Quote of the Day

"The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once."

Samuel Smiles

I very much need to take this advice right now!

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

Nelson Mandela

Winter Jam

Toby Mac was fabulous at the Winter Jam concert on Thursday!

"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together."

~Vincent Van Gogh

Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours.

~ C. S. Lewis

"There is nothing progressive about being pigheaded and refusing to admit a mistake."

Mere Christianity

*Now* it's natural?

Pizza Hut is now advertising its new pizza, "The Natural":

- All natural pepperoni
- All natural mozzarella cheese
- All natural sauce

What have they been serving up till now? I get that artificial cheese is just oil, not a dairy product. But what's in artificial pepperoni? And what is artificial sauce? Yikes.

"You don't do the right thing because of the consequences. If you're wise, you do it regardless of the consequences."

~Jeannette Rankin

Jasper Clinic research study

It's been 6 weeks since I've posted here...I'm assuming there's no one reading this any more. But I'll post this anyway. I'm spending this week at the Jasper Clinic in Kalamazoo (part of the Bronson hospital system) doing a clinical research study on a migraine medication. No, I don't have migraines...I'm here for the money. Plus it's a nice break from the normal daily stress, if you don't mind needles or rooming with strangers...which I don't.

If you do read this and check out Jasper Clinic and end up doing a study, please tell them I sent you so I can get a bonus. Thanks!

"This is the art of courage: to see things as they are and still believe that the victory lies not with those who avoid the bad, but with those who taste, in living awareness, every drop of the good."

~Victoria Lincoln

"Mere change is not growth. Growth is the synthesis of change and continuity, and where there is no continuity there is no growth."

~ They Asked For a Paper

Some of my favorite verses in Psalms:

Psalm 51: 10-12

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.

Psalm 103: 8-12

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His love for those who fear Him;
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

We will miss you, Jeff

Jeffrey S. Gerwig, aged 40, of Grand Rapids, went to be with the Lord on Sunday, August 17, 2008, after a courageous battle with cancer. He was a loving husband and father. Jeffrey was a graduate of Ravenna High School and Ferris State University and an active member of his church. He was preceded in death by his grandparents, George and Mildred Gerwig; and grandmother, Phyllis McNitt. Surviving are his wife of 15 years, Jennifer; his sons, Bryan and Aaron; parents, Robert and Sally Gerwig; father-in-law and mother-in-law, William and Vickie Wakefield; grandparents, Claude and Ruth McNitt; his brothers, Monte (Amy) Gerwig, Todd (Irene) Gerwig, Rob (Rebekah) Gerwig; brothers-in-law, Shad (Baby) Wakefield, Adam (Suzanne) Wakefield; nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. The Funeral Service will be held 11:00 a.m. Friday, August 22, at Woodview Christian Church, 3785 Woodview S.W., with Rev. Jon Stradner officiating. Interment in McNitt Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be given to an Educational Fund for his sons.

Why?

Jared has recently introduced me to a new musical artist...Why? (specifically the CD "Alopecia"). Not something to which I would normally gravitate but I think my friend, Jack, would enjoy it...especially the poetry of it.

"Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable. How many hours are there in a mile? Is yellow square or round? Probably half the questions we ask - half our great theological and metaphysical problems - are like that."

~ A Grief Observed

"The sacrifice of selfish privacy which is daily demanded of us is daily repaid a hundredfold in the true growth of personality which the life of the body [of Christ] encourages. ...Obedience is the road to freedom, humility the road to pleasure, unity the road to personality."

~ The Weight of Glory

"All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience."

~Johann Wolfgang Goethe

"Welcome, child," He said.
"Aslan," said Lucy, "you're bigger."
''That is because you are older, little one," answered He.
"Not because you are?"
''I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger."

~ Prince Caspian

"But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you've taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man."

The Case For Christianity (C.S. Lewis)

"Now we cannot discover our failure to keep God's law except by trying our very hardest (and then failing). Unless we really try, whatever we say there will always be at the back of our minds the idea that if we try harder next time we shall succeed in being completely good. Thus, in one sense, the road back to God is a road of moral effort, of trying harder and harder.
But in another sense it is not trying that is ever going to bring us home. All this trying leads up to the vital moment at which you turn to God and say,
'You must do this...I can't.'"

Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis)

Press on...

Philippians 3:12-14

"Not that I have obtained all this or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of me.

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

"To look is one thing. To see what you look at is another. To understand what you see is a third. To learn from what you understand is still something else.
But to act on what you learn is all that really matters."

~Bits & Pieces

"Crying is all right in its way while it lasts. But you have to stop sooner or later, and then you still have to decide what to do."

The Silver Chair

"All that is made seems planless to the darkened mind, because there are more plans than he looked for."

Perelandra

"Sometimes what you want to do has to fail so you won't."

~Marguerite Bro

Forgiveness

"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you."

C.S. Lewis on Forgiveness (in The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses)

"Human beings judge one another by the external actions they see. God judges them by their moral choices. Some of us who seem quite nice people may, in fact, have made so little use of a good upbringing that we are really worse than those whom we regard as fiends. "

Mere Christianity

Happy Easter!

"Easter not only happened; it happens. It is not only a past event to be celebrated with new hats and hallelujahs; it is an eternally present fact to be appropriated by faith and obedience."

~Leonard Griffith

"It's the job that's never started that takes longest to finish."

~J. R. R. Tolkien

"I think every one who has some vague belief in God, until he becomes a Christian, has the idea of an exam, or of a bargain in his mind. The first result of real Christianity is to blow that idea into bits."

Mere Christianity

Word of the Day

fallible \FAL-uh-bul\, adjective:

1. Liable to make a mistake.

As in...

"But human beings are fallible. We know we all make mistakes."
-- Robert S. McNamara, "et al.", Argument Without End

Yup...that would be me. Human, through and through.

Brush with greatness

While watching Jeopardy, I learned that Galileo Galilei, the father of observational astronomy and father of modern experimental science, was born on Feb. 15, 1564...exactly 400 years before me. I'm going to consider that a good sign.

"It is a very funny thing that the sleepier you are, the longer you take about getting to bed; especially if you are lucky enough to have a fire in your room."


The Silver Chair

Faith engaging science and technology

(This is a fantastic article. I strongly recommend reading the whole thing, but this is at least a snapshot of what I wanted to share)

A pastoral letter by Rev. John H. Thomas
General Minister and President, United Church of Christ

"When we hear the cosmologists speak of how our
universe seems finely tuned in its fundamental properties
for the possibility of life, defying all the odds by being the
one universe capable of an earth full of living creatures,
we hear echoes of Genesis and of a universe created
with a purpose. Behind it all is a God who seeks our
companionship. Some look at this evidence of cosmic
fine tuning and say that there are many universes and
that of course, we live on the one that has life. Others
see cosmic fine-tuning as a hint that there is some sort of
creator behind it all.

For this reason, the word that we speak to this searching
and restless culture must be informed by science but
grounded deeply in faith. We believe in God, not in some
cosmic force or impersonal designer. We trust in a loving
Creator who is personal and relational, who seeks our
companionship, who comes as Christ incarnate in the
thick of things, and whose life-giving power permeates
the whole cosmos as the creative Spirit, calling us to
lives of gratitude in communities of justice. This great
and bounteous God has created us in the image of God’s
own inexhaustible mystery.

Confident in such unfailing goodness, we know we
can open ourselves and our theology to the momentous
conceptual changes of our times, finding in them new
occasions, new duties, and new language of praise. The
transformations of today’s scientific vision enrich our
faith, and our church honors our members who answer
God’s calling with careers in medicine, science, and
engineering. And we find ourselves strangely compelled
to explore the mysteries of the cosmos and unravel its
secrets, to dream of comprehending the whole, to ponder
its source and destiny and ultimate meaning, and by our
technology to transform nature itself. We are insatiably
curious, and our profound curiosity fuels equally the
venture of science and the quest of faith.

As a result, our universe has expanded and so has our
understanding of God. Our faith has nothing to do with
clinging to ancient misconceptions. Our faith is not in the
worldviews of ancient theologians, as majestic as these might have been. Our faith is in the living God, who always goes ahead of us, speaking, calling, and creating. Gone is the old view of a small, static universe, with fixed species dwelling on a
fixed earth. Gone is the old view of a small, static God.
We believe that God yearns for us to understand nature
more fully and to love it more deeply. God speaks in many
ways and through many voices. Today, one of God’s most
provocative voices is science. We listen and respond,
grateful that our theology is enriched by new ideas."

"Every one of us has in him a continent of undiscovered character.
Blessed is he who acts as the Columbus to his own soul."

~Unknown

(very) sweet 16

Happy Birthday, Laura!

"Snowflakes are some of nature's most fragile things, but just look what happens when they stick together."

~Unknown

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend."

~Melody Beattie

For 2008...

To laugh often and much...
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...
To earn the appreciation of honest critics, endure the betrayal of false friends...
To appreciate beauty...
To find the best in others...
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition...
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived...

this is to have succeeded.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

For 2007...

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Feist

I really love this CD. It's not even mine...Erica's the one who got it for Christmas. Thanks, David, for getting it for her. I'll try to remember to share it with her once in a while.

"... Jill said, 'I bet we sleep well tonight,' for it had been a full day.
Which just shows how little anyone knows what is going to happen to them next."

The Silver Chair

"God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. What matters is the sincerity and perseverance of our will to overcome them."

Mere Christianity

"Peter held the door closed but did not shut it; for, of course, he remembered, as every sensible person does, that you should never shut yourself up in a wardrobe."

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Merry Christmas!

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:10,11

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life."

John 3:16

"We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks incognito. And the incognito is not always had to penetrate. The real labour is to remember, to attend. In fact, to come awake. Still more, to remain awake."

Letters to Malcolm

"It was when I was happiest that I longed most...The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing...to find the place where all the beauty came from."

More quotes from C.S. Lewis


"And that is why all religion is about absence. Because once the gods were there. And that is why all poetry and music strike us with this awful longing for what once was ours--because it begins in regions of the brain where once the gods made themselves heard."

S. Faulkes, Human Tissue, 453.

"I know now God why you utter No Answer. You are yourself the answer. Before your face questions die away."

Till We Have Faces

"The point is that they are one more proof of how deeply, whether we like it or not, we believe in the Law of Nature. If we didn't believe in decent behaviour, why should we be so anxious to make excuses for not having behaved decently?"

More quotes from C.S. Lewis

conscience (noun)

1. the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action

2. the complex of ethical and moral principles that controls or inhibits the actions or thoughts of an individual

3. an inhibiting sense of what is prudent

"Human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and can`t really get rid of it."

More quotes from C.S. Lewis

"I love the empty, silent, dewy, cobwebby hours."

Letters to an American Lady

What makes leaves change color?

In case you wonder (or forgot what we learned in biology class)...here's the simple explanation for the colors of the autumn leaves.

Happy Halloween!

Word of the Day:

ensorcell \en-SOR-suhl\, transitive verb

To enchant; to bewitch.

Stranger Than Fiction

I do so love this movie. Just got to see it again today (not at all like me on a sunny Saturday afternoon...but I couldn't resist). If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. But please understand, this is not at all like Talladega Nights (thank goodness).

Romans 8:38
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God."

Ephesions 3:17-19
"I pray that you...may have power...to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

"Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person`s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained."

The Four Loves (C.S. Lewis)

More on Fargo...

Tried (in vain, I believe) to help a friend understand the merits of the movie Fargo. Tried to illustrate what I see in Margie and Norm and the points the movie makes about greed and the value of the simple things in life. I think I would just have to watch it with her to get her to see what I see. But that's not likely to happen. Oh well.

My Grandma Tuinstra's favorite verse

Micah 6:8
He has shown you, o man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.

"God is not proud...He will have us even though we have shown that we prefer everything else to Him."

"Now is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It won`t last forever. We must take it or leave it."

More quotes from C.S. Lewis

"It seems, then," said Tirian, "that the stable seen from within and the stable seen from without are two different places."

"Yes," said the Lord Digory, "Its inside is bigger than its outside."

"Yes," said Queen Lucy, "In our world too, a stable once had Something inside it that was bigger than our whole world."

The Last Battle

"The pain itself made Puddleglum's head for a moment perfectly clear and he knew exactly what he really thought. There is nothing like a good shock of pain for dissolving certain kinds of magic.

He said, 'All you've been saying is quite right, I shouldn't wonder. I'm a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won't deny any of what you said. But there's one thing to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things - trees, grass, sun, moon and stars and Aslan himself. Then all I can say is, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just making up a game, if you're right. But in playing a game we can make a play-world that licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play-world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can, even if there isn't any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly, we're leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that's small loss if the world's as dull a place as you say.'"

Puddleglum to the Green Witch of Underland in The Silver Chair

Smashmouth - LIVE!

On August 18, after the Nascar Busch series race at the Michigan International Speedway, I got to see Smashmouth in concert! Got within about 15 feet of the stage! The crowd full of racing fans had been partying all day, so by the time of the concert it was an interesting group. For the record, I was *not* one of those going topless. Not sure how many there were true Smashmouth fans (like yours truly). Most seemed to be there because it was free after the race. But for me it was the best part of the day. I just hope Steve and the band could feel the vibe coming from where I was...singing along to every song. :)

I should really qualify this by saying that I thought of this quote while watching "The Sopranos" recently...not by thinking of anyone I know personally. :)

"When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right."

More quotes from C.S. Lewis

A decent sort of horse

"If you really are so humbled as you sounded a minute ago, you must learn to listen to sense. You're not quite the great Horse you had come to think...but as long as you know you're nobody very special, you'll be a very decent sort of Horse, on the whole, and taking one thing with another."

- the Hermit of the Southern March
to Bree (a talking Horse of Narnia)
from "The Horse and His Boy"

One more reason...

...not to get breast implants.

Time to chill

From Sloth Ethic:

"Want a break from the horrors of the news pages? From compulsively checking your rss feeds (monkey press button get treat monkey press button get treat monkey press button...)?"

Slow down. Relax.

"If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning."

More quotes from C.S. Lewis

Comments on atheism...

PZ Myers: "There is no evidence, no explanation, no mysteries which we need to fill with this superman...of the supernatural"

Really? No mysteries at all? There is nothing that exists anywhere that we humans can't completely explain?

"The only truth to which I hold here is that there is no god and no evidence for one. If someone wants to rebut that firm rock to which atheism is anchored, that's the idea they have to address. None do...."

Not so. There have been many who have pointed to evidence of God, many who address that very issue. Since none of us know everything there is to know, those who are atheists simply hold a belief that there is no God...regardless of evidence that might point someone toward belief in God.

"I think there are religious people who are much smarter than I am even now. I do not make the logical fallacy of believing that because people are wrong in one thing, religion, they are therefore wrong in all things; I don't believe that Christians are irreparably stupid or that their gullibility about god translates into some gross systemic defect in their entire ability to reason."

Well, thanks for that at least, Mr. Myers. That's something anyway...and refreshing to hear for a change.

Thought of the Day:

"...That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

- Abraham Lincoln (Gettysburg Address November 19, 1863)

The beginning of a beautiful friendship...

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, `What! You too? I thought I was the only one!`"

More quotes from C.S. Lewis

Imogen Heap

I'm really crazy about my Imogen Heap CD "Speak for Yourself" . In case you were not already aware, she's the former lead singer of the group "Frou Frou." For anyone interested (out of the 4 people who read this blog), my favorite songs are #1, 2, 5, 9 and 11.

Check it out!

Note to self: Courage...one day at a time

"Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, I’ll try again tomorrow."

~Unknown

This one is for Jack...the poet.

"Poetry is a little incarnation, giving body to what had been before invisible and inaudible."

- More quotes from C.S. Lewis

In honor of the National Day of Prayer...

Yet another quote from C. S. Lewis:

"I don't pray because it changes God. I pray because it changes me."

"What seem our worst prayers may really be, in God`s eyes, our best. Those, I mean, which are least supported by devotional feeling. For these may come from a deeper level than feeling. God sometimes seems to speak to us most intimately when He catches us, as it were, off our guard."

- C. S. Lewis

Funny, I was just thinking about Stephen Covey this morning while getting ready for a new week at work...trying to remember, "what *are* those seven habits again?"
(I obviously have a ways to go before I'll be highly effective)...and here was this quote from Covey on the log in page when I got to work:

"Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us."
~Stephen Covey

Philosophically, I don't agree completely with this statement (I wouldn't consider this the ultimate freedom), but it's still something to think about.

How to Take Notes in Meetings

I've been in so many meetings lately, I could use this advice from Sloth Ethic.

"True friends are those who, when you make a fool of yourself, don't believe that this condition is permanent."

~Erwin T. Randall

Bond...James Bond

I've always enjoyed James Bond movies, even when they're a littly silly and seem all about double entendre, chase scenes and gadgets. "Casino Royale" is definitely my favorite James Bond movie...ever. Much more gritty and intriguing, not so campy and cartoonish. Daniel Craig is amazing, and so much more like the Bond in Ian Fleming's books. I've talked to people who gave up on Bond movies after the Sean Connery era. For them I say, this is the "real" James Bond.

Time well spent

"Picarello knows classical music. He is a fan of Joshua Bell but didn't recognize him; he hadn't seen a recent photo, and besides, for most of the time Picarello was pretty far away. But he knew this was not a run-of-the-mill guy out there, performing. On the video, you can see Picarello look around him now and then, almost bewildered.

When Picarello was growing up in New York, he studied violin seriously, intending to be a concert musician. But he gave it up at 18, when he decided he'd never be good enough to make it pay. Life does that to you sometimes. Sometimes, you have to do the prudent thing. So he went into another line of work. He's a supervisor at the U.S. Postal Service. Doesn't play the violin much, anymore.

Does he have regrets about how things worked out?

The postal supervisor considers this.

"No. If you love something but choose not to do it professionally, it's not a waste. Because, you know, you still have it. You have it forever."

- Excerpt from an article in The Washington Post on Joshua Bell playing in a DC train station at rush hour.

"I have no fear of what science will tell us about the universe - since God is definitionally the Creator of such a universe; and the meaning of the universe cannot be in conflict with its Creator. I do not, in other words, see reason as somehow in conflict with faith - since both are reconciled by a Truth that may yet be beyond our understanding."

- Andrew Sullivan (author "The Conservative Soul") from a blogging debate I found through my friend, Jack.

Has anyone seen my pants?

It's really hard to find just the right khaki pants. The color is either too tan or too gray or too greenish. Some are soft cotton but wrinkle too easily. Add some polyester and they're not as comfortable. Khaki can't be expensive, lined or dry-clean-only. And so many come with those weird, unattractive pockets that stick out on the sides.

I finally found the perfect pair of khaki pants. The perfect fit and even the perfect length and style to go with my favorite shoes ever. Only problem is...I can't find them. I've looked everywhere reasonable for pants to be. I've looked places no respectable pair of pants would be kept. It just doesn't make sense. And I'm sure I would remember leaving the house with pants but returning without them.

I have a pretty good memory but, try as I might, I can't remember when I last wore the Perfect pants. If so, I might be able to track what's become of them. Perfect is subjective when it comes to pants, so asking everyone to be on the lookout isn't likely to work. But just in case...please let me know if you find my pants.

Erica's golden birthday

My little Erica just turned 12 on the 12th...her golden birthday. Soon the braces come off and then...look out world! She just keeps getting cuter.
I love you, Munchie!

Miss Laura is 15

This middle child of mine is so beautiful...inside and out.

Happy birthday, Laura! I love you!

Where did I go wrong?
I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

- The Fray

"Life is to be fortified by many friendships. To love and be loved is the greatest happiness of existence."

~ Sydney Smith

18

Jared has now turned 18. I still can't believe it. This birthday of his was tougher for me to face than my own 40th. My little boy...legally considered an "adult." But he will always be my baby.

Through all the ins and outs of this growing up process, I still believe what I've always told you, Jared:
You are fabulous! I love you, Bear.

The persistent plastic bag...

One year ago, a white plastic bag lodged itself in a tree in my backyard...within view of my favorite seat in the living room. I had to look at it all winter (it was too high to get it down) and was happy when the leaves came back and hid it. Well the leaves are now gone, but the bag still remains. It's a bit worse for the wear, but still hanging on. It can't last forever...can it?

"Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives."
- C.S. Lewis

"We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen."

~Paulo Coelho

"Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment."
~Benjamin Franklin

Smashmouth quote...

Line from the Smashmouth song "New Planet"...

We need a new planet
You were a rock but I took you for granite

Just kind of clever and I like it.

"Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You."
~ Dr. Seuss.

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. ... You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

~Eleanor Roosevelt

New spot?

I think I may have found something to replace Bean Tree Bistro (as if that's really possible). Yesterday I tried Camille's Cafe. More of a restaurant than a coffee shop, not enough dessert choices, but they do have a good looking menu...and they have outdoor tables, which are even on the west side of their building (same as Bean Tree) so I can go there in the evening and see the sunset. Of course it's not quite the same, but I'll give it a try.

Farewell Bean Tree

My favorite coffee shop, Bean Tree Bistro, is open for the last day today. No other shop in town has the ambience this one does or tables outside where you can watch the sunset. I went there last night and had many recollections of times spent there with friends and family. Among the fondest were memories of long and varied conversations with my dear Jeanne, who I miss so much. Makes saying goodbye to Bean Tree sort of feel like another goodbye to her. So now I have my memories, my souvenir mug and (thanks to Laura) a plate from the shop showing two friends talking.

More and more lately I'm seeing that things change, children grow up, people leave and life keeps moving on...that's just the way it is.
*sigh*
I know there are good things in change, too...they're just hard to spot sometimes.

It would appear from the looks of this weblog that in the past month I've had nothing to say. For those who know me at all...seems hard to believe, doesn't it?

I still remember these lines from the prologue of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales." Had to learn it in English Lit, with Mrs. Oosterhart - who is still at GHS, I might add. See? It hasn't been *that* long since I was in high school!

Whan that aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;

If none of this makes much sense as you read it, that's because it's in Middle English. Let me know if you'd like me to translate. What got me thinking of this is that the "Word of the Day" on Dictionary.com is virtu.

virtu (vuhr-TOO) noun:
1. love of or taste for fine objects of art.
2. Productions of art (especially fine antiques).
3. Artistic quality.

"You have shown me more wonders than are known in the whole of heaven."

- Out of the Silent Planet
C. S. Lewis

I happened to be talking to a young man about this book yesterday. Haven't read this series in years...but I think I should pick it up again.