Friday, May 27
happy birthday jeff!
11:00 AM
Thursday, May 26
patience
11:43 PM
Monday, May 23
Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her; If you can bounce high, bounce for her too, Till she cry "Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover, I must have you!"
THOMAS PARKE D'INVILLIERS
Chapter 1
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.
"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."
He didn't say any more, but we've always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence, I'm inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores. The abnormal mind is quick to detect and attach itself to this quality when it appears in a normal person, and so it came about that in college I was unjustly accused of being a politician, because I was privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men. Most of the confidences were unsought ¤ frequently I have feigned sleep, preoccupation, or a hostile levity when I realized by some unmistakable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon; for the intimate revelations of young men, or at least the terms in which they express them, are usually plagiaristic and marred by obvious suppressions. Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope. I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth. -- The Great Gatsby... F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1926
1:22 PM
Friday, May 20
"Birds can fly, unless they are penguins and ostriches, or if they happen to be dead, or have broken wings, or are confined to cages, or have their feet stuck in cement, or have undergone experiences so dreadful as to render them psychologically incapable of flight." -- Marvin Minsky, The Society of Mind
11:21 AM
Wednesday, May 18
a full week, spring is a strange season. things just come out, including the giant roach in my kitchen last night. it escaped behind the oven. this is my only semi-phobia which i will master one of these years. otherwise, i'm wondering if my instincts are right. could they have been dulled these past few years?
12:55 PM
Tuesday, May 17
just keep on going... (in a good way)
7:46 PM
Monday, May 16
lovely, exquisite, unexpected, perhaps mercurial. the following is robert plant's favorite bob dylan song:
ONE MORE CUP OF COFFEE (Valley Below)
Your breath is sweet
Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky.
Your back is straight, your hair is smooth
On the pillow where you lie.
But I don't sense affection
No gratitude or love
Your loyalty is not to me
But to the stars above.
One more cup of coffee for the road,
One more cup of coffee 'fore I go
To the valley below.
Your daddy he's an outlaw
And a wanderer by trade
He'll teach you how to pick and choose
And how to throw the blade.
He oversees his kingdom
So no stranger does intrude
His voice it trembles as he calls out
For another plate of food.
One more cup of coffee for the road,
One more cup of coffee 'fore I go
To the valley below.
Your sister sees the future
Like your mama and yourself.
You've never learned to read or write
There's no books upon your shelf.
And your pleasure knows no limits
Your voice is like a meadowlark
But your heart is like an ocean
Mysterious and dark.
One more cup of coffee for the road,
One more cup of coffee 'fore I go
To the valley below.
Copyright © 1975 Ram's Horn Music
5:39 PM
Sunday, May 15
ton-ic
n.
1. An agent, such as a medication, that restores or increases body tone.
2. An invigorating, refreshing, or restorative agent or influence.
3. See tonic water.
4. Boston. See soft drink.
5. Music. The first note of a diatonic scale; the keynote.
6. Linguistics. A tonic accent.
adj.
1. Producing or stimulating physical, mental, or emotional vigor.
2.a. Physiology. Of, relating to, or producing tone or tonicity in muscles or tissue: a tonic reflex.
2.b. Medicine. Characterized by continuous tension or contraction of muscles: a tonic convulsion or spasm.
3. Music. Of or based on the keynote.
4. Stressed, as a syllable; accented.
10:24 AM
Wednesday, May 11
steve keene
10:54 AM
Tuesday, May 10
one of the songs Bob Dylan performed a couple of weeks ago was Shelter from the Storm. it was a faster version and while i couldn't understand all the words, it made sense and all was as it should be, at least for the duration of the show.
'Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
And if I pass this way again, you can rest assured
I'll always do my best for her, on that I give my word
In a world of steel-eyed death, and men who are fighting to be warm.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
Not a word was spoke between us, there was little risk involved
Everything up to that point had been left unresolved.
Try imagining a place where it's always safe and warm.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail,
Poisoned in the bushes an' blown out on the trail,
Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
Suddenly I turned around and she was standin' there
With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair.
She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
Now there's a wall between us, somethin' there's been lost
I took too much for granted, got my signals crossed.
Just to think that it all began on a long-forgotten morn.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
Well, the deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount
But nothing really matters much, it's doom alone that counts
And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
I've heard newborn babies wailin' like a mournin' dove
And old men with broken teeth stranded without love.
Do I understand your question, man, is it hopeless and forlorn?
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes
I bargained for salvation an' they gave me a lethal dose.
I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
Well, I'm livin' in a foreign country but I'm bound to cross the line
Beauty walks a razor's edge, someday I'll make it mine.
If I could only turn back the clock to when God and her were born.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
Copyright © 1974 Ram's Horn Music
5:07 PM
Monday, May 9
great new find: Head Butler - Music (example) | Book Review (example)
1:39 PM
"Everything you can imagine is real." -- PABLO PICASSO
1:15 PM
Saturday, May 7
mozart's Requiem is deeply beautiful. i wonder if a professional would teach me how to play the Moonlight Sonata w/out having me learn the scales. which of the arts is the easiest to fake? nowadays i would say "painting" or whatever is displayed in nyc galleries. ----- still thinking of All the Real Girls though the initial mental furror has subsided.
1:18 PM
Thursday, May 5
i saw one of the best movies in a long time, last night: all the real girls. it's amazing how one incident can change everything. i suppose that is what events do, change things. but certain times are crossroads. life isn't a board game. ----- i've been such a hermit this spring, missing friends' birthdays, lapsing on returning calls and emails. it's not good. i plan to make it better.
4:10 PM
Wednesday, May 4
-- picking lavender
-- designing wool
-- reviewing restaurants
-- chocolate / ice cream sampler
-- yoga / spa / resort researcher
4:40 PM
