Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Strive

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again … who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
– Theodore Roosevelt, 1910

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

P & Q

While sharing experiences, memories are made.  With limited time, how much of it do we devote to doing things and how much do we devote to reminiscing?

When you leave without saying anything, you don't want people to know where you've gone.  So why would you expect them to be where you left them if you left them without letting them know?

The time of reaping and gathering is complete.  The groundwork has been prepared.  It is time to process and distribute.

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Genesis

Creation is dominated by three absolutely different factors:
First, nature, which works upon us by its laws;
second, the artist, who creates a spiritual contact with nature and his materials;
third, the medium of expression through which the artist translates his inner world.

Of these three components only one, the medium, is material.
-Hans Hofmann, 1948

Thursday, December 4, 2014

from the depths

A figure floats in a caped opalescent gown that drips of water and crystals.   As the hand is lifted with a finger that points to me, white drops slowly fall and chimes emit with each movement.

Passersby do just that when there is no common ground.

They swim in the same pool together: When I asked why the relationship was maintained when she loathed the other person so much, she replied "Because I still need stuff from him."

The pressure of many drafts, many versions of drafts for a submittal:  each one pings its arrival in an email and I wonder why googledocs isn't used instead.

The friend is one who stays close, unbidden, during bright and dark times.