Holidays – Page 6

Thoughts & Sayings (June 2012)

Here are some thoughts and sayings I posted on Twitter and/or Facebook in May. To my knowledge, I made these up (for better or for worse). Sit back, relax, and enjoy the write!

Encouraging Words

1. Traveling is always one trip forward and two setbacks.

2. Behind every good gadget is a processor.

3. When mining for knowledge, it’s important to filter the gems from the slag.

4. The distance between ahead and behind is half a body’s length.

5. Think twice about bullying someone. They may be your future boss.

6. My weight has held me captive for so long that I feel like going on a hunger strike.

7. Is it better to be sharp, well-rounded, or a square?

Twisted Words

8. Transfarmers: Robots that turn into domesticated animals and agricultural equipment.

9. You can cross your eyes, but can you dot your T’s?

10. Sometimes I crack myself up. I really have to stop egging myself on.

11. I’m a fruit, and you’re nuts. Let’s make trail mix.

In Its Own Write

12. When you’re a writer, the work never stops. You have to decide when to stop working.

13. Make every word count. Enroll them in a math course.

Holidays & Events

14. April showers May bring flowers.

15. Overheard on the radio: “May Day! May Day! We’re going down…to occupy the park!”

16. This Cinco de Mayo, try not to eat at a French restaurant.

17. A haiku. Mother, mom, and friend. Today honors you all year. No one else but you.

18. Beware, beware, the Ides of May! Oh, wait. Never mind. Caesar has passed.

19. Perhaps the movie “Men In Black 3” starring Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin should been have called “No Country for Old Men in Black.”

20. “Snow White and the Huntsman”: Bella Swan and Thor team up to fight the evil Meredith Vickers on the Prometheus.

Random Musings

21. I’m trying to see what’s happening on the other side of the world, but the horizon is blocking the view.

22. It’s bad luck to throw salt into your coffee.

23. Today I made coffee with sugar instead of salt. It’s going to be a better day. I can feel it. Less bloating.

24. How in the world do I feel tired when you’re just getting started? I must have my days and nights turned around.

25. Get 10,000 Twitter followers in minutes! Be a celebrity. Double it! Tweet crazy stuff too. Triple it! Get in trouble for tweeting crazy stuff.

26. In our 140-character world, wouldn’t it be easier to greet people with acronyms instead of salutations? GM. HRU2day? HAGD.

27. A few years ago I received e-mails from friends. Now my inbox is filled with messages from my pals Facebook and Twitter.

28. My son is a really good back-seat driver. It’s too bad that he doesn’t know how to drive.

M.G. Edwards is a writer of books and stories in the mystery, thriller and science fiction-fantasy genres. He also writes travel adventures. He is author of Kilimanjaro: One Man’s Quest to Go Over the Hill, a non-fiction account of his attempt to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain. His collection of short stories called Real Dreams: Thirty Years of Short Stories available as an e-book and in print on Amazon.com. He lives in Bangkok, Thailand with his wife Jing and son Alex.

For more books or stories by M.G. Edwards, visit his web site at www.mgedwards.com or his blog, World Adventurers. Contact him at me@mgedwards.com, on Facebook, on Google+, or @m_g_edwards on Twitter.

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! If you are Mexican or of Mexican descent, I hope you have a chance to enjoy what is one of Mexico’s most prominent fiestas. Cinco de Mayo honors Mexico’s victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. I should be down the National Mall in Washington, D.C. right now enjoying the annual Cinco de Mayo festivities sponsored the Maru Montero Dance Company, but alas, I am at home studying Spanish (and taking a break to write this short blog entry, of course). Maybe I’ll make up for it by having Mexican food for dinner.

Of course, other Latin American nations such as Paraguay don’t celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but this uniquely Latino festival is one of the few observed in the United States. Paraguay’s Independence Day celebration will be on May 15 and on the evening of May 14 (Paraguay’s Flag Day) my wife and I will attend Paraguay’s Independence Day celebration at the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, D.C.

Blog Notes: My thoughts are with those who were affected by the tornado that destroyed Greensburg, Kansas today. Greensburg is less than an hour from where my father lived. My father passed away, but my mother-in-law still lives there. Meteorologists have issued a tornado warning for a large swath of Kansas and Nebraska. I hope that no more touch down in the aftermath of what happened in Greensburg.

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The Christmas Dilemma

I never know what to buy people for Christmas. It’s just two weeks until Christmas, and I still don’t know what to buy for a couple of family members. Sure, I could always get them a gift card from their favorite store, but what’s the fun in that? Sometimes it’s easy enough to figure what to buy people. However, sometimes I can’t figure out what they need or want at a reasonable price. How many small ticket items do people need? Can’t I just buy them one really expensive gift and let that be their for the next six Christmases?

Christmas may be losing its meaning amidst all the commercialism. The frantic search for the perfect gift, the muddling through the crowds at the mall, or the quick online purchase definitely do not define the meaning of Christmas. Christmas has become overly materialistic and sanitized. It has been adopted as a national holiday and is observed by people throughout the world who are not Christian. The focus of Christmas has increasingly shifted towards Santa and what gifts he’ll bring, about families reuniting, about expressing love through a purchased product, and goodwill towards men. While these are good and noble endeavors, they overshadow Christmas’ true meaning. Christmas is a birthday celebration for Jesus, a carpenter from the Galilee region born about 4 B.C. It’s been said that his actual birthday would have been in April based on the timing Roman Census that required his parents to journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem prior to his birth. That would mean Jesus’ actual birthday would be sometime around Easter. If Christmas is replaced by Xmas or Winter Break or Happy Holiday then perhaps the observance of Jesus’ birthday should be moved to a day closer to the actual day of his birth. This would reassert the meaning of the holiday without all the commercialistic trappings of Christmas. The date of Christmas has much to do with the ancient Druid celebration of Winter Solstice. Moving the date celebrating Jesus’ birth would put it more in line with celebrating it on the actual date of his birth.