“The only reason I have lived so long is that I let go of my past. Shut the door on grief on regret on remorse.”
Lucia Berlin (1936 – 2004)
More about Lucia Berlin: https://www.vice.com/en/article/saint-lucia-a-roundtable-on-writer-lucia-berlin-0817/
I came across a small box of these “Puzzler Gag Cards” and decided to fit them into this blog from time to time.
Once a month I highlight a piece of art I have created and posted on my Fine Art America site. This one is titled “Within” from the Frottage Art Collection.
Encounters: My wife and I were walking across a parking lot recently when an old man approached us from the opposite direction. We both slowed down as he turned to the nearest car and began to get in it. He moved so slow and wobbly that I wondered if he needed help and I moved closer in case he did. He finally made it into the car and shut the door. “You know why Smokey the Bear never had kids,” he asked us through his open car window. We smiled and shook our heads no. “Because every time Mrs. Bear got hot, Smokey would throw sand on her.”
Read: This Man Kept a Meticulous List of All 3,599 Books He’d Read Since 1962. I started a list around five years ago of movies and shows I have watched, as well as a list of books I have read. My dad did the same.
Observed: For years there was a dusty, untouched booth in a flea market mall we used to frequent that sold nothing, as best we could tell. The owner was just paying rent to store her junk.
Website: What Dan Read
Recipe: If you have some extra cucumbers from your garden you could try this recipe for homemade pickles.
Broken Arrow
By Robbie Robertson
Who else is gonna bring you a broken arrow
Who else is gonna bring you a bottle of rain
There he goes, moving across the water (that’s right)
There he goes, turning my whole world around
Do you feel what I feel
Can we make that so it’s part of the deal
I gotta hold you in these arms of steel
Lay your heart on the line…this time
I wanna breathe when you breathe
When you whisper like that hot summer breeze
Count the beads of sweat that cover me
Didn’t you show me a sign, this time
Who else is gonna bring you a broken arrow
Who else is gonna bring you a bottle of rain
There he goes, moving across the water
There he goes, turning my whole world around
Can you see what I see
Can you cut behind the mystery
I will meet you by the witness tree
Leave the whole world behind
I want to come when you call
And I’ll get to you if I have to crawl
They can’t hold me with these iron walls
We’ve got mountains to climb
Who else is gonna bring you a broken arrow
Who else is gonna bring you a bottle of rain
There he goes, moving across the water (that’s right)
There he goes, turning my whole world around
Turning my whole world around
Turning my whole world around
Turning my whole world around
I usually shy away from cussing in this blog, but this quote from Arnold resonates with me and I think it should be read intact, as spoken:
Q: You seem pretty Zen now. So what gets under your skin?
A: We all know the rules of life: Hardship and struggle makes you stronger. So I always look forward to discomfort. Why do I go skiing in Aspen for three days in high altitude that wipes you out? Because it’s tough to do, especially at my age. Everyone is talking about their feelings. That’s OK if that’s how you want to occupy yourself. How I feel is irrelevant. I don’t give a fuck how I feel. What I care about is: What can I do to make it better? Sometimes I get out of bed and feel shitty. But I get on a bike or go feed the animals and suddenly I feel great. This country was not built by people feeling good. This country was built by people working their asses off. We have to work our ass off and stop worrying about feelings. Just swallow it. If you feel shitty, don’t think, just do things.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
I came across a small box of these “Puzzler Gag Cards” and decided to fit them into this blog from time to time.
Once a month I highlight a piece of art I have created and posted on my Fine Art America site. This one is titled “Shadows and Shells” from the Scan Art Collection.
Monument In Green
By Big Head Todd and the Monsters
Well I rode the green across this country
Horses lived and died to take me
Men I killed to help me get there, further West I died to take me
Blackened face and dirty laundry. Many days since I have eaten
Found myself a family. Broke my back so I could feed them
High in the wind. Standing in the sun
We’re going to raise up the heavens
With a shovel and a gun
I was so much younger then. I would never ever listen
I am so much older now. I thought that things would end up different
Farewell, lover in green
Well, Elizabeth she is my lady
Says the prayers and does the learning
Waking up all the children
Making love in early morning
We took to building up the cities
We built the churches in our cities
Happy in the green country
And in the green they buried me
High in the wind. Standing in the sun
We’re going to raise up the heavens
With a shovel and a gun
I was so much younger then. I would never ever listen
I am so much older now. I thought that things would end up different
Farewell, lover in green
Oh, she sang hills (?) and made me cry
Oh, she died so tender when I held you in the night
Well, I’m dead now
My wife Elizabeth is at my side
I have children all around me
I have grandchildren
I have great grandchildren
I have great great great grandchildren
Too many for me to remember
Maybe one of them is you…
High in the wind. Standing in the sun
You’re going to raise up the heavens
With a shovel and a gun
You’re high in the wind. Standing in the sun
You’re going to raise up the heavens
With a shovel and a gun
I was so much younger then. I would never ever listen
I am so much older now. I thought that things would end up different
Farewell, lover in
Farewell, lover in
Farewell, lover in green
https://genius.com/Big-head-todd-and-the-monsters-monument-in-green-lyrics
Off The Back Porch 