What is this thing called the world?

My name is Russ and I'm a consultant (workforce performance improvement, training), instructional designer, eLearning project manager, juggler, musician, photographer, and community contributor. Not necessarily in that order. I live in Northern California. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-34182860-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

[jongleurfou]

Last night as I was sleeping, I dreamt—marvelous error!— that a spring was breaking out in my heart. I said: Along which secret aqueduct, Oh water, are you coming to me, water of a new life that I have never drunk? Last night as I was sleeping, I dreamt—marvelous error!— that I had a beehive here inside my heart. And the golden bees were making white combs and sweet honey from my old failures. Last night as I was sleeping, I dreamt—marvelous error!— that a fiery sun was giving light inside my heart. It was fiery because I felt warmth as from a hearth, and sun because it gave light and brought tears to my eyes. Last night as I slept, I dreamt—marvelous error!— that it was God I had here inside my heart. --Antonio Machado, translated by Robert Bly

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/208676-sept-12--last-night-as-i-was-sleeping---antonio-machado

[jongleurfou]

If there is to be peace in the world, There must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, There must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, There must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between neighbors, There must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the home, There must be peace in the heart.

Lao Tzu

[jongleurfou]

Forgive us that often we forgive ourselves so easily and others so hardly / Forgive us that we expect perfection from those to whom we show none / Forgive us for repelling people by the way we set a good example / Forgive us the folly of trying to improve a friend / Forbid that we should use our little idea of goodness as a spear to wound those who are different / Forbid that we should feel superior to others when we are only more shielded / And may we encourage the secret struggle of every person.

Vivian Pomeroy

[jongleurfou]

Somebody was trying to tell me that CDs are better than vinyl because they don't have any surface noise. I said, 'Listen, mate, life has surface noise.'

John Peel

John Peel was an English disc jockey, radio presenter and journalist. Known for his eclectic taste in music and his honest and warm broadcasting style, John Peel was a popular and respected DJ and broadcaster. He was one of the first to play reggae and punk on British radio. Peel was the longest-serving of the original DJs of BBC Radio 1, broadcasting on it from 1967 until his death in 2004. He had significant influence on alternative rock, Pop, British hip hop and dance music.

[jongleurfou]

I sit there thinking about how much courage it takes to live an ordinary life.

Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin

[jongleurfou]

Hard to argue w/ this one...

[jongleurfou]

"Corrigan told me once that Christ was quite easy to understand. He went where He was supposed to go. He stayed where He was needed. He took little or nothing along—a pair of sandals, a bit of a shirt, a few odds and ends to stave off the loneliness. He never rejected the world. If He had rejected it, He would have been rejecting mystery. And if He rejected mystery, He would have been rejecting faith. "What Corrigan wanted was a fully believable God, one you could find in the grime of the everyday. The comfort he got from the hard, cold truth—the filth, the war, the poverty—was that life could be capable of small beauties. He wasn’t interested in the glorious tales of the afterlife or the notions of a honey-soaked heaven. To him that was a dressing room for hell. Rather, he consoled himself with the fact that, in the real world, when he looked closely into the darkness, he might find the presence of a light, damaged and bruised, but a little light all the same. He wanted, quite simply, for the world to be a better place, and he was in the habit of hoping for it. Out of that came some sort of triumph that went beyond theological proof, a cause for optimism against all the evidence. “'Someday the meek might actually want it,' he said."

--Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin (2009)

[jongleurfou]

Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.

[jongleurfou]

After a while you learn The subtle difference between Holding a hand and chaining a soul And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning And company doesn't always mean security. And you begin to learn That kisses aren't contracts And presents aren't promises And you begin to accept your defeats With your head up and your eyes ahead With the grace of a woman Not the grief of a child. And you learn To build all your roads on today Because tomorrow's ground is Too uncertain for plans And futures have a way Of falling down in mid flight After a while you learn That even sunshine burns if you get too much So you plant your own garden And decorate your own soul Instead of waiting For someone to bring you flowers And you learn That you really can endure That you are really strong And you really do have worth And you learn and you learn With every goodbye you learn.

After a While (You Learn) ©Veronica A. Shoffstall, 1971

[jongleurfou]

Shipping Containers, Oakland, CA

[jongleurfou]

There are moments which are made up of too much stuff for them to be lived at the time they occur.

John le Carré; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

[jongleurfou]

Sometimes we have to do a thing in order to find out the reason for it. Sometimes our actions are questions, not answers.

John le Carré, A Perfect Spy

[jongleurfou]

Magnolia Blossom

- -

If ever there were a spring day so perfect, so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze that it made you want to throw open all the windows in the house and unlatch the door to the canary's cage, indeed, rip the little door from its jamb, a day when the cool brick paths and the garden bursting with peonies seemed so etched in sunlight that you felt like taking a hammer to the glass paperweight on the living room end table, releasing the inhabitants from their snow-covered cottage so they could walk out, holding hands and squinting into this larger dome of blue and white, well, today is just that kind of day. Billy Collins, Today, Poetry (April 2000)

[jongleurfou]

Correspondence with Santa

Timmy and Santa sort out their differences. =)

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Dear Santa,

How are you? How is Mrs. Claus? I hope everyone, from the reindeer to the elves, is fine. I have been a very good boy this year. I would like an X-Box 360 with Call of Duty IV and an iPhone 4 for Christmas. I hope you remember that come Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas,

Timmy Jones

- - -

Dear Timmy -

Thank you for your letter. Mrs. Claus, the reindeer and the elves are all fine, and thank you for asking about them. 

Santa is a little worried about all the time you spend playing video games and texting. I wouldn't want you to get fat. Since you have indeed been a good boy, I think I'll bring you something you can go outside and play with.

Merry Christmas,

Santa Claus

- - -

Mr. Claus,

Seeing that I have fulfilled the "naughty vs. nice" contract, set by you I might add, I feel confident that you can see your way clear to granting me what I have asked for. I certainly wouldn't want to turn this joyous season into one of litigation.

Also, don't you think that a jibe at my weight coming from an overweight man who goes out once a year is a bit trite?

Respectfully,

Tim Jones

- - -

Mr. Jones -

While I have acknowledged you have met the "nice" criteria, need I remind you that your Christmas list is a request and in no way is it a guarantee of services provided. Should you wish to pursue legal action, well that is your right. Please know, however, that my attorneys have been on retainer ever since the Burgermeister-Meisterburger incident and will be more than happy to take you on in open court.

Additionally, the exercise I alluded to will not only improve your health, but also improve your social skills and potentially help clear up a complexion that looks most days like the bottom of the Burger King fry bin.

Very Truly Yours,

S Claus

- - -

Now look here Fat Man,

I told you what I want and I expect you to bring it. I was attempting to be polite about this but you brought my looks and my friends into it. Now you just disrespecting me.

I'm about to tweet my boys and we're gonna be waiting for your fat a** and I'm taking my game console, my game, my phone, and whatever else I want. WHAT EVER I WANT, MAN!

T-Bone

- - -

Listen Pizza Face -

Seriously??? You think a dude that breaks into every house in the world on one night and never gets caught sweats a chunky G-banger wannabe?

"He sees you when you're sleeping; he knows when you're awake". Sound familiar, genius?

Do you have any idea what kind of resources I have at my disposal? I got your sh#t wired, Jack. I go all around the world and see ways to hurt people that, if I described them right now, would have you tossing-up your Totino's pizza roll all over the carpet of your mom's basement.

You're not getting what you asked for, but I'm still stopping by your crib to stomp a mud hole in your butt and then walk it dry.

Chew on that, Petunia.

S Clizzy

- - -

Dear Santa,

Bring me whatever you see fit. I'll appreciate anything.

Timmy

- - -

Timmy -

That's what I thought. You little ingrate.

Santa

- - -

[jongleurfou]

The wind one brilliant day, called to my soul with an odor of jasmine. "In return for the odor of my jasmine, I would like all the odor of your roses." "I have no roses; I have no flowers. All the flowers in my garden are dead." "Then I'll take the waters of the fountains, and the yellow leaves and the dried-up petals." The wind left... and I wept. I said to my soul, "What have you done with the garden entrusted to you?"

-Antonio Machado (translated by Robert Bly)

[jongleurfou]

The Rachel Maddow Show - Opening Segment - 7 Nov 2012

Wow. She's great. If you haven't seen Rachel's opening from yesterday's show, check it out. She lists the wins and losses of the night. It's pretty sweet.

[jongleurfou]

Cause of death: Patient laid down the boogie and played that funky music til he died.