IF by Ruyard Kipling

The wisest words I can offer for any difficult situation that threatens to bring you down are from Ruyard Kipling... obviously written for a male, but I feel like all but the last line can apply to anyone.. b/c sometimes things are just so unfair & uncalled for, and even if you break down & sob for a bit, in the end you just can't let it get to you:


IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
'Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

What the...

Look, I'm into futuristic technology as much as the next person, and considerably less than actual scientists and tech geeks. I'm always excited to read about new medical procedures and technology that either solve an issue or lengthen the life of a anatomical structure. Likewise, I find it fascinating to read about other gadgets that are being created either to push the boundaries of science or for practical use. Then there are the developement that make you go... Why? Why would you spend time & money on something like that? Why do you feel we actually need something so high tech for something so basic? Here's today example from the weather channel website: Tornado proof houses

http://www.weather.com/home-garden/tornado-proof-home-could-retreat-underground-20130712

I've lived in Kansas since the age of 10, half of which was spent in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere Tornado Alley. Severe storms scared the shit out of me. I was fully aware that a tornado could develop & wipe out our little community. Only it didn't. There were only a couple of times there was one nearby, and it was out by a farm place on the plains. In fact, my 62 yr old dad has lived in rural Kansas most of his life, and has never even seen a tornado. This isn't to say there isn't a risk, or that some areas are more likely to get hit several times, b/c everyone knows there always will be. But do we really need a house that is "aware of its surroundings" that can retreat underground at the first sign of a tornado? The article says it the project was started as an alternative to mobile homes in at risk areas. You think someone who has invested in one of the lowest cost living accomodations is going to be your top customer for something that high-tech? Probably the oldest settler home building strategies for energy efficiency & weatherproofing is just the opposite of this proposal, and utilizies geography. Earthen/dugout houses. Not too difficult. Probably a lot cheaper to deal with than a mechanical house, especially if you're going to be digging a hole anyway for it to reatreat into. I've never really understood why there are mobile home courts on flat plains with no geographical protection in the first place. That's always seemed like a no-brainer to me, right? I've also been confused at the amount of houses in rural kansas/oklahoma that don't have basements. Its just common sense. The retirement house my grandparents built across from their main farm was built into a hill, and I never once felt in danger during a severe storm... b/c we were IN the ground. So maybe instead of spending who knows how many millions of dollars on something that will inevitably malfunction, why not just rely on nature for protection from nature? Its how the world was meant to work. Instead of trailer parks, just dig out some holes in the side of a hill & call it a cave community. BAM.

Pure Expression

Airborne Toxic Event - The Book of Love (Magnetic Fields cover)

White on white

Judge me if you'd like, but I still love this album. You wouldn't believe the feeling I had flying into Baltimore a few years ago when I discovered it was raining... b/c its raining in Baltimore, baby.