Quote for Today

“I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life. I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life.” I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”  ~Maya Angelou

Read more...

Quote for the Day

"I would hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell, to march, to fight, to create a sense of hunger for life that gnaws in us all."  ~Richard Wright, American Hunger, 1977

"You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what's burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke." ~Arthur Polotnik

"Writing is both mask and unveiling." ~E.B. White

Read more...

Ten Days

Ten days ago everything was perfect.  In ten minutes, she would be gone.  In ten hours, the authorities would have the letter – but what could I say now to get her back in the car. 

So here I am, ten miles from nowhere, sitting alongside the I-10 indicator sign, in a broken down convertible in 100 degree weather watching dust devils dance around her boot heels as she stalks down the gravel road.  Nothing ahead and nothing behind but sun-washed blue sky and fields that one spark would set ablaze.   How did I get from perfect to here?   Beats the hell out of me.

Ten days ago we were happy and looking forward to the future.  Both of us were working, saving our money and looking forward to the fall semester of college.   It was just supposed to be a road trip.  You know, let off a little steam, kick up our heels, cut loose a little before going back to school.  But somehow, it all went to hell.   

I guess I should begin my story at the beginning . . .

(Just a little something - not sure where, or if it's going anywhere.)

Read more...

Quote for Today

"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are."  ~Joseph Campbell

  
"Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the sooner we will be able to treat life as art."  ~Maya Angelou


"Nothing feeds the center of being so much as creative work."  ~Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Read more...

Hanging On

Days pass in scurrying,
            hurrying moments,

  consolidating time
            into packets composed
            of frantic nothingness –  

get to work on time,
            do the job, pay the bills,
            keep on keeping up.  

                        Just hanging on –  

gouging out minutes
            to refresh the mind 

with artful words, visiting
            worlds in images rent
            from artists’ dreams and nightmares, 

accompanied by lyrical notes birthed
            from musicians’ hands,
            played in counterpoint 

                        to my own ink bled onto a page.

Read more...

Quote for Today

"The true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good."
~Ann Landers

"Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do."
~ Potter Stewart

"Before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.
~ Harper Lee

Read more...

Quotes for Today

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed."  ~Albert Einstein


"Trust that little voice in your head that says "Wouldn't it be interesting if..." And then do it."  ~Duane Michals, "More Joy of Photography"


"The hardest thing about reality is returning to it after an hour inside your child's mind."  ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com

Read more...