I Love This

This is the best, most concise explanation of the past four years ever.

Life Lessons

When things in your life seem, almost too much to handle,

When 24 Hours in a day is not enough, Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous ‘yes.’

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

‘Now,’ said the professor, as the laughter subsided, ‘I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.’

The golf balls are the important things -family, children, health, Friends, and Favorite passions –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, house, and car.

The sand is everything else —The small stuff.

‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ He continued, ‘there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.’

The same goes for 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.

So…

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 to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

‘Take care of the golf balls first —The things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.’

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled, ‘I’m glad you asked’, he said.

‘It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, There’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.’

This Day in History (August 17)

Aug 17, 1943: Robert DeNiro born

History.com

On this day in 1943, Robert De Niro, considered one of the greatest actors in modern movie history, is born in New York City. De Niro’s many memorable performances include the creepy loner Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (whose signature line was “You talkin’ to me?”), the boxer Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull (a role for which De Niro gained some 60 pounds) and the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather: Part II (for which he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor).

De Niro grew up in Manhattan’s Little Italy neighborhood and as a young actor during the 1960s appeared in off-Broadway productions and small films. He received critical acclaim for his performance in the 1973 movie Mean Streets, which marked his first collaboration with the director (and De Niro’s fellow Little Italy native) Martin Scorsese. De Niro’s film credits during the 1970s also included The Godfather: Part II (1974), in which he spoke much of his dialogue in Italian; Taxi Driver (1976), for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role; and the Vietnam War-era movie The Deer Hunter (1978), which nabbed De Niro his second Best Actor Oscar nomination.

DeNiro and Scorsese reunited for 1980’s Raging Bull, for which De Niro finally took home the Academy Award for Best Actor. During the 1980s, the actor also appeared in such films as The King of Comedy (1983), The Untouchables (1987)–in which he played the notorious gangster Al Capone–and Midnight Run (1988), his first hit comedy. In the 1990s, the prolific De Niro made a string of successful films, including Awakenings (1990), which earned him another Best Actor Oscar nomination for his performance as a man who comes out of a coma; Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990) and Cape Fear (1991), for which he received another Best Actor nomination for his role as a psychotic rapist; Heat (1995) and Casino (1995). In Wag the Dog (1997), Analyze This (1999), and Meet the Parents (2000) De Niro displayed impressive comedic chops. Both of the latter films produced successful sequels (2002’s Analyze That and 2004’s Meet the Fockers, respectively). More recently, De Niro reteamed with his Godfather II and Heat co-star Al Pacino in Righteous Kill (2008).

In addition to his acting career, De Niro has also gone behind the camera, making his directorial debut with 1993’s A Bronx Tale, about a young boy torn between his bus-driver father and the local Mafia boss. After co-founding the TriBeCa Film Center in New York City in 1989, De Niro went on to establish the TriBeCa Film Festival in 2001 to spur cultural and economic growth in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

Hey, I Brought You Some Cigarettes. You Buy Yourself Something Nice.

George and his prison girlfriend. Man I love this show!