Monday, July 25, 2016

5 Bands To Include On Your Beach Playlist




There is nothing like hearing the sounds of summer while enjoying a day at the beach. There is no better way to enjoy a beach day than to listen to tracks by artists who were also inspired by the sounds of the beach. Add these artists to your beach playlist for the full beach experience!

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

5 Fabulous Apps for Road Trips




 
So you're going on a road trip and you want to have the best experience possible? Consider downloading these five great apps that are free and available for both iOS and Android devices. Unlike many other apps which require internet usage, these apps can all be fully utilized offline. This is wonderful when you're on the road and don't have access to WiFi or don't want to pay for additional roaming charges.

Friday, February 1, 2013

The Best Time of Year To Visit Historic Savannah, Georgia

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA*
(Photo credit: gobucks2)
Savannah, known as the Hostess City to the south, is best toured in the spring and early summer months (and sports one of the best bed & breakfast places you'll ever find). Typically you will enjoy very little rain and day time temperatures that range from the 70s to low 80s. Spring is a wonderful time of year to explore the beauty of Savannah which will be waking up from a short winter's nap. Carriage Tours of Savannah is a pleasant way to see the sites of the Historic District.

Azaleas explode in blooms as the city prepares for it's historic Saint Patrick's day parade. The parade is the second largest worldwide and the festivities begin weeks prior with several traditions including the Celtic Cross Mass Ceremony and the greening of the fountain in Forsyth Park. All are invited to enjoy the 3 hour parade featuring award winning bands and U.S. military divisions.

Those interested in all things home and garden are sure to enjoy Savannah's annual Tour of Homes and Gardens event which is typically held in March. Visitors are afforded the opportunity to peek inside various historic Savannah homes. Included in ticket prices is the chance to view beautifully restored interiors and beloved furnishings. The event also offers seminars, trolley tours, night events, delicious food and Savannah hospitality.

Founded in 1733 by General James G. Oglethorpe, Savannah remains much as it was then, a gracious colonial city with lots of churches, comfy homes and 22 oak-canopied public squares. It is a city rich in architecture and distinct landmarks including the famous waving girl statue. Florence Martus, depicted in the statue, is said to have welcomed more than fifty thousand passing ships with a wave of her handkerchief and glowing lantern.

Places to experience in Savannah include the Riverfront shops and restaurants where River Street Sweets is not to be missed. The old candy store is a great place to purchase take-home gifts and to sample a true southern praline. Savannah's Foody Tour treats guests to a comfortable bus ride while touring the Historic District and sampling amazing restaurant foods along the way, including a stop at Paula Deen's, The Lady & Sons.

Whether you visit the famous monuments in Savannah's Squares, Tybee Island Beach or pier, pavilion or lighthouse, the adventures are sure to be enjoyable including the annual Beach Bum Parade. Fort Pulaski National Monument on Tybee Island treats Civil War history buffs to moats, draw bridges, tunnels, walking trails, protected animal life and pretty marsh and river views. For extra fun there are cannon firings 3 times on Saturdays.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Savannah Bound for Jessica's Wedding

Tybee Island Lighthouse
Tybee Island Lighthouse (Photo credit: cmh2315fl)
This week I began packing for my cousin Jessica’s wedding in Savannah, Georgia next weekend. I can’t describe how much I’m looking forward to heading south. I’ve never been to Savannah before, and I’ve heard really wonderful things about the city’s architecture, history and charm. Jessie somehow managed to book her wedding outside on Tybee Island, with a reception in a large lighted tent on the Historic Lighthouse Grounds. Hopefully the weather will be nice for it, I can imagine the views (and Jessica!) will be beautiful. 

Yesterday I went to the camera shop to buy a new digital SLR to capture everything in the best quality possible. I’ve needed a new camera for quite some time, and I figure now is as good a time as ever to own one. I also bought 10 disposable cameras to scatter on reception tables for guests to take advantage of. I know Jessica loves the element of surprise… but too many surprises the day of her wedding could be stressful. I figure she’ll love not knowing exactly what her friends and loved ones captured on camera until after the film is developed.

Grandpa, Heather, Will and I are staying at the Double Tree in Savannah’s Historic District. It’s very conveniently located next to the Savannah City Market and a couple blocks over from River Street. It also has a pool, which will be nice to take advantage of now that I don’t have to worry about Grandpa getting in and out of the water without a pool lift. I’ve been on too many vacations before where he made me feel guilty for swimming without him when they only had cement stairs. 

Anyway, the hotel seems nice enough and I think it will work out well overall. I would have preferred staying at one of the fancy local hotels, like the Mansion on Forsyth Park, but they were all pretty pricey and the trip is expensive as it is. Will and I agreed we’d rather have the spending money to go out downtown and possibly extend our stay for a basketball game at the University of Georgia. If Will were planning our vacations, I think he’d schedule them around every college basketball game within three hours of our destination. I’m pretty sure he’s been wearing the Georgia Bulldogs fleece I bought him for Hanukkah every other day for several weeks now… he’s lucky I still love him.

I hope the coming week passes quickly. I can’t wait for all the festivities, and it will be nice to see some of our family and friends we missed over the holidays for such a joyous occasion. I hope your new year is off to as great a start as mine is! 

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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

A Bit About Life

English: Dennets idea of mind and conscious ex...

I have done things in my life that have caused some people pain.  Other people have caused me pain in my life.  One of the truths of life seems to be that we all suffer and cause suffering in life.  It is unavoidable from the richest and mightiest to the most humble, sorrow, pain, and unhappiness are inevitable.  That’s life.
I don’t harbor any ill-will toward anyone in life, no matter what may have happened between us.  I wish everyone well and that you will get exactly what you need when the time is right.  I believe you will, too.  Because that’s the way life works.  We get what we need at the perfect time, though it may not seem that way to us.

The thing is, consciousness has parts.  Multiplicity is a hard concept to understand, but to sum it up, you have three parts including your Higher Self. You are your Higher Self and actually exist in multiple domains. Here on earth, in our human bodies, in the electro-magnetic domain,  we use our conscious mind and subconscious mind to try to live our lives as best we can.  Our Higher Consciousness, what I call our “Loved Ones,” is the organizing and creative force in our lives and our world.  Our Loved Ones exist in the magneto-electric domain. We don’t have direct control over it, but it does have control over us if it is necessary.  Though it can intervene in our lives, it seldom does, preferring to allow us to grow and mature through our experiences on earth.  The purpose of life is the growth and maturation of the three parts, the Higher Self, conscious, and subconscious mind and the retention of those lessons and experiences in our immortal souls.
The three parts of each human being’s consciousness, a. the Higher Self, Loved Ones,b. the conscious mind, and c. the subconscious, are all maturing and growing and are at different stages in their development.  It is similar to how the parent-child, family, relationship works.  Even though higher consciousness is more developed and wiser than our own conscious and subconscious, it is still learning lessons. Like a good parent who allows his or her child to live his or her life and learn the lessons of life, our Loved Ones usually allow us to experience the joy and pain and sorrow in life, knowing that we only learn when we are forced out of our comfort zones.

Our Loved Ones are wise and provide us with a wide range of experiences that allow us the opportunity to grow and learn and hopefully mature.  Part of the maturing process is coming to the realization that life is perfect, we get exactly what we need to become who we are meant to be, and every act is an act of love from our own Higher Self.  When we let go of bitterness and anger and realize that we have gotten gifts in many ways, then we can move on and experience the true joy of living.  To get a better understanding of what I mean, perhaps you should read “Two Dreams”.

As I said at the beginning of this, there have been times when I have been hurt in life and times when I have hurt other people.  For many years I have been angry and even hated some people, but now I realize that my life has been perfect and that my own Higher Self suffered through everything I suffered through, just as we as parents suffer through our own children’s ups and downs.

If I could go back in time and undo the things I did that hurt other people, I wouldn't   I don’t like pain and suffering and don’t like to see pain or suffering.  I don’t like to think that I have caused it.  But I also know that those experiences were meant to be and that life is perfect.  You are in the process of learning from your experiences just as I am.  So whatever happened between us in the past is part of our life path.  We can learn from it and move on or remain bitter and let it eat us up inside.  I know you will eventually see it as the gift that it is, though it was painful at the time.  It is just a matter of perception.

Sometimes the things I write here are silly and poorly punctuated.  That is part of my personality.  Other things I write are complex and difficult for some people to understand.  Like all human beings, I am multi-faceted. 

As long as you hang onto the anger and pain and bitterness you will continue to suffer.  That is your choice, not mine.  I wish you all the happiness, joy, and peace that exists in abundance for you in our beautiful universe.  I once loved you as a lover and now love you as a fellow human being and child of our Loved Ones. Go in peace.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Amazon...it's a jungle

It's funny how big box retailers continue to get raked over the coals while major online retailers still seem immune to the vitriol often aimed at their brick and mortar counterparts. Memes like the one below catch fire easily on social media, but somehow people equate this to Wal-mart and not Amazon


But Amazon are the good guys, right? I mean, any store can list their products on Amazon, so what a great avenue for being able to sell your product!

What most people don't realize is that for most product categories a retailer pays 15% of their sale back to Amazon. Now, if you retail most products these days, that's likely most or all of your profits. Given the number of retailers using Amazon, and the fact that as a smaller "mom and pop" online retailer you don't do nearly the volume of the same brick and mortar big box stores everyone hates (which also sell on Amazon) there's almost no way to make money anymore as a little guy.

Just something to think about the next time you talk smack about Target or Wal-mart and then go buy an Amazon gift card. As with anything these days, if the deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Birthdays, Music and Such

Sunday Morning

As time marches on, I've found that my children's birthdays and my wedding anniversaries make me feel quite a bit older than do my own birthdays. This in mind, I feel older today than I did on Saturday. Why?

Because Child 1 had a birthday on Sunday, that's why. He turned 13 at about 2:00 that morning, an annual event that magnifies my own oldness quite a bit more sharply than does that of his sister, Child 2. He had a couple of friends spend the night on Saturday, one of whom had moved out of town several months ago. They had a jolly good time, staying up too late and generally making an awful racket.

Not that awful, though.

On Sunday, the weather was beautiful. Children 1 and 2 spent nearly the entire day outside, leaving me and the wife with the house more or less to ourselves. We listened to music and played Scrabble and Cribbage, we cooked - actually, she cooked while I tried to keep out of her way - we talked, and generally we just enjoyed each other's company. We also- I'll just leave it at that, but note once again that we had the house more or less to ourselves.