Life is empty and meaningless and it's empty and meaningless that it's empty and meaningless.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Q: Does the Universe Have a Purpose? feat. Neil deGrasse Tyson (by minutephysics)
A: Fuck no!
Prayer: A petition that the laws of nature be suspended in favor of the petitioner; himself confessedly unworthy. ~ Ambrose Pierce
All Kids are born geniuses,but are crushed by society itself - Michio Kaku (by FomulaForex)
You Learn
After a while you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and chaining a soul,
And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning
And company doesn’t mean security.
And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts
And presents aren’t promises,
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes open
With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child,
And you learn to build all your roads on today
Because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans
And futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.
After a while you learn…
That even sunshine burns if you get too much.
So you plant your garden and decorate your own soul,
Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure…
That you really are strong
And you really do have worth…
And you learn and learn…
With every good-bye you learn.
The more things change, the more they stay the same….
“My lack of faith in the men who lead us is that they do not recognize the irrational in men, they have no insight, and whoever does not recognize the personal, individual drama of man cannot lead them.” ~ Anais Nin (over 70 years ago)
What a beautiful letter written from a father to his son on the subject of love. The father, in this case, happens to be author John Steinbeck, who, ironically, was one of my least favorite writers when it came to the classics. The very last lines of the letter say it all, “And don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens — The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.” I could not agree more.
Here is the letter in its entirety:
New York
November 10, 1958
Dear Thom:
We had your letter this morning. I will answer it from my point of view and of course Elaine will from hers.
First — if you are in love — that’s a good thing — that’s about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don’t let anyone make it small or light to you.
Second — There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you — of kindness and consideration and respect — not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn’t know you had.
You say this is not puppy love. If you feel so deeply — of course it isn’t puppy love.
But I don’t think you were asking me what you feel. You know better than anyone. What you wanted me to help you with is what to do about it — and that I can tell you.
Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it.
The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it.
If you love someone — there is no possible harm in saying so — only you must remember that some people are very shy and sometimes the saying must take that shyness into consideration.
Girls have a way of knowing or feeling what you feel, but they usually like to hear it also.
It sometimes happens that what you feel is not returned for one reason or another — but that does not make your feeling less valuable and good.
Lastly, I know your feeling because I have it and I’m glad you have it.
We will be glad to meet Susan. She will be very welcome. But Elaine will make all such arrangements because that is her province and she will be very glad to. She knows about love too and maybe she can give you more help than I can.
And don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens — The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.
Love,
Fa
One of my all time favorite bluegrass musicians, dobro genius Jerry Douglas, has teamed up with probably my favorite band of the last 5 years or so, Mumford & Sons for a great cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Boxer”! Fucking magic!
Read more about it here: http://1146miles.com/?p=7239
Was having a conversation with a musician at my show tonight and somehow we got onto this whole Tom Waits is the Charles Bukowski of music thing and how we both hear Tom’s voice when we read Bukowski…haha! Well anyways, I’m coincidentally in the middle of listening to Tom’s “Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards” collection and the simple yet beautiful sentiment of his song Shiny Things is right on the money.
Shiny Things - Tom Waits (by sijmadicandhapajiee)
The things a crow puts in his nest
They are always things he finds that shine best
Somehow they’ll find a shiny dime, a silver twine
From a Valentine
The crows all bring them shiny things
Leave me alone you big ol’ Moon
The light you cast is just a liar
You’re like the crows, ‘cos if it glows
You’re dressed to go, you guessed I know
You’ll always cling to shiny things
We’ll, I’m not dancing here tonight
But things are bound to turn around
Though the only I want that shines is to be king
Here in your eyes
To be your only shiny thing
