Best Wishes For A Friend

Today, my thoughts are with my friend Angie, who lost her mother-in-law in the fight against cancer. I didn't know her, but I know she was a kind, caring person. Visit Angie's blog for more information.

I'd just like to say that life is a fragile, delicate thing. It can bring you happiness, but it can also be ruined in an instant. So I'd like to show you all my poem commemorating life, and grieving death:

Life

Why does it come so fast,
And give you happiness
Why is taken in just an instant,
And make you grieve
Why are there so many ups,
But still so many downs
Will it ever just stay,
So you can be happy and content

Life is a roaring sea,
That will never be steady
You never know when you get,
Or when you lose
So be grateful for what you have,
And follow these words
Cherish the love
Remember the life
And always live

Gettin' Into The Spirit!

Hmmmmm! Something about my blog seems different, but what could it be? Well, while I'm thinking, check out my new format for the holidays! Although I like it so much I might keep it! And sorry to anyway who was getting used my format if I do keep this.

To really get into the holiday spirit, I'd like to introduce two early Christmas that the entire family received. Here's a guess; one's blue like my blog! Here they are:









I Know, They're Beautiful Aren't They... I Think I'm Going To Cry! Unfortunately I can't actually show you what Blu-Ray picture looks like. You don't even know what you're missing! Oh and in case you didn't know, it's the glorious black one on the top!

This Just In: "It's Yummy"

I'm putting off my poem to tomorrow because there's a bigger and more important story, and it's scrumptious! Laura of Any Occasion Boutique has just opened up an Etsy shop called: Laura Lee's Tasty Treats. This new shop is filled with many chocolaty, peanuty, and delicious-y treats and desserts. I would recommend the scrumptious "black-tie cookie bars". They're chocolatastic! If you're a cinnamon sugar lover, try the "Grammy's Snickerdoodle". And if you like something classic but still unique, get the "Nutty PBJ Bars". I guarantee that anyone who eats will love this shop. So go out into the Etsy world aaaand... Buy The Treats! They're Tasty!

Update: So I decided to go back to the shop for the first time since Sunday. I thought that things couldn't have changed too much, but that I should check just in case. Wrong! It turns out that the list gets longer and tastier every day! So if you visited it once, for your sake, visit it again!

Amatum et Pacis (Love and Peace),

Josh

Awarded!

It's finally happened! I have an award, and it's from one of my very best blogging friends, Laura of Any Occasion Boutique! I'm so, very excited! But as with any award, there's the rules and the passing and the linking, Uuuuuuhh!

Here are the rules:
1. Post a copy on your blog (check)

2. Mention who gave you the award (check)

3. Pass the award on to 10 others

4. Leave a message on their blog letting them know the honor has been bestowed upon them.


So here are as many people as I can find:

Laurie B. of Looking Glass
Rocki of Rocki's Rockin' Blog
Sharon of Mana Moon Studios
Angie of Angie Kelly Designs
AGoodWitchToo of The Copper Cauldron
Scarlet Fields of well... Scarlet Fields

Well, that's everyone I could find that would appreciate a beautiful butterfly as an award!

See ya next time around,

Josh

The Looooong Road

FI Have Returned! That had to be the biggest gap ever! But now I will return to my adoring fans. Fans... faaaans? Where did everybody go?! Hello... helloooooo!!! Maybe I should've posted more?

OK so I can explain. I was going on Washington D.C. but I took a wrong turn and ended up in Canada. Then I got lost in the Canadian wilderness, and I was being hunted by the mounties. I was finally able to make it to Niagara Falls, but I got swept away and ended up in the Atlantic Ocean. I was discovered on the shores of Ireland, but unfortunately, I had amnesia. Luckily, I had ID with me, and I was able to remember who I am after several months of searching.

I then took a boat to New York, but I ended up on the Titanic because I fell into a wormhole. I was lucky enough to find the last lifeboat, and I slowly drifted back to America. After I ended up in Massachusetts, I made my way back to PA, only to realize I was still back in time. Confused, I decided to live the rest of my life in California.

After 50 years of being a rock and roll legend and eating many PB and Banana sandwiches, I began to grow tired of it all. I took a plane to Florida to do my next show. I hadn't been in Florida for a while so I celebrated by going to the Everglades. Unfortunately, I fell of the tour boat. I suddenly found myself in the Fountain of Youth! I drank some magical water, but it tasted dreadful! It turns out swamp muck makes you younger! After returning to my original age, I fell into the Nexus of All Realities.

I then ended up in England. I found a castle with a nice old man who cared for me, but one day I found a mysterious old wardrobe which transported me to a magicical other realm. After years of being a king and saving the world, I tried to go through the wardrobe, but I found myself in a galaxy far, far away. I became an amazing laser sword-wielding hero. But when I blew up the Death Orb, I went through a wormhole back to the day I left for D.C. and I made sure we went the right way this time. And if you're wondering why I haven't been posting, I've been lazy ever since. By the way, the Smithsonian is awesome; I loved it!

Savage?! Part 2

Okay, I know I just did one, but I think that the letter really deserved it's own poem. So here it is, my poem:

Just a Savage

Why do you do this White Man
What do you gain from it
Why do you think the world is yours
When you "buy" the world around us,
What do you get from it
What is your purpose
And when you are done here,
What would you do then
Or perhaps I don't understand
Perhaps I'm just a Savage

Why don't you care White Man
Do you not hear the world around you,
The very world you conquer
Can you not hear the leaves rusting,
The whistling wind in the whippoorwill
Does every beast matter to you,
Do you find yourself higher than them
Is the buffalo just a "creature" to you,
Without feelings or a soul
Maybe you just don't try to listen
Or perhaps I don't understand
Perhaps I'm just a Savage

When will you learn White Man
This world is to be loved,
To be nurtured
It was given to all of us:
The beasts, the trees, the man
So treat the world not as land,
But as something very much alive
Don't cut trees so you can make your iron horses
When your cities are everywhere,
And you own the world,
What will the cost have been
Will you be able to hear or breath
Will there be anywhere to escape to
Will there be a world left to live in
Or perhaps the White Man doesn't understand
Are we truly the ones who are Savages

Savage?! Part 1

My fellow blogger Laurie B. of The Looking Glass posted something truly amazing and inspirational! This is what Chief Seattle wrote to George Washington in response to Washington trying to buy the Native American's lands. I felt I just had to post this!


The Great White Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. He also sends words of friendship and goodwill. This is kind of him since we know he has little need of our friendship in return. But we will consider your offer. What I say the Great White Chief can count on as truly as our white brothers can count on the turning of the seasons. My words are like stars: they do not set.How can you buy or sell the sky; the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. We do not own the freshness of the air or the sparkle of the water, so how can you buy them from us? We will decide in our time, but every part of the Earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every glade and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.We know that the white man doesn’t understand our ways. One portion of the land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the Earth whatever he wants. The Earth is not his brother but his enemy; and when he conquers it he moves on. He leaves his fathers’ graves behind and doesn’t care. He kidnaps the Earth from his children. His father’s graves and childrens birthrights are forgotten. His appetite will devour the Earth and leave behind a wasteland. The sight of your cities pains the eye of the red man. But perhaps this is because the red man is a “savage” and doesn’t understand.There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities. No place to hear the leaves of spring or the rustle of insects’ wings. The clatter insults the ears. But perhaps I am only a “savage” and don’t understand. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lovely cry of the whippoorwill or the argument of the frogs around a pond at night? The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of the pond, and the wind itself cleansed by the midday rain or scented with pinion. The air is precious to the red man for all things share the same breath: the beasts, the trees, the man. The white man doesn’t seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for days, he is numb to his own stench.If I accept, I will make one condition: the white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers. I am just a “savage” and don’t understand any other way. I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie, left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a “savage” and do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be more important than the buffalo whom we kill only to live. What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone then men would die from a terrible loneliness of the spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth.Our children have seen our fathers humbled in defeat. Our warriors have felt shame. After defeat they turn their days in idleness and contaminate their bodies with sweet food and strong drink. It matters little where we pass the rest of our days; they are not many. A few more hours, a few more winters, and none of the children of the great tribes that once lived on the Earth, or that roamed in small bands in the woods, will be left to mourn the graves of a people once as powerful and hopeful as yours. One thing we know that the white man may one day discover: our God and your God are the same. You may think now that you own Him as you wish to own our land, but you cannot. He is the God of man and his compassion is equal for the red man and the white. The Earth is precious to him, and to harm the Earth is to pour contempt on its creator. The whites too shall pass, perhaps sooner than other tribes. Continue to contaminate your own bed and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.When the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses all tamed. The secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by telegraph wires. Where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone. And what is it to say goodbye to the swift and the hunt, the end of living and the beginning of survival.We might understand if we knew what it was that the white man dreams, what hopes he describes to his children on long winter nights, what visions he burns into their minds so that they will wish for tomorrow. But we are “savages”. The white man’s dreams are hidden from us. And because they are hidden we will go our own way. If we agree, it will be to secure the reservation you’ve promised. There, perhaps we may live out our brief days as we wish. When the last red man has vanished from the Earth, and our memory is just the shadow of a cloud passing across the prairie, these shores and forests will still hold the spirits of my people, for they love the Earth the way a newborn loves its mother’s heartbeat.If we sell you our land, love it as we’ve loved it. Care for it as we’ve cared for it. Hold in your mind the memory of the land, as it is when you take it. And with all your strength and all your might and with all your heart preserve it for your children, and love it as God loves us all. One thing we know: our God is the same as yours. The Earth is precious to him. Even the white man cannot be exempt from common destiny.