SOUL FOOD

Barbara Ward-Finneran

Watching the sun dissapear behind the clouds as the sky is decorated in amber and pink light - golden brilliance glowing to frame a cloud from behind - darkness falling yet promising the light remains - only out of our sights for the moment...

Keep the promises that you make to yourself!

Photo Courtesy of Barbara Ward-Finneran and Drawn 2 Design, LLC

All Rights Reserved

Will you remember me?

DRL is most grateful to Officer John A. Pasko for sharing his story with us to complete our Police Memorial Week Tribute to: "Those Who Wear The Shield."

So much to learn, so little time. We must ask ourselves, "what’s so special about my life that others will wish to remember me?"

 When I was young, the dreams of becoming rich and famous were in every thought. As I grew older and seeking to identify, I found myself asking others, “ What shall I be? I want to be something that very few can achieve. I want to be something unique and different, so that others will remember me.” Although there are many, many professions that we could take on, there was only one calling, that was patiently waiting for me.  As I read the instructions on life how to be this or that, the calling that we gravitated too, was the farthest from our thoughts. It was finally realized later in life, it is a policeman that we shall be. They say, life is like a train ride and is filled with many stops along the way. We get on. We ride. We get off. We get back on and ride some more. There are some accidents and there are delays. At certain stops there are surprises. Some of these will unequivocally translate into great moments of joy; some will result in profound sorrow, leaving us to say, there’s nothing else we can do. 

Some people on the train will leave an everlasting impression when they leave your side.  Some will get on and get off the train so quickly, that they will scarcely leave a sign that they ever traveled along with you or ever crossed your path. Some people on the train will leave an everlasting impression when they get off.  As time went on and we grew of age, I wished to follow my beloved fathers path. With his shiny star pinned to his chest, with his uniform neatly tailored and freshly pressed, a shadow of a hero was the image that was projected as he stood in the shining rays of the God given sun.  

I never understood why my mother would worry so much, as he stepped out the door after he readied himself for work, or when he called home and said he’d would be late for the family event, because he was still at work, dealing with some drunken jerk.

Celebrity birthdays on May 21

Singer Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers is 69.
Actor Richard Hatch (Battlestar Galactica) is 65.
Actress Carol Potter (Beverly Hills, 90210) is 62.
Singer Leo Sayer is 62.
Actor Mr. T is 58.
Actor Judge Reinhold is 53.
Actor Brent Briscoe (A Simple Plan) is 49.
Actress Lisa Edelstein is 42.
Actress Fairuza Balk (The Waterboy) is 36.
Rapper Havoc is 36.
Actress Ashlie Brillault (Lizzie McGuire) is 23.
Actress Sarah Ramos (American Dreams) is 19.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY MAY 21

1904 - Federation Internationale de Football Assn (Soccer) forms in Paris
1906 - Louis H Perlman patents a demountable tire carrying rim for cars
1907 - 32nd Preakness: G Mountain aboard Don Enrique wins in 1:45.4
1908 - 1st horror movie (Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde) premieres in Chicago
1908 - Bill Burns has no-hitter broken up with 2 outs in 9th
1914 - 39th Preakness: Andy Schuttinger aboard Holiday wins in 1:53.8
1914 - Greyhound Bus Co begins in Minnesota
1916 - Britain begins "Summer Time" (Daylight Savings Time)
1917 - Leo Pinckney, 1st American drafted during WW I
1917 - The Great Atlanta fire of 1917 takes place.
1918 - House of Representatives passes amendment allowing women to vote
1921 - Oldest radio station west of Mississippi River licensed in Greeley Co
1922 - "On the Road to Moscow" is 1st cartoon to receive a Pulitzer Prize
1922 - Col Ruppert buys out Col Huston interest in NY Yankees for $1,500,000
1922 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Eugene O'Neill (Anna Christie)
1922 - Ruppert buys out Huston interest in Yankees for $15 million

ZOMBIE MANIA

Jacksonville Zombie Walk

Marion Pellicano Ambrose


I loved Dawn’s post “The End of the World”  and went on to check out one of the links about Zombie preparedness. It was awesome! The CDC capitalized on the current popularity of Zombies to stress disaster readiness. It made me think of the latest craze here in the South, Zombie Walk!   Held annually in many larger cities, participants dress up as different types of zombies or zombie fighters and parade the main streets, frequent businesses and restaurants and generally have a blast!

The Golden Angel

For Gabby

A slender white candle burned brightly,

Spreading its warm glow across the glass

Bringing joy to all who saw its beauty,

Warming by its glow as they would pass.

A sudden, cold wind blew cruelly,

Threatening to douse the golden light.

Though many held their hands about to save it,

The flame was quenched and left us all in night.

The dismal darkness settled down inside us,

Gripping all our hearts in its cold hand,

Ending all our dreams of a bright future,

Making it so hard to understand.

But Faith will never leave us quite completely,

God is never distant from our side,

And now beside Him stands a lovely angel

With golden sunlight shining in her eyes.

We do not know just why she had to leave us,

But even though her time with us was brief,

She filled our lives with love and joy and laughter,

And these memories will help us through our grief.

Rest easy now beloved golden angel,

Our tears will dry, our hearts begin to mend.

We’ll hold you in our thoughts and in our memories,

Until that time when we shall meet again.

                                                                                 

                                                                       

DID YOU MISS... HART'S DESIRE ON FIRE?

Paradise's Pleasure

Can fantasy measure up to reality?

Jillian B. Hart

  

They had shared so much.  An affair of emotions that dripped in fantasy.  Distance, time and circumstance robbed them of interaction.  Theirs was a virtual world of dreams and indiscretions.  Yet, she often wondered... if ever --- would all they imagined ever measure up?  Could reality move the world off it's axis - like the words and interchanges on a screen - left her breathless and wet with desire?  She closed her lash rimmed eyes and shook off the thoughts - refocusing on their last interaction as she lay in her bed.  A long sexy breath escapes her as she closes her eyes to lose herself in the memory...

WANNA LAUGH?!?!

Last week Murph went out drinking. When he left the bar a cop spotted him stumbling around in the parking lot. The officer went to him & asked him what he's doing.
"I think someone stole my car!" Shouts Murph.
The officer asks, "Where was it when you last saw it?"
Murph replies, "At the end of dis keeeeeeeee......."
With that the officer notices that Murph's pants are down & his junk is out.
The cop asks, "Are you aware that you are exposing yourself for the world to see?"
Murph yells, "Oh shit!! They got my girlfriend too!!"

PARANORMAL PUB - GHOSTS IN THE WHITE HOUSE PART II

MARION AMBROSE PELLICANO

When John F. Kennedy was elected as our 35^th president, on November 8, 1960, no one dreamed that his presidency would end in such tragedy. The same was true when Abraham Lincoln was elected November 5, 1860. Both men have much more in common than being US Presidents who were assassinated. The ghosts of both presidents have been reported to be seen, on occasion, staring out the window of the Oval Office. But this is only the beginning of the similarities and coincidences. Here is a list that has been compiled. Some of the items have been questioned as to their accuracy, but most are documented facts.

LUNCH TIME POLL

Dawn Boyle

I have said before I am not an American Idol fan...last night they sent home Haley who gave the best performance this week as per my husband who is a VERY BIG FAN. 

Did they get it right? 

Over 95 million people voted to have Scott & Lauren be in the final, will you watch next week?   Will you vote?

A DASH OF FLAVOR

Barbara Ward-Finneran

Creativity escapes me in the kitchen lately.  Not because I can't cook.  I have been told quite the contrary.  I love to cook, bake and "design" in the kitchen.  It is the another art form that I love!  However playing a muck the spice rack and designing just the right taste to savor can leave you flat in a house full of picky eaters where a dash of flavors is NOT desired.  The "chef" in me can get exhausted from being a short order cook.  Truth be told - I haven't been cooking much lately with the wind down of the school year, design work and blogging - yet even when time permits I can't find the motivation.  No motivation for something I love to do.  Go figure.  What doesn't help is, much to  my chagrin, somewhere in the last decade I wound up surrounded by non food adventurers.  I just don't understand!  As far as I am concern you should have a love affair with food.  It's a relationship that never needs an ending.  One must have food to live and survive.  Living should be about so much more then surviving.  Thus, food should be about so much more then which way to serve chicken tonight. And, if my nine year old is there - don't bother unless it's a breaded nugget of sorts.  UGH!  How did I help to create those lacking taste buds?!

Food is an art.  It is a drug of sorts.  Having used it far too long to self medicate - I know the repercussions.  I also know - in that cycle you don't taste or appreciate. I have moved on! Fought long and hard to be in recovery from that abusive addiction.  However - that doesn't mean that the love affair or intoxicating effects are over.  I do believe in EVERYTHING IN MODERATION.  I have learned to live it quite successfully in that venue for the last two years.  Embracing a relationship that is meant to be!  Meant to be honored and valued not abused.  You have to love what you eat!  Or you won't eat it.  I know it, I embrace it.  I cook and create really delectable healthy means around this fact.  (Seriously!!!) I've created pesto from chicken broth rather then EVOO and served to dinner guests with nothing but requests for more.  Often the biggest problem of treating the kitchen like a gallery and making works in progress is the reproduction when it's something you love.  I'm longing to do this again.  To play with the palette of flavors and invite them to come together in a new and exciting masterpiece.  With summer approaching and sightly more "down time" to be had - I will devote time to this ignored passion of mine.  The challenge will be to try and get the family and it's carb-a-holic on board.  I long to do what I love.  And, I long for my family to love it too. There is a battle to be born to rid the cookery of the short order chef.  (I know my mom & other's cringe! "If I served it, they eat it!" I'm not even going to attempt to go there now with reasons of working mother's guilt and or exhaustion complicated by sensory issues or any other "reasons"...)  It will take slow introductions and repeat meetings.  It will have painful and forceful moments at times.  I will not start this war until I am ready to enforce the "rules" - everyone tries and eats some.  It will be a phase out of sorts.  Filled with blood sweat and tears... certainly, mine and theirs!  I am ready!  I want my kitchen on fire with flavor again and I want my kids asking for seconds. Home cooked from scratch non processed seconds!  Although my adversaries will wager hostility at the onset.  This war can be won.  HELL, I looked morbid obesity in the face and took my life back... how hard can it be to get four people to enjoy the same meal a few times a week?!?!

THE END OF THE WORLD?? BLOW THE TRUMPET...WARN THE PEOPLE!

Dawn Boyle

Okay so this Saturday is the beginning of the end of the world also known as Judgement Day. Harold Camping is some dude that has a radio show and a church who has calculated that May 21, 2011 is the first day of what will be five months til the end of the world. On October 21, 2011, it is all over as per Camping.

I suggest that you leave work immediately! You must go out and get an awesome outfit - doesn't matter how much it is, if this guy is right we don't have to worry about credit card bills! Call everyone you know and make early plans to meet for Happy Hour! Make this night memorable it could be our last!

On Saturday we either won't be here or it will be raining in the Northeast and everyone will be hungover as hell and a little more in debit!


KICK OFF THE END OF THE WORLD WITH A BANG!!! ENJOY!

The CDC has even put information on how to deal with Zombies for the people who are around on May 22!
http://emergency.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies_blog.asp

Harold Campings Website - For Your Entertainment
http://www.familyradio.com/index2.html

Urgent Message for Horse Lovers

Marion Pellicano Ambrose


This information was sent to me by my good friend Nina. She lives in Arizona and is an avid rider and lover of horses. I share it for our DRL friends around the country who share her love of equestrian pursuits, and for the rest of us who just plain love horses!

URGENT ALERT! Friends, we have never posted things like this on this site before, but there is a real crisis in the horse world, and we want to share this information with you in case you don't yet know. A horse-killing virus is spreading quickly through the country, affecting horses from coast to coast.

WANNA LAUGH?!?!

How do you make a one armed blonde fall out of a tree?
Wave to her.

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STICKY SWEET

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY
Patty B

I got to thinking about relationship and partial lobotomies. Two seemingly different ideas that might just be perfect together--like chocolate and peanut butter.

- Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City

"... the taste of chocolate is a sensual pleasure in itself, existing in the same world as sex... For myself, I can enjoy the wicked pleasure of chocolate... entirely by myself. Furtiveness makes it better."

- Dr. Ruth Westheimer

"Twill make Old Women Young and Fresh; Create New Motions of the Flesh. And cause them long for you know what, If they but taste of chocolate."

- James Wadworth from 'A History of the Nature and Quality of Chocolate'

After about 20 years of marriage, I'm finally starting to scratch the surface of that one.  And I think the answer lies somewhere between conversation and chocolate.  

- Mel Gibson, 'About What Women Want'

PARANORMAL PUB - WHITE HOUSE GHOSTS

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

When I started my research, I had in my mind to write about the Ghosts of the White House.  I thought, instead of all Washington DC, I’d concentrate on the most famous address there, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. As you’ll soon see, I wound up narrowing my topic even further because as I read about the White House ghosts, there was one that totally amazed and intrigued me. The most seen, most documented and most famous ghost of the White House is, of course, Abraham Lincoln, our 16^th President.

Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd were both believers in the paranormal. After the death of their son Willie, in the White House, many séances were held in attempt to contact his spirit. The President was in attendance in at least 2 of these events. It is also documented that Lincoln had premonitions of his own assassination 3 days before his death. It was immediately after his death in April of 1865, that reports of his ghost appearing at the White House began, although they weren’t formally documented at first.

Grace Coolidge, wife of Calvin Coolidge (1923-29), was the first to formally report seeing the ghost of Lincoln. She reported seeing him looking out the window of the Oval Office, hands clenched behind his back, towards the Potomac River and the area where Civil War battle grounds once stood. Another first lady to admit that Lincoln haunted the White House was Lady Bird Johnson. She felt his presence while watching television one night.

LUNCH TIME POLL

Did you hear this today???

Devastated Li-Wan sat sobbing on a window ledge 80ft up in Changchun, eastern China, just hours after partner Wang Lu left her at the alter. As she jumped to certain death,  Guo Zhongfan managed to catch her and hold her dangling by the neck above the drop.

The jilted bride is okay. Guo Zhongfan is a hero. Wang Lu is an ass.

I say this woman was saved twice that day....once by the hero and another by some higher power that let her escape marrying someone who is obviously not  in love with her.

Have you ever called off a wedding?

Have you been left at the altar?

Do you think some people want to call off the wedding but are too afraid?

Vent here today!!!

DEALS DEALS DEALS!!!

Jenn Copp

What are the odds I would be working for a group buying site called Grublife Metro? I am a girl that is all about finding new places and trying new restaurants. Up until two years ago money was no object, I would head out with credit card in hand and come home at night with tons of pictures, a satisfied stomach and tons of laughs.

Life is different now, I am starting a business, single, three kids, responsibilities and still crave the desire to roam. So here I am wanting to do everything I am used to yet trying to watch my budget. Then along comes my daily Grublife Metro email. It is like a dream come true. Can I really jump in the car and head to a fabulous restaurant, Get my hair done, bring my kids to laser tag all at least 50% off !!! Yes, I can!!

It is such a great concept. I am still able to try new things. My kids all have no idea that things are different financially. I just shop smarter. Yes we will still frequent a place without a deal if I really like it, but the deals definitely help. They take us from going out to dinner only once a week to going out to dinner maybe 3 times a week. So as I am building my career and my businesses and I hope soon to be back on track. I hope to say to my children .. " Kids where do you want to go this weekend " and really be able to say .. Let's go!!! I know even when I have money, I will still enjoy getting my deals in my email. I will still buy them because they get me to try new places and new restaurants. It is like a ticket in hand that offers me a new experience!! I love that!!! So the next time you think of going out. Look for one of our deals and give it a try, visit a restaurant you never tried before. You too will love it!!

SOUL FOOD

Barbara Ward-Finneran

Those desires that weigh upon your heart that seem always out of reach will remain there unless you take action. 

Dare to convince yourself that the realities of your dreams are attainable. 

Dream! 

Push! 

Do! 

For there is nothing to lose - but an enormity to gain!

Keep the promises that you make to yourself!

Photo Courtesy of Barbara Ward-Finneran and Drawn 2 Design, LLC

All Rights Reserved