TheVerbal Commute
Sonoma County’s UPBEAT TIMES ®
SERVING PLANET EARTH Since 1998
"Covering the Positive Side of Life!"
Publisher:
paul@upbeattimes.com Co-Publisher:
Paul A. Doyle Valerie A. Doyle
Contributors: Barry O'Meara David Gambill Marcia Singer Ron Skaar Yerevan
Michelle Johnson Kimberly Childers Gabriel Fraire Ben Hampton Cindy Cowan Bruce Allen
Chance Massaro Hank Mattimore
Contact us: 707-494-1767
www.upbeattimes.com
Distribution Team: Roberto Serrano Jeanne M. Haddorff Peter & Mary Menth Don Emerson
Paul Behringer Paul Doyle Cindy Cowan Jennie Field
Brittany Sweeting
Subscriptions are $58/YR.
Payable to: Upbeat Times P.O. Box 7312
Santa Rosa, CA 95407 ©2013 Upbeat Times. The Upbeat
Times is owned and operated by Paul Andrew Doyle. Upbeat Times is a fully copyrighted & registered trademark of the USA. All rights reserved internationally.
Upbeat Times Mission Statement:
To inspire, publish, preserve and promote the positive characteristics, attributes and attitudes of all citizens of every age in our communities and the world we live in.
2 • September 2013 • UPBEAT TIMES
TM
Stepping UP to the Plate E
ach additional month I produce this paper, more
& more people have come to the table to assist me in it's development and I am very, very appreciative. I have found that it has together
brought some very
extraordinary and talented people who believe the upbeat times are everywhere we look. Sure, there are those forms of public communication vehicles that might say otherwise, but in reality, most of the time life is pretty good, depending on how we might look at it. It is not something any one person can change in another, it is something we must personally discover ourselves.
A reader sent me some arti- cles about the frequency some of us live at and how it affects ourselves and our
lives and
how we create the outcome of everything we
do...somehow. The information is interesting, but life to me seems simpler than identifying it in some complicated way or in terms that make it sound important and heady.
The upbeat theme this month
is varied, and on the cover it says 'stepping up'. To me it means change. Moving for- ward each day. There is cause and effect in all we do. There is no 'secret'. It just is what it is, someone told me once or twice. And sometimes it is what it isn't. I believe that life requires stepping up to the plate in all we do and doing our best. To embrace it in an optimistic way...good or bad, the best we can. I know it sounds crazy, but somehow in some way as a
SIGMOND
ARE YOU HUNGRY, SIGMOND? I BROUGHT YOU SOME TASTY TOFU!
TOFU? YUK!
www.upbeattimes.com by Paul Andrew Doyle, Publisher
young boy I knew I'd be doing something like I'm doing now. I remembered looking at car- toon strips in my kindergarten class and saying to myself, 'I want to draw cartoons oneday'. And, at the same time I had seen newspapers everyday at my grandmas house who lived a hundred yards away, just up the hill from us on the tree farm. I would ask grandma if I could read the funny's. I studied the how the lines were drawn. Many years went by & I studied the paper and saw how it was put together. In the late 70's & early 80's I was being published!
It started with an idea that I could do it to. One thing led to
another...and I'm here doing it today. I have to admit, I don't live & breath the paper, and I am far from being con- sumed with it. It is apart of my life that has become and is a form of therapy. And, it leaves plenty of time for my other interests. It's a therapy that helps me to focus on what is important, like returning a call from an elderly person in her 90's who reads the paper and wants to say thank you and needs an open ear for a few minutes. It's those minutes are precious to me. I immediately tell my wife when she returns from work about it and how it made my day. It is only one person sharing her apprecia- tion for something that affected her in a positive way. This means to me that I am a suc- cess. I made a tiny difference in one persons life. I've written about it before in my columns, and each time has a wonderful effect on my life! Recently,
UPBEAT TIMES • September 2013 • 2 On The Cover
there have been several people who have asked me if I knew how many people I affect each month. The person had gone through a
challenging time
in recent months, but, low & behold, people came out of the woodwork to help & visit & show their appreciation for that individual. Telling me
Susan and Warner Keeley visiting “The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya” at Shambhala Mountain Center in Northern Colorado, June 2013.
Nestled high in the Colorado Rockies, Shambhala Mountain Center is
acre mountain valley surrounded by native
how
grateful he was. Never before, until something had happened to him where he needed help had so many people come for- ward to tell him what a differ- ence he lives.
had made in theirs
I don't produce Upbeat Times for money, although I need money to survive. I do ask people to pay for ads, but they get a great value at the same time because I get their mes- sage to over 100,000 positive readers a month without pub- lishing traumatic or controver- sial contents. I publish this paper for those that appreciate life and being alive and are not afraid to tell others they're appreciated. So, it is my intention that if you are a person or a family that has great things to offer to others in life, even if it is your spare
time, let others know
that it helps to make life a bit better all around for every- one in a great way. It's true; some people fight being happy because they may never have been. They just might need someone to teach them how. I hope in some way I may help one person be just a bit happier after reading this paper & step up to the plate.
a six-hundred- retreat forests,
gentle meadows and rocky peaks. The Center is used for contemplative refuge that sup- ports paths of deepened personal awareness, personal wellbeing and societal transformation.
First Humor
An lady walked into the admitting office of a hospital and walked up to one of the clerks. She was handed some forms to fill out and told to return when she was done. After completing the forms, she returned to the clerk. The clerk typed the information into the computer, and then asked her the reason for her coming to the hospital. "Just to visit a friend," the lady said, "but this has taken so long, I'm not sure I have time now."
Mirrors should think longer before they
reflect. Jean Cocteau
Cartoons from the archives 2005.
I'M A CARNIVORE, NOT A CANNIBAL! HOW ABOUT A NICE JUICY STEAK? I'M
GETTING BORED WITH FLIES!
REAL MEAT?
SON, WHO ARE YOU
TALKING TO? by Paul A. Doyle
DAD, DO WE HAVE ANY STEAK?
THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!
NOW
How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days. ~John Burroughs
©2013 Sigmond. A PAD Studio production.
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