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Thought for the day - October 24th
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Subject: Thought for the day - October 24th From: katlaughing Date: 24 Oct 99 - 12:12 AM I was just going to use one quote for my posting for this, but I've got some stuff to add, so, here's the first bit: To do certain crazy things, one must behave like a coachman who has let go of the reins and fallen asleep. - Jules Renard - This week, I feel as though I let go of the reins and fell asleep; it also seems a lot of the world has done the same thing, from the mother who made her 6 year old perform oral sex for drugs; the mother who committed suicide leaving a paralyzed daughter behind; to the town I live in which did not rise up in the absolute rage I felt when Korean doctor and her physician husband and infant son decided to leave because of the hate mail and other harassment they experienced while living here; another gay man assualted and carved up in good ole Wyoming...the Russians in Chechnya(sp); the lack of a nuclear test ban treaty...the list goes on. Where I really feel I did myself and those around me a disservice, though, is in falling asleep and dropping the reins, in how all of the above effected me. I am always looking for ideas for my columns, so I naturlaly read about this kind of stuff everyday and it doesn't usually get to me too much. For some reason, this week, I let my guard down or something. Moral of the story....be ardent, be thoughtful, speak up for justice, but protect yourself, don't take it all in and let it drive you crazy, dropping the reins and falling asleep. Thanks for listening; please forgive me this bummer. kat |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: _gargoyle Date: 24 Oct 99 - 01:53 AM "Nice" Thread - "Nice" Thoughts (Kat it appears our perceived previous "clash" was only a meeting of kindred spirits.)
Cheyenne man fined for child labor violations
KKK Rallies in NYC
Villahermosa Expected To Suffer
Southern Taiwan Hit By Aftershocks
High Salinity in Australia Rivers
Zimbabwe's prospects for a 'bloody' revolution
Obasanjo's Thugs
The ABC's of Youth Violence
Russia Seals Roads Out of Chechnya
Parachutist Jumps - Death Filmed by Husband
Disco Fires Injure Scores in Austria
Diet Fad Likely to Boost Meat Prices
Guns On Sale At Amazon.com
More People Getting Migraines
Teenager stole a pumpkin from front yard shot to death
The Plight of Kosovo's Gypsies
Ten Die in Chruch Van Accident
Yankees beat Braves 4-1 in World Series opener |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: alison Date: 24 Oct 99 - 02:26 AM I don't usually join in with thoughts for the day... but if you want something nicer to think about.... My Gran is 90 today... still bright as a button... wish I could be in Belfast to give her a big hug...... slainte alison |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: katlaughing Date: 24 Oct 99 - 02:41 AM Alison, that is wonderful! I wish you could be there, too! Thank you, kat |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: bob schwarer Date: 24 Oct 99 - 06:40 AM The world is not a very nice place. Oh, I guess the world is OK; maybe it's the people on it. Bob S. |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: Little Neophyte Date: 24 Oct 99 - 07:10 AM Mama KatSageWalker, what you experienced is so painful. How does anyone get through the day? Like you said, it is important to have a good grip on the reins of the horse while keeping the coach you are driving in control. But I would add blinders on that horse too. It's the only way I can comprehend how people can calmly watch the news broadcasting devastating effects of a global disaster and the next minute take in a documentary on the benefits of cosmetic surgery. If I were to completely let go of the reins, I'd would lose my mind Little Neo |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: Little Neophyte Date: 24 Oct 99 - 08:14 AM Gargoyle, I have observed that to respond to your nonabusive posts reminds me of the child who feels they are having a good day with their schizophrenic mother. Or the wife receiving flowers from the husband who just beat her the night before. All I have to say to that is............. No thank you Little Neo |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: Freddie Fox Date: 24 Oct 99 - 08:17 AM Let's put it in context. People are the same - a few very good, a few very bad, and the rest mediocre depending on circumstances - as they've ever been. The problem nowadays is that we hear about all the bad things through the media, rather than just in our small community - most of the good things aren't big news. But to quote Snoopy; I love mankind - it's people I can't stand. |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: Jeri Date: 24 Oct 99 - 10:06 AM It's difficult to fix the whole world by yourself. It's easy to worry about it. People who give up either don't care or have gotten frustrated when they've tried. There are loads of people who have made huge differences in the lives of individuals by doing something simple. They show others there is love and a helping hand in the world. Who's to say it doesn't have a "butterfly wing" effect. Why are there people who risk their lives, bank accounts, or sanity to help others? Where do they come from? There's a tradition of helping, passed, like songs, from generation to generation. Sometimes people learn the songs from their parents, sometimes from a friend or neighbor, sometimes from a total stranger. There are people who sing harmony, and there are those who sing discord in every community. We get to choose to do one or the other, or we stop singing and let others be our voices. Why I love Mudcat: almost everyone here does great harmony, and we have one hell of a chorus. |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: wildlone Date: 24 Oct 99 - 10:41 AM There is so much bad in this World, but if you can help one person you will find it will have had an effect. I'm with you Jeri I try to sing, maybe a bit flat somtimes but it is nice when other people know the words Bring a smile to someones face. When I was just a little boy; Short and fat , I wore a nappy, So many people I used to annoy, Those were the days when I was happy, Those days are gone but not forgotten, I'm still as fat and twice as rotten. wl, |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 24 Oct 99 - 01:10 PM Here is a URL to "the hunger site"that allows you to give somebody a meal every day who wouldn't have one without it, and all it takes is a click on the the hunger site which in plain language is http://www.thehungersite.com/ It's not much, but it's one thing you can do every day which is unequivocally good. I've stuck a link to it on my email signature, and I urge otthers to do the same. I know it sounds trite, but it really is that better sometimes to light one candle than to curse the darkness. (Looked at another way, all it takes is one spark to burn a city down; so the image in the candle isn't all that mild and gentle if you think about it.)
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: Rick Fielding Date: 24 Oct 99 - 01:12 PM Hi Kat. Gotta take as much control of your personal environment as possible. Gotta put the effort into cultivating personal relationships that make you happy. Gotta seek out others who share your hobbies. Gotta keep at arm's length, those who seek power over others, NO MATTER WHAT THEIR MOTIVES ARE. These days the stakes are so high for so many folks that desperation seems to rule their every action. ie. so desperate for respect that they'll kill when they don't think they've received it. So desperate for revenge that they'll attack someone who's cut them off in traffic. So desperate for new sensations that they involve themselves in unspeakable actions and voyeurism. So desperate to bring others down that they'll push the well known buttons to stir folks up and then gleefully watch the carnage. Always keep bringing good folks into your life and no matter how hard it gets - you'll never be THAT desperate. Rick |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: Big Mick Date: 24 Oct 99 - 01:17 PM I guess I have spent my entire life trying to "make a difference". I have marched in marches, and led a few. I have worked so hard to try and improve the lot of working people, the single working parent who "is trying to be Mother and Father. Only to have us elect jokers who pulled out the safety net that we worked so hard to establish. And nobody cares. have tried to cause people, through every means available to me, to judge people "by the content of their character, and not buy the color of their skin". Only to find the racial divide, on all sides, greater than when I started. Who would have thought that 32 years later we would have a man dragged to death, torn to pieces for no other reason than his skin color. Who would have thought after all these struggles, that a young man would be beaten near to death and then left to face his last moments tied to a fence. And why? Because he was made, by the same God that these "wasted units" worship, different than us. His sexual orientation was the death sentence for this young man. Worked in the soup kitchens, worked in the neighborhoods. Tried to help the aged. Only to have idiots, in both parties tell me how hunger is almost abolished. If these people would just get to work, why everything would be OK.Struggled to get candidates elected, only to be disappointed by them. And them Democrats were as bad as the Republicans. I am reminded of a State-run Farm in Traverse City, Michigan. It was a working farm, where the challenged, some physically and most mentally, could feel a sense of worth. They lived there, and everyone had a job. Every one had a sense of worth and digity. The farm was self supporting, it produced product for sale. The conditions were good, the people who lived and worked there felt safe and secure. Then one day my own "peers" in the liberal left decided that they would apply the minimum wage laws and so on, and because of the way they went about it, the farm was closed and the people were put, literally, out on the streets. I used to see them in the winter just sitting in restaraunts trying to keep warm in this Northern Michigan paradise. Thank God for the businesses that would keep them in coffee. Now this is not all in the right time sequence, just random association on the idea expressed by our Kat. I can remember the day that I got word that one of my students, his name was David, committed suicide. I have told his story, I think, somewhere in one of the threads. I remember going home, sitting in my chair, and crying for the best part of two days. Must have been a breakdown of some sort. I just know that I questioned the reasons for why I care. I remember wondering, "What's the use?". People, in the end result don't really give a fuck. Or maybe they are just overcome by it all and numbed into inaction. But they continue to elect people who say nice things, and then continue to act in narrow ways that benefit a small constituency. I finally came out of it. The spirits of my people, some of you call that conscience, kicked my big Irish ass out of that chair with instructions to get back on the road. I came to understand that I cannot, all by myself, change the world. But I can, by whatever is Holy, change that space that I am occupying. And I can join with others and effect a little more. And I can make sure that when people around me think of the time we spent together, they will smile. Or at least they will not forget, because it isn't always pleasant. And when I make mistakes, they will remember that I will apologize, and then continue on the road. The Mudcat Cafe, and all of you from everywhere on our planet, give me more hope than I have ever had. We continue to grow together, musically and mentally, and we damn sure help each other to understand that different is not bad, just different. All the best, Big Mick |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 24 Oct 99 - 01:21 PM No, something went wrong with my last posting - this blue clicky thing is at the limit of my technical skills, and a bit out of reach at that. Let's have another go - the hunger site If that doesn't work, what you need is to put www.thehungersite.com in your address bar
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: Little Neophyte Date: 24 Oct 99 - 01:54 PM Rick and Big Mick, your thoughts here today are sooooooo valuable I'm going to go back and read them again a few times and then post them on my bathroom mirror. Little Neo |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: catspaw49 Date: 24 Oct 99 - 02:52 PM To Rick and Mick.....Great posts. This is why I am proud and honored to be friends with you both. Somewhere awhile back WW said that this place is what the world would be like if everyone was as free and clear with things as we are here...or words to that effect. Great posts all. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: katlaughing Date: 24 Oct 99 - 05:54 PM Thank you all, so very much, esp. Rick and Mick, oh hell, really all of you. I am better; haven't let so much get to me in a long time, all at once. YOU have helped me more than you will ever know, today. Hey, Rick, how 'bout them Mets!? Did they win last night's game? I didn't watch. luvya'llKat |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: annamill Date: 24 Oct 99 - 09:30 PM Hi Kat, I know this is late, but I just wanted you to know I understand the anger of any thinking person in today's world. I lived in a small town in Jersey about 2 years ago. Now, Keyport is a wonderful, beautiful little town filled with beautiful old Victorian homes that Keyport has spent a lot of time restoring. Keyport was a key port across the bay from New York city and was at one time a portal for summer people coming to the Jesrey shore. I had a wonderful little townhouse right near the water and it was good. Keyport also seems to be the end of a very long journey for Mexicans. I don't know why they come here, or stay, but they do. Some of the locals resent their infiltration. One day, a fine summers day, I was driving down one of my favorite streets filled with those Victorians I was telling you about, when I heard hollering from the sidewalk. A Mexican boy, maybe 13 yrs old, was riding his bike down the road. Small children, maybe 10/12 yrs old were throwing rocks and sticks at him, screaming for him to get out of Keyport. My heart burst! I stopped my car in the middle of the street, jumped across the street, grabbed one of the children by his shirt. I proceeded to tell him, in language I'm very sure he's heard before, that his behavior was incorrect. I told him that, that boy he was throwing rocks at probably had been working to help his family since he was a small boy and never had Nintendo, or Sega, or clothes, and sometimes, sometimes, NO FOOD!@(*&!@^E. I released him, and he ran away. I don't know if what I said had an affect on him. I hope so. We have to reinforce what we know is right with action. Of course, that is what KKK is doing this weekend in NY. They feel they are doing the right thing. Geez!! Well, like the man said, "I may not agree with what you say, but I'll fight to the death for your right to say it" I guess we have to, huh? Just so I can say what I want to also. Love ( ad I feel it more and more for you gus everyday) annap
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: Grubby Date: 24 Oct 99 - 11:19 PM Your right Big Mick,It's taken a fair chunk of my life to realise, that whilst there are many things that deeply sadden us, infuriate us and on many occasions make us feel ashamed of our fellow man, there are just some things we have no control or influence over. We can only in our small way be around to help those who need it in our own area of influence. We can still care, but instead of getting stressed out about things out of our reach,we should remain positive and channel our efforts into the areas where we can make a difference. Grubby |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: katlaughing Date: 24 Oct 99 - 11:27 PM Thank you, annap, and good for you for telling that kid right from wrong! I grew up mostly in a town in Colorado which had a lot of Americans of Mexican descent; most of my best friends were. I cringe whenever I hear the racist statements and generalisations about them and other minority groups. Grubby, well put. Are you new to the Mudcat? If so, welcome, welcome. Glad you have joined us. katlaughingwhoismuchbetter |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: Peter T. Date: 25 Oct 99 - 12:34 PM Sorry I missed all this wisdom, and glad you are better kat. I think Rick's discussion of desperation cuts very deep -- it is more than just the bad people thinking that everything needs to be changed utterly, or everything is doomed, it is also the good people who become desperate, not only when things turn bad on a cosmic scale, but when a friend commits suicide -- you think nothing will ever go right again, or what is the point of anything. Sometimes I think about this as the bad side of "everything being connected to everything else" -- when things go wrong you come to believe that everything is infected with badness, that there is nothing good that cannot be shadowed by the state of things. I assume that is why the wise people have always suggested doing simple good things until that desperate shadow subsides. I come at all this from an even darker perspective, which may be ironically why I keep balanced (when I keep balanced). I am constantly surprised at how not bad people are, when they have all the incentive to be horrible bastards. When you see all the propaganda for people to be miserable self-interested neo-Darwinian consumers, looking after No.1, and the desperate lives people lead, I constantly wonder why everyone isn't butchering everyone else. I wonder why my students don't burn down the world in frustration at its stupidity. And when I see, as I do sometimes, people like Big Mick at work, and others here, I think we are truly blessed. Why do they do good things? Why do they do good things? A complete puzzle, if you believed the economists and neo-Darwinians who rule things. So when someone asks me what the point of doing good is, I occasionally say: "To provide counter-evidence!" -- to prove by example, that human beings are not as bad as everyone thinks. After all, wasn't that what St. Francis of Assisi was about? -- Look, we can be like this, guys. It doesn't have to be the way they say it is. It lifts the soul; just as reading this thread does. If people like those who post here can be in despair, knowing what they know, and having worked so hard and suffered terrible disappointments, and yet they can somehow get up and go back to work -- isn't that amazing, totally miraculous? It makes no sense, and yet.... yours, Peter T. |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: katlaughing Date: 25 Oct 99 - 01:08 PM Thank you, Peter. Thoughtful and challenging as usual, as well as revered. I always love to read your take on things. kat |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: katlaughing Date: 25 Oct 99 - 01:10 PM Peter, forgot to ask: is neo-Darwinian just a polite way to say down-valley in-bred white trash? NOI!!!! JUST KIDDING, PHOAKS! |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: MTM Date: 25 Oct 99 - 03:32 PM To all of the truly inspired cogitators in this forum, which I have only recently discovered, it should be nice to know that your thoughts and efforts do extend their exposure and influence well-beyond your immediate environs, wherever they may be. Thanks! |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 25 Oct 99 - 08:25 PM
What seems to happen is that the bad things you're worried about can sort themselves out, and the good things you hope for sometimes happen. (For example, we haven't blown ourselves up yet, and the century is nearly done - I never would have bet on that back in the sixties)And we've been able to negotiate to have a life for my autistic daughter which fits her needs, and is free from any kind of institution. (Though we're not finished with some of that yet)
And then good things you didn't expect turn up somehow. Like the Mudcat Cafe.
I'd a friend who when I met him didn't say "How are you" or "Alright?" or Good day". He'd say "Are you winning?" And I'd say "Not beat yet". And I'd go off feeling somehow encouraged. . Good to know you. And you're not beat yet! Individually or collectively. Venceremos. |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: katlaughing Date: 25 Oct 99 - 09:01 PM Thank you MTM, that's so good to know! Please join us more often. Kevin, somehow that makes sense to me. And, I love your friend's greeting and your reply! Thank you. luvyaKat |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: _gargoyle Date: 25 Oct 99 - 10:21 PM Crud...I can't believe the coincidences....
I live in Phoenix...you are moving there....
We lived in Trinidad Colorado...you grew up there...
Are You My "X"??????????? |
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Subject: RE: Thought for the day - October 24th From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 26 Oct 99 - 01:32 PM Well, lucky old Phoenix |
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