So be happy...............

“Happiness is total and complete satisfaction with yourself. This means you realize that nothing and nobody else can make you happy. Happiness is something you get from yourself. If you’re completely satisfied with yourself nobody can take it away from you.”                                                                                                                                          The RZA

Caring

“Nothing can wear you out like caring about people.” S.E. Hinton 

I Will Make You Brooches

by Robert Louis Stevenson

I Will Make You Brooches

I will make you brooches and toys for your delight

 Of bird-song at morning and star-shine at night.

 I will make a palace fit for you and me

 Of green days in forests and blue days at sea.

I will make my kitchen, and you shall keep your room,

 Where white flows the river and bright blows the broom,

 And you shall wash your linen and keep your body white

 In rainfall at morning and dewfall at night.

And this shall be for music when no one else is near,

 The fine song for singing, the rare song to hear!

 That only I remember, that only you admire,

 Of the broad road that stretches and the roadside fire.

Murder by Pen

“How many times have people used a 

pen or paintbrush

 because they couldn’t pull the trigger?”

 Virginia Woolf

Confession by Stephen Dobyns

The Nazi within me thinks it's time to take charge.

The world's a mess; people are crazy.

The Nazi within me wants windows shut tight,

new locks put on the doors.  There's too much

fresh air, too much coming and going.

The Nazi within me wants more respect.  He wants

the only TV camera, the only bank account,

the only really pretty girl.  The Nazi within me

wants to be boss of traffic and traffic lights.

People drive too fast; they take up too much space.

The Nazi within me thinks people are getting away

with murder.  He wants to be the boss of murder.

He wants to be boss of bananas, boss of white bread.

The Nazi within me wants uniforms for everyone.

He wants them to wash their hands, sit up straight,

pay strict attention.  He wants to make certain

they say yes when he says yes, no when he says no.

He imagines everybody sitting in straight chairs,

people all over the world sitting in straight chairs.

Are you ready? he asks them.  They say they are ready.

Are you ready to be happy? he asks them.  They say

they are ready to be happy.  The Nazi within me wants

everyone to be happy but not too happy and definitely

not noisy.  No singing, no dancing, no carrying on.

G.K. Chesterton

“I have called this book “What Is Wrong with the World?” and the upshot of the title can be easily and clearly stated. What is wrong is that we do not ask what is right.” G.K. Chesterton

“Human nature simply cannot subsist without a hope and aim of some kind; as the sanity of the Old Testament truly said, where there is no vision the people perish. But it is precisely because an ideal is necessary to man that the man without ideals is in permanent danger of fanaticism.” G.K. Chesterton

“‘There is pain in the world, therefore, God does not exist’ makes as much sense as saying, 'I feel hungry, therefore, food does not exist’” G.K. Chesterton

“The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost.”  G. K. Chesterton

Warm Summer Sun

By  Mark Twain   

Warm summer sun,

    Shine kindly here,

Warm southern wind,

    Blow softly here.

Green sod above,

    Lie light, lie light.

Good night, dear heart,

    Good night, good night.

Time marches on

“It is true that I am of an older fashion;

much that I love has been destroyed

 or sent into exile.” G.K. Chesterton

On the Road

By John Updike

Those dutiful dogtrots down airport corridors

while gnawing at a Dunkin' Donuts cruller,

those hotel rooms where the TV remote

waits by the bed like a suicide pistol,

those hours in the air amid white shirts

whose wearers sleep-read through thick staid thrillers,

those breakfast buffets in prairie Marriotts—

such venues of transit grow dearer than home.

The tricycle in the hall, the wife's hasty kiss,

the dripping faucet and uncut lawn—this is life?

No, vita thrives via the road, in the laptop

whose silky screen shimmers like a dark queen's mirror,

in the polished shoe that signifies killer intent,

and in the solitary mission, a bumpy glide

down through the cloud cover to a single runway

at whose end a man just like you guards the Grail.

 

“If you want to be sad, 

no one in the world can make you happy. 

But if you make up your mind to be happy, 

no one and nothing on earth can take that 

happiness from you.”

                                                                                                        Paramahansa Yogananda 

New Yorkers Edward Field 

Everywhere else in the country, if someone asks,

How are you? you are required to answer,

like a phrase book, Fine, and you?

Only in New York can you say, Not so good, or even,

Rotten, and launch into your miseries and symptoms,

then yawn and look bored when they interrupt

to go into the usual endless detail about their own.

Nodding mechanically, you look at your watch.

Look, angel, I’ve got to run, I’m late for my…uh…

uh…analyst. But let’s definitely

get together soon.

In just as sincere a voice as yours,

they come back with, Definitely!

and both of you know what that means,

Never.

The technical side of writing

“The technical side of writing — by which I mean, the physical act itself — is one of the easiest things you can do. It’s literally one word placed after the other with some appropriate punctuation thrown in between breaths and ending thoughts. Yes, it gets more complex once you start thinking about narrative, character, meaning, text versus subtext — but for now, fuck all that. Just breathe. Let the tension go out of you (not so much you pee yourself). This is like LEGO. One block upon the other. One word after the next.” Chuck Wendig

Psalm 23

from The Bay Psalm Book

The Lord to me a shepherd is,

want therefore shall not I:

He in the folds of tender grass,

doth cause me down to lie:

To waters calm me gently leads

restore my soul doth he:

He doth in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake lead me.

Yea, though in valley of death's shade

I walk, none ill I'll fear:

Because thou art with me, thy rod,

and staff my comfort are.

For me a table thou hast spread,

in presence of my foes:

Thou dost anoint my head with oil;

my cup it overflows.

Goodness and mercy surely shall

all my days follow me:

And in the Lord's house I shall dwell

so long as days shall be.

Poorness of spirit

“I envy no mortal, though ever so great,

Nor scorn I a wretch for his lowly estate;

But what I abhor and esteem as a curse

Is poorness of Spirit, not poorness of Purse.”

                                                                            Henry Carey

 

Welcome Morning
Anne Sexton

There is joy
in all:
in the hair I brush each morning,
in the Cannon towel, newly washed,
that I rub my body with each morning,
in the chapel of eggs I cook
each morning,
in the outcry from the kettle
that heats my coffee
each morning,
in the spoon and the chair
that cry "hello there, Anne"
each morning,
in the godhead of the table
that I set my silver, plate, cup upon
each morning.

All this is God,
right here in my pea-green house
each morning
and I mean,
though often forget,
to give thanks,
to faint down by the kitchen table
in a prayer of rejoicing
as the holy birds at the kitchen window
peck into their marriage of seeds.

So while I think of it,
let me paint a thank-you on my palm
for this God, this laughter of the morning,
lest it go unspoken.

The Joy that isn't shared, I've heard,
dies young.

Wash of the day................

“Take a shower, wash off the day. Drink a glass of water. Make the room dark. Lie down and close your eyes.

Notice the silence. Notice your heart.

Still beating.

Still fighting.

You made it, after all.

You made it, another day.

And you can make it one more.

You’re doing just fine.”

                                                                            Charlotte Eriksson

How Many Nights
Galway Kinnell

How many nights

have I lain in terror,

O Creator Spirit, Maker of night and day,

only to walk out

the next morning over the frozen world

hearing under the creaking of snow

faint, peaceful breaths...

snake,

bear, earthworm, ant...

and above me

a wild crow crying 'yaw yaw yaw'

from a branch nothing cried from ever in my life.

Stand up, be counted

“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world…would do this, it would change the earth.” William Faulkner 

Poem in Thanks

Thomas Lux

Lord Whoever, thank you for this air

I'm about to in- and exhale, this hutch

in the woods, the wood for fire,

the light-both lamp and the natural stuff

of leaf-back, fern, and wing.

For the piano, the shovel

for ashes, the moth-gnawed

blankets, the stone-cold water

stone-cold: thank you.

Thank you, Lord, coming for

to carry me here-where I'll gnash

it out, Lord, where I'll calm

and work, Lord, thank you

for the goddamn birds singing!

Passion

6 Truths About Finding Your Passion

1. You need to experiment with lots of things.

2. It takes time to discover your true passion in life.

3. What interests you now might not turn into a passion.

4. However, you’ll find that you return to what you’re passionate about.

5. It will take over your thinking when you’re silent or daydreaming.

6. Investing in your passion will give meaning to your life.

Address to the Lord

John Berryman

Master of beauty, craftsman of the snowflake,

inimitable contriver,

endower of Earth so gorgeous & different from the boring Moon,

thank you for such as it is my gift.

I have made up a morning prayer to you

containing with precision everything that most matters.

'According to Thy will' the thing begins.

It took me off & on two days. It does not aim at eloquence.

You have come to my rescue again & again

in my impassable, sometimes despairing years.

You have allowed my brilliant friends to destroy themselves

and I am still here, severely damaged, but functioning.

Unknowable, as I am unknown to my guinea pigs:

How can I 'love' you?

I only as far as gratitude & awe

confidently & absolutely go.

I have no idea whether we live again.

It doesn't seem likely

from either the scientific or the philosophical point of view

but certainly all things are possible to you,

and I believe as fixedly in the Resurrection-appearances to Peter and

to Paul

as I believe I sit in this blue chair.

Only that may have been a special case

to establish their initiatory faith.

Whatever your end may be, accept my amazement.

May I stand until death forever at attention

for any your least instruction or enlightenment.

I even feel sure you will assist me again, Master of insight & beauty.

The best of intentions

“I myself am made entirely of flaws, 

  stitched together with good intentions.” 

                                                                                                               Augusten Burroughs

At Least

Raymond Carver

I want to get up early one more morning,

before sunrise. Before the birds, even.

I want to throw cold water on my face

and be at my work table

when the sky lightens and smoke

begins to rise from the chimneys

of the other houses.

I want to see the waves break

on this rocky beach, not just hear them

break as I did all night in my sleep.

I want to see again the ships

that pass through the Strait from every

seafaring country in the world-

old, dirty freighters just barely moving along,

and the swift new cargo vessels

painted every color under the sun

that cut the water as they pass.

I want to keep an eye out for them.

And for the little boat that plies

the water between the ships

and the pilot station near the lighthouse.

I want to see them take a man off the ship

and put another up on board.

I want to spend the day watching this happen

and reach my own conclusions.

I hate to seem greedy-I have so much

to be thankful for already.

But I want to get up early one more morning, at least.

And go to my place with some coffee and wait.

Just wait, to see what's going to happen.

Grateful

Let us be grateful for people who make us happy. They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. - 

                                                             Marcel Proust

O Karma, Dharma, pudding and pie

Philip Appleman

O Karma, Dharma, pudding and pie,

gimme a break before I die:

grant me wisdom, will, & wit,

purity, probity, pluck, & grit.

Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind,

gimme great abs & a steel-trap mind,

and forgive, Ye Gods, some humble advice-

these little blessings would suffice

to beget an earthly paradise:

make the bad people good-

and the good people nice;

and before our world goes over the brink,

teach the believers how to think.

I don’t believe one reads to escape reality.

“I don’t believe one reads to escape reality. A person reads to confirm a reality he knows is there, but which he has not experienced.” Lawrence Durrell

Junot Diaz? Really? Are they serious?...well anyway......

It might seem premature to start naming the "best books of the century," considering we're only 15 years in, but the great debate is off and running.

The BBC polled dozens of U.S. book critics to find the greatest novels published in the 21st century. They tapped writers at The New York Times, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews and more for their expertise. Critics named 156 novels, but only one can be the winner.

                                         The best books of the 21st century (so far)

The book that landed at the top of the most critics' lists was Junot Diaz's "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," published in 2007. Diaz took home the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for the book; he was only the second Latino author to receive the award.

Critic Gregg Barrios noted that "Diaz's deft mash-up of Dominican history, comics, sci-fi, magic realism and footnotes totally rocks." Other critics clearly agreed. Author Rigoberto Gonzalez said Diaz's work "re-energized these questions: Who is American? What is the American experience?"

The 12 greatest novels of the 21st century, so far

1) "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz (2007)

2) "The Known World" by Edward P. Jones (2003)

3) "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel (2009)

4) "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson (2004)

5) "The Corrections" by Jonathan Franzen (2001)

6) "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay" by Michael Chabon (2000)

7) "A Visit from the Goon Squad" by Jennifer Egan (2010)

8) "Billy Flynn's Long Halftime Walk" by Ben Fountain (2012)

9) "Atonement" by Ian McEwan (2001)

10) "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2006)

11) "White Teeth" by Zadie Smith (2000)

12) "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides (2002)

Book lovers hounded the BBC until they agreed to unveil the rest of the top 20. Rounding out the critics' picks were "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (giving Adichie a second nod on the list), "Austerlitz" by W.G. Sebald, "My Brilliant Friend" by Elena Ferrante, "The Line of Beauty" by Alan Hollinghurst, "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, "NW" by Zadie Smith (another second nod), "2666" by Roberto Bolano and "The Great Fire" by Shirley Hazzard.

So: What say you? Are these the best books of the century so far?

For a comparison, let's consider Modern Library's list of the best novels of the 20th century. In 1998, a group including Gore Vidal, William Styron and other literary greats compiled what they considered to be the best the century had to offer.

The 10 greatest novels of the 20th century

1) "Ulysses" by James Joyce

2) "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

3) "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" by James Joyce

4) "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov

5) "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

6) "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner

7) "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

8) "Darkness at Noon" by Arthur Koestler

9) "Sons and Lovers" by D.H. Lawrence

10) "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck

What a change 17 years makes. While the Modern Library list may be packed with classics, it's severely lacking in diversity — in race, gender and genre.

The BBC's list, on the hand hand, already reflects the rapidly diversifying world of literature — here's to 85 more years of that!

Which books do you think will stand the test of time? Chime in with your choice for the book/s of the century.

What helps luck is a habit of watching for opportunities, of having a patient, but restless mind, of sacrificing one's ease or vanity, of  uniting a love of detail to foresight, and of passing through hard times bravely and cheerfully.-- Charles Victor Cherbuliez (1829-1899) French Novelist