Contents
A Tale Of Two Sailors
Winter Question
Murder Mystery
Some have it hard and some have it easy, but everyone has it.
Dana Bate
**************************
I knew two men who worked as mariners aboard merchant ships.
The story of the first one is how he would go down to the docks with his duffle bag and his card, hand the card to the harbor master, who collected the cards from all the sailors looking for work that day. When a ship was loading and looking for crew they would put in an order for so many men. The harbor master would go through the cards to find the qualified members of the union and call off their names. When your name was called you stepped up, got your card and were directed to the pier number and the ships name, you reported on board and went to work. That's the way he explained to me, more or less.
My friend usually shipped out of Boston, but as work was getting sparse there he decided to come to New York and try his luck. He had no place to stay in NY so I let him use my apartment.
I had only one bed, but I had an all night radio program, from midnight to 6 am. So he slept in the bed at night and I slept in it during the day. When I got home from work at about 7 I woke him up. We'd chat. He'd have a coffee while I had a beer, then he would grab his duffle and head out. I usually didn't see him in the evening. If he didn't get hired he would find some entertainment for himself but he would be in the bed when I got home every morning.
Then one day, when I got there, he was gone. There was a message on my phone telling me that by the time I got the message he had shipped out and was on his way to Greece.
I didn't see him again until a few years later, looking quite well and prosperous. He got an inland job of some sort, eventually got married, had some kids, settled down to a middle class life and never went back to sea.
----------------------------------------
The story of the other mariner is quite different. As a teenager he taught himself the Morse Code and how to operate a telegraph and a ships radio. At 18 he got a radio operators licence from the Federal Communication Commission and signed on to a ship that went back and forth from New Yoir to Liverpool. He was the ships radio operator and didn't have to do any work unless he needed to send or receive a message. So he spent his spare time reading books. Every time he reached New York he would buy an armful of books to read as he traveled the Atlantic.
He soon became interested in the stock market. His reading became exclusively about economics, Wall Street and investing. Soon, when he came to New York he would buy some stocks. Because of his reading and some good advice he became quite wealthy. At the age of 30 he was rich enough to build a house for his mother, a house for himself, send his younger brother through college and then send himself through college which is where I knew him. I don't know where he is these day, but I wouldn't be surprised if he is sipping his drink while gazing out at the Mediterranean from his private villa on the coast of France.
As the Oliver and Young song puts it "It ain't what you do it's the way that you do it."
DB - The Vagabond
************************
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
What was the most significant event that happened in 2010?
dbdacoba@aol.com
Will you people get your act together and answer this question, please?
Only 7 responses so far. Winter is almost over.
DB
******************************
What happened to old Jasper Fingerhut?
A murder mystery in 7 sections.
Section 1
The police came soon after Brett Salazar called them. He had called to report seeing a man floating face down in a quiet part of the Borden River. A police wagon soon arrived and they fished the man out of the water He was dead.
The man was old, barefoot, wearing large brown corduroy trousers and a tattered and torn blue shirt. There was nothing in his pockets. He had a large metal cross around his neck and on his left middle finger a ring in the shape of a skull with a small green stone in the left eye socket, the other socket was empty. No one recognized him.
Doctor Skinner, the Bordentown Medial Examiner, received the corpse to begin his examination. He was to determine time and cause of death and any other important information he could find about the mysterious dead man.
While this was happening Boris Klipton, Professor of Art History at Bordentown State Teachers College, was way upstream. Sitting by the river, he was working on his latest book. It was an account of recent unsolved art thefts.
During his interview with Detective Rice Turner, Brett Salazar, testified of hearing four gunshots in the distance long before he saw the body. When Detective Turner asked him what he was doing at the river, Brett answered that he was planning to fish but had forgotten his fishing gear and was about to go home when he spotted the dead man floating in the water.
----------------------------------------
Section 2
At around 3 p. m. Professor Klipton gathered up his papers, put them in his briefcase and got back in his car. He noticed some lint and bits of cloth on the seat, brushed them off on to the floor, put down his briefcase and drove to Sam's Place.
Sam Nevitt opened his general store and gas station about 25 years ago. It was on the outskirts of town, away from all the bustle, which is the way he liked it. He would get business from folks leaving Bordentown on their way home and others who were passing through. He did a good business.
Sam was a good man, but he had one nasty habit. He liked to go down to the river with his rifle and shoot birds.
When Professor Klipton arrived he found Hank, Sam's part time help. When asked Hank didn't know where Sam was but thought he was probably out shooting. Klipton filled up with gas, bought a few items for his dinner and drove home.
The dead man came to Doctor Skinner's office in a body bag. He and Ivan, his assistant, opened the bag and as they did Skinner immediately put a large towel over the dead man's face and upper body. Then he dismissed Ivan for the day and went to work.
-----------------------------------
section 3
Detective Rice Turner didn't speak often, he seemed to others to be bored with life. That was a mistake. He was very well educated. He had a PhD in Economics from Yale and a law degree from Princeton. He was Phi Beta Kappa and a Mensa member. He was looking forward to a career in government whn he discovered he had a genius for solving problems. That soon became criminal investigation. He settled.
Signing, he opened the report form the Medical Examiners Office. Reading through it he discovered that the dead man was between 70 and 75 years old, approximately. and in reasonably good health for a man his age. Doctor Skinner had removed three 22 caliber bullets from the body, one from the shattered right shoulder, one from the right ventricle and one embedded in the large intestine. All the bullets had entered the body from the right side of the back. There were severe bruises around his neck. There was water in his lungs and a strange substance in his blood stream which Skinner had suspected was poison. He sent it on to the police lab for analysis. Time of death was between 2 and 3 in the afternoon. Cause of death: strangulation.
Attached to the report was an advisory. Skinner thought the body should be buried as soon as possible. He didn't say why.
Presently the report came from the police lab confirming that the substance in the man's blood was arsenic.
Section 4 tomorrow.
-----------------------------------
Showing posts with label Winter Question. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Winter Question. Show all posts
Monday, March 14, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Don't Throw In The Towel
Thank you all for your many birthday wishes on my journal, on face book, over the phone, from email and snail mail. I'm very pleased.
Contents
Don't throw in the towel
Winter Question
What happened to Jasper Fingerhut
****************************************
Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age.
Jeanne Moreau
********************
When a high school student asked what life was like in the theatre I went through a long list of things and I ended by saying "The one thing it absolutely never is is boring." If you're an actor you may be exhausted, frustrated, and angry, but you will never be bored.
I eschew boredom with vigor. It is the obverse side of claustrophobia for me. I admire people who can do the same job for their whole working lives. I could never do it.
But I have known actors who burned themselves out after only a handful of years because they got caught up on a roller coaster ride of fame and popularity and didn't love what they were doing. Eventually the roller coaster ride ended, sometimes disastrously.
Falling in love with someone can be a twisty, turning, ascending and plummeting thing also, but it can straighten out into a ride of gentle passion. Even if another person is not involved I believe it is vitally important for people to find something they love to do and do it, especially when they get older. I have heard people say, Some day when I'm older and have more time to myself I hope to do so and so. My answer is, Why wait?
If you find a passion for something and do it, even part time, it generates all sorts of positive qualities in your life and one of the most important is enthusiasm. I've known guys with many different hobbies they were crazy about: golf, fishing, barbershop quartet singing, scuba diving, disco dancing, fencing, learning to play a musical instrument, traveling, going back to school. The list is endless but everything on it is something that has brought love of doing and being into someone's life and thus prevented age from creeping into the ring and throwing in the towel.
I believe it is the love and enthusiasm for doing the things, associating with the people and being consciously present with what we enjoy that are the seeds of a continuing and interesting life.
DB - The Vagabond
************************
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
What was the most significant event that happened in 2010?
dbdacoba@aol.com
Will you people get your act together and answer this question, please?
Only 7 responses so far. Winter is almost over.
DB
******************************
What happened to old Jasper Fingerhut?
A murder mystery in 7 sections.
Section 1
The police came soon after Brett Salazar called them. He had called to report seeing a man floating face down in a quiet part of the Borden River. A police wagon soon arrived and they fished the man out of the water He was dead.
The man was old, barefoot, wearing large brown corduroy trousers and a tattered and torn blue shirt. There was nothing in his pockets. He had a large metal cross around his neck and on his left middle finger a ring in the shape of a skull with a small green stone in the left eye socket, the other socket was empty. No one recognized him.
Doctor Skinner, the Bordentown Medial Examiner, received the corpse to begin his examination. He was to determine time and cause of death and any other important information he could find about the mysterious dead man.
While this was happening Boris Klipton, Professor of Art History at Bordentown State Teachers College, was way upstream. Sitting by the river, he was working on his latest book. It was an account of recent unsolved art thefts.
During his interview with Detective Rice Turner, Brett Salazar, testified of hearing four gunshots in the distance long before he saw the body. When Detective Turner asked him what he was doing at the river, Brett answered that he was planning to fish but had forgotten his fishing gear and was about to go home when he spotted the dead man floating in the water.
----------------------------------------
Section 2
At around 3 p. m. Professor Klipton gathered up his papers, put them in his briefcase and got back in his car. He noticed some lint and bits of cloth on the seat, brushed them off on to the floor, put down his briefcase and drove to Sam's Place.
Sam Newitt opened his general store and gas station about 25 years ago. It was on the outskirts of town, away from all the bustle, which is the way he liked it. He would get business from folks leaving Bordentown on their way home and others who were passing through. He did a good business.
Sam was a good man, but he had one nasty habit. He liked to go down to the river with his rifle and shoot birds.
When Professor Klipton arrived he found Hank, Sam's part time help. When asked, Hank didn't know where Sam was but thought he was probably out shooting. Klipton filled up the gas tank, bought a few items for his dinner and drove home.
The dead man came to Doctor Skinner's office in a body bag. He and Ivan, his assistant, opened the bag and as they did Skinner immediately put a large towel over the dead man's face and upper body. Then he dismissed Ivan for the day and went to work.
-----------------------------------
Section 3 tomorrow
DB
Contents
Don't throw in the towel
Winter Question
What happened to Jasper Fingerhut
****************************************
Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age.
Jeanne Moreau
********************
When a high school student asked what life was like in the theatre I went through a long list of things and I ended by saying "The one thing it absolutely never is is boring." If you're an actor you may be exhausted, frustrated, and angry, but you will never be bored.
I eschew boredom with vigor. It is the obverse side of claustrophobia for me. I admire people who can do the same job for their whole working lives. I could never do it.
But I have known actors who burned themselves out after only a handful of years because they got caught up on a roller coaster ride of fame and popularity and didn't love what they were doing. Eventually the roller coaster ride ended, sometimes disastrously.
Falling in love with someone can be a twisty, turning, ascending and plummeting thing also, but it can straighten out into a ride of gentle passion. Even if another person is not involved I believe it is vitally important for people to find something they love to do and do it, especially when they get older. I have heard people say, Some day when I'm older and have more time to myself I hope to do so and so. My answer is, Why wait?
If you find a passion for something and do it, even part time, it generates all sorts of positive qualities in your life and one of the most important is enthusiasm. I've known guys with many different hobbies they were crazy about: golf, fishing, barbershop quartet singing, scuba diving, disco dancing, fencing, learning to play a musical instrument, traveling, going back to school. The list is endless but everything on it is something that has brought love of doing and being into someone's life and thus prevented age from creeping into the ring and throwing in the towel.
I believe it is the love and enthusiasm for doing the things, associating with the people and being consciously present with what we enjoy that are the seeds of a continuing and interesting life.
DB - The Vagabond
************************
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
What was the most significant event that happened in 2010?
dbdacoba@aol.com
Will you people get your act together and answer this question, please?
Only 7 responses so far. Winter is almost over.
DB
******************************
What happened to old Jasper Fingerhut?
A murder mystery in 7 sections.
Section 1
The police came soon after Brett Salazar called them. He had called to report seeing a man floating face down in a quiet part of the Borden River. A police wagon soon arrived and they fished the man out of the water He was dead.
The man was old, barefoot, wearing large brown corduroy trousers and a tattered and torn blue shirt. There was nothing in his pockets. He had a large metal cross around his neck and on his left middle finger a ring in the shape of a skull with a small green stone in the left eye socket, the other socket was empty. No one recognized him.
Doctor Skinner, the Bordentown Medial Examiner, received the corpse to begin his examination. He was to determine time and cause of death and any other important information he could find about the mysterious dead man.
While this was happening Boris Klipton, Professor of Art History at Bordentown State Teachers College, was way upstream. Sitting by the river, he was working on his latest book. It was an account of recent unsolved art thefts.
During his interview with Detective Rice Turner, Brett Salazar, testified of hearing four gunshots in the distance long before he saw the body. When Detective Turner asked him what he was doing at the river, Brett answered that he was planning to fish but had forgotten his fishing gear and was about to go home when he spotted the dead man floating in the water.
----------------------------------------
Section 2
At around 3 p. m. Professor Klipton gathered up his papers, put them in his briefcase and got back in his car. He noticed some lint and bits of cloth on the seat, brushed them off on to the floor, put down his briefcase and drove to Sam's Place.
Sam Newitt opened his general store and gas station about 25 years ago. It was on the outskirts of town, away from all the bustle, which is the way he liked it. He would get business from folks leaving Bordentown on their way home and others who were passing through. He did a good business.
Sam was a good man, but he had one nasty habit. He liked to go down to the river with his rifle and shoot birds.
When Professor Klipton arrived he found Hank, Sam's part time help. When asked, Hank didn't know where Sam was but thought he was probably out shooting. Klipton filled up the gas tank, bought a few items for his dinner and drove home.
The dead man came to Doctor Skinner's office in a body bag. He and Ivan, his assistant, opened the bag and as they did Skinner immediately put a large towel over the dead man's face and upper body. Then he dismissed Ivan for the day and went to work.
-----------------------------------
Section 3 tomorrow
DB
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Fill The Silo
Everything depends on execution,
Having just a vision is no solution.
Stephen Sondheim
******************
If artistry can be described as blue collar work then I certainly qualify. I was an assembly line actor, a factory worker forging visions into realities, hammering ideas into events, a card carrying union member, skilled labor who knew my craft.
It's apparent that one of the issues of life is that we must spend a lot of time and energy accumulating a large store house, a full silo, of common sense. One of the rules a union actor must follow is to perform the play as directed. It's a very good rule when the director has a vision of the play. It means the actor's work will be consistent with that vision and with the qualities of the rest of the production. And in most cases it works out that way. But there are a few times, now and then, when the director does more harm than good. I call them destroyers instead of directors. Three of the biggest mistakes a director can make are not being completely familiar with the script, casting favorite people in roles they are not suited for and trying to make the play say something it doesn't. Those three faults can be summed up by saying the director did not think ahead. Considering what the results of something are likely to be before you start out is a matter of common sense.
I once read a history of the US invasion of North Africa during World War Two. In one case the generals in America made a careful inventory of everything they would need when they got there. But they loaded the ships in such a way that the most important first weapons were in the bottom and other things like food, medicine and land vehicles were at the top. When the ships arrived they couldn't port because of enemy fire so the land vehicles were useless and the marines had to unload them and a lot of other things before they could even get to the weapons. A lot of soldiers died. Someone was not using common sense.
It's not difficult to think things through and consider possibilities and alternatives. Why don't we do it? Because we don't know we are supposed to? Because we're lazy? Because we have faith that everything will work out just fine? Because we don't envision what the result is and are just following blindly along as things develop?
There's a Persian proverb that says "One pound of common sense requires ten pounds of common sense to apply it." A two hour opening night in the theatre may require 200 hours of preparation or more. I used to enjoy hiking the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I had a book, a trail guide with maps, which told me about the trail I was considering. I always checked it first. I wanted to know how difficult the climb was going to be and where it came out before I started. I learned that lesson the hard way.
The hard way is the way most of us learn common sense and I suppose there isn't any other way that is so effective. We know enough not to put our hands in the fire because of what happen the first time we did. But why do we have to suffer and make others suffer because we didn't do the sufficient thinking ahead of time? That's just another one of life's mysteries.
The Vagabond
******************
Spring is almost here. Get your answer in.
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Given the resources and opportunity, what one thing do you want to do in 2010 that you've never done before.
You have the Winter to answer. Answers will be posted on the first day of Spring.
Only 20 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
DB - The Vagabond
Having just a vision is no solution.
Stephen Sondheim
******************
If artistry can be described as blue collar work then I certainly qualify. I was an assembly line actor, a factory worker forging visions into realities, hammering ideas into events, a card carrying union member, skilled labor who knew my craft.
It's apparent that one of the issues of life is that we must spend a lot of time and energy accumulating a large store house, a full silo, of common sense. One of the rules a union actor must follow is to perform the play as directed. It's a very good rule when the director has a vision of the play. It means the actor's work will be consistent with that vision and with the qualities of the rest of the production. And in most cases it works out that way. But there are a few times, now and then, when the director does more harm than good. I call them destroyers instead of directors. Three of the biggest mistakes a director can make are not being completely familiar with the script, casting favorite people in roles they are not suited for and trying to make the play say something it doesn't. Those three faults can be summed up by saying the director did not think ahead. Considering what the results of something are likely to be before you start out is a matter of common sense.
I once read a history of the US invasion of North Africa during World War Two. In one case the generals in America made a careful inventory of everything they would need when they got there. But they loaded the ships in such a way that the most important first weapons were in the bottom and other things like food, medicine and land vehicles were at the top. When the ships arrived they couldn't port because of enemy fire so the land vehicles were useless and the marines had to unload them and a lot of other things before they could even get to the weapons. A lot of soldiers died. Someone was not using common sense.
It's not difficult to think things through and consider possibilities and alternatives. Why don't we do it? Because we don't know we are supposed to? Because we're lazy? Because we have faith that everything will work out just fine? Because we don't envision what the result is and are just following blindly along as things develop?
There's a Persian proverb that says "One pound of common sense requires ten pounds of common sense to apply it." A two hour opening night in the theatre may require 200 hours of preparation or more. I used to enjoy hiking the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I had a book, a trail guide with maps, which told me about the trail I was considering. I always checked it first. I wanted to know how difficult the climb was going to be and where it came out before I started. I learned that lesson the hard way.
The hard way is the way most of us learn common sense and I suppose there isn't any other way that is so effective. We know enough not to put our hands in the fire because of what happen the first time we did. But why do we have to suffer and make others suffer because we didn't do the sufficient thinking ahead of time? That's just another one of life's mysteries.
The Vagabond
******************
Spring is almost here. Get your answer in.
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Given the resources and opportunity, what one thing do you want to do in 2010 that you've never done before.
You have the Winter to answer. Answers will be posted on the first day of Spring.
Only 20 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
DB - The Vagabond
Friday, January 29, 2010
Stand Up Tregedy
Only when we have drunk from the river of darkness can we truly see.
Brother Theodore
*******************
In 1906 Theodore Gottlieb was born to a very wealthy Jewish family in Germany. Around 1940 he was taken prisoner by the Nazis and sent to Dachau concentration camp where he witnessed German soldiers laughing as they watched prisoners being tortured to death. He never saw his family again.
He signed over his wealth to the German government to obtain his freedom. In Austria he found Albert Einstein, a family friend who arranged for him to come to America. He did janitorial work in California, but was also an expert chess player and made money at chess tournaments.
He appeared in a few films, made many TV appearances and eventually, back in New York, had a regular nightclub act as a comedian. In his 80's he was a regular guest of David Letterman.
His humor was dark and strange. One of his famous monologues was about why people should not eat food. He frightened some people with his intensity, but he had a loyal and dedicated following of fans. His gallows humor did not appeal to everyone. But those who know that there isn't anything in life that doesn't deserve to be laughed at, including me, appreciated and enjoyed his work.
"I'm the bride at every funeral, the corpse at every wedding."
"I don't understand music but I like the noise it makes."
"I've always aimed at nothing and I've always hit it."
"I find it hard to still in one spot and impossible to sit still in two spots."
"Fear of life is only matched by fear of death. I have both."
"Doctors are quacks and so are their patients. Only the Coast Guard is honest."
His tombstone reads "As long as there is death there is hope."
His humor may sound morbid to some, but in the dark, cruel, vicious and macbre world it's the comedy of one who knows what's in the shadows and can laugh at it. Bless him.
The title of his act was "Stand Up Tragedy."
Brother Theodore, may he rest in pieces.
DB
***************
Tomorrow: Theatre Story #27
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^6
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Given the resources and opportunity, what one thing do you want to do in 2010 that you've never done before.
You have all Winter to answer. Answers will be posted on the first day of Spring.
15 responses so far.
DB - The Vagabond
Brother Theodore
*******************
In 1906 Theodore Gottlieb was born to a very wealthy Jewish family in Germany. Around 1940 he was taken prisoner by the Nazis and sent to Dachau concentration camp where he witnessed German soldiers laughing as they watched prisoners being tortured to death. He never saw his family again.
He signed over his wealth to the German government to obtain his freedom. In Austria he found Albert Einstein, a family friend who arranged for him to come to America. He did janitorial work in California, but was also an expert chess player and made money at chess tournaments.
He appeared in a few films, made many TV appearances and eventually, back in New York, had a regular nightclub act as a comedian. In his 80's he was a regular guest of David Letterman.
His humor was dark and strange. One of his famous monologues was about why people should not eat food. He frightened some people with his intensity, but he had a loyal and dedicated following of fans. His gallows humor did not appeal to everyone. But those who know that there isn't anything in life that doesn't deserve to be laughed at, including me, appreciated and enjoyed his work.
"I'm the bride at every funeral, the corpse at every wedding."
"I don't understand music but I like the noise it makes."
"I've always aimed at nothing and I've always hit it."
"I find it hard to still in one spot and impossible to sit still in two spots."
"Fear of life is only matched by fear of death. I have both."
"Doctors are quacks and so are their patients. Only the Coast Guard is honest."
His tombstone reads "As long as there is death there is hope."
His humor may sound morbid to some, but in the dark, cruel, vicious and macbre world it's the comedy of one who knows what's in the shadows and can laugh at it. Bless him.
The title of his act was "Stand Up Tragedy."
Brother Theodore, may he rest in pieces.
DB
***************
Tomorrow: Theatre Story #27
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^6
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Given the resources and opportunity, what one thing do you want to do in 2010 that you've never done before.
You have all Winter to answer. Answers will be posted on the first day of Spring.
15 responses so far.
DB - The Vagabond
Thursday, January 7, 2010
I've got a little list.
Misery has enough company. Dare to be happy.
From a billboard.
(Thank you Cindy)
**********************
Oh, I know, I know. Believe me I know. There are plenty of reasons in life to be miserable. Come visit me, I'll show you my collection.
The shameful fact is that some people actually enjoy being miserable. They are addicted to it. If they don't have a good reason to moan and groan and be unhappy they will go out and find one and if their search is fruitless they will come back home and invent one.
If there are no raw materials around your house to patch together a good misery you can always turn on the news and see how much better other people are at being miserable, so you'll have something to copy.
Are you the kind of person who likes to make lists? Well, there you go. Sit down now and start making a list of the reasons you have to feel sorry for yourself. You can start with "I don't have enough money." That's a good one and very popular. Which reminds me, if you run out of ideas to put on the list, check the daily paper. It will give you some great suggestions.
Now how long is your list? 20 items? That's not enough. You can do better than that. Go back and try harder.
Now repeat after me "Oh, woe is me !! Alas ! I'm so miserable I don't know what I'm going to do."
Good. I'm glad that's over. Now about happiness: Does it take courage to be happy? You bet. It takes strength, patience, determination, hope, faith. It takes not giving up. It takes knowing there is a solution to problems, an answer to dilemmas, the understanding that things can change, things can BE changed. Things are fixable, disposable, renewable and improvable.
Don't compare yourself with people who are less fortunate than you are. That's frightening. Don't compare yourself with people whoa re better off than you are. That's depressing. In fact, don't compare yourself with anybody. "Comparisons are odorous" (sic) as Shakespeare said.
Go back to that list of miseries you so carefully made up, choose one item and cure it. Now you're one step closer to happiness. Eventually you will chase all the phantoms of misery out the back door (they don't deserve the front door.) Happiness isn't the end of trouble. It's the end of misery.
Now say "Thank you Mr. Vagabond. I feel a little happier."
DB
*******************
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Given the resources and opportunity, what one thing do you want to do in 2010 that you've never done before.
You have all Winter to answer. Answers will be posted on the first day of Spring.
10 responses so far.
DB - The Vagabond
From a billboard.
(Thank you Cindy)
**********************
Oh, I know, I know. Believe me I know. There are plenty of reasons in life to be miserable. Come visit me, I'll show you my collection.
The shameful fact is that some people actually enjoy being miserable. They are addicted to it. If they don't have a good reason to moan and groan and be unhappy they will go out and find one and if their search is fruitless they will come back home and invent one.
If there are no raw materials around your house to patch together a good misery you can always turn on the news and see how much better other people are at being miserable, so you'll have something to copy.
Are you the kind of person who likes to make lists? Well, there you go. Sit down now and start making a list of the reasons you have to feel sorry for yourself. You can start with "I don't have enough money." That's a good one and very popular. Which reminds me, if you run out of ideas to put on the list, check the daily paper. It will give you some great suggestions.
Now how long is your list? 20 items? That's not enough. You can do better than that. Go back and try harder.
Now repeat after me "Oh, woe is me !! Alas ! I'm so miserable I don't know what I'm going to do."
Good. I'm glad that's over. Now about happiness: Does it take courage to be happy? You bet. It takes strength, patience, determination, hope, faith. It takes not giving up. It takes knowing there is a solution to problems, an answer to dilemmas, the understanding that things can change, things can BE changed. Things are fixable, disposable, renewable and improvable.
Don't compare yourself with people who are less fortunate than you are. That's frightening. Don't compare yourself with people whoa re better off than you are. That's depressing. In fact, don't compare yourself with anybody. "Comparisons are odorous" (sic) as Shakespeare said.
Go back to that list of miseries you so carefully made up, choose one item and cure it. Now you're one step closer to happiness. Eventually you will chase all the phantoms of misery out the back door (they don't deserve the front door.) Happiness isn't the end of trouble. It's the end of misery.
Now say "Thank you Mr. Vagabond. I feel a little happier."
DB
*******************
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Given the resources and opportunity, what one thing do you want to do in 2010 that you've never done before.
You have all Winter to answer. Answers will be posted on the first day of Spring.
10 responses so far.
DB - The Vagabond
Monday, December 21, 2009
Winter's Quest
Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed, but with what it is still possible for you to do.
Pope John XXIII
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If you really want to make yourself miserable at this joyful holiday season take a pen and a pad of paper and make a list of all the times you failed. It'll pass the time, and the older you are the more time it will take.
On the other hand you can acknowledge the fact that "to err is human" as the old worn out saying goes and that you are not the only person around who has racked up a good history of flops.
To sit around remembering past failures or even past successes is a good time waster. It has been said that while young men have dreams, old men have memories. To that I say: Feh! Sure I have memories and sometimes I draw on them to think and write about something. But that's the reason, and I don't want to dwell on the memories of my failures. Those memories are useless. Lessons have been learned and life goes on. I want my remembering to be like a sun dial which indicates only sunny hours. And when I draw on them I want them to be accompanied by the sweet sounds and gentle aromas that pertain to my present life. Life is a forward thing. It isn't what I've done it's what I'm capable of doing that matters. So why should I waste my time and mental energies on the past when I could be designing, devising, determining. Today is today. Tomorrow is different. I want the difference to be according to me.
In keeping with that impetus I have put together the suggestions for the famous world renowned WINTER QUESTION and come up with the following.
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Given the resources and opportunity, what one thing do you want to do in 2010 that you've never done before.
You have all Winter to answer. Answers will be posted on the first day of Spring.
DB - The Vagabond
Pope John XXIII
************************
If you really want to make yourself miserable at this joyful holiday season take a pen and a pad of paper and make a list of all the times you failed. It'll pass the time, and the older you are the more time it will take.
On the other hand you can acknowledge the fact that "to err is human" as the old worn out saying goes and that you are not the only person around who has racked up a good history of flops.
To sit around remembering past failures or even past successes is a good time waster. It has been said that while young men have dreams, old men have memories. To that I say: Feh! Sure I have memories and sometimes I draw on them to think and write about something. But that's the reason, and I don't want to dwell on the memories of my failures. Those memories are useless. Lessons have been learned and life goes on. I want my remembering to be like a sun dial which indicates only sunny hours. And when I draw on them I want them to be accompanied by the sweet sounds and gentle aromas that pertain to my present life. Life is a forward thing. It isn't what I've done it's what I'm capable of doing that matters. So why should I waste my time and mental energies on the past when I could be designing, devising, determining. Today is today. Tomorrow is different. I want the difference to be according to me.
In keeping with that impetus I have put together the suggestions for the famous world renowned WINTER QUESTION and come up with the following.
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Given the resources and opportunity, what one thing do you want to do in 2010 that you've never done before.
You have all Winter to answer. Answers will be posted on the first day of Spring.
DB - The Vagabond
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