Thought for The Day - Spices

It began when I was about 12 years old, one of those Saturday mornings when my mother decided to teach my sister and I how to prepare our own breakfast. Eggs, bacon and toast. That lead to eggs, bacon or sausage and french toast. And that lead to omelets, ham and eventually to pancakes, eggs and whatever breakfast meat available. The consistent part of breakfast was eggs. I had 'em scrambled, fried and the one I could never get used to: sunny side up. But the one part of eggs I loved was the variety of seasonings that could be added.

You grow up in various parts of the west side of Chicago and the western suburbs and the world is a small place. The interests and cultures may seem similar, but it is getting to know people that you find out their likes and dislikes, their habits and music preferences. Expand your circle and you find out how wonderfully complex humankind really is! Foods, music, books, religion; these can all be ways to divide us but they are ways to show how we blend together. You can live next door to a family or individual or a completely different culture and background and spend hours talking about your common interests as well what makes you unique! You can ride public transportation with a banker, nurse, street sweeper or a doctor and have extensive conversations about life and baseball. This is the spice of life!

Thought for The Day - Knowing Self

My newest hobby: freshwater aquariums. Growing up, I would see them in the store - back then, nearly every major department store carried a selection of goldfish and "one-offs." As long as my mom would allow, I would stand in front of the tanks, listening to the water filtering in and out and watching the fish. At 15, I got my first aquarium; a ten gallon aquarium that I cleaned faithfully for the next three years or so. Filled it with black Mollies and gold Platys and a bunch of snails. But this year, on my birthday, my wife bought a huge 37 gallon aquarium! It was all I had not to go out the same day and fill it with fish! Since that time, I have filled it and will add more as the tank matures.

My wife's one thing: I don't have many colorful fish in it. She's right, but the pet stores of today are "extremely helpful" - the good one's anyway. They made suggestions for 'starter' fish, creatures that are hardy and can tolerate fluctuations in temperature and chemicals naturally produced in our unstable industrialized water supply. They happen to be plain and small. Again, it was all I had not to populate the tank quickly, but that being said, I ignored advice from the sales reps in the store and good friends at work who also have or had aquariums. Angel fish had to make it in the tank and so far, they get along well with the rest of the community.

I'm sitting in my space at the moment, staring at my "third" tank. I wanted a smaller aquarium for my space, to look at while painting and writing. Tranquil, peaceful and lively... I filled it with fish that are as just as unappealing as the larger tank, but fish that love to be in schools of 6 or more. There movement as a group is beautiful and relaxing...

Some of my coworkers and others I've talked with spoke of their aquariums. The fish they've had are far more appealing. Beautiful colorful fish, but aggressive and in some cases predatory. The type of fish you feed with smaller fish! Mind you, I want colorful fish, but not predatory fish. And the one thing each person that had these fish said: "circle of life." meaning you see bigger fish eat smaller fish. Nope, not me. Community, unity, one place, like the world I desire...

My music preferences:

• Relaxing
• Romantic
• Soft
• Truthful
• Inspiring
• Thought-provoking

My book preferences:

• Educational
• Informative
• When violent, with a purpose
• Historical
• Romantic

My Desired World:

• Thoughtful
• Community - other minded
• Unified
• Peaceful
• Nurturing
• Growing