The Beginning

I start today like I start every day and that is with a choice:

Should I play the same record over and over or should I change my world?

Growth comes through change.

Today is the beginning of the rest of my life. All I have to do to change the world is to start by changing my mind.

 

“The Beginning”

This is the beginning of the record you like
Over and over, over and over!
This is the beginning of the record you like
Over and over, over and over!Breaking up, fading out,
Holding on until tomorrow!
Shake it off, turn around,
Won’t be long, till is a brand new day!

[Chorus:]
This is the beginning, the beginning!
This is the beginning of the rest of your life!
This is the beginning, the beginning!
This is the beginning of the rest of your life!

You better get it – get it (get – get) get it – get it – right – right
That was then, this is now.
Here we go starting over

That was then, this is now,
Here we go starting over!
You decide, change your mind,
Miracles happen every day!

[Chorus:]
This is the beginning, the beginning!
This is the beginning of the rest of your life!
This is the beginning, the beginning!
This is the beginning of the rest of your life!

You better get it – get it (get – get) get it – get it – right – right
That was then, this is now.
Here we go starting over

Change the world, change your mind,
We defy space and time!
Change the world, change your mind,
We defy space and time!
Change the world, change your mind,
We defy space and time!

[Chorus:]
This is the beginning, the beginning!
This is the beginning of the rest of your life!
This is the beginning, the beginning!
This is the beginning of the rest of your life

 

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2557 Days

Seven years ago today I got sober.

My seven year chip

Thats 2557 days of uninterrupted reality.

I stay sober 1 day at a time. May tomorrow be just another one of those days.

You see I don’t drink like regular people. If I take a drink I have no idea where I will end up. Once one drink is in me, I go to the bitter end of fucked up drunkeness.

Therefore I choose to not drink at all. Life is better for me that way. Not everyone is like me, but I am.

Hope

Raybeard inspired me to post this video of a young man addressing the Iowa House of Representatives opposing Resolution 6 back in 2011. Resolution 6 would have ended civil unions in Iowa (this was before marriage equality nationwide).

This young man is Zach Wahls who is today’s Beard of the Day and newly elected State Senator in Iowa.

Congratulations Zach! Thank you for being an inspiration. Thank you for your insight and your leadership.

 

Beard of the day

State Senatorial Beard

Articulate

Vote.

Vote Blue like your life depends on it.

Because it does.

Silence = Death

To say that this was a stressful week would be an understatement.

We must speak out. We must stand up. We must stand strong. We must walk through. We must bond together. We must embrace each other. We must appreciate differences. We must support justice.

We must be good civil upstanding citizens and we must vote.

We mustn’t tolerate violence or discrimination.

We must understand.

Most of all, we must love.

If you haven’t noticed

If you haven’t noticed, it’s Trans Beard week.

Due to current political unfair and unethical maneuvering I felt it important to post men who are men. Honest men who are men from what is deep within their being, not from what was between their legs when they were born.

I stand with them as we will not allow any human to be erased.

Challenge day 3

Today’s read pages 44-54, sections 18 & 19.

Short sweet and simple:

Whatever you create in life be it write, paint, dance, or… someone at some point will ‘constructively’ suggest that you can do better, thus implying you didn’t do well and with that one may feel shame.

Don’t. Don’t ever be ashamed of anything you create. If you briefly do, make it brief and don’t carry the shame. It’s all part of the creative process, even if it wasn’t your best or flat out wasn’t good. It is what will get you to the next thing and the next level, as long as you don’t let shame get you down.

Challenge day 2

Todays Read was from page 31-44 ending at section 18.

There is no magical story place, good story ideas come from literally nowhere. My job is only to recognize ideas as they show up.

Stephen King was rejected. He was rejected a lot. He didn’t stop simply because someone said no.

Capture encouragement, even when it’s received with rejection, and run with it.

Imagine imagination.

Opinion piece

I have an opinion. So does the maker of this New York Times video.

We both have the right to express our opinions. We also have the right to agree or disagree or even maybe find a grey area or common ground, or at least we do right now.

If we wish to be able to freely have our opinions, express our opinions, debate our opinions and work toward common good we all must vote in the November midterms. That is vote before it’s too late.

Oh and the video? It’s worth the watch.

Wise advice

A pic randomly found out in internetland worth sharing.

Beard of the day

LeBron Beard

Are your dreams crazy enough?

Nike released the first full ad of their new campaign. It was worth my two minutes and probably worth yours. I needed a tissue.

Inspiring. Moving. Heartfelt. Human.

Go ahead and click HERE to shop for your next Nike purchase.

An Inspiration

Verklempt I am.

Inspired  I am.

Courage. Vulnerability. Truth. Grief. Honor.

Leadership. Patriotism. Integrity.

Honesty. Reality. Respect.

Understanding. Cooperation. Humility. Equality. Democracy. Justice. Service.

There is a greater good. Let’s strive toward that.

We reflect with gratitude for the example given to us by Senator McCain as well as that shared by the speakers above.

Godspeed.

Guilty of being brown

Careful, my soapbox is out and I’m standing on it.

So it appears that our US government has started denying US citizens with Hispanic names who live near the border renewal of their already existing US passports.

Apparently claiming that their US birth certificates are forged.

Why haven’t they denied white people with European names passport renewals in that same region because they too might have a forged birth certificate? Because these white people aren’t brown.

Why the FUCK do I have to write this post in 2018? Why the fuck???

Read about it HERE, it’s really happening.

So what, or who, is next? Deny my white Anglo Saxon ass who has an Irish surname a passport renewal because I don’t fuck the opposite sex? Deny someone else who might have a Jewish surname a passport renewal? What, you don’t think it could happen?

Well you had better the fuck think again.

Unless you are a white affluent conservative “chr*stian” republicass, there is a target on your back and they are coming for you. Yes unless you are all five of those you have a target on your back too, and you will pay. Oh and  “chr*stian” is misspelled, lower case and has quotes around it because in this day and time it’s simply a necessary label and no longer a moral quality. Yes I did just say that.

What can any of us do?

We can speak (while we still can) we can vote (while we still can) we can protest, talk, discuss, support, call, march, write, work, engage, relate, and most of all we must let this idiotic amoral leadership bind us together to a common cause of greater good.

I’ve had my rant. Fear, hate and anger only create more fear, hate and anger. Love, understanding and inspiration are the way to a higher level. May the Youngbloods’ 1967 classic Get Together lift us.

Beard of the day

Yoga Beard

Blend

Peppermint and Caswell helping us shake our booty’s through the midweek.

End transphobia. What’s in my pants is between me and my god, not you and yours.

Someone to emulate

A good leader is someone who inspires, is honest & humble, has integrity, leads by example, uplifts and serves for betterment of community/humanity. In other words a good leader is someone with good character.

While reading the Washington post this morning I ran across this article about one of our best. It’s worth sharing.

WaPo article Sunday August 19, 2018 on Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter, thank you for your integrity, leadership and inspiration.

73 Hits

73 Hits in the billboard top 100.

The most top 100 hits of any woman artist ever.

Thank you Aretha. We will always be grateful you were, and are, part of our soundtrack.

Godspeed.

La Grange

This Beard, this certain Fearsome Beard, made the commitment to his soul last week to search for inspiration, search for beauty, search for passion and search for his own talent. He committed to try. To try to not only seek and to find but to enact. Trial through action to take himself to a higher level.

The next step has been taken, if only one foot has left the ground. With many steps ahead may my success exceed even my wildest dreams.

Beauty, passion, inspiration lie everywhere. All we must do is appreciate, accept and live. Live to the fullest.

Damn, ain’t ZZ Top just great? Damn great.