Complete Blog Archives

You Want Cheese With That Whine?

You Want Cheese With That Whine?

“How canst thou sayest that thou art out of breath when thou hast enough breath to say that thou art out of breath?”–William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet It used to be, whenever I couldn’t get done what I wanted to do, I did these, in order: 1. Get angry. 2. Blame someone or something for …

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Quiet is the Sign of a Convinced Existence

Quiet is the Sign of a Convinced Existence

Two things happened today: I went to Knott’s Berry Farm and met up with my four-year old Godson’s family to celebrate his birthday, and I saw the movie “Two for the Money” on cable TV. At Knott’s, because we were with children, the adults couldn’t go on the fast rides. It was a relatively quiet …

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numb

numb

you taste the day age from ochre to sienna, grinding its color in your mind watching the sun burn to ashes through the wait staring it down, staring it down until it winces from realizing that it has no power to make you yield just as it never had power to grant a yes.

line

line

you breathed life into yourself and carried the footfallen dirt of your third world into this first one knowing that the timbre and reluctant pace of your voice will always be more revealing than the fingerprints you bring on your brown hands, the color that you hide in your pockets, masked in a new heritage …

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Chisel

Chisel

By virtue of birth and circumstance I became an untall, unhandsome unfair-skinned, shy immigrant boy and given a chisel with which I can either while away the rest of my years scratching my predetermined epitaph of quiet reservation or take that chisel and put its sharpest edge to my wit, hone my physical form with …

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Valentine's Day Card

Valentine's Day Card

(One could say this to a person or in front of a mirror and it should equally be valid.) I love you because the universe has seem fit to bring us together, even though we are, separately, already self-contained and complete human beings. I love you because I am not desperate to love you. I …

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Bliss Liner Notes: Listening to Advice

Bliss Liner Notes: Listening to Advice

Additional dissertations on Bliss: You will realize that those who are living healthy lives are usually the ones least likely to give you advice. The healthy need not counsel the healthy. It took me a while to realize this, but it seems that since I was born everybody has been telling me what to do …

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Bliss

Bliss

This is a letter to my newborn self. This is not about what you should do, but what you will do. One day, you will realize that you are happy. Not because you have everything, but because you have abandoned the need to have everything. You will spend all your energy walking your own path, …

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(Not) Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting

(Not) Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting

My spiritual little brother, Rhoderick, called me yesterday and told me that he was starting his own business. Even though he’s taller, stronger and is a harder worker than I am, I get to call him my little brother because he’s younger. Initially I had trouble understanding him because we were both on wireless lines …

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How to Pretend During Christmas

How to Pretend During Christmas

For the last eight years, I have been pretending. To fool my clients and friends into thinking I was philanthropic, in December 1998 I donated one hundred dollars to the Red Cross on behalf of them and all my friends and family, a Christmas present to help whatever crisis the Red Cross was facing at …

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Preemptive Thanksgiving

Preemptive Thanksgiving

Dear God, Thank You for making me lucky. I will give You all the credit if You don’t mind me keeping most of the benefits. Thank You for giving me enough daily activities so that I don’t have time to think too much about those who don’t have as much as I do. Thank You …

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Distinguished Indistinguishables

Distinguished Indistinguishables

My friend asked me to write something political to accompany his illustration. This is the result. … If you are new to the political process and would like to know some distinguishing features of Republicans and Democrats, here’s a primer. First of all, Republicans are strong and Democrats are weak. This is signified by the …

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Reinforcement

Reinforcement

The more unhealthy something is, the more it needs reinforcement. For example, you don’t often see expensive, extravagant commercials for Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, manufacturers that make cars that are dependable, get good mileage, and last a long time. They also don’t offer huge discounts, rebates, or incentives on their cars. They don’t have to. …

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Methodology

Methodology

Just some guidelines that have been working for me lately: I decide what is healthy and unhealthy for me based on my spiritual, psychological and intellectual goals, and what I have observed that works and does not work with other people. Whenever I come across a moment of gray decision, I evaluate it using guidelines …

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Jesus Questions

Jesus Questions

I don’t go to church every Sunday like I used to, but I think about Jesus all the time. He was a carpenter but quit his job to walk around and get philosophically spiritual with everybody, right? I don’t think he made a lot of money, owned a big house or a lot of cattle. …

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The Chemical Why

The Chemical Why

There are people walking around in the world thinking that they know what they know. They think that because they went to school, did their homework then and still do now, they know what they know. They exist with an absolute trust in their existence, perceptions and theories. I am not one of these people. …

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Independence Day

Independence Day

Today I celebrate my mind. My mind used to think and act to please everyone else, frantically panting to the rhythm of everyone else’s approval. Now it stays mostly quiet, constantly evaluating the rightness and health of each incoming moment, listening to none but its own inner voice. My mind used to be anxious and …

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Superhero Movie Quotes

Superhero Movie Quotes

Jonathan Kent, from Superman the Movie: “You can do all these amazing things, and sometimes you think that you will burst wide open unless you can tell someone about it, don’t you? There’s one thing I know for sure, son. And that is, you are here for a reason. I don’t know what it is, …

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