Not as much as tomorrow.......................

Spiral Staircase............I Love You More Today Than Yesterday

Checking in with Aesop........................

A Woodman went into the forest and begged of the Trees the favor of a handle for his Axe. The principal Trees at once agreed to so modest a request, and gave him a young ash tree, out of which he fashioned the handle he desired. No sooner had he done so than he set to work to fell the noblest Trees in the wood. When they saw the use to which he was putting their gift, they cried, "Alas! alas! We are undone, but we are ourselves to blame. The little we gave has cost us all: had we not sacrificed the rights of the ash, we might ourselves have stood for ages."

Moral:  In yielding the rights of others, we endanger our own.

Aesop's Fable: The Trees and the axe

illustration via

Jeff offers..................................

............................................................an eclectic reading list.

(old woman reading – title unverified)
Boris Ivanovich Kopylov, artist

Fanning the spark of madness............

      So I decided to start bowing to everyone who crossed my path.  Just a little teeny bow of my head.  Just enough to remind myself not to be a jerk, since no matter who I'm talking to, whether it's a child, or a principal, or a gas station attendant, or a frenemy, or Craig, it's GOD I'm talking to.
      And as I bow, I say Namaste, God in me recognizes and honors God in you.
      I just think Namaste in my head, like the way Orthodox Jews wear a yarmulke to remind themselves that they are living under the hand of God.  Or how Muslims pray five times a day to remind themselves of whom they serve.  The world and the people in it are so beautiful when you are awake.  And so the bowing and the silent Nameste is just a little practice to remind myself what's real.  What an amazing life I'm leading and what a gift the people I meet are to me.
      I know all of this might sound a little nuts, but I have decided that I am just over worrying about that.  Robin P. Williams said, "You're only given a spark of madness.  You mustn't lose it."  And maybe the world needs some crazy love.  So I am embracing my spark of madness.  Fanning it, even.  And I'm bowing.  And something's happening because of it.  It's working.  I'm starting to see God everywhere.

Glennon Doyle Melton,  Carry On, Warrior:  The Power of Embracing Your Messy, Beautiful Life

Fifty years ago....................................

The Lovin' Spoonful....................You Didn't Have To Be So Nice

At the setting of the sun.........................

It isn't the thing you do, dear,
   It's the thing you leave undone
That gives you a bit of a heartache
   At setting of the sun.
The tender work forgotten,
   The letter you did not write,
The flowers you did not send, dear,
   Are your haunting ghosts at night.

The stone you might have lifted
   Out of a brother's way;
The bit of heartsome counsel
   You were hurried too much to say;
The loving touch of the hand, dear,
   The gentle, winning tone
Which you had no time nor thought for
   With troubles enough of your own.

Those little acts of kindness
   So easily out of mind,
Those chances to be angels
   Which we poor mortals find -
They come in night and silence,
   Each sad, reproachful wraith,
When hope is faint and flagging,
   And a chill has fallen on faith.

For life is all too short, dear,
   And sorrow is all to great,
To suffer our slow compassion
   That tarries until too late:
And it isn't the thing you do, dear,
   It's the thing you leave undone
Which gives you a bit of heartache
   At the setting of the sun. 

-"The Sin Of Omission"
Margaret E. Sangster

Live........................................

Philosophers find it hard to leave the world because they try to maintain control.  So much for "To philosophize is to learn how to die."  Philosophy looked more like a way of teaching people to unlearn the natural skills that every peasant had by birthright.
     On this occasion, despite his willingness to float away, Montaigne did not die.  He recovered - and from then on, lived a bit differently.  From his essay on death, he took a decidedly unphilosophical lesson, which he summed up in the following casual way:

          If you don't know how to die, don't worry;  Nature
          will tell you what to do on the spot, fully and
          adequately.  She will do this job perfectly for you;
          don't bother your head about it.

"Don't worry about death" became his most fundamental, most liberating answer to the question of how to live.  It made it possible to do just that:  live.

-Sarah Bakewell,  How To Live - OR - A Life Of Montaigne

On humility...................................

"True humility is not thinking less of yourself;  it is thinking of yourself less.” 
-C. S. Lewis

my whole world upside down.......................

Eric Clapton.....................................................................Layla

Scent discrimination.................................

.................or, I knew something smelled funny around here.

In a 2001 study published in The Journal of Investigative Dermatology, researchers discovered that what we categorize as “Old People Smell” is likely due to one chemical compound: 2-noneral.

For their study, the scientists gathered a control group of 22 healthy individuals -- 13 males, and 9 females -- ranging in age from 26 to 75 years old. Each person bathed with odorless soap and shampoo, and was then given a T-shirt to wear (washed and prepared in such a way that no odor was detectable) for three consecutive nights. At the end of this period, swatches of the shirts were cut out examined for various chemical compounds and lipids.

Here’s what they found (the first column represents subjects under the age of 40, and the second, subjects over the age of 40)::

Science is a wonder.  Did you know that The Journal of Investigative Dermatology existed?  Me neither, but I am pleased they are on the case.  If you want to know what they found, do read the full article.

thanks craig

Fifty years ago................................

The Lovin' Spoonful......................Do You Believe In Magic

We haven't come all that far...................

.........................................in the last 7,000 years.

The History Blog posts evidence of an extremely old atrocity.

"What is particularly interesting is the level of violence. Not just the suppression of a rival community — if that is what it was — but the egregious and systematic breaking of the lower legs," said Scarre. "It suggests the use of terror tactics as part of this inter-community violence."

When making the rounds of the blogosphere.....

................... always try to make time to check in with Bits and Pieces.   Here is a sampling of why:

Show me the right way to go............

Coldplay.........................................................................Spies



thanks E.

According to the mathematicians at..................

.......Blogger Central, we have crossed over the 15,000 post line.

Once again, we apologize for littering all over the Intertunnel floor.  We clearly subscribe to the quantity, not quality, school of blogging.  It is our deepest hope that, occasionally, you have found something of value here.

John E. Smith....................................

.......................................offers a "reality check."

"My reality is not necessarily another's reality..."

Welcome back John.  You've been missed.

Fifty years ago......................................

At the movies.........................................................Lord Jim

Well, yeah............................................

via

Come alive.....................................

Don't ask what the world needs.  Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
-Howard Thurman

May I remind you we have some................

.....................................fabulous building lots available?

At long last, housing starts are back to where they were in 1991 (which was a very good year for us, thank you).   May the trend continue.

Chart from here

Yesterdays are over my shoulder.................

Jimmy Buffett.............Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude

On the scavenger hunt of life...........

............Dr. Jimmy Buffett's commencement address at the U. of M.

Twitter jokes..........................................?

many more here

On writing and parenting...................

..............................................the Sippican Cottage way:

I had to find a way to make real life real for my son. I coaxed him to join me while I installed the convenience outlet. I could have forced him, but that would never achieve the desired effect. He would simply learn that working with his father is a travail and be programmed to avoid it at all costs. I must actually do work, however, and can't turn it into playtime. That's the danger of things like Sesame Street. Educational shows aren't. The alphabet doesn't get up and dance and sing. You have to make it.

-as excerpted from this post

Fifty years ago....................................

At the movies.................................................The Great Race

Intrigued....................................

.....................................I tried to find this book on Amazon:

Ok.  I really didn't expect to find it, but was certainly amazed to find the quantity of books on vanishment available.  Take a peek for your ownself.

Thanks Rob

Government might make more sense..........

....................if the people running it had, at some time in their life, the responsibility for meeting a payroll, because then they would know...

"...the difference between making that profit and closing up shop can be surprisingly thin."

-Megan McArdle

Pretty impressive when you think about it......

thanks David

All I want to say.....................................

Bruce Springsteen..................My Love Will Not Let You Down



At night I go to bed but I just can't sleep
I got something runnin' around my head oh that just won't keep
In the silence I hear my heart beatin', time slippin' away
I got a time bomb tickin' deep inside of me, girl all I want to say
I keep searchin' for you darlin', searchin' everywhere I go
And when I find you there's gonna be just one thing that you gotta know
One thing you gotta know

My love, love, love, love, love, love, will not let you down
My love, love, love, love, love, love, will not let you down

At night I walk the streets lookin' for romance
But I always end up stumblin' in a half trance
I search for a connection in some new eyes
That hardly protect you from too many dreams passed by
I see you standin' across the room watchin' me without a sound
But I'm gonna push my way through that crowd, I'm gonna tear your holy walls down
Tear all your walls down

My love, love, love, love, love, love, will not let you down
My love, love, love, love, love, love, will not let you down
My love, love, love, love, love, love, will not let you down
My love, love, love, love, love, love, will not let you down

Oh, well hold still now darlin', hold still for God's sake
'Cause I got me a promise I ain't afraid to make
I ain't afraid to make

My love, love, love, love, love, love, will not let you down
My love, love, love, love, love, love, will not let you down

Ricki and the Flash......................

My Sweetie and I went to the movies last evening.  Ricki and the Flash was on the bill.  I don't think I would be giving to much away to say that Meryl Streep, Rick Springfield, et. al make better use of My Love Will Never Let You Down than Bruce ever did.  Could not find it on YouTube yet.  You'll just have to go see the movie.

Is hardly a waste of time......................

"To lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time."
-John Lubbock

Fifty years ago....................................

The Rolling Stones..................That's How Strong My Love Is

Fortunately, it's not difficult....................

A sign of the times..........................

via

If I leave here tomorrow..........................

Lynyrd Skynyrd................................................Free Bird

Opening paragraphs.................................

     The cold Alaskan water pulled at the fishing boats that lined the dock, the boats straining against their moorings to run free with the tide.  The water here in the small harbor at Angoon, a fishing village on the western shore of Admiralty Island off southeast Alaska, was steel-black beneath the clouds and dimpled with rain, but was clear even with that, a window beneath the weathered pilings to a world of sunburst starfish as wide as garbage cans, jellyfish the size of basketballs, and barnacles as heavy as a longshoreman's fist.  Alaska was like that, so vigorous with life that it could fill a man and lift him and maybe even bring him back from the dead.

-Robert Crais,  The Last Detective

Opening paragraphs................................

      When Max Planck heard his son's verdict, he addressed a letter to Adolf Hitler.  He wrote with calm respect and a surgeon's precision, as always, but he conveyed his shock.  And the man of physics bartered as follows:  If i am a national treasure, as you say, then show mercy.  Reward this 87-year-old man's lifetime of work for the Fatherland by sparing my son's life.

-Brandon R. Brown,  Planck:  Driven By Vision, Broken By War

Back story on Erwin Planck here.   Wiki on Max Planck here

Opening paragraphs..................................

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank and of having nothing to do:  once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, "and what is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations?"
      So she was considering, in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.
      There was nothing so very remarkable in that;  nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself "Oh dear!  Oh dear!  I shall be too late!" (when she thought it over afterwards it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural);  but, when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.

-Lewis Carroll,  Alice In Wonderland

Forty-eight years ago.................................

Jefferson Airplane................................................White Rabbit



When logic and proportion
Have fallen sloppy dead,
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's "off with her head!"
Remember what the dormouse said:
"Feed your head. Feed your head. Feed your head"

Opening paragraphs..............................

      There is always a spirit of the times.  Even in deep antiquity, strong and almost identical impulses drove forward the elites in societies separated by unbridged chasms of space.  We cannot perhaps explain these coordinations.  But we can profitably study them.  Two and a half millennia ago, in the fifth century B.C., in three advance areas, where literacy existed but was still in its infancy, three outstanding individuals echoed one another in insisting that the distinction between their civilizations and the surrounding barbarism must be reinforced by systematic moral education.

-Paul Johnson,   Socrates:  A Man For Our Time

As a public service:  Johnson's other two outstanding individuals are Confucius and Ezra the Scribe

Opening paragraphs................................

     They could write like angels and scheme like demons.  Trained as attorneys, they thoroughly mastered that craft only to turn their formidable legal skills toward statecraft.  Both men preferred farming to law or politics.  But the year was 1776, and their respective colonies - North America's two most populous British domains - had sent them to Philadelphia as delegates to the Second Continental Congress.  When all reasonable hope of reconciliation with Britain expired, the Assembly named them to a special, five-member committee charged with drafting a formal Declaration of Independence for the "united colonies."  Standing shoulder to shoulder with delegates from the thirteen self-proclaimed sovereign states on the first Fourth of July, John Adams of Massachusetts and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia signed the subtly eloquent document that their committee had crafted.  Among the delegates, Adams had argued the longest and most effectively for independence.  Within the committee, Jefferson had taken the lead in writing the Declaration itself.

-Edward J. Larson,  A Magnificent Catastrophe:  The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign

wiki on the 1800 campaign

Opening paragraphs.........................

As his studies come to a close the historian faces the challenge:  Of what use have your studies been?  Have you found in your work only the amusement of recounting the rise and fall of nations and ideas, and retelling "sad stories of the death of kings"?  Have you learned more about human nature that the man in the street can learn without so much as opening a book?  Have you derived from history any illumination of our present condition, any guidance for our judgments and policies, any guard against the rebuffs of surprise or the vicissitudes of change?  Have you found such regularities in the sequence of past events that you can predict the future actions of mankind or the fate of states?  Is it possible that, after all, "history has no sense," that it teaches us nothing, and that the immense past was only the wary rehearsal of the mistakes that the future is destined to make on a larger stage and scale?

-Will & Ariel Durant,  The Lessons Of History