At the Greek

We went to The Greek restaurant on Ventura Harbor yesterday. The food was great and the view was very nice. The view of the marina at night was very romantic with street lights casting shadows on the walk side.

The Moral of the Story is...

A wealthy old Gentleman decides to go on a hunting safari in Africa, taking his faithful, elderly German Shepherd along for the trip. One day the old German Shepherd starts chasing rabbits and before long, discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.

The old German Shepherd thinks, 'Oh, oh! I'm in deep doo-doo now!' Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap, the old German Shepherd exclaims loudly, 'Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder, if there are any more around here?'

Hearing this, the young leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. 'Whew!' says the leopard, 'That was close! That old German Shepherd nearly had me!'

Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So, off he goes, but the old German Shepherd sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up.

The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.

The young leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, 'Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!

Now, the old German Shepherd sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, 'What am I going to do now?', but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old German Shepherd says...
'Where's that damn monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!'


Source: Unknown. I received this as an email from a friend. If you know the source of this, please share it with us.

Great Commercials: Part #14

A funny commercial from AT&T about their rollover minutes feature. I love the father's sharp wit.

Tricks of the Mind

I flexed my fingers and resumed writing. The glow of the lamp softened the biting darkness. Words moved flawlessly across the page. Coldness started creeping to my right hand. I dropped my pen and massaged it with the left one. It felt as a ball of lava dropped in a sea of ice. I exhaled, closed my eyes, and rested my head back.

Ah.. the welcoming quietness.

I heard it then...a faint sound. The hair stood on the back of my neck. Sudden coldness infested my feet. I sat rigid on my chair listening. The sound was menacing in its purposefulness. Someone (or something?) was pacing in my room. The sound of feet walking on a thick carpet emanated from the floor behind my back. This being decided to pay me a visit in the middle of the night. It wafted closer, and its light breath fanned the back of my neck. Icy needles shot through my spine and my back slumped.
I sat there like an old woman not daring to breath. My toes touched the cold floor under the desk, and the contact jolted me back to my senses. I turned around ever so slowly.

Darkness started back at me, mocking me.

Living Your Fullest Potential

Jonathan Mead from Zen Habits has written a great article about reaching your fullest potential in life.

"7 Essential for Living Your Fullest Potential" lists in a great and simple language useful ways to help you re-charge your potential to the max. Here is number 1 of the list:

1. Have an open mind. Everyone talks about how important having an open mind is. But what they don’t say is how much having an open mind can affect your potential. A lot of opportunities pass us by because we’re stuck in a limited pattern of thinking, or we’re afraid to take a risk. If there’s no actual real (or perceived) danger, take the risk. The worse that can happen is you’ll look silly. Having an open mind is the first step to reaching your potential, because it gives you the willingness to take risks. We’ll never be the best we can be by playing it safe. As the saying goes: “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always be where you’ve always been.”

As a musician, when I make a mistake, I’ll cringe and think I sounded terrible. After I’m done playing and ask someone if they heard my mistake they usually say “What mistake?” There’s a good chance you see yourself more critically than other people do.

This had me thinking a lot about the way I perceive things, and the way I make choices. I want to toy with new ideas, and try new things, but I stumble out of fear or hesitancy most of the time. This needs to change.

London from Sky

Beautiful photos of London from above at night. To see more click here.


Source: The Big Picture
Photos by Jason Hawks.

A kiss from Mommy

I saw her kiss him, and I could not resist. I snapped a photo of them.

My Grandfather's Finger

"It was a stroke of pure luck." He said.

He held his stiffly-bent index finger in front of his face and smiled.

"If it was not for that coincidence, I would not have joined the army." My grandfather chuckled.

"What happened?" I asked in anticipation.

"I was very young. A boy of no more that 10 years or so. I was playing with my mates when I lost balance and fell on my hand. I heard a muted crack, and I screamed. I broke my index finger."

"They aligned my finger with a small stick and tied them both with a piece of cloth." He paused and stroked his silver hair.

"The next day, I stood watching my friends play. I was fidgeting with my injured finger when the stick fell from its wrapping. I looked around, but I could not find it. Then the genius idea hit me." His eyes twinkled.

"I put my index finger on top of the middle finger and tied them both. I thought, 'my other finger can serve as a stick'."

He demonstrated this by crossing his index and middle finger.

"Days passed by and no one paid attention. It was time to remove the wrapping. I spread my hand, and I noticed it. My index finger healed cleanly with a permanent bent."

We both laughed.

"Forward 8 years from that day, and I am standing in the health examination room for the army's applicants. The doctor looked at my hand and grimaced. He wrote something on my slip and dropped it in the box next to him."

"We stood outside waiting for our names to be called. They were calling by first name only. I heard mine. I could not believe my ears. I was accepted after all. I took the piece of paper and went to the registration lines."

I looked at him for a moment then realization dawned on me.

"No!" I breathed.

He chuckled. "Yes, there were two people sharing the same name. I accidentally took the man's slip, and he took mine. I did not realize it till much later."

"What happened to the poor man?" I asked.

"I wish I knew." He whispered softly.

"Did they ask you to leave?" I asked, knowing the answer in advance.

"No. They realized that I can use my hand perfectly fine. It was just a matter of abnormality in its look."