Por Practicar es de Mejorar

Miré a los miembros de una orquesta de una gran ciudad del mundo.  

Qué de importante tienen todos ellos? Todos de ellos practicarieron como utilizar sus instrumentos musicales y practicar habitualmente. 

Mi padre siempre me digo que su pasión fue la música. El tocaba el saxofón y canto. Yo recuerdo tan bien como el practicaba en la sala de nuestra casa. Y por esa razón mi padre fue extraordinario con el saxofón. 

Mi padre, Clyde Bell, esta cantando por los soldados
 americanos durante el Guerra Segunda Mundial

Durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, algunos lideres de posición superior del ejercito de los Estados Unidos trataban de encontrar a los mejores músicos del ejercito para formar una banda y de esa forma entretener a los soldados. 

Mi padre fue elegido para formar parte de esa banda. La unidad del ejercito a partir del cual fue enviado para combatir contra los japoneses. Y un ochenta por ciento de esos soldados murieron en las batallas siguientes en el Pacifico.

Tengo un otro ejemplo del beneficio de práctica

Cuando yo fui muchacho, recuerdo que mi deporte favorito fue el béisbol. El nombre se llamaba Liga Pequeña, una institución deportiva muy popular en los Estados Unidos. Esta liga era solo para niños de entre once o doce años de edad. 

Mis compañeros de equipo, particularmente no fueron buenos jugadores cuando empezamos a jugar. Pero nosotros afortunadamente tuvimos un excelente entrenador. El nos dio como obligación a nosotros practicar cinco días a la semana, por dos horas cada día después de la ultima clase de la escuela.

Cuando el lanzaba la pelota hacia nosotros, no lo hizo lentamente, sino de una forma verdadera y muy rápida como si fuera un juego real. Lo hizo constantemente a veces después o en seguida nuestro entrenador pateaba la pelota contra nosotros. El formó un equipo de jugadores sin mucho talento, pero mediante el entrenamiento este llegó a ser uno de los equipos que gano una medalla en la liga.  

La vía a este resultado fue la dedicación de practicar.

No es fácil practicar cada día o todos los días. Algunos días nos sentimos cansados mas de lo usual. Otros días hay casos en las que bloquea el tiempo libre para practicar. 

Pero al mismo tiempo es necesario practicar mediante un plan para llegar al nivel máximo. 

Personalmente para mi criterio, necesito practicar una y otra vez de forma continua. Necesito ver un progreso de los conocimientos, un aumento o una suma que me diga si estoy caminando por la ruta de mejorar. Y verdaderamente necesito cultivar las características que una persona toma con disciplina las actividades a aprender.  

Observaciones por un Gringo en Ecuador

Soy gringo de los estados unidos, y he viviendo en Ecuador poco mas de cuatro años.
Especialmente a los nativos de Ecuador, me gustaría compartir cuales son dos opiniones y observaciones míos entre las culturas de ambos países. Incluir luego una explicación de como a sobrevivir yo a través de la transición a un país extranjero. Seguro por lo hago necesite amistades ambos gringos y Ecuatorianos. Nunca tuve el deseo de vivir en una isla de Norteamérica dentro del Ecuador. Aunque comprendo porque no muchos gringos hablan español, oído la idea que yo hablaría exclusivamente en ingles.

Unas de las diferencias veo es la tratamiento de dinero. Por ejemplo con falta de centavo es imposible comprar en mi país. No hay casi nada excepción no importe si o no es necesario el producto por salud del cliente.  Al contrario desde he viviendo en Ecuador muchas veces he llegado a una tienda o farmacia sin todo el dinero pagar y me fui con el producto necesitaba. Claro no así es ni en Supermaxi también en Coral Hipermercado.

Una diferencia segunda observo es el significado del tiempo. En mi país si recibo una invitación a cenar me voy a llegar casi siempre a la hora misma exacta dicho por el anfitrión. En los estados unidos para hora y fecha hay reverencia. La economía no sola es derivada y planificada como resultado de este reverencia, sino también las actividades todas publica y privada. Pero tenía una experiencia otra mirar a cual es el significado del tiempo. Estaba viviendo en Cuenca cuando yo quise un carpintero hacer cuatro copias de una taburete de madera.

El le haga el trabajo perfectamente, pero tres veces les trato para entregar a mi departamento. No estaba en mi departamento los dos tiempos primeros. ¿El carpintero no pudo para mi numero celular para dar notificación en avance? El pudo haber.

Aunque nunca tuve el deseo vivir en una isla de Norteamérica dentro del Ecuador, estoy agradecido haber amigos gringos.

Y he visto lo que paso en mi país. He visto barrios adonde casi todo el población saben solo como hablar en español. Es mucho mas fácil hablar en la idioma nativa. Ademas conocí a persones hispánicos en este situación quienes después diez anos no conocieron prácticamente nada de ingles.

Esta no es para mi. Deseo hablar español. Deseo amigos Cuencanos. Deseo conexiones personales con la gente de Ecuador y también saber el sabor del vida Ecuatoriana. Y les tengo por eso hablo en español sin hesitación. No tengo miedo hacer faltas gramáticas. Además mis amigos Cuencanos fueron disponible ayudarme a hacer la transferencia a Ecuador mas fácil. Ellos fueron disponible escucharme no importa incorrectos míos en el hablando del español.

Soy gringo en Ecuador y siempre seré gringo. Pero estoy aprendiendo lo que tenemos en común es mas y lo que nos separan meno.

Paws with Hope a Foundation of Care

All the dogs around here excited, barking...running around happy licking faces of fifteen or so humankind come to maybe find a mascot.

It's a fun day at Jay Dee's Paws with Hope rescue compound.

Visitors at Paws With Hope Meet and Greet

Dog lovers congregated, united in sentiment---it's cliché, I know, to say dogs are mans' best friend, but folks here sure seem to believe it.

These rescued dogs were maltreated or sick animals found homeless and in need of medical help.

So give credit to Jay Dee---she works like mad as an instrument of succor. She does more than bless animals like priests do on the feast day of Francis of Assisi, not to imply blessings don't help.

But Dee goes out on the streets and looks for malnourished and homeless dogs. She shelters and bathes them. She feeds them. She pays for veterinary aid. 

Rescued dogs at Paws With Hope Compound

''Unfortunately I cannot take in more until some get adopted and I catch up on vet bills,'' Jay says. ''But I'm over my limit as is! I was fine at six or seven but after number eight came in things have been hectic.''

She's talking about a dog in a voice emotive of pure joy. Other dogs pant and huff about the wood structured compound; the day's visitors pet play, laugh and talk in tones people use when delighted to talk to friendly animals.

Jay sits on a couch, puts a computer on the coffee table in front, and guests huddle about while she talks about her dogs and shows their pictures.

''This is Ginger,'' she says, ''Ginger was found in Sector Racar...she followed us home and decided she wasn't leaving. She smelt really bad, was skin and bone and had her teeth removed... and was later adopted by an ex pat.''

''This is Frenchie'', Jay says, continuing her presentation. ''Frenchie was found at Feria Libre. He was sick and needed medication for numerous parasites but now he is better and ready for his new home.''

Although adoption is the main reason for the event, it's not the only. ''We need volunteers!'' Jay exclaims. ''It's very hard finding good adopters. All of my dogs get very attached to me and don't want to leave. I would like a few people to come walk them and play with them.''

Food provided at the Meet and Greet

Jay is, as of November 23^rd, taking care of fourteen dogs. ''When they're so many in one spot they fight,'' she says to the people here, ''so I'm trying to get a few adopted.''

The assembly of needed parts towards this end necessitates organizational skill. Rendered proclamations in Facebook. Dates, times and schedules established.

Bus that transported visitors to the event,
 owned by Martin Avila of EcuaChakana Journeys

Jay writes ''Paws with Hope is hosting a meet and greet for those who donated to our campaign, or those just interested in meeting our rescue pups....if you are interested in attending please send me an e mail so I can plan for how many people will attend.''

I say Jay Dee and ''Paws With Hope'' merit publicity, not only because of her passionate dedication, but also because I myself believe in the cliche that dogs are mans' best friend.

Paws With Hope is hosting two fundraising events at the dog rescue compound, one scheduled for Thursday, December 19^th and the other for Saturday, January 4^th, both from 4 to 8 pm.

Pick up and drop off to be provided by EcuaChakana Journeys, one from the Planetarium at Parque de la Madre and the other from Hotel Oro Verde on Ordonez Lazzo.

Live entertainment to be provided by Jerry Joe Holland, and there will be bingo.

The contribution is $35 per person, which includes transportation from either location, the live entertainment, food, non-alcoholic beverages and the first beer or wine for free.

Plan to attend? Paypal at Livebyfaith211@yahoo.com. Afterwards, please e mail Jay at PawswithHopeCuenca@yahoo.com with your name, phone number, choice of pick up location and date attending.

Jay Dee

Horse Healer Sensations

Since its domestication 3000 years ago, the storied history of horse and man together exemplify special bonding---the loyalty of horse to man---the love of man for horse.

FLAMENCO TAN NOBLE

The cinematic prestige of movies like ''Seabiscuit,'' ''National Velvet'', ''War Horse'' and ''The Black Stallion'' treat of this deep esteem for the noble equine characteristic.

A less heralded yet equally deserving acclaim champions the horse as healing benefactor to mentally retarded people.

Patient at Empoderamiento Con Caballos

Marthy Ch, a nurse for The Ministry of Public Health of Ecuador, also works with therapeutic horses and those patients whom she calls her ''babies'' at Empoderamiento con Caballos, (Empowerment with Horses)--- an organization directed by clinical psychologist Christini Ring and located in the Cotacachi area of Imbabura Province in Ecuador.

''Horses generate a deep motivation,'' Ch says, ''they perceive who we really are.''

This equine sensitivity awakens healing of awareness in the patients.

''Being in the presence of horses takes us more to the present moment, we calm down, we concentrate more and more,'' said Ch. ''A transformation happens...personally I love this because I feel it in my soul.''

Marthy Ch with horse and patient

''It seems there is something special and mystical in connection with horses,'' said Ch. ''People of all ages are attracted to horses because of their majestic beauty, grace, stature and strength.''

What aspects thrive in those horses best suited for therapy to the intellectually disabled? Obvious but important to highlight---horses do not judge nor label and categorize as less in value compared to normal people---their mentally retarded riders, walkers and groomers.

Ch explains horses have unique personalities, physical capacities and individual limitations, just as do the people whom they help treat. The best of all, she says, is horses never lie and always give immediate and honest response.

Horse groomer at work

''Positive experiences with human-horse interactions have shown profound healing for those with emotional and mental challenges,'' said Ch. ''As a result, children with autism often begin to say new words or express themselves more frequently.''

Empoderamiento con Caballos hosts a celebration on August 3, which will include a horse kissing booth, carrot tossing, horse poop bingo and more, other fun games. The fiesta is from 12 pm to 3 pm at Finca Pluma Blanca, Cotacachi-Quiroga. More info is at telephone number 098 3591 568. All are invited and entrance is free. All proceeds go to the equine therapy program.

Time to Prepare for the Last Act?

Take notice about it. It's akin to when a dead blue jay bird is discovered in the front yard of his house by a five year old boy---nobody needs to teach that five year old what his instincts do. The temporal nature of life exemplified in the bird's corpse is sobering. The boy realizes he too will die.

Almost none of us talk about it---the subject of death. We hide it under a blanket named the cares and concerns of daily living. Undertaker cosmeticians meanwhile dress the deceased to appear as if in deep sleep. It is all of it understandable; yet so momentous the passage from life to death, is it not worthwhile to suggest it be afforded thoughtful and considerate preparation?

Wills put in order. Funeral arrangements made. If death is imminent, farewells extended to family and friends.

But is there a responsibility to prepare to die for the sake of oneself? Is there duty to contemplate the matter, to weigh the pounds and measure the feet of what is the last act of living? Is there value to ask oneself--- how does a person die well? Is there worth to evaluate an enigmatic question? How do I die with peace of mind even if in physical agony?

Decades ago, a friend had hurled himself out a four story window. He had approached near to successful suicide. An attending surgeon, at his hospital bed after the operation, reportedly said to him that after we doctors did everything medically possible to save you, you hovered between life and death for two hours.

This fellow experienced a lesson he tells me he will never forget. Yes, without emergency medical aid he'd have died, undoubtedly, but it was spiritual healing that saved his life.

Is living then as to cultivate the spirit of life--- as opposed to the spirit of death--- a beneficial method to prepare for death?

I say yes. Whether or not individual, personal consciousness exists after death is not so much the question at hand here. The question being asked is how can we die well if we have not lived well?

My friend who attempted suicide still lives. He learns. I can see the changes myself in this now much older man. He is learning to live to add rather than detract from life. He is learning to respond rather than react. He is learning how to distinguish, so to speak, between clever disguise and authentic apparition. His character development is more important to him than material accomplishment, yet he does accept the call to make the most of his talent. In fact, he believes he will live after he does die. Scientific absurdity. But to him, this personal belief is the most succinct ingredient in his recipe book on how best to prepare to meet death.

About Before the Internet Age: Gratitude for Cell Phones and Ditch the Hitch-hiking.

My internet connection crashed yesterday afternoon, and I felt molested to the upmost degree about that. My partner and I were in the middle of what is to us doing important work---building a website to market art resources and supplies at Art Easels for the Artist. By the way I ask readers to do us a favor and check out our website and leave a comment---this will encourage the traffic that leads to higher ranking in the search engines.  
 

My partner Osnelly and I at Mall del Rio in Cuenca, Ecuador

Anyway, it´s late morning now and my web connection is still down, but a trusted and experienced internet systems engineer at damonbreeden@gmail.com  is going to come over at 3 pm to re-establish the connection. I am fully confident he will succeed.

Obviously my tranquility is associated with a reliable and fast moving internet connection. I am tied to the net. It is a part of me and I am a part of it. But I am old enough to well remember the days when no internet existed, and I have a story about what that was like. My six brothers and sisters and I were children, in the family station wagon, and dad was driving and mom was with dad in the front seat. We were traveling from San Francisco to Los Angeles and were about to ascend the mountains surrounding the approach to greater Los Angeles. That´s when our vehicle broke down due to mechanical mishap. Dad exited, stuck out his thumb, and started asking for a ride. He started hitch-hiking. He needed a tow to a gas station and he complained---for over an hour no one was stopping while it was plain to see he was a family man. This was circa 1964, well before the invention of cell phones. These problems and similar problems no longer exist because we have mobile phones.

Who would argue this advancement is not to our advantage?

 

The Osborne 1 computer (1981)

But I have a point to make that´s an offshoot angle or perspective about this. I myself did not grow up with the internet, computers and cellphones around in daily life. As a result their technology is always going to be somewhat foreign to me regardless of how many courses or studies of computers I may take. It´s like language. If someone´s native tongue is English he or she will never quite be able to speak an acquired, second language learned in adulthood with the same fluency as English.

The second language never gets ingrained like the mother tongue did. So it is with computer fluency for those who grew up before computers were part and parcel of daily life. They will never be as comfortable with the technology as are their sons and daughters, not to mention their grandchildren.

Something about it is a fascination to me. The internet has changed people´s capabilities---young people adapting to the world the way it is and becoming capable of guiding earth into a future which we would never have had absent the expansion of computer and internet expertise.
I live in what some term a third world country---Ecuador. But yesterday I noticed an Ecuadorian boy about five years old playing a digital game on his hand phone. He was moving his fingers around that keypad with ease---born of skill developed at a tender age. Be that as it may about Ecuador, it makes little difference. That boy will be painting the internet of the future with colors native to Ecuador.

What type of single guy are you?

This is a guest post written by Paul Yhip. Paul owns a landscaping construction and design business in the San Francisco Bay Area. He also writes songs and short stories at Pablito´s Corner.
__________________________________________________________

I went to dinner with my wife Anna the other day, along with our best friends Tom and Judy. We tend to be open with each other and talk and debate on a lot of different subjects. Judy opened the conversation and said ¨ I dated a few guys before I met Tom.¨

Interrupting, Tom said ¨A few? That´s like saying Hitler only killed a few people!¨  Anna and I looked at each other with forced smiles, and Judy, glaring at her husband of fourteen years said ¨What do you mean Tom? I was a slut!?¨

¨No, no let me correct myself,¨ replied Tom, his expression turning apologetic, ¨I meant not so much the quantity but the quality. I suppose every man you met was a different type of guy.¨

Anna and I looked at them as if we were spectators at a performance.

¨Of course I had guys who were sweet and gentlemanly,¨ said Judy, ¨and others were the all hands type.¨

Image courtesy of radnatt at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Looking at both of them, I said ¨Like everyone men come in different forms and with dating it´s no exception.¨

I´m not a psychology major but that didn´t keep me from sharing my thoughts. The conversation got all of us involved. After dinner we went our separate ways, and when later at home with Anna--- we continued to further discuss the subject.

I have come up with three types of men, presented below in terms of achieving their goals, especially when it comes to women.

The Bold: He is the type who takes what he sees. He´s a skilled talker and appears interesting. He sells the impossible but makes it seem believable. Women become convinced he is the hero for whom they have been waiting.

The Mastermind: He is cool and thinks calculated thoughts, slowly guiding women into his world because they feel so at ease with him. Women are turned on more by what he displays of his insides rather than physical appearance. He massages the mind and soul of the woman so eloquently that she feels he is the one.

The Cobra: His meekness is his strength. He appears so non-threatening. As if he is a little boy, women begin to adore his cute qualities. He knows he is gaining ground when the woman begins to show interest. As time goes on she finds he has another side which strikes with deadly accuracy for the capture. For some reason this is the one time the woman enjoys her defeat.

Like with everything there are exceptions and mixtures. Men can have aspects of all three types. One guy can start out being bold, then later become more like the mastermind. Another can start out like the little boy later becoming more akin to the bold.

How complex we are as humans.