Ascending into Madness (Todd Snider)

I am finding myself becoming extremely testy (major understatement) and over-sensitive (although the latter has always been an innate characteristic of mine).  If I am not careful, I imagine that everyone in my circle is annoying to me, and can do no right.  Then I take a step back and follow Sarah's advice to Colin:  "10 to a 2, buddy.  10 to a 2.").  I try to sit with something for at least 24 hours before I react (reducing my chances of overreacting).  I am attempting to fine-tune my already hair-trigger filter, before I say and/or do something I can't take back.  I also still believe in boundaries and, just because these are horrifying times doesn't mean we should lower our standards on civility, courtesy, and kindness.  In fact, we all need to be kicking up those qualities so as not to offend, hurt, or overstep.  

Cleaned out the guest room closet yesterday, which has been #1 on my To Do List for entirely too long.  Found the hand weights and the bunny ears, two of my main objectives.  Feeling a great sense of satisfaction and, going back to my previous post of Things You Can Control:  aaaahhhh... :-)

SONG:  Ascending into Madness by Todd Snider (I was actually at this performance!)

BOOK:  Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death by Caitlin Doughty, Dianné Ruz (Illustrator)

POEM:  Dear P. by Victoria Chang

Someone will        love you     many will      love

you         many will brother you   some of these

loves will        bother you   some   will      leave you

one might        haunt   you      hunt you in your

sleep        make you       weep the tearless kind of

weep the         kind of weep   that drowns your

organs     slowly    there are little oars  in your body      

little boats   grab onto them and row and        row

someone will tell you      no       but you won’t   know

he is    right until you have   already        wrung your  

own heart dry    your hands dripping knives    until

you have    already   reached your hands into       his       

body and put them through his        heart     love is


the only thing that       is not    an       argument

QUOTE:  "My belief is in the chaos of the world and that you have to find your peace within the chaos and that you still have to find some sort of mission." ~ Ta-Nehisi Coates

Stress (Jim Infantino)

If You're Aging Well is my personal anthem, the above-mentioned song is my alter-ego rallying cry - I've been told I "thrive on chaos", and I've come to admit that person was entirely correct. I joke that I have two speeds... fast-forward and coma - when I'm busy, I can break the sound barrier, but I take leisure time to a whole new level as well. It's a get-it-done kinda Saturday, as I machete through piles of paperwork, laundry and household chores that have gone unaddressed, due to multiple reasons, for the last two weeks - it feels wonderful to accomplish so much... and I intend to reward myself later with an OnDemand movie, a glass of wine and a jacuzzi soak before crawling between clean sheets and sleeping fairly guilt-free for a change!

P.S. I'm throwing in the Cheryl Wheeler song as a bamboo steamer bonus... :-)
P.P.S. Tomorrow's title/song selection will most definitely be Dave Carter!

SONG(S): Stress by Jim Infantino

Unworthy by Cheryl Wheeler

BOOK: The Art of Imperfection by Veronique Vienne

POEM: by Barbara Crooker ~ In the Middle

of a life that's as complicated as everyone else's,
struggling for balance, juggling time.
The mantle clock that was my grandfather's
has stopped at 9:20; we haven't had time
to get it repaired. The brass pendulum is still,
the chimes don't ring. One day you look out the window,
green summer, the next, and the leaves have already fallen,
and a grey sky lowers the horizon. Our children almost grown,
our parents gone, it happened so fast. Each day, we must learn
again how to love, between morning's quick coffee
and evening's slow return. Steam from a pot of soup rises,
mixing with the yeasty smell of baking bread. Our bodies
twine, and the big black dog pushes his great head between;
his tail is a metronome, 3/4 time. We'll never get there,
Time is always ahead of us, running down the beach, urging
us on faster, faster, but sometimes we take off our watches,
sometimes we lie in the hammock, caught between the mesh
of rope and the net of stars, suspended, tangled up
in love, running out of time.

QUOTE: "I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are eating too much, impulse buying and driving too fast. Are they kidding? That's my idea of a perfect day."