4:09 am and Inspired: Pandas + Puppies + More…

We’re opening Hump Day with a short one minute clip about Pandas.  (Now who doesn’t just love Panda cubs.)  And then on to my inspiring posts of the week…



From Baltimore, MD, George Amoss Jr. @ The Post Modern Quaker with his post:  The Zen of Quakerism. “If, when I’m feeling a little playful, someone were to ask me to summarize Quakerism in a sentence or two, I might say this: You have a heart. Use it.”

From Blacksburg, VA, Erica Ann Sipes @ Beyond the Notes is a pianist and cellist, who is asked by a graduate trumpet student (a Marine) to serve as his pianist for his recital.  In From Battlefield to Stage:  “The recital began and I was literally bursting with pride by the end.  Was it perfect?  No, of course not…The trumpet player knew where he was and what he was supposed to be doing and he met his mission in a way that I’m sure would make his fellow Marines very proud. Fifth lesson: Semper fidelis.  Semper fidelis.  To ourselves; to each other; to our passions; to our calling.”

From Pittsburgh, PA, Thomas Ross @ Only Here Only Now titled The Hollowness of HopeSuccess, failure, fear, and even hope, we can set aside because all we have- and all we need- is ours in this moment…

From the United Kingdom, Michael Brown @ Real Learning, For A Change with his post titled: Angry? “Count to 10?” Wrong!!!“Oh how I love it when I read something which challenges an important “truth” that I have been holding dear for years…According to research…counting to 10 when you are angry doesn’t make your feelings subside: in fact it makes it worse…

From  East Central Texas, Ledia Runnels @ Creative Musings of Ledia R who comments on my post July 4th Work Week ProductivityI’m all for working, hmm, zero days a week at something I have no real interest in and spending beyond the time it takes to sleep, eat and shower–a must for most of us, doing what I want. Of course this thing I do each day needs to make me money so that I can, 1. keep my pretty, new Honda Civic Coupe, 2. be allowed to stay in my apartment and 3. pay for food–a necessity for most of us, as well pay for various other doodads.  In other words, I want every day of my life to be spent on my terms. Heck with working to make someone else rich or be bossed around and disrespected by them five days week so that I can spend a paltry two days and various other holidays doing what I want. Life is too short! 


And The-Hump-Day-Photo-Of-The-Week: “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh…..”

brown puppies


Sources: Thank you Rachel for the Panda video.  Thank you LaDona for pointing me to Erica and her post.  Thank you John Smith @ Strategic Learner for pointing me to Thomas Ross.   Thank you marcdesa for the puppy photo.

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35 thoughts on “4:09 am and Inspired: Pandas + Puppies + More…”

  1. Pandas and puppies, what a cute wake up for Wednesday. Another person from Pittsburgh, have to check them out.

    BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!

  2. Thanks David so much for the mention. I am honoured and flattered in equal measure.

    Quick question for you: why do you call it Hump Day? Is it a US thing? Doesn’t labelling it that mean that it takes on a significance that it doesn’t warrant? Does it make Tuesday and Monday feel less positive than the post-Hump Days? How about delabelling it and forgetting which day of the week it is, just live for the moment?

    Anyway, i am approaching the Hump of my Hump day, so can start to relax shortly! ENJOY.

    1. Hi Michael. Hump Day is a US Thing. Maybe a North American thing (given that I’m Canadian and I recall similar references. It points to the mid point in a long work week – usually implies that you are not on the home stretch to the weekend just yet. Yes, delabelling it makes sense. Living for the moment makes more sense. My labeling was purely that – using it as an opportunity to feature bloggers who have inspired me. Have a good day.

  3. A far more delightful start to the day…laughter, people who inspire you and adorable, wonderful photos. Another lesson I learned from you today…

      1. I know – it was the wrong time and perhaps too incendiary a topic. It was selfishly driven – I truly couldn’t sleep last night because the sheer enormity of history repeating and repeating was like a drum beating in my head.

  4. I swear I thought someone was going to step out of those panda costumes! Something that cute and clownish just can’t be real. As for those puppies? Adorable.

  5. 4:09 and inspired- You really don’t sleep, but then again I remember you saying in one of your posts that you go to bed really early. Anyway, I loved this post. Adorable pictures along with inspiration. Of course, I had to read Erica’s from Blacksburg right away- given that I am a VT Hokie from Virginia. Have a great day!

  6. Pandas are always cute – but the puppies got me – and I’m not a pet person. My daughter thinks I’m softening because I agreed to an aquarium – she wants a “real” pet. She’s wrong.
    Still – the puppies got me…
    Glad you enjoyed Erica’s post. 🙂

  7. Isn’t there some sort of law against being that cute?! I don’t know which got the bigger ‘awwwww’ response this morning–the puppies or the pandas. Thx for the smiles, David….

    1. Thanks Nia. Panda at home. Wow…now there’s a thought. You might have to deal with the Chinese government on the whole illegal importation Panda business but otherwise you should be just fine. 🙂

  8. Loved the panda’s…boys and I couldn’t stop laughing!! Thanks for great articles as well.

  9. I am so honored to have a place on your amazing blog, David. And to make things even more wonderful, I get to share the page with CUTE PUPPIES!

  10. OMG! Those pandas are cute. Watching them slide down that slide like a pack of cute, fat babies made me want to grab them and give them each a hug as I slid down with them.

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