Favorite Quote This Week

"The difference between the right word and the nearly right word is the same as that between lightning and the lightning bug." - Mark Twain



This is my struggle in writing. I find myself stalled on a page, unable to go on until I can find/think of that perfect word of emotion or description.
It's frustrating, often timeconsuming. So, when I saw this quote, I laughed out loud, and was glad to see my feelings phrased so perfectly into a witty quote.
Thank you Mark Twain.

The Fog

This is what my morning commute looked like. I wish I had thought to capture what the fields around my house looked like. They were smoky, and dark, and ethereal.

I read this once and loved the imagery --- it's by David Whalen....

Fog, coldly defined, is water suspended in air

And while defined so, gives no true definition, and yet

we know fog can defy easy description and,

can tiptoe soft as a kitten....or slither snake-like

from it's lair

To a child, fog's a soft, hidey-place plaything,

droplets of laughter, giggling out of the mist

hiding in nothing, giving seek a new twist..and

letting young imaginations

take wing

To young boys, almost men, fog's a tool to test mettle

in a graveyard, on a dare, all alone

fog and fear become one, and coldly come to settle

chilling young challengers

deep to the bone

To men at sea, fog's a curse and a bane

breaking out of the gloom, looms a tall prow

fog's become predator, a creature profane

bearing down on small boats

like a plow

To young lovers, a warm blanket, a caressing embrace

Soft arms of mist

massage and insist...that

limbs, fog, and lips

interlace

To city dwellers, who walk the streets late at night

Fog is a stalker

pursuing the walker

Waiting to pounce..when no one's

in sight

Ask any ten people, 'what's the odor of fog? ' And...

you'll get different replies, from ten different guys,

from brisk, briny sea smell, to smell of wet dog,

to perfume worn by Neptune, essence of clouds

and blue skies

I think that fog is something and nought.

A wraith of perception

suffused with deception

as easily at home.. in fact

or in thought

 



Favorite Quote This Week

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.

                            -- John Barrymore

Road Rage

Let me start by saying - I do not have road rage.

I have road ANGER.

Big difference.

Yesterday though, I felt the beginnings of a rage.

If any of you readers are from Utah -- you MIGHT know where Springville is, small town, just south of Provo -- REALLY south of Salt Lake City. And my hometown.

Known for it's Hobble Creek Golf Course, mountains, and general artsy-ness.

Well, Springville is one of the major construction areas I pass through on my way home- which means traffic- it also has an INSANE amount of pot holes -- even more traffic--.

For lack of a better term (since I refuse to use bad swear-words on this blog) there was a 'lady' driving on the on ramp near me. And when I say driving. I mean we were creeping along at a speed that did not ever (not even once) exceed speeds higher than 6 MPH.

This LADY was behind me the WHOLE time. Then (after spending a good 27 minutes on the on ramp) there is a sign to MERGE.

Apparently this (B word of a) LADY thought that the merge sign MUST have meant "Please run other drivers off the road and into concrete barriers if possible" because I'll be damned if she didn't try.

I was in front of her, with a good gap between her and the car in front.

I signal.

I begin to merge.

She slams on the gas and leaves a gap no larger than a pack of gum between her and the car in front of her. Meanwhile, said concrete barrier is approaching.

I'm not worried though, because I'm moving all of 3 MPH, I have time.

But she won't let me get in front of her, and then she won't let me get behind her, so WHERE am I supposed to go?

As I'm signaling, trying to get her attention (she's SO doing this on purpose), that stupid concrete barrier is now RIGHT there.

So I layed on my horn and literally almost hit her car. And she finally moved over.

I was SO mad. And wishing I had a big frosty from Wendy's to huck at her passenger side window. Really, I would have done it. I was that mad.

Once I was in front of her, I totally flipped her off.

And I never flip people off.

Ever.

But I feel like flipping her off again.

So, for the record Mrs. Silver Ford Mini SUV - Liscence Plate 750 ULP -- next time I'm not going to be so nice.

MLK Jr. Favorite Quote this Week

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, in honor of that, here is my favorite quote of the week, and my favorite MLK quote I've heard thus far....

“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

THE SWAGGER

I've posted this before, but I really can't get over how funny it is. Please watch 2 times, you can't appreciate the funniness of the dad in here without watching it twice.

Somedays

Somedays I want to stop. Stop thinking, writing, analyzing. I want to be alone in my mind, with it as blank as a new chalkboard. With no one else in it.

I want to close my eyes and just be. To revel in the stillness and solitude. To feel my heart beat and the sunlight on my skin, and feel the peace of just knowing myself.

And other days I want to remember. To remember the smile and the color of a certain set of eyes, to know the feel and scent and power of something. To remember the sound of their laughter or the color of a perfect sunset in its millions of breathtaking shades, the way I once felt, or the tune of that ever-elusive perfect song.

And so I close my eyes and breathe.

And I remember. I remember the stillness, and the color, and the feeling of what the past looks like, if only for a few fleetingly perfect seconds.

And it's enough.

The Spare Oom

I have this picture next to my computer, it’s called the Spare Oom, and I’m sure many of you are familiar with it (Narnia).


I have been writing a lot lately, and I love glancing over and seeing this photo. It’s the moment before everything happens, right before Lucy unlocks the biggest secret she’s ever found, before she goes on her adventure, meets amazing people, and starts to grow into who she is going to be.

Every time I look at it I see something new, the slight swing of her hair, the darkened shadows in the corner, and the way her little foot lifts so hesitantly off the ground. It’s inspiring.

I feel like my writing is becoming my Spare Oom, the place that’s familiar and yet not, where I can delve into the secrets and mysteries, and things I wish could really be. Writing a book is by far the most challenging thing I have ever attempted, but I feel like I’m getting there.