Stories move people and people love characters.

Image via Wikipedia
Stories are part of the human experience.  Even before TV, movies, radio, and books there were bards who would travel from town to town telling stories by  campfire..
People fall in love with characters.  Universal Studio just opened up the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and people come from all over the world and stand in line for 5 to 7 hours just to see the replica of the world in J.K. Rowlings books.  At Disney World you can travel around the Magic Kingdom meeting all the character's from Disney's movies like Alladin and Jasmine, Belle and Beast, and Sleeping Beauty. People become very emotional because it not only stirs their memories but also something in their hearts.
Emotions rule actions.  And from the begiining of time stories have shaped and inspired people to greatness and lifted them out of misery and despair by filling their hearts with hope.  I still remember reading Robinson Crusoe which is one of my favorites stories.  The story took my on an adventure to far away places and through good and troubled times all from the safety and comfort of my bedroom floor.  I got to live through books.
This is the purpose for the writer.

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HAPPY FALL...AUTUMNAL EQUINOX

Image via WikipediaAutumn arrived in the world on Sept. 22, 2010, at 11:13 p.m. EST. And for the first time since 1991, the harvest moon was full in the early hours of Sept. 23. A full harvest moon so close to the autumnal equinox is the “traditional definition” of a harvest moon. And as National Geographic reports, the world is celebrating.
The sun has moved into LIbra the sign of relationships and fairness.   For Me though fall is the new beginning as i tend to slow down in the spring and summer and speed up in the fall and winter.  I wrote my book two years ago in the dead of winter.  I simply become more creative, more intuned with my inner voice, and more determined to get things done.  This is the beginning of the second half of the year and its exciting to see what new is to come. Let the fun begin.

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Joe vs The Volcano - Joe Quits

Autumn...Fall...Second Chance

Image by frankdpix via Flickr 
 I can definitely say that Fall is my spring and Winter is my summer.   I feel like I'm ready to make plans and go after them.  I have always been more creative in the cooler months.  Autumn is like the second beginning, as the rest of the year is about to begin. 


Then there is winter which like summer deals with water but in this case it frozen.  There so many things you can do in snow ski, sled, board.  Lots of fun.  Just get a good jacket.
If there were things you didn't do in the beginning of the year that you wanted to, think of Fall as a second chance.  

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Getting Paid for Your Art and Skills

Are you a creative person who isn't a professional yet but offere quality work. Do you think you should get paid. Here's a writer with some good advice.

Being a creative person you realize one how competitive it is out there and two how no one ever wants to pay you for services rendered.   Everyone is cheap.  So this writer hit it right on the head.  If you do work, you should get paid.  No one wants to work for free but everyone expect artist to work for free.

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Octoberfest...Epcot Food and Wine

Image via WikipediaFall is my Spring, Winter is my Summer
We are a few days away from the Autumnal Equinox.  Today there was already of hint of the new season as the weather was cooler and there were frequent breezes.  Fall is coming and the cooler weather with bring people out and bring people together. Autumn is definitely a time for celebrations which is why there are so many types of food festivals like October Fest, Food and Wine Festivals.
A great place to celebrate the fall is Epcot's Food and Wine Festival.  Sample hundreds of foods, beers, and wines from all over the world.  You can even drink around the world. 
I can definitely say that Fall is my spring and Winter is my summer.   I feel like I'm ready to make plans and go after them.  I have always been more creative in the cooler months.  Autumn is like the second beginning, as the rest of the year is about to begin.  Can't wait for the beer.

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COKE IS IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boy you never know where your going to run into something you want.  I've been in search of the Real Sugar Coke for a while now as all cokes here in the USA are made with high fructose corn syrup. I went to big lots today in search of bath mat and while i was at the check out line i spied a bunch of coke bottles in of of the aisles. I quickly rushed over and seeing the white labels and I knew they were Real Coke, made with Sugar, only available from Mexico. There were about twenty bottles but I only got three. Hmmm might go back for more. Driving on the road I saw a Coke truck and decided to make my own commerical.

I came home stuck it in the freezer and man I must say...Real Coke taste really really good. There is no replacing the REAL DEAL no matter how much the fake stuff tastes like the original, it just ain't the real thing. All for the sake of better profits because its cheaper to make. One thing I noticed is that my throat didn't get all phlegm-y like it does with high fructose corn syrup COKE does.

Lesson for today is things will turn up when you least expect it.  It might turn up in places you never wanted to go...following those white rabbits again.  You go after one thing only to find something else.  Isn't' that always the case.


Also I must say that there is nothing like the orginal of anything.  Sometimes I heart the remaoke of Hey Now...Don't Dream it's over by Crowded House and I must say there is nothing like the orginal singer.  What if we replaced Elvis with someone who looked like him, sounded like him, talked and walked like him, but he wasn't the real guy...would we still love him.  No way.  Not with any band, try doing that with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and U2...how can you replaced Mick and Bono with anyone else.  It just ain't happening.

Saturn in Libra - Take Care of Your Relationships and They Will Take Care of You

Image by SanforaQ8 via FlickrBy Ellen Zucker
Saturn is in Libra.
The planet of hard work, responsibility, and the chickens coming home to roost is in the sign of one-to-one partnerships.
When most people think of relationships they think of romantic relationships or their significant other. But your one-to-one relationships are much broader. Your accountant, your lawyer, your business partner, a close friend, your relationship with a parent, a child, or a sibling are other examples of one-to-one relationships.
When Saturn comes to the sign of Libra (or your 7th house), it is time to pay attention to your one-to-one relationships.
One way you will know that you have work to do is if a particular relationship starts to become difficult. That is your signal that you need to pay attention and put some effort into it. Again, as tempting as it is to lay the blame on your partner, the most effective tack is to review your role to see where you could have contributed to the difficulty and own up to it.
That also means that if you are the one doing all of the giving and too little of the receiving that you do your work to re-balance (Libra, the sign of the scales aims for balance). You do this by setting up boundaries, another very Saturn thing. So this is the time you might have to tell your partner what you will or will not put up with.
And then stick to your guns. Because healthy relationships are balanced.  If nothing else, changing your behavior will change the dynamics between you and your partner. That alone can change the whole picture if you stay with it. In effect, you are working to bring your partnership back into balance. If your problems are more than you can handle, Saturn's presence in Libra suggests that getting an ally - an experienced, reputable partner who plays it straight such as a marriage counselor, or even if necessary, attorney, will be particularly helpful to steer you straight and keep you on track.
The gift of Saturn in Libra is the opportunity to build relationships that endure through good times and bad.
To learn more, subscribe to Ellen's acclaimed monthly free newsletter, Celestial Currents, and you will be able to stay abreast of the current astrological conditions. As a bonus, you will also receive her free report: Mercury Retrograde: 9 Ways to Turn It Into Your Friend. http://www.celestialcurrents.com/
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As Good as it's Going to Get

Image by doug88888 via FlickrI've tried a lot of things in life.  I used to play the guitar when I was teenager.  It was fun and I learned many songs but a time came where I could just not progress anymore.  I stayed at a level and I realized I reached a point where it was as good as it was going to get.
Being a guitarist was never my true passion. I always enjoyed singing more.  I tried out for several bands but was always rejected.  But its okay because now I have karaoke. Its fun, it allows me to do something I love.  I don't have the talent or dream to sing with a band so as for singing, karaoke is as good as it is going to get for me.
I wrote for a few years, got some stories published and some nice reviews on some screenplays but then again I reached a point where there I could not go farther.  Now I have Photography.  I've spent the last two years absorbing as much photography as I could.  From scouring the internet for websites, blogs, and photo galleries and listening to pod casts.  I've researched cameras, equipment, and have devoted three blogs to photography.
   Image by frankdpix via Flickr
I've also met dozens of new people, worked with a modeling agency and clothes designers,  made new friends and acquaintances and have traveled to various places all because of photography.  It has given me a lot, perhaps a lot more than music and writing put together.

But I've reached a point now where things are slowing down.  I've reached the top of the hill and I can say this is as good as its going to get for me.  I'm not going to be shooting for Vogue or working on America's Next Top Model any time soon...and I'm okay with it.  I see it as two years I could have spent in college studying photography but I did it on my own and what better way to learn that from real life experience.
For me all I can do now is sit quietly and wait for the next thing.  It will come, the new journey, maybe these last two, five, ten years have been nothing short of an initiation period for me for what is to come.  Can't wait to see.

Marc Antoine - Cruisin'

Follow The White Rabbit

Image by Green Clouds via Flickr
FOLLOW THE WHITE RABBIT...For some this will bring memories of little Alice blindly ignoring all logic to pursue a talking white rabbit wearing a waistcoat down a rabbit hole to wonderland.  For others, Neo will come to mind as he follows the white rabbit through a dark sinister world  to meet Morpheus.   In each case, Alice and Neo found something they were looking for.   
We all come across white rabbits everyday. Most of us simply walk by them because as we grow older we learn or we're taught to ignore them because the sinister things might lead us astray from our safe lives no matter how miserable they might be.  After all, if we happen to see a talking rabbit wearing clothes, we would blow it off and say we must be tired or maybe we're too stressed. One would have to be either a child or insane to follow it down some dark smelly hole in the ground.
Other times the white rabbit is within us as a nagging voice that keeps screaming, you're with the wrong person, in the wrong relationship, in the wrong career or simply going down the wrong path in life.  As we get older we become better at choking the voice out of our lives till one day we can't hear it anymore.  My inner voice use  to be loud, now it's a memory.
The White Rabbit defies all rational logic and is nothing more than the insane, magical, chaotic, crazy things that we come across that appear as something that will bring about our demise...like quitting our job or leaving a high paying job for a lower paying one.  But in the end the White Rabbit will simply lead us to a better or worse place that has the missing key to our lives. 
I go to work and I don't know how I feel about anything anymore.  I have lost touch with myself because I work at a mindless factory where I am so under-stimulated that the only way I can deal with it is to stop thinking and feeling all together.  I am the walking dead or maybe the living dead.  I can't feel anymore.  I don't know how I feel about my job, I don't know how I feel about anything.  I've lost touch.  There is no easy solution to this.  I must change my life.  I want to feel alive again.  I must follow the crazy rabbit to wherever it will lead me, no matter how hard or scary the journey, maybe in the end I will find what i'm missing...feeling alive.