Services are also Made in America

I got this note in a group email. I like the idea.

Along with Made in America - which alludes to stuff, how about services - which are also made in America? You can't get much more local than some of these ideas.

Here's the email ...


Christmas 2011 -- Birth of a New Tradition

 As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods -- merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes there is!

It's time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?

Everyone -- yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local American hair salon or barber?

Gym membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.

Speaking of health improvement, I am putting in my pitch for massage therapists, energy workers, acupuncturists, movement specialists, foot reflexology, cranial sacral, sound baths, etc.  Great gifts for those who might not try these great treatments on their own.  Check out alternative therapies in your neighborhood!

Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down the Benjamines on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift certificates. And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people could use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day.

My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theatre.

Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine.
THIS is the new American Christmas tradition.

Forward this to everyone on your mailing list -- post it to discussion groups -- throw up a post on Craigslist in the Rants and Raves section in your city -- send it to the editor of your local paper and radio stations, and TV news departments. This is a revolution of caring about each other, and isn't that what Christmas is about?

BEST WISHES TO ALL!!!

Prayers Requested

I'd rather envision and encourage positive outcomes, vigor, vitality, wholeness and health instead of the elephant in the corner or the 800 lb. gorilla.

When we name a dysfunction, or negative aspect, the mind goes to that place and brings up the litanies, histories and anecdotes.

The older we get the more case histories we know. We are pretty sure what's wrong and how to fix it. We may even have free advice to give.

I'd like prayers for so and so. She has _______. He is _______.

The aspirin doesn't care if you have a toothache or a sore back. And the healing spirit will find the spot to heal.

Let's leave room for miracles. Let's add to those stories as well.

From candle to candle - let's add more light.

Friday and New Gloves

Yesterday I received a wonderful and practical blessing to start the day. It was about 37 degrees outside. Pat gave me a new pair of driving gloves.

I have approximately 3 pair of driving gloves each with a single finger of one glove with some sort of hole in it. You'd think I could make a decent pair out of three pair. I have not yet found the combination.

Very grateful and warmer; off I went.

At the 9 o'clock hour on WHAD radio Veronica Rueckert hosted a special broadcast live from the Wisconsin Book Festival at the Overture Center in Madison - the first hour of which featured the poetry slam, hip hop poets.

I was on the bypass returning from the lakeside wiping tears from my eyes. The wordsongs were so vivid. It was another recent instance of me coming home.

I called in to the radio program and got on, said my piece and brought a little tear to the program. The three young poets have gotten polished and somewhat removed from the power they bring. I was able to bring them back for a moment.

The schedule for lunch was looking a little slim and I decided not to come home. Pat though that was fine because she was winging through her list and slowing down would have meant ... slowing down.

I went to a NameBrandFastFood place and headed to the library afterward. I paged though a landscaping magazine featuring ornamental grasses and shot a few fantastic recipe pics out of the Food Network monthly magazine. Tasty looking stuff and new ideas; yum. Glad I had already eaten something.

I might spend more of my lunch times at the library.

After work at 4 pm I headed to Hartson Funeral Home right around the corner. Pat's long-time friend Donna's mother had passed. Pat would be coming on her own. We stayed through the service at 6 pm and headed, with the funeral troupe, to Meyers Restaurant for family-style fish and fried chicken. We got back home after 9 pm.

There have been too many funerals lately and it was a very long day Friday.

It's Saturday morning early as I make these notes. I wanted to look up the MP3 of the poetry slam broadcast and that poetry search led me to another radio program talking about ... well ...

Here's the FB post from Veronica Rueckert Show.
** How can changing your personal narratives change your life? World-renowned psychologist Timothy Wilson tells us after 9:00 this Friday. He says the approach he writes about in "Redirect" can make you happier, reduce racial prejudice and even turn you into a better parent. Malcolm Gladwell called the book "a masterpiece." **

I ordered the Wilson book online from the library and decided to read the reader reviews at Amazon.

I really like when Wilson talks about rewriting the story in order to improve one's own life.

One reviewer was disappointed. He bought the book because of the marketing hype. While it is a fine read for social purposes it does not delve into personal change - which is what he took the hype to mean. He would not have bought the book had he peeked into it first.

But, he wrote: consider instead Martin Seligman's "Learned Optimism" or "Authentic Happiness", or Michigan State University's Gershen Kaufman's books on building self-esteem and 'personal power.'

So I ordered up some Seligman from the library as well. That is one reason I like the reader reviews on Amazon so much.

So here's the links for now. I'm going back to bed before breakfast.

===

Friday 10/21/2011 9:00 AM - Veronica Rueckert  - 111021D
http://wpr.org/webcasting/audioarchives_display.cfm?Code=rkt

My call in is approximately 43 minutes into the broadcast.

Wilson Amazon Redirect
http://www.amazon.com/Redirect-Surprising-Science-Psychological-Change/product-reviews/0316051888/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Super Shelby - Action Hero

When we first met in your studio on Monday Night class we were not gathering about your art. Still I was immediately taken with your vision, bold strokes and balance of light.

A couple summers later you started posting works in progress on Facebook from everywhere en plein air. It seemed like you were every jazzy where.

You were approaching rock star status in my mind and I was a teensy bit envious that you were just doing it. Why wasn't I doing it? Not the painting but the being engaged in creation; the juggling of shadow and light.

When we met for the Victorian Art tour you led at the Pfister on the Doors Open Milwaukee weekend you went from Rock Star to Action Hero for me and I saw - you showed me - strokes with the flashlight. You shined the light.

When I asked about the idea, theory, methodology behind 'under painting' specific to your thirty day challenge, and you said something like "Just start. Cover up the canvas." I knew I could begin again. Begin fresh.

Simply take the blank out of the blank page.
Thank you.
The words have been pouring out.

Do Unto Others ...

Zoupe

Alphabet Zoupe - A to Z - the alpha-palette from which we paint our interesting lives.

You have a story; some of which was handed down.

You can edit it.

You shall.

Ed.

It.

September Poems