“When I was a child I wish I’d known the point was to become more and more genuinely my own imperfect, precious unique self.”

-Elizabeth Lesser

"Somehow I can't believe there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secret of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C's. They are Curiosity, Confidence, Courage, and Constancy and the greatest of these is Confidence. When you believe a thing, believe it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably."
-Walt Disney

Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute.
-G.B. Stern

beat the five o'clock rush, leave work at noon!

notable 'quote'able

"There are people who think that everything one does with a serious face is sensible."
- Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

talk is cheap because supply exceeds demand.

everyone has a photographic memory, some just don't have film.

i'll post the wedding pics soon ;)

words from around the world

taken from cnn

If you walked through London yesterday, you would have been surrounded by screams of joy and laughter and songs of jubilation because of the surprise win of the Olympic bid. This evening as you walk through London there is an eerie silence; the only noise that can be heard is the putter of footsteps on the sidewalk as hundreds of commuters try to make their way home. Somewhere along the way the screams remain, but this time they are screams of pain; screams of sorrow, screams of anger and screams of anguish for those who have lost their lives and those who were injured when all they wanted to do was to get to work this morning.
Stella M; London, United Kingdom

We utterly condemn those atrocities. We condemn those responsible. Islam is a peaceful religion and it teaches peace. Those who are responsible must be brought to justice, no matter what religion or what country they belong to. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those who have suffered in this atrocity. We the Scottish Muslims stand United and our prayers are with the families and friends of those who have been killed and all those injured in this atrocity. We appeal to the authorities that those who are responsible must be brought to justice.
Tahir Mohammed; Glasgow, Scotland

words of wisdom or wit

so i am supposed to submit a 'contributor's quote' to silhouette since they're publishing two of my poems in the fall (famous, personal, or otherwise). any ideas? i post them on the blog occasionally, so i might page back through a pick a favorite. here's what i've come up with so far:

"I would explain, but then you would understand my explanation, not what I said." - James Richardson
"Don’t cross this field unless you can do it in 9.9 seconds. The bull can do it in 10."- Anonymous, 1985
"If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster."- Isaac Asimov, author of 289 books, 1984
"My vigor, vitality and cheek repel me. I am the kind of woman I would run from."- Nancy, Lady Astor, 1955
"I don’t believe in dying. It’s been done. I’m working on a new exit. Besides, I can’t die now—I’m booked."- George Burns, 1987
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."- Herm Albright
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."- Eleanor Roosevelt
"Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity."- Gilda Radner
"Of all the ways to avoid living, perfect discipline is the most admired."-James Richardson
"To be fair, English is full of booby traps for the unwary foreigner. Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled." - Billy Bryson in The Mother Tongue
"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if i have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." -Buddha
"Do the thing you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt

vote on one from the list or post one of your own :)

from the movie i saw lastnight

"No, but I do like to think about the life of wine, how it's a living thing. I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing, how the sun was shining that summer or if it rained... what the weather was like. I think about all those people who tended and picked the grapes, and if it's an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I love how wine continues to evolve, how every time I open a bottle its going to taste different than if I had opened it on any other day. Because a bottle of wine is actually alive - it's constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks - like your '61 - and begins its steady, inevitable decline..."

the early bird gets the worm...but the second mouse gets the cheese.

name the movie?

We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life? Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse." That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?

profound coffee cup?

"1.6 million years ago a youth died in Africa. His body was swept into a swamp. In 1984 his bones were painstakingly excavated to reveal a species on the brink of becoming human. All people on earth have one thing in common. We share a single African ancestor; the same as this young boy."
--Dr. Louise Leakey, Paleontologist

the above is from my coffee cup from starbuck's. i'm conflicted actually, because i really like the quote...but it's off of a coffee cup! on the other hand, it's just as stupid to NOT like it because it's commericalized as it is to like it just because everyone else does.
anyway, to read more of this caffeinated wisdom, check out www.starbucks.com/wayiseeit.

i love my dictionary

"There are times when I think that the ideal library is composed solely of reference books. They are like understanding friends- always ready to meet your mood, always ready to change the subject when you have had enough of this or that."
- J. Donald Adams

flaws

"Do not be too quick to pull out your flaws. They endure dry seasons, thrive uncared for. They have deeper roots than you. They hold the slope in place."
-James Richardson

noteable quoteable

To be fair, English is full of booby traps for the unwary foreigner. Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled.

- Billy Bryson in The Mother Tongue

As easy as 3.1415926535897932384626433

Age is a very high price to pay for maturity.

worth repeating

me: how are you?
virginian: well i'm as fine as frog hair split three ways.
me: that's pretty fine.

noteable quoteable

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."

- Herm Albright