The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both 
And be one traveler, long I stood 
And looked down one as far as I could 
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 

Then took the other, as just as fair, 
And having perhaps the better claim, 
Because it was grassy and wanted wear; 
Though as for that the passing there 
Had worn them really about the same, 

And both that morning equally lay 
In leaves no step had trodden black. 
Oh, I kept the first for another day! 
Yet knowing how way leads on to way, 
I doubted if I should ever come back. 

I shall be telling this with a sigh 
Somewhere ages and ages hence: 
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— 
I took the one less traveled by, 
And that has made all the difference.

~ Robert Frost

Tedeschi Trucks Band: Tiny Desk Concert

Bob Schneider - "The Bringdown" (Official Music Video)

The Good-Morrow

The Good-Morrow

by John Donne

I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I

Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?

But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?

Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den?

’Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be.

If ever any beauty I did see,

Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.

And now good-morrow to our waking souls,

Which watch not one another out of fear;

For love, all love of other sights controls,

And makes one little room an everywhere.

Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,

Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown,

Let us possess one world, each hath one, and is one.

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,

And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;

Where can we find two better hemispheres,

Without sharp north, without declining west?

Whatever dies, was not mixed equally;

If our two loves be one, or, thou and I

Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die.

Beck + Call

House of Mercy

I can hear you knockin' on the door.

In Real Time

A friend expressed to me a wish to deal with the happenings of a relationship in real time as they occur. I've been thinking a lot about that.

Is it a matter of ego to hold on to a perspective to the point of devaluing all other possibilities? Two people can have very different perceptions and still both be correct. Why is it so important to be "right" at the expense of someone else?

I like to think I am reasonable and open-minded. I don't want to miss a thing. Thinking back over time though, I am guilty of turning a blind eye to things in the hope that they would take care of themselves. If I had insisted that Sharylin see a doctor about that mole on her abdomen, would she still be alive today? As extreme as that situation is, I think it's an indicator for me. Something so small gets overlooked and it turns out to be the catalyst for some drastic changes.

How do you recognize the importance of such things? While life tests your limits and people test your boundaries, is it possible to maintain a steady course while considering others?

Is it possible to do it in real time?

Berklee Indian Ensemble ft Shankar Mahadevan - 5 Peace Band

Good morning y'all!



I never appreciated the Shakti records when I picked them up 30 years ago. 
I'll have to dig them out.

How We Chase Dopamine

Using social media to chase dopamine? Maybe.

Disconnecting to Reconnect

I would get tons of sleep if I didn't insist on reading the entire internet every night.

Lately I've been working on accomplishing things that are important but not urgent. You know, that Quadrant 2 stuff that Stephen Covey talks about. It's all those things that allow you to drive the bus, and keep the tail from wagging the dog.

We need a place to come home to, and that place needs to have a door that we can close so that the outside world can't get in to pester us. The constant pressure to stay connected is insane, but I'm slowly learning how to turn my computer and my phone off at night.

In the spirit of putting first things first, for the past few nights I've been deliberately making dinner for my son and I. When I say deliberately, I mean that I make it a priority above everything and everyone else. I also spent the weekend tearing my house apart and cleaning it. I haven't tackled the boxes of papers on my stairs yet, but hey, it's a start.

Your place at home also needs to be free of ghosts. It goes beyond decluttering your home and organizing it. Your home needs to be comfortable for you. Your living space is the last thing you see when you pass out at night, and it's the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning. It sets the theme for the day. You can recite all the positive affirmations in the world, but if you're tripping over stuff on the way to the coffee pot in the morning you are going to question what exactly it is that you're trying to achieve that day. It's a Get Up on the One thing.

Which brings me back to the question: Why am I using screens to distract myself so much? More primarily, what am I avoiding?

Singing with My Fingertips

I've been having music dreams lately. The kind of dreams where I hear the sounds and can look down at my hands playing the notes, singing with my fingertips.

That music is always in my head, and I can't turn it off. I can suppress it with menial day to day tasks, but it invariably bubbles up in the dark, at night, when my eyes are closed.

My relationship with music has always been strained. I hate it. (I love it.) I wish it could have gone differently for me. I'm looking around at all of my dust laden guitars, and I'm wondering how the hell I got to here. I can't stand this place.

I suppose there are some things you never get closure on.

Electricity Lingers in Our Fingers

Magico

This got a ton of play during my formative years

Rain Song - Led Zeppelin