"W." Directed by Oliver Stone

You know if it's done by Oliver Stone, it's gonna' be good! Release is scheduled for the 29th of October, 2008. Here's the trailer:

A Story That You Must Read For Yourself

Bloggers Note: An amazing story that I found ... it was forwarded - I have no idea who wrote it, but I hope it brings you as much goodness and warmth as it did me. Enjoy! --M.R.

"To All Married Couples and Singles Who Intend to Get Married"

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I've got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.

Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly. She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why? I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, "You are not a man!"

That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; I had lost my heart to a lovely girl called Dew. I didn't love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, 30% shares of my company and the car. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Dew so dearly.

Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn't have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Dew. When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me, but needed a month's notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month's time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day. She requested that everyday for the month's duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy.

Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Dew about my wife s divorce conditions. She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully. My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mummy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don't tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset.

I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest... I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning... This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn't tell Dew about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily. Suddenly it hit me; she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart.

Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head. Our son came in at the moment and said, "Dad, it's time to carry mum out." To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn't noticed that our life lacked intimacy. I drove to office... jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind... I walked upstairs. Dew opened the door and I said to her, "Sorry, Dew, I do not want the divorce anymore."

She looked at me, astonished. Then touched my forehead. "Do you have a fever?", she said. I moved her hand off my head. "Sorry, Dew," I said, "I won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other any more. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death does us apart."

Dew seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away. At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote: "I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart."

The small details of our lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, the property, the bank balance that matters. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse's friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

If you don't share this, nothing will happen to you, but if you do, you just might save a marriage.

Relationships are made not to exploit, not to be broken.

We teach some by what we say
We teach some more by what we do
But we teach most by what we are
- Unknown

You don't get to choose how you are going to die, or when, but, you can decide how you are going to live, here and now.

Remember:

People will forget what you said...
People will forget what you did...
But people will never forget how you made them feel....

You have to learn lessons also from others mistakes because you will not get time to do all the mistakes on your own.

Random Thought...

"...there's girls, there's women, and there's ladies..." says the line from the old country song. That lyric has been stuck running around in my head about 90 miles an hour today and it has left me with the following:

Admit it or not, to some degree, we base relationships on looks. Have you ever seen someone you thought was so unattractive that you wondered who would ever go out with them or who would find them good looking? If you're completely honest with yourself, I'll bet you have seen this person at least once.

Ok...lets carry this a step further. Is there someone out there somewhere who will find our "ugly duckling" attractive and "just right" for them? Or, is this poor person destined to go through life being used...never taken out on a date, never being really appreciated, and strictly used as a "booty-call" because they are easy and will give it up because they want the attention from others?

Your thoughts?

The Death Of Radio - The "True Birth" of the 22nd Century

Seldom are we privy to "a moment in time" that completely changes EVERYTHING we've done before. We've had these moments all along throughout human history: candles and coal oil lamps replaced with the first twinge of light from a light bulb. Horse and buggy, along with trains being stopped by the turning over of the automobile engine. Primary sources of information have gone from Western Union, Pony Express, and the US Mail to Television, Radio, and the Internet.

Today, is the death of radio as we know it. For many years, it has been the most portable tool for information. Easy to carry around a radio...not easy to carry a TV. Easy to listen to a radio for the latest news, yes, I can bring my laptop, but not everyone has a WIFI zone. Today or tomorrow, we will have one of those moments that strikes radio as the most portable medium for information gathering and destroys it forever... depending on when "The Text" is released.

Yes, I said it, "The Text." It's already being touted as "The Text Heard 'Round the World" - Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama's use of a text message to cell phone's everywhere, informing his supporters of his Vice Presidential choice.

Wow. 2008 changes everything - the 1st Black Presidential Candidate, and the death of radio information, via a single text message on your cell phone. Are you ready for it??

John McCain is Out of Touch with Reality

So, less than 24-hours ago, I posted about how despondent I was concerning the elections and the state of politics in general. My apathy and disgust has been huge, and I didn't know how I would be able to work myself out of it.

Then this morning...a gift from the divine. Something that couldn't be made up in fiction because the truth (or what appears to be the truth) is much more entertaining. Republican Presidential hopeful John McCain, the man who served our country so well in the military...is out of touch with the common man.

CLICK HERE to read the story from the Associated Press on how Sen. McCain...had NO CLUE how many homes he and his wife own. He and John Edwards would have been a great team...McCain shuttling between numerous houses, while Edwards could stash a few mistresses away in those unknown address, and keep looking good with his $300 hair cuts.

Sad. These are the people who govern you and I.

Singin' the Blues at Election Time

Dear friends, I am a "political animal"...please, let me explain. I can't recite to you who starred in what television show or movie, nor can I rattle off stats from my favorite football team, and since the strike all those years ago, I despise Baseball.

But politics...now that's my game! I love seeing the debates, the formulation of policy, the ranking of issues. I love watching the men and women wishing to represent us press the flesh, speak their minds, stump it wherever they can, and either savor the sweet sweet taste of success, or swallow their gut in defeat. Yes...I LOVE the game!

I am so damned depressed right now, it hurts. It's like a giant "FUNK" has settled over me, and I don't know what to do in order to shake it. I've been waiting for THIS election, for years now. How will the Republicans overcome being associated with a President whose policies have driven his approval ratings through the floor...and how the Democrats will overcome...being Democrats.

Man, WHAT a BATTLE! What a contest! What a damned flop. I don't like McCain. I don't like Obama. Just what in the hell am I supposed to do now???

NEWS FLASH...RUSSIA INVADES GEORGIA!

What I really want to know is how many people were worried about the supply of Peaches when they saw this headline!

Death Of Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Back in the days when I was a young Greenwood Lad, I had an English teacher that took some interest in my work and my reading habits (double edged sword here as it was this very English teacher that I had the MOST PROBLEMS with later on). In any case, she did wonders for me in the literature arena, including introducing me to the works of both Curt Vonnegut, and Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

It is with deep sadness that Alexander has passed on - a life well lived, and chronicled, throughout the pages and pages he created. Will we again see the likes of someone so dedicated to dishing out the truth despite personal hardship? Possible...but sadly, doubtful.

Solzhenitsyn lead a fascinating life. From being a decorated soldier, to time in the gulag, being stripped of his Soviet citizenship, and returning home to the motherland as a national hero, he lived it all. CLICK HERE to see the video from the BBC.