Living With the Monster

(Clicking Imbiggens)

Cat and Girl is on the web at (of course!) catandgirl.com.

The light's gonna get ya

Full song lyrics HERE. 

John Stewart's Wikipedia page is HERE.

I Rise

Excerpted from an article by Leonard Peltier describing his experiences at the Wahpeton Indian School, which he was forced into at the age of nine:

I used to sit around with Dennis Banks and other men and talk about our days at Wahpeton. We could not find a single pleasant memory. Our memories from those vulnerable, formative years are harsh and violent. But we learned one thing from those awful places your people sent us to: We are survivors.

And we survived with our hearts intact.

You don’t treat people badly like that. I rise only when I help you rise. Despite all those beatings, I still believe it. It’s a law, like physics, and it’s true. You get nowhere being mean and disrespecting the feelings of others, especially the most vulnerable. I have seen both kinds of people and more than my share of evil ones, and I know I’m right. I rise only when I help you rise.

You can read the whole article at Native News Online, HERE.

It reminded me of the poem "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou:

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

You can read her whole poem HERE.

Just be quiet.

"Don’t be too quick to interpret the moment. Just keep quiet. My encouragement would always be: never think anything is against you, everything is blessing. Why should it be different? Just be quiet. Let it all work itself out."  ~Mooji

Farmall

 

(clicking imbiggens)

I don't know anything about this photo, other than it was taken in 1940.  If this young couple is still with us, they are centenarians now.

My eye is drawn to the woman's shoes.  They aren't what you'd expect to see on the feet of a farmer's wife.

Thanks a lot. Congratulations.

 

And that made me think of this:

 

Full lyrics for "Thanks a lot" available HERE.  Full lyrics for "Congratulations" available HERE.

Rah Rah Rasputin

 

 

Clicking Imbiggens

 

Gee, he doesn't look completely insane.  I'd certainly trust him to babysit the kids.

 

And, of course, that reminded me of this:

 Full lyrics HERE.

I feel

 "I feel like I don't want to feel like I did."  ~Mona

Sometimes Mona says things that sound like the start to a pretty good country song.  😀

Apparently.

 

(Clicking Imbiggens)

From KLTV:  "Police say, apparently the trailer broke in half."

Well, thank goodness we had professionals on the scene to correctly diagnose the problem.

Images

Two drawings that look like me, sort of.  Clicking the image, as always, imbiggens it:

 

Nonsense.

From the CDC webpage:

Is it safe to take a shower or bath during a thunderstorm?

No. Lightning can travel through plumbing. It is best to avoid all water during a thunderstorm. Do not shower, bathe, wash dishes, or wash your hands. The risk of lightning travelling through plumbing might be less with plastic pipes than with metal pipes. However, it is best to avoid any contact with plumbing and running water during a lightning storm to reduce your risk of being struck.

Oh, bullshit.

I'm older than dirt, and I've never in my life heard of anyone dying from a lightning strike while taking a shower.

They Kept Going

 

 

(Click to Imbiggen)

Not/But

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."  ~Ephesians 6:12

"A" is for "Aarg!"

 

(Click to Imbiggen)

A Noisy Alphabet by Tom Gauld.

Childhood Grief

 

I didn't cry when my grandfather died.  A complete misunderstanding of Christian mythology led me to believe that death was a temporary state, and he'd be back in a few days.

I was only four.

A few months later my grandmother died, and I was inconsolable.  I just cried and cried.

I cried partly because I knew this time that I'd never see her again, and partly because I felt the grownups were lying to me, and I didn't understand why.

Words

 

This chart would have been useful to me as an elementary school student, but really it's  of no use to me at all as an adult.  I can't remember the last time someone asked me to identify the parts of speech.

But I'm glad I saw it, because it reminded me of this:

 Full lyrics HERE.

Groovy!

"Even if the world around him is going 45 or even 78 rpm, Greg Maddux stays right at 33-1/3."  ~excerpted from Dan Patrick Outtakes, ©2000

Having a Wonderful Time

 

And that reminded me of this:

 

Full lyrics HERE.

Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis is on the web HERE.

Stars

 

(Clicking Imbiggens)

I wonder if this is how he really saw the world?

Quality Quantity

“What does the money machine eat? It eats youth, spontaneity, life, beauty, and above all, it eats creativity. It eats quality and shits quantity.”  ~William S. Burroughs

I think they just ruined baseball.

From CBS Sports:

According to the rule changes, the clock will be 30 seconds between hitters. The catcher must be in his box and ready with nine seconds left on the timer while the hitter has to have both feet in the box and "be alert to the pitcher" within eight seconds of the clock starting.

Pitchers can still step off the rubber, which would reset the clock to 20 seconds if there's a baserunner and 15 seconds if there isn't. They are only permitted to do this twice per batter, though.

I'm against having a clock at all-- I liked the patient pace of the game-- but if they absolutely must have a clock, why the hell did they make it so complicated?  Who can keep up with all that crap?

Is the object of the game to get it over with?

Spiritual Exercises

"The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another’s, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises."  ~Leo Buscaglia

Just to know how it feels…

 

Full lyrics HERE.

The video shows the young man getting his heart broken romantically and being held back from self-harm by his friends and family, which is a pretty powerful concept, but if you read the comments on YouTube a lot of people took this as a song about death.

Which also fits.

Lewis Capaldi is only 25 and already has a Greatest Hits album, which seems a bit premature.  I think he'll have a lot of even greater ones in the future.

Can Can

 

Wikipedia notes two interesting things about the can-can.  It was originally sort of a French square-dance engaging four couples, which is a little hard to imagine, and then there's this:

The dance was considered scandalous, and for a while there were attempts to suppress it. This may have been partly because in the 19th century, women wore pantalettes, which had an open crotch, and the high kicks were intentionally revealing.

Um, "partly?"

You can read the entry yourself HERE.

A Little Different

“Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud.”  ~Hermann Hesse

Sometimes the first step to healing is to say it out loud.

Mondrian Crackers

 

(Click to Imbiggen)

I think the essence of an artist is the ability to see possibilities in even the most mundane of objects.

Maybe

 

(via)

My Kind

“My kind of people: Not stuck into one religion in particular, but open to spirituality. Not stuck into politics, but open to solutions. Not stuck into selfishness, but open to share. Not stuck into ideologies, but open to listen. Not stuck into this life only, but open to the next one. Not stuck into material self-preservation, but open to preserve the world and nature. Not stuck into a man-eat-man career, but open to do something meaningful in life. Not stuck into what’s good for me, but open to what’s good for all.”  ~Sereno Sky

Upa

"And so you begin to find out that your teachers are often people who have been around you all along. They’re called Upa Gurus, as opposed to Sat Guru. The Sat Guru is somebody who beckons from beyond. He’s somebody who’s all finished. The Upa Guru is anybody or anything along the way that points to the path that helps you along the way."  ~Ram Dass

Is Not

Every Day
Is not an opportunity to improve yourself.
Some days are just there for you to accept yourself
and look at the clouds.
This too is growth.
This too is rising.
Just existing is enough on some days.
The flowers do it every day
and make the world beautiful
just by being here.
So do you.
Rest today.
There is tomorrow.

~ Nikita Gill, @nikita-gill

Forgotten

This story by Eknath Easwaran is from Words to Live By:  Inspiration for Every Day, ©1990:

Like the story of the prodigal son in the Bible, in India we tell a simple story of a prince who is kidnapped by robbers when he is very young.  He forgets all about the palace, even about his father and mother.  He just grows up as a bandit, learning to master the bow and arrow, ambush passersby, and disappear without getting caught.

Then one day the king's spiritual teacher happens by.  Many years have passed; the little child is a grown man, rough and cocksure.  But the teacher recognizes him, and with great love embraces him and calls him "your royal highness."  The young man, outraged, pushes him away.

But the teacher's faith is unshaken.  He begins to tell the young man stories about his childhood, how life used to be in the palace.  Gradually the prince begins to remember.  Finally, memory clears.  He draws himself up:  "Now I recall," he says slowly, as if awakening from a dream.  "I'm not a bandit.  I simply forgot who I was."  Truly a prince, he goes home to his father and mother.  

We are all children of god, but we've forgotten who we are.

I guess I will. Every day.

 

She hasn't added new songs in years, which is a shame.  When someone sings just because they love to sing, it gives the song certain charms that can't be replicated.

Full lyrics HERE.

Become It

"If you inherently long for something, become it first. If you want gardens, become the gardener. If you want love, embody love. If you want mental stimulation, change the conversation. If you want peace, exude calmness. If you want to fill your world with artists, begin to paint. If you want to be valued, respect your own time. If you want to live ecstatically, find the ecstasy within yourself. This is how to draw it in, day by day, inch by inch."  ~Victoria Erickson

But I Cannot Choose

Excerpted from the article "The complicated truth of post-traumatic growth" by David Robson:

As one example, they cited the words of Rabbi Harold Kushner, describing his life after the death of his son:

I am a more sensitive person, a more effective pastor, a more sympathetic counsellor because of Aaron's life and death than I would ever have been without it. And I would give up all of those gains in a second if I could have my son back. If I could choose, I would forego all of the spiritual growth and depth which has come my way because of our experiences... But I cannot choose.

The gist of the article is that, although traumatic experiences change people, it is still an open question whether that change is an improvement or a detriment.

You can read the article at BBC, HERE.

The quote above reminded me of a line in the song Me and Bobby McGee, "I'd trade all of my tomorrows for one single yesterday."

 Full lyrics HERE.

Joyous Immediacy of the Human Experience

"Both [Dionysus and Jesus] upheld what has been called a hedonic vision of community, based on egalitarianism and the joyous immediacy of human experience – as against the agonic reality of the cruelly unequal and warlike societies they briefly favored with their presence."  ~Barbara Ehrenreich,in Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy ©2006

If Jesus does come back, it will be to save us from His followers.

That's kind of ironic.

 

Normal and Abnormal

"The real hopeless victims of mental illness are to be found among those who appear to be most normal. Many of them are normal because they are so well adjusted to our mode of existence, because their human voice has been silenced so early in their lives, that they do not even struggle or suffer or develop symptoms as the neurotic does. They are normal not in what may be called the absolute sense of the word; they are normal only in relation to a profoundly abnormal society. Their perfect adjustment to that abnormal society is a measure of their mental sickness. These millions of abnormally normal people, living without fuss in a society to which, if they were fully human beings, they ought not to be adjusted."  ~Aldous Huxley

•

“So much of what we call abnormality in this culture is actually normal responses to an abnormal culture. The abnormality does not reside in the pathology of the individuals, but in the very culture that drives people into suffering and dysfunction.”  ~Gabor Maté

Not Quite Sure

“The mood I get from most of it is kind of a heavy-– kind of-– sort of gloomy feeling-– you know, like of someone not quite at home-– or not quite relaxed. You’re aware of a lot of things, but not quite sure of anything.”  ~Jim Morrison

I Know

The rain to the wind said,
'You push and I’ll pelt.'
They so smote the garden bed
That the flowers actually knelt,
And lay lodged–though not dead.
I know how the flowers felt.

 — Robert Frost 

Imprisoned Within the Dream

"This one question “What do I know for certain?“ is tremendously powerful. When you look deeply into this question, it actually destroys your world. It destroys your whole sense of self, and it’s meant to. You come to see that everything you think you know about yourself, everything you think you know about the world, is based on assumptions, beliefs, and opinions. Things you believe because you were taught or told that they were true. Until we start to see these false perceptions for what they really are, consciousness will be imprisoned within the dream state."  ~Adyashanti

Healed Somewhat

Just As The Calendar Began to Say Summer
by Mary Oliver

I went out of the schoolhouse fast
and through the gardens and to the woods,
and spent all summer forgetting what I’d been taught —

two times two, and diligence, and so forth,
how to be modest and useful, and how to succeed and so forth,
machines and oil and plastic and money and so forth.

By fall I had healed somewhat, but was summoned back
to the chalky rooms and the desks, to sit and remember

the way the river kept rolling its pebbles,
the way the wild wrens sang though they hadn’t a penny in the bank,
the way the flowers were dressed in nothing but light.
 

Oh, who the hell cares⁉

Seriously, there's just as much toothpaste in the tube regardless of where you squeeze, and it isn't going to dry out.

Just brush your teeth and don't sweat the small stuff.

 

Out all night, sleep all day…

Full lyrics HERE.

Be sure to read the credits, it's an all-star band.

Oh, babe.

 

I'm just blown away.  I can't imagine being that vulnerable.

Full lyrics HERE.

If the band slows down we'll yell for more

 

Full lyrics HERE, if you need 'em.

We'll fight the powers that be

 The power Dee Snider projects is nothing short of awesome.

Full lyrics HERE.

Gruntled

 

 

"Gruntled" is in the dictionary:  LINK

"Come down now," they'll say

Full lyrics HERE.

I have discovered a lot of great music at SomaFM.  Check them out HERE.

Just: WOW!

Swingin'

 

Charles Schulz really expanded the idea of what a "comic" could be.  He's on the web at (of course!) Peanuts.com.

Corrine, Corrina

What makes "Corrine, Corrina" such a remarkable song is that everyone sings it a different way, and every single version is wonderful:

 

Some cynical dumbass copyrighted it in 1932, but it has been around forever.  Everyone sings different lyrics, but you can read one version of them HERE.  You can read about the song's history at Wikipedia, HERE.