You Think You’re So Smart Don’tcha?

I grew up with a bad attitude

My view of the world was skewed

I was raised to assume

I was the smartest in the room

Making friends forced reality to intrude.

Well, maybe I gotta a few things to learn.

It doesn’t matter a whole helluva lot

Whether you’re the smartest or not

If you’re bright enough to discern

The brain grows as you learn

You can increase the brain power you got.

 Ice Age Litter

The glaciers scoured all the loose rocks from Canada and dragged them to the Coast of Maine.

The glaciers came to Maine for vacation

Leaving litter when they were done

Between the frost and the plow

It’s still surfacing now

And we harvest the rocks by the ton.

The buried rocks are forced to the surface when the ground freezes and thaws, especially if the soil has been loosened by a plow.  A reliable crop, they can be harvested every year.

Farming in Maine is hard toil

The glaciers took all of our top soil

But rocks grow easily

They are calorie free

Drought tolerant, frost proof, and don’t spoil.

How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?

Malcolm Gladwell claimed that a person can master a skill with 10,000 hours of practice.

Ten thousand hours to complete mastery?

Practice is not alchemy

Although the fact is

I get better with practice

It won’t make a Shakespeare of me. 

Other studies conclude that talent makes a big difference.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/15/science/which-matters-more-talent-or-practice.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C%7B%221%22%3A%22RI%3A7%22%7D

Some say practice is eighty per cent

Others say it is talent

When they are combined

With passion, you’ll find

Then the results are transcendent.

Practice and talent have their part

Just practicing won’t make you Mozart

He probably practiced all day

Considered it play

And had an awesome talent to start.

Exercise and the Brain

I've read so many articles about the benefits of exercise, but I still find it hard to make the time for it.  OK, I find other things to do and I tell myself they are important.

Why is it I don't realize

I feel better when I get exercise?

Brain and body resist

Screaming 'cease and desist!'

My excuse lobe has tripled in size.

It was a beautiful morning and I did get out for a run, excuse me, jog.

I go for a run, not a dash

The real runners go by in a flash

While I gasp and wheeze

They pass by in a breeze

If I watched them I'd probably get whiplash.

 Impeach?

Sarah Palin, calling for the impeachment of the president, said the influx of young illegal immigrants over the southern border “is the last straw that makes the battered wife say, ‘no mas.’ ”  

From “Rules to Run By” - Gail Collins - New York times July 12, 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/12/opinion/gail-collins-rules-to-run-by.html

She preaching impeachment in public

With her singular syntax and logic

She's rantin' 'n railin'

Former Governor Palin -

The pit bull who applies her own lipstick.

She, and others, are screaming for impeachment because, what? They don’t like him?  That didn’t work so well with Bill Clinton.

There are scores of witnesses to be heard

Evidence to be weighed and considered

And facts, not just drama

To prove how Obama

Has high crimed and misdemeanored.

Politics - Two Years before the Next Presidential Election

News reports said that Texas Governor Rick Perry would not meet President Obama at the airport to shake hands, but he did.

Rick Perry was going to be rude

To display some raw Texas crude

The airport handshake

Did a little to break

The ice, but the mood was subdued.

The Republicans are talking law suits and impeachment, but they are not talking to Democrats, or about issues.

They call him an arrogant S.O.B.

The ‘worst president in history’

Their dislike’s unbounded

And I think it’s founded

In Obama’s Black ancestry.

Six Months of Blogging

Warning this message contains self promotional material, viewer discretion advised.

I’ve been posting some limericks I write

I disclaim any world altering insight

But I will claim

It helps me to reframe

My thoughts in a humorous light.

But I do have an ulterior motive.

I’m promoting this collection of mine

A book of limericks available on line

Borrow it free for a time 

With Amazon Prime

Or just buy it for two ninety nine.

Life, Limericks and the Pursuit of Happiness

Did Facebook Give You Positive News or Negative?

And how did you respond to their research?

Facebook manipulated the news

To see how it changed people’s views

A harmless experiment

With no evil intent

But the Guinea Pigs couldn’t refuse.

Big deal.  The results will help them serve you better.

So Facebook controls what you read

And alters the tone of your news feed.

Your reaction will show

What they want to know

To tailor their ads to your need.