exploded cotton candy

Beauty of irony...

2010-01-21T05:50:00.000-08:00

Quote of the moment

2010-01-21T05:39:00.000-08:00

After such knowledge, what forgiveness? Think now

History has many cunning passages, contrived corridors

And issues, deceives with whispering ambitions,

Guides us by vanities. Think now

She gives when our attention is distracted

And what she gives, gives with such supple confusions

That the giving famishes the craving. Gives too late

What's not believed in, or if still believed,

In memory only, reconsidered passion. Gives too soon

Into weak hands, what's thought can be dispensed with

Till the refusal propagates a fear. Think

Neither fear nor courage saves us. Unnatural vices

Are fathered by our heroism. Virtues

Are forced upon us by our impudent crimes.

These tears are shaken from the wrath-bearing tree.

T.S. Eliot

Merry Christmas...

2009-12-21T09:49:00.000-08:00

Quote of the moment

2009-12-21T09:45:00.000-08:00

"More often than not the people that you happen to be related to are your best friends… You can never really turn away from them, and you will always defend them to the best of your ability, they are your greatest resource, and the greatest love will come from them... that is family. "

Jerry Grant Blakeney

The beauty of Christmas

2009-12-06T07:00:00.001-08:00

It's Christmas time...

2009-12-06T06:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas gift suggestions:

To your enemy, forgiveness.

To an opponent, tolerance.

To a friend, your heart.

To a customer, service.

To all, charity.

To every child, a good example.

To yourself, respect.

Oren Arnold

Death is a woman...

2009-11-18T14:56:00.001-08:00

Quote of the moment

2009-11-18T14:37:00.000-08:00

"We're trained to see only male or female and to plot people into those categories when they actually don't fit neatly at all. But if we pause, watch and listen closely we'll see the multiplicity of ways in which people are sexed and gendered. There exists a range of personal identifications around woman, man, in-between--we don't even have names or pronouns that reflect that in between place but people certainly live in it."

Minnie Bruce Pratt

life is a wonderful thing...

2009-10-05T16:01:00.000-07:00

Résumé

2009-10-05T15:55:00.000-07:00

Razors pain you;

Rivers are damp;

Acids stain you;

And drugs cause cramp.

Guns aren't lawful;

Nooses give;

Gas smells awful;

You might as well live.

Dorothy Parker

Everything new requires something else to end...

2009-09-09T17:12:00.000-07:00

Don't grieve for me, for now I'm free!

I follow the plan God laid for me.

I saw His face, I heard His call,

I took His hand and left it all...

I could not stay another day,

To love, to laugh, to work or play;

Tasks left undone must stay that way

.And if my parting has left a void,

Then fill it with remembered joy.

A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss...

Ah yes, these things I, too, shall miss.

My life's been full, I've savoured much:

Good times, good friends, a loved-one's touch.

Perhaps my time seemed all too brief—

Don't shorten yours with undue grief.

Be not burdened with tears of sorrow,

Enjoy the sunshine of the morrow.

Supposed to be...

2009-09-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

Quote of the moment

2009-06-22T13:59:00.000-07:00

There are some people who think that they should be always mourning, that they should put a continual constraint upon themselves, and feel a disgust for those amusements to which they are obliged to submit. For my own part, I confess that I know not how to conform myself to these rigid notions. I prefer something more simple, which I also think would be more pleasing to God.

François Fénelon

Everything comes to an end

2009-06-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

Ophelia...destiny of woman

2009-06-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

what a noble mind is here o'erthrown!
The courtier's, scholar's, soldier's, eye, tongue, sword,
Th' expectancy and rose of the fair state,
The glass of fashion and the mould of form,
Th' observ'd of all observers- quite, quite down!
And I, of ladies most deject and wretched,
That suck'd the honey of his music vows,
Now see that noble and most sovereign reason,
Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh;
That unmatch'd form and feature of blown youth
Blasted with ecstasy. O, woe is me
T' have seen what I have seen, see what I see!

Everyone has a past...or a present...or a future...

2009-06-17T14:24:00.000-07:00

Erlkoenig

2009-06-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

Who rides so late through the windy night?
The father holding his young son so tight.
The boy is cradled safe in his arm,
He holds him sure and he holds him warm.

Why is your face so frightened my son?
The King of elves, father, see him yon?
The Elfin King with his tail and crown?
It is the fog, my son, streaming down.

Yes, you my dear child, come go with me!
The games I play, you'll like them, come see.
The shore is coloured with flow'rs in bloom,
My mother's gold gowns, you will see soon.

Oh father, father, can you not hear
What the elfking promises? I fear!
Be calm, stay quiet my dearest son,
The wind blows the dry leaves of autumn.

My darling boy, won't you come with me?
I have daughters in whose care you'll be.
My daughters dance round the fairy ring.
Each night they'll cradle you, dance and sing.

Father, dear father, can you not see
The elf king's daughter staring at me?
My son, my son, I see it so well:
Gray meadows on which the moonlight fell.

I love you for your beauty of course,
If free you'll not come, I will use force.
Father, dear father, he's touching me.
Of elf king's hurt, father please, free me.

Dread grips the father, he spurs the roan,
In loving arms he feels the boy moan.
At last, the courtyard, with fear and dread,
He looks at the child; the boy is dead.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

You can't kill an idea...

2009-06-04T16:37:00.001-07:00

...it's memory will survive!

Quote of the moment

2009-06-04T16:16:00.000-07:00

"Common sense always speaks too late.
Common sense is the guy who tells you you ought to have had your brakes relined last week before you smashed a front end this week.
Common sense is the Monday morning quarterback who could have won the ball game if he had been on the team. But he never is. He's high up in the stands with a flask on his hip.
Common sense is the little man in a grey suit who never makes a mistake in addition. But it's always somebody else's money he's adding up. "

Philip Marlowe in Playback (1958), by Raymond Chandler

Time is a strange thing...

2009-05-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable.

T. S. Eliot, in the Four Quartets

Quote of the moment

2009-04-03T04:00:00.000-07:00

"Love is a strange emotion. When one thinks of it, a conflicting multitude of thoughts arise. Love is pitiful and marvelous, empowering and parasitic. It is hideous; it is beautiful. It is weak and strong at the same time. Love has started wars, ended wars, caused the depression and death of millions, as well as caused uncountable others to be thrown to the heights of ecstasy. So is love truly such a pure, lovely thing? I think it is a mixture of both. Just as nothing is purely good or evil, so is love. "

Sometimes I just need to...

2009-03-19T14:24:00.001-07:00

Quote of the moment

2009-03-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

"People ask me to predict the future, when all I want to do is prevent it. Better yet, build it. Predicting the future is much too easy, anyway. You look at the people around you, the street you stand on, the visible air you breathe, and predict more of the same. To hell with more. I want better."

Ray Bradbury

What keeps us walking...

2009-03-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

I'm tired

2009-03-12T14:20:00.000-07:00

I’m tired of being misunderstood,
nerves are shot,
weak – like old wood.

I’m tired of being ill,
no energy, can’t think,
losing my skills.

I’m tired of so-called friends,
stabbing me in the back,
again and again.

I’m tired of trying to make things right,
i give up – I surrender,
no will to fight.

I’m tired of seeing others in pain,
raises frustration,
drives me insane.

I’m tired of not being able to cry,
i’d melt away,
nothing left inside.

I’m tired because I can’t feel,
walking in a daze – numb
this can’t be real.

I’m tired of being “strong,”
i’m weak, i’m fragile,
its gone on way to long.

I don’t know what else to say,
i’m hoping, i’m dreaming,
i’m begging, i’m pleading,
please, take this feeling away.

Right now… I’m just tired…

Dave Harm

Death is a Dialogue

2009-02-25T01:53:00.000-08:00

Death is a Dialogue between
The Spirit and the Dust.
"Dissolve" says Death—The Spirit "Sir
I have another Trust"—

Death doubts it—Argues from the Ground—
The Spirit turns away
Just laying off for evidence
An Overcoat of Clay.

Emily Dickinson

Female equilibrium...

2009-02-19T15:39:00.000-08:00

Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep

2009-02-19T15:24:00.000-08:00

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there... I do not sleep.

I am the thousand winds that blow...

I am the diamond glints on snow...

I am the sunlight on ripened grain...

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you waken in the morning's hush,

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of gentle birds in circling flight...

I am the soft star that shines at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry—

I am not there... I did not die...

Nevermore...

2009-02-11T16:19:00.000-08:00

The Raven

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-
Only this, and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;- vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow- sorrow for the lost Lenore-
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore-
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,
"'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door-
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;-
This it is, and nothing more."

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you"- here I opened wide the door;-
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore!"
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"-
Merely this, and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice:
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore-
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;-
'Tis the wind and nothing more."

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door-
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door-
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore-
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning- little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blest with seeing bird above his chamber door-
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore."

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered- not a feather then he fluttered-
Till I scarcely more than muttered, "other friends have flown before-
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."
Then the bird said, "Nevermore."

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore-
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of 'Never- nevermore'."

But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and
door; Then upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore-
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamplight gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then methought the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor.
"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee- by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite- respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!- prophet still, if bird or devil!-
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted-
On this home by horror haunted- tell me truly, I implore-
Is there- is there balm in Gilead?- tell me- tell me, I implore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil- prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us- by that God we both adore-
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"By that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting -
"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!- quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted- nevermore!

Edgar Allan Poe

Elements of life...

2009-02-11T16:16:00.000-08:00

Quote of the moment

2009-02-11T15:57:00.000-08:00

"For those who believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not believe, no explanation is possible. "

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

2009-02-10T14:40:00.001-08:00

Quote of the moment

2009-02-10T14:32:00.001-08:00

"Don't worry that children never listen to you. Worry that they are always watching you. "

Nothing is for ever...

2009-01-26T12:40:00.000-08:00

Quote of the moment...

2009-01-26T12:37:00.001-08:00

"Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world. "

Quote of the moment...

2009-01-20T13:12:00.000-08:00

...and a tribute to my adiction:

"Blacker then a moonless night, hotter and more bitter than hell itself.. That is coffee."

Godot

Quote of the moment...

2009-01-16T05:56:00.000-08:00

"In our civilization men are afraid they will not be men enough, and women are afraid they might be considered only women. "

Beauty...

2009-01-14T13:29:00.001-08:00

Quote of the moment...

2009-01-14T13:20:00.000-08:00

"...when God provides a beautiful woman, the devil at once retorts with a fool to keep her."

Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly

People are...

2009-01-13T03:46:00.000-08:00

...egoistic, nice, beloved, arrogant, cooperative, horrible, generous, passionate, cruel, sacrificially, benevolent,selfabsorbet, adorable, understanding, gentle, gratefull...

WE are...

...the mighty and the fallen

...angels and demons

...heaven and hell

...able to be everything: marble statue or scaffold.

Just one of my favorites...

2009-01-08T09:59:00.000-08:00

Part of the Power that would
Always wish Evil, and always works the Good.

I am the spirit, ever, that denies!
And rightly so: since everything created,
In turn deserves to be annihilated:
Better if nothing came to be.
So all that you call Sin, you see,
Destruction, in short, what you’ve meant
By Evil is my true element.

I’m speaking the truth to you, and modestly.
Even if Man’s accustomed to take
His small world for the Whole, that’s his mistake:
I’m part of the part, that once was - everything,
Part of the darkness, from which Light, issuing,
Proud Light, emergent, disputed the highest place
With its mother Night, the bounds of Space,
And yet won nothing, however hard it tried,
Still stuck to Bodily Things, and so denied.
It flows from bodies, which it beautifies,
And bodies block its way:
I hope the day’s not far away
When it, along with all these bodies, dies.

And frankly it’s a sorry tale.
What’s set against the Nothingness,
The Something, World’s clumsiness,
Despite everything I’ve tried,
Won’t become a nothing: though I’d
Storms, quakes, and fires on every hand,
It deigned to stay as sea and land!
And those Men and creatures, all the damned,
It’s no use my owning any of that crew:
How many I’ve already done with too!
Yet new fresh blood is always going round.
So it goes on, men make me furious!
With water, earth and air, of course,
A thousand buds unfurl
In wet and dry, warm and cold!
And if I hadn’t kept back fire of old,
I’d have nothing left at all.

from: "Faust" Part I, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Quote of the moment...

2009-01-07T14:02:00.000-08:00

"Read, every day, something no one else is reading.

Think, every day, something no one else is thinking.

Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do.

It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity. "

Christopher Morley

A great woman...and a beautifull poem

2009-01-07T13:50:00.000-08:00

A Dream Lies Dead by Dorothy Parker

A dream lies dead here. May you softly go

Before this place, and turn away your eyes,

Nor seek to know the look of that which dies

Importuning Life for life. Walk not in woe,

But, for a little, let your step be slow.

And, of your mercy, be not sweetly wise

With words of hope and Spring and tenderer skies.

A dream lies dead; and this all mourners know:

Whenever one drifted petal leaves the tree-

Though white of bloom as it had been before

And proudly waitful of fecundity-

One little loveliness can be no more;

And so must Beauty bow her imperfect head

Because a dream has joined the wistful dead!

I'm not a violent person but...

2009-01-06T14:00:00.000-08:00

Quote of the moment...

2009-01-06T13:53:00.000-08:00

"In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that he did not also limit his stupidity. "

Konrad Adenauer

C'est la vie...

2009-01-05T10:11:00.001-08:00

Quote of the moment...

2009-01-05T10:05:00.000-08:00

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore.

Dream.

Discover.

For those who know me...or want to get to know me

2008-12-20T03:09:00.000-08:00

Quote of the moment...

2008-12-20T03:05:00.000-08:00

A good friend will bail you out of jail and lecture you about how you messed up. A great friend will be sitting right next to you laughing about it saying: "Damn, we really screwed up!"

Just a moment...

2008-12-19T13:50:00.000-08:00

Quote of the moment...

2008-12-19T13:46:00.000-08:00

Every day is my best day; this is my life. I'm not going to have this moment again.

Bernie Siegel