Very Far Away from Anywhere Else

And I needed a rock. 

Something to hold onto, 

to stand on. 

Something solid. 

Because everything was going soft, 

turning into mush, 

into marsh, 

 into fog. 

Fog closing in on all sides. 

I didn't know where I was at all...

Silent Spring

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.
― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist and conservationist whose book Silent Spring and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement.

Carson began her career as an aquatic biologist in the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, and became a full-time nature writer in the 1950s. Her widely praised 1951 bestseller The Sea Around Us won her a U.S. National Book Award, recognition as a gifted writer, and financial security. Her next book, The Edge of the Sea, and the reissued version of her first book, Under the Sea Wind, were also bestsellers. This sea trilogy explores the whole of ocean life from the shores to the depths.

 

Journey to the End of the Night

The worst part is wondering how you’ll find the strength tomorrow, 

to go on doing what you did today and have been doing for much too long, 

where you’ll find the strength for all that stupid running around, 

those projects that come to nothing, 

those attempts to escape from crushing necessity, 

which always founder and serve only to convince you one more time that destiny is implacable, 

that every night will find you down and out, 

crushed by the dread of more and more sordid and insecure tomorrows.

― Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Journey to the End of the Night 

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Once, when I was younger, I thought I could be someone else. 

I'd move to Casablanca, open a bar, and I'd meet Ingrid Bergman. 

Or more realistically - whether actually more realistic or not - I'd tune in on a better life, something more suited to my true self. 

Toward that end, I had to undergo training. 

I read The Greening of America, and I saw Easy Rider three times. 

But like a boat with a twisted rudder, I kept coming back to the same place. 

I wasn't anywhere. 

I was myself, waiting on the shore for me to return.

― Haruki Murakami, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Chuck Berry Tribute

Chuck Berry, who with his indelible guitar licks, brash self-confidence and memorable songs about cars, girls and wild dance parties did as much as anyone to define rock ’n’ roll’s potential and attitude in its early years, died on Saturday. He was 90.

While Elvis Presley was rock’s first pop star and teenage heartthrob, Mr. Berry was its master theorist and conceptual genius, the songwriter who understood what the kids wanted before they knew themselves. With songs like “Johnny B. Goode” and “Roll Over Beethoven,” he gave his listeners more than they knew they were getting from jukebox entertainment.

His guitar lines wired the lean twang of country and the bite of the blues into phrases with both a streamlined trajectory and a long memory. And tucked into the lighthearted, telegraphic narratives that he sang with such clear enunciation was a sly defiance, upending convention to claim the pleasures of the moment.

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What To Say When You Talk To Your Self

After examining the philosophies, the theories, and the practiced methods of influencing human behavior, I was shocked to learn the simplicity of that one small fact: You will become what you think about most; your success or failure in anything, large or small, will depend on your programming - what you accept from others, and what you say when you talk to yourself.
It is no longer a success theory; it is a simple but powerful fact. Neither luck nor desire has the slightest thing to do with it. It makes no difference whether we believe it or not. The brain simply believes what you tell it most. And what you tell it about you, it will create. It has no choice.

I can do anything I believe I can do!

 I’ve got it, and every day I get more of it. 

I have talent, skills, and ability. I set goals and I reach them.

 I know what I want out of life. 

I go after it and I get it.

 People like me, and I feel good about myself. 

I have a sense of pride in who I am, and I believe in myself. 

Nothing seems to stop me. 

I have a lot of determination. 

I turn problems into advantages. 

I find possibilities in things that other people never give a chance. 

I have a lot of energy—I am very alive! 

I enjoy life and I can tell it and so can others. 

I keep myself up, looking ahead, and liking it. 

I know that I can accomplish anything I choose, and I refuse to let anything negative hold me back or stand in my way. 

I am not afraid of anything or anyone. 

I have strength, power, conviction, and confidence! 

I like challenges and I meet them head on, face to face—today especially! 

I am on top of the world and I’m going for it. 

I have a clear picture in my mind of what I want. 

I can see it in front of me. 

I know what I want and I know how to get it. 

I know that it’s all up to me and I know I can do it. 

Roadblocks don’t bother me. 

They just mean that I am alive and running, and I’m not going to stand still for anything. 

I trust myself I’ve got what it takes—plenty of it—and I know how to use it. 

Today, more than ever. 

Today I am unstoppable! 

I’ve got myself together and I’m getting more together every day. 

And today—look out world, here I come!

 Limitations? 

I don’t even recognize them as limitations. 

There is no challenge I can’t conquer; there is no wall I can’t climb over. 

There is no problem I can’t defeat, or turn around and make it work for me. 

I stand tall! 

I am honest and sincere. 

I like to deal with people and they like me.

 I think well; I think clearly.

I am organized; I am in control of myself, and everything about me. 

I call my shots, and no one has to call them for me. 

I never blame anyone else for the circumstances of my life. 

I accept my failings and move past them as easily as I accept the rewards for my victories. 

I never demand perfection of myself, but I expect the very best of what I have to give—and that’s what I get! 

I never give myself excuses. 

I get things done on time and in the right way. 

Today I have the inner strength to do more than ever. 

I am an exceptional human being. 

My goals and my incredible belief in myself turn my goals into reality. 

I have the power to live my dreams. 

I believe in them like I believe in myself. 

And that belief is so strong that there is nothing that diminishes my undefeatable spirit.

hmmmm.......

― Shad Helmstetter, What To Say When You Talk To Your Self