Category Archive

“When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in worship of the Creator”
- Mahatma Gandhi

She used to drag her mattress beside her low window and lie awake for a long while, vibrating with excitement, as a machine vibrates from speed. Life rushed in upon her through that window - or so it seemed. In reality, of course, life rushes from within, not from without. There is no work of art so big or so beautiful that is was not once all contained in some youthful body, like this one which lay on the floor in the moonlight, pulsing with ardor and anticipation.
- Willa Cather, The Song of the Lark

Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling.
Margaret Lee Runbeck

A greater inducement to folly is excess of power
- Barbara Tuchman

I have enjoyed greatly the second blooming that comes when you finish the life of the emotions and of personal relations; and suddenly find - at the age of fifty, say - that a whole new life has opened before you, filled with things you can think about, study, or read about…It is as if a fresh sap of ideas and thoughts was rising in you.
Agatha Christie (1890 - 1976), An Autobiography, 1977

We’re not lost. We’re locationally challenged.
John M. Ford

Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them.
Bill VaughanSome national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.
George Carlin (1937 - )

The bravest thing you can do when you are not brave is to profess courage and act accordingly.
Corra Harris

There is more to life than increasing it’s speed
Mahatma Ghandi

Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.
Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004)

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.
Ernest Benn

On a lazy Saturday morning when you’re lying in bed, drifting in and out of sleep, there is a space where fantasy and reality become one. Are you awake, or are you dreaming? You see people and things; some are familiar; some are strange. You talk, you feel, but you move without walking; you fly without wings. Your mind and your body exist, but on separate planes. Time stands still. For me, this is the feeling I have when ideas come.
Lynn Johnston, Lynn on Ideas
Canadian cartoonist (1947 - )

Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.
Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

I never put on a pair of shoes until I’ve worn them at least five years.
Samuel Goldwyn (1882 - 1974)

The law is not so much carved in stone as it is written in water, flowing in and out with the tide.
Jeff Melvoin, Northern Exposure, Crime and Punishment, 1992

If I had my life to live over I’d like to make more mistakes next time. I’d relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual trouble, but I’d have fewer imaginary ones. You see, I’m one of those people who live sensibly and sanely hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I’ve had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I’d have more of them. In fact, I’d try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I’ve been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat, and a parachute. If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have. If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds, I would pick more daisies.
Nadine Stair

For the birds that cannot soar, God has provided low branches.
Turkish Proverb

False friendship, like the ivy, decays and ruins the walls it embraces; but true friendship gives new life and animation to the object it supports.
Richard Burton

These were originally posted in 2005. 

The most important moment in your life is the present time. This is the time to look within and experience God. There is no other. You cannot wait for a better place, another better time, another better person to be with to experience God. This is the very moment.
–Gurumayi Chidvilasananda

Loneliness is sometimes the souls way of saying to you, “Can we talk?”
~R. Weaver

Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while
discouragement often nips it in the bud. Any of us will put out more and
better ideas if our efforts are appreciated.
Alexander Osborn (1888 - 1966)

There is an African proverb that says, “When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.”

He who angers you - conquers you.

Here’s a Thursday Thirteen from August 2006:

Thirteen Things Regarding An All-You-Can-Eat Before, During & After
Just Expressing Myself

1. Last night I had no one idea what to have for dinner, so I decided to a walk along Amsterdam Avenue and think about it.
2. I put in a call to Heart, so we could catch up with each other.
3. Suddenly I remembered Brother Jimmy’s All-You-Can-Eat White Trash Wednesdays! My feet went into autopilot mode, and before you know it I was there.
4. I ate more tuna casserole, fried chicken and corn dogs than any one person should in one sitting.
5. Still talking to Heart through the entire meal, and the walk home.
6. Foolishly thought twelve block home walk was enough to digest the meal. I would have needed to walked to Philadelphia.
7. A tsunami of sleepiness hits me upon entering apartment, and I fall face first on my futon. Fortunately I remember to put cell phones on chargers before I pass out.
8. It’s nearly 4 am when I come to feeling like a beached whale.
9. I stagger to fridge for tall glass of cold water, take phones off chargers, and decide to watch some TV.
10. I sit through some show possibly called Blind Date. The two couples featured are probably four of the most obnoxious people on earth.
11. At 4:30 something called ElimiDate(?) comes on, and I quickly turn off TV.
12. I lay down on futon swearing never to go to do this again. I drink more water, and that means more bathroom trips, and that means more swearing.
13. I finally drift off to sleep again, and when I wake up I ache as if I slept on top of a trailer all night long. They don’t call it White Trash Wednesday for nothing.

And here’s a Book Tag I did on September 3rd 2006

One book that changed your life:
Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain

One book that you’ve read more than once:
Lolita by Vladimi Nabokov

One book that you’d want on a desert island:
Wifey by Judy Blume

One book that made you laugh:
Bring on the Empty Horses by David Niven

One book that made you cry:
I think one of the books I am currently reading will be doing that soon:
The Woman I Left Behind by Kim Jensen

One book that you wish had been written:
Are You There God It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume

One book you couldn’t put down:
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
I read it until it fell apart.

One book you are currently reading:
Tell Me How You Love The  Picture by Edward S. Feldman

One book you’ve been meaning to read(want to read):
Be Here Now by Ram Dass

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
Samuel Johnson, (attributed; also attributed to Ann Landers)
English author, critic, & lexicographer (1709 - 1784)

Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.
– James Dean 

From Wednesday & Thursday’s entries on my mobile blog

Going to see Brando perform tomorrow. He wouldn’t tell me anything about the play other than the title. He is one of three performers in it. I grow curiouser and curiouser…

I am in the theatre waiting for the show to begin.
This is the most exciting part, that few moments before it all begins.
I’ve taken a seat that allows me to see both the audience and the stage. This is my preferred seating in both a theatre and life.
Brando is the star of the show, and his character is named Francis like me.
Nearly 46 and still getting excited over little things - Thank God - that I never want to change about myself.
I think of my little trio of plays, of me up on stage at such a late date, then I think why the hell not?
My darlings this old girl may not have the looks she once had, but she has moves you can’t imagine.

This afternoon’s movie was a documentary about Toots Shoor.
Toots was the most popular restauranteur that New York has or will ever see.
His heyday was the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. Every politician, actor, gangster, and sports hero knew Toots.
His restaurant had a circular bar in the center - Toots felt know one should have to walk across a room for a drink.
I wholeheartedly agree.
I could see me with my own bar lounge; there I would be on my personal stool holding court.
Probably wouldn’t want to charge any of my friends for a drink.
I’d be out of business in a heartbeat.
It’s a beautiful night here in New York.
September was a dream, October looks to be the same. The summer was a swamp.
My dinner is a combination of Chinese & Japanese.
My mouth is filled with flavors: roast pork bun, spicy salmon handroll. Unagi with a liberal sprinkle of barbeque sauce.
Maybe I won’t live to be 97 - but no matter what the length it will be a happy life - and that’s all that matters.
Life is phenomenally good.

On the 1 train.
12 hours of non-stop fun with a friend who likes EVERYTHING I do.
It’s a rare and wonderful thing.

What is more dull than a discreet diary? One might as well have a discreet soul!
- Henry Channon 1897-1958