Tag Archives: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Post-Apocalyptic Dhalias from Des Moines…..

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Ffolkes,
This morning’s dive went much smoother, so much so that here I am, almost finished, and once again, I am at loose ends for a subject. I’ve been doing this for a long time now, and though I don’t seem to be running out of quotable material, subject matter for the introductory paragraphs is nearing extinction. I could write about religion, but doing so usually causes someone in the audience to feel like their beliefs are being challenged, and I end up in a discussion that can have no winners. Same goes for politics…..what I say gets taken personally, and have to deal with someone’s mangled feelings. I guess I could talk about beauty, or reality, or how ’bout them Giants? Maybe I should give out some recipes; I’ve got some good ones…..or I could reminisce about pets I’ve known. That’s a good one, always pulls in a few “aww’s”.


But, none of the above really deals with the root problem, which is a daily squeezing of my creative juices to provide material worth writing. So, tomorrow, I will begin using a slightly new format. It’s not a major change, but I think you’ll like it, and I know I will, because it will give me a new direction, and neatly provide me with a starting point. Starting tomorrow, I will open with a Pearl, then a short discussion on its meaning, or tone, or some other characteristic that stimulates me to comment. Then another, followed by another, each with its own little blurb that defines my take on what it proposes. This technique should eliminate the fuss and bother of coming up with something new every day, by utilizing the pool of ideas that I’ve already gathered for your perusal.


Once I’ve tried this method out for a few days, I’ll ask y’all for some feedback about the changes. Though the primary purpose of this is to benefit my own psyche, giving you all an entertaining, intellectually stimulating piece to read to start your day is important to me. I wouldn’t want to feel like I was subjecting y’all to bad literature; life’s too short to make that a habit. So, here is today’s group of Pearls, plucked with purpose from the depths of the ocean of human knowledge, and presented here for your enjoyment and edification…..

“I looked up the word “politics” in the dictionary and it’s actually a  combination of two words; “poli,” which means many, and “tics,” which means  bloodsuckers.” — Jay Leno

“If there are twelve clowns in a ring, you can jump in the middle and start reciting Shakespeare, but to the audience, you’ll just be the thirteenth clown.” — Adam Walinsky

Know’st thou the land where the lemon-trees bloom,
Where the gold orange glows in the deep thicket’s gloom,
Where a wind ever soft from the blue heaven blows,
And the groves are of laurel and myrtle and rose?
— Goethe (1749-1832)
— Wilhelm Meister, Book iii, Chap. i

“It’s so much more friendly with two.” — Piglet, Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

Enjoy the spring of love and youth,
To some good angel leave the rest;
For time will teach thee soon the truth,
There are no birds in last year’s nest.
— Longfellow (1819-1892), It is not always May

“Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

And trust me as well, to strike a blow against deliberate ignorance…..keep those cards and letters coming, ffolkes! Y’all take care out there…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Wicked barbarian hairstyles with peach highlights….

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Ffolkes,
Back in dark ages, during the hippie era in Berkeley, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend an exhibition of art at the San Francisco Museum of Art in Golden Gate Park. The showing I attended was highlighted by a collection of the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh.  During my walk through his visions in oil, I stopped to look at one of his self-portraits, and received a revelation, or perhaps epiphany. In any case…as I stood looking at this small painting, covered with the extremely thick, bold strokes common to his works, I thought at first that it was a good piece of work, but I didn’t see what all the fuss was about his paintings, which were often simple and without pretension, scenes of everyday life. Then, for some reason, I stepped back from the portrait I was observing, to a distance of about 12 feet from the painting. When I reached a certain spot away from the painting, his eyes came to life. Literally. Alive. The entire portrait no longer had brush strokes that described a face; it WAS a face, and his eyes looked right into my soul. I could feel all of his feelings through his eyes; the anguish, the pain, the genius, all of it came through as if I was looking at his reflection in a mirror. In that moment, I was given a gift, for which I will always be grateful. I had seen beauty in its most basic form; with bold strokes Van Gogh made his vision of life come to life, and it was then I first came to understand genius, and how it can show Reality to those of us who cannot always see what people like Van Gogh see through their unique vision.


Since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to have seen many things that are beautiful, both in the works of man, and in nature itself. It was a grand awakening, of a side of my own soul that previously I had not known, and I have always been grateful for the impulse that took me to SF that day. Seeing true beauty, as seen through the eyes of a genius (I know, three times, but its the best word I have on that subject), has shown me how to find it in other places, and has enriched my life in uncountable ways. So if you ever get the chance to see his work, or the sculpture of Renoir, or hear the music of Mozart and Bach, take the chance. You won’t regret it…..


All this leads me to today’s Pearls, many of which were created by men of genius, and bear the unmistakable sign of beauty that only a few people can show us……beauty is as necessary for life as is oxygen. A soul that cannot appreciate it is a stunted soul, and not fully human. These were all chosen because they touch Reality, and show it back to us, and bring us to beauty….

“There are worlds out there where the sky is burning and the sea’s asleep and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there’s danger, somewhere there’s injustice, somewhere else the tea’s getting cold. Come on Ace, we’ve got work to do…”
— The Doctor, Survival [Last lines of last episode]

‘Friendship should be more than biting time can sever.’ — T. S. Eliot

I see the lights of the village
gleam through the rain and the mist.
And a feeling of sadness comes o’er me,
that my soul cannot resist.
A feeling of sadness and longing
that is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
as the mist resembles rain.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), The Day is done

“Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind.
To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.” — Buddha (B.C. 568-488)

Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!
— Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), The Ballad of Reading Gaol

It is alleged that when Einstein and his wife visited the Mount Wilson Observatory in California, Mrs. Einstein pointed to a particularly
complex piece of equipment and asked its purpose. Their guide said that it was used to determine the shape of the universe. “Oh,” she
said, not at all impressed, “my husband uses the back of an old envelope to work that out.”

That is probably enough for one day; don’t want to consume too much in one sitting. Today, I’m going to hunt beauty…y’all take care out there…

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!