Hi--we got our horse! Isa is with diamond,8 yo paint mare, b+w. i'm on cricket for my first lesson. --nicolo http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v247/nico1089/?action=view&current=nicocricket.jpg
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Sweet, no one fell off!!!

Are those splotchy horses both called painted? I saw some ponies at the fair last weekend and they had a cute one, okay they were all cute , but I liked one it was all brown with blonde mane and tail soooo pretty. There was also a grey one covered in little white dots or spots.

hi--yes, they are called "paints", both of them. the grey with tiny spots would be a dappled grey i think, i like the word "brindled" better. not sure about the brown, maybe a mustang?
o yeah, i did fall--whoopse-- what happened was the strap on the saddle came undone and pretty soon i was sideways--then i just let myself plop. the horse was stopping when she felt it slip. no harm done was kinda fun for everyone, Isa said her horse laughed too so she couldn't help it.
i think cricket is "gifted", she is so responsive to anyone that rides her, even me as a first timer with all the mistakes. Diamond does well with Isa, Isa managed to convince her friend's grandmother to drive them out to the stables just to "look" and then took off bareback for a while. if i was there i would have said no, but poor grandma had her hands full of excited kids! i'll stay with cricket for lessons, diamond is too much horse for me right now. i gotta wait til i get a bit younger, i lose about a year a month, twelve months from now i'll be back in my 40's and shouldn't have any problems.--nicolo

Hahaha I was just telling my friends today that this is the year I may start counting backwards.

Horses laugh? At least they can't point too. I'm glad no one was hurt.

Oh I just noticed where you're from, got potatoes?

plenty of potatoes here! i think j.r. simplot (here in boise) landed the contract for mcdonald's fries, which is great as his wife supports the music and arts with big donations. really made a big difference--the university here has well made recital halls and performance centers, and lots of quality musical instruments.
i really don't eat many potatoes, i grew up in nyc and we had long island potatoes which were supposed to be the best yet they are just a simple potato like all the rest.
go for it--start your backwards count!is it cheating to count by twos?--nicolo

I am 33 so yes that is cheating actually that could even be trying to cheat death that has got to be some bad juju but if you are old enough yes u can count by twos. now do I have to stay 33 for a year then start or just have at it.

Thats so cool the arts are always last for everything..I remember in University i was studying visual/fine arts and ran into my Doctor's son one day and he asked what program I was in. He was like "Don't get me wrong i repect all that but it is useless , I mean i think I may be surgeon and save lives or try to or do something medical that helps people."

Well. I just thought to myself why on earth would we all want to be healthy and live longer if there was no music to enjoy , no art to ponder no poetry to read?

He was young at the time i was youner to (go figure) he is now in pharmacueticals an all is well in the world. But gosh did I think he was a stupid egotistal boy when he said that. LOL. my bad.

I stopped at age 28(that was 7 years ago). I actually got carded to buy a lottery ticket just last week. I was so happy I told the cashier that I loved her!

Isn't that the best thing ever!!!

hi--i just turned 58 and my daughter is 10. folks are always saying what a lovely grandchild i have. Isa just smiles and i let it ride.
i had the same attitude as the doctor's son when i was younger too, but praise god there are doctors who believe in helping humanity. i believe the arts also help humanity by preserving our "humaness"--nicolo

I think I see it as extra important cos' when my parents were growing up in a communist country they tried to ban or stifle all arts and expression it was actually one of our most famous poets Petofi Sandor that started a revolution.

If thing like the arts where insignificant governments certainly would not fear them but time and time again:

"If any person has sung or composed against another person a song such as causing slander or insult to another, he shall be clubbed to death."
Roman Law, Roman Twelve Tables ,449 B.C.

"Music is not different from opium. Music affects the human mind in a way that makes people think of nothing but music and sensual matters. Opium produces one kind of sensitivity and lack of energy, music another kind...Music is a treason to our country, a treason to our youth, and we should cut out all this music and replace it with something constructive."
Ayatollah Khomeini

"The jazz mania has taken on the character of a lingering illness and must be cured by means of forceful public intervention.'
Boris Gibalin, Izvestia, 1958

Yea the arts are powerless hmm...

"Songs are sneaky things. They can slip across borders. Proliferate in prisons. Penetrate hard shells...I've always believed the right song at the right moment could change history."
Pete Seger.