Monthly Archives: January 2014

Shrinking Sloth

I can cook.  Man, can I COOK!  I’ve just made a Dutch oven full of red lentil soup.  It is, if I don’t say so myself, wonderful!  And it’s not the first time.  I’ve done this before. Several times. It … Continue reading

Posted in Food, Health, Sloth | 10 Comments

Drive

Desire, want, hope…all emotions that seeks change for a perceived better.  “I have a desire to be better looking and have more money.”  “I have a deep-seated want to more gregarious.” “His hope is to achieve a medical breakthrough.” None … Continue reading

Posted in Happiness, Philosophy, Self-discipline, Wisdom | 3 Comments

January 17: Thoughts for the Day

Which advice is most helpful, most healing? “Cry, if you must, but know this: you’ll run out of tears before you run out of pain.” “Cry, if it helps. Whatever gets you through your darkest hours is what’s right.” I … Continue reading

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Lagniappe in Suspension

A few years ago, my wife introduced me to a term I’d probably heard before, but did not quite understand: amuse-bouche. She introduced the term to me as we sat in a Mexican restaurant and were served a very nice … Continue reading

Posted in Language | 2 Comments

January 16: Thoughts for the Day

I’ve known very few people who allow themselves to truly know who they are, deep down. I think that’s because people are afraid of what they will find if they look inside themselves. The possibility of looking, to find only … Continue reading

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January 15: Thoughts for the Day

If I feel someone has wronged me or treated me badly, the easiest, but least satisfying, response is anger. The hardest, and by far the best, response is putting my energies into forgiveness and reconciliation.  Through this, I strengthen myself … Continue reading

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Scale

Yesterday I looked online at a light pollution map.  It’s really just photographs of the earth in darkness, stitched together to form a scalable image of the entire earth at night. Zoom out and you can see the entire earth; zoom … Continue reading

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Blame

I wrote this poem a few years ago but misplaced the hard-copy and I wasn’t able to find even an electronic file during a cursory search for it.  But then I found an audio file; I transcribed it by listening … Continue reading

Posted in Poetry | 2 Comments

The Times, They Are A’Changin’…

Yesterday, I sold the old green truck, the 1997 Ford Ranger that belonged to my late sister.  As my favorite wife and I continue the process of preparing for a move out of Dallas, it was obvious the truck would … Continue reading

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January 14: Thoughts for the Day

Now is the best time to start something new.  Now is the best time to recapture a dream gone awry. Now is the time to correct past mistakes.  Now is that “one day” you’ve always talked about.

Posted in Thoughts For the Day | 4 Comments

On Accident

I listened to an NPR radio talk show the other day, A Way with Words, and learned something interesting about the way language is evolving almost in real-time.  A high school English teacher called to inquire about some language usage … Continue reading

Posted in Language | 7 Comments

January 13: Thoughts for the Day

I do not understand people who believe empathy and sympathy are signs of weakness.  I do not understand people for whom dominion over others is the only sign of strength. If I were a better man, I would try to understand … Continue reading

Posted in Thoughts For the Day | 9 Comments

Moving Maybes

My wife and I just returned from a four-day trip to Arkansas, the purposes of which were to: 1) look at some houses in Hot Springs Village that we might consider buying; and 2) visit some ethnic food markets in … Continue reading

Posted in Housiing, Moving, Where to Live | Leave a comment

January 12: Thoughts for the Day

We measure ourselves against clocks we had no part in creating. Age is a construct we use as a metric of achievement or, conversely, as a measure of what we have not achieved. Until there is no more to measure, … Continue reading

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January 11: Thoughts for the Day

For me, early morning, before daybreak, is the best time to be alone with my thoughts, to look inward and express to myself my own appreciation for my place in the world.   That time is mine, alone; I have … Continue reading

Posted in Thoughts For the Day | 8 Comments

January 10: Thoughts for the Day

Ask yourself who is the better chef: 1) the one who, using limitless resources and relying on extensive training, can create a masterpiece of exceptional culinary genius; or 2) the one who, improvising with scarce resources and relying on memory … Continue reading

Posted in Thoughts For the Day | 6 Comments

January 9: Thoughts for the Day

We have to strive to be gentle and understanding.  It takes effort and courage and patience.  Gentleness and compassion require nerves of steel and a heart of stone. That hard, heart-breaking, rugged effort, that monstrously difficult endeavor, is the only truly … Continue reading

Posted in Thoughts For the Day | 2 Comments

You Deserve a Break Today

Everyone deserves a break. I deserve a break from my self-imposed insistence that I write something every day. Well, I must continue to do my “Thoughts for the Day,” but I deserve a break from writing my “regular” posts. So, … Continue reading

Posted in Self-discipline, Writing | 4 Comments

January 8: Thoughts for the Day

At some point, and it is different for each person, one comes to the understanding that material wealth, conspicuous consumption, and fame do not lead to happiness. It is at that same moment that one becomes most generous, not just with … Continue reading

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Redefining Tuesday

I wrote another post for today but after reading it again, I decided it was far too negative. The post was a scathing assessment of someone I once worked for; it was not the way to start a perfectly good … Continue reading

Posted in Friendship, Time | Leave a comment

January 7: Thoughts for the Day

Allow yourself to be timid, to be unobtrusive.  Allow the spotlight to bypass you. Then, be thankful for your solitude, your peace, and the wisdom you have gained by staying away from the frenzy.

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January 6: Thoughts for the Day

Spend some time, just a few minutes, every morning observing beauty.  Focus on it.  Take it in.  Revel in it. Consider why this thing is beautiful to you; consider how it makes you feel.  Doing this one simple thing every … Continue reading

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Uncool. Yeah, that’s the way I roll.

I take pleasure in knowing that I enjoy certain things that have outlived their brief periods of being cool.  Is it perverse pleasure?  I don’t know.  You tell me. Here is what I am hearing about the now out-of-vogue stuff … Continue reading

Posted in Fashion, Food, Humor, Popularity | 3 Comments

Maybe, one day…

I spent a substantial part of the morning yesterday revising and polishing the beginning of a short story I began to write a few days ago.  I’ve not written much; so far, I’ve only  reached 950 words and my guess … Continue reading

Posted in Writing | 4 Comments

January 5: Thoughts for the Day

Where there is great doubt, there will be great awakening; small doubt, small awakening; no doubt, no awakening. ~Traditional Zen adage~

Posted in Thoughts For the Day | 3 Comments