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

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

Monday, July 5, 2010

Treasure Hunt

Spirit is the animating principle in a person.

Immanuel Kant
******************
A biologist can take a spoonful of water out of the sea, put it under a microscope and see a vast community of unicellular creatures swimming around, looking for the ocean they once knew. Another biologist can take a pinch of dirt from the ground and see the bacteria and microbes of vital life in it under the same microscope.

Think of the astrophysicists who are using X-rays, ultraviolet rays and electromagnetism to see the dark matter that can't be seen, even with a telescope and can only be known by its effects..

On every level of life from the simplest to the most universal, things are neither what they seem nor are they likely to remain what we think we know about them after careful analysis. That's one of the things that makes life so interesting.

Which brings me to the human being, if not the most complex then one of the most complex creatures in the universe. You are not what you seem to be. You are not what you eat. You're not what you look like. And you're not what you think about most of the time. Hidden underneath the life style, the clothes, the flesh and blood and even the dark matter is a vital, animating force which defines you as a very special, unique creature of the universe. It can't be seen even under the most powerful microscope. It can only be known by its effects. But it is at work all the time, asleep or awake, knowing the unknown and getting to know the unknowable.

We are amazing things, we humans, worth more wonder and respect than we permit ourselves.

DB - The Vagabond
******************

Weekend Puzzle
A few attempts so far, no answer.

A minimalist cryptogram

B'S GHH GH1 TXTPE P.M.

GHH GH1 ZTTHBFI AZURE

1L'O CATPT U R & AYC U R

& BZ U R GHH GH1 2.

BPXBFI NTPHBF

(G L)
DB

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Raise The Flag Higher

The ideals of a country are only as good as the people who give it flesh and blood.

George Takei
*******************
Well, here we are in our 234th year, or is it 235th, and still an independent nation. The United States of America was founded, among other things, on important documents. One of those is our constitution. The Constitution begins "We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union...."

That document is what binds us together as members of free and lasting society. Yet over the years, for one reason or another, people have tried to misinterpret, change or even throw out the document. What happened to "the more perfect Union"?

When I was a youngster in school, there was a practical joke students liked to play on each other. Someone would slap you on the back in a seeming act of friendship only to tape a sign to your back saying "kick me" or "i'm stupid" or some other silly remark. Sometime teachers would enjoy the joke, and make you parade around the classroom passing out papers or something, so that everyone could get a chance to read it before you knew it was there.

With all the back biting and name calling going on in Congress these days I'm surprised they haven't taken to taping signs on each other. Maybe no one has thought of it yet.

I've lived in this country for 71 years and I'm proud to be an American. But I'm not proud of the intolerance, bigotry, bias, prejudice, racism, sexism, antisemitism, islamophobia, homophobia, extremism, fanatical conservatives, fanatical liberals, religious exclusivity, hate crimes, plundering of the poor by the rich, denial of civil rights, litigiousness, selfishness and bellicosity that I see, hear and read about every day.

People want to "take back the country" but only in their own vision of it. The vision is in The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution. I look for compassion, understanding and friendship among Americans, "a more perfect Union."

DB
*********************

Weekend Puzzle

no attempts so far?

A minimalist cryptogram

B'S GHH GH1 TXTPE P.M.

GHH GH1 ZTTHBFI AZURE

1L'O CATPT U R & AYC U R

& BZ U R GHH GH1 2.

BPXBFI NTPHBF

(G L)
DB

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Toss The Coin

The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

Publius Tacitus
****************
This has been a difficult week for me. I'm faced with the dilemma of making a life changing decision. The decision isn't potentially life changing but one of the two choices is. I've been thinking about how easy it is to be turned into a major change of our lives because of a simple act, such as signing a piece of paper or saying a one syllable word like "yes" or "no."

Our lives change to one degree or another every day because's of choices we make. Most of the time those changes are minor and we don't see them as changes simply because we probably don't know what the alternatives were. Other times the changes are major ones but we may not remember what the choice was that brought it about. It may have been a simple choice with enormous results we didn't expect. It's baffling. "What choice did I make way back that led me to the situation I'm in now?"

When faced with a difficult choice reason is the best tool to use, but that takes mental effort, sometimes painful. We would rather have a fast answer so we flip a coin, read Tarot cards, consult the I Ching, check out our horoscope or look for a sign from heaven. But Shakespeare wisely said "Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie which we ascribe to heaven."

One afternoon a friend and I decided to go for a drive in a part of New Hampshire we were unfamiliar with and to decide where to go by flipping a coin. Whenever we came to an intersection coin flips would tell us which road to take. We stopped for lunch at a dull diner. The food was dull and there were absolutely no pictures or decorations on the walls. On the other hand we turned up a hill that took us to one of the most magnificent sights. To our right the hill continued up to a mansion of a house and to the left to a large wide field of wild flowers with gray mountains way in the distance. We just stopped and stared for quite a while. Eventually our coin took us back onto a highway heading home. I don't know where we went but it was a fun road trip through a strange part of central New Hampshire and I will never forget that magnificent view our coin led us to.

I will find the remedy in myself and come to a decision, and it won't be based on a coin toss. I will no doubt opt for enterprise rather than safety. Ah, but which is which? That's the dilemma.

DB - The Vagabond
********************

Weekend Puzzle

A minimalist cryptogram.

B'S GHH GH1 TXTPE P.M.

GHH GH1 ZTTHBFI AZURE

1L'O CATPT U R & AYC U R

& BZ U R GHH GH1 2.

BPXBFI NTPHBF

(G L)
DB

Friday, July 2, 2010

Flying Solo

Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude.

Arthur Schopenhauer
**********************
I have a photograph of a large locomotive. It look to be about a city block long. It was built to haul a long lines of heavy freight cars, the sort that are sometimes pulled by two or three locomotives.

I was thinking about the engineer who designed it. How he must have taken the technological marvels of railroad design, matched them to the specifications of his task, combined with his knowledge and abilities and finally with his own creative imagination. No doubt there is a plaque somewhere naming the owner and the builder, but I wonder if he signed it as an artist would a painting. Maybe he did in some obscure place known only to the few railroad workers who happened to discover it.

I wonder if one day he stood with other pedestrians who were unaware that he designed it and watched the monster roll by noting and admiring quietly to himself that he knew every bone, sinew, muscle and blood vessel of the great machine, huge wheels that turn in a flash, like an eagle head, to accommodate twisting, turning rails.

I can write about loneliness. I know those moments when you need to communicate with another human being about nothing in particular just to make contact with an intelligent human being. those are important moments. Thank you Mark.
Thank you Trees.

I can write about aloneness. I know about facing the dilemmas and paradoxes of life that no one can face for you and making the decisions that no one else can make. I know how important it is to know yourself and not to be told who you are. I know that your own private thoughts are the only ones you really understand.

I can write about solitude. I know the value of continuity, the great value of uninterrupted pursuit of ideas, plans and wishes. For an artist or any thinking person solitude is an essential condition and circumstance of life. To be uninterrupted by other people or even by the radio, television or outdoor activities is golden time.

I don't like my loneliness. But I accept it because I do cherish my aloneness and my solitude.

DB - The Vagabond
*****************

SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?

4 responses so far.

dbdacoba@aol.com

Thank you.
DB
********************

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Hold Em Or Fold Em

The best poker game is to play with thoughts, not cards.

DB - The Vagabond
********************
One day my sister went to visit some friends who had moved to Las Vegas. Neither my sister nor they were gamblers, but while she was there they gave her a tour of some of the casinos. When she came back home she said that the gamblers were clearly not enjoying themselves because none of them were smiling. I suggested it was because they were concentrating very hard. They were keeping a lot of information in mind and weighing wagers against the probabilistic and assets against possible winnings. I also pointed out that when my sister was engaged in serious thought about something she wasn't smiling either.

I, also, am not a gambler even though I have enjoyed investing money now and then in a small business with four legs, a head at one end and a tail at the other, with a small person sitting on it. as it runs around an oval. And, though few would believe it, I made a profit on my investments. How come?

A professional gambler doesn't wager the rent or the babies milk money, but is very conservative about how he manages his assets. And in any game he reduces the element of chance to the lowest possible denominator. A poker player will weigh the odds of drawing the card he needs against the cost of staying in the game and the size of the pot if he wins. If the pot isn't large enough though he may win it that time he could end up losing his money by the law of diminishing returns. He carefully measures all the options before he pushes a chip across the table. A gambler may be intuitive and instinctive, but he is not impulsive.

Now imagine what sort of results may be achieved by that same unsmiling concentration in regard to the major issues of life, especially when it is in relationship to the opinions of others. Ideas, thoughts and facts line themselves up on all sides of a decision. One has to consider what's on the table in relationship to what has not yet been dealt. When, at last, all the unpredictable possibilities have been considered, the odds for making the correct decision are favorable for one tactic or another, when the risks have been reduced to a minimum and there is room for the intuition to grasp a sense of certainty, the thinker can move forward or stay put.

I prefer to play the game on my own life's table with the strength of my own thoughts and not with a handful of cards.

DB
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?

4 responses so far.

dbdacoba@aol.com

Thank you.
DB
********************