WHEN THINGS JUST GET TOO HECTIC AND CRAZY, I GO TO THIS WEB-SITE.

I GET SO REFRESHED WHEN I VISIT HERE: http://allhappytalk.blogspot.com

DIANE LIKES ALL THOSE 'OLD ARTISTS' - I LIKE WOLF KAHN THE BEST!

I just love Dexter - he's Lisa & Chris's dog - see
him searching for something? Maybe he's looking for Wolf
Kahn....

Then again, he might be admiring his artwork - there's
just so much of it; I love to gaze at it too - think I'll find a good link for
the rest of you!

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=wolf+kahn&gbv=2&ie=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

SOMEDAY I'LL BE GETTING OLD LIKE DIANE, BUT I'LL STILL REMEMBER HER WHEN SHE WAS YOUNG - SHE'S MY BUDDY!

I PICKED MY OWN MUSIC; THE VERY FIRST SONG IS FOR THE LADY WHO DESIGNED ME, AND MADE ME 'COME ALIVE'.

I APPRECIATE ALL THE PLACES DIANE'S TAKEN ME; SHE TREATS ME LIKE A REAL LIVE BEAR - AND MAYBE I AM.....

THIGS SIGNING OFF FOR TODAY; TIME TO LOOK FOR SOME GOOD BERRIES TO MUNCH ON.

I JUST LOVE 'BIZZARE LAND' - SHE'S GOOFIER THAN DIANE IS!

When I'm not borrowing Diane's computer, I sneak off to the woods and go to this lady's house when I need to 'warm up' a bit.

Boy, she sure loves the BEATLES; and lots of other crazy stuff - it's a fun place I think. THIGS.http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=88498018

MY FAVORITE TREAT!

YUM - MY FAVORITE TREAT IS HONEY; YOU CAN LINK UP TO IT - IT'S RIGHT THERE ON THE LEFT OF MY VERY OWN FIRST ENTRY! THIGS-BEAR (c) 1989 - Diane Stirling-Stevens

THIGSBEAR SAYS 'BLOG' STANDS FOR: BETTER LOVE OLD GOD!

A quick history of how THIGS came to be.

I like bears; had one designed,
and then had Bruce Sanborn (an art student) do the first sketch. Bruce did the design I wanted for my tree; I drew it - he did the final artwork. I was writing a little story called: In the Spirt of Self - (c) Twigs, Thigs, and Chalk-talk - 1989.

When I got it done, I wanted a
composite drawing of the three I 'featured' in my stories. It was about Christ;
a little bear who could read and write, and a grand old tree that ultimately
fell in a thunder-storm.

I had my sketches done; took them to Bruce, and he sent back the finished designs. I liked the tree; simply felt the Christ is the best I've ever seen done in pen-and-ink, but sad to say, I wasn't happy with the THIGS bear.

So, I decided to 'seek and find'..............

In this entry: GARY HELPS THIGS COME ALIVE~~~

A dear friend (Gary Kramig) had done illustrations for a company in Cincinnati, Ohio. I sent my sketches to him; asked for a rendering, and loved the final drawing! I asked him to make up THIGS into a soft doll; which he did.

Dear Gary and his wife - they labored for weeks; sent me the finished product, and THIGS popped out of his UPS box with such a life-like nature, he was 'born' once he was released from that little box.

In this entry: HOW DID THIGS HELP OTHERS?~~~

THIGS went about setting up his own bank account (thanks to the Bank of America manager in Mission Viejo, CA).Then he decided to do some charity work - and I helped THIGS because he couldn't drive a car or get anywhere without me taking him.

We got an old electronic organ donated to a child
who was crippled (but his hands worked). THIGS and I were delighted. We visited
people in nursing homes; THIGS would cheer them up. We did voluntary typing for
a number of people - free of charge - who needed to have some clerical help in
starting their promotions.

THIGS and I started to work with the Veteran's Outreach Program to help Viet Nam vets find new jobs. We had meetings with those vets in our home; we did their resumes - helped them network, and had social gatherings so we could share ideas and their progress.

THIGS and I got so many little 'gifts' - lovely thank you notes, and helped each and every vet find work. We just loved all of this - we were such a 'team'. The nicest thing about THIGS was he seemed to really know the meaning of 'seeking', finding, and asking' (he did ask about everything - constantly)!

In this entry: HOW DID THIGS GET HIS NAME?~~~

One morning THIGS (who still didn't have his name) was helping me read my mail. I'd sent some gifts to my nephew, Danny Rambow. Danny didn't have much money; didn't get surprise giftsvery often, so THIGS and I figured we should surprise him.

In the mail was a letter - on note-book paper. Danny said: "Dear Aunt Diane: I just loved my presents." "Thank you for the many thigs you sent me." Then there was a Post Script. Danny printed: "I'm sorry I goofed up spelling things because that's what I meant to say, but I used my dad's pen, and I can't change it".

THIGS was on that quickly. THIGS said to me: "Everything is fixed, and you can't change it - that's a tough spot to be in for a 9-year old boy, Diane."

Yes, it was. Then I knew what to do. I wrote a letter back to Danny, I told him that I was so excited that he'd mis-spelled the word 'things'. I told him I'd been trying to think of the right name for my new bear; now I knew what it was to be - THIGS!

We mailed the card back to Danny. We went walking about - seeing the kids in the neighborhood, and came back pretty tired. I was happy THIGS had a name. I put THIGS next to the bed and took a nap.

In this entry: HOW DID THIGS HELP MY BUSINESS?~~~

The phone rang, and a client had called. He liked the beautiful tree logo on my business card. I told him the artist's name, and he said he wanted to get together to plan some design work with him. Suddenly, THIGS was telling me that I'd picked a pretty good name for my little promotions company.

At that time, it was just 'TWIGS PROMOTIONS'. THIGS really liked the tree - bears usually do like trees because they can sometimes find the honey from the bees who often build their little communities in trees.

As THIGS was looking over my shoulder, he whispered to me: "Do you know what TWIGS stands for?" I had absolutely no idea! THIGS said: It stands for "THIS WORLD IS GOD'S SON!" Now that was one smart bear!!!

Now I knew THIGS was going to be
a lot quicker on figuring things out in life than I'd been so far.

The next morning, THIGS said: "Do you know what THIGS stands for?" Okay, I'm 'stumped' (pun intended), tell me what it means. THIGS said: "THIGS means Truth, Honor, Integrity, Good Spirit!
"Goodness - a bear who can make his own name into an
acronym!

Now it required ANOTHER card to Danny (glad I like pretty cards because I had a good supply on hand). I told Danny the meaning of THIGS - and he was very pleased that his spelling error had created such a wonderful name and meaning for my new bear.

THIGS told me I had to change the name of the little promotion company, so I headed to my print-shop. We picked THIGS, TWIGS, AND CHALK-TALK because of the bear; the tree, and for those children who don't have many art tools except crayons and chalk.

In this entry: WHY CHALK-TALK?~~~

We started buying up big sticks
of colored chalk; we put ribbons on them, and took them around the neighborhood
so kids could draw on the side-walks. Then I would go back and take photos of
their 'chalk-talk'. We gave the 8x10 prints to their families in a simple frame
so that when the rain washed their chalk away, their pictures would 'live
on'.

The new clients I acquired,always got 'chalk' and a picture of THIGS. THIGS wore his yellow ribbon on his arm proudly through Desert Storm and Desert Shield. THIGS ended up on a t-shirt with his ribbon and his flag. THIGS was doing much better at becoming a 'public figure' than I was - his personality was far better than mine I thought.

In this entry: THIGS AND HIS ACTIVISM.~~~

Then THIGS got interested in politics. THIGS had some ideas for Senator Robert Byrd, so he told me to 'take a letter to Senator Byrd' , and I did. The wonderful Senator wrote back to the attention of THIGS. I read THIGS the reply.

THIGS was all fired up by this; another letter was sent to Senator George Mitchell. Well wouldn't you know it,Senator Mitchell wrote back to the attention of THIGS! I couldn't believe that a bear could get such a prompt reply!

From that time on, THIGS was a pretty busy bear until I got hurt in an accident, and couldn't work in my business any more. THIGS got pretty bored and took to writing poetry.

THIGS and I finally did get his book done; then I read it (on tape), and shared with friends and family. My clients got copies of the tape; all of them called to say what a great little book THIGS had written, so we put it under copyright.

In this entry: THIGS AND DIANE RETIRED~~~

At this time in our lives, THIGS and I have been pretty quiet; a bit tired, and THIGS just reminds me of the days when we did so much together.

THIGS still sits by my bed; on an old ladder-back chair; he looks at me and seems to say:"Hey, when are you going to start playing your piano again?"

"Hey, when are you going to start writing again? "He can be a bit of a nagging bear".

I tell THIGS - in my own way; in due time, I might do 'something' that gives credit to you, THIGS....so today I did.

THIGS was very curious about this world 'blog' - it sounded like a word that a child would say after he spilled his milk. Did the little boy run to his mom and say: I've spilled a whole BLOG of milk .... sorry!"

Well I explained to THIGS what a'blog' is. I think he's still sitting in there trying to make an acronym out of that word....................

Whoops - he just said that BLOG stands for: "Better Love Old God!"

I'm guessing the word 'BLOG' is short for the word BELONG that has been seriously mis-typed. I'm guessing someone just left out a few letters....THIGS creates run-on letters (not sentences), and
the only thing I could ever figure out wasWWWMMMMMMMMWVVVVPPMMBR (We love peanut
butter). I'm guessing I figured that one out because he was talking about peanut
butter with his mouth full of it when he tried to finish what he was typing on
my computer.

I told THIGS he couldn't type with peanut butter on his paws and in his mouth. Well, he just got a little irritated with the words 'you can't', and went back to sit on his chair.

THIGS does pout like I did when I was little. In
fact, I've noticed how much that bear is like me - it gets a little spooky
around here at times when I feel that little guy seem to reflect my
thoughts.

THIGS just piped up with this remark: "Not reflect, you crazy old women - deflect"! Then THIGS claimed he needed something positive for his paws. Well, I didn't quite understand what he meant, but I did try to give him something as close to that request as I could. Here it is - I like it; I think I did pretty good! Do you think he'll settle for http://positivepause.com?