For the first time, the first, I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe. To feel it so like myself, indeed so brotherly, made me realize that I’d been happy, and that I was happy still.
~ Albert Camus
Man does not simply exist, but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment. ~ Victor Frankl
Art
In A Conumdrum
mug of coffee to my left
open laptop in front of me
a new book that was started this morning sits to the right of me
now what the hell shall I do
flip a coin
rock paper scissors
put a blindfold on and pick one
spin the bottle
good luck
Good books don’t give up all their secrets at once. ~ Stephen King
A Precious Privilege
Everyone has a purpose in life. Perhaps yours in watching television. ~ David Letterman
“If the literature we are reading does not wake us, why then do we read it? A literary work must be an ice-axe to break the sea frozen inside us.” ~ Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka, Writer – Born: July 3, 1883 – Died: June 3, 1924
“I don’t think there is any truth. There are only points of view.” ~ Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg, Poet – Born: June 3, 1926 – Died: April 5, 1997
Look For Beauty ~ Richard Paul Evans
‘Tis a superstition to insist on a special diet. All is made at last of the same chemical atoms. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” ~ Dr. Seuss
In early June the world of leaf and blade and flowers explodes, and every sunset is different. ~ John Steinbeck
June Cleaver didn’t keep her house in perfect order, the prop man did it. ~ Barbara Billingsley
Barbara Billingsley , played June Cleaver in “Leave it to Beaver”
What is one to say about June …. ~ Gertrude Jekyll
Short Story
During his morning stroll, the elderly man is curious, as to how many bricks did they use in making the one block long sidewalk. Maybe one day, he will find the answer, by the tedious task of counting the red rectangular blocks of clay.
A Single Conversation … ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A Pondering Moment
overloaded
thinking
brings
on
headaches
The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind. ~ Albert Einstein
The weird and the stupid …
For the first time, the weird and the stupid and the coarse are becoming our cultural norms, even our cultural ideal.
~ Carl Bernstein
Acceptance
Rachel Carson ~ Nature
“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence.” ~ Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams, Former First Lady of the United States – 1744 – 1818
Three Words
aimlessly ambling along
Alice Walker Quote
“A painting is music you can see and music is a painting you can hear.” ~ Miles Davis
Miles Davis, Musician – B: May 26, 1926 – D: September 28, 1991
Fantasy is the only truth. – Abbie Hoffman
A Pondering Moment
put
today’s
bullshit
in the
dumpster
make
tomorrow
a better
day
Zen Saying
If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, try it for eight, sixteen, thirty-two, and so on. Eventually, one discovers that it is not boring, but very interesting.
-Zen Saying
People Like Us ~ Albert Einstein
People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.
~ Albert Einstein
“If you want to keep your memories, you first have to live them.” ~ Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan, B: May 24, 1941
The Great Unknown
You’ll never know the kind of person you could be until you take that first step, all alone, into the great unknown. Very few take the step.
~ Hannah Harding
Writing is not life, but I think that sometimes it can be a way back to life. ~ Stephen King
Yeah
it’s one
of them
days
that I
don’t
feel like
doing a
damn thing
Consciousness: That annoying time between naps. ~ Steven Wright
Douglas Adams Quote
In the beginning the universe was created.
This made a lot of people very angry and has
been regarded as a bad move.
~ Douglas Adams
Music causes us to think eloquently. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
A Pondering Moment 2
knowing
what you
already
know
is
known
so that
is all
you need
to know
A Mystery
Watching
a mysterious
mystery
which in
turn is
a total
mystery
to figure
out
as its
a complete
and ultimate
mystery
to seek
answers
to the
mystery
of all
mysteries
To read a book …..
To read a book for the first time is to make an acquaintance with a new friend; to read it for a second time is to meet an old one.
~ Chinese Saying
A Pondering Moment
Write using
the right
words
and then
it will
look and
read right.
Music is a safe kind of high. ~ Jimi Hendrix
People who boast about their I.Q. are losers. ~ Stephen Hawking
One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple. ~ Jack Kerouac
Six Word Story
No coffee, her day is doomed.
In youth the days are short and the years are long; in old age the years are short and the days long. ~ Panin
Practice will never make you perfect. Why should it? What fun would that be? ~ Stephen King
Joseph Addison Quote
“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.”
~ Joseph Addison, Essayist 1672 – 1719
Be who you are. ~ Rita Mae Brown
“About all you can do in life is be who you are. Some people will love you for you. Most will love you for what you can do for them, and some won’t like you at all.”
~ Rita Mae Brown. Writer – B: November 28, 1944
May 14
Today, May 14
makes it
one full
year, that
I quit
smoking,
and I don’t
miss it.
The American Dream has run out of gas. ~ J. G. Ballard
The American Dream has run out of gas. The car has stopped. It no longer supplies the world with its images, its dreams, its fantasies. No more. It’s over. It supplies the world with its nightmares now: the Kennedy assassination, Watergate, Vietnam…
~ J. G. Ballard, British author 1930-
Everyone admits that love is wonderful and necessary, yet no one agrees on just what it is. ~ Diane Ackerman
Diane Ackerman, American poet, essayist, savage and naturalist 1948-
Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows. ~ David T. Wolf
For most folks, no news is good news; for the press, good news is not news. ~ Gloria Borger
Truths ~ Alfred North Whitehead
There are no whole truths. All truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil.
~ Alfred North Whitehead
On Writing
writing a post
even a so-called
simple one
is not as easy
as it seems
Pondering Thought
drinking
a great
cup of
coffee
makes
everything
else in
life an
afterthought
An intelligent hell would be better than a stupid paradise. ~ Victor Hugo
Dogs laugh, but they laugh with their tails. ~ Max Eastman
There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from. – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
“There is no such thing as freedom of choice unless there is freedom to refuse.” ~ David Hume
David Hume, Philosopher – B: May 7, 1711 – D: August 25, 1776
There are two ways to be fooled. ~ Soren Kierkegaard
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”
~ Soren Kierkegaard, Philosopher – B: May 5, 1813 – D: November 11, 1855
Art is science made clear. ~ Jean Cocteau
Politics is the gizzard of society, full of gut and gravel. ~ Henry David Thoreau
Goals are dreams with deadlines. ~ Diana Scharf Hunt
Pondering Moment
never let
a great
cup of
coffee
go to
waste
One Place ~ Jerzy Kosinski
“Here was one place where I could find out who I was and what I was going to become. And that was the public library.”
~ Jerzy Kosinski, Novelist – B: June 14, 1933 – D: May 3, 1991
Truth exists; only lies are invented. ~ Georges Braque
Georges Braque, Painter – 1882 – 1963
Beautiful Thing ~ Albert Einstein
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
~ Albert Einstein
If plan A doesn’t work, the alphabet has 25 more letters – 204 if you’re in Japan. ~ Claire Cook
Claire Cook, Film writer
Music is the medicine of the mind. ~ John Logan
Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscious: this is the ideal life. ~ Mark Twain
I love being a writer. What I can’t stand is the paperwork. ~ Peter De Vries
One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. ~ William Shakespeare
Pondering Moment
over
analyzing
a subject
could
drive
possibly
drive
anybody
batty
If only life were one long crisis, everyone would be perfect. ~ Angela Thirkell
Angela Thirkell, The Headmistress (1945)
“Wait’ll next year!” ~ Robert Orben
“Wait’ll next year!” is the favorite cry of baseball fans, football fans, hockey fans, and gardeners.
~ Robert Orben
Monsters are real …. ~ Stephen King
“Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.”
~ Stephen King
Public speaking ~ Evan Esar
Public speaking is the art diluting a two-minute idea with a two-hour vocabulary.
~ Evan Esar (1899 – 1995)
Happy or unhappy, all families are mysterious. ~ Gloria Steinem
Six Word Story
Flailing about. Yelling loudly. Hot tempered.
Beware of the man who won’t be bothered with details. ~ William Feather
William Feather (1908 – 1976)
One reason I don’t drink is that I want to know when I am having a good time. ~ Nancy Astor
Nancy Astor (1879 – 1964)
Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple. ~ Dr. Seuss
To be persuasive …. ~ Edward R. Murrow
“To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful.” ~ Edward R. Murrow (B: April 25, 1908 – D: April 27, 1965)
Ella Fitzgerald Quote
“Blue skies
Smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies
Do I see”
~ Ella Fitzgerald
(B: April 25, 1917
D: June 15, 1996)
Another Thought
funny how
things work
out
when it’s
least
expected
A Thought
having coffee
with someone
can be
a beautiful
thing
If You Find Someone … ~ Franz Kafka
“If you find someone who makes you smile, who checks up on you often to see if you’re okay. Who watches out or you and wants the best for you. Who loves and respects you. Don’t let them go. People like that are hard to find.”
~ Franz Kafka (1883 – 1924)
Five Words
Coffee first. Everything else follows
Veni, vidi, vici. (I came, I saw, I conquered.) ~ Julius Caesar
A Pondering Moment
if there
was no
such thing
called
weather,
what else
could
people
bitch about
Rules For Happiness ~ Immanuel Kant
“Rules for Happiness: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for.”
~ Immanuel Kant, Philosopher – B: April 22, 1724 – D: February 12, 1804
Do not fear mistakes. There are none. ~ Miles Davis
Better to accept whatever happens. ~ Horace
On stage I make love to twenty-five thousand people; then I go home alone. ~ Janis Joplin
Flying High ~ Nina Simone
“Birds flying high you know how I feel
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Breeze driftin’ on by you know how I feel
And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For me
And I’m feeling good
I’m feeling good”
~ Nina Simone (1933-2003)
“I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn’t learn something from him.” ~ Galileo Galilei
Incompetents invariably make trouble for people other than themselves. ~ Larry McMurtry
I am not a film star …. ~ Vivien Leigh
“I’m not a film star; I am an actress. Being a film star is such a false life, lived for fake values and for publicity.”
~ Vivien Leigh – Actress, (1913-1967)
