A moral imperative and the concept of a nice act

Starting with the day I went to the bank and withdrew money for my two road trips, the moral imperative to right a wrong surfaced.  I found I had a hundred dollars too much from the bank, and when I woke from my nap and realized the fact my wallet was fatter than it was suppose to be, I groggily went back to the bank to return the money.  Please realize I do not consider this a kind act, rather more of a must do.  So many people I told this to, said not many people would do this.  In my little world, I would rather think everyone would.  The teller's machine that counted money was broken, and he counted the money out to me by hand.  I also started gabbing like a buffoon about the vacation I was about to embark on, and probably flustered him.  I can do this easily.  The bank manager was impressed I returned the money, and I talked about it for the next few weeks.

On the next two vacations, I went to Mississippi.  On the second of my visits, I took three paintings with me I painted, and gave them to family for various reasons.  Not one of which is an act of kindness.  I kept trying to tell them, I was giving them a piece of me.  What I kept back, I was giving them my imperfections for them to hang on their walls.  To me, they are performing the kind act by hanging the oil paintings I painted on their walls.  In every one of the paintings I gave away, I see the imperfections, and I knew if I tried to fix the imperfections, I would never be done.  I also reasoned God did not make men perfect, so who am I to try?  I realized I could never sell my paintings, because I am too critical of them.  I am sure many artists do not feel this way, but I do.  I lay bare my soul with all its imperfection, for the world to see to hang on their walls.

When a family member gave me money for one of my paintings, I was mortified.  I decided that maybe I got the money because I gave the money back to the bank without hesitation.  Honestly, it is hard to accept money for either doing the right thing, or for mercy shown to me with my oil paintings.  Then, it hit home.  On my way to Mississippi the first time, my car over heated, and someone stopped to help.  I was so frustrated because this kind man would not accept any money from me.  Now, I think I understand this man who stopped to help.  The kind act does not accept payment, and doing the right thing is a moral imperative.  Maybe one day I will come to grips with my insecurities, or maybe never.  I will continue to paint, I will continue to give away pieces of myself, and I will always take the moral road as I see it.

New Indie Film

I have decided to write and produce an animated Indie film.  It will be a fifteen minute clip of three kittens named Ellie, Kellie, and Nellie and their stuffed puppy they share.  I have spent my entire life observing cats both feral and domesticated, and I feel this is exactly the direction I am to go in.  I have purpose, and no matter how silly it sounds, I am going to do it.  Once I get the Indie produced, I will apply to Kickstarter for start up funds to start my own company, and I plan to employ our new generation of creative thinkers in my company to produce quality animations to teach morals, math, and manners.  Maybe M for the Manberg Company?  I don't know.  I just know I can now animate and produce by myself a simple 15 minute Indie film.  After that, I will need resources and will search for help.  Keep an eye out, I will post to social media on my progress, and I will also post any cells, or images as I progress on the film.

My own Indie film.  This is a dream come true for me, and if it is successful, who knows what can happen?  I am going to try regardless.  Hey, I think I may have wrote some of the company's mission already in the first paragraph.

More to come...

Kristie


Title: Ellie, Nellie, and Kellie takes on The Stuff Puppy

Written and Produced by: KdLohrer

Kind Acts of A Boy and A Peace Officer

As I was watching television, and reading National Geographic, a story comes on the news about how a peace officer stopped to play football with a boy who was playing ball by himself.  Now, I call this boy a boy, yet this boy threw the football much better than I ever could, so maybe young man might be better.  It was touching to see someone take time out of their day to play with someone who is lonely, and I could be talking about either here.  I did not catch all the details, and the story only caught my attention, because it was something I never see on the news.  I am not sure who was enjoying the game more, the peace officer or the young man.  In my mind, they both were there for the other, and I do believe they were somewhat strangers.  I like seeing this kind of stuff on the news, especially while reading about cultural divides in National Geographic.  Maybe one day, we can come together as humans and throw a round of friendly ball as they did.  Maybe it would be nice to see more of these kind of stories in the news.

Witnessing a Nice Act

The other day, while at the grocery store, I witnessed a nice act by someone else.  It took me by surprise.  There was a man who had just finished putting all his groceries on the conveyor, and noticed an older lady standing behind him with only two hallmark cards.  This man without hesitating asked her if she wanted to jump in front of him.  This melted my heart, because it has been over a year since I have seen this type of behavior from other people.  I smiled for the rest of the day.   This gentle person made two woman's day with just one kind gesture.  It really does not take much to do the right thing, and being kind is not as much a choice as more of a way of life; Being kind, in my opinion, would be a character trait.  We need more people practicing this way of life, and paving the way for others to follow.  Just my grocery's worth for the day.

Dachshunds on the Loose

Last weekend, Saturday around noon, I came across a couple of Dachshunds running across a busy five lane road.  It was a really busy road on that day, because UA's Crimson Tide was going to play Texas A&M.  Everyone was out getting their errands out of the way in time for the game, and this was the reason I was out too.  So, seeing these guys running amok in traffic alarmed me, and I made it my personal quest to corral the Dachshunds away from the road, and to catch them, so I could return them to their owner.  It took at least an hour, and I know I looked like a crazy lady.  I am in jeans, running against traffic, trying to get to the pups, before they get to the road again.  I made it, and I am not embellishing, I made it just as their little paws were about to step out in front of a truck.  I stomped real hard, because that was all the time I had, and luckily it turned them in the other direction.  At this point, I was invested, because, well, everyone looked at me as the crazy lady running into the direction of traffic, and I had to prove to myself I was not crazy.  Yes, I am still working on that one.  Anyways,  I finally got the little rascals rounded up, and got them home with the help of my husband.  I put up a crate in the back yard, and they curled up and went to sleep in the crate.  They looked so tired, and they were truly wonderful pups.  So, my husband and I decided to ride around the local neighborhoods to search for lost and found signs, since we did not find anything electronically.  In an amazing turn of events, we actually found a sign in one of the neighborhoods with the pups mugs on it, and the right phone number.  I did not mention the tag had a wrong number on it.  This person had just moved to Alabama, and was beside herself knowing her pups were lost with a tag and a wrong number on the tags.  This brought back memories of when my dogs dug out of the back yard, and I had just moved too.  My dogs tags were wrong, and the lady who found my dogs went the extra mile to find me.  It felt really good to reunite the pups with their owner.  Sometimes, you will get put out if you want to do nice things, but the rewards of showing you care outweigh anything else including a college football game.

Green Rimmed Glasses

As I was walking from the car through the parking lot to the grocery store, I ran across a pair of green rimmed glasses.  I walked past them, then turned around and went back.  I picked them up, and they did not have a scratch on them.  It was really weird, but I went ahead and took them in the grocery store.  I waited at customer service, and then handed them over as I told the lady I found them in the parking lot.  She smiled really big and said thanks.  I have no idea whose glasses they were, and I am hoping by simply picking them up and handing them in, someone else was able to get their glasses back, and without a scratch.  It is so easy to do nice things, and all it takes is a little attention.  When I first walked past them, I wrote them off as plastic cheap sunglasses.  When I picked them up, I realized they were nice glasses.  I hope all works out well for whomever lost them, and I hope it makes a difference a stranger cares about this person's well being.

Texas Hold'em Turbo Tournament

Last week I was in Vegas, and I found myself enrolled in a Texas Hold'em Turbo Tournament.  There were eleven of us, and the dealer.  Being brand new to this type of game play, I was terrified.  I am not sure why I was so scared, but I think it has something to do with it being new and walking on unfamiliar ground.  I sat next to the dealer on his right side, and I put my card out showing me the different ways to win, and I also announced I was new to the tournament game.  A couple of the people at the table smiled and said they would never admit to something like that.  The dealer proceeded to teach me how to properly play.  He gave me lessons right at the table during break on how to look at my cards, because I was struggling, and he corrected me if I went out of turn.  He also told me to splash the chips more, because I was too neat.  He was a super nice guy.  Then the dealers switched out more than once, and I got settled in, and I won a hand on a couple of eights.  My heart was pounding so hard, and I said so at the table.  By this time, the table was use to me, and everyone laughed heartily and said their hearts would have been pounding too.  It was a fun game.  I am unsure as to how far I was when I was eliminated, and I think maybe fourth or fifth.  I was kinda proud of this.  I did not expect to win, but I did expect to get eliminated first, so this was a pleasant surprise.  The players and dealer made this a fun game for me.  I only played once, because I just wanted to get my feet wet.  Maybe one day, I will play a tournament again.  We'll see.