Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience - November 30, 2011

Today is Mark Twain's 176th birthday (wow).   I am a huge fan, and in honor of his birthday, I'd like to share a couple of favorite quotes.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.


Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.


Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.


It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.


Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Gravy - Erma Bombeck, November 15, 2011

Erma Bombeck was the kind of person you wanted to invite to over for a big family dinner.  As we close in on Thanksgiving, with its excess of food, food, FOOD, here is her take on one of the staples of a Turkey Day dinner:

I come from a family where gravy is considered a beverage.


Amen, Erma, and pass the gravy.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

In Flander's Fields - November 10, 2011

In honor of Veteran's Day, here is one of my favorite poems, written on May 3, 1915, by Canadian physician Lt. Colonel James McCrae.

In Flander's Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.