End Times?

What is the world coming to?
Am I the only one who isn’t asleep? Am I the only one that is fully aware of the cataclysmic events taking place on our planet? Am I the only one who CARES? I’m not just referring to Global Warming here, I’m referring to the demise of living breathing human beings.

Is everyone running around with the "me, me, me" mindset? Me first, My turn, mine, mine, MINE! Are we blind to all of the catastrophe’s taking place around us? Are you not even raising one eyebrow as earthquakes erupt in Indianapolis, Illinois? In Nevada? I’ve found a site that list all the recent activity in the past 8-30 days, why not take a look and see if it frightens you any. (title link)

On April 21, 2008 a 4.0 earthquake hit Illinois. Off the coast of Oregon has been hit with NUMEROUS seismic activities, (too many to list here.) 4-22-08 Utah and Nevada. 4-23-08 Colorado.

Does this not make you think that something a little bit bigger than ourselves is at work here? So what do we do? Do we continue in our selfish ways? Watch as wildfires burn thousands of acres of land? Sit idle while tornadoes sweep across our homes with a vengeance? Observe the earth being swallowed up with scorching heat in some places and a deluge of rain in others? Survey the land as if it isn’t happening in our back yard so, "Why worry?"

You need to worry people! You need to wake up and start changing things for the better. Take note of the ever-changing world. Dig deep and defend your life with honor and respect. Give back to kindness to abolish the hate. Wipe greed and lust off the face of the earth. Take stock in pure love and relinquish selfishness. Only, and I DO MEAN ONLY then, will YOU have a chance for survival in what is to befall the human race.

Is it so hard to love instead of hate? To embrace instead of wage war? To respect instead of resent?

Maybe for YOU it is, but not for me.

BE SAFE! BE PREPARED! HURRICANE SEASON IS ABOUT TO BE UNLEASHED!

Godspeed!

I Shed a Tear

I Shed a Tear

I shed a tear for you today,
My heart it skipped a beat.
Your tiny hand I didn't hold,
Our eyes they didn't meet.

I shed a tear for you today,
No longer are you here.
Taken from me before your time,
I cannot hold you near.

I shed a tear for you today,
For things I didn't do,
Is destiny something we control?
These things I wish I knew.

I shed a tear for you today,
For all that you won't see.
I'm left alone without you now,
These things weren't meant to be.

I shed so many tears today,
Will they ever cease?
The only comfort I can find,
Is knowing you're at peace.

Happy Birthday Astri!

b. 4-26-04 d.

The Missile~the CAR

The wheel, the invention that changed the world. As early as the 4th millenium B.C., the wheel made its presence known.Automobiles, the invention that destroyed humanity.

Maybe you don’t agree, but do you realize what harm has come from the automobile? Besides the emissions polluting the environment, the car has become a weapon to mankind whether he believes it or not. Man* uses the car as a weapon as he fluidly drives the interstate. If the man* is drinking and driving he now has within his grasp… the power to kill.

When man* becomes angry behind the wheel he exerts his energy by lashing out at other motorist. When man* fails to use his proper signals he is then becoming a potential road hazard to other drivers, and when man* speeds in excess of the visible speed limit, he is now a loaded missile!

Driving a car is not a luxury to wield a weapon; it is a commitment to you, the people in your car, AND to other motorists. You are taking their lives into YOUR hands and you have the responsibility to do what is right and protect these people. Instead, the vehicle is a luxury weapon that you drive without a care for any other human being on the planet. Destroying humanity, humility and morality, as we know it.

I live in Texas, so I’ll pick on the Texas drivers. They are maniacs when it comes to being allowed to drive a vehicle. Have you ever turned your blinker on, only to see the motorist speed up so you can’t change lanes? This makes you slow down and the driver behind you begins honking his horn because now you’ve made him miss the yellow light that he wanted to race through! (The me first attitude is prevalent!)

And what is the thing about plucking your eyebrows and applying make-up on the road? Is everyone in such a hurry that they forgot to do these things before leaving the house? Then there is the person sitting on the cell phone chatting away not even paying attention to what is in front of him/her! Some even text message while trying to guide their missile through the yellow light (often times a RED light!) Texans put the term Southern Hospitality to SHAME.

Gone out the window is respect, courtesy, honor and value all because of a simple vehicle that is now what I consider to be… a loaded missile.

*man/woman/beast

Cornea Transplant

It garnered a cornea transplant!

It was a severe enough infection to warrant a cornea transplant. "We can’t save it," the doctor told my friend. Acanthamoeba keratitism is the technical term the doctor used in diagnosing my friends eye condition.

Usually occurring in contact lens wearers, especially those who attempt to make their own homemade solutions, or use plain tap water to clean the lens. My friend had used bacteria laden water that in the long run, damaged his cornea.

This diagnosis was something my friend wasn’t prepared to hear, but he had to prepare himself for the obvious transplant to take place.
He was put on a list of cornea donors, and the long wait began for a match and a donor. When days turned into months, my friend, was becoming anxious. He wanted to see out of his left eye again. The doctor needed a perfect match, free of any prior illnesses, It had to match the exact blood type, and many other compatibility measures were taken.

The wait seemed endless and led into months of anxiety, when finally the word came "We found a match". It echoed through the phone lines while friends and family rejoiced. On the very day of the scheduled surgery, he was told, "It’s not a good enough match."

Can you imagine the disappointment we all felt, not to mention the let down to my friend? He was so prepared, yet let down in a single moment.
Frustration mixed with a level of not having hope. After another seemingly endless wait, he got the call again and was told, "We found a match." He had no hope left so he was apprehensive the day of the scheduled surgery.

The match WAS perfect. Unfortunately it was a nineteen year-old suicide victim who eventually saved my friends eye. It’s amazing that this one donor gave a part of himself in death, to help my friend see again. I imagine the family felt relief from their grief when deciding to donate.
The surgery was a success and my friend can now see out of his left eye again. He is VERY cautious when cleaning his lens, always using the recommended solution for the task.

He has worn contact lenses for many years, and it took a short period of time of cleansing it with bacteria infested water for it to cause severe damage to the cornea. The task of cleansing the lens becomes so mundane; you never think of the damages that can occur during cleansing.

The loss of his eyesight made him appreciate the beauty of life we all take for granted. Now as we fast-forward four years, he has developed an eye infection in his right eye. He has no vision in this right eye and scarring on his left eye (from recurring infections). All of this has rendered him legally blind (but reversible).

Ocular herpes is like a cold sore on the eye. It has the same recurring affects. It comes when it pleases and rests when it deems fit. My friend is being treated, but now has to wait until the infection is ‘quiet’ for a year before any operation can take place.

Often times we take for granted our sight, not realizing the importance of taking care of the very necessities that give our life meaning.

Beauty is creeping all around us and without sight, you better hope that your other senses kick into gear or you will lose the stamina to continue functioning in this world. Everything in life seems to be about what you visually ‘see’, but always remember beauty lies within! Take care of it, take care of YOU!

Analog TV:To the dump,to the dump, to the dumpdumpdump

Good-bye analog...hello high tech!

Are we living in such a high-tech society that we need our government to take measures to change our lives? First they decided when the sun would rise and set, now they are telling us that in the high-tech world of faster is better, clear and concise is what we NEED, we’re no longer going to be able to use our ‘old’ television sets.

Is it fair to the consumer, to the elderly, to the poor, that the "all full-power broadcast television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting on analog airwaves." Is taking over the airwaves leaving the above mentioned class of people ‘in the dark’ literally? In February 2009 your television will become an obsolete piece of junk lying in the dump, polluting our environment.

We’re expected to buy an HD TV set, a converter box, or be pressured into a monthly cable bill that an already over-taxed nation may not be able to afford at this time. Remember the mortgage crisis? The massive foreclosure dilemma? An impending recession?

Are we being asked to conform once again to what the government says and decides FOR US? I’m wondering when we’ll need to have the number six-hundred-and sixty-six stamped on our forehead or be told we’ll have to leave the country!

Dtv.gov has an interesting ‘theory’. The new air space that is opened will be used for police, emergency, etc. etc. Are we having a problem where this airspace needs to be opened? Or is this some form of money scheme that the government has signed on to, to con the poor?

DTV stands for digital tv. "It’s an advanced high tech broadcasting technology that will transform your low grade television viewing experience into high-tech clarity! DTV enables broadcasters to offer television with better picture and sound quality." What is wrong with my old picture?

Suppose I don’t WANT a transforming television viewing experience? Is it fair that I am being either FORCED into buying a new television or a set-top converter box? Who are the ones benefiting from this ‘project’?

Let me guess: The tv makers will boost their sales, converter manufacturers will gain money from their sales, cable sales will be boosted, the government will look piss-poor as always and who loses in all this? THE POVERTY STRICKEN, that’s who! Which will presumably be m(b)illions by the end of 2008 (if not already)!

Oh yeah, but we’ll have all that new and improved 911 service when we have a heart-attack and keel over from this ‘forced’ agenda. And I do believe, it IS just that, an agenda!

A quote from Harrison Ford: "Money is really only important if you don’t have any."

That’s easy for him to say.

Apocalyptic Vision

The darkness veils the earth in a blanket of death. Stars fall from the sky like a broken string of pearls falling to the floor. Outside my window I hear the wailing of people in pain. Suffering surrounds me as I cling to the life I once knew.

Holding my beloved photographs in my hand as the shaking earth trembles the very floor in which I sit, I begin to cry. What is this that’s happening? Is the world going to end while I’m here alone?

I reach for the phone as a lifeline. The line is dead, as is my cell phone. The television looks like a looming dark moss-filled lake with its blank screen staring at me. My eyes roam the room looking for signs of life. My plants, my cherished plants hold life within the core of their stem. Life in its solitude quandary is surrounding me while outside hysteria rises like an evening tide; leaping in frothy motion to drink in humankind;devouring everything in its path.

My dreams of late have now become a reality. All that I kept secretly within is now released to the pulsating core of the earth. It breathes, spewing forth iniquity. Riding the pale horse of crimson flame. The sun has turned to blood, dripping like melted wax. A few of us human beings will remain to carry on the torch that never ceases to exist.

The light will shine forth as the new planet reforms itself. With a new ozone in place, all hysteria will have fled, and remaining will be the purest juices of the soil. It will drive forward an abundance of new life. An unspoiled carpet of liberty to shield the newly-formed globe. Regenerated by disaster, the mother earth will climb the towering cosmos, proving to all that behold her, that what was freely given, can be freely taken away…in the blink of an eye.

I rose from my bed
these visions they bled
into words now read.
We’ll do what we can
is the basic plan
to save modern man.
Is it now too late?
Have we sealed our fate?
Do we sit and wait
for the end to near,
I hold no fear,
just shed a tear.
For the blind
who cannot find
love for mankind.
They slowly die,
wither and cry
deeply they sigh.
Rise up and see!
Never flee!
Then you will free…
Your eternity!


"Cherish your visions and your dreams. They are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements." -- Napoleon Hill

Are YOU a HERO?

Are You a Donor?
In today’s world people overlook necessities and just run headlong into their own little cosmos. They never stop to think of other people and getting ahead of the game to them means, success at winning the game.

Have you ever thought about becoming an organ donor? You see stories on television where one person donates a kidney, and you say "Aww that is so special, I wish I had the nerve to be that brave."

We’re in an age that everyone can be a hero to someone else! Why does someone wait until their loved one is tragically killed to be approached to ask if you’d like to donate their much needed organs? What is everyone afraid of?

I have a friend who needs a cornea. He has to wait until someone tragically dies and hopes that the young cornea is available to him. There is urgency with cornea donations. Apparently the cornea doesn’t refrigerate and keep for weeks. Five-days tops is the maximum time for corneas. My friend had a cornea transplant in his left eye a few years ago and I was saddened to hear that a young man of eighteen had committed suicide and his parents donated his organs. Now he desperately needs a cornea transplant in his right eye, or he will stay ‘legally blind.’

When we die, our bodies become shells. Empty cavities where all of our innards are taken out and tossed in the garbage. Our death means something to only our immediate family and friends. By donating your organs, your death becomes a significant part of someone else’s life who can keep just one small part of you alive and living!

Having a part of you alive gives solace to your family. Knowing parts of you are still in existence gives them the feeling that they can move on in their life knowing you are still alive somewhere. Spiritually your soul lives on,(some may disagree) so why not on a physical level, keep your organs alive? If you believe when you die, you die, you’re gone, out of this world never to be heard from again. Why would you remain selfish even in death? Wouldn’t it become your last sacrifice? Wouldn’t donating your organs make you somewhat a hero to someone else, making you a legacy in someone’s, anyone’s mind?

In this day and age, you can still be a hero! You don’t have to pull someone from a flaming fire, save someone from a flooding car, retrieve a cat out of a tree, you can donate an organ and to a family become the hero of legacy proportions in their minds and your family’s minds.

Think about it. Be a hero. Keep YOUR life…alive! If you’ve always felt a failure, this is one instance you can make your family proud! Do it for you, if not for someone else.

A Word Whore

I thought I’d come to my blog today and take a break from running the halls of WVU. What is WVU? Oh, that’s my home within my home of course. It is Writer’s Village University, where I spend most of my days and half of my nights.

WVU is a place where I am mentor, facilitator, moderator, critique person, and nit-picker! And I sometimes write! The place is full of courses, writing groups, helpful people, published author’s, self-published author’s, wannabe published writer’s and going to be published writer’s.

Writing has become a release for me as the world spins into oblivion. I can take people on a journey having them feel like maybe their place is here on earth. A place that they too, can become a writer. Is it possible to become a writer in this crazy world? YES! Do you have to work at it? YES! Is it an easy road? NO!

Writing takes every ounce of energy that you have spent on your ‘living breathing’ moments, turns them into a world of fantasy, bringing to life a New World for a reader.

My blog is a vocal one. When I hear something on the news that really gets me, I write about it! Does Global Warming bother me, YES! Does immorality bother me? Hell Yeah! Does the injustices to the human race bother me? A Resounding YEAH MAN!

I am a Word Whore! Oops, they cleaned up the name, I am an author! A WRITER of wove words! A blanket of sheer delight made up of letters to form words covering the multitude of topics that lay on the grassy knoll at my feet!

In today’s world of murder and mayhem, plots and subplots, a conglomerate of conflict united upheaval, a merger of miracles, mingled mysteries, diverse disorder and a jumble of joy! There is a story waiting around every new day that I arise to smell the coffee wafting in the air. A clanging of bells go off in my head, leaving a desirable taste for what I weave best, WORDS!

Love's Eternal Flame

Love's Eternal Flame

Trust is the flame that burns desire,
Of loves' sweet embers of a fire.
Melting like wax it rolls downstream,
As blissful as moonlights radiant beam.

Honesty the wick that molds it as one
Until the flame smolders it can't be undone.
Truth is an endless dripless sea,
Of all that bonds you to me.

Faith is the solid sacred pillar
Love is the eternal ignited filler.
Should the candle be left alone and broken,
Silently I'll wander no words to be spoken.

Copyright 2003 ©Joni Zipp

I'm Thankful For...

I'm Thankful...
I’m thankful for that one warm ray,
That shines on me to lighten my day.
I’m thankful for the dewy grass
That tickles my toes as I pass.
I’m thankful for the fragrant air,
That wafts on by without a care.
I’m thankful for the torrents of rain
That soaks my skin; releases my pain.
I’m thankful for the budding flower.
That blooms in glory, a scented shower.
I’m thankful for every timeless season,
New bark; new bough with endless reason.
I’m thankful for all the joyful bliss,
That graces my cheek as a gentle kiss.
I’m thankful for being allowed too touch,
That one lost soul whom needs so much.
I’m thankful for every little thing,
That has no worth, but smiles they bring.
I’m thankful for the minuscule,
For that where my soul can rule.
I’m thankful for all my eyes can see,
Breathless beauty from God to me.
I’m thankful for all of this and more,
The love of life, the chance to soar!

All rights reserved: copyright © Joni Zipp