This video will make you feel warm and fuzzy. I think even cat lovers will love this. Puppies respond to the man as he sings to them... his voice lulls them into sleep. Too sweet! I love it.
I found it in an email from a dear friend of mine today. Thank you, Alan! I just had to share it with all my readers and friends.
(Closed Caption: As the man leans over the box, the pups are all making whiny puppy sounds, like they want some attention. He chuckles, then says, "Okay, let's go to bed...let's go to bed," and then he begins to sing... his voice has a deep sound, but he is singing low, gently. Imagine singing softly to your baby.The words are "Goodnight sweetheart, well it's time to go.... Do do do do doo.... I hate to leave ya but I really must go... goodnight, sweetheart, goodnight.... do do do do do dooo... and then he repeats it. As he walks away, a woman's voice says "They're waking up," and so he returns to sing another verse, almost in a whisper, until all the pups are sleeping. Then you hear a man's whisper "Let's go to bed." )
The little white Boxer puppy with the brown patch over its eye reminds me of Hermione, Marlene's dog.
Here is a picture of Hermione with Marlene, taken a few years ago. If you recognize the name as one of Harry Potter's friends, you are correct. That's where her name came from.
And thank you for all the birthday messages. I've had a lovely day, thank you!
Sadness. The first line of news I read as I logged onto AOL this morning was the news that professor Randy Pausch died today.
Just a month ago I had read his book,The Last Lecture. The book came about following a lecture he gave at Carnegie Mellon University where Randy taught. That was in September 2007. He looked healthy at the time. Healthier than the average guy.
Many professors have given last lectures. Generally, they are asked to think about their own mortality, and pass on valuable wisdom to their audience. What do we think is so important that we would want to pass it on?
Randy had to seriously think about it as he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer three months earlier. The book is his legacy, which he intended for his children to read, but which has no doubt inspired millions already. He wanted his kids to remember him, to know what was important to him, and to help them achieve their dreams. He knew he wouldn't be around to help them grow up for the next twenty years of their youth. The lecture and book were the answer to how to teach them to cope with life's challenges, to share the important stories that shaped their dad, and to present it all in a non-boring manner.
Randy is anything but boring. On the written page or on video. He talks and writes about playing football, being Captain Kirk, riding in NASA's vomit comet, creating virtual reality, being an imagineer at DisneyLand...much more. There's no "feel sorry for me" attitude in his lecture.
His funny, entertaining, and inspiring lecture, is on YouTube. It's over an hour long... remember it's a lecture, but it is far from boring. There's probably as much visuals to emphasize his words. Watch it when you have the time! You don't have to watch it here, though... you can click on the YouTube logo in the bottom right corner of the window and it will take you to the YouTube location. I read the book first, but what I like about the video are all the pictures and images that he uses to illustrate and punctuate his stories.
If you don't want to hear all the stories he tells, and would rather just hear the final words of wisdom that wrap up the lecture, just fast forward to the last eight or so minutes. I watched the entire lecture... like I said, it's over an hour, so bring your lunch and a drink! It's well worth it. Right up to his last two statements.
He was only 47 years old, and leaves behind his wife and three young children.
Most of us will never be asked to stand on a stage, facing an audience of hundreds, and speak on an important matter as what matters most in life. But I don't doubt that any one of us could sit down and write our own personal 'Last Lecture' for our own children and grandchildren. After you watch this, you'll want to write yours!
Sometimes I think that's what the journal will be for me. Amidst all the words, somewhere in here (and amongst my paper journals) are a few pieces of really important stuff. Granted, someone would have to wade through some murky areas, or the trivial entries, but I'm certain that from time to time, I let the reader inside my heart and mind.
Randy lived a full, exciting life of learning and relating to others. Proof that you don't have to live a long life to live a full life.
I've not done well keeping up with daily entries this month. I can say the same thing about going to the gym to work out.
I need to be at the gym for an 8:00 workout called Genesis... it's an hour long. And here I am up at 1:30 a.m.
But today is my birthday!!! I just remembered. Born in '53, you do the math.
I haven't finished editing the photos I took at DisneyWorld last week, and I haven't even made the first movie... so many movie clips to go through. I did want to add music to them, like I usually do. So it may be awhile.
But for now, since I love drum music, most kinds, here is a video I found featuring young Tyler Hudson, drummer child prodigy. This YouTube video spans Tyler's young rise behind the drums from age two through age eleven. He's thirteen now, and is a member of a band called Mindwalk.
I am back from my family trip to Florida and Georgia, and have lots to tell and show you.
I had a wonderful time with my sister and her family ... whether we were standing in line for a ride at Disney World/Epcot Center in Orlando, sitting around talking on the back deck of her home in Georgia, or riding around the lake on their new pontoon. That's my sister Joy on the right, and her oldest daughter, Tammy. Tammy has four boys. I'll show and tell more later when my eyes are more open.
This is my nephew Tim, Joy's oldest son, with two of his nephews, Casey and Cru. Cru is Tammy's youngest son.There is no better uncle for these boys than Tim.
Altogether, we were ten adults and seven kids... quite a crowd, but great fun. Two of my sister's children, four additional grandkids, plus our son, could not make the trip. They were missed, but I can't even imagine an outing like this with everyone. Well, maybe I could.
The weather was exceptional in Orlando... unbelievable considering it is the middle of July. I expected unforgiving heat, heavy humidity, and a searing sun... but the days were relatively comfortable, with very little humidity. Possibly those storms off the coast kept us cooler? It rained a little bit each afternoon, but not enough to stop anyone from enjoying the theme parks. There was only one day of major cloudiness and heavy rain, but that was the day we stayed in the motel room and just puttered around the resort. A day of rest, you could say.
I've turned on the alerts. Back to my daily journal entries.
Don't be alarmed. I'm taking a hiatus from the computer to be with family for the next week or so. I won't be posting entries, nor sending emails. I'll be turning off alerts so I won't be inundated when I turn the computer back on.
I guess I could have said that in fewer words, say six words or less....
Here are your Six Word Memoirs... Thanks for participating!
I was impressed by the number of you who wrote them in. I'm going to post them in the order they were given. Links to the author's blog are included where possible.
#1: Nature lover, happily hitched, found contentment. Beth
Thank you all for leaving your mini-memoirs... as I reread each of them, and thought about the person who wrote them, I knew if I had mixed the memoirs and the authors up, I could easily have matched the names to the memoir. What each of you wrote in six words is reflected, at one level or another, in your journals as a whole... I thought that was pretty darn interesting.
I enjoyed reading your memoirs... they are quite profound, actually. Simple and profound.
What I learned from this is that I should be able to say more by writing less.
Just a reminder about the Six Word Memoir I wrote about in the previous entry... if you would still like to submit your Six Word Memoir, it's not too late. I'm going to post them as an entry with links to the authors by Saturday (tomorrow) evening.
So please, think of six words that summarize some aspect of your life, your philosophy, a period of your life. If you would, post them in the Six Word Memoir entry, not here. That'll help me out a bunch when I'm compiling them.
My goal to write one entry every day this month is going to end Saturday night due to some time I am taking away from the computer. Don't be alarmed that I'm not posting, but I will be back soon.
If you haven't been by Caroline's journal,A New Adventure, do stop by and give her a big hello. She has moved into a new-to-her home, and is thrilled with it, as I was when I saw it a few weeks ago. I really love the yard... her new home is surrounded by trees, a pond, and a variety of plants. I know that once she gets settled in, she will feel like she has gone on vacation.
I bought a 4 GB memory card for my camera... you might think that way more memory than I need on any given day, and it is. I learned real quick that a 1 GB was not enough to make more than a few short clips. A 2 GB held me through two days in Baltimore with my son about a month ago. I'm pretty sure I have close to an hour of footage all total on that memory card.
When I learned that I'd be visiting my sister and her children, and her grandchildren, I knew I would need a bigger memory card, so I bought a 4 Gb card today. And if that gets full, I can always fall back on the 2Gb, and the 1Gb... I'm all set for making family movies.
And I'll probably take a few pictures. Like this one of my nephew Tom and his three boys, triplets. They are only three years old in this photo, the last time I saw them in person. Nineteen months ago, Tom and his adorable wife Becky visited us. Tom has a twin sister who will also be with us, and her four kids. I've only met two of her children... at Tom's wedding several years ago... she has been good about sending me pictures of her kids over the years. Tom also has an older brother, Tim, a younger brother, TJ (he has three kids), and a younger sister, TC. You can imagine that this Aunt Bea has lots of catching up to do with her nieces and nephews and their kids.
One of my favorite reality shows to watch on TV (The Learning Channel) is called Jon and Kate Plus 8. It's about a young family who first had a set of twins (girls), followed a couple of years later by a set of sextuplets (3 girls, 3 boys). Eight kids all under the age of 7 years old. My, my! I watch it because it reminds me of what Tom's house must be like sometimes with their crew of three: Avery, Brody, and Casey. Well, it's probably not quite as intense as J and K + 8, but I'm sure there's never a dull moment.
But more than anything, I'm looking forward to seeing my sister again. She makes me laugh.
