Heard on the news this morning that Hattie McDaniel, who made a pretty good name – and a pretty good living – for herself playing mostly domestic help (which being translated means “a maid”) has recently been honored with a US postage stamp. The news anchorette this morning mentioned that McDaniel had sometimes been criticized for her acquiescence to playing “stereotypical” characters that somehow demeaned African-American women. Hattie’s typical response to all that is priceless…

I’d rather play a maid than be a maid!

Great quote from one of my favorite actors.

I woke up this morning with a hectic schedule. I planned to head out to the Y early to get my workout in, and then make it to the Serene Bean to meet with some of our folks for prayer.

When I got up, I headed to the old computer to check mail, etc. and discovered that “Customers in the Canton, Georgia area are unable to connect to the Internet because of a network outage.” So off I went to the Y. I got through with my workout, showered, jumped in the truck, got on the road only to find a massive traffic situation between Canton and Woodstock. I was late to the Bean, only to find out that none of my people showed up anyway. (Note to self: I’m not sure, but I think praying scares ’em :))

Still no Internet at home, so off to run some errands. As I was leaving Office Depot, who should I run into but the one, the only KenBob! Long time, no see! We exchanged some pleasantries and agreed to try to have lunch tomorrow. Cool!

I’m back at the Bean now, using their WiFi on a pretty obsolete notebook computer from the church. Still, who am I to complain? It beats having no Internet at home, right?

By the way, we got the lovely and gracious “Mrs. Just Charlie” one of those cool little D-Link USB Wireless adapters for her pretty obsolete notebook computer and it works like a charm – even though the USB ports are not even 2.0 – on her notebook and the old Toshiba from the church.

Some thoughts about and from the Bean, regarding pens, people, and other such stuff later…

If you’re going to be a drug dealer, it’s probably not a real good idea to advertise online. Just a thought…

Link via Techdirt

…today’s the day. One Welsh scientist has devised a formula that proves January 23 is the gloomiest day of the year. The article also includes these paragraphs…

It might be expected that a formula for unhappiness would be created in Britain. According to Ruut Veenhoven, a sociologist at Erasmus University Rotterdam and creator of a new “life satisfaction index,” Britain is ranked below 20 other nations, including far poorer countries like Ghana, Mexico and Uruguay, when it comes to happiness.

The index, which asked people in 90 countries to rate how happy they were on a scale of 1 to 10, found Malta to be the happiest country, with the United States ranking 13th alongside Guatemala, Norway, and Uruguay.

Oh, if today’s starting out to be just another lousy day, take heart. The happiest day of the year – June 23 – is just six months away. Or you can move to Malta.

Or, in the words of my buddy Phil Gerbyshak…

I challenge you to stop having a nice day and focus on finding the greatness inside of you. Learn how to unleash the power within by improving your attitude, setting goals, and many other nuances that will take your life from nice to GREAT. Great people do great things. Remember, nice guys (and gals) finish last! Don’t settle for nice…Make It Great!

I know Hamlet was contemplating suicide – and I’m not – but i do like that line from Hamlet tonight…

To sleep! perchance to dream…

The best Unwind I know of is lying down, and sleeping all night long for a change! See you at the Y bright and early in the morning!

Reading Proverbs 20 – among other things – today…

A farmer too lazy to plant in the spring has nothing to harvest in the fall.

Form your purpose by asking for counsel, then carry it out using all the help you can get.

Love and truth form a good leader; sound leadership is founded on loving integrity.

I actually saw one of these on a car at Starbucks this morning. The Starbucks guy got in and drove off.

Now, the great thing about our country is that anybody can grow up to be President. The other great thing is you can vote for whoever you want to (as long as they are Constitutionally qualified). But I’m reminded of two things when I see this sticker, in no particular order…

900+ FBI files.
Her mouth was moving, wasn’t it?

Who said you never win anything?

Most of you have heard about InBubbleWrap, a very cool project from the folks over at 800-CEO-READ. Here’s the gist…you sign up, check out the cool stuff they give away daily, enter, and then watch and see if you win. That’s it, that’s all there is to it! Well, you do get some pretty good ideas/inspiration for things to think about, add to your Wish List, or whatever.

Anyway, I signed up just before Christmas, and – voila! – I’ve already won twice! Cool, huh?

Get thee to InBubbleWrap, and sign up! You could be the next InBubbleWrap champion!

I know most of you have seen heard experienced the Honda commercial in which all the sound effects are made by a choir of humans, haven’t you? Very, very cool…

Sad. Very sad…