The Perfect Heart

  A young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it.

But an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, “Your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.”

The crowd and the young man looked at the old man’s heart. It was beating strongly but full of scars. It had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in … but they didn’t fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. The young man looked at the old man’s heart and laughed.“You must be joking,” he said. “Compare your heart with mine … mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears.”

 “Yes,” said the old man, “Yours is perfect looking … but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love….. I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them … and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart but because the pieces aren’t exact, I have some rough edges.  Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away … and the other person hasn’t returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges … giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these people too … and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?”

The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man.  The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart.It fit …. but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.  The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man’s heart flowed into his.... 

-The end.

Photo Taken by Vincent Vega 2010-11

1. NEVER stop loving! Yes, giving love is taking a chance. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose.  And when you lose, it will ALWAYS hurt. Especially when it's not returned/reciprocated back to you. Those now empty gouges can be extremely painful. Remember, if you truly love someone, you would do anything for them,-right?  Chances are, if you love someone so much, they probably do to. Hopefully, their mind is just clouded, and their heart remains good.  Just be patient when temptation lurks around. Become both that better and much stronger person they need right now. Work any and all differences out till all true attempts have become exhausted. Then at the end, and if your still unsuccessful, then simply wish those that hurt you the very best. Forgive and either move on, or step away quickly!!
2.  NEVER stoop down to their "level". At those moments, always choose the higher, much tougher road to walk on. Evil needs both fire and fuel to live and survive. So stand up, keep both distant and free so you don't catch their flames. Eventually, people around them will see for themselves, how they've changed, or who they truly are. Then, they will either burn both themselves and their company (fuel) out, or get stomped on down their own road now, by someone else later.
3.  NEVER, ever, fill your heart with hate or resentment. Hate and resentments are both instruments of evil. Their consequences will forever haunt and follow you. Once you travel down that evil road, and no matter the lies you tell yourself to fill that empty void with, that once beautiful heart of yours will NEVER, ever be the same. Keep your faith, be righteous for God, yourself, and others alike to see.

• ALWAYS exemplify kindness...and,
• NEVER stop loving. -That is a "Perfect" (Beautiful) Heart!

-This was a shared story with another writer, more known than me...(I know.....Can you believe there's someone more publicized/published than myself)?? Anyhoot, the Main(top) story was from Paulo Coelho's blog. In fact, everyone is still unsure who actually first wrote the story, as it originally was sent in by a "Priya Sher". Nor did it state anywhere on the original submission, if they wrote this story either.  Nonetheless, it is a beautiful story, one I like to keep easy access to it, and don't mind sharing with everyone.....I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Jealousy

Photograph used by courtesy of:
 ColinGregoryPalmer.net

--JEALOUSY--

My breath smells

of horrible cancer

My hands shake

with every pulse

of intoxication

My eyes wrinkled

as compiled pages

from what I've seen

and have read
An old artist left

with a broken voice

for some have

stolen my words

Yet
Thru you
I live again

As a seed

growing within

I'm always here

beside you

inside you

Watching

all that
you steal

So stab my
back

You will see

Jealousy

-Vincent Vega

I wrote this because I'm so fed up of people copying and trying to make it pass as their own works!!! If your gonna use something directly from someone or create something new but still after someone else's inspiration,  you should always give proper credit and recognition to that person.

Foreign Movie

--Foreign Movie--


Nedda!!


Come here Nedda


Thy look well enough to eat
you juicy piece of flesh
you nasty bitch of Ecstasy!


Shhh, quite Tonio
not so loud you bendejo
Sister Mary will hear you.


Bah! she only hears church bells ring
if she hears at all, the old hag!


Ey! be the beast who sucks
and nibbles on you sweet tits at night
Will you love me then Nedda, ah?


You are a baby, Tonio, a little baby.


A baby? Shit on the baby! I am a man
with a mighty sword running wild in the
jungle, untamed in the hot fields!
I am Hercules, man of all men
well toned muscle and thunderballs
By God, I'd give you a mighty fuck right now!


Tonio!  Shhhh, Jesus! whatta you doing
Tonio, stop it......Jesus!
Basta, basta! ssshhhh Sister Mary will see us
O! O! O! ooooo Tonio sweetjeeeesssuuuuss  
the sword, give me the damn sword!!
Unleash the beast Oh mighty Hercules.
 -Vincent Vega

Cover of the first edition of Pagliacci published by E. Sonzogno, Milan, 1892

I wrote this with character names from my most beloved and all time favorite operas of all time. Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera: Pagliacci. I was lucky enough to see and hear it live in Los Angeles, California performed by Placido Domingo. Sure, it's not the same as if Luciano Pavarotti would have sang it. Yet, seeing and hearing it performed live, by surely the best tenor opera singer alive now, is nothing I can complain about.  I love this play ever since I could remember. It's best when the character Canio puts on his costume and has to act, despite all the sorrow and sadness he's hiding inside. Canio performs as if no one will ever see thru his false smiles. I think everyone has that very same moment at least once, if not several times in their own lives....
-Vincent



Below, I've included some interesting facts about the opera: Pagliacci.
"Cultural references" on wikipedia.org

• One of the most famous songs of the 1950s, Mr. Sandman by the Chordettes, includes the lyrics "Give him a lonely heart like Pagliacci, and lots of wavy hair like Liberace", as the singers are describing the "dream" that they hope the Sandman will bring them
• Pagliacci was an instant success and it remains popular today. It contains one of opera's most famous and popular arias, "Recitar! ... Vesti la giubba" (literally, To perform! ... Put on the costume, but more often known in English as On with the motley). One of Enrico Caruso's recordings of Vesti la giubba was the first record to sell one million copies.
• In the 2009 movie Watchmen, along with the graphic novel from which it was inspired, the character Rorschach relates the plight of another character with the following quote: "I heard a joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Says life is harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world. Doctor says, "Treatment is simple. The great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go see him. That should pick you up." Man bursts into tears. Says, "But doctor... I am Pagliacci." Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Curtains. ".[9]
• In the song, Tears of a Clown, by Smokey Robinson, the play is referenced when Robinson says, "Just like Pagliacci did, I try to keep my surface hid, smiling in the public eye, but in my lonely room I cry." Robinson compares the characters in Pagliacci to himself, saying that he is like an actor, hiding his sadness and tears behind the empty smiles he has to put on.
• In a famous scene from the 1987 movie "The Untouchables" about gangland Chicago during the 1920's, gangster Al Capone is seen attending the Pagliacci opera in person while Sean Connery, one of the members of the police officers is gunned down by one of Capone's henchmen, giving Capone an alibi during the murder. The opera in the movie was a recording made by the late tenor Mario Del Monaco, although actor James Guthrie played Canio onstage.
• In an episode of the TV show "Seinfeld" that aired in 1992 entitled "The Opera," the cast including Jerry Seinfeld experience a strange series of events surrounding their attempt to see the Pagliacci opera on opening night in New York. Before the show, they try to escape the clutches of a deranged friend who is dressed as Canio, the clown in Pagliacci.
• In a two part episode of Batman entitled "The Joker is Wild, Batman is Riled," the Joker disguises himself as Canio and takes over a live television broadcast of the opera.

Processed Chicken Paste

Original story written by admin from http://www.factsden.com/ on October 6, 2010 - 0 Comments
 

Meat processors can squeeze a few more percent of profit from chickens, turkeys, pigs, and cows by scraping the bones 100% clean of meat.
This is done by machines, not humans, by passing bones leftover after the initial cutting through a high pressure sieve. The paste you see in this picture is the result.

This paste goes on to become the main ingredient in many processed meat like hot dog, bologna, chicken nuggets, pepperoni, salami, jerky etc…
The industry calls this method AMR – Advanced Meat Recovery.
Perhaps you will never look at chicken nuggets the same way again …

Firefly

--Firefly--

 I first saw you as

you rose beside

the palms of the mountainside.

A simple beat,

a pulse of a heart

echoed softly between

the elbows of the trees

My eyes continued to fix at

the sheer delight of your grace

while you vanished into the fog.

Even now, so many years later

my heart continues to dance

remembering the music you played

as you flapped your wings goodbye. 

-Vince Vega

I wrote this why?? Because I  love them.

A firefly is absolutely fascinating to me.

They are stars you can catch and hold in your hands!!