God save me from the thoughts men think in the mind alone.
He who sings a lasting song, thinks in marrow bone.
-William Butler Yeats
God save me from the thoughts men think in the mind alone.
He who sings a lasting song, thinks in marrow bone.
-William Butler Yeats
Baby shoes, baby clothes,
Empty cradle, lonely home.
Aching heart, worried mind,
Lonesome feeling, end of the line.
Freeway headlights, pouring rain,
Sinking feeling, aching pain,
Suburb houses all the same,
Nothing more to lose, everything to gain.
Font porch lamp light
My ex and her man,
My kids behind them
And a desperate plan.
Anxious eyes, worried kids,
Back seat silence, State patrol car skids.
So-called justice, so-called court.
Restraining order, last resort.
Baby shoes, baby clothes
Empty cradle, lonely home.
Aching heart, worried mind,
Lonesome feeling, end of the line.
Everything in the world may be endured except continued prosperity.
–Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Posted in National
Planxty Cliff SiJohn
Standing and singing your death song,
Naked, after your squad was surrounded and killed
In the green thickets of Vietnam,
Did you think of the Coeur d’Alene?
Money can buy you the best dog in the world but only love can make his tail wag.
-Kinky Friedman
What I Lost
I lost my dog to the wind.
I lost the reason to be mad.
I lost my baby toys.
–J.B. (age 12)
I’ve tried off and on to learn the game of golf. It isn’t like learning to play ping pong or chess. It is more like learning to pay to be humiliated in nice surroundings. My first golf instructor was a young stud named Greg. Nice guy, big hair, tight pants. My wife liked him right way. He spent most of our first lesson inspecting her ass and then showing her how to hold the club. He even told her to “waggle.” No kidding, just like in the movie Tin Cup. In the process of helping my wife he looked over his shoulder and told me I needed “swing thoughts” to help guide my swing motion. “Think of throwing a bucket of water” he said.
I’ve had a lot of swing thoughts since then. Sometimes I think of swinging and hurling a yo-yo on a string at a midget (excuse me, a Little Person.) Sometimes Greg is the Little Person, sometimes it’s my high school gym teacher.
Here are some of my more printable swing thoughts:
• I bet Tiger doesn’t need swing thoughts
• Is my butt sitting out too far?
• When do I get to the point where I can hit the ball farther than I can throw my club?
• Why is it called a bunker? Is there something there I should know about?
• Why do I need spikes on my shoes? Is there something around here I need to step on?
• Who is that guy with the clipboard at the first tee who reminds me of my high school math teacher? Can I kick his ass?
• How come I can’t hit one of the Canada geese on the course, no matter how close they are or how carefully I aim?
• Why do they call it a fairway? What is so fair about it?
• If I wanted a handicap I’d drop my pants.
• Who are those girls riding around on the snack carts bending over to get your Bud Light and showing off their underwear? Can’t they see I’m trying to golf here?
• Who is the guy who reminds me of my junior high teacher who drives around telling us to play faster? Can I kick his ass too?
• Waggle!
There is no glory so bright but the veil of business can hide it effectually.
–Thoreau
Posted in word play
Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures. Without friends even the most enjoyable pursuits become tedious.
–Thomas Aquinas
Posted in National
It begins and ends with dogs.
My first memory is of hanging onto the collar of a patient yellow lab.
In between come children, first glowing, then gangly, then somewhat surly, then gone for now.
In between come jobs, first with the hands, then with ratiocination, then with anger at death.
In between come deadlines, day camps, bad bosses, the random deaths of friends, school plays, kidney stones, paychecks and endless television.
In between come laughter, singing, if you are lucky — climbing the wild mountains under a blue-black sky, broken bones, day surgery and bridge work on back molars.
You will have regrets. Everyone does.
When sorrow comes, the dogs will be there.
I had a yellow lab, a black dachsund, a brown dachsund, a lovely Bernese with bad hips, and now a fiesty Welch Corgi.
If you feel afraid of something, do it anyway.
Learn to forgive, even me.
Mark Twain
Mark Twain chewed,
bit his cigar,
turning it over in brown-stained fingers,
rolling his billiard ball,
over and over,
hitting the same three rails,
writing Huckleberry Finn.
The essential American soul is isolate, stoic and a killer.
–D.H. Lawrence
Liza Jane (traditional)
Whoopee Liza poor gal
Whoopee Liza Jane
Whoopee Liza poor gal
She died on the train.
Hell and damn the railroad
Hell and damn the train
Hell and damn the railroad
That killed poor Liza Jane
Posted in National
Dear Mr. Biologist,
Why does my dog hump my leg all the time? It can’t be all that satisfying, if you know what I mean. I had him “fixed’ but it didn’t seem to change his behavior.
–Tired and Sore
Dear Sore,
Many dog owners are not aware of the social function of owner leg humping in the canine world. Leg humping serves as a territorial reminder and a signaling behavior. It establishes your dog’s ownership of you as their property and also signals fellow dogs that you are pliable and foolish enough to allow your leg to be humped in public. A pliable and foolish owner is a high status commodity in the dog world and your dog knows it. He will show off your foolishness whenever he can. Notice the approving smiles on the nearby dogs. If this bothers you, you might try reversing the behavior and establish your ownership of your dog in front of his peers before he has a chance to dominate you. Dogs are all about territory, social status and dominance. Your dog will develop a new respect for you (I didn’t think he had it in him! ) and you will have more a peaceful household.
Posted in Living