Do Your Work

You have to find a way to do your work, because if you don't do your work, you really ARE useless.
                                                                    - James Baldwin

What Doesn't Hurt You

"Love doesn't hurt, the misuse of love does."  

                                                     -- Camille Hines

Name in the Sand

At Carolina Beach

Ahhhh! Carolina Beach 2

Ahhhhh! Carolina Beach

We tried to experience Wrightsville Beach in Wilmington, N.C., but it was way too crowded, so we moseyed on down to Carolina Beach a little farther south, along the oceanfront, and I'm glad we did. What a relaxing and serene experience.

George Duke: Just for You

George Duke was a masterful musician and I'm going to miss him about as much as any of his fans out there. I love the more popular songs, but for me, it was his slow, sensuous songs with the odd harmonies that I loved the most. Three songs come to mind when I talk about this: "Just for You," "The Way I Feel" and "No Rhyme or Reason." There is also one of the upbeat songs that I love to dance to that's also a masterpiece, especially during the instrumental sections -- "I Want You for Myself." Here's "Just for You" and "The Way I Feel," since listeners are less likely to have heard these. R.I.P. George Duke and thank you for enriching our lives with your songs, and I appreciate the world influences you infused in much of your work.

 
 I just realized that the first words that this woman is singing are: "Strong, and wise, and free"............wow Here are the links to "No Rhyme or Reason" and "I Want You For Myself"

Cheerwine, anyone?

This is the first taste of Cheerwine I've had since I moved to North Carolina in 2007. Bottoms up!

Created in 1917 in Salisbury, North Carolina by a general store owner named L.D. Peeler, this singular soft drink with a hint of wild cherry and a bubbly effervescence became an immediate hit. Folks from all around the county came to LD's store to give it a try.

Soon cold cases all over North Carolina were filled with the "Nectar of North Carolina." It was known to put a smile on everyone's lips who gave it a try, and the Legend was born. (from Cheerwine.com)

The Color Black

The writer over at Dwellings of Thought, Ali Altaf Mian, wrote about the Muslim practice of turning ones body toward the Ka’ba during ritual prayer and the significance of facing a dark building covered in black cloth when praying. In his discussion of what the color black represents, he says this:

The Ka‘ba is covered in black for a reason. The color black contains all shades of pigment. The color black foregoes all other colors in its ability to absorb light; it is the ultimate sponge of radiance among the colors. Symbolically, then, the Ka‘ba absorbs all colors that spill out of the divine. The color black does not reflect or emit light elsewhere; light goes into it, losing its identity in the depth of the color black. Black is the site where difference of tonalities lives fully. Black is indeed beautiful.

Indeed ...

Click here to read the entire post by Ali Altaf Mian

Faithful and Trustworthy

Most men will proclaim each his own goodness,
But who can find a faithful man?
-- Proverbs 20:6

But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

-- Matthew 5:37

Gullah version:

Mus jes say ‘yeah’ or ‘no,’ cause any oda wod come scraight fom de Debil.

Found Wisdom

Don't believe everything you think. -- bumper sticker