--I STUMBLE OVER AND OVER

…I am back from a trip to Santa Fe where I read with a group of writers on Saturday night and where I ate and laughed and drank and even danced at a karaoke bar with writers.

It was the most fun I’ve had in a long, long time.

There’s something special about being a writer and then spending time with other writers.  It’s like finding kindred spirits, feeling safe, connecting on emotional and artistic levels.

But then you come home, and you’re alone, and all those writers are at their homes spread out across the country and it feels a bit sad and lonely.

The good news is I had my writer’s group last night and it was most excellent.

The good news is I have another reading in three days.

The good news is there’s always good news if you look hard enough.

What do you do when you’re sad?

…There was new music in the mail when I returned:

Joni Mitchell, “Blue”

Damien Rice

Better Than Ezra

Wakey Wakey

Glen Campbell

Boxcutters

New music makes me happy.  Music makes me happy.

I want to be happy.  Doesn’t everyone?

…Here are some things that made me think, one way or another:

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”  Aristotle

“I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.”  Florence Nightingale

“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”  Will Rogers 

“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.”  Stephen Covey

“I’ve always tried to go a step past wherever people expected me to end up.”  Beverly Sills

“Nothing is work unless you’d rather be doing something else.” George Hallas

“On the road of life there are passengers, and there are drivers.” VW Commercial

“In Maine there’s a saying; ‘there’s no point in speaking unless you can improve on silence.’” Edmund Muskie

“Getting an idea should be like sitting down on a pin.  It should make you jump up and do something.” E.L. Simpson

“When I think of a woman, I think of a man.  Then I take away reasoning and accountability.” Jack Nicholson, “What Women Want”

“The reluctance to put away childish things may be the secret of happiness.” D.J.