ReMoved

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The Expert

" It had been long dark, though still an hour before supper-time"

Poetry by Charles Reznikoff

It had been long dark, though still an hour before supper-time.

The boy stood at the window behind the curtain.

The street under the black sky was bluish white with snow.

Across the street, where the lot sloped to the pavement,

boys and girls were going down on sleds.

The boys were after him because he was a Jew.

At last his father and mother slept. He got up and dressed.

In the hall he took out his sled and went out on tiptoe.

No one was in the street. The slide was worn smooth and 

slippery--just right.

He laid himself down on his sled and shot away. He went down 

only twice.

He stood knee-deep in snow:

no one was in the street, the windows were darkened;

those near the street-lamps were ashine, but the rooms inside 

were dark;

on the street were long shadows of clods of snow.

He took his sled and went back into the house.

Charles Bukowski - The Shoelace

Read the whole poem here:

poemhunter.com

Video of Musée Mécanique in San Francisco

Look at me-all arty. Trying to look at the difference between real life and imitation through a haunting montage of dolls and puppets. I think I will put my black beret on and pretend to be depressed about existential things...

Infographic: 10 of the Most Iconic Swords in Fiction

by IamRobertShaw.
Explore more infographics like this one on the web's largest information design community - Visually.

Words to Live By

"...the only way to get through the sad is the funny."-Katie Crouch (The Rumpus Magazine)

Finding God Where We Don't Think He Normally Goes...

“A good local pub has much in common with a church, except that a pub is warmer, and there’s more conversation.” William Blake (1757 – 1827) 

Check out this blog entry from Resistance and Renewal  entitled  Finding God on Sundays (in the pub) .

For a majority of mainstream Protestant American Christians the idea of going into a bar is abhorrent due to certain cultural beliefs (not necessarily scriptural based beliefs). That said, a pub in England, (short for a Public House), is not the same thing as most bars in the USA-there are pubs where people bring their kids and its a community meeting place.

Become a Life Coach!

You ever have something annoy you and you're not entirely sure why it annoys you? I saw the photo above on a website and something about it rubbed me the wrong way. I assumed it was just me being in a snit and went about my business. 

A couple of hours later, it hit me: This annoys me because of the assumptions that it makes about being a life coach. This gives the impression that being a Life Coach is a matter of taking an online course and starting to tell people how to run their lives. Remember the old SNL sketch of Matt Foley-the motivational speaker? 

Chris Farley portrays a 35 year old loser who lives in a van down by the river but portrays himself as a famous motivational speaker who scares kids away from drugs by his tough talk. 

Sure, I'm over simplifying it and this could be a fine course with good information. But my point is this-being a life coach should be more than a title that you wake up one morning and decide to call yourself. It should be more than just an online course you take that lets you decide you have the right to speak into people's life. 

Why do I feel so strongly about this? I hate the casual approach to people's lives. I don't feel that a one size fits all approach works in all arenas. Being a life coach, (I prefer the term mentor), should be a result of someone being truly successful in their life; they should be someone who knows you intimately and who you decided to trust. 

In my own life, there have been several people who "decided" they were going to be my mentor when I was younger. Then there were people that I watched from afar and tried to emulate their lives. There are people I have known intimately who have taken me under their wing and helped me and gave me an example to shoot for. 

When I see the difference between that and the casual concept of life coaching, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Yes, I understand that this could be purely my opinion and that there could be valid online courses to teach you how to help others. I'm willing to believe that. However, my point remains that choosing a mentor is not the same as choosing a hair stylist. There are far too many casual relationships in this world that may give us the appearance of real success without producing any substantive growth in our character. 

Scared dental selfie before a root canal.

So the good folks at United cancelled my flight from Chicago to South Bend so I find myself in the last seat of a bus. I`m a little unclear if by law I`m required to be that guy that takes his shoes off & talks to himself loudly so that everyone remembers why they hate riding the bus so much.

Sustainable Kidnapping

What Should I Post?

I've got a facebook account, twitter, google+, linkedin and several blogger accounts. So with all that "connectedness", what do I share? If something makes me happy, laugh or inspires me, then I share it. If I write something I think will resonate with others, then I share it. But I try to never sit down and think, "What should I post today? What will get me more followers, more likes, and more attention?". Any time you do that, you just need to step away from the keyboard. There's a good chance you won't be happy with what you produce, and people will know you are just trying too hard. Good content never comes from that desperate search for affirmation. Good art is never the result of simply wanting to be liked. It's letting what's original about you come out at the right time. 

Broken fingertips in soapy water listening to #jazz & #poetry on my mp3 player. I`m happy...

I`m a lumberjack...and I`m OK.

Top lap swimmers for 2013-I was #4!

Deep High Energy House Music Mix by JaBig

Stikyard Drumming Group

Ginger Cat vs. Paper Army

Carlos Andrés Gómez "Thinking of Each Other as Animals"

What is Love?

"And we know what love is, or we think we do, It's a monster truck that barrels over freshly planted soil burying red flags like bugs, not even feeling their sticks snapping in the knobs on its tires." -Stephen Elliot

Charles Bukowski Quote

"I could never accept life as it was, I could never gobble down all its poisons. But there were parts, tenuous magic parts open for the asking."-Charles Bukowski 

From Betting on the Muse

A Good Definition of Feminism

I don't agree with the rough words used 
in the cartoon below, but they represent
the way people speak to women sometimes
so its accurate of the kind of prejudice 
abuse some women suffer. 

Charlie Brown Christmas Flash Mob

Charles Bukowski Quote

I think I need to seperate my cymbals. They keep multiplying when I`m not looking.

"Bluebird" by Charles Bukowski

"I Write Like" Analyzer

I write like
Kurt Vonnegut

I Write Like. Analyze your writing!