March 1, 2024
October 3, 2022
September 16, 2022
The Real Unreal
They are "100% real Unreal" taste.
Sort of like the "genuine artificial gold" that the swim instructor promised us in camp when we were kids. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
The Real Unreal
April 18, 2022
Space Boy Is Dead Meat
Given man's destructive nature to man, why would we want to entice aliens to come here and do to the world what Russia is currently doing to Ukraine.
Moreover, why would we court disaster and give them a celestial roadmap to get to earth?
Our scientists may know science, but they are nuts to want to bring ET destruction to us. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Space Boy Is Dead Meat
November 18, 2021
Way To Go Girl Power
That's messaging girl power!
And women empowerment, as it should be. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Way To Go Girl Power
December 9, 2020
The Sound of Silence
To listen, you've got to shut your mouth and be quiet.
"Listen" and "Silent" have the exact same letters.
Now will you be silent and listen to other people? ;-)
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
The Sound of Silence
November 16, 2020
Geometric Shapes Inspire
They're interesting in that they speak to a person, but it's left up to your imagination what they are actually saying.
Feels a little futuristic and from alien space.
Words may mean nothing, but shapes can be a universal language.
Go figure! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Geometric Shapes Inspire
October 17, 2020
Don't Forget To Brush
Not so subtle though, right?
Man, what a pair of choppers!
I'm brushing. Believe me.
Don't have to show me twice! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Don't Forget To Brush
October 5, 2020
What Type of Sick Puppy
This was in a woman's clothing/fashion store in the local mall.
There is something really screwed up with people's thinking and our culture.
Even if this lady likes to pet the dog, this is horrible messaging!
We need a serious reset on how to treat women and show them proper respect! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
What Type of Sick Puppy
April 24, 2020
The Great COVID-19 Lie
First, we were told it was February 29 in Kirkland, Washington.
Then that is was earlier on February 6 and 17 in California.
But I and others who I have spoken to believe that the first cases of COVID-19 were with us many months earlier.
Both I and my wife developed extreme coughing around the September/October timeframe.
The coughing didn't go away for months!
As is now being reported with COVID-19, it was like it reactivates again and again,
I went to the MinuteClinic and was prescribed antibiotics.
The cough lingered and got worse a second time.
I think I went another time to Minute Clinic or to Urgent Care and got a stronger antibiotic.
The cough lingered and got worse yet a third time.
As I become weaker and more sick (with fever at some point(s)), I found myself waking up and barely able to even get out of bed.
I forced myself back over to Urgent Care again.
I was given the flu test and it was not the flu.
And no one seemed to know what it was!
They told me that they were getting so many cases...I believe they said each location was seeing about 100 patients a day!
I was so weak I just laid on the doctors exam table half falling asleep and barely able to move to get up.
I was given yet an even stronger antibiotic and I believe some steroid medication.
After about 3-4 horrible months and almost near collapse, it finally started to get better.
I don't remember ever getting anything like this!
I hadn't traveled anywhere either.
Lots of people seem to have had a similar experience.
Was this COVID-19 or some precursor to it?
I/We may never know the truth.
But these symptoms and sickness was not normal.
And the high number of cases I was hearing about was beyond anything I can remember.
As we know everything about this COVID-19 is not normal as we can all attest to after weeks and months of global lockdown.
The reason that you are hearing all the confusing and contradictory communications and crisis from the "experts" and in the media is because the professionals are confused!
And we are left to wonder: when will we find out the truth about what this is, when it started, what the real dangers to us are now and into the future, and whether there will really ever be a cure for it? ;-)
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
The Great COVID-19 Lie
April 19, 2020
Coronavirus: A Modern Leprosy
What an interesting time this week during the coronavirus for my bar-mitzvah parshas of Tazria and Metzora, where we learn about how to handle someone with the plague of leprosy...What’s fascinating though for our times is that right here in the Torah, long before medical science understood germs, washing of hands, and disinfectants, we have the first instruction on quarantining someone who is sick. The person with leprosy is deemed impure and is put outside the camp in quarantine, repeatedly checked (e.g. tested) by the Kohen, until they are healed, at which time they are purified before being allowed back in. What we don’t see with leprosy is that the whole community is put in a state of quasi quarantine as we are doing now globally with the coronavirus.
In the end, I see this coronavirus blowing up with some people forever anxious and germophobic and others becoming complacent and careless about the whole thing. Either way there will be more sick and dying people, as well as anger at the system that over time repeatedly failed us. This week’s parsha is a good reminder to go back to the ultimate wisdom of the Torah and read again how we handle the leper and manage with a thoughtful risk-based management approach and an eye on the ultimate purity—physically and spiritually—of the individual and the community.
(Free Photo via Pixabay)
Coronavirus: A Modern Leprosy
January 31, 2020
Hope You Had A Good "Veek"
I guess sometimes it does sound like we say veek.
Someone else told me that they are divorced and that person is still a "dark force" in their life.
They said they have to pay child support but can't afford it.
It's not like I still earn $55,000 like I used to.
But if they don't pay...
Well my ex will just refuse to let me see my son!
People have tough lives.
So when you think about your week, hopefully in context, you can resolutely say that you had a good veek.
Shabbat Shalom! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Hope You Had A Good "Veek"
January 28, 2020
Hand Pointer
Sort of unexpected sticking out of the wall like that.
But effective use of visualization.
The floating hand. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Hand Pointer
January 27, 2020
Life Equated With Hate
Pro-Life is Pro-Hate
Life Equated With Hate
October 10, 2019
Adding A Very Special Facebook Friend
My parents passed away 5-6 years ago already.
I always miss them so much!
Somehow, on Facebook, my dad's Facebook profile came up, which I was surprised to find.
Looking at it, I saw under his friends was of course, my mom.
I didn't even know my mom had a Facebook page (I don't think she ever really used it).
But I was so curious, I clicked on her profile.
I saw the prominent blue and white button to "Add Friend."
And I saw my hand reaching to press for that button.
I so wanted to reach out and be able to be with, see, communicate with her again.
Then I stopped myself realizing that the friend request, unfortunately, couldn't go to Heaven.
If only it could...I would be so happy to press that button and have my mom hear from me again. ;-)
(Photo of my dear parents from Florida)
Adding A Very Special Facebook Friend
September 16, 2019
Sometimes You Just Want To Say...
Exactly what this ladies shirt says.
My father used to say when certain people were nasty to him, he would just be nice to them.
And when they would still be really nasty to him then imperceptibly, quietly under his breath, he would say "F*** You."
Ah, maybe not always so imperceptibly. LOL
Sure, we can't always just come out and say it like this lady does boldly on her shirt.
Maybe it doesn't help to use expletives, but sometimes some people can be such jerks that just saying it quietly is cathartic and truth-telling.
Perhaps more important, saying it let's you know that you still have a moral compass and personal integrity, even if others around you have seriously compromised on theirs. :-)
(Credit Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)
Sometimes You Just Want To Say...
September 15, 2019
Ghosting - How Rude!
Invariably, it often turns out that there is someone else in that person's life.
The person is usually either too scared to confront the other person or is just a cheater and doesn't want to tell the other person, instead wanting to "have their Kate and Edith too." LOL
So "ghosting" is where the person just disappears, cuts off contact, or goes incommunicado.
It's sort of an avoidance strategy.
This leaves the other person not knowing what happened or why.
It's like the line just goes dead between the two people.
Sometimes, one person is clingy or forces themselves on another in which case, the other person may feel smothered, and therefore repels or wants to run in the other direction.
Other times, how do you tell someone that you just don't like them anymore?
Worse is if the person is cheating behind the other person's back, hiding it, and denying it--that's unforgivable!
When a person ghosts another, it's sort of like at work when someone get's marginalized.
No one wants to give honest feedback to the other person, so instead for some people it's just easier to avoid them and the topic altogether.
I think the point is not to hurt other people.
The question is how do you cut the strings with someone you don't like without getting into a huge, ugly confrontation?
Honesty is the best policy, and treating people the way you would want to be treated.
But for some people who don't take no for an answer, it's understandable that you may just want to have the phone on busy signal or you attempt to break contact.
Relationships are tough, and when they go bad, ghosting without at least trying to end it nicely can not only be rude, but also it's chicken to break it off as a ghost, and not a person. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Ghosting - How Rude!
August 8, 2019
Who's In Charge Here?
Sign around the ape says:
Laugh now, but one day, we'll be in charge
I guess you never know who will be in charge.
- Be nice to everyone.
- Never burn bridges.
All of life is a circle--and everything and everybody goes around and around. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Who's In Charge Here?
August 6, 2019
Oh Baby, It's Warm Outside?
Truly, a picture is worth a thousand words--probably more.
This was a simple drawing to depict I assume global warming.
- 2000 some nice mountain glaciers.
- 2020 the snow is melted.
It's like the person didn't have to say a word.
But I get it.
Also, I know there is supposedly a lot of scientific evidence for global warming.
But for me personally, I don't see it or feel it.
The summers, if anything, feel cooler and the Winters feel colder to me.
I know that is anecdotal and not representative of the world.
However, it is hard to reconcile what the scientists say, when your own eyes aren't seeing it.
Granted, I'm not in Alaska where, for example, the glaciers are melting,
Still wouldn't we be feeling something here?
Maybe a few degrees really isn't perceptible.
I guess time will tell us for certain.
Hopefully, by the time we do see it, we won't get run over by the speeding train. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Oh Baby, It's Warm Outside?
August 2, 2019
What's Your Relationship?
Level 3: Family/Friends
The highest form of a relationship where you are being authentic (i.e. yourself), you share deeply about yourself (thoughts, feelings, desires, mistakes, etc,) and you are vulnerable.
Level 2: Professionals
The middle level of relationships in which you are seeking to build trust and respect, you share some information (i.e. appropriate), and you expose yourself a little to the other person.
Level 1: Acquaintances
The most elementary of relationships that is superficial in nature, there is little personal sharing of information (i.e. mostly when you are asked a question and you feel comfortable answering it), and you remain guarded.
This is a good way to assess your relationships--is it a level 1, 2, or 3 and are you behaving appropriately within that, so that you trust, communicate, and collaborate effectively. ;-)
(Graphic Credit: Andy Blumenthal)
What's Your Relationship?