As a young person, star gazing was one of my favorite things to do. Growing up in the country and with only one street light near our house, made star gazing easy.
Winter time was the best time to star gaze with that crisp and clear in the winter sky. Sometimes I would drive down to the river near our home, where they were no lights at all. I would lie on my back on the hood of my car and watch for UFO’s, satellites and falling stars. I once watched a satellite travel across my view twice.
Lying on the hood of my car I would stare at the milky way, and let my imagination run rampant as I searched out the Big and Little Dippers, Orion and others constellations. I was soon lost in mystical wonder as I viewed god’s glorious cosmos.
As I lay there in this mystical trance, I found myself visualizing traveling through space and encountering E-T’s, and discovering earth like planets. With the song “When you wish upon a star” going through my head, I searched the depths of space for one lonely star to claim as my own.
There is a company in the United States that will sell you a star, add your name to the National Star Register, and even give you a chart for finding your star. My question to them is–when did they buy the rights to the stars? The stars are free-to-gaze. I don't think God wants to sell any of the stars.
Where does this cosmos end? Is there an end, or is it infinite? Are there other planets that could sustain life? As a youngster I did want to believe in extraterrestrial beings. I did want to believe that we were not alone; however, as I matured and gained some knowledge about UFO’s, I concluded that I just cant see it to be a fact. It is ok I guess in the science fiction arena, as entertainment, but in reality–no I don't see it at all.
Scientists tell us that the stars we see in the night sky most have burned out millions of years ago, and what we are actually seeing is, the light just now reaching the earth. This some how throws a damper on my plan to travel in space someday; there won't be anything there to see.
Carl Sagan, the famed scientist and Astronomer, was perhaps the greatest star gazer of all time. Sagan spent his life studying the cosmos and brought a new depth to star gazing. His dedication to the study of the universe and his award winning Television series, ‘Cosmos’, and a best-selling book of the same name bought him fame and fortune, and made him noteworthy of all star gazers.
Star gazing is a wonderful way to look into heaven. Beholding something this vast, something this wondrous, and something this mysterious, compels me to wonder if heaven is out there somewhere in this space. Is heaven a million light years away, or is it as near as our own moon? One thing for sure if it is as glorious as what we can see, it has to be grand.
Sometimes I still gaze at the stars, but with so many street lights and porch lights on my avenue, I can't really see much. I guess I need to drive down to the river and lay on the hood of my car, find my star, make a wish and watch God’s magnificent celestial show, that is always free.

What has happened to the Epic Motion Picture? Movies like Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments. They don’t make them like that any more; movies billed as a cast of thousands.
I remember watching ‘The Ten Commandments on the big screen when I was a teenager, what a great movie that was. The parting of the red sea was perhaps the most spectacular motion picture sequence ever filmed. I have seen nothing in the movies like that since. What a performance by Charlton Heston as Moses he well always be Moses to me. He will always have that persona in my heart. Even if he is portraying another character. I well say--- hey look it’s Moses
. Everyone knows the problem these days why movies do not have the attendance needed for the producers to make a profit–it’s the price of admittance and the quality of the movie being made. It is a gamble to them. One report that I heard was that they are losing money. Most of witch are indeed, flops. It cost $60,000,000 to make a movie. For the most part, they are turning out trash with profanity, nudity and lack of morality. I expect that trash is what they expect the clientele to be. I suppose that is why they keep cranking out substandard movies for a substandard society.
I did buy the movie ‘Walk the line’, the story based on Johnny Cash’s book. Man in Black.
It was a great movie if you are a Johnny Cash fan.
They are always movies being released that I would like to see on the big screen. I will most likely wait on the DVD or it to be shown on cable as apposed to paying the astronomical price at the box office.
I stopped going to the movies when they closed the $1.00 movie theater in our town. If you could wait until a movie finished its run at the $7.50 a ticket theater, you could see the same movie for only 99 cents at the discount movie house. Admission was cheep but the popcorn, cokes and candy were outrageously high priced. What I’d pay for a coke, I can get two; two liters for that price in the store. I smuggled candy in, in my wife’s purse. That’s a little sneaky, but if I could have sneaked a coke in, I would of have done that as well.
I would rather pay $20.00 to own a copy on DVD and watch it anytime I want and as many times as I want, like I did with Titanic and others. Most of the movie industry’s revenue is made on DVD sales, even if it’s a box office flop.They do make some money on the DVDs from folks who didn’t want to go to the movie house to see the film.
They are nothing better than seeing a movie for the first time on the big screen. That’s why I went to the big screen to see Titanic. I wanted to see that big boat on the big screen. But going to the movies is rare with me. When I do go It does give me a chance to get out of the house, which cite a somewhat positive aspect with movie going. However the price tag and the highway robbery when we try to buy a coke and popcorn, is enough for me to stay home and watch Andy Griffith re-runs.
I am not bashing every movie, some are ok I guess, most are not. Please be advised that I am expressing a personal opinion. I will most likely give in and go to a $7.50 movie, but it’s got to be a blockbuster and a Epic motion picture of high standards. Something in the nature of ‘The Ten Commanments or Ben -Hur, something that stays in my mind long after the curtain comes down.

A lesson on patience is to put a pot of water on the cooking stove and wait for the water to boil. Actually the water does boil in the usual time but it does seem to take forever. If we stand there watching as the tiny bubbles dance around they seem to never to get agitated.
We live in a society where we want it, and we want it now. We can't wait for anything. We got to have to have a high speed Internet because we can't wait for programs or pictures to load. We want fast foods and fast cars and fast cell phones. We seem to want everything chop-chop-- even boiling water.
I will admit that I don't have very much patience at all. Standing in line is something that I find extremely impatient The check out line at the supermarket can be grounds for suicide or murder while waiting on someone to fill out their check book.
I did a lot of standing in line in the army. Patience wears thin when your standing in a long chow line and you're a hungry soldier. I told my self when I got out of the army I would never stand in line again. I quickly learned that I had to stand in line, if I were to enjoy a meal at a restaurant or watch a movie. I am still quite impatient waiting in line in civilian life. I still have to endure the aggravation of waiting in long line, and it is always not very pleasant.
Years ago when I was a child an older friend was teaching me to fish. I expected to throw out my line and catch a fish instantly. The trick was according to him,--- ‘wait until you see your line tighten up, pull back your pole and hopefully you'll catch the fish’. As I sit there waiting, I was overwhelmed at the unbearable agony of waiting. I was oblivious to what was going on around me as I sit there watching that line in hopes that at any moment it would go tight. I waited without patience while my friend sit there nonchalantly and tended to his own fishing. He was cool, calm and collective as his line tightened up and he reeled in a fish. Watching my own line in the water not moving at all just added to my frustration. I wanted out of that place and find something to do that didn't involve waiting. Waiting was not a easy thing to do for a 12 year old boy. But watching my friend applying patience as he fished, I learned that the result of being patient has rewards. When I focused on being calm and collective like him, I eventually hooked a fish and it was one that we called a keeper. My patients paid off that time with a reward of an evening meal.
If we were to put a tea pot on the stove to boil turn and walk away, the water is heating just as quickly if we had stood at the stove and watched it. Will it ever boil? Of course it well, and this should remind us that good things come to those who wait. We have to be patient and wait on the simplest of things like water to boil. Patience should teach us that anything worth waiting on is in all probability going to be something terrific. We must learn to have patience and wait on everything that is to be useful for us. Quality can't be achieved in haste. It must be delayed to have an impact and be something of value, and a blessing for us all to behold.

Starbucks Dreams



It finally happened; we got a Starbucks in my hometown. I waited patently as it was built driving by once and a while to check on the progress. I wanted to experience a cup of Gourmet coffee, to see what all the fuss is about.
I walked into the coffee store like a kid going to see Santa Clause. I was impressed by the unique elegance and atmosphere. They had high back chairs and coffee tables to sit, drink coffee and fellowship with your pals. They even had an outside area that was also a great place for camaraderie.
They had a wide variety of coffee selections, mint flavored hot chocolate and cappuccinos, Latte, and other flavors I can't pronounce or spell, and pastries that looked like they were made in heaven.
Getting the feel of the atmosphere I looked at all the tempting pastries and read the menu, I was in awe. So this is where the rich folks go for coffee I thought. My wife snapped her fingers breaking me out of my trance. She asks me what kind f coffee I wanted. I simply wanted a small cup of regular black coffee. I have no ideal what a Latte is anyway, or any of the other flavors they had to offer.
I ordered my black coffee and my wife ordered a Mint Hot Collocate and we went to the tables outside and sat there relishing in the warm sun on a cool December morning, I felt like a million dollars. I suspect that it was because I felt like rich folks really do drink coffee from Starbucks. It was a nice feeling but I suddenly felt out of place. I wanted to go to the fast food place that gives a discount for a senior citizen where you pay only 39 cents for coffee. I sit there sipping on my Gourmet coffee like it was fine wine and tried desperately to act like I had been there before and that I knew what the heck I was doing.
I make my coffee at home from instant coffee. Quite a difference in the famous Starbucks coffee but for me it is quick and easy. They no messed or spilled grounds to contend with and no forgetting to turn coffee maker off. I simply level a tablespoon full in a cup and hot water right out of the tap. Before you scoff at my instant coffee; please I just like my coffee quick when I get up in the morning and it is the way to go for me.
I wanted a cup of coffee from Starbucks for the novelty of it and to follow my Starbucks Dream. Guess it’s kind of like driving a new Cadillac. I expect that Starbucks may very well be the Cadillac of coffee’s but I don't own a Cadillac or have ever driving one, but for the most part; the coffee was very good indeed and I enjoyed it very much however I thought the $1.50 a cup was an outrageous price for a cup of coffee. I just remembered the old saying---- you get what you pay for. I suppose that is also true when it comes to coffee.
I am not saying that I wont return and pay that price again. I probably will. Some time when I am feeling a little whimsical, I well dress up in a business suit and carry a copy of the Wall Street Journal into Starbucks and order a lite Lataie, sit in one of those high back chairs, flip open my paper and make-believe that I am an executive from New York and drink my $1.50 cup of coffee and no one well be the wiser--- unless they see me drive up in my ole 1982 Chevy Celebrity.

"Cell"
my apologies to Stephen King


A few years ago I had an idea for a product--- carry around communicators, like they had on Star Trek. I was going to make millions. My procrastination caused me to not accomplish this and someone beat me to it and invented --- the cell phone
Long before the cell phone, I remember the pager, was the in thing. The pager was first used by doctors and, lawyers and highly successful business folks, becoming and became a status symbol.
Soon pagers became available for all social classes, and, almost over night they could be seen hanging on the belts of all social classes. They were not just for the affluent any more.
Suddenly , almost over night, the pager was gone and made obsolete by the cell phone. Once again the world had a status symbol that only the elite could afford. The first cell phones were big and cumbersome, but did the job. Repeater towers were being built quickly to get the signal across America, and to keep up with the demand as the use of cell phone users spread like wild fire. The repeater towers suddenly became a part of our landscape.
As technology advanced, the cell phone became smaller and affordable to almost all social classes. I remember seeing my first cell phone user. A woman in Wal-Mart was talking to someone on her phone about a blouse she was looking at. My first thought was that she was filthy rich. My second thought was, how cool is this-- being able to talk on the phone while looking at clothes at Wal-Mart.
As time went by, cell phones became emancipated from being classified as a luxury item just as the pager did in its day. Cell phones are now affordable for almost everyone who wants one. I expect there are millions of cell phones users in the world today. Sometimes it is fun to watch and count all the folks walking around in public with cell phones hanging on their belt or their purse.
Yes! I do own a cell phone. But I might not own one for long. I am reading Stephen King's novel –‘Cell’ . It is about cell phone users in Boston who suddenly turn into stark raving killers, killing everyone in their reach, including fellow cell phone users. In the novel, groups of folks who have not used a cell phone think it might be the work of terrorism, or some demonic force. The source of evil the cell phones are unleashing has not been divulged as of yet. I am only half way through the book.
The novel is far-fetched however, a lot of folk's believe that cell phones are evil indeed. Some folks say they are just annoying and they wouldn't own one. It's quite possible that cell phones have saved lives in emergencies, so maybe they are good in this aspect, however a lot of folks still regard them as un edifying nonsense.
I predict that in the future cell phones will be implanted in our bodies and voice activated. We will have instant communication with the world. This is not as implausible as it seems to in this age of advancing technology. This is a world where computers are obsolete almost as soon as they are in the stores. Who knows what how the technology will advance to. I already see some with a cell phone in their ear, that looking like they were born with it there. Is King’s novel a prelude to an unleashed horror? Is he just telling a story, or is he trying to warn us?
In the back of Stephen King's novel "Cell" he has this statement: Stephen King lives in Maine. He does not own a cell phone