I haven't done it for a while, so I'm going to send you some of the quotes from my box of quotes Ann Overton and the Mastery Foundation gave me.
Print them out, if you like, to spend a few days pondering and wondering and learning from and being inspired by them.
"A conflict begins and ends in the hearts and minds of people, not in the hilltops."
--Amos Oz
"A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking."
--Steven Wright
"The future is not someplace we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths to it are not found but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination."
--John Schaar
"This God's mission, to help human beings, every human being, to progress from slavery to freedom. This is the mission of culture and education. And all the rest is interpretation."
--Rabbi Ofek Meir
"We are trying to live as if we were an experiment conducted by the future."
--Marge Piercy
"Not how the world is, but that it is, is the mystery."
--Ludwig Wittgenstein
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
--William Butler Yeats
"We are here to add to the sum of human goodness.
To prove the thing exists.
And however futile each individual act of courage
or generosity, self-sacrifice or grace--
it still proves the thing exists.
Each act adds to the fund."
--Josephine Hart
"A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worst, to avoid trouble."
-- Mohandas Gandhi
"May God bless you
with enough foolishness
To believe that you can
make a difference in the world,
So that you co what others
claim cannot be done."
--From a Fanciscan Benediction
"Childhood is over the moment things are no longer astonishing."
--Eugene Ionesco
Enjoy being with them. And be thankful you are.
Wednesday, August 7, 2019
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Something less grim...
I know I've been going off, reasonably so, in my last few blogs about the nonsense about guns in America and the tragedies in Texas and Ohio and California.
Don't lose tough with that. The President is going to El Paso and Dayton tomorrow though some have asked him not to come. Time will tell. Republicans, I've read, are scared sh**less all this gun stuff will lose their suburban districts in 2020. Devoutly to be wished.
But what I want to point out tonight is after the Yankees 4 game sweep of the Red Sox, Boston is 16 games behind in the loss column as the Yankees have 50 games left to play and the Sox have 47 games left to play.
Hard to make up that lead in that time.
Plus the Yankees, as of 10 p.m. are beating Baltimore 5-2 and Kansas City is beating Boston 6-2. Time for both those to change but one game doesn't make much of a difference in the scheme of things.
Let's Gooo, Yankees!
Baseball, being so slow and idyllic, always gives me hope.
Don't lose tough with that. The President is going to El Paso and Dayton tomorrow though some have asked him not to come. Time will tell. Republicans, I've read, are scared sh**less all this gun stuff will lose their suburban districts in 2020. Devoutly to be wished.
But what I want to point out tonight is after the Yankees 4 game sweep of the Red Sox, Boston is 16 games behind in the loss column as the Yankees have 50 games left to play and the Sox have 47 games left to play.
Hard to make up that lead in that time.
Plus the Yankees, as of 10 p.m. are beating Baltimore 5-2 and Kansas City is beating Boston 6-2. Time for both those to change but one game doesn't make much of a difference in the scheme of things.
Let's Gooo, Yankees!
Baseball, being so slow and idyllic, always gives me hope.
Monday, August 5, 2019
NOW he says so....
The President (who will not be named on this blog!) today denounced racism and Nazis and White Supremacists even though he's called Mexicans rapists and drug dealers and said there were 'good people' on both sides in Charlottsville (and 'one side' were Nazis) told woman of color to go back to where they came from, said no 'human being' would want to live in Baltimore and has forwarded White Supremacist tweets.
He said it today for the people of El Paso and "Toledo"--no, Mr. President, it was Dayton! Toledo is almost in Michigan. Dayton is hundreds of miles south, almost in Eastern Indiana.
"Empty words," Sen. Kamala Harris called the President's denouncements.
Wait until his next rally and let's see what he says to those who support him without thought.
I have no doubt that his rheortic has freed those on the extreme Right to hate in public as they have had to hate in private until he came along.
We are a nation 'divided' not indivisable.
"Make America White Again" should be what those red hats say.
I've always thought, no matter what happens, that our nation is 'better' than what ever is happening that is bad.
I'm no longer sure of that.
Alas and alack.
1
He said it today for the people of El Paso and "Toledo"--no, Mr. President, it was Dayton! Toledo is almost in Michigan. Dayton is hundreds of miles south, almost in Eastern Indiana.
"Empty words," Sen. Kamala Harris called the President's denouncements.
Wait until his next rally and let's see what he says to those who support him without thought.
I have no doubt that his rheortic has freed those on the extreme Right to hate in public as they have had to hate in private until he came along.
We are a nation 'divided' not indivisable.
"Make America White Again" should be what those red hats say.
I've always thought, no matter what happens, that our nation is 'better' than what ever is happening that is bad.
I'm no longer sure of that.
Alas and alack.
1
Sunday, August 4, 2019
And now there's Dayton....
A few hours after I wrote about the mass shooting in El Paso, there was the shooting in Dayton, on a busy street with people enjoying their Saturday night.
The shooter was killed by police within a minute of his starting to shoot--yet he killed 9 and wounded 20. Within a minute.
Within a minute!
Who needs a weapon like that except to kill people?
No one that's who.
A weapon that can do that much damage in under a minute should be consigned to the 7th level of hell---and anyone who owns one should go there too.
NRA should mean "No Responsibility At all".
Guns have to go.
Do Democrats in Congress and Senators with a shred of a conscience have to courage to get rid of guns?
And would the President sign that bill?
I just want to find out.
I talked about El Paso and Dayton before my sermon today. No one is without guilt and stain from this as long as we don't DO SOMETHING ABOUT GUNS!
The blood is on all our hands until we have the courage and conviction to DO SOMETHING ABOUT GUNS!
How long can this be 'normal'???
The shooter was killed by police within a minute of his starting to shoot--yet he killed 9 and wounded 20. Within a minute.
Within a minute!
Who needs a weapon like that except to kill people?
No one that's who.
A weapon that can do that much damage in under a minute should be consigned to the 7th level of hell---and anyone who owns one should go there too.
NRA should mean "No Responsibility At all".
Guns have to go.
Do Democrats in Congress and Senators with a shred of a conscience have to courage to get rid of guns?
And would the President sign that bill?
I just want to find out.
I talked about El Paso and Dayton before my sermon today. No one is without guilt and stain from this as long as we don't DO SOMETHING ABOUT GUNS!
The blood is on all our hands until we have the courage and conviction to DO SOMETHING ABOUT GUNS!
How long can this be 'normal'???
Saturday, August 3, 2019
How long, O Lord?
Fifteen, at least, dead in a shooting in an El Paso Mall. Another mass shooting. How long, O Lord, until we do something meaningful about guns in America?
Just a few days ago, three dead in the Garlic Capital of the world in California. Ages 6, 13 and 22. Given an average life-span of 80 years that was 199 years of life for people who may have made the world a better place that was taken away in a matter of moments.
I've had people who I know ask me, "would you take away my guns?" And I always smile in a friendly way and say, "you betja!"
Anything that isn't obviously for hunting. Those you can keep if you can show you regularly hunt. But even guns 'for self defense' I would take because I'd be taking 'all guns' away and making life in prison the penalty for having one that wasn't for hunting--so why would you need one for self defense?
I'd do it to protect innocent people and the police. I'd do it to make this a non-hunting gun gun-free nation. Criminals with guns would automatically spend their life in prison and though I'm deeply opposed to the death penalty, I might consider it for having an illegal gun when committing a crime.
I would put gun manufactures and the NRA out of business.
I might even lock those people up for a good long time.
Don't give me that shit about 'guns don't kill people'--GUNS DO KILL PEOPLE!
If the horrible people involved in all the mass shootings hadn't had guns they would have to beat people to death or stab them to death or hit them with rocks. None of which is terribly efficient.
GUNS KILL PEOPLE!!!
For me, they have to go away.
I mean it.
How long, O Lord, before we, as a nation, come to our senses about guns? How many have to die?
Just tell me that--how many have to die?
Just a few days ago, three dead in the Garlic Capital of the world in California. Ages 6, 13 and 22. Given an average life-span of 80 years that was 199 years of life for people who may have made the world a better place that was taken away in a matter of moments.
I've had people who I know ask me, "would you take away my guns?" And I always smile in a friendly way and say, "you betja!"
Anything that isn't obviously for hunting. Those you can keep if you can show you regularly hunt. But even guns 'for self defense' I would take because I'd be taking 'all guns' away and making life in prison the penalty for having one that wasn't for hunting--so why would you need one for self defense?
I'd do it to protect innocent people and the police. I'd do it to make this a non-hunting gun gun-free nation. Criminals with guns would automatically spend their life in prison and though I'm deeply opposed to the death penalty, I might consider it for having an illegal gun when committing a crime.
I would put gun manufactures and the NRA out of business.
I might even lock those people up for a good long time.
Don't give me that shit about 'guns don't kill people'--GUNS DO KILL PEOPLE!
If the horrible people involved in all the mass shootings hadn't had guns they would have to beat people to death or stab them to death or hit them with rocks. None of which is terribly efficient.
GUNS KILL PEOPLE!!!
For me, they have to go away.
I mean it.
How long, O Lord, before we, as a nation, come to our senses about guns? How many have to die?
Just tell me that--how many have to die?
Friday, August 2, 2019
Why is that?
I don't know about you, but my fingernails grow much faster than my toenails. I've been pondering why that is so. More blood to the hands than to the feet? That doesn't make sense.
I've been pondering why my fingernails grow so much faster than my toenails.
I cut my fingernails every 10 days or so. (As I'm typing this, I realize they need cutting now.)
My toenails get cut every 3 or 4 months. Actually I get a pedicure three or four times a year. It is my one giving into needing to be pampered.
The only thing that bothers me is I can't find a nail shop in Cheshire that isn't run by Asians. Having an Asian woman urologist is one thing--even though she looks too much like my daughter-in-law to make it comfortable. But having an Asian woman who barely speaks English wash my feet and cut my nails and pamper me makes me ache about white privilege.
Do your fingernails grow much faster than your toenails?
Do you have any idea why?
Let me know if that's true for you and you know the reason.
Until then, I'll just ponder the whole conundrum.
I've been pondering why my fingernails grow so much faster than my toenails.
I cut my fingernails every 10 days or so. (As I'm typing this, I realize they need cutting now.)
My toenails get cut every 3 or 4 months. Actually I get a pedicure three or four times a year. It is my one giving into needing to be pampered.
The only thing that bothers me is I can't find a nail shop in Cheshire that isn't run by Asians. Having an Asian woman urologist is one thing--even though she looks too much like my daughter-in-law to make it comfortable. But having an Asian woman who barely speaks English wash my feet and cut my nails and pamper me makes me ache about white privilege.
Do your fingernails grow much faster than your toenails?
Do you have any idea why?
Let me know if that's true for you and you know the reason.
Until then, I'll just ponder the whole conundrum.
Thursday, August 1, 2019
Screen saver
I was about to write about my screen saver but decided to see if I'd done it before. I had--over a year and a season ago. So, I decided just to forward that again. It doesn't dwell on all the pictures of Bern and Mimi and Cathy and Josh and I holding the infants, Morgan and Emma. And it is pre-Tim, so he's not in any of them. Five dead creatures--three dogs and two cats are in those photos, as well as photos of Block Island when we used to go there. Wondrous memories. Sometimes, when I come to my computer and those photos are on, I'll watch them for many minutes, remembering,
I have a screen saver on my computer of photos from the past. Some of
them are from before Josh and Cathy were married. Some are from slightly
after their twins were born--but all over a decade old.
Two of my favorite photos of Josh and Mimi are of a visit they made to us along with Cathy (Tim wasn't in our lives yet.)
Mimi is prone on a bed upstairs using our dog Bela as a pillow. She was the only person Bela would have let do that. Bela loved Mimi with a love beyond bounds. Mimi is smiling broadly in the picture. Bela is full of joy to be her pillow.
Josh is in our dining room looking down at the chair beside him. I know from another photo just before that one that our cat, Luke, was on that chair rolling over to show Josh his stomach. Josh's look is of love and bemusement.
Animals do that for us--they bring out the best of the best in us.
There's also a picture of Bern asleep in our bed with our previous dog, Sadie, up against her back and Luke sleeping between her feet.
Animals, you got to love them....
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Favorite pictures
Two of my favorite photos of Josh and Mimi are of a visit they made to us along with Cathy (Tim wasn't in our lives yet.)
Mimi is prone on a bed upstairs using our dog Bela as a pillow. She was the only person Bela would have let do that. Bela loved Mimi with a love beyond bounds. Mimi is smiling broadly in the picture. Bela is full of joy to be her pillow.
Josh is in our dining room looking down at the chair beside him. I know from another photo just before that one that our cat, Luke, was on that chair rolling over to show Josh his stomach. Josh's look is of love and bemusement.
Animals do that for us--they bring out the best of the best in us.
There's also a picture of Bern asleep in our bed with our previous dog, Sadie, up against her back and Luke sleeping between her feet.
Animals, you got to love them....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)