Tag Archives: Joy Jar

The 03/01/13 Joy Jar

28 Feb

Moi was watching the news and wondering if the ‘Sequester” is all heat and definitely no light. The news chronicled how across-the-board cuts would affect a variety of people. One women who was profiled lives in public housing and takes a variety of medications. The housing manager said that long term cuts would mean that fewer people could apply for housing as housing would be cut back. There would be quite a bit of deferred maintenance. Maybe the reason that the ‘leaders’ are holding onto their ideology is because so few of them are affected by the worst that could happen. Ideology and principles have their place, but ideology simply in pursuit of votes is nothing to glory in. We have entered a period of the permanent political campaign which leaves the well-being of the populace out of the calculation. There are very few statesmen or stateswomen. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is that elusive person, the statesman.

“The difference is that a statesman thinks he belongs to the State, and a politician thinks the State belongs to him”                                                   

Unknown

“A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation.”

James Freeman Clarke

A politician is a statesman who approaches every question with an open mouth”

Adlai E. Stevenson

“What the statesman is most anxious to produce is a certain moral character in his fellow citizens, namely a disposition to virtue and the performance of virtuous actions.”                                                                                                        Aristotle

“The man who is dishonest as a statesman would be a dishonest man in any station”                                                                                                         Thomas Jefferson

“A statesman who keeps his ear permanently glued to the ground will have neither elegance of posture nor flexibility of movement”                                                    Abba Eban

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The 02/28/13 Joy Jar

27 Feb

Soap seems to be a very individual thing. Some people have used the same brand of soap for years because that is what they have always used. Others go to the store and buy whatever is on sale. Some people choose soap by the way that it smells. Still others choose soap by the color of the bar. The newest thing is to get soap free of chemicals or perfumes or that is specifically formulated for sensitive skin. Thankfully, not that many folks that moi encounters, even on the bus, are allergic to soap. Soap is useful for washing hands, particularly in flu season. Moi likes her favorite soap store at the mall because it is a cornucopia of soap. The theory is one can never have too much of a good thing. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is soap.

Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run.
Mark Twain

What is elegance? Soap and water!
Cecil Beaton

Anyone’s life truly lived consists of work, sunshine, exercise, soap, plenty of fresh air, and a happy contented spirit.
Lillie Langtry

What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul                                                  Yiddish Proverb

Soap and water and common sense are the best disinfectants.
William Osler

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The 02/27/13 Joy Jar

26 Feb

Today was the first day of moi’s prayer group which meets from 6:30 a.m. To 7:30 a.m. Every Tuesday. That’s right, 6:30 a.m. Definitely not moi time. The group meets and prays as the Spirit moves. Prayer is not only a great gift, but a great comfort. Those who are prayerful people radiate a sense of peace. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the gift of prayer.

“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”
Mahatma Gandhi

“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
Søren Kierkegaard

“Forgive me my nonsense as I also forgive the nonsense of those who think they talk sense.”
Robert Frost

“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”
St. Francis of Assisi

“The Simple Path
Silence is Prayer
Prayer is Faith
Faith is Love
Love is Service
The Fruit of Service is Peace”
Mother Teresa

“I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.”
Abraham Lincoln

“Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden.”
Corrie ten Boom

“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”
Meister Eckhart

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The 02/26/13 Joy Jar

25 Feb

Moi does not use any additional salt on food, but she sprinkles the pepper very liberally. There are many kinds of pepper and the better the quality the better the taste. So, hold the salt and please pass the pepper. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is pepper.

The disparity between a restaurant’s price and food quality rises in direct proportion to the size of the pepper mill.
Bryan Miller

“Americans can eat garbage, provided you sprinkle it liberally with ketchup, mustard, chili sauce, Tabasco sauce, cayenne pepper, or any other condiment which destroys the original flavor of the dish”                                                    

Henry Miller

“It takes four men to dress a salad: a wise man for the salt, a madman for the pepper, a miser for the vinegar, and a spendthrift for the oil.”
Anonymous

“The chief pleasure in eating does not consist in costly seasoning or exquisite flavor but in yourself”                                                                                       

Horace

“He who controls the spice controls the universe.”
Frank Herbert, Dune

 “He who has the pepper may season as he lists.”                                             George Herbert

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The 02/25/13 Joy Jar

24 Feb

Moi’s field trip would start in downtown Seattle and culminate in Renton at the closest Walmart. The purpose was just to hang out and see how working Americans were dealing with the new normal. Moi went to the METRO Trip planner and typed in the address, 743 Rainier Avenue South. The snarky computer program asked Renton or Seattle? Since moi rarely gets out of Seattle, she typed Seattle. Later, moi would find out the correct answer was Renton. As directed, moi got on the #7 bus and began an excursion through south Seattle. The trip takes one through the International District, Columbia City, and Hillman. This is where one encounters the diversity in Seattle. Moi didn’t see anything which looked like Walmart, so she asked the other passengers about how to get there. That started a group think session and the peeps thought moi should get off the bus and take the #106. Moi got the #106 and was headed toward Renton through Skyline. Moi asked the bus driver if he stopped by Walmart. He thought the best bus strategy was to go to the Renton Transit Center and take the #140 bus. Moi got to the Renton Transit Center and asked the #140 bus driver if he went to Walmart and he wasn’t sure. By this time, it was getting dark and moi walked around the Renton Transit Center and discovered a lot of busses don’t run on the weekends. The bus riding folks at the Transit Center are carless, either by choice or circumstance. If one leaves the Seattle core, one’s circumstance is tied to one’s ability to get around. Moi did not make it to Walmart, this trip. She will start out earlier in the day and find a way to get there on the bus. That tells one about just one of the challenges faced by those who work for a living and get so little recognition for what they do. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the knowledge gained from field trips in one’s neighborhood.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”                             

Mark Twain

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”                  

St. Augustine

“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.”                           Robert Louise Stevenson

I don’t do like diva trips and stuff.
Shirley MacLaine

People get really caught up in their own trips.
Max Cannon

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”               

Henry Miller

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The 02/24/13 Joy Jar

23 Feb

Usually, when moi gets a hankering for something, it will be chocolate. Lately, dark chocolate with sea salt is the fix. Today, while running around to and fro, moi got a hankering for a really good tuna fish sandwich. So, moi went to Which Wich on the Ave and ordered a baked tuna fish sandwich with the bread scooped out, pepper jack cheese, spinach, tomatoes, olives, banana peppers, lite mayo, a little oil and lots of pepper. Yum. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is a tuna fish sandwich.

I know people that could serve me canned tuna and saltine crackers and have me feel more at home at their table than some people who can cook circles around me. The more you try to impress people, generally the less you do.
Alton Brown

Instead of finding ways to discourage people from eating seafood, we should be busy finding ways to help everyone eat better. Canned tuna is so healthy and affordable that everyone can easily gain its benefits as part of a healthy diet.        

David Burney

Sandwiches are wonderful. You don’t need a spoon or a plate!
Paul Lynde

“With faith the size of a mustard seed, you can indeed move a mountain, but you can hardly be expected to garnish your sandwich.”
Jarod Kintz, American Association for the Advancement of Aardvarks Presents: Dear Natalie

Give the right man two fishes and some bread,
and he will feed the world;
give the wrong man two fishes and some bread
and he will invent the fast-food fish sandwich.
– Jonathan Lockwood Huie

“Life is like a sandwich – the more you add to it, the better it becomes.”               Unknown

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The 02/23/13 Joy Jar

22 Feb

Today started out good because moi got a haircut and along with the cut, a head massage. Moi left the salon smiling and got on the bus. The bus driver gave her a smile, she smiled back. Next, moi went to lunch and got Kung Pai Chicken, she smiled at the person behind the counter and they smiled back. Next, moi went to J.C. Penney and got cookware on clearance. Moi smiled at the sales clerk and the sales clerk smiled back when moi told her how much she loved the store because they always have awesome sales. To think, the smiles started because my hairstylist gave moi a great haircut because she likes moi as a client because moi seems so happy. Life is circular. Today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar’ is a smile.

“Peace begins with a smile..”
Mother Teresa

“If you’re reading this…
Congratulations, you’re alive.
If that’s not something to smile about,
then I don’t know what is.”
Chad Sugg, Monsters Under Your Head

“Laugh, even when you feel too sick or too worn out or tired.
Smile, even when you’re trying not to cry and the tears are blurring your vision.
Sing, even when people stare at you and tell you your voice is crappy.
Trust, even when your heart begs you not to.
Twirl, even when your mind makes no sense of what you see.
Frolick, even when you are made fun of. Kiss, even when others are watching. Sleep, even when you’re afraid of what the dreams might bring.
Run, even when it feels like you can’t run any more.
And, always, remember, even when the memories pinch your heart. Because the pain of all your experience is what makes you the person you are now. And without your experience—you are an empty page, a blank notebook, a missing lyric. What makes you brave is your willingness to live through your terrible life and hold your head up high the next day. So don’t live life in fear. Because you are stronger now, after all the crap has happened, than you ever were back before it started.”
Alysha Speer

“If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love. Don’t be surly at home, then go out in the street and start grinning ‘Good morning’ at total strangers.”
Maya Angelou

“You’ll find that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile.”
Charles Chaplin

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”
Thich Nhat Hanh

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The 02/22/13 Joy Jar

21 Feb

Moi was walking down the street on a gray Seattle day. The street was just a cold ribbon of concrete which lead up to two trees. Someone had taken the time to plant a riotous color of pansies at the base of the two trees who were naked without their leaves. The pansies were defiant, determined to shake people out of their gray consciousness. One couldn’t walk by the naked tree and the riotous pansies without smiling. Although, technically a late winter plant, the appearance of pansies means Spring is getting closer. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ are the pansies and the unknown person who planted them knowing that they would defy the gray.

“I send thee pansies while the year is young, Yellow as sunshine, purple as the night; Flowers of remembrance, ever fondly sung By all the chiefest of the Sons of Light; And if in recollection lives regret For wasted days and dreams that were not true, I tell thee that the “pansy freak’d with jet” Is still the heart’s ease that the poets knew Take all the sweetness of a gift unsought, And for the pansies send me back a thought.”
Sarah Doudney

“And there is pansies, that’s for thoughts.”
William Shakespeare. Hamlet Prince of Denmark (Ophelia at IV, v)

The beauteous pansies rise
In purple, gold, and blue,
With tints of rainbow hue
Mocking the sunset skies.                                                                                 Thomas John Ouseley

If they want easy color, pansies are easy to take care of. They’re pretty easy to grow.                                                                                                                                                                                   

Sherie Sinon

How does a pansy, for example, select the ingredients from soil to get the right colors for the flower? Now there’s a great miracle. I think there’s a supreme power behind all of this. I see it in nature.                                                                     

Clyde Tombaugh

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The 02/21/13 Joy Jar

20 Feb

Moi has three calendars. One calendar has pictures of adorable dogs. Another calendar has pictures of beautiful nature sites. These two calendars are just to look at, moi doesn’t write on them. They simply brighten moi’s work space. The real workhorse calendar for moi is the ‘2013-2014 Janaury to January Calendar Organizer’ which resides in the big bag/purse. Moi writes all over that. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the organizer becauses it helps organize moi and the other two calendars because they are pretty to look at.

Calendars and clocks exist to measure time, but that signifies little because we all know that an hour can seem as eternity or pass in a flash, according to how we spend it. Michael Ende

“I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar.”                                               Robert Brault

 “Ethics and equity and the principles of justice do not change with the calendar.” D.H. Lawrence

 “Tomorrow is only found in the calendar of fools.”                                                 Og Mandino

“A story conducted by the time of a clock and calendars alone would be a story not of human beings but of mechanical toys.”
Mary Lascelles, Jane Austen & Her Art Opb61

Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of.”                                                                                                  Charles Richards

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The 02/20/13 Joy Jar

19 Feb

2013 is going to be a good year for moi. It has loads of promise, hard work, and anticipation. Moi began the ‘Joy Jar’ exercise with the thought – this is the year that the Lord has made, moi will rejoice and be glad of it. One of the colors moi associates with Spring and rebirth is pink. Moi got her nails painted that hot rosy pink color because she was ready for Spring. The nails look fabulous. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ are moi’s hot rosy pink nails.

“Pink is not just a color its an attitude.”                                                         Anonymous

“The very pink of perfection.”                                                                             Oliver Goldsmith

“Pink is a beautiful color, because it is one of the colors that the sun makes at twilight and in the dawns.”
C. JoyBell C.

The tones of gray, pale turquoise and pink will prevail.
Christian Dior

Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world. Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak. Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up.                       Allen Klein

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