From the drafts folder
7 years ago
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
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.
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.
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”
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Simplicity
The earth produces all that is needed:
Food and Fabrics,
Water and Wood,
Bricks and Clay,
Sunshine and Rain.
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.
–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
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.
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
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
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
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