Be Mine Valentine

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Public Domain Photo of MLK, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Born January 15, 1929
• Graduated high school at age 15
• Received a BA from Morehouse College in Atlanta in 1948
• Received a BD in Theology from Crozer Theological Seminary in 1951
• Received a PhD from Boston University in 1955
• Married Coretta Scott and had 2 sons and 2 daughters
• Awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 at age 35 – youngest man to ever receive the award
• Assassinated April 4, 1968 in Memphis, TN

My favorite Martin Luther King Quotes:

“Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them.”

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically… Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

“Man was born into barbarism when killing his fellow man was a normal condition of existence. He became endowed with a conscience. And he has now reached the day when violence toward another human being must become as abhorrent as eating another’s flesh.”

“We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

“If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”

Watching the Twilight Zone Marathon – as usual!

Looking at the Blue Moon!

Singing Blue Moon!
Blue Moon you saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own

Blue Moon, you knew just what I was there for
You heard me saying a prayer for
Someone I really could care for

And then there suddenly appeared before me
The only one my arms will ever hold
I heard somebody whisper, “Please adore me”
And when I looked, the moon had turned to gold

Blue Moon, now I’m no longer alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own

Happy New Year to You All!

http://www.christmas-graphics-plus.com

1. Spend more time with people you love.
2. Spend less time with people you don’t love.
3. Appreciate your spouse.
4. Appreciate your children.
5. Tell someone how wonderful you think he or she is.
6. Tell someone how not-so-wonderful you think he or she is.
7. Get rid of clutter in your house
8. Get rid of clutter in your life.
9. Travel to a place you’ve never been before.
10. Learn how to really use your camera or other electronic device.
11. Read more books.
12. Enjoy children’s artwork.
13. Visit all the museums in your area.
14. Meditate.
15. Do yoga.
16. Get into shape.
17. Quit smoking, drinking, drugging, overeating.
18. Save more $.
19. Be more generous.
20. Get less furious at horrible drivers.
21. Listen better.
22. Speak less.
23. Speak more.
24. Train your pet.
25. Spend less time on the computer.
26. Learn to do something new.
27. Perfect something you already know how to do.
28. Exercise more with your pet.
29. Adopt a roadway to clean.
30. Grow an amazing garden.
31. Stop making commitments you don’t really want to make.
32. Resolve not to make resolutions.

What satisfied your sweet tooth this Christmas? (Yes, we shared!)

Decadent Chocolant Mint Tart

Apple Tart

Sour Cream Coconut Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

Smart Poodle Hopes the Holidays Bring You

All You Have Wished for and More!

© 2009 by Debbie Glade, Smart Poodle Publishing. All rights reserved.

click here to read last week’s comic

“The only blind person at Christmastime is

he who has not Christmas in his heart”

Helen Keller

http://www.christmasgifts.com
1. Share
2. Laugh
3. Relax
4. Be spiritual
5. Be grateful
6. Read
7. Take Photos
8. Forgive
9. Be lazy
10. Eat
11. Cuddle
12. Tell stories
13. Be generous
14. Linger
15. Do whatever you like to do
16. Enjoy

What you’ll need:

• Clear glass ornaments
• Acrylic craft paints in bottles in assorted colors
• Glitter
• Foil or plastic to catch paint drippings.

Choose 3 or 4 paint colors  for your ornament. Remove the metal top of the glass ball and set aside for later.  Squeeze a moderate amount of paint into the opening of the ornament. Do not dilute with water. Not too much paint at one time. Twirl the ornament around to move the paint around randomly. Don’t cover the entire ornament with one color. Add different colors, continuing to swirl the ball around to make interesting color patterns. Use enough paint until all the clear glass inside is covered. (If you like glitter, put some in before squeezing the paint in. It will show up when the paint dries.) Turn the ball upside down with foil or a Styrofoam tray beneath it to catch the excess paint. Prop the ball ornament up so the opening is not sitting on the foil, but rather is suspended to really let the extra paint drip out. Keep the ball like this for 2 days or until really dry. Once dry, put the metal tip back on. You can hang these ornaments on a tree or from a chandelier with beautiful ribbon. They make great gifts!

The best chocolate cake recipe is Hershey’s Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake. But I have to confess, I do not use Hershey’s cocoa. I use Ghiradelli instead. It’s much better. Also I substitute 1/2 of the milk for Half and Half (Half cream/half milk). You can change the flavor of this easily too. Use creme de menthe instead of vanilla, for a mint cake. Use orange extract with grated orange rind, use amaretto for almond flavor or almond extract and so on. Yum!

Here’s a birthday/Christmas cake I made for our friend, Ben,

Do you send out a Holiday Newsletter every year to friends and family? There’s nothing wrong with doing so – I do it. It beats just getting an ugly card with no photo and no news. The mail is too expensive for that. People want to know what you’ve been up to and they love to see photos, especially of your kids.

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• Do type a letter on the computer. People understand that you do not have time to hand write 100 cards to everyone with the same news.
• Stick your newsletter inside your card. Don’t make it your card though. People like the actual cards too.
• Get a photo card made from Shutterfly or Walgreens or a ton of other places. Or get photos printed and put them into photo cards you buy in the store. (Target sells a lot of these!)
• Don’t ramble about uninteresting things. “Aunt Betty came for a visit in April. Then Agnes came a week later.” Who cares!? “I dusted the living rom, emptied the dishwasher, took out the trash and did 5 loads of laundry today. Now I’m writing this.” Wow! Exciting!
• Don’t be depressing. “After an unsuccessful hip surgery, I am now bed ridden indefinitely.” If things are very challenging for you, your closest friends will already know about it. It is okay to not send a card or newsletter every year. If you do think it is important to share some not-so-happy info, tone it down a bit.
• Do not give horrible, depressing news to people about people you know. One year I got a newsletter from a friend who wrote about how her neighbor’s young kids (who I do not know) suffocated in a discarded refrigerator. How horrible was that? And why do I want to know? Happy New Year!
• Don’t be a braggart, unless you want to have no friends. “We are so blessed! Bob got a big bonus this year, despite the horrendous economy. We are using it to take a world cruise next summer!”
• Be funny if you can. If not funny, at least interesting.
• Use a font that is easy to read.
• Make the newsletter attractive. I do a photo collage on one side, get it color photocopied and then print out the newsletter on the other side. My photos reflect the news I write about. Everyone loves this and tells me they cannot wait for my card. It is a lot of work, but worth it!
• Include your email address so people can start connecting to you online.
• Have a friend who is a good writer proofread for errors.