And how was your day?

What happened at Fort Hood is horrible. I don't dispute that whatsoever.

I saw the following statistics today and thought it was worth sharing considering today's memorial and tomorrow's holiday.

American deaths...
Since war began (3/19/03): 4362
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4223
Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03): 3899
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3503

Food for thought.

"A good plan is like a road map: it shows the final destination and usually the best way to get there."

H. Stanley Judd
Author

This picture really moves me -- nearly to tears. While we've made a lot of progress since this photo was taken, we still have a long way to go.

"People who make decisions go to the top. Those who fail to make decisions go nowhere."

Bob Proctor
Author and Speaker

I had a holter monitor test this weekend and the adhesive is still stuck to my chest after two showers. I now have five hairless circles on my chest. Pretty... not.

They're like five crop circles. WTF?

...I've been ignoring you lately.

I've been pretty busy at work and have traveling the last two weeks. Posting anything much more than the Quote of the Day hasn't really been a priority, but that is changing. I just overhauled the look of my journal in hope that I'll want to post more.

(CNN) -- On the holiday known as the Day of the Dead, a Brazilian bricklayer walked into his own funeral.

The sight of Ademir Jorge Goncalves alive shocked relatives, some of whom tried to jump out of the windows of the funeral home in southern Brazil.

"In my 10 years in this business, I have never witnessed a scene like this," said Natanael Honorato, manager of the funeral home in the Parana state.

On November 1, some family members and friends had identified the victim of a car crash as the 59-year-old Goncalves.

They scheduled his funeral for the following day, Dia de Finados, a holiday when Brazilians remember loved ones who have died.

What Goncalves' family did not know is that he had spent the night drinking at a bar near the site of the crash, but he was not the victim.

When the bricklayer got word of his funeral, he showed up at the Funeraria Rainha das Colinas funeral home Monday morning.

Later that day, the mystery was solved when a family in a neighboring town came inquiring about a son who was missing.

The family recognized the body -- and took it away for burial. [source]

"Loving people live in a loving world. Hostile people live in a hostile world... Same world."

Wayne Dyer
Author and Speaker

"Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, 'Make me feel important.' Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life."

Mary Kay Ash
1918-2001, Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics

"Worry a little bit every day and in a lifetime you will lose a couple of years. If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry. Worry never fixes anything."

Mary Hemingway
1908-1986, Author and Journalist

"Make a notation in your calendar to review your goals weekly and to grade yourself at the end of the month. Actually schedule time to work on and achieve your goals."

Raymond Aaron
From Double Your Income Doing What You Love

“So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.”

Chief Tecumseh, Shawnee Nation

(Thanks, kc_risenphoenix, for posting.)

"Happiness doesn't depend on what we have, but it does depend on how we feel toward what we have. We can be happy with little and miserable with much."

William Dempster Hoard
1836-1918, Politician and Publisher

Please welcome hairofthedawg to my LJ bear den.

"My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said that achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others. That is nice but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement - success will follow."

Helen Hayes
1900-1993, Award Winning Actress

"Count your blessings. Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return, the sun will break out, the music will play, and you will finally be able to move forward with the life that God intended for you."

Og Mandino
1923-1996, Author and Speaker

"Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation."

Brian Tracy
Author and Speaker

I've been sick since Monday. Heading to the dr to get a chest x-ray. They think I either have pneumonia or H1N1.

Oink oink!

"Most great people have achieved their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure."

Napoleon Hill

Just had the best salad EVAR from Whole Foods. I thought everyone would want to know.

"Regret for time wasted can become a power for good in the time that remains, if we will only stop the waste and the idle, useless regretting."

Arthur Brisbane
1864-1936, Journalist and Editor

I read this yesterday and it has stuck with me every since. I'm still digesting it.

I can't believe it's going to be 11 years.

I keep a stuffed bear on my desk which wears a Matthew Shepard Foundation t-shirt. It was a gift from a donation I made back in 2004.

bri4u: And you know what they are in to. Plus... As an added bonus you know that they are felons.

"You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late."

Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803-1882, Essayist, Philosopher and Poet

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others."

Marcus Tullius Cicero
106 BC - 43 BC, Politician, Orator and Philosopher

"Self-disciplined begins with the mastery of your thoughts. If you don't control what you think, you can't control what you do."

Napoleon Hill
1883-1970, Author of Think and Grow Rich

"Every achiever that I have ever met says, 'My life turned around when I began to believe in me.'"

Dr. Robert Schuller
Minister and Author

Which is correct?

1. Charles' shoe size is 13.
2. Charles's shoe size is 13.

I've always believed it was the first sentence, but I just read an internal article that says the second is correct. Here's what is says:

To make a singular noun show possession, add 's to the singular form of the word, even if that word ends in “s.”  James’s hat, the team member’s car

Am I wrong? Help!

Please welcome shadowof1 to my circle of LJ friends!

"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows."

Helen Keller
1880-1968, Author and Lecturer

"Once you believe that answers and resources can show up in your life, they will: The universe works to mirror your beliefs. It will prove you right every time."

Peggy McColl
From her powerful new book The Won Thing

"Being miserable is a habit. Being happy is a habit. The choice is yours."

Tom Hopkins
Sales Trainer