I woke up this morning with that song on my mind, “He ain’t heavy; he’s my brother,” and I know why. I keep thinking about one of my fel…
I woke up this morning with that song on my mind, “He ain’t heavy; he’s my brother,” and I know why. I keep thinking about one of my fellow teachers from my days in the high school classroom. He was a big, burly fellow, nothing delicate about him, but he had a heart of gold. He used to take his elderly mom and aunt on vacations all the time; once, they even flew to Hawaii. I thought that was admirable. I know they slowed him down a lot with their senior citizen pace and senior citizen ways, but my friend still took them for the ride. But that’s not what makes me associate the song with the man. It’s what he did when he found out that one of his brothers (he had several) was very sick and didn’t have the means to pay for his increasing medical expenses. My friend decided that he’d take in his brother and foot the bill. He downsized everything, selling or giving away anything that was financially cumbersome, including his house, buying a small camper trailer and moving it to the local KOA grounds where he could live cheaply and allocate most of his small teacher’s salary to his brother’s medicines, doctor visits, and hospital stays. For months, he came to work and then went home to be nursemaid to his dying brother, sacrificing his meager holdings so his brother could have the best quality of life in his last days. This is the stuff that saints are made of. My big burly friend gave to the bitter end, and though not many people know the price it cost him, I know, and now you know. In the eyes of the world, he may be just another man, overweight and balding, but in my eyes, he’s got a glow about him, the glow of self-sacrificial, unconditional love that sets him apart and makes my eyes glisten with tears just at the thought of him. And if I asked him why he did it, he’d probably say, “Shoot, it wasn’t a big deal; that was my little brother.”
Guys, get behind Darren Sharp as he pursues his dream of getting into the Big Brother House i…
Guys, get behind Darren Sharp as he pursues his dream of getting into the Big Brother House in 2008. Check his journal entry here for more details.
I wanted to share a funny experience I had with my Brother-In-law back in 2005. / I also consider him one of my best friends. We always h…
I wanted to share a funny experience I had with my Brother-In-law back in 2005. / I also consider him one of my best friends. We always have fun whatever we do. Vincent Vartorella – who just joined redbubble a while back is my brother-in-law in case you don’t know. When we go places we love to take our cameras. It doesn’t matter where we go or what we are doing. I guess you could say we share the same interest in photography and enjoy it. / We screw around all time and we are always sneaking pictures of each other and having fun when the other isn’t looking. We probably have more pictures of each other than you could imagine and we just laugh. We went on a all day golf trip and I took my Sony Cybershot small camera with us, it was new at the time. / We used the heck out of that camera shooting every shot you could imagine. / It was a blast. We were heading to the 17th green and I said “Hey I have an idea, why don’t you go up on the green and I will hit a shot towards the green and we can see what it looks like on video. We never used the camera for video. So we wanted to see how the quality was. I dropped a ball about 100 yards from the green and he went and stood directly by the flag. / Of course he had to add his commentary to the shot which made this hilarious. Go Here / To see what happened. To this day we still laugh and can not believe this happened. / What are the odds? So one day I posted it on You Tube for fun. The funny part is its kind of popular I have a ton of hits on it.
Back in 2000, on 14th August, came the sad news that Dad had gone on to meet the Lord. I was totally devastated. I did not believe in Go…
Back in 2000, on 14th August, came the sad news that Dad had gone on to meet the Lord. I was totally devastated. I did not believe in God at the time. / Over the years as I was growing up, I had always been Dads ‘little helper’. Dad was a carpenter by trade but could turn his hand to just about anything. He fixed his own motorcars, and I was always covered in as much grease as him,. He made tin chimneys for peoples homes, I was there, passing this or that as he needed it. He was a grave digger for the local undertaker, I was Not with him on those jobs :0 . He erected fencing on properties, I was there, not of great help but there anyway. Dad did all sorts of odd jobs for all sorts of people. I was there whenever I could be. Dad had always been a heavy drinker but as a child, I didn’t see that, he was my Dad and I loved him. / After I had married, moved away then moved back, Dad and I continued with our closeness. Then one day, because of his drinking habit, we had a difference of opinion. It was a doozy. I didn’t talk to him for several years. Then he had a heart attack which thawed my heart a tad because he was not allowed to drink anymore, but I was still angry with him. Then he and Mum moved to Queensland. I missed them both so much. / After a few years up there, Mum and Dad, moved back to NSW. Mum and Dad both came to the Lord there. Then he had to have both knees replaced, major op. I went to look after Mum as she had had a stroke a couple of years before. Dad and I became close again, but it didn’t last. Another huge argument occurred and I went home. We made up after a time, and all was ok again as long as we were not living too close, the phone was good enough. Just three months later, God took Dad Home. / We all, five of us, converged on Mum. The time of arrangements went by in a blur. Dad was buried. We were all stressed. / My brother Allen, and his wife were Christians and I was amazed at how calm he was and how he went about the task of ‘executer’ of Dads will etc. The day after Dad was buried, one of the family, suggested McDonnell’s. Ok was the reply. I’m not keen on Macca’s so went to KFC for my chicken and……took it into into Macca’s Well, that is a ‘no no‘, against the law to take food from one outlet, into another. No problem, wrapped a Big Mac paper around my KFC box and tucked in :) :0 . / That was the beginning of one of the funniest ‘eat out’ lunches ever. We started (very discreetly of coarse), to mock, poke fun at, wave to and laugh at other people. The more we did it, the more we laughed and egged each other on. A lady on the outside, waved to someone inside. We all waved back to her. The look on her face was classic. Guess what? We nearly cried laughing at her. We were truly like little kids running amuck. Then came the throwing of our rubbish at each other. Allen’s wife, in mock disgrace at us all, move to another table. She didn’t stay there too long. We threw all the rubbish at her until she came back to our table. We laughed like we had never laughed before. Other people in Macca’s either laughed with or at us, or turned away in disgust at these grown ups carrying on as we were. (The youngest of us was I think about 32 years old?) We didn’t care, we were having fun. We needed the release. During the coarse of our ‘fun’, someone started to say ‘mac’ in front of all their words. Can you imagine the results of this. We all started to do the same. We stumbled over words, laughed about it, stumbled more and laughed more. / “MacPass MacThe MacSalt. . . . . MacThrow MacThe MacPaper MacAt MacAllen. . . . MacThat MacPerson MacHas MacTheir MacHat MacOn MacSideways. . . .“ MacEtc, MacEtc, MacEtc / We were MacHappy. We had the best time and MacLunch took quite a few hours as you could MacImagine J:) :-) / I remember later in the afternoon back at Mums house, after we had calmed down considerably and nursed our sore and aching sides, Allen saying, / “I defy anyone to guess that we had just buried our Dad the yesterday”. / The next day, Sunday 20th August, 2000, my youngest sister and I, gave our lives to the Lord. I didn’t stayed on the true path. I had a massive backslide. But the Lord tapped me on the shoulder again about 4 years ago. I am never going to get off His Highway again. I am so MacHappy with my MacLot now. / P.S. We did clean up our own mess in Macca’s too.
My BROTHER…PAUL REYNOLDS IS THE LOVE OF MY LIFE… !http://images-2.redbubble.com/img/art/size:large/view:main/957004-1-on-our-way-to-r…
My BROTHER…PAUL REYNOLDS IS THE LOVE OF MY LIFE… / PLEASE VISIT HIS SITE: / PAUL REYNOLDS HE IS A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW… A YOGI, A FRIEND AND A FAMILY MEMBER.. WOAHHHH I TRULY HAVE BEEN BLESSED!! THIS IS MY BROTHER,, THE ARTIST.. WHO I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD KEEP SIMILAR COMPANY WITH ..BUT NOW HE OPENS HIS ARMS AND SAYS… / ‘WELCOME HOME SIS.. HOW’D YA KEEP ALL THAT GOOD STUFF INSIDE FOR SO LONG”? AND I SAY.. ‘HELL I DON’T REALLY KNOW BROTHER BUT THANKS FOR KEEPING A SPACE FOR YOUR LITTLE SISTA’..XOXO I
Other featured works here !http://images-2.redbubble.com…
Other featured works here THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH…..I AM JUST OVER THE MOON!! IT IS SUCH AN HONOUR…..WOW!!! Hugs, / Sal xxxxxxxxxx
View other featured work here !http://images-1.redbubble.com/img/art/siz…
View other featured work here I can’t tell you how delighted and happy I am that this was featured in this wonderful group. Thank you so much. It is such a great honour! I am blown away by this! So much love and tons of hugs, / Sal xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Just want to share the wonderful news with my RedBubble friends that my portrait of my brother Jeremy was chosen for the Feature Page for…
Just want to share the wonderful news with my RedBubble friends that my portrait of my brother Jeremy was chosen for the Feature Page for 1 on 1: The Fine Art of Portraiture today the 15 June 2008. This is extremely exciting news for me because my brother is one of the most beautiful people I have ever known…and receiving this recognition for this portrait means more to me then words can express…I am still looking. I can’t wait to share this with him. Anthea
Well, it has happened and I couldn’t be prouder!!! My little brother just got his promotion for Sargent! YAY! He was up for it befo…
Well, it has happened and I couldn’t be prouder!!! My little brother just got his promotion for Sargent! YAY! He was up for it before his 22nd birthday (he really wanted it while still 21, lol) but didnt have enough points for it. He has been working his ass off day and night, taking online courses to increase his points and he finally got it! Yes…I’m a bit proud…lol, sue me! ;)
Van Snug HERE has such an AWESOME SPIRIT and GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR AT THE SAME TIME IN THIS JOY…
Van Snug HERE has such an AWESOME SPIRIT and GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR AT THE SAME TIME IN THIS JOY HE HAS A DEEP SENSE AND LOVE FOR GOD AND HUMANITY HE IS MY BROTHER Officially adopted me and I am so blessed Here are our collaborations I say to date for I LOve working with him and hope there are more to come / hugsss lil ol me x / #1 SHINING THROUGH MY SOLITUDE / 2 BLESSED BE THE CHILDREN /
Thanks so much for the votes. I sooo apreci…
Thanks so much for the votes. I sooo apreciate it! We all three had such fun on those bikes.
The last two days have been a whirlwind… / !http://images-3.redbubble.net/img/art/border:blackwithdetail/product:laminated-print/size:sm…
The last two days have been a whirlwind… / / FEATURED in A Fractal Energy Passion thanks coppertrees and rajee AND CORE thanks to Ushna and Simon ;) / this design was also sold in a T-shirt to my dear spirit brother Larry Davis (thanks Bro) / Blue Road to Spirit was featured writing in Masterpieces: Literary Workshop thanks Amber Elizabeth and Kumar / Love is like a Song was featured in All About Hearts thanks Debbie and Trena ;) / and was featured in Spirit of Native American thanks to Laura and Dawn / I am truly grateful for these amazing gifts from my family and friends here on RB…love to you all…
New Song ~ As some of you may know, I sing from time to time. I recorded a deut with my dear friend Susan Kovacs...
New Song ~ As some of you may know, I sing from time to time. I recorded a deut with my dear friend Susan Kovacs which is a revamped version of Buffalo Springfield’s Smile On Your Brother – click on link to listen (.mp3). Music & production by Len Osanic. My sunflower image reminds me so much of the days way back, when freedom, hope and love were the power words of the day. Hope you enjoy!
Just one more thing.. I was thinking about how much I appreciate my brother today and asked he join our group Freedom In Words and Art..
Just one more thing.. I was thinking about how much I appreciate my brother today and asked he join our group Freedom In Words and Art He did and gave me one hella poem I hope you all would like to view. Yes.. I am a bit one sided about this guy. I have loved him from the beginning of our journey together as Brother and Sister.. Here is the poem.. Thanks Paul Reynolds called A GOOD READ I LOVE YOU BRO! / XOX / LINAJI
18-7-09 The Blues Brothers #1 (Entoloma hochstetteri)...
18-7-09 The Blues Brothers #1 (Entoloma hochstetteri) / / has been featured in the Endangered Plants Group. My warmest thanks to the Hosts and to all who have supported The Blues Brothers. GB / Dennis
Compliments of my friend Alie… Two young boys walked into a pharmacy one day, picked out a box of tampons and proceeded to the c…
Compliments of my friend Alie… Two young boys walked into a pharmacy one day, picked out a box of tampons and proceeded to the checkout counter. / The man at the counter asked the older boy, “Son, how old are you?” / “Eight,” the boy replied. / The man continued, “do you know what these are used for?” / The boy replied, “not exactly, but they aren’t for me. They’re for him. He’s my brother. He’s four. We saw on TV that if you use these you would be able to swim and ride a bike. Right now, he can’t do either.”
Earlier this year I recieved an enquiry from a choir in America, this group wanted to produce a CD of their songs and needed an image for…
Earlier this year I recieved an enquiry from a choir in America, this group wanted to produce a CD of their songs and needed an image for the cover. While looking for suitable artwork they found my work Autumn Rays which they thought was just what they were looking for. After months of intense negotiations, yesterday the deal was finally reached and my image was despatched for them to use. This is another testament to the power of Redbubble which continues to make the dreams of artists like me come true. OK now I am running around the house whooping and cheering. Many Thanks Redbubble, Brown Brothers USA and all my friends, and artists who have supported and inspired me. Paul
This was extremely emotional for me so I hope you don’t mind me opening up a bit with this piece. I had to stop and record this one seve…
This was extremely emotional for me so I hope you don’t mind me opening up a bit with this piece. I had to stop and record this one several times and struggled to make it through this one and you may notice a little break in the middle where my hands were shaking and I had to take a deep breath. My hand is shaking right now thinking about it. Please let me know what you think. Download here Alternate download link Follow along with the lyrics In case you don’t want to download…or can’t. Watch it on Youtube
Hey Ken, I know it has been 7 years to the day that you passed over but I just wan…
Hey Ken, I know it has been 7 years to the day that you passed over but I just wanted to say hi and to make sure you are doing ok? Yeah I know it is silly of me to be writing this to you as you are dead and you won’t get to see it. I know you hear me when I speak to you though. I know you are around keeping an eye on things and I want to thank you dear brother. So I’ll see you on the other side one day but let’s hope not for many years to come though as I have far too many bits and pieces to do here first. I love you Ken and miss you – you are always in my thoughts. Hugs Tony / x A clickable link to this work
For Anthony Plastino III Loving the fiddle in this.
For Anthony Plastino III Loving the fiddle in this.
I won’t be on the Bubble for a few days now ….. My good mate Michael Bermingham (and fellow RedBubbler from Australia) and family are …
I won’t be on the Bubble for a few days now ….. My good mate Michael Bermingham (and fellow RedBubbler from Australia) and family are here in the US for a visit, he and I are leaving for a 5 day roadtrip / photoshoot in precisely 4 hours. I am so excited I can’t sleep ….. This is going to be so much fun. You all keep shooting until the F stops! Andy
I think I could stand losing my mother. I could stand losing my father. But I could never stand losing my brother. I don’t know how I wou…
I think I could stand losing my mother. I could stand losing my father. But I could never stand losing my brother. I don’t know how I would ever survive such a loss. / If someone can be your everything, then my brother is everything to me. He is the person who kept me sane when I was losing my mind. He kept me down on the ground, when I was ready to take flight. And he never even knew. / I remember the last time we had an actual fight; it’s more than 4 years ago. I can’t remember what we were fighting about. But I remember sitting in my room, crying, because I hated fighting with him. I felt so guilty for being so mean and rude to someone I loved so much. / Then I heard a knock on my door, and he put in his head, asking me what kind of soda I’d like. / I can’t recall what I chose, but I remember smiling, and my tears stopped flowing. / That’s what my brother did to me, and is still doing to me. He’s making me happy. My parents divorced each other twice. It meant a lot of moving around, it meant saying goodbye to a lot of friends, and returning to find how old friends had forgotten all about you. / I’m not disturbed about their divorce, not the first, not the second. They’re happier this way. / The second time they asked us where we wanted to live. / I said I didn’t care as long as my brother was with me. And that is true. I can live through almost everything if I have him. If I know he’s safe. I think all the moving around hit me harder than it hit him, maybe because I am two years older. Or maybe I’ve just got a different mind. / Either way, I’m often sad and depressed. I had times where my style was awfully dark and I kind of isolated myself. My brother isn’t like that; he’s the happiest person I’ve ever met. He’s so true to himself, and who he is. He’s not changing for anyone, not ever. He’s a good person, he’s got the right type of heart and the right type of mind. / And he accepted me. It didn’t matter what mood I was in, what I was wearing or how I acted. He just accepted it. He treated me the same; the same jokes, the same love, the same non-serious fights. He never judged me. It kept me sane. / He kept me alive; he made me smile when I never felt like smiling again. / He’s the only person I’m scared to lose. / He’s the only person I’d die to save. / He’s the only person I don’t know how to live without.
firstly apologies for being so behind in replying to comments and checking out your lovely new works…it’s been a bit of a whirlwind ove…
firstly apologies for being so behind in replying to comments and checking out your lovely new works…it’s been a bit of a whirlwind over at my place…i’ve been steadily continuing to create amidst family gatherings, etc…but i have been letting the team down a little in the area of replies and comments, so I am very sorry and do miss you all…. i hope to be back in the swing soon :) but I am also on a roll creatively so you are seeing a lot coming from me lately, just that I’m making the most of the creativity whilst it’s flowing freely :) / .............................................................................................. / NEXT!! / it’s so nice to introduce you to some of my family and their art – please meet my brother Tim, also an artist! Here he is relaxing out the back while flicking through my Stefan Sagmeister book! (he’s so jealous..haha) – o and he’s single lol / / he was here at my place visiting for my son Ben’s 13th birthday celebrations…Tim (Clarke) is currently studying at Murwillumbah TAFE for his Diploma in Visual Arts, he works in a style he classes as ‘contemporary expressionism’ and under the guidance of tutor and well known north coast artist Hobie Porter My brother was recently selected for an exhibition at the Tweed River Art Gallery for the exhibition titled “Surface 2009 Visual Arts Murwillumbah TAFE” with 4 major works on display. The image below on the invitation is one of Tim’s paintings from last year. You are warmly invited to attend the exhibition which I believe runs until the 6th of December at the Tweed River Art Gallery, 2 Mistral Road, Murwillumbah Open 10am-5pm (DST) Wed to Sun / / ................................................................................................ / NEXT!! / Yesterday it was my son Ben’s birthday (13 years old wow) and my family all came to visit, mum made a splendiferous ‘Rainbow Fish Cake’ which i really thought worth showing off. It’s pretty yummy too. / / This is Benji getting all excited and happy about his cake… mum makes themed cakes for the things we’re interested in, she’s so fantastic at this (and at sewing) and makes them all as gluten free sponge cakes (cos I have Coeliac Disease and can’t have any normal flour or wheat in my diet) and this particular cake is rainbow inside, as well as having all these delicious mandarine segments which make up the fish scales.. Ben is totally into snorkelling these days and observing the wonderful marine life we have here where we live. Ben is a great writer and a good little musician too…you can see his written works / Russian Rebel / The New Planet .................................................................................................... / NEXT!! / / Here’ s a lovely work of art create by my 17 year old Sarah and here’s her first tee Got the Look / Sarah is also a talented pianist and a lovely little writer, you can see one of her written works here: / The Circle of Life / ............................................................................................................... NEXT!!! / My niece Maya is pretty wonderful, she’s only 6 i think and she’s doing the loveliest drawings … I’m so proud to show you another one she did for me yesterday of my daughter Sarah i believe…so much detail…little flowers that ‘glitter’ have been placed in her eyes, and i do the love squarish look of her eyes…. adorable work dear little May-May!!! / Maya’s sister Indiana is also a talented dancer and a beautiful looking young lady with a heart of gold…. we love her very much….then there’s Maya’s dad Lanang, who is quite an accomplished artist and musician himself, he sings and plays guitar (gigs) and his beautiful wife Melissa (my sister Missy) is most creative also, she has designed a clothing line and manufactured her own surf/street wear as well as a cute ballet line for little girls. Go Miss!! plug plug :) / .......................................................................................................... *NEXT!!! * / My dear dad… John, is an artist also…and it was he that introduced me to painting when i was about 15… Dad’s been painting since then and here is one work of his, which i asked for and is mine now…it’s a seagull painting, and i love it….he created the gulls using syringes… dad was taught by Carl Lock, a fairly famous artist on the Gold Coast, and he has a strong interest in the arts and is a great lover of beauty and nature… go Dad!! / ........................................................................................................... I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone…. thanks for looking….just wanted to give back a little to my family who’ve given me so much support and encouragement…. luv k
I’m not too comfortable with this – cyberspies
I’m not too comfortable with this – cyberspies
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