According to an oft-repeated tale (though surely one invented after the fact), the jack-o'-lantern actually took its name from a roguish Irishman known as Stingy Jack, who tricked the Devil into promising him that he wouldn't go to hell for his many, many sins. When Jack died, however, he found to his dismay that he had also been barred from heaven, so he went down below, banged on the gates of hell, and demanded his due from the Devil. Wouldn't you know it, though the latter did keep his promise to save Jack from going to hell, he did so by dooming him to wander the earth for all eternity with only an ember of hellfire to light his way. Thenceforth, according to the legend, Stingy Jack was known by the name of Jack O'Lantern. It wasn't until Irish immigrants brought the custom of carving jack-o'-lanterns to North America that the more commonly available pumpkin came to be used for that purpose, and not until the mid-to-late 19th century that pumpkin carving became a Halloween staple all across the United States. This tidy instructional narrative comes from Victoire and Perdue's The New Century First Reader, published in 1899: Will and Fred went to the barn. They got a pumpkin. The pumpkin was large. The pumpkin was yellow. The boys cut the top off. They cut the seeds out. They cut four holes in the pumpkin. They put a candle in the pumpkin. The light shone out. The boys said, "See our Jack-o'-Lantern."
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The other afternoon I took a friend of mine to an Orthopedic Doctor. She busted up her hip. Anyway, as I sat in the lobby I noticed almost every person in the waiting area was overweight. My thought is that if these individuals would drop this extra weight, their joints and muscles, etc, would function much better. The excess weight on one’s body adds to joint pain and injuries. So why don’t they begin by loosing this weight. Americans are the most overweight and unhealthiest society of all, there is no excuse for this. C’mon people, those of you who don’t take care of yourself, raise the insurance rates and other prices for all of us. What are we coming to? Think about it. “Notice every moment.” Keith.
6- Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one’s ideas, to take a calculated risk – and to act.
– Andre Malraux 7- Ideas are the beginning points of all fortunes. – Napoleon Hill 8- My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living. – Anais Nin 9- The ability to convert ideas to things is the secret of outward success. – Henry Ward Beecher 10- New ideas pass through three periods: 1) It can’t be done. 2) It probably can be done, but it’s not worth doing. 3) I knew it was a good idea all along! – Arthur C. Clarke 1 An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all. – Oscar Wilde 2- Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced. – Swami Vivekananda 3- An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea. – Buddha 4- Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats. – Howard Aiken 5- Good ideas are common – what’s uncommon are people who’ll work hard enough to bring them about. – Ashleigh Brilliant As a kid the popular video game system we played was pong, then came Atari. The games were simple and fun. It should have stayed this way. Video games now days are complicated. When is the last time you played a modern video game? This shit is hard. So many buttons to memorize, I just don’t have the patience. Stuff never stays simple, if you have to read the directions on how to play a game and have fun, in my opinion why play the damn thing. Yea, yea this shows my age, and kids now don’t know the difference, they think these new games are simple, things advance and change in life that is for sure, but for me it is too complicated, let’s bring back pong shall we. “Notice every moment “ Keith.
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AuthorKeith Kelly currently lives in Rio Rancho New Mexico. Archives
October 2020
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