Political cartoons: a walk down memory lane

Ever wonder what cartoons were floating around during world events during your life?  I chose the cartoon and a blurb from an online source on the historical climate of the time from random moments.  

If you're wondering how to get blogging, just join me and do this very same exercise:  it will uniquely introduce you to the world connected by its fingertips.

April 18, 1961
My birthday

The Bay of Pigs Invasion happened the day before my birth.  Mere hours after.  I know I blog about the state of the world when I was born, in general terms, that bomb shelters were the norm.  Emergency drills community wide were never a surprise.  My father, in the Canadian air force, on stand by (think of being on on call and lock down combined).

SOURCE: http://blogs.baylor.edu/bayofpigs/


The invasion began on April 17, 1961 when the Cuban-exile invasion force, known as Brigade 2506 along the Bay of Pigs. Unfortunately Castro’s regime was prepared and they were immediately under attack.  Two of the ships transporting the soldiers were sunk and half of the air support for the Brigade was shot down. On top of that the weather was worse than expected and the men were unprepared for the attack. They eventually ran out of dry equipment and ammunition. Castro’s retaliation was much quicker than the rebellion forces were prepared for as he sent out 20,000 troops out to the beach and he poured airplanes in the sky within 24 hours of the attack. There seemed to be no sign of relief so in a last stich effort President Kennedy sent six unmarked fighter planes to help defend the brigade. However the emergency planes arrived too late and 1200 exiles surrendered and 100 were killed in the attack. The 1200 who surrendered were thrown in various prisons around Cuba.  In the end the US surrendered tractors and other goods to Cuba in exchange for the release of the prisoners.


July 20, 1969

I remember this day very clearly.  It was hours before my family's lift off where we were flying to German to spend five years.  At 8 years old, I was enraptured by the scene unfolding before the television:  a great event in history.  We were at my aunt's house, all gathered around the TV, kids laying on the floor, with elbows holding up our chins, face up to the tube.

I

Political cartoonists like to reference back to relatable events that associate with current events.

August 1974

We returned from Europe in August 1974 after a five year hiatus.  We didn't really get much news from across the pond, as television watching was scarce simply because it was in German.  Newspapers were rare.  This was what was unfolding:

WATERGATE. The largest scandal of Richard M. Nixon's presidency unfolded with the burglary on 17 June 1972 of the National Democratic Committee headquarters in the Watergate apartment-office complex in Washington, D.C. The burglars were employees of the Committee for the Re-election of the President (CRP, called "CREEP" by Nixon's opponents) and were supervised by members of the White House staff. Watergate came to symbolize the efforts of the Nixon administration to subvert the democratic order through criminal acts; the suppression of civil liberties; the levying of domestic warfare against political opponents through espionage and sabotage, discriminatory income tax audits, and other punitive executive sanctions; and attempted intimidation of the news media. President Nixon's direct role in White House efforts to cover up involvement in the Watergate break in was revealed in a tape of a 23 June 1972 conversation with White House chief of staff H. R. Haldeman, in which Nixon discussed a plan to have the CIA pressure the FBI to cease investigation of the Watergate case by claiming that national security secrets would be threatened if the Bureau widened its investigations. It was after this so-called "smoking gun" tape was made public on 6 August 1974 that President Nixon resigned from office on 9 August 1974.  SOURCE:  ic gale group.

Fast forward to recent events:

...... to be continued 

YOU, too, can be a *SUPERSTAR***

I really like the direction I am going in
after reflection, digging deep down and unmasking some goals, I have started to focus a bit better.

An interaction with someone
who could mentor me caused a chain reaction ::... stepping outside my fingertips and simply taking a stroll around.

What is the main message 
or how have I grown?  That being at the eureka phase of life where a treasure trove of happiness floats.

We can talk about karma
or charisma or vibe ::... falling short on real wonderful qualities that attracts both the gifted and the live-long learner.

The last kick at the cat
is where mid-life crisis collide with diminishing time ::... on the earth.  Can we safely and calmly say that we will leave the world a better place than when we entered it.

Borrowing the theme
from "It's a Wonderful Life" starring Jimmy Stewart.  My favorite Christmas movie of all time.  WOW, and it isn't even half way past or to the Holiday Season we acknowledge by "Merry Christmas" greetings.

Let's borrow the theme then
regardless of age or gender.  Because if you are mature enough to read this PG blog, you should be able to understand the challenge being put forth.

Grab a notebook and a pen
or a tablet or anything with a keyboard that can capture your thoughts. 

Ask yourself this
very important question ::..... if you were no longer here tomorrow, regardless of cause, would you have left the world a better place?

Being honest with yourself
is the greatest gift you can give yourself.
Like one of my father's quotes:  "U may think ur fooling most of the people most of the time, the only person you are fooling is yourself".

Do not stretch the truth
if you feel compelled to list your many accomplishments, like having wonderful children, snug with the love of your life, in your big badass house, surrounded by oodles of material "things".

Will you leave the world
a better place? If not, you better get cracking and get at it.  In the peaceful euphoric world that one could ever imagine, many before have accomplished such a feat.

The few and far betweeners
on a very exclusive and minute list of great and honorable people who put there best out there every single day.   Almost with a goal to make every single today, better in tomorrows, from the being in that day to make that speach or say that quote, that inspires someone, holds the fallen upright, without fear or consideration on how it may affect them, personally, whether by prosecution, slander real or from fame.

The story of humanity 
in their words tell us tales of tribute, gratitude, humility, as they evolve and become storytellers.  Either stories about themselves and/or their great deeds, not dwelt upon their human failings, which we are bade to not judge others from any spiritual guide (i.e. The Bible, The Quo-ran).

Pope Francis
The Daili Lama
Mother Theresa
Nelson Mendella
Princess Diana
Queen Elizabeth
Mohammed
Jesus

Whichever order or fashion  
I didn't list by importance, just who came to mind.  Then there are those who were more clouded by controversy then the gifts they imparted:

Michael Jackson
Steve Jobs
President John F. Kennedy
Picasso
Matisse

Plenty more unknown to us
step out every day and help others without expectation of any reward.  Some may flourish with wealth and fame, while others toil towards their personalized end game.  Like George in "It's a Wonderful Life" everyone can leave their mark and sometimes can choose the Epilogue or Epitaph engraved on their tomb or urn or grave.  Who leave the world a better place

My sister, Diana
Gives of her time and attention and holy intervention is helping kids who would otherwise have been cast aside.  Lucky for us, the world no longer sympathizes if anyone is hidden away, institutionalized, or slandered.

Contrary to popular belief
People want someone to look up to, in admiration and not clouded by fame.  

People are smarter
than most scammers would admit.  Are antennae are  on high alert.  More and more each day.

Fearful more than optimistic
looking for someone, some thing, or some event to lift us up and restore our confidence in human kind.

Like the names before us
to whatever degree or shame.  They had faults like the rest of us, yet we held them to a higher standard, demanded perfection from our icons.

#ART of the day ... 
by Marcia Baldwin
 { insert link to website }

#WEBSITE of the day .... Thesaurus.com

Are you REALLY linking in?

With deep regret+utter transparency
I am self-tasked to exposing executives who have an army in front of them, answering their emails, linked in messages, and anything else they find favorable.  

Face of the corporation
As an executive, you are the face to which others, mostly all, associate your name as a brand within the corporation.  Yet so many executives are dilusional to think that it won't catch up with them.  I say a LOT sooner than later!

The tides are turning
in the world of employment and recruitment.  Those measly applicants that you invited to apply, beat them up persevering through the MAZE (not amaze) of the CAREER section of most websites.

After you playing pinball?
Who has convinced the person on the other end that you dodged pinball bounces without falling into the deep dark black hole.  

You are paying for nothing
these days because you can't demonstrate value to joining your organization.  A confident prospective professional within range of your company has gracefully navigated your site well enough to get past the red stars * you keep forgetting or actually are deciding whether that is the sort of information you want to impart until there are some serious indication that a job offer is in the immediate mix.

What are u doing to sell ur company?
Should be the thing you ask all of your executives and board members at your next meeting.  In fact, it should be prioritized and then teams formed to leave for a week to come back with intelligence and insights to support their argument that everyone and every person is selling their companies 24x7/365 of the year.  

Do not allow executives to hide
behind their own personal brand, to be esteemed, somewhat feared, but powerful none the same.   Common denominator being internal fame and little public refrain. I know how the system works because I've emailed an executive for the past three years.  I would say that actually is two executives that are at the highest chain of command within unsaid organization.

Response is reflective
to the arrogant, egotistical side step.  I must importantly convey that yes every email is personally read, even if not by the person to which it was directed.  So many executives find this an excellent coping mechanism.

Bernie Sanders kind
Here in our midst, in Calgary, in Canada is a Bernie Sanders of our own.  What's that you ask?  Well, swap politician with businessman, to get the real drift of the message written here.

Only one of the executives whom I write a brief (and sometimes long) message to has ever responded, written back, and had a message-conversation of only a few.  This gentleman answers every single email personally, with humor, anecdotal.

I will share a few, without revealing the names or company to which they are aligned with.  I will also share whether there is a response and how it was handled.

 Congrats on FINALLY being offered a position worthy of you, Mr_.  You kinda got a bum rap at ur previous GIG.  Now, you may be victorious!  Thank you for keeping me on your connected list.  I hope u notice how I will reshare on LINKED IN any news with ur name on it ::... which i normally reserve for the CEO of Salesforce.com fame.    He and I connected almost immediately when we hitched a ride to LINKED IN back in 2010.   I enjoy the opportunity to read the going on of some various wellknown business leaders in Canada and abroad.  I am just launching a website called:  www.graFX.online < still under construction until my vision is aligned in an execution-able fashion.  This unnamed company will get the first right of refusal on advertising allotment, after that we will see.  I won't allow competing brands on my page at the same time.  The brands have to meet my criteria::... innovative, open to change, leading edge in technology, especially MOBILITY with a dynamic, positive, healthy culture [ marketing literature aside ] and women have half a better chance in moving up the corporate ladder than other places.  

A cultural fit
Examine the culture before you go work anywhere.  Where I currently work had almost all of the checks in my boxes to agree to go work, some would consider under-employed, I like to think of as a new beginning.

That has gone on far too long
for any sane person.  Yet here is the magic.  I demonstrate tenacity and sticking to my commitments.  I won't dwell on the past where my loyalty was skathed and bruised confidence hang out.

A hang out for disbelievers?
Or a place for optimistic comradely and support to stay connected.  Cheering each other on when you see someone heading to the finish line:  fame, wealth comes second to the thrill of finding something that people will love.

A legacy we must not forget
fading Steve Jobs back into the backdrop of historical proportions.  Where his greatest arch-rival still maintains.

Objet d'art (plural objets d'art) means literally "art object", or work of art, in French, but in practice the term has long been reserved in English to describe works of art that are not paintings, large or medium-sized sculptures, prints or drawings. It therefore covers a wide range of works, usually small and three-dimensional, of high quality and finish in areas of the decorative arts, such as metalwork items, with or without enamel, small carvings, statuettes and plaquettes in any material, including engraved gems, hardstone carvings, ivory carvings including Japanese netsuke and similar items, non-utilitarian porcelain and glass, and a vast range of objects that would also be classed as antiques (or indeed antiquities), such as small clocks, watches, gold boxes, and sometimes textiles, especially tapestries. Books with fine bookbindings might be included.

An objet de vertu by excellence, Fabergé's "Memory of Azov Egg" (1891), contains a ship model wrought of gold.

A Swiss singing bird box with a bucolic lake scene on the lid, c. 1825, another example of an objet de vertu.

The term is somewhat flexible, and is often used as a broad term for "everything else" after major categories have been dealt with. 

Objets d'art 
Creating aesthetically beautiful objects, words, art, songs, melody, photography with innovation and zest.  Those are the best leaders because they want perfection.  They've been knocked around a few times, but they bounce back stronger.

How many can you think of 
who has had that?  You know I mean Steve Jobs, I've mentioned Barrack Obama before.  Who is really leading the spirit of the social media?  Facebook or Twitter may think they've gotten "IT" while instaGRAM or snapCHAT or PINterest display it can channel and expand the audience.  

Besides the where-with-all
who is really leading the charge?  Google and newly formed Alpabet?  Again, I challenge you to think beyond that.  Those are companies all aforementioned.  

I'm talking about personal BRAND
that has not been sold to the highest bidder ...... yet.

I message to executives in the spring of 2017:
pay attention to your culture, examine it objectively, challenge who is selling your brand.  Setting advertising agencies and pre-set social media placement aside.  

Who IS selling your brand?
Get rid of the CEOs and boards who collect a paycheque and run the accounting side of your business or investments.  They are the short run wagons to hitch a ride on.  The enduring, innovative, revolutionary companies in history had a leader and company overlapping by brand.

Hire the writers and the imagineers
who can see the future clearly, not clogged with BS and YES-men (and ever-growing, but still far behind, number of women)?  

Fire the ad agencies
who are merely graphic design studios.  Nothing like the "Mad Men" era so well depicted in one of my favorite docu-drama series of all time for me.  

Ogilvy on advertising 
is a worthy read.  It should be a mainstay in any creative agency or entrepreneur.  His extraordinary vision is like a bible to how to behave online and get sophisticated, academic, creative followers is a mighty key.

Story telling
was clearly the backbone to Ogilvy's approach.  How isn't that phenomenal when you think of the brands that are winning because of how they act online?  Whether by video or posted words.  Tells the story.

The exchange with others
is a one-sided currency ... except where in one instance a time I was online [ Wednesday ] with full force and paying attention,  I witnessed a customer with a REALLY big following on Twitter tweet his dissatisfaction with his customer experience for their technology.

Ability to respond
Is your company equipped to respond?
You have to be honest here.  Start from the very top and then cascade down the line.  

Whoever professes ignorance
are likely your board of directors, of the Baby Boomer age  [ born from 1959 to 1945 times ] where spark is of the very limited kind.  Who has last had an idea that sat where your company is run?

Whoever professes participation
can fan-dangle and confuse you with so much techno garbage and marketing slogan-ish barbs.  They are no more online than your top dog CEO.  Some have presence to be sure.  Mostly on things not deemed indicative of your brand [ for example, pornography, mean words, falsehoods, sarcasm ]

Operated by robots
who send out your endorsed words ::... usually a campaign, that really is advertising.  This is where the gifted online rise above.  They can smell a scam or a spam, cloaked in sophisticated disguise.  

Whereas the responses
are automatic.  As though they've been keyed in by a computer after a roundtable of committee members compose or decide which will be exposed online.  [NOTE: if you ever want a NONdecision, get a group together and call them a committee or an association].

Ego can collide
with the noise online.  People with much greater value, wisdom and words emerge and rise to the top.  Not the brands with their tricks and paid dollars to drive revenue or traffic to websites to justify their existence.

Merely hanging on with a bandaid
will be those who will be faced if they don't wake up and pay attention to the ability to CONVERSE online with your customers, your supporters, your buyers, your vendors, your fans while being made aware of your detractors, competition or negative vibe generators.

Make sure everyone is telling a story
even if it isn't your story.  In fact, that would be better.  Share stories of employees who reached out to connect online with an idea to help others that generated a response and churned the wheels of progress and communication farther.

Hang up the old standards
and start creating a culture that adapts to the ever-changing world.  Ensure your technology is robust enough to withstand cyber attacks.  

Hire wikileaks as your defender
of all that is true and exemplary.  Less would be exposed, embarrassed and sink off into the moonlight as the werewolves of change howl.

I'd love to sell wikileaks.com services
Can you just imagine?  A brand name that anyone who is everyone can ignore any longer.  One of the easiest criteria to determine who to sell for.  If you have made it past the excruciatingly painful online "SUBMIT" on the CAREER portal, you have proven that you are worthy to work there wouldn't you think?  Fear not, that application sits behind technology.  It picks out key words in the resume that it has hyperboiled into identifiable words that in all its theory can expose.  

Missing key ingredients like instinct
judgement and overall presentation.  How can you hire someone so poised and seemingly perfect who has constantly garlic breath and something green stuck in his or her teeth?  

A computer taught to think still lacks instinct and human judgement that can unfortunately be pre-determined by bias or self-centered view, yet can also see smiles, sense warmth, sincerity  clearly shine.   Yet today's forward thinking companies are falling behind in the times.  

Becoming more robot
and run by a gaggle of gearheads or geeks [ of the destructive kind like hackers, exhibitionists to namely only two ].  The silliness that it needs to be cautioned against may seem almost alarmist by some.

Where complacency rests
on the shoulders of nuts, bolts, power, fingers, minds is sadly what is happening.  They've climb the heap of others, even stepping on a few to get there.  These are the people who are behind your company's words?  The popular or populist ones.

Maybe they are more expensive
in the thousands an idea and more when delivered on time, if on time.  To ignore the ability to resound your message and create a positive vibe is an opportunity so many companies are missing.

Remember, I said it starts at the top?
Proof is not hidden, nor under a disguise.  That to which Trump earns my respect for his wisdom of speaking online.  For himself, by himself.  Rather than the pocket of a few others, the rest allowing a technology or stranger to convey what is on your mind?

How is that possible?
I can tell you how.  They're ignorant of the influence they have online, denying the potential to have every single employee, customer communicate and interact online.  Where are the skilled manifestos of intellectual power your boast you have?  Hidden and trampled on by your sickness going misdiagnosed.  Inspected or neglected?  Either cause harm.

Your employees' valuable time
is important and you should concede or acknowledge that.  Their ideas more rich and fruitful than anyone trying to tell you what you want to hear.  They are impassioned by the believers and loyalists lost in your midst.  A true voice for your company.

If you can, seek and find
the RT on Twitter from 48 hours ago where I exclaimed over an exchange between a customer and his support service solving a problem, together, in real time, online.  No waiting line or number queue.  Immediate, solution nailed and resolution intact.  Not to mention the proof of your culture not as clearly defined as shown, demonstrated and acted on.  

Not by hey-sayers nor digital players
who are usually of the very young mind.  No experience or wisdom to fall upon, just speed in clickness and keen savviness they climbed over the backs of the many who built things, helped build the company.  Besides the gold pin for 5 years or platinum for 10, retirement parties have become instinct.  Those were the best networking environments of my career.  If you were well enough liked or respected, you would be invited to a retirement party, a fond adieu by many as they blend into the twilight of years, traveling, not working, painting, writing.

If you read enough news

you can almost start to believe it.  

When you choose the news you want 

it is much easier to follow it.

~ Jeannette Marshall

TodayJeannette Marshall sent the following message at 12:48 PM

• Congrats on the new job! What will u be doing now M? Is this something one can do online? I currently work in Loyalty & Retention at a call center at one of Canada's largest _____corporation. If I can leave by Tuesday at the same $25/hr with home office I'd be deliriously happy!  It would allow me to continue my passion online.

An empty nester ~ winning Lottery ~ Easter weekend kind

If either of us saw a picture of us right now, we may have decided against one of the best decisions of our life.

I knew that my conversation with my 82/year young mother would keep paying forward in my consciousnesses thoughts.  Interesting how she gave me a zinger that caught my attention big time!  She said that I seemed more caught up in the present, letting go of the past, and no longer fretting with what the future has in mind.

The Hunkster Hubster picked up some groceries, where we share the chores of putting together dinner.  A ritual of sorts for the empty nesting kind.  Except this is the Easter long weekend where we get to spend the whole weekend together.  That is not a big deal in our world.  Even though we both work full time, our hours are lopsided and inconsistent.  To have a four day weekend off at the same time is of the winning-Lottery kind.

For my husband to recognize it as a special occasion makes our goofy get-ups almost forgivable.  Certainly, for sure if no kids were to drop by.  Since that is highly unlikely these days, it is about making sun when the sun shines.

Like the bed pan I found at Goodwill yesterday for $12 at half-price because it was 50% Blue Tag day there.  I've been the luckiest on Blue Tag Day.  Maybe there is a system to group things together as they are being priced?  Now wouldn't that be amazing eh?

I've been reading a lot about Bitcoin from ages ago.  Wanting to extrapolate what the "experts" said back then:  optimistic or pessimistic or skeptical?  One may think that it would be an accurate portrayal of how things unfold online.  However, let's be realistic and recognize that anything that is held online is vulnerable.

Then again Carney (another secret crush, that is no longer a secret) says that it may actually work:  that Blockchain may work across financial and global boundaries.  That WOULD be revolutionary.

Yet even if Carney were to drive up in a Limousine towing a Guelia for me (you know that red commercial?  I'd insert here for a fee.

At some point as a blogger or writer you have to decide that what you write is worthwhile.  Putting the words out there with hopes that someone would really like what you're saying and *POOF* you're a Brand Ambassador!!  Perfecto.  Bellisimo Mon Ami!!

I've supported @SocialFave as it was a launchling and now picking up steam.  Its CEO, Philippe Trebault @MisterFavor and I became connected back when I started in 2010.  March 2010 as a matter of fact.  Linked In was my very first approach to social media.   This group of early adopters I met there are the most important kind.  Somehow, even as I am compelled to go to work to earn my keep, there are those that pop out in front of me when I'm online.  I'd have to say the few that immediately come to mind:

* Sandy Hubbard @sandyhubbard
* Joseph Ruiz @josephyruiz
* Dave Reynolds @therealdavereynolds

Those are the long-timers that were experimenting and discovering a really neat feature nestled among the nest of social media, which was just starting to take flight:  the #hashtag conversation.

We've now graduated to being able to carry on public conversations with remarkable people of every different, race, color and kind.  Joined by intellect, creative minds, gifted wordsmiths, artists, photographers.  Yet as the millions clamber on board, how many are really making money or doing it to pass the time?

I think the most superb thing about starting out 7 years ago, some names were really getting widespread recognition (think Sean Knight + JessicaN + a few more that are at the top in the media's mind ... like the CEO Benoit who became a mutual follower back then.

Make new friends, love the old

one is silver and the other GOLD
as I grow each older, the more appreciative I've become of so many wonderful experiences to be blessed with, never for a moment taking any of it for granted.

working one's self to the core 
doesn't do anyone favors (p.s. in Canadianese the American favors is favored by spell check, but we Canadians taught articulation in the late 60s and the early 70s were blessed with the very big gift of expression. ..... :: anywayyyyyyyyyyyyyys [an 80s term for those yuppies still out there, and the Millennial wannabes ::.... how things have evolved eh?

In the folds of being born of the 60s
like wallflowers to the Baby Boomers, we observed, we absorbed the best parts, we have held our composure, and now we are parents of the gift to our generation:  the gift of the Millennial Bloom.  

We're pretty lucky
even though if you paid attention to statistics and stereotypical behavior, those born in the 60s were pre-packaged to lean towards failure.  If you think stereo-typing is dangerous, especially to mental health, think of the resilience and tenacity of anyone you know, been lucky enough to have met, or heaven help you if you're an offspring.

A beacon of light
to the Millennials is their embrace of the 80s culture.  Is it because there is a soul connection of what those of us in our 20s in the 80s aligned with what our own Millennials are facing.

Where optimism can be restored
when you think of what great things, events, game-changers occurred in the 80s, introduced back then, every day now.  

Boxers who come out of the corner
jumping into the obstacle ahead, head of, crouched in readiness to take the offensive with hardly a sniffle and long before a drop of sweat.  That would define those who lived their 20s in the 80s.  

I graduated from college in the 80s
and it was a great platform to launch a career.  Not limited by the restrictive curriculum, more persevering to land beyond the world of conformity, censorship, polite manners, poise and abloom with everything is impossible, we may as well make the impossible possible.

I notice some really talented folks out there.  Some that mere names crossed paths with me.  What a crazy, crazy CRAZY time, when I think back to it.  With gurgling reflection caught and captured from my conversation with my mother this afternoon.

Being the parent of a Millennial
is a worrisome, full board, attentive preoccupation.  You revel is the brilliance shining from your child born, first in 1989, with the others to follow in the 90s.  

We're lucky so they are lucky
as well.  Like skipping stones across a glass-like lake or quietly lapping ocean shore.  We may have been born in inopportune times, faced some pretty insur-mountable odds.  What we share is that grasp of not expecting anything for free, without commitment, not always sacrifice [ often by choice ] understanding the basic rightful work ethic:  

* work hard
* work honestly
* work with integrity
* be known for your word without all the numerous
* be committed to quality

* whatever you do, do it with pride

* love who you do it with, who you're surrounded by

* do your best always, it always pays off in spades

A dog eat dog world 
began with the Baby Boomers with entitlement mastered by GenX.  Where those born of the 60s, grew in the 80s, parents of the Millennials >> skipped >> over the hay days and landed in the middle of the first recession since the 1929 stock market crash [ if you do not know anything about this historical event, pause this article and go find out about it .... as my commitment to you as a blogger, you read ] we had to survive.  Really not much opportunity to learn as funds dried up and kids had to go leave post-secondary because their was some sort of crisis in their lives, with their family, that took more important measure instead.

Learn from your elders
as much as you can.  No time will be wasted.  I can guarantee that!  Talking to my mother, with so many wise words shared.  I even said to her:  "I hope I remember all of this for when I write later".  The gift of her wisdom was shone brightly upon me, like a face of a flower blooming forward towards the sun.  

I was a sponge in the 80s
that was my greatest gift.  I only had a college diploma, not even a university degree.  It was enough to teach me discipline and that anything worthwhile doesn't come free, without commitment and stick-to-it-ness that is just emerging within the Millennial generation.  

Millennials have faced fear
reflected in their parents eyes.  A strong, tough upper lip, and a straight spine.  We weren't even considering weakness, with goals clearly defined in our line of vision.  

Dedication, optimism ~
contagiously positive attitudes were bestowed upon our offspring.  Whether they grasped those sprinkles of enlightenment and hung on to the best qualities we shared.

Nobody is perfect
and neither is anyone who defines themselves as a Yuppie.  [ Or admits in select company and trusted members ] Who wear it as an emblem of pride, saying "who cares?" if they still have enough hair left to grow a mullet, why not?

As the Millennials groan
and tsk tsk with embarrassment to their very influential peers.  What their peers think of them is more important than their parents, their boyfriend, or their employer slash / boss could ever dream.  A peer sets the benchmark and the height of the peddle stool they are awarded, acclaimed, worshiped or refrained.

Be still thine parental heart
it is just a mutation of your chromosomes, evolved and collided with nature and environment to form an independent being, an individual.  I know it is very hard.  Like a moth does to a butterfly without the loss of the moth, is the butterfly allowed to form.

Be glad, be proud and be boastful
toward anyone who'll listen.  Those are the ones you want to be around.  They can relate, or your words resonate with them.

Unlike my mom's words
this afternoon.  They were so wise, so enlightening ... almost as though I was leaving a cocoon.    While I'd been living these 55 years, I was enclosed in a small outlook, not looking far beyond to where flowers bloom and the sun's flower is warm with a gentle wind, with an iced tea at my elbow.  I'm careful I don't give it a nudge to topple it over as I tap, tap, tap with the rhythm of my 1979 typing class on an electric typewriter.  Graduating exceeding 120 clicks minutes  ::.... now WHAT was it called back in those days when we took our speed tests on a manual typewriter?  Hmmmm I think it was ... nope not characters per second, or any variation of the Times New Roman font that was the only letters to be had, to write a letter, draw up an agreement or a contract.  

Some of us grew up with carbon copy
yet how many know what that material is?  What it is like to try to avoid staining your fingers on the sticky substance on its back with a wrapping-paper thin or thinner-than-onion paper thin [ I'm sure Google can show you what either of those things are .... if not, Wikipedia for sure ].

This is a story for those 
who remember the glory of being a yuppie.  Bringing in the 80s as we all turned 20.  That is a pretty unique identifiable experience, a uniqueness we can own.  A significant contribution to our society came from our decade.  [ you may have to dig back to my other INBETWEENERs blog (before we evolved to be called "YUPPYDOM" ) mere weeks ago I wrote about those who graduated from the 1960s and became icons of our time.  Across borders, beliefs, colors, race or country, the class of the 1960s born are unique with much to boast about.

Keep steady on the present.
Slam the door or gently close the past.  Forget about the future because it isn't anything you can touch right now.  So you may as well be aware of the present and make every moment count!

where everything is impossible, 

we may as well make the 

impossible possible

~Jeannette Marshall