Gratitude: the recognition of how impoverished you would be without your blessings.

How do you define gratitude?

I have put all my eggs in one basket. All my hopes, all my dreams, all my trust, all my honor. I will not be disappointed, for that basket is called Jesus Christ.

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Today it's not a quote, not a verse, not a rhyme. Just a thought. My thought. My Main Thought.

Tomorrow is the day to travel north of the equator. If some ticket problems get worked out. On this problem, I have not been a happy camper, though my General Positive Outlook has not been affected.

My friend and former colleague, Alvaro Pestana, has an excerpt published today in Forthright Magazine entitled, "Growing Pains: Learning from a Lack of Affection." You may find it of interest. Click here:

http://forthright.antville.org/stories/166143/

If you're an UPlift subscriber, I'd be happy to hear your reactions to the new list. Tell me about it clicking here:

The big news: chimpanzees and homo sapiens are not as similar as once thought. A genetic study of the California Institute of Technology (I'm translating from the Portuguese, so I hope that's right) discovered that the genes of the two groups are not 98.5% identical, but only 95%.

The Big Question: what else will they discover that's so different between the two that will discredit for ever the bad theory of evolution?

Of course, if they study a few homo sapiens I know, they might conclude that the relation between chimps and chumps is much greater than once believed.

We watched The Majestic on video last night. I haven't seen much of Carrey, since my wife, shall we say, strongly dislikes him. But this movie she enjoyed. But I observed that, like in the Batman movie, he doesn't really act. He does a caricature of acting.

And according to Fortune magazine, he's one of the richest men in America.

Riddle me this ...

Do moviegoers not notice?

I have never been terribly impressed with medical doctors. An experience this afternoon just reinforced my negative image even more.

My wife had to go to the hospital today. As we walked in the doctor's cubbyhole, he picked up her form and said, "Hmmm, Vicki. What a weird name!"

His name? Natálio Kamatsu. Not exactly your normal José or João either. Was the pot calling the kettle black, but the worst was his horrid manner and lack of respect for the patient.

From what we picked up, he wasn't too respectful of the nurses either.