Grace, Grace, Free Grace

Goals, gleaned from an evening with a documentary about Howie Zinn (what a name: "You Can't be Neutral on a Moving Train") and a manuscript about dialogic bi-ethnic history instruction in Israel:


1) "the ability and willingness 'to allow the other to exist autonomously from myself'" 


2) "the willingness and ability to revise and change initial perspectives by taking previous utterances of the other into account" 


In other news: Why is a table called a table? I mean a chart. I know why a dining table is called a table - it has four legs, of course. But who can eat from a chart?


Now, for a phone call to the boyfriend person.

Apparently a Depiction

of Depersonalization Disorder, today I Dedicate "The Scream" to Adam Duritz.

Haiku-ing Me Way to Sleeeep...

had to take a walk
to remember your name is
not grenade or cross

-

my hands look to me
like children asking for what?
a hawk in flight - CAW!

-

winter: walks about
a glass-bottom boat in a
sea of named, known ghosts

The Garden of Words & the Weeds that Threaten...

"For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." James 3: 7-8

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who love it will eat its fruit." Proverbs 18:21

"Getting treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor for those who seek death." Proverbs 21:6

"Whoever guards his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles." Proverbs 21:23

"By patience a ruler is persuaded. A soft tongue breaks the bone." Proverbs 25:15

"Where there is much talk there will be no end to sin, but he who keeps his mouth shut does wisely." Proverbs 10:19

"The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth." Proverbs 10:20

"The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off." Proverbs 10:31

"He who has a poor opinion of his neighbor has no sense, but a wise man keeps quiet." Proverbs 11:12

"There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals." Proverbs 12:18

"Truth's lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only momentary." Proverbs 12:19

"The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of fools gush out folly." Proverbs 15:2

"A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but deceit in it crushes the spirit." Proverbs 15:4

"An evildoer heeds wicked lips. A liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue." Proverbs 17:4

"One who has a perverse heart doesn't find prosperity, and one who has a deceitful tongue falls into trouble." Proverbs 17:20

"Even the foolish man, when he keeps quiet, is taken to be wise: when his lips are shut he is credited with good sense." Proverbs 17:28

"The north wind brings forth rain: so a backbiting tongue brings an angry face." Proverbs 25:23

"A lying tongue hates those it hurts; and a flattering mouth works ruin." Proverbs 26:28

"One who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than one who flatters with the tongue." Proverbs 28:23

"Have you seen a man who is quick with his tongue? There is more hope for a foolish man than for him." Proverbs 29:20

"The tongue like a sharp knife... Kills without drawing blood." Buddha quotes

"There is no evidence that the tongue is connected to the brain." Frank Tyger

"Whatever is in the heart will come up to the tongue." Persian Proverb

"One reason a dog is such a lovable creature is his tail wags instead of his tongue"

"The best time for you to hold your tongue is the time you feel you must say something or bust" Josh Billings

"Before the tongue can speak, it must have lost the power to wound." Peace Pilgrim

"Better slip with foot than tongue" Benjamin Franklin

"At table keep a short hand; in company keep a short tongue." Turkish Proverb

"I prefer tongue-tied knowledge to ignorant loquacity." Marcus Tullius Cicero

"A knife-wound heals, but a tongue wound festers."Turkish Proverb

"A distinguished diplomat could hold his tongue in ten languages."

My Onscreen Debut as Cleopatra, Carver of the Pumpkins

Writes and Wrongs

The work of a writer is sweeping, mopping, dusting under trinkets, working with windex. Why did Pablo Neruda write that he never made a broom? He made into a broom himself.

A delightful interview with Philip Roth. How old he is. 77. His new book Nemesis, about polio sweeping the schoolyards. The bio-terrorism of the 30's (?), working the magic of fear into every mind. What might mass media have done with polio? There is no great film centered on the polio plot is there? Who might...

Chewing on an idea for a book... maybe I will notecard this spring and summer... it's building a beloved little nest in my brain.

The Devil Made Me Do It!!!

My Gut Instinct has had several opportunities to say I Told You So's to my Id this week... Starting with

1) The choice to go to Little Miss Whisky's in the first place. Then the decision drinking two Awesomeness(es) would be more betterer than drinking... one. The surPRIZE was that less Awesomeness is more awesome. They also cost $10 a mug. (Yeek!) Which should imply something specific about a slushy. "Oh, you're that kind of slushy." That's the last time I'll be fooled by a slushy.

2) The choice to go to Zumba on Monday after Intermediate Ballet was cancelled. I knew communication had not been going well between my scapulas and my vertebrae and my abdominals and pectorals, and that they would probably end up not speaking by the end of the class (Ballet is a little more calm and controlled, and I argue that the system might have been able to handle that). But Zumba just sounded like such a party! (That is how they market Zumba - like a workout that feels more like a fiesta than like a treadmill. And it does. Unless it temporarily ruins a lot of relationships in the process. And so it did.) And then

3) I thought it would be (though I KNEW somehow it wouldn't be) smart to take a pain pill on a stomach full of warm blackberries and raspberry juice, which in fact had a similar effect as the double Awesomeness did after two beers. I didn't mention the two beers? Yes, a foolish night from beginning to end. Except the point at which I suggested my cab driver pick up a man flagging us down, a man who ended up insisting on covering both our fares because it's so shamefully hard for a black dude to catch a cab in DC at night and he was a black dude and it was 330am on Halloween weekend. That was the one good choice of the night. The kindness of strangers to strangers is a holy thing.

4) I know there is a multitude of other ridiculous things I've done this week, KNOWING that I was being ridiculous, but they are eluding me. On purpose no doubt. Like naughty little children, hiding under their beds as mommy paces the hallway smacking a wooden spoon on the palm of her hand, an audience of mommy's friends waiting for their shame to be made public.  I don't blame them. At least the dumb things are smart. I give them that.

I'm going to listen to my smart voice now and go to bed.

Just kidding.

A TED Video That Made Me Want to Live. Watch it if You Want to Want to Live.

more borrowed wisdom

“Since my youth, I think that I have never lost the intuition that community life could be a sign that God is love, and love alone. Gradually the conviction took shape in me that it was essential to create a community with men determined to give their whole life and who would always try to understand one another and be reconciled, a community where kindness of heart and simplicity would be at the centre of everything.”

Brother Roger: “God is love alone”

Simplicity

The earth produces all that is needed:
Food and Fabrics,
Water and Wood,
Bricks and Clay,
Sunshine and Rain.

The Maker brings these to us as a gift each day
–knowing that we are happiest
when we live close to the soil
aware of our source
consciously embracing all things with thanks.

The secret is that we are fabulously wealthy
Living like Kings and Queens
In a garden of leisure and luxury.
What we have is enoughŠ and more

If we lack anything, it is the simple pleasure
To enjoy what we already possess
–chasing after joyless schemes and business
denying our inheritance
and wanting what can only make us tired, choked and desperate.

Today, let us find goodness
In the small things
Tasting the abundance you have lavished on us
With eager open hands
Giving and receiving
Trusting and Completing
the circle that began
With the gift of life

http://www.sevensf.org/2006/12/04/simplicity/

Rule # 32 for Survival in Zombieland

Appreciate the Little Things:

A shared pomegranate, a pretty darn sexy fruit
The song After the Storm by Mumford & Sons
Phone tag with Deanna Snyder
Friends making friends with friends back in Kansas
Dark Chocolate flavored tofu
Hanging out with Justin on Skype
Phoebe in Wonderland, how wonderful
Inanimate objects like lamp and vase and stool
A poem or two by Pablo Neruda, The Hands of Day
Zucchini
Rapid Release Tylenol - and the nice colors it is