When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. ~Victor Frankl I’ve always been drawn to this quote. When faced with hard times and uncertainty, I think it’s human nature to look around us and think: “If I could just change this [job, relati...

We took the official plunge last night and ordered the hardwood. 500sq feet of 3/4" cherry goodness, soon to be delivered to our local Lumber Liquidators for pickup. I'm still unsure about the sanity of this decision. 0% financing or no 0% financing. But when it came right down to it I thought, I'm ...

While 2008 had the surprise of the forthcoming Ultravox reunion tour, 2009 scores early with dates by the legendary group Wire. More than 32 years after they started off during the Punk era, everyones favorite minimalist art rock combo will......

Parent Filter: What can I do about this parent/child role reversal that is poisoning my mind and my life and how can I let this parent know that even though I love them dearly I will not continue to let them manipulate me and dump all of their responsibilities on to my plate??? Long story short, my ...

For today's post I'm still processing the insights I gained from Alain De Botton's wee book  The Art of Travel.  In chapter 5, suitably called "On The Country and the City" he tours The Lake District (Cumbria) in the company of the quintessential nature poet - Romantic poet - Wil...

Once again let me begin by saying that of all the positive benefits of meditation, perhaps the primary one is that of learning to become aware of everything that's going on around you at any particular time.  This post is a continuation of my last one and, like it, it is inspired by my reading ...

It's Christmastide once again, and as we get older Christmases seem to roll by very quickly indeed.  It's hard to get my head around the fact that this is my 51st Christmas in this world.  As Robert Frost said so perspicaciously, when asked what he had learnt from life after all his many y...

I do not wish to live in the land of denial; in the country of delusion and especially not in the city of self-delusion.  I want no tawdry trinkets, no bright lights, nothing fast at all.  Instead, I want the slow acceptance of a body breaking down into age, letting go of all the surface s...

I always forget how sore I get after being in the pit. Then I drive many hours to get back home and I'm reminded when I have to get out of the car and walk. Ouch. Being old is hard. And then your 80lb dog steps on your sore leg. I somehow ended up in NYC Monday and Tuesday because Fall Out Boy, whic...

We get so locked into our own worlds of care that we become very unmindful of what is going on in the world of others.  Let me explain: - For the last four months I have been back at work teaching in my new post as resource teacher.  This has meant that I have been at once studying, resear...