Rambling Stuff Awards Addition: March 2009

NATIONAL SUICIDE PROVENTION LIFELINE

With Help Comes Hope

Veterans Hotline & Online Chat
Are you a veteran in emotional distress? Please call 1-800-273-TALK and press 1 to be routed to the Veterans Suicide Prevention Hotline.
ORVeterans chat live with a counselor.

Are you in crisis? Please call 1-800-273-TALK
Are you feeling desperate, alone or hopeless? Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), a free, 24-hour hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. Your call will be routed to the nearest crisis center to you.

I URGE ANYONE THAT NEEDS TO MAKE THIS CALL TO PLEASE DO SO.YOU ARE A PRECIOUS HUMAN BEING,YOU ARE SOMEONE'S LOVED ONE. GOD KNOWS WE ALL GO THROUGH A CRISIS AND NEED THE HELP.PLEASE CHOOSE LIFE!

I HAVE CHOSEN TO LIVE AND I HOPE THAT OTHERS DO THE SAME.

ABOUT THE HAMMERED DULCIMER

The hammered dulcimer is an ancient trapezoidal musical instrument played by striking the strings with wooden hammers.

Originating in the Middle East about 2000 years ago, English soldiers brought the instrument back to England after their failed attempt to conquer Persia during the Crusades about 1000 years ago. Dulcimers have many names in many lands: santur in the Middle East, yang q'in in China, hackbrett in Austria, zither in Germany, and cymbalom in Hungary. The name "dulcimer" is derived from Latin, meaning "sweet sound". Hammered dulcimers were popular in England during the reign of James I, when the Bible was translated into English as the King James Bible. The dulcimer was mentioned in the Book of Daniel 3:5 among other instruments "..the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music..." The dulcimer was later mechanized to become what we now know as the harpsichord which later evolved in the piano