raw integrity: failure is not an option

the song is about the power of choice - getting over yourself and living life
about not get mired in the past or wallow in self-pity
you gotta hustle until you are dead
about going full tilt

it may sound on the surface like a patriotic anthem
but this simplistic message may be more
a personal 'survivor' message

the concept applies
to anyone helplessly enslaved
who shy's away at the first signs of rejection
who go timid or cower from the game in a wild kingdom

at the first sign of rejection or failure
you can throw in the towel retreat and feel dejected
or you can feed on it - get creative - find ways to adapt/change

to thrive you gotta
bring your alpha game
or go home a starved soul

build resilience
learn from the players
dont take 'no' for an answer
be not humble failure is not an option

you dont have to live like a fugitive
you dont have to feel like a refugee

you dont have to avoid the challenges or keep living in fear
afraid of expressing yourself and what you believe
afraid of consequences and repercussions
afraid of being dejected rejected
generally not accepted

pick yourself up by the bootstraps
and take the bull by the horns

try changing your vantage
think out of the box

yes its hell on earth
a planet of suffering
where nothing is fair

but you don't have to...
- live forever traumatized
- feel like a beat down slave
- live timid shy hesitant fearful
- live in the turmoil of your past
- live like a jaded soul

life is one big struggle
we've all been raped or abused somehow
metaphorically emotionally mentally physically or otherwise
there's not a soul who isnt coping with some significant trauma of some flavor

yet no matter how nasty the hand dealt to each of us - if we are alive we are the obvious byproduct of a genetic lineage of survivors - and a survivor is a winner - and winners dont quit because quitters never win - freedom isn't automatic etc - it isnt free either - it costs plenty of heart-churning mind-frying trial error blood sweat and tears - and there's no shortcut:  each of us has to fight to be free of our own devices - free from what we fear - like combatants on the frontline - like performers on stage - to win we all gotta face our own fears and never surrender. 

success is about surmounting and life is about fighting.  dont run from life's challenges or isolate and hide in your own pool of self-loathing and depression.   dont' be a trauma queen!  [its my meme!]

why wallow in self-pity or stay stuck in the mud?  why waste time believing people owe you something or expect they can grant you your personal freedom.  justice doesnt exist and doesnt matter - because you cant undo what was done.

bottomline:  freedom is a choice - a state of mind.  its a choice to pick yourself up by the bootstraps, dust yourself off and get back in the game - you gotta fight - fight to be free from your own self-enslavery.

refuge - lyrics - tom petty

Somewhere, somehow,
Somebody must have kicked you around some.    [we all got some trauma we're dealing with.]
Tell me why you wanna lay there and revel in your abandon.   [exactly how does self-doubt, self-loathing, a doom gloom outlook, self-pity or repression benefit anybody?]

Right now this seems real to you,    [but you'll get over it.]
But it's one of those things you gotta feel to be true.

Somewhere, somehow,
Somebody must have kicked you around some.
Who knows? Maybe you were kidnapped,
Tied up, taken away, and held for ransom.  [calling all tortured souls still held captive by emotive memories:  you gotta shake off the bad - smile at the past - "get over it" - move on.]

It don't really matter to me,
You believe what you want to believe,    [freedom is a state of mind.  find ways to embrace not negate traumas.  try to find some comic-relief in your darkest dungeons.]
You don't have to live like a refugee.

It don't make no difference to me,
Everybody's had to fight to be free,    [free of self-doubt, self-pity, self-repression, self-loathing.  you aint that unique/special - try something different to snap out of it.]
You see you don't have to live like a refugee.  

once in a lifetime - david byrne *talking heads*

And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world   
 And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile  
 And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife  
 And you may ask yourself:    Well... How did I get here?    [many arrive at midlife crisis every few years if they stop and think aka think too much]

 Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down    [and on we go - auto piloting through the rat race - keeping up with the jones' - with appearances - so many couples smiling - showcasing their ability to cope and play the poker game like accomplished masters of bluff deny pretend]
 Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
 Into the blue again/after the money's gone    [when the market tanks]
 Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

 And you may ask yourself
 How do I work this?    [how do i master this game?]
 And you may ask yourself
 Where is that large automobile?    [did i dream it?  did the bank repossess it?]
 And you may tell yourself
 This is not my beautiful house!    [no!  they took foreclosed on that!]
 And you may tell yourself
 This is not my beautiful wife!    [either you two got divorced - or she got fat on you - or got ugly i.e. treats you like the furniture!]

 Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down   
 Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
 Into the blue again/after the money's gone
 Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

 Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
 Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
 Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...   
[things stay the same - nothing much really ever changes - meet the new boss same as the old boss]

 Water dissolving...and water removing   
 There is water at the bottom of the ocean    [imagine that!  how profound.]
 Carry the water at the bottom of the ocean
 Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean!    [every water molecule cycles through the sky and oceans - process of evaporation - every one the same]

 Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down    [am i drowning?]
 Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
 Into the blue again/in the silent water
 Under the rocks and stones/there is water underground.

 Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
 Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
 Into the blue again/after the money's gone
 Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

 And you may ask yourself
 What is that beautiful house?
 And you may ask yourself
 Where does that highway go?
 And you may ask yourself
 Am I right?...Am I wrong?
 And you may tell yourself
 MY GOD!...WHAT HAVE I DONE?

 Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
 Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
 Into the blue again/in the silent water
 Under the rocks and stones/there is water underground.

 Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
 Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
 Into the blue again/after the money's gone
 Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

 Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
 Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
 Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...



trying to exercise in calgary, ab

sweating and running with a ball aka athletics is what grounds me - relaxes me - allows me to chill out.

yoga does not do this for me - yoga irritates me specially if the room is hot - to drip sweat while holding a pose reminds me of my military days standing at attention in desert heat unable to do anything about it.

Short Skirt Long Jacket (wolf lyric blurb)

the perfect woman
is a provocative
full spectrum
personality

'a lady in the street and a freak in the bed"
its another "super bootie" anthem
any man's ms. perfect!


short skirt long jacket - lyrics - cake

I want a girl with a mind like a diamond    [brilliant]
I want a girl who knows what's best    [street smart and intelligent]
I want a girl with shoes that cut    [impeccable style]
And eyes that burn like cigarettes

I want a girl with the right allocations    [she's got the right shape]
Who's fast and thorough
And sharp as a tack
She's playing with her jewelry    [girly]
She's putting up her hair    [girly]
She's touring the facility  [its like she owns the place]
And picking up slack 

I want a girl with a short skirt and a long jacket......

I want a girl who gets up early
I want a girl who stays up late
I want a girl with uninterrupted prosperity    [always confident - never wonders - never doubts]
Who uses a machete to cut through red tape    [she takes no prisoners - cross her at your own risk]
With fingernails that shine like justice    [flawless femininity]
And a voice that is dark like tinted glass   

She is fast and thorough
And sharp as a tack
She's touring the facility
And picking up slack

I want a girl with a short skirt and a long.... long jacket    [the full spectrum girl who knows how to blend]

I want a girl with a smooth liquidation    [with grace and finesse - smooth moves that flow like silk]
I want a girl with good dividends    [an excellent investment of my time energy focus effort - her attitude and confidence always pay off - in the bedroom and everywhere else]
At Citibank we will meet accidentally
We'll start to talk when she borrows my pen

She wants a car with a cupholder arm rest    [she isnt complicated]
She wants a car that will get her there    [she keeps it simple]
She's changing her name from Kitty to Karen    [she's done with her younger days and her lap dancing escort catwalk phase]
She's trading her MG for a white Chrysler La Baron    [she's not an empress - her boat is cruising down the highway]

I want a girl with a short skirt and a lonnnnggggggggg jacket