I was adored once too.
Shakespeare
*******************
Hello George
********************
Who would adore this old geezer? What's to love?
So what if he paints beautiful pictures and write interesting stories, no one in town wants to know him and his one friend turned out to be dishonest. What's to love?
So what if he wrote and sent out over seventeen hundred issues of his journal to entertain, explain and encourage, no one wants to visit him. What's to love?
So what if he knows a lot about theatre and music, he lives in a neighborhood with no ATM, no deli, no laundromat, no post office and no barber. What's to love?
What if he reads and can discuss philosophy and religion, he has bad eye sight, an injured hip, a nasty cough and no teeth. What's to love?
So what if he hitchhiked across the country once, years ago, with stories to tell, now he can't walk to the corner without crutches. What's to love?
So what if he has plans to return to New Your and go back to work, he can't even keep his apartment clean. What's to love?
So what if he likes children and animals, he looks like a bum. What's to love?
So what if he has a heart full of affection, he's just a big, old, smelly thing. What's there to love?
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never give up.
**********************
Showing posts with label . Shakespeare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label . Shakespeare. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Silly Man
Do not trust all man, but trust men of worth, the former course is silly, the latter is a mark of prudence.
Democritus
********************
Hello Jon
**********************
A friend once asked me "Why do you insist on believing that everyone is as intelligent as you are?" I don't know if that remark was insight or flattery but I answered by saying "Because I want them to be."
It reminded me of times that I did talk to people expecting them to really understand the ideas I was expressing. Some people, it seemed, just plain could not. I always want people to be better than they are, and I have a strange feeling that if I treat them that way they will respond accordingly.
I have made the same mistake about trusting people. Recently I had the terrible experience of finding out that someone I was close to could not be trusted. It's always a greet shock to the system when you realize how much you have given of yourself in a relationship when you find out you've been fooled and the other person isn't trustworthy.
"Trust a few" Shakespeare said. But how do we know which few to trust? Is it wise not to trust anybody? Can we live in the pathways of suspicion with everyone we meet? Can we live under the sword of wondering if we can trust ourselves?
I have known a few people whom I trusted and I believe they were genuinely able to be trusted. A very few. But they were people who when negative feelings came rolling in on them were able to keep their trustworthiness intact. I like to think I am that way myself.
When it turned out this person could not be trusted it was a very painful event for me. But I acknowledge that the pain was caused by me for trusting where it was not possible, and that happened through lack of observation. People usually give the signs that tell you they can't be trusted and I simply ignored and did not read the signs. My fault.
Observing and listening are very important practices in all human relationships. It saves from jumping to conclusions about other people, as I did.
Suffer, rue, heal and try to remember the lesson for the next time, if you can, silly man.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up.
*******************************
Democritus
********************
Hello Jon
**********************
A friend once asked me "Why do you insist on believing that everyone is as intelligent as you are?" I don't know if that remark was insight or flattery but I answered by saying "Because I want them to be."
It reminded me of times that I did talk to people expecting them to really understand the ideas I was expressing. Some people, it seemed, just plain could not. I always want people to be better than they are, and I have a strange feeling that if I treat them that way they will respond accordingly.
I have made the same mistake about trusting people. Recently I had the terrible experience of finding out that someone I was close to could not be trusted. It's always a greet shock to the system when you realize how much you have given of yourself in a relationship when you find out you've been fooled and the other person isn't trustworthy.
"Trust a few" Shakespeare said. But how do we know which few to trust? Is it wise not to trust anybody? Can we live in the pathways of suspicion with everyone we meet? Can we live under the sword of wondering if we can trust ourselves?
I have known a few people whom I trusted and I believe they were genuinely able to be trusted. A very few. But they were people who when negative feelings came rolling in on them were able to keep their trustworthiness intact. I like to think I am that way myself.
When it turned out this person could not be trusted it was a very painful event for me. But I acknowledge that the pain was caused by me for trusting where it was not possible, and that happened through lack of observation. People usually give the signs that tell you they can't be trusted and I simply ignored and did not read the signs. My fault.
Observing and listening are very important practices in all human relationships. It saves from jumping to conclusions about other people, as I did.
Suffer, rue, heal and try to remember the lesson for the next time, if you can, silly man.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up.
*******************************
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Untimely Understanding
Time is but a ship that bears thee, not thy home.
Unknown
********************
Oh God! methinks it were a happy life,
To be no better than homely swain;
To sit upon a hill, as I do now,
To carve out dials quaintly, point to point,
Thereby to see the minutes how they run,
How many make the hour full complete;
How many hours bring about the day;
How many days will finish up the year;
How many years a mortal man may live.
When this is done, then to divide the times:
So many hours must I tend my flock;
So many hours must I take my rest;
So many hours must I contemplate;
So many hours must I sport myself;
So many days my ewes have been with young;
So many weeks ere the poor fools will ean;
So many years ere I shall shear the fleece:
So minutes, hours, days, months, and years,
Pass'd over to the end they were created,
Would bring white hairs unto a quiet grave.
(Shakespeare)
_________________________
Time is a mortal measurement, a human idea. We measure it by space, how long it takes something to go from one place to another in comparison with how long it takes another object to do the same. The universe does not concern itself with time.
Why shouldn't the church bell ring 13? Because we have determined that a day is 2 sets of 12, 7 of those make a week and 52 of those make a year. But it's inaccurate, which is why we have to have the paradox of a leap year now and then, like this year. Why doesn't the earth revolve around the sun according to the nice neat pattern we have determined for it? Because the solar system does not concern itself with time.
People look through crystal telescopes at what they say is the past, stars which no longer exist but are only now announcing their light to us, because they were so many billion light years away, also a human measurement. Another person looks through a crystal ball at what he says is the future and what he sees is a projection of the unconscious thoughts that already exist in his mind.
The philosopher Hans Jonas was fond of citing the Psalmist's prayer "Teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom." That statement implies that the information is already known. The obverse side suggests that Jonas wanted to know how many hours of daylight he had to accomplish what he wanted to do in life. The reverse side may suggest that he wanted to know when the moment would be that he would surrender his "white hairs unto a quiet grave."
I have a seed I picked up off a grassy field with some tall trees in it. The seed is about the size of a golf ball, A botanist I know looked at it, told me what kind of a tree it came from and then explained that everything about that tree was already contained in the seed. The seed knows how tall the tree will grow, what it will look like, haw many branches it will have, how many twigs, how many leaves it will put out and how long it will live. Barring any unforeseen events from man or nature, the future of the tree already exists in the present seed.
So we can measure water levels, pollen counts, wind chill factors, topical storm categories and measure out our lives "in coffee spoons" (T. S. Eliot) or by any other means only to find that nature is rudely indifferent and uninterested in our efforts. The sun and the earth identify themselves to each other, The moon talks to the ocean, the flowers listen to the sun. The ground welcomes the rain when it comes. The birds migrate when they get together and decide to. And we, with our rulers, scales and "dials," are simply eavesdroppers in this cosmic conversation.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
(never give up)
**********************
This invitation is still open for anyone and everyone to post an entry of their own on my journal, Vagabond Journeys http://vagabondjourneys.blogspot.com/.
A new year is upon us and since it is a time for celebrations, remembrances, resolutions and plans for the future I think people have things to say.
Not to take away from the postings on your own journals, but to add to the joy of my own is why I invite you to write for me.
I want to read what your thoughts are about this magical time of the year. This invitation is open to everyone: Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, Agnostics, Atheists and the Uncertain or the Confused. Tell me your thoughts on any subject you wish.
There are no limits in regard to length. The only limitation is that, for reasons so far unexplained to me, my blog does not take photographs, animations, videos or pictures of any kind. I deal in words.
Please accept my invitation. Send your entry to my email address dbdacoba@aol.com I will copy and paste it into my journal and it will be displayed promptly. You may sign your name or not as you wish, and you may leave a link to your blog or your email or not, as you wish. I will do NO editing or censoring. Eloquence is not necessary, mind or heart or both is all.
I have 12 Guest Authors so far. Check them out.
All are welcome. Admission is free.
DB - The Vagabond
***************************
Unknown
********************
Oh God! methinks it were a happy life,
To be no better than homely swain;
To sit upon a hill, as I do now,
To carve out dials quaintly, point to point,
Thereby to see the minutes how they run,
How many make the hour full complete;
How many hours bring about the day;
How many days will finish up the year;
How many years a mortal man may live.
When this is done, then to divide the times:
So many hours must I tend my flock;
So many hours must I take my rest;
So many hours must I contemplate;
So many hours must I sport myself;
So many days my ewes have been with young;
So many weeks ere the poor fools will ean;
So many years ere I shall shear the fleece:
So minutes, hours, days, months, and years,
Pass'd over to the end they were created,
Would bring white hairs unto a quiet grave.
(Shakespeare)
_________________________
Time is a mortal measurement, a human idea. We measure it by space, how long it takes something to go from one place to another in comparison with how long it takes another object to do the same. The universe does not concern itself with time.
Why shouldn't the church bell ring 13? Because we have determined that a day is 2 sets of 12, 7 of those make a week and 52 of those make a year. But it's inaccurate, which is why we have to have the paradox of a leap year now and then, like this year. Why doesn't the earth revolve around the sun according to the nice neat pattern we have determined for it? Because the solar system does not concern itself with time.
People look through crystal telescopes at what they say is the past, stars which no longer exist but are only now announcing their light to us, because they were so many billion light years away, also a human measurement. Another person looks through a crystal ball at what he says is the future and what he sees is a projection of the unconscious thoughts that already exist in his mind.
The philosopher Hans Jonas was fond of citing the Psalmist's prayer "Teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom." That statement implies that the information is already known. The obverse side suggests that Jonas wanted to know how many hours of daylight he had to accomplish what he wanted to do in life. The reverse side may suggest that he wanted to know when the moment would be that he would surrender his "white hairs unto a quiet grave."
I have a seed I picked up off a grassy field with some tall trees in it. The seed is about the size of a golf ball, A botanist I know looked at it, told me what kind of a tree it came from and then explained that everything about that tree was already contained in the seed. The seed knows how tall the tree will grow, what it will look like, haw many branches it will have, how many twigs, how many leaves it will put out and how long it will live. Barring any unforeseen events from man or nature, the future of the tree already exists in the present seed.
So we can measure water levels, pollen counts, wind chill factors, topical storm categories and measure out our lives "in coffee spoons" (T. S. Eliot) or by any other means only to find that nature is rudely indifferent and uninterested in our efforts. The sun and the earth identify themselves to each other, The moon talks to the ocean, the flowers listen to the sun. The ground welcomes the rain when it comes. The birds migrate when they get together and decide to. And we, with our rulers, scales and "dials," are simply eavesdroppers in this cosmic conversation.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
(never give up)
**********************
This invitation is still open for anyone and everyone to post an entry of their own on my journal, Vagabond Journeys http://vagabondjourneys.blogspot.com/.
A new year is upon us and since it is a time for celebrations, remembrances, resolutions and plans for the future I think people have things to say.
Not to take away from the postings on your own journals, but to add to the joy of my own is why I invite you to write for me.
I want to read what your thoughts are about this magical time of the year. This invitation is open to everyone: Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, Agnostics, Atheists and the Uncertain or the Confused. Tell me your thoughts on any subject you wish.
There are no limits in regard to length. The only limitation is that, for reasons so far unexplained to me, my blog does not take photographs, animations, videos or pictures of any kind. I deal in words.
Please accept my invitation. Send your entry to my email address dbdacoba@aol.com I will copy and paste it into my journal and it will be displayed promptly. You may sign your name or not as you wish, and you may leave a link to your blog or your email or not, as you wish. I will do NO editing or censoring. Eloquence is not necessary, mind or heart or both is all.
I have 12 Guest Authors so far. Check them out.
All are welcome. Admission is free.
DB - The Vagabond
***************************
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Vote For What?
Do not wait for leaders. Do it alone, person to person.
Mother Theresa
*********************
Hello Jen,
******************
Election Day in the USA. This is the day we American citizens get to vote for our leaders and representatives. Unfortunately to run for public office, especially in the higher levels of government, is a very expensive activity. The radio and TV commercials, print advertising, fliers, leaflets, letters, travels and phone calls all cost a lot of money. So the lucky ones who hold those offices are mostly rich, supported by the even richer.,
The wealthy in this country have all the power and, even among the kindly intentioned, they don't have a history of exercising it wisely. Like the monarchs of old they have the money, the position and their armies, in the modern case that means lawyers and lobbyists. They all seem to be quite comfortable with that arrangement. They call it the American Dream.
The common man has daily problems about which the rich know nothing "Let 'em eat cake." But the common man, the commoner, the peasant, the indentured servant needs some of that power. He wants the power to build a life, own a home, support a family and gain a decent standard of living. That's the American Dream. And as time goes by it's slipping more and more from our grasp. "Can the King, who commands the beggars knee, command the health of it?" Shakespeare wrote.
If the rich were to pay their fair share of taxes it would be a blessing for the country. Some of the rich and richly supported politicians are against that idea. Meanwhile money is being squandered.
If the rich were held accountable for the taxes they should have been paying all these years, their debt to America, it would be an even bigger blessing. And if they were assessed the sort of interest charges on that debt the wealthy banks like to charge the commoner it would be a healthier, wealthier and more prosperous country all around.
If that unlikely event should happen there would be a lot of yachts and mansions for sale. Do you think the common man would shed a tear over that misfortune?
We cannot depend on our leaders to forfeit their ideological arguments and knuckle down to their responsibilities. The Washington game goes on like a huge ball to which we are not invited. Power, influence, obligations and promises are pushed around the table like poker chips. And we aren't in the game.
So what do we do? We use the only power we have: protests, demonstrations, standing for days in the cold in ever increasing numbers, being hated, bearing beatings and arrests, scorn, scoffs, misunderstandings, fear, to convince the unconvinced, move the unmovable and awaken the spirit of rightness, of fairness, of genuine concern for the nations's well being. And we do it alone, person to person. Because we are the people.
DB - The Vagabond
Never Give Up
*************************
AUTUMN QUESTION
What event over the past year changed your life, a lot or a little?
Only 5 answers so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
I eagerly await your answers.
DB
********************
Mother Theresa
*********************
Hello Jen,
******************
Election Day in the USA. This is the day we American citizens get to vote for our leaders and representatives. Unfortunately to run for public office, especially in the higher levels of government, is a very expensive activity. The radio and TV commercials, print advertising, fliers, leaflets, letters, travels and phone calls all cost a lot of money. So the lucky ones who hold those offices are mostly rich, supported by the even richer.,
The wealthy in this country have all the power and, even among the kindly intentioned, they don't have a history of exercising it wisely. Like the monarchs of old they have the money, the position and their armies, in the modern case that means lawyers and lobbyists. They all seem to be quite comfortable with that arrangement. They call it the American Dream.
The common man has daily problems about which the rich know nothing "Let 'em eat cake." But the common man, the commoner, the peasant, the indentured servant needs some of that power. He wants the power to build a life, own a home, support a family and gain a decent standard of living. That's the American Dream. And as time goes by it's slipping more and more from our grasp. "Can the King, who commands the beggars knee, command the health of it?" Shakespeare wrote.
If the rich were to pay their fair share of taxes it would be a blessing for the country. Some of the rich and richly supported politicians are against that idea. Meanwhile money is being squandered.
If the rich were held accountable for the taxes they should have been paying all these years, their debt to America, it would be an even bigger blessing. And if they were assessed the sort of interest charges on that debt the wealthy banks like to charge the commoner it would be a healthier, wealthier and more prosperous country all around.
If that unlikely event should happen there would be a lot of yachts and mansions for sale. Do you think the common man would shed a tear over that misfortune?
We cannot depend on our leaders to forfeit their ideological arguments and knuckle down to their responsibilities. The Washington game goes on like a huge ball to which we are not invited. Power, influence, obligations and promises are pushed around the table like poker chips. And we aren't in the game.
So what do we do? We use the only power we have: protests, demonstrations, standing for days in the cold in ever increasing numbers, being hated, bearing beatings and arrests, scorn, scoffs, misunderstandings, fear, to convince the unconvinced, move the unmovable and awaken the spirit of rightness, of fairness, of genuine concern for the nations's well being. And we do it alone, person to person. Because we are the people.
DB - The Vagabond
Never Give Up
*************************
AUTUMN QUESTION
What event over the past year changed your life, a lot or a little?
Only 5 answers so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
I eagerly await your answers.
DB
********************
Saturday, April 16, 2011
A Winter Song
Spring comes to you at the farthest
In the very end of harvest.
William Shakespeare
*********************
Hello Baffin Island
**********************
Yesterday was a cold, wet, windy day here in eastern Pennsylvania. As I walked the two blocks back to my apartment house, huddled in my jacket which was not quite warm enough, I thought how much it resembled a winter day.
That made me reflect on how things were with me during the Winter. No matter what the weather is life goes on, and winter weather is the kind that prompts indoor activities, taking stock of personal things and some introspection. As I walked along against the wind I thought about where I was in January, How much did I gain, of self awareness and strength of purpose. How much did I lose, of negativity, arrogance and futile dreams.
The Winter was a time of rebuked pride, weakening of body but raising of standards, a time of chastisement for past errors, healing strokes for recent rebukes and recognition of personal worth. It was a time for weeding out thoughts that were contributing to confusion, planting new ideas and gathering up lessons learned.
As Spring came with its tearful buckets of bad national and international news I knew I could retreat into the safety and warmth of my own barn surrounded by the accomplishments of another year. I can peer out with hope for the well being of the world, know that the music is still being played, the paintings are still on display and the curtains are still going up, and even though I'm not there I can be grateful for the fact that my life is still a life being lived.
When the last Christmas decoration has been taken down, the last piece of pumpkin pie has been eaten, the last thank you card has been sent and the New Year has been welcomed in, then is the time to tend the inner crops, the rich fields of experience, aspiration and love. And then, when you are ripe and ready, gather up the harvest of your Winter and welcome the Spring.
DB - The Vagabond
*********************
This Week's Contest - Answers
You were ordered to take a famous remark, a cliche or otherwise and restate it in the most verbose manner possible. Example:
Night is an inappropriate time for the manufacture of animal feed.
(Make hay while the sun shines.)
There were 6 excellent replies;
---------------------------------------
a lump of old coal on the far reaches of the golf course
Sue
------------------------
Not for all the herbs in Asia
Avians of similar plumage congregate amongst themselves
A lupine in ovine's garb
The chirography instrument is more invincible than the foil
Janice Slack
jamcs605@aol.com
---------------------------------
One is wiser not to place their heavy, opened, two-wheeled vehicle, used for the conveyance of their goods, drawn by their large, solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped, in front of its mouth, but to place it behind its hindquarters (a.k.a its arse).
Val
--------------------------------------
It was a difficult choice but the judge is awarding the first place prize to Val for the sheer verbosity of the cart before the horse.
Second place is tough, but it's going to Sue for the diamond in the rough.
And third prize to Janice for the pen being mightier than the sword.
Thank you all. Excellent work.
There may be another puzzle this week, if I have the stamina for it.
DB
******************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
NASA has planned to send a two man mission on an 18 month trip to the planet Mars. It would take 6 months for the astronauts to get there and after 6 months of exploration another 6 months to return.
Should they do it and why, and if not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
4 answers so far
I eagerly await your answer.
DB,
******************
In the very end of harvest.
William Shakespeare
*********************
Hello Baffin Island
**********************
Yesterday was a cold, wet, windy day here in eastern Pennsylvania. As I walked the two blocks back to my apartment house, huddled in my jacket which was not quite warm enough, I thought how much it resembled a winter day.
That made me reflect on how things were with me during the Winter. No matter what the weather is life goes on, and winter weather is the kind that prompts indoor activities, taking stock of personal things and some introspection. As I walked along against the wind I thought about where I was in January, How much did I gain, of self awareness and strength of purpose. How much did I lose, of negativity, arrogance and futile dreams.
The Winter was a time of rebuked pride, weakening of body but raising of standards, a time of chastisement for past errors, healing strokes for recent rebukes and recognition of personal worth. It was a time for weeding out thoughts that were contributing to confusion, planting new ideas and gathering up lessons learned.
As Spring came with its tearful buckets of bad national and international news I knew I could retreat into the safety and warmth of my own barn surrounded by the accomplishments of another year. I can peer out with hope for the well being of the world, know that the music is still being played, the paintings are still on display and the curtains are still going up, and even though I'm not there I can be grateful for the fact that my life is still a life being lived.
When the last Christmas decoration has been taken down, the last piece of pumpkin pie has been eaten, the last thank you card has been sent and the New Year has been welcomed in, then is the time to tend the inner crops, the rich fields of experience, aspiration and love. And then, when you are ripe and ready, gather up the harvest of your Winter and welcome the Spring.
DB - The Vagabond
*********************
This Week's Contest - Answers
You were ordered to take a famous remark, a cliche or otherwise and restate it in the most verbose manner possible. Example:
Night is an inappropriate time for the manufacture of animal feed.
(Make hay while the sun shines.)
There were 6 excellent replies;
---------------------------------------
a lump of old coal on the far reaches of the golf course
Sue
------------------------
Not for all the herbs in Asia
Avians of similar plumage congregate amongst themselves
A lupine in ovine's garb
The chirography instrument is more invincible than the foil
Janice Slack
jamcs605@aol.com
---------------------------------
One is wiser not to place their heavy, opened, two-wheeled vehicle, used for the conveyance of their goods, drawn by their large, solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped, in front of its mouth, but to place it behind its hindquarters (a.k.a its arse).
Val
--------------------------------------
It was a difficult choice but the judge is awarding the first place prize to Val for the sheer verbosity of the cart before the horse.
Second place is tough, but it's going to Sue for the diamond in the rough.
And third prize to Janice for the pen being mightier than the sword.
Thank you all. Excellent work.
There may be another puzzle this week, if I have the stamina for it.
DB
******************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
NASA has planned to send a two man mission on an 18 month trip to the planet Mars. It would take 6 months for the astronauts to get there and after 6 months of exploration another 6 months to return.
Should they do it and why, and if not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
4 answers so far
I eagerly await your answer.
DB,
******************
Saturday, March 19, 2011
The Sorrow
In sooth, I know not why I am so sad.
Shakespeare
**********************
Sometimes a great sadness settles over me like a cold, cloudy day. It happened to me yesterday, and I don't understand it because yesterday was a beautiful spring like day, a day in which I should have been happy to be alive, to be active and involved in things. I was busy and I did and saw many things that were joyful. Then why this anchor in my heart?
Certain things I know from experience, and one of them is that the feeling will not last. It comes and goes like bad weather and is usually based on nothing in particular or nothing important. The important stuff we deal with and solve. The unimportant stuff is stuff we don't know about or where it comes from.
On Thursday I bought a bamboo wind chime, it had some strings and a wooden weight to catch the wind. When the sales woman put it in the bag she said she hoped it didn't get in a tangle. I said if it did I would untangle it. Then I said "Life is a tangle." She looked up at me with a smile and nodded her head.
Part of my sadness is elemental, it's the sadness that knows there always is and always will be untangling to do, mine or someone else's. We are human, we make tangles. I could paraphrase Decartes "I make tangles therefore I am."
I enjoy writing and reading what others write on the Internet, but my systems present almost daily misbehavior and so many of my lovely free hours are spent on the phone waiting to talk to a technician in order to explain my current problem which is usually something they've never heard of. Knowing that I have to do that makes me sad.
Life is unfinished business. Accepting that some of that business will never be finished also makes me sad. I see the children down on the sidewalk going back and forth to the library. I remember some of my own childhood and how I had an unquestioned hope that certain things would surely take place in my life that never did. I feel sad knowing that those youngsters will someday suffer the same disappointments.
I live a reasonably safe and secure life, for which I'm grateful, but I can't help feeling sad for the agonies going on in Japan, Africa and the middle east.
I went into a very friendly family store a few days ago to buy something which was kept behind the counter. The woman said that sooner or later the whole store would be behind the counter because every day something gets stolen. I said "What a shame."
I'm grateful also to have a sense of humor and I know it will get me through the clouds of sorrow that beset me at the moment, but I also know how important it is to embrace the sorrows of life and untangle them.
DB - The Vagabond
*****************************
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
What was the most significant event that happened in 2010?
dbdacoba@aol.com
Will you get your act together and answer this question, please?
Only 9 responses so far. Today is your last chance to respond.
Don't let the vagabond clock run out on you.
DB
********************
Shakespeare
**********************
Sometimes a great sadness settles over me like a cold, cloudy day. It happened to me yesterday, and I don't understand it because yesterday was a beautiful spring like day, a day in which I should have been happy to be alive, to be active and involved in things. I was busy and I did and saw many things that were joyful. Then why this anchor in my heart?
Certain things I know from experience, and one of them is that the feeling will not last. It comes and goes like bad weather and is usually based on nothing in particular or nothing important. The important stuff we deal with and solve. The unimportant stuff is stuff we don't know about or where it comes from.
On Thursday I bought a bamboo wind chime, it had some strings and a wooden weight to catch the wind. When the sales woman put it in the bag she said she hoped it didn't get in a tangle. I said if it did I would untangle it. Then I said "Life is a tangle." She looked up at me with a smile and nodded her head.
Part of my sadness is elemental, it's the sadness that knows there always is and always will be untangling to do, mine or someone else's. We are human, we make tangles. I could paraphrase Decartes "I make tangles therefore I am."
I enjoy writing and reading what others write on the Internet, but my systems present almost daily misbehavior and so many of my lovely free hours are spent on the phone waiting to talk to a technician in order to explain my current problem which is usually something they've never heard of. Knowing that I have to do that makes me sad.
Life is unfinished business. Accepting that some of that business will never be finished also makes me sad. I see the children down on the sidewalk going back and forth to the library. I remember some of my own childhood and how I had an unquestioned hope that certain things would surely take place in my life that never did. I feel sad knowing that those youngsters will someday suffer the same disappointments.
I live a reasonably safe and secure life, for which I'm grateful, but I can't help feeling sad for the agonies going on in Japan, Africa and the middle east.
I went into a very friendly family store a few days ago to buy something which was kept behind the counter. The woman said that sooner or later the whole store would be behind the counter because every day something gets stolen. I said "What a shame."
I'm grateful also to have a sense of humor and I know it will get me through the clouds of sorrow that beset me at the moment, but I also know how important it is to embrace the sorrows of life and untangle them.
DB - The Vagabond
*****************************
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
What was the most significant event that happened in 2010?
dbdacoba@aol.com
Will you get your act together and answer this question, please?
Only 9 responses so far. Today is your last chance to respond.
Don't let the vagabond clock run out on you.
DB
********************
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
SeeSaw Of The Mind
The realm of reality is as vast as cosmic space, it is the knowing mind of sentient beings that is small.
Pao-chih
*************************
Sometimes I ponder with dismay the limits of my own small sentient mind and feel intimidated by the difference between what I know and the unknown but knowable. The task is made even more difficult by the nonsense, my own and others, that litters up the mental landscape.
One thing I did learn, finally, after years of foolishness, is to know and look for a reality that is not apparent to the sentient mind. Things are seldom, or never, what the seem to be. But there is a reality to what they are that can't be expressed in any other way. The great thinkers struggle over terms to make an inexpressible vision as clear as possible. The more extreme, the more spiritual the vision, the more esoteric the terms. When others struggle to understand those terms and make sense out of them a frustration often sets in that turns that struggle into nonsense and allows those strugglers to lapse back into a literal meaning of the terms, thus missing the true meaning, the reality that was in proximity but just out of reach.
Great works of art and literature are screens, not to hide the truth but to depict what is behind the screen in the best terms the artist or wirier can find to describe the vision and to invite exploration. Great stories are allegories to tell what is not known by the limited sentient mind. One can also say the same for creations of mechanics, technology, engineering and science. "Impossible be strange attempts to those who weigh their pains in sense" Shakespeare wrote.
Now we have a prophecy by some befuddled so-called Christians that have pin pointed this year as the year everything ends. Someone through careful Scriptural research he says, has picked May 21st as the "rapture" or Judgement Day, followed about 5 months later by the end of everything. If we are still here after the 21st of May then we weren't saved. Too bad.
Not only does the theory turn back the clock of history and honest exploration to the superstition of the Middle Ages where the earth was thought to be the center of the universe, but it also insists on interpreting Scriptural allegory in the most primitive literal terms. It has reduced the amazing and profound Biblical revelatory writings to nonsense.
Anyone who is really interested should carefully read all 22 chapters of the book of Revelation and explore what is behind the screen of the author's words, what is meant by the four horsemen, the angels with vials of plagues, the great red dragon and what the inspired writers vision is really trying to tell us. It isn't easy, but it also isn't simple minded.
While science continues to discoverer new planets and new laws, let them sit and wait for the great cloud in which Christ is going to descend with his book. But treat them kindly and with affection. They walk among us and they vote.
DB - The Vagabond
*************************
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
What was the most significant event that happened in 2010?
dbdacoba@aol.com
1 response so far
I await your answer.
DB
******************************
Pao-chih
*************************
Sometimes I ponder with dismay the limits of my own small sentient mind and feel intimidated by the difference between what I know and the unknown but knowable. The task is made even more difficult by the nonsense, my own and others, that litters up the mental landscape.
One thing I did learn, finally, after years of foolishness, is to know and look for a reality that is not apparent to the sentient mind. Things are seldom, or never, what the seem to be. But there is a reality to what they are that can't be expressed in any other way. The great thinkers struggle over terms to make an inexpressible vision as clear as possible. The more extreme, the more spiritual the vision, the more esoteric the terms. When others struggle to understand those terms and make sense out of them a frustration often sets in that turns that struggle into nonsense and allows those strugglers to lapse back into a literal meaning of the terms, thus missing the true meaning, the reality that was in proximity but just out of reach.
Great works of art and literature are screens, not to hide the truth but to depict what is behind the screen in the best terms the artist or wirier can find to describe the vision and to invite exploration. Great stories are allegories to tell what is not known by the limited sentient mind. One can also say the same for creations of mechanics, technology, engineering and science. "Impossible be strange attempts to those who weigh their pains in sense" Shakespeare wrote.
Now we have a prophecy by some befuddled so-called Christians that have pin pointed this year as the year everything ends. Someone through careful Scriptural research he says, has picked May 21st as the "rapture" or Judgement Day, followed about 5 months later by the end of everything. If we are still here after the 21st of May then we weren't saved. Too bad.
Not only does the theory turn back the clock of history and honest exploration to the superstition of the Middle Ages where the earth was thought to be the center of the universe, but it also insists on interpreting Scriptural allegory in the most primitive literal terms. It has reduced the amazing and profound Biblical revelatory writings to nonsense.
Anyone who is really interested should carefully read all 22 chapters of the book of Revelation and explore what is behind the screen of the author's words, what is meant by the four horsemen, the angels with vials of plagues, the great red dragon and what the inspired writers vision is really trying to tell us. It isn't easy, but it also isn't simple minded.
While science continues to discoverer new planets and new laws, let them sit and wait for the great cloud in which Christ is going to descend with his book. But treat them kindly and with affection. They walk among us and they vote.
DB - The Vagabond
*************************
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
What was the most significant event that happened in 2010?
dbdacoba@aol.com
1 response so far
I await your answer.
DB
******************************
Monday, August 23, 2010
Embrace The Idea
Let your heart be without words, rather than your words without heart.
Unknown
*******************
It has been said the reason for Shakespeare's abiding success as a playwright is because he loved all of his characters, even the nasty ones. I think that's true. How could he have written the serpentine maneuverings of Iago, the flamboyant character of Richard the Third or the electrifying ravings of Falstaff if he didn't thoroughly enjoy their company.
And yet I think there was probably a lot more to those characters in his mind than he could include in his limited traffic of the stage. Once the image moves from the mind and takes it's place in the heart the writer is faced with carefully crafting the words and engineering the plot to tell the stories of those characters. But their lives remain in the writers heart.
In my novel, "Brian and Christine" (which someone had better publish one day soon because it's damn good) I introduce the character of Mother Magda, the faux nun and arch villain of the story. When I first invented her I sort of knew what she looked like and how she sounded. She doesn't appear until late in the story. You only know about her as a silent voice on the telephone, which means all you know of her is how the main character reacts to talking with her. She gradually took shape. When she finally does appear she doesn't say much but you are ready to treat her with the disgust she deserves. I love that character.
I have been asked who I fashioned the character of Christine on. The answer is no one. She is a pure invention of mine. I don't know any 10 year old girls. Unlike Mother Magda who gradually came to life in my thoughts, Christine showed up magically, right away with no invitation and quickly won my heart.
That is the way it is with writing, art and any worthwhile endeavor. The idea must live in one's heart until it becomes beloved before the words and deeds that truly articulate it can be found.
Dana Bate
The Vagabond
*********************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
Only 7 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Unknown
*******************
It has been said the reason for Shakespeare's abiding success as a playwright is because he loved all of his characters, even the nasty ones. I think that's true. How could he have written the serpentine maneuverings of Iago, the flamboyant character of Richard the Third or the electrifying ravings of Falstaff if he didn't thoroughly enjoy their company.
And yet I think there was probably a lot more to those characters in his mind than he could include in his limited traffic of the stage. Once the image moves from the mind and takes it's place in the heart the writer is faced with carefully crafting the words and engineering the plot to tell the stories of those characters. But their lives remain in the writers heart.
In my novel, "Brian and Christine" (which someone had better publish one day soon because it's damn good) I introduce the character of Mother Magda, the faux nun and arch villain of the story. When I first invented her I sort of knew what she looked like and how she sounded. She doesn't appear until late in the story. You only know about her as a silent voice on the telephone, which means all you know of her is how the main character reacts to talking with her. She gradually took shape. When she finally does appear she doesn't say much but you are ready to treat her with the disgust she deserves. I love that character.
I have been asked who I fashioned the character of Christine on. The answer is no one. She is a pure invention of mine. I don't know any 10 year old girls. Unlike Mother Magda who gradually came to life in my thoughts, Christine showed up magically, right away with no invitation and quickly won my heart.
That is the way it is with writing, art and any worthwhile endeavor. The idea must live in one's heart until it becomes beloved before the words and deeds that truly articulate it can be found.
Dana Bate
The Vagabond
*********************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
Only 7 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
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