Sunday, September 30, 2007

To Sleep - Perhaps to Dream



It's 4 a.m. - I'm suddenly awake 3 hours ahead of schedule and using the time to catch up on people's blogs as well as my own. I love this bronze, "Time" by Brian Moneypenny depicting the constant flow of time through our hands.





There is something about time and thoughts that are magical - mystical. In a deeply spiritual way, we create ourselves and our lives through them. An energy, like the music of the soul, vibrates out from their joining, merging into the universe of all that is, and somehow becomes our reality. It is enough to take your breath away.

Today I am sharing some wonderful quotes about time. I am borrowing many of them from my friend Jasmine.

It's at night, when perhaps we should be dreaming, that the mind is most clear, that we are most able to hold all our life in the palm of our skull. I don't know if anyone has ever pointed out the great attraction of insomnia before, but it is so; the night seems to release a little more of our vast backward inheritance of instincts and feelings; as with the dawn, a little honey is allowed to ooze between the lips of the sandwich, a little of the stuff of dreams to drip into the waking mind. I wish I believed, as J. B. Priestley did, that consciousness continues after disembodiment or death, not forever, but for a long while. Three score years and ten is such a stingy ration of time, when there is so much time around. Perhaps that's why some of us are insomniacs; night is so precious that it would be pusillanimous to sleep all through it! A "bad night" is not always a bad thing. ~Brian W. Aldiss

And if tonight my soul may find her peace
in sleep, and sink in good oblivion,
and in the morning wake like a new-opened flower
then I have been dipped again in God, and new-created.
~D.H. Lawrence

The bed is a bundle of paradoxes: we go to it with reluctance, yet we quit it with regret; we make up our minds every night to leave it early, but we make up our bodies every morning to keep it late. ~Charles Caleb Colton

I wonder sometimes if I will kick and scream my way into the next life, crying "Oh, but God I have only yet begun to play in this one. I just discovered how the game works. There are so many more games I would love to play and learn. – Jasmine

They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. – Andy Warhol

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. – Annie Dillard

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that the stuff life is made of. – Benjamin Franklin

The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is. – C.S. Lewis

Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard, played by Patrick Stewart, from the film "Star Trek: Generations"

To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else. – Emily Dickinson

... we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless. – Paul Bowles

Come out of the circle of time
And into the circle of love.
-Rumi

Time is free, but it’s priceless.
You can’t own it, but you can use it.
You can’t keep it, but you can spend it.
Once you’ve lost it, you never get it back.
- Harvy MacKay

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

And my 3 favorites:

There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast. ~Author Unknown

If people were meant to pop out of bed, we'd all sleep in toasters. ~Author unknown, attributed to Jim Davis

The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” – Albert Einstein

Friday, September 21, 2007

Plotting Retreat



The weekend was spent at a working ranch in western Oklahoma surrounded on all sides by cows! Okay. I've been corrected, they are not technically cows, but steers. Cows are female. These were all "male" cattle who have had unspeakable things done to unmentionable parts of their anatomy. Think eunuch. Of course, I didn't notice that their moos were any higher pitched, so I guess any hope for an Oklahoman Steer's Choir is out, even though there were definately long lowing tones in the air.

Di's house was at the base of Navajo mountain.(Mountain by Oklahoma standards, that is) It was sooo quiet. We loved it. Great hot tub! (Ask Sheila and Donnell.) Navajo mountain is begging its own story. I'm thinking fantasy/futuristic/paranormal.

The following are 3 photos of our faithful group, minus one who hadn't arrived yet, laboring away at awesome plots that will stand you on your ears once they're published. (Ignore the dates. Something was wrong with the setting on Julia's camera.)




Donnell, Di, Me and Sheila.
Notice that I am wearing one of Rinda's awesome T-shirts from her
Write Snark Cafe Press. I won this at the last writers meeting and it has become one of my favorite things to wear.




Donnell and Di working on ways to torture their heroine. It was frightening that they were able to come up so quickly with such evil ideas. Hmmm. Perhaps I should be worried and sleep with one eye open.




Sheila, Julia, Myself, and Di taking a break.
Thanks to Julia for the photos.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

How true it is !




Excerpts from a Dog's Diary

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing !
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing !
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing !
10:30am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing !
12:00pm - Lunch! My favorite thing !
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing !
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing !
5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing !
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing !
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing !
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing !


Excerpts from a Cat's Diary

Day 983 of my captivity.
My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine
lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort
of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I
nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing
that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I
once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had
hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates
what I am capable of. However they merely made condescending comments about
what a 'good little hunter' I am. Imbeciles!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in
solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the
noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power
of 'allergies'. I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my
advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors
by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow --
but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog
receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more
than willing to return. He is obviously insane. The bird has got to be an
informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain
that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for
him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now...


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