February 2021 – A Pondering Mind

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

3:00 A.M. ~ So

So, I often wonder what people are doing at 3:00 a.m. Sleeping? Watching TV? Working? Reading a book? Walking the dog? Bathroom run? Just something that I would throw out there, to see what responses would come of it.

The body

“The body is to be compared, not to a physical object, but rather to a work of art.” ~ Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Philosopher ~ 1908-1961

“All consciousness is consciousness of something” ~Edmund Husserl

Six Word Sunday

Good conversation. Great times. Happy people.

One Sentence

She’s 88 years old, and she is by all means peaches and cream, with a dollop of whip cream on top.

We The People

Two Sentences

High sugar content. A diabetic’s nightmare.

Two People

“Whenever two people meet, there are really six people present. There is each man as he sees himself, each man as the other person sees him, and each man as he really is.” ~ William James

One Sentence

Even though it is still winter, spring cleaning has begun.

Time is the most unknown of all unknown things. ~Aristotle

Six Word Saturday

Into the void. No exit found.

3:00 A.M. – Short Fiction

It was one those nights, Ned was tossing and turning, and restless. He looked at the alarm clock, and it read 3:00 a.m. He decided to get up, put his clothes on, grabbed his keys and cigarettes, and went for a walk. The air was warm, and the stars were shining. It felt good toContinue reading “3:00 A.M. – Short Fiction”

“I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.” ~Friedrich Nietzsche

Reading A Novel

“Reading a novel is just a much more involving and intimate experience than the act of watching a film. I mean, you literally get inside of a novelist’s head, and you invest many hours to do so.” ~ Jay McInerney

“What is originality? Undetected plagiarism.” ~William Ralph Inge

Hard Work

“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” ~ Stephen King

3:00 A.M. The Village Square -Short Fiction

The village square is for the most of the time, relatively dead, that you can hear a pin drop on the steel grating. But on this early morning hour at 3:00 a.m., accompanied by a full moon, and a few scattered clouds creeping by, something odd was happening. There were a pack of dogs chasingContinue reading “3:00 A.M. The Village Square -Short Fiction”

Two Sentences

Life’s short. Make the best of it.

Six Words Redux

Do it yourself, works for me.

“All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.” ~George Harrison

Six Words

High on life is all good.

Wrong Planet

“Sometimes I feel like I’m actually on the wrong planet. It’s great when I’m in my garden, but the minute I go out the gate I think, ‘What the hell am I doing here?” ~ George Harrison – Born: February 25, 1943 – Died: November 29, 2001

Being Here Now

Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats. ~Voltaire

3:00 A.M. Downtown – Short Fiction

A late winter storm, dumping copious amounts of snow on the streets and avenues, in the downtown area. Its 3:00 a.m., not a soul to be seen venturing in the deepening snow. Even the plows are having a hard time keeping the roads cleared. The only places that are still open, are a 24 hourContinue reading “3:00 A.M. Downtown – Short Fiction”

Materials Of Knowledge

“Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.” ~ John Locke

“Reading liberates you. You could know about the world through reading.” ~Paul Theroux

“Everything can change at any moment, suddenly and forever.” ~Paul Auster

“Every exit is an entry somewhere else.” ~Tom Stoppard

3:00 A.M. – A Short Story

Every morning, at 3:00 a.m., you will find an elderly gentleman, sitting in his favorite booth, having a cup of coffee. He has been patronizing this certain coffee shop, since he retired many years ago from the book editing job, that he had for over 35 years. He usually is the only one there, andContinue reading “3:00 A.M. – A Short Story”

“What worries you, masters you.” ~ John Locke

Back In Time

“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.” ~ Harvey Mackay

One Sentence

Let’s get along, for no other reason than to get along.

“To silence gossip, don’t repeat it.” ~ John Keats

For What Its Worth

Moving forward. Not looking back. What’s the point of it.

“Life is a constant process of dying.” ~Arthur Schopenhauer

“Just remember, once you’re over the hill you begin to pick up speed.” ~Arthur Schopenhauer

Majority Of Men

“The majority of men… are not capable of thinking, but only of believing, and… are not accessible to reason, but only to authority.” ~ Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher – 1788-1860

Suddenly Wake Up

“Suppose we suddenly wake up and see that what we thought to be this and that, ain’t this and that at all?” ~ Jack Kerouac

So

The expression, “you’re older than dirt.” So, how old is dirt?

“Maybe that’s what life is… a wink of the eye and winking stars.” ~Jack Kerouac

Six Words Sunday

Lazy day. Idling by. Forward moving.

“If you want the present to be different from the past, study the past.” ~Baruch Spinoza

Two Sentences

Orbiting the sun for 72 years plus. An experience of many dimensions.

Life Is One Big Road

“Life is one big road with lots of signs,So when you riding through the ruts,Don’t you complicate your mindFlee from hate, mischief and jealousyDon’t bury your thoughts; put your vision to reality.” ~ Bob Marley

The Charming Gardeners

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” ~ Marcel Proust

Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge. ~Carl Jung

To be is to be perceived. (Esse est percipi) ~Bishop ~George Berkeley

“The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.” ~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Six Word Saturday

Walking in freshly falling snow. Heavenly.

“If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.” ~Thomas A. Edison

Its Worth It

I wear a mask in public, to protect you and me. Its the right thing to do.

Six Word Story

Watching the canary do his thing.

Two Sentences

Never said I was perfect. Far from it.

Six Words

Watching old Andy Griffith on Sundance.

Sunsets

“Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the gates of Heaven.” ~ John Lubbock, 1834-1913

“You know what they say about Chicago. If you don’t like the weather, wait fifteen minutes.” ~ Ralph Kiner

The Crazy Ones

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently – they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things…Continue reading “The Crazy Ones”

Six Words Redux

I’m old school…. because I’m old.

Six Words

Lack of thoughts. Mind’s on vacation.

“To choose not to choose is still to act.” ~Jean-Paul Sartre

One Day Left

“There is only one day left, always starting over: it is given to us at dawn and taken away from us at dusk.” ~ Jean-Paul Sartre

Two Sentences

TV weatherman says more snow on the horizon. Its winter, so it comes with the territory.

“I rebel; therefore I exist.” ~Albert Camus

“The loudest noise in the world is silence.” ~Thelonious Monk

Nihilist

A nihilist is not one who believes in nothing, but one who does not believe in what exists. ~ Albert Camus

Written In Cursive

Clouds are poems, and the most moving poems linger on the blackboard so long, written in cursive so lovely, they also exist inside our fingertips. We never really erase them at the end of the lesson. ~ Ann Beattie

Jingoism

The avante-garde is to the left what jingoism is to the right. Both are a refuge in nonsense. ~ David Mamet

“The light is the left hand of darkness.” ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

Its Like This

Walking, which I do several times a day, helps keep me in shape, control my blood sugar levels, and air out my head. I will pound the sidewalks in most any type of weather, except when its pouring rain, and/or if the snow is coming down to hard.

Six Words Redux

Gloomy weather casts a weary face.

The Mad Ones

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved.” ~ Jack Kerouac

“Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.” ~John W. Gardner

Six Words

So… here I sit, doing nothing.

“Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Law Of Life

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” ~ John F. Kennedy

February

February, the shortest month of the year, is already at the mid way point. Before you know it, the month of March will be here, and February will just be a memory.

Butterfly

“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.” ~ R. Buckminster Fuller

Six Words

Life: it is what it is.

“Two truths cannot contradict one another.” ~Galileo Galilei

The Sun

“The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.” ~ Galileo Galilei

“Knowing thyself, that is the greatest wisdom.” ~Galileo Galilei

Six Word Sunday

Keeping the beat. Life is grand.

One Sentence Story

He’s dancing to the music in his head.

Love

Understanding Ourselves

“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

The Opportunist

“Dear optimist, pessimist, and realist–while you guys were busy arguing about the glass of wine, I drank it! Sincerely, the opportunist!” ~ Lori Greiner – Inventor, Born: December 9, 1969

“Curiosity is the lust of the mind.” ~ Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes – Philosopher, 1588-1679

Realistic Fiction

“To think that realistic fiction is by definition superior to imaginative fiction is to think imitation is superior to invention.” ~ Ursula K. Le Guin – Author, Born: October 21, 1929

Define Your Character

“Go without a coat when it’s cold; find out what cold is. Go hungry; keep your existence lean. Wear away the fat, get down to the lean tissue and see what it’s all about. The only time you define your character is when you go without. In times of hardship, you find out what you’reContinue reading “Define Your Character”