"The Rose" is featured in the 1979 film of the same name, in which it was performed by Midler. The single peaked at #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the adult contemporary chart, and it was certified gold by the RIAA for over half a million copies sold.^[1][2] McBroom won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, although she was not nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.^[3] Midler won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "The Rose".^[4]

There are two mixes of the song. The single mix features orchestration, while the version in the film (and on its soundtrack) includes an extended introduction while doing away with the orchestration in favor of piano-and-vocals only.

   Thank you, Gentlemen!

Life really boils down to 2 questions...

   WILD GIGGLES! Thanks, Marvin!

   We never had an "inside" dog, but the second photograph reminded me of an incident which occurred (I think) in late 1976.     The first three of our seven children (which, YES, we chose to have!) were then six, four, and two years old. Inside the shared bedroom of those three angelic little boys was a desk. Within a drawer of that desk, their incredibly naive parents had carelessly left a stamp pad refill fully loaded with permanent blue stamp pad ink. Heretofore the bedroom walls were blue - but not THAT blue.  Neither was the desk, the floor, the photo album, the bedding, their clothes, their hair, their skin, their tongues - need I go on?!?

   GIGGLES! Thanks, Joyce!

http://www.biwa.ne.jp/~presley/elnews-GospelMusic.htm

   Thanks, Glenn!

From http://www.ragu.com/index.php/recipeslanding:

SKILLET PASTA & BEEF DINNER

Save any leftovers, then send to school heated and stored in a thermos for a warm lunchtime treat.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 jar (1 lb. 10 oz.) Ragu® Old World Style® Traditional Pasta Sauce
• 2 cups water
• 8 ounces uncooked rotini pasta
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (about 4 oz.)

1. Brown ground beef in 12-inch skillet; drain.
2. Stir in Pasta Sauce and water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in uncooked rotini and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook covered, stirring occasionally, 14 minutes or until rotini is tender. Remove from heat, then sprinkle with cheese. Cover and let stand 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

A Cow, an Ant, and an Old Coot


A Cow, an Ant, and an Old Coot are debating on who is the greatest of the three of them.  

The Cow:  I give 50 quarts of milk every day and that's why I am the greatest!!   

The Ant:  I work day and night, summer and winter, I can carry 52 times my own weight and that's why I am the greatest!! 

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Why are you scrolling down?  It's your turn to say something...

     Thanks, Dools!

By William Constantine

There is an old adage, "Life is what you make it," and I couldn't agree more. Life doesn't need to be so complex; in fact, it can be easy and stress free! Sounds, too good to be true, right?

Do you know why that is? It's because we come from a society where we have been taught the harder we work the more we get and the more we acquire the more successful we will be. This age old mentality is WRONG!

Life is a vibrational river of universal consciousness and just like any river it has a course to the stream. Now, you are represented as a swimmer, and you jump into this beautifully flowing stream of consciousness -- the bloodforce of Source -- and start swimming upstream against the current. What is going to happen?

It will become increasingly difficult because you are fighting the current. You'll get knocked around, banged up, bruised, and beaten -- yet, this is the exact same thing as working harder to get where we want to be. The issue is you want to be downstream, where the river dumps into a pool of your abundance and awaits you. Yet, you are struggling against the current trying to find it upstream.

Does this honestly make any sense?

For example, weight loss is a huge topic in today's world. Yet, a person desiring to drop the pounds tries a variety of options -- fad diets, exercise, diet pills, diet shakes, etc. These options are all fighting against the current if the person doing them isn't enjoying them or feels like they are forcing themselves.

Let's say this person is allowing the current of life bring them to their desired result. Again, using the example of weight loss the person wishing to lose weight is AWARE that they DESIRE to experience the loss of a few pounds. So, this person starts eating consciously the foods they enjoy, but in a healthy way. This all makes YOU feel GOOD about YOU and the MEAL. So, you then begin seeing "healthy" recipes and then friends start giving you some to try. With this conscious way of living you now have a surge of energy and decide to incorporate a nightly walk (exercise). And the flow will continue just like that and when you hop on that once dreaded scale -- you'll find you have a new friend.

So, what then can we do to reach our abundance and true potential?

Go with the flow! That's it!

Wake up every single morning and look at yourself in the mirror and say, "I am a Divine Being filled with the love and light of source and fully equipped to handle every situation. Each experience is not a challenge but rather a blessing."

Inside of every seemingly negative experience is a nugget of gold and it's your choice to focus on this treasure or the dirt and rubble you dug through to get it. Odds are your responses to your experiences thus far have been to focus on the dirt and rubble. This has probably left you feeling negative, hopeless, and encompassed by a fear based reality: a false reality that we have been both taught and chosen to live in. It is one where the Ego -- the false self -- resides and is accompanied by; self defeating thoughts, misconceptions, excuses, walls, and barriers, and much more.

Sound familiar?

It's because it is your existence that you most likely live right now. This fear based reality inhibits you from experiencing all of life's abundance and glory because you are coming from fear. A fear that says;

"I lack that..."
"I cannot afford that..."
"I don't deserve that..."
"I could never be..."
"I'm a realist..."

We have all said those thoughts probably on numerous occasions and several times a day. They are all examples of fighting the current of life, by not surrendering to the awesome power that is effortlessly flowing to your abundance.

Grab a sheet of paper and write down all the seemingly negative experiences you have had. Then write the positive or nugget of gold that came from that experience -- it may not be easy but there is something positive there! After that, we turn that nugget of gold into the new focus of that experience! Doing that will allow you to feel better about your experience and you will see the abundance it has brought into your life.

Once you have your list go to the store and buy a poster board, markers, magazines, newspapers, tape, glue, etc. Bring that all home and construct your vision board -- typically it is a board that reflects what it is you desire to manifest for yourself (a nice house, a spouse, kids, a car, a garden, money, a career, optimum health, etc).

This vision board is unique because you are manifesting a new way to perceive your life experiences thus far, in a positive light. Now, begin cutting and pasting the reflection of your past in a new light on this board -- detailing what the experience was and what good came of it. It is very possible that more than one good thing came of it so show the rippling effect.

Once you have the board completed you need to place it in a place where you will see it every day.

Okay, so now we have handled the shadows of the past and brought them into the light. How do you handle new experiences that have that negative feel?

Rise up to the occasion, get excited about it, and turn toward this experience with enthusiasm knowing that there is a treasure within. On a deeper, more spiritual level, there is a reason you called this particular experience forth so let's find out why!

Responding the new experience with a positive outlook will help you enjoy that experience. You will also find that something magnificent and wonderful came from that new way of approaching what you once deemed a "curve ball" -- now becomes a bend in the river.

When we respond from a place of love, happiness, excitement, and enthusiasm we are in alignment with our source. If something that we are doing does not make us happy or feel good then we are in misalignment and need to reroute our course by turning it around and making it positive.

When you find yourself in a position of opposition or adversity find another way to see it. Ask yourself, "Am I flowing?"

Remember the statements of fear mentioned earlier? Let's see how they have changed given your new outlook:

"I lack that..." BECOMES "I have ..."
"I cannot afford that..." BECOMES "I can afford..."
"I don't deserve that..." BECOMES "I am going to experience that..."
"I could never be..." BECOMES "I can be..."
"I'm a realist..." BECOMES "Am I in Alignment? Am I flowing"
Now go out and start enjoying life all the way to your place of abundance! And when you find yourself feeling like your struggling remember: struggle indicates fighting the current. So, find your way back to the flow, by perceiving the very thing you are struggling with in a positive loving light.


About the Author:

William Constantine is a currently pursuing his Doctorate in Metaphysics and has always been in service helping others heal beyond grief or transform their life in other ways. He has overcome a life fraught with experiences deemed negative; physical, emotional, sexual abuse, homelessness, etc. He has been a featured Keynote and many Mind, Body, Spirit themed expos. He has appeared on numerous radio, TV and print media outlets.

The attendant said, "No, he doesn't." But as the man let his hand down to pat the dog, it bit his hand and held on so tightly that the man had to throw him across the room.

Returning to the desk, the man said, "I thought you said that your dog didn't bite." He directed the attendant's attention to the dog, who now had returned to the rug.

The attendant simply answered, "My friend, that is NOT my dog."