Remembering Ray Bradbury

I've been thinking of Ray Bradbury since his passing - well, actually since the day before his passing and feeling inspired to write my first 'Dandelion Wine' summer count of the season - a gratitude habit I've gotten into since reading his novel of the same name a couple summers ago. Today I remembered I'd written a piece about him on my blog a couple years ago. Being the week of his leaving us, I decided to post it - if only to remind myself.

Expect the unexpected.

Thank you, Ray Bradbury and Mr. Electro.
click on link: http://tizitl.blogspot.com/search?q=ray+bradbury

Dandelion Wine Summer Count

June 3rd - first fireflies
courting the light in darkness
beneath the full moon

luminescent sparks
an old man counts his summers
fireflies flashing by

God is God

Foolishness

Here's to Now - by Ugly Cassanova / Modest Mouse

Here's to now
Here's to now

Actually, I was thinking
Said everything out loud
'Cause apricot seeds carry arsenic
That we don't worry about

Sitting on your doorstep
Waiting for you to come home or come out
Well apple seeds have cyanide
That we don't care about

So here's to now
Here's to now

Buildings built sturdy
Rolled up and every time
And as bees get aged and the bellies get to sag
Well the people fall right out

Pride is really falling
I'm proud that I'm not proud
And as the people get aged and the bellies get sagged
Well their instincts all fall out

Here's to now
Here's to now

Here's to now
Here's to now

The bus boy's younger brother
When he drinks he talks too much
He seemed normal to me
But at quarter to three
Well I could see he was a little bit touched

Actually, I was thinking
Said everything out loud
'Cause apricot seeds carry arsenic
That we don't care about

Here's to now
Here's to now

Here's to now
Here's to now

Actually, I was thinking
Said everything out loud
Well actually I was thinking
So here's to right now
Here's to right now

Here's to now
Here's to now

 

Urban Rain Meditation

"The First Man in the World to Crawl Up Kilimanjaro"

Frustrated ever? Obstacles to navigate? What seems like a looming mountain ahead? Come meet Kyle Maynard - a 25 yr old hero of mine.

Funambulism Over Niagara

 

Reminder

Keep it in perspective. 

Don't look down. 

Keep your sight immediately in front of you. 

Trust your feet.

Keep on friendly terms with gravity. 

La Belle et la Bete

The final ecstatic scene from Jean Cocteau's 1946 La Belle et la Bete [Beauty and the Beast] along with the Philip Glass opera of the same.

Message from Uncle Walt

"I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul, 
The pleasures of heaven are with me and the pains of hell are with me, 
The first I graft and increase upon myself, the latter I translate into a new tongue." 

                                   ~ Walt Whitman - Song of Myself

Overwhelmed?

"Wisdom is knowing what to ignore."

Odd Elegy - Dhafar Youssef Quartet

Oud. Joy. Transcendence. Magic.

Old Man River

From the brave and great Paul Robeson; the lyrics changed as he got older and the world around him, too. This was among his last concerts in Europe after his 10 yr fight for his right to freely travel was returned to him by the US Supreme Court. Anyone as hated and feared as he was has got to be worth looking into, eh?

A chill ran up me when I heard him singing these last lines:

"But I keeps laughin'
instead of cryin' -
I must keep fightin'
until I'm dyin' -
And Old Man River
He'll just keep rollin' along."

New Year's Day 2012

Paying Attention

"Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration's shove or society's kiss on the forehead. Pay attention. It's all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager."
         - Susan Sontag




[photo of a sundog, seen by paying attention and looking up]

Sweet Release

Sidewalk Scratchings

Frida

Old Goats

'Zombieland' - T-Bone Burnett

Accentuate the positive

Destroy all the negatives

We're gonna stomp that devil beat in zombieland