Head-dibs

 Not sure if I’ve ever posted what a completed month looks like from my journal, but here is March. Each day records the theme on which I try to meditate on each day. Most days I got to write a journal entry but many just record the quote on which I dwelt. I hate that I’ve been too busy to write as before. My heart hurt what is missed. And here is April, ready to go  May April bring better days

 Happy "Breakfast Club" Day! Things to do today: 1) ponder the error of your ways; 2) take a moment to dance a little; 3) have a snack; 4) enjoy a makeover (if applicable); 5) be specific when describing the ruckus. 6) Don’t forget about me

There's this restaurant up the road sitting between a nursery (enter through the rear parking lot) and a gas station. From the parking lot, there's nothing particularly attractive about the place, and seeing it connected to the gas station does nothing to elevate the confidence, assuming one has any particular experience with gas station eateries. Many such places are fast food, but this particularly greasy spoon has a few choice words on the sign that might draw attention, one of which is "catering." The other set of words is "kids eat free, Wednesdays." One other feature might make one curious enough to stop in: the number of cars in the parking lot who are not patrons of the gas station next door. I'm talking about Scottie's Cafe and Grill .  Looking the menu, one understands right away why this place is so popular. They have everything.  Feel like a hamburger? Try the Monster Burger Feel like Italian? Get the Lasangia or the Pizza Feeling Greek? ...

During the long commute to and from work, I've started listening to podcasts. Yes, that's right. I've joined the human race as it is nowadays, technologically speaking. While I'm not much of a talk radio person and enjoy turning the music up to "11", I've come to appreciate a handful of podcasters. One such personality is Ryan Holiday and his podcast "The Daily Stoic." What grabbed me by the proverbial lapels was his breathless and energetic interview with actor Matthew McConaughey. I already own a few of Mr. Holiday's books and have seen references to his podcasts, but for some reason, I felt like listening. Also, passing Mr. McConaughey's book "Green Lights" in the store a few weeks ago, I was intrigued so I flipped through it and now it has a temporary home in my Amazon wish list.  Fast forward a few podcasts to today, where I fell to listening to Ryan interview author Steven Pressfield. As I listened to these two authors tal...

 May the luck o’the Irish be with you!

 

 Some days all you can do is stand there while the world goes . . . 

 

 

 

 “Stars” by  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) THE NIGHT is come, but not too soon;  And sinking silently,  All silently, the little moon  Drops down behind the sky.  There is no light in earth or heaven  But the cold light of stars;  And the first watch of night is given  To the red planet Mars.  Is it the tender star of love?  The star of love and dreams?  Oh no! from that blue tent above  A hero’s armor gleams.  And earnest thoughts within me rise,  When I behold afar,  Suspended in the evening skies,  The shield of that red star.  O star of strength! I see thee stand  And smile upon my pain;  Thou beckonest with thy mailed hand,  And I am strong again.  Within my breast there is no light  But the cold light of stars;  I give the first watch of the night  To the red planet Mars.  The star of the unconquered will,  He rises in my breast,  Ser...

“Passing stranger! you do not know how longingly I look upon you,  You must be he I was seeking,  or she I was  seeking, (it comes to me as of a dream,)  I have somewhere surely lived a life of joy with you,  All is recall’d as we flit by each other, fluid,  affectionate, chaste, matured,  You grew up with me, were a boy with me or a  girl with me,  I ate with you and slept with you, your body  has become not yours only nor left my  body mine only,  You give me the pleasure of your eyes, face,  flesh, as we pass, you take of my beard,  breast, hands, in return,  I am not to speak to you, I am to think of you  when I sit alone or wake at night alone,  I am to wait,  I do not doubt I am to meet you again,  I am to see to it that I do not lose you.” (From “Leaves of Grass” in The Harvard Classics)

 

  “The pleasure of loving without daring to tell it, has its pains, but it has its joys also. What transport do we not feel in moulding all our actions in view of pleasing the person whom we infinitely esteem! We study each day to find the means of revealing ourselves, and thus employ as much time as if we were holding converse with the one whom we love. The eyes kindle and grow dim at the same moment, and although we do not see plainly that the one who causes this disorder takes heed of it, we still have the satisfaction of feeling all these emotions for a person who deserves them so well. We would gladly have a hundred tongues to make it known; for as we cannot make use of words, we are obliged to confine ourselves to the eloquence of action.” — Blaise Pascal (1623–1662).  Minor Works.  Vol. 48, pp. 411-421 of The Harvard Classics

Eat food off of other peoples plates. It’s their calories, so they don’t count.