Category Archives: Thoughts For the Day

Living with pain is not the solution. I have had a toothache for days.  Today, I hope to be able to convince a dentist to see me ASAP.

Some days, I find myself plotting the overthrow of humankind.  Other days, I consider all the good people and just know they outnumber the sub-human primal ooze that populate the places in which I interact with people who ostensibly provide … Continue reading →

Small pleasantries can go a long way toward mending broken relationships. All it takes is time and intent.  And a willingness to acknowledge one’s faults.  And a willingness to believe time heals all wounds.

I can’t quite comprehend the physics of glass.  It is hard and brittle and dense, but it is essentially invisible.  How can that be? I know people who are like glass.  Do not be one of them.

The moment you know something to be true, the instant you are certain of anything, become skeptical of your ability to distinguish fact from fiction.  There is a lie hidden somewhere in almost every truth. Certainty closes minds and repels real knowledge.

Temptation is not a passing thing.  It lasts a lifetime. It arises with you every morning and sleeps with you every night.  It’s there, right beside you, when you think you’re alone on a desolate highway.  And it sits on … Continue reading →

Speak softly to a blade of grass and then listen.  The messages you hear will be close to the truth, if only you’ll allow yourself time to consider.  There is honor in listening when there is no point, and no … Continue reading →

I need to remember this: there are more important things than uncooperative wifi networks, cantankerous computers, glitchy light switches, and rusty nails. The sun, for instance, and coffee.

Every now and again, your memories torture you.  They shred your wishes and dreams and they thrash your desires against the rocks like waves in brutal storms. There’s a lesson there, somewhere, if only you can learn it.  But if  there’s no … Continue reading →

Never forget the people who cared most about you.  They are the reason you are who you are today.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  The beholder is obliged to express his or her appreciation of that beauty to the subject whose beauty is beheld, and to the surrounding world that failed to even notice. I happen … Continue reading →

I believe Shakespeare drank beer.  That is reason enough for me to do the same.

Listening to NPR’s All Things Considered makes me feel like I’m “home,” even though I’ve tended to listen to it while I’m in the car.  Yesterday afternoon, as I listened to it in my little studio/office/storage room off the garage, … Continue reading →

One’s demons don’t come calling only in the dark of night.  They are there, at one’s side, every moment of every day. Until they reveal who they are, they are chilling shadows who block the light.

“You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.” ― Gautama Buddha

Let a little conservatism into your liberalism.  Let a little skepticism into your belief.  Let a little callousness into your empathy.  Let a little love into your hate.  Mix it all up and before long you’ll be less bitter and a little … Continue reading →

Looking up into the night sky to see millions of tiny white specks is a remarkable experience.  The response to that experience may create religions or generate an appreciation of the vastness or the universe.  In one case, the experience is … Continue reading →

For me, a day can be judged a good one the moment I realize the sun has risen and I did not die in my sleep.  If I can hold on to that attitude, everything will be all  right.

I’ve been asked whether I prefer the mountains or the seaside, which is akin to asking whether I would rather breathe or have blood course through my veins. [As of 2:31 a.m., when I write this, we are OK…tornado devastation … Continue reading →

Every question has an answer, but the reverse is not necessarily true. That reality should inform the inventors whose products vie for time on late-night cable television. Yet, still, there are those who invest their money and our time in marketing … Continue reading →

Sleep is something most people take for granted.  But when it won’t come, or it comes and then leaves early, it’s no longer possible to be so cavalier about it.

It’s stunning, sometimes, to realize how wonderful one can feel sitting on a deck under a canopy of trees, being caressed by a gentle cool breeze. That was yesterday. And stunning was magnified by the fact that the restaurant upon whose deck … Continue reading →

If teachers, from elementary school though high school, were given free reign over their classrooms and were rewarded financially for student performance, I suspect students might be “smarter.”

Waking up in sunlight is better than not waking up at all, but it makes me wonder whether it was dark at 5:00 a.m. this morning—or did the sun just rise earlier than normal?

Creativity stems from a willingness to ask questions for which there are no answers, then answering them.  It is imagination, given free rein, behaving as if it were reality. It is a flight of fancy with legs and a strong back. I … Continue reading →