New Year's Resolution

As traditions tells us to, this year I promised myself that things will be different. I will be loyal to me and stick to whatever change I decide to make for this coming year. After all, this is what it is all about with these New Years Resolution stuff, isn't it?


Every year millions of people promise to themselves changes in their lives, just to forget about them in the very first days of the new year. I was wondering why and decided to look deeper into this story. What I came across was so simple, almost ridiculous.


People don't hold to their new years wishes because they don't know what to wish for and always go for the first thing that comes into their minds. And in general, as fast as it comes into the mind, it leaves...


So, here is the deal. I came up with a list of the most desirable wishes for New Year for you go go through now, so that you have time enough to give it some thoughts and actually make the change you picked happen! 


Here we go, have fun choosing and don't worry, you can thank me next year. Don't forget to tell me if it worked for you, OK!!!!!


HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU!

• Just for today, I will not sit in my living room all day in my nightdress. Instead, I will move my computer into the bedroom.
  
• I will no longer waste my time relieving the past, instead I will spend it worrying about the future.
  
• I will not bore my boss by with the same excuse for taking leaves. I will think of some more excuses.
  
• I will do less laundry and use more deodorant.
  
• I will avoid taking a bath whenever possible and conserve more water.
  
• Assure my lawyer that I will never again show up drunk at a custody hearing.
  
• I will give up chocolates totally. 100%. Completely. Honestly....
  
• I will try to figure out why I *really* need nine e-mail addresses.
  
• I will stop sending e-mails to my wife (husband).
  
• I resolve to work with neglected children -- my own.
  
• I will stop sending e-mail, MSN, Instant Messages and be on the phone at the same time with the same person.
  
• I will spend less than one hour a day on the Internet. This, of course, will be hard to estimate since I'm not a clock watcher.
  
• I will read the manual... just as soon as I can find it.
  
• I will think of a password other than "password."
  
• I will not tell the same story at every get together.
  
• I won't worry so much.
  
• I will cut my hair.
  
• I will grow my hair.
  
• I will stop considering other people's feelings when they so obviously don't consider mine - if that unwashed fellow sits next to me again, I'll tell him he stinks!
  
• I will be more imaginative.
  
• I will not hang around girls - they think you love them and that sucks.
  
• I will not ring the stewardess button on airplanes just to get her phone number. 

And for those who are scared of making resolutions here are some resolutions they would actually be tempted to keep!! 

• Spend more time watching TV / movies.
• Chat more over phone / Internet.
• Read less.
• I want to gain weight. Put on at least 30 pounds.
• Stop exercising. Waste of time.
• Procrastinate more.
• Drink. Drink some more.
• Start being superstitious.
• Spend more less time at work.
• Stop bringing lunch from home: I should eat out more.
• Take up a new habit: Maybe smoking!
• Last but not least, I will use sunscreen...

Merry Christmas - Hohoho...

A Message from Michael Jackson - let's not forget...

Give Love on Christmas Day...

Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano

Merry Christmas to My Friend(s)

                    M is for MY friend, a truly special person I hold so dear, 

                    Y is for YOU, that person who by my side is always here, 

                    F is for FOREVER, the time I know our frienship will last, 

                    R is for REMINICING, of the times you've been there in the past, 

                    I is for INSPIRATONAL, for the way you've dealt with troubles through the years, 

                    E is for EMOTIONS we share, whether it's laughter, love or tears, 

                    N is for NEVER doubting that your frindship will always be mine, 

                    D is for DOUBLE the happiness, I wish on you my friend, at Christmas time! 

                      In Love
                      Robert

My Christmas Tribute to Mom's (and Dad's)

A tiny little story in recognition for the great job Mom's do all year long to keep us happy. 

(valid also for Dad's that do Mom's job, when she is missing)

A Mom's letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my two children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground and figured out how to attach nine patches onto my daughter's girl scout sash with staples and a glue gun.

I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache after a day of chasing kids (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't flap in the breeze but are strong enough to carry a screaming toddler out of the candy aisle in the grocery store. I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy. If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like a car with fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking daughter doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with one potty-trained toddler, two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools. I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting, "Don't eat in the living room" and 'Take your hands off your brother,' because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog. And please don't forget the Playdoh Travel Pack, the hottest stocking stuffer this year for mothers of preschoolers. It comes in three fluorescent colors and is guaranteed to crumble on any carpet making the in-laws' house seem just like mine. If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container. If you don't mind I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family; or if my toddler didn't look so cute sneaking downstairs to eat contraband ice cream in his pajamas at midnight.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the chimney and come in and dry off by the fire so you don't catch a cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always...Mom.

P.S. - One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.

A great holiday for all of you!

yours truly

Robert Ziehe

"December 15th 1962" or "I am glad I came out straight!"

Sometimes we wonder why things are the way they are. Well I came to understand a lot better who I am, after reading a little in the history books. 


Here is what I found:


The number one hit on dec. 15th 1962 according to Billboard Music Week was


"Big Girls Don't Cry"by the Four Seasons

Yeah, OK! Got it. 


It gets better! The most selling "STEREO" Album, yes, stereo! In 1962 they still were producing and selling LP's in MONO and had a special billboard for mono and stereo productions! ... so, number one stereo was "The First Family" by Vaughn Meader. Some kind of comedy show, a parody on the presidential family. We are talking about about JFK and the first Lady Jacky Kennedy. 
Don't know if that was a good idea!


Oh, just in case, Elvis and "Return to Sender" was number two record right behind them gay fellows - Four Seasons.... come on people... What was wrong with you guys!!!???


Ricky Nelson though, signed a 20 year contract with Decca Records that granted him 1 Million Bucks in record revenues and the production of 2 feature films. Wow...  


In Argentina number one hit was "Speedy Gonzales" from Pat Boone ...
Kid's at that time gone crazy with the new "Rack-a-Ball", a pin ball machine that was just non plus ultra... 


David Lean's epic film Laurence of Arabia, featuring Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, and Anthony Quinn premieres in London.
The last execution by hanging in Canada takes place. U.S. spacecraft Mariner 2 flies by Venus, becoming the first probe to successfully transmit data from another planet.


John Lennon secretly married Cynthia Powell.


Well, I could go on and on. What I learned is that I came to this world in some troubled times, were man dressed funny and looked and acted pretty strange, war was a good business as it is still today, many people aimed for peace but didn't really succeed ... technical revolution was taking up speed, TV was still black and white and if you wanted to make an overseas phone call you had to call an operator and wait sometimes for hours till he got you connected. 


And I am glad I lived trough all this. I am glad I made my friends before internet and MSN so I could enjoy being with them in person and not in front of a monitor. I am glad I actually met Elvis and The Beatles even if at very young age and I barely remember. I am sad I never met Michael Jackson but I am glad I could enjoy his legacy almost from the beginning. I am happy for the parents I have and my siblings, the education I got, my friends the wife I had and the beautiful children she gave me. I am happy for my life and if I had a chance to change anything, I wouldn't.


Thanks to all, that on this very day took a minute of his time to write me a note and connect with me even from the far. You have no idea how important that is and how much I appreciate you doing. Thank you for being part of my life and being part of me, cause I am the person I am because you made me so! And I am very thankful for that.

Love

Robert Franz Ziehe

Traveling

I’ve been a little lazy lately. Didn’t show up here to update my blog. But, as a matter of facts, I didn’t came because of this laziness, but actually because I’ve been quite busy doing other stuff.

The end of the year is always like this. At least for me. I pass revue on all what happened to me the past months, prepare for the holydays and many birthdays, my oldest made 9 in November, I’m due in December and the younger one is celebrating her 7^th in January. And this year seems to be special because I have already my agenda for the next months pretty full. At this very moment I am sitting in an airplane on my way to Boa Vista, Roraima, at the very north of Brazil, border to Venezuela. On tour again with my friend Raul Gazolla. We’ll have 3 presentations this weekend and getting back on Monday to catch a jet again on Thursday, this time heading south to Socorro – somewhere close to São Paulo.

X-Mass knocking at the door and right after, I will take my kids for a long vacation to the northeastern beaches of Jõao Pessoa. 3 weeks for the first time in years! I actually wanted to take this vacation in Europe, but because of my divorce I can’t take the kids overseas, yet. To sad but tha’s the way it is…

I am looking anxiously forward to that New Year. So many good things happened to me and I am involved in some great projects. But best of all, with all the new work I still will have time to dedicate to my babies (yeah I know, they are no longer babies, but for me they will be – forever). Quality time with the kids, nothing better than that, for a single dad. Hmm, can I call me single dad or should I say divorced dad? Anyway, year ending great and the next one staring even better. I sure am a lucky person.

All the best for you guys, thank you all for listening (reading) all my crap and not getting to bored and I hope from the bottom of my heart that you all have a great holyday season and an exceptional magnificent year of 2011.

Love