Brendan Shea's Blog, page 12

Black History Month – Song

So this is an old classic tune from the 1980s from an artist we all know, and hopefully love, as I do: Steveland Morris, aka Stevie Wonder.

This is a salute to the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr, and a nod to Black History Month.

I am just a white man, but I’m trying to pay homage where credit is due.

Here are the lyrics to Happy Birthday:

You know it doesn’t make much sense
There ought to be a law against
Anyone who takes offense
At a day in your celebration ’cause we all know in our minds

That there ought to be a time
That we can set aside
To show just how much we love you
And I’m sure you would agree
What could fit more perfectly
Than to have a world party on the day you came to be

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday

I just never understood
How a man who died for good
Could not have a day that would
Be set aside for his recognition

Because it should never be
Just because some cannot see
The dream as clear as he
That they should make it become an illusion

And we all know everything
That he stood for time will bring
For in peace, our hearts will sing
Thanks to Martin Luther King

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday

Why has there never been a holiday
Where peace is celebrated
All throughout the world

The time is overdue
For people like me and you
Who know the way to truth
Is love and unity to all God’s children

It should be a great event
And the whole day should be spent
In full remembrance
Of those who lived and died for the oneness of all people

So let us all begin
We know that love can win
Let it out, don’t hold it in
Sing it loud as you can

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday

Happy birthday
Happy birthday
Happy birthday
Ooh yeah
Happy birthday
Happy birthday
Happy birthday
Happy birthday

We know the key to unity of all people
Is in the dream that you had so long ago
That lives in all of the hearts of people
That believe in unity
We’ll make the dream become a reality
I know we will
Because our hearts tell us so

Happy birthday
Happy birthday
Happy birthday
Happy birthday
Happy birthday
Happy birthday
Happy birthday
Happy birthday

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Stevie Wonder

Happy Birthday lyrics © Black Bull Music, Jobete Music Co Inc, Jobete Music Co., Inc.

Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech (via NPR)

Stevie Wonder’s song “Happy Birthday” originated as a political protest to support a national holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. The song was released in 1981 and became a signature song for Wonder.*  (*AI)

Inventions and other madness

Why not invent an artificial kidney? We have artificial hearts. Why not bypass the kidneys altogether? We have colostomies where the intestines are bad and we have artificial hearts. Why not artificial kidneys? I wonder if someone will invent this technology and how long it would be before they would be designed well enough that our bodies would start to accept them.

ꭥ

21 He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.

-Deuteronomy 10:21

Song of the Week

Rebecca St. James – Pray

I had a customer today who was pressuring me and stressing me, so I put on this song, and it really helped…

So Happy Valentines day, and enjoy this song!!

Jesus, I am broken now
before You I fall
I lay me down what I want is You my all
I cry out from the ashes boundless
and unchained
I ask You Lord
to make me whole again,

For you say if I will come
and will pray to You
There’s forgiveness
when I turn from me and pray
For You say if I will come
and will pray to You
You hear me and heal me when I pray

Your ways are not my own but I long
for them to be
So this is what I pray one with You
You’ll make me, melt me away
‘Til only You remain.

For You say if I will come
and will pray to You
There’s forgiveness
when I turn to You and pray
For you say if I will come
and will pray to You
You hear me and heal me when I pray

Jesus I am broken now before You
Take me, I am Yours

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: James / Thompson

Pray lyrics © O/B/O DistroKid, Sentric Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, TuneCore Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group

Things Change

On a recent trip to the bookstore, I had a sort of wake up call, and realized that an era was ending…

Last weekend, I trekked to Recycle Bookstore West, for a periodic dose of late horseracing mystery writer, Dick Francis. But the store had realigned their shelves and consolidated their offering. There were still a few Francis’ titles available, but the volume of the Edgar Award winning master was about fifteen percent of normal.

I asked the more senior woman behind the counter about this. She was not old, but she was someone there I knew was tenured and knowledgeable. She said they’d reduced their stock, but that I might want to check their other location, which was likely to have a greater selection.

I went to that location, Recycle Bookstore, today, and they had eliminated their entire Francis canon, and told me that “older” writers like Lawrence Block had also been nixed.

I was slightly shocked. I mean I expected this of a Barnes & Noble, or even Walmart or Target (with regard to any item as well as books), they offer what sells and nothing else, but a used bookstore?

I figure they have to stay afloat, and that the titles weren’t selling, but to eliminate them altogether… how would people learn about characters like Sid Halley, Bernie Rhodenbarr and Matt Scudder?

I realize these familiar friends were not real-life heroes and were not without flaws, but to see a bookstore eject them en masse and entirely, doubtless with many others was troubling nonetheless.

The man at Recycle Bookstore said they’d cut their mystery section by twenty-five percent. I remarked that I preferred to get my books at the mom and pop stores (not in so many words), and that I’d have to go to Amazon now, and the man jokingly said that I had his permission.

Cold glass. Lots of water. I’m awake now… oh well, I guess my reading journey will come to an end one day, and I suppose until then I’ll have to find new writers to enjoy (not a bad thing), and to go online to reminisce with the “old” ones…

Sometimes I splurge

An excerpt from my new book on chronic kidney disease:

I try to avoid things I love like milkshakes, meat burgers, lots of sweets and so on, but sometimes I splurge. I guess moderation is the name of the game, but occasionally, I drink milk, eat a steak or have some chocolate.

With CKD, these things are hard on the body, moreso than for those without this dread disease. Normally when I have milk, it is in cereal or tea and coffee. The tiny bit I have in drinks is hopefully not disruptive. Portions are important with CKD, so I try to take in the bad stuff in small doses. 

When I do have a glass of milk, and it is only a few times a year, I limit my intake to 3-4 ounces. If I have meat, I sometimes cut the portion in half. With chocolates, I tend to get miniatures, but I’m finding if I have a lot of candy, I don’t have a lot of self-control, so the best strategy is to only buy periodically, and then, only in small quantities.

 I love to eat and drink. Food and beverages are my favorite pastimes, along with sleeping, reading, praying (more of an activity than a pastime!), writing and walking, but some of these are healthier than others. If you have CKD, you have an opportunity to change your diet and curb your cravings. I’ll try to join you in finding better things to do with my spare time, things that heal and edify.

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“What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you and which ye have from God, and that ye are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:19

Thomas Dolby

Thomas Dolby is an extraordinary artist. He’s not extra ordinary, he’s off the charts unique and talented. I probably don’t have anything in common with him philosophically, but don’t want to emphasize that. Here is a brief retrospective of some of his best work (and most of it is his best)…

The Flat Earth

I Scare Myself (written by Dan Hicks)

Europa and the Pirate Twins

Dissidents

Weightless

Screen Kiss

One of Our Submarines

Hyperactive

Budapest by Blimp

The Key to Her Ferrari (some content, sorry)

The Ability to Swing

She Blinded Me With Science

How hot is it… ?

An excerpt from my new book on chronic kidney disease:

So you may be aware that the USA has been in the throes of what could be global warming. In any case, with record highs, it has been near or over 100 degrees Fahrenheit for the past few days. When I go out of doors, however, out of the swamp-cooled comfortable seventy degrees range of my home, the 100 degree temperature feels like a brisk 78° to me.

Kidney disease can result in a deficit of red blood cells, which transport oxygen throughout one’s system, so one can feel chilly, even when the ambient temperature is quite warm. Also, if your CKD is advanced, uremic waste 27 can accumulate, and cause your body’s internal temperature to escalate.

How hot is it? That is the question; whether your body’s sensations reflect the actual temperature of the space you are in, or if you are in your very own climate zone, the state of your kidneys could make a big difference. 

ꭥ

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

-Proverbs 3: 5-6

 27 Uremia is a buildup of waste products in your blood that occurs as a result of untreated kidney failure. (https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21509-uremia)

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Songs of the Week

Which Way the Wind Blows by 2nd Chapter of Acts

Feel the feeling

Say the saying

But you’ll still be lonely

If you think life is only for this moment

Do a doing

Mourn a mourning

Still won’t get you off your sorrows

So go ahead and cry your tears

But you cant cry and look at tomorrow

You don’t know which way the wind blows

So how can you plan tomorrow

You don’t know which way the wind blows

So how can you plan tomorrow

Run a running

Hide a hiding

Whenever you hear the truth

And you ask for the proof

You won’t listen (listen)

Praise a praising

Build a building

Trying to get peace into your life

And you don’t know wrong from right

Oh, where’s your wisdom

You don’t know which way the wind blows

So how can you plan tomorrow

You don’t know which way the wind blows

So how can you plan tomorrow

Die a dying

Resurrecting

By believing and receiving

Forgiveness from Jesus

Who took the sin from sinning

You don’t know which way the wind blows

So how can you plan tomorrow

Jesus knows which way the wind blows

So give him your tomorrow

Believe and receive

Believe and receive

You don’t know which way the wind blows

So how can you plan tomorrow

You don’t know which way the wind blows

So how can you plan tomorrow

You don’t know which way the wind blows

So how can you plan tomorrow

You don’t know which way the wind blows

So how can you plan tomorrow

Writer(s): Anne Herring, Nelly Greisen

Easter Song by 2nd Chapter of Acts

Hear the bells ringing
They’re singing that we can be born again
Hear the bells ringing
They’re singing Christ is risen from the dead

The angel up on the tombstone
Said He is risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell his disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead

Joy to the world,
He is risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah
Hallelujah

Hear the bells ringing
They’re singing that we can be born again
Hear the bells ringing
They’re singing Christ is risen from the dead

The angel up on the tombstone
Said He is risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell his disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead

Joy to the world,
He is risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: M Allen Pote

Easter Song lyrics © Latter Rain Music

Best Movie I’ve Seen in A Long Time

I’ve seen some good movies in the past few years, but one that stands out from the rest is Stranger Than Fiction, which I missed during its theatrical release in 2006, but I stumbled on it recently and recalled someone had suggested it back then.

I watched the preview, and it looked intriguing, but when I recently watched it on Tubi for free (with ads), it blew me away.

First, the concept of the movie is quite original, drawn in large part by an Italian book called Niebla, by Miguel de Unamuno, available in an English translation done by Elena Barcia, called Fog.

I am not a modernist, but a Christian, but the touching and compelling themes in Stranger Than Fiction are very attractive and stimulating.

I don’t want to give a spoiler of the movie, but it couldn’t have been cast any better, with Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Tony Hale, all in plum roles; and also starred a slightly underused Queen Latifah (still well chosen).

If you aren’t averse to what some would call an “old” movie, are a romantic, movie buff, writer or maybe just an average moviegoer, Stranger Than Fiction might be for you.

After watching this film, I realized how paltry my writing is in comparison to this classic… back to the drawing board I go…

Cramps

An excerpt from my new book on chronic kidney disease (CKD)

I used to get up in the night with cramps in my thighs. I had to walk them out, and would sometimes eat bananas or pickle juice to combat the symptoms, but with CKD, I get cramps in my feet, and those are worse. They are harder to walk off, and sometimes they are on the top of the foot, where they are super difficult to assuage.

Now, I can’t take a lot of potassium to fight the cramps due to my kidney disease, so bananas are out, and pickle juice has tons of sodium, so that’s a no-no also. 

The cause for the cramps might be due to metabolic waste accumulating, or to calcium or phosphorus levels being off, and I have noticed that if I eat a lot of red meat, a bad thing for ailing kidneys, or too much salt, the cramps seem to be more prevalent.

I don’t add salt to my food, but sometimes eat packaged or canned foods, and those are not the best. Since I enjoy most of these meals, I don’t curb my portions. I usually only eat the one serving on my plate, but occasionally hold back some of the meal for another time. When I hold back, I seem to be less inclined to cramp up.

If you are having cramps from CKD, you can try the following to ease them:

StretchingNot being too sedentaryWalking or cyclingAvoid extreme heatGo easy on caffeine and alcoholUse comfortable footwearListen to calming musicPray

Fortunately, I don’t have cramps every night, but when they occur, they disturb my rest, my wife’s sleep, and are a general nuisance. Still, I’m thankful my CKD symptoms aren’t worse, and that my GFR is still holding.

ꭥ

“All things work together for the good of those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

— Romans 8:28

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