Small U.S. businesses thrive with Ethiopian woman’s help. Read the story on CNN here.

Also, Obama recognizes Hero - Follow up story

Pixar grants girl’s dying wish to see ‘Up’

“A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed.” Henrik Ibsen

Image source

Let not Kindness and fidelity leave you. Bind them around your neck. Then will you win favor and good esteem before God and man! Proverbs:Chapter 3 verses 3&4 New American Bible

Check out this awesome video, Turn up your volume. This video is very true and very powerful. Please view it until the end.

Old friendships are like old songs.
They can either fit in with our
changing lifestyle and thoughts,
or be placed upon a shelf…
save for a few meaningful lyrics.

Lorraine Jara 1989

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.

Mark Twain

Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. ~Doug Larson

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

from “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” - Robert Frost (1875 - 1963)

A couple of years ago I posted a poem written by Martin Buxbaum. His poem is featured on a beautiful poster. The poster consists of one women in 3 separate stages of her life…one as a young girl, then a young woman and finally an old woman. The poem written by Martin Buxbaum on the poster is as follows: “Some people, No matter how old they get, Never lose their beauty. They merely move it from their faces, into their hearts.” - Martin Buxbaum

• The poem in the image above by Martin Buxbaum

I have seen the sea
when it is stormy
and wild;
when it is quiet
and serene’
when it is dark
and moody.
And in all its moods
I have seen myself.

• Martin Buxbaum

Below is the poster and under the poster is information about Mr. Buxbaum and his daughter Kate Buxbaum Prado. To my delight and surprise, Kate had contacted me recently. Read what Kate shared with us about our posting of her dad’s poetry. Thanks so much Kate for sharing your dad’s work with us, and for sharing your work with us as well! It’s beautiful!

Kate Buxbaum Prado writes:

My dad has been gone since 1991 and I miss him every day. He had a full life and gave much to others, and continues to give, even though he is not here. This is the same desire I have for my work. I wish I knew who was the artist that did the work with my father’s verse on beauty. It has been on the Internet for ages and nobody seems to know.

Visit www.pradospen.com and go to Prado’s Picks to view additional photo’s of Martin Buxbaum along with his poetry and that of his daughter’s.

• My Father

When I was small
my father traveled,
and then he would
come home.
But even when
he went away,
we never felt alone.
We did not have
to see him,
to know how much
he cared.
He would always
be our father,
and his love
was always there.

• By
  Kate Prado

• “I will never leave thee
  nor forsake thee.”
  Hebrews 13:5

What Will You Leave Behind? It is not just only the rich and famous who will leave a legacy, but every man, woman and child ever born, no matter who they are. Our society has become so fixated on the lives of movie stars, those in the news and the people on reality television, to where the importance of the seemingly unimportant goes unnoticed. As students graduate and head out into the world, do they carry with them the knowledge of how the life they live and the choices they make, have the potential to change a nation,or possibly change an entire world? It is up to each one of us as parents, teachers, family or friends of children of any age, to send the right message. A young man sat in the office of his guidance counselor before graduating from high school. His eye was black from having gotten into another fight. The adviser was serious when he told the student he was very smart, but it was now up to him as to where he would be in the future. Today that young man is grown. He became a very successful businessman, is a good father, a wonderful husband and gives back so much into the world around him. Did the words spoken to him by the concerned counselor change his destiny? I believe they may have. My own father wrote, “Leave more for others to follow than footprints in the water.” These few simple words have stayed with me throughout my own life as I ask myself the question, “What will you leave behind?”

Here is a verse I wrote that I use all the time for cards.

• Kindness

Kindness planted in the soil
of another with a need,
will one day blossom
back to you,
a product of
this spirit seed.

• Kate Prado

• “Give and it, shall be given unto you…” Luke 6:38

Be sure to visit scrapbook.com to view Kate’s creations (listed under “KatesCreations”).

If you go to this web site, www.letssaythanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq. You can’t pick out who gets it, but it will go to some member of the armed services.

How amazing it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! This is a great site. Please send a card. It is free and it only takes a second.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our guys and gals over there need to know we are behind them.

Listen to “People Got to Be Free” by The Rascals

I was unaware of a friendly competition that Google has been holding called “Doodle for Google”. Below is an explanation:

From Google:

Doodle 4 Google is a competition where we invite K-12 students to reinvent Google’s homepage logo. This year we asked U.S. kids to doodle around the theme “What if…?”

Our winning doodle, selected from over 16,000 entries, was created by Grace Moon, a 6th grader at Canyon Middle School from Castro Valley, California. Grace’s lovely doodle, “Up in the Clouds,” will grace our homepage, Google.com, on May 22nd, 2008.

Congratulations to Grace, and to all our finalists!

Check out the Regional Winners

When violin virtuoso Philippe Quint left a 1723 Antonio Stradivari in a taxi two weeks ago, he was distraught. The $4 million instrument was not only irreplaceable, it was on loan. But the cab driver returned the violin the next morning, and in gratitude, the Grammy-nominated musician will performed a private concert at the Newark airport cab stand.

• Article 1 - BBC
• Article 2 - Newser
• Philippe Quint homepage
• Philippe Quint - Myspace Music page

If you go to this web site, www.letssaythanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq. You can’t pick out who gets it, but it will go to some member of the armed services.

How amazing it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! This is a great site. Please send a card. It is free and it only takes a second.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our guys and gals over there need to know we are behind them.

Listen to “People Got to Be Free” by The Rascals

“All We Are Saying - IS GIVE PEACE A CHANCE.” - John Lennon

View this nice Women In Art Video.

Ray Crowe is one of Australia’s leading contemporary magicians. Here he is performing a shadow puppet sequence at the 7th Annual Helpmann Awards. Raymond Crowe offers a captivating combination of visual comedy, ventriloquism, shadow puppetry and magic. Raymond Crowe is writing a book on hand shadows.

• Links:
• View the shadow puppet show on YouTube.
• Visit Ray’s website: http://www.raymondcrowe.com
• Helpmann Official Site: http://www.helpmannawards.com.au