The Six Best Posts Of The Month Of January, 2019

Wow,

I cannot believe it is the end of

February

already.

This year is really flying by!

I want to thank everyone who has already responded to my

Post

from yesterday,

Help Me Please! 

Hopefully this will start the momentum I need to prove to

Literary Agents

that I can generate a following to be able to sell my new

Book.

But today there is something else to celebrate.

A look back at

January's 6 Best Posts Of The Month.

So,

for me,

there is a double celebration going on!

Let's get started.

Here are

The Six Best Posts Of The Month Of January, 2019!

The reason we are doing the top 6

Posts

of the month instead of 5 is because we have a 3 way tie for fifth!

So The Sixth Best Post Of The Month Of January, 2019 Is;

It Hit Me Like A Ton Of Bricks 

My story about getting the flu from two of my grandchildren while on vacation in San Antonio this past Christmas. Thank you. I didn't know so many of you cared about me like that.

 The Fifth Best Post Of The Month Of January Is;

Still Whining About American Football 

It's me whining about the New England Patriots and how it seems they are always playing in the Superbowl. Of course they have the best coach in football today, but still, can't any of the other teams figure out how to beat them?

The Fourth Best Post Of The Month Is;

Transporting In Time 

My Flash Fiction story about Time Traveling and the effects it has on the body of the protagonist and how he loses his transporting device. Having to stay in his past.

The Third Best Post Is;

I Know - The Music Video 

What can I say. Thank you so much for appreciating the music Todd, Dave, Jack, Kelly, and I created!

The Second Best Is;

When I Grow Up..... 

This is actually are re-Post of my story Visual Kei and how one morning I was listening to one of my favorite bands Babymetal and saying when I grow up I want to be in a Visual Kei band. With a picture of me when I was in a band during the 1980s.

 The Number One Best Post Of The Month Of January, 2019 Is;

Relapse

A compilation of stories on how I relapsed with the flu, about the Rams playing the Patriots in the Superbowl, (this is before they lost), about a story I saw on 60 Minutes, my advice on being important, and on motivating yourself!

 

This is,

Thanking Everyone For Viewing My Blog,

Making My Music Video

And My Flash Fiction Story Some Of Your Favorite Posts To Read Last Month,

Jim Hauenstein,

And,

“Gratitude means to recognize the good in your life, be thankful for whatever you have, some people may not even have one of those things you consider precious to you. Like love, family, and friends. Each day give thanks for the gift of life. You are blessed”
- Pablo -

That is my story and I am sticking to it!

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Help Me Please!

I need your help please. I have just finished writing my next Book called "News At Eleven." It is a story about a Wizard and his trials and tribulations. What I need from you is 4 things. First; Keep coming back to this Blog and reading my material. (Thank you for already doing that.) Second; Tell your friends and family about reading my Blog. Third; On FaceBook, like 👍 my links to my stories here on my Blog. Fifth; I need people to sign up as followers here on my Blog to show Publishers and Literary Agents alike that I have the potential of selling my Book. Fourth; Ask your friends and family if they would like to sign up as followers. Signing up does not commit you to anything, but if I am able to sign with either a Publisher or Literary Agent, and the first 50 people who sign up as a Follower will get a coupon for one free copy of my Book. This is not a process that is going to happen overnight, but I must begin somewhere. And with your help, I will be able to succeed. Thank You.

 This is,

Thanking You For Helping Me

Jim Hauenstein,

And,

“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”
- Mark Twain -

That is my story and I am sticking to it!

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Thanks for reading.

Fool's Gold

Even though it happened two years ago,
it still amazes me how
Get Rich Quick Schemes
still work on people today.
Fool's Gold 
is a story on the
FBI's Website
talking about a
Ponzi Scheme.
Here is my
Post
about
Charles Ponzi
from
January 2nd, 2016
called
Robbing Peter To Pay Paul.

 *****
Do you remember hearing the 

cliche-idiom-wisdom 

of your father 

or grandfather, 

where they say, 

"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." 

The fact is, 

people in general, 

are lazy, 

greedy, 

suckers, 

who are born every minute. 

From the rich on down to the poor, 

sooner 

or later, 

you will be suckered in by someone. 

Myself included. 

One of the oldest schemes in the book is to 

"Rob Peter to pay Paul." 

This old cliche is from a time when the
King Of England
demanded payment of taxes from his subjects.

The
Catholic Church Of England
in
London

(Saint Paul's)

demanded taxes be paid to them under the name of donations.

Even the
Vatican
in
Rome

got in on the act
and demanded taxes be paid to their
Church,
Saint Peter's Basilica
in the form of donations.
All this to prove your devotion to
God. 

Of course, 

the poor couldn't afford all these taxes, 

so even though your congregation would owe the
Pope
more 

and more back taxes every year, 

it is always easier to 

"Rob Peter so you can pay Paul"  

since 

St. Paul's 

was in your own backyard.

When
Banks
became more predominate, 

where you no longer had to borrow money from the
Church

or a
King,

investors already knew about a scheme that had worked for centuries. 

You might recognize some of the prominent schemers of the last century. 

Bernard Madoff, 

Allen Stanford, 

Victor Lustig, 

and 

Charles P. Bianchi, 

I mean 

Carlo P. Bianchi, 

err I mean 

Charles Ponci, 

err again,

I really mean 

Charles Ponzi. 

He was so good at 

"Robbing Peter to pay Paul" 

that the
World
soon knew him 

and the scheme he perfected as the, 

"The Ponzi Scheme."

This is,

Wondering What It Takes To Get A Name Like 
Carlo Pietro Giovanni Guglielmo Tebaldo Ponzi?

James Bernard Paul Hauenstein,

And,

"I landed in this country with $2.50 in cash and $1 million in hopes, and those hopes never left me."
- Charles Ponzi -

That is my story and I am sticking to it!

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Thanks for reading.

Good News

If you are like me,

you are tired of all the

Bad News

out there.

How the

Media

likes to tell you only the latest sensational

Police Car Chase,

The Latest Murder,

How The Economy Is Failing,

How Terrorist Are Winning,

and how we are often on the

Bring Of War With Some Foreign Nation.

But I grew up during the

1960s

and this decade has nothing compared to that one.

We had

Five Assassinations Of Prominent Individuals Including A President,

Terrorist Bombings,

Riots In The Streets,

Ohio National Guard Soldiers Killing Unarmed Students

(Kent State),

CIA Doing Experiments On American Citizens Without Their Knowledge,

A Fluctuating Economy,

Constant Nuclear Threats,

and we were involved in a

War With Vietnam For Over 19 Years!

Okay,

that last one is longer than a decade,

but you get the idea.

We even practiced hiding under our desks at school as kids.

As if that was going to help us when a

Nuclear Bomb

was dropped on our neighborhood.

Every

Decade,

every

Generation

has its ups

and downs.

That is the real

Cycle Of Life.

But the

Media,

the

Government,

and

Haters

alike,

tell the most bleak stories they can to frighten you into

Buying Their Product,

To Get Reelected,

and

To Feel Empowered.

Every

Generation,

as it gets older,

looks back

and says how much better it was when they were young.

But it wasn't.

It was just a different kind of struggle for them growing up,

then what is happening to this

Generation

today.

You can't let these struggles

or depressing news stories get to you.

You need to move on

and live.

What you need is

Good News

once in awhile.

That is why I recommend a website called

Future Crunch!

You can describe to their

Newsletter

and they will send you about

9 Stories

per letter every couple of weeks about good things happening in this

World.

Or,

just go to their website when you can

and cheer yourself up once in awhile with some

Good News!

This is,

Happy To Help You Smile Again,

Jim Hauenstein,

And,

“Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.”
- Roy T. Bennett -

That is my story and I am sticking to it!

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Thanks Again.

Enjoying The Moment

When I created something in the past,

I wanted it to last at least the duration of my lifetime.

 I wasn't very good at art,

but the things I created are still around.

Well I hope they are still around.

I think they are still around.

In a chest in my garage.

 

The

Romans

and the

Greeks

made stone sculptures to last centuries.

 But some of today's artists create only for the moment.

Not caring if their work will last the test of time.

 

So I decided to write music when I was younger.

Hoping it would be my epitaph.

The dreams of youth.
Being a
Rock Star.

There are more songs on my

YouTube Channel 
if you like.

Now that I am older,

I write a

Blog

which has a bunch of my

Short Stories

that I've written over the years.

A-L-I-V

Tic Toc Toc

Benched

One Dual Consciousnes

and so on.

I have written an

eBook.

No Return Address

And now I am working on a new

Book

which I hope will be published someday soon.

If not,

I know this will sound trite but,

I will at least be happy knowing that I have tried.

I am no longer looking for a legacy,

for longevity,

I am just enjoying what I am doing now in life!

I am enjoying the

Moment.

This is,

Happiness Is Enjoying,

Enjoying Is Happiness,

Jim Hauenstein,

And,

“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”
- Dalai Lama XIV -

That is my story and I am sticking to it!

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Thanks for reading.

Embarrassing Parents

I am one of those

Parents

whose

Kids

always ask,

"Don't embarrass us!"

And I always say,

"It's my job."

I am sure all

Parents,

at one time

or another,

across this wonderful big world of ours,

love to embarrass their kids once in awhile.

It's because we remember,

when we were their age,

how important our image was,

in front of our friends.

How we all wanted to look cool.

But as

Parents,

we realize,

how pointless it all becomes once you get to our age

"Who Cares!"

To prove this fact,

I want to show you a couple of pictures I found on the website

Boredpanda.

Article by

Lina D.

 Parenting Tip!

What can I say about this?

Selfie?

Mom found her son's vase.

This is,

Telling You There Are 55 Different Pictures With Captions On The Website

And You Can Vote For Your Favorites,

Jim Hauenstein,

And,

“Have you ever noticed how parents can go from the most wonderful people in the world to totally embarrassing in three seconds?”
- Rick Riordan -

That is my story and I am sticking to it!

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Thanks Again.

I Have A Lot To Do

I don't have time to come up with a great story today like I did yesterday,
I have a lot of things to do.
Here is a
Re-Post
of my
December 27th, 2015
story called
 The Mind Has A Vanity All Its Own.

*****
For all of
Humanity,
there is phenomenon which has happened in one's own mind since Men & Women
discovered their reflection in a pool of water.

Our eyes like to play tricks with our mind. 

Or is it, 

our mind likes to play tricks with what we see? 

When we are children, 

we look to our reflection 
and imagine someone older. 

We become teenagers 

and the reflection belies a maturity that we are becoming adults. 

Then comes the age of invincibility. 

When we are in our twenties,

our mind tells us to live on the edge.

Because we think so much of life is still before us 

and nothing could possibly stop us. 

When the insuperable facade of believing 

Father Time 

will let you live forever in your

 Twenties,
is over
and you begin to see the wrinkles,

the mind still imagines itself younger then the rest of the world does. 

Even at advance ages, 

the mind still sees itself attractive to people younger. 

It's not until the advent of the commercially introduced art of photography did our hallucinations about ourselves stop 

and reality sink in. 

Our mind has a vanity all its own. 

It doesn't believe we should know our true age. 

If you don't believe me, 

try not looking at any photographs of yourself for one month. 

It's OK to see yourself in the mirror daily, 

just don't take a picture of yourself. 

Then, 

after the month is over, 

take a photo, 

close enough to see your body 

and face clearly.
Then compare it to a photograph from 10 years prior.

You will feel a little confusion as you think, 

that's not how I look. 

It's the same phenomenon people go through when they hear their voice on a recording for the first time. 

Non of us believe how we sound on any recording, 

and non of us believe how our mind deceives us on the condition of our looks. 

The mind has a vanity all its own.

This is,

I May Be Turning Sixty,
But I Am Still Sexy,
In My Own Mind,

Jim Hauenstein,

And,

“Anybody can look at a pretty girl and see a pretty girl. An artist can look at a pretty girl and see the old woman she will become. A better artist can look at an old woman and see the pretty girl that she used to be. But a great artist, a master, can look at an old woman, portray her exactly as she is...and force the viewer to see the pretty girl she used to be...and more than that, he can make anyone with the sensitivity of an armadillo, see that this lovely young girl is still alive, not old and ugly at all, but simply imprisoned inside her ruined body. He can make you feel the quiet, endless tragedy that there was never a girl born who ever grew older than eighteen in her heart...no matter what the merciless hours have done to her.”

- Robert A. Heinlein -

That is my story and I am sticking to it!

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The Reincarnation

    "Son, you are old enough to start learning the teachings of Samsara." Says Jyotirdhar, the holder of the flame, to his child Ilamuhil, the youthful.
    Ilamuhil is considered to be only 4 years old. But speaks and understands many of the teachings already. 
    Jyotirdhar explains further to his son. "Samsara is the eternal cycle of birth, life and deaths. Each individual soul is immortal and eternal. But it is controlled by our Karma. The moral law of our actions and reactions. We believe that each individual accumulates Karma during his or her lifetimes and the present condition of the current body and soul is affected by our past actions in those previous lives. We must achieve Moksha. Which breaks the ties that bind us to any one life and world so we can completely achieve Nirvana."
    Jyotirdhar looks to Ilamuhil to see if he understands. Then continues with, "A body and soul, which has achieved Moksha, is released from Samsara. The eternal cycle of suffering and pain as a living being."
    "Father please," Ilamuhil interrupts. "Do you tell me this because Fazeela, the faithful and my Mother, lies in the funeral fires?"
    "Yes," his Father replies. "Even though your Mother has not yet achieved Moksha, we can be assured that her next incarnation as a being in another world will bring her that much closer to Nirvana."
    "How can you tell Father?"
    "Because we are the first beings created in this incarnation of the Universe. There have been many Universes created one after another and in this one, we were chosen to be the first."
    "I think I understand," says a confused looking Ilamuhil. "But how can you be so sure Mother is close to Moksha?"
    "Because we are advanced enough in our understanding of religion and technology combine that we now know which planet our loved ones will be reborn. Once she is, we will be able to watch her from afar as she progresses through her new life." Jyotirdhar says while clasping his hands together in prayer.
    "Will she know? Will she know we are watching?" A concerned Ilamuhil asks.
    "The new planet has a saying for the loved who watch their kin from afar. They call them Guardian Angels. And when Fazeela the faithful, your Mother, is recreated or reincarnated, it will be on that world. They call their planet Earth. In a Galaxy they call the Milky Way!"
    Ilamuhil shakes his head in understanding. "We will watch her together until we too must move on to the next life."

This is,

Believing In Karma,

Believing In A Different Form Of Reincarnation,

And In This Story

Combining A Little Buddhism With A Lot Of Hinduism,

Jim Hauenstein,

And,

“Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.”
- Rumi -

That is my story and I am sticking to it!

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Saying Hi A Second Time Around

From
December 14th, 2015
called
Two Buck Howie.

*****
All my life I have had a nickname, 

in one form
or another. 

When I was first went to school at 

Saint Mary's Grade School, 

because of my last name, 

Hauenstein, 

I was known as
Howie. 

That name has stuck with me all my life. 

There have been other names, 

but each year 

Howie  

has always won out. 

When I started playing music live in bars 

and clubs, 

I was still called  

Howie. 

It wasn't until I decided to start the last rock band I played in, 

before moving to
California, 

did the full moniker come about. 

I was sitting at a bar with one of my best friends, 

Scott, 

trying to figure out a name for the new band I was starting.
When, 

off the top of his head, 

Scott
blurts out,  

Two Buck Howie With The Exact Change.  

I loved it. 

After I moved to
California
I thought, 

if friends, 

and family members,

ever wanted to find me I would still use  

Two Buck Howie  

as my nickname, 

in my
Email Address,
Twitter Handle,
Facebook Page,
and on my

Blog. 

When I had a job though, 

I asked everyone, 

just to call me 

Howie. 

To make this extremely long story shorter, 

after twenty-five years, 

Kelly Conley, 

one of the fine musicians I played with during the 1980s, 

found me by doing a 

Google Search 

of 

Two Buck Howie. 

Today, 

he is the 

Director of Sales 

at the 

Radisson Hotel & Conference Center Kenosha,  

in
Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.

He still plays guitar

and sent me one of his original songs.
It is great to hear from you!
*****
I also want to say hi to
Paul Blavat
and
Jeffery Taschner
for locating me on
Facebook.

This is,

Happy For The Pleasant Surprise This Holiday Season,

Jim Hauenstein,

And,

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.” 

- Maya Angelou -

That is my story and I am sticking to it!

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Everything Comes Back In Style

You probably have heard the expression,

"Everything comes back in style."

If you haven't,

you heard it hear first.

What is meant by this saying is,

Fashions Come Back In Style,

Remakes Of Movies,

Books,

and now,

Old Time Radio.

Growing up I loved to listen to

Baseball

on the radio.

People like

Bob Uecker,

Vin Scully,

and

Harry Caray

could paint a picture of the action going on the field

and had many background stories of the players,

that my interest never waned.

When I got a older,

I would stay up late because one of the

AM Radio Stations

in

Los Angeles

would play some of the great serials my parents used to listened to.

Like

The Shadow,

Suspense,

and

The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

There is something about listening to a story on the radio that stirs the imagination better than

TV.

 At least it does for me.

Now,

instead of waiting for your favorite

Old Time Radio Show

coming on at a certain time over the airwaves,

 You can listen to a

Podcast

anytime you want.

the shows are just waiting for you on the internet.

They have everything from

Education,

Comedy,

Sci-Fi,

Horror,

Science,

to

TV &Film.

And everything in between.
Yes,
you can also find some of the classic radio shows too!

This is,

Listening To "Exploration" With Dr. Michio Kaku,

Jim Hauenstein,

And,

“Some nights I'd sneak out and listen to the radio in my Dad's old Chevy.”
- John Geddes -

That is my story and I am sticking to it!

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Thanks Again.