What a Wonderful Thing

So, a friend just suggested...nay even subliminally foisted...a writer named Sherman Alexie on me recently and having read only one story, by the name of "The Search Engine" I have logged on and created this post to declare my amazement and pleasure. Considering this type of ordinary, plain short story is not a genre I have frequented much I really didn't expect much and in truth only purchased the book "Ten Little Indians" because I respect the taste of the one who recommended it. God am I glad I did. So my tens of readers, go now and buy his books immediately! I command you for your own good. Though I warn you, they can make you feel small, as though your inner sanctum has been violated...but they will make you love them all the more for it. I had planned to attempt sleep at a reasonable hour tonight but I see now that that will be quite impossible. I have 8 more stories to go and at least 2 pots of coffee in the wings. Here are some excerpts to wet your whistle. Thanks Lisa!!!!

- Corliss thought she might sleep with him if he took her home to a clean apartment, but she decided to hate him instead. She knew she judged people based on their appearances, but Lord Byron said only shallow people don't judge by surfaces. So Corliss thought of herself as Byronesque as she eavesdropped on the young couple. She hoped these ordinary people might say something interesting and original. She believed in the endless nature of human possibility. She would be delighted if these two messy humans transcended their stereotypes and revealed themselves as mortal angels.

- White people, no matter how smart, were too romantic about Indians. White people looked at the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, the full moon, newborn babies, and Indians with the same goofy sentimentality. Being a smart Indian, Corliss had always taken advantage of this romanticism, but that didn't mean she wanted to share a refrigerator with it.

- If human beings possessed endless possibilities, then cities contained exponetial hopes. As she walked away from the bus station through the rainy, musty streets of Seattle, Corliss thought of Homer. "Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who traveled far and wide after he sacked the famous town of Troy." She was no Odysseus, and her eight hour bus ride hardly qualified as an odyssey. But maybe Odysseus wasn't all that heroic either, Corliss thought. He as a drug addict and thief who abused the disabled. That giant might have been tall and strong, Corliss thought, but he still had only one eye. It's easy to elude a monster with poor depth perception.

Update - 2:09am, too much coffee, 4 stories down and 5 to go. It's raining outside, I think my satellite receiver just got struck by lightening and I couldn't care less. This man can speaks to me. If the person who suggested this book would be so kind as to name a few more I'll...nope, never mind, I'm going to the bookstore on Wed. and buying everything I can find with his name on it. Lisa, you have created a monster! :-)

In Bloom

Lavender roses.
Incarnate fragrance,
Priestly hue of dawn,
Spirit unfolding.

Even on the road to hell, flowers can make you smile. They are fragile, ephemeral, uncompromising. No one can alter their nature. True, you can easily destroy them, but you will not gain anything; you cannot force them to submit to your will. Flowers arouse in us an instinct to protect them, to appreciate them, and to shelter them. This world is too ugly, too violent. There should be something delicate to care about. To do so is to be lifted above the brute and to go toward the refined. When we offer flowers on our alter, we are offering a high gift. Money is too vulgar, food to pedestrian. Only flowers are unsullied. By offering them, we offer purity. The tenderness of flowers arouses mercy, compassion, and understanding. If that beauty is delicate, so much the better. Life itself is fleeting. We should take the time to appreciate beauty in the midst of temporality. (Ming - Dao)

One day as I walked, having just escaped a storm,
I came upon a flower beautiful and white. It grew
from amongst the rocks where nothing soft and
bright should grow. But there it was, smiling at me.
The sun glistened off the rain drops that clung to
its pedals and they almost seemed to dance in
victory. I took a picture with my mind, to carry
with me always. Here's to a flower. (Me)

A Belated Blog Entry :-)

You know who you are, I really enjoyed our conversation today...I've said it once and I'll say it again, it's a rather nice break from the norm to speak with someone who is intelligent and easy to talk to at the same time. It has been my past experience that the smartest and most talented among us are often the most difficult to communicate with...not so in your case and for that, and for always being yourself with me, I thank you. After a bit more time on the mountain I'll hopefully have something wise....or at the very least, interesting to post about here...in the meantime I just wanted to post a quick thank you and a well-wishing for the remainder of the week. Also on a rather random note, I saw this on the Yahoo! homepage and since I find you rather like myself in many respects I thought you might enjoy it. It was in the news headline box and goes right along with our "societal drain-circling" observations. So here it is, in all it's two line glory. Click on the headlines to view the full story....for some reason my formatting doesn't mark links very clearly.

*Study Links Brain Size to Intelligence Level
*Chimp Paintings Sell for $26,000 at Auction

Aahhh-hhaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!! How very, very ironic when placed in close proximity .....though now that I think about it you might not agree in this particular case....oh well, its interesting either way....and lends itself to a question....how do you feel about art produced by animals....anyone? All input appreciated here. Oh, and two more drawings to be posted soon...I'm just gonna buy a new scanner, forget trying to repair the old one. Until next time a little Latin....tu addo itaque adfero laetitia (you inspire and therefore bring joy)