Kenneth Davis

     Music is a reservoir... of sounds. What I'm doing, I prefer to call that jazz, because it is a beautiful word - I love it. Jazz to me is a living music. It's a music that since its beginning has expressed the feelings, the dreams, hopes, of the people. 
~Dexter Gordon~

WELCOME TO 
SMOOTH
 CONTEMPORARY JAZZ 

Kenneth Davis

   T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N   
TODAY'S WORDS - NEW BEGINNINGS

     All parents believe their children can do the impossible. They thought it the minute we were born, and no matter how hard we've tried to prove them wrong, they all think it about us now. And the really annoying thing is, they're probably right. Cartooning is a wonderful career, and I'd like more women to get to have it. I can't think of any reason why we won't see more syndicated female cartoonists in the future. The best strips are the most honest. That's just the truth of it. I love comics, and I can't imagine life without them. I love newspaper comics.
     I'm lucky that my real-life Mom has both a great sense of humor about herself and an amazing ability to slip into complete denial if the subject matter gets a little too close to home. My mother had always taught me to write about my feelings instead of sharing really personal things with others, so I spent many evenings writing in my diary, eating everything in the kitchen and waiting for Mr. Wrong to call. Imagine my surprise when, after a lifetime of teaching me to keep personal things to myself, Mom insisted my drawings were the start of a comic strip for millions of people to enjoy. I wasn't intending to create a comic strip to begin with. So I think I wasn't aware that when the strip started, there had never been a woman's voice quite like this in the newspaper.
      Cathy was the first widely syndicated humor strip created by a woman. The strip was pretty revolutionary at the time not only because it starred a female, but also because it was so emotionally honest about all the conflicting feelings many women had in 1976. The relationship between Cathy and Mom in the strip is the one relationship drawn from real life that I have proudly never even tried to disguise. Every day is a new beginning and a chance to blow it. I'd love to see more equal representation of female and male cartoonists on the comics page. Because the majority of my readers are women, I feel that one public service I can provide to them is to spread the message of regular mammograms and early detection within the strip.

~Cathy Guisewite~

Estella Wright (Mayhue-Greer)

Kenneth Davis

    SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns

     December 8, 2024: When you become careless and lose the ground you have gained, stop and evaluate how and where you got off, and strengthen your resolve to achieve again what you had. It is not too late to get back to where you were, But it will take self-discipline. Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

  T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N  
TODAYS WORDS - STRENGTHEN YOUR RESOLVE 

     How am I going to live today in order to create the tomorrow I'm committed to? Where focus goes, energy flows. And where energy flows, whatever you're focusing on grows. If you don't take the time to focus on what matters, then you're living a life of someone else's design. Deciding to commit yourself to long term results rather than short term fixes is as important as any decision you'll make in your lifetime. Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more. No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn't trying. Its not about the goal. Its about growing to become the person that can accomplish that goal.
     In other words, your life is controlled by what you focus on. That's why you need to focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear. When you next find yourself in a state of uncertainty, resist your fear. Shift your focus toward where you want to go and your actions will take you in that direction. I believe life is constantly testing us for our level of commitment, and life's greatest rewards are reserved for those who demonstrate a never-ending commitment to act until they achieve. This level of resolve can move mountains, but it must be constant and consistent. As simplistic as this may sound, it is still the common denominator separating those who live their dreams from those who live in regret.
     In order to take our lives to the next level, we must realize that the same pattern of thinking that has gotten us to where we are now will not get us to where we want to go. There are no failures, only outcomes. Realize that the hardest step in achieving anything is making a true commitment. Don't limit your challenges; challenge your limits. Each day we must strive for constant and never ending improvement. Obstacles are merely a call to strengthen your resolve to achieve your worthwhile goals. You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action. If you want to succeed in your life, remember this phrase: That past does not equal the future. Because you failed yesterday; or all day today; or a moment ago; or for the last six months; the last sixteen years; or the last fifty years of life, doesn't mean anything... All that matters is: What are you going to do, right now?

~Tony Robbins~

Kenneth Davis

  T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N  
TODAY'S WORDS - CUT YOUR TEETH

     It doesn't matter what people feel about you because everyone is going to have an opinion. It takes all sorts to make a world - saints as well as soldiers. If we believe the good we read about ourselves, we have to believe the bad we read about ourselves. Be ready for when your time comes, you will have that window of opportunity, so seize the moment and capitalize on it. Set your heights more than what you see around you, see beyond.
     Comedy is second nature for me. You say you're a comedian; you always have to be on guard. I provide a little comic relief. I'm not a comedian. I'm an actor who just happens to be funny on occasion. There isn't a switch that I turn on. I'm an actor. This is what I do. Independent films are where you really get to cut your teeth and have some fun and do the things that mainstream Hollywood doesn't want to do. It's just a matter of me opening up the page and whatever is written on the page, that's what I'm here to do. Romeo Must Die was the first film that I did where I was able to just be free as an actor. I've gotten my butt kicked by the best. Jet Li beat me up the best, but Steven Segal can still kick a good butt. It's a different kind of kicking, though.

~Anthony Anderson~

Kenneth Davis

IT'S TIME FOR 
JUST JOKING MONDAYS

Joycelyn Lacy (Sommerville)

Kenneth Davis

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns

     December 10, 2024: There is a limit as to what you can do with physical, emotional, mental and financial resources. Be mindful of your limitations and stay within your boundaries. Do not take on more than you can effectively handle. In this season you will be tempted to throw caution and constraint to the wind and do things you will regret. 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

  T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N
TODAY'S WORDS - YOUR LIMITATIONS 

     We're not on our journey to save the world but to save ourselves. But in doing that you save the world. The influence of a vital person vitalizes. The world is full of people who have stopped listening to themselves or have listened only to their neighbors to learn what they ought to do, how they ought to behave, and what the values are they should be living for. We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come. 
     The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature. The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure. The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. You must have a place to which you can go in your heart, your mind, or your house, almost every day, where you do not owe anyone and where no one owes you - a place that simply allows for the blossoming of something new and promising.
     I don't believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive. Your life is the fruit of your own doing. You have no one to blame but yourself. When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness. There is perhaps nothing worse than reaching the top of the ladder and discovering that you’re on the wrong wall. You are more than you think you are. There are dimensions of your being and a potential for realization and consciousness that are not included in your concept of yourself. Your life is much deeper and broader than you conceive it to be here. What you are living is but a fractional inkling of what is really within you, what gives you life, breadth, and depth.
     Is the system going to flatten you out and deny you your humanity, or are you going to be able to make use of the system to the attainment of human purposes? Our demons are our own limitations, which shut us off from the realization of the ubiquity of the spirit . . . each of these demons is conquered in a vision quest. We're so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it is all about. If you want resurrection, you must have crucifixion... The hoarder, the one in us that wants to keep, to hold on, must be killed.

~Joseph Campbell~

Kenneth Davis

  T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N  
TODAY'S WORDS - SELF-PITY

     Having a rough day? Place your hand over your heart. Feel that? It's called purpose. You're alive for a reason. Don't give up. When you are tempted to give up, your breakthrough is probably just around the corner. A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances instead of your circumstances having power over you. Positive minds produce positive lives. Negative minds produce negative lives. Positive thoughts are always full of faith and hope. Negative thoughts are always full of fear and doubt.
     Battles are fought in our minds every day. When we begin to feel the battle is just too difficult and want to give up, we must choose to resist negative thoughts and be determined to rise above our problems. We must decide that we're not going to quit. When we're bombarded with doubts and fears, we must take a stand and say: "I'll never give up! If you want to get over a problem, stop talking about it. Your mind affects your mouth, and your mouth affects your mind. It's difficult to stop talking about a situation until you stop thinking about it. Being negative only makes a difficult journey more difficult. You may be given a cactus, but you don't have to sit on it. Nobody can be set free from a problem until they're willing to admit they have one. Worry is a down payment on a problem you may never have. 
     If you're not at peace with yourself, you can't be at peace with anyone else. No matter what's going on in our lives, the victory is in refusing to quit. If someone decides they're not going to be happy, it's not your problem. You don't have to spend your time and energy trying to cheer up someone who has already decided to stay in a bad mood. Believe it or not, you can actually hurt people by playing into their self-pity. Stop comparing yourself to other people; you are an original. We are all different and it's okay. When we are truly confident and secure, the opinions of others cannot control us. You are not hopeless. You are not helpless. Self-pity is the most miserable party to go to, because, in case you haven't noticed, you're the only one who is there. I used to have a real problem with self-pity. Every time the devil would throw a pity party, I would attend. Don't be too concerned about what others think of you. It's what you think about yourself that matters! There is nothing as tragic as being alive and not enjoying life... Life should be celebrated!

~Joyce Meyer~

Kenneth Davis

WELLNESS WEDNESDAY

Kenneth Davis

BIRTH  ANNIVERSARY GREETINGS
 TO 
DAVID STINNETTE  

     If you're alive, there's a purpose for your life. Living in the light of eternity changes your priorities. Faithful servants never retire. You can retire from your career, but you will never retire from serving God.

~Rick Warren~

Joycelyn Lacy (Sommerville)

Kenneth Davis

  T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N  
TODAYS WORDS - BE SENSITIVE 

     Circumstances dictate your set of values, your set of morals. At a very young age, I could look at people and tell that everyone was, in a sense, worthless in their own mind. And you couldn't trust anyone. No one was good. You're either ghetto or you're not. The place where you're from defines who you are. You put yourself in the wrong situation, the wrong things happen. The happiest people, the ones you like the most, they're never worried about being rich.
     When people ask me my influences and I'm like, "nobody" they're like, "there has to be somebody." People seem to think you have to have an influence. I don't think you should criticize people's music because maybe it just isn't for you. My cares come from a very selfish place 'cause in reality I'm young, and I haven't had the experience to be mature yet. Separation is very important to me. I don't strive to be a celebrity. My music has nothing to do with me at the end of the day. Once it's made and it's purchased, it belongs to whoever. Some people lose sense of what their music was when their life starts to get better. People just tell me I'm supposed to be sensitive, and I'm not. But I think I'm very emotional. I'm very caring. What's important to me is people just being people. Basic emotions can be conveyed through anything. As long as you show people that you're human, they'll relate to it. We're all equally important at the end of the day.
     I could care less about the radio or the TV or album sales. I want that connection with people because when I'm able to walk down the street, I want them to feel like I've done something for them and helped their life because I've never felt that way about a musician. Every project has to stand on its own. It's a different identity within each project, and I feel like that's the way it should be. The best song is what resonates with that one person the most. It's why, if you ask a million people on the face of the Earth, they're all gonna have different favorite songs, their own best song ever, because that's the one that touched them the most.

~Vince Staples~

Kenneth Davis

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY GREETINGS
 TO 
CHARLES BUCKLEY

     We are on a very rich emotional and physical journey on this planet. Live your life fom your heart. Share from your heart. And your story will touch and heal people's souls. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. 

~Melody Beattie~

Kenneth Davis

TIME FOR ANOTHER

Joycelyn Lacy (Sommerville)

Kenneth Davis

   T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N   
TODAYS WORDS - REAPING REWARDS

     The world is full of wonderful things you haven't seen yet. Don't ever give up on the chance of seeing them. Failure is not fun. It can be awful. But living so cautiously that you never fail is worse. There will always be a easy path and a right path. We have to choose between what is right, and what is easy. It is our choices... that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
     Failure is so important. We speak about success all the time. It is the ability to resist failure or use failure that often leads to greater success. I've met people who don't want to try for fear of failing. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.
     The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than any qualification I ever earned. The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.
     I look at the effect that an individual's fame has on their family, for example, and the limitations that places upon your life to an extent - of course, it brings marvelous things too, but it brings them mainly to the individual. The people around the famous person often pay a price without reaping many of the rewards. I've been writing my entire life, and I'll always write. I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do ever - was write novels. I will carry on writing, to be sure. But I don't know if I would want to publish again after Harry Potter. I would like to be remembered as someone who did the best she could with the talent she had. I think you have a moral responsibility when you've been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently.

~J. K. Rowling~

Kenneth Davis

WELCOME TO 
SMOOTH
 CONTEMPORARY JAZZ 

     I may be prejudiced, but I believe that jazz music has the strongest healing potential, and it's not just because I play it and love it so much. I feel that it's the improvisation in jazz that makes it so strong as a healing tool, what each individual gives to a tune from their heart and their soul when they take a solo. It's all spontaneous, and it's all love, and from the heart.

~Horace Silver~

INTRODUCING MARVEL HOLMAN, 
BIG BROTHER OF OUR OWN ALICE HOLMAN

Kenneth Davis

T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N
TODAYS WORDS - REST AND RECHARGE

     Travel is like a tonic to me. It's more than just getting away from the studio for a brief rest. I need it to recharge my batteries.
~Norman Rockwell~

     I exercise a lot. I enjoy exercising. I switch back and forth with cardio and strength training every other day, and I try to do something active every single day. Other than that, I try to make sure I have enough quiet time to myself to recharge every week as well.
~Rhea Seehorn~

     What I know is, is that if you do work that you love, and the work fulfills you, the rest will come.
~Oprah Winfrey~

     The idea of 'ferie,' or summer break, is a long tradition of which all Italians, including myself, participate. It's a time to relax, reflect and recharge.
~Frida Giannini~

     I think a nap, or a rest overnight is great. But who needs three days of rest? Please! The second day, you might die.
~Maya Angelou~

     Quiet moments recharge me.
~Alicia Keys~

     How many times have you noticed that it's the little quiet moments in the midst of life that seem to give the rest extra-special meaning?
~Fred Rogers~

     A nap is not to be confused with sleeping. We sleep to recharge our bodies. We nap to care for our souls. When we nap, we are resting our eyes while our imaginations soar. Getting ready for the next round. Sorting, sifting, separating the profound from the profane, the possible from the improbable. 
~Sarah Ban Breathnach~

     When I'm off the road, my husband and I recharge our batteries. It's a day of deep rest and connection with the spiritual, and that can be anything - going for a walk in nature, being in silence, burning incense.
~Alanis Morissette~

     People who do a job that claims to be creative have to be alone to recharge their batteries. You can’t live 24 hours a day in the spotlight and remain creative. For people like me, solitude is a victory.
~Karl Lagerfeld~

     You can rest a lot in an hour or have a whole day and not do it properly. One way I get a quality recharge is to connect with nature. To experience something that's bigger than me.
~Lili Taylor~

Estella Wright (Mayhue-Greer)

Kenneth Davis

 SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns

     December 15, 2024: I am with you in times of trouble and in the midst of difficulties. Know that if you look for Me I will be found. If you will take one step towards Me, I will take a gi ant leap towards you. I will present Myself in ways that you would never expect, but in ways that will be exactly what you need at this moment, says the Lord. Psalm 27:13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the end of the living.  

  T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N  
TODAYS WORDS - GIANT LEAP

     Make small commitments and keep them. Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic. Be a part of the solution, not the problem. Anything less than a conscious commitment to the important is an unconscious commitment to the unimportant. Where you are headed is more important than how fast you are going. Rather than always focusing on what's urgent, learn to focus on what is really important.
     To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you're going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction. The only way we can handle change around us is to know what is changeless about ourselves. If we overcome the pull and "get up and get at it," we will have won a victory. We have kept our own resolve. We can then move to other things, for by small means great things are accomplished. Thus, even this one small step is also in another sense a giant leap. A moment of choice is a moment of truth. It's the testing point of our character and competence.

~Stephen Covey~ 

Joycelyn Lacy (Sommerville)

Kenneth Davis

T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N
TODAYS WORD - Emote

     Though you feel you're not where you're supposed to be, you shouldn't worry because that next turn that you take, it will lead you to where you wanna go. Life is about balance. The good and the bad. The highs and the lows. The thing everyone should realize is that the key to happiness is being happy by yourself and for yourself. Happiness comes from within. You have the power to change your own mindset so that all the negative, horrible thoughts that try to invade your psyche are replaced with happy, positive, wonderful thoughts.
     It's our challenges and obstacles that give us layers of depth and make us interesting. Sometimes you can't see yourself clearly until you see yourself through the eyes of others. I think we need more love in the world. We need more kindness, more compassion, more joy, more laughter. I definitely want to contribute to that. Our flaws are what makes us human. If we can accept them as part of who we are, they really don't even have to be an issue. I never see the glass half empty because I drink out the bottle. Asking who's the 'man' and who's the 'woman' in a same-sex relationship is like asking which chopstick is the fork.
     Penguins mate for life. Which doesn't really surprise me, because they all look exactly alike. It's not like they're gonna meet a better-looking penguin someday. Here are the values that I stand for: honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you want to be treated and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values. This is my real secret to being a joyful person: I make my life easy. I spend more time being grateful for what I have instead of focusing on what isn't working. I no longer believe that people have to do things my way and that I have to be perfect. Laugh. Laugh as much as you can. Laugh until you cry. Cry until you laugh. Keep doing it even if people are passing you on the street saying, "I can't tell if that person is laughing or crying, but either way they seem crazy, let's walk faster." Emote. It's okay. It shows you are thinking and feeling. My point is life is about balance. The good and the bad. The highs and the lows. The pina and the colada.

~Ellen DeGeneres~

Kenneth Davis

IT'S TIME FOR 
JUST JOKING MONDAYS

Kenneth Davis

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns

     December 17, 2024: This is a time when your perspective of life and relevance will undergo an adjustment. You will be able to see the cycle of life with greater understanding and clarity. Use this time to do all that you can to fulfill your destiny in Me, says the Lord. I am your past, your present, and your future. John 16:13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 

   T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N   
TODAYS WORDS - CYCLE OF LIFE

     I have accepted fear as a part of life - specifically the fear of change... I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back. It's important to know what you're going to spend your life on, and the only way you're going to find that is by connecting with the force inside yourself. Always do the things you fear the most. Courage is an acquired taste, like caviar.
          You reach a point in life where you realize that you might as well do what you need to do, because your being loved or not being loved is really a function of the people you encounter and not of yourself. That is an immensely liberating insight. Friends love misery... our misery is what endears us to our friends. Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't. If we are all made of God, it is our friends who remind us. We pass the gift of God to them. They pass it back to us when we need it most. We were not human beings going through spiritual experiences; we were spiritual beings going through human experiences, in order to grow. 
     There's another part of getting older that's just wonderful. Which is you see the way the stories turn out with peoples' lives. Memory is the most transient of all possessions. And when it goes, it leaves as few traces as stars that have disappeared. We need quiet time to examine our lives openly and honestly...spending quiet time alone gives your mind an opportunity to renew itself and create order. The most important education you get is your own - the one you learn in solitude.
     It's horrible getting older. I mean, it's wonderful because you see the circles of life get completed. But it's horrible losing your looks. If, every day, I dare to remember that I am here on loan, that this house, this hillside, these minutes are all leased to me, not given, I will never despair. I see that the greatest thing about getting older is how your judgment changes and how you come to understand the cycles of life. And you keep having these amazing flashes of understanding. Perhaps every generation thinks of itself as a lost generation and perhaps every generation is right.

~Erica Jong~