looking for yourself out there.....

Train............................Drops of Jupiter

On insight.............

Intellectual knowledge exists in and of the brain.
Because the brain is part of the body, which must one
     day expire, this collection of facts, however large
     and impressive, will expire as well.

Insight, however, is a function of the spirit.
Because your spirit follows you through cycle after
     cycle of life, death, and rebirth, you have the
     opportunity of cultivating insight in an ongoing
     fashion.
Refined over time, insight becomes pure, constant,
     and unwavering.

This is the beginning of immortality.

-Verse 35
Hua Hu Ching, The Unkown Teachings of Lao Tzu
Brian Walker

Opening paragraphs......

Gestures are all that I have; sometimes they must be grand in nature.  And while I occasionally step over the line and into the world of the melodramatic, it is what I must do in order to communicate clearly and effectively.  In order to make my point understood without question.  I have no words I can rely on because, much to my dismay, my tongue was designed long and flat and loose, therefore, is a horribly ineffective tool for pushing food around my mouth while chewing, and an even less effective tool for making clever and complicated polysyllabic sounds that can be linked together to form sentences.  And that's why I'm here now waiting for Denny to come home - he should be here soon - lying on the cool tiles of the kitchen floor in a puddle of my own urine.

Simplify those goals.............

Thanks Nicholas

It's understood..........................

Ray Charles.............Hit the Road Jack

U2...............Beautiful day............

Hey...............wait a minute

thanks Will

Having just written another check..........

..........I am rooting very hard for "C"

Taking chances................

Take every chance...................
    to relax,
    to learn,
    to grow,
    to heal,
    to dream,
    to forgive,
    to play,
    to say "thanks,"
    to give,
    to receive,
    to hug,
    to love.

Detachment...........

    Spiritual alignment is with context rather than content.  To
watch the mind is far different from identifying with it.  To
witness and observe are beneficially removed from the
alternative of emotional involvement and gain-or-loss
participation in the world of perception.  To watch the mind
from a detached position is educational, nonstressful, and
can be done with equanimity.  Whereas the consciousness
level of the witness/observer increases awareness, the ego
watches with the expectation of 'doing' or 'getting'
something.

-David Hawkins, Discovery of the Presence of God

Every trick in the book..........

Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross...............circa 1970

I'm Gonna Make You Love Me

A stage full of greatness........

BB King, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Albert Collins, and Jeff Beck
play Sweet Little Angel

And thirsty, too.....................

thanks Will

Those pesky capitalization rates...........

Under the heading of "you pays your money and you takes your
chances" comes this wonderful paragraph from an article in the
National Real Estate Investor:

"Nearly one in three (32%) respondents to the e-mail survey
expects cap rates to increase over the next six months
compared with 33% who expect them to decrease.  About one
in three respondents believes that cap rates will stay the same."

I'm glad we got that cleared up.

There is always a catch..........

thanks Ka-Ching

Opening paragraphs.....

It was the Rembrandt that solved the mystery once and for all.  Afterward, in the quaint shops where they did their marketing and in the dark little seaside pubs where they did their drinking, they would chide themselves for having missed the telltale signs, and they would share a good-natured laugh at some of their more outlandish theories about the true nature of his work,  Because in their wildest dreams there was not one among them who ever considered the possibility that the taciturn man from the far end of Gunwalloe Cove was an art restorer, and a world-famous art restorer at that.

-Daniel Silva, Portrait of a Spy

The Federal Government creating jobs.....?

Thanks Tom

It's raining................again

Honest, you do.......................

Sam Cooke.........................You Send Me

At The Crossroads...............

Santana and Clapton.......................Jingo

Old School...........................

Duke Long has a great post up, titled "10 Ways Old School
Commercial Real Estate Is Still Kicking Ass."

Here is his #1 just to give you a flavor:

1. I get my butt up and moving- First of all commercial real
estate does not happen sitting at the desk. It happens in the
field. A successful pro must be in the field every day, yes
every day.

When I first started selling real estate, I quickly learned that the
most difficult task of the day was opening my car door.  It was
so easy to drive around and look at property. So easy to drive
across town to see a prospect (or a suspect) and then neglect to
get out of the car to actually talk with said prospect. So easy to
rationalize that the "time was not right,"  that I should come back
later.

Once the fear was overcome and I learned how to just get out
of the car (or get out of the office) and engage with people, my
sales business improved a bunch.

If you are in sales, and who isn't, following Duke's "10 Ways"
(17 hours?) is the tried and true path to success.  You can
tweet that.

Uh-oh..........................

Thanks Jessica

On stuff..................

From Paul Graham's classic 2007 essay on stuff:

"I have too much stuff. Most people in America do. In fact,
the poorer people are, the more stuff they seem to have.
Hardly anyone is so poor that they can't afford a front yard
full of old cars.

"It wasn't always this way. Stuff used to be rare and
valuable. You can still see evidence of that if you look for it.
For example, in my house in Cambridge, which was built in
1876, the bedrooms don't have closets. In those days
people's stuff fit in a chest of drawers...."

Full essay here.

Stuff...............continued...

This blog believes that, individually and collectively, we have a
spending problem.  Here, one facet of that gets discussed:

"For many compulsive spenders, Stuff is comforting.  When
these people buy things (even on credit), they feel wealthy.
But in time, Stuff becomes clutter.  One of the great things
about setting goals and recognizing what gives meaning to
your life is that it helps you differentiate the Stuff from
what's important."

"Stuff plays a huge role in your happiness - or unhappiness.
Stuff costs money to buy, store, move, and maintain.  But
the costs aren't just financial.  There's a mental toll to
having too much Stuff: You thing about it and worry about
it; it becomes a burden.

"There's nothing wrong with owning things you use and
value.  The problem is accumulating Stuff you never use. 
The best way to cope with Stuff?  Don't let it into your
home in the first place."

-Excerpted from J.D. Roth's Your Money: the missing manual

P.S.   Just for the record - books are not "stuff."

The year was 1957...................

The Diamonds........................Little Darlin

Feels like a Bon Jovi kind of evening.....

Livin' on a Prayer

On why youthfulness is not wasted on the young....

Example # 1:  Check out the Mighty E.'s latest find - here.

For the easily amused....

Assets.................

"Your greatest asset is your earning ability."

-Brian Tracy

Underfoot.........................

“Look underfoot. You are always nearer to the true sources
of your power than you think. The lure of the distant and the
difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are.
Don't despise your own place and hour. Every place is the
center of the world.”

-John Burroughs