Razzmatazlady

Category: Quotes

  • Some Good Quotes and an Interesting Fact Or Two

    We’re moving Jen into a new apartment this morning so I imagine that we’ll be busy with that over the weekend. Probably won’t do much “computing”.

    But just so you know my little brain is still plugging away, here are some interesting factoids from Reference.com that I dug up. They have nothing to do with each other – they’re just interesting, I think.

    It takes 3650 peanuts to fill a 5-pound container of peanut butter. Half of all edible peanuts consumed in the US are used to make peanut butter.

    On February 22, 1980 at the XIII Olympic Winter Games, the United States Olympic hockey team beat the defending champion Soviet hockey team 4-3 in an incredible upset victory that became known as “The Miracle on Ice”. They went on to defeat Finland for the gold medal.

    And a couple of good Dave Barry quotes about the great outdoors:

    “Camping is nature’s way of promoting the motel business.” (My sentiments, exactly)

    “It always rains on tents. Rainstorms will travel thousands of miles, against prevailing winds for the opportunity to rain on a tent.”

    “The ultimate camping trip was the Lewis and Clark expedition.”

    So there you have it – my blogpost for the day!

  • This and That

    Here’s a picture I took a couple of years ago of the mailboxes at home after digging them out of a snowbank! It’s a good reminder of why we decided to pursue housesitting in the winter. I love this picture! You could hardly even see our house. Now, that’s a lot of snow.

    We’re all settled in and have finally put that nightmare of a train ride behind us, I think. I wonder how those other poor people are. I am amazed that total anarchy didn’t erupt. Wouldn’t have taken much more to turn many of us into blithering idiots…

    I have to say that it doesn’t get much more peaceful than it is here in the Pacific Northwest. It’s like therapy, really. And, boy, did we need a good dose of therapy!

    I plan to work diligently on my new website. I’d love to have it well under way by the time we leave here. It’s so much more complicated than I thought it would be but that’s because a blog is much easier to create than a website. I think.

    I just need to stay focused. It’s going to be hard work and it’s going to be a steady job but, hey, I wanted a new niche…

    There is a Zen Buddhist Proverb that pretty much says it all:

    Before enlightenment – chop wood, carry water.

    After enlightenment – chop wood, carry water.

    O.K. I can do that.

  • A Little Silliness

    There’s a bookstore here in Mesa that has earned my respect. It’s called Changing Hands (www.changinghands.com) and it’s an independent bookstore that was named Bookseller of the Year 2007 by Publishers Weekly. They have new and used books, gifts, storytime for preschoolers including sign language and bilingual storytimes, and a very impressive calendar of events.

    Changing Hands donates books to veterans groups, senior citizens, and prison inmates just to name a few. They also support local Girl Scout and Boy Scout book drives, school book drives, etc.

    And get this…they offer bus fare reimbursement and a bike rack for their employees!

    Anyway, we were over there, today, and I bought a (used) trivia book called This book of More Perfectly Useless Information. It’s great. Pure silliness. Here are a couple of little gems that are on the very first page:

    “Trivia was a Roman goddess to whom sacrifices were offered at crossroads. Because travelers often engaged in idle gossip at crossroads, Trivia’s name (referring to three roads coming together) came to be associated with the sort of information exchanged in such places.”

    “Every time Beethoven sat down to write music, he poured ice water over his head.”

    In the category of “Onlys”, we find these snippets:

    “Almonds and pistachios are the only nuts mentioned in the bible.”

    “The only two people in the Baseball Hall of Fame who had nothing to do with baseball are Abbott and Costello.” (Go ahead, check it out.)

    And this little gem, “Snails make only once in a lifetime, but it can take up to 12 hours.”

    Well, that was fun!

  • It’s 2008 – The Possibilities are Endless

    Well, here we are in 2008. It’s gonna be a great year, I just know it!
    My first quote of 2008 is this one by Eleanor Roosevelt:

    “Yesterday is history, today is a mystery, tomorrow is a gift.”

    I resolve to set small, achievable goals in 2008. I’m going to write them down. And then I’m going to do something each day toward those small, achievable goals.

    I usually go galloping into the New Year pledging all sorts of quixotic goals only to throw up my hands in defeat several weeks later.

    At the very least, I resolve to be more mindful in 2008.

    According to Wikipedia: Mindfulness is a technique in which a person becomes intentionally aware of his or her thoughts and actions in the present moment, non-judgmentally.
    I know, I know…Wikipedia is somebody’s opinion and can be altered by anyone but I like this particular definition.

    I wish everyone a healthy, happy, productive, peaceful (and more “mindful”) 2008.

  • A Bunch of Good Quotes

    Here’s a confession. Fear of failure has haunted me a lot during my life. I don’t know why. Every time I learn a new skill that I think will be just the thing I want to do the rest of my life, I am stopped in my tracks by “uncertainty”.
    It’s no big deal, really, because I’ve had/am having a very good life. Great kids. Great husband. Warm home. Good friends. Loving family. It’s not keeping me awake at night (that’s something else entirely-ha!) and the world isn’t going to come to an end because I don’t have a niche. But there it is…
    Anyway, I’ve found a treasure trove of quotes that really illustrate that I’m not the only person in the world who feels just a little unfulfilled but lacks the gumption to do something about it. Here are some quotes that I find inspiring, empowering and comforting.
    What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. (Zig Ziglar)

    I will not let past failures haunt me. Even though my life is scarred with mistakes, I refuse to rummage through my trash heap of failures. I will admit them. I will correct them. I will press on. Victoriously. No failure is fatal. It’s OK to stumble . . . I will get up. It’s OK to fail . . . I will rise again. Today I will make a difference. (Max Lucado)

    I -think-I-can, I-think-I-can, I-think-I-can... (The Little Engine That Could)

    And my favorite (because it’s fun) is:

    Even Noah got no salary for the first six months partly on account of the weather and partly because he was learning navigation. (Mark Twain)

  • Merry Christmas to All…

    And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?

    It came without ribbons.

    It came without tags.

    It came without packages, boxes or bags.

    And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore.

    Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.

    What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store.

    What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
    Dr. Seuss

  • This and That

    Tonight we’re boarding Amtrak for the trip to Los Angeles. Please, please, please let us get there on time Tuesday morning. It’s snowy and cold here in Kansas so it’ll be great to get to sunny California. Since we’re going to be staying near the beach we’ll be immune from the smog that blankets the city. I won’t be able to post anything more until Tuesday unless I can find a wireless network on the train.

    Dream Job Thoughts: I’m trying to learn all I can about blogging, website construction and internet businesses. Today I’m focusing on social bookmarking websites like del.icio.us. and digg.com. I’m going to join a couple of them to see what they’re all about and if/why I’ll need to incorporate them into my website. Hopefully, you CAN teach an old dog (me) new tricks!!

    I’ve got a great quote by Frank A. Clark. I have no idea who Frank A. Clark is except that he was born in 1911. I was looking for something motivating or inspirational for me, personally.

    “If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.”

    If I ever learn who Frank A. Clark is, I’ll post it!

  • On Success

    SUCCESS

    To Laugh often and much
    to win the respect of intelligent people
    and the affection of children;
    to earn the appreciation
    of honest critics and endure
    the betrayal of false friends;
    to appreciate beauty,
    to find the best in others;
    to leave the world
    a bit better, whether
    by a healthy child,
    a garden patch
    or a redeemed social condition;
    to know even one life
    has breathed easier
    because you have lived.
    That is to have succeeded.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson

  • On Peace (Personal)

    Picture of snowy daySaturday Quote

    I think that each Saturday I’ll post a favorite quote or an empowering thought that I have.

    I don’t know who originally said today’s quote but it’s one of my favorites:

    Peace: It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

    A huge snowfall is predicted today. There’s not much that’s more peaceful than a beautiful snowfall.

     

     12/1/2007

  • A Thought About Tolerance

    Pathway in Arboretum Park Seattle
    Pathway in Arboretum Park Seattle
    This is one of my favorite quotes. What do you think?
    “People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.” H. Jackson Brown
    As a fairly opinionated person, it’s important for me to remember this.
    11/29/2007