If I knew I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself.
Mickey Mantle
******************
The door is open.
-------------------------------
When I was a youngster. like most young ones, I paid little attention to the advice I was getting from my elders. I was repeatedly told to plan for the future. But I didn't want to waste time planning for the future. That would just take time away from living in the present. I wanted to live life to the fullest right then. And so I did, to the extent possible given financial and family limitations.
I figured that some day I would be 70 years old and decrepit. So it was necessary to get as much living done as I could while I was still young. My elders told me I should work hard and save as much money as I could so that I could retire comfortably in peace and security. But peace and security were not subjects that interested me at that tender age. Life was meant to be enjoyed, I said.
So I set about enjoying it. Once I came of age I began a career as an actor which continued for many decades. I went to many different places, worked with many different people and had many different and interesting experiences. None of which I regret. Of course I sometimes did scripts I wish I hadn't done, but there was always a good experience that came out of it in one way or another.
One of the benefits of choosing life as an actor is that the roles change as you grow, but there is always another role to come. I moved graciously from playing someone's son, to someone's lover, to somebody's Dad, to someone else's Grandpa, with no angst or effort. I was living life to the fullest.
Then I retired. My retirement is not peaceful or secure and certainly lacks a lot of comforts. I might have better heeded the advice of my elders at the time. But I didn't. I wanted to live my life to the fullest, the way I wanted to.
Now I'm 70 years old and decrepit and, guess what, I still live life to the fullest, even given the physical and financial limitations of a man who didn't take better care of himself. I am my own entertainment. I read as much as I can. I go outside to enjoy the sunshine, the flowers and birds. I write every day. I paint almost every day. I enjoy sharing thoughts and ideas with my Internet friends. And, in spite of everything that has come down on me to annoy me, grieve me and waste my time, I still have a sense of humor.
Please don't think I'm bragging. I wrote this entry simply to say that, if you're young do take better care of yourself, as Mickey advises, but however old you are, let nothing take away your zest for life.
DB - The Vagabond
______________________
When you get to the corner, go the other way.
*************************
SUMMER QUIZ
This is not a contest.
A young man out west just took home 88 million dollars from the lottery.
Whether you play the lottery or not, if you suddenly had 88 million dollars, or the equivalent of whatever your currency is, what are the first three things you would do with it?
You have all summer to answer if you wish.
18 responses so far.
DB
_______________________________________
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Living Light 7/30/09
A good painting to me has always been like a friend. It keeps me company, comforts and inspires.
Hedy Lamarr
***********************
Welcome to my studio.
----------------------------------
I, alas, will never see all the paintings in the world. There are millions of them. But I see as many as I can. I enjoy going to museums and galleries. I've seen thousands of art works, some excellent, some good and some terrible. But of all that I've seen my favorite is one called "The Piano Lesson" by Henri Matisse.
A young boy is seated at a Pleyel practicing (Ignaz Pleyel was the foremost piano maker before Steinway, Baldwin and Yamaha ever showed up). There's a triangular metronome on the piano. Over his right shoulder an open window with a breeze blowing the curtain. Over his left shoulder a female figure sitting on a stool with her hands folded in her lap, a teacher? his mother? the muse?
There are a few triangles in the picture which I read as the triad, the basic building block of harmony. And there are mysteries. Does the boy want to learn to play the piano, or does he want to be outside playing on this beautiful day? And who is the woman?
The Piano Lesson will always be alive for me. It lives at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Whenever I'm in the city, if I have time, I go and visit it. It's my friend.
When I started painting I turned out a few works that were nice, but then one day I surprised myself with a picture I call "The Blues." It's an abstract of deep grays and blues. Some might say it's a dark and somber work, but for me it's full of light. It inspires me. It shows me what art and I, as an artist, are capable of.
Whenever someone looks at my works I have to tell them that The Blues will never be for sale. It is precious to me. It talks to me every day. It's my friend.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
************************
Midsummer is on the way.
_____________________________
Hedy Lamarr
***********************
Welcome to my studio.
----------------------------------
I, alas, will never see all the paintings in the world. There are millions of them. But I see as many as I can. I enjoy going to museums and galleries. I've seen thousands of art works, some excellent, some good and some terrible. But of all that I've seen my favorite is one called "The Piano Lesson" by Henri Matisse.
A young boy is seated at a Pleyel practicing (Ignaz Pleyel was the foremost piano maker before Steinway, Baldwin and Yamaha ever showed up). There's a triangular metronome on the piano. Over his right shoulder an open window with a breeze blowing the curtain. Over his left shoulder a female figure sitting on a stool with her hands folded in her lap, a teacher? his mother? the muse?
There are a few triangles in the picture which I read as the triad, the basic building block of harmony. And there are mysteries. Does the boy want to learn to play the piano, or does he want to be outside playing on this beautiful day? And who is the woman?
The Piano Lesson will always be alive for me. It lives at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Whenever I'm in the city, if I have time, I go and visit it. It's my friend.
When I started painting I turned out a few works that were nice, but then one day I surprised myself with a picture I call "The Blues." It's an abstract of deep grays and blues. Some might say it's a dark and somber work, but for me it's full of light. It inspires me. It shows me what art and I, as an artist, are capable of.
Whenever someone looks at my works I have to tell them that The Blues will never be for sale. It is precious to me. It talks to me every day. It's my friend.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
************************
Midsummer is on the way.
_____________________________
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Kind Kappellmeister 7/29/09
When Bach and Beethoven and all those guys were doing their thing, it was an absolute pinnacle of our consciousness, and ever since then we've been re-exploring different avenues of it.
Maynard Keenan
********************
Tune your fiddle and have a seat.
--------------------------------------
If you are reading this you are probably not a fan of classical music. Most people aren't. But whether you prefer jazz, rock, folk, new age, easy listening or whatever your choice, you should know that if your favorite musician had formal training in a music academy or college department he or she had to analyze Bach chorals as part of the training.
Johann Sebastian Bach was the organist and music director of his very large church. Bach was a Lutheran. He composed, rehearsed and conducted a cantata every week to commemorate what the Sunday service was about. These cantatas were written for orchestra, chorus and usually solo singers. In between he managed to write an enormous amount of music. It was calculated that if a modern day musician sat down with a ball point pen, in good lighting and worked a 40 hour week it would take him many decades just to copy out what Bach wrote. And Bach did it with a quill pen, an inkwell, by candle light in a house full of his children.
Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and many others were inspired composers. I have a different feeling about Bach. Bach wasn't inspired. Bach WAS music. Music flowed out of him like breath. It was a divine exhalation. And that's why every true musician needs to know it.
I used to know a folk singer who graduated with a Bachelors degree in music. For her honors thesis she did an analysis of the Bach B minor Mass, a formidable task for any music student. It's a personal thing I know, but I happen to believe that the B minor Mass is the greatest piece of music ever written.
Far from my intent is to proselytize and try to make a classical music lover out of you, if you don't want to be. But if you don't listen to anything else you should listen to the amazing opening chorus of the Bach Mass It lasts 10 to 12 minutes depending on the conductor. It starts with a few basic chords and then begins a slow stately fugue for orchestra and chorus. During it the chorus sings only two words, Kerie Eleison, the opening two words of the Mass. It is a work of pure genius.
It's true that ever since Bach composers and musicians have been trying to re-explore and recapture that genius, to reinvent that wheel, to regain that amazing level of consciousness that brought such music to the world. And some have succeeded. Bach is always there to show us the way.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
___________________
Join me for a happy Wednesday.
***************************
PS: Whenever I write on classical music people seem to find out about it ahead of time and all head for the hills. Hence, no readers, no comments.
Maynard Keenan
********************
Tune your fiddle and have a seat.
--------------------------------------
If you are reading this you are probably not a fan of classical music. Most people aren't. But whether you prefer jazz, rock, folk, new age, easy listening or whatever your choice, you should know that if your favorite musician had formal training in a music academy or college department he or she had to analyze Bach chorals as part of the training.
Johann Sebastian Bach was the organist and music director of his very large church. Bach was a Lutheran. He composed, rehearsed and conducted a cantata every week to commemorate what the Sunday service was about. These cantatas were written for orchestra, chorus and usually solo singers. In between he managed to write an enormous amount of music. It was calculated that if a modern day musician sat down with a ball point pen, in good lighting and worked a 40 hour week it would take him many decades just to copy out what Bach wrote. And Bach did it with a quill pen, an inkwell, by candle light in a house full of his children.
Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and many others were inspired composers. I have a different feeling about Bach. Bach wasn't inspired. Bach WAS music. Music flowed out of him like breath. It was a divine exhalation. And that's why every true musician needs to know it.
I used to know a folk singer who graduated with a Bachelors degree in music. For her honors thesis she did an analysis of the Bach B minor Mass, a formidable task for any music student. It's a personal thing I know, but I happen to believe that the B minor Mass is the greatest piece of music ever written.
Far from my intent is to proselytize and try to make a classical music lover out of you, if you don't want to be. But if you don't listen to anything else you should listen to the amazing opening chorus of the Bach Mass It lasts 10 to 12 minutes depending on the conductor. It starts with a few basic chords and then begins a slow stately fugue for orchestra and chorus. During it the chorus sings only two words, Kerie Eleison, the opening two words of the Mass. It is a work of pure genius.
It's true that ever since Bach composers and musicians have been trying to re-explore and recapture that genius, to reinvent that wheel, to regain that amazing level of consciousness that brought such music to the world. And some have succeeded. Bach is always there to show us the way.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
___________________
Join me for a happy Wednesday.
***************************
PS: Whenever I write on classical music people seem to find out about it ahead of time and all head for the hills. Hence, no readers, no comments.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Justified Journey 7/28/09
Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.
William James
********************
A big loud welcome to you.
-------------------------
Two of the most powerful virtues we can have are faith and patience. In fact, without those two qualities at work in the stream of life, things would be a fine mess. The opposite side of patience is to be rash and hasty, two activities that have been the designers of some of the most tangled and regretable messes in the world.
One of the traits of youth is the desire to have what we want when we want it. Instant results. And if we don't see them we push on, do things over or do something else. Fads are born of that. The latest gadget is coveted with a passion. There has to be some evidence of what we wish for or pray for or else.
Lust has been described as the desire to have whatever we want on the instant, without waiting. Instant gratification. Carrie Fisher once wrote that instant gratification takes too long.
In my career I found that some directors want the results of their directions instantly. But there is a gestation period for any ideas that are worthwhile. A good argument doesn't convince any thinking person immediately. The more important an event the longer it takes to bear fruit.
The farmer doesn't expect his crops to grow right after he plants them. He has faith that nature is doing the work. You don't want your children to grow up instantly and miss their childhood. But if the right influences and instructions are given them the result will most likely be an adult you want to know.
The worst things that can happen usually take no time to appear. That's just because they are worthless. But the blessings take time. Lately I've seen things blooming in my life that I made some good efforts to see a long time ago. Some of them are things I simply forgot about. But the seeds opened, took root and eventually bore fruit while I wasn't thinking about them.
We are the fruits of life. We are the products, the results of life. We are neither swallowed up in life nor are we plowed back under. That gives us the right, opportunity and obligation to act in ways that make a positive difference in the world, even if the results are not immediate.
DB
*********************
Watch the flowers enjoying the weather.
________________________________
SUMMER QUIZ
This is not a contest.
A young man out west just took home 88 million dollars from the lottery.
Whether you play the lottery or not, if you suddenly had 88 million dollars, or the equivalent of whatever your currency is, what are the first three things you would do with it?
You have all summer to answer if you wish.
18 responses so far.
DB
William James
********************
A big loud welcome to you.
-------------------------
Two of the most powerful virtues we can have are faith and patience. In fact, without those two qualities at work in the stream of life, things would be a fine mess. The opposite side of patience is to be rash and hasty, two activities that have been the designers of some of the most tangled and regretable messes in the world.
One of the traits of youth is the desire to have what we want when we want it. Instant results. And if we don't see them we push on, do things over or do something else. Fads are born of that. The latest gadget is coveted with a passion. There has to be some evidence of what we wish for or pray for or else.
Lust has been described as the desire to have whatever we want on the instant, without waiting. Instant gratification. Carrie Fisher once wrote that instant gratification takes too long.
In my career I found that some directors want the results of their directions instantly. But there is a gestation period for any ideas that are worthwhile. A good argument doesn't convince any thinking person immediately. The more important an event the longer it takes to bear fruit.
The farmer doesn't expect his crops to grow right after he plants them. He has faith that nature is doing the work. You don't want your children to grow up instantly and miss their childhood. But if the right influences and instructions are given them the result will most likely be an adult you want to know.
The worst things that can happen usually take no time to appear. That's just because they are worthless. But the blessings take time. Lately I've seen things blooming in my life that I made some good efforts to see a long time ago. Some of them are things I simply forgot about. But the seeds opened, took root and eventually bore fruit while I wasn't thinking about them.
We are the fruits of life. We are the products, the results of life. We are neither swallowed up in life nor are we plowed back under. That gives us the right, opportunity and obligation to act in ways that make a positive difference in the world, even if the results are not immediate.
DB
*********************
Watch the flowers enjoying the weather.
________________________________
SUMMER QUIZ
This is not a contest.
A young man out west just took home 88 million dollars from the lottery.
Whether you play the lottery or not, if you suddenly had 88 million dollars, or the equivalent of whatever your currency is, what are the first three things you would do with it?
You have all summer to answer if you wish.
18 responses so far.
DB
Monday, July 27, 2009
Innocent Inspection 7/27/09
My paint brush is like a telescope. It helps me to discover things.
DB - The Vagabond
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Happy Monday to you.
-------------------------
According to a recent report the Russians are planning to send a poet up into space on one of their Soyuz missions. I was having a conversation about that with someone the other day. I, being an artist, think it's a great idea. She, not being an artist, or for whatever reason, thinks it's a stupid idea.
I remember back in the 50s or so, when American Airlines first introduced their 707, they hired a poet, Carl Sandburg as a matter of fact, to fly back and forth in the plane and write about it. Those poems not only sold people on the 707, they also, and even more importantly, described the experience of air travel to people who were still unaware of it, and described it in ways only a poet can.
I have always thought, and frequently said in the past, much to other people's amusement and scorn, that I believed there should be a poet in space. Poets see things ordinary human don't see. It seems appropriate somehow that the Russians, the first people in space, should be the ones, especially considering their vast and colorful literature, to be the first to send a poet.
I spite of what the super practical may think, the telescopic mind of a poet can enhance the experiences and possibilities of outer space. Poets are seers and can fortell what others cannot. A poet will discover because he won't look for what he expects to find. A poet will talk to space and listen as space replies. Poets are at home in the stars.
Poetry must be defended, with an army if necessary.
I look forward with anticipation to read what words the poet has to utter.
DB
_______________________
Laugh at the heat. Smile at the breeze.
**********************************
DB - The Vagabond
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Happy Monday to you.
-------------------------
According to a recent report the Russians are planning to send a poet up into space on one of their Soyuz missions. I was having a conversation about that with someone the other day. I, being an artist, think it's a great idea. She, not being an artist, or for whatever reason, thinks it's a stupid idea.
I remember back in the 50s or so, when American Airlines first introduced their 707, they hired a poet, Carl Sandburg as a matter of fact, to fly back and forth in the plane and write about it. Those poems not only sold people on the 707, they also, and even more importantly, described the experience of air travel to people who were still unaware of it, and described it in ways only a poet can.
I have always thought, and frequently said in the past, much to other people's amusement and scorn, that I believed there should be a poet in space. Poets see things ordinary human don't see. It seems appropriate somehow that the Russians, the first people in space, should be the ones, especially considering their vast and colorful literature, to be the first to send a poet.
I spite of what the super practical may think, the telescopic mind of a poet can enhance the experiences and possibilities of outer space. Poets are seers and can fortell what others cannot. A poet will discover because he won't look for what he expects to find. A poet will talk to space and listen as space replies. Poets are at home in the stars.
Poetry must be defended, with an army if necessary.
I look forward with anticipation to read what words the poet has to utter.
DB
_______________________
Laugh at the heat. Smile at the breeze.
**********************************
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Weekend Puzzle - Answer
WEEKEND PUZZLE
Since you all pooped out on me last week I'll make it easy on you this weekend. But next weekend, watch out.
The laurel wreath for the winner of this weeks contest goes upon the head of
Just Plain Bill, from the Blogspot Tigers.
Second place goes to Salemslot9 (Tiger)
Third place to Preciousone77 (Tiger)
The Email (Cowardly) Lions never showed up at the starting line.
The answer:
INSOLENCE BREEDS THE TYRANT, INSOLENCE IF IT IS GLUTTED
SWFLXJWUJ NOJJBF EIJ EPOGWE, SWLFXJWUJ SR SE SF ZXHEEJB
WITH A SURFEIT, UNSEASONABLE, UNPROFITABLE, CLIMBS TO THE
VSEI G FHORJSE, HWFJGFLWGNXJ, HWAOLRSEGNXJ, UXSKNF EL EIJ
ROOF-TOP AND PLUNGES SHEER DOWN TO THE RUIN THAT MUST BE.
OLLR-ELA GWB AXHWZJF FIJJO BLVW EL EIJ OHSW EIGE KHFE NJ.
SOPHOCLES
FLAILUXJF
Thank you. D
Since you all pooped out on me last week I'll make it easy on you this weekend. But next weekend, watch out.
The laurel wreath for the winner of this weeks contest goes upon the head of
Just Plain Bill, from the Blogspot Tigers.
Second place goes to Salemslot9 (Tiger)
Third place to Preciousone77 (Tiger)
The Email (Cowardly) Lions never showed up at the starting line.
The answer:
INSOLENCE BREEDS THE TYRANT, INSOLENCE IF IT IS GLUTTED
SWFLXJWUJ NOJJBF EIJ EPOGWE, SWLFXJWUJ SR SE SF ZXHEEJB
WITH A SURFEIT, UNSEASONABLE, UNPROFITABLE, CLIMBS TO THE
VSEI G FHORJSE, HWFJGFLWGNXJ, HWAOLRSEGNXJ, UXSKNF EL EIJ
ROOF-TOP AND PLUNGES SHEER DOWN TO THE RUIN THAT MUST BE.
OLLR-ELA GWB AXHWZJF FIJJO BLVW EL EIJ OHSW EIGE KHFE NJ.
SOPHOCLES
FLAILUXJF
Thank you. D
Hardy Habitation 7/26/09
Storms make oaks take deeper root.
George Herbert
*********************
I'm here. Come on in.
----------------------------
My old cat William always wanted to sleep on my feet when I went to bed. I'm an athletic sleeper. I know that because every morning, when I wake up, the sheets and blankets are in a twist and a tangle. I noticed that while I was tossing around trying to get to sleep William would just dig in, wait patiently for all my flipping and flopping to finish and then settle back down. He never got up and moved somewhere else because, for some inscrutable feline reason, my feet was where he wanted to be and that was that. When I awoke in the morning there he was stretching out his front paws and looking at me to be sure I was awake and ready to dish up some cat food.
Tumults aplenty are available in this world to us mere humans. We are rained on by inconveniences and bad luck, we are blown around by opinions and influences, we suffer the lightening flashes and rolling thunder of unexpected troubles and then we are hit by the ice, snow and freezing temperatures of pain and fear. What do we do?
Reason is a good answer, thinking things through for ourselves, weighing all the facts, challenging all the doubts and arriving at conclusions we can believe and have faith in. It is a great and healthy thing to have confidence in your own intelligence. I have had my thinking challenged on many occasions and when I saw that I was wrong about something, I willingly changed my mind. But when I know a thing to be true I, like William, dig in and refuse to be talked out of it. And another thing about challenges is that if you are right and stand firm for what you know is right your grasp on it becomes even stronger, like the mighty oak tree.
Provide yourself with a place for your roots, then dig in and wait for the storm to pass. When it does you will still be standing tall.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
___________________
Try something new this week.
*********************
George Herbert
*********************
I'm here. Come on in.
----------------------------
My old cat William always wanted to sleep on my feet when I went to bed. I'm an athletic sleeper. I know that because every morning, when I wake up, the sheets and blankets are in a twist and a tangle. I noticed that while I was tossing around trying to get to sleep William would just dig in, wait patiently for all my flipping and flopping to finish and then settle back down. He never got up and moved somewhere else because, for some inscrutable feline reason, my feet was where he wanted to be and that was that. When I awoke in the morning there he was stretching out his front paws and looking at me to be sure I was awake and ready to dish up some cat food.
Tumults aplenty are available in this world to us mere humans. We are rained on by inconveniences and bad luck, we are blown around by opinions and influences, we suffer the lightening flashes and rolling thunder of unexpected troubles and then we are hit by the ice, snow and freezing temperatures of pain and fear. What do we do?
Reason is a good answer, thinking things through for ourselves, weighing all the facts, challenging all the doubts and arriving at conclusions we can believe and have faith in. It is a great and healthy thing to have confidence in your own intelligence. I have had my thinking challenged on many occasions and when I saw that I was wrong about something, I willingly changed my mind. But when I know a thing to be true I, like William, dig in and refuse to be talked out of it. And another thing about challenges is that if you are right and stand firm for what you know is right your grasp on it becomes even stronger, like the mighty oak tree.
Provide yourself with a place for your roots, then dig in and wait for the storm to pass. When it does you will still be standing tall.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
___________________
Try something new this week.
*********************
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Good Guidance 7/25/09
You cannot prepare enough for anything.
James Galway
**********************
Batter up.
---------------------------
One of the most annoying and disruptive things for an actor is to go on stage and try to work with another actor who is not properly prepared. Some beginning and amateur actors think that if they are dramatic and try real hard the role will take over and play itself, that the inspiration will come. That is total nonsense. Without the necessary preparation an actor will forget lines, miss cues, mispronounce things and be in the wrong place. Inexperienced actors simply don't know how difficult it is to prepare for a role and how many hours of work it takes. It can't be done just in rehearsal. I think of rehearsal as a daily test to find out if my homework was done. The lines have to be known so well that you don't have yo think of them. The story has to be known just as well. Nothing happens automatically. Yes, sometimes the role takes over and plays itself, but that only happens to serious, professional actors who know the role so well they can get out of the way and let it happen, Everything has to be rehearsed, on the stage, at home, with the script, in your head, walking down the street. It's not unusual for an actor in a major role to go into that role a hundred times or more before going into performance.
In my whole career I only had two major fights with a director. One of them was about preparation. It was a 2 character play. I had the role of a bartender. A girl comes into the bar and orders a lemonade. In the course of the play she has two of them. He makes them from scratch, slicing the lemon, squeezing the juice into a container, filling the glass with ice, dumping the ice, filling the glass with water and sugar, mixing them, pouring in the lemon juice, stirring and placing it on the bar in front of her. This business had to be carefully done because the lemonade would be placed at a very specific moment in the play. Meanwhile the dialogue between the two of us was going on.
The director would never let me rehearse the lemonade making. She kept saying we would do it later. Finally we got to dress rehearsal and I said I couldn't do a dress rehearsal without knowing the lemonade business. She said "We don't have time for that." We don't have time to rehearse the play, in other words.
So I sat there for the half hour before the dress rehearsal going through the business in my head, deciding when to cut the lemons, at what point the ice went in the glass, on what line I had to put in the sugar, and so on. I ran it over and over in my head. And when the rehearsal came I did it just right. She came backstage after it and was in a rage. "What happened? You lost all the contact you had with her yesterday. What the hell were you thinking about?" "What do you think I was thinking about? I was learning the business. Business must be rehearsed." And the fight was on.
When you see a play, a film or a TV show and there is activity going on know that it has been carefully worked out and rehearsed. Nobody makes it happen by pushing a button. If there is a fight scene on stage, there is a fight rehearsal before every performance.
I was hired to coach some people who were readers in an episcopal church. Those are the people who read from scripture during the service. I began with a roomful of people who had decided that it wasn't right to prepare because thy didn't want to interfere with the holy spirit and it's inspiration. I showed them that if they didn't prepare their normal human propensities for making mistakes would get in the way of the holy spirit. To err is human.
It is said the President Kennedy used to prepare for his news conferences by having his staff ask him the most embarrassing and difficult questions they could think of. Like a batter on deck swinging three bats to warm up.
Things may go right the first time. But I have seen too many awful things happen to people who tried to do something for which they were not prepared.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
_________________________
A joyful weekend is here.
******************************
James Galway
**********************
Batter up.
---------------------------
One of the most annoying and disruptive things for an actor is to go on stage and try to work with another actor who is not properly prepared. Some beginning and amateur actors think that if they are dramatic and try real hard the role will take over and play itself, that the inspiration will come. That is total nonsense. Without the necessary preparation an actor will forget lines, miss cues, mispronounce things and be in the wrong place. Inexperienced actors simply don't know how difficult it is to prepare for a role and how many hours of work it takes. It can't be done just in rehearsal. I think of rehearsal as a daily test to find out if my homework was done. The lines have to be known so well that you don't have yo think of them. The story has to be known just as well. Nothing happens automatically. Yes, sometimes the role takes over and plays itself, but that only happens to serious, professional actors who know the role so well they can get out of the way and let it happen, Everything has to be rehearsed, on the stage, at home, with the script, in your head, walking down the street. It's not unusual for an actor in a major role to go into that role a hundred times or more before going into performance.
In my whole career I only had two major fights with a director. One of them was about preparation. It was a 2 character play. I had the role of a bartender. A girl comes into the bar and orders a lemonade. In the course of the play she has two of them. He makes them from scratch, slicing the lemon, squeezing the juice into a container, filling the glass with ice, dumping the ice, filling the glass with water and sugar, mixing them, pouring in the lemon juice, stirring and placing it on the bar in front of her. This business had to be carefully done because the lemonade would be placed at a very specific moment in the play. Meanwhile the dialogue between the two of us was going on.
The director would never let me rehearse the lemonade making. She kept saying we would do it later. Finally we got to dress rehearsal and I said I couldn't do a dress rehearsal without knowing the lemonade business. She said "We don't have time for that." We don't have time to rehearse the play, in other words.
So I sat there for the half hour before the dress rehearsal going through the business in my head, deciding when to cut the lemons, at what point the ice went in the glass, on what line I had to put in the sugar, and so on. I ran it over and over in my head. And when the rehearsal came I did it just right. She came backstage after it and was in a rage. "What happened? You lost all the contact you had with her yesterday. What the hell were you thinking about?" "What do you think I was thinking about? I was learning the business. Business must be rehearsed." And the fight was on.
When you see a play, a film or a TV show and there is activity going on know that it has been carefully worked out and rehearsed. Nobody makes it happen by pushing a button. If there is a fight scene on stage, there is a fight rehearsal before every performance.
I was hired to coach some people who were readers in an episcopal church. Those are the people who read from scripture during the service. I began with a roomful of people who had decided that it wasn't right to prepare because thy didn't want to interfere with the holy spirit and it's inspiration. I showed them that if they didn't prepare their normal human propensities for making mistakes would get in the way of the holy spirit. To err is human.
It is said the President Kennedy used to prepare for his news conferences by having his staff ask him the most embarrassing and difficult questions they could think of. Like a batter on deck swinging three bats to warm up.
Things may go right the first time. But I have seen too many awful things happen to people who tried to do something for which they were not prepared.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
_________________________
A joyful weekend is here.
******************************
Friday, July 24, 2009
Explanation
The following entry is an explanation of why I am a vagabond. It is not a complaint about my life.
I am not the sort of vagabond who steals apples from a fruit stand and ideas from other people's books. I am the sort who sleeps under the apple tree and discovers my own ideas.
DB
I am not the sort of vagabond who steals apples from a fruit stand and ideas from other people's books. I am the sort who sleeps under the apple tree and discovers my own ideas.
DB
Facing Facts 7/24/09
People forget who they really are and buy into their own myth.
Siobhan Fahey
*********************
Come along with me.
------------------------------
Why do I call myself a vagabond?
__________________________
vagabond, n. 1. A person, usually without a permanent home, who wanders from place to place; nomad. 2. Idle wanderer, without a permanent home or visible means of support; tramp; vagrant. 3. A carefree, worthless or irresponsible person; rogue.
(Random House/Webster)
It all began when I was 6 years old. We moved and we kept moving. A sense of home, of permanence never took place in my consciousness. We didn't move all over the country like Irish Travelers. We stayed in more or less the same community, in the Northeast, but the dwelling places kept getting smaller and more squalid. I moved 26 times between the age of 6 and 21. Finally there was a shack, with no central heating and sometimes no heat or hat water. I literally did my homework by the light of a kerosene lamp. We would be officially known these days as poor white trash. My mother, and eventually I, went from job to job, temporary, low paid and disrespected. We were nomads.
In my adult life I kept up the wandering and sometimes I had no visible means of support. As an actor I went from job to job all over the eastern part of the country, literally from Maine to Florida. Often I had nothing but my backpack with a few items of old clothing and my Shakespeare with which I would not part. I never bought myself a piece of furniture except for the chair and desk I'm sitting at now, which I bought from the local Salvation Army for $15.
There were times when I had nothing to eat and no where to sleep. I slept in garages, alleys, on roofs, in basements, abandoned cars, subway stations, backyards and once in Oklahoma in a jail cell thanks to a kindly cop who put me up for the night. God bless him.
When my legs gave out and I couldn't work I stood on crutches in Sheridan Square in NYC and begged.
"A carefree, worthless or irresponsible person." To face the desperate struggles of life with a smile and a sense of humor gives the vivid impression of being "carefree."
To have nothing is to be "worthless" except in the scale of knowledge and compassion for others in the same circumstances. One can be forced into irresponsibility as I was and still maintain a responsibility for one's talents and abilities to give to the world. I was an irresponsible member of society but a very responsible artist.
Am I a tramp? No. Am I a vagrant? Sometimes. Am I a rogue? Yes, but only in my thoughts and ideas.
In my youth I knew people who wanted to live they way they thought I did. They would leave home, grow a beard and hit the road, telling themselves they're living the bohemian life. But they all had a home to go to, a Mom and Pop who would take them in and money in the bank. I know a guy who calls himself an "actor." But he has a regular office job which he will never quit to pursue a career because he's afraid to, he can't bear the insecurity. I knew a man who proudly claimed that he only read great literature, but if you questioned him about Hawthorne, Shakespeare or the Brontes he didn't know anything. If you asked him what he read lately he couldn't come up with an answer. It is very difficult to respect those people.
My vagabondism is not a myth. It took me many years to finally understand and admit it to myself.
Call yourself what you are and get on with life. That's my advice.
DB
**********************
Sing a sweet Friday song.
_______________________________
Siobhan Fahey
*********************
Come along with me.
------------------------------
Why do I call myself a vagabond?
__________________________
vagabond, n. 1. A person, usually without a permanent home, who wanders from place to place; nomad. 2. Idle wanderer, without a permanent home or visible means of support; tramp; vagrant. 3. A carefree, worthless or irresponsible person; rogue.
(Random House/Webster)
It all began when I was 6 years old. We moved and we kept moving. A sense of home, of permanence never took place in my consciousness. We didn't move all over the country like Irish Travelers. We stayed in more or less the same community, in the Northeast, but the dwelling places kept getting smaller and more squalid. I moved 26 times between the age of 6 and 21. Finally there was a shack, with no central heating and sometimes no heat or hat water. I literally did my homework by the light of a kerosene lamp. We would be officially known these days as poor white trash. My mother, and eventually I, went from job to job, temporary, low paid and disrespected. We were nomads.
In my adult life I kept up the wandering and sometimes I had no visible means of support. As an actor I went from job to job all over the eastern part of the country, literally from Maine to Florida. Often I had nothing but my backpack with a few items of old clothing and my Shakespeare with which I would not part. I never bought myself a piece of furniture except for the chair and desk I'm sitting at now, which I bought from the local Salvation Army for $15.
There were times when I had nothing to eat and no where to sleep. I slept in garages, alleys, on roofs, in basements, abandoned cars, subway stations, backyards and once in Oklahoma in a jail cell thanks to a kindly cop who put me up for the night. God bless him.
When my legs gave out and I couldn't work I stood on crutches in Sheridan Square in NYC and begged.
"A carefree, worthless or irresponsible person." To face the desperate struggles of life with a smile and a sense of humor gives the vivid impression of being "carefree."
To have nothing is to be "worthless" except in the scale of knowledge and compassion for others in the same circumstances. One can be forced into irresponsibility as I was and still maintain a responsibility for one's talents and abilities to give to the world. I was an irresponsible member of society but a very responsible artist.
Am I a tramp? No. Am I a vagrant? Sometimes. Am I a rogue? Yes, but only in my thoughts and ideas.
In my youth I knew people who wanted to live they way they thought I did. They would leave home, grow a beard and hit the road, telling themselves they're living the bohemian life. But they all had a home to go to, a Mom and Pop who would take them in and money in the bank. I know a guy who calls himself an "actor." But he has a regular office job which he will never quit to pursue a career because he's afraid to, he can't bear the insecurity. I knew a man who proudly claimed that he only read great literature, but if you questioned him about Hawthorne, Shakespeare or the Brontes he didn't know anything. If you asked him what he read lately he couldn't come up with an answer. It is very difficult to respect those people.
My vagabondism is not a myth. It took me many years to finally understand and admit it to myself.
Call yourself what you are and get on with life. That's my advice.
DB
**********************
Sing a sweet Friday song.
_______________________________
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Energized Estimation 7/23/09
The average professor earns more money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week.
Evan Esar
******************
Come in, the lamp is lit.
---------------------------
We have to get our priorities straight Now what shall we do? Ah! I have it.
Come on professor, get up. No more sitting around smoking a pipe in you Harris tweed jacket with the leather patches on the elbows. No more dull boring lectures on borderline vagueness, Etruscan pottery or non-Euclidian geometry. No more propositioning good looking freshman. No more being tied and tethered to your pathetic tenure. Close that book, get down to the locker room, suit up, get out on the field and start passing that football, if you expect to pay the rent.
We want to see you sweat and get tackled so we can cheer. Sign that contract with the Marbletown Jets, get in line, work with your teammates, do what your coach tells you to and hope that your team wins enough games to keep your name in the papers.
And when they hand you that big, fat check don't spend it on drugs, mansions, fancy cars, expensive bars and loose women. Put it under your mattress. Or better yet put it in the bank. Save it, so you can send your kids to college. Where they can learn basketball.
The Vagabond
______________________
May the spirit be with you.
*************************
SUMMER QUIZ
This is not a contest.
A young man out west just took home 88 million dollars from the lottery.
Whether you play the lottery or not, if you suddenly had 88 million dollars, or the equivalent of whatever your currency is, what are the first three things you would do with it?
You have all summer to answer if you wish.
12 responses so far.
DB
Evan Esar
******************
Come in, the lamp is lit.
---------------------------
We have to get our priorities straight Now what shall we do? Ah! I have it.
Come on professor, get up. No more sitting around smoking a pipe in you Harris tweed jacket with the leather patches on the elbows. No more dull boring lectures on borderline vagueness, Etruscan pottery or non-Euclidian geometry. No more propositioning good looking freshman. No more being tied and tethered to your pathetic tenure. Close that book, get down to the locker room, suit up, get out on the field and start passing that football, if you expect to pay the rent.
We want to see you sweat and get tackled so we can cheer. Sign that contract with the Marbletown Jets, get in line, work with your teammates, do what your coach tells you to and hope that your team wins enough games to keep your name in the papers.
And when they hand you that big, fat check don't spend it on drugs, mansions, fancy cars, expensive bars and loose women. Put it under your mattress. Or better yet put it in the bank. Save it, so you can send your kids to college. Where they can learn basketball.
The Vagabond
______________________
May the spirit be with you.
*************************
SUMMER QUIZ
This is not a contest.
A young man out west just took home 88 million dollars from the lottery.
Whether you play the lottery or not, if you suddenly had 88 million dollars, or the equivalent of whatever your currency is, what are the first three things you would do with it?
You have all summer to answer if you wish.
12 responses so far.
DB
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Demonstrated Daring 7/22/09
The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly.
Cecil B. DeMille
*******************
Join the wagon train.
---------------------------
I often write in this journal about limitations and the overcoming of them. That's because I have a lot of them and overcoming them seems to be the major issue of my life these days. My life is primarily taken up with negative pursuits, cleaning up messes, straightening out clumps, ironing our wrinkles, untying knots, dispelling daemons, chasing wolves, negotiating with monsters, staying alive. People whose names I don't even know are trying to nail down the lid on my future, my hopes and my happiness.
One may say all of my problems are in my own head. Maybe. But if so how did they get there. Ever since I was a little child I remember deprivation. lack and loss as the qualities that characterized my being. I DID NOT decide to be a poor person at the age of 6. When I had some money I was very generous with it and supported people and organizations I felt were valuable, helping people, children, animals and the planet. I did that until the money was gone. There has been no payback. That which went around has not come around. At the few times when someone came forth with a helping hand, though it was gratefully received, it was often inappropriate and useless. There were exceptions to that, such as my new monitor, which is the gift of a couple of solid gold blog spotters, and a very nice afternoon with another one who gave me some books. I love books.
The trouble is that one can become so involved in trying to get above the level of poverty that one forgets there may be something more to life. I try to think back to my youth to discover what it was I wanted to do, what my goal in life was, before I had to give up everything for the sake of getting by. I believe that if I latched on to that and went after it at high speed, most of the troubles I face would become less important. But so far my introspective fishing has not brought up anything. I know I had a goal, a dream, a desire once. What happened to it? Where did it go? It must be around here some place.
I was ridiculed out of being an astronaut in the 5th grade. I was called a liar in front of the class in 6th grade for my interest in politics. I listened to opera and classical music and read great literature because it had the ideas and ideals that were well above those that accompanied me in my squalid life. People said I listened to that music only because I was pretending, trying to show off a false erudition. Two brothers I knew came to visit me one Saturday afternoon and were baffled to learn that I actually listened to the opera when no one else was around. One day as a teenager I was publicly laughed at when it was discovered I had a book of poetry in my pocket. I was with the wrong people. But the right people were not around. My love of music didn't translate into talent so I became an actor, since that's where my talent was. To the day they died neither of my siblings could believe that that's how I made a living. The few times my mother saw me perform she had nothing but criticism for me.
But the stage was the only place I felt safe and secure because acting was something I could do and do well, and while I was on stage the deniers and suppressors couldn't get to me.
But now illness has struck down my acting career and without the money to get anything cured I'm left with little to do. One of the motives of my life has been to share what I have with people, even though sometimes it's resented. So now I write everyday in hopes that something I know and have experienced will be of benefit to someone. Even so, some people I know are saying "He's trying to be a writer." as if "being a writer" is naturally beyond my capabilities.
Now I struggle. I struggle with pain and illness, I struggle to get out of debt, to read from my books until my poor eyes get too tired and won't focus, to find food I can chew, to find my way out of this jungle of trouble, to have something to live for. I hope, at least, that my sense of humor doesn't abandoned me.
My vagabond journey is now a search for worth, value, purpose, the hopes and dreams for myself I had as a boy and that were knocked down and trampled on by circumstances. But I believe there is still a brightness somewhere I can't see, a light, a phoenix nest, a hidden naphtha waiting to burst into flame again. And I am searching for it. It's a search for the goal I left behind.
DB
_____________________________
Cecil B. DeMille
*******************
Join the wagon train.
---------------------------
I often write in this journal about limitations and the overcoming of them. That's because I have a lot of them and overcoming them seems to be the major issue of my life these days. My life is primarily taken up with negative pursuits, cleaning up messes, straightening out clumps, ironing our wrinkles, untying knots, dispelling daemons, chasing wolves, negotiating with monsters, staying alive. People whose names I don't even know are trying to nail down the lid on my future, my hopes and my happiness.
One may say all of my problems are in my own head. Maybe. But if so how did they get there. Ever since I was a little child I remember deprivation. lack and loss as the qualities that characterized my being. I DID NOT decide to be a poor person at the age of 6. When I had some money I was very generous with it and supported people and organizations I felt were valuable, helping people, children, animals and the planet. I did that until the money was gone. There has been no payback. That which went around has not come around. At the few times when someone came forth with a helping hand, though it was gratefully received, it was often inappropriate and useless. There were exceptions to that, such as my new monitor, which is the gift of a couple of solid gold blog spotters, and a very nice afternoon with another one who gave me some books. I love books.
The trouble is that one can become so involved in trying to get above the level of poverty that one forgets there may be something more to life. I try to think back to my youth to discover what it was I wanted to do, what my goal in life was, before I had to give up everything for the sake of getting by. I believe that if I latched on to that and went after it at high speed, most of the troubles I face would become less important. But so far my introspective fishing has not brought up anything. I know I had a goal, a dream, a desire once. What happened to it? Where did it go? It must be around here some place.
I was ridiculed out of being an astronaut in the 5th grade. I was called a liar in front of the class in 6th grade for my interest in politics. I listened to opera and classical music and read great literature because it had the ideas and ideals that were well above those that accompanied me in my squalid life. People said I listened to that music only because I was pretending, trying to show off a false erudition. Two brothers I knew came to visit me one Saturday afternoon and were baffled to learn that I actually listened to the opera when no one else was around. One day as a teenager I was publicly laughed at when it was discovered I had a book of poetry in my pocket. I was with the wrong people. But the right people were not around. My love of music didn't translate into talent so I became an actor, since that's where my talent was. To the day they died neither of my siblings could believe that that's how I made a living. The few times my mother saw me perform she had nothing but criticism for me.
But the stage was the only place I felt safe and secure because acting was something I could do and do well, and while I was on stage the deniers and suppressors couldn't get to me.
But now illness has struck down my acting career and without the money to get anything cured I'm left with little to do. One of the motives of my life has been to share what I have with people, even though sometimes it's resented. So now I write everyday in hopes that something I know and have experienced will be of benefit to someone. Even so, some people I know are saying "He's trying to be a writer." as if "being a writer" is naturally beyond my capabilities.
Now I struggle. I struggle with pain and illness, I struggle to get out of debt, to read from my books until my poor eyes get too tired and won't focus, to find food I can chew, to find my way out of this jungle of trouble, to have something to live for. I hope, at least, that my sense of humor doesn't abandoned me.
My vagabond journey is now a search for worth, value, purpose, the hopes and dreams for myself I had as a boy and that were knocked down and trampled on by circumstances. But I believe there is still a brightness somewhere I can't see, a light, a phoenix nest, a hidden naphtha waiting to burst into flame again. And I am searching for it. It's a search for the goal I left behind.
DB
_____________________________
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Careful Composure 7/21/09
Nothing great was ever done without much enduring.
St. Catherine of Siena
***********************
I'm standing by.
----------------------------
Anyone who often reads Vagabond Journeys knows that I am a champion of the common man, a believer in the value, beauty and genius of the ordinary, everyday, average human being. I do not underestimate the remarkable achievements by remarkable people. But I am willing to recognize that my friends and neighbors are capable of remarkable things if the situation demands.
Yesterday I watched the celebration of the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The three astronauts involved all spoke. I noticed that none of them were very good public speakers. There were no orators in the group. But then I thought Why should there be? They are scientists, engineers, technicians and pilots. Oratory is not their game.
When Neil Armstrong came forward to speak he received a standing ovation from the audience. Again I wondered why he did and not the other two. Was it because he had done something remarkable that the others didn't do, or was it simply that he was the first person to do it. His name will go down in history as a great explorer. And yet when he spoke he showed himself to be an ordinary guy, like me.
Frequently the astronauts speak of the many thousands of people involved in the space flight history, of the thousands of nameless workers, ordinary folks like me, whose contributions made it possible for someone to walk on the moon.
Something else is talked of also, and that is the spirit of the Apollo program which inspired people to do their best, to dream, solve problems, design and build equipment and to make sure all the procedures were correctly carried out.
In his talk Armstrong uttered an amazing and troubling fact. He revealed that it was a mere 66 years between the Wright Brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk to the Apollo 11 landing on the moon. That's a amazing time line. Only 66 years. But it has been 40 years since the moon landing. What has happened since? The Apollo astronauts are old men now but they say they expected the program to continue to the moon and beyond.
I guess the International Space Station is a grand accomplishment, but, as someone pointed out, it's basically a political one. It doesn't have as much to do with space exploration as the Hubble Telescope. Why have 40 years gone by without further exploration? What happened to the spirit of Apollo? And what was that spirit in the first place.
Watching the Apollo 11 astronauts speak I wondered what it was that motivated those men to stuff themselves into a minute flying machine to go on a long journey they might not survive. The answer came listening to them and to others speak on the subject. There were two qualities that all explorers have had since humans first went where no one else had been: curiosity and willingness to risk one's life.
It is clear that taking off in a spaceship is risky business no matter what, but is risking one's life to install a battery in the space station the same as risking one's life to step on the moon? I don't think so.
Another quality the astronauts have is endurance, sticking to the job until it's done. In the case of the Apollo flights, it meant living in extremely cramped quarters for many days. A trip to Mars would mean living that way for months. How many people have the composure to do that? I don't think I do. I don't even like being on a bus for more than an hour. How long did it take Columbus and crew to travel on small, wooden bottomed boats to get here? We know what year he did it but I don't know how long it took. Do you?
(There are still some blank headed people who believe, like the Holocaust deniers, that the moon walks never happened, that it's all a hoax, . Sure, and Columbus never set foot on a new land either. His ship fell off the edge of the earth and we are not really here.)
Curiosity. Courage. Endurance. Those are the keys to our future. And we should get on with it.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
_________________________
Pardon my polemics, please.
))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
St. Catherine of Siena
***********************
I'm standing by.
----------------------------
Anyone who often reads Vagabond Journeys knows that I am a champion of the common man, a believer in the value, beauty and genius of the ordinary, everyday, average human being. I do not underestimate the remarkable achievements by remarkable people. But I am willing to recognize that my friends and neighbors are capable of remarkable things if the situation demands.
Yesterday I watched the celebration of the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The three astronauts involved all spoke. I noticed that none of them were very good public speakers. There were no orators in the group. But then I thought Why should there be? They are scientists, engineers, technicians and pilots. Oratory is not their game.
When Neil Armstrong came forward to speak he received a standing ovation from the audience. Again I wondered why he did and not the other two. Was it because he had done something remarkable that the others didn't do, or was it simply that he was the first person to do it. His name will go down in history as a great explorer. And yet when he spoke he showed himself to be an ordinary guy, like me.
Frequently the astronauts speak of the many thousands of people involved in the space flight history, of the thousands of nameless workers, ordinary folks like me, whose contributions made it possible for someone to walk on the moon.
Something else is talked of also, and that is the spirit of the Apollo program which inspired people to do their best, to dream, solve problems, design and build equipment and to make sure all the procedures were correctly carried out.
In his talk Armstrong uttered an amazing and troubling fact. He revealed that it was a mere 66 years between the Wright Brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk to the Apollo 11 landing on the moon. That's a amazing time line. Only 66 years. But it has been 40 years since the moon landing. What has happened since? The Apollo astronauts are old men now but they say they expected the program to continue to the moon and beyond.
I guess the International Space Station is a grand accomplishment, but, as someone pointed out, it's basically a political one. It doesn't have as much to do with space exploration as the Hubble Telescope. Why have 40 years gone by without further exploration? What happened to the spirit of Apollo? And what was that spirit in the first place.
Watching the Apollo 11 astronauts speak I wondered what it was that motivated those men to stuff themselves into a minute flying machine to go on a long journey they might not survive. The answer came listening to them and to others speak on the subject. There were two qualities that all explorers have had since humans first went where no one else had been: curiosity and willingness to risk one's life.
It is clear that taking off in a spaceship is risky business no matter what, but is risking one's life to install a battery in the space station the same as risking one's life to step on the moon? I don't think so.
Another quality the astronauts have is endurance, sticking to the job until it's done. In the case of the Apollo flights, it meant living in extremely cramped quarters for many days. A trip to Mars would mean living that way for months. How many people have the composure to do that? I don't think I do. I don't even like being on a bus for more than an hour. How long did it take Columbus and crew to travel on small, wooden bottomed boats to get here? We know what year he did it but I don't know how long it took. Do you?
(There are still some blank headed people who believe, like the Holocaust deniers, that the moon walks never happened, that it's all a hoax, . Sure, and Columbus never set foot on a new land either. His ship fell off the edge of the earth and we are not really here.)
Curiosity. Courage. Endurance. Those are the keys to our future. And we should get on with it.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
_________________________
Pardon my polemics, please.
))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Monday, July 20, 2009
Beneficial Behavior 7/20/09
True wisdom lies in gathering the precious things out of each day as it goes by.
B. S. Bouton
*********************
Be my guest.
---------------------------------
Every day should be accompanied by benefit and beauty in some form. That may seem like a hard struggle for you if you are suffering. The temptation is to dwell only on the ugly notes if there is nasty work to be done. Life should be one harmonious line. When the unusual becomes the usual and the only things that seems real and true are dead and stinking fish in the barrel, we forget that.
I think it's a matter of looking for, instead of looking at. I'm remembering the story about the freed slave, I believe it was Booker T. Washington, who was ordered by his employer to clean out a shed. After several tries, she still was not satisfied and told him to go back in and continue. When he finally succeeded it occurred to him that it took him so long to do the job because he had never seen a clean shed before. He had been looking at the chaos and not the order. This is another bit of legerdemain we perform on our troubled selves. I have a problem with this one.
I have so many troublesome messes in my life that I honestly am not sure I remember or can imagine what my life would look and feel like if the messes were all cleared up. Then what would I do? Create new ones? Maybe. I hope not.
But today's quote says there's a better way of looking at things, a different way. There are blessings to be had today. They may be already sitting around on your desk, or they may come in the mail or they may be something you have left unthought about. Why not look for and expect some of those things, instead of cherishing the troubles? It isn't a matter of looking on the brighter side of things. It's a matter of looking for brighter things. Sure it's a mood swinger to do that, but it's also a wisdom earner. Looking at only the wrongs, positive or negative, pulls the shade down on the sunlight of the bounty that belongs to you.
I once had a roommate who was a very religious man. He took a job as an unskilled construction worker. This man had a lot of personal problems to solve and he had to work very hard. But whenever he came home his acknowledgement was always a positive one about his day's work. He would say things like "Today the Lord taught me how to install a ceiling."
What are you going to learn today? That's the question.
DB - The Vagabond
___________________________
Come on, I want to see a smile.
**********************************
B. S. Bouton
*********************
Be my guest.
---------------------------------
Every day should be accompanied by benefit and beauty in some form. That may seem like a hard struggle for you if you are suffering. The temptation is to dwell only on the ugly notes if there is nasty work to be done. Life should be one harmonious line. When the unusual becomes the usual and the only things that seems real and true are dead and stinking fish in the barrel, we forget that.
I think it's a matter of looking for, instead of looking at. I'm remembering the story about the freed slave, I believe it was Booker T. Washington, who was ordered by his employer to clean out a shed. After several tries, she still was not satisfied and told him to go back in and continue. When he finally succeeded it occurred to him that it took him so long to do the job because he had never seen a clean shed before. He had been looking at the chaos and not the order. This is another bit of legerdemain we perform on our troubled selves. I have a problem with this one.
I have so many troublesome messes in my life that I honestly am not sure I remember or can imagine what my life would look and feel like if the messes were all cleared up. Then what would I do? Create new ones? Maybe. I hope not.
But today's quote says there's a better way of looking at things, a different way. There are blessings to be had today. They may be already sitting around on your desk, or they may come in the mail or they may be something you have left unthought about. Why not look for and expect some of those things, instead of cherishing the troubles? It isn't a matter of looking on the brighter side of things. It's a matter of looking for brighter things. Sure it's a mood swinger to do that, but it's also a wisdom earner. Looking at only the wrongs, positive or negative, pulls the shade down on the sunlight of the bounty that belongs to you.
I once had a roommate who was a very religious man. He took a job as an unskilled construction worker. This man had a lot of personal problems to solve and he had to work very hard. But whenever he came home his acknowledgement was always a positive one about his day's work. He would say things like "Today the Lord taught me how to install a ceiling."
What are you going to learn today? That's the question.
DB - The Vagabond
___________________________
Come on, I want to see a smile.
**********************************
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Advantageous Aggression
If you have the will to win, you have achieved half your success; if you don't, you have achieved half your failure.
David Ambrose
*******************
Enter smiling.
-------------------------
Who wants to be at war all the time? Who wants to go into battle every day? Why is it that sometimes there seems to be a phalanx of enemies lined up to defeat us? And what do we do about it?
Years ago I read a book on military strategy, written by a US Army General. (My reading choices are eclectic. I have grown used to having them scornfully challenged. "What are you reading THAT for?" Every good book is a textbook for living.)
The book I read pointed out two very important things about engaging an enemy. Vitally important to any army are supply and communication. If you can cut off those things from the opposing army you might be able to win a battle without firing a shot. The reason being that you will demoralize the enemy. It's the principle behind laying a siege. Surround the enemy, cut them off from all supply and communication, and they will soon be ready for defeat and surrender. Once they lose the will to fight, the fight is over.
As a result of learning that tactic, I've noticed in how many subtle ways the things that trouble my life are designed to demoralize me, to make me surrender, throw down my weapons and quit the field.
The worst part of the demoralization process is that one tends to believe that hopelessness and despair are a result of one's own thinking. That's when one has to turn the thinking around, change the tactic and find a way to poke a hole in the enemy's ranks. It has been done, it can be done, it will be done if quitting is not an option.
"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more:"
"The game's afoot: follow your spirit."
(Shakespeare)
Beware of doubt, fear, confusion, discouragement, despair. Beware of demoralization. That's the real enemy.
Vagabond Journeys
______________________________
Keep smiling.
***************************
David Ambrose
*******************
Enter smiling.
-------------------------
Who wants to be at war all the time? Who wants to go into battle every day? Why is it that sometimes there seems to be a phalanx of enemies lined up to defeat us? And what do we do about it?
Years ago I read a book on military strategy, written by a US Army General. (My reading choices are eclectic. I have grown used to having them scornfully challenged. "What are you reading THAT for?" Every good book is a textbook for living.)
The book I read pointed out two very important things about engaging an enemy. Vitally important to any army are supply and communication. If you can cut off those things from the opposing army you might be able to win a battle without firing a shot. The reason being that you will demoralize the enemy. It's the principle behind laying a siege. Surround the enemy, cut them off from all supply and communication, and they will soon be ready for defeat and surrender. Once they lose the will to fight, the fight is over.
As a result of learning that tactic, I've noticed in how many subtle ways the things that trouble my life are designed to demoralize me, to make me surrender, throw down my weapons and quit the field.
The worst part of the demoralization process is that one tends to believe that hopelessness and despair are a result of one's own thinking. That's when one has to turn the thinking around, change the tactic and find a way to poke a hole in the enemy's ranks. It has been done, it can be done, it will be done if quitting is not an option.
"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more:"
"The game's afoot: follow your spirit."
(Shakespeare)
Beware of doubt, fear, confusion, discouragement, despair. Beware of demoralization. That's the real enemy.
Vagabond Journeys
______________________________
Keep smiling.
***************************
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Zeal Zone 7/18/09
Happiness is the absence of striving for happiness.
Zhuangzi
**********************
Enter please.
------------------------------
A note about yesterday's entry. I do not figure a readership by how many comments I get but by how many times my journal is actually clicked on, whether it's read or not. I appreciate each and every comment. I don't write for the comments or for myself. I'm not used to that. A performing artist doesn't work for himself alone. The success of a play is judged by how many people come to see it. At the Charles Playhouse in Boston we performed a matinee for one person on a terribly rainy day. At the Tribeca Lab in NYC we performed for one person who left at intermission. I will write for one person if necessary, but I am currently disappointed at the size of the audience, That's all.
**************************************************
I strive for happiness.
I strive for the end of striving.
I strive for the end of trouble.
I strive for the end of recent trouble on top of chronic trouble on top of 70 years of trouble.
I strive for solvency.
I strive to know how much my debts are and where the money is coming from to pay for them.
I strive for health.
I strive to be able to see well enough to read again, to chew again and to walk without pain again, to clear my chest and stop coughing.
I strive for a home.
I strive for a comfortable place to live, with nice things around me, friends nearby and an interesting neighborhood.
I strive to know.
I strive for knowledge, for understanding and for wisdom.
I strive for approval.
I strive to be acknowledged, understood and accepted.
I strive for love.
I strive to love, to be loved and to be lovable.
I strive for power.
I strive for strength to meet the day, largeness of heart and clearness of mind.
I strive for faith.
I strive for belief in myself, in certainty about my future and for confidence in my destiny.
I strive for freedom.
I strive to be allowed to live out my life unencumbered and untethered to trouble, lack or confusion.
I strive for enlightenment.
I strive to reveal mysteries, to see beyond limits, to uncover truth.
I strive for the end of striving.
I strive for happiness.
DB
__________________
May an angel appear at your window.
*************************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
it's weel uf 4 toon
It's a song title. Ask me for letters.
_ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /
_ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ / _ _ _ _ /
_ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ ?
Good luck.
Zhuangzi
**********************
Enter please.
------------------------------
A note about yesterday's entry. I do not figure a readership by how many comments I get but by how many times my journal is actually clicked on, whether it's read or not. I appreciate each and every comment. I don't write for the comments or for myself. I'm not used to that. A performing artist doesn't work for himself alone. The success of a play is judged by how many people come to see it. At the Charles Playhouse in Boston we performed a matinee for one person on a terribly rainy day. At the Tribeca Lab in NYC we performed for one person who left at intermission. I will write for one person if necessary, but I am currently disappointed at the size of the audience, That's all.
**************************************************
I strive for happiness.
I strive for the end of striving.
I strive for the end of trouble.
I strive for the end of recent trouble on top of chronic trouble on top of 70 years of trouble.
I strive for solvency.
I strive to know how much my debts are and where the money is coming from to pay for them.
I strive for health.
I strive to be able to see well enough to read again, to chew again and to walk without pain again, to clear my chest and stop coughing.
I strive for a home.
I strive for a comfortable place to live, with nice things around me, friends nearby and an interesting neighborhood.
I strive to know.
I strive for knowledge, for understanding and for wisdom.
I strive for approval.
I strive to be acknowledged, understood and accepted.
I strive for love.
I strive to love, to be loved and to be lovable.
I strive for power.
I strive for strength to meet the day, largeness of heart and clearness of mind.
I strive for faith.
I strive for belief in myself, in certainty about my future and for confidence in my destiny.
I strive for freedom.
I strive to be allowed to live out my life unencumbered and untethered to trouble, lack or confusion.
I strive for enlightenment.
I strive to reveal mysteries, to see beyond limits, to uncover truth.
I strive for the end of striving.
I strive for happiness.
DB
__________________
May an angel appear at your window.
*************************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
it's weel uf 4 toon
It's a song title. Ask me for letters.
_ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /
_ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ / _ _ _ _ /
_ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ ?
Good luck.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Yearning's Yaw 7/17/09
Envy is an insult to oneself.
Yevtushenko
********************
Join me on the road.
-------------------------------
Envy is one of the seven deadlies. Maybe it should be one of the 10 Commandments. Thou shalt not envy anyone. I guess it could fall under the category of not coveting. But that commandment refers to things and people: oxes, asses, maid servants and such. But isn't to covet a person's beauty, strength, intelligence just as bad?
To say "I envy her good looks" is the same as saying "I'm not beautiful." To say "I'm not as strong as he is" means "I'm a weakling." And to say "He's more intelligent than I am" means "I'm pretty stupid compared to him."
I think that word "compare" is the real villain. Shakespeare said "Comparisons are odorous." The commandment should read "Thou shalt not compare thyself with others." Why not? Because you rob thyself if you do. And you rob others because you start looking for their limitations.
I could envy actors whose good health enables them to keep on working into their senior years. I could envy writers I know whose books are published, being read and enjoyed. I could envy painters whose works are on display in museum and homes.
I am an individual in the vast universe of creatures. I have my own beauty, strength and intelligence. I may compete, but I won't compare.
Q. How many actors does it take to change a light bulb?
A. 50. One to change the bulb, and 49 to say "I could have done that better."
DB
By the way.
At first I thought ENDEAVOUR, the name of the space shuttle visiting the International Space Station, was a typo. Shouldn't it be spelled ENDEAVOR? Then I learn that it was named after HM Bark Endeavour, the ship of Captain James Cook. the 18th Century British explorer. So it has the British spelling.
"Bark" is another name for ship, as in "they embarked." And Shakespeare refers to love as "the star to every wandering bark, whose worth's unknown although his height be taken," referring to how sailors would navigate by the North Star.
And now for the:
SUMMER QUIZ
This is not a contest.
A young man out west just took home 88 million dollars from the lottery.
Whether you play the lottery or not, if you suddenly had 88 million dollars, or the equivalent of whatever your currency is, what are the first three things you would do with it?
You have all summer to answer if you wish.
12 responses so far.
DB
___________________
I wish you a jolly day.
_______________________
_________________________
___________________________
_______________________________
I grieve.
My credit card bank, the only credit card that's left me, is jerking me around, sky rocketing my interest rates even though I am a prompt and frequent payer. The stress is awful.
My readership is so low I'm thinking again of weaning myself from the journal and just sticking with a few regulars through emails.
It has become even more painful lately to walk anywhere.
Yevtushenko
********************
Join me on the road.
-------------------------------
Envy is one of the seven deadlies. Maybe it should be one of the 10 Commandments. Thou shalt not envy anyone. I guess it could fall under the category of not coveting. But that commandment refers to things and people: oxes, asses, maid servants and such. But isn't to covet a person's beauty, strength, intelligence just as bad?
To say "I envy her good looks" is the same as saying "I'm not beautiful." To say "I'm not as strong as he is" means "I'm a weakling." And to say "He's more intelligent than I am" means "I'm pretty stupid compared to him."
I think that word "compare" is the real villain. Shakespeare said "Comparisons are odorous." The commandment should read "Thou shalt not compare thyself with others." Why not? Because you rob thyself if you do. And you rob others because you start looking for their limitations.
I could envy actors whose good health enables them to keep on working into their senior years. I could envy writers I know whose books are published, being read and enjoyed. I could envy painters whose works are on display in museum and homes.
I am an individual in the vast universe of creatures. I have my own beauty, strength and intelligence. I may compete, but I won't compare.
Q. How many actors does it take to change a light bulb?
A. 50. One to change the bulb, and 49 to say "I could have done that better."
DB
By the way.
At first I thought ENDEAVOUR, the name of the space shuttle visiting the International Space Station, was a typo. Shouldn't it be spelled ENDEAVOR? Then I learn that it was named after HM Bark Endeavour, the ship of Captain James Cook. the 18th Century British explorer. So it has the British spelling.
"Bark" is another name for ship, as in "they embarked." And Shakespeare refers to love as "the star to every wandering bark, whose worth's unknown although his height be taken," referring to how sailors would navigate by the North Star.
And now for the:
SUMMER QUIZ
This is not a contest.
A young man out west just took home 88 million dollars from the lottery.
Whether you play the lottery or not, if you suddenly had 88 million dollars, or the equivalent of whatever your currency is, what are the first three things you would do with it?
You have all summer to answer if you wish.
12 responses so far.
DB
___________________
I wish you a jolly day.
_______________________
_________________________
___________________________
_______________________________
I grieve.
My credit card bank, the only credit card that's left me, is jerking me around, sky rocketing my interest rates even though I am a prompt and frequent payer. The stress is awful.
My readership is so low I'm thinking again of weaning myself from the journal and just sticking with a few regulars through emails.
It has become even more painful lately to walk anywhere.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Xenophilic Xylograph 7/16/09
The hardest mountain trail to climb gets you the best seat in the forest.
DB - The Vagabond
******************
Hello friend.
----------------------
Once upon a time I set out on a hike across a ridge of mountains. It was an ambitions hike over a northern peak, down to a long ridge with a smaller peak and up to a southern peak. It was a hike that would take a long time.
There are many ways to give up. Some people give up before they start. They will look at the task, say "That's too difficult for me" and not even attempt it. That's one way of giving up.
I parked my car at the base of the southern mountain and rode my bicycle to the base of the northern peak, hid it in the bushes and started out.
Others will begin and drop out when the going gets tough. They'll say "This is harder than I thought." That's a reason to stop.
At first the trail went along smoothly and then suddenly it turned and started up the steep ascent. I was pulling on branches and roots to help me climb. It was almost totally a relentless ascent straight up.
Some people will keep going and when they get half way there or a little further they will say "That's enough, I proved I can do it. I don't have to do any more." Another good reason for stopping.
After several hours I came out of the timberline into open spaces. It was a beautiful day, the view was wonderful and I was exhausted. I looked up and couldn't see the summit. All I could see above me was rock, without even a bush to grab onto to help me up.. I had brought some food with me so I decided to have it and then start back down.
Some people will stop just before they finish. The marathon runner's body wants to quit usually 6 to 8 miles before the finish line. Giving up just before you get there is a shame, but many people do it. They do it because they don't know how long, or how much effort it's going to take to get there.
After my lunch I looked up above me again and said "What the hell. I might as well make the summit, then I can go back down, go home and forget about the rest of the hike. So I started back up and was amazed to find that the summit was only 10 minutes away.
But when people don't give up, when they make it, when the actually accomplish what they set out to do, they are frequently amazed at what else they are capable of.
Standing on the top of that mountain I felt victorious, and that encouraged me to go on. So I did. I made it across the range and down the southern slope to my car, drove over to pick up my bicycle, headed home and lived happily ever after. More or less.
DB
***************
Sparkle today.
DB - The Vagabond
******************
Hello friend.
----------------------
Once upon a time I set out on a hike across a ridge of mountains. It was an ambitions hike over a northern peak, down to a long ridge with a smaller peak and up to a southern peak. It was a hike that would take a long time.
There are many ways to give up. Some people give up before they start. They will look at the task, say "That's too difficult for me" and not even attempt it. That's one way of giving up.
I parked my car at the base of the southern mountain and rode my bicycle to the base of the northern peak, hid it in the bushes and started out.
Others will begin and drop out when the going gets tough. They'll say "This is harder than I thought." That's a reason to stop.
At first the trail went along smoothly and then suddenly it turned and started up the steep ascent. I was pulling on branches and roots to help me climb. It was almost totally a relentless ascent straight up.
Some people will keep going and when they get half way there or a little further they will say "That's enough, I proved I can do it. I don't have to do any more." Another good reason for stopping.
After several hours I came out of the timberline into open spaces. It was a beautiful day, the view was wonderful and I was exhausted. I looked up and couldn't see the summit. All I could see above me was rock, without even a bush to grab onto to help me up.. I had brought some food with me so I decided to have it and then start back down.
Some people will stop just before they finish. The marathon runner's body wants to quit usually 6 to 8 miles before the finish line. Giving up just before you get there is a shame, but many people do it. They do it because they don't know how long, or how much effort it's going to take to get there.
After my lunch I looked up above me again and said "What the hell. I might as well make the summit, then I can go back down, go home and forget about the rest of the hike. So I started back up and was amazed to find that the summit was only 10 minutes away.
But when people don't give up, when they make it, when the actually accomplish what they set out to do, they are frequently amazed at what else they are capable of.
Standing on the top of that mountain I felt victorious, and that encouraged me to go on. So I did. I made it across the range and down the southern slope to my car, drove over to pick up my bicycle, headed home and lived happily ever after. More or less.
DB
***************
Sparkle today.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Wisdom's Way 7/15/09
One characteristic of winners is they always look upon themselves as a do it yourself project.
Denis Waitley
*************************
Come in. It's safe.
--------------------------------
Recently someone sent me an email of images of what America was like in the 40's and 50's. There were pictures of cars, buildings, food and drink, things we used and did. I noticed that all the pictures of women were either pin-up girls or smiling motherly types in the kitchen wearing aprons. I remembered that back then there was a company that sold appliances and gadgets for the home. Their slogan was "Less Work For Mother" as if the word "mother" meant household servant.
I went along not doubting that premise until I met my first feminist, who was a man, by the way. Slowly my brain washing began to disappear in an enlightenment, not only about the role of women in the world, but about everyone's ability to transcend stereotypes and ingrained attitudes about themselves.
"Women should stay in the kitchen where they belong." That remark was part of the backlash against the feminist movement. I asked myself why, if the woman's place is in the kitchen cooking meals, were all the major chefs in the world men. I began to ask myself a lot of other questions about the assumptions I had been tricked into believing. One of them was that any woman or member of a minority group who achieved a special place in society was an exception. When the 60's arrived so did the civil rights movement and all sorts of assumptions were being challenged and toppling over like false gods on to the temple floor of reason.
If I ever write my autobiography, which I will probably never do (who would read it after all) it would be called "Places." That word has a lot of meanings to me. It has a special meaning in the theatre, it also refers to my vagabond life and it also touches on something that has been a major subject of thought and effort in my political and social leanings.
"A woman's place is in the home." There's another reactionary remark. In this country we have a Constitution that emphatically eliminates any caste system from our lives, and yet there are many who just as emphatically insist on imposing such a system on us. That powerful but invisible force has kept people down and prevented them from achieving their potential. In spite of the flowery words to accompany our rights, there are so many ways in which people are "kept in their places" by the ignorant/arrogant bigotry of others and their policies of favoritism and neglect. But the equal rights fight is still on and the winners are the do-it-yourselfers beating the keep-in-your-placers and emerging as exceptions to the stupid rules.
I grew up poor and sometimes homeless, I know where my place is. It's with the do-it-yourselfers, the place in which my country gives me the freedom and the legal right to be.
DB - The Vagabond
_____________________
May a cool breeze blow through your day.
*************************
Denis Waitley
*************************
Come in. It's safe.
--------------------------------
Recently someone sent me an email of images of what America was like in the 40's and 50's. There were pictures of cars, buildings, food and drink, things we used and did. I noticed that all the pictures of women were either pin-up girls or smiling motherly types in the kitchen wearing aprons. I remembered that back then there was a company that sold appliances and gadgets for the home. Their slogan was "Less Work For Mother" as if the word "mother" meant household servant.
I went along not doubting that premise until I met my first feminist, who was a man, by the way. Slowly my brain washing began to disappear in an enlightenment, not only about the role of women in the world, but about everyone's ability to transcend stereotypes and ingrained attitudes about themselves.
"Women should stay in the kitchen where they belong." That remark was part of the backlash against the feminist movement. I asked myself why, if the woman's place is in the kitchen cooking meals, were all the major chefs in the world men. I began to ask myself a lot of other questions about the assumptions I had been tricked into believing. One of them was that any woman or member of a minority group who achieved a special place in society was an exception. When the 60's arrived so did the civil rights movement and all sorts of assumptions were being challenged and toppling over like false gods on to the temple floor of reason.
If I ever write my autobiography, which I will probably never do (who would read it after all) it would be called "Places." That word has a lot of meanings to me. It has a special meaning in the theatre, it also refers to my vagabond life and it also touches on something that has been a major subject of thought and effort in my political and social leanings.
"A woman's place is in the home." There's another reactionary remark. In this country we have a Constitution that emphatically eliminates any caste system from our lives, and yet there are many who just as emphatically insist on imposing such a system on us. That powerful but invisible force has kept people down and prevented them from achieving their potential. In spite of the flowery words to accompany our rights, there are so many ways in which people are "kept in their places" by the ignorant/arrogant bigotry of others and their policies of favoritism and neglect. But the equal rights fight is still on and the winners are the do-it-yourselfers beating the keep-in-your-placers and emerging as exceptions to the stupid rules.
I grew up poor and sometimes homeless, I know where my place is. It's with the do-it-yourselfers, the place in which my country gives me the freedom and the legal right to be.
DB - The Vagabond
_____________________
May a cool breeze blow through your day.
*************************
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Vain Verisimilitude 7/14/09
What is called good society is usually nothing but a mosaic of polished caricatures.
Friedrich Von Schlegel
***********************
Leave your pistols at the door.
---------------------------
One of the advantages or hindrances, depending on your point of view, of being an actor is a developed sensitivity to honest behavior. A good actor can spot phoniness within minutes. At that point the actor has to decide whether or not he is going to play the game. Since I really dislike phoniness I'm neither comfortable nor acceptable in what's known as "polite society" simply because I don't want to join in the masquerade of verisimilitude and "polished caricature."
It has caused a lot of criticism to float my way on the gossamer wings of patronizing dismissal. "He just doesn't fit in, poor fellow." Good. I don't want to "fit in." I'd rather be alone than to be a phoney. I guess that's why I'm a vagabond.
Then there's the self-appointed couturier "My dear, you should never wear that shirt with those pants." As if the devil is going drag me down to hell if I don't appear in the latest fashion. Let him try it.
I was once attending a reception for a couple who were getting married. After trying to mix in with the other people around the cocktail lounge and not doing it very well, we were invited into the dining room. There was a string quartet playing in the corner and all the waiters were in full livery. When I went to the table assigned to me and found there was no seat for me I said silently "Oh, thank you." I left, bought a hot dog and a can of beer, went back to my apartment and dined royally. Social graces are not my forte. Bill can attest to that.
I did a recording session one day in New York for a client I had been working for for several years. On this day there was a new director. She came on strong with hardness and an insulting manner with everyone. There is a protocol for working in a recording studio which is in place because it allows the work to be done efficiently and up to the best quality. Anyone who works in the business knows that. It soon became obvious to me that this woman didn't know what she was doing. But instead of leaving it up to those who did she barked nasty at everyone, trying to indicate her superiority. She didn't fool any of us. After she left we all agreed not to take up that contract again.
Phoniness is by no means confined to the upper classes. It exists on the street, though in different forms. The guy who shakes your hand and calls you "bro" might be reaching for your wallet.
Watch out for the politician, the pastor, the salesman, the lawyer and the teacher. The best thing to do is to develop a sense of the phoney, be alert to caricature instead of character, check for it in others and yourself and don't be fooled.
DB - The Vagabond
_____________________
Pick a happy thing and think about it.
********************
SUMMER QUIZ
This is not a contest.
A young man out west just took home 88 million dollars from the lottery.
Whether you play the lottery or not, if you suddenly had 88 million dollars, or the equivalent of whatever your currency is, what are the first three things you would do with it?
You have all summer to answer if you wish.
12 responses so far.
DB
Friedrich Von Schlegel
***********************
Leave your pistols at the door.
---------------------------
One of the advantages or hindrances, depending on your point of view, of being an actor is a developed sensitivity to honest behavior. A good actor can spot phoniness within minutes. At that point the actor has to decide whether or not he is going to play the game. Since I really dislike phoniness I'm neither comfortable nor acceptable in what's known as "polite society" simply because I don't want to join in the masquerade of verisimilitude and "polished caricature."
It has caused a lot of criticism to float my way on the gossamer wings of patronizing dismissal. "He just doesn't fit in, poor fellow." Good. I don't want to "fit in." I'd rather be alone than to be a phoney. I guess that's why I'm a vagabond.
Then there's the self-appointed couturier "My dear, you should never wear that shirt with those pants." As if the devil is going drag me down to hell if I don't appear in the latest fashion. Let him try it.
I was once attending a reception for a couple who were getting married. After trying to mix in with the other people around the cocktail lounge and not doing it very well, we were invited into the dining room. There was a string quartet playing in the corner and all the waiters were in full livery. When I went to the table assigned to me and found there was no seat for me I said silently "Oh, thank you." I left, bought a hot dog and a can of beer, went back to my apartment and dined royally. Social graces are not my forte. Bill can attest to that.
I did a recording session one day in New York for a client I had been working for for several years. On this day there was a new director. She came on strong with hardness and an insulting manner with everyone. There is a protocol for working in a recording studio which is in place because it allows the work to be done efficiently and up to the best quality. Anyone who works in the business knows that. It soon became obvious to me that this woman didn't know what she was doing. But instead of leaving it up to those who did she barked nasty at everyone, trying to indicate her superiority. She didn't fool any of us. After she left we all agreed not to take up that contract again.
Phoniness is by no means confined to the upper classes. It exists on the street, though in different forms. The guy who shakes your hand and calls you "bro" might be reaching for your wallet.
Watch out for the politician, the pastor, the salesman, the lawyer and the teacher. The best thing to do is to develop a sense of the phoney, be alert to caricature instead of character, check for it in others and yourself and don't be fooled.
DB - The Vagabond
_____________________
Pick a happy thing and think about it.
********************
SUMMER QUIZ
This is not a contest.
A young man out west just took home 88 million dollars from the lottery.
Whether you play the lottery or not, if you suddenly had 88 million dollars, or the equivalent of whatever your currency is, what are the first three things you would do with it?
You have all summer to answer if you wish.
12 responses so far.
DB
Monday, July 13, 2009
Unreliable Understanding 7/13/09
Don't believe everything you think.
Unknown
*******************
Hello again.
------------------------------
There are too many questions. I think I know answers. But I don't believe it because every now and then I have to throw out one of those answers.
It becomes a very frustrating thing to face infinite ambiguity as one's mind opens up to realize how much we don't know. Even the most courageous thinker will give in to that frustration sometimes and decide something is true without challenging it. We all come into any level of consciousness with a bag of ideas from the past; opinions, prejudices, simplicities, rules for this and that activity and behavior confuse us and hold us in tethers.
One of the things about the mind is that, like the heart and lungs, it never stops working as long as we're alive. But how much control do we actually have over what it does, especially now that we know that some if its activity is unconscious.
If you commit a crime, if you kill, wound, rob, rape, damage property, slander, a court will decide if you did it and what your punishment is. But the court has no jusridiction over your thoughts. If you have thoughts of rage, hate, revenge, lust and other negatives you may never carry them out, because of you own sense of ethics. And you may say "Oh, I would never do anything like that." But you are having the same thoughts as the felon who did. So what, after all, is the difference?
Then these questions arise. Where do these thoughts come from? Do I own them? Do they come from me? Are they from my imagination, from some collective unconsciousness or from some diabolical mental swamp? Those are questions that have been puzzling philosophers, psychiatrists and theologians for a long time. And have they come up with any solid answers that they all agree on? Not as far as I know. I know what I think. But I don't believe what I think. What do you think?
DB
*************
Let the sun on you, or the rain, whatever nature gives.
----------------------------
Unknown
*******************
Hello again.
------------------------------
There are too many questions. I think I know answers. But I don't believe it because every now and then I have to throw out one of those answers.
It becomes a very frustrating thing to face infinite ambiguity as one's mind opens up to realize how much we don't know. Even the most courageous thinker will give in to that frustration sometimes and decide something is true without challenging it. We all come into any level of consciousness with a bag of ideas from the past; opinions, prejudices, simplicities, rules for this and that activity and behavior confuse us and hold us in tethers.
One of the things about the mind is that, like the heart and lungs, it never stops working as long as we're alive. But how much control do we actually have over what it does, especially now that we know that some if its activity is unconscious.
If you commit a crime, if you kill, wound, rob, rape, damage property, slander, a court will decide if you did it and what your punishment is. But the court has no jusridiction over your thoughts. If you have thoughts of rage, hate, revenge, lust and other negatives you may never carry them out, because of you own sense of ethics. And you may say "Oh, I would never do anything like that." But you are having the same thoughts as the felon who did. So what, after all, is the difference?
Then these questions arise. Where do these thoughts come from? Do I own them? Do they come from me? Are they from my imagination, from some collective unconsciousness or from some diabolical mental swamp? Those are questions that have been puzzling philosophers, psychiatrists and theologians for a long time. And have they come up with any solid answers that they all agree on? Not as far as I know. I know what I think. But I don't believe what I think. What do you think?
DB
*************
Let the sun on you, or the rain, whatever nature gives.
----------------------------
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Tomorrow's Trust 7/12/09
Every person should believe they are reborn each day.
Baal Shem Tov
*******************
Draw up a chair.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
One of the things we can be sure of in life is that, except under extraordinary circumstances, when we wake up we will be in exactly the same place we were when we went to sleep, physically and mentally. We may travel far, see wonders or do them in our dreams, but we'll make it back in time for the waking up process. We may even have realizations in our dreams and a solution to a problem, but when the eyes open the problem is still there to be solved. So how can we believe that we are born again?
Being born is a chance at life. We are born with life and not much else. The rest we have to grow into. And then we have the opportunity to make something out of this life we have. It's a trust, in a way, an obligation, a responsibility. Some of us do a better job of it than others, but we all do something. And everyday offers the chance to take a step toward making it right or, at least, better.
When I was the morning disc jockey for a radio station I would always say at one point, usually around sunrise, "Thank goodness we have another day on our hands." I got a lot of very favorable response from people over that remark. They said it made them feel more in charge of their lives. They said it gave them confidence and courage, a fresh start to their lives.
What is a fresh start but being reborn? None of us really knows what's going to happen during any of our days, but to begin the day with a fresh start by claiming for ourselves joy, success, harmony, right activity and appreciation for life, as our rights for living, though it may sound too rosy in the face of our troubles, has the power of a new birth behind, under and in front of it.
DB - Vagabond
____________________
Send out some happy signals to someone today.
********************
Baal Shem Tov
*******************
Draw up a chair.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
One of the things we can be sure of in life is that, except under extraordinary circumstances, when we wake up we will be in exactly the same place we were when we went to sleep, physically and mentally. We may travel far, see wonders or do them in our dreams, but we'll make it back in time for the waking up process. We may even have realizations in our dreams and a solution to a problem, but when the eyes open the problem is still there to be solved. So how can we believe that we are born again?
Being born is a chance at life. We are born with life and not much else. The rest we have to grow into. And then we have the opportunity to make something out of this life we have. It's a trust, in a way, an obligation, a responsibility. Some of us do a better job of it than others, but we all do something. And everyday offers the chance to take a step toward making it right or, at least, better.
When I was the morning disc jockey for a radio station I would always say at one point, usually around sunrise, "Thank goodness we have another day on our hands." I got a lot of very favorable response from people over that remark. They said it made them feel more in charge of their lives. They said it gave them confidence and courage, a fresh start to their lives.
What is a fresh start but being reborn? None of us really knows what's going to happen during any of our days, but to begin the day with a fresh start by claiming for ourselves joy, success, harmony, right activity and appreciation for life, as our rights for living, though it may sound too rosy in the face of our troubles, has the power of a new birth behind, under and in front of it.
DB - Vagabond
____________________
Send out some happy signals to someone today.
********************
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Synergetic Solidarity 7/11/09
It is not the one branch that has strength but the many branches bound together in a bundle that cannot be broken.
Chief Sitting Bull
**********************
How do you do?
--------------------------
I could speak of armies. But I don't know armies.
I could speak of ball teams. But I don't know ball teams.
I could speak of construction crews. But I don't know construction crews.
I could speak of theatre companies. And I will, because I know theatre companies.
I could speak of orchestras. And I know something about orchestras.
One of the most interesting and exciting things to me about working in the theatre most of my life was the sense of the ensemble. Everyone involved in a performance is important, from the leading player to the stage manager's second assistant. Everyone is requited to be at a specific place at every point in the play and perform a specific function, whether it's to speak a line or change a piece of scenery. A theatre company consists of a cast and a crew and they are equally important even though the audience never sees the crew. I once did a play in which I had to go off stage, get a sword and bring it back on. I had no time to go looking for it. It had to be done almost instantly. At every performance the was a young man, a member of the crew, waiting to hand me the sword.
When the cast and crew are working together as a well trained team, even emergencies can be quickly solved. In another play I had to make some drinks at an upstage bar. I had very little time to do it and one night I broke one of the glasses. Shortly after that my character left the stage for a minute. When I got off stage I told the crew member stationed there that I broke a glass, She immediately said "Okay, I'll take care of it." When the lights went up for the next scene the broken glass was gone.
On the stage the actors depend on each other to be where they are supposed to be and say what they are supposed to say so that the other actor gets the right cues for his own speech and actions. If you see a fight scene in a play it has been carefully choreographed and rehearsed so that all the actors involved know exactly what they are going to do. They depend on each other. No one gets hurt.
Ask a musician in a great orchestra and he will talk about the other musicians. They are interdependent. They have to be. The violinist listen to the flute, the flutist listens to the horn and the horn player listens to the drum. They play together. It doesn't happen by accident.
When that synergy is absent it's obvious in both theatre and music. There are some actors who are not team players. We call them "prima donnas." Some of them are well known. They will grab attention and focus, and they will not care about cooperation in the process of the performance. They will frequently get a lot of applause because of it. But what the audience doesn't see is the compensation and adaptation the rest of the company has to make, which they can do because they are a company of people working together. But with a prima donna on stage that sense of ensemble is missing and the chain is broken. A prima donna in an orchestra would not last another day.
I love the theatre because of the wonderful coming together and team forming of a bunch of different people with different lives, deffernt personalities, histories and experience, for the successful creation of a work of art.
DB - The Vagabond
__________________
Good sailing.
********************
Chief Sitting Bull
**********************
How do you do?
--------------------------
I could speak of armies. But I don't know armies.
I could speak of ball teams. But I don't know ball teams.
I could speak of construction crews. But I don't know construction crews.
I could speak of theatre companies. And I will, because I know theatre companies.
I could speak of orchestras. And I know something about orchestras.
One of the most interesting and exciting things to me about working in the theatre most of my life was the sense of the ensemble. Everyone involved in a performance is important, from the leading player to the stage manager's second assistant. Everyone is requited to be at a specific place at every point in the play and perform a specific function, whether it's to speak a line or change a piece of scenery. A theatre company consists of a cast and a crew and they are equally important even though the audience never sees the crew. I once did a play in which I had to go off stage, get a sword and bring it back on. I had no time to go looking for it. It had to be done almost instantly. At every performance the was a young man, a member of the crew, waiting to hand me the sword.
When the cast and crew are working together as a well trained team, even emergencies can be quickly solved. In another play I had to make some drinks at an upstage bar. I had very little time to do it and one night I broke one of the glasses. Shortly after that my character left the stage for a minute. When I got off stage I told the crew member stationed there that I broke a glass, She immediately said "Okay, I'll take care of it." When the lights went up for the next scene the broken glass was gone.
On the stage the actors depend on each other to be where they are supposed to be and say what they are supposed to say so that the other actor gets the right cues for his own speech and actions. If you see a fight scene in a play it has been carefully choreographed and rehearsed so that all the actors involved know exactly what they are going to do. They depend on each other. No one gets hurt.
Ask a musician in a great orchestra and he will talk about the other musicians. They are interdependent. They have to be. The violinist listen to the flute, the flutist listens to the horn and the horn player listens to the drum. They play together. It doesn't happen by accident.
When that synergy is absent it's obvious in both theatre and music. There are some actors who are not team players. We call them "prima donnas." Some of them are well known. They will grab attention and focus, and they will not care about cooperation in the process of the performance. They will frequently get a lot of applause because of it. But what the audience doesn't see is the compensation and adaptation the rest of the company has to make, which they can do because they are a company of people working together. But with a prima donna on stage that sense of ensemble is missing and the chain is broken. A prima donna in an orchestra would not last another day.
I love the theatre because of the wonderful coming together and team forming of a bunch of different people with different lives, deffernt personalities, histories and experience, for the successful creation of a work of art.
DB - The Vagabond
__________________
Good sailing.
********************
Friday, July 10, 2009
Rich Revealing 7/10/09
Art is so much more significant than either economics or philosophy. It is the direct measure of man's spiritual vision.
Herbert Read
***********************
Hail.
-----------------------------
Imagine if one day you had a beautiful vision and you wrote it down as a poem upon an arrow and signed it, then strung a bow and shot that arrow into the sky so high and so far that it didn't fall to the earth for a hundred years in some far off remote place. And imagine that, after many years, someone was passing by that remote place, saw the arrow, picked it up and read the poem. And then suppose that he took the arrow home and copied out the poem. Then suppose he got the poem published so that other people could read it. And suppose some of those people memorized the poem and went around reciting it to other people. And suppose the poem was included in collections of poetry and college textbooks on poetry so that you and the poem became famous.
One of the most frustrating ironies of life is that works of art not only struggle to be born but then have to struggle to survive. The world has already prepared a large collection of blocks and holes for the genius of an artist to fall into or stumble over. The easiest thing for an artist to do is to give up. And many do. And when they do a special vision is lost to the world.
It takes an army to protect poetry from the unconscionable hatred of the limited, mortal world for anything that challenges it's supposed dominance over our lives.
A poet is one who sees beyond the observable, which holds it's ugly head up in arrogance, to the unobservable. Unobservable that is except by vision and inspiration. And as soon as he articulates what he sees the claws come out. The very heart, soul and spirit of a artist can be shredded by ignorance, arrogance, disrespect and dismissal.
So why do it? Why is there art? An artist is an artist because he has to be. It is a singular, solitary encampment against an indifferent enemy, It is a desperate love affair with the gossamer zephyrs. It is an agreement with an invisible partner who may be angelic or diabolic, the artist doesn't know nor care. But what he does know is that if the invisible partner ever leaves him he takes the meaning of the artist's life with him.
The future and the past are inextricably linked. The future and the past are dependant upon each other. The past becomes the future once it squeezes through the tight fisted grasp of the present, with its fads and prejudices. Every work of art is an arrow that has been shot, some near, some far, and thus became the future. Today is the day for the artist to string his bow.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
_____________________
Applaud the good stuff.
********************
SUMMER QUIZ
This is not a contest.
A young man out west just took home 88 million dollars from the lottery.
Whether you play the lottery or not, if you suddenly had 88 million dollars, or the equivalent of whatever your currency is, what are the first three things you would do with it?
You have all summer to answer if you wish.
11 responses so far.
DB
Herbert Read
***********************
Hail.
-----------------------------
Imagine if one day you had a beautiful vision and you wrote it down as a poem upon an arrow and signed it, then strung a bow and shot that arrow into the sky so high and so far that it didn't fall to the earth for a hundred years in some far off remote place. And imagine that, after many years, someone was passing by that remote place, saw the arrow, picked it up and read the poem. And then suppose that he took the arrow home and copied out the poem. Then suppose he got the poem published so that other people could read it. And suppose some of those people memorized the poem and went around reciting it to other people. And suppose the poem was included in collections of poetry and college textbooks on poetry so that you and the poem became famous.
One of the most frustrating ironies of life is that works of art not only struggle to be born but then have to struggle to survive. The world has already prepared a large collection of blocks and holes for the genius of an artist to fall into or stumble over. The easiest thing for an artist to do is to give up. And many do. And when they do a special vision is lost to the world.
It takes an army to protect poetry from the unconscionable hatred of the limited, mortal world for anything that challenges it's supposed dominance over our lives.
A poet is one who sees beyond the observable, which holds it's ugly head up in arrogance, to the unobservable. Unobservable that is except by vision and inspiration. And as soon as he articulates what he sees the claws come out. The very heart, soul and spirit of a artist can be shredded by ignorance, arrogance, disrespect and dismissal.
So why do it? Why is there art? An artist is an artist because he has to be. It is a singular, solitary encampment against an indifferent enemy, It is a desperate love affair with the gossamer zephyrs. It is an agreement with an invisible partner who may be angelic or diabolic, the artist doesn't know nor care. But what he does know is that if the invisible partner ever leaves him he takes the meaning of the artist's life with him.
The future and the past are inextricably linked. The future and the past are dependant upon each other. The past becomes the future once it squeezes through the tight fisted grasp of the present, with its fads and prejudices. Every work of art is an arrow that has been shot, some near, some far, and thus became the future. Today is the day for the artist to string his bow.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
_____________________
Applaud the good stuff.
********************
SUMMER QUIZ
This is not a contest.
A young man out west just took home 88 million dollars from the lottery.
Whether you play the lottery or not, if you suddenly had 88 million dollars, or the equivalent of whatever your currency is, what are the first three things you would do with it?
You have all summer to answer if you wish.
11 responses so far.
DB
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Quantity Quest 7/09/09
Healthy is the conflict between the limits of our understanding and the need to gain more.
DB - The Vagabond
----------------------
Come with me.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
One day, some years ago, I went into the Museum of Natural History on West 79th Street in New York City, a place I enjoyed visiting frequently since I was a boy. On that day, just inside the door, there was a table draped in black cloth with two armed guards next to it. On the table was a box made out of bullet proof glass on all four sides and the top. Inside the box there was a pedestal. On the pedestal was a small tripod. And sitting on the tripod was an object about the size of the end of your thumb. It was well lit from all directions. It sparkled innocently.
What was it? A fabulously valuable diamond? The key to paradise? A winning lottery ticket?
It was none of those, or all of those. It was a gift to the Museum from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It was a piece of the precious cargo brought back to earth by the Apollo 11 astronauts.
MOON ROCK
I stared at that wee pebble for quite a while. "It's just a rock. What's the big deal?" Imagine what Socrates, Copernicus or Galileo would say if they could have looked that stone in the eye. They could tell you what the big deal is.
NASA has a TV program about the Apollo 11 mission which they show occasionally on their TV channel. In it there's a picture of a scientist studying a moon rock. Is he a geologist, a chemist, a physicist? Seeing that picture I hear the rumblings of centuries of scientific curiosity, investigation and discovery. I hear the silent high tide waves of everything that scientist knows as he peers in awe at a bit of the universe he has never seen before and ponders it's secrets.
We can never understand enough. How exciting it is to discover some new knowledge, to have the freedom to discover. There are those who would clamp down a lid on investigation and innovation. We may even do that ourselves. What a shame.
But as long as we exist we will walk on the starscapes of the mind, pick up the rocks and discover their secrets. We have only just begun.
DB
______________________
May joy fall on your head.
*************************
DB - The Vagabond
----------------------
Come with me.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
One day, some years ago, I went into the Museum of Natural History on West 79th Street in New York City, a place I enjoyed visiting frequently since I was a boy. On that day, just inside the door, there was a table draped in black cloth with two armed guards next to it. On the table was a box made out of bullet proof glass on all four sides and the top. Inside the box there was a pedestal. On the pedestal was a small tripod. And sitting on the tripod was an object about the size of the end of your thumb. It was well lit from all directions. It sparkled innocently.
What was it? A fabulously valuable diamond? The key to paradise? A winning lottery ticket?
It was none of those, or all of those. It was a gift to the Museum from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It was a piece of the precious cargo brought back to earth by the Apollo 11 astronauts.
MOON ROCK
I stared at that wee pebble for quite a while. "It's just a rock. What's the big deal?" Imagine what Socrates, Copernicus or Galileo would say if they could have looked that stone in the eye. They could tell you what the big deal is.
NASA has a TV program about the Apollo 11 mission which they show occasionally on their TV channel. In it there's a picture of a scientist studying a moon rock. Is he a geologist, a chemist, a physicist? Seeing that picture I hear the rumblings of centuries of scientific curiosity, investigation and discovery. I hear the silent high tide waves of everything that scientist knows as he peers in awe at a bit of the universe he has never seen before and ponders it's secrets.
We can never understand enough. How exciting it is to discover some new knowledge, to have the freedom to discover. There are those who would clamp down a lid on investigation and innovation. We may even do that ourselves. What a shame.
But as long as we exist we will walk on the starscapes of the mind, pick up the rocks and discover their secrets. We have only just begun.
DB
______________________
May joy fall on your head.
*************************
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Purposeful Persuasion 7/08/09
Knowing what must be done does away with fear.
Rosa Parks
...............................................
Good day. I hope you can read this posting, because I still can't.
------------------------------------------------------------
This is a true story, told to me by the two people involved. I will try faithfully to reconstruct as much of it as I can remember.
Many years ago I was visiting my Aunt Emily at her place in upstate New York. While I was there Emily had invited this couple over for dinner. She told me the woman had been crippled for about 25 years, but that her husband would take her out in her wheelchair during the nice weather, they still went places and they had a fascinating story to tell. When they arrived I could see that she was indeed in a wheelchair and he was pushing her into Emily's house. I also noted that they were an elderly couple. After dinner Emily coaxed them to tell me the story of the burning house.
They had been living in a remote place down a country road. He drove home one afternoon to find that the house was on fire. He rushed inside and everything was burning, hot cinders were flying everywhere, pieces of the wall were braking off and the place was think with smoke, He rushed through the flames into the bedroom where his wife was lying unconscious in the bed, The room was full of smoke. It was painfully hot. A burning cinder had landed on the bed and a sheet was burning, He threw the sheet off, picked up his wife and carried her through the flaming house to a field across the road, where he stretched her out on the ground. Then he drove three miles to the nearest neighbor to ask them to call the fire department and an ambulance, which they did. He then drove back to be with his wife who was still unconscious. Soon fire trucks arrived and went to work on the fire. After that came an ambulance. When he saw the ambulance he picked up his wife and took her over to it, explained to the attendants what had happened. They put her on a stretcher and took her to the hospital,
He stayed until the fire was out but the house was destroyed. Then he went to the hospital where his wife was sitting up in bed wide awake.
She told me that when the bedroom was filling up with smoke she called for him but he wasn't there. She said she knew he would be back sooner or later. She said she must have passed out, when she woke up in the hospital she didn't now where she was. She was dizzy.and had a headache. She was glad to see him come into the hospital room. She was relieved that he was okay.
They had lost everything. A neighbor took them in and very soon he had found another place for them to live.
I asked him if he was frightened of the fire when he went into the house. He said no he was only thinking about getting his wife out of there.
It's an amazing story. But here's the most remarkable part. I asked him when all this happened. He said "Just last year." He was 78. His wife was 74.
Vagabond Journeys
_______________________
Look up. Things are looking up.
************************
SUMMER QUIZ
This is not a contest.
A young man out west just took home 88 million dollars from the lottery.
Whether you play the lottery or not, if you suddenly had 88 million dollars, or the equivalent of whatever your currency is, what are the first three things you would do with it?
You have all summer to answer if you wish.
7 responses so far.
DB
Rosa Parks
...............................................
Good day. I hope you can read this posting, because I still can't.
------------------------------------------------------------
This is a true story, told to me by the two people involved. I will try faithfully to reconstruct as much of it as I can remember.
Many years ago I was visiting my Aunt Emily at her place in upstate New York. While I was there Emily had invited this couple over for dinner. She told me the woman had been crippled for about 25 years, but that her husband would take her out in her wheelchair during the nice weather, they still went places and they had a fascinating story to tell. When they arrived I could see that she was indeed in a wheelchair and he was pushing her into Emily's house. I also noted that they were an elderly couple. After dinner Emily coaxed them to tell me the story of the burning house.
They had been living in a remote place down a country road. He drove home one afternoon to find that the house was on fire. He rushed inside and everything was burning, hot cinders were flying everywhere, pieces of the wall were braking off and the place was think with smoke, He rushed through the flames into the bedroom where his wife was lying unconscious in the bed, The room was full of smoke. It was painfully hot. A burning cinder had landed on the bed and a sheet was burning, He threw the sheet off, picked up his wife and carried her through the flaming house to a field across the road, where he stretched her out on the ground. Then he drove three miles to the nearest neighbor to ask them to call the fire department and an ambulance, which they did. He then drove back to be with his wife who was still unconscious. Soon fire trucks arrived and went to work on the fire. After that came an ambulance. When he saw the ambulance he picked up his wife and took her over to it, explained to the attendants what had happened. They put her on a stretcher and took her to the hospital,
He stayed until the fire was out but the house was destroyed. Then he went to the hospital where his wife was sitting up in bed wide awake.
She told me that when the bedroom was filling up with smoke she called for him but he wasn't there. She said she knew he would be back sooner or later. She said she must have passed out, when she woke up in the hospital she didn't now where she was. She was dizzy.and had a headache. She was glad to see him come into the hospital room. She was relieved that he was okay.
They had lost everything. A neighbor took them in and very soon he had found another place for them to live.
I asked him if he was frightened of the fire when he went into the house. He said no he was only thinking about getting his wife out of there.
It's an amazing story. But here's the most remarkable part. I asked him when all this happened. He said "Just last year." He was 78. His wife was 74.
Vagabond Journeys
_______________________
Look up. Things are looking up.
************************
SUMMER QUIZ
This is not a contest.
A young man out west just took home 88 million dollars from the lottery.
Whether you play the lottery or not, if you suddenly had 88 million dollars, or the equivalent of whatever your currency is, what are the first three things you would do with it?
You have all summer to answer if you wish.
7 responses so far.
DB
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Offering Opportunities 7/07/09
The days you work are the best days.
Georgia O'Keeffe
____________________
Hi. Since I can't open my journal I won't even know if this entry has been posted until someone leaves me a comment to tell me.
--------------------------
During my 45 + years as an entertainer going on the stage was a privilege, an honor and a pleasure. It was also my work. I recall a few incidents from my career that the quote from O'Keeffe reminds me of.
In a professional theatre the actors are required by union contract to be at work one half hour before the performance. There are some actors who like to squeeze in at the last second which I always considered childish and disrespectful, though not wrong. But sometimes they wouldn't sign in, which meant someone from stage management had to go looking for them to make sure they were there. I usually always arrived an hour and a half before performance because the theatre was where I wanted to be.
I was playing Scrooge in a production of A Christmas Carol and because there was little time between when he wakes up from his awful nightmare and goes out to buy the goose and visit his relatives, I had a quick costume change. I had one minute to go from the bed clothes to an elaborate period suit with overcoat scarf, gloves and hat.
My dresser was a retired Broadway actress who knew what to do. The first time we rehearsed it it took about two and a half minutes. We got it down to a minute by the first performance. While the change was going on there was a group of madrigal singers on the stage doing a song. After a few performances we got the costume change down to thirty and then twenty seconds. I went out and joined the song.
The next day the dresser said that she was very impressed with what I had done. I could have stayed in the wing and rested but that I chose to go back out. It was because the stage was where I wanted to be.
One evening, after rehearsal for a new play, the playwright handed me a one page speech he wanted inserted in a certain scene. He said to get it in whenever I was ready. I memorized it that night and spoke it in the next day's rehearsal. One of the crew said to the stage manager "He already knows it." She replied "I'm not surprised." That remark pleased me.
I have had other jobs that weren't so exciting. In fact, some of them were down right nasty. But the principle is always the same, I think. Learn the job, see what the task is, observe the problems, figure out how to solve them, do the task and do it enthusiastically, completely and to the best of your ability. Self-satisfaction for work well done is a good reward. It makes your day.
DB
______________
Thanks for staying around.
***********************
Georgia O'Keeffe
____________________
Hi. Since I can't open my journal I won't even know if this entry has been posted until someone leaves me a comment to tell me.
--------------------------
During my 45 + years as an entertainer going on the stage was a privilege, an honor and a pleasure. It was also my work. I recall a few incidents from my career that the quote from O'Keeffe reminds me of.
In a professional theatre the actors are required by union contract to be at work one half hour before the performance. There are some actors who like to squeeze in at the last second which I always considered childish and disrespectful, though not wrong. But sometimes they wouldn't sign in, which meant someone from stage management had to go looking for them to make sure they were there. I usually always arrived an hour and a half before performance because the theatre was where I wanted to be.
I was playing Scrooge in a production of A Christmas Carol and because there was little time between when he wakes up from his awful nightmare and goes out to buy the goose and visit his relatives, I had a quick costume change. I had one minute to go from the bed clothes to an elaborate period suit with overcoat scarf, gloves and hat.
My dresser was a retired Broadway actress who knew what to do. The first time we rehearsed it it took about two and a half minutes. We got it down to a minute by the first performance. While the change was going on there was a group of madrigal singers on the stage doing a song. After a few performances we got the costume change down to thirty and then twenty seconds. I went out and joined the song.
The next day the dresser said that she was very impressed with what I had done. I could have stayed in the wing and rested but that I chose to go back out. It was because the stage was where I wanted to be.
One evening, after rehearsal for a new play, the playwright handed me a one page speech he wanted inserted in a certain scene. He said to get it in whenever I was ready. I memorized it that night and spoke it in the next day's rehearsal. One of the crew said to the stage manager "He already knows it." She replied "I'm not surprised." That remark pleased me.
I have had other jobs that weren't so exciting. In fact, some of them were down right nasty. But the principle is always the same, I think. Learn the job, see what the task is, observe the problems, figure out how to solve them, do the task and do it enthusiastically, completely and to the best of your ability. Self-satisfaction for work well done is a good reward. It makes your day.
DB
______________
Thanks for staying around.
***********************
Monday, July 6, 2009
Natural Nepotism 7/06/09
They are not dead who live in the hearts they leave behind.
Native American proverb
********************
Salutations
------------------------
On July 4th last year my brother died. Saturday afternoon his ashes were spread into the Atlantic Ocean from a sail boat. The ceremony was conducted by his two children, my niece and nephew, whom I hardly know. They were carrying out my brother's wishes. He was a man of the sea.
Over the years I have lost four grandparents, only one of whom I ever met, both parents, a bunch of aunts and uncles, some of whom I never met, cousins I know nothing about, my sister and eventually my brother. I am the only remaining member of my family.
So now I would seem to be in a state of disconnectedness and anonymity. I definitely fell that way most of the time; more of a vagabond than ever. I have no grandchildren to ask me questions, no birthdays to celebrate, no college graduates to congratulate, no brides and grooms to send good wishes to. I sit and write my journal entry every day hoping it will be read by a few friends and some total strangers, that it will have a meaning for someone, touch someone's life in a positive way. But I only get at most about 20 readers everyday.
But this past Independence Day got me thinking about just how large my family really is. Since I can't have my feet firmly planted in some family environment I have to look around at exactly what it is I am a part of. I think about the wigs, bonnets and coon skin caps of the early settlers of my country and what they went through to make a new nation come alive. Those are my ancestors. There were hard winters in a hostile environment. There was a desperate war, which they won. There was disagreement, rivalry, fist fights in Congress, duals, failures and successes. A country was being hammered out on the anvil of danger with a blacksmith's will to shape it and make it work.
Then the others came, the immigrants, looking for freedom and the right to live up to their potential in a new world, unfettered by a suppressive government. Those are my ancestors. They came, established themselves, learned how to live here and become a part of the new nation, contributing their cultures and it's wisdom to the grand mix.
As the nation grew a new enemy arose that had to be destroyed, the native. But the natives fought back. Those are my ancestors. It seemed that the Native American was the unwelcome immigrant. But eventually the earth turned, the smoke settled on reservations and tribal councils and the native began a slow process of learning about and insisting on his rights, becoming part of a new nation, accepting and being accepted, and now being allowed the dignity to bring his culture and wisdom to the grand mix. I support that process. They are my brothers and sisters.
Ruthless businessmen imported men, women and children from Africa, in chains, and sold them on an open market. Those Africans are my ancestors. They worked the land and made the crops grow. Many of them were horribly treated. But they were humans and they also had rights. My ancestors fought a war over those rights. The war was won. Though there are still struggles, which I also support. The African is now free to vote, get an education, take a respected place in society and hold public office. They are my bothers and sisters.
Almost every day there is a parade of cheerful students from the local elementary school on their way to the local library just down the street. I like to see them passing by and hear their chattering, I think that there go the scientists, artists, doctors, teachers, astronauts of the future, Those are my children.
I have a very large family.
DB - The Vagabond
____________________
Thank you for reading this.
****************
Native American proverb
********************
Salutations
------------------------
On July 4th last year my brother died. Saturday afternoon his ashes were spread into the Atlantic Ocean from a sail boat. The ceremony was conducted by his two children, my niece and nephew, whom I hardly know. They were carrying out my brother's wishes. He was a man of the sea.
Over the years I have lost four grandparents, only one of whom I ever met, both parents, a bunch of aunts and uncles, some of whom I never met, cousins I know nothing about, my sister and eventually my brother. I am the only remaining member of my family.
So now I would seem to be in a state of disconnectedness and anonymity. I definitely fell that way most of the time; more of a vagabond than ever. I have no grandchildren to ask me questions, no birthdays to celebrate, no college graduates to congratulate, no brides and grooms to send good wishes to. I sit and write my journal entry every day hoping it will be read by a few friends and some total strangers, that it will have a meaning for someone, touch someone's life in a positive way. But I only get at most about 20 readers everyday.
But this past Independence Day got me thinking about just how large my family really is. Since I can't have my feet firmly planted in some family environment I have to look around at exactly what it is I am a part of. I think about the wigs, bonnets and coon skin caps of the early settlers of my country and what they went through to make a new nation come alive. Those are my ancestors. There were hard winters in a hostile environment. There was a desperate war, which they won. There was disagreement, rivalry, fist fights in Congress, duals, failures and successes. A country was being hammered out on the anvil of danger with a blacksmith's will to shape it and make it work.
Then the others came, the immigrants, looking for freedom and the right to live up to their potential in a new world, unfettered by a suppressive government. Those are my ancestors. They came, established themselves, learned how to live here and become a part of the new nation, contributing their cultures and it's wisdom to the grand mix.
As the nation grew a new enemy arose that had to be destroyed, the native. But the natives fought back. Those are my ancestors. It seemed that the Native American was the unwelcome immigrant. But eventually the earth turned, the smoke settled on reservations and tribal councils and the native began a slow process of learning about and insisting on his rights, becoming part of a new nation, accepting and being accepted, and now being allowed the dignity to bring his culture and wisdom to the grand mix. I support that process. They are my brothers and sisters.
Ruthless businessmen imported men, women and children from Africa, in chains, and sold them on an open market. Those Africans are my ancestors. They worked the land and made the crops grow. Many of them were horribly treated. But they were humans and they also had rights. My ancestors fought a war over those rights. The war was won. Though there are still struggles, which I also support. The African is now free to vote, get an education, take a respected place in society and hold public office. They are my bothers and sisters.
Almost every day there is a parade of cheerful students from the local elementary school on their way to the local library just down the street. I like to see them passing by and hear their chattering, I think that there go the scientists, artists, doctors, teachers, astronauts of the future, Those are my children.
I have a very large family.
DB - The Vagabond
____________________
Thank you for reading this.
****************
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Mercy's Measurement 7/05/09
One can pay beck the loan of gold, but one is forever in debt to those who are kind.
Malaysian proverb
*****************
Welcome.
------------------------
One day I was walking down 9th Avenue in New York City when I saw a crippled man sitting on the sidewalk with his back against the wall at about 56th Street. A woman had stopped and reached into her shopping bag to offer the man a large breaded pretzel. He said "I can't chew that" and handed it back.
I stopped. I told him to take it. I said that the woman was being kind to him. That if he couldn't chew it to break it up in small pieces and hold them in his mouth until he could swallow them. But if someone was showing mercy, not to refuse it. He took the pretzel. The woman went on. I told the guy that if he had to live on the street then he had to improvise. I've been a beggar. I know what the rules are.
Friday afternoon I was doing some shopping. I went into a store I visit regularly but not often. As i was making my purchase I began to feel quite ill. I wasn't sure I could make it home. The owner and only salesperson saw the look on my face and said that I didn't look well. She asked me what the trouble was. I said I didn't know but that I had to sit down. I was feeling miserable.
She immediately set to making me comfortable, brought me a glass of water and let me use her private rest room in the back of the store. After a while I was feeling better and managed to make it home.
There is no way I can ever adequately repay her for that kindness except to pass it on. She could have easily dismissed me out the door, but instead her instinct was to help. That is the lesson of the day: to develop a habitual instinct to show kindness and mercy to a suffering creature and not turn away in fear and disgust.
Kindness breeds kindness. If I hadn't come along the woman on the sidewalk would have been deprived of the satisfaction of helping a poor cripple and he would have deprived himself of some food simply because he was feeling sorry for himself.
At first I was embarrassed to be invited to invade the store keeper's private quarters, but she was so gracious and positive about it that I was able to recover from my misery with a heart full of gratitude.
Writing checks is good if you have the money, but on-the-job, hands-on mercy is the best.
DB
____________________
Have a day to remember.
**********************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
This puzzle is in 2 parts, Part A and Part M. (What? You'll get Parts B through L at another time, Keep your shirt on.)
Part A: Below is a list of the 13 original states. They are the reason we have 13 stripes on our flag. Your mission is to tell me what is wrong with this list. (Note: "Too many." is NOT a legitimate answer.) DON'T CHEAT !
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Part M: How did they become the first 13 states?
There is 1 Winner and 4 Honorable Mentions so far.
Good luck Email Lions. Good luck Blogspot Tigers.
Answers will be posted on or about 9 p.m. Sunday
Malaysian proverb
*****************
Welcome.
------------------------
One day I was walking down 9th Avenue in New York City when I saw a crippled man sitting on the sidewalk with his back against the wall at about 56th Street. A woman had stopped and reached into her shopping bag to offer the man a large breaded pretzel. He said "I can't chew that" and handed it back.
I stopped. I told him to take it. I said that the woman was being kind to him. That if he couldn't chew it to break it up in small pieces and hold them in his mouth until he could swallow them. But if someone was showing mercy, not to refuse it. He took the pretzel. The woman went on. I told the guy that if he had to live on the street then he had to improvise. I've been a beggar. I know what the rules are.
Friday afternoon I was doing some shopping. I went into a store I visit regularly but not often. As i was making my purchase I began to feel quite ill. I wasn't sure I could make it home. The owner and only salesperson saw the look on my face and said that I didn't look well. She asked me what the trouble was. I said I didn't know but that I had to sit down. I was feeling miserable.
She immediately set to making me comfortable, brought me a glass of water and let me use her private rest room in the back of the store. After a while I was feeling better and managed to make it home.
There is no way I can ever adequately repay her for that kindness except to pass it on. She could have easily dismissed me out the door, but instead her instinct was to help. That is the lesson of the day: to develop a habitual instinct to show kindness and mercy to a suffering creature and not turn away in fear and disgust.
Kindness breeds kindness. If I hadn't come along the woman on the sidewalk would have been deprived of the satisfaction of helping a poor cripple and he would have deprived himself of some food simply because he was feeling sorry for himself.
At first I was embarrassed to be invited to invade the store keeper's private quarters, but she was so gracious and positive about it that I was able to recover from my misery with a heart full of gratitude.
Writing checks is good if you have the money, but on-the-job, hands-on mercy is the best.
DB
____________________
Have a day to remember.
**********************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
This puzzle is in 2 parts, Part A and Part M. (What? You'll get Parts B through L at another time, Keep your shirt on.)
Part A: Below is a list of the 13 original states. They are the reason we have 13 stripes on our flag. Your mission is to tell me what is wrong with this list. (Note: "Too many." is NOT a legitimate answer.) DON'T CHEAT !
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Part M: How did they become the first 13 states?
There is 1 Winner and 4 Honorable Mentions so far.
Good luck Email Lions. Good luck Blogspot Tigers.
Answers will be posted on or about 9 p.m. Sunday
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Learned Leaves 7/04/09
The best thing about the future is it only comes one day at a time.
Abraham Lincoln
*****************
Good day to you.
------------------------
Today is America's Birthday - 233 years old.
Here's to the true patriots, the common people, the Americans.
Here's to those who dared to make it happen. Here's to the men who dared to sign for independence and gave their lives for it. Here's to those who dared to drop everything and take up arms to protect their lands, their families and their neighbors, to the farmers who dared to defend the bridge and their weapons against ranks of the strongest army in the world and chased them away, to the freed slaves and others in Boston who dared to stand up against the English rifles and were the first Americans to die for it, to those who dared to dump a precious cargo into the bay rather than to allow the government to line its pockets and those of its businessmen at America's expense, to those who dared to cross the ice bound Delaware River on a freezing night, the river I see from my own window, to chase the enemy from Trenton, to those farmers and merchants who dared to spend a blazing hot Phildelphia summer behind closed doors to write a constitution.
Here's to those who dare to make it work. Here's to the farmer and the fisherman, to the miner and the forester, to the carpenter, the mason and the gardener, to the teacher and the preacher, to the banjo player, the trumpet player and the church organist, to the tailor and the cobbler, to the actor, the singer and the dancer, to the truck driver, the bus driver and the cab driver, to the fire fighter, the cop and the paramedic, to the lineman and the lighthouse keeper, to the longshoreman, the teamster and the transit worker. to the typist, the printer, the mail carrier and the factory worker.
Here's to the true patriots, the common people, the Americans.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
DB - Vagabond Journeys
_______________________
May you have a joyous day, what ever country you live in.
***************************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
This puzzle is in 2 parts, Part A and Part M. (What? You'll get Parts B through L at another time, Keep your shirt on.)
Part A: Below is a list of the 13 original states. They are the reason we have 13 stripes on our flag. Your mission is to tell me what is wrong with this list. (Note: "Too many." is NOT a legitimate answer.) DON'T CHEAT !
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Part M: How did they become the first 13 states?
There is 1 winner so far.
Good luck Email Lions. Good luck Blogspot Tigers.
Answers will be posted on or about 9 p.m. Sunday
Abraham Lincoln
*****************
Good day to you.
------------------------
Today is America's Birthday - 233 years old.
Here's to the true patriots, the common people, the Americans.
Here's to those who dared to make it happen. Here's to the men who dared to sign for independence and gave their lives for it. Here's to those who dared to drop everything and take up arms to protect their lands, their families and their neighbors, to the farmers who dared to defend the bridge and their weapons against ranks of the strongest army in the world and chased them away, to the freed slaves and others in Boston who dared to stand up against the English rifles and were the first Americans to die for it, to those who dared to dump a precious cargo into the bay rather than to allow the government to line its pockets and those of its businessmen at America's expense, to those who dared to cross the ice bound Delaware River on a freezing night, the river I see from my own window, to chase the enemy from Trenton, to those farmers and merchants who dared to spend a blazing hot Phildelphia summer behind closed doors to write a constitution.
Here's to those who dare to make it work. Here's to the farmer and the fisherman, to the miner and the forester, to the carpenter, the mason and the gardener, to the teacher and the preacher, to the banjo player, the trumpet player and the church organist, to the tailor and the cobbler, to the actor, the singer and the dancer, to the truck driver, the bus driver and the cab driver, to the fire fighter, the cop and the paramedic, to the lineman and the lighthouse keeper, to the longshoreman, the teamster and the transit worker. to the typist, the printer, the mail carrier and the factory worker.
Here's to the true patriots, the common people, the Americans.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
DB - Vagabond Journeys
_______________________
May you have a joyous day, what ever country you live in.
***************************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
This puzzle is in 2 parts, Part A and Part M. (What? You'll get Parts B through L at another time, Keep your shirt on.)
Part A: Below is a list of the 13 original states. They are the reason we have 13 stripes on our flag. Your mission is to tell me what is wrong with this list. (Note: "Too many." is NOT a legitimate answer.) DON'T CHEAT !
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Part M: How did they become the first 13 states?
There is 1 winner so far.
Good luck Email Lions. Good luck Blogspot Tigers.
Answers will be posted on or about 9 p.m. Sunday
Friday, July 3, 2009
Knowledge Kindling 7/03/09
We need men who can dream of things that never were.
President John Kennedy
************************
Hail !
---------------------------------
Whenever I experience an original work of art I want to be astonished. Whether it's a song, a dance, a picture or a story, I want the artist to take me someplace I've never been before, somewhere beyond knowledge, beyond my knowledge. I want to see even more perceptively than ever a challenge to the so-called authority of realism. I want existence redefined for me. I want to see a new world, or an old world in a new place. I want to see the stars rearranged. I want to see something that has never been become a reality.
Is such art possible? Or is it something beyond art? A new art perhaps. Will it be possible some day for an artist to eliminate the technically limited and create purely from imagination, to make the image become reality by the imagining of it?
If so it could only be done by someone pure and innocent who can imagine only the beautiful and true. Such a one would be an ubermensch of an artist. I believe it is not outside of the realm of possibility.
As an artist I know, as every artist knows, there are moments when the creative process seems to be going on by itself, when the artist is merely an observer of it. Those are the moments when I feel that there is another character, another intelligence at work and it is between imagination and the art, having freed itself from the middle man, me, the artist, At those times it is interesting to ponder who or what is the real artist. the real creator.
Now ponder what that same mysterious process would be like in the realms of nation building, invention, exploration and discovery. That is a question that has puzzled some inspired philosophers over the years. Do we believe what we see or do we see what we believe? Is reality what we think it is or does it become what we think it is? And is it possible to change the reality we see, creating a new reality by how we imagine it. This all may seem like the stuff of science fiction, but so was going to the moon a few decades ago.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
_____________________
TGIF - Thank God I'm Functioning
*****************************
SUMMER QUIZ
This is not a contest.
A young man out west just took home 88 million dollars from the lottery.
Whether you play the lottery or not, if you suddenly had 88 million dollars, or the equivalent of whatever your currency is, what are the first three things you would do with it?
You have all summer to answer if you wish.
7 responses so far.
DB
President John Kennedy
************************
Hail !
---------------------------------
Whenever I experience an original work of art I want to be astonished. Whether it's a song, a dance, a picture or a story, I want the artist to take me someplace I've never been before, somewhere beyond knowledge, beyond my knowledge. I want to see even more perceptively than ever a challenge to the so-called authority of realism. I want existence redefined for me. I want to see a new world, or an old world in a new place. I want to see the stars rearranged. I want to see something that has never been become a reality.
Is such art possible? Or is it something beyond art? A new art perhaps. Will it be possible some day for an artist to eliminate the technically limited and create purely from imagination, to make the image become reality by the imagining of it?
If so it could only be done by someone pure and innocent who can imagine only the beautiful and true. Such a one would be an ubermensch of an artist. I believe it is not outside of the realm of possibility.
As an artist I know, as every artist knows, there are moments when the creative process seems to be going on by itself, when the artist is merely an observer of it. Those are the moments when I feel that there is another character, another intelligence at work and it is between imagination and the art, having freed itself from the middle man, me, the artist, At those times it is interesting to ponder who or what is the real artist. the real creator.
Now ponder what that same mysterious process would be like in the realms of nation building, invention, exploration and discovery. That is a question that has puzzled some inspired philosophers over the years. Do we believe what we see or do we see what we believe? Is reality what we think it is or does it become what we think it is? And is it possible to change the reality we see, creating a new reality by how we imagine it. This all may seem like the stuff of science fiction, but so was going to the moon a few decades ago.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
_____________________
TGIF - Thank God I'm Functioning
*****************************
SUMMER QUIZ
This is not a contest.
A young man out west just took home 88 million dollars from the lottery.
Whether you play the lottery or not, if you suddenly had 88 million dollars, or the equivalent of whatever your currency is, what are the first three things you would do with it?
You have all summer to answer if you wish.
7 responses so far.
DB
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Just Journey 7/02/09
Every generation needs a new revolution.
Thomas Jefferson
********************
Greetings, interesting one.
---------------------------
Search for ventures and adventures. Revolutions are not made from inventing an entirely new way of life, nor creating a world that doesn't exist, but from exploring the realities of the world we live in and discovering new things about it. The seeds of a new world are already in the ground and putting down roots. It is necessary and well worth it to observe the growth, care for the tender shoots and pull up the old, perennial weeds that would choke them.
Revolutions come from exploring, discovering, adapting and correcting mistakes. ":What ever happened to the good, old days?" They're gone, and these are the good, new days. Or thay can be if we don't try to hold on to ideas that have had their day and are ready for the museum. John Cage said that he didn't understand why people are afraid of new ideas. We should be afraid of the old ones, he said.
There are great things to be learned form the past, to be sure. But why round up a bunch of old cattle and try to sell them as the only healthy herd when you've got calves in the barn. Lyndon Johnson said "We can draw lessons form the past, but we cannot live in it."
And now, here we are, a mere decade into a new century, and we have the opportunity to revolutionize the world into a place with no war, no killing and no development and proliferation of earth destroying nuclear weapons, with the majesty, magnificence and magic of outer space scratching at our door, and the International Space Station doing its arabesque around the globe.
My country, one of the greatest achievements of the human race, though flawed and frustrating, is about to celebrate another year of survival. That is a miracle, considering those who would like to back it up, divide it and deprive it of its essential vitality. On this birthday it's a time to regenerate and revolutionize our thinking , no matter how old we are.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
_____________________
Smile for me.
********************************
Thomas Jefferson
********************
Greetings, interesting one.
---------------------------
Search for ventures and adventures. Revolutions are not made from inventing an entirely new way of life, nor creating a world that doesn't exist, but from exploring the realities of the world we live in and discovering new things about it. The seeds of a new world are already in the ground and putting down roots. It is necessary and well worth it to observe the growth, care for the tender shoots and pull up the old, perennial weeds that would choke them.
Revolutions come from exploring, discovering, adapting and correcting mistakes. ":What ever happened to the good, old days?" They're gone, and these are the good, new days. Or thay can be if we don't try to hold on to ideas that have had their day and are ready for the museum. John Cage said that he didn't understand why people are afraid of new ideas. We should be afraid of the old ones, he said.
There are great things to be learned form the past, to be sure. But why round up a bunch of old cattle and try to sell them as the only healthy herd when you've got calves in the barn. Lyndon Johnson said "We can draw lessons form the past, but we cannot live in it."
And now, here we are, a mere decade into a new century, and we have the opportunity to revolutionize the world into a place with no war, no killing and no development and proliferation of earth destroying nuclear weapons, with the majesty, magnificence and magic of outer space scratching at our door, and the International Space Station doing its arabesque around the globe.
My country, one of the greatest achievements of the human race, though flawed and frustrating, is about to celebrate another year of survival. That is a miracle, considering those who would like to back it up, divide it and deprive it of its essential vitality. On this birthday it's a time to regenerate and revolutionize our thinking , no matter how old we are.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
_____________________
Smile for me.
********************************
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Inimical Inspiration 7/01/09
It is dangerous to speak the truth. It is more dangerous not to.
DB - The Vagabond
*****************
Come in, sit you down.
---------------------------
"He who'd make his fellow creatures wise, should always gild the philosophic pill" wrote W. S. Gilbert (of Gilbert & Sullivan).
Why is speaking the truth so dangerous? Because many people don't want to hear the truth and they would rather kill the messenger than listen to the message.
Why don't they want to hear the truth? Fear. The truth may upset their preconceived notions of the way things are, and their habitual ways of thinking. Or the truth may go contrary to what they have been told by someone they love and respect. Or the truth may expose something of which they are ashamed, something that is hiding. There is even the compassionate need sometimes to avoid speaking the truth so as not to hurt someone else.
Then why is it more dangerous to not speak the truth? Truth has a way of revealing itself one way or another. Sometimes the truth is a warning. If I don't speak the truth someone or something will, and thus take the blows.
I was walking down a street in lower Manhattan one day. There was a man approaching me from the other direction. As he got close I noticed another man coming out of the ground floor of a warehouse building with two long, large, sharp, metal beams on his shoulder. The two men could not see each other. I could see a potential injury about to happen, I held up my hand to the man on the sidewalk and barked at him to stop. a second later I did the same to the man with the metal beams. They both looked at me as if I was a mad man. Then I motioned for the man with the beams to come forward. He did and when the two men saw each other they realized what I had done and thanked me.
Over the past several years intelligent, knowledgeable people have been warning about the follies of bloated mortgages, insecure loans, junk bonds, skyrocketing interest rates and the instability of the market. Many people treated those warnings as just so much negativity and anti-Americanism, while so-called authorities were preaching the opposite. But some people heeded the warnings, which were not pleasant to hear, and converted their assets, opting for frugal living and low risk investments, thus averting the dangers. Others drowned in debt.
If you see a crack in the dam and you tell people, most of them will laugh at you and accuse you of being a lying troublemaker. But someone may listen, investigate and plug up the crack. If you see the crack in the dam and don't tell people, someday you're going to drown your neighbors.
DB
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Have warm thoughts, but not too warm.
DB - The Vagabond
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Come in, sit you down.
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"He who'd make his fellow creatures wise, should always gild the philosophic pill" wrote W. S. Gilbert (of Gilbert & Sullivan).
Why is speaking the truth so dangerous? Because many people don't want to hear the truth and they would rather kill the messenger than listen to the message.
Why don't they want to hear the truth? Fear. The truth may upset their preconceived notions of the way things are, and their habitual ways of thinking. Or the truth may go contrary to what they have been told by someone they love and respect. Or the truth may expose something of which they are ashamed, something that is hiding. There is even the compassionate need sometimes to avoid speaking the truth so as not to hurt someone else.
Then why is it more dangerous to not speak the truth? Truth has a way of revealing itself one way or another. Sometimes the truth is a warning. If I don't speak the truth someone or something will, and thus take the blows.
I was walking down a street in lower Manhattan one day. There was a man approaching me from the other direction. As he got close I noticed another man coming out of the ground floor of a warehouse building with two long, large, sharp, metal beams on his shoulder. The two men could not see each other. I could see a potential injury about to happen, I held up my hand to the man on the sidewalk and barked at him to stop. a second later I did the same to the man with the metal beams. They both looked at me as if I was a mad man. Then I motioned for the man with the beams to come forward. He did and when the two men saw each other they realized what I had done and thanked me.
Over the past several years intelligent, knowledgeable people have been warning about the follies of bloated mortgages, insecure loans, junk bonds, skyrocketing interest rates and the instability of the market. Many people treated those warnings as just so much negativity and anti-Americanism, while so-called authorities were preaching the opposite. But some people heeded the warnings, which were not pleasant to hear, and converted their assets, opting for frugal living and low risk investments, thus averting the dangers. Others drowned in debt.
If you see a crack in the dam and you tell people, most of them will laugh at you and accuse you of being a lying troublemaker. But someone may listen, investigate and plug up the crack. If you see the crack in the dam and don't tell people, someday you're going to drown your neighbors.
DB
*************
Have warm thoughts, but not too warm.
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