Tue 10 Oct 2017

Nonsense

Posted by PJ under nonsense, quote of the day, wisdom
No Comments

Random quote of the day:

“A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.”

—Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Lucy and Ethel, Justin Bieber, or the Kardashian Klan. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Tags:

 

Mon 9 Oct 2017

The deep within

Posted by PJ under gods, love, prayers, quote of the day, that which abides, the deep within
No Comments

Random quote of the day:

“Prayer is private, even when we pray with others. It is communication from the heart to that which surpasses understanding. Let’s say it is communication from one’s heart to God. Or if that is too triggering or ludicrous a concept for you, to the Good, the force that is beyond our comprehension but that in our pain or supplication or relief we don’t need to define or have proof of or any established contact with. Let’s say it is what the Greeks called the Really Real, what lies within us, beyond the scrim of our values, positions, convictions, and wounds. Or let’s say it is a cry from deep within to Life or Love, with capital L’s.”

—Anne Lamott, Help, Thanks, Wow

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Lucy and Ethel, Justin Bieber, or the Kardashian Klan. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Tags:

 

Fri 6 Oct 2017

Down Portalville Way – Aliens

Posted by PJ under aliens, folklore, idiots, it's curmudgeon time
No Comments

  1. Let me thread you a story… (1-26)
  2. Christina Lovejoy, town curmudgeon, takes great pride in her work. She’ll crank out a grumpy face & cynical comment for many occasions,
  3. but she don’t rightly hold with raining on the parades (or birthdays, weddings, and the like) of common folk.
  4. She mostly saves her curmudgeonliness for when people in power are acting like jackasses.
  5. (Although it did come in handy that time the town caught Excessive Jubilance Disease a few years back.)
  6. “Resistance is not futile,” Christina is fond of saying, often using a mock-robot voice. “Resistance is essential.”
  7. Take, for instance, that time President Turps & Vice President Pinche passed through Portalville on their way to an economic summit.
  8. Secret Service was out in force, of course, & nobody had a problem with that. After all, big men need protecting from public opinion.
  9. But just the week before Prez Turps declared he would build a great big ol’ wall around our portal to keep out illegal aliens.
  10. VP Pinche just nodded and gave his lord and master an idiot grin (cuz the man couldn’t find his own rear with both hands) and mumbled
  11. something about subversion and perversion and conversion. Couldn’t rightly figure what he was driving at but it sounded sinister.
  12. Thing is, couldn’t none of us remember seeing illegal aliens come through our portal, just the regular grey and Nordic variety,
  13. plus assorted critters from the Multiverse. But they’s somewhat of this town’s lifeblood, if you know what I mean. They keep us lively,
  14. and honest, if I’m being honest. Christina saw it just about the same way. She stood in the middle of Route 40 as the motorcade
  15. came through town. The Secret Service swarmed to clear her out of the way, but she presented them with her grumpiest of grump faces.
  16. Halted them dead in their tracks, I can tell you. Couldn’t get within ten feet of her. The motorcade had to stop.
  17. “I mean the president no harm,” she told everyone. “But I AM going to speak my mind.”
  18. All the tinted windows in the president’s limo spontaneously rolled down at once so he could hear what Christina had to say.
  19. “You can try building a wall around our portal,” she said, “but you should know we are a small town surrounded by big power….
  20. “Really big power, like HUGE, and it would be bad, very bad, and sad, very sad, if you did anything so rash.
  21. “That kind of power can’t be contained. It ripples out underground, spreading from this town out and beyond,
  22. “to places you can’t even imagine, like the hearts of good people, to the selfless and the courageous and the compassionate—
  23. “those things you & that Pinche with you have only heard spoken of & never felt yourselves. You can’t stop feelings, can’t stop ideas.
  24. “So I suggest you give up on that wall or you’ll be swallowed in an ocean of contempt that will drown you. Big water, big, big water.”
  25. Christina stepped out of the road, the president’s windows rolled back up, and the motorcade went on its way.
  26. But ain’t none of us heard any more nonsense about walling off the portal.

Tags:

 

Fri 6 Oct 2017

One thing

Posted by PJ under mindfulness, quote of the day, salvation
No Comments

Random quote of the day:

“Do one thing after another as lucidly as possible: smell the bread, smell the schnapps, fold the paper—therein lies salvation.”

—Peter Handke, The Weight of the World

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Lucy and Ethel, Justin Bieber, or the Kardashian Klan. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Tags:

 

Thu 5 Oct 2017

Faster than fast

Posted by PJ under aging, quote of the day, time
No Comments

Random quote of the day:

“People don’t realize how quickly they’re going to be old, either. Time goes very fast.”

—Doris Lessing, The Paris Review, Issue 106, Spring 1988

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Lucy and Ethel, Justin Bieber, or the Kardashian Klan. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Tags:

 

Wed 4 Oct 2017

Ancient walls

Posted by PJ under feelings, protection, quote of the day
No Comments

Random quote of the day:

“Every sensitive person carries in himself old cities enclosed by ancient walls.”

—Robert Walser, “The Little Berliner,” Selected Stories (tr. Christopher Middleton)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Lucy and Ethel, Justin Bieber, or the Kardashian Klan. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Tags:

 

Tue 3 Oct 2017

Alive

Posted by PJ under quote of the day, solitude, writers, writing
No Comments

Random quote of the day:

“The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone.”

—Martin Amis, The Paris Review, Iss. 146, Spring 1998

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Lucy and Ethel, Justin Bieber, or the Kardashian Klan. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Tags:

 

Fri 29 Sep 2017

Doorway

Posted by PJ under death, doorways, quote of the day
No Comments

Random quote of the day:

“Death waits inside us for a door to open.
Death is patient as a dead cat.
Death is a doorknob made of flesh.”

—Jim Harrison, “Larson’s Holstein Bull,” In Search of Small Gods

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Lucy and Ethel, Justin Bieber, or the Kardashian Klan. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Tags:

 

Thu 28 Sep 2017

Shedding

Posted by PJ under change, meaning, quote of the day, transformation
No Comments

Random quote of the day:

“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.

—Joseph Campbell, quoted in A Joseph Campbell Companion, ed. Diane K. Osbon

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Lucy and Ethel, Justin Bieber, or the Kardashian Klan. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Tags:

 

Wed 27 Sep 2017

Dragonfly

Posted by PJ under folklore, nature, soul, spirit animal, synchronicity, the self, transformation
No Comments

My morning commute is seven miles from front door to workplace garage. Being Los Angeles, that seven miles is fraught with many traffic headaches. Most mornings it takes about forty minutes—but there have been many notable exceptions.

Today was one of those. My commute took one hour and fifteen minutes. For much of that time I was stuck on the Lincoln Boulevard hill down from the Westchester plateau. There really are only three ways down from the plateau and I was on the wrong one. Construction on the Ballona Creek Bridge near Marina del Rey had reduced four-lane Lincoln to one-lane Lincoln. Even at the top of the hill I couldn’t tell where the problem lay as I was behind a large truck and in the lane next to me was a bus, both effectively blocking my view. I was stuck in the second lane because I knew the first lane was blocked ahead from previous commutes, and I couldn’t get over to the right because everyone in those lanes was just as blocked as I.

So I called work and told them I would be seriously late and tried as hard as I could to go with it and remain calm. Mostly it worked. I thought thoughts, I listened to music, I tried to stay positive, I amused myself by thinking of a guy on the elevator last night who escaped with his life because I didn’t possess an ice pick.

And so I sat for close to an hour. About a half hour in, I noticed a dragonfly, about five inches long. It flew back and forth over the hood of my car six times, not more than a couple of feet from my windshield. Knowing that dragonflies are very symbolic critters, I wondered if it had some message for me?

“This too shall pass.”
“Hello from Mom and Dad.”
“Pay attention, mortal.”
“Concern yourself with what’s important.”
“Which way to the wetlands?”

And in fact when he flew over my car the last time he headed purposefully west, towards the wetlands.

According to http://bit.ly/1RnTHQA

“The dragonfly totem carries the wisdom of transformation and adaptability in life. As spirit animal, the dragonfly is connected to the symbolism of change and light. When the dragonfly shows up in your life, it may remind you to bring a bit more lightness and joy into your life. Those who have this animal as totem may be inclined to delve deep into their emotions and shine their true colors.”

Okay. I wouldn’t necessarily count on that. And don’t even get me started on that whole “spirit animal” thang. I mean, I do acknowledge that I’m in sore need of transformation. But the ways of the world are strong.

It is, however, interesting that this should come up now. I was just having this conversation with myself last night. It was a little less poetic, though. More along the lines of “You better get your s**t together, girl, and stop acting like a baby. Things need to change.”

Maybe the dragonfly was a reminder of that, a reinforcer of my own soul’s message to Self. Maybe a coincidence, but it’s no fun thinking like that, unless you call it a synchronicity.

So, a synchronous message of soul to Self, or Self to self, or…

It was a very beautiful dragonfly, all blue and gold. I loved watching it fly.

Tags:

 

« Previous Page — Next Page »