested in these bachelor philosophers - they have a lot to contribute to our understanding of philosophy.

The weekend is upon us....

Good Morning Friends,
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today is Saturday May 9, 2009
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Time to relax and time to contemplate. Yes, dear friends we are all getting older and soon there will be no more days to get older by - one day we will all run out of days to ponder by.
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So, enjoy your day and may sunshine be part of that experience.
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Just think dear friends, our elderly lady friend shown in the enclosed snap did just like I do; she waited for the sunny days and enjoyed them while she could; for she knew, as I do, that one day the sun does not shine anymore.
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Have a nice day and get out there and enjoy the sunshine. And, if it is not shining in your neck of the woods then all you have to do is wait a bit longer. Maybe you will be lucky enough to have a few more days to think about things....
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Talk to you all tomorrow....