Hadoop Overview - Doug Cutting

Doug took us through the Hadoop timeline. Starting with the problems faced by the Nutch team and the Google MapReduce paper. The Hadoop project enabled Nutch to overcome scaling limitations to reach what at the time was web scale. Yahoo have now broken the Terasort record using a Hadoop cluster.

Hadoop on Amazon S3/EC2 - Tom White

Tom highlighted a implementation issues surrounding his experience deploying Hadoop clusters to AWS.

Predictably he's found that positioning job data closer to the Hadoop cluster improves performance, for example storing data in S3 results in approx 50% of the performance of storing the data locally in the EC2 cluster.

Tom's experience of node failure is about 2%. This is a nuisance if it's a regular node, but a serious problem if your name node fails... so as things stand you have to be prepared to deal with job failures. In light of that failure rate, Tom highlighted a potential gap in the Hadoop toolset, namely a way of reporting failures to subsequent dependent jobs.

Smartfrog - Steve Loughran

Steve presented a system called Smartfrog which enables configuration management for distributed systems. Hadoop comes into its own when you're dealing with more than a handful of nodes, and even at those small scales a sensible nerd will need automated configuration management.

Hadoop usage at Last FM - Martin, Elias and Johan

From the looks of things everyone at Last FM is hip-deep in Hadoop. That makes a lot of sense since one of the most important features of Last FM is the ability to recommend music... a difficult and wooly job at best. No wonder they churn a lot of data. The main point I took away from this was that there are lots of people actively using Hadoop and thinking about ways to improve it.

Using Hadoop and Nutch for NLP - Miles Osborne

Miles teaches Natural Language Processing at the University of Edinburgh. Using the Mahout sub-project he's been using Hadoop to process blogs (amongst other things) to form models of the structures used in natural language.

PostgreSQL to HBase replication - Tim Sell

Tim set up a replication system so that the team can run heavy queries on their data without endlessly harrassing their PostgreSQL database. Due to the lack of triggers in HBase it's unlikely that the reverse of this process will be possible in the short term, but due to the nature of the two systems it's less likely to be required.

Distributed Lucene - Mark Butler

One of the failings of the current open source stack is a solid choice for a distributed search index. Mark took Doug Cutting's proposal for a distributed index based on Lucene and implemented an alpha version of a working system.

This system features;

• Name node
• Heatbeats to detect failures
• Updates indexes transactionally by versioning and committing across the cluster
• Sharding is handled via the client API rather than by the name node
• Replication is handled via data node leases

Dumbo - Klass Bosteels

Klass has implemented Dumbo, a system that allows you to write disposable Hadoop streaming programs in Python. The aim was to reduce the amount of work involved writing one-off jobs. This seems like it could become part of the Hadoop toolset as it's certain to be useful to a lot of people.

I don't mind where you come from
As long as you come to me
I don't like illusions I can't see
Them clearly

I don't care no I wouldn't dare
To fix the twist in you
You've shown me eventually
What you'll do

I don't mind...
I don't care...
As long as you're here

Go ahead tell me you'll leave again
You'll just come back running
Holding your scarred heart in hand
It's all the same
And I'll take you for who you are
If you take me for everything
Do it all over again
It's all the same

Hours slide and days go by
Till you decide to come

However long you stay
Is all that I am
I don't mind...
I don't care...
As long as you're here

Go ahead tell me you'll leave again
You'll just come back running
Holding your scarred heart in hand
It's all the same
And I'll take you for who you are
If you take me for everything
Do it all over again
It's always the same

Go ahead say it you're leaving
You'll just come back running
Holding your scarred heart in hand
It's all the same
And I'll take you for who you are
If you take me for everything
Do it all over again
It's all the same

Oxfam's Health & Education For All campaign is active in over 15 countries around the world.

This week, we take a look at the campaign in the Netherlands, where signing a petition means hugging a nurse.

Curious what this looks like? Watch this video...

The question remains, why exactly are the Dutch are hugging nurses?

In many poor countries public health services are kept afloat by a skeleton of staff of overworked and underpaid nurses, doctors and other workers. Many put in long hours with for very little pay. Oxfam calls that heroic! We want these nurses and doctors to be seen for the heroes that they are.

Hugging a nurse shows that we appreciate the work these amazing people are doing despite these challenges – we are saying thank you! But people are also hugging to show that they want governments and international institution to invest in and support quality health care for all people.

Poor countries need 4 million more doctors and nurses. This serious shortage of health workers across the world is one of the biggest challenges to achieving health and development goals, and ultimately ending poverty. The crisis is stopping people getting the medicines and vaccinations they need. It is the reason why every minute one woman still dies in pregnancy or childbirth. This is a crisis that’s preventable with the right money provided to poor countries. That’s the money that will pay for more nurses and doctors as well as the medicines and medical equipment they need.

The campaign in the Netherlands has just started and already more than 7000 people have hugged a nurse – and there are far more who have pledged their support for our campaigning on health and education.

Check out these photos to see some hugging action!

And if you're Dutch yourself, why not get involved in Oxfam Novib's campaign and hug a nurse yourself!

I'm not saying that soldiers in World War II definitely didn't wear American Eagle jackets, but I'm guessing that they probably didn't.  They probably didn't carry Norelco beard trimmers in their flack jackets either.

All I'm saying is can't we at least try to making this shit believable?

(I hate stock photography).

Some days are more difficult than others. The walk home from the train station feels like it will take forever. My legs get heavier and heavier with each step. It's just one of those days. When it all gets a little bit too much. Some days I just feel older than the mountains. My soul feels drained. I am tired to my bones. I am going home. But all I want to do is get into bed and sleep. Curl up and switch off the lights. The light inside my head. But not everyone notice or care.

I haven't even hit the first step to the porch yet when I hear it. "Daddy's home!" It's the little one. And she has been waiting for me to come home. But not tonight. Tonight daddy is tired. He needs time to switch off. Daddy doesn't feel like much tonight.

I open the door and my oldest runs up and jumps into my arms. "Hello Dad!" Big kiss and a hug. The little one is patiently waiting for her turn. She is still to small to jump. But she tries. A little hobble and a bump and she almost hits my knees. I pick her up and give her a hug and a kiss. She gives me a big squeeze. "Hello daddy. I missed you." I put her down and put my bag down. Go into the kitchen and kiss my wife. I am in robot mode. Doing what I do because I love them. They don't have to suffer my tiredness.

The little one shouts, "Hey dad! We're having goggas tonight. Ooh, I looove goggas". Goggas is spaghetti bolognese. A family favorite. We call it goggas because of the spaghetti strings. Goggas is spider or bugs in my language. A bowl of spaghetti looks like spider legs. And she loves goggas. No, she loooves goggas.

I stand in the kitchen with my wife. Just listening to how her day was. Packing away the dishes and packing the dishwasher. Taking out the bowls and forks. My wife can see I am not myself. She knows this mood. When I feel as if I am away from my body. Staring at myself through a cloud. She'll ask me what's wrong. And I'll just say, "Nothing". Really nothing. I am just tired.

I hear her voice shouting from the lounge. The little one. "Dad! Come look here. I made you something!" I drag myself to the lounge. She jumps up with her big smile and bigger eyes. Sparkling. "Look dad. I made you a picture. See? It's you and Mommy. And there's a tree. And a princess. It's me. And there's another princess. My sister. And a cat. And some broccoli. I looove broccoli. I made it for you daddy." She smiles and her eyes shines with happiness because she gave me a present. I put up my best smile. I say thank you for the pretty picture. I ask her to put it at my bag. I'll take it later. I hardly looked at the picture. I smile at her and go back to the kitchen. No focus. No attention span.

We sit down and eat together. The four of us. I am quiet. My oldest one tells me of the book she is reading. I nod my head and flash a smile. The little one pipes up. "Hey dad! Knock, knock." "Who's there". "Banana." "Banana who?" "Banana is naked and crossing the road. Haaaaahaha." I smile at her. She doesn't get all the jokes yet. But she tries. And she finds them extremely funny. I am still in a daze. Everything clicks over so much slower in my mind when I am like this.

Dinner is done. The little one eats her desert while I clean up the kitchen. She is done. And she runs up and shouts, "Dad. Pick me up! Pick me up!" "Please girl. I am tired. I just want to do the kitchen. Just eat your ice-cream please." "I'm done daddy. Pick me up. Pick me up! Let me touch the roof!" I sigh. "Oh girl, daddy is really tired. Just once okay." I pick her up and lift her high up so she can touch the roof. She giggles. "Again! Again!" "No girl. Really. Dad's tired." "Just one more time please daddy. Let me touch the roof!" I sigh. "Oh girl." I pick her up and lift her up sideways. She really has to stretch for this one. And she giggles and laughs. "I touched it daddy! I touched it. Thank you dad!" I give a half-hearted smile. "Well done girl."

Time to get her in bed. "Come let's go bath. Quickly girl. Daddy's still got lots to do. Let's move it." "Carry me up dad! Carry me up." I really don't have the energy. "Please girl. Daddy's tired. Can't you just walk up the stairs?" "Please daddy. Carry me up?" I pick her up. She puts her arms around my neck and puts her head on my shoulder. I can see her smile from the corner of my eye. She whispers, "I love you daddy". "I love you to girl. Daddy's just tired okay? Let's just get into the bath and get it done okay?" "Okay daddy." She is still smiling.

But it isn't okay. We get upstairs and I put her down. She runs around like a crazy thing. This little girl with the build-in nuclear energy reactor and the smile. She runs into her bigger sister's room just to irritate her. She runs in and makes a silly face, wiggles her bums and runs out laughing. She runs into our bedroom and jumps on the bed. Off on the other side. Chase the cats. Runs into her room and runs out. "Come on girl. Please. Move it. Let's get into the bath. I am tired. I still have lots to do. Please." I am begging now. She gets on the toilet and makes a wee. I get her bath ready. I walk past her to go get her toothbrush. She grabs my legs with her short little legs. Trying to trip me. "Oh please girl." She giggles and laughs. "I got you daddy." This is turning into a long night.

She is done on the loo. She flushes and closes the lid. And then jumps on top of the lid. It's next to the mirror. "Come daddy. Time for a photo." "Oh please girl. Not tonight." "Come daddy. Just one photo." I lean forward and she leans over to me and grabs my shoulders - and on her tippy toes leans over to the mirror for the "photo". She looks at me and says, "smile for the photo daddy". I give a fake smile and she smiles with her teeth showing all over the place. "Cheese daddy." It's done. "Wait daddy. A funny one." "You said only one girl." "But we always do a funny one." I am getting impatient. "Come on now." She leans in again and pulls what she thinks is a funny face. I pull a funny face. She laughs as if it is the funniest thing she has ever seen. "Come girl. Let's just brush your teeth."

We brush her teeth. She sucks the toothpaste and plays with the water in her mouth when she gargles. She spits all over the basin. "Look at my clean teeth daddy." She flashes me her teeth - pushing her whole face forward. "See how shiny they are daddy." "Very pretty. Now come now girl. Let's just bath." Please.

She runs out the bath into our room and turns around. She faces the bathroom like an athlete ready to start the marathon. She runs screaming to the bathroom and when she gets to the edge of the bath she shouts "cannonball!". And then stops and slowly gets in the bath on little foot after the other.

"More water dad. Make it deeper. More bubbles." "Come girl. Please! Stop splashing. Just a quick bath tonight. Daddy really needs to get his work done and get into bed. Let's just finish." She ggiles and laughs when I wash her feet. "It' so ticklish dad", she says while laughing. She splashes around and throws all her toys in the bath. "Where's my little duckie?" Crisis. "Find it daddy. His mommy and daddy is waiting for him and he is all alone." I find the duckie and pull the plug at the same time. The water drains out like my energy.

Drying her and dressing her. Never easy. She smears water on my clothes with her wet hands to see what patterns she can make. "Pull my finger daddy." Oh. I pull her finger and she makes a farting sound with her mouth. Haha. "Wasn't that funny daddy?" "Put some cream on me daddy. My skin is itchy." At last time to get her dressed. I slip on her pajamas and she starts giggling. "Don't tickle me dad." I know what she wants. She wants me to tickle her under her arms (kieliebakke) when she lifts her arms. She crashes to the floor when I just put one finger under her arm. "Oh dad. I told you not to tickle me." She says this while lying on the floor laughing and saying "Oh, ooooooh" the whole time. Time for bed. She goes to sleep first and then I must hit the sack. I am knackered. My brain is starting to shut down.

"Wait daddy. I forgot my dodo bear". "Oh, come on girl. Just get another toy to sleep with you okay?" "But it's dodo bear daddy. He always sleeps with me." She runs down stairs to get the bloody bear. I lie down on her bed and close my eyes. Oh please I hope she gets the bear and move it. I shout from the top, "Move it girl!" She runs up the stairs and into her room holding up dodo bear and shouting, "Got him dad!"

She struggles to get up her bed. It's too high. And the she jumps off. "Oh, I almost forgot to put my baby Jack-jack in his bed." I sigh. Just hang in there. It's almost done. I am just going through the motions now. Trying to survive this whirlwind. Almost done.

She grabs a book. It's Wally (Waldo in the US). She knows where Wally is hiding. She finds them all faster than me. It takes just a few minutes to read. Thank God. "Again dad. One more time!" She wants to do it again... And again... "One more time daddy." Always a spark and a sparkle in her voice.

My tiredness has caught up and getting way ahead of me now. I am on edge of the abyss staring down. The floor is sucking me down.

"Okay girl. That's enough. I'll put on your Nemo CD and you go to sleep now. Okay? I don't want to hear you again when I go downstairs. It's time for bed now."

I get up and press play on her CD player. I wait a split second to check if the volume is okay. It's done. I get up and start walking out the door. At last. I can finish everything else and get into bed. I am not even going to blog tonight. There is just nothing left in the tank. I am on the edge. I have to go to sleep before I get too grumpy. Or rather grumpier. And then I hear my little ones voice. No sparkle this time. No happiness. Just a sad little voice coming softly from her bed.

"But daddy. What about my huggle* and kissy?"

I froze. It's like Mike Tyson in his prime just hit me in my stomach. Like a sledgehammer. I winch. It sucks the wind out of my system. The blood drains from my whole boddy. The huggle. How can I forget the huggle?

All she wanted was a huggle and a kissy. All she is is happy about is seeing her dad. From when she gets up in the morning and misses me to when I get home. She phones in the morning to say hello and to tell me she loves me and misses me. She just doesn't care about how tired I am. She doesn't care that I had a tough day. Or that I feel drained. Or that I feel the weight on my shoulders today. She doesn't care because she loves me. She doesn't care because she has been waiting all day to see her daddy. And all she wanted was a huggle and a kissy.

I stood there for a minute. I could feel the tears coming. How could I do this to my little girl. She just wants her daddy. I turn around and pull my funniest face - mouth skew, tongue out, eyes wide - everything. And say in my stupidest and deepest monster voice, "A tuggle? What's a tuggle? Is it like a tickle?"

Her eyes lights up immediately. And a huge smile spreads across her face. "No daddy! I said a huggle! Not a tickle!" I run over to her and gave her a tickle that goes on forever. She laughed from her stomach. Big breaths as she laughs her heart out. And then we quiet down and I look at her and say, "I love you so much my girlie". "I love you too daddy."

I give her a big huggle and a big kissy. No. A BIIIIIG huggle and a HUUUGE kissy. "One more daddy." "And another one daddy." And then she smiles at me and turns around to grab dodo bear. I leave the room with another "I love you girlie" and a "I love you daddy". And another quick huggle and a kissy.

That's my little girl. She doesn't care because she loves me. All she wanted was her dad. And a huggle and kissy.

And as I walked down the stairs I made a little promise to myself. Never again will I chase her on to finish up. Never again will I give her a half-hearted smile. Never again will I tell her to hurry up. Never again will I tell her daddy just wants to go to sleep. Never again will I not smile for the photo. Never again will I feel too tired. Never again will I forget about the huggle and the kissy. Because she doesn't care. And rightly so. She's my little girlie.

___________________________

* Note: A huggle is a word she created. It's a combination of a hug and a cuddle. A big hug. No, a huge hug. But with lots of love. A huggle.

If I knew it would be the last time
That I’d see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly
and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.

If I knew it would be the last time
that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss
and call you back for one more.

If I knew it would be the last time
I’d hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would video tape each action and word,
so I could play them back day after day.

If I knew it would be the last time,
I could spare an extra minute
to stop and say “I love you,”
instead of assuming you would KNOW I do.

If I knew it would be the last time
I would be there to share your day,
well I’m sure you’ll have so many more,
so I can let just this one slip away.

For surely there’s always tomorrow
to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance
to make everything just right.

There will always be another day
to say “I love you,”
And certainly there’s another chance
to say our “Anything I can do?”

But just in case I might be wrong,
and today is all I get,
I’d like to say how much I love you
and I hope we never forget.

Tomorrow is not promised to anyone,
young or old alike,
And today may be the last chance
you get to hold your loved one tight.

So if you’re waiting for tomorrow,
why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes,
you’ll surely regret the day,

That you didn’t take that extra time
for a smile, a hug, or a kiss
and you were too busy to grant someone,
what turned out to be their one last wish.

So hold your loved ones close today,
and whisper in their ear,
Tell them how much you love them
and that you’ll always hold them dear

Take time to say “I’m sorry,”
“Please forgive me,” “Thank you,” or “It’s okay.”
And if tomorrow never comes,
you’ll have no regrets about today.

~ Dr. H Solomon - written in memory of those who perished in the 9/11 tragedy.

My take? I'm okay with PDA, but mind you, it comes with T&C. I don't mind a hug or a peck but doing something in public that invites disgust is indeed disgusting!! I think human touch is magical. It can work wonders. Do you ever touch your friends/parents when you are conversing with them? Ok, the way I framed the last sentence is corny, but I can't think of a better way to put it. I do that sometimes, and I enjoy it, so does the person on the other end. I really give a damn to those ignorants who squeal "how gay is that!" at the sight of two girls/ guys hugging each other. Drawing a line between doing and over-doing is very important, if you don't want to be chased by the moral police!

Anyway, comments are awaited eagerly and you can use anonymity :D

PS: I love this pic. Look at them, lost in each other's arms! :)

Today I ran into a doctor I used to work with.  Though we live in the same city, we had lost touch and have not seen each other for ten years.  This afternoon, walking into a local University for a meeting, he notices me as I walk out, and says hello.  We give each other a hug.

Also, another long time ago, former colleague happens to be at the same meeting and walks up behind me saying, "I recognize the back of your head."  I'm not sure that the back of my head is so recognizable, but one big hug later, I was glad that she did recognize it.  So, this week has been one of reconnecting with people from my past.  In each case, I realize, it was the other person that saw or contacted me first. 

Tonight as I get ready for bed, I wonder who I will run into next. I will think of someone I have been wanted to hear from and envision it.  Let's see what happens.  Do you have any old friends that you would like to connect with?

A simple sms from this friend warmed my heart.
The truth cheers me up.
The fact that this friend is ALWAYS there.
It's blissful to be someone baby.
It's nice to have a shoulder to cry on,
when you REAaalllLLY need it.
It's sweet to have hugs of comfort.
The feeling of being loved, pamper & spoiled are really sweet.

Davine wanna have this relationship with the Lord.
Not just a Father & daughter relation,
but a 'BGR' with my Lord.
HAHA, this is exciting for me!!!
Only Him alone, be the Lover of My Heart.
His love never hurts, never fails & never fades.
This is the love that my heart is longing for.

*P.S Hey friend, if you're reading this.
Think about this,
Will you still be there if I'm no longer your baby?

today
hugs no fantasy
for tomorrow
draws no plans
for rosy future

today
take me with you
or come with me
enclosed within
one-second paradise
ardent soft fierce tender
cocoon of silken kisses
cool dancing brooks
hot molten rivers

yesterday dissolved
tomorrow absolved
come lay with me here
inside today

Now my close circle of friends have always given him a hard time about this need and requirement for hugs. It was a personal joke that he did it for the attention from the ‘ladies’. In reality he hugs everyone the same.

The other friend simply is not a fan of hugging, she’d rather a handshake. She’ll hug ya whenever you give the call sign, but you can tell she’s simply ‘helpin’ a friend out’.

I for one trot down the middle of that road. I hug. And I don’t hug. I guess it was always based on the person or persons you were hugging. Whether or not I initiated or received the hug, it usually came down to who.

Idle chit-chat amongst our circle would determine that their hug-tendency was based upon their up-bringing. Hugs were standard in one home, while rarely seen by the other. I can’t say I gave it much thought.

Until now.

I was doing my usual Google Reader reading, visiting my usual blogs, news and other sites of interest. And like I always do I visited ZenHabits.

Today’s post really impacted me more than usual.

Thus the reason for my post. Not only due to the nature of Leo’s post, but the application it had in my life. More specifically the difference in my two friends. As I watched the last video I couldn’t help but start feeling better. I started to smile, and even chuckle at some of the parts of this video. And this was just watching a video on hugging, not actually performing a hug!

It took some reflecting and some self questioning, but the reality is, hugging makes you feel better. In this day and age of human disconnection and pseudo-human interaction, It doesn’t matter if you’re doing the hugging or receiving the hugging, the human contact impacts you. Whether temporary or not, it impacts you. And that my friends is powerful.

Just think what could happen if we all put down our fear of touching a stranger, and simply offered anyone willing to accept it, a Free Hug. Not only would you smile, but so would they.

While most will feel uncomfortable, and probably be smiling out of laughter and using the ‘goofiness’ factor as great coping mechanism for our fear of the unknown. It still leaves you feeling a tad bit better than you did before the hug.

How can that be a bad thing? How can that be wrong?

The act of hugging subliminally tells you and the person you are hugging that you care. You care, not only about the person you are hugging, but about yourself.

I don’t know about you, but the last time I checked caring for someone was never a bad thing.

Why don’t we do this more often?

Strong’s Comment : I unfortunately tried to find out more info on the Free Hugs Campaign, but the site was having problems last I checked.

As always take care of yourselves and yours. Carpe Diem

After receiving criticism for not responding sternly enough to McCain’s negative ads, Obama finally hit back. In this ad, called “Embrace,” his strategy is simple: show John McCain hugging President Bush as many times as possible in 30 seconds! Check it out:

This ad is different from Obama’s others because it keeps things simple and nails McCain on broad rather than specific issues. Instead of going into specific policy differences between the two candidates, he concentrates on McCain’s ties with lobbyists and the tax breaks he’s given to big oil. The ad concludes, “The Washington celebrity playing the same old Washington games.” Basically, he’s watched and learned from McCain.

This is a general TV ad and it’s unclear whether it will air specifically in battleground states or just on national cable.

-Debi

The other day, I was spending some time with friends and when I was getting ready to leave I made my way over to where my bag had been discarded on the floor. As I walked over, one of my friends that was sitting where my bag lay, got up. I thought that he was reaching to pass something to one of my other friends that I knew was behind me, so I nimbly ducked under his arm to reach my bag. However when I stood up with my goal in hand, I saw that my friend wasn't looking very impressed. He had actually got up to give me a hug goodbye but I had seriously misread the situation and it just left me, probably him and possibly others in the room, feeling rather awkward...

This isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened either! Actually, another similar incident happened less than a week before this one! Another one of my friends was gonna give me a hug goodbye, but I thought he was pointing out something behind me, so I turned to face the direction in which he had directed his hand and saw nothing of note. Feeling and probably looking confused, I rotated back around to find another confused face there to meet mine. And so the awkwardness ensues...

You know, I can really relate when the Jonas Brothers sing "Hugs are overrated, just FYI." (You listen to the Jonas Brothers?!?!) Haha, not that I think hugs are overrated at all! I love a good hug! I just think that hugs can get you into rather uncomfortable situations at times (especially side hugs!)

You know, after these situations occurred, I felt so lame and silly! However, now that I've recounted the moments, I don't feel anywhere near as "unskilled" as I did before. So maybe some things that you have done that you feel rather embarrassed about, perhaps those things weren't actually as "unskilled" as you remember. Don't let those "unskilled" memories hold you back! Everyone has embarrassing moments. And the more you have, the more speeches you will get from your loved ones at all your special occasions!

(As he is laying next to his baby sister, he rolls over and wraps his arms around her and says in her ear) "Don't worry sissy, I will love you."

(To mommy as we are resting during naptime watching a movie. Again, rolls over and hugs me) "I love you so so much mommy. You're the best mommy."

(In the car as I am in the back seat with the kids) "Mommy, I love you and mommy, you have the most beautiful blue eyes" (although they are green...I'll take it!)

(To grandma sitting on the steps) "So, Grandma, how was your day today?"

In Deuteronomy 33: 12 we are told, "Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between His shoulders." What a cool verse. Mothers and fathers the world over would like to be able to shield their children "all day long"; but, as all of us know, that is an impossibility. This is a blessing Moses delivered to the tribe of Benjamin just before his death. As one of His beloved I claim it for myself. Yes, I'll share with you. (tee hee)

One of the ideas I love about this verse is that as one of His beloved; He not only lets me rest secure in Him, He not only shields me all day long, AND, (here it is, you ready?) but also I get to rest between His shoulders. Now, think about this, if I'm resting between someone's shoulders, where am I? The only possibility I could determine was to be in HIS EMBRACE. I AM BEING HUGGED BY GOD!!! Does that not strengthen you and excite you??

So, what does it mean to serve?  Dictionary.com describes serve with many definitions and I'm picking a couple here:  to render assistance, be of use, help, to act as a servant, to render obedience or homage to(God), to provide with a regular or continuous supply of something.  These are some great definitions among others.  Probably the most likely aspect of our service to the Lord would be many varieties of these definitions. 

Let's remember to continue to give of ourselves in service to the Lord.  It doesn't have to be that you pack up your family and household and become a missionary right now!  It doesn't have to be so big in size or grandiose, it can be in the little things.  Jesus said, to whom much is given, much is required.  Jesus also said, I came to serve and not to be served.  If we listen to Jesus closely, I think we realize that it's in the mundane and daily rituals that we see Him and we serve with a servants heart to give and not just receive.  To share openly with ALL that we have, including financial gifts, spiritual acts of service, random acts of kindness, a smile or even a hug.  In this we fulfill the service and we also fill the 'Love your neighbor as yourself'

Go serve today and give of what God has blessed you with as we all have been given gifts to serve and give back.

As I was paying, the woman walked past me, still crying, carrying the dogs collar and leash. My heart ached for her, she was devastated. Looking down at my dog I though "One day, that will be me; but I know you have an awesome life, and probably more love than any other dog", then asked her for a hug and kiss, which she gladly gave me. As we walked out, I saw the woman standing there in an open patch of grass, crying. I didn't know where her friend was, but I wanted to walk over and just embrace her and tell her it was ok. That everyone and everything dies, it's just an unavoidable part of life. The pain she feels is temporary, and that if she keeps the good memories in the front of her mind, she will have a life time of things to smile and laugh about.

But I didn't. This world scares me sometimes, people are so easily offended and litigious that I was afraid she would freak out and mace me or something, then call the cops and have me arrested for sexual harassment or some bullshit. I suppose it was mostly my imagination going crazy again, it often does that, but people are losing their minds, and this country is agreeing with them. We constantly hear stories of people being sued for silly things, and I just know my luck. But deep in my heart, I wanted to reach out and try to ease some of her pain. Even now I wonder how she is doing, if she is able to reconcile at all.

Everyone reaches periods in which they plateau before moving forward again. It is just natural. You start out with a steep learning curve whenever you begin a new project. However, once you have got the basics down you may well begin to ask yourself “what am I supposed to do next?” or “I know what I should do, but just can’t seem to manage it.”

All growth happens in stages. From the time we are conceived our growth is exponential. Yet, from the moment our cells divide and multiply till our birth it will still take nine months. It will still be another year before we can confidently walk and then another fifteen years before we begin to drive. Do you realize that if a human being continues to grow at the same rate they did in the womb, they would be many times larger than that car!

Most of us have heard kids say they can’t wait till they grow up. We can probably remembering saying it ourselves when we were kids. The thing is, growing up seems to take such a long time, but everyone grows up in the end. Sometimes growth seems to plateau but it is still happening, just a lot slower than you want.

Just relax and stop worrying. Have some fun, take the time to get an education, learn from people who already have the success you want and enjoy where you are at right now. Sometimes we are moving forward when we feel like we are standing still. This is because we may not see any external signs of progress. However, there can be plenty of changes occurring on the inside which will eventually help us to achieve our goals. If you try to rush things, you can actually get in your own way. If you destroy a cocoon, you will destroy the butterfly. The incubation stage is also very important.

Don’t be surprised when you hit the next plateau. You can expect to reach another one sooner or later. Perhaps you can use your plateaus as natural rest stops. By being disciplined and focused you can move from one plateau to the next. You may need to be a bit creative and willing to experiment to move from one plateau to the next. This is often how athletes break records. Above all, act with integrity. Achieving your goals is not about winning at all costs, it is about becoming the best you can be. Together lets celebrate life and lets enjoy the moment...

By the day of bloody youth
the noon of menopause
the dry night of age
only chocolate is left
for her celebration
beyond what he knows
---- Douglas Gilbert
(Henry Le Châtelier)

Poetry Books By Douglas Gilbert