Monday, August 15, 2011

Can We Find Balance In An Unbalanced World??

Does your world run balanced or unbalanced?

The world of most persons probably runs unbalanced a lot of the time, they just won't admit it.  Of course, there are plenty of persons who think they know it all, but they don't.  Being a bit unbalanced could mean stress from financial issues.  Or, it could mean a person is working too hard and needs to slow down.  And, to some it means that fitness and health is coming last and it might be time to get in shape and stop the dang overeating.  Being mentally unbalanced is probably the most confusing to a person and the hardest to get off the balance tilt.

In my opinion there are or there was a lot of totally unbalanced people in this world.  Just to name a few:  The 9/11 suicide bombers; Charles Manson; John Wayne Gacy - killed 33 young boys; Hitler; Stalin;  Jim Jone - Jonestown Massacre; David Koresh - Branch Davidians; Lizzie Borden - Killed Parents.  And just added to my list are the bombers who over the weekend bombed a hotel in Pakistan, killing six persons and the suicide bombers who hit the governor's compound in Afghanistan, killing 22 persons.  What the heck is wrong with these people....why do they want to kill?  Unbalanced people!!

When people act as those who are listed, they had to have been unbalanced.  Another, I would add to the list would be Casey Anthony who was just found not guilty but the personal feelings of most persons is that she killed her two year old daughter Caylee.  Incidentally, Casey Anthony has recently been voted the most hated person in America.  Also some of the others in the top ten of that list are:  Octomom Nadya Suleman; O. J. Simpson; Jon Gosselin - for publicly divorcing his wife and leaving his 8 kids; Paris Hilton; Jesse James - for going out on his wife Sandra Bullock; and Howard Stern.  All of these are well known persons, and seem to be pretty unbalanced in my opinion.

Speaking of unbalanced.  The earth lately seems to be unbalanced in the weather department at least.   We all are rather unbalanced when we consider the atmosphere around us and having to cope with the "unbalanced" changes in the climate.  The horrific storm which occurred this weekend at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, and which ripped apart the stage killing and injuring persons, is an example of unbalanced nature.

Another example of being unbalanced is when we find ourselves in the grip of the unbalanced economic and market turmoil and government spending and overspending and the fighting among the congressional members.  Not a whole lot any of us can do to change this except when we vote.  But until then, we must all protect ourselves mentally so we don't overstress about the economic situations America is now going through.  We can all sit and stew about it and get on websites and over and over again express the same personal opinions and do catcalls against one political party or another, but what good is that doing?  It creates stress on the person who is writing opinions and calling out the catcalls.  And, this type of action doesn't do anything towards getting the unbalanced  economics tilt back to the level position.

In my opinion, (and I know I'm far from right all the time and will freely admit it) the world just seems unbalanced from a lot of prospectives.  As I see it, we all spend a lot of time multi-tasking in order to get through life, be it balanced or unbalanced.  Keeping balanced is a day to day process.....none of us is going to wake up and see a perfectly aligned world.  It's just not going to happen.  But in my opinion, we must all strive to keep ourselves as balanced as we can so we don't face overload which can sure be harmful to your health.  As far as the unbalance in the economy, we can throw out the Washington Soup...all of it.... and start a new batch in hopes that the liquid doesn't become unbalanced and spoiled.  Just my opinion  folks.

Some Different Faces Of Mary Todd Lincoln






Mary Todd Lincoln was born December 13, 1818 in Lexington Kentucky to parents, Robert Smith Todd and Eliza Ann Parker Todd.  She was the fourth of seven children.  She was 5' 2" with blue eyes and reddish-brown hair.  Her family was very wealthy.

She married Abraham Lincoln at age 23 in the parlor of her family home in Springfield, Illinois.  During the first two years of marriage, they lived at the Globe Tavern.  Then they purchased their first and only home at Eighth and Jackson streets.  They had four sons, Robert Todd  Lincoln (1843-1926); Edward Baker Lincoln (1846-1850); William "Willie" Wallace Lincoln (1850-1862); and Thomas "Tad" Lincoln (1853-1871).

Mary was a firm supporter of abolition of slavery and wrote friends in Kentucky to gain support of Abraham's position on slavery.  It was thought that Mary Todd Lincoln suffered from severe depression, paranoia, anxiety, headaches and perhaps diabetes.  Many tragic things in her life could have led to these conditions, with the trauma of Civil War, a carriage accident in 1863 in which she was thrown out and was unconscious, southerners considered her a traitor due to her support of the Confederacy, the death of Willie when he was age 12, and the assassination of her husband in 1865 as she sat beside him.

After Lincoln's death she continued to live in the White House for over a month, then relocated to Chicago.  She later moved with her son Tad to Germany all the while trying to get a widow's pension which she later received a pension of $3,000 annually as the widow of Abraham Lincoln.  Then Tad died and she began to show signs of mental instability.  Her son Robert successfully had her tried to declare her insane.  She was committed to Bellevue Insane Asylum Batavia, Illinois in 1875 where she attempted suicide twice.  What is considered one of the first woman lawyers, fought for her release on the grounds she wasn't insane, and she was released after four months of confinement, to be under the care of her sister in Springfield, Illinois.  Later there was another trial to declare her sane and then she moved to France.  After 4 years in France she returned to Springfield to live with her sister.  Her pension was increased to $5,000 in 1882.

Mary died at her sister's home in 1882, at the age of 63.  She is buried in the Lincoln Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois.


What's To Eat At Our House Tonight?

It's taco night!  I love those new fangled hard taco shells which stand up by themselves.  I use ground round or ground turkey to make tacos and simply use a taco mix.  I cut up tomatoes, onions, lettuce and then use shredded cheese and salsa on my tacos.  When we have tacos we usually don't have anything else with these.  Maybe later a bowl of ice cream might cool down the spice on the old wind pipes.


Learn A New Word
So Greenviewanites can be smartest in the county.

New Word - barmecidal = giving only an illusion of something; unreal.

New Spanish Word/Phrase - el banco = bank

Thought For The Day
I had rather do and not promise
than promise and not do.
--Arthur Warwick


If you think back to olden days, you might recall the song which was sung on Captain Kangaroo.  It went somethings like "we'll live each day, come what may all the way down the line."   Plus the old theme song was so cool...here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDDdHBh5IRQ

I loved Mr. Green Jeans, Mr. Rabbit, Mr. Moose, Banana Man, Grandfather Clock, Dancing Bear and Tom Terrific with Crabby Appleton who was rotten to the core.  Bob Keeshan was the Captain's name and before he was the captain he was Clarabell the clown on the Howdy Dowdy show.

Captain Kangaroo helped in the development of a lot of kids, be it good or bad.  Sometimes I felt I wanted to live at Captain Kangaroo's place so I could play with the Magic Drawing Board all the time.

At the end of the show, the Captain always said "Have a good day, and be good to your mother".  He was teaching me to respect my mother and be a good person all the day through.  His show made my life magical and made me laugh and learn and I will never forget some of the things he taught me as a child. 

Unfortunately, during the Reagan Era of complaints that children were watching too much TV and too much violence and shouldn't watch TV before going to school, Captain Kangaroo was named as a show which children were watching too much of prior to going to school in the morning.  The show died thereafter.  The magical show was gone forever, never to teach a child the things I had in my life.  But I have my memories of the show and can listen to the old theme song by going to utube.  It brings back memories of a time when I didn't have a care in the world.  The lost era.

No comments: