Alameda and Elsewhere

A job is what you get when you need to have some money. Theycan pay so you can get enough stuff, to hopefully make yourself happy. They say that money cant buy for everything, but itcan buy a lot. The worst thing iswhat you have to do to get your money. You need to go to work. And going to work, most of the time means missing out on most of yourtime, to help some rich guy get richer. He just paysyou as little as hecan get away with. There are some things that Ireally don’t like abouthow jobs work.

First you need to wake upat some ungodly hour to get ready for the work. Then you need to get in your freezing cold cars, and drive for an hour in terrible traffic just to get to work. If you happen to be a few minutes late, there will surely be somebody to telling you how late you are. As if you didn’t know that you were late. You are also warned that if you are late a few more times, you will be fired. Fired! Then there comes the subject of time off and vacation. They somehow think that just because you work there they have the right to tell you when it’s ok for you to go in vacation. That is the main reason that I cannot work for somebody else. I just cannot stand the fact that if I want to go on a vacation during the holidays that I have to ask permission. That just seems so wrong to me. I know that it must seem irresponsible, but that is not how I want to spend my time here on this Earth. It’s a really big place, and needs to be explored. That is what I must do. Explore.

Although in these articles, I focused on just a few elements of the Harlem Renaissance that I learned from my research, there is so much more to be discovered about this intense, vibrant period in American history. As I stated in my introduction, I knew very little about the Harlem Renaissance before beginning this quest, and there is much that I learned that was not included in these articles, e.g. the historical and social context that led to the Harlem Renaissance (increased number of lynchings and race riots, tightening of restrictions placed on blacks, the psychological effects of World War I on African Americans, etc.). Besides the people mentioned in these articles, I learned quite a bit about many other participants in the Harlem Renaissance who contributed greatly to the movement.

Because of the limits of these articles, I had to neglect many of the people, white and black, who supported the Harlem artists, with encouragement, subsidies, or living expenses. But these patrons, such as Charlotte Mason, played an important role in the Harlem Renaissance also and should not be buried in obscurity anymore than the artists. I have endeavored to give others an overview of the Harlem Renaissance in hopes to pique their interest as mine was. It is up to us to keep these artists from sinking into oblivion again as many of them did at one time.

Let us not fail them.

It is an old platitude that the more one learns, the less one knows. This is undoubtedly true. I have learned quite a bit about the Harlem Renaissance, but through this research, I see that there is so much more that I do not know about it. This is not an end to my quest; I am now even more intrigued with this period of literary history. The artists that I have discussed are the ones that most interested me; therefore I plan to continue this discovery of the Harlem Renaissance by beginning with studying the works of those eight artists. I am particularly drawn to Zora Neale Hurston, so her novels and essays will be the first that I explore. I am also especially interested in Langston Hughes’ and Wallace Thurman’s works, but I hope to examine many others also, particularly Jessie Fauset, Nella Larsen, James Weldon Johnson, and Jean Toomer.

The primary issue that my research has interested me most is the theme of ‘passing’ and transgressing boundaries. This concept is not limited to people transgressing racial barriers, but could also be applied to social, economic, and gendered boundaries. Thus the issue takes on a broader context, one worth exploring in more detail. Why do people attempt to oppose boundaries, and what are the consequences if they do?

Mary Arnold holds a B.A. in literature and history. She is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers.

Her writing portfolio may be viewed at http://www.Writing.com/authors/ja77521

A centuries-old mystery has crossed my path again …

I mentioned in a recent article that there was a dispute in many academic quarters regarding the actual Viking deity being honored by the name, ‘Friday.’ The cold, hard fact is that unless someone unearths a runic stone that confirms the issue — and that’s not likely — only a preponderance of circumstantial evidence is going to carry the day in any such debate.

So, while others while away their time contemplating world peace, I’ve returned to the search for Friday’s inspiration.

If you’ll recall, four of the seven days of the week are named after Norse gods:

- Tuesday is for Tyr, the god of truth and war,

- Wednesday is for Odin, the Allfather of Viking gods,

- Thursday is for Thor, the god of thunder,

- Friday, however is cloaked in ambiguity.

I’d always heard the day’s name-origin came from Frigg, Odin’s elder wife — he had more than one — and this is supported by the most scholarly of English references, such as the Oxford dictionary. Others say it was for either Frey or Freja, who were brother and sister in the Vanir clan. Frey was the god of fertility, so it was considered essential to keep him happy; Freja was the goddess of love and beauty, so it didn’t hurt to keep on her good side, either.

Frigg’s duties were to be the goddess of the sky. It was a subtle job, but someone had to do it.

Turning to cyberspace for resolution, I happened on an excellent guide in Norse matters, The Viking Answer Lady. She is so meticulous in her material that I felt the possibility of her bringing light to the issue was quite good. So, I contacted her. To say she did her research is an understatement. Here’s her reply to me:

“Since Western Europe all originally derived from Indo-European tribes, we find that there were a lot of correspondences between the various branches — not exact, one-for-one identity, but concepts are clearly related. So it’s no real surprise to find that the naming and symbolism of the days of the week, and the number of days in a week, might be pretty much the same in all the descendants of the Indo-Europeans.

“You can see the day-name correspondences in other languages that descend from Indo-European:

“Ancient Greek has: hemera selenes (moon day), hemera Areos (Ares’ day), hemera Hermu (Hermes’ day), hemera Dios (Zeus’ day), hemera Aphrodites (Aphrodite’s day), hemera Khronu (Chronos’ day), hemera heliou (sun day)

“Latin: Lunae dies (Moon-day, Monday), Martis dies (Mars-Day, Tuesday), Mercurii dies (Mercury’s day, Wednesday), Jovis dies (Jove’s day, Thursday), Veneris dies (Venus’ day, Friday), Saturni dies (Saturn’s day, Saturday) or alternatively Christian Sabbatum or Sabbati dies (Sabbath day), Solis dies (Sunday)or alternatively Christian Dominicus dies (Lord’s day)

“Unsurprisingly, the Romance languages clearly derive their day names from Latin, except for Portugese, which numbers the days:

“Italian: lunedi, martedi, mercoledi, giovedi, venerdi, sabato, domenica

“Spanish: lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves, viernes, sbado, domingo

“French: lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche

“Romanian: luni, marti, miercuri, joi, vineri, smbata, duminica

“Portugese: Segunda-Feira (2nd day, Monday); Tera-Feira (3rd day, Tuesday); Quarta-Feira (4th day, Wednesday); Quinta-Feira (5th day, Thursday); Sexta-Feira (6th day, Friday); Sbado (Sabbath, Saturday); Domingo (Lord’s Day, Sunday)

“The Celtic languages have taken and preserved the Latin names of the days, and also borrowed heavily from Christian concepts:

“Welsh: Dydd Llun (moon/Luna day), Dydd Mawrth (Mars’ day), Dydd Mercher (Mercury’s day), Dydd Iau (Jove’s day), Dydd Gwener (Venus’s day), Dydd Sadwrn (Saturn’s day), Dydd Sul (sun day)

“Gaelic: Di-luain (moon day); Di-mirt (Mars’s day); Di-ciaduinn or Di-ciadaoin (day of the first fast of the week - Friday being the second fast); Diardaoin (the day between the two fasts of Wednesday and Friday); Di-haoine or Dia-aoine (day of the fast) Di-sathuirn (Saturn day); Di-dmhnuich (Lord’s day)

“Irish: Dé Luan (moon/Luna day); Dé Mairt (Mars’ day); Dé Céadaoin (day of the first fast of the week); Déardaoin; Dé h-Aoine (the day between the two fasts of Wednesday and Friday); Dé Sathairn (Saturn’s day); Dé Domhnaigh (Lord’s day)

“The Germanic languages, however, are also related. Ares/Mars was equated with Tr as a warrior god. Zeus/Jupiter was equated with Thrr as the god who hurled lightnings. Mercury was equated with inn, since both had a role as psychompomps, the one who leads the dead to their afterlife. Aphrodite/Venus was equated with Frigga and Freyja.

“German: Montag (moon day), Dienstag (Tr’s day), Mittwoch (Mid-week), Donnerstag (Donner’s/Thrr’s day), Freitag (Freyja/Frigga’s day), Samstag (derived ultimately from Latin Sabbatum), Sonntag (sun day)

“Dutch: maandag (moon day), dinsdag, woensdag (Woden’s/inn’s day), donderda (Donner’s/Thrr’s day), vrijdag (Freyja/Frigga’s day), zaterdag (Saturn day), zondag (sun day)

“Norwegian and Danish: mandag (moon day), tirsdag (Tr’s day), onsdag (inn’s day), torsdag (Thrr’s day), fredag (Freyja’s/Frigga’s day), lrdag (washing day), sndag (sun day)

“Swedish: mndag (moon day), tisdag (Tr’s day), onsdag (inn’s day), torsdag (Thrr’s day), fredag (Freyja/Frigga’s day), lrdag (wash day), sndag (sun day)

“Old English: mondg or monandg (moon day); tiwesdg (Tiw’s day, Tr’s day); wodnesdg (Wotan’s/inn’s day); thunresdg (Thrr’s day); frigedg (Frigga’s/Freya’s day); sterdg or sternesdg (Saturn’s day); sunnandg (sun day)

“Middle English: monday, moneday, or monenday (moon day); tiwesday or tewesday (Tiw’s day, Tr’s day); wodnesday, wednesday, or wednesdai (Wotan’s/inn’s day); thursday or thuresday (Thrr’s day); fridai (Frigga’s/Freya’s day); saterday (Saturn’s day); soneday, sonenday, sunday, sunnenday (sun day)

“North Frisian: monnendei (moon-day); Tirsdei (Tr’s-day); Winsdei (Wotan’s/inn’s day); Trsdei (Thrr’s day); Fridei (Frigga’s/Freyja’s day); sennin (sun-evening); sennedei (sun day)

“Etymologically, it’s impossible to tell for certain whether the ‘Friday’ words derive from Frigga or Freyja (at least so I am told, I am not a philologist or linguistics expert). We can tell by the cognates that the name is from a goddess equated with Venus and Aphrodite.

“We get into further problems in that ‘Freyja’ is derived from roots meaning simply ‘lady’ while ‘Frigga’ comes from roots related to ‘beloved.’ There have been several scholars who insist that Frigga and Freyja are just different titles for the same goddess.

“None the less, undoubtedly ‘Friday’ comes from the name of one of these two goddeses, and not from the name of the god Freyr.”

Now, that’s the sort of studied thoroughness that can achieve Master’s degrees. It’s a preponderance of evidence that can carry the day in a court of law. Even though she only eliminated one of the three contenders to the title of Friday’s Namesake, the Viking Answer Lady has gone above and beyond the call of duty to provide me with the information I requested.

I’m sure glad I didn’t tell her I was just trying to win a bar bet.

J Square Humboldt is the featured columnist at the Longer Life website, which is dedicated to providing information, strategies, analysis and commentary designed to improve the quality of living. His page can be found at http://longerlifegroup.com/cyberiter.html and his observations are published three times per week.

Part 5. Distinguishing between Value and Valuation or How Some Things Never Change

Leaving aside my personal preferences for a moment, the most alarming element here is the way popular opinion can be manipulated and mobilised. It reminded me - and not for the first time - of the seminal book by Charles Mackay, entitled “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds”. Written in 1841, it is, by common consent, a classic of its kind, examining how various mania develop. Although it is nominally about stock market investments, it is really a study of human behaviour. What provokes people to blindly follow each other? Is there some collective wisdom here that I’m missing? Perhaps, ultimately, the herd instinct holds sway. Another fine example that can be applied to the art market was expertly elucidated by Malcolm Gladwell in his book “The Tipping Point”. Gladwell identified a range of circumstances that caused a trend to become self perpetuating. The opinion of the cognoscenti becomes subsumed by the phenomenon of reflexivity whereby perceptions of that opinion by the populace start to affect the fundamentals and then create a bubble mentality. Religious hysteria, Tulipmania, alchemy, Kinkade limited edition prints, they’re all peas out of the same pod. Stripped down to the bare fundamentals, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with the works of Thomas Kinkade except that they are the artistic equivalent of lift music - inoffensive, undemanding and easy on the eye. And all the passion of a wet blanket.

If you think I’m a little harsh on Kinkade, reflect for a moment on the disparity in value between his work and that of a true craftsman. It is important to distinguish here between value and valuation. One should not necessarily judge the merit of a given picture or artefact in financial terms. The price of goods, whether commoditised or not, is a simple function of supply and demand. That ascribes a valuation - what someone considers a fair price to pay - but not a value which is as much a reflection of how much an item is appreciated or enjoyed. The valuation will fluctuate according to prevailing fashion and we do see today some savage swings in sentiment, governed both by influencers and the newness of ideas. The ephemeral and somewhat transient nature of modern society is both a blessing and a curse.

Howard Lewis,
Chairman, Invaluable group of companies
http://www.invaluable.com

Only Invaluable gives you unrivalled access to pre-sale and post-sale information for auction houses and salerooms across the globe.

Find art, antiques and collectables. Try our Keyword search, register at http://www.invaluable.com for a free 14 day trial.

The French Foreign Legion was founded in 1831. Their spiritual home and old training centres are in the former colonial French North Africa although they now train mainly in Southern France. What made them the legendary force they were and still are? What success lessons can we learn from them?

Recently twelve volunteers chose to do four weeks basic training in Legion style in the Western Sahara desert. They were under the harsh but experienced and encouraging regime of three ex-legionnaires, Sergeant Chef Peter Hauser, Sergeant Glenn Ferguson and Corporal Richard Sutter

Their experiences were filmed by Channel 4 TV and can teach us much about motivation and success. I have also talked with Sergeant Glenn Ferguson and gained some more insights into what motivated him and the other legendary legionnaires.

He joined the Legion at the age of 19. He was motivated at first by fear of punishment and then by pride. He hated to fail at anything and could also appreciate the pride of an elite group. One of his favourite sayings is:

“You will never be the best if you constantly have to lower the bar so the weaker elements can join”

Throughout the program the three ex-legionnaires appeared keen for some of the volunteers to ring a bell as a symbol of their wish to leave the group. They wanted to weed out the weaker elements. Legionnaires with low standards can get their fellow legionnaires killed.

Elite groups do not have the time to tolerate the weak or half hearted. They only want members who are willing to give 100% effort. They would rather that ‘losers’ (people who are lazy and half-hearted) did not join. Another saying of Sergeant Glenn Ferguson puts this well:

“If you didn’t come to be the best, then stay with the other losers”

In the modern world where everyone must be encouraged to join everything, this seems to be very old-fashioned and elitist but note that this saying does in fact make sense even today. It is not saying that you must be the best before you join up.

You must just want to be the best. This leaves room for the less talented so long as they have the right attitude. Any weakness will soon leave them as they endure the pain of the tough training regime of the Legion.

As the Sergeant commented to his suffering protégés in the TV program:

“Pain is weakness leaving your body”

Several of the volunteers started the training as ‘the weak’ but ended up as ‘the strong’. One former legionnaire commented in the program that when he entered the legion, he believed he could do nothing. When he left after five years he believed he could do anything. Such belief is a key element in any success.

I was a teacher for over 30 years in London Comprehensive schools. Everyone is accepted into these schools whether they are ‘weak’ or ’strong’. They are all given the opportunity to learn. Unfortunately, a minority are not only ‘weak’; they don’t want to become ’strong’ or are too lazy to become ’strong’ and they don’t want anyone else to be ’strong’.

When such lazy and disruptive pupils leave the school, the rest make much faster progress and can even enjoy their education. A touch of the French Foreign Legion attitude towards the half-hearted and disruptive might well improve our Comprehensive system.

Occasionally a ‘loser’ shows up in my martial arts classes; they don’t want to work hard except at the bits they enjoy and they distract the others. I don’t care about their ability or lack of it. The key factor is their attitude. Fortunately I am not forced by the Government to keep these students. I can either ask them to leave or give them a chance to improve.

I usually give them a chance but, if their attitude does not improve, I am pleased when they go. I do not want the majority of the class with a keen attitude to lose their opportunity to concentrate and make speedy progress. Training with like minded people is the quickest road to success in any venture.

The French Foreign Legion does not usually give lazy people a second chance. They are out on their ear immediately or are quickly disciplined into accepting the rules.

I was impressed by the French Foreign Legion ‘aperitif.’ This took the form of 10 pull ups before the evening meal. The volunteers found this tough as most of us would.

Sgt. Glenn Ferguson explained that this ‘aperitif’ was important in battle. It is no use being able to travel miles on foot and then not being able to pull yourself up over a wall when you reached the place of battle. Upper body strength is essential for a soldier. One of the Sergeant’s favourite saying makes the point:

A man who can’t pull his own body weight is a waste of oxygen

I especially liked the ‘aperitif’ exercise because it involves daily effort at a precise time. Any consistent daily effort produces impressive results. Performing the drill before a meal or reward is also a great idea. Having an immediate reward after some action makes it easier to perform the action. Daily efforts are a key factor in any success story.

Sergeant Chef Peter Hauser, who had served with the legion’s elite parachute regiment all over the world, taught the volunteers about the weapons and tactics of the legion.

The volunteers were in similar territory (in the Western Saharan desert) to that in which the Legion in the sixties were the last line of defence as France ’s colonial Empire crumbled.

Simon Murray was a legionnaire from 1960 to 1965. He described the huge amount of equipment a legionnaire had to carry:

“It is a tough life because you’re carrying six days of rations. You were probably carrying about 40 kilos and you’ve got 4 hand grenades; you’ve got 200 rounds of ammunition; you’ve got a sten gun; you’ve got a couple of water bottles; you’ve got a shovel, you’ve got your sleeping kit and half a tent. You’re quite weighed down and very often you are going u phil l and long, long, long hard slogs and frequently men would be absolutely done and collapse; and then the sergeants would kick them and move them along and would start screaming at them. You might have a fever; you might have this that and the other. Nobody gave a damn.”

The ruthless attitude of the sergeants did not allow for excuses and excuses are a major cause of failure in any venture. The sergeants like Sergeant Glenn Ferguson believed in pushing men beyond their limits. Most success stories contain this element of extending your boundaries and breaking through your limitations. One of the sergeant’s favourite sayings is:

“If you never are shown that your limits can be pushed, you will never know how far you can really go.”

Near the end of the 4 weeks, the volunteers had to do a standard Legionnaire eight km run in 60 minutes with a bad fitting 12 kilogram pack on their backs. They had to walk two hours to get to the start of the run after a night on sentry duty. Will, one of the volunteers, had very sore ankles but with the help of Corporal Rutter, he made it.:

“You can do it - little steps. One in front of the other. Come on Will - a last bit of effort - you can do it. Come on; last little bit of effort; you can do it; it come on. Come on! Grit your teeth! You’re there! “

Will just made it with ten seconds to spare. He put his success down to Corporal Rutter’s help but the Corporal put it down to him. “If you delve deep in yourself you can do it - it’s a mind thing - it’s all in your mind.”

Again this kind of attitude and the encouragement that went with it leads to success and achievement. I think taking little steps in anything is a big factor in achieving success.

The main reason recruits to the Legion drop out is because of foot problems caused by the frequent long marches and runs. Why do some keep going while the others drop out?

Bobby, one of the remaining four volunteers, gave one reason:

“The positive people seem to still be here. It shows that a smile and good nature can carry you through most things.”

On their final day, the four successful volunteers faced the kepi march. The night before the march they are told the heroic story of Camerone. During the Franco Mexican war in 1863 the Legion retreated to a farm house called Camerone where they were surrounded by 2000 Mexican soldiers.

When the Legionnaires fought down to the last three men without surrendering the Mexican captain let the three surviving men go with their weapons and wounded comrades. He said:

“What can we do with men such as you?. You have shown such courage.” This esprit de corp is what the volunteers would need on the Kepi march.

Will likened the Kepi march to giving birth. “At the time it is very painful but later you forget all the pain and think it would be a good idea to have or do another one. “

An Irish ex-legionnaire who featured briefly in the TV program commented that the kepi march is difficult but that’s just the way it is. “If it wouldn’t be difficult, you wouldn’t be there. The blisters came forth and then the blood came forth.”

Sgt Glenn Ferguson described the real march done through the Pyrenees : “180 k’s in 3 and a half days; 18 hours a day of marching . You walk on these bloody stumps that used to be your feet. You know they are in a bad way because you can feel it ( the Sergeant’s description was more colourful) but you just keep walking and in about ten minutes your brain just turns off and you just keep going. At the end your boots had to be cut off - lots of blood and lots of skin.”

Eventually all three staff and the four remaining volunteers, Bear, Bobby, Will and Loic finished the march and reached the Atlantic sea. Loic liked the symbolism of going through the desert and then landing in the sea. Everyone rushed into the Atlantic to celebrate.

Later all four were presented with the kepi blanc as a souvenir. They would not be allowed to wear it but could keep it to remember their experience. Only real legionnaires could wear the Kepi blanc

Loic had learned that at the end of the day he could live a very simple life on a lousy bed with a cold shower and that the materialistic issues which bother us mean absolutely nothing.

Bear, the leader of the volunteers, commented:

“We didn’t find Beau Geste and the romantic myths of the legion. We found only pain but from that pain came pride and honour. Whatever you say against the legion you have to realize that for the people who come through it gives a huge sense of pride. And the strength of the legion is that it gives people family and pride and a second chance. It builds good things through the hardship.”

The following key success lessons can be learned from this account:

Surround yourself with keen, hardworking people who want to be the best. Expel the lazy and half-hearted.

Take daily action to make yourself stronger in every way.

Push yourself beyond your imagined limitations

Keep smiling and stay good natured.

Accept pain and hardship as a road to strength

Remember past achievements by yourself or others

Encourage each other and if necessary take small steps to reach your goals

Don’t indulge in making excuses

About the author

John Watson is an award winning teacher and fifth degree black belt martial arts instructor. He has recently written several books about achieving your goals and dreams.

They can be found on his website http://www.motivationtoday.com along with a motivational message and books by other authors

Ezine editors / Site owners

Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine or on your site but please include the resource box above.

Lovely villa in the garden containing palm trees and beautiful local plants found in this area. Sabbia D’Oro is situated 10 meters from the seaside in San Leone, Agrigento.

Our fine sandy beach is a short walk from the B&B and you can find all the beach accessories you need. You can also go for long relaxing walks or just go bike-riding along the seaside up to the port where you can see fishermen coming back from the sea while the choose their best fish on the sand.

At Sabbia D’Oro, each room is comfortable and bright with air-conditioning and private bath where you can see the natural garden and crystal clear sea of San Leone.

Breakfast is served in a special hall or a beautiful terrace overlooking the fascinating view of the Mediterranean Sea. Beautiful sweet-scented flowers in our garden will make your holiday relaxing. You can choose to have your delicious meals from a variety of local pizzerias or restaurants nearby and enjoy the splendid San Leone seaside.

Sabbia D’Oro is situated at 2 km from the breathtaking Valley of the Temples and 4 km from the historical center of Agrigento. The bus stop is 20 meters from our B&B therefore a car is not essential.

B&B Sabbia D’Oro is situated in the heart of San Leone, a popular seaside in Agrigento.
It is 20 meters from the sea, the breathtaking Valley of the Temples is 2 km away and the historical center is 4 km from the B&B.
Local pizzerias, restaurants, ice-cream shops as well as kiosks along the seaside are open at night.
There is also a charming port nearby.

If you are interested in a cheap hotel in Agrigento, pls visit our catalogue of Hotels all over Italy, where you can find also a wide range of Bed and Breakfast in Rome and Hotels in Florence, from cheap to luxury, togheter with Sorrento Tours

One of the most widely respected and important American publications of the last century is Forbes Magazine. Forbes Magazine was founded in 1917 by Scottish immigrant B.C. Forbes (who was, at the time, the leading columnist for the Hearst newspaper chain). Forbes was born in Aberdeen shire in Scotland and moved from Johannesburg, South Africa to New York performing various editorial and writing gigs just before he founded this vastly important business publication.

Forbes is published bi-weekly and contains up to 60 original and concisely-written articles in each issue which evaluate everything from the companies to the people that run them and has both a politically conservative and pro-business slant. Some of the topics covered in each and every issue of Forbes include articles on the worlds of industry, finance, international business, marketing, law, taxes, science, technology, communications, investments, entrepreneurships, etc. More than 5 million readers worldwide (and seven local-language editions) can attest to the longevity of this publication for the business world.

Coming up on its 90th Anniversary in 2007, the Forbes Empire remains one of the largest and most successful family businesses of its kind in the world. Steve Forbes, once a political candidate for President of the United States of America, is the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief and has a column in each and every issue called “Fact and Comment” which is quite popular with Forbes readers.

Each and every year, Forbes publishes its very popular list of the richest people and the biggest companies on Earth (who also, by the way, subscribe to this most accomplished publication). Absolutely no merger, ad campaign or lawsuit of importance on the planet goes unnoticed by Forbes Magazine and the stories in each issue will always vividly focus on the movers and financial innovators that are shaking things up in the business world. Forbes is also the best of the business periodicals that are published today for discovering new investment ideas and more investor focused than other business magazines. So, if you want to make sense of today’s incredibly volatile market, then read and you will be as enlightened as the giants of this most respected of industries are

Don’t purchase a Magazine Subscription through my site, you wouldn’t want to see my ugly mug on Forbes Magazine next top richest people in the world list.

One of the things I like to do on my website is shine the spotlight on regular people like you and me who have chosen to do something a little unusual with their time and who have managed to live a unique cross-cultural experience.

So one of these special people is my friend Carol, a multi-talented highschool teacher, who, as I recently found out, is also an accomplished painter and pianist.

During the mid-nineties Carol decided to take a few years off and she went off to Turkey to teach English and Mathematics in a school in Istanbul. After all was said and done, Carol had lived for 7 years in Istanbul, thoroughly gotten to know Turkish culture and created a network of international and local friends that she still stays in touch with today. Turkey continues to be one of her favourite destinations and Carol tries to reconnect with her favourite country as often as she can.

In addition to that, Carol also has a special connection to a little town in Greece by the name of Parga and there is an interesting story behind this. We’ll soon hear about Carol’s international connections and her experiences and insights about Turkey and Greece.

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions (http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the transitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.

Submit your own travel stories in our first travel story contest (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm) and have a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River.

“Life is a Journey Explore New Horizons”.

The interview with photos is published at Travel and Transitions - Interviews

“Ron, I can’t take much more of his sleazy behavior! I really don’t think you are going to win this case for me anyway. I’ve lost everything; at least I can have the pleasure of making sure the jury knows their judge is another sexual power tripper, going in to his chambers to satisfy himself with the bailiff while he screws me over under the law! I don’t…”

“Gloria, we still have Coach Nestorovic and the jury could be ‘hung’. They already see what the judge is doing. Please let me ‘do my thing’!”

“Sure! Easy for you to say! You get paid while risking nothing. You didn’t have a thing to lose. I had to sell my house to pay your bill. This whole system is screwed. I informed the police, as soon as I knew what was going on!”

“Your husband’s testimony made them think you had a pretty good idea a long time before that! It can easily be settled if you turn state’s evidence on the Mafia bosses you worked for!”

“Well, how will that protect my kids now that he has filed for a divorce and custody? He’ll be awarded custody with me in jail, for certain. He’s made it clear he has no intention of entering witness protection. Even Witness Protection might not work, you know! They have people inside the system that might find out where we are anyway. You know that I’ll do anything to protect them!” Gloria was distraught and pacing the floor in the little room of the Long Beach courthouse set aside for lawyer/client consultations. She kicked a chair knocking it over. “Damn! HIM!”

“If you blow up on the judge you can forget any chance of being found innocent. He can make you spend thirty days in County jail before your sentence for fraud begins. I don’t want to see this happen, Gloria. Despite what you think about me; I’ve done everything I can do and we do have a chance.”

“Fat One maybe! I see how he looked at me when I was on the stand! It made my skin crawl!”

“He has already told you the next time you confront him he will find you in contempt of court. We can use his behavior in an appeal.”

“I don’t have the money for that! The situation doesn’t warrant an appeal anyway. They had enough proof to hang me out to dry when the State engineer lied about the soil samples and engineering data. I’m sunk! I’m not going to sell my antique doll collection just to pay you some more money!” Gloria sat down and took her shoe off to massage her toe that hurt, from when she kicked the chair, and looked out the window to see another beautiful California day, with sunlight and soft breezes rippling through the palm fronds.

“This is a big case and there were many people ripped-off in the land development swindle. You know they have to have a conviction for the media! I can only tell you that I think you have a good chance to get custody of your kids if you are in the witness protection program. The Mafia isn’t as strong here as they are in places like New York. I don’t think they’ll kill your kids!”

“I can’t take that chance. They are everything to me! I’ve only had a few months with Susie…” Her eyes showed the signs of tears but he could see she didn’t want to cry.

“You are one stubborn Red-Head, that’s for sure! Its part of why you didn’t want to see that all the money they were paying you was part of knowing it would make it difficult for you to turn them in. You are prone to ’stick to your guns’ and keep your mind closed to what is happening.”

“Well! What do you know? Some philosophic insight! Hell, how would I know about soil samples and the like? I’m an M.B.A. not a geologist! Sure I might have seen it a little earlier, but I needed to get ‘the goods’ on them. The city was backing them ‘big time’. No one would have listened to some young WOMAN! This is just a railroad job. They know I’m not guilty, of anything!”

The police came and knocked on their door and summoned them to return to the proceedings. Gloria went back into the room with her lawyer Ron Vance. She surveyed the crowded courtroom for what she knew was likely her last time. After her tennis coach gave some character witness support it would be lunch, then the summations would take an hour. She felt a sense of being cornered, but that had been the case throughout her 25 years on earth. It was December 19th 1968 and just two days earlier she had turned twenty-five. Her husband wasn’t in the room as he sometimes had been.

She remembered the day before when she had seen him sitting with some young tart that she was sure he was sleeping with. God, men can be wicked! She smiled sheepishly at Coach Nestorovic and remembered back to a more innocent time when he had been her mentor as she worked her way through university. Her tennis and golf scholarship had paid for much of her education. A poor girl from a Riverside trailer park whose father had died before she came to Long Beach sure hadn’t any money for school clothes or the high life. Then she had the misfortune of falling in love with a lying lothario! She wasn’t depressed yet; that was something she rarely ever let herself do.

Ron put his hand on Gloria’s as the judge resumed the proceedings. He had to admit she was right about this supposedly ‘Honorable’ judge. It was a travesty how he had stopped the proceedings everyday to get his rocks off with the handsome police matron assigned to take Gloria back to her cell each evening after the session had begun. He truly felt a little sick to his stomach but he didn’t want to let her know how badly he felt. Lawyers need to be positive and give their clients confidence. That is what his great teachers and heroes of the profession had always told him. He also knew it was important to getting the bills paid.

Author and activist for ethical social systems.

There was once a man who did not understand society. And when I speak of this man, who regards society as an unfathomable monster, understand that I am universally speaking of every individual thinker. But there was one particular man, one man among them, who did not understand society. And what separates him from the other individual thinkers was his unavowed lust for love, his desire for affection, and his outright honesty in it. He was, in many ways and like other thinkers, a hero. And though his understanding of social romance may be below par, it cannot be denied that his journey for love is as romantic as they become.

Our hero is named Cassidy, and our journey takes us to the bars, pubs, and clubs of America, the raves and hangouts, anywhere there is lurking a girl for our hero’s affections. Unlike the other lovers, looking for a score or a companion, Cassidy was in these clubs and bars because, as he explained to himself many a time, he was human. It was his devotion to truth and honesty that made him an unlikely character in this scene. He had no fear, which allowed this truth and honesty to shine forth even in threatening situations. As a career, Cassidy was a janitor. He worked at a mall, cleaning things up, clearing off tables in the food court, picking up garbage. He wasn’t bothered by it at all. Making $2.00 above minimum wage per hour, he lived a very restrained lifestyle.

There was one club, Club Down And Out, which was frequented by our friend Cassidy. There were casual contacts here, as well as friends and lovers made. One man would hit on a woman with, “You’re fine, I’m fine, why don’t we leave this place and do something about it?” Cassidy might overhear, and he would be confused. It was completely understood what the man wanted, but the way he presented himself, beneath the shawl of lies, was what confused Cassidy. Sure, it may be true that such pickup lines as, “Nice shoes, wanna fuck?” among others might be outdated and rarely used. But according to Cassidy, though the pickup lines changed, the attitude was just as antiquated.

Cassidy had heard enough, sometimes being approached by men and women, sometimes seeing men approach women and women approach men, or men approach men and women approach women, and the pickup lines that he had heard were nothing attractive. Some were succesful and some were failures, but they all were full of a superficiality that was completely inhuman in quality to him. The time was to act, and the object of affection was a girl sitting in a booth by herself. She had dreadlocks, thick and natural, which may have been the thing to catch Cassidy’s eye. Anything that would separate itself from this unreal reality would be sexy to him. Dreadlocks and a Dead Kennedies shirt. He sat down in the booth next to her. She looked up.

“Will you talk to me, because like every human, I long for the physical touch of intimacy, I cherish the moments of reverence manifested through our acts, I hold kindled affection to be a supreme act of kindness. Will you be one with me, because only my human desires drive me to be with you, one so beautiful and individual as yourself. And you, like me, are only human, so the urge cannot vary greatly between us.”

The girl got up from the booth and started to walk away. Cassidy continued talking.

“Will you love me, the way I want to love you, because your body is the poetry of life, because your face is a gem, because I know that the passion you have is one incomparable. Because, like every human, you are an individual, and I love you for that.”

She was in the crowd, disappeared, out of sight.

“Will you give to me that one kiss, that one moment, that one night, so that I can forever remember the smell of your soul, the taste of your body, the lingering desire to forever be in your arms? Will you hold me close so that I only feel your flesh and body heat, so that there is nothing to distract me from the beauty of one so outside of society’s grasp, so that I will know nothing but the pure bliss of yourself?”

She had walked ten miles away.

“Can I sit here forever, staring into your eyes, not forgetting that there is nobody like you? Will you give me your time, so that I can offer you my body and love? Will you give me your lust, so I can fufill it and offer you my own? Will you give me the precious pearls of your mind and body, so that I may give your security in comfort, life in sex, and happiness in existence?”

She was in another city.

“Will you let me caress your stomach, kiss your neck, nibble your thighs, give to you that one last kiss shared between the angel of loneliness and the daemon of misery? I do not want to be a lost child, looking forever, allowing every flower to pass me by, the indulgence of charity given only to myself, and I do not want to pass by another flower, smelling so sweet in the summer air, just as beautiful as the last one down. To pass one as yourself, to be given to a realm of regrets equally as a realm of mistakes.”

She was in another state.

“Give me a moment’s tenure, and I will give you everything. Emotion like none other, truth inscribed on the long lasting heart of humanity, the tangible pleasures of our reality lighting the candles of our existence. Let me touch your face so that I can show you what I mean. Give to me that one chance of kindness and reverence. Don’t let me sink into the dark abyss of nothingness — I am not a nobody, and I would not want to be passed up. I can give you only what any other human being can give you, love and desire, fermenting in the barrel of loneliness, given the soft glow and illuminating light of a beautiful and passionate sight as yourself. And all the lovers that you’ve had before, were just as sincere in their sensuality as I am, were just as real in their body as I am, were just as alive as I am here today. Awakened, with lust and vitality, to find something too valuable to give, to find someone too valuable to leave, to discover something deep inside all of us, that makes us all the same, as I desire for your touch in a way that only any other can desire. It is this reason that I ask for you to give me that chance…”

…

She turned around from the crowd, and hugged Cassidy.
http://www.punkerslut.com

For Life,

Punkerslut (or Andy Carloff) has been writing essays and poetry on social issues which have caught his attention for several years. His website http://www.punkerslut.com provides a complete list of all of these writings. His life experience includes homelessness, squating in New Orleans and LA, dropping out of high school, getting expelled from college for “subversive activities,” and a myriad of other revolutionary actions.