words to live by

"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." –  Cyril Connolly

we all pass in time…

My ex Joey called me on Saturday with his list of things to discuss, 1, 2, 3….2 being “I wanted to know what you thought about David Tyree dying.” Ummmmm, Helloooooooo…. I didn’t know that he died. “Oh, wait, if you didn’t know that David had died, this would be a really bad way for you to hear about it.” Check.

I couldn’t believe it. I hadn’t talked to David in several years, but for a long spell while I lived in Lafayette, La., and New Orleans, we were very close friends. He even introduced Joey and I in 1996, when I was working at a TV station for which he used to anchor. (My friend Karen Daigle, his co-anchor, always sung his praises. She’s also the one who once told me “It’s never nice to save people for a rainy day.” That little nugget still rings in my ears…)

Anyway, David survived his first bout of cancer shortly after we became friends, and the last time I saw him he was very well, back at work with a popular talk radio program. We were seated next to each other at some media dinner thingy…I never thought that would be the last time we talked.

I still can’t believe he’s gone. I’m watching “Six Feet Under” right now, so it’s all especially clear that death is a part of life, but that doesn’t dilute the shock.

As his friend captures here, he was a kind, generous and very thoughtful person. He was super intelligent, and always open to love coming his way. He frequently mocked my taste in music, and would make up song lyrics like Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner” when we drove along Esplanade in his car. He adored New Orleans and was one of the ones who drew me to the city. He would always tell me that it was one of kind, the only place on earth to live.

As usual, he was right.

if you would be so kind to help me kill some time

Chad used to always tell me this. Nice of the universe to remind me of it morning:

You always have more options than you recognize. – Alan Cohen

london, quiet down i need to make a sound

Those who worry about being too selfish are in the least danger of it.

– Alan Cohen

i knew that ship was empty by the time it hit the rocks, but we could not hold on when fate became unruly

from abraham’s qu0te page yesterday:

There’s an expression in the physical environment that you use to entertain each other … (it doesn’t serve you very well) …that says, "I worry that I’ll go down to the dock, and that my ship will have already come and gone. I’ll miss my boat."

And we say, another boat, another boat, another boat.

You have no idea how many boats are coming to your dock. It’s a steady steam, and it doesn’t matter how many of them you’ve missed.

time leaves me spinning my own wheels

Seekers keep seeking, and finders keep finding.

— Alan Cohen

i certainly haven’t been shopping for any new shoes

One of my top 10 lists will be my TOP 10 EXPERIENCES of 2005. I’ll roll these out every so often throughout the end of the year, counting down to my favorite experience of the year. These are the moments that stick out when I glance back over my calendar…

#8 :: Decision Making & Shifting

When I think back about 2005, one of the things I feel really happy and proud about is that I finally managed to make some decisions, shifts  and changes in my life that I’d been wanting to make for a long time.

At some point, I just began to feel really strong inside and able to face the truth about some choices I needed to make. Despite having to feel things I didn’t want to feel, or inadvertently hurt others, I know that everything that happened is for the best. I couldn’t have said that a year ago. Well, I might have been able to say it, but I wouldn’t have known it through and through.

And most importantly, if I hadn’t found the strength to make those decisions then some of the other things further down my top 10 list might not have happened.

maybe i was first, maybe you were first, it doesn’t really matter

“An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.”

I just googled this favorite quote of mine and found several sources that attribute this to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Who knew?