#43...Flora's all time favorite quote: Desiderata

      Go placidly amid the noise and haste & remember what peace there may be in silence.  As far as possible be on good terms with all persons.  Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull & the ignorant, they too have their story.

     Avoid loud and agressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.  If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain & bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.  Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.  Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.  Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery.  But let this not blind you to what virture there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.  Be yourself...

     Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity & disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.  Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.  Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.  But do not distress yourself with imaginings.  Many fears are born of fatigue and lonliness.  Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees or the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, the universe is unfolding as it should.

     Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be; and whatever your labors & aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life - keep peace with your soul.  With all of its slum, drudgery & broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.  Be careful. Strive to be happy.

                                               ~Max Ehrmann

 

#42....Which would you rather have:

a navel that continuously oozes ketchup....

or..

a midget permanently affixed to your back?

 

go ahead, talk amongst yourselves.....

#41....coffee and cat paws.

Okay, so the coffee is made..Mmmm...and the bagel is toasted.  The cat, as usual, is soaking up the morning rays on the floor.  I resisted temptation and did not lay down with him. Okay, I lied. I tried to resist temptation and not lay down. I failed miserably.

And the catdog, as only he can do, did something magical when I layed near him. With eyes closed he stretched out his padded little slipper paw and touched my hand and kept it there.  As if to say - "Life doesn't get much better than this kiddo - bathing your skin in seven minute old sunlight...you should stay awhile."

so i did.

Sometimes animals remind us how to pay attention to things.

 

#40...It's time to add a serious entry.

but just not right now.

#39...Things that annoy Flora to no friggin end.

#1. friggin telephone automated responses.

#2. telephone friggin automated responses.

#3. automated telephone responses - what the frig!

 

 

#38......entry

just to see if anyone is paying attention...

 

#36...Flora's nerdy quote for the day:

"It's just hard to string a lot of atoms together.  I mean, these things are wickedly small.  They're sensitive little buggers too."

~Seth Lloyd of MIT

(referring to the progress and manufacturing of quantum computers.)

 

....yes, i do read these kinds of "tings."  in truth, we are all nerds at heart. come on, admit it.

#35...Flora's quote for the day, (Sept 25, 03)

"I began these pages for myself, in order to think out my own particular pattern of living, my own individual balance of life, work, and human relationships."

                                                                       ~anne morrow lindbergh

                               Your own journal awaits you.

                                                                               Jump.

#34..Flora's poll for the day:

okay. so is it time to clean your windows when:

1. you see cloudiness and smeary streaks?

2. your window's "accumulations" act as sunscreen?

3. people keep asking why all the shades are down (and you dont have shades)?

4. none of the above.

i would like your input. wouldn't want to waste windex unnecessarily. call me frugel. just dont call me shirley.

#33..."Tings" to do today.

1. do not waste time posting, when i could be cleaning.

wait...

1.  do not waste time posting, when i could be exercising.

wait...

1. do not waste time posting, when i could be eating...

wait.

1. do not waste time posting, when i could be shopping.......

 

 

#32...Flora's quote for the day. Sept 24, 03

Talent develops in quiet places,

character -

in the full current of human life.

~Goethe

#31...he's da man...

okay, so a friend sends me this link.  i open it.  i die laughing.

(well, okay that's just a figure of speech, I didn't die, but I was wheezing..)

the man song:  ------------>  http://www.gethonest.com/TestButton.html

 

 

#30...class. Class. CLASS! thank you.

"Remember to never split an infinitive.  The passive voice should never be used.  Do not put statements in the negative form.  Verbs have to agree with their subjects.  Proofread carefully to see if you words out.  If you reread your work, you can find on rereading, a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.  A writer must not shift your point of view.  And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember too, a preposition is a terrible word to end your sentence with.)  Don't overuse exclamation marks!!!  Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.  Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.  If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.  Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors. Avoid trendy locations that sound flaky.  Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.  Always pick the correct idiom.  The adverb always follows the verb.  Last but  not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek viable alternatives."

~ william safire

#29...hmmm.

i was going to add an entry just now,

but then,

i didn't feel like it.

 

...hey. wait a minute..

#28. Flora's quote for the day (sept 20, 03)

"What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is."

                           ~Dan Quayle '89

                  Speech to the United Negro College Fund.

                    ("A mind is a terrible thing to waste.")

#27...my daughter carlie's, response.

"Thats creepy!"

"He's such a freak!  Why does he do things like that?!!"

laughing...you think she'd be used to it by now.

#26.... BACK OFF LADIES, HE'S MINE.

Okay, so my husband comes in saying, "From now on I'm going to meet the township inspectors wearing these..." 

"Wearing what?" I call from upstairs, still busy checking my ebay auctions.

"Well, these.  I think if I come out of the construction trailor yelling, "What!  What do you want now!?",  they will leave me alone."

I looked over the railing to see what he was talking about.

And that is what I found. I busted out laughing.

"Where did you find them!?" I finally asked, after I cleared the tears from my eyes..

"Oh - In my toolbox." he replied nonchalantly and then walked out of the room to go back to whatever he was doing in the garage.

Yes folks, you heard right. In his toolbox.

Why, am I not surprised.

Well, you just gotta love a man who knows the value of a good pair of safety goggles. 

#25...Flora's quote for the day: (sept 19,03)

"The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.  One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.  It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day.  Never lose a holy curiosity."

                                                    ~albert einstein.

#24....AND GOOD RIDDANCE!!

It appears Isabel finally got tired of us and like the great big whore that she is, moved on to ravage other unsuspecting lawn chairs, and plantings and trees.  Well, good riddance. "We don't need your kind around these parts, lady!"  I raged my fist at her. 

I walked around to survey the damage. Hmmm..kinda looks like the morning after a good keg party.  Some of the trees and bushes are hung over from all of the fun....

No. really....hung over.

Slightly off kilter. Some horizontal, even. 

I could just hear them all just moaning.."Killer party, dude!"  "Man o' man...that Isabel is some pa-har-tay animal!"  "Dude!" called another, "How 'bout those twister sisters!?"  

The rosebushes, however, were not as impressed.  "Shut up!" one yelled, "That bitch blew all my petals off!"  "Look!" said another, "I think she killed the sunflowers!" Another screamed.  Sure enough, we appeared to have had a sunflower casualty. Maybe...

or maybe the sunflower just commited Hari-Kari, too intoxicated to stand up straight from the night of fun and festivities, it layed there with its head submerged in the stagnant birdbath water...

I walked over to check for a pulse.

Nope.

Nada.

Dead as a doornail.  

I assessed for further evidence... wait... what's this?  "Nope." I said aloud,  "This was clearly a homicide."  I called to the rosebushes, "Look here - her neck has been snapped."  "The poor thing didnt have a chance,"  I said, shaking my head...

In sorrow, the roses sighed, and hung what was left of their pretty petaled heads....

 

 

#23...take that isabel!

the floralilian curse.

why? because the b*tch deserves it.

#22...ISABEL BLOWS.

okay, so today, hurricane isabel decided to stop by. 

been a while since i had to play host to a hurricane in this part of pennsylvania. I wasn't sure what to serve...lawn chair, table...hanging basket, or beloved maple tree? and i hardly knew how to dress for the occasion either. do you think these heels are too much with my nightie?

i know, i know...i had plenty of time to prepare for her visit.  but true to floralilian form,

i didnt.  

so this morning, of course the neighbors were understanding when i had to run outside in my nightgown and collect all of the blown over deck furniture...again.  And Isabel, with her warped sense of tornadic humor, got her jollies by flipping my nightie over my head while i struggled to put the cafe umbrella down. 

not a very pretty sight, I assure you. Verrry funny isabel.  do us a favor won't you -  and don't overstay your (un)welcome.

 

#21..Flora's quote for the day. (sept 18, 03)

"Consult not your fears, but your hopes and dreams.  Think not about your failures but about your unfulfilled potential.  Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but what is still possible to do...

                                             ....To live is to change."

~John XXII

#20...cuzsnookie's urgent hair advice:

A haircut .... NEVER ... EVER ... have your haircut when there is a full moon ... or even worse yet ... when there have been a week of full moons.... Believe me ... you will NOT like it!!!!!!! Now it is too late for me... but you've been warned....

hear that folks! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. 

kindly send contributions for cuzsnookies new hair(less) accessories to:

scarves-r-us

c/o cuzsnookie

phoenix, az.

thank you.

(and a note to cuz...mebbe it will be a good look for halloween?.....cringing...and running....)

#19..duty calls.

...okay, sometimes we have to do things against our every fiber of being. 

like work.

which, while necessary, is still unfortuate. cause id rather be here. but i cant. so i wont. but i will...see you tonight.

#18..Flora's quote for the day (sept 17, 03)

"Not for me the pale shades of anonymity, but the hot lush colours of imagination, creativity, and accomplishment."

~Isabel

#17...more of aunt snookie's bits of wonder:

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't
mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt
tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can
be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit any porbelm.
Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a
wlohe.

ceehiro

thanks for sharing that, cuzauntie snookie!...taht saw tnecifingam!  wiat, waht i maent to say was....taht was mganificnet!!

 

#16...best opening line in a book:

"I woke up in bed with a man and a cat.  The man was a stranger; the cat was not."

~r. heinlein

to sail beyond the sunset

#15...aunt snookie's bits of wonder:

*^*^  Do the humps on camels hold water?  *^*^

No!

The humps on a camel's back are actually huge heaps of fat and flesh that can weigh as much as 80 pounds in a healthy camel. These humps help camels survive for weeks without food and water.

When water and food become scarce on the deserts where camels roam, the fatty humps serve as stored food and are used for nourishment. As the camel's body metabolizes or uses up the humps' stored fat, the hump becomes smaller and flabbier. So the longer the camel goes without eating, the smaller its hump gets. The size of a camel's hump helps determine a camel's health, food sources, and overall well-being.

These humps, or reserves of fat, are the reason why camels can go for days without water and food. While humans are supposed to drink 8 glasses of water a day, camels can go without water for up to 2 weeks!

well, all i have to say to that is...yeah, their humps and MY ANKLES....

thanks aunt snookie, for that bit of education.

see folks, you learn something new every damn day, eh?

#14....Flora's quote for the day (sept 16, 03)

"People would ask what I did, and I would say, "I'm a writer!"  They inevitably would ask, "What do you write?"

                                 .......When I answered "Journals,"

sometimes they chuckled or smirked, or said, "No really - what do you write - for real?" as though journals were less valuable somehow.

                                     Journals are not less valuable.

Whatever coaxes us out of hiding, to write, record, and express, is a revolutionary act.  It says that we believe our lives count.

                                             Our lives do count.

~SARK

#13...damn cat.

damn cat. he just bit me for disturbing his sunbathing.

i hate cats.

#12..okay, poured the coffee.

sipping my coffee, mmmm...now thats a damn good cup of joe, flora...

you know, i think they should get rid of the "music im listening to:" heading and replace it with "random thought"  or..something. then, if you wanted, you could put in music that you are listening to, or anything else for that matter.  but then again, its not stopping me from entering randomly is it.  you know what i think i will like about this blog or journal writing? that it is a great form of stream of consciousness writing. damn, you never know where it will take you.  i hope i dont need mapquest for directions.

and Linus was right - "happiness is a warm, sun-drenched kitten." (the original text might have been garbled here.)

#11. okay, coffee brewing.

okay. im back. slept a little, started the coffee, checked on the position of hurricane isabel, filled the birdfeeders and layed in the sunbeam for a few moments with "kitty".

im sorry, i couldnt help it. there is something wonderfully inviting about a kitty laying in the sun. and im not even a cat person. Kitty, for those of you who dont know him, is our big orange tom cat, who thinks he is a dog. which is probably why, not being a cat person, i like him. kitty had a real name at one time, spitticus, (because as a kitten he spit and clawed alot) but we abandoned that long ago, because well, its just easier to say kitty, and well, he doesnt hardly ever spit anymore at things or animals, or people. i think that showed real growth on his part, dont you? 

being the only living thing in the house with a tail, pretty much everyone knows who you are referring to when you speak of kitty. (notice, i didnt say being the only living thing in the house with fur, because that would be a lie and is a touchy subject with my husband - who still wont let me wax him.)

#9. what's right in the world.

What's Right In the World:

let's see...things that make me get up in the morning.....well...a full bladder, for one...and coffee, always coffee.

#10. what's wrong in the world.

What's Wrong In the World:

sigh..

#8..and finally...c'est fin.

.....proper grammar and punctuation should always be attempted even for the weak and feeble minded, except of course, when you dont feel like it. Special dispensation and forgiveness for the glaring lack of capitalizations and contractions must be granted by you, to me, for the most part, because well...i am just too lazy to shift keys.

you might be too.

come now, pull up that chair, and lets see what "tings" developeth.

#6...and on....

.....To those who do chooseth to participate, know there is safe haven here. Just do not, however, become an emotional drain, and suck the life out of the group or do any really weird stalking kind of thingeths, because then i might have to call upon mine uncle guido, and his cohort, "jimmy the thumbs". (dont ask.)....

#5...and the rant goes on....

...feel free, kind community, to drop by unannounced, whenever said randomness grabs hold of ye, and enter your random thoughts randomly or otherwise, or voices, or real estate (but heavens, not small children) whenever the inspiration screams loudly to be let loose from you unto the masses via this forum. And if thou doth rather desire to lurk in the background and act as a voyeur...well, that is okay too. Just please be kind, and wash your hands frequently....

#7...and on.....

...let it be known to all too, that there just might be opportunities for thou to expandeth horizons, and have chance encounters with the unusual and interesting, as long as everyone's immunizations are up to date...

Naturally, politeness and general good manners should always prevail, except, of course, when they shouldnt....

#3..i will enter as new entries...

....and let it also be known to all, that from these below curious actions, the conception between mind and mongrel, er mogul, grew rapidly and was inevitably birthed thusly in a matter of mere minutes by the good graciousness of the technology of AOL, and by me hitting a few designated keys....

#4...way to go aol...

.....And for all of those curiously concerned, the birthing process was free of any unnatural drugs or devices, save an old computer and bowl of vanilla ice cream. (with ice cream naturally, being eternally inspiring.) no trees, or whales were ever harmed in the process.....

in short, i am happy to be here.
                         not just here, on aol, but here.

you know...in the grand scheme of things.
                                                                        i hope you are too.

#2...and because i am limited to 2500 "characters"...

....Let it also be known to all, that this conception, which was wholly and randomly inspired, albeit though modern marketing techniques, but thankfully not physically inseminated (because well, that would be just toooo weird), by the mongul company AOL; was jointly entered into freely and (obviously free of contraceptives) with complete disregard to thought and ramifications that said journal might taketh from mine future free time and sanity, but so be it.....

#1a...in the beginning...there was the official notice..

well now, fancy that. it looks like congratulations to me are now .....in order.

here ye! here ye! let it be known to all that doth verily and unwarily enter here, that on this day, the 16th of september, in the year of our lord, 2003, that there hath been borne to the community of AOL.....a new journal.

continueth...

 

#1 the introduction. one long rant. (click the link)

almost famous floralilian rants

 http://hometown.aol.com/floralilia/page1.html