TCHAIKOVSKY: Swan Lake - Лебединое Озеро

Mozart-The Marriage of Figaro

Beethoven - Fur elise

I Come To Him

THIS IS HOW I KNOW

A Believer's Prayer

A Spittin' Image

The doctor said to a new father, "You have a cute baby."

"I bet you say that to all the new parents," smiled the proud daddy.

"No," he replied, "just to those whose babies really are good-looking."

"So what do you say to the others?"

I say, "He's the spittin' image of you."

Do you suppose they teach that in medical school?

I'm told that a young mother enlisted the help of a friend in taking her infant identical twins to the doctor. Since the waiting area was full, the two women, each with a twin, were seated on opposite sides of the room. After a few minutes someone commented, "It's amazing how much those two babies look alike!"

The friend was quick to reply, "Well, they should. They have the same father." I haven't heard whether the misunderstanding was ever straightened out.

With identical twins, it's easy to see that they are the "spittin' image" of each other. Actually, that term "spittin' image" stems from an old misunderstanding itself. Joel Chandler Harris, author of the Uncle Remus stories, explained that when an American slave seemed to be saying, "spittin' image," he or she was actually saying, "spirit and image," as: "'He's the spi'it 'n' image of his daddy." It meant more than they merely looked alike. Spirit and image - alike, inside and out.

And what makes it even more interesting is the ancient truth from the monk Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), who said, "What we love we shall grow to resemble." Or put another way, we become the spi'it 'n' image of that which we hold dear. We are shaped by that which we admire most, and by the people we love most.

It works like this: Those who admire success may become "the image of success." Those who admire ambition will, to even a casual observer, look ambitious, perhaps even driven. Those who admire and love the gentle saints of their faith will, more than likely, remind others of those same saints in their attitudes, words and actions. Day by day, we become the spi'it 'n' image of the people we befriend, admire and love.

An unknown writer tells a story about her grandmother and a person she deeply admired. The story goes like this:

"My grandmother was born in a small west Texas farming town on August 26, 1929, two months and three days before Black Tuesday, the stock market crash that started the Great Depression. As the youngest daughter of sharecroppers, who earned their living by picking cotton, she knew the meaning of barely getting by. Times were tough and she learned to never waste anything.

Her Uncle Jess was a compassionate man who always treated her with kindness. Each time she would visit him, she always left with the same feeling: I am special. After all, she was the only person who was allowed to drink from his special pink drinking glass. One day, she took the pink glass out to the water cooler, a special room that stored and cooled the water generated from the windmill. Out in the water cooler, she dropped the glass. Looking down at the hundreds of glass fragments, she began to cry. She had been entrusted with this special glass and now it was broken.

Her crying was interrupted when she heard Uncle Jess call out, 'Ruby Nell, I was thinking. I'm tired of that silly old pink glass. Would you please break it for me?'

She ran back to him calling out, with the enthusiasm that only a six-year-old can summon, 'I did it, Uncle Jess! I did it!'"

How many times did Ruby pass that story along out of admiration for her uncle? How often did she remember his kindness and compassion and show the same to others? Over the years of a long life, how many times would she choose to believe in herself because of the way Uncle Jess always made her feel: that she was special? And when life was cruel and people let her down, how many times did she find enough strength to set aside anger and respond in kindness, because that is what Uncle Jess would have done?

As little Ruby Nell grew up, she could do worse than to grow into the spi'it 'n' image of Uncle Jess.

We are shaped by that which we admire most, and by the people we love most.

Who do you love and admire? What qualities draw you to them? And how can you bring more people like that into your life?

    ~ Steve Goodier ~

Those who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty nor security." ~ Benjamin Franklin ~

The Price of Freedom 

Our forefathers knew perilous times
of spilt blood on the sod,
They battled to preserve the creed:
one nation under God.

Since then the bold and brave have fought
on land and sky and sea,
courageous, valiant heroes died
to keep this country free.

For freedom is a priceless thing,
a gift beyond compare ~
A privilege immeasurable,
maintained by fervent prayer.

Americans, take heed
to what our forefathers held fast:
Unless our faith be firm in God
this nation shall not last.

~ Connie ~

 

The Real First Day Of Spring

In the mountains where I live there are always two first days of Spring. There is the first one that shows up on the calendar in March and then there is the second one that comes later on. The second one is the real one. It is the first day when you can feel in your heart and soul that Spring has finally arrived.

I felt that real first day of Spring recently. The sun was gently making its way across the sky and bathing the world in its golden warmth. The temperatures climbed steadily into the seventies. The breezes tickled instead of biting into my face. On the trees I could see the first buds and blossoms of the year. For the first time in months flowers were showing their heads above the ground and stretching their bodies toward the light. Sweet, loving birdsongs were serenading the world from the trees. Hikers were walking the roads and paths in t-shirts and tennis shoes. On a playground I saw a girl determinedly running with a kite behind her rising higher and higher. Near her a boy was throwing a stick again and again while a happy dog brought it back to him every time.

As I walked through this amazing day I could feel the Springtime in my own soul awakening once again. My eyes and heart cleared and I saw this world as the beautiful and blessed place that it is. I looked around and felt my love going out to everyone I saw. I knew each one of them was a fellow Child of God put here to learn, grow, and love. I felt the love of our Heavenly Father surrounding us all and my hope was renewed that one day all of us would live as the family we are. I felt as if a day in Heaven had somehow made its way down here to Earth.

Days like that may seem rare, but they don’t have to be. By allowing God’s love to warm our hearts and by sharing our love with the world we can make everyday the first day of Spring.

~ Joseph J. Mazzella ~

What office is there which involves more responsibility, which requires more qualifications, and which ought, therefore, to be more honorable than teaching?
 

Harriet Martineau

What nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the man who instructs the rising generation.
 

Marcus Tullius Cicero

ANG MGA BABAE.....

ANG MGA BABAE.....

1. Moody: Inborn na sa mga babae to. Kung badtrip kami, wag niyo nang sasabayan.

2. Pag sinabi naming nagtatampo kami, lambing lang katapat: Yung salitang tampo way lang namin yun para sabihing lambingin niyo kami. Konting I love you niyo lang, okay na kami.

3. Gusto namin yung palagi kaming kino-compliment: Pag may bago sa itsura namin, gusto naming mapansin niyo. Kasi nakakataas ng self-confidence namin yun.

4. Pag napansin niyong naging sersyoso yung mga text namin, may mali: Kapag ganun, may nagawa kayong di namin nagustuhan. Kaya be alert. Kapag sinabe naming wala, meron talaga. Nahihiya lang kami. Kaya pilitin niyo kaming sabihin sa inyo. At pagtapos naming masabi, konting lambing lang. Back to normal na ulit.

5. Selosa kami: Kaya iwasan niyong makipag harutan sa ibang girls. Lalo na sa harapan namin. Pero may ibang babae na tahimik lang kung mag-selos. Inoobserabahan lang kayo. Pero kapag napuno, simula na ng away.

6. Kaming mga babae, normal lang ang ma-attract sa mga gwapo: Hanggang tingin lang kami. Kasi hindi naman na namin makikita ulit. Ma-attract man kami sa 1M lalaki, ang puso namin ay para lang sa tunay naming mahal. Ganun din naman kayong mga lalaki. Kapag nakakita ng maganda at sexy. Magaling lang kayong magtago.

7. Kaming mga babae, pinagmamalaki namin yung mga mahal namin ng hindi nila nalalaman: Katulad nalang sa mga GM (Group Message), Facebook at TUMBLR.

8. Ayaw namin sa mga manliligaw na nagmamadali: Yung tipo ng mga lalaking laging nagtatanong kung kailan ba namin sila sasagutin. Naiirita kami. Kaya dapat maging matiyaga kayo kasi dun namin nalalaman kung sino talaga kayo.

9. Kapag malungkot o tahimik kami, gusto namin ng yakap galing sa inyo: Kasi iba yung pakiramdam kapag hawak niyo na kami. Gumagaan yung pakiramdam namin. :">

10. Gustong gusto namin yung mga lalaking malaki ang respeto samin: Yung tipong pag ayaw namin magpa-kiss, hindi niyo gagawin. Instead, lalambingin ka na lang sa ibang paraan. Ang pinaka gusto naming kiss, kiss on the forehead. It symbolizes, respect.

11. Ang nagpapa-turn on samin ay yung lalaking protective: Yung kapag kasama namin kayo, feeling namin safe na safe kami. Walang mangyayaring masama at hindi kami ilalagay sa panganib.

12. Ayaw namin sa lalaking hanggang text lang: Kung mahal niyo talaga kami, patunayan niyo sa personal. Wag yung sa text lang kayo magaling. Magpaka-lalaki kayo!

13. Sobra kaming natutuwa sa mga lalaking ma-effort: Yung kahit walang special day, feel mo eh special ang araw araw niyo. Kasi sobrang nakakatuwa kapag ang lalaki laging nagpuput in ng effort. Feeling naming babae eh, isa kaming prinsesa.

14. Ang pangarap naming mga babae yung ipapakilala kami ng mga lalaki sa kanilang mga barkada at lalo na sakanilang pamilya: Feeling namin kami na yung pinaka maswerteng babae sa mundo. Kasi iilan lang ang lalaking naglalakas loob ipakilala kami sa parents at barkada nila. Yung iba kasi nahihiya. At feeling din nmin angkin na angkin na namin ang isang lalaki dahil nakilala na namin ang mga taong bumubuo sa buhay niya. :)

15. Magaling kaming mag-pretend: Kapag nasasaktan kami, nagpapaka-manhind kami. Kapag may nakitang di maganda, nagbubulagbulagan kami. Kapag may narinig na mali, nagbibingibingihan kami. Pero kapag mag-isa nalang kami, dun kami naglalabas ng sakit. Dun kami umiiyak. Kaya ang pangarap naming lalaki is yung sensitive enough sa mga nararamdaman namin. Yung kayang magtanong hanggang sa umamin kami.


                                                                                                                                              reposted

A willful man will have his way to his own hurt. ~The Two Frogs~

The Two Frogs

Two frogs were neighbors.
One inhabited a deep pond, far removed from public view; the other lived in a gully containing little water, and traversed by a country road.
The Frog that lived in the pond warned his friend to change his residence and entreated him to come and live with him, saying that he would enjoy greater safety from danger and more abundant food. The other refused, saying that he felt it so very hard to leave a place to which he had become accustomed.
A few days afterwards a heavy wagon passed through the gully and crushed him to death under its wheels.

The Spider and The Fly

                                                                                                     The Spider and The Fly: A Fable

by Mary Howitt

---

 

"Will you walk into my parlor?" said the spider to the fly;
"'Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy.
The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,
And I have many pretty things to show when you are there."
"O no, no," said the little fly, "To ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again."

"I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high;
Will you rest upon my little bed?" said the spider to the fly.
"There are pretty curtains drawn around, the sheets are fine and thin,
And if you like to rest awhile, I'll snugly tuck you in."
"O no, no," said the little fly, "for I've often heard it said,
They NEVER, NEVER WAKE again, who sleep upon YOUR bed."

Said the cunning spider to the fly, "Dear friend, what shall I do,
To prove the warm affection I've always felt for you?
I have within my pantry good store of all that's nice;
I'm sure you're very welcome; will you please to take a slice?
"O no, no," said the little fly, "kind sir, that cannot be;
I've heard what's in your pantry, and I do not wish to see."

"Sweet creature!" said the spider, "you're witty and you're wise,
How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes!
I have a little looking-glass upon my parlor shelf,
If you'll step in one moment dear, you shall behold yourself."
I thank you, gentle sir," she said, "for what you're pleased to say,
And bidding you good-morning NOW, I'll call ANOTHER day."

The spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
For well he knew the silly fly would soon be back again:
So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner sly,
And set his table ready to dine upon the fly.
Then he came out to his door again, and merrily did sing,
"Come hither, hither, pretty fly, with the pearl and silver wing:
Your robes are green and purple; there's a crest upon your head;
Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead."

Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little fly,
Hearing his wily flattering words, came slowly flitting by.
With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew,
Thinking only of her crested head - POOR FOOLISH THING! At last,
Up jumped the cunning spider, and fiercely held her fast.
He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den,
Within his little parlor; but she ne'er came out again!

And now, dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly, flattering words, I pray you ne'er give heed;
Unto an evil counselor close heart, and ear, and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale of the Spider and the Fly.