.

After this post, a bit of Mariner shtick.  During it, a Warriors Cavs game on TV.  Alongside of it, our warmest hopes for your blessed 2018.  In the quasi-philsophical, semi-preachy, relentlessly forwardgoing spirit of the Mainframe, Here are 250 humorous (and otherwise) holidays wishes from wishespoems.com.

.

• In this loveliest and happiest of seasons, may you find many reasons to celebrate. Have a wonderful Christmas!

Don't forget to check Wikipedia's entry on Gratitude.  Gotta be their best page.  The emotion of "appreciation," of being the recipient of kindness and reflecting warmly on our receipt of kind things, is one of the keys to human happiness.  And it's an easy choice to make.  :- )

.

• Let the spirit of Christmas warm your home with love, joy and peace. Have a blessed Christmas!

I think it was "The Moral Compass" in which Bill Bennett wrote a chapter on "Home and Hearth."  If you've got them, 'tis a great day to enjoy them.  :- )

If we started over with an empty house, what would it take before we considered it a home?  A nice place for an hour's reflection.  One of the things my family hates about moving, is the loss of associations and memories.

.

From The Tao of Jeet Kune Do:  You'll find the way in whispers of truth which you experience in your own everyday life.And as you follow that trail, you'll find greater peace and joy throughout each day.  Buddhism is one of the best places to find an Open Heart, which is a good part of the spirit of Christmas.

Study through this web page for us?  :- ) and then tell us that the human heart can do much better than to meditate on the spirit of Buddhism.

.

• I hope you awake on Christmas morning feeling like a child again. Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year!

A friend of mine, at the hospital, was blessed with a 3-day trip to Disneyland precisely over Christmas.  Taken with her sisters and nieces.  There is nothing like the opportunity to view the world through the eyes of a child, is there?  It is transforming, in terms of votes, in terms of jobs, in terms of priorities:  to see the snow outside on Dec. 25 through the eyes of your 3-year-old is part of what makes life worthwhile.

.

Shabbat Shalom (shah-BAHT shah-LOHM) Hebrew. Literally, Sabbath peace or peaceful Sabbath. This is an appropriate greeting at any time on Shabbat, although it is most commonly used at the end of a shabbat service.

To Jews, "peace" is one of the highest states of blessing.  It connotes rest, lack of problems, prosperity, a sense of well-being.  Many are the Jewish sentiments consistent with "Merry Christmas," such as most of the ideas in the 150 Psalms (which are so gratifying that I read them for fun, rather than to fulfil Scriptural reading obligation).  May you be filled with that sense of well-being all day.

Lemme tell ya ;- ) it is 100% possible to be very, very happy about --- > drawing in a deep, nurturing breath while your physical pain level is at 0.  It's funny, the different standards that are required to make a person happy.  A paradox of the universe is that challenging lives can make us more centered.

.

• A Christmas greeting from a lawyer: Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Disclaimer: the wisher of these wishes claims no liability, the terms ‘merry’ and ‘happy’ should not be construed as legal advice and the word ‘Christmas’ should be interpreted as including any and all other holidays, religious or otherwise, that occur in/or around the same time of year.

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" conveys the paradox that the less we fight each other over perceived table scraps, the more goodness will fall into our laps effortlessly through karma.  This principle has without a doubt been true in my own life.

.

Do you know why this Christmas greeting is so wonderful? Because it isn’t an email and it isn’t a text.   ;- )

.

Shohei Ohtani would have been a whale of a Christmas, baseball-wise.  But Dee Gordon is a pretty good one, too.  90% of Ichiro isn't Ichiro, but .... 90% of Ichiro, or Edgar, or Randy Johnson, or Johnny Bench (which maybe we have!), is pretty cool.  You could set a great Hall of Fame that way, "90% of X is awesome."  

Your chances of being born in the USA was 1 in 25; people who live in Somali wish they lived in 90% of the USA.  A study came out today that said it is 135 times cheaper to help the world's poor in their own homes, as opposed to (necessarily) bringing 7 billion people to New York; may we bring plenty of people to our shores (as we always have) and especially, may our 2018 overseas generosity turn into 90% of what it should be.

:- )

Dee Gordon isn't a super big deal, but he's a KEWL leadoff weapon who also plays in the middle of the diamond.  :: weighs situation in mind ::  He's a defining Dipoto player and a defining 2018-20 Mariner.

.

“Once again, we come to the Holiday Season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice.” – Dave Berry

.

• May we take fewer “selfies” and instead create more “givies” in the spirit of Christmas. Happy Holidays!

Many are the times that Dr. D starts his day with a "gratitude journal" and would you believe that --- > among 10 things he kneels and gives thanks for, is 9 years of Seattle Sports Insider.

Blessings to you,

Jeff