The Sublime Roundabout

People say that True Love (Always spoken with capital letters, like that... Like it's a proper noun... it's not) Is finding the one person on earth With whom you can spend The rest of eternity And while I like that (It's terribly romantic And I am terribly romantic, myself...) I think it's missing the point True love is being free True love is allowing yourself to love Freely and without reservation True love has more to do with you Yourself Than it does with anyone else True love The truest, purest kind of love Is that which comes from within From that secret, sacred well spring Of hopes and desires From that place that is uniquely YOU And reaches with gossamer tendrils Shimmering, golden, and pure To touch another And then - miracle of miracles! Your golden thread touches The thread of another And your threads resonate and rebound and Pulsate with joy and peace and awe At knowing Truly, really knowing Another person

Roll the bones! came the cry From the crowd around the table Try your luck! Try it out! See what life will give you! So he tossed the dice And the cubes rolled down Across fields of green Tumbling, spinning, bouncing Seven! the barker cried Lucky seven! Who's got seven? Who is the winner? The man looked down And turned from the table For he had placed his money On four.

No night lasts forever No darkness vanquishes the light Though dawn comes slowly The sky becomes bright There is no mind so darkened So full of hate and fear That cannot receive the truth When whispered in heart and ear There is no sin so black So dirty and so vile That cannot be made clean And become as one undefiled The love shines bright Like the noon day sun It reaches us all No matter what we've done His grace and mercy are perfect And attend to those who seek All it takes is reaching out His strength will succor the weak And as we struggle here below Our heads and hearts can be lit With the fire that comes from on high If our hearts and our hands in His fit For all this, His anger is not turned away But His hand is stretched out still.

So it's time I confessed to something: I really like Harry Potter. But it's maybe not for the reason you'd expect. Yes, I like the story line. I like the character development and the way the thread of the story arc traces through all the books. I like the characters themselves, and I like how she makes them real and emotionally engaging. It's not really high brow stuff, but it's clever and well written, and above all - entertaining. A book should always be entertaining. But what I really, really like are the clever allusions to other historical/mythical figures. This is the very warp and weft of the story line, and these inclusions add incredible depth to the quality of the story. Here are a few of the fun things I've noticed: 1. Albus - the name of the Headmaster. Usually referred to as Dumbledore, I find it intriguing that Albus comes from the Latin for white, shining, or lustrous. 2. Sirius - Sirius is the dog star. Sirius Black is the godfather o...

Land stretched below his feet Cliff face, broken and craggy Stands like a solid barrier Hundreds of feet it drops away Stones the size of houses, of buses Tumble like so many pebbles Trapped in time In the scree at the base of the cliff Fantastic, impossible colors Red and orange and purple and white and yellow Rust and watermelon and cotton candy and seashell He sees this all His eyes scintillated The sunlight sparkles on a million Reflective Facets glistening in the sun At the bottom, at the base The land begins again Reaching out in a desert hard pan Alkali flat Sagebrush and Juniper and Pinon On and on The wind whistles in his ears In the dusky predawn light His soul, like the expanse of the land Like the expanse of the sky Leaves his body But remains tethered Like his feet remain on the ground As his spirit soars With the red tailed hawk Circling

They call it gumbo here This soil  Which squishes between your toes Which sticks To the bottom of your shoes In varied thick layers You kick it off your feet As you walk But it comes right back This rich, heavy dirt So fertile And so pungent Like rotting Yet also like living Decomposition And reconstruction You like to feel the clayey soil Sticking to your feet It reminds you of  Your origins And your ultimate destination For from the earth we came And to the earth we go It is good for us to remember As we walk around That we are really Just part of the earth

I like cars. I know, it's kind of unnecessary to say, since I'm an American dude. But I do - I love cars. That being said, I have a bit of a confession - I drive a Kia. And I really, really like it. Like, a lot. I'm a big dude. I'm 6'2" and I weigh 100kg. (I like saying it in kilograms because it makes it sound less, somehow...) ;) Although, when I lose weight, it doesn't sound as dramatic to say I lost 5 kilos... Much more dramatic to say I lost 10 pounds... But I digress. As a big dude, I find the trend towards smaller cars a mixed blessing. I really, really like the increased fuel efficiency and relative zippiness of smaller cars - especially when it comes to short-haul driving, inner-city maneuvering, and parking lot negotiation. Even on a longer road trip, the more fuel efficient car makes much more sense as you save so much money in fuel costs... The problem I have is that I'm long legged. I have a 36" inseam. Which means that my ...