Month: October 2013

Divine Message

The first time I watched The Color Purple, this Shug Avery reconciliation scene touched THAT spot in me.  Listening to her sing the beginning lead of God Is Trying to Tell You Something had me going in a spiritual kind of way.  I own the DVD but don’t watch the movie because I’ve seen it quite a few times already.  However, if someone is watching the movie, I always ask them to let me know when this scene starts up so that I can race to the TV and watch it.  It is a powerful moment in a powerful film.

Although I am a rather infrequent churchgoer, I do believe that God sends signs and messages.  I’ve spoken to people who’ve received signs and/or messages.  The Death-Defying Lady is just one person recently.  There have been times where I have received signs that seemed like small pieces of guidance in order to go in the right direction (or more accurately, avoid the wrong direction).  Today, however, I did not receive a sign but a message.  While sitting on a park bench earlier today, I got into a conversation with a woman who stopped to marvel at how beautiful the weather was today (it was quite beautiful).  We talked about how good it felt now in comparison to the heat of summer and compared the local weather to the weather in the places from which we respectively came.  She was walking laps around the park; I was sitting on a bench reading.  When she came around again, she stopped and told me God told her to tell me something.  So she delivered the message.  My eyes began to water immediately because the message was spot-on for something that had been weighing heavily on my mind.  It weighed on my mind so much so that I made a phone call related to the matter a few hours prior to her delivering the message.  Her message negated my phone call.

One of the firmest beliefs that I have is that God works through others and as such, we each, at some point in our lives, have the potential to deeply touch the lives of those with whom we come in contact.  I have had countless experiences happen that I couldn’t readily explain.  Today’s experience was God telling me something through the mouth of a stranger who had no idea what was going on in my life when she told me the message God told her to deliver.

The Russell Brand Rethink

Brand

These are the words, written by Russell Brand, that made me do a major rethink of the aforementioned “over-the-top comic actor who starred in movies I’ve never watched.”  For me, there is a definite “before” and “after” when it comes to Russell Brand; and the defining moment is the reading of this article that he wrote regarding his ongoing struggle with drug/alcohol addiction.  I’m not sure what made me read the article in the first place, but the honest (and even vulnerable) look inside the mind of someone who struggles to live a life beyond the ever-present pull of addiction makes me glad I did read it.  In addition, he has given back to the Universe by launching Give It Up for Comic Relief earlier this year to raise money and awareness for abstinence-based rehabilitation options in the UK.

Russell Brand BBC Interview

I’ve always viewed Russell Brand as the outrageous, over-the-top comic actor who starred in movies I’ve never watched.  Yet, increasingly, the Real Russell has managed to appear on my radar.  Contrary to the characters he portrays in his films, the Real Russell is very adept at holding his own in interviews simply by stating his truth and his unvarnished assessment of the world around him.  This is his latest interview and I find it astonishing that interviewers don’t review previous interviews that he has done.  In this instance, Paxman’s dismissive behavior towards Brand results in the interview being OWNED by Brand.  Interviewers seem to underestimate Brand’s intellect.  And that is where the fun starts.

Watch…

Tales from the (Dutch) Bikeside

I ride my bike everyday just about and almost everywhere.  I wish that I could say that I am independently eco-conscious and green enough to have thought of doing this on my own.  However, the honest truth is – I’m not.  I took a predominant part of Dutch (Amsterdam especially) culture and transplanted it into my own life here in the United States.  I’m just one person but hopefully the inspiration I abundantly found while in Amsterdam can inspire at least one person to substitute a short-distance car trip with a bicycle trip instead.  And then expand the bicycling from that point on.

Below is a clip about cycling in Amsterdam.  These clips probably come a dime a dozen.  If I had a dime for each video about bicycling in Amsterdam I’ve seen, I could afford to move there once and for all.  However, this one is different because it showed me something I never saw or even knew.  There used to be a lot of cars and traffic jams in Amsterdam!!  As much time as I’ve spent there, I never knew that there used to be a car/traffic problem.  I was flabbergasted.  However, this piece of news inspires me to know that car culture can be changed.  With enough political will and policy updates, change can happen fairly quickly.

Tranquil, Serene Day

This is the song I wish I were singing today:

Or this version:

Instead, this is the song I sang:

And this is what it actually looked like:

I love being near water because it is so tranquil and serene.  So with that in mind, I decided to venture far afield in order to be near/on the water.  The day was a little chilly and at certain points overcast.  However, there were moments when the sun came out and provided a nice warmth to the slight chill.  Needless to say, today was a beautiful day with part of the time spent sitting on the dock of the bay (actually harbor).

My next adventure/experience – going out on a sailboat.  That will take a little time and effort but that is the next progression from watching the boats from the shore or from the dock.  Years (and another lifetime) ago, I was on a motorboat in Miami Bay, then we left the bay for the ocean solely based on my curiosity.  If anything could ever be described as the exact opposite of the mood Christopher Cross or Avant evokes in “Sailing”, then being on a motorboat going full throttle in the ocean, cresting waves and bottoming out would be it.  I’ll take the sailing.  On a good day.