self; means; ends. . . .

"Not being able to govern events, I govern myself."

Michel de Montaigne, essayist (1533-1592)

Interesting thought, that.

The one thing we have a hope of controlling is the one thing we so often neglect, in the vain hope of changing another or of securing a "favorable" outcome through protest, manipulation, shouting, wheedling, argumentation, or sulking. . . .

talking too much - one sentence

Why is it that the person who most needs to realize - "Hey! I talk too much!" - is the last person to recognize that in themselves, even in the course of conversations about other people who are talking too much?

['scuse me as I creep off to consider how this is true in my own life. . . .]

changing seasons - one sentence

No matter how hard I try to keep watch, at the beginning and end of summer I am always surprised to find that - without my having noticed exactly when - the leaves are finally out and that - at the end of summer - the bug sounds have imperceptibly changed from locusts to crickets.

dog days and heat waves

The good news: the temperature has dropped; I have more energy.


The bad news: the temperature has dropped; Luther has many times more energy.


I've stopped counting the bruises on my legs and arms. At least our walk this morning will be pleasant as I won't be fainting from the heat and disgusting from the combination of exercise and hot humidity.

lessons from contractors - one sentence

"You will pay twice as much for any fixture different than the one I [haven't yet] spec'd- because that's an upgrade - and you will receive half as much as credit for the value of the unspecified item that was allegedly specified as the actual value you could ever hope to purchase it for."

Resistance is futile.

sigh.

Beginner Berliner. . . .

Luther likes lavender

Go figure! I was doing this year's lavender harvest and spent almost as much time trying to fend Luther off the lavender as I did stripping the lavender off the stalks.

I finally handed him a couple of spent stalks, and he trotted over to his bed, layed down, and spent a good long time happily chowing down on them.

That's one wierd dog.

Who'd have thought I'd be fighting him for aromatic herbs?!

how wude

"Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength."

Eric Hoffer , philosopher and author
(1902-1983)



Remembering this idea of Hoffer's ought to help me deal not only with the rude "customer service" person, but also with myself, when I find I've drifted into rude waters of impotence.

harmony - one sentence

One day, I'm going to pick what I'd really like instead of what my husband wants and - while he's busy repeating that I should really suit myself because he's so easy to get along with - see how easy he really is to get along with when faced with something like this, say, in the living room.

new music

OK - so maybe not so new, it appears this chick has been around for a while, I've just not heard of her. Anyway, it's been a while since I've been excited about a new song - and this is a really cool song.

If you haven't heard her yet, it's Brandi Carlile, and the song is "The Story". The above is a live version. For the pretty music video version [for which embedding was disabled - so I can't post it here], click here.

a bad business

"A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business."

Henry Ford, industrialist (1863-1947)

Interesting, that. It seems that this is the goal of almost all companies, these days. . . . Talk about "something for nothing"!

questions, questions

Almost all of my one sentences start out as questions:

"Hmmm. . . . why is it that. . . . ?"

. . . that I've edited into trial statements.

hamstrings and pickaxes

Surprisingly, swinging a pickaxe left me - not with sore arms, but - with tight and sore hamstrings.

what were they thinking?

Man.

Parents forget 3-year-old at Airport.

That'll mess you up.

I wonder if there's a law against that?

[I think there should be a law against traveling with 18 suitcases. That's not "traveling" - that's moving.]

random blatherings

The stuff that has been on my mind hardly bears notice. It is not particularly interesting; certainly not compelling; practically boring.

But it's exhausting to me, the one carrying it all around.

Boxes to be packed; number, size, and location of towel racks to determine (and I found a great sale of bathroom fixtures of this sort at Pottery Barn - if you can imagine - and did you know that toilet paper holders ROUTINELY go for $30 and $40 and up?!!); the dog to pee, poop, walk, brush, feed & water; food shopping and prep; colour, type and price of tile in the new bath (ok - $10 a square foot, but we have HOW MANY square feet?!!!); family and friends to try and keep some point of contact with. . . . . laundry; graduation plans; start work in 3 weeks; call the post office before 10 a.m. so you can speak to the mail "delivery person" and negotiate where the mail box will go; arrange for the rental house chimney to be cleaned even though we've never used it; call the builder: "When will you show me carpet samples? I will need more than 10 minutes to decide what I want. No - we've been through this before. You show me what's "in your price" - then I'll decide if I need to go pick something else. . . ."

I'm tired again. . . . time for a nap. . . .

Even Luther is sleeping. Might be a good time to be able to catch a shower.

one more line

Dogs get a whole lot more excited about seeing another dog than people do about seeing other people



P.S. photo above courtesy of Deuce, the dog, [in front, with his back to us] over at Black Dog Diary, whose human has been educating me about the faux pas of 'hotlinking'. . . . My apologies for uneducated transgressions! I'm seriously impressed with dogs' abilities to get even their humans to interact with one another. All in all? A very good thing.

today's one sentence

years from now I probably won't even notice the toilet tissue holders, towel racks or vanity lights I finally ordered today, having lost sleep last night worrying about it all: how many? what kind? what finish? what rubbish. . . .

heat and energy

The higher the temperature goes, the less energy left in me, but also the less left to Luther, puppius indomitabilis.

Perhaps not so bad an exchange.