“We degenerate into hideous puppets, haunted by the memory of the passions of which we were much afraid, and the exquisite temptations that we had not the courage to yield to.”

~ Oscar Wilde


Oh depression, you have reared your ugly head. And generally, I would put out this fire by painting all night, except that my studio has yet to be moved. So I revert to the other canvas...the written word. I spent the last hour looking up quotes on "doubt",...

"Courage, also known as bravery, fortitude, will, and intrepidity, is the ability to confront fear, pain, risk/danger, uncertainty, or intimidation."

There are very few people in my life that I would actually consider to fall into the courageous category. I like to think of myself of being courageous, until something little, like locking myself out of my apartment, sets me off. It wouldn't have been so bad if there wasn't a batch of homemade blueberry muffins in the oven....

[I][B]~dedicated to McKibben, because he noticed.[/B][/I]

I went out to dinner the other night. I know, that doesn't sound very spectacular, but it happened to be one of my favorite restaurants, and I know the menu by heart, so it was surprising to find enlightenment there...someplace so common and familiar.

First of all, the company with me was completely different from who I usually go out to dinner with. Secondly, the menu had changed. So here I was, sitting and...

Today, by far, was a most unusual day. When we go about our day to day lives, we are never quite sure what will happen next. The unexpected moments of the day and turns of events can sometimes take you quite by surprise...the key to maintaining composure in the face of rapidly changing circumstances is 100% attitude. I revert to Ralph's voice inside my head that says, "it's all how you handle it baby.", and it provides me with comfort. Sometimes, we go full blast at plowing through...

Okay. I'm confused. I took my son to "Kindergarten Orientation" yesterday. It was a big deal. And I honestly thought it was a fun 1/2 day...but I also remember the days when the first day of kindergarten was like this: "Johnny, meet Bobby. Bobby and Johnny, meet Sally. Here's some crayons. Don't write on the walls, or each other, have fun. See ya later." Not today...we got name tags in the full blown plastic case with the extra special tag holder in the school colors,...