Let the Sun Shine Into Your Life

Image courtesy of Mikael Kennedy

"There is a crack in everything;
that's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen

What Makes Perfection

Michelangelo's " Pieta"
St. Peter's Cathedral, Rome

"Trifles make perfection,
and perfection is no trifle."
-Michelangelo

Aah To Be A Kid Again

"It's never too late to have a happy childhood

But the second one is up to you and no one else."

-Regina Brett

I'll Tell You Something

"Oh yeah,

I'll tell you something I think you'll understand,

When I'll say that something...

I wanna hold your hand."-the Beatles

My TO DO List

"Three things in human life are important.
The first is to be kind.
The second is to be kind.
And the third is to be kind." Henry James

Athena and Mat Arrive Today

Arrival tonight from London--Yippee!

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the way in which you

yourself have altered." -Nelson Mandela

Don't Let Go of Hope

"When you get to the end of your rope,

tie a knot

and hang on."-Franklin D. Roosevelt quoted in Investor's Daily

A Good Mornin' to You

Man does not live by coffee alone.

Have a danish.

~Author Unknown

Today is Our 28th Wedding Anniversary

This photo and following quote borrowed from:http://www.slowtrav.com/blog/andasamo/

"I always sense your presence whenever you are near and even when you are not ... you are a part of my reality."

The Nearness of You

"I need no soft lights to enchant me

If you'll only grant me the right

To hold you ever so tight

And to feel in the night the nearness of you..."

- Ned Jones and Hoagy Carmichael lyrics for the movie "Romance In The Dark"

A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

"If you can dream it,

you can do it." -Walt Disney

I'm Screaming For This

malted milk by Cindy Ruth @http://www.slowtrav.com/blog/cindyruth/

"You scream, I scream,
we all scream for ICE CREAM!"

-American quote

Yo MAMA

Photo via hawaiiandays.com/HDC/categories/cat_photography.htm "Wahine ukelele player"

My sister and her husband are vacationing in Maui this week. In her email today she said the following:

"Several people have called me "mama" on the island. I asked a man at the swap meet how much a fan was and he said, "One dollar Mama". Today at the market, the cashier I think in lieu of "Have a nice day"... said "Rock and Roll Mama". LOL.
xoxo,
mama"

I'm Addicted

12-Step Internet Recovery Program

1. I will have a cup of coffee in the morning and read my newspaper like I used to, before the Internet.
2. I will eat breakfast with a knife and fork and not with one hand typing.
3. I will get dressed before noon.
4. I will make an attempt to clean the house, wash clothes, and plan dinner before even thinking of the Internet.
5. I will sit down and write a letter to those unfortunate few friends and family that are Internet-deprived.
6. I will call someone on the phone who I cannot contact via the Internet.
7. I will read a book… if I still remember how.
8. I will listen to those around me and their needs and stop telling them to turn the TV down so I can hear the music on the Internet.
9. I will not be tempted during TV commercials to check for email.
10. I will try and get out of the house at least once a week, if it is necessary or not.
11. I will remember that my bank is not forgiving if I forget to balance my checkbook because I was too busy on the Internet.
12. Last, but not least, I will remember that I must go to bed sometime… and the Internet will always be there tomorrow!

Hang In There

"You gain strength, courage and confidence
by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself,
'I have lived through this horror.
I can take the next thing that comes along.'
You must do the things you think you cannot do."
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Limitless Options This Web of Experience

"Experience is never limited, and it is never complete;
it is an immense sensibility,
a kind of huge spider web of the finest silken threads suspended in the chamber of consciousness, and catching every airborne particle in its tissue." - Henry James

This Key Belongs To You

"The pessimist complains about the wind,
the optimist expects it to change,
and the REALIST adjusts his sails."- Unknown

Adornments

"Know first who you are,
and then Adorn
yourself accordingly."
-Epictetus

Stories in Our Lives

image by simply bloom

"Day by day and night by night

we were together

All else has long been forgotton

by me."

-Walt Whitman

Once again but in italian:

" Eravamo insieme,

tutto il resto del tempo l'ho scordato."

A Toast to Love

"You are the butter to my bread,
the breath to my life."
-from the movie "Julie & Julia", a toast to Julia Child from her husband Paul during a Valentine's dinner.

My Current Mantra

"Get rid of anything that isn't useful,

beautiful or

joyful."-Regina Brett

It's So Soothing

Strange how a teapot can represent at the same time
the comforts of solitude
and the pleasures of company.
~Author Unknown

It's Worth a Try

Just Remember

"Maybe one day I'll be able

to give myself a gold star for being

ordinary. And maybe one of these

days I'll give myself a gold star for

being extraordinary. And maybe one

day I won't need to have a star at all."

-Sue Bender

Always on the Look Out for a Great Leader

Taking a little closer look...

"A good leader inspires people
to have confidence in their leader.
A great leader inspires people
to have confidence in themselves."
~Anonymous

Beginnings...Waiting for the Heart Stoplight

Come Fly With Me

image by Rosie Hardy via Flickr

When we walk to the edge of all the light we have
and take the step into the darkness of the unknown,
we must believe that one of two things will happen.
There will be something solid for us to stand on
or
we will be taught to fly.-- Patrick Overton

A Fashion Icon's Theory

"A girl should be two things
classy and fabulous."
-Coco Chanel

Better than Botox

"JEWELRY takes people's minds
off your wrinkles."
-Sonja Henie

This Life-Our Gift

My friend Daniella Woolf posted a tribute on her blog to her friend Kathleen Flowers, who had recently passed away. This tribute and poem was so lovely I wanted to share it with each of you. Our lives are such precious gifts. This is a gentle reminder to cherish each day we are given on earth.

http://encausticopolis.blogspot.com/.

She wrote this:

"On this lovely Easter spring morning, our dear friend and neighbor Kathleen Flowers left this earth. Kathleen was an extraordinary poet and being full of light and love. We are grieving along with so many people whose lives she touched. She leaves her adoring husband Howard, her mother, father, sister and brother, nieces. She taught kindergarten in the Spanish language immersion project. She touched the lives of so many children and parents who also adored and respected her. In just a few short minutes the poetry show on KUSP will be devoted to her. I chose one of her poems from Call It Gladness, her publication from the 2008 "In Celebration of the Muse" Chapbook Award publication."

Here is her poem "In These Five Remaining Days".


"In these five remaining days,

I see I've spent my life bellowing like a mule,
feeling broken beneath a burden that was mine to learn to carry
or the weight of another's I could not ease.
In these four remaining days,
the robe, that has been my body revels in its own unraveling.
Inside, a hummingbird hovers, half-inside a flower,
then zips away, stitching the sky with iridescence.
In these three remaining days,
I am still,
knowing what ripens below,
soon breaks through the duff,
finds some light-a rose-colored mushroom,
quietly glistens in the redwood mist.
On this, the second to last day,
I ride a riptide out to sea,
find myself fixed again to the ocean's umbilicus.
Rocked upon her heaving breast,
I taste the briny tears we share,
let go my thirst.
On this, my final day of living,
with every last breath,
I make a plea for the chance to hold aloft
a hundred more burdens,
a friendship to sip,
a forest to sit in,
singing thank you, thank you, thank you!

-Kathleen Flowers