Random quote of the day:

 

“Traditional societies do not distinguish between myth and history in the way we do. Mythical events were not thought to have literally happened; yet in another sense they were true, as if they had….Conversely, historical events are always mythologized (the Trojan war, for example). It is as if what literally happened is less important than what metaphorically happened. But the two are combined to create what ‘really’ happened.”

—Patrick Harpur, The Philosophers’ Secret Fire

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Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

 

 

Random quote of the day:

 

“Strenuous intellectual work and study of God’s nature are the angels that will lead me through all the troubles of this life with consolation, strength, and uncompromising rigor.”

—Albert Einstein, letter to Pauline Winteler, ca. May 1897

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Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

 

Look! Actual content!

I got this meme from sartorias who got it from Should Be Reading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

I’m about 75 pages from finishing Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness and dipping into Help. Thanks. Wow. by Anne Lamott. I’m really enjoying both of them. I know some people poo-poo Harkness, but I’ve enjoyed both of her books. They just draw me in and keep me reading, no mean feat these days. And Anne Lamott manages to be spiritual, hilarious, humanitarian, and egalitarian. I love her.

Before those I read Giving Up the Ghost: A Story About Friendship, 80s Rock, a Lost Scrap of Paper, and What It Means to Be Haunted by Eric Nuzum (back at the end of October), which was a very interesting memoir about a troubled and lost youth finding a way to prevail. I read so slowly these days, what with all that’s going on, that I think I only finished 16 books in 2012. My reading time is very scattered and precious. However, October was something of a banner month. I also finished Delusion in Death by J. D. Robb (my ultimate comfort read author) and Serpent in the Thorns by Jeri Westerson, a medieval noir detective story. I didn’t like this second book as much as I liked the first in her series (Veil of Lies), but well enough that I’ll continue reading them.

What will I read next? Haven’t a clue. Many lovely books await me. I suspect it will all depend on the mood I’m in when I’m finally finished with the current book.

 

Random quote of the day:

 

“Solitude has but one disadvantage, but that is a serious one, it is apt to give one too high an opinion of one’s self. In the world we are sure to be often reminded of every known or supposed defect we may have…”

—Lord Byron, recounted by Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington, Journal of Correspondence and Conversations Between Lord Byron and the Countess of Blessington

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Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

 

 

Random quote of the day:

 

“I find that by the time you have perfected any style of writing, you have always outgrown it.”

—George Orwell, “Why I Write”

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Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

 

 

Random quote of the day: 

 

“If you are really enquiring you cannot start with a conclusion, and all ideologies are a conclusion.”

—J. Krishnamurti, “How To Live In This World,” The Urgency of Change

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Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

18 Dec
So I just downloaded the few pix I had on Instagram and deleted my account. Don’t need no Facebook storm troopers in my life.

19 Dec
Mom’s back in the hospital. She needed a transfusion because she’d gotten so anemic. Things were going too well, I guess. She’s getting taken care of and has good doctors. Hopefully it’s just overnight. We’ll know more by morning. Sometimes I wonder if we’re the beneficiaries or the victims of our medical establishments. Caregiving is a rollercoaster in which you’re always braced for impact.

20 Dec
Mom had her transfusion and is doing better. Later, dialysis and another transfusion. Then hopefully back to rehab. I haven’t talked to her yet this morning, but I’ve talked to the doctor and the nurse.

Some day, if I’m really lucky, I’ll write about all this.

20 Dec
Mom has pneumonia now. Still in the hospital. She had it when she was in the ICU and they gave her antibiotics but apparently no one x-rayed her lungs again. Just dealing with the wonderful world of modern medicine and very old people. Shit happens.

21 Dec
It’s so easy to blame the devil because it’s so hard to blame ourselves.

21 Dec
Predictions of Apocalypse always have the stink of the trickster gods all over them. The trickster gods are there to keep us humble.

21 Dec
Is the day over yet?

22 Dec
Life breaks you open when you least expect it, both good and ill.

26 Dec
I’m celebrating Boxing Day by working where I managed, before 9:30 a.m., to get a plastic knife stuck in the toaster.

27 Dec
Mom out of the hospital and back at rehab on Christmas Eve where her spirits and physical well being are much improved.

27 Dec
Just bought two more tarot decks with my last gift card. Blame it on @FBodStudios whose Bunnies of the Tarot Calendar http://bit.ly/VkgT6G  inspired me. I think I have about ten decks at this point, which is ironic since I don’t have time to do readings anymore. But each deck speaks to me in a different voice and I buy them as art objects as much as anything. I also buy in anticipation of another time, a time I’m in no hurry to get to, but one I know will inevitably have its season.

27 Dec
The Santa Monica mountains were a dark, dark purple and black against the sky this morning. They wore a shawl of rose and white clouds as a backdrop. Just above a slash of brilliant blue sky and above that a bubble roof of altocumulus clouds in dark rose, white, and lavender.

Random quote of the day:

“The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”

—George Eliot, Middlemarch

(Thanks to sartorias for this quote.)

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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

 

Random quote of the day:

 

“Fiction is based on reality unless you’re a fairy-tale artist. You have to get your knowledge of life from somewhere. You have to know the material you’re writing about before you alter it.”

—Hunter S. Thompson, Associated Press interview, November 11, 2003

 fairytale4WP@@@

 

Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

 

Random quote of the day:

 

“The great man is he who has not lost his childlike heart.”

—Mencius (Meng Tzu)

 childlike4WP@@@

 

Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

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