Fire

Do not go gentle into that good night
By Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end

know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

This week an old guy took me aside and mentioned the word "geezer patrol". I was pleased that he wasn't referring to me and may have felt some relief from the "patrol" in just talking to me but then how we see our self may not always be close to how others see us. Actually I think how we see our self has a lot to do with how others see us but the more interesting issue is what is it that old men fear. Dylan Thomas's poem captures it well. The dying of the light. Does the "fire' within us rage and burn and get stronger or is it dying. The light or fire within is the question. The dictionary says that fire is the heat and light energy released during a chemical reaction. Depending on the substances alight, and any impurities within, the color of the flame and the fire's intensity might vary.

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I think that "tears" may be the indicator of heat and fire and even light. Within we "feel strongly" and the heat drives the "tears" outward.

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Things that bring tears

Little Girls

Little Boys

Soft songs

Stories of Love

Loved Ones

Family

The Lord

Flowers

Sky

Mountains

Testimony

Wind

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."

Today's walk with KJ had a little crispness in the air. Enough so to make it comfortable and enough to make some movement of the air noticeable. One of the things I like about running is the "air'. The air made me think of the scripture above. It was an interesting way to show Nicodemus that his own worldly knowledge and experiences was just not enough to understand the things of God. Of course he who told him this probably knew the answers to his questions and all he had to do was believe or just want to believe.

Earth

KJ took this picture and posted it on her blog. The picture is just amazing. The flower is pretty good too. Capturing this image is a talent that helps one stay positive. The other day I was driving behind a car and saw a bumper sticker. It said something about the "Earth" and I at first figured it would be a save the earth type comment and would be more or less political in motive. Anyway I had to speed up a little to really see what it said but it said............"We don't own the Earth, the Earth owns us". As impressed as I was with the thought I don't claim to have it down exactly here today but the thought is pretty significant. When you see a flower like this or look up to the mountains it is pretty clear that the "Earth" indeed is in charge as far as were concerned. I have always been amazed when I fly somewhere and as I look out of the window down at the Earth. It is so much bigger than we often think. Our place on the Earth and in the Universe is pretty small yet we find so much of the real beauty of it all "at our disposal".

A truck, brownie and the morning pages

A few years ago I was reading a book about writing and it offered some advice that in a way this blog has sort of been the application of for me. The advice was to write everyday and to write for a while about "nothing". Nothing really is better described as just writing about whatever crosses your mind. The book called that process writing ones "morning pages". No suggestion was made that anyone but the writer would actually read the morning pages and that could be just as true for this blog. I have thought about printing out my blog pages and saving them in a small book since they do capture a lot of favorites, memories and "stuff".

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Looking back at the week things that stand out are:

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1. At work we added a "new brownie" to the menu. We needed a professional picture of the brownie quick. The project was given to KJ who, when I got home, took the shot.

2. I ran mid week 6 miles with a friend not having run at 5 AM midweek since we left the "cove"

3. Our home was taken off the market this week. No sign out front.

4. I played 18 rounds of Golf on Friday, something I haven't done in a few years.

5. Unpacked some of my "clutter" for my office making the office more like it was and what was missed for too many months.

North to Alaska, at least that is where the pictures were shot.

The flowers I posted yesterday came from an email a friend sent. Today another friend sent a email with a bunch of attachments and many of them were "bears". He used to live in Alaska and they went back to see the grandkids, ect., and he took a lot of "bear" pictures. Yes I did in fact send him an email asking how he could justify so many bear pictures and so few grandkid pictures? Wonder what his answer will be. Looks like a fine fine stream to be in, if of course the bear wasn't there.

Nice backdrop, great flowers

Is it possible that the "dirt" is as much of what makes this a great picture as the flowers? I recall times many years ago when I often saw these type of flowers on the side of a hill or in a field alone with sagebrush. That raises another question as to whether it is the memories that make the dirt and the flower so interesting?
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Growing up I lived by a river. The backyard was just dirt and these flowers found places to spring up. Across the river was a small park with many flowers and they had a place there also. I recall them on our Grandparents farm near the fences and in a country cemetery. Most of those places found the flowers growing in dirt more or less, alone.
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A picture can bring much more than what is first seen.

Good Movies...........................

One of the Best

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Writing about

movies that we like is pretty easy to do. It is especially easy if all you have to do is list the ones you like the best. I liked, Mamma Mia, Dances with Wolves, Peggy Sue Got Married, Somewhere in Time, 2001 a Space Odyssey, and a lot of others. As far as "the others" are concerned. Here ya go.................

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Apocalypse Now

(Back to the Future

Beetle Juice

Blues Brothers

Braveheart

Die Hard

Dumb & Dumber

Elephant Man

Escape from Alcatraz

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Few Good Men

Finding Nemo

Finding Neverland

Fish Called Wanda

Forrest Gump*

Fugitive

Gandhi

Ghost Busters

Good Morning, Vietnam

The (1985)Green Mile

Groundhog Day

Hamlet

Little Shop of Horrors

Mad Max

Matchstick Men

Matrix,

Million Dollar Baby

Monsters, Inc.

Once Upon a Time in America

Pirates of the Caribbean, all of them

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Platoon

Raging Bull

Raising Arizona

Romancing the Stone

Schindler’s List

Shawshank Redemption

Sixth Sense

Stand by Me

Star Wars all of them

Terminator all of them

Toy Story

Transformers:

Walk the Line

Wall Street

WarGames

When Harry Met Sally

professional skills of value are present in selling

Good writing is probably a little like salesmanship.
Selling is often thought of as a poor way to make a living or a less than polished approach to being part of society. I would disagree with that idea and suggest that being able to really sell something takes a great deal of skill. Selling in my opinion requires many skills and a great deal of thought and effort. First off I would reject the idea that we really every cause someone else to buy something they don't want or need and the idea of a "pushy" salesman tricking the buyer into something they don't want is "not salesmanship" and in fact is not really selling. The first question a seller needs to ask is what is it that the buyer wants or needs. This question requires often "asking" and always listening. If you know how to listen the question of how to sell answers itself. A customer or buyer or whomever you are talking to will tell you what they want or need if you ask the right questions. Nothing wrong with "what is it that you want?" as a question but often you have to go a lot deeper and various ways of asking "why" will open up those doors. So what if the person you are working with wants or needs something that you have no way of providing? Really finding out what a customer, buyer or person might really want takes a lot of listening. The process probably has a payoff in and of itself for both parties. Most people want to be understood. Honest feedback can be valued as much as if the actually need were filled. Or an honest answer that you have "no clue" as to how to provide what is needed by iteself can be fine. Also there is nothing wrong with suggesting where and how the need may be filled by someone else.
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Good writing fills a need for the reader. Selling can fill real for a buyer customer if the right approach and work is done in the process. A big difference in writing and selling for me is where the "voice" for the next step in the process comes from. In selling it is all about listening. In writing I listen but can't find the customer. I just hear my own voice and I guess I haven't really listened as of yet.
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Did someone say something?

We feed our thinking with our own choices

The name Lobo means wolf and the origin of the name is Spanish. Then again it has a lot to do with the University of New Mexico. When the Lobo's come to town it usually means one of the sports teams have landed.

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On my desk I have a picture of a "wolf" (No lobo pictures, except on this blog) with the words "feed the good wolf" on it. "Way back when"...................... I posted a story about "the good wolf and the bad wolf" inside each of us. The point was that the one that took control was the one that was fed. This all reminds me of a book I opened up yesterday that had a chapter titled "Zeal without Knowledge". It focused on the idea that we create ourself with each thought that we let go through our heads. Each of us has little choice but to "keep thinking" and the way our minds work is to move from one individual thought to another. The mind works with and focuses on whatever it is fed. Each choice of a thought expresses a preference and builds up the world we individually occupy. The conclusion of the chapter is that we create ourself. It also says that we can go a little overboard. Once we accept that we can "create ourself" we can become so focused on the process that the process itself is the overall goal. We become zealous in our foucs. Gaining real and lasting knowledge probably is a matter of choice rather than just a zealous desire. One can't hurry up and get smart, even if one chooses too........................ya think?

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