Laws

It is smarter to borrow from nature than to reinvent the wheel.


Philip Emeagwali
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Hello Val
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It's Autumn and the leaves will soon be changing color. I happened to remark about that to someone today who told me that the leaves around here are still fecund and green. I needed that information because where I live there are no trees. I have to walk several blocks in order to see a tree.

One afternoon years ago I was speaking with a young actor who was seeking my advice as one who he thought was wiser. That was a moot point, but I assayed to give him some of my observations.

I told him that all art is indissolubly tied to nature. I said that an artist of any discipline must be knowledgeable about the laws of nature and know how to obey them. Even an actor. Or most especially an actor. He replied that he didn't understand.

We were sitting at the edge of a tree lined field. It was October. The trees were ablaze with colors and the ground was covered with leaves. I picked up one particularly beautiful leaf, with streaks of red, yellow and amber and with a touch of green at the base. I showed it to him. I said "In order to be an artist you have to be able to create something as beautiful as this leaf, Nature does it by the gezillions every year and then just throws them away."

There are an infinite number of voices in nature for the artist to hear. The sights and sounds of the forests and meadows, the flight of a bird, the distant mountain peak, the energy of the waves as the tide comes in, the flutter of a moth, the path of the lightening bolt, the song of the cricket, the taste of an apple, the feel of the snow.

Those few examples are just the merest number of gifts nature has to fuel an artist's imagination whatever medium he works in. The older I get and the more I work the more I realize the riches of nature for me and everyone. Some of them have even prompted this journal entry..

Go ahead, reinvent the wheel if you want to. I will take the long walk to the tree.

D. Bate - Vagabond Journeys No. 1,893
Never Give Up
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Stuck

People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.


James Baldwin
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Hello Val
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When I was a senior in high school I went on a field trip to Washington, D.C. Part of the trip was a visit with one of the Supreme Court Justices, Harold Burton. In his office Judge Burton showed us the files of books on his shelf. They were records of all the disputations, opinions and decisions of the Supreme Court dating back to its very first session. There were pieces of paper jutting out of the tops of many of the books and he explained that every time a former case was entered into the proceedings of the Court he would place a marker in that case for reminders.

Consider that man's library, the libraries of the other 8 judges, the libraries of all the various state and municipal courts throughout the country, the records of the US Senate and House of Representatives, state and local governments, and we find a vast and complex history of the legal proceedings of our land.

And the Unites States is just a mere 236 years old. Imagine what exists in other countries with a conscientious legal tradition, Great Britain for example, which could go back for thousands of years. It seems as though world history is written in laws and jurisprudence, and that a judge could not make a righteous decision without consulting the legal minds that went before him all the way back to the beginning, Hammurabi.

The history of the world is not all written in laws of course, but it is one way we can get trapped into derivative thinking. There are also the unwritten laws: custom, tradition, legend, lore. The human race loves its tractions, religious and secular. Some of those traditions come from ancient legends and superstitions, handed down without much question from generation to generation. But many of them still have a powerful influence on our behavior.

Some people are obsessed with keeping records even when there is no need. Some live their lives by the zodiac or other heavenly influences. Some do what their fathers and grandfathers and great grandfathers did, carrying on a family tradition. Some people carry hereditary beliefs with them and others believe there is a genetic streak in a family line that produces their behavior.

I can see how easy it is to move unnoticeably from the dry, sturdy, dependable world of legal tomes to the colorful, mysterious, uncertain world of superstition, completely passing the world of natural law on both sides.

Oh how easy it is to get trapped ! !

DB _Vagabond Journeys No. 1892
Never give up.

Albert's Secret Weapon

Imagination is more important than knowledge.


Albert Einstein
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Hello Diane
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I spend much tie thumping the drum and tooting the horn for imagination on this journal, as perhaps you've noticed. Imagination is a great tool for almost anybody, provided it's used in a productive and positive manner. So why is imagination better than knowledge? They both have similar mental contents and perform similar functions. You know a lot of things. Some of those things you know are useful, some are useless and some are things you probably wish you didn't know. Imagination gives us ideas. Some of those ideas are useful, some are useless and some are down right awful. So what's the difference? Simple, knowledge is limited and imagination is unlimited.

You have knowledge up to a point. Beyond that point is not-knowing, ignorance, Not a bad ignorance, not stupidity, just beyond knowledge. But nothingg is beyond imagination.

For a creative person imagination gives ideas and aso gives suggestions and instructions as to what to do with those ideas. Imagination doesn't just throw out a blueprint and then head for the bar. It keeps on working.

I sometimes think of ingratiation as if it was an expert standing by, patiently waiting and keeping an professional eye on what I'm doing, and when I get stuck I can simply ask "What should I do now?" and the expert steps up with a good sound suggestion or two.

Here is one of my most memorable moments of imagination working. We were in rehearsal for "My Three Angels" at the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota, Florida. It was late into the rehears period. The play had been completely staged, but the ending of the second act wasn't working. The director knew it and the three actors knew it but we didn't know what to do about it.

The three of were sitting around a bare table on the stage. The director and stage manager were sitting to the side. I stared at that table top and silently said "I know there is an answer and imagination is going to give it to us. It's going to grow right out of table top. In a moment an idea occurred, it was discussed, we performed it, the director made a few changes and we had the finale of the second act which was a great delight for us and for the audience.

As the years go by creative people, artists, learn to depend on imagination more than knowledge. It's ideas sometimes seem to come from some cosmic mind somewhere and you end up doing something you would never have thought of on your own.

The door of imagination is open to all. Enter, make yourself at home and use it well.

DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.

monster

This new google monsgter refuses to publish my blog.  Maybe you'll get it later.

Keep Walking

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.


Thomas Paine
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Helllo Val
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Tuesday I went for a long walk, to and fro. I had some errands and some shopping to do. On the way back I was pulling a shopping cart full of groceries and other sundries. (You are realy fascinated with this essay, aren't you?)

My feet and my legs cooperated with me the whole way. The last step on the journey was hauling the shopping cart up the stairs. When I got here I was exhausted. (Now you're really intrigued, admit it. Wait, it gets better.)

A month or so ago I couldn't walk at all except on crutches. That made shopping a very tricky business. If I went a short distance I could take the shopping cart and one crutch. If I had to go a greater distance it was both crutches and my back pack. (I hope you're taking notes, or saving this on your little iPad, or whatever fiendish gadget you use.)

For several years my peregrination involved a cane and when I found I couldn't depend upon the cane is when I went to the crutches. (Got that?)

Even before the crutches came into my life some well meaning but misinformed friends set to work to fix me, by moving me into an old folks, assisted living, nursing home and trying to arrange for a new hip. One of them assured me I would soon be bed ridden. (Here's the wind up. Get ready for the pitch.)

I choose to live my life by the three words that appear at the bottom of this epic. (Don't scroll down yet. I'm not finished.) I decided that the answer to this particular conflict was to walk. True, someone was driving me around for a while until that person became someone I didn't want to know. But since then I've been basically on my own two feet, literally. (Are you with me?)

Then one day, about a month or so ago, I took the crutches but didn't use them. I carried them with me on a long walk, but never used them. The next day that I went out, I went without the crutches. It felt strange walking out without anything in my hand to lean on. No cane, no crutches. I was leaning on spirit.

(Here's the pitch.) My crutches are now in the corner. If I had a fire place they would be hanging above it, sort of like my own version of a stuffed moose head. I still have trouble walking but every time I take to the outside it gets easier. And that's how it is. We have more ability to face up to and achieve a triumph over the conflicts in our lives than we think we do. Whatever it is, the solution is already there, the answer is already there, the idea is already there, they simply have to be discovered. Don't fall prey to the temptation to believe that someone else can solve your problems, keep walking and do what it says at the bottom of this page.


DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
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Sorry Folks

We can send a man to the moon, but.....

Due to day long struggle with Facebook and Google there will be no Vagabond Journey entry today.  I never got to read anything or write anything.  I don't know what to call the sly but stupid tricks Facebook was playing but I managed to retrieve most of it.  On the other hadn the best word to describwe thisnew Google system of writing and sending blogs can best be described as IGNORANT.  It's slow, cumbersome and difficult to read (white letters on a pink background do not work).  It won't accept my feedback, it won't allow me to return to the former system, which worked fine, and when I tried to find an older blog to use instead I had to keep starting over each time.  Too difficult.  No one should have to be put through thei torment.  I don't care if these (engineers, technicians, designers) creeps have to justify their jobs IF IT WORKS DON'T FIX IT.

How To Do It

Ritual matks the waning of belief and onset of confusion


Lao-Tzu
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Hello Stuart
*****************
As far as I know and believe, my sister never gambled a day in her life, never even bought a lottery ticket I'm sure. She went on a vacation to Las Vegas, Nevada to stay with two friends who were also not gamblers. One day they went on a tour of the casinos, purely as tourists. When she got back east she said that she didn't think the gamblers in those casinos were enjoying themselves because no one was smiling. I asked if she smiled while she was balancing her check book. She said she didn't, and I said it was because she was concentrating on numbers, which is exactly what the gamblers were doing. They smile when they win but the rest of the time they are in deep concentration, particularly the poker players.

One morning I caught a group of children rehearsing a choreographed dance outside near Central Park. They were getting ready to join a festival and the teacher was putting them through the dance tightening things up. He kept saying "smile, smile." They were concentrating so hard on the dance no one was smiling. I've seen majorettes and baton twirlers in high school bands with the same stern look on their faces.

Our lives are filled with rituals. Cooking a meal, especially from a recipe, following the instructions to set up the back yard barbeque, turning on the computer and getting to your home page. All of these things require concentration. We may smile in satisfaction when the job is done but in the meantime "Don't disturb me."

We have rituals that help get along in life, at home, on the job. in school. But there are some rituals that have become dangerous. There are mental, social and religious rituals that we perform because we think we have to. They may have once had a meaning., but we have forgotten what that was. So we keep doing the ritual, taking the steps because it's habitual and because if we don't something will go wrong. We keep thinking in the old way without daring to challenge our thoughts. We perform all the social graces that we think are necessary even when they aren't. We go through the rituals in church without ever investigating or remembering what they are supposed to represent. We go through the rituals without a smile, and if we don't go through them we fear the consequences. . The rituals have now become superstitions. And fear is more important than the original point of the rituals. We have stopped believing in the value of the pattern of behavior and allowed the irrational to take it's place.

I remember learning a job from someone who had done it for 35 years. When I suggested a way of streamlining a part of it she didn't want to hear about it. We did it her way because that's the way it was done. No other reason.

I realized that the job was a ritual for her and to ask her to change the way she did it would cause her to have to think about it, to challenge her ritual, and that would have caused a lot of confusion in her steady uncomplicated life. No wonder she was afraid to try anything new.

Moral: Don't give up your rituals, but challenge them every now and then and if they're not working for you, change and improve them.

DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never give up.

Mistakes

Don't fear mistakes.. There are none.




Miles Davis

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Hello Diane

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Miles Davis was a great jazz trumpeter who knew music thoroughly. The pianist Herbie Hancock told about one day when they were playing together and Hancock accidentally struck a chord that had nothing whatsoever to do with the music they were playing and Davis played notes around it that brought it into the range of the piece.



Strange things happen sometimes in the performing arts. I once saw a ballerina lose her slipper during a performance. She kept dancing while one of the male dancers scooped it up and presented it to her as if it was a cherished gift of love.



I was doing a play one evening and another actor said something that wasn't even remotely his line. I couldn't respond to him with my scripted line. I had to make one up on the spot that would answer him and still get back to the plot.



During the filming of Dr. Stragelove George C. Scott accidentally did a tumble while pointing at something. He came up with a smile still pointing. Kubrick left it in.



There are always stories of writers setting out to write a story about one thing and ending up with something else because a mistake loomed somewhere and changed the whole idea or inventors who discover something they weren't looking for when they made a mistake in the shop, or the artist who accidentally spills some paint on the canvas and the painting takes off is a completely new direction, or a chemist in his lab mixing the wrong ingredients and discovering a new solution.



Many discoveries can be made by accident. When you make what you think is a mistake instead of throwing it out, stop and consider it. You may have discovered something.



DB - The Vagabond

Never give up.

The Gathering

The worst sin - perhaps the only sin - passion can commit is to be joyless.




Dorothy Sayers

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Hello Linda

****************

Now it's Autumn. Most people cal it The Fall, I call it The Gathering. "Fall" is too much of a negative word, too close to Fail. Nothing should fall in Autumn except leaves, eventually, after they have blessed us with Nature's miraculous paint job.



But the Gathering is a more appropriate title for the last full season of the year. It's a time to reap and gather in the crops, all kinds of crops. The ideas that were formed last winter, were planted in The Spring and grew into realization are waiting to be gathered up and enjoyed.



Autumn is a time for joy and celebration, a time to look over the accomplishments of the year and rejoice. It's not a time to dread the approaching winter or to regret that more was not accomplished. No, the Autumn attitude should be a joyous one full of gratitude and thanksgiving.



The Gathering is a time for New England clam bakes on the beach, for shucking the ears of corn and boiling them up, a time for pumpkin pies and fresh cranberries.



Autumn is a time to go back to school. a time for concert, opera and ballet seasons to begin and baseball season to wind up and throw it's final World Series pitch.



Autumn is a time for families, for home and for preparation. Winter is my favorite season, but I love The Gathering.



DB - Vagabond Journeys

Never give up.

Get It Done

We may not achieve everything we strive for, but if we strive for everything, what we do achieve will be amazing.




Dana Bate

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Hello Ken

****************

Ah strife. Ah failure. A frustration. All of those things we all have to face in life. "If at first you don't succeed drop it, forget it, give up and run away." Right? Wrong. Success is failing nine times out of ten tries. Knowing that and remembering it in the sweat of struggle will poke a big hole in the seemingly solid armor of frustration and futility.



Edward Phelps wrote "The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything" The important thing is to not look back. You tried, you lost touch, you messed up, you failed, you learned a lesson, now get on with life. If it's truly important you will do it right eventually.



Everything starts with an idea, then follows imagination and a vision. A plan is designed and the proper tools are gathered whether they be physical, financial, emotional or intellectual.. Then a hypothesis is formed and the testing begins. At some point you or someone else will ask "Can you really do that>" You have a choice of answers, either "I don't know but I'm going to try." or "Yes."



So you begin and at first things go along great. But then uunexpected problems occur. Maybe you have to rethink your design, or maybe you have to keep going assured that it's the best plan. Thumb your nose at failure and make the adjustments you have to make. Then proceed. As you get close to your goal the going gets very rough. It's painful. It's quitting time? No. Remember Roger Bannister who broke the 4 minute mile barrier. He said "The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win."



So you win and you have the right to claim the joy of accomplishment. You carry the blazing torch of achievement. But this one happy fact I can tell you that I learned from my unpredictable vagabond life. No matter how much you do there is always more to be done.



Dana Bate - Vagabond Journeys

Never Give Up

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Attention Must Be Paid

Ordinary lives of ordinary people can be made into high art.




Russell Banks

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Hello Lily

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It all began with Figaro. He was a character invented by the French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais (1732 - 1799). He wrote three plays on the subject of Figaro who was essentially a barber, a simple but clever man with wit and intelligence who eventually worked his way up to a position of power and influence. Beaumarchais' plays were originally produced prior to the French revolution in which he was involved and also in the American. revolution.



It was said that the French aristocracy would come and see the plays and laugh at the preposterous idea that a simple man, a commoner, should attain such power and be so capable of wielding it. Soon however the revolution came and the aristocrats had stopped laughing. Figaro was a prophetic character. Which makes one stop and pay attention..



It took some time before Beaumarchais' idea caught on. French and Italian opera was still being written about kings, queens, nobles and holy men until

Giacomo Puccini whose characters were ordinarily people with real stories. One of his most famous operas is Madama Butterfly about a Japanese girl who marries an American naval officer thinking he will return to her and the love affair will last forever.. When he finally does return, with his American wife, the poor girl kills herself. That opera is very popular in the US even though it doesn't paint a good picture of us. It makes one stop and pay attention.



One of the greatest American plays is "Death of a Salesman" written by Arthur Miller and first produced in 1949 on Broadway It starred Lee J. Cobb and Mildred Dunnock. Willy Loman is a traveling salesman, he, his wife and two sons are trying to make a go of it in an uncertain world and it's a desperate struggle. It is a prophetic ploy for sure since it is the recessions this country has suffered that has created many Willy Lomans. Vacillating between useless bravado and depressing failure he eventually kills himself just as the mortgage is paid off and they are"free and clear." Willy says through the play "attention must be paid."



Aristocrats may lead extraordinary lives, but it's the ordinary people who tell the true stories of life.



Dana Bate - The Vagabond

Never give up.

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Young Again

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.

Sophia Loren
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Hello Lily
*****************
Sophia Loren, one of the finest artists of the 20th Century, rarely makes appearances on TV interview programs. I suspect, like many actors, she has a private life that she cherishes and protects. But she did make one exception years ago and allowed herself to be interviewed by a well known evening TV personality who will mercifully remain nameless. He was apparently so stunned by her beauty, her charisma and her magnetism that he was basically tongue tied. She wasn't there to talk about a recent film but that's all the host seemed to think about.

I was thinking to myself that if I had Sophia Loren sitting across a table from me no doubt I would be dazzled by her beauty but I hope I would be able to scramble up enough courage to engage her in a conversation. The first question I think I would ask her is "When did you know you were an actor?"

Her quotation above points at and labels some of the most important sources that exist in any person's life. We are thinking creatures if we choose to be. The thoughts, ideas, dreams, visions that the human mind is capable of are rich ores to be mined and used. They re the stuff of life.

You don't have be an artist to use them, but along with them come your talents, whatever they may be, and the combination is revivifying. Putting imagination to work on any venture is likely to provide one with a sense of purpose and future, a carriage ride into agelessness.

It isn't necessary to describe yourself or what you do. One who is involved in many things without rushing around just being busy but who can calmly and creatively take up the challenges that occur or that one makes for oneself is living a vigorous and productive life that lends much joy to you and other people. When there is something going on that grabs your interest and keeps it, there will be no telling how young you are.

DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.
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Look Into My Eyes

Doubt whom you will, but never doubt yourself.

Christian Bovee
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Hello Sue
****************
There is no such thing as an absolute sceptic, or so I am told by first year philosophy students. They have sure arguments all lined up to prove it. I believe them. But I also think it is probably a sensible thing to be a sceptic in moderation. After all one doesn't want to believe everything one reads and hears. It goes beyond just determining if a thing is right or wrong. One should also determine the relative value of something, relative to its usefulness in its area of operation and also to its claims to value.

Moderate scepticism is healthy at most times. Mild scepticism may miss important flaws and extreme scepticism may lose sight of values, "throwing out the baby with the bath water" as the saying goes. Nevertheless, all thoughts, ideas, theories, facts, reports, beliefs, opinions and particularly politicians claims all deserve to come under the scrutiny of an honest doubting mind. But there is a place where being skeptical has to stop.

Her name was Lisa. She was 18, a high school senior. I went to her class to talk to the students about theatre and acting in particular. They were a lively and intelligent group. They asked the type of questions that got me thinking about my answers. One girl sitting at the end was full of questions about what it was like to live as an actor. I decided she was probably interested in a show business career and so I asked her that. She said she didn't know but she was thinking about it. Then she said she didn't think she was good enough. I asked her why she thought that and finally got her to say she was very unsure of herself in general.

I picked up my chair and moved over to right in front of her and sat. I took her hands and stared into her eyes. I wanted to look past the pretty girl with the sweet voice. I looked past the meadows and lagoons in her eyes, deep into her being, where I saw the fire of life.

I said very quietly and slowly: never.....doubt.....yourself............promise me.
She answered in a whisper "yes."

I picked up my chair and went back to the rest of the group. I never saw Lisa again. I hope it worked.

DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
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Take Your Time

Judge not your brother.
Walk a mile in his shoes.
You'll see he's doin' the best that he can do.
Like me and you.

Eric Bibb
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Hello Lily
****************
I confess that in my younger years I had little patience with older folks. I thought they were slow, ignorant, muddle headed and altogether a drain on society. I was a member of the never-trust-anyone-over-30 generation. By the time I was 31 I had realized the foolishness of that prejudice. I had simply ignored the fact that older people had lived longer than I and undoubtedly had lessons and life experiences I knew nothing about.

My education into the world of older folks began to grow as I worked with actors who were older and more experienced not only about acting but about life, love, success and happiness. When I heard about struggles, lost opportunities and lost loves I realized there were scars from wounds I never had and might not have if I was lucky and paid attention.

I'm grateful to say I didn't have to reach the age of 31 before I began to see the real gold in those who had lived twice as long or longer than I had. The old geezer sitting on a park bench feeding the pigeons, or walking haltingly down the street with a newspaper stuck under his arm, or the old lady on the bus with leggings tucked under her skirt, or being pushed in her wheelchair, may be the owners of amazing stories of adventure and survival.

I met such a woman one day. She had a story to tell. Her husband would push her around in her wheelchair every afternoon in good weather. I saw them frequently. One day I stopped to talk and found out that years ago she entered a contest for a new bread recipe. She won it, they gave her a chuck of money and named the bread after her. It can still be found on some supermarket shelves.

One day I was in a supermarket line and in front of me was a very old woman. When she reached the check out with her few purchases she fumbled in her purse for her money. The man behind me grumbled and told her to hurry up. I turned and said to him "She's an old lady, she's lived a long life and she has a right to dodder if she wants to." Then I said to her "You take your time sweetheart." She looked up at me with a big smile and said "Thank you sir."

Now that I have achieved senior citizenship (or, old manhood, if you must) there are those around me who think I'm a doddering old fool. I live alone, walk slowly, don't use dope or listen to rap. What good am I? But beware, if I'm at the check out and you tell me to hurry up you might get an earful you'll regret

DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.
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Flip The Dial

Fire can't be made with dead embers, nor can enthusiasm be stirred by spiritless men.

James Baldwin
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Hello Ernie
*******************
I've spent much time and effort scraping through embers trying to find a spark to light up the spirits, other people's and my own. It's so easy to shut down the fire and settle for the hum drum. "Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear yo not?" (Mark 8) Why do we maintain the habit of looking at the world as if it was mainly uninteresting? Why do we not look for the invisible things, and listen to hear what may be inbetween the sounds around us? Have we forgotten or do we take for granted that we have a mind filled to abundance with thoughts, ideas, dreams?

Remember the radio with two stations? You don't? I bet you have the feeling right now that I am about to remind you. I wrote about it a couple of times. It's a Cabbalist idea. Imagine there is a radio and it plays only two stations. One of them broadcasts only good news, and the other one only bad news. Now image that you turn the radio on and set it at the good news station. But as soon as you turn your back and walk away it automatically flips over to the bad news station. When you realize it you have to go back and readjust the dial, until the next time.

Now imagine that this radio is your mind and the way it works. Right? How many hours a day do you listen to the bad news, the fear, worry, anger, resentment, doubt, depression, despair? Dial flipping is seriously needed there.

Believe me I know how difficult it is to get that dial pointed in the right direction, especially since the bad news station has given you something to worry about or to be afraid of. You don't want to let go of it. You would almost rather chew your head off than hear some cheerful news. You are enjoying the misery. And that's why you need an impulse, a reminder, a kick. And that's where the vagabond comes in.

I have just about typed my finders to the bone stirring up the embers, trying to get people to stay tuned to the good news station and to remind them that the human spirit when armed with the everything of good thoughts and not the nothing of bad thoughts is a powerful force, and when focused on the ins and outs, the ups and downs and the backs and forths of life it can perform miracles.

Remember, the opposite of good isn't evil.
The opposite of good is good-and-evil.

Dana Bate - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up

Your Talents

Know your innate, natural talents and use them every day.

Lisa Jimenez
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Hello Sue
*****************
Look up. That bright light that smacks your cheek and makes it glow is your own private ray of sunshine, your special gift from the solar system. It invites you to reflect it back to the earth as only you can.

The tiny flower that grows in a small patch of earth gladly accepts its ray of sunshine and blossoms with color. It is not jealous of the rays its neighbor flower gets or the earth its neighbor is growing in or even the special drops of rain that nourish it.

One day I modeled for a painting class. During the break I walked around and looked at what the students were doing. Those paintings couldn't have been more different from each other. One was a close up of me, almost a portrait, while another had me very small as a single object in the landscape of the room.

Two of my own paintings are hanging in an exhibit right now. Walking around and observing all the works that are there, from very good to excellent, I marveled at how artists can take the same basic materials and with them come forth with such completely different expressions.

Listen to three singers sing the same song. The notes may be the same, the melody the same, but how different the interpretation and expression. Your innate, natural talent may not be about paint or tones, It may not have any connection with art at all. In fact it may be more difficult to describe than art or music. But it is surely there, just as surely as the sun will shine on you.

,I once counseled a high school senior who wasn't sure what he wanted to do with his life. I told him to do everything that came his way and when he found the thing that he enjoyed, that he looked forward to doing every day, to do that and it would lead him into the life he wants.

There is only one way I know of to discover one's talent and that is by living, by rolling up the sleeves and getting involved in anything one thinks one might like. An active mind always has answers.

DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never give up.

Man Alone

If you can mentally separate solitude from loneliness today, your time alone will seem alive with possibility.

Unknown
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Hello Arkene
****************
There is a big difference between aloneness and loneliness. I've lived alone now for almost 15 years. I often wish I had some companionship, particularly of the female persuasion. But since I am not vigorously pursuing it, or even passively pursuing it, I guess it's not that vital to me.

The fact is I keep excellent company with myself. I agree with almost everything I say. I don't bitch at myself for leaving my dirty socks on the floor. And when I come through the door everyone here is glad to see me.

One sad part is that since I don't have anyone to talk to, I talk to myself. Out loud. And since I've grown used to talking to myself I've caught myself doing it in public. So now I am giving the impression of a harmless old coot sitting on a bench mumbling to himself.

One happy part of aloneness is the absence of interruptions. My head is full of ideas, most of which I can do nothing about confined as I am with serious lack of abundant income, unable to transport myself easily and living in an area seriously arid of any cultural activity. But there are some ideas growing up out of the top of my kitchen table which can grab my interest with a fist and set me to working something out, whether a painting, a story or a blog entry. My time is my own, it belongs to me and my muse, my angel of inspiration.

Life is a grand puzzle. I've tried throwing away the pieces in the past, but, no good, they won't go away. Now I cherish them. Each time I put two pieces together I'm delighted. That I have no one to show it to is frustrating. But I know it's a puzzle with an infinite number of pieces and if someone else joins a few pieces and they fit with mine, very good. And if they don't both of our lives are enriched anyway.

In my solitude lands are explored, discoveries are made, mysteries unfold, principles are learned, knowledge grows, wells are filled, stars are captured, majesty is revealed and possibilities are endless.

DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never give up.

Rhythm Of Life

I don't want to be a passenger in my own life.

Diane Ackerman
*******************
Hello Lily
*******************
As far back as I can remember people have been telling me what to do, what not to do, where to go, where not to go, what to think and what not to think. Now I'm just as pleased to listen to sound advice as the next vagabond. But why is it so often dressed in the garb of orders? What do they want me to say "Yes Sir" and "Yes Ma'am"? I will tell you honestly I have made more mistakes than I can list in a leather bound volumn by following my so-called superior's orders.

My fault. Freidrich Nietzsche says that one of the most important qualities a human possesses is instinct. Churches tell us that instinct is bad, a sin, that people who rely on instincts are amoral. I have learned in the School of Hard Knocks to trust my instincts in so far as they are part of my reasoning process. Some of the other helpful qualities a human can exercise are preference, taste, visualization and imagination. There's no guaranty that even utizing those tools you will make the right decision. But the important thing is that it was your decision and not someone else's. And if it was the wrong one you will know why.

I spent too many years with someone else driving the car while I was taken wherever they wanted and let out on their playing field. I applaud myself for making the most out of bad situations. But I learned by trial and error, mostly error, to drive the car myself.

Another important quality, which is usually overlooked and is often the cause of a mangled result from following orders, is the fact of your own rhythm of life. Another person's rhythm is not yours. It's a hard thing to realize, to even know there is a difference in rhythm. Everyone moves, thinks, feels and does at a different pace and when you find and move at your pace things seem to harmonize themselves. Pay no attention to those who want you to hurry up or wait up, unless you are trying to keep pace with them. Find your own distinct, personal, beautiful, rhythm of life and live it.

DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.
************************

Do I Like Me?

Lean too much upon the approval of people and it becomes a bed of thorns.

Tehyi Hsieh
****************
Hello Rose
****************
Like most actors I spent my working days seeking approval. First of all I wanted to be approved of by the director so that I would get the job. Once in rehearsal I wanted the approval of my colleagues, my fellow actors. Opening night would come and I wanted the critics to approve of me. And then I wanted to impress and charm the audience.

What was this need for approval? It is not germane to a performing artist to need approval. Being liked is a side show. The main event is the preparation and performance of the play, musical, ballet or whatever. The real pleasure for an actor is in the discoveries, developments, understanding the character, being able to create that character's life and presenting the drama in a moving and believable manner with beauty and artistry night after night. When an actor achieves that accomplishment he finishes his night's work with joy and satisfaction, no matter what anyone thinks of him.

Naturally we want to be liked. We want the applause, we want the good reviews and to be respected by our employers. Who doesn't? But when approval begins to take the place of reason, reality and conscientiousness, that's when the thorns start growing.

There's this famous story about a well known actress (maybe one of you knows the story better than I do and can fill in the accompanying details). She was doing a comedy. At one point she asked the character on stage with her for a cup of tea. For some reason it was a very funny moment and the audience would roar with laughter. But one night they didn't laugh. And for the next several nights there was no laughter. She asked a friend to watch the scene and tell her what was wrong. He did and told her that by the way she spoke the line she was asking for the laugh and that she should go back to asking for the tea. She did that and the laughter resumed.

In all areas of our lives it's the integrity and honesty of how we live and what we do that counts not the measurement of our popularity. As the Suna Sirah states "Honor yourself with humility, and give yourself the esteem you deserve." And I say, graciously accept the approval you get from others but know that you don't need them to tell you how good you are.

Disappoint yourself. Forgive yourself. Do better next time. And drink a toast to yourself every day.

DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never give up.
*************************

Long Journey Home

For a man who no longer has a homeland, writing becomes a place to live.

Theodore Adorno
*******************
Hello Ernie
*******************
I moved into this town on September 9, 2001, 2 days before the WTC came down. I often think about that, especially at this time of the year. Up until a few days before it I was surviving in a part time proofreading job at a law firm within a few blocks of the site of the catastrophe. If I had still been in NYC on that day I probably would have seen the planes crash into the buildings because I would have been waiting for the crowd from the ferry to clear so that I could go downstairs to get the subway.

I often wonder what I would have done, stand stock still in shock, or run. People were running in both directions, away in a panic or toward it to see what they could do. Or I might have been already on the subway and stuck underneath it for 12 hours or more.

I had worked for another law firm high up on the North Tower a few times and I remember the supervisor and other workers as being very nice people. They probably did not survive.

But I wasn't there. I had moved from my squalid little residential hotel room to a town in eastern Pennsylvania to set up a life for myself, temporarily. I do not like it here, and I often wish I had never left New York. But then....

I was born into an Upper Middle Class family in a New York City suburb. 4 years later my father died and soon the family plunged slowly and agonizingly into poverty. All the "nice things" my mother had from her former life were sold, piece by piece, to pay rent and to buy food. We moved continuously, each abode worse than the last one. We moved about 25 times until I was old enough to move out and take care of myself. She finally settled into a ground floor apartment that wasn't too bad. I never settled.

Having grown up without a steady home and without even a concept of home, I've never really lived at my address, and there have been many of them. I've had, so called, fixed addresses in 5 different states and the District of Columbia. I lived at some of them for a month or so and in others for years. But none of them were my home. I don't have a home. Where I live now is not my home and I can't imagine myself living here for long.

My professional life has taken me in and out of 5 different radio stations, a bunch of recording studios and upon many stages at theatres all around the Eastern part of the country from Maine to Florida. I'm a vagabond.

I am a vagabond but in my heart, in my wounded but sanguine heart, there is a home for me, my home. A beautiful home, within sight and sound of a body of water, near a cultural center, quiet and peaceful, safe and secure, clean and ample, with good people around me. I have spent my whole life, almost 70 years, hoping that some day I will find it.

But maybe I won't. Maybe I will continue to be a vagabond, with some strange, new place beckoning with promise, expectation of permanence, but offering only disappointment and another transient stopover on my journey. If so then look for me in my writings, because that's where I live.

Dana Bate - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
********************************

Getting Up

Hope is a waking dream.

Aristotle
***************
Hello Barbara
***************
Wake up. Yawn. Stretch. Get out of that bed. Stand up. Wash your face. Brush your teeth. Make your coffee. Eat your breakfast. Get dressed. Open the door.

Wait a minute, you forgot something. Where;s that dream you were having? It's still back in the bed. Well, that's probably a good place for it. It was an improbable dream anyway. And maybe there were things about it you didn't like. So leave it there.

It's another day, a chance to make a mole hill out of that mountain you left yesterday, a chance to make one more step towards the plans you made last week, a chance to check up on the things you planted in your life last month, a chance to observe and appreciate how much you've grown in the last year as an indication of how much you are going to grow this year. If you don't have things to look forward to you might make the mistake of looking back.

So you've your plans, your ideas, your desires all tucked neatly (or maybe not so neatly) into your agenda, each with its own color. These are the hopes that got you out of bed this morning and every morning whether you know it or not. Each one has its demands on you, demands which you gave them. And those demands involve dreaming up the thing and dreaming up the way to do the thing. It's time. It's also time, armed with desire, courage and hope, to do battle with the bad dream of worry, the nightmare of failure.

What you do is to start at the end, visualizing exactly what you plan to do or be and where. Then holding that dream in mind at all times you go back to the beginning or where you left off, take the next step, take advantage of the things that occur as a result of that step and the previous steps and then accept and rejoice over your accomplishments. Don't be surprised when unexpected benefits arise, for as Shakespeare said "the mightiest space in nature fortune brings to join like likes, and kiss like native things."

Designs are made for unique constructions. Tools get invented to do things there are no tools for. Surfaces are prepared to launch great ideas. Hope becomes gratitude in advance as the dream slowly becomes a reality and life is better.

Then on to the next one. There is always another day to dream.

Dana - The Vagabond
Never give up.
**********************

It Will Work

No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an unchartered land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.

Helen Keller
*****************
Hello Sue
*****************
"Aw, give it up. It'll never work . You'll never get there. Don't even try."

"You'll never raise enough money to do a lame brained idea like that."

"This is the stupidest piece of legislation I've ever seen. Be assured we will vote it down."

"Load it all on the donkey and walk. You don't need wheels."

"Come on. The Earth is flat, anyone can see that. You'll fall off the edge."

"Knock it off Orville. God did not intend for us to fly."

"Man can never go to the moon."

Some people just automatically develop an ornery attitude to any new idea. Can you imagine what our lives would be like if the pessimists and nihilists ruled the world?

I'm an artist, which means I'm an optimist. I have to be. Every work of art whether it's a painting, a song or a poem is like water onto a thirsty earth. Sometimes it's a big splash like the Mona Lisa or a Beethoven symphony. But no matter how small the droplet is it is a bit of refreshment and possible inspiration for the human spirit.

As an artist I roam through the world with a different eye and ear I love music and I hear it strange places. I hear horns in the passing trucks, strings playing through the branches of the trees on a windy day and drums and cymbals in the crashing waves. I once knew a playwright who cold write a play about anything. Give her a mathematical formula and out would come a play about it, with characters and drama. In one remarkable case I knew a high school senior who joined the Marine Corp to learn explosives and then worked doing special effects for Hollywood films.

In every case where an optimist has accomplished the impossible nobody dared say it couldn't be. It was. It is. Because somebody had the courage to know it was possible way back when no one thought about it.

We are discovering the secrets of the stars, finding unchartered lands and opening up new heavens for the human spirit.

DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
****************************

Cheer The Weed

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

Lao Tzu
********************
Hello Sandy
********************
I was out walking yesterday and I noticed how small tufts of green were peeking up from the cracks in the side walk and parking lots. Give Nature a chance and it will find a way to flourish even in the midst of a concrete and asphalt world.

Next to the street at the last place I lived there was a tree. I loved that tree. It was very tall and healthy. Every Spring it got a bit taller, increased the size of its branches and put out some more twigs. I knew that once upon a time that tree was part of a forest. The forest had been leveled to make way for the town, but a few trees here and there were left standing. Those other trees were simply cut down and pulled up. Deep in the earth are the remnants of the relatives of my tree.

I pondered the fact that many of our manifestations of civilization, our roads, parking lots, buildings and bridges are intrusions on primeval landscape. And all that Nature wants to grow here is still underground waiting for the opportunity and the right conditions to begin the process. In fact those small patches of green, which we call "weeds," are the first hardy steps, (the advance guard you might say) of Nature's campaign to reclaim its own, original, slowly evolving design.

If this town was totally and permanently abandoned by all human life it may take hundreds, perhaps thousands of years but Nature would eventually break apart all the pavements, tear down all the buildings, swallow them all up and digest them. The grass would grow, the bushes would flourish, the meadows would stretch out and the forest would reappear.

So why the intrusion? Because there's another kind of Nature, called Human Nature. It is out nature to build shelter, to grow crops, to educate ourselves, to conduct commerce and transportation. And so we bend Nature to our will, leave a few trees and some bushes still standing, maybe we even plant a few, but the rest of it we tear down and replace with our roads. parking lots, buildings and bridges.

But the next time you see a small patch of green peeking up from a crack in the side walk admire its courage and brave but futile attempt to reclaim the world.

DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.
*********************

The Med Puddle And The Stick

The compelling force of all times has been the force of originality and creation, profoundly affecting the roots of human spirit.

Ansel Adams
*****************
Hello Bruce
*****************
The artist is one who lives on the edge of discovery. The artist is one who sees the brilliant stone that others don't see, who picks it up and takes it home. The artist is one who is isn't afraid to listen to the silence and describe the invisible. To the artist the creative experience is nature.

Painters look at paintings, actors watch acting, musicians listen to music. And one of the fascinating things and yet one of the most normal is how a painter can appreciate a work of art done by a good painter who works in a completely different genre. It doesn't matter what the style is it's the artistry that counts.

Those who know me well know that I'm a great fan of and know a lot about classical music and opera. At work one day something reminded me of a Donovan song and began to sing it. My boss looked at me with astonishment. How did I know that song? How should I not know it? I listen.

When I lived in Inwood, which is the northern tip of Manhattan Island, my bank was a few blocks away. Midway there was a record store which specialized in C The owner had a speaker out in front with music playing. I loved going by there and sometimes would stop and listen for a while. They were excellent musicians. Salsa was their language.

I think if you gi e him the right surface an artist could make a good drawing with a stick and a mud puddle. Materials are another thing. Ansel Adams was a great landscape photographer. There weren't always photographers. Someone had to invent the camera. With each new technological invention or improvement artists will get a hold of it and turn it into a way of creating some original work of art which defies what the invention was first intended to do. Thus we now have computer art and electronic music. Some day we may see some massive sculpture in low Earth orbit gliding overhead to please and intrigue the whole world. Think of it.

Why are we artists? We have to be because that's what we are. It's an obligation, a compulsion, a joy and a privilege, and because what we do nourishes the very roots of human life..

Dana Bate - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
********************

Choose Well

He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help.

Abe Lincoln
***************
Hello Arlene
***************
As we approach election day, politicians all over the country will be campaigning to get enough votes to win a job or keep a job. The President and Vice President jobs are at the top of the pile, but other positions from Congress, through State Governments on down to local governments are also being sought.

A lot of money will be spent trying to win votes. Speeches will be made, interviews will be held and debates will take place. There will be a lot of information and misinformation delivered to the voters. Accusations will be made and denied. Records will be held up for scrutiny. Our radios and TVs will be inundated with advertisements for and against one candidate or another. And. yes. unfortunately, lies will be told.

There will be talk of war, budgets, human rights, health care and the "future" of America. Programs, systems and traditions will be threatened by the sabers of opinion and policy.

One of the greatest things about the United States is that no matter where you live, stuffed into a small room in the ghetto of some inner city, in a shack on the desert, a remote island off the Alaskan coast, there is someone in Congress, in your state legislature and in some cities who represents you. It means you have a link to the government, and you have a right to contact that person at any time of you need help or if you feel the need to express an opinion. What that means to me is that although a tremendous amount of power resides with the President, the Vice President and the 50 Governors of our various states, and those people should be carefully chosen. it is equally as important to provide the best people you can for those representative positions.

I look at the records, I hear the speeches, I read the opinions, I consider the issues, I watch the debates. Unfortunately I also have to watch the mud slinging, the back slapping, the nose twisting and the hand shaking. But when it's all over and time to exercise my special privilege as an American citizen to cast my vote I look for the person who has the heart, the heart to care, the heart to help, the heart to heal.

Dana Bate - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
*******************************

Whited Sepulchers

Beauty isn't worth thinking about, what's important is your mind. You don't want a fifty dollar haircut on a fifty cent head.

Garrison Keillor
******************
Hello Lily
******************
Across the street from where I used to live is an old red brick building. The bricks were dirty and some of the cement between them was chipped, eroded and falling out. One day workers came, set up ladders and commenced to fill in the cement areas between the bricks where it was needed, Then, a few days later, they washed down the entire front of the building until the bricks looked almost new.

But then they took down their equipment and left. They never repaired or cleaned the sides or back of the building. I mentioned that to my neighbor and he patronizingly said it was because the front was the only part you can see from the street.

So that's it. It's only the superficial that counts. It doesn't matter what goes on behind the expensive suit or evening gown as long as it looks good. "Whited sepulchers, full of all uncleanness."

The kidnapper drives a good car. The sweet angelic girl is a liar. And when the con man finally takes off with your money everyone will say "But he was such a nice fellow."

What about the holy Christian pastor who burns Korans or the swift and sturdy politician, the family man, with a secret lover in the next town.

How about those who hide their ignorance behind a popular slogan (America, love it or leave it) or a misunderstood action (The Patriots Act). Like the woman with a big cross on her chest who proclaimed that she was a good Christian and believed in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The self appointed pastor who claims that God sends a hurricane or visits a disease upon us to punish us for our sins and bring us closer to Him. The idiots who flood the ACLU with mail at Christmas time out of pure ignorance.

People need to face facts, stop assuming things and start thinking for themselves, and if they don't know the facts, find them out. Look at the sides of the building, or behind it, and see what's there and what isn't.

DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.
********************

What Is This Thing Called Love

A love that can last forever takes but a second to come about.

Cuban proverb
****************************
Hello George
****************************
Isn't it amazing how quickly we can fall in love with something or someone. It often only takes a moment in time but it seems like the spinning of a world. There is something that catches a hold of a deep sinew of our mental or emotional being and plants itself there for good.

You may see a work of art, a painting, and there is something special about it that sets it apart from all the other paintings you've seen or maybe are in the same room. You may not be able to describe what it is about the work that makes it special to you but you know in your heart that it is something forever important to you.

It happened to me when I saw the Matisse painting "The Piano Lesson." The Museum of Modern Art in New York City was being renovated. While it was going on they mounted an exhibit in a room off the service elevator. It was of a few of their pieces. I went strolling around in there, everything was hung temporarily on peg board. I turned a corner and there it was. "The Piano Lesson." I spent a long time with it. I knew that among all the millions of art works in the world, most of which I will never see, this was my favorite. A critic might say that it isn't even great Matisse, but for me it's a love affair.

You may one day hear a snatch of music that has the same effect on you and in one instant you become in love with the whole piece. Sure, you will listen to it over and over again just to hear that one passage, but you will have expanded your love to include the entire work.

I became an opera lover at an early age when I heard the wonderful sextet that concludes the first act of "The Barber Of Seville." And when I heard the rich pandemonium that ends the second act of "Die Meistersinger" I became a Wagner lover. I can't get enough of it.

Shakespeare? I have a complete works, poems and plays . I never let it out of my sight. Shakespeare loved all of his characters and so do I.

I know of people who will carry the same novel around in their pockets or hand bags wherever they go because it is so important to them. That one book deeply touches their heart and soul. Jack Kerouac's "On The Road" was my constant companion for many years.

And what about other people? What about love at first sight? It happens. I know of a happily married couple who met each other on the subway. What is it that enables someone to grab your heart so completely all at once? You may meet them once and then you will meet them again because a golden thread has been woven that ties the two of you together. You have been thinking about each other, maybe without even knowing it.

I love that scene in "All In The Family" when the character played by Jean Stapleton says that when she was a girl the boys called her all kinds of fancy names but that somehow the name Ding Bat had an air of permanence about it.

Love is one of the strangest things of all. I have friends I've known for many years. I love them. I also have some new friends of a few years. I love them. But like the Matisse painting and the Wagner operas I don't think I could ever tell you why.

As Diane Ackerman puts it "Everyone admits that love is wonderful and necessary, but no one agrees on just what it is."

If you ever figure it out let me know.

Dana Bate - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
**************************

Page 24

We can do no great things - only small things with great love.

Mother Teresa
***********************
Hello Rose
***********************
This is the 1,862 issues of Vagabond Journeys. I began in 2006 to jot down quotes from many various sources to use to introduce each time I posted an item. My motive was to provide readers with a bit of wisdom, information, whimsy and humor. I have loved doing it. But I have so few readers now compared with what I use to have. Today I looked over some of the quotes I haven't used yet and see that some of them aren't as wise and clever as I once thought. I have 113 pages of them and it's a mining job to sift through them with flashlight and shovel to come to one I feel will be the most beneficial and interesting to you who read me. Today, instead of writing anything I thought I would give you some of the quotes I haven't used yet but without my comments. So here is

The Best Of Page 24

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them. John F. Kennedy

Happiness is not a destination, it is a method of life. Burton Hills

Those who cannot forgive others break the bridge over which they themselves must pass. Confucius

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift. Pierre Corneille

The wise man must be wise before not after, Epicharmus

The best medicine in life is a friend. Saint Alfred of Rievaulx

All the sounds of the earth are like music. Oscar Hammerstein

A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. General George Patton

The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend. Henri Bergson

Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. Garrison Keillor

It is a stupidity second to none, to busy oneself with the correction of the world. Moliere

Money is a very excellent servant, but a terrible master. P. T. Barnum

If you aren't going to go all the way, why go at all? Joe Namath

Always do right.. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest. Mark Twain

Observe how the life of this world deceives those around you. Sheik Abdul Jilliani

May you have the greatest two gifts of all. Someone to love and someone who loves you. John Sinor.
-------------------------------------------------------
I hope you find something here that brightens your day.

With love,
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
*************************

Page 24

We can do no great things - only small things with great love.

Mother Teresa
***********************
Hello Rose
***********************
This is the 1,862 issues of Vagabond Journeys. I began in 2006 to jot down quotes from many various sources to use to introduce each time I posted an item. My motive was to provide readers with a bit of wisdom, information, whimsy and humor. I have loved doing it. But I have so few readers now compared with what I use to have. Today I looked over some of the quotes I haven't used yet and see that some of them aren't as wise and clever as I once thought. I have 113 pages of them and it's a mining job to sift through them with flashlight and shovel to come to one I feel will be the most beneficial and interesting to you who read me. Today, instead of writing anything I thought I would give you some of the quotes I haven't used yet but without my comments. So here is

The Best Of Page 24

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them. John F. Kennedy

Happiness is not a destination, it is a method of life. Burton Hills

Those who cannot forgive others break the bridge over which they themselves must pass. Confucius

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift. Pierre Corneille

The wise man must be wise before not after, Epicharmus

The best medicine in life is a friend. Saint Alfred of Rievaulx

All the sounds of the earth are like music. Oscar Hammerstein

A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. General George Patton

The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend. Henri Bergson

Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. Garrison Keillor

It is a stupidity second to none, to busy oneself with the correction of the world. Moliere

Money is a very excellent servant, but a terrible master. P. T. Barnum

If you aren't going to go all the way, why go at all? Joe Namath

Always do right.. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest. Mark Twain

Observe how the life of this world deceives those around you. Sheik Abdul Jilliani

May you have the greatest two gifts of all. Someone to love and someone who loves you. John Sinor.
-------------------------------------------------------
I hope you find something here that brightens your day.

With love,
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
*************************