Re: a comment on My Prayer by amanda_dcosta	28-Mar-06/10:25 AM
See Dovina, its easy to say that amazing grace is right in front of you. Buit to reach there, there's quite a lot of hurdles to pass through or rather, jump over. My spirit was just yearning to know what I aught to change inorder to reach there... perhaps I need more patience, or more of the gift of listening rather than talking too much, who knows, or perhaps, prayer. There's a lot of steps that a spiritual challenge calls for, steps we know we should take, like knowing that amazing grace is there, but not taking any action to reach there. And I do know that to grow spiritually, its a gradual change of life style for the better... one which needs daily inspiration and spiritual guidance. So the state of life I am in is not the ultimate, there's a lot of change needed for where I want to reach, and I'm serious about it.
Re: Tulip by richa	26-Mar-06/10:24 AM
I think your title could have been ' Tulip boy'....it's more focused on him. and line 8 could read ' with neither purse nor name'. This is pretty good and conveys a scene I remember from Mussoorie (India) at the base of the Himalayas, where I first saw tulips.... the red and yellow flames. Keep writing!
Re: a comment on Numbers In Heaven by Dovina	19-Mar-06/7:47 PM
Ranger I qoute...'The nearest you can get to non-introspective knowledge of love, however, is seeing couples together.'..... However, Ranger, love is not limited to just couples you see together. If it were really love, then it would last for a very very very long time instead of the many make-break arrangements of living. Its not an easy task being in love... for one encounters umpteen situatiuons where one has to sacrifice, adjust, surrender freedom of old bachelorhood, rethink your priorities.... and in the bargain one gets hurt. But if there's the sacrifice, patience, trust and the joy of just having that other person around... then it's love, one which will last enough to make you feel its taste a very long time. And it doesn't even have to be only between couples. What about between friends, between family mambers... its that bond between people thats called love. And to experience it , you have to reach out first to receive love. Its contagious and a chain reaction. Love is what sheilds you from negativity. The more you love... the more elevated your mood.... its not just chemical, its what a person is built upon in totality.
Re: a comment on Numbers In Heaven by Dovina	19-Mar-06/1:23 AM
I really enjoyed reading the discussions between you guys Al and Ranger. If you want to define love there's no better definition than this..."Love is patient, kind, NEVER proud or envious, slow to anger, NEVER rude, never keeps account of wrong, does not delight in evil, but always rejoices in the truth, sacrifices, always gives, perseveres and NEVER fails." A lot of ideas have come to my mind on reading your discussion.... but I think I will start from here. When ever somthing gets uneasy in my life or my relationships with people go topsy turvy, I reflect upon this and see if love has really been there, or whether I have made an effort to keep it ablaze. Romeo and Juliet is just an example of probably sacrifice.... but in my opinion I'd call it more like selfish love, not selfless love. From this play you get and idea or a picture of what love probably is, but to experience and know it for real, one has to put all the ingredients (mentioned in the definition) together and let it flow.
Re: a comment on Numbers In Heaven by Dovina	17-Mar-06/10:06 PM
Poor thing, his wife... and it all ends up with a nagging wife! What about the husbands.... they paint themselves as saints while they're pretty good at what they do! I suppose each one of them should be offered a chicken on a golden platter along with some beef cuts. You married Al? Maybe your wife, if you are lucky enough, could serve you some..... would be fun then! he he he he....
Re: a comment on Numbers In Heaven by Dovina	17-Mar-06/9:44 PM
What do I need KFC for when I have AFC here. ....figure that one out!
Re: a comment on Numbers In Heaven by Dovina	17-Mar-06/9:40 PM
Hmm Ranger, are you tall dark and handsome? ;-)
Re: a comment on Numbers In Heaven by Dovina	17-Mar-06/12:23 PM
Well Alchemy, did I speak about zodiac's wife dying? I don't think so. And God does love him very much, there's no denying that.... and what about you? Aren't you going to join him there in Alaska for some stuffed roast chicken. I prepare it well. Could send you one with compliments from life accross the seas! Specially for you! And boy, what a scene! Chicken stall owners sit with nothing in their stalls, a sunken look on their faces and with absolutely none of their employees with them! They're selling it now for just Rs.5.oo which is an equivalent to roughly 80 cents per kg, I think. Just when we thought it was wrapping up, another outbreak shows up... and yet I long to eat fried chicken!
Re: a comment on Numbers In Heaven by Dovina	17-Mar-06/12:09 PM
Those times would be the best years of your life... not fatalistic or unfortunate. What I'm trying to say is that it's not a loved one's death that's the ultimate, that we have to take into account.... but life's situations. There's so many situations in life where we reach a dead end. Why I am so strong on my point is that I have tested scripture passages... and have asked my self why, how .. is it true, etc. And one instance where I've tested it was on the passage "Give and it will come backed to you. Pressed down shaken together and running over, when you give to the Lord." and I've tried to give.... some of the little cash I had on me (I don't work and one person's salary isn't enough for a four member family)... and within 24 hrs.... somebody sent me more than double the amount for no reason...a gift. So I gave more money to the church and then about Aust$ 150.00 was sent to me by another relative as a gift, within a few days. Till then there had been no gift sent from this sourse by way of cash. I've found this a very useful way of getting through... ie. by testing the scriptures and knowing for myself that its true. And at times one just has to be patient knowing that all things work for good to those that love the Lord. It pays off with the immediate grace of peace and a blissful sleep despite the storms.
Re: a comment on Mango Pickle by amanda_dcosta	17-Mar-06/11:46 AM
It's kinda different... appreciate that you think its an upbeat poem.
Re: a comment on Mango Pickle by amanda_dcosta	17-Mar-06/11:45 AM
ecargo, here too its called the 'the king of fruit'. It's pretty expensive here for a kg of mangoes, although its grown here, and trading it is going to make it even worse for us. This idea is not welcomed well by the general public out here... Green mangoes are already in bloom.... and that's how I got the idea of the mango pickle. I love eating them with salt and chili powder. Hmmmm... my mouth's watering.
Re: a comment on Mango Pickle by amanda_dcosta	17-Mar-06/11:40 AM
thank God I didn't read Midnight's children...so I can proudly say that this is my own! No one's influence or impression upon my mind. But then, great minds think alike! :-)
Re: a comment on Numbers In Heaven by Dovina	15-Mar-06/7:43 PM
Yes, you are able to handle things on your own. But God forbid, if anything was to happen to you or lets say, your wife....something drastic... irreversible, probably like an accident or a serious illness..... how long will you be able to hold on. I'd say as long as you have all the cash in your pocket that you need. And after that? What about your peace of mind, and say things like guilt and remorse for not foreseeing things, feelings like this that might crop up..... how would you handle that. I don't think it would go very well with you. No man can handle stress under sever conditions and a human being is not made to handle extreme and sever pressure. Ther's a limit to everything. Even if you were to go on a long course of anti depressants and mood lifters you will not be able to hold on. Just because you have a rosy picture set for you, or that you have probably set, that doesn't mean that its a surety for future happiness. Think about it. P.S. I really enjoy these sharings. Hope you do too. After my last post up there, my husband and I had a strong discussion on this, quite contradictory opinions.... and now to return,.... I have a bone to pick with him also.
Re: a comment on Mango Pickle by amanda_dcosta	15-Mar-06/7:25 PM
Mango pickle is deliciously pungent. Yes chilly is also chili here, though spelt both ways here. As for fenugreek and asafoetida, they are used widely in Indian foods. Makes Indian dishes unique. And mango flesh IS white. When they're absolutely raw it's white and terribly sour. If you want to eat it raw, most often you have to with salt. When it's beginning to ripen it turns cream to pale yellow and then finally to a bright orange/yellow, and it sweetens also. Mango, coconut, jackfruit, breadfruit, papaya and plantains/bananas are our staple fruits. So I could describe them better if needed.
Re: a comment on Numbers In Heaven by Dovina	14-Mar-06/11:12 AM
Zodiac, man is just the product of God's handiwork. God has not made man God. But in creating man, He was merely being adventurous in giving 'man' freedom to think and act (i'm not saying 'act wisely'). So man begins his quest to dominate the world thinking that everything is his own and can be done on his own, yet he doesn't realize that he is only a very very minor part of the divine jigsaw puzzle which will in time wrap up together beautifully. Yet 'man' thinks that he is the only piece in the puzzle and that he is in control of it all. As for God amking good people and bad..... he doesn't. He gives you the choice to be good or bad, to believe in him or not. When it please you, you will say I did so and so to achieve this or that, ie. when good things come your way and you succeed in your life or profession, .... But when it's bad.... it's ' God made bad things happen. How else could it come about?' He doesn't make good or bad. we make it good or bad. And Gandhiji chose to do good rather than 'bad'. So can you.
Re: a comment on Numbers In Heaven by Dovina	14-Mar-06/10:49 AM
What I'm trying to point out is that your belief that 'the human race is on the whole intellegent and capable of solving its problems' is absurd and abstract. Very theoritical and hypothetical...but not practical. Hence my statement. It's not about the bible, but about the fact that man cannot depend on his intellect alone. He needs his divine sustenance and you know it! As for Dovina being 183, what's the odds that she isn't an angel in your company?
Re: a comment on Numbers In Heaven by Dovina	14-Mar-06/10:31 AM
Seriously, anybody who thinks that all things/problems can be solved by humans is a big fool. 'Put no trust in princes, in mortal man in whom there is no help. Take their breath, they return to clay, and their plans that day come to NOTHING.'
Re: Numbers In Heaven by Dovina	14-Mar-06/10:18 AM
I take it that zodiac gets very jittery when he hears anything about religion,or heaven or angels or 183 divine creatures....... or maybe he just can't stand the thought of Dovina born in heaven and nestled eternally there.
Re: a comment on Numbers In Heaven by Dovina	14-Mar-06/9:58 AM
Tell me zodiac, is a -5- for her lacking in poetic form or her ability to fail miserably in eternity? ' Besides there's nothing eternal about 183', then maybe there's something eternal about 138?
Re: a comment on Mango Pickle by amanda_dcosta	12-Mar-06/9:34 AM
Excuse me... it's - heigh ho heigh ho it's off to work we go! my son acted in the Snow white play as the dwarf Doc, only today, at school, and those were his opening lines. What a coincidence! Any way, thanks for the review. This was at the spur of the moment. It sort of had a rhyme feel to it, so what the heck... just submit it! hope you have fun following the recipe. By the way the ingredients are correct. Quantity is another point! :-)