All My Time Is For Dreaming

A collection of interestingness, the occasional essay, and a dream or two.

[dreamingisall]

A lovely letter from Margaret Mitchell's mother, written on her deathbed

January 23, 1919 Dear Margaret, I have been thinking of you all day long. Yesterday you received a letter saying I am sick. I expect your father drew the situation with a strong hand and dark colors and I hope I am not as sick as he thought. I have pneumonia in one lung and were it not for flu complications, I would have had more than a fair chance of recovery. But Mrs. Riley had pneumonia in both lungs and is now well and strong. We shall hope for the best but remember, dear, that if I go now it is the best time for me to go. I should have liked a few more years of life, but if I had had those it may have been that I should have lived too long. Waste no sympathy on me. However little it seems to you I got out of life, I have held in my hands all that the world can give. I have had a happy childhood and married the man I wanted. I had children who loved me, as I have loved them. I have been able to give what will put them on the high road to mental, moral, and perhaps financial success, were I going to give them nothing else. I expect to see you again, but if I do not I must warn you of one mistake a woman of your temperament might fall into. Give of yourself with both hands and overflowing heart, but give only the excess after you have lived your own life. This is badly put. What I mean is that your life and energies belong first to yourself, your husband and your children. Anything left over after you have served these, give and give generously, but be sure there is no stinting of attention at home. Your father loves you dearly, but do not let the thought of being with him keep you from marrying if you wish to do so. He has lived his life; live yours as best you can. Both of my children have loved me so much that there is no need to dwell on it. You have done all you can for me and have given me the greatest love that children can give to parents. Care for your father when he is old, as I cared for my mother. But never let his or anyone else's life interfere with your real life. Goodbye, darling, and if you see me no more then it may be best that you remember me as I was in New York. Your Loving Mother

[dreamingisall]

Greetings from Seneca to Lucilius Continue to act thus, my dear Lucilius—set yourself free for your own sake; gather and save your time, which til lately has been forced from you, or filched away, or has merely slipped from your hands. Make yourself believe the truth of my words—that certain moments are torn from us, that some are gently removed, and that others glide beyond our reach. The most disgraceful kind of loss, however, is that due to carelessness. Furthermore, if you will pay close heed to the problem, you will find that the largest portion of our life passes while we are doing ill, a goodly share while we are doing nothing, and the whole while we are doing that which is not to the purpose. What man can you show me who places any value on his time, who reckons the worth of each day, who understands that he is dying daily? For we are mistaken when we look forward to death; the major portion of death has already passed. Whatever years lie behind us are in death's hands. Therefore, Lucilius, do as you write me that you are doing: hold every hour in your grasp. Lay hold of today's task, and you will not need to depend so much upon tomorrow's. While we are postponing, life speeds by. Nothing, Lucilius, is ours, except time. We were entrusted by nature with the ownership of this single thing, so fleeting and slippery that anyone who will can oust us from possession. What fools these mortals be! They allow the cheapest and most useless things, which can easily be replaced, to be charged in the reckoning, after they have acquired them; but they never regard themselves as in debt when they have received some of that precious commodity—time! And yet time is the one loan which even a grateful recipient cannot repay. You may desire to know how I, who preach to you so freely, am practising. I confess frankly: my expense account balances, as you would expect from one who is free-handed but careful. I cannot boast that I waste nothing, but I can at least tell you what I am wasting, and the cause and manner of the loss; I can give you the reasons why I am a poor man. My situation, however, is the same as that of many who are reduced to slender means through no fault of their own: every one forgives them, but no one comes to their rescue. What is the state of things, then? It is this: I do not regard a man as poor, if the little which remains is enough for him. I advise you, however, to keep what is really yours; and cannot begin too early. For, as our ancestors believed, it is too late to spare when you reach the dregs of the cask. Of that which remains at the bottom, the amount is slight, and the quality is vile. Farewell.

Roman Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca to Lucilius Junior

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2013/09/nothing-is-ours-except-time.html

[kitten-little-blog]

[explore-blog]

Happy Fourth! Celebrate with Walt Whitman reading his “America" – the only surviving recording of the beloved poet’s voice.

[explore-blog]

Absolutely stunning book paintings by Russian-born, Rome-based artist Ekaterina Panikanova, a fine addition to this showcase of exceptional book art.

(↬ this isn’t happiness)

[explore-blog]

Designer Federico Mauro distills the likeness of cultural icons down to their eyewear. Pair with these minimalist infographic summaries of famous lives.

(ᔥ Visual News)

[theantidote-deactivated20141122]

I don’t want to repeat my innocence. I want the pleasure of losing it again.

F. Scott Fitzgerald - This Side of Paradise

[putheowl]

Pup ‘n’ Bogey.

[todaysdocument]

The Act of June 10, 1963 (aka the Equal Pay Act of 1963), signed into law by President John F. Kennedy 50 years ago today “to prohibit discrimination on account of sex in the payment of wages by employers engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce.”

[firstladyjlbko-deactivated20210]

Jack with his younger bros, Bobby and Ted.

[theparisreview]

“You know, they ask me if I were on a desert island and knew nobody would ever see what I wrote, would I go on writing. My answer is most emphatically yes. I would go on writing for company. Because I’m creating an imaginary—it’s always imaginary—world in which I would like to live.”

William S. Burroughs (via theparisreview)

True words for the beauty of creating and the main reason why much mainstream art is terrible - most of it would never be produced on a desert island with no one to see it.

[theamericanparlor]

South Carolina Ordinance Of Secession

        AN ORDINANCE to dissolve the union between the State of South Carolina and other States united with her under the compact entitled “The Constitution of the United States of America.”         We, the people of the State of South Carolina, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, That the ordinance adopted by us in convention on the twenty-third day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified, and also all acts and parts of acts of the General Assembly of this State ratifying amendments of the said Constitution, are hereby repealed; and that the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of the “United States of America,” is hereby dissolved.         Done at Charleston the twentieth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty.

[dreamingisall]

Incredibly cool.

[jfklibraryfdn]

It All Comes Down to Ohio

JFK speaks to a crowd in Toledo during his 1960 presidential campaign.

(Photo courtesy Larry Stoddard/AP File Photo)

[theamericanparlor]

Civil War Doctor Anson Hurd-Keedysville, Md., Vicinity. Confederate Wounded at Smith’s Barn, with Dr. Anson Hurd, 14th Indiana Volunteers, in Attendance

Well-known to Civil War medical historians as two Gardner photographs taken of him around 20 September 1862 among the Confederate wounded of the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg) are widely reprinted.

-Before the Antietam Campaign: He served as Assistant Surgeon with the 20th Indiana (dates?). He was commissioned Surgeon and mustered into service with the 14th Indiana Infantry 21 April 1862 after resignation of the previous Surgeon.  http://antietam.aotw.org/officers.php?officer_id=1002

In the photographs, Hurd is shown with his sash across his chest, indicating that he was the officer-of-the-day. Hurd left military service late in December 1862 due to exhaustion, (Note the sash’s large knot and long tassels common to all the images.)-Photographs and Information written by Alex Peck- used with permission on The Civil War Parlor

Credit To:  Alex Peck Medical Antiques. Pictures and text on this site copyright http://antiquescientifica.com/archive58.htm

3rd photo credit original http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cwpb.00255/

[theamericanparlor]

Civil War Bible with Bullet Holes

Walter G. Jones, Private, 8th New York Cavalry, Co. C., U.S.A., half-length, facing front and his New Testament with bullet holes, and the two bullets which lodged in the book. It was taken between 1861 and 1865.

[taigas-vintage-stuff]

[fastcompany]

Here are some moves to use out at the bar this weekend! 

Find out more about the genius behind these in our story 10 Bets You Will Always Win and Why.