Embracing the Future

"There are sounds to seasons. There are sounds to places, and there are sounds to every time in one's life." -Alison Wyrley Birch

Have you heard snippets about the debts of Iraq and whether or not nations who loaned money to Saddam should forgive those debts? It's an interesting concept that harkens back to 1927, when Alexander Sack developed the idea of Odious Debts: "If a despotic power incurs a debt not for the needs or in the interest of the State, but to strengthen its despotic regime, to repress the population that fights against it, etc., this debt is odious for the population of all the State."

The idea is that lenders might be less inclined to lend money and arms to despots if there was a chance that their actions would become public. There is a movement interested in opening up the process- openly discussing and evaluating all of Iraq's debts to determine if they were incurred for legitimate things for its citizens (food, medicine, infrastructure, etc.) or if funds assisted in oppressing its citizens (arms) or simply enriched Saddam (palaces). The idea is to see who was giving money for what, and to see which debts stand in the light of day... legitimate debts would be repaid.

"What do you do when you know that you know that you know that you're wrong. You got to face the music, you got to listen to the cosmos song",- Sun Ra

Ichiro sets new mark: Third-inning single breaks 84-year-old record!
"It's the highlight of my career." Ichiro said after the game. That's saying something, since Ichiro set the Japanese record for season hits in 1994 with 210. Ichiro now holds the record in two countries. My oh my...

Click on the Ichiro picture to link to Mariner site...


"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."- Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) (attributed)

So, things are coming together, the anxiety is settling a bit... the flowers are ordered, the marriage license is ready, cake is arranged, ice cream has already been procurred, and the honor of Rev. Will's assistance is promised. Friends want to know what the dress looks like- click on the wedding band at left, it links to pictures. Thank you everyone for well wishes, thanks.

Marriage should be a duet- when one sings, the other claps.- Joe Murray

People are interesting and I am lucky to be able to peer into others' lives as part of my job...

Recently I met a longer-haired, bearded fellow who, even though only in his early 60s, had a stroke that left him with some physical disabilities. He was a simple man who had worked as a carpenter. He told me how he enjoyed going to a day program, how he admired people who work as caregivers- how difficult it must be for them to watch their clients decline and die. He also talked about how he enjoyed watching the joy on the face of a lady who came to the program, how she just lit up when she won a stuffed animal for her BINGO prize ("old people and Bingo, it's true"). He said that he had remarked to her about how much she liked her stuffed animals and that it had saddened him when she said that her caregivers had told her that stuffed animals were for children.

One day the lady had asked for a book from the bookshelf and was told that the books were from the library, so could not be taken home. He gave her a book he was reading and she was thrilled- "I had read the introduction and the first couple of chapters and already knew the story...". He said it was a book about "The Greatest Generation" written by some TV guy. "Tom Brokaw?" "Yes." He expained that he had read the introduction, which was a brief biography of Tom, and then read a couple of chapters about men from the WWII generation- "They were all men like himself, he was just patting himself on the back. The 'Greatest Generation' my foot." he said disgustedly. He told me that he was proud of his own adult children, how they had stepped up to the plate to help him with his new disability, and he wondered if every generation had something great to offer the world, if maybe his childrens' generation would be the greatest yet, would help this world with its problems, would help this world that seemed to have lost... he trailed off. "It's way?" "Yes", his clear blue eyes widened slightly, "Yes". His analysis of this book was different from any other that I have come across.

As I went to leave his room I noticed a bumper sticker on the back of his wheelchair that said "Regime Change 2004". "So you're looking for a regime change?" I asked. "Oh, yeah", he replied, with much less enthusiasm than I had expected. "You know, my dad was a union member, Irish, working class man- a Democrat all the way. We grow up and think we are wise, think we have figured things out for ourselves, but yet, after all, we tend to think just like we were taught by our parents."

I also recently met an eloquent speaker, 94 years old and going strong. He had a lot to say, but only one thing did I write down to keep for myself: "Everyone is something, and together we are everything". It reminded me of the line in the movie "Contact" that I have written about before on my pages, and that I now can't seem to find, but it says something about, having encountered beings from all over the universe, discovering that, after all, all we really have is each other.

"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us."- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Reprinted from: Cindysworld May 2002...

We don't love qualities.
We love a person;
sometimes by reason of their defects
as well as their qualities.
-Jacques Maritain

Connection to other human beings, as well as a deep connection to your self, is the main joy of being alive. Stopping to remember this as we go about the tasks of living is something we often forget to do. Put it on your calendar, or whatever you do to remind yourself: "don't forget to be alive today".

And so, as we remember to connect, also remember that everyone else is just like you- flawed and imperfect. Reach out and connect to the imperfect beings here with you, they will almost always return what you give tenfold...




And so, a "Reminder to Connect" at right:
"Perfect" Women, Waiting for the "Perfect" Man...








"What we do together is not as important as that we are together."- John-Roger and Peter McWilliams

Rodney Dangerfield, a funny man, passes... A few samples of the comedian in his element:

The picture of the album cover at right links to Amazon and some Dangerfield products, Rodney's picture at left links to his site- check it out.


"Life is a long lesson in humility."- Sir James M. Barrie

The transportation van picks us up to take us to the station at 4PM tomorrow, Monday October 11th- off on yet another adventure. We ride Amtrak in our sleeper car for 2 days and end up in Battle Creek, Michigan late on Wednesday. It will be good for the two of us anxious-bodies to relax and take in the autumn colors. The ceremony and open house are on Sunday the 17th, our mothers' birthday. My family has worked to make things nice for us, and it is so. I have yet to figure out this thing called life, but I do know that these are good days.

"Be glad of life because it gives you a chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at stars."- Henry Van Dyke

There is no hope of joy except in human relations.- Antoine de Saint Exupery

Gm 1: NYY 10, BOS 7 Gm 2: NYY 3, BOS 1 Gm 3: NYY 19, BOS 8 Gm 4: BOS 6, NYY 4 Gm 5: BOS 5, NYY 4 Gm 6: BOS 4, NYY 2 Gm 7: BOS 10, NYY 3

I have not kept up with the sports world like I used to, but Jay always lets me know when the Yankees get beaten- not that he is a sports fan himself but he knows that I enjoy the losses of that team. The Yankees were the spoilers several times for the Mariners, thus the source of some of my unkind feelings, and they also have been a rich team that has bought its way to many wins- certainly not the underdog I tend to root for. It is nice to see the underdog prevail...

We come and go just like ripples in a stream.- John V. Politis

Kira flew to Michigan whilst Jay and I traversed by train. She brought her new miniature greyhound named Bambi (4 months old) that she already has well-trained.

Kira stood up with us in the wedding ceremony and Bambi wore the wedding garter... It was wonderful to have Kira with us- she is a beautiful young woman.


The happiest people are those who think the most interesting thoughts. Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures, good company, good conversation, are the happiest people in the world. And they are not only happy in themselves, they are the cause of happiness in others.- William Lyon Phelps

I returned to work today and learned that my supervisor's brother had died. I am not sure how old he was, but Linda is a year younger than me. Her brother was a doctor and struggled this year with what had been diagnosed as MS. It is a close family; Linda said his daughters were handling things well. Yes, I am sure he was a good man and has left a beautiful family as part of his legacy, part of himself and his life.

Grappler tells me that he himself was in the hospital not once but twice this last summer- once with pneumonia and once with dehydration. Additionally, apparently three tests came back positive for cancer, but all have now been determined to be "false positives". Maybe it was like standing at the edge of the world and looking over the side, viewing eternity, then feeling a little push towards the edge, followed quickly, or not so quickly, by the feeling of being pulled back, and a voice saying that the party was not over after all, that your ride was nowhere to be seen.

The mid-point of life; a time of losing parents, family, friends- and maybe even self. Another adventure in the series of adventures. Another lesson to learn. Another opportunity to grow. Life hands us these things and we get to choose what we do with them, how we incorporate them into our self and make them part of us. Choose gentleness, choose love, choose wisdom. They all lead to more of the same, just as hardness, hatred and anger do. Keep the faith.

I used to trouble about what life was for -- now being alive seems sufficient reason.- Joanna Field

The last entry of this busy, busy month that has heralded in our future.

Halloween Day, and I have compiled the pictures that we took in Michigan in the days before our wedding- you can view them by clicking on either of these Halloween joke pictures gleaned from some email received of late...

We are settling back into "normal" life, figuring out that we are still the same even though "we" have changed.

... in thy book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me when as yet there was none of them.- Ps. 139:16

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Sound: Click on the Lips Featuring: Diana Krall, "Case of You"

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