Ridley's Believe It Or Not--This Day In History December 30, 2013

Ridley's Believe It Or Not--December 30, 2013:  No holidays worthy of note unless you are Tom Cruise celebrating Freedom Day, or in the Philippines celebrating Rizal Day or celebrating National Bicarbonate of Soda Day and its hundreds of uses from removing odor in kitty litter to removing odor in human beings from eating beans; and on this day in 1817 to the joy of future coffee lovers, the first coffee bush was planted in Kona, Hawaii; in 1940 California's first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway (looks like a goat trail compared to our more modern freeways) was opened; and in 1970 Paul McCartney filed suit to dissolve the Beatles (sad day in music almost as bad as the Day the Music Died--Buddy Holly, Ritchie Vallens, and The Big Bopper) .     

           How to understand Tom Cruise:"[The court record is] replete with evidence [that Scientology] is nothing in reality but a vast enterprise to extract the maximum amount of money from its adepts by pseudo scientific theories... and to exercise a kind of blackmail against persons who do not wish to continue with their sect.... The organization clearly is schizophrenic and paranoid, and this bizarre combination seems to be a reflection of its founder, L. Ron Hubbard" Judge Breckenridge, Los Angeles Superior Court.
           New Year's Observation:

            It is not how worthy or complete is one's New Year's Resolution List

            But rather how long before the resolutions no longer exist

            Show me a man who solemnly swears each resolution he has kept

            I'll show you a man who has no mirrors and his actions too prone to forget

            Since New Year is almost identical to the day next and the day before

            Rather than beating on oneself as each resolution comes in with a losing score,         

            The Resolution Game is not a game of rugby where only in rugby do tries count
            And resolutions not perfect are subject to a deep discount
             Humanity is not a computer which speaks only in binary code
             Much more subtle, much more winding, more switchbacks, but a more rose adorned road
             Perfection is reserved only to bowlers and only because of its limit of ten frames
             We mere mortals can only to resolve to continue and thoughts of quitting tame
             So grab your horseshoe where “almosts” can rule supreme
             Quit not, each day of success is worthy of your dreams              
            Start each day with one easy goal you wish for that day to keep
            You will feel a lot less stress, lot less guilt and a lot less tossing and turning in your sleep
             Each day such goals are met, new habits will be born
             You will have gone beyond the acts you could not before reform.
             © December 30, 2013 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

             Happy New Year!  Smell the Roses! And, of course, Go Cardinal in the Rose Bowl