Life Is Too Short To Waste Time Hating People

  1. Never be awful to anyone, that person you were awful to may teach you the most.
  2. Always remember… you are a somebody, God didn’t take the time to create a nobody.
  3. Always smile, you never know whose day you might be making.
  4. Never “forget” to say hi to anyone, never miss the chance to laugh or smile, never get too caught up in yourself that you forget to help others.
  5. Never forget that you aren’t the only one with problems, and most of all… never forget that when you feel like you only have one friend, that friend will remind you of all the others.
  6. If you forget about all the bad things in life, the good will take over.
  7. If fear is staring you in the face, close your eyes so you don’t have to look at it.
  8. Be yourself, you can’t be anyone else… The best you can be is you!

Five Simple Rules To Be Happy

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well .
The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well.

At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well.

He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

MORAL :
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.


Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

  1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.
  2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.
  3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.
  4. Give more.
  5. Expect less

Amazing but true facts…

  1. In the weightlessness of space a frozen pea will explode if it comes in contact with Pepsi.
  2. The increased electricity used by modern appliance parts is causing a shift in the Earth’s magnetic field. By the year 2327, the North Pole will be located in mid-Kansas, while the South Pole will be just off the coast of East Africa.
  3. The idea for “tribbles” in “Star Trek” came from gerbils, since some gerbils are actually born pregnant.
  4. Male rhesus monkeys often hang from tree branches by their amazing prehensile penises.
  5. Johnny Plessey batted .331 for the Cleveland Spiders in 1891, even though he spent the entire season batting with a rolled-up, lacquered copy of the Toledo Post-Dispatch.
  6. Smearing a small amount of dog feces on an insect bite will relieve the itching and swelling.
  7. The Boeing 747 is capable of flying upside-down if it weren’t for the fact that the wings would shear off when trying to roll it over.
  8. The trucking company Elvis Presley worked at as a young man was owned by Frank Sinatra.
  9. The only golf course on the island of Tonga has 15 holes, and there’s no penalty if a monkey steals your golf ball.
  10. Legislation passed during WWI making it illegal to say “gesundheit” to a sneezer was never repealed.
  11. Manatees possess vocal chords which give them the ability to speak like humans, but don’t do so because they have no ears with which to hear the sound.
  12. SCUBA divers cannot pass gas at depths of 33 feet or below.
  13. Catfish are the only animals that naturally have an ODD number of whiskers.
  14. Replying more than 100 times to the same piece of spam e-mail will overwhelm the sender’s system and interfere with their ability to send any more spam.
  15. Polar bears can eat as many as 86 penguins in a single sitting.
  16. The first McDonald’s restaurant opened for business in 1952 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and featured the McHaggis sandwich.
  17. The Air Force’s F-117 fighter uses aerodynamics discovered during research into how bumblebees fly.
  18. You *can* get blood from a stone, but only if contains at least 17 percent bauxite.
  19. Silly Putty was “discovered” as the residue left behind after the first latex condoms were produced. It’s not widely publicized for obvious reasons.
  20. Approximately one-sixth of your life is spent on Wednesdays.
  21. The skin needed for elbow transplants must be taken from the scrotum of a cadaver.
  22. The sport of jai alai originated from a game played by Incan priests who held cats by their tails and swung at leather balls. The cats would instinctively grab at the ball with their claws, thus enabling players to catch them.
  23. A cat’s purr has the same romance-enhancing frequency as the voice of singer Barry White.
  24. The typewriter was invented by Hungarian immigrant Qwert Yuiop, who left his “signature” on the keyboard.
  25. The volume of water that the Giant Sequoia tree consumes in a 24-hour period contains enough suspended minerals to pave 17.3 feet of a 4-lane concrete freeway.
  26. King Henry VIII slept with a gigantic axe.
  27. Because printed materials are being replaced by CD-ROM, microfiche and the Internet, libraries that previously sank into their foundations under the weight of their books are now in danger of collapsing in extremely high winds.
  28. In 1843, a Parisian street mime got stuck in his imaginary box and consequently died of starvation.
  29. Touch-tone telephone keypads were originally planned to have buttons for Police and Fire Departments, but they were replaced with * and # when the project was cancelled in favor of developing the 911 system.
  30. Human saliva has a boiling point three times that of regular water.
  31. Calvin, of the “Calvin and Hobbes” comic strip, was patterned after President Calvin Coolidge, who had a pet tiger as a boy.
  32. Watching an hour-long soap opera burns more calories than watching a three-hour baseball game.
  33. Until 1978, Camel cigarettes contained minute particles of real camels.
  34. You can actually sharpen the blades on a pencil sharpener by wrapping your pencils in aluminum foil before inserting them.
  35. To human taste buds, Zima is virtually indistinguishable from zebra urine.
  36. Seven out of every ten hockey-playing Canadians will lose a tooth during a game. For Canadians who don’t play hockey, that figure drops to five out of ten.
  37. A dog’s naked behind leaves absolutely no bacteria when pressed against carpet.
  38. A team of University of Virginia researchers released a study promoting the practice of picking one’s nose, claiming that the health benefits of keeping nasal passages free from infectious blockages far outweigh the negative social connotations.
  39. Among items left behind at Osama bin Laden’s headquarters in Afghanistan were 27 issues of Mad Magazine. Al Qaeda members have admitted that bin Laden is reportedly an avid reader.
  40. Urine from male cape water buffaloes is so flammable that some tribes use it for lantern fuel.
  41. At the first World Cup championship in Uruguay, 1930, the soccer balls were actually monkey skulls wrapped in paper and leather.
  42. Every Labrador retriever dreams about bananas.
  43. If you put a bee in a film canister for two hours, it will go blind and leave behind its weight in honey.
  44. Due to the angle at which the optic nerve enters the brain, staring at a blue surface during sex greatly increases the intensity of orgasms.
  45. Never hold your nose and cover your mouth when sneezing, as it can blow out your eyeballs.
  46. Centuries ago, purchasing real estate often required having one or more limbs amputated in order to prevent the purchaser from running away to avoid repayment of the loan. Hence an expensive purchase was said to cost “an arm and a leg.”
  47. When Mahatma Gandhi died, an autopsy revealed five gold Krugerrands in his small intestine.
  48. Aardvarks are allergic to radishes, but only during summer months.
  49. Coca-Cola was the favored drink of Pharaoh Ramses. An inscription found in his tomb, when translated, was found to be almost identical to the recipe used today.
  50. If you part your hair on the right side, you were born to be carnivorous. If you part it on the left, your physical and psychological make-up is that of a vegetarian.
  51. When immersed in liquid, a dead sparrow will make a sound like a crying baby.
  52. In WWII the US military planned to airdrop over France propaganda in the form of Playboy magazine, with coded messages hidden in the models’ turn-ons and turn-offs. The plan was scrapped because of a staple shortage due to rationing of metal.
  53. Although difficult, it’s possible to start a fire by rapidly rubbing together two Cool Ranch Doritos.
  54. Napoleon’s favorite type of wood was knotty chestnut.
  55. The world’s smartest pig, owned by a mathematics teacher in Madison, WI, memorized the multiplication tables up to 12.
  56. Due to the natural “momentum” of the ocean, saltwater fish cannot swim backwards.
  57. In ancient Greece, children of wealthy families were dipped in olive oil at birth to keep them hairless throughout their lives.
  58. It is nearly three miles farther to fly from Amarillo, Texas to Louisville, Kentucky than it is to return from Louisville to Amarillo.
  59. The “nine lives” attributed to cats is probably due to their having nine primary whiskers.
  60. The original inspiration for Barbie dolls comes from dolls developed by German propagandists in the late 1930s to impress young girls with the ideal notions of Aryan features. The proportions for Barbie were actually based on those of Eva Braun.
  61. The Venezuelan brown bat can detect and dodge individual raindrops in mid-flight, arriving safely back at his cave completely dry.

(Source)

30 Incredible Examples of Urban Decay Photography

During the lifespan of a city, certain events take place that cause buildings and areas to become abandoned. With nobody around to provide upkeep or maintenance on the structures of these areas, things begin to fall into disrepair. This is known as urban decay. At first glance, these decrepit environments may seem hopeless. However, through the lens of a camera, a talented photographer can reveal beauty in the most unlikely of places. Here are 30 incredible examples of urban decay photography. These photos are a great source of inspiration and possess many impressive qualities, including an abundance of interesting textures.

The Cool Hunter

Great site with a lot of inspiration… Everything about design, architecture, fashion, lifestyle, travel, music, art and much more…

Look in, it’s worth it!…

Best Photoshop Website Layout Tutorials of 2009

Let’s take a look back at the best tutorials for creating website layouts in Photoshop in 2009. There were a number of great tutorials of this kind throughout the year, many more than in years past, making it a great year for anyone who wants to improve their design skills. Here is a look at 25 of the best.

Lessons from Life

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio

  1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
  2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
  3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
  4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch!
  5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
  6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
  7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
  8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
  9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
  10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
  11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
  12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
  13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
  14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
  15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.
  16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
  17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
  18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
  19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
  20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
  21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special..
  22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
  23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
  24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
  25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
  26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ‘In five years, will this matter?’
  27. Always choose life.
  28. Forgive everyone everything.
  29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
  30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
  31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
  32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
  33. Believe in miracles.
  34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
  35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
  36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.
  37. Your children get only one childhood.
  38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
  39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
  40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s,we’d grab ours back.
  41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
  42. The best is yet to come.
  43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
  44. Yield.
  45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift

A Woman’s 50 Rules For Men

  1. Call.
  2. Don’t lie.
  3. Never tape any of her body parts together.
  4. If guys’ night out is going to be fun, invite the girls.
  5. If guys’ night out is going to involve strippers, remember the zoo rules, “no petting.”
  6. The correct answer to, “Do I look fat?” is never, ever yes.
  7. Ditto for, “Is she prettier then me.”
  8. Victoria’s secret is good.  Frederick’s of hollywood is bad.
  9. Ordering for her is good. Telling her what she wants is bad.
  10. Being attentive is good. Stalking is bad.
  11. “Honey,” “Darling,” and “Sweetheart,” are good.  “Nag,” “Lardass,” and, “Bitch” are bad.
  12. Talking is good. Shouting is bad. Slapping is a felony.
  13. A grunt is seldom an acceptable answer to any question.
  14. None of your ex-girlfriends were ever nicer, prettier, or better in bed.
  15. Her cooking is excellent - so tell her.
  16. But that isn’t an excuse for you to avoid cooking.
  17. Dish soap is your friend.
  18. Hat does not equal shower, aftershave does not equal soap, and warm does not equal clean.
  19. Buying her dinner does not equal foreplay.
  20. Answering, “Who was that on the phone,” with, “Nobody,” is never going to end that conversation.
  21. Ditto for, “Whose lipstick is this?”
  22. Two words - clean socks.
  23. Believe it or not - you’re probably not more attractive when you’re drunk.
  24. Burping is not sexy.
  25. You’re wrong!
  26. You’re sorry!
  27. She is probably less impressed by your discourse on your cool car than you think she is.
  28. Ditto for your discourse on football.
  29. Ditto for your abilty to jump up and hit any awning in a single bound.
  30. “Will you marry me?” is good. “Let’s shack up together is bad”.
  31. Don’t assume PMS is the cause for every bad mood.
  32. Don’t assume PMS doesn’t exist.
  33. No means no. Yes means yes. Silence could mean anything. She feels like at that particular moment in time, and it could change without notice.
  34. “But we kiss,…”Is not justification for using her toothbrush. You don’t clean plaque with your tongue.
  35. Never let her walk anywhere alone after 11pm.
  36. Chivalry and feminism are not mutually exclusive.
  37. Pick her up at the airport - don’t whine - just do it.
  38. If you want to break up with her - break up with her. Don’t act like a complete ass until she does it for you.
  39. Don’t tell her you love her if you don’t.
  40. Tell you love her if you do - often.
  41. Always suck up to her brother.
  42. Think boxers.
  43. Silk boxers.
  44. Remeber Valentine’s Day and any, “cheesy” anniversary sheso-names.
  45. Don’t try to change the way she dresses.
  46. Her haircut is never bad.
  47. Don’t let your friends pick on her.
  48. Call.
  49. Don’t lie.
  50. Alright so the rules are never fair. If all you guys out there just followed these simple rules - then maybe we could all just get along.

Looks like good design

And it really does! Great website, great stuff… A little bit addictive…

101 Examples of Text Treatments on the Web

Great Typography…..

Wonderful…

How to Publish a Magazine in a Day and a Half

Derek Powazek’s guide to compiling a printed magazine in a little over a day contains plenty of sage advice. For Strange Light he curated 54 photographs of last month’s dust storm in Sydney, and offers insight into the process of approaching photographers to seek permission to use their work. The resulting publication is for sale on MagCloud for just enough to cover printing costs.

(Source)

Here a must-see for all creatives and web-designers...

I’m sitting and looking and I cannot get enough of it…

More of this please…….. !

Texturing an Image in Photoshop for Absolute Beginners

LETS GET STARTED :

I use PhotoShop CS3, but this’ll work with any version.
If you’re not using PS, I’m confident you’ll be able to find your way through it in whatever program you’re using.

I’d suggest printing this so you can follow it step by step.

  1. Start by opening the image that you want to add a texture to.
  2. In the layers palette on the right, (R) click on the background layer & select “Duplicate layer”. This layer will be called “Background copy”, & will sit immediately above the “background” layer. (This is to preserve your original copy)
  3. Do whatever adjustments you would usually do until you’re happy with the image as it is. ( ie – levels, curves, hue/sat, curves etc.)
  4. Flatten the image - To do this, go to the Layers palette® click on a layer, & select “Flatten image”.
  5. Now it’s time to apply the texture image. First, you need to make sure that your texture image is the same size as your background image. To do this: Go to your top toolbar & look for the “Image” tab, & click on it. Then click on “Image Size”. You’ll need to write down the following details: Pixel dimensions – Width & Height, & Resolution. Click OK or Cancel to close that window.
  6. Now go to your top tool bar, click on “File” & “Open” your texture image.
  7. Now that you’re in your texture image, go to “Image”, “Image Size” again, & make sure “Resample Image” is checked, & “Constrain Proportions” is unchecked… In that same window, change the resolution & Pixel dimensions – Width & Height to the same details that you wrote down earlier. Click “OK”. Now your texture image is the same as your background image.
  8. Minimize the texture image. Do not close it, just minimize it. Now you should see your background image workspace again.
  9. In your background again, go to your layers palette & create a “Background copy” like we did in step (2).
  10. Go to the little toolbar on the bottom of the “Layers Palette” & look for the little icon that looks like a square with the bottom left corner turning up. This is the “Create new layer” button. Click on this & create a new layer, which you can rename to “texture”. Make sure this layer is active (it’ll be highlighted in grey).
  11. Go to “Image”, then “Apply Image”. Now you’ll see a window with a dropdown box named “Source” at the top. Look for your texture image in the dropdown box, select it, & click “OK”. You’ll see the texture appear in the “texture” layer that you created in step (10). Now it’s time to get creative…..
  12. In the layers palette double click on the little thumbnail image of your texture. You’ll get a window called “Layer Style”. Under “Blending Options”, “General blending” you’ll see that the current blend mode is “normal”. Click on this dropbox & start experimenting with the different blend modes. I usually use “overlay”, “soft light”, or “hard light”. This whole “Layer style” window is one you can experiment with as much as you like until you come up with the look you want. Click “OK” when you’re done.
  13. You can change the blend mode of your background copy also. At this stage you just need to be doing whatever you want to achieve the look you like.
  14. For a bit more depth to your texturing, you can try duplicating each layer, & then alternate their order on the palette by dragging them up & down. Eg: texture copy, background copy 2, texture, background copy, background (this one is locked, so will always remain on the bottom).
  15. In the Layers palette you can adjust the “opacity” of each layer for more or less of the effect.
  16. Don’t forget to save as you go. I like to save all my layers as a psd (Photoshop document) so that I can make changes to it at any time in the future. When you have a final image that you like, flatten the image ( as in step 4), & “save as” a jpeg (or your preferred format).
  17. Upload to redbubble so that we can all see how well you’ve done!!!! And that’s it!

Just remember that there’s no “rules” for this….. a lot of it is just experimenting as you go. What works for one image might look horrid on another, so trust your instincts!

(Source)

12 Social Bookmarking Websites for Non-Stop Visual Inspiration

Right after the Delicious craze, there was a niche bookmarking system that hit the visual junkies: Ffffound - the heaven of visual goodies! Two years and a billion images after – everybody is still craving for invites. But in the meantime the bookmarklet gained mainstream success so today we can make not a top 3 or top 5, but a TOP 12 visual bookmarking services for your non-stop inspiration.

Nizmlab

FFFFOUND

vi.sualise.us

Typeish

We heart it

Dropular

Imgfave

Condense

We Love Typography

PicoCool

Everybody enjoys things

Yay Everyday

When social interaction is art promotion

Sometimes it seems that you just can’t find the time to do all the promotion that your artwork deserves.  Sometimes you’re too busy working on the artwork itself, often it’s the demands of your day job, family or friends.

Sometimes the promotion seems to use up all the time I need to actually make artwork!

So one of the best promotion tools I have—one which doesn’t take much time and doesn’t even feel like work— is adding meaningful and constructive comments to other art blogs (and non-art blogs too).

Not “Nice post.  By the way, check out my art!”, but a well-thought-out response to the blog post you’re commenting on.  Don’t even think of it as promotion - it’s just social interaction.

Every blogger (myself included) will always check out the link of every person who comments intelligently on their blog posts.  You don’t need to draw attention to it, or even mention that you’re an artist - just respond to blog posts that you find interesting.

Many blog readers will also check out the links of commenters on blogs if the comment is well written and relevant.

What you can’t do is speed-up the process: no pre-written comments that you can cut and paste into multiple blogs (that’s just spam), no hastily typed-out thoughtless comments in order to reach your self-allotted target of comments.

Social interaction—conversation—is the best form of marketing. And the less you think of it as marketing, the better.

(Source)