Happy Thanksgiving

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happy thanksgiving, personal gratitude journal, Thanksgiving, thanksgiving day, thanksgiving quote, thanksgiving video

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

It is the day to feel blessed, grateful and alive. Here is a page I found that allows me to feel grateful everyday starting this thanksgiving day. You can create your own personal gratitude journal at http://thankfulfor.com/ and make every day a day of thanksgiving.

Watch this Thanksgiving Turkey Fun video by 123GreetingsCom 🙂

Hiking Guide Kindle Ebook Launch

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checklists, ebooks, hiking checklists, hiking companion, hiking ebook, Hiking guide, kindle ebook, outdoors

What could an author do in his/her spare time? Well, I usually like to go hiking occasionally and I make it a point to work out at least every other day. I have been working out to BeachBody’s DVD challenges and will be posting some reviews on that in later posts. But for now, I am so excited to say there is something new on Amazon.

Yes, I am so excited to share with you my new book Hiking Companion: Easy guide on what to wear, hiking essentials, safety and checklists. Back in September, I have taken part of the yearly Challenge by Ed Dale and unlike last year, I did complete the 30 day challenge this time. Although it was indeed challenging, I am happy to say I have learned so much in the process. And as a result I have created a new kindle book related to my outdoors website campingnstuff to encourage more and more people to get outdoors. This guide was written as an informational ebook to set beginner hikers on the right track and mindset to having a pleasant outdoors experience.

So here is a description of what Hiking Companion can offer you

An easy to read manual on all you need to know to start your day hikes on the right foot and go forward. It is about getting you prepared on what to expect and need to know before you begin.

How to plan

What to wear

Tips on safety

Essential emergency items and why you need them

Basic survival skills and links

Fitness and basic skills advice

Tips on hydration and nutrition

References and links to famous trails

Overnight backpacking advice

3 ready to print checklists for emergency, hiking and overnight essentials and gear

Get your gear ready by checking off items from the checklists before you go out hiking.

You can take your hiking companion with you on your hikes, right from your phone and have access to all the information you might need while on the trail; like how to tie knots or just as a reminder or some precautions and safety measures.

I hope you will find the information and checklists in this book useful and clear to help you begin your outdoors journey safely and enjoyably.

I encourage anyone wanting to get into online marketing to keep an eye for next year’s challenge.  And tell everyone you know there is never been a better time to get outdoors.

Get your Hiking Companion guide book at Amazon and get your hiking checklists by signing up to my CampingNstuff newsletter page.

Travel photos

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architecture, arts, church of annunciation, europe images, george clooney, illustration, lake como italy, lyon france, marseille france, nice restaurants, notre dame de la garde, parma italy, puerto banus spain, roof tiles, town of parma, travel photos, zurich switzerland

Here are some pictures from my Euro trip last year. If you have not gone to Europe, I definitely recommend you do. Here is an overview of some of the cities I have seen.

Puerto Banus, Spain

This is Puerto banus in the Marbella area, in Spain. I was told it is where the rich and famous gather. This harbor has plenty of high end shops to visit, and very nice restaurants to eat in while watching the view of the sea.

Another area where the rich and famous live, and where George Clooney is said to own a home, is Lake Como, in Italy. A beautiful view I might add, of the lake and the majestic Swiss Alps in the background.

Lake Como, Italy

In Europe, you will find many plazzas, with walkways made of cobblestones, full of shops and cafes, where locals and tourists gather. It is full of life. This picture is taken in Zurich, Switzerland, at the right time before the crowd.

Old town Zurich, Switzerland

When I was in Europe, I felt the ancient nature of things, from cathedrals to historic monuments. This below is a 17th century church in the town of Parma, North of Italy.

Church of Annunciation, Parma, Italy

Speaking of churches, here is a picture of the famous Notre Dame de la Garde in the south of France, Marseille.

Notre Dame de la Garde, Marseille, France

You can also tell the houses in Europe are much smaller than those in the United States. This is a view of Lyon, France. The old architecture and roof tiles are dominant here.

Lyon, France

 

For more, or download any images, check out my Photodune travel images

Maybe I will see you somewhere in Europe!

 

Love … again

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amazon love poetry book 2012, feature friday at Alesha Escobar, guest post at wodke hawkinson, review by Rich Weatherly, the four letters of love book

So for my upcoming new book on love, “The Four Letters of Love” that is, many have been really kind and helpful in assisting in the tough road of promotion.

As such, I would like to thank author Rich Weatherly for being the first to post a review of The Four Letters of Love on his blog, (you can read it here) and for being the first to own a signed paperback copy of the book. (on its way)

I also would like to thank duo authors Karen and PJ (Wodke Hawkinson) for hosting me on their pages for a guest post on love Why poetry and love? based on the book.

In addition, I would like to thank author Alesha Escobar for being kind to feature my book on her site, at aleshaescobar.com

More reviews to come, and possibly more love 🙂 HA!

See you soon on planet love … if such one does exist, we will find it.

Merry Christmas Everyone

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Merry christmas

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas and lots of needed happiness to this world we live in. Play with some snow and enjoy the holidays 🙂

http://www.txlonghorn.com/

 

A little contest needs votes

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contest votes, indie author contest votes, short stories, vote on short story

Hello everyone,

I recently entered a little contest for a 6 sentence short story, hosted by a very interesting bored writer. Check out his site. There, hidden somewhere is a very short story of mine, but I cannot really tell you.

So, I invite you to read these shorts and vote for your favorite two, at this location in virtual space: here

Also do not forget to enter the quiz realm link to win a giveaway copy of The thinking man, paralysis book. The quiz, though based on the book, applies to real life questions and a diagnostic based on the answer. It is fun, so please do not be scared. However if you’d rather skip, though that would make me sad because I put some time making that quiz, by all means enter your info on this form.

Thank you for visiting. hope to see you here again.

Betrayal and Revenge Poll

Love does not come easy to many of us, if not most.

In fact, when love comes, it brings with it a whole set of drama including jealousy, betrayal and then revenge.

Here is a poll, that I encourage you to participate in, in order to have better feedback in regards to revenge after betrayal; something for my next article.

Thank you for participating.

Signs of True Love

Someone, I hold dear, has asked me a while back to write about true love; on the signs one could look for to know if it is true love.

At the time, my thoughts were different and my intake on life and true love only showed me that life is a series of actions and reactions, causes and effects. The two basic and innate choices we have, are either an emotional response, or a logical one, though seldom both.

For logic cannot understand the outbursts of emotions, but can rationalize them into theories based on facts. Emotions on the other hand, are rampant, erratic and illogical, and thus defy any reason.

From a logical point of view, though some things are unexplainable, there is always a speculation, a theory, as to what has caused it.

From an emotional view, there is no reasoning. Effect and reaction dictate the course of action taken, based not on facts, but on how our emotions react to those facts.

So where does love stand in all this logic, I found myself asking?

After all analysis, reasoning, feeling, experimentation, writing and poetry, I have come to realize that love cannot be defined because I say: “love is a game playing on our emotions. Some play a role and some react.”

Most of us have a mask on, and when it comes to playing love the mask changes to fit the role.

Many of us await to fall prey to Hollywood’s illusion; the depiction of Cinderella living happily ever after, or playing price charming and the knight in shining armor.

The heart falls, and we cannot control it, but the unconsciousness knows what is inside; be it the shining knight awaiting to rise or Cinderella awaiting to be swept off her feet.

And whatever it is on the inside, it will eventually manifest itself on the outside.

Yet, people feel when the change is coming. And when the fairytale ends, I found there are two kinds of people reacting.
Like an active warrior, some argue and fight in the hope that it is all worth it.
Some, on the other hand, like the warrior who has laid down his weapons and armor, wait and watch playing along, until the castle crumbles down.

But what if, just what if as my friend tends to believe, there is such a thing called true love, how then, with all the logic and games, can one recognize it? How does one know, it is true love?

I am no expert on relationships, nor love, and yet I found it simple enough to eliminate the elements that lead to confusion and focus on what could be the elements of true love.

Thus, I will not speak of things that are beyond actual life, as things we see in movies but I will attempt to list what I think could be the signs to recognizing true love.

Here is how you know it is true love.

1.  When you miss her, you’re not just missing her sex.

2.  You think of things to share with her.

3.  Her voice soothes you and makes you smile.

4.  You feel joy when you are with her.

5.  You think of her occasionally during the day.

6.  No matter the bad days and hardships you cannot let her go.

7.  You feel purposeless without her when you fight or break up.

8.  You know her well, the real person she is, and when she is genuine and when she is not.

9.  Her loving words move something inside you.

10. You are yourself with her and you don’t need to act or pretend.

11. She encourages and supports you and is there, caring when you are down.

12. She makes an effort when you don’t.

13. She bleeds (figuratively) and hurts but chooses to stay with you.

14. She needs you as much as you need her to bring to life balance.

15. She is attentive to what you say.

16. She notices the little things that may seem meaningless to others.

17. She has the patience to go through the bad times with you.

18. Her promises are kept.

19. She never plays games with you but knows what she wants and is honest about it.

20. She knows your weaknesses as well as your strengths but does not take advantage of either.

21. She understands your needs and space.

22. She always has time for you.

23. She makes you laugh.

24. There is always communication between the two of you.

25. Moments of silence are understood without words.

26. She embraces all sides of you, the qualities as well as the many faults.

27. She gets upset with you once in a while because she cares.

And last but not least, it feels as though there is some cosmic connection that pulls you towards one another… an unexplainable phenomenon that keeps both your lives entangled together, like two separate threads being woven together to form one that is stronger and more colorful.

And when you fight with one another, it feels as though you are no longer in harmony with the universe; like cosmic energies being transferred from one entity to the other, you feel one another as though there is a transmission of thought and feeling through the cosmos, from her heart and soul to yours.

I believe, that just like all feelings, even true love can be one sided. some people are capable of loving you and it is on their end true love, though you may not love them the same, and vice versa, but if it is mutual, then it is indeed true love for both.

The above is a mere speculation, my views and interpretations, and should not be taken literally, except with your own consent and at your own risk. I am hoping however, that the list may be helpful to you.

What do you think or believe true love signs are? Or is there anything that you would like to add to the list?

London Burning?

London burning?

While we here in the US have been too busy with something not even internal as much as it is personal, the infamous casey Anthony case, the world has been undergoing a change.

News this morning spoke of London burning, showing images that would make any human who lived there utterly shocked to see such disorder in a place that was built on order.
I have known the people to be more relaxed and less angered at a problem than their brothers elsewhere in the world, when I had lived there some years back; when it was still partially inhabited by the British. But now with everybody and their brothers living there, it is a totally different story.

Rioters and looters and thieves, have been doing their nasty deeds and implanting their violence for some time it seems, and now for three days in a row, they have become almost unstoppable; burning the city to ashes, robbing and infesting the streets with their nasty disease called blind violence, while the police and government it seems, are unable to handle them completely or efficiently except with promises to have them pay for their crimes.

Personally, Regardless of the issue and the reasons why, the question I ask, is where were we when all this started? What sort of news were we watching during all this upheaval? Kind of like the behind the scenes news!

The other question I ask, is what will this amount to? Human beings are so violent in nature it seems that we rebel against anything with violence being our primary approach when we know well that our brain would suggest a wiser attitude if we stop and think for a moment.

By destroying things around us, what are doing but destroying ourselves really? We have become worse than animals, for even animals think and act on instincts even better than we do.

I am appalled by this news, but I suppose it is a lesson all Europe must learn. By housing all sorts of foreigners in our land, we have somehow given them the upper hand. Our land has become theirs, and theirs to destroy.
This is not the first violent event, nor the last, and I assume, no civilized being would destroy his own land and thus I am under the impression these rioters are outsiders, as is usual the case.

That is not to say I am accusing anyone, however the behavior suggests it is not a common one adopted by natives. I am one to believe that although countries should be open to welcome other residents, the abundance of one certain population over the natives of the land will only lead to its destruction and transformation.

The last time I was in London, I met all sorts of nationalities except for British. And if we look around, this is happening all over the world; nations are taking over other nations with their practice and culture and violence simply by being there.
We bite the hand that feeds us it seems no matter what.

If there is such an end as we predict in the near future, it is human made and perhaps humanly deserved. No disaster will eradicate us from the face of the planet, but our own behavior that is sadly destructive to our fellow humans, to our environment, to our land and in consequence to ourselves.

For it seems wars are not enough, religious battles do not suffice, we must always find something to rebel against with violence.

And I suppose this is just the beginning, not just in London, or in Europe but perhaps in the world as we know it. Watch out for more because the disease usually has a strong effect in being spread around.

I am more in disgust towards the  human race than I am saddened by what I see. If hell did exist, it is perhaps here, a result of our own doing. For throughout history, some people are born to build and some people are born to destroy.
Every now and then we hear of something of the sort or of something similar in its weight and effect on us and soon we forget before we are reminded again, that no matter what, it seems we are doomed to dream of the word peace rather than strive to achieve it.

In short, we have been blinded for a while and I wonder when will we ever open our eyes? The world is not ours, the land is not our slave, humans are not our trash and violence is never the answer.
I understand the crisis we are all undergoing, but is this really the answer, the right thing to do?

2012: An end or a beginning?

There has been many debates over the year 2012 lately but most predict that something is due to happen to change the planet and the present people living on it. Scientists say an asteroid might crash on earth causing great ruptures in the core of the planet and wiping out much of its surface. Religious believers say that the Bible’s revelation is being fulfilled and the signs have been manifesting through wars, earthquakes, volcanoes, fires, sea rises, iceberg meltdown and so forth that the end of the world is near. Politicians might even fear a third war and are all equipping their countries in preparation for nuclear attack.
Like many I fear an end is coming but I am uncertain how.

While observing the people around me on a night around town, something suddenly occurred to my mind.
We have reached the peak of our present civilization. We are too open, too sexual, too messed up, too violent, too adulterous, too indulging in our food and drink, too oblivious to the rest of the world and the planet, too selfish and self absorbed but mostly too materialistic.
We have also reached a peak in technology. Everything is being robotized or automated that jobs are lacking, people are being laid off and soon to be replaced by machines. The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer and the middle class is soon to be wiped out. Religious movements are on the rise with their anti everything approach because we are all sinners supposedly, and computers and Internet have isolated people from meeting socially that we find ourselves resorting to dating sites to meet people or ordering things online avoiding face to face interactions.
We are reproducing cells and life in laboratories, even seeking dwellings outside the realm of planet earth. We have advanced so far that we have become creators not just creatures. We have evolved and yet our morals and our respect for others an self have diminished, our proper ways have become non existent. We lay children left and right, we marry for money and even divorce for money, we live for money that we have become like puppets for financial gain.

If we go back in history all these things have existed once in different forms. Civilizations rose high but then crashed and went backwards, fifty or a hundred years back perhaps. Orgies, drinking, lust, gluttony, adultery, thieves, financial hunger and more have existed since the beginning of time and so did technology to a high degree for how else were the pyramids built or the great wall of China or the Eiffel tower amongst other wonders in the world. But no matter the century, these past civilizations reached a peak at one point and went backwards again. Religious movements and the church in those times restrained people on a leach reinforcing the deadly sins and the ten commandments and punished publicly those who were caught sinning. And then with time and financial gain the church lost its power and people were openly seduced by sin and abundance again before moral rules an society standards found a way to suppress them again. And now here we are extremely seduced once more while religious movements are rising everywhere in the world proclaiming purity and the walk of Jesus in return. These anti sin followers will surely strike a war, a protest, massacres perhaps for not many seem to be following their ways.

Also if we look back throughout history there was always the rich, the middle class, and the poor, and at one point the poor got even poorer and the middle class paid the price. Kings ruled, the middle class paid their taxes and the poor suffered hunger. Now again the middle class is paying the dues of the now poor and we find history repeating itself. The economy is down and even if it were to rise again we are veering towards communism eventually.
Are we going to kill each other for food or are we going to rob one another for basic necessities? The times ate leading us somewhere there.

Something is going to happen soon, something major that will take civilization back to a time uncertain and unknown, where we might even lack basic necessities and the technology we now have. What that something is could be more than just an asteroid, more than religious reform, more than just people robbing and killing one another for food, more than a third world war, more than the environment and earth rebelling in silence, it could be all of the above combined. And if so, times will be very hard on us and all we now know will remain but a memory for those who survive without the means to recreate what is soon to be destroyed.
In longing of what we have we shall be and in need we will remain until another era dawns on us and we recreate from nothing something to marvel about.
But history warns us that we shall become again so conceited and proud with our findings and advancement that we will make way for sin and evil again to reign until something happens to remind us that we are nothing but flesh, than we own nothing but what God can give us and also take away from us, that no matter how high we rise we can never go beyond God. And maybe that time is near and maybe not. But if we can create life than we have already considered ourselves beyond God. What else can we create before we crash again? Will the time of our fall be 2012 or 2025? No one knows the exact time, but our peak evolution tells us to start preparing for a great fall. Will it be the end of time or simply the end of an era and a new beginning?