Charlie Wedemeyer

Throughout his lifetime Charlie Wedemeyer has been an inspiration to others. He played quarterback for the Michigan state team and was national athlete for the state of Hawaii in the 1960s. He went on to coaching football and was promoted to head football coach for the Wildcats in 1977.

Just a year later in 1978, Wedemeyer, at age 32, was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, the debilitating disease that attacks motor neurons, slowly causing the person with ALS to lose his or her ability to walk, speak, swallow and breathe. At the time of his diagnosis, doctors said Wedemeyer would only live one to three more years – it’s been almost thirty.

Wedemeyer, now 59, is a testament to the phrase `life goes on.' His life didn't stop with the diagnosis or when faced with the effects of ALS. Through the help of his wife, Lucy, Wedemeyer continued his everyday activities, including both teaching and coaching. He taught math until 1981, and coached football until January 1986 in a golf cart on the sidelines, with Lucy by his side reading his lips to interpret plays and instruct players.

Wedemeyer is a great example of living life to its fullest, overcoming the odds and achieving great success. He passed those lessons on most recently to the Spartans as they prepared for play in the Silicon Valley Football Classic in 2001. With Lucy reading his lips, Charlie spoke to the players the day before the game about the importance of teamwork, and concluded by saying, "Never give up."

The Spartans didn't give up, defeating Fresno State 44-35, and the same goes for Wedemeyer, three years later he still hasn't given up.

Today, he can only move his eyes, eyebrows, lips and is on 24-hour-a-day life support. Through the years, Lucy gently and patiently loves and cares for him.

In 1993, Charlie and Lucy founded the Charlie Wedemeyer Family Outreach, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping ALS patients and their families by offering hope through raising funds for research and patient services, by raising awareness, and by way of example.

______________________________

My humblest salutation to Charlie for his perseverance and Lucy for her unconditional love.

Benjamin Franklin

America has never forgotten Benjamin Franklin because he did both. He lived these words of wisdom by writing as much as he possibly could and by doing even more.

One of the greatest assets to the history & development of humanity & American society, Benjamin Franklin, in his lifetime, distinguished himself above others with the multi-faceted contributions he made as a scientist, an inventor, a statesman, a printer, a philosopher, a musician and an economist.

(Now who says men can't multi-task??)

Some of Benjamin Franklin's words of wisdom from A - Z:

A An empty bag cannot stand upright.

B Be always ashamed to catch thyself idle.

C Cheese and salty meat should be sparingly eat.

D The Doors of wisdom are never shut.

E Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

F Full of courtesy, full of craft.

G God helps them that help themselves.

H Hunger never saw bad bread.

I If you'd have a servant that you like, serve your self.

J If Jack's in love, he's no judge of Jill's beauty.

K Keep thy shop and thy shop will keep thee.

L A Lie stands on one leg, the truth on two.

M A Man without a wife is but half a man.

N Nothing but money is sweeter than honey.

O One today is worth two tomorrows.

P Pay what you owe and you'll know what's your own.

Q A Quarrelsome man has no good neighbors.

R The Rotten apple spoils his companion.

S Speak little, do much.

T Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.

U Up, sluggard, and waste not life; in the grave will be sleeping enough.

V Visits should be short, like a winter's day.

W Well done is better than well said.

X A good example is the best sermon.

Y You may delay, but time will not.

Z There are lazy minds as well as lazy bodies.

Bamboo Lesson

You may find this uplifting & helpful...

One day I decided to quit… quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality... I wanted to quit my life.

I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

"God", I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"

His answer surprised me…

"Look around", God said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"

"Yes", I replied.

"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

In the second year the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo."

God said, "In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit.

In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would not quit." God said.

"Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant...But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle." God said to me.

"Did you know, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots?"

"I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you."

"Don't compare yourself to others." God said. "The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful."

"Your time will come", God said to me. "You will rise high."

"How high should I rise?" I asked.

"How high will the bamboo rise?" God asked in return.

"As high as it can?" I questioned.

"Yes." God said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."

God never gives up on you. Life is not a problem to be solved, but a gift to be enjoyed.

______________________

Yet how often have I been impatient & envious, demanding my dreams my way on my terms? How often have I run ahead, barefoot, only to find cuts & bruises on my unprotected feet and have myself fall out of track, vision blurred & heart anguished?

But when I realise that every man/woman has his/her day & season of glory, I can afford to be more patient and to enjoy the joy & pain of each adventure.

Ease the Mon blues!

A light laugh to ease those Mon blues! ;)

There was a perfect man who met a perfect woman. After a perfect courtship, they had a perfect wedding. Their life together was, of course, perfect.

One snowy, stormy Christmas Eve, this perfect couple was driving along a winding road when they noticed someone at the roadside in distress. Being the perfect couple, they stopped to help. There stood Santa Claus with a huge bundle of toys. Not wanting to disappoint any children on the eve of Christmas, the perfect couple loaded Santa and his toys into their vehicle. Soon they were driving along delivering the toys. Unfortunately, the driving conditions deteriorated and the perfect couple and Santa Claus had an accident. Only one of them survived the accident. Who was the survivor?

Answer: The perfect woman. She's the only one that really existed in the first place. Everyone knows there is no Santa Claus and there is no such thing as a perfect man.

A Male's Response: So, if there is no perfect man and no Santa Claus, the perfect woman must have been driving. This explains why there was a car accident.

The Mind

Liu Chi Kung placed second to Van Cliburn in the 1958 Tchaikovsky competition. A year later, he was imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution in China. During his seven-year captivity, he didn't have access to a piano of any kind. Very soon after his release, he was back on tour. Critics were amazed at his playing, stating that it was better than ever. "How did you do this?" one critic asked. "You had no chance to practice for seven years."

"I did practice," Liu replied, "every day I rehearsed every piece I had ever played, note by note, in my mind."

Perhaps the only area in our life where we have total control is in our mind. It's in the mind that the battles of life are won or lost. It's in the mind where we choose to follow God or go our own way. It's in the mind where we battle temptation. This is why David said, "Your Word I have hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you" (Psalms 119:11, NIV).

Allen Ginsberg, the great American Beat poet says: "We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world."

And may I humbly add: With our hands we make dreams reality. ;)

Soul Food

My lil' loves:

Top left:
Drum book & drum sticks

Top right:
Books to read. Current reads are (1) A Biography of Kurt Cobain: Heavier Than Heaven, (2) Faith, God & Rock 'n' Roll, (3) Joy That Lasts

Bottom left:
Educational books for personal advancement. Borrowed 3 books from the library on writing articles, characters & Asian writings.

Bottom right:
My manual for life - the Bible. "Your Word is lamp unto my feet; a light unto my path. How can a young man (woman) cleanse his (her) way? By taking heed according to Your Word."

_____________________________

There you go. Essentials for my daily living, without which I could be under nourished, deprived, and low spirited. Of course there's this one other important essential...

What are your soul food? :0

The Tyger

The Tyger

a poem by William Blake

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
in the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? and what dread feet



What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dead grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaved with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Joy in the Now

An American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with a single fisherman docked. Inside the boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

"Only a little while," the Mexican replied.
"Then why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"
"This is enough to meet my family's needs."
"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, senor."

The American scoffed. "I am a Harvard M.B.A. and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You could leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles where you would run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But senor, how long will this all take?"

"Fifteen to twenty years."

"But what then, senor?"

The American laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would announce a public offering and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions!"

"Millions, senor? Then what?"

"Why, then you would retire. Move to a small coastal village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your grandkids, take a siesta with your wife, and stroll into the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

___________________

"Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God." - Ecc 2:24

Ann-ya

Behold the beauty of a new born
The serenity it exudes
The hope & love
Of a tender mother
The pride & joy
Of an adoring father
May the grace of God
cover you richly
May you grow in wisdom & stature
And in favor with God & men.


Baby Ann-ya born on 18.03.06 to CKK & TYL

Jim Crow Laws

A brief touch on the African American history. History is the mistakes & successes, failures & victories, pain & joy, death & triumph of men down the corridor of humanity.

This is my take: An individual or group or nation's esteem is always a cause worth fighting for.

Starting in the 1890s, states throughout the South passed laws designed to prevent Black citizens from improving their status or achieving equality. These statutes, which together were known as Jim Crow, were in place and enforced until the 1950s and 60s. Here is a sampling of those laws, grouped by topic.

Education:

Separate rooms shall be provided for the teaching of pupils of African descent, and such pupils may not be admitted to the school rooms occupied and used by pupils of Caucasian or other descent.

Entertainment:

It shall be unlawful to conduct a restaurant or other place for the serving of food in the city, at which white and colored people are served in the same room, unless such white and colored persons are effectually separated by a solid partition extending from the floor upward to a distance of seven feet or higher, and unless a separate entrance from the street is provided.

Marriage:

The marriage of a person of Caucasian blood with a Negro shall be null and void.

"Jump Jim Crow" is a song and dance from 1828 done in blackface by white comedian Thomas D. Rice. The number was supposedly inspired by the song and dance of a crippled African American in Cincinnati called "Jim Crow". The song became a great 19th century hit and Rice performed all over the country as Daddy Jim Crow. The tune was one of the first major examples of African American influence in popular music in the United States.

With time Jim Crow became a term often used to refer to African Americans, and from this the laws of racial segregation became known as Jim Crow laws.

The expression to jump Jim Crow came to mean "to act like a stereotyped stage caricature of a Negro".

Blues Me Away

Life's troubles are not to be run away from.

As the black slaves sing out their grief and pain in their Blues, let's make greater poetry, descriptives and songs out of our quandaries.

Sunny Side Up

Somethin' that may capture Van Gogh's attention perhaps?

Here comes the sun!

Revelations of a Sun morn

Intention without action is dead.

If I say that the love of Christ is in me, then let me not be quick to judge/snap/be bitter, but always be ready to shed love, peace, hope & joy to others.

We know that wisdom brings success. But what about 'softening harshness'?

Ecclesiastes 8:1
"How wonderful to be wise, to analyse and interpret things. Wisdom lights up a person's face, softening its harshness."

Wisdom does not only bring success from the ability to analyse and interpret things - it lights up and softens the harshness of one's countenance to one of peace and nobility.

Ecclesiastes 10:4
"If your boss is angry at you, don't quit! A quiet spirit can overcome even great mistakes."

Gentle submission to authority is an honorable virtue. Humility before authority brings forgiveness and favor of men.

Marriage Wisdom

Attended a wedding last weekend and gathered these wise truths...

Entering into a marriage is like entering into school - just as there are things to learn in school, there are things to learn in a marriage.

3 keys to a healthy marriage:

1. Communicate openly

• Lack of communication creates doubt and doubt breeds negativity

2. Compromise lovingly

• Love doesn't always demand its way.

3. Cherish each other whole heartedly

• We cherish what we love, and we love what we cherish. That which we do not cherish, we will lose one day.

Love is not a happy ending, because love has no ending.

Israel

Israel - a poem by A.T.




Ask me where my heart is
And I’ll tell you it’s in a faraway land
In the holy land of Israel
Where the mountains peak
The valleys dip
The eagles soar
And cattles rear
The grass green and luscious
The plantations fertile
The men strong
The women beautiful
The culture a rare blend

A priceless treasure

Where in the world is the Promised Land
A land flowing with milk and honey
In the holy land of Israel
Where my heart is

There’s no denying
That my heart’s lost to the Holy land
Each day away from her makes me pine even more
For her beauty, her grace, her peace
When will I set foot on her soil again

Streets Of Jerusalem

Jerusalem - a poem by William Blake





And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?

And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark satanic mills?




Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!

I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.

Bob Dylan

A tribute to the legend of our time...

He has been described as the voice of a generation, but he has been much more. His songs beat to the pulse of our country. His tears of rage are tempered with the truest patriotism and vigilance, his acid humor with a disarming sweetness. His music is always drenched in the colors of hope. He has been an unlikely pop icon, a shy superstar and reluctant rebel, the sincerest social activist and the most distinctive of poets.

He was born Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth and grew up in the mining town of Hibbing, Minnesota. His family owned a hardware store. He formed a high school band called the Golden Chords, then struck out solo during his freshman year as he began to sing in coffee houses around the University of Minnesota. He changed his name as a tribute to his favorite poet, Dylan Thomas, and headed for Greenwich Village, New York, where the folk-rock revolution awaited just his sort of natural genius.

He has been controversial, iconoclastic, charismatic, and impossible to ignore, perhaps the most influential figure in American popular music in our time. His songs have become so inextricably woven into American culture that it is sometimes difficult to remember that anthems such as "Blowin’ In The Wind" and "The Times They Are A-changing" are not folk songs, that one inimitable poet from the heartland created them out of his own confrontation with turbulent times.

-Kennedy Center

Snaps of Moulin Rouge

In 1899, a young, ambitious writer

defies his father's wishes and moves to Montmarte, Paris where he sets to work writing "Spectacular, Spectacular"

with the beautiful & famous Satine as its star.



Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months.
And then, one not-so-very special day, I went to my typewriter,
I sat down, and I wrote our story.
A story about a time, a story about a place, a story about the people.
But above all things, a story about love. A love that will live forever.

The End

N/B: The pictures were taken without any premonition as to the layout & presentation of this post, i.e. the collaboration of the words & pictures. For this, I am proud of the final turn-out. ;)

Meaning: Love

Meaning comes from relationship

And an essential ingredient of meaning is love

Press Forward

"For the joy that was set before Him He endured the cross..."

There is a process of pain through the passage of life, especially in the journey towards dreams of greatness.

this stop is cold & painful
i stop ever so often in my track
help me not to linger longer than i should
in fact, help me on each time

Daily Wisdom

The world is spinning fast - it moves by you.

Run ahead or lack behind.

DreamJob.googleplex

A peek into the Google HQ @ Mountain View, California - someplace for us to dream about...



Google Transport Services

Google Playstation - desktop gizmos & lava lamps

Google Mini Laps

Google Graffiti - the idea board


Google Cue

Google Cut

Google Volley

Google Eats

In Googleplex, you never have to work a single day - you play, create & innovate.

(hmm... maybe Google should pay me for this publicity! ;p)