—WELL, HELLO, IS THIS THING ON? IS ANYBODY LISTENIN’?

 

 

…At this stage of the game, it’s all about determining who makes you happy, who makes you feel safe, and who doesn’t do those things.

 

“How do you explain why someone makes you laugh, or feel at ease, or valued, important, distinct, cherished? How do you explain that the simple presence of a person makes the world feel less cold?” Gregory Martin, “Stories for Boys” 

  

…Happy belated birthday, America. I hope it was a good one for you.

 

…The first three things that came up on my newsfeed yesterday:

1.)  Gunman wearing bulletproof vest kills 5 men, injures 2 minors in Philadelphia

2.)  Shooting at Fourth of July festival in Fort Wayne leaves 3 dead, 8 injured

3.)  1 dead, 4 injured after shooting at northeast Indiana block party

 

…Words, words, words.

…As my most manly act of the last decade (or more), other than changing a car battery, I actually chopped down a tree with an axe. Paul Bunyan’s got nothing on me.

 …I guess the lesson is you shouldn’t say it if you don’t really mean it.

 

… I’ve come to realize that I’m susceptible to being gloomy when I play sad songs, which is tricky since all of the best songs are sad ones. But I’ve been playing “Open Happiness” on repeat, so there’s that.

 

…I wonder what you’ll do when your chance rolls around. I wonder why I did what I did.

 

…There’s time enough for anything, if you make it.

 

…After all these years, I’ve still got a lot to learn.

 

…Walt Whitman self-published his classic first book of poems, “Leaves of Grass” in 1855.  Of the 795 copies produced, he didn’t even sell 30 and ended up giving most of them away. Critics of the day had this to say of Whitman’s epic:

--his punctuation is as loose as his morality

--a mass of stupid filth

--natural imbecility

--slimy work

--vile

--intensely vulgar

--absolutely beastly

--an escaped lunatic raving in pitiful delirium

--an explosion in a sewer

One reviewer recommended that Whitman be “whipped in the streets”; another recommended that he "commit suicide.”

 

…Sometimes a heart-felt apology solves everything.

 

…“The surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.” Martin Luther King Jr.

 

…We all have our favorite things. Right at the top of my list would be laughing so hard that it makes you cry.

 

…I can’t cotton to fair-weathered fans, but man, the Mariners make it awfully tough.

 

…“It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly to do so.” I.M. Montgomery

 

…It’s so easy to let your office go to hell. Just take a peek at mine.

 

…I mean, right? “Donald Trump can lay claim to the title of most prodigious liar in the history of the presidency. This challenges commonplace beliefs about the American political system. How could such a deceitful and duplicitous figure win the White House in the first place and then retain the loyalty of so many voters after his endless lies were exposed?” Thomas Edsall

 

…Sometimes there’s nothing you can do to make things right again, but you can always make things more wrong.

 

…I respect a person who admits when they’re wrong. Lord knows I’ve been wrong plenty.

 

…23 going on 24…

 

…The sun is shining again, and today’s a good day to be alive.