The End of Time!

This December, the “Master” will return. For you Dr. Who fans; enjoy.

this could only happen on a..

star wars weekend at a Disney park. i know it is funny but alas, there is a disturbance in the force not easily explained. oh, i feel so ashamed.

 

who was it that said “Nooooooooooooooooo!”?

on Palimpest

Palimpsest

Catherynne M. Valente

BANTAM BOOKS

 

I do not want to be considered neither a critic nor a reviewer of books. I certainly have no aspirations of being either. I will, however share my thoughts on this book. Happily I may add.

Have you ever just wanted to get away? Be somewhere else? Long to explore a place just past most anything you can ever imagine?  Have you ever wondered where and what is beyond the end of your journey? In a word, it is Palimsest. This is why I read! I want to escape and I want to do so in the most radiant colors and in the darkness of a blistering light. Explore the back alleys of the city beyond the wall of your experience.

The English printed word has a most perfect paint brush and it is the mind and skill of Catherynne M. Valente. She has delivered a place to be lost. A dark place exploited by the brightness of a subdued summer sun. A place to explore your own thoughts impregnated by  a desire to never return to your own version of the real world. Welcome to streets of cream and a book without words. Let the seaweed cling to your eyes and let the bees take flight with your comfort. It is all here, in the city of Palimpsest; all you have to do is get off the train.

Buy this book. Read it. Enjoy your language. I not only liked it; I liked it a lot.

Discover her at http://www.catherynnemvalente.com/.

RIP Walter

Yet another mile-stone is upon us. Life without Walter Cronkite. 1916-2009

I remember watching him at 5:30 every day. It was just what we did.

 

 

To all who come to this happy place..

Welcome!

Happy Birthday Disneyland. Thanks for the wonderful and happy memories. You look pretty good for being 54.

Yes, I know the official opening was July 17, 1955; however, I am getting it kicked off early in remembrance of the 'dry run' held on the 16th. I somehow would rather have been there on that day if for no other reason than to experience the true birthing pains which are a part of the lore and history of the park.

and finally; an end

Today, we come to the end of our series from the 50th Anniversary look at the park.

I was lucky enough to actually be in the park on the evening of July 4th 1976. The bicentennial parade and fireworks were amazing. I was also in the park for the 25th park anniversary in 1980 which produced a fairly good fantasy in the sky. I can only image what the 50th firework display (the biggest in park history) was like.

Again, we see goal-leaf in yet another park opening commemoration. This time, it’s the tea cups. OK, I will be honest. The two rides I no longer get on are the tea cups and Dumbo. Sorry, makes for too long a day.

One last look at the parade. Her we have monsters; from Monsters Inc.

That’s it for the ‘Home Coming’ and 50 years of Disneyland. I hope you enjoyed the up to date look. Back into the history past of the park soon.

An my sister in cause shall ever be.

 

    Black milk of daybreak we drink it at evening
    we drink it at midday and morning we drink it at night
    we drink and we drink

So begins Deathfugue by Paul Celan a poem by a survivor of Auschwitz. No, I by no means would dare to compare that horror to anything endured by myself. I use it with reverence and respect to convey a feeling most helpless and without reprieve.  The black milk of cancer once again descends into our midst and begins to consume the flesh of my ‘sister in cause’.

Once again, in our monthly visit, I am again reassured as to our special place within the world at this time.

Yes, I was sitting there feeling the pain. Feeling that for some reason, I had to atone for some sin committed. Reassured by those around me that sin was not the cause. Not the reason. It just happens; I sat and waited my turn to share. As best I could, I told of my pain, not knowing of the darkness that was to come. We all, no matter our calling, can not refrain from the black milk. God, why? My sister in cause has no crime to confess. She has brought nothing but support, happiness and respect. I look around me and see several mementoes of her giving heart in my life. The cards of hope within my medical chronicle. There, on my desk, a herald of her thoughts and best wishes, for me. Known to her only by affliction, I at those times mattered. Thank you!

Like a punch to my stomach, my mouth already dry began to crack. Her words were said. Simple, yet full of dread. They hurt and made me sad, those words, as they took away a wonderful acquaintance and left a ‘sister in cause’ in their stead. I spent that night hurting and the next day in question. I could only hope that my frail hug had conveyed my pause.

Now, a few days upon reflection I can only pass to you this little attempt at words of encouragement as you now know the taste of the black milk of daybreak.

Almost everyone does it. Scratch that, we all do it. It is defining.

To just watch the time pass by and see what it brings. I use to be guilty of it. Patting myself on the back, saying how clever I was to observe ‘Life’ from the side. Like playing the bass in my band, I never had to step into the brightest part of the beam. I was there, but living a life standing sideways to the rest. It was an excuse, an excuse for having no real relationship.

Well, guess what? You learn nothing by peering at anyone. You learn nothing at all by watching from a safe distance. To quote that wonderful writer from across the pond, Warren Ellis,”Half the literature on Earth could be safely eliminated by banning people who haven’t had sex from writing sex scenes.” This isn’t practice. It is life. We get one shot at it.

But sometimes I sit here still and I watch. I no longer pat myself on the back, because that isn’t clever at all. Maybe it’s my age. Maybe it is all the milk I have had to drink. Maybe, just maybe, it is by the Grace of God that I have learned. Life isn’t here to be just watched. It is here to be lived. You have to get up, step into that bright beam and live it; live it for all you are worth. You are my ‘sister in cause’ now. You have delivered yet another valuable testament to my life. A lesson you have taught. I wish you the best, I pray for your safe delivery. I look forward to your living. You have brought smile and comfort after the pain. You live and inspire.

yet more 50th

it’s Woody and Jessie:

another look at Sleeping Beauty Castle, this time at night:

Its Tinker Bell:

Happy Birthday to the United States of America

The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not. (The Book of Abigail and John: Selected Letters of the Adams Family, 1762-1784, Harvard University Press, 1975, 142).