Greye Matter

Sometimes, my mind reels with thoughts that stream so quickly I can barely
distinguish one from another; my head fills to overflowing with creative,
philosophical, scientific and trivial ideas. When I sense that "overloaded" feeling
coming on, I've learned that I can sometimes "purge" my brain by writing.

Someone once asked me what I wanted most; my answer was simple--for someone
to understand me. Is that asking too much? I'm not so egotistical to believe that
I am the most complex or unique person drawing breath on this planet. If I am
capable of having these thoughts and feelings, then certainly someone else is also
capable of the same.

We are all wandering around on this plane like the balls on a bumper pool
table--slamming into one obstacle after another, changing direction with each
collision, altering our own paths and, with that, the paths of countless others. I
used to think of this as a bad thing. I used to feel helpless, will-less...as if I had no
say in my own destiny, like I was nothing more than a gamepiece for some
omnipotent celestial being with a wicked sense of humor. I've come to realize
that, even if I am just being propelled around this universal bumper pool table, I
am still in control of one thing: me. I control my center of gravity, my willingness
to move freely or resist, and--probably most importantly--my attitude about being
volleyed about at the whim of the Universe. Sometimes, admittedly, I resent it; I
want to control more than just myself! Other times, I am grateful that I do not
have to decide and plan the rest of my life based on every action I take.

For the most part, I am content to give my will over to That Which Is Greater
Than Myself...to strap myself into this astral roller-coaster, throw my hands in the
air and scream my lungs out as I plunge to the perilous depths and rise to the
agonizing heights of this amazing, thrilling, tedious, arduous, sensuous,
educational, recreational, transformational experience we flippantly and reverently
refer to as LIFE.

Essays, Poetry and stuff....

"Home For Christmas"
An essay of how Christmas found me.

"Ode To Roget"
a tongue-in-cheek ode to the
Master of Synonyms

"Dark Ambrosia"
yet another ode...to my oldest and sweetest love!

"I Have Feet!" (essay)
Some of Life's most important lessons and
opportunities are afforded us in the least likely
ways. A true story. (This piece won "Best of the
Boards" a Toasted-Cheese.com, a literary site.)

"In Reverie and Waking"
(short story)
A spin-off from my novel-in-progress.

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JUST FOR FUN--

some questions about life...

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Am I going to need lipstick for this?

~~Winona Ryder in the movie, "Boys"

Good judgement comes from experience,
and often experience comes from bad judgement.
Rita Mae Brown

The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion
to their commitment to excellence,
regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.
Vincent T. Lombardi

It is the mark of an educated mind
to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle

Wisdom sets bounds even to knowledge.
Friedrich Nietzsche

The greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to do more.
Jonas Salk

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination.
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
Albert Einstein

It is the nature of idea to be communicated:
written, spoken, done. The idea is like grass. It
craves light, likes crowds, thrives on
crossbreeding, grows better for being stepped on.

~~Ursula K. LeGuin
from "The Dispossessed"

Reality
is subordinate
to perception.
David B. Cole, Jr.

Time is the most undefinable yet paradoxical of all things: the
past is gone, the future is not yet come, and the present
becomes the past even as we attempt to define it.
(I don't know who said this originally...I only remember it because there
was a girl on a rival speech/debate team in high school who used it for at
least two years in every competition!!)

Greatness is never appreciated in youth, called pride
in midlife; it is dismissed in old age and
reconsidered in death--because we cannot tolerate
greatness in our midst. We do all we can to destroy
it.
~~Delen, from "Babylon 5"

The only ones for me are the mad ones. The
ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad
to be saved, desirous of everything at the
same time--who never yawn or say a
commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn
like fabulous yellow roman candles, and in
the middle, you see the blue center light go
"pop" and everyone says, "Ahhh."
~~Jack Kerouac

It's more important to know
where you are going than to
get there quickly. Do not
mistake activity for
achievement.
~~Mable Newcomer, British author

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our
deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves: who am I to be brilliant, beautiful,
talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not
serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking, so that
other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is
within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give
other peole permission to do the same. As we are
liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically
liberates others to do the same.

~~Nelson Mandela

You have become masters of your world...but
with mastery comes obligation.

...act not in fear of eternal reward or
punishment. Your reward or punishment is
here--this is your Heaven or Hell.
~~Mary Elizabeth Murphy
from "Virgin"

One night I had a wondrous dream:
One set of footprints there was seen--
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.
And I asked the Lord, "What have we here?
Those prints are large and round and neat,
But, Lord, they are too big for feet."
"My child," He said in somber tone,
"For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait.
You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of faith, you would not know.
So I got tired--I got fed up--
And there I dropped you on your butt!"
So, you see, in life, there comes a time,
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand.

Author Unknown

If you're falling off a cliff,
you might as well try to fly.

Captain John Sheridan,
from "Babylon 5"

Sex without love is like dancing without music.
You can move around a lot, but you just don't feel anything.
Author unknown

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The worst part of success is trying to fnd
someone who is happy for you.
Bette Midler

There are two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle;
the other is as if everything is a miracle.
Albert Einstein

Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum --
"I think that I think, therefore I think that I am."
Ambrose Bierce

Accidents and inspiration
lead you to your destination.
Mary Chapin Carpenter

The meeting of two personalities is like the
contact of two chemical substances;
if there is any reaction, both are transformed.
Carl Gustav Jung

A person is just about as big as the
things that make them angry.
Unknown

A synonym
is a word
you use
when
you can't spell
the word
you first
thought of.

Burt Bacharach

Show me a sane man
and I will cure him for you.
Carl Gustav Jung

A man with a watch knows what time it is.
A man with two watches is never sure.
Unknown

requirements for finding truth, described by Socrates:
"compulsory for warriors because of their orderly ranks and for
philosophers because they have to learn to rise up out of
becoming and grasp being, if they are ever to become rational."