bailout smailout

The whole bailout thing seems to be a lot like borrowing from home equity to pay the mortgage but what do I know! For those of you who are ready to jump on the cash-direct-to-you train that you read about in an email, the math is wrong. Check Snopes. I always do.

A Dream Within A Dream

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow—
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand—
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep—while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
but a dream within a dream?
– Edgar A. Poe

Two weeks ago I visited the Poe Museum for the first time, even though I've lived within five minutes of it for 10 years. Ever since then I have a new appreciation for Poe. First to write the detective and mystery novels. Now I see where Terry Pratchett gets his satirical attitude. I thought he invented the humorous footnotes in fiction but it was Poe. What a guy!

Things that make you go AAAAAAAWWWW!

Number one in the cuteness factor contest is a baby. Anything a baby does from lying around with a glassy stare to opening a time bomb is cute. Next, diminuative females and puppies. Why not kittens? I don't know. And what about diminuative males?

Those of a certain age redefine cute in a highly structured and targeted way. Again, where are the corresponding males?

And then there are things that may seem to fit the cuteness definition and yet aren't cute. The diminuative female at the birthday table is bare plain greed training. Not cute!

Do your own search at Jupiter Images. What's cute to you?

t- (therapy) groups, meetups, encounter groups

Now that we've raised our children and we're back to giving ourselves time, all the little groups from the sixties are back. They're older, matured, wiser and more spiritual, yet are still small, intimate groups where we share what is deep in us and experience change and awe. I'm in three of them and I'm reading at least two books related to human potential. I've become adept at sharing a two minute summary of me. I come home with folded papers in my purse. I promise myself I'll look things up on the internet. I add yet another author or book to my ever-increasing list of good things to read that are good for me.

What I discovered tonight is that first and foremost I need to attend to me. One person shared that her joy comes from helping others. My joy comes from healing and shedding pain. Why there should be so much pain and where it comes from, I don't always know. I am learning two paths now. Maybe three. The buddhist way of releasing everything and accepting what is and learning to let feelings and thoughts pass through me. Desires bring suffering. The spiritism way of feeling deeply the emotions that connect me to the universe and cause it to expand. Desires are good and plentiful and should increase. Then, I suppose, the third path is doing good and/or helping others. Tricky that. How does one help? It's not as easy as you might think. Right now I'm content to help privately in little ways. To learn not to be overbearing yet to be assertive when necessary. I'm sticking to my little plot of ground where I can try things out.


Current Fads
Listening. iTunes Party Shuffle of my entire digital music library; others
Watching. Hair (1979)
Activity. breathing
Gadget. Samsung cell phone
News Source. the news feeds in Safari
Reading. Spirit Guides and Angel Guardians - Richard Webster; Ask and It is Given - Esther and Jerry Hicks; Self-Editing for Fiction Writers - Renni Browne & Dave King; Midnight Dreary: The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe - John Evangelist Walsh; Das Wilde Land - Heinz Konsalik u. Susanne Scheibler; Mensa Bulletin (Yes, I really am reading them all right now—I'm a reading addict. What can I say?)