Gotta read this one slowly

Quotes from The Autograph Man, by Zadie Smith

"Instead of his life being shaped like a funnel, though which things passed and maybe refined themselves, it was more like--what do you call those things? Stress balls? Made all out elastic bands and each day you add another elastic band? Tighter. Bigger. More involved. That's how it was for him. And that's how he imagined the life of a Catholic, anyway." (p 53-54)

"Sometime Alex thought that if you got all the part-time mature students in the world and laid them head to tow around the line of the equator strapped down in some way they couldn't move, that would be a good thing. Ditto anyone in night class." (p 74)

That second one is best in context, but still might be good if you read it like this.
BTW, this is the woman who wrote The White Teeth.

quote

Changing because you were caught doesn't make you honest.
Changing because you were forced to confess and now live under watchful eyes doesn't make you fixed.
Change because you can't live being who you are
And change alone.


Page 188
Everything is its own reward
Paul Madonna

Beautiful drawings and stories.

Quote: I do want it all, to be right

While in science many problems are difficult because they are complex, in life many problems are difficult because they are simple, but we are human and we want everything.

Salon.com article

Life is complex
So is nature. I sit and wait
for serenity.

ee cummings - poets advice to students

A poet is somebody who feels, and who expresses his feeling through words.

This may sound easy. It isn't.

A lot of people think or believe or know they feel - but that's thinking or believing or knowing; not feeling. And poetry is feeling - not knowing or believing or thinking.

Almost anybody can learn to think or believe or know, but not a single human being can be taught to feel. Why? Because whenever you think or you believe or you know, you're a lot of other people: but the moment you feel, you're nobody-but-yourself.
To be nobody-but-yourself - in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.

As for expressing nobody-but-yourself in words, that means working just a little harder than anybody who isn't a poet can possibly imagine. Why? Because nothing is quite as easy as using words like somebody else. We all of us do exactly this nearly all of the time- and whenever we do it, we're not poets.

If, at the end of your first ten or fifteen years of fighting and working and feeling, you find you've written one line of one poem, you'll be very lucky indeed.

And so my advice to all young people who wish to become poets is: do something easy, like learning how to blow up the world-unless you're not only willing, but glad, to feel and work and fight till you die.

Does this sound dismal? It isn't.

It's the most wonderful life on earth.

Or so I feel.

Quote with no bra

From my calendar:

Why not go out on a limb?
Isn't that where the fruit is?

Attributed to Frank Scully, whoever that is.

Updating bra counter.

Quote

No idea where it's attributed to. Packing up diaries and found this.

If you try to look
but you don't touch
then you won't touch
but you'll never feel
and if you don't feel
you'll never cry
and if you don't cry
then you'll never feel

Quote from my calendar

Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

George Bernard Shaw

Quote from my calendar

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.

Emily Dickenson

busy weekend and day, so quote

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.
Marcel Proust

Quote from my calendar

Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.
Wayne Dyer

A quote I needed to read

...The most valuable thing I can think of is to be grateful for suffering. That is a sublime feeling, and completely inexplicable and illogical, but no one doesn't suffer. so the degree to which you can be aware of your own humanity is the degree to which you can accept, with open eyes, your suffering. To be grateful for your suffering is to be grateful for your humanity, because what else are you going to do -- say "no thanks"? It's there. "Smile and accept," said Mother Teresa. And she was talking to people who had it rough.

Hmmm... Guess who said this?
Stephen Colbert. Quoted in Rolling Stone article.

Of course, shared this with a friend, and his reply:
Honestly, the only benefit i derive from suffering is the opportunity to hone my whining.

Quotes from The Witch of Portobello

I marked off a bunch when I was reading it, and not sure where else to put them. So here you go.

Pity those who seek for shepherds, instead of longing for freedom! An encounter with the superior energy is open to anyone but remains far from those who shift responsibility onto others. Our time on this earth is sacred, and we should celebrate every moment. (11)

What is a teacher? I'll tell you: it isn't someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows. (78)

Let go of the idea that the path will lead you to your goal. The truth is that with each step we take, we arrive. (131)

Believe...[...] simply believe that you can.

Reprogram yourself every minute of each day with thoughts that make you grow. When you're feeling irritated or confused, try to laugh at yourself. Laugh out loud at this woman tormented by doubts and anxieties, convinced that her problems are the most important thing in the world. (150)

You are who you believe yourself to be. (152)

The true teacher gives the disciple the courage to throw his or her world off balance, even though the disciple is afraid of things already encountered, and more afraid still of what might be around the next corner. (213)

Quote for the day

Turned my calendar and there was this quote:

Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky. They are people who say, "This is my community and it's my responsibility to make it better." Tom McCall

Have a great day.

Quote for the Day

Taken from Glamourpuss' site:

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.

Mark Twain.

Quote from my calendar

Friends are helpful not only because they will listen to us, but because they will laugh at us; Through them we learn a little objectivity, a little modesty, a little courtesy; We learn the rules of life and become better players of the game.

Will Durant

It's on the University of New Hampshire Institute for Disability calendar. This particular page is done by the Seacoast Child Development Clinic.

I agree with it, but am a little scared by the last bit. Because the rules of life are not always good rules, and playing the game better is a good thing, but it would be nice if there were no game. But, again, that's not real life.

Received via email - Thought for the day

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

I like this very much

Dalai Lama quote

From an editorial published today.

A scientist from Chile once told me that it is inappropriate for a scientist to be attached to his particular field of study, because that would undermine his objectivity. I am a Buddhist practitioner, but if I mix up my devotion for Buddhism with an attachment to it, my mind will be biased toward it. A biased mind never sees the complete picture, and any action that results will not be in tune with reality. If religious practitioners can heed this scientist's advice and refrain from being attached to their own faith traditions, it could prevent the growth of fundamentalism. It also could enable such followers to genuinely respect faith traditions other than their own. [...]

In the end, whether one is a believer or a nonbeliever, what matters is that one be a good, kind and warmhearted person. A deep sense of caring for others, based on a profound sense of interconnection, is the essence of the teachings of all great religions of the world. [...]

Large human movements spring from individual human initiatives. If you feel that you cannot have much of an effect, the next person may also become discouraged, and a great opportunity will have been lost. On the other hand, each of us can inspire others simply by working to develop our own altruistic motivations -- and engaging the world with a compassion-tempered heart and mind.

Speaking of Zombies

Theres a great interview on WFMU of 80 year old drummer Sam Ulano. You can listen in on the archives if you want. From WFMU's site:

Legendary percussionist Sam Ulano will be Irwin's guest TODAY from noon until 3 PM. Known as "Mr. Rhythm," Ulano has played and recorded with the top names in traditional jazz, and in the 1950s made TV appearances on The Tonight Show with Steve Allen and the Ernie Kovacs Show. In the 40s and 50s, he recorded a series called "Drum's Fairy Tales," in which he played wild percussion solos while simultaneously reciting hepcat Mother Goose. Oh, and he once gigged with Public Image Ltd. Hear about all of it this week on Irwin's program, when Sam stops by with recordings and recollections from a lifetime behind the drum kit.

Checked out Sam Ulano's website - www.samulanodrums.com.

FROM HIS SITE
I once heard someone say that a person without music in their life is a walking zombie. I’m not certain that all of us need music, but I feel music can do so much for us. It makes us want to dance and it makes us happy and makes us laugh and sometimes makes us sad. I know one thing—MUSIC REACHES INTO OUR HEARTS AND MINDS. It touches all of our emotions and then brings about many different effects in our lives.

I Can Never Be

The refrain from a song by Johnny Clegg and Savuka has been going through my head for over a week.

I can never be what you want
I can never be what you want me to be
I have sailed this impossible ocean
I have sailed this crazy sea
I can never be what you want
whatever you want me to be

My husband wondered this aloud last week - whether he could ever really be what I want him to be. It is a very good question. One deep down I may know the answer to, but am not ready yet to embrace. Though I should not think that way, since I will be going back next Thursday night. Both of us are anxious about it. He because he's afraid I'll leave again. Me because I'm afraid I won't leave again if it just won't work. Arg! [image of a head circling around on a body] Is it ever really possible to start anew, for real? I'm trying to fish and not cut bait. Or shit and not get off the pot. To wipe the slate clean. But man, it's tough. The past does not disappear. Oh, we'll see. I can't ponder this anymore right now.