The Articles
We have collected a few of our favourite -- or most representative -- articles and stories.
They follow below for your reading pleasure.
They follow below for your reading pleasure.
The Unique Story Of Dave's Birth
This is Dave's story of his birth, and the reason why he HATES being awoken in the morning by having the covers ripped off him...
I think I know why it's so difficult for getting me out of bed in the morning. I found out recently that my birth was a difficult one.
My mother was 12 weeks over due and there was no sign of labour. So she had to be induced. That started the labour. That was on January 28, 1962.
She was in labour for 192 hours and there was still no sign of me so they had to come at me with the forceps. It was a struggle but I fought diligently, warding off that cold metal instrument with my tiny feet and hands. They tried to talk my mother into a C-section, but she refused. So they used this little lasso type device and carefully came at me until I was cornered in the upper area of the uterus. They successfully landed the lasso around me, but unfortunately it was around my neck. That's when the pulling began.
I frantically clawed at the sides of the uterus looking for something to hold on to but it was all slippery and goopy. I thought I had lost but I managed to get a strong foothold on the hip bones, then I slowly maneuvered my tiny frail body so that if they continued to pull I would be wedged in the birth canal sideways.
They used the ultrasound to follow my tactics, and plan their counter attacks. Having seen how I had wedged my delicate frame at the entrance of the birth canal they new trying to slowly pull me out would just cause me to wedge tighter in the canal. In the meantime, the lasso around my neck was cutting off the blood circulation to my brain. They decided it was now or never.
They brought in a couple of burly interns and the doctor, and the nurse and the two interns grabbed the end of the torturous lasso device. Their plan was to in one moment pull with all their might so that my dainty little body would compress and travel through the canal in a very small amount of time and this would minimize the damage. The risks were decapitation, broken bones, brain hemorrhage or suffocation but time was becoming a factor as my mother was now in labour for 207 hours and she was becoming extremely bored and had to use the bathroom very badly.
So on the count of three they let out a might "uuurrrrrgggghhh" as they pulled in unison. This is a memory I often relive in my dreams, for as I traveled across the delivery room and out the 4th floor window, I had the uncanny sensation that I could fly.
As I traveled closer to, and then over Spring Garden Road, hurtling toward the public library, I remember looking down at all the cars and the people on foot below, trying to make their way through the brutal snow storm on this cold February day.
As I began losing altitude and realized I was in fact going to crash into the ground, a sense of calm came over me as I thought I had lived a full life. I didn't know any better as I was after all, a newborn.
The next thing I remember was that everything went white.
They found me four hours later nearly frozen in a snow bank. After spending a mere 7 weeks in intensive care, I was sent home.
And that is the story of my birth. And that's why it is so painful for me to get up in the morning when its cold.
I will send this off now as I feel I must go and weep.
Have a nice morning,
Dave
The Full Jar
You've read something similar before, but this is the Nova Scotia version...
A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, rocks about 2 inches in diameter.
He then asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed that it was.
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The students laughed.
The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. "Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognise that this is your life.
The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car.
The sand is everything else. The small stuff.
"If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.
"Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."
But then... A student then took the jar which the other students and the professor agreed was full, and proceeded to pour in a glass of beer.
Of course the beer filled the remaining spaces within the jar making the jar truly full.
Which proves: No matter how full your life is, there is always room for a beer.
A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, rocks about 2 inches in diameter.
He then asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed that it was.
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The students laughed.
The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. "Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognise that this is your life.
The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car.
The sand is everything else. The small stuff.
"If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.
"Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."
But then... A student then took the jar which the other students and the professor agreed was full, and proceeded to pour in a glass of beer.
Of course the beer filled the remaining spaces within the jar making the jar truly full.
Which proves: No matter how full your life is, there is always room for a beer.
Some Friendship Quotes
You may have read most of these before, but there are some good ones in the list below...
"My father always used to say that when you die, if you've got five real friends, then you've had a great life." -Lee Iacocca
"A true friend will ride with you until hell freezes over, and then a little on the ice." -old cowboy saying
"Friends are the bacon bits in the salad bowl of life."
"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."
"If you should die before me, ask if you could bring a friend." -Stone Temple Pilots
"True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost." -Charles Caleb Colton
"I'll lean on you and you lean on me and we'll be okay." -Dave Matthews Band
"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend." -Albert Camus
"If you should die before me, ask if you could bring a friend." -Stone Temple Pilots
"True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost." -Charles Caleb Colton
"I'll lean on you and you lean on me and we'll be okay." -Dave Matthews Band
"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend." -Albert Camus
"Strangers are just friends waiting to happen."
"Friendship is one mind in two bodies." -Mencius
"Friends are God's way of taking care of us."
"We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere."-Tim McGraw
"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words." -unknown
"Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don't say." "If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you." -Winnie the Pooh
"Friendship is one mind in two bodies." -Mencius
"Friends are God's way of taking care of us."
"We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere."-Tim McGraw
"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words." -unknown
"Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don't say." "If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you." -Winnie the Pooh
