I’ve decided to go back to school this summer. I’m taking classes Tuesday and Thursday nights, after work. There goes my hope for a carefree, timeless summer. *SIGH*

But to go to school on a summer morn,
O! it drives all joy away;
Under a cruel eye outworn,
The little ones spend the day
In sighing and dismay.
Poem by William Blake, The Schoolboy

You do not want your resume to say more than you are willing to admit. Such as: My work experience includes being a Night Stalker at WalMart. I am currently on maturity leave.

The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition.
Quotation from Carl Sagan

Most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough money not to quit.
Quotation from George Carlin

Did life turn out the way you thought it would be when you were a kid? What you expected is probably what you got (unless you were unlucky); and if you didn’t expect much, that is also probably what you got. But no matter how well you planned (or didn’t plan), be honest– your life didn’t turn out exactly like you thought it would happen. For better or worse, one thing is certain: There were surprises and exceptions along the way.

Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian.
Quotation from Dennis Wholey

We are always paid for our suspicion by finding what we suspect.
Quotation from Henry David Thoreau

I hear people say we should raise the stakes in Afghanistan. Or we need to raise the stakes in the War on Drugs. But you rarely hear talk of raising the stakes in the war on poverty. Why is that? If we are going to “raise the stakes,” we should do so for jobs, women’s rights, the environment, health care, financial reform and schools.

Drug cartels exploit illegal immigrants by forcing them into economic bondage or prostitution. “Drugs are only sold once,” Rep. Loretta Sanchez, the chairwoman of the House Homeland Security border subcommittee, said in an interview. “But people can be sold over and over. And they use these people over and over until they are too broken to be used anymore.”
Quotation from Josh Meyer, Drug cartels raise the stakes on human smuggling
(The Los Angeles Times)

I want to be free. No responsibilities. Sitting in a cafe drinking kir royale while reading a book, observing life and people between the pages until they become real.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
Quotation from Steve Jobs, Commencement address delivered to Stanford University

I am soon joining the ranks of the unemployed. My department will shut down in six to twelve months and my “separation package” is contingent on my staying to the very end.

Imagine standing atop a train going 120 mph, and the train goes through a tunnel but you do not. You hit the wall above the opening at 120 mph. That’s how fast you will be going at the end of your fall. Yes, it’s discouraging, but proper planning requires that you know the facts. You’re used to seeing things fall more slowly. You’re used to a jump from a swing or a jungle gym, or a fall from a three-story building on TV action news. Those folks are not going 120 mph. They will not bounce. You will bounce. Your body will be found some distance away from the dent you make in the soil (or crack in the concrete).
Quotation from David Carkeet, Unplanned Freefall? Some Survival Tips

“Nun’s Farts” are little dessert pastries that look like cinnamon rolls. These wee confections are also called bourriques de soeurs nuns ‘belly buttons’ or more politely rondelles ‘slices’ or hirondelles ‘swallows.’ Inching a little higher up the obscenity scale, one finds a doughnut-like roll made from leftover home-made bread dough called trous de soeur ‘nun’s holes.’ They are usually eaten with molasses—to sweeten the experience.
Quotation from Bill Casselman, Acadian Food Words & New Origin of the Word Acadia

Everything comes to she who waits.
But that begs the obvious question: Do I really want to have Everything?

Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.
Quotation from A.A. Milne, Pooh’s Little Instruction Book

PHOTO: Jack London’s Palace Hotel for Pigs.

In the Valley of the Moon, there has been laughter among ranchers over the latest achievment of Jack London. He built what the valley dwellers call a “Palace Hotel for Pigs.” The structure is all of concrete, circular in form, with a feedhouse in the center of the ring. “In twelve years, I’ll save the price of the thing in saving of labor, by feeding in the center of the pens,” said London in defense of his scheme.
Quotation from San Francisco Examiner, 1915

Consider donating blood to your local blood bank. It’s life giving. Afterwards, they give you cookies.

She loves blood-red poppies for a garden to walk in.
In a loose white gown she walks
and a new child tugs at cords in her body.
Her head to the west at evening when the dew is creeping,
A shudder of gladness runs in her bones and torsal fiber:
She loves blood-red poppies for a garden to walk in.
Poem by Carl Sandburg, Poppies

apropos of nothing: off the lobby is a sauna
with a crack and my face pressed to it.
the front desk girl is putting drops in the eyes of another guest.
the sauna’s yellow light is burning my shoulder
and i should slip into the courtesy robe, and close my pores.
the bed is already turned down in my room.
but a lady carrying a dog puts down an empty wine glass
and i’m sure her dog is looking at me and licking its nose.
poem i wrote, on my birthday