The man who makes a character, makes foes.
Edward Young
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Why do I write so much about individualism? Why do I persist in challenging people to take charge of their own lives, their own thoughts and their own light? Why am I always waving red flags of warning about the toll gates that await any traveler who thoughtlessly rides the road of imitation?
Years ago I saw a TV drama about a community of girls who all looked the same. According to the story when they reached a certain age they would enter a machine, or some other system which would completely transform them. There were several models to choose from but whichever one the girl chose she would emerge being identical to all the other girls who chose the same model.
There was one girl who objected, who didn't want to lose her own individuality She suffered insults and ostracization for her decision. She was denied the society of others and repelled by the world of the girls around her.
She had one friend who had gone through the process and kept trying to persuade her until the girl finally agreed to go through with it. She chose the same model as her friend had and now they were identical. She emerged saying how glad she was that she had done it, and how happy she was to look just like her friend whom she admired. After that there wasn't much left of the friendship because it wasn't based on sameness.
There are pipe makers who can carve pipes that look exactly like Dunhill's, but they aren't Dunhill's and a pipe smoker can instantly tell the difference. If you can't afford a Dunhill's why pretend that you can?
I once played a scene with a live chicken. In the professional theatre when there are live animals involved they must have their own environmentally friendly dressing room. So she had hers. Since I was the only one who handled her on stage I used to go in to her room and spend a couple of minutes with her before the show. As we got close to performance there was a sign on her door that read "Hen-rietta." I complained. I said to the stage manager that every professional chicken is named Henrietta. Why couldn't they come up with something different. Why think it's clever to be like everyone else?
There are rock bands that look and sound like other rock bands, painters who are poor copies of Impressionist painters, actors who have to play the role as Rex Harrison or Marlon Brando played it. Imitating a great master is not a bad idea if you learn what's there and move beyond it into your own creative world. But too many people never do.
I have known people who have come into theatre proclaiming the theories of some professor. But almost without exception those theories have no legs and crumble under the brass knuckles of professional theatre.
Now modern medicine has given us cosmetic surgery. To repair a face that has been severely damaged or that causes suffering due to a birth defect is certainly a commendable practice. But what started as a simple nose job has now become a big industry where you can remake yourself to look like anyone, or anything. How far does it go? The mask face of Michael Jackson? The man who had horns inserted into his forehead? The people who have vampire teeth implanted in their mouths? The amazing thing is that it is very popular. How soon will it be before we can go into a surgeon's office and choose a model. (Make me look like Robert Duval.)
And what then happens to the real person inside? How much of ourselves to we sacrifice for this self mutilation? What happens to our true character when we choose to blanket it over with sameness, ordinariness or popularity, no matter how grotesque, to avoid the enmity of those who insist that the current standards of look and behavior be obeyed? That is a heavy toll to pay along the road to acceptance. It's a self mutilation of the soul.
Dana Bate
The Vagabond
******************
WEEKEND CONTEST
Gotcha
Here are the first two words of song titles.
"I got" or "I've got"
The person who comes up with the longest list of song titles that begin with those two words will be the winner. In the case of a tie duplicated prizes will be awarded.
good luck
DB
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
A Tale of Two Enterprises
Don't put your hand to the plow without putting your intelligence and affections to it as well.
Dana Bate
****************
This is the story of two businesses, one a failure and one a success.
---------------------------------------------
The Ballad of the Sad Coffee House
Once upon a time there was a young man, a recent college graduate, who wanted to own his own business. The city he lived in was vibrant with a long cultural and intellectual history. There were colleges and art museums, concert halls and theatres. He admired the coffee houses that were sprinkled around the city and it's suburbs. He liked the people who came to them and the ambience of those establishments. So he decided to open one himself. He wasn't too smart about it.
He chose a place further out of town, much further. He rented a large space, formerly a seafood restaurant that had gone out of business. He invested in tables, chairs, charming decor and colorful lighting. He spent a lot of money ordering expensive coffee beans and rare teas. He hired someone to make the various coffees on his menu and taught him how to do it. He hired waiters to serve the customers. Against expert advice he decided to do his own advertising and promotion, which was very lackadaisical and uninteresting. Then he sat back and waited for the place to fill up.
In a short time he closed, owing a lot of money. People said he picked the wrong location. His shop was on a well traveled road, with other shopping areas near it. What he did was to pick the wrong town. He didn't trouble himself to find out what the town could use or what it needed. He just assumed what would work in one place would work in another, but the place where he chose to prove that theory had no colleges, a slim cultural life and no pretensions to elitism or intellectual snobbery. It was a beef eating, beer drinking, snow plowing, ski and tourist town. It was the lack of intelligence and affections that brought him down.
The Song of the Happy Restaurant
Then there was the man who took an old ski lodge, put in tables and chairs, fixed up the kitchen, made up a menu and opened his door. His restaurant was in the worst possible location, down a tertiary country road with no skiing area and no other buildings near it. He did no advertising that I can remember. It was word of mouth and he always had customers. But there was a gimmick, and a good one.
The first time we went to it, because some one had told us to, we walked in and right at the door was a letter, framed and hung up, complaining about the food and threatening a law suit, signed by the restaurant critic of the Associated Press. There were a few other such letters. And when we walked into the dining room a big burly man with a loud voice said " \Well, two more suck..er...vict...er...customers."
We were shown to a table and given menus. The waitress said the soup of the day was lentil but don't order it because it's terrible. I asked what the alternative was, she said there was none. I asked about some of the other dishes and she said it was all awful. That's when I got the point. We ordered dinner, including the lentil soup, and, of course, it was excellent.
The big loud man turned out to be the owner and chef. He enjoyed pretending and having his help pretend that everything was wretched because, in fact, he was one of the best chefs around and people knew it and told other people. There was no sitting around waiting for customers. He was a busy man. His heart was in what he did and he enjoyed insulting his own, delicious cuisine.
After dinner he came out for a moment and asked us how it was. I said "dreadful." He laughed and said "That's what I like to hear."
I'll bet the AP critic went back for more, as I did.
Dana Bate
The Vagabond
*********************
WEEKEND CONTEST
Gotcha
Here are the first two words of song titles.
"I got" or "I've got"
The person who comes up with the longest list of song titles that begin with those two words will be the winner. In the case of a tie duplicated prizes will be awarded.
good luck
DB
Dana Bate
****************
This is the story of two businesses, one a failure and one a success.
---------------------------------------------
The Ballad of the Sad Coffee House
Once upon a time there was a young man, a recent college graduate, who wanted to own his own business. The city he lived in was vibrant with a long cultural and intellectual history. There were colleges and art museums, concert halls and theatres. He admired the coffee houses that were sprinkled around the city and it's suburbs. He liked the people who came to them and the ambience of those establishments. So he decided to open one himself. He wasn't too smart about it.
He chose a place further out of town, much further. He rented a large space, formerly a seafood restaurant that had gone out of business. He invested in tables, chairs, charming decor and colorful lighting. He spent a lot of money ordering expensive coffee beans and rare teas. He hired someone to make the various coffees on his menu and taught him how to do it. He hired waiters to serve the customers. Against expert advice he decided to do his own advertising and promotion, which was very lackadaisical and uninteresting. Then he sat back and waited for the place to fill up.
In a short time he closed, owing a lot of money. People said he picked the wrong location. His shop was on a well traveled road, with other shopping areas near it. What he did was to pick the wrong town. He didn't trouble himself to find out what the town could use or what it needed. He just assumed what would work in one place would work in another, but the place where he chose to prove that theory had no colleges, a slim cultural life and no pretensions to elitism or intellectual snobbery. It was a beef eating, beer drinking, snow plowing, ski and tourist town. It was the lack of intelligence and affections that brought him down.
The Song of the Happy Restaurant
Then there was the man who took an old ski lodge, put in tables and chairs, fixed up the kitchen, made up a menu and opened his door. His restaurant was in the worst possible location, down a tertiary country road with no skiing area and no other buildings near it. He did no advertising that I can remember. It was word of mouth and he always had customers. But there was a gimmick, and a good one.
The first time we went to it, because some one had told us to, we walked in and right at the door was a letter, framed and hung up, complaining about the food and threatening a law suit, signed by the restaurant critic of the Associated Press. There were a few other such letters. And when we walked into the dining room a big burly man with a loud voice said " \Well, two more suck..er...vict...er...customers."
We were shown to a table and given menus. The waitress said the soup of the day was lentil but don't order it because it's terrible. I asked what the alternative was, she said there was none. I asked about some of the other dishes and she said it was all awful. That's when I got the point. We ordered dinner, including the lentil soup, and, of course, it was excellent.
The big loud man turned out to be the owner and chef. He enjoyed pretending and having his help pretend that everything was wretched because, in fact, he was one of the best chefs around and people knew it and told other people. There was no sitting around waiting for customers. He was a busy man. His heart was in what he did and he enjoyed insulting his own, delicious cuisine.
After dinner he came out for a moment and asked us how it was. I said "dreadful." He laughed and said "That's what I like to hear."
I'll bet the AP critic went back for more, as I did.
Dana Bate
The Vagabond
*********************
WEEKEND CONTEST
Gotcha
Here are the first two words of song titles.
"I got" or "I've got"
The person who comes up with the longest list of song titles that begin with those two words will be the winner. In the case of a tie duplicated prizes will be awarded.
good luck
DB
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Printer
Three hours and fifteen minutes on the phone with HP to fix my HP printerm Ended up buying a new one.
Give and Return
Every gift, though it be small, is in reality great, if given with affection.
Pindar
+++++++++++++++++++
For my birthday last March one of my journal friends (you know who you are) sent me the kind and generous gift of the CD on which Susan Boyle sings her songs. I listened to it again this morning. Many of her songs are about lost love and being alone. I always shed a tear when I hear it. It touches me. Many of the messages are so relevant to my life.
"How can I not be grateful for my whole life?" wrote Nietzsche. And we should indeed be grateful for the life we have been given and the experiences we have had in the living of it. But there are also the regrets for the life we did not have, the dreams that were never fulfilled, the hopes that were dashed and the pain we have found and given out to others.
From the deep darkness of self we can find the gifts of wisdom, clearness and love to share with those who can receive them. The gift of ourselves is the gift from the hollow well of life, hollow but filled with jewels.
From my own shattering disappointment in myself I thought the moments of truth I could give as an artist on the stage would heal my regrets. I came to find out even better the healing took place in the hearts of people who saw me and heard me speak. Those were the simple gifts I could give, and they did come back to me sometimes.
There is one experience I will never forget. We were touring a production of "Orphans" to homeless shelters, half way houses, drug rehabilitation centers and hospitals in New York City. I played the role of an older man straightening out the lives of two aimless youngsters. We played a large homeless shelter on the upper West Side of Manhattan. The audience was very small, only about 20 guys, and after the performance we took a bow. When I looked up there was a tall, black man. 60 to 70 years old, with tears coming down his cheeks. He just took my hand in both of his and said "Thank you."
A single performance in the corner of a recreation room, with no special lights, a few pieces of furniture and yet something I did went right to the center of that man's life.
Did I clean out some regret, did I answer a life long question, did I solve a burdensome mystery, did I enable him to forgive? I will never know what effect it had on him beyond that moment but it was surely a gift given and returned with affection.
Dana Bate
The Vagabond
************************
You can now find me on Twitter http://twitter.com/dana_bate
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Come on folks.
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
Only 5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Pindar
+++++++++++++++++++
For my birthday last March one of my journal friends (you know who you are) sent me the kind and generous gift of the CD on which Susan Boyle sings her songs. I listened to it again this morning. Many of her songs are about lost love and being alone. I always shed a tear when I hear it. It touches me. Many of the messages are so relevant to my life.
"How can I not be grateful for my whole life?" wrote Nietzsche. And we should indeed be grateful for the life we have been given and the experiences we have had in the living of it. But there are also the regrets for the life we did not have, the dreams that were never fulfilled, the hopes that were dashed and the pain we have found and given out to others.
From the deep darkness of self we can find the gifts of wisdom, clearness and love to share with those who can receive them. The gift of ourselves is the gift from the hollow well of life, hollow but filled with jewels.
From my own shattering disappointment in myself I thought the moments of truth I could give as an artist on the stage would heal my regrets. I came to find out even better the healing took place in the hearts of people who saw me and heard me speak. Those were the simple gifts I could give, and they did come back to me sometimes.
There is one experience I will never forget. We were touring a production of "Orphans" to homeless shelters, half way houses, drug rehabilitation centers and hospitals in New York City. I played the role of an older man straightening out the lives of two aimless youngsters. We played a large homeless shelter on the upper West Side of Manhattan. The audience was very small, only about 20 guys, and after the performance we took a bow. When I looked up there was a tall, black man. 60 to 70 years old, with tears coming down his cheeks. He just took my hand in both of his and said "Thank you."
A single performance in the corner of a recreation room, with no special lights, a few pieces of furniture and yet something I did went right to the center of that man's life.
Did I clean out some regret, did I answer a life long question, did I solve a burdensome mystery, did I enable him to forgive? I will never know what effect it had on him beyond that moment but it was surely a gift given and returned with affection.
Dana Bate
The Vagabond
************************
You can now find me on Twitter http://twitter.com/dana_bate
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Come on folks.
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
Only 5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Friendship
We love those who know the worst of us and don't turn their faces away.
Walker Percy
****************
I think there ought to be a manifesto connected with every friendship. Not a catalogue of things you expect from a friend but an unwritten document, based upon as much self knowledge as you have and can admit to yourself, that states "this is who I am and if you are my friend you will accept me as who I am and I will do the same for you." Another part of that manifesto should read "I may not be who you think I am and you may not be who I think you are, but we can both learn more about each other."
I have lost friends over the years and it always confuses me when I see them depart from me. There is never a reason given, a real reason, but it was likely to be something selfish on their part. They didn't get from me what they thought I would give or they got tired of pretending to be my friend. Maybe the so-called friendship was based on some shared interest that has faded. Whatever the reason I think friendship should be based on love that rides over the circumstances and keeps two people attached by an invisible thread as strong as a steel cable.
This I learned from my own experience. I think about people I once knew that I loved and admired. They were friends of mine and yet they aren't in my life any more. Why not? I know one very good reason. I tried to be the person they thought I was and wanted to be and I failed. Another good reason is that they became not the people I thought they were. The only time I actively broke off a friendship it was with a clear explanation of that person's belligerence and malignancy toward me. An unexpected result of my having the wrong opinion of them.
I believe it is the network of friendship that keeps civilization together. That net should never be broken and it can't be if friends don't turn on or away from each other.
I thought yesterday of starting a new journal labeled "Where are you?" and listing all the people I used to know and liked who have disappeared. I tried to locate a few on Facebook to no success. But I will bet some of them might still be close friends if the pieces could be picked up and joined again.
I don't want to lose friends by being who I am. But if it must be then it must be. I'm not going to change who I am to fit someone else's glove and I don't want anyone else to do that for me. We can love and accept each other for who we are, wrinkles and all, if we try. You got a problem with that?
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
Only 5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Walker Percy
****************
I think there ought to be a manifesto connected with every friendship. Not a catalogue of things you expect from a friend but an unwritten document, based upon as much self knowledge as you have and can admit to yourself, that states "this is who I am and if you are my friend you will accept me as who I am and I will do the same for you." Another part of that manifesto should read "I may not be who you think I am and you may not be who I think you are, but we can both learn more about each other."
I have lost friends over the years and it always confuses me when I see them depart from me. There is never a reason given, a real reason, but it was likely to be something selfish on their part. They didn't get from me what they thought I would give or they got tired of pretending to be my friend. Maybe the so-called friendship was based on some shared interest that has faded. Whatever the reason I think friendship should be based on love that rides over the circumstances and keeps two people attached by an invisible thread as strong as a steel cable.
This I learned from my own experience. I think about people I once knew that I loved and admired. They were friends of mine and yet they aren't in my life any more. Why not? I know one very good reason. I tried to be the person they thought I was and wanted to be and I failed. Another good reason is that they became not the people I thought they were. The only time I actively broke off a friendship it was with a clear explanation of that person's belligerence and malignancy toward me. An unexpected result of my having the wrong opinion of them.
I believe it is the network of friendship that keeps civilization together. That net should never be broken and it can't be if friends don't turn on or away from each other.
I thought yesterday of starting a new journal labeled "Where are you?" and listing all the people I used to know and liked who have disappeared. I tried to locate a few on Facebook to no success. But I will bet some of them might still be close friends if the pieces could be picked up and joined again.
I don't want to lose friends by being who I am. But if it must be then it must be. I'm not going to change who I am to fit someone else's glove and I don't want anyone else to do that for me. We can love and accept each other for who we are, wrinkles and all, if we try. You got a problem with that?
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
Only 5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Getting on twitter is even more complicateed than getting on fcebook. Why can't the bozos do right? It's been about 5 hours now and I'm still not on.
What's the good word?
Be certain to partake of the good things in life, and don't forget to share them.
DB - The Vagabond
********************
"I will pray for you." Too often that statement has a wicked dirt road of sarcasm under it. I don't like your religion, I don't like your politics, I don't like your life style, I don't like your sexual behavior, I don't like how you live, I don't like where you are coming from, I don't like how you make a living, I don't like your choice of music, I don't like your choice of ball team, I don't like anything about you, I don't like you, I hate you, but I love you so "I will pray for you."
"He's black but nice." Here was a Protestant Sunday School teacher genuinely grappling with a deep prejudice against and suspicion of black people. Because of my liberalism he came to me for advice. "He's black but nice." I told him that the first thing he had to do was to permanently erase from his vocabulary the phrase "block but nice." I reminded him that there are nice black people and nasty black people just like there are nice white people and nasty white people. He and his wife had the black "but nice" couple over for dinner and then were invited to the other house for dinner. He told me about that and the discomfort was palpable.
"He's a Jew but he's not typical, you know what I mean?" Three college friends sitting on the banks of the Charles River in Boston. One of them is Jewish, the other two are not. The other two are trying to explain to the Jewish boy the difference between being a Jew and being Jewish. The Jewish boy is listening politely with a smile on his face. It's clear the two authorities haven't the faintest idea of what it is like to be Jewish. No prejudice here is there?
I asked a Protestant pastor's daughter what she would do if she met a Muslim. Her answer was "Convert them." (I will pray for you.)
Don't get me started on political beliefs. The point is made.
So what are the good things in life? Whatever they are they are covered over and smothered by prejudice, intolerance, injustice and ignorance. But with the advent of international communication the cultures of the whole world are open to the whole world. Sure there are many things going on that are distasteful to me. I'm not going to eat a dog, watch a bullfight, slaughter a camel with an axe or throw stones at an adulteress. I don't partake of them. I partake of the good things: African music, Arab dancers, Flamenco, Mariachi, I was very grateful to Sol Hurok when he brought the Kabuki, the traditional Japanese theatre, to New York. When I went to see it I thought I knew theatre. Watching those performers changed my life as an actor. There is enlightenment to be gained from the art, music and literature of the world whether it's across the sea or down the street. The good things in life will tread on the scorpions of religious and political fanaticism.
We will never make the whole world America, but we can make America more like the world by embracing the good things in it without prejudice and fear and sharing the good things we have with the world. I know there is a machinery of prejudice against that idea but the time is coming and now is when that machine should be dismantled.
The ballet dancer from Moscow had it right when he asked an American critic why he referred to "Soviet dancers" and "Russian tanks" when it should have been the other way around.
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
Only 5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
DB - The Vagabond
********************
"I will pray for you." Too often that statement has a wicked dirt road of sarcasm under it. I don't like your religion, I don't like your politics, I don't like your life style, I don't like your sexual behavior, I don't like how you live, I don't like where you are coming from, I don't like how you make a living, I don't like your choice of music, I don't like your choice of ball team, I don't like anything about you, I don't like you, I hate you, but I love you so "I will pray for you."
"He's black but nice." Here was a Protestant Sunday School teacher genuinely grappling with a deep prejudice against and suspicion of black people. Because of my liberalism he came to me for advice. "He's black but nice." I told him that the first thing he had to do was to permanently erase from his vocabulary the phrase "block but nice." I reminded him that there are nice black people and nasty black people just like there are nice white people and nasty white people. He and his wife had the black "but nice" couple over for dinner and then were invited to the other house for dinner. He told me about that and the discomfort was palpable.
"He's a Jew but he's not typical, you know what I mean?" Three college friends sitting on the banks of the Charles River in Boston. One of them is Jewish, the other two are not. The other two are trying to explain to the Jewish boy the difference between being a Jew and being Jewish. The Jewish boy is listening politely with a smile on his face. It's clear the two authorities haven't the faintest idea of what it is like to be Jewish. No prejudice here is there?
I asked a Protestant pastor's daughter what she would do if she met a Muslim. Her answer was "Convert them." (I will pray for you.)
Don't get me started on political beliefs. The point is made.
So what are the good things in life? Whatever they are they are covered over and smothered by prejudice, intolerance, injustice and ignorance. But with the advent of international communication the cultures of the whole world are open to the whole world. Sure there are many things going on that are distasteful to me. I'm not going to eat a dog, watch a bullfight, slaughter a camel with an axe or throw stones at an adulteress. I don't partake of them. I partake of the good things: African music, Arab dancers, Flamenco, Mariachi, I was very grateful to Sol Hurok when he brought the Kabuki, the traditional Japanese theatre, to New York. When I went to see it I thought I knew theatre. Watching those performers changed my life as an actor. There is enlightenment to be gained from the art, music and literature of the world whether it's across the sea or down the street. The good things in life will tread on the scorpions of religious and political fanaticism.
We will never make the whole world America, but we can make America more like the world by embracing the good things in it without prejudice and fear and sharing the good things we have with the world. I know there is a machinery of prejudice against that idea but the time is coming and now is when that machine should be dismantled.
The ballet dancer from Moscow had it right when he asked an American critic why he referred to "Soviet dancers" and "Russian tanks" when it should have been the other way around.
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
Only 5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Monday, July 26, 2010
They won't let me jopin Twitter because they say my email address is already taken. Of course it is, it's taken by me. It's in their files from the last time I tried to join it and they didn't let me. What kind of egregious nonsense is that? I want to get on there because the other Dana Bate in the country is on it.
Molasses In January
Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly.
Mae West
********************
A certain poet once said that even if he knew every word in a dictionary it would still be a fascinating book to read. I have a Random House/Webster Unabridged dictionary and on long winter evenings I sometimes sit at my desk under the warm lamp, open it anywhere and read about words like absolutism, exiguous, homiletic, palimpsest and proleptic.
Why waste time with a big heavy dictionary? Why not just use Google? It's faster.
Because you have to know the word you're looking up before Google can help you and it doesn't give you a page of words with which to discover new ones.
I get ads and offers through AOL and others for gadgets and programs that will make my computer run faster. That's nice, but I don't want it to run faster. It operates a little bit faster than I do and that's fine with me.
Gandhi wrote "There is more to life than increasing its speed." It would seem to me that everyone is late for work, anxious to get home or rushing to get away from other people. There's an exit from the New York subway at Columbus Circle where the stairway makes a turn and there's a bit of the platform half way up, to the side of the stairs. I came up the stairs one morning with a whole mob of people. I stepped aside on that section of the stairway to let them pass. A moment later a young man joined me. I said to him "Everybody's in a big old hurry to get there." He laughed and said "Well I'm not." I replied "Neither am I." So the two of us stood and waited until the crowd was gone and then made a leisurely exit up the stairs and into the daylight.
Don't get me wrong. I think it's great that you can get from New York to LA in 6 hours and bask in 4, once you get on board the plane that is. I once waited 3 hours to board a 2 hour flight. But it isn't so much a matter of how long it takes to get there, it's a matter of what you going to do once there. You're probably going to iphone someone to tell them you arrived. Instant communication. Great stuff. But I enjoy taking my time, a few hours, to write something you're going to spend 2 minutes reading. That's okay with me. My pleasure is in the doing and it's worth doing slowly.
DB - The Vagabond
*********************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
Only 5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Mae West
********************
A certain poet once said that even if he knew every word in a dictionary it would still be a fascinating book to read. I have a Random House/Webster Unabridged dictionary and on long winter evenings I sometimes sit at my desk under the warm lamp, open it anywhere and read about words like absolutism, exiguous, homiletic, palimpsest and proleptic.
Why waste time with a big heavy dictionary? Why not just use Google? It's faster.
Because you have to know the word you're looking up before Google can help you and it doesn't give you a page of words with which to discover new ones.
I get ads and offers through AOL and others for gadgets and programs that will make my computer run faster. That's nice, but I don't want it to run faster. It operates a little bit faster than I do and that's fine with me.
Gandhi wrote "There is more to life than increasing its speed." It would seem to me that everyone is late for work, anxious to get home or rushing to get away from other people. There's an exit from the New York subway at Columbus Circle where the stairway makes a turn and there's a bit of the platform half way up, to the side of the stairs. I came up the stairs one morning with a whole mob of people. I stepped aside on that section of the stairway to let them pass. A moment later a young man joined me. I said to him "Everybody's in a big old hurry to get there." He laughed and said "Well I'm not." I replied "Neither am I." So the two of us stood and waited until the crowd was gone and then made a leisurely exit up the stairs and into the daylight.
Don't get me wrong. I think it's great that you can get from New York to LA in 6 hours and bask in 4, once you get on board the plane that is. I once waited 3 hours to board a 2 hour flight. But it isn't so much a matter of how long it takes to get there, it's a matter of what you going to do once there. You're probably going to iphone someone to tell them you arrived. Instant communication. Great stuff. But I enjoy taking my time, a few hours, to write something you're going to spend 2 minutes reading. That's okay with me. My pleasure is in the doing and it's worth doing slowly.
DB - The Vagabond
*********************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
Only 5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Weekend Puzzle Answer
WEEKEND PUZZLE ANSWER
Here are some well known issues as if they were reported by the modern news media. What are they?
2 contestants - 1 winner. Sue Hertz of the Blogspot Tigers wins the grand prize of a slightly dented water pail.
1. Last night while the occupants were asleep an intruder entered the house somehow and left behind some suspicious looking boxes. The FBI is investigating.
Twas the night before Christmas.
2. Instead of remaining by the river two youngsters stupidly thought they would try their luck further up. They both toppled off a cliff, which served them right. The boy is listed in serious condition. Doctors have not as yet reported on the girl.
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.
3. Responding to complaints police found a man in the middle of town hiding under a tree and making a horrible noise banging pieces of metal together.
Under the spreading chestnut tree the village smithy stood,
4. Police report that a mad man came speeding through the city in the middle of the night shouting at people to load their rifles.
Listen my children and you shall hear the midnight ride of Paul Revere
5. Parents in this community are very distraught. An itinerant worker, in a dispute over wages, has been kidnapping their children. Amber alerts have gone out all around the area. None of the children have yet been located.
The Pied Piper of Hamiln
6. There was a standoff between the two gangs at the stream. Witnesses say it might have ended peacefully except that one guy fired off his rifle. A fight ensued.
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.
DB
Here are some well known issues as if they were reported by the modern news media. What are they?
2 contestants - 1 winner. Sue Hertz of the Blogspot Tigers wins the grand prize of a slightly dented water pail.
1. Last night while the occupants were asleep an intruder entered the house somehow and left behind some suspicious looking boxes. The FBI is investigating.
Twas the night before Christmas.
2. Instead of remaining by the river two youngsters stupidly thought they would try their luck further up. They both toppled off a cliff, which served them right. The boy is listed in serious condition. Doctors have not as yet reported on the girl.
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.
3. Responding to complaints police found a man in the middle of town hiding under a tree and making a horrible noise banging pieces of metal together.
Under the spreading chestnut tree the village smithy stood,
4. Police report that a mad man came speeding through the city in the middle of the night shouting at people to load their rifles.
Listen my children and you shall hear the midnight ride of Paul Revere
5. Parents in this community are very distraught. An itinerant worker, in a dispute over wages, has been kidnapping their children. Amber alerts have gone out all around the area. None of the children have yet been located.
The Pied Piper of Hamiln
6. There was a standoff between the two gangs at the stream. Witnesses say it might have ended peacefully except that one guy fired off his rifle. A fight ensued.
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.
DB
Get Busy
If every day is an awakening, you will never grow old. You will just keep growing.
Gail Sheehy
******************
Someone, I think it was Thoreau, said understanding yourself is like trying to look behind you without turning around. When I woke up yesterday morning at the first blink I saw daylight and a voice in my head said "Come on. It's daytime. Get up. Get busy." Then I said "Wait a minute. It's the weekend, it's very hot and I'm retired. I will get busy on my own terms, thank you."
But what was that morning voice in my head? It comes from years ago. It was the first thing my teacher and mentor said to me, my first lesson. It was a lesson in life as well as in acting. He siad "Can;t you find something to do?"
That remark set my life spinning and ever since I've been on a journey of discovery, of awakening. As an actor I leaned, as long as my character wasn't asleep or dead, to be fully focused and concentrated on some goal, some objective, some action, "something to do" that was appropriate to the play. I was known to be actively involved in considering the next step in the characters life as the lights faded down on the last scene.
I carried over that instruction of finding something to do in every area of life. I would get frustrated with myself if I watched aimless television or busied myself with crossword puzzles when there were other things of a more productive nature
demanding my attention.
I also learned another lesson as a result of my teacher's remark and that is about consciousness. The discovery is that we all have much more control over our own thinking than we imagine or exercise. It isn't just a matter of forming our own opinions and not being swayed by others. It is also a matter, and a much more important one, of deciding what we are going to think and disciplining ourselves to think that way.
As an actor I was responsible for the characters thoughts and when those thoughts were charged with emotion and energy they produced a decided effect on the drama. And why not accomplish the same thing in real life? Not by will power or coercion but by choosing what we are conscious of. and what we are allowing ourselves to be aware of. A genuine and vigorous expectation of good will awaken us to it and allow us to be prepared to take advantage of it when it comes.
On Monday afternoon I had a conversation with a very nice social worker who is trying to help me with some of my physical and financial problems. I had to describe to her all the things that are wrong and in the process I had to recount some of the desperate circumstances of my childhood. She said that in spite of all the problems I have and have had in my life I sound like a "happy man." I replied that I guess so, I have a sense of humor and I expect to laugh every day.
I also expect to discover, to learn something and to wake up every morning ready to find something to do.
DB - The Vagabond
*********************
My story "The Savior" is continuing, up to part 10 now, on Vagabond Tales
http://db-vagabondtales.blogspot.com/
**************************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
Here are some well known issues as if they were reported by the modern news media. What are they?
1. Last night while the occupants were asleep an intruder entered the house somehow and left behind some suspicious looking boxes. The FBI is investigating.
2. Instead of remaining by the river two youngsters stupidly thought they would try their luck further up. They both toppled off a cliff, which served them right. The boy is listed in serious condition. Doctors have not as yet reported on the girl.
3. Responding to complaints police found a man in the middle of town hiding under a tree and making a horrible noise banging pieces of metal together.
4. Police report that a mad man came speeding through the city in the middle of the night shouting at people to load their rifles.
5. Parents in this community are very distraught. An itinerant worker, in a dispute over wages, has been kidnapping their children. Amber alerts have gone out all around the area. None of the children have yet been located.
6. There was a standoff between the two gangs at the stream. Witnesses say it might have ended peacefully except that one guy fired off his rifle. A fight ensued.
Good luck.
Leave your answer on dbdacoba@aol.com in case others don't get to it until later.
DB
Gail Sheehy
******************
Someone, I think it was Thoreau, said understanding yourself is like trying to look behind you without turning around. When I woke up yesterday morning at the first blink I saw daylight and a voice in my head said "Come on. It's daytime. Get up. Get busy." Then I said "Wait a minute. It's the weekend, it's very hot and I'm retired. I will get busy on my own terms, thank you."
But what was that morning voice in my head? It comes from years ago. It was the first thing my teacher and mentor said to me, my first lesson. It was a lesson in life as well as in acting. He siad "Can;t you find something to do?"
That remark set my life spinning and ever since I've been on a journey of discovery, of awakening. As an actor I leaned, as long as my character wasn't asleep or dead, to be fully focused and concentrated on some goal, some objective, some action, "something to do" that was appropriate to the play. I was known to be actively involved in considering the next step in the characters life as the lights faded down on the last scene.
I carried over that instruction of finding something to do in every area of life. I would get frustrated with myself if I watched aimless television or busied myself with crossword puzzles when there were other things of a more productive nature
demanding my attention.
I also learned another lesson as a result of my teacher's remark and that is about consciousness. The discovery is that we all have much more control over our own thinking than we imagine or exercise. It isn't just a matter of forming our own opinions and not being swayed by others. It is also a matter, and a much more important one, of deciding what we are going to think and disciplining ourselves to think that way.
As an actor I was responsible for the characters thoughts and when those thoughts were charged with emotion and energy they produced a decided effect on the drama. And why not accomplish the same thing in real life? Not by will power or coercion but by choosing what we are conscious of. and what we are allowing ourselves to be aware of. A genuine and vigorous expectation of good will awaken us to it and allow us to be prepared to take advantage of it when it comes.
On Monday afternoon I had a conversation with a very nice social worker who is trying to help me with some of my physical and financial problems. I had to describe to her all the things that are wrong and in the process I had to recount some of the desperate circumstances of my childhood. She said that in spite of all the problems I have and have had in my life I sound like a "happy man." I replied that I guess so, I have a sense of humor and I expect to laugh every day.
I also expect to discover, to learn something and to wake up every morning ready to find something to do.
DB - The Vagabond
*********************
My story "The Savior" is continuing, up to part 10 now, on Vagabond Tales
http://db-vagabondtales.blogspot.com/
**************************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
Here are some well known issues as if they were reported by the modern news media. What are they?
1. Last night while the occupants were asleep an intruder entered the house somehow and left behind some suspicious looking boxes. The FBI is investigating.
2. Instead of remaining by the river two youngsters stupidly thought they would try their luck further up. They both toppled off a cliff, which served them right. The boy is listed in serious condition. Doctors have not as yet reported on the girl.
3. Responding to complaints police found a man in the middle of town hiding under a tree and making a horrible noise banging pieces of metal together.
4. Police report that a mad man came speeding through the city in the middle of the night shouting at people to load their rifles.
5. Parents in this community are very distraught. An itinerant worker, in a dispute over wages, has been kidnapping their children. Amber alerts have gone out all around the area. None of the children have yet been located.
6. There was a standoff between the two gangs at the stream. Witnesses say it might have ended peacefully except that one guy fired off his rifle. A fight ensued.
Good luck.
Leave your answer on dbdacoba@aol.com in case others don't get to it until later.
DB
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Mad Dogs
To appreciate nonsense requires a serious interest in life.
Gelett Burgess
********************
Selections from "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" by Noel Coward
"At twelve noon the natives swoon, and
no further work is done -
But Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun."
---------------------------------------
I've always been amused at how some people seem to take excessive weather as a personal insult. Imagine the effrontery of the weather bureau calling for rain on the same day as your garden party. The school cookout had to be canceled because it was just too hot, everyone was disappointed. And if it weren't for the damn ice on the road you might have gotten to the meeting on time.
--------------------------------
"In Bangkok, at twelve o'clock, they foam at the mouth and run,
But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun."
-------------------------------------
I went to visit my tobacconist friend yesterday at about 3 o'clock. It was in the high 90's if not 100 degrees. On the way there was no shady side of the street so I shuffled slowly along like every one else on the sidewalks.
Her shop is air conditioned, thank goodness, so I was glad to go in and sit down. As I sat there other customers came in and they all had something to say about the heat. "Whew,it's hot. Hot as hell out there. Or, hotter than the hinges of... That sun is too bright" etc.
After a while, at a moment when there were no customers, she said she was tired of people telling her how hot it was as if she didn't know, as if it was a sudden discovery. She said she wished she could come up with a witty response just to show them the nonsense of what they were all saying.
Alright, I'm English, I admit it. My family came from Yorkshire. So, since she quit smoking and is doing very well at it, I stepped outside to have a cigarette and sat on the bench in front of the shop, A customer passed and said I must be crazy to sit in the direct sunlight like that. No I thought, I'm not mad, I'm just English.
-------------------------------------------
"In Bengal, to move at all, is seldom if ever done,
But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun."
--------------------------------------------
When I finished I went back inside and said "Whew! It's colder than a penguin's foot out there." That got a laugh out of her. A refreshing change.
Today the weather bureau has the nerve to call for 105 degrees. Who do they think they are?
Keep cool.
DB
***********************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
Here are some well known issues as if they were reported by the modern news media. What are they?
1. Last night while the occupants were asleep an intruder entered the house somehow and left behind some suspicious looking boxes. The FBI is investigating.
2. Instead of remaining by the river two youngsters stupidly thought they would try their luck further up. They both toppled off a cliff, which served them right. The boy is listed in serious condition. Doctors have not as yet reported on the girl.
3. Responding to complaints police found a man in the middle of town hiding under a tree and making a horrible noise banging pieces of metal together.
4. Police report that a mad man came speeding through the city in the middle of the night shouting at people to load their rifles.
5. Parents in this community are very distraught. An itinerant worker, in a dispute over wages, has been kidnapping their children. Amber alerts have gone out all around the area. None of the children have yet been located.
6. There was a standoff between the two gangs at the stream. Witnesses say it might have ended peacefully except that one of the guys fired his rifle. A fight ensued.
Good luck.
Leave your answer on dbdacoba@aol.com in case others don't get to it until later.
DB
*************
Gelett Burgess
********************
Selections from "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" by Noel Coward
"At twelve noon the natives swoon, and
no further work is done -
But Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun."
---------------------------------------
I've always been amused at how some people seem to take excessive weather as a personal insult. Imagine the effrontery of the weather bureau calling for rain on the same day as your garden party. The school cookout had to be canceled because it was just too hot, everyone was disappointed. And if it weren't for the damn ice on the road you might have gotten to the meeting on time.
--------------------------------
"In Bangkok, at twelve o'clock, they foam at the mouth and run,
But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun."
-------------------------------------
I went to visit my tobacconist friend yesterday at about 3 o'clock. It was in the high 90's if not 100 degrees. On the way there was no shady side of the street so I shuffled slowly along like every one else on the sidewalks.
Her shop is air conditioned, thank goodness, so I was glad to go in and sit down. As I sat there other customers came in and they all had something to say about the heat. "Whew,it's hot. Hot as hell out there. Or, hotter than the hinges of... That sun is too bright" etc.
After a while, at a moment when there were no customers, she said she was tired of people telling her how hot it was as if she didn't know, as if it was a sudden discovery. She said she wished she could come up with a witty response just to show them the nonsense of what they were all saying.
Alright, I'm English, I admit it. My family came from Yorkshire. So, since she quit smoking and is doing very well at it, I stepped outside to have a cigarette and sat on the bench in front of the shop, A customer passed and said I must be crazy to sit in the direct sunlight like that. No I thought, I'm not mad, I'm just English.
-------------------------------------------
"In Bengal, to move at all, is seldom if ever done,
But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun."
--------------------------------------------
When I finished I went back inside and said "Whew! It's colder than a penguin's foot out there." That got a laugh out of her. A refreshing change.
Today the weather bureau has the nerve to call for 105 degrees. Who do they think they are?
Keep cool.
DB
***********************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
Here are some well known issues as if they were reported by the modern news media. What are they?
1. Last night while the occupants were asleep an intruder entered the house somehow and left behind some suspicious looking boxes. The FBI is investigating.
2. Instead of remaining by the river two youngsters stupidly thought they would try their luck further up. They both toppled off a cliff, which served them right. The boy is listed in serious condition. Doctors have not as yet reported on the girl.
3. Responding to complaints police found a man in the middle of town hiding under a tree and making a horrible noise banging pieces of metal together.
4. Police report that a mad man came speeding through the city in the middle of the night shouting at people to load their rifles.
5. Parents in this community are very distraught. An itinerant worker, in a dispute over wages, has been kidnapping their children. Amber alerts have gone out all around the area. None of the children have yet been located.
6. There was a standoff between the two gangs at the stream. Witnesses say it might have ended peacefully except that one of the guys fired his rifle. A fight ensued.
Good luck.
Leave your answer on dbdacoba@aol.com in case others don't get to it until later.
DB
*************
Friday, July 23, 2010
Keeping Life's Log
How could I not be grateful for my whole life.
Friedrich Nietzsche
************************
This is a reprint from 3/12/10 with a few minor edits. March 12, 1939. On this day there was a blizzard in the northeast and during the blizzard at The United Hospital in Port Chester, New York a vagabond was born.
When I turned 20 I was free at last to pursue my career, think about a family, go on adventures and try to fall in love. I was opinionated, intolerant and egotistical. I did not know what I did not know. I hitchhiked to California and flew back. And then I was being paid full time as an entertainer. I thought I was hot stuff.
When I turned 30 I had been polished a bit and some of my rough edges had been filed down by life. I became sarcastic and critical. My career was going well and I was respected for my artistry. But I was beginning to learn some things that I didn't like. What was left of my innocence was eroding. I tended to retire to myself when not working. A fellow actor described me as appearing like an old fogy with a blanket over his shoulders and soaking his feet. So I changed my ways. I became a wild man, trying to recapture the adolescence I never fully completed. I overextended myself physically and emotionally. and I had no use for the aged. or for children. That was the decade when I began to realize that my life was not stable, in the normal sense of the term. and probably never would be.
When I turned 40 I thought that at last I knew everything. I was in the prime of my life and my career. I was impulsive, energetic, creative, intelligent and good looking. Now I really was hot stuff, I could do no wrong, I thought. So of course I did wrong. I hurt myself and other people. I was piling up a big stack of nasty regrets. But I knew, somehow, that I was turning a corner. I wasn't ready to admit that I was really an emotional, social and intellectual vagabond, and that I was not going to fit in any mold. But I was still searching for love and not finding it.
When I turned 50 I was now an experienced actor and master at my trade but I began to realize how much I didn't know. I was curious about how I could have lived for half a century without acquiring any wisdom. I concluded it was because I thought I knew. That's what kept my mind closed from actually learning. It was a humbling experience and it was then that I began to learn, to sift through things, to separate the truth from the error and to prepare myself for another 50 years of life.
When I turned 60 I was getting to be the age of many of the characters I had played. I had a big voice that had the sound of authority so I had often been cast as older than I was. Looking back over my career I realized how prejudiced I had been about older people. I had to rethink the whole subject of age. My attempt at a love life was winding down, so was my energy and so was my enthusiasm about some aspects of the work I had been doing. I looked beyond it for the first time into an unfamiliar world of science, philosophy and experimental ideas. I was finally growing up. Somewhere during that decade I retired.
When I turned 70 I had to get used to the idea that I was an old man, a geezer, a fogy. I developed a lot of pain in various places. I actually found myself one day with a blanket over my shoulders, soaking my feet. It was then I discovered finally and completely the things that had sustained me and were still sustaining me through my life. When all the nastiness, sarcasm and egotism are chopped away by the hammer and chisel of the world, what remains are the joy of discovery, a deep appreciation for the finest achievements of the human race, an abiding sense of humor, the great, unfathomable sea of friendship, and the reason and determination to not give up.
Every decade seems to be a transition period, a passage, a retranslation of reality. A lot of old guys get set in their ways, I upset my ways. Now I look forward to what the rest of the 70's, the 80's and the 90's may bring.
DB - The Vagabond
********************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
It has been suggested that I start the weekend puzzle on Fridays to give busy people more chance to consider it. So here it is.
Here are some well known issues as if they were reported by the modern news media. What are they?
1. Last night while the occupants were asleep an intruder entered the house somehow and left behind some suspicious looking boxes. The FBI is investigating.
2. Instead of remaining by the river two youngsters stupidly thought they would try their luck further up. They both toppled off a cliff, which served them right. The boy is listed in serious condition. Doctors have not as yet reported on the girl.
3. Responding to complaints police found a man in the middle of town hiding under a tree and making a horrible noise banging pieces of metal together.
4. Police report that a mad man came speeding through the city in the middle of the night shouting at people to load their rifles.
5. Parents in this community are very distraught. An itinerant worker, in a dispute over wages, has been kidnapping their children. Amber alerts have gone out all around the area. None of the children have yet been located.
6. There was a standoff between the two gangs at the stream. Witnesses say it might have ended peacefully except that one idiot shot off his rifle. A fight ensued.
Good luck.
Leave your answer on dbdacoba@aol.com in case others don't get to it until later.
DB
Friedrich Nietzsche
************************
This is a reprint from 3/12/10 with a few minor edits. March 12, 1939. On this day there was a blizzard in the northeast and during the blizzard at The United Hospital in Port Chester, New York a vagabond was born.
When I turned 20 I was free at last to pursue my career, think about a family, go on adventures and try to fall in love. I was opinionated, intolerant and egotistical. I did not know what I did not know. I hitchhiked to California and flew back. And then I was being paid full time as an entertainer. I thought I was hot stuff.
When I turned 30 I had been polished a bit and some of my rough edges had been filed down by life. I became sarcastic and critical. My career was going well and I was respected for my artistry. But I was beginning to learn some things that I didn't like. What was left of my innocence was eroding. I tended to retire to myself when not working. A fellow actor described me as appearing like an old fogy with a blanket over his shoulders and soaking his feet. So I changed my ways. I became a wild man, trying to recapture the adolescence I never fully completed. I overextended myself physically and emotionally. and I had no use for the aged. or for children. That was the decade when I began to realize that my life was not stable, in the normal sense of the term. and probably never would be.
When I turned 40 I thought that at last I knew everything. I was in the prime of my life and my career. I was impulsive, energetic, creative, intelligent and good looking. Now I really was hot stuff, I could do no wrong, I thought. So of course I did wrong. I hurt myself and other people. I was piling up a big stack of nasty regrets. But I knew, somehow, that I was turning a corner. I wasn't ready to admit that I was really an emotional, social and intellectual vagabond, and that I was not going to fit in any mold. But I was still searching for love and not finding it.
When I turned 50 I was now an experienced actor and master at my trade but I began to realize how much I didn't know. I was curious about how I could have lived for half a century without acquiring any wisdom. I concluded it was because I thought I knew. That's what kept my mind closed from actually learning. It was a humbling experience and it was then that I began to learn, to sift through things, to separate the truth from the error and to prepare myself for another 50 years of life.
When I turned 60 I was getting to be the age of many of the characters I had played. I had a big voice that had the sound of authority so I had often been cast as older than I was. Looking back over my career I realized how prejudiced I had been about older people. I had to rethink the whole subject of age. My attempt at a love life was winding down, so was my energy and so was my enthusiasm about some aspects of the work I had been doing. I looked beyond it for the first time into an unfamiliar world of science, philosophy and experimental ideas. I was finally growing up. Somewhere during that decade I retired.
When I turned 70 I had to get used to the idea that I was an old man, a geezer, a fogy. I developed a lot of pain in various places. I actually found myself one day with a blanket over my shoulders, soaking my feet. It was then I discovered finally and completely the things that had sustained me and were still sustaining me through my life. When all the nastiness, sarcasm and egotism are chopped away by the hammer and chisel of the world, what remains are the joy of discovery, a deep appreciation for the finest achievements of the human race, an abiding sense of humor, the great, unfathomable sea of friendship, and the reason and determination to not give up.
Every decade seems to be a transition period, a passage, a retranslation of reality. A lot of old guys get set in their ways, I upset my ways. Now I look forward to what the rest of the 70's, the 80's and the 90's may bring.
DB - The Vagabond
********************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
It has been suggested that I start the weekend puzzle on Fridays to give busy people more chance to consider it. So here it is.
Here are some well known issues as if they were reported by the modern news media. What are they?
1. Last night while the occupants were asleep an intruder entered the house somehow and left behind some suspicious looking boxes. The FBI is investigating.
2. Instead of remaining by the river two youngsters stupidly thought they would try their luck further up. They both toppled off a cliff, which served them right. The boy is listed in serious condition. Doctors have not as yet reported on the girl.
3. Responding to complaints police found a man in the middle of town hiding under a tree and making a horrible noise banging pieces of metal together.
4. Police report that a mad man came speeding through the city in the middle of the night shouting at people to load their rifles.
5. Parents in this community are very distraught. An itinerant worker, in a dispute over wages, has been kidnapping their children. Amber alerts have gone out all around the area. None of the children have yet been located.
6. There was a standoff between the two gangs at the stream. Witnesses say it might have ended peacefully except that one idiot shot off his rifle. A fight ensued.
Good luck.
Leave your answer on dbdacoba@aol.com in case others don't get to it until later.
DB
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Snap Them Up
To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition.
Samuel Johnson
*********************
Living alone as I do it isn't hard for me to be happy at home. I keep excellent company with myself. I agree with almost everything I say. I don't bitch at myself for dishes in the sink or leaving my dirty socks on the floor. And whenever I come home everyone here is glad to see me.
Sometimes I even do domestic things like clean and cook. Yesterday I baked some cookies. I haven't done that in a long time, but a friend is having a birthday in a few days so I thought to do something nice for her. I originally thought about buying her a yacht. Then I considered a grand piano or a new car. But as I'm a little short of cash I settled on cookies. I made "Homicide by Chocolate" chip cookies and "Grand Slam Gingersnaps." I make everything from scratch. There is no Betty Crocker in my kitchen (such as it is).
I am always amused at the directions I get in some recipes that say "set your mixer at medium speed" or some other such nonsense. I just translate: "set your elbow at low speed and you wrist at medium speed."
GRAND SLAM GINGERSNAPS
------------------------------------
Flour - 2 cups, plus a tad more
Sugar - 2 cups
Crisco - 1 cup
Eggs - 2
Molasses - 1/3 cup
Margarine (or melted butter if you're Danish) 1 Tablespoon
Ginger - 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon - 1 teaspoon
Baking Soda - 1/2 teaspoon
Vanilla - 1 teaspoon
Salt - 1/2 pinch
A bowl of sugar.
Lightly grease 3 cracked and wrinkled aluminum cookie sheets, being careful not to cut yourself. Don't measure out the Crisco until you've measured the other ingredients, unless you have another cup measure. It's very messy.
Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and salt in a bowl or any large container. Do it with a whisk, that way you won't have to sift the flour. (I haven't sifted flour in many decades, but suit yourself.) Mix well.
Into another container, bowl, wash tub or bucket, put the sugar. Now you can measure out the Crisco. Add it to the sugar and mix them together, or get your 12 year old to do ti. When they are well combined add 2 beaten eggs and mix some more. Then add molasses, vanilla and margarine. Keep mixing until you have a dull looking, nondescript light brown goo. Dip you finger in and taste. Just the finger. No spooning it out.
Now add the dry stuff from the other container and start the real mixing job. Where's that kid? After a while and a lot of work the alchemy takes place and suddenly you have gooey cookie dough.
Form into balls about the size of ping pong balls by rolling the sticky mess you have in you hand in the sugar bowl covering each of them all around with sugar. Then place them on the cookie sheet, 12 at a time. Then lick your fingers. I cook them at 320 for 10 minutes but I have a small 20th Century oven. You'll have to find what's right for you.
After they're done place the sheets out on the fire escape to cool.
When they're cool scrape them off the cookie sheet, eliminate the overcooked and slightly burned ones and serve.
Bon appetit
DB
*********************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
It has been suggested that I start the weekend puzzle on Fridays to give busy people more chance to consider it. So here it is.
Here are some well known issues as if they were reported by the modern news media. What are they?
1. Last night while the occupants were asleep an intruder entered the house somehow and left behind some suspicious looking boxes. The FBI is investigating.
2. Instead of remaining by the river two youngsters stupidly thought they would try their luck further up. They both toppled off a cliff, which served them right. The boy is listed in serious condition. Doctors have not as yet reported on the girl.
3. Responding to complaints police found a man in the middle of town hiding under a tree and making a horrible noise banging pieces of metal together.
4. Police report that a mad man came speeding through the city in the middle of the night shouting at people to load their rifles.
5. Parents in this community are very distraught. An itinerant worker, in a dispute over wages, has been kidnapping their children. Amber alerts have gone out all around the area. None of the children have yet been located.
6. There was a standoff between the two gangs at the stream. Witnesses say it might have ended peacefully except that one idiot shot off his rifle. A fight ensued.
Good luck.
Leave your answer on dbdacoba@aol.com in case others don't get to it until later.
DB
Samuel Johnson
*********************
Living alone as I do it isn't hard for me to be happy at home. I keep excellent company with myself. I agree with almost everything I say. I don't bitch at myself for dishes in the sink or leaving my dirty socks on the floor. And whenever I come home everyone here is glad to see me.
Sometimes I even do domestic things like clean and cook. Yesterday I baked some cookies. I haven't done that in a long time, but a friend is having a birthday in a few days so I thought to do something nice for her. I originally thought about buying her a yacht. Then I considered a grand piano or a new car. But as I'm a little short of cash I settled on cookies. I made "Homicide by Chocolate" chip cookies and "Grand Slam Gingersnaps." I make everything from scratch. There is no Betty Crocker in my kitchen (such as it is).
I am always amused at the directions I get in some recipes that say "set your mixer at medium speed" or some other such nonsense. I just translate: "set your elbow at low speed and you wrist at medium speed."
GRAND SLAM GINGERSNAPS
------------------------------------
Flour - 2 cups, plus a tad more
Sugar - 2 cups
Crisco - 1 cup
Eggs - 2
Molasses - 1/3 cup
Margarine (or melted butter if you're Danish) 1 Tablespoon
Ginger - 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon - 1 teaspoon
Baking Soda - 1/2 teaspoon
Vanilla - 1 teaspoon
Salt - 1/2 pinch
A bowl of sugar.
Lightly grease 3 cracked and wrinkled aluminum cookie sheets, being careful not to cut yourself. Don't measure out the Crisco until you've measured the other ingredients, unless you have another cup measure. It's very messy.
Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and salt in a bowl or any large container. Do it with a whisk, that way you won't have to sift the flour. (I haven't sifted flour in many decades, but suit yourself.) Mix well.
Into another container, bowl, wash tub or bucket, put the sugar. Now you can measure out the Crisco. Add it to the sugar and mix them together, or get your 12 year old to do ti. When they are well combined add 2 beaten eggs and mix some more. Then add molasses, vanilla and margarine. Keep mixing until you have a dull looking, nondescript light brown goo. Dip you finger in and taste. Just the finger. No spooning it out.
Now add the dry stuff from the other container and start the real mixing job. Where's that kid? After a while and a lot of work the alchemy takes place and suddenly you have gooey cookie dough.
Form into balls about the size of ping pong balls by rolling the sticky mess you have in you hand in the sugar bowl covering each of them all around with sugar. Then place them on the cookie sheet, 12 at a time. Then lick your fingers. I cook them at 320 for 10 minutes but I have a small 20th Century oven. You'll have to find what's right for you.
After they're done place the sheets out on the fire escape to cool.
When they're cool scrape them off the cookie sheet, eliminate the overcooked and slightly burned ones and serve.
Bon appetit
DB
*********************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
It has been suggested that I start the weekend puzzle on Fridays to give busy people more chance to consider it. So here it is.
Here are some well known issues as if they were reported by the modern news media. What are they?
1. Last night while the occupants were asleep an intruder entered the house somehow and left behind some suspicious looking boxes. The FBI is investigating.
2. Instead of remaining by the river two youngsters stupidly thought they would try their luck further up. They both toppled off a cliff, which served them right. The boy is listed in serious condition. Doctors have not as yet reported on the girl.
3. Responding to complaints police found a man in the middle of town hiding under a tree and making a horrible noise banging pieces of metal together.
4. Police report that a mad man came speeding through the city in the middle of the night shouting at people to load their rifles.
5. Parents in this community are very distraught. An itinerant worker, in a dispute over wages, has been kidnapping their children. Amber alerts have gone out all around the area. None of the children have yet been located.
6. There was a standoff between the two gangs at the stream. Witnesses say it might have ended peacefully except that one idiot shot off his rifle. A fight ensued.
Good luck.
Leave your answer on dbdacoba@aol.com in case others don't get to it until later.
DB
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Shake It Off
The more I see of man the better I like my dog.
Frederick The Great
***********************
I don't know and I can't find the term for that particular zoologist who specializes in the study of dogs. Does anyone know it?
Having reached the point of disgust with the rudeness, unreasonableness, ignorance and absurdity of the people around me, no doubt similar in some ways to Frederick's state of mind, I decided to get away for a day and be by myself.
I packed a lunch and drove out to a park in the country I found a picnic table and enjoyed my lunch in peace and quiet. There were other campers in the area but no one in proximity to me. In front of me there was a busy stream gurgling along its way. It was very refreshing.
Several feet away from me I noticed a foot bridge that went over the stream and a sign announcing a hiking trail, 3 miles long. I always enjoyed hiking in the woods. It was one of my favorite activities. So I decided to take the trail.
Right after I crossed the foot bridge a big black Labrador appeared out of nowhere and walked along with me. He sniffed out everything he wanted to. He sometimes ran on ahead but always came back to check up on me. If he stopped to investigate something and I kept walking he would soon catch up to me. For some reason, with no questions asked, he became my dog and I became his human.
At one point, midway through the hike, I stopped to sit on a flat rock and rest. I thought the dog would probably get bored and run on, but he sat down also and waited. When I stood up again he stood up and looked up at me as if to say "Are you ready to move on?" I wondered if I had just inherited a stray dog.
When we got to the end of the trail, which had looped back on itself for a couple of miles, the only way to ford the stream was on a tree that lay across it. The branches were gone and it was well worn. It had obviously been used to get across the stream by many more before me. I stepped out on it and made my way easily to the other side.
But the log was too narrow for my friend the dog. So without thinking twice he jumped in the stream and swam across. When he came up out of the water on the other side he shook himself off, first the head and then the shaking went down the length of his back ending at the tail. I am still amazed at how dogs can do that.
When we reached the road my friend ran off to find the folks he came with who were probably wondering where he had been for the last hour or so. Well, he had been with his friend the man, and I had been with my friend the dog.
Too understand how dogs can shake themselves off like that you'll have to ask the authority on dogs, whatever his correct zoological name is. All I know is dogs can do something you and I can't do. What do you think of that?
DB - The Vagabond
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
My story "The Savior" continues now only on Vagabond Tales
http://db-vagabondtales.blogspot.com/
********************************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
Only 5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Frederick The Great
***********************
I don't know and I can't find the term for that particular zoologist who specializes in the study of dogs. Does anyone know it?
Having reached the point of disgust with the rudeness, unreasonableness, ignorance and absurdity of the people around me, no doubt similar in some ways to Frederick's state of mind, I decided to get away for a day and be by myself.
I packed a lunch and drove out to a park in the country I found a picnic table and enjoyed my lunch in peace and quiet. There were other campers in the area but no one in proximity to me. In front of me there was a busy stream gurgling along its way. It was very refreshing.
Several feet away from me I noticed a foot bridge that went over the stream and a sign announcing a hiking trail, 3 miles long. I always enjoyed hiking in the woods. It was one of my favorite activities. So I decided to take the trail.
Right after I crossed the foot bridge a big black Labrador appeared out of nowhere and walked along with me. He sniffed out everything he wanted to. He sometimes ran on ahead but always came back to check up on me. If he stopped to investigate something and I kept walking he would soon catch up to me. For some reason, with no questions asked, he became my dog and I became his human.
At one point, midway through the hike, I stopped to sit on a flat rock and rest. I thought the dog would probably get bored and run on, but he sat down also and waited. When I stood up again he stood up and looked up at me as if to say "Are you ready to move on?" I wondered if I had just inherited a stray dog.
When we got to the end of the trail, which had looped back on itself for a couple of miles, the only way to ford the stream was on a tree that lay across it. The branches were gone and it was well worn. It had obviously been used to get across the stream by many more before me. I stepped out on it and made my way easily to the other side.
But the log was too narrow for my friend the dog. So without thinking twice he jumped in the stream and swam across. When he came up out of the water on the other side he shook himself off, first the head and then the shaking went down the length of his back ending at the tail. I am still amazed at how dogs can do that.
When we reached the road my friend ran off to find the folks he came with who were probably wondering where he had been for the last hour or so. Well, he had been with his friend the man, and I had been with my friend the dog.
Too understand how dogs can shake themselves off like that you'll have to ask the authority on dogs, whatever his correct zoological name is. All I know is dogs can do something you and I can't do. What do you think of that?
DB - The Vagabond
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
My story "The Savior" continues now only on Vagabond Tales
http://db-vagabondtales.blogspot.com/
********************************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
Only 5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
You're A Joke - I'm A Joke
Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.
G. K. Chesterton
******************
It's very difficult not to take oneself too seriously in this world of thunder and splat. When you stop to think about it our lives are filled with those moments that show us how silly we are sometimes. I hit the nail on the thumb. I sat down to rest and relax in a puddle on the chair. I forgot my phone number at a crucial moment. I was so tired I got on the D train instead of the A train and ended up in The Bronx, far from home. I could write an entire autobiography just about the dumb things I did.
When I started taking a drawing class the first pose was 10 minutes long. I drew an awful picture about 2 inches big in the center of a 20 inch drawing pad. I eventually learned to draw but I kept that drawing around for a long time just to remind myself of how much I didn't know once. It was humbling, but amusing.
There's a quote I have somewhere that says if you think you're important try giving orders to someone else's dog.
One of the dangerous mud puddles along the way is literalism. I must have a bizarre sense of humor. I enjoy the ironies and absurdities of life. Last Spring when the mosquitoes were rampant, dining on my ankles, someone asked me what I was doing sitting on the front porch and I answered that I was feeding the livestock.
Sometimes when I say things that are meant to be humorous people take me seriously. If I say I stagger dawn the street looking like Sasquatch, it means I haven't had enough exercise, I haven't trimmed by beard lately and I need a hair cut.
There's a sign on the entrance to the local elementary school playground which reads "NO TRESPASSING AFTER DARK" an obvious warning to predators to confine their shady business to the day time. I know that's not what it means, but that's what it says. It always gives me a chuckle.
One day I was walking down the sidewalk in Philadelphia. I turned around and saw a truck following me. What was a truck doing on the sidewalk? Don't ask. And why was it following me? I'll never tell. If I told people that story they wouldn't believe me. See what I mean?
Another detour on the road to angeldom is to believe that things won't change. The only thing permanent about this mortal life is that nothing is permanent. The guy with his chin stuck out adamantly sticking to the old way of doing things and refusing to adapt is heading straight for the pot hole or the chair with the puddle on it.
I don't know if any of us will ever achieve that angelic state of lightness but it wouldn't hurt to start with a beer or a cup of tea and a laugh or two at ourselves.
DB - The Vagabond
*********************
THANK YOU:
Bruce
Diane
Nance
Pacifica
Ally
Val
Arlene
Mary
Sue
----------------------------
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
G. K. Chesterton
******************
It's very difficult not to take oneself too seriously in this world of thunder and splat. When you stop to think about it our lives are filled with those moments that show us how silly we are sometimes. I hit the nail on the thumb. I sat down to rest and relax in a puddle on the chair. I forgot my phone number at a crucial moment. I was so tired I got on the D train instead of the A train and ended up in The Bronx, far from home. I could write an entire autobiography just about the dumb things I did.
When I started taking a drawing class the first pose was 10 minutes long. I drew an awful picture about 2 inches big in the center of a 20 inch drawing pad. I eventually learned to draw but I kept that drawing around for a long time just to remind myself of how much I didn't know once. It was humbling, but amusing.
There's a quote I have somewhere that says if you think you're important try giving orders to someone else's dog.
One of the dangerous mud puddles along the way is literalism. I must have a bizarre sense of humor. I enjoy the ironies and absurdities of life. Last Spring when the mosquitoes were rampant, dining on my ankles, someone asked me what I was doing sitting on the front porch and I answered that I was feeding the livestock.
Sometimes when I say things that are meant to be humorous people take me seriously. If I say I stagger dawn the street looking like Sasquatch, it means I haven't had enough exercise, I haven't trimmed by beard lately and I need a hair cut.
There's a sign on the entrance to the local elementary school playground which reads "NO TRESPASSING AFTER DARK" an obvious warning to predators to confine their shady business to the day time. I know that's not what it means, but that's what it says. It always gives me a chuckle.
One day I was walking down the sidewalk in Philadelphia. I turned around and saw a truck following me. What was a truck doing on the sidewalk? Don't ask. And why was it following me? I'll never tell. If I told people that story they wouldn't believe me. See what I mean?
Another detour on the road to angeldom is to believe that things won't change. The only thing permanent about this mortal life is that nothing is permanent. The guy with his chin stuck out adamantly sticking to the old way of doing things and refusing to adapt is heading straight for the pot hole or the chair with the puddle on it.
I don't know if any of us will ever achieve that angelic state of lightness but it wouldn't hurt to start with a beer or a cup of tea and a laugh or two at ourselves.
DB - The Vagabond
*********************
THANK YOU:
Bruce
Diane
Nance
Pacifica
Ally
Val
Arlene
Mary
Sue
----------------------------
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Monday, July 19, 2010
Get Out Your Handkerchiefs
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.
Herman Melville
*****************
Maybe that's my problem. Have I grown too comfortable with myself?
I have written an essay in this journal everyday since 2004, except for the six weeks I spent with the phone against my ear listening to scratchy disco music followed by silly instructions from even sillier tech support people, crawling around on the floor unplugging and re plugging Ethernet cables in a vain attempt to get back on the Internet. When it was finally determined that the problem was with the computer itself some kind people got together and got me a new one so I could keep on supplying the great googleland with my thoughts and words.
What's happened? I genuinely love and appreciate the few who still read my rambling reads. But I have lost so many readers over the past year that I feel I must be doing something wrong. It can't just be "Let 'em eat facebook." I've tried pinging my entries. I've tried registering with this and that. But when I end a day with one comment and only 7 hits on the entry, as happened the other day, when I used to get between 35 and 50, I know something is wrong.
An independent publisher likes my entry of the 17th well enough to republish it. Where is everybody else? Have I become too maudlin, inane, humorless, uninteresting or sophomoric? Whats a mattah ya don like my pitchah?
Ah, I know what you're saying "He's whining again." No I'm not, I'm asking. What do people want to read? I don't have a garden to weed or a lawn to mow. I have no grandchildren to brag about or pets to take cute pictures of. I don't want to write about my physical condition, that got me into trouble before. Have mercy on me. I am bereft. Left with nothing but my imagination and 7 decades of life experience. I will write what people want to read, whatever it is.
I don't know how to specialize. I don't have enough recipes, I'm not interested in sports and there are only so many theatre stories I can tell before I bore myself into oblivion. So what do I do? Puzzles?
Cryptograms are hard work and no one does them except Bill, who rips them off before his first cup of coffee. Otherwise my puzzles and seasonal questions have become some of the most unpopular things on the web.
I really, truly am searching for a whole new approach to my writing because I enjoy writing and I enjoy writing to people.
I read through all the blogs on my blog list today and on some of them I left the 15th, 30th or 80th comment. At 11:25 p.m. on my blog I have 11 visits and 2 comments. See what I mean? I am grateful; for those comments. I am. Thank you Rose. Thank you Ma.
Maybe I'll do what some people do, knock off for a while, forget about it, spend the rest of the year just painting pictures and writing stories. Change my name and start a new journal about something as yet unknown.
Help.
DB - The Vagabond
Herman Melville
*****************
Maybe that's my problem. Have I grown too comfortable with myself?
I have written an essay in this journal everyday since 2004, except for the six weeks I spent with the phone against my ear listening to scratchy disco music followed by silly instructions from even sillier tech support people, crawling around on the floor unplugging and re plugging Ethernet cables in a vain attempt to get back on the Internet. When it was finally determined that the problem was with the computer itself some kind people got together and got me a new one so I could keep on supplying the great googleland with my thoughts and words.
What's happened? I genuinely love and appreciate the few who still read my rambling reads. But I have lost so many readers over the past year that I feel I must be doing something wrong. It can't just be "Let 'em eat facebook." I've tried pinging my entries. I've tried registering with this and that. But when I end a day with one comment and only 7 hits on the entry, as happened the other day, when I used to get between 35 and 50, I know something is wrong.
An independent publisher likes my entry of the 17th well enough to republish it. Where is everybody else? Have I become too maudlin, inane, humorless, uninteresting or sophomoric? Whats a mattah ya don like my pitchah?
Ah, I know what you're saying "He's whining again." No I'm not, I'm asking. What do people want to read? I don't have a garden to weed or a lawn to mow. I have no grandchildren to brag about or pets to take cute pictures of. I don't want to write about my physical condition, that got me into trouble before. Have mercy on me. I am bereft. Left with nothing but my imagination and 7 decades of life experience. I will write what people want to read, whatever it is.
I don't know how to specialize. I don't have enough recipes, I'm not interested in sports and there are only so many theatre stories I can tell before I bore myself into oblivion. So what do I do? Puzzles?
Cryptograms are hard work and no one does them except Bill, who rips them off before his first cup of coffee. Otherwise my puzzles and seasonal questions have become some of the most unpopular things on the web.
I really, truly am searching for a whole new approach to my writing because I enjoy writing and I enjoy writing to people.
I read through all the blogs on my blog list today and on some of them I left the 15th, 30th or 80th comment. At 11:25 p.m. on my blog I have 11 visits and 2 comments. See what I mean? I am grateful; for those comments. I am. Thank you Rose. Thank you Ma.
Maybe I'll do what some people do, knock off for a while, forget about it, spend the rest of the year just painting pictures and writing stories. Change my name and start a new journal about something as yet unknown.
Help.
DB - The Vagabond
Sunday, July 18, 2010
My Tree
Deliberation is the work of many men. Action of one alone.
Charles de Gaulle
****************
Even an old squirrel can climb a tree. Once in a great while a squirrel will come and visit my balcony, and often the birds, Loneliness is a small price to pay for the peace and opportunities of solitude.
I love to go walking in a forest, if there is one to walk in, In my town there is only a small forest, hardly noticeable, which is what was left after the parking lot was finished. But it's preserved by the Nature Conservancy.
Forests are great, but I am also impressed by the solitaries in nature. When I was in high school there was a field near my school that was all open meadow except for one large oak tree. It has clearly been there for centuries rewarding the friendship of birds, squirrels and who knows what other forms of life that live under it's benign, majestic presence.
My favorite trail to hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire was the Boulder Loop Trail, so called because shortly after the start of it there was a huge boulder, a single rock the size of a house. There were trees, shrubs and stones around it, but above all it stood in its silent, kingly aloneness.
The summit of that trail is a sheer and dangerous cliff, plummeting straight down to the bottom. Growing right out of the side of that cliff is a tree. From the edge of the cliff you can see only it's outer branches. But there is a safer place to stand to view the entire tree. It has made purchase in the ground beyond the crannies of the cliff, has turned itself up to catch the bright, unobstructed sun and rain and puts out fresh leaves every year to welcome the birds who come to visit.
Having spent my life in theatre where one is surrounded by other artists at all times, I now live alone and write. Do I speak my solitary words in the vast, teaming meadow to be read only by the few who pass by? Do I stand sentinel in the dark forest observing the passing of the seasons of young and old, ignorance and wisdom, kindness and cruelty, living and dying, hope and fear, right and wrong? Do I cling, aloof but full of life, to the dangerous side of imagination and experiment, defying the codes of ordinary being?
I do all of those because I am a vagabond and because I have words. Words are powerful things. They are engendered with force even if they are not read when written or heard when spoken. As my friend Stuart wrote today "I can use language I can survive." Language is equipped with magic fingers. It's branches touch every forsaken and unknown place in the unlimited universe. A single word can change the world, but if it is not heard or read who will be prepared? Alone in the forest a poet sang and raised the dead.
Wherever I go, whatever I do and whoever I am, I am what every other creature is: singular, alone, unique.
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
PFBCG PMM DOKVTY, PVN PD PMM DKRGY,
LUPWDKWE QBXUYGMZ KV TBBN OXRBU.
DOBRPY IGZZGUYBV
good luck
db
Charles de Gaulle
****************
Even an old squirrel can climb a tree. Once in a great while a squirrel will come and visit my balcony, and often the birds, Loneliness is a small price to pay for the peace and opportunities of solitude.
I love to go walking in a forest, if there is one to walk in, In my town there is only a small forest, hardly noticeable, which is what was left after the parking lot was finished. But it's preserved by the Nature Conservancy.
Forests are great, but I am also impressed by the solitaries in nature. When I was in high school there was a field near my school that was all open meadow except for one large oak tree. It has clearly been there for centuries rewarding the friendship of birds, squirrels and who knows what other forms of life that live under it's benign, majestic presence.
My favorite trail to hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire was the Boulder Loop Trail, so called because shortly after the start of it there was a huge boulder, a single rock the size of a house. There were trees, shrubs and stones around it, but above all it stood in its silent, kingly aloneness.
The summit of that trail is a sheer and dangerous cliff, plummeting straight down to the bottom. Growing right out of the side of that cliff is a tree. From the edge of the cliff you can see only it's outer branches. But there is a safer place to stand to view the entire tree. It has made purchase in the ground beyond the crannies of the cliff, has turned itself up to catch the bright, unobstructed sun and rain and puts out fresh leaves every year to welcome the birds who come to visit.
Having spent my life in theatre where one is surrounded by other artists at all times, I now live alone and write. Do I speak my solitary words in the vast, teaming meadow to be read only by the few who pass by? Do I stand sentinel in the dark forest observing the passing of the seasons of young and old, ignorance and wisdom, kindness and cruelty, living and dying, hope and fear, right and wrong? Do I cling, aloof but full of life, to the dangerous side of imagination and experiment, defying the codes of ordinary being?
I do all of those because I am a vagabond and because I have words. Words are powerful things. They are engendered with force even if they are not read when written or heard when spoken. As my friend Stuart wrote today "I can use language I can survive." Language is equipped with magic fingers. It's branches touch every forsaken and unknown place in the unlimited universe. A single word can change the world, but if it is not heard or read who will be prepared? Alone in the forest a poet sang and raised the dead.
Wherever I go, whatever I do and whoever I am, I am what every other creature is: singular, alone, unique.
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
PFBCG PMM DOKVTY, PVN PD PMM DKRGY,
LUPWDKWE QBXUYGMZ KV TBBN OXRBU.
DOBRPY IGZZGUYBV
good luck
db
Saturday, July 17, 2010
The Story
The Savior
Part 6
Returning to his apartment Adam took a shower, checked his boots which were dry and a little stiff from the water and made himself a light dinner. After dinner he sat with the remaining beers and pondered. He was very perplexed at what had been happening. He thought about that list of names, with his name at the bottom. “Dismissals.” What did that mean? An injured dog healed immediately as he held it. Blood in his boots but no wound to his feet. A strange phone call. The weird man in front of Saint Joseph’s. None of these events were explainable. Adam was a bookkeeper. He dealt with facts and figures, with assets and liabilities, he balanced books. Now nothing was balancing. He needed some explanations. Something solid to go on. Tomorrow he would find that accountant and talk to her about the list of names, maybe she gave him the wrong document. Maybe it was a different A. Zelf on the list.
He thought he might go into Saint Joseph’s the next Sunday and see if he could locate the stranger who gave him such an unsettling look. What else could he do?
It was late. Adam finished his last beer and was about to go to bed when the phone rang. He answered it. “Hello.”
“Adam Zelf/” It was the same voice as last night.
“Yes.”
“We’re ready for you.”
“Who are you?”
But the caller hung up.
(To be continued.)
Part 6
Returning to his apartment Adam took a shower, checked his boots which were dry and a little stiff from the water and made himself a light dinner. After dinner he sat with the remaining beers and pondered. He was very perplexed at what had been happening. He thought about that list of names, with his name at the bottom. “Dismissals.” What did that mean? An injured dog healed immediately as he held it. Blood in his boots but no wound to his feet. A strange phone call. The weird man in front of Saint Joseph’s. None of these events were explainable. Adam was a bookkeeper. He dealt with facts and figures, with assets and liabilities, he balanced books. Now nothing was balancing. He needed some explanations. Something solid to go on. Tomorrow he would find that accountant and talk to her about the list of names, maybe she gave him the wrong document. Maybe it was a different A. Zelf on the list.
He thought he might go into Saint Joseph’s the next Sunday and see if he could locate the stranger who gave him such an unsettling look. What else could he do?
It was late. Adam finished his last beer and was about to go to bed when the phone rang. He answered it. “Hello.”
“Adam Zelf/” It was the same voice as last night.
“Yes.”
“We’re ready for you.”
“Who are you?”
But the caller hung up.
(To be continued.)
Humor Me
With a boundless heart should one cherish all living things.
Metta Sutta
*****************
Metta Sutta is from a Buddhist text and it means "good will" or "compassion" and could also be called "good humor."
I don't know if they still have them but when I was a youngster there were "Good Humor" trucks that traveled around to various neighborhoods, refrigerated trucks that sold pop sickles and ice cream during the summer months. The ringing bells would announce the arrival of the Good Humor truck and kids would go out to buy chocolate covered vanilla ice cream on a stick, or an ice cream sandwich or some other deliciously sweet, cold treat. Our Good Humor man was a genial fellow who obviously liked us kids.
About 30 years later I met a man who had been a Good Humor driver in a different area. He said that his route had taken him into the inner city, the ghetto. When he stopped, the kids would all come running up and stand around waiting for someone to buy something. Occasionally someone did and the kids would gather around the door when he opened it. One day he asked one of the older fellows why the young ones did that and he was told it was because of the cool air. Their families couldn't afford air conditioning and some of them didn't have refrigerators. In the summer the occasional open fire hydrant and the Good Humor truck were the only relief from the oppressive heat.
From then on whenever he went into the ghetto he would open the door and leave it open for a while even if no one bought anything. He also took to packing bags of ice cubes to pass out to them. He was a popular guy. There was probably a lot of cherishing going on in both directions.
DB
****************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
PFBCG PMM DOKVTY, PVN PD PMM DKRGY,
LUPWDKWE QBXUYGMZ KV TBBN OXRBU.
DOBRPY IGZZGUYBV
Good luck
DB
Metta Sutta
*****************
Metta Sutta is from a Buddhist text and it means "good will" or "compassion" and could also be called "good humor."
I don't know if they still have them but when I was a youngster there were "Good Humor" trucks that traveled around to various neighborhoods, refrigerated trucks that sold pop sickles and ice cream during the summer months. The ringing bells would announce the arrival of the Good Humor truck and kids would go out to buy chocolate covered vanilla ice cream on a stick, or an ice cream sandwich or some other deliciously sweet, cold treat. Our Good Humor man was a genial fellow who obviously liked us kids.
About 30 years later I met a man who had been a Good Humor driver in a different area. He said that his route had taken him into the inner city, the ghetto. When he stopped, the kids would all come running up and stand around waiting for someone to buy something. Occasionally someone did and the kids would gather around the door when he opened it. One day he asked one of the older fellows why the young ones did that and he was told it was because of the cool air. Their families couldn't afford air conditioning and some of them didn't have refrigerators. In the summer the occasional open fire hydrant and the Good Humor truck were the only relief from the oppressive heat.
From then on whenever he went into the ghetto he would open the door and leave it open for a while even if no one bought anything. He also took to packing bags of ice cubes to pass out to them. He was a popular guy. There was probably a lot of cherishing going on in both directions.
DB
****************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
PFBCG PMM DOKVTY, PVN PD PMM DKRGY,
LUPWDKWE QBXUYGMZ KV TBBN OXRBU.
DOBRPY IGZZGUYBV
Good luck
DB
Friday, July 16, 2010
The Story
The Savior
Part 5
Adam’s first thought was that he was losing his job, but none of the other names referred to people who worked for Zebb & Fischer. What did this word “Dismissals” mean? and why was his name on the list and who were these other people? Adam wondered, perplexed.
He closed the folder, unlocked the desk drawer, slipped in the folder and closed and locked the drawer. Then he got up to go. He didn’t see the woman who had brought him the folder. In fact there was no one in the office. It seemed everyone had gone for the day.
On the way home, as he was walking down a side street, a small dog came out of nowhere to cross the street. Just at that moment a black car came rushing down the street and hit the dog. The dog yelped and was thrown several feet. The car didn’t stop.
Adam watched as the dog painfully made it up to the curb dragging one bleeding leg behind him. As Adam approached the dog it whined and looked up at him with a pitiful expression.
He stopped, reached down and picked up the dog to take him to a vet, if he could find one. The dog licked his face and then struggled to get down. Adam put the dog down and it ran off completely healed. No blood, no broken leg.
Adam looked at his hands.
(To be continued.)
Part 5
Adam’s first thought was that he was losing his job, but none of the other names referred to people who worked for Zebb & Fischer. What did this word “Dismissals” mean? and why was his name on the list and who were these other people? Adam wondered, perplexed.
He closed the folder, unlocked the desk drawer, slipped in the folder and closed and locked the drawer. Then he got up to go. He didn’t see the woman who had brought him the folder. In fact there was no one in the office. It seemed everyone had gone for the day.
On the way home, as he was walking down a side street, a small dog came out of nowhere to cross the street. Just at that moment a black car came rushing down the street and hit the dog. The dog yelped and was thrown several feet. The car didn’t stop.
Adam watched as the dog painfully made it up to the curb dragging one bleeding leg behind him. As Adam approached the dog it whined and looked up at him with a pitiful expression.
He stopped, reached down and picked up the dog to take him to a vet, if he could find one. The dog licked his face and then struggled to get down. Adam put the dog down and it ran off completely healed. No blood, no broken leg.
Adam looked at his hands.
(To be continued.)
Turn Back O Man
Experience which destroys innocence also leads us back to it.
James Baldwin
******************
Sometimes I perceive living as one huge elliptical orbit around wisdom and self-knowledge. One year we find ourselves doing something or thinking something we would never dream of in another year. Just when we think we know ourselves circumstances turn things around and we find responses we didn't know we had. What is it that takes us on these strange journeys, how do we know when we've reached the limits and what is it that turns us back? Those are questions to ponder.
It may be that life becomes too repetitive. We get bored or depressed with the "same old-same old" no matter how good it is and we start looking for something to spice things up a little bit. Maybe we take up a hobby or some extra activity that gives us pleasure and makes the "daily grind" less draining. Let's say you take up golf. That's a good choice. There's some exercise, It's a target sport which gives you the sense of challenge and accomplishment. Soon your friends are saying they never thought of you as a golfer and you have to admit you never thought of yourself as one. But there you are playing golf every weekend weather permitting. But maybe the weather doesn't permit and you had to miss your Sunday game. But if you leave early from work on Friday you can make up for it. And the following Friday you do the same thing just in case it rains on Saturday, which it doesn't. Soon you're leaving work early on other days and playing all weekend.
How do we know when we've reached our limits? You can go on making excuses to yourself and your colleagues for a while. But one Monday morning you come to work with your clubs ready to leave early because it's a beautiful day, and no one is talking to you. How come? It seems that you forgot and left a job undone and the fellow down the hall who wanted to get home to take care of his wife who wasn't feeling well had to stay late to straighten out the mess you left. That is what might happen if you're lucky. If you aren't you might come in and find someone else at your desk.
What is it that turns us back? It's a wake up call. What drew you to this job in the first place? And isn't it the job that paid for the golf clubs and your membership in the local clubhouse? What will you do if you lose the job? You won't be playing golf if you have to spend all your time looking for another job. It's time to stop focusing on the hole and start looking at the doughnut.
So you straighten things out with the boss and your fellow workers and settle down to being a good conscientious worker. Everything is fine, your life is good again. Then one afternoon on a sunny Saturday a buddy takes you fishing. And there you go again.
Is golf a sin? Of course not. Is fishing a sin? No, but anything carried to such an extreme that it interferes with the harmony of your life is certainly something that punishes itself and that is what a sin is.
What if instead of golf it becomes a behavior, like bullying, criticizing, belittling, carping, resenting, hating or some other disgusting action? What will it take for you to wake up to yourself?
Or what if it's gambling, alcohol or drugs, the really habitual self destructions? How far away from the center of your life, the harmony of your life, are you going to get before you turn back, o man. Some people never do. Whether they're gold addicts or drug addicts they just fly off into outer space and burn themselves up.
But it's those moments of realization and fear that you are about to go too far that, if heeded, can turn you around and head you back to regain your innocence. And it's a great feeling when it happens.
DB - The Vagabond
******************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
James Baldwin
******************
Sometimes I perceive living as one huge elliptical orbit around wisdom and self-knowledge. One year we find ourselves doing something or thinking something we would never dream of in another year. Just when we think we know ourselves circumstances turn things around and we find responses we didn't know we had. What is it that takes us on these strange journeys, how do we know when we've reached the limits and what is it that turns us back? Those are questions to ponder.
It may be that life becomes too repetitive. We get bored or depressed with the "same old-same old" no matter how good it is and we start looking for something to spice things up a little bit. Maybe we take up a hobby or some extra activity that gives us pleasure and makes the "daily grind" less draining. Let's say you take up golf. That's a good choice. There's some exercise, It's a target sport which gives you the sense of challenge and accomplishment. Soon your friends are saying they never thought of you as a golfer and you have to admit you never thought of yourself as one. But there you are playing golf every weekend weather permitting. But maybe the weather doesn't permit and you had to miss your Sunday game. But if you leave early from work on Friday you can make up for it. And the following Friday you do the same thing just in case it rains on Saturday, which it doesn't. Soon you're leaving work early on other days and playing all weekend.
How do we know when we've reached our limits? You can go on making excuses to yourself and your colleagues for a while. But one Monday morning you come to work with your clubs ready to leave early because it's a beautiful day, and no one is talking to you. How come? It seems that you forgot and left a job undone and the fellow down the hall who wanted to get home to take care of his wife who wasn't feeling well had to stay late to straighten out the mess you left. That is what might happen if you're lucky. If you aren't you might come in and find someone else at your desk.
What is it that turns us back? It's a wake up call. What drew you to this job in the first place? And isn't it the job that paid for the golf clubs and your membership in the local clubhouse? What will you do if you lose the job? You won't be playing golf if you have to spend all your time looking for another job. It's time to stop focusing on the hole and start looking at the doughnut.
So you straighten things out with the boss and your fellow workers and settle down to being a good conscientious worker. Everything is fine, your life is good again. Then one afternoon on a sunny Saturday a buddy takes you fishing. And there you go again.
Is golf a sin? Of course not. Is fishing a sin? No, but anything carried to such an extreme that it interferes with the harmony of your life is certainly something that punishes itself and that is what a sin is.
What if instead of golf it becomes a behavior, like bullying, criticizing, belittling, carping, resenting, hating or some other disgusting action? What will it take for you to wake up to yourself?
Or what if it's gambling, alcohol or drugs, the really habitual self destructions? How far away from the center of your life, the harmony of your life, are you going to get before you turn back, o man. Some people never do. Whether they're gold addicts or drug addicts they just fly off into outer space and burn themselves up.
But it's those moments of realization and fear that you are about to go too far that, if heeded, can turn you around and head you back to regain your innocence. And it's a great feeling when it happens.
DB - The Vagabond
******************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Thursday, July 15, 2010
The story
The Savior
Part 4
Adam was a bookkeeper for the accounting firm of Zebb & Fischer. He was good at his job and enjoyed it, mainly because he was left alone and not expected to make any decisions. He began work at precisely 9 a.m. Sitting at his desk there was an in basket to his left , a calculator to his right and an out basket beyond that. In front of him was a cup of red pencils, a pencil sharpener and a clock.
He took a folder from the top of the in pile, opened it a read “Billing for The Nasser Installations” He turned the page and began adding up the figures and checking them against the type written sheets.
At about 9:30 his boss Al Fischer cane to his desk and said “Zelf.”
“Yes, sir.”
“We have some accountants visiting us from another firm. One of them may bring you some figures to check.”
“OK sir.”
Al walked away. Adam continued to work.
At about 11 a woman came up to his desk. “Excuse me.”
“Yes” he said.
“Mr. Fischer said to bring you this. There’s no rush. Any time tomorrow.”
“OK.”
She put it on top of the in pile. “On the bottom please” he said.
“Oh, sure” she said, picked up the large stack of folders and put hers on the bottom. “Thank you” she said and walked away.
Adam worked continuously throughout the day, stopping only for lunch. Now and then someone would come by and pick up the finished work from the out basket.
When it was almost closing time he had finished all the work except for the file the woman from the other accounting firm had left. He thought of leaving it for the next day but since it was about 7 minutes to 5 he took it from the in bsket out of curiosity. When he opened it the title page read “Actuarial Report for the Babylon Bridge Project.” He turned the page and was surprised to find, not a list of facts and figures, but a list of names in alphabetical order.
At the top of the page was the title “Dismissals” and following that were a group of first initials and last names, “J. Andropolis, M. Bonner, J. Isko, S. Keefer.” He scanned down the page and gasped when he reached the bottom. The last name on the list was “A. Zelf.”
(To be continued.)
Part 4
Adam was a bookkeeper for the accounting firm of Zebb & Fischer. He was good at his job and enjoyed it, mainly because he was left alone and not expected to make any decisions. He began work at precisely 9 a.m. Sitting at his desk there was an in basket to his left , a calculator to his right and an out basket beyond that. In front of him was a cup of red pencils, a pencil sharpener and a clock.
He took a folder from the top of the in pile, opened it a read “Billing for The Nasser Installations” He turned the page and began adding up the figures and checking them against the type written sheets.
At about 9:30 his boss Al Fischer cane to his desk and said “Zelf.”
“Yes, sir.”
“We have some accountants visiting us from another firm. One of them may bring you some figures to check.”
“OK sir.”
Al walked away. Adam continued to work.
At about 11 a woman came up to his desk. “Excuse me.”
“Yes” he said.
“Mr. Fischer said to bring you this. There’s no rush. Any time tomorrow.”
“OK.”
She put it on top of the in pile. “On the bottom please” he said.
“Oh, sure” she said, picked up the large stack of folders and put hers on the bottom. “Thank you” she said and walked away.
Adam worked continuously throughout the day, stopping only for lunch. Now and then someone would come by and pick up the finished work from the out basket.
When it was almost closing time he had finished all the work except for the file the woman from the other accounting firm had left. He thought of leaving it for the next day but since it was about 7 minutes to 5 he took it from the in bsket out of curiosity. When he opened it the title page read “Actuarial Report for the Babylon Bridge Project.” He turned the page and was surprised to find, not a list of facts and figures, but a list of names in alphabetical order.
At the top of the page was the title “Dismissals” and following that were a group of first initials and last names, “J. Andropolis, M. Bonner, J. Isko, S. Keefer.” He scanned down the page and gasped when he reached the bottom. The last name on the list was “A. Zelf.”
(To be continued.)
Paddle Your Own Canoe
Nothing needs reforming as much as other people's habits.
Mark Twain
*******************
Isn't it curious how other people are so much less complicated than I am? There is no one I can think of who could possibly carry around the vast network of thoughts, ideas, fears and hopes that I do. You see, I am definitely a superior person and other people should listen to me and do what I say. If they would only conform their behavior to what I know is right for them they would be so much happier and the world would be a better place.
Back up the tape to my younger years and see all the people around me who are advising me. "You really ought to do this." "It's a shame you're not that." "If I were you I would do the other thing." "What's the matter with you?" "You'll be sorry if you continue doing what you're doing." "You've got to learn to make something out of yourself." "Whatever is going to become of you?" "I hope something comes along some day, hits you in the head and knocks some sense into you."
If I had done what everyone, my family and my teachers, thought I should do I would have been beyond manic, I would have been Swiss cheese, a patchwork quilt, a chess set with some pieces missing, a wheelbarrow stuck in the mud, half of a motorcycle.
If you think you know something then you might. It's merely a question of making sure. The adults around me were all authority figures so I assumed they must know the answers. And even though I had different ideas, I must be wrong.
I would love to say there was a great blazing, cymbal crashing wake up one day, but there wasn't. It happened gradually. As time went by people began to ask me what I thought. That surprised me. And when I told them what I thought, sometimes they agreed with me, which surprised me even more.
Eventually I learned to respect myself, my ideas and my abilities. Once I did that I was free to learn how to respect other peoples ideas and abilities. I don't always agree with them. But today, the last thing I want to do is to tell anyone what to think or how to behave.
We all have our own canoes. You can't paddle mine and I can't paddle yours.
DB - The Vagabond
********************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Mark Twain
*******************
Isn't it curious how other people are so much less complicated than I am? There is no one I can think of who could possibly carry around the vast network of thoughts, ideas, fears and hopes that I do. You see, I am definitely a superior person and other people should listen to me and do what I say. If they would only conform their behavior to what I know is right for them they would be so much happier and the world would be a better place.
Back up the tape to my younger years and see all the people around me who are advising me. "You really ought to do this." "It's a shame you're not that." "If I were you I would do the other thing." "What's the matter with you?" "You'll be sorry if you continue doing what you're doing." "You've got to learn to make something out of yourself." "Whatever is going to become of you?" "I hope something comes along some day, hits you in the head and knocks some sense into you."
If I had done what everyone, my family and my teachers, thought I should do I would have been beyond manic, I would have been Swiss cheese, a patchwork quilt, a chess set with some pieces missing, a wheelbarrow stuck in the mud, half of a motorcycle.
If you think you know something then you might. It's merely a question of making sure. The adults around me were all authority figures so I assumed they must know the answers. And even though I had different ideas, I must be wrong.
I would love to say there was a great blazing, cymbal crashing wake up one day, but there wasn't. It happened gradually. As time went by people began to ask me what I thought. That surprised me. And when I told them what I thought, sometimes they agreed with me, which surprised me even more.
Eventually I learned to respect myself, my ideas and my abilities. Once I did that I was free to learn how to respect other peoples ideas and abilities. I don't always agree with them. But today, the last thing I want to do is to tell anyone what to think or how to behave.
We all have our own canoes. You can't paddle mine and I can't paddle yours.
DB - The Vagabond
********************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
The story
The Savior
Part 3
Adam stood holding the phone for a few moments. He was in a mild shock. Who could that be, he wondered. A man’s voice and it sounded very authoritative. “We know who you are.” What could that mean?
He eventually hung up the phone and went into the bathroom to wash out his socks. He looked at himself in the mirror. Who am I, he thought, that someone would say such a thing.
He hung his socks on the shower curtain pipe to dry, put on his pajamas and his bathrobe, took a beer and put the rest into the refrigerator.
He opened the beer, poured it into a glass and sat staring at nothing as he pondered the events he had just been through. A fire truck that seemed to come out of nowhere when he was about to cross the street, A man in front of the church who gave him a weird look. His boots full of blood but no cuts on his feet or legs. A strange voice on the phone saying “We know who you are.” Who are the “we” who know who I am, he wondered.
Adam kept drinking. He had two more beers before he felt sleepy enough to go to bed.
He awoke in plenty of time to get dressed and go to work, where hw would eventually be stunned by another unexplainable event.
(To be continued.)
Part 3
Adam stood holding the phone for a few moments. He was in a mild shock. Who could that be, he wondered. A man’s voice and it sounded very authoritative. “We know who you are.” What could that mean?
He eventually hung up the phone and went into the bathroom to wash out his socks. He looked at himself in the mirror. Who am I, he thought, that someone would say such a thing.
He hung his socks on the shower curtain pipe to dry, put on his pajamas and his bathrobe, took a beer and put the rest into the refrigerator.
He opened the beer, poured it into a glass and sat staring at nothing as he pondered the events he had just been through. A fire truck that seemed to come out of nowhere when he was about to cross the street, A man in front of the church who gave him a weird look. His boots full of blood but no cuts on his feet or legs. A strange voice on the phone saying “We know who you are.” Who are the “we” who know who I am, he wondered.
Adam kept drinking. He had two more beers before he felt sleepy enough to go to bed.
He awoke in plenty of time to get dressed and go to work, where hw would eventually be stunned by another unexplainable event.
(To be continued.)
Leaving The Nest
A man with outward courage dares to die. A man with inward courage dares to live.
Lao-Tzu
****************
My good friend Marty once described me as a bird who has lost some feathers but is still flying. That's a statement that can be made about many people. The rough winds and fierce tussles of life can pluck off the feathers but if the wings still work it doesn't matter how scrawny the bird looks.
Lao-Tzu's wise words at the top have a particular significance to be currently. It was recently said of me that I lacked courage because I wouldn't fold my wings, nest and take inventory of my missing feathers.
To be sure it must take courage to face the end but if one is not there why put up the false acts of bravado. Every missing feather becomes a quill with which to point out pretences and inscribe the wisdom of a life still being lived.
I recently wrote in the pages of this journal about "casting," the diabolical urge that overtakes tightrope walkers, marathon runners and others. When the fear and pain become so great the suggestion comes, which seems to be one's own mind talking, to just quit, drop into the net, leave the race and lie down on the cool grass and rest. Because it appears to be one's own reasoning it's a very tricky thing to resist.
Every day is different. One of my journal friends recently commented that she looks forward to discovering what the day will bring, ready to be surprised, pleased or annoyed, whatever. That's a great attitude. Life is an adventure. Suit up, gas up, start flapping those wings, jump out of the safety net and take it all in.
DB - The Vagabond
****************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Lao-Tzu
****************
My good friend Marty once described me as a bird who has lost some feathers but is still flying. That's a statement that can be made about many people. The rough winds and fierce tussles of life can pluck off the feathers but if the wings still work it doesn't matter how scrawny the bird looks.
Lao-Tzu's wise words at the top have a particular significance to be currently. It was recently said of me that I lacked courage because I wouldn't fold my wings, nest and take inventory of my missing feathers.
To be sure it must take courage to face the end but if one is not there why put up the false acts of bravado. Every missing feather becomes a quill with which to point out pretences and inscribe the wisdom of a life still being lived.
I recently wrote in the pages of this journal about "casting," the diabolical urge that overtakes tightrope walkers, marathon runners and others. When the fear and pain become so great the suggestion comes, which seems to be one's own mind talking, to just quit, drop into the net, leave the race and lie down on the cool grass and rest. Because it appears to be one's own reasoning it's a very tricky thing to resist.
Every day is different. One of my journal friends recently commented that she looks forward to discovering what the day will bring, ready to be surprised, pleased or annoyed, whatever. That's a great attitude. Life is an adventure. Suit up, gas up, start flapping those wings, jump out of the safety net and take it all in.
DB - The Vagabond
****************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
The Story
The Savior
Part 2
Adam quickly put his boots in the shower and turned the water on. He pulled off his blood soaked socks and threw them in as well. Then he carefully examined his feet to see where the blood was coming from.
He thought some of his toe nails, which he hadn’t clipped lately were probably digging in to his toes and making them bleed. But he carefully examined all of his toes and found no cuts. He removed his trousers to see if the blood was coming from somewhere else but there was no blood on his legs.
He removed the rest of his clothes and got into the shower. He cleaned out his boots, wrong out his socks and tossed the into the sink to be cleaned later. He took a shower and as he finished he heard the phone ringing.
That’s strange, he thought, as he got out of the shower. No one ever calls me and it’s too late for the telemarketers. It will probably stop ringing before I get there, he thought as he dried himself off.
As he entered his room the phone was still ringing, so he answered it.
“Hello?”
“Adam Zelf?”
“Yes.”
“We know who your are.”
The caller hung up.
(To be continued.)
Part 2
Adam quickly put his boots in the shower and turned the water on. He pulled off his blood soaked socks and threw them in as well. Then he carefully examined his feet to see where the blood was coming from.
He thought some of his toe nails, which he hadn’t clipped lately were probably digging in to his toes and making them bleed. But he carefully examined all of his toes and found no cuts. He removed his trousers to see if the blood was coming from somewhere else but there was no blood on his legs.
He removed the rest of his clothes and got into the shower. He cleaned out his boots, wrong out his socks and tossed the into the sink to be cleaned later. He took a shower and as he finished he heard the phone ringing.
That’s strange, he thought, as he got out of the shower. No one ever calls me and it’s too late for the telemarketers. It will probably stop ringing before I get there, he thought as he dried himself off.
As he entered his room the phone was still ringing, so he answered it.
“Hello?”
“Adam Zelf?”
“Yes.”
“We know who your are.”
The caller hung up.
(To be continued.)
Nature's Call
We are the trees, we are the rocks, we are the water.
Donna House (Navajo)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
"The lack of money is the root of all evil." (Shaw)
In among the Vagabond Jottings somewhere is the statement "We don't own the earth. The earth owns us." Nature gives us the forests, the mountains, the oceans and lets the sun shine in. The earth is a benevolent mother and is patient with us, but only up to a point.
Greed is a strange sin. It seems to be the only human error to be completely justified by human life. Since money, or some form of currency, runs civilization, feeds us, houses us and pays for our safety and security, the more we have of it the better. Right? Money is a good thing. So is a class of wine with dinner, or maybe two. But how close is that glass of wine to alcoholism. For most people, not at all. For others it leads directly into drunkenness and anti-social behavior.
Not so with money. The more you can accumulate the better. It enables you to have a good home, maybe two. You can send your kids to good colleges, take fancy vacations, maybe a pleasure boat for the family, or why not a yacht and a private jet. some day you may even get your own space ship. Then you'll be among "the orbiting set" and not just "the jet set." You are now considered one of "the super rich," "the important people" or what's even worse "blessed by the Lord." Eventually you'll have enough money to influence government decisions to protect your money and institute programs to suit you. Oh yes, you'll write fat checks to charities to let everyone know you're a good guy.
But have you stopped to consider where your money is coming from? Is it coming off the backs of slave laborers in Africa and Asia, from suffering animals, from the subtle plundering of the rest of us with exorbitant interest rates and over charging, from services paid for but not rendered, the rape of the earth's natural resources?
"We are the trees, we are the rocks, we are the water." As we destroy the forests, blow up the rocks and pollute the waters we are killing ourselves. There is no question about that. The universe could destroy all life on this planet in a cosmic flash if it was necessary. How many rain forests have to be burned down, how many explosions in mine shafts have to happen, how much oil and other garbage has to be dumped into our oceans killing innocent fish and wildlife before Nature says "THAT'S IT" kicks us out and starts cleaning up the mess?
And how many millions of years will it take for one primordial creature to meet some other primordial creature and start the process all over again?
DB
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Donna House (Navajo)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
"The lack of money is the root of all evil." (Shaw)
In among the Vagabond Jottings somewhere is the statement "We don't own the earth. The earth owns us." Nature gives us the forests, the mountains, the oceans and lets the sun shine in. The earth is a benevolent mother and is patient with us, but only up to a point.
Greed is a strange sin. It seems to be the only human error to be completely justified by human life. Since money, or some form of currency, runs civilization, feeds us, houses us and pays for our safety and security, the more we have of it the better. Right? Money is a good thing. So is a class of wine with dinner, or maybe two. But how close is that glass of wine to alcoholism. For most people, not at all. For others it leads directly into drunkenness and anti-social behavior.
Not so with money. The more you can accumulate the better. It enables you to have a good home, maybe two. You can send your kids to good colleges, take fancy vacations, maybe a pleasure boat for the family, or why not a yacht and a private jet. some day you may even get your own space ship. Then you'll be among "the orbiting set" and not just "the jet set." You are now considered one of "the super rich," "the important people" or what's even worse "blessed by the Lord." Eventually you'll have enough money to influence government decisions to protect your money and institute programs to suit you. Oh yes, you'll write fat checks to charities to let everyone know you're a good guy.
But have you stopped to consider where your money is coming from? Is it coming off the backs of slave laborers in Africa and Asia, from suffering animals, from the subtle plundering of the rest of us with exorbitant interest rates and over charging, from services paid for but not rendered, the rape of the earth's natural resources?
"We are the trees, we are the rocks, we are the water." As we destroy the forests, blow up the rocks and pollute the waters we are killing ourselves. There is no question about that. The universe could destroy all life on this planet in a cosmic flash if it was necessary. How many rain forests have to be burned down, how many explosions in mine shafts have to happen, how much oil and other garbage has to be dumped into our oceans killing innocent fish and wildlife before Nature says "THAT'S IT" kicks us out and starts cleaning up the mess?
And how many millions of years will it take for one primordial creature to meet some other primordial creature and start the process all over again?
DB
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Monday, July 12, 2010
The Savior
The Savior
A story;
Part 1
Adam Zelf stepped out about to cross the street when a large red fire truck came screaming by with its red lights flashing, After it passed Adam crossed the street. He walked a short distance to the Bethlehem Diner entered and sat on a stool at the counter. Stella, the waitress came by.
“You’re lookin’ mighty pretty tonight.”
She smiled. “Thank you, sir. What can I getcha?”
“Franks and bean, whole wheat toast and coffee.”
“Comin’ up.”
When he had finished his dinner Adam went two door to the superette and bought a six pack of Budweiser to take back to his apartment. He crossed over again and stepped up on the curb. His feet hurt him a little bit. His new boots weren’t completely broken in yet.
As he passed Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church the congregation was just coming out. One man looked at Adam with a strange expression. The others paid no attention to him. As he neared his building he felt an odd squishing sensation in his boots. He thought he might have stepped in something on the side walk but there was no bad small as he rode up in the elevator. He went into the bathroom to remove his boots. The bottoms of both boots were filled with blood.
(To be continued.)
A story;
Part 1
Adam Zelf stepped out about to cross the street when a large red fire truck came screaming by with its red lights flashing, After it passed Adam crossed the street. He walked a short distance to the Bethlehem Diner entered and sat on a stool at the counter. Stella, the waitress came by.
“You’re lookin’ mighty pretty tonight.”
She smiled. “Thank you, sir. What can I getcha?”
“Franks and bean, whole wheat toast and coffee.”
“Comin’ up.”
When he had finished his dinner Adam went two door to the superette and bought a six pack of Budweiser to take back to his apartment. He crossed over again and stepped up on the curb. His feet hurt him a little bit. His new boots weren’t completely broken in yet.
As he passed Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church the congregation was just coming out. One man looked at Adam with a strange expression. The others paid no attention to him. As he neared his building he felt an odd squishing sensation in his boots. He thought he might have stepped in something on the side walk but there was no bad small as he rode up in the elevator. He went into the bathroom to remove his boots. The bottoms of both boots were filled with blood.
(To be continued.)
Tricks And Treats
Most people rust out due to lack of challenge. Few people rust out due to overuse.
Unknown
*****************
Don't look now but there's a rabbit in your hat.
The people who have been the best influence and inspiration to me in my life have been those who have kept going in spite of seemingly impossible problems.
I confess that in my early years I often sought the easy road, the soft job. For me sitting in a radio studio was easier than acting. Certainly broadcasting had its challenges and I admire the men and women I worked with in that industry who performed in it very well. Some of them were excellent. There were times when the pressure was fierce, when I didn't have enough music to fill out the time, or when I had to interview an impossible guest, or when I had to announce an outdoor concert in the pouring rain when no one was there but the orchestra.
Theatre on the other hand is filled with wall-to-wall problems. If a good systems engineer sat down to figure out how to run a theatre he would conclude that it couldn't be done. My theatre friends who are reading this are smiling.
So I left the relative comfort of the radio studio and went back to theatre because I knew the challenges and that they would be met somehow. In show business there are no rules and there is no such thing as giving up on a theatrical effect if it is needed for the production.
I love to watch a good magician. I don't try to figure out how he does it, I just enjoy seeing him do things that look impossible. A magician I know once pulled one of my own cigarettes out of my ear. That was amazing enough but even more scary was where he got it from since it was one of my own cigarettes and he didn't smoke. He must have filched it from my pocket without my knowing. I saw a magician crunch down and lock himself into a small box after which his assistant stuck a sword through all the sides and the top of the box. When she opened the box he was gone but it was filled with hens who came strutting out and around. That was great theatre because it was not only a great trick but it was also funny to see all those hens.
Sometimes magic happens in the theatre and people don't realize it. A character walks off stage and 30 seconds later comes back on in a different costume. The color of the walls change from scene to scene even though no scenery is moved. I did a play called "Greetings" in which the Christmas tree lights come on even though they aren't plugged in. Murders are committed and no one dies. The actor playing King Lear reaches the point of raging madness and completely recovers his sanity in time for the curtain call.
Amazing things happen, mountains get climbed, seas get crossed, planets get walked on, discoveries get made, problems get solved because people don't give up on them. To take up the great problem of life and work toward it's solution without giving up or giving in is what keeps the chrome shining.
DB - The Vagabond
*********************
Sunday Puzzle Answer
1 correct answer and it comes from Val of the Blogspot Tigers.
One of these things is not like the other.
Which one and why?
1. baseball, soccer ball, football, tennis ball.
OK, that was the easy one, Now they get tricky.
2. grizzly koala black polar
the koala is not a bear
3. flute violin banjo harp
the flute has no strings
4. Washington Adams Franklin Jefferson
Franklin was never Presidnet
5. palm tomato peach zucchini
palm, all the rest are fruits
6. 2 4 6 8
6, the only one divisible by 3
7. New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York
New Mexico not one of the 13 colonies
8. tennis badminton ping pong volley ball
vollye ball requires no racket
9. Champlain Erie Michigan Superior
Champlain not one of the Great Lakes
To Val goes the grand prize of stainless steel eraser.
------------------------------------------
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Unknown
*****************
Don't look now but there's a rabbit in your hat.
The people who have been the best influence and inspiration to me in my life have been those who have kept going in spite of seemingly impossible problems.
I confess that in my early years I often sought the easy road, the soft job. For me sitting in a radio studio was easier than acting. Certainly broadcasting had its challenges and I admire the men and women I worked with in that industry who performed in it very well. Some of them were excellent. There were times when the pressure was fierce, when I didn't have enough music to fill out the time, or when I had to interview an impossible guest, or when I had to announce an outdoor concert in the pouring rain when no one was there but the orchestra.
Theatre on the other hand is filled with wall-to-wall problems. If a good systems engineer sat down to figure out how to run a theatre he would conclude that it couldn't be done. My theatre friends who are reading this are smiling.
So I left the relative comfort of the radio studio and went back to theatre because I knew the challenges and that they would be met somehow. In show business there are no rules and there is no such thing as giving up on a theatrical effect if it is needed for the production.
I love to watch a good magician. I don't try to figure out how he does it, I just enjoy seeing him do things that look impossible. A magician I know once pulled one of my own cigarettes out of my ear. That was amazing enough but even more scary was where he got it from since it was one of my own cigarettes and he didn't smoke. He must have filched it from my pocket without my knowing. I saw a magician crunch down and lock himself into a small box after which his assistant stuck a sword through all the sides and the top of the box. When she opened the box he was gone but it was filled with hens who came strutting out and around. That was great theatre because it was not only a great trick but it was also funny to see all those hens.
Sometimes magic happens in the theatre and people don't realize it. A character walks off stage and 30 seconds later comes back on in a different costume. The color of the walls change from scene to scene even though no scenery is moved. I did a play called "Greetings" in which the Christmas tree lights come on even though they aren't plugged in. Murders are committed and no one dies. The actor playing King Lear reaches the point of raging madness and completely recovers his sanity in time for the curtain call.
Amazing things happen, mountains get climbed, seas get crossed, planets get walked on, discoveries get made, problems get solved because people don't give up on them. To take up the great problem of life and work toward it's solution without giving up or giving in is what keeps the chrome shining.
DB - The Vagabond
*********************
Sunday Puzzle Answer
1 correct answer and it comes from Val of the Blogspot Tigers.
One of these things is not like the other.
Which one and why?
1. baseball, soccer ball, football, tennis ball.
OK, that was the easy one, Now they get tricky.
2. grizzly koala black polar
the koala is not a bear
3. flute violin banjo harp
the flute has no strings
4. Washington Adams Franklin Jefferson
Franklin was never Presidnet
5. palm tomato peach zucchini
palm, all the rest are fruits
6. 2 4 6 8
6, the only one divisible by 3
7. New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York
New Mexico not one of the 13 colonies
8. tennis badminton ping pong volley ball
vollye ball requires no racket
9. Champlain Erie Michigan Superior
Champlain not one of the Great Lakes
To Val goes the grand prize of stainless steel eraser.
------------------------------------------
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Like A Swan
If we don't go through the dreaming process, nothing will move us toward our goal or our vision.
Werner Berger
))))))))))))))))))))))))))
I was the ugly duckling in my family. I don't mean to suggest the others only waddled and quacked all the time. They were just not dreamers as I was. I got a lot of criticism from certain of my folks because they would find me sitting somewhere staring into space. One of the ironic problems connected with having a mind that dreams up things, mentally fashions them and devises ways to begin making them happen is that no one can see that mind working. The people in my family were doers, not dreamers. They would jump into things and figure out how to do them later. They always wanted me to be up and doing something or looking like I was doing something before I had a chance to think through anything.
Thank heaven for the arts. When I grew up, became a swan and got into the performing arts there was no question about doing something. An actor is one who does something. But in the case of theatre the something done is worked out artistically, and that means through invention and imagination. At those times the mind has to wander through the bits and pieces of the actors work unaided by any waddling and quacking.
Certainly art is not the only enterprise that needs a period of good solid imagining. The danger is that sometimes when we catch ourselves dreaming we think we're doing wrong and should stop it, slap ourselves in the face and get quacking. Concentration on the tasks at hand is vital, of course. But when dreaming time comes there is nothing wrong about following the dreaming wherever it goes. There are discoveries in dreams, and the best ones are those that give us visions for the future and goals
to work for when the waddling and quacking time comes.
Those good dreams stay with us and recur. We improve on them and eventually, if we don't shut them off, they lead us into doing and having the something we dream of.
When the time and circumstance allow it's more than just a pleasant rest to let our minds meander swan like through the universe of thought. It is a joyously productive thing to do.
DB - The Vagabond
))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Weekend Puzzle answer - Sunday Puzzle to follow
2 correct answers both from the Blogspot Tigers
To Just Plain Bill goes the grand prize of a genuine cellophane fan.
Second place goes to Val
"You want ice with that?"
SD'GD WRAKOH R WDRZ SRAD,
R ZGVBKXRU WDRZ SRAD,
ZWD ZDEBDGRZQGD'C GKCKOH
KZ KCO'Z CQGBGKCKOH,
CWD XDGZRKOUP XRO XRO-XRO.
KGAKOH IDGUKO
We're having a heat wave,
A tropical heat wave,
The temperature's rising,
It isn't surprising,
She certainly can can-can.
Irving Berlin
Thank you
DB
Now here's the Sunday Puzzle
1 correct answer so far
SUNDAY PUZZLE
One of these things is not like the other.
Which one and why?
1. baseball, soccer ball, football, tennis ball.
OK, that was the easy one, Now they get tricky.
2. grizzly koala black polar
3. flute violin banjo harp
4. Washington Adams Franklin Jefferson
5. palm tomato peach zucchini
6. 2 4 6 8
7. New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York
8. tennis badminton ping pong volley ball
9. Champlain Erie Michigan Superior
Good luck
DB
Werner Berger
))))))))))))))))))))))))))
I was the ugly duckling in my family. I don't mean to suggest the others only waddled and quacked all the time. They were just not dreamers as I was. I got a lot of criticism from certain of my folks because they would find me sitting somewhere staring into space. One of the ironic problems connected with having a mind that dreams up things, mentally fashions them and devises ways to begin making them happen is that no one can see that mind working. The people in my family were doers, not dreamers. They would jump into things and figure out how to do them later. They always wanted me to be up and doing something or looking like I was doing something before I had a chance to think through anything.
Thank heaven for the arts. When I grew up, became a swan and got into the performing arts there was no question about doing something. An actor is one who does something. But in the case of theatre the something done is worked out artistically, and that means through invention and imagination. At those times the mind has to wander through the bits and pieces of the actors work unaided by any waddling and quacking.
Certainly art is not the only enterprise that needs a period of good solid imagining. The danger is that sometimes when we catch ourselves dreaming we think we're doing wrong and should stop it, slap ourselves in the face and get quacking. Concentration on the tasks at hand is vital, of course. But when dreaming time comes there is nothing wrong about following the dreaming wherever it goes. There are discoveries in dreams, and the best ones are those that give us visions for the future and goals
to work for when the waddling and quacking time comes.
Those good dreams stay with us and recur. We improve on them and eventually, if we don't shut them off, they lead us into doing and having the something we dream of.
When the time and circumstance allow it's more than just a pleasant rest to let our minds meander swan like through the universe of thought. It is a joyously productive thing to do.
DB - The Vagabond
))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Weekend Puzzle answer - Sunday Puzzle to follow
2 correct answers both from the Blogspot Tigers
To Just Plain Bill goes the grand prize of a genuine cellophane fan.
Second place goes to Val
"You want ice with that?"
SD'GD WRAKOH R WDRZ SRAD,
R ZGVBKXRU WDRZ SRAD,
ZWD ZDEBDGRZQGD'C GKCKOH
KZ KCO'Z CQGBGKCKOH,
CWD XDGZRKOUP XRO XRO-XRO.
KGAKOH IDGUKO
We're having a heat wave,
A tropical heat wave,
The temperature's rising,
It isn't surprising,
She certainly can can-can.
Irving Berlin
Thank you
DB
Now here's the Sunday Puzzle
1 correct answer so far
SUNDAY PUZZLE
One of these things is not like the other.
Which one and why?
1. baseball, soccer ball, football, tennis ball.
OK, that was the easy one, Now they get tricky.
2. grizzly koala black polar
3. flute violin banjo harp
4. Washington Adams Franklin Jefferson
5. palm tomato peach zucchini
6. 2 4 6 8
7. New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York
8. tennis badminton ping pong volley ball
9. Champlain Erie Michigan Superior
Good luck
DB
Saturday, July 10, 2010
A Toast To The Quitter
Once the ego is overcome peace follows.
Abdul Jilani
******************
Have you ever wondered what happens when someone turns away from whatever they have committed themselves to all their lives? It's one thing to say I'm not going to do this or that any more. But what if it is your livelihood, something you have invested all your time and money into, something you are proud of and have a reputation for?
Those of you who don't smoke may think it's a small matter to give up cigarettes, but anyone who has been a seriously addicted smoker knows how tough it is. It's damn near impossible.
Well, Karen, the woman down the street from me has done it. So, that's good, you may say, but what's the big deal? Why am I writing about it? The big deal is that Karen owns the local tobacco shop.
I spoke with her about it yesterday. I told her she had a lot of courage and asked her how she's done it. She said she had her bad moments but that she stays away from the front of the store where the cigarettes are unless she goes there to sell some. She also sells lottery tickets and she's not an addicted gambler so she can hang out around the lottery machine and stay away from temptation. She also said that the hardest time is when she closes up shop in the evening, everyone is gone and she has to resist taking home a pack of cigarettes.
She has my respect and admiration and, even though I smoke like a furnace, my complete support.
But what about the butcher who decides to become a vegetarian, the barber who becomes a hippy and lets his hair grow long, the pediatrician who gets tired of dealing with the "little brats" who come to his office?
I hope Karen will keep selling me my cigarettes since she has the only tobacco shop in town. I told her the story of a brewer I once read about. He was an excellent brewer and very successful. In his mid years he started going to church and stopped drinking. He became a devout Christian and was "saved." Then he was deeply concerned because he didn't think Christ wanted him to be providing alcoholic beverages to the world. But it had been his life's work. He took his dilemma to his pastor who was clearly an intelligent man. The pastor told him to pray and God would provide him with the answer and that in the meantime he should go on brewing the very best beer he could.
I'll drink to that.
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
Weekend Puzzle
2 correct answers so far.
"You want ice with that?"
SD'GD WRAKOH R WDRZ SRAD,
R ZGVBKXRU WDRZ SRAD,
ZWD ZDEBDGRZQGD'C GKCKOH
KZ KCO'Z CQGBGKCKOH,
CWD XDGZRKOUP XRO XRO-XRO.
KGAKOH IDGUKO
Good luck
DB
Abdul Jilani
******************
Have you ever wondered what happens when someone turns away from whatever they have committed themselves to all their lives? It's one thing to say I'm not going to do this or that any more. But what if it is your livelihood, something you have invested all your time and money into, something you are proud of and have a reputation for?
Those of you who don't smoke may think it's a small matter to give up cigarettes, but anyone who has been a seriously addicted smoker knows how tough it is. It's damn near impossible.
Well, Karen, the woman down the street from me has done it. So, that's good, you may say, but what's the big deal? Why am I writing about it? The big deal is that Karen owns the local tobacco shop.
I spoke with her about it yesterday. I told her she had a lot of courage and asked her how she's done it. She said she had her bad moments but that she stays away from the front of the store where the cigarettes are unless she goes there to sell some. She also sells lottery tickets and she's not an addicted gambler so she can hang out around the lottery machine and stay away from temptation. She also said that the hardest time is when she closes up shop in the evening, everyone is gone and she has to resist taking home a pack of cigarettes.
She has my respect and admiration and, even though I smoke like a furnace, my complete support.
But what about the butcher who decides to become a vegetarian, the barber who becomes a hippy and lets his hair grow long, the pediatrician who gets tired of dealing with the "little brats" who come to his office?
I hope Karen will keep selling me my cigarettes since she has the only tobacco shop in town. I told her the story of a brewer I once read about. He was an excellent brewer and very successful. In his mid years he started going to church and stopped drinking. He became a devout Christian and was "saved." Then he was deeply concerned because he didn't think Christ wanted him to be providing alcoholic beverages to the world. But it had been his life's work. He took his dilemma to his pastor who was clearly an intelligent man. The pastor told him to pray and God would provide him with the answer and that in the meantime he should go on brewing the very best beer he could.
I'll drink to that.
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
Weekend Puzzle
2 correct answers so far.
"You want ice with that?"
SD'GD WRAKOH R WDRZ SRAD,
R ZGVBKXRU WDRZ SRAD,
ZWD ZDEBDGRZQGD'C GKCKOH
KZ KCO'Z CQGBGKCKOH,
CWD XDGZRKOUP XRO XRO-XRO.
KGAKOH IDGUKO
Good luck
DB
Friday, July 9, 2010
We've Got You Surrounded
I want to learn more and more to see as beautiful what is necessary in things; then I shall be one of those who can make things beautiful.
Friedrich Nietzsche
*********************
"Who has put wisdom in the innermost being or given understanding to the mind?"
(Job)
All hail the skilled worker! My neighbor Patrick repairs trucks. Not the little pick up down the street but the big ones the rumble down the highway and haul important things around the country. Sometimes it means opening the hood or climbing under to tinker with some malfunctioning part, but sometimes it means dealing with an almost total wreck. He showed me a photo one day of a truck they brought in. It's hood and part of its engine had been smashed almost to oblivion. He and his fellow mechanics knew what to do.
You may be trudging along a road with tired feet bearing or pulling some load. You may be working with tired fingers to do an endless typing job. You may be monitoring all the intricacies of a commercial jet as it cuts its way through the air at an impossible speed. You may be in a hospital making the rounds to all of your patients. You may be in an orchestra running through fast and difficult passages on your flute. You may spend the day peering into a microscope. You may be on your back under a truck.
But there, with the aching feet, tired fingers and blood shot eyes, is spirit, and that is your real condition. It's the spirit of art and beauty, of poetry and music, the spirit of instinct, intelligence and imagination, the spirit of enquiry, investigation and discovery, the spirit of ingenuity and enterprise, the spirit of risk, invention and novelty, the spirit of cooperation and collaboration. of charity and benevolence. it's the spirit of friendship, of romance and love. It's the spirit that attaches itself to us, shares its life with us and shows itself to us hoping to be understood. To understand spirit is our first and final job, and it's an infinite one.
DB - The Vagabond
******************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Friedrich Nietzsche
*********************
"Who has put wisdom in the innermost being or given understanding to the mind?"
(Job)
All hail the skilled worker! My neighbor Patrick repairs trucks. Not the little pick up down the street but the big ones the rumble down the highway and haul important things around the country. Sometimes it means opening the hood or climbing under to tinker with some malfunctioning part, but sometimes it means dealing with an almost total wreck. He showed me a photo one day of a truck they brought in. It's hood and part of its engine had been smashed almost to oblivion. He and his fellow mechanics knew what to do.
You may be trudging along a road with tired feet bearing or pulling some load. You may be working with tired fingers to do an endless typing job. You may be monitoring all the intricacies of a commercial jet as it cuts its way through the air at an impossible speed. You may be in a hospital making the rounds to all of your patients. You may be in an orchestra running through fast and difficult passages on your flute. You may spend the day peering into a microscope. You may be on your back under a truck.
But there, with the aching feet, tired fingers and blood shot eyes, is spirit, and that is your real condition. It's the spirit of art and beauty, of poetry and music, the spirit of instinct, intelligence and imagination, the spirit of enquiry, investigation and discovery, the spirit of ingenuity and enterprise, the spirit of risk, invention and novelty, the spirit of cooperation and collaboration. of charity and benevolence. it's the spirit of friendship, of romance and love. It's the spirit that attaches itself to us, shares its life with us and shows itself to us hoping to be understood. To understand spirit is our first and final job, and it's an infinite one.
DB - The Vagabond
******************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Thursday, July 8, 2010
And There Was Light
Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.
J R R Tolkien
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Oh, I know what you're thinking. "Life is serious bushiness. What's the point of having a sense of humor about it?" Stay tuned and I'll tell you.
I consider one of the great blessings of my life, as a result of going on the Internet in 2004, is the collection of friends I've made through the journals, originally in Jland and now in The Google Blogspot, and my list of email buddies. Most of you I haven't met and some of you I never will meet but I feel and know there is real love shared. I could name names but I might leave someone out by accident. And I note that because of facade book and tweeter some folks aren't blogging much any more. But I am still and am still trying to understand and write the truth.
I also think with affection about my lost and former friends, Some folks have left my life for various personal reasons. But others have turned away when they thought I was leading into dark areas. One person said my journal entries were whiney and self-indulgent. It's a gracious fact that others didn't find them so who were faced with similar problems and decisions. We all have the right and freedom to draw from our own life experiences to offer compassion, understanding and advice.
I've been told that I was going down a dark road. Well, damn, sometimes the road is dark but that doesn't mean there's no light on it. I've always tried to conduct my life with joy and a sense of humor. That means I bring my light with me. And your lights come gliding through your journals even when the news is grim. So when the darkness comes take my hand, we'll laugh and get through it.
I love my friends, even the faithless ones. When night falls and the fierce and terrifying storm is raging outside anyone who comes to my simple, sloppy home seeking chocolate, laughter, love, music or safety, in any order, will find them.
DB - The Vagabond
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
J R R Tolkien
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Oh, I know what you're thinking. "Life is serious bushiness. What's the point of having a sense of humor about it?" Stay tuned and I'll tell you.
I consider one of the great blessings of my life, as a result of going on the Internet in 2004, is the collection of friends I've made through the journals, originally in Jland and now in The Google Blogspot, and my list of email buddies. Most of you I haven't met and some of you I never will meet but I feel and know there is real love shared. I could name names but I might leave someone out by accident. And I note that because of facade book and tweeter some folks aren't blogging much any more. But I am still and am still trying to understand and write the truth.
I also think with affection about my lost and former friends, Some folks have left my life for various personal reasons. But others have turned away when they thought I was leading into dark areas. One person said my journal entries were whiney and self-indulgent. It's a gracious fact that others didn't find them so who were faced with similar problems and decisions. We all have the right and freedom to draw from our own life experiences to offer compassion, understanding and advice.
I've been told that I was going down a dark road. Well, damn, sometimes the road is dark but that doesn't mean there's no light on it. I've always tried to conduct my life with joy and a sense of humor. That means I bring my light with me. And your lights come gliding through your journals even when the news is grim. So when the darkness comes take my hand, we'll laugh and get through it.
I love my friends, even the faithless ones. When night falls and the fierce and terrifying storm is raging outside anyone who comes to my simple, sloppy home seeking chocolate, laughter, love, music or safety, in any order, will find them.
DB - The Vagabond
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Push The Limits
,Anyone who is pushed to do the very best that they can is privileged. It's a luxury.
Twyla Tharp
****************
In my career I came across three types of directors, the good, the bad and the absent. The bad directors are those who tell you that what you're doing isn't good enough. Those are the ones who make you feel unworthy and try to get you to be better in spite of them. They direct by insult and humiliation. The good directors are those who recognize that you are capable of more and will ask for more because they can see your ability and value. The absent directors are those who sit in on rehearsal but don't seem to care what you do.
Now I know these types are in all walks and stumbles of life. Learning to deal with them is how we grow. I learned to find my own worth even in the face of someone who was trying to convince me I was unworthy. Once I learned how to do that I could really focus on my work and easily leave the bad director in the dust. Paul Tillich wrote "The courage to be is the courage to accept ourselves in spite of being unacceptable."
To be pushed to do the very best is not to be beaten by a stick or tempted by a carrot. It is to discover what is truly of value and importance in what one is doing and to respond to affirmative directions wherever they come from.
To be sure it is difficult at times to ignore the screaming negatives, particularly when they are so insistent, But to ignore them is part of the discipline of achieving the very best and of accepting the best.
Stanislavski, the famous Russian actor, director and teacher, wrote that the actor no less than the soldier must be subject to iron discipline. I wrote the phrase "iron discipline" on a piece of paper and taped it up in front of me wherever I was working. It was the proper goad, the proper guide, to making my work better. When I woke up in the morning it was there to remind me that it was going to be another day of doing my best.
After the show closed was a good time to be lazy, sloppy and undisciplined. But while the show was running I had the luxury of trying to do my best every day.
A constant consciousness that you are better than you have been assessed to be by the negative thinkers, mixed with a sturdy faith in the discipline of your own labors, and a liberal dash of humor, is a good recipe for enjoying your life and yourself.
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Twyla Tharp
****************
In my career I came across three types of directors, the good, the bad and the absent. The bad directors are those who tell you that what you're doing isn't good enough. Those are the ones who make you feel unworthy and try to get you to be better in spite of them. They direct by insult and humiliation. The good directors are those who recognize that you are capable of more and will ask for more because they can see your ability and value. The absent directors are those who sit in on rehearsal but don't seem to care what you do.
Now I know these types are in all walks and stumbles of life. Learning to deal with them is how we grow. I learned to find my own worth even in the face of someone who was trying to convince me I was unworthy. Once I learned how to do that I could really focus on my work and easily leave the bad director in the dust. Paul Tillich wrote "The courage to be is the courage to accept ourselves in spite of being unacceptable."
To be pushed to do the very best is not to be beaten by a stick or tempted by a carrot. It is to discover what is truly of value and importance in what one is doing and to respond to affirmative directions wherever they come from.
To be sure it is difficult at times to ignore the screaming negatives, particularly when they are so insistent, But to ignore them is part of the discipline of achieving the very best and of accepting the best.
Stanislavski, the famous Russian actor, director and teacher, wrote that the actor no less than the soldier must be subject to iron discipline. I wrote the phrase "iron discipline" on a piece of paper and taped it up in front of me wherever I was working. It was the proper goad, the proper guide, to making my work better. When I woke up in the morning it was there to remind me that it was going to be another day of doing my best.
After the show closed was a good time to be lazy, sloppy and undisciplined. But while the show was running I had the luxury of trying to do my best every day.
A constant consciousness that you are better than you have been assessed to be by the negative thinkers, mixed with a sturdy faith in the discipline of your own labors, and a liberal dash of humor, is a good recipe for enjoying your life and yourself.
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
5 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Get Around To It
I wish, of course, peace, grace, and beauty. How do you do that? You work for it.
Studs Terkel
********************
It was a scorcher here yesterday and will be another one today. Burning sunlight, scalding water, pea soup air. Every time I opened the refrigerator door I felt like one of the Pigeon sisters. If you don't know who they are, they are in the original play of The Odd Couple. It was so hot they sat in front of their open refrigerator.
I once knew an actor named Brown, I don't remember his first name. We never did a play together but one day he talked about his approach to acting. He decided that what every character he played wanted was peace above all else. He would determine what peace meant to the character he played and everything that interfered with that peace had to be dealt with, violently if necessary. It was an interesting process. It wasn't my system but it was a good one. It doesn't matter how you cook the meal as long as it tastes good when you're done.
He could have chosen grace or beauty as his focus and achieved similar results. The point of his acting was that whatever the harmonious state is if it isn't present then it needs to be worked for. Even if it is not achieved by the end of the play, and it frequently isn't, the effort to achieve it is what makes the drama.
Robert Persig writes about a couple who lived in a chronic state of low level distress because of a leaky faucet they were too lazy to fix. Think how many annoyances we may put up with in life simply because a) we haven't correctly identified what gives us peace, grace and beauty, and b) as a result we haven't taken the sometimes easy steps to correct them.
If you can fix it, fix it. If you can't, live with it until you can. But don't let it become a permanent part of your life. I knew a woman who had a circular card on her desk labeled "A Round Toit." In other words instead of saying "I'll take care of that when I get around to it." she had a round toit and got things done.
I have an unfinished painting and an unfinished story. I have an unfinished life. So do you. Life is unfinished business. There is always something to do. There is always more peace, grace and beauty to be made. Isn't that a wonderful thing?
DB - The Vagabond
**********************
Weekend Puzzle Answer
A minimalist cryptogram
1 = ONE, WON
P. M. = EVENING
AZURE = BLUE
O = RING
U = YOU
R = ARE
& = AND
2 = TOO
B'S GHH GH1 TXTPE P.M.
I'M ALL ALONE EVERY EVENING
GHH GH1 ZTTHBFI AZURE
ALL ALONE FEELING BLUE
1L'O CATPT U R & AYC U R
WOND'RING WHERE YOU ARE AND HOW YOU ARE
& BZ U R GHH GH1 2.
AND IF YOU ARE ALL ALONE TOO.
BPXBFI NTPHBF
IRVING BERLIN
DB
Studs Terkel
********************
It was a scorcher here yesterday and will be another one today. Burning sunlight, scalding water, pea soup air. Every time I opened the refrigerator door I felt like one of the Pigeon sisters. If you don't know who they are, they are in the original play of The Odd Couple. It was so hot they sat in front of their open refrigerator.
I once knew an actor named Brown, I don't remember his first name. We never did a play together but one day he talked about his approach to acting. He decided that what every character he played wanted was peace above all else. He would determine what peace meant to the character he played and everything that interfered with that peace had to be dealt with, violently if necessary. It was an interesting process. It wasn't my system but it was a good one. It doesn't matter how you cook the meal as long as it tastes good when you're done.
He could have chosen grace or beauty as his focus and achieved similar results. The point of his acting was that whatever the harmonious state is if it isn't present then it needs to be worked for. Even if it is not achieved by the end of the play, and it frequently isn't, the effort to achieve it is what makes the drama.
Robert Persig writes about a couple who lived in a chronic state of low level distress because of a leaky faucet they were too lazy to fix. Think how many annoyances we may put up with in life simply because a) we haven't correctly identified what gives us peace, grace and beauty, and b) as a result we haven't taken the sometimes easy steps to correct them.
If you can fix it, fix it. If you can't, live with it until you can. But don't let it become a permanent part of your life. I knew a woman who had a circular card on her desk labeled "A Round Toit." In other words instead of saying "I'll take care of that when I get around to it." she had a round toit and got things done.
I have an unfinished painting and an unfinished story. I have an unfinished life. So do you. Life is unfinished business. There is always something to do. There is always more peace, grace and beauty to be made. Isn't that a wonderful thing?
DB - The Vagabond
**********************
Weekend Puzzle Answer
A minimalist cryptogram
1 = ONE, WON
P. M. = EVENING
AZURE = BLUE
O = RING
U = YOU
R = ARE
& = AND
2 = TOO
B'S GHH GH1 TXTPE P.M.
I'M ALL ALONE EVERY EVENING
GHH GH1 ZTTHBFI AZURE
ALL ALONE FEELING BLUE
1L'O CATPT U R & AYC U R
WOND'RING WHERE YOU ARE AND HOW YOU ARE
& BZ U R GHH GH1 2.
AND IF YOU ARE ALL ALONE TOO.
BPXBFI NTPHBF
IRVING BERLIN
DB
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