The Sparrow in the Rafters

Having exhausted the pages of yet another notebook, and now on the verge of putting it to rest, I am, as usual, inclined to look back over it and see what made the cut, what didn't, and what might still be fodder for rumination and/or a blog post. Here are some samples chosen at my discretion. Parenthetical phrases shall be used in yet another miserable attempt at clarification and elucidation:


ensconced in reality  (whatever made me think that was a good idea?)

"i do love you thats why i'm leaving" (a keyword entry in my stats a few months ago)

a love poem for Tony Hoaglund (I went through a brief enchantment with this poet earlier this year from which I have since recovered)

Most life is what humans can't see.

Quote by Rilke: "This is the miracle that happens every time to those who really love; the more they give, the more they possess."  (what a bunch of hooey that is)

"The Chrysanthemums," by John Steinbeck ( a short story recommendation from a friend)

"Garanimals." Zac Galifianakis' reply, when asked at the Oscars, "What are you wearing?"

Quote by Goethe: "As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live." (more hooey)

Gary was in love with Shari, Stan was in love with me, I was in love with a man I hadn't met yet, and Shari wasn't in love with anybody. (the start of a short story that should probably never see the light of day, some principal characters still alive and all)

pinochle and smelt (see above).

Dusk was deep, the air electric, the view extraordinary.  (notes on pink lightning)

Humans have a very poor record.

We shouldn't rate ourselves. Let giraffes do the rating.

"Sometimes I still miss being human. My god, it's all so beautiful." (what Jack told me one morning)

Quote by Bill, at PracticingResurrection: "If we buy products made with slave labor, we contribute to the profits of slave masters and we announce that we prefer the stuff they make to the freedom of slaves, who are usually children."

"Nil desperandum." (never despair)

The Odditorium

The Dead Relationship Scrolls (attribution goes to my friend, Diane)

The sheep's in the meadow, the cows are in mourning.

"Cook the potatoes like twenty minutes or so. Well, until they're cooked really." (cooking instructions from "Two Fat Chicks," a great cooking show on the cooking channel - don't judge me)

My mind is like a dog without a master.  (did I steal that from somebody?)

It's gonna get crowded under the bridges.

In 1881 Tolstoy took a walk in the woods and found God.

You're really quiet until someone pushes your on button. (what a friend told me)

bragging rights to who knew what pre-internet

Quote from Walker Evans: "Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. We are not here long."

pasture and back field  (words I love)

a long and tangled friendship (could be anybody)

"Senator, don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining." (I think it's from Hunter S. Thompson, but I'm not certain)

What seems perfect, sooner or later becomes less than.

Quote from Charles Bukowski: "Bad luck for the young poet would be a rich father, an early marriage, an early success or the ability to do anything well."

from the railroad tracks to the ocean

I cannot resist a burning bush.

the I of the storm

Quote of unknown origin: "He vibrates one wing...to make what one assumes is a pleading sort of noise. Females can sing, too...but their brains tell them not to."  (since when?)

Many people are having a hard time getting their eyes adjusted to the light.

dreams as avant garde plays

They create money out of nothing and charge interest on nothing.

Ghosts doing the Orange Dance (I have no idea and neither do you).

Jesus was a quantum physicist.

where meth meets myth  (lottery winner found dead from OD)

a lock of hair on barbed wire

Richard Pryor and Khalil Gibran

"The Encyclopedia of Games, Idiocy, and Disaster" (title for a book on relationships a friend and I agreed could be written by either one of us).

"Never stir the fire with a sword." ~ Pythagoras

"Hear a funky noise, the tightening of the screws." ~ from lyrics to the latest Stones song.

Beer Run at the Old Schoolhouse (a blog post I should write someday).

blackberry blossoms in autumn

"Your relationship software is incompatible." (another quote I must attribute to Diane)

a director for the movie of my life: somewhere between Wes Anderson and Tim Burton.

quote from Leonard on The Big Bang Theory: "Sometimes crazy looks like sad so it sucks you back in."

quote from Cletis Stump: "If you're a character in a Raymond Carver story, don't answer the phone."

At the end of my life, I don't want anyone to say, "She played it safe."  (and neither should you)

no more Cherry Garcia  (upon finding out Ben and Jerry's is a subsidiary of Unilever)

up on the roof as opposed to under the boardwalk

She's so close to the bottom her chin is scraping the rocks. (someone I know who's struggling more than she should be, and no, it's not me).

the sparrow in the rafters




Photograph, "Home Before Dark,"  by Eudora Welty, just because I like it.