(you are the only thing in any room you're ever in)

caution: cliché and sappy thanksgiving post ahead.

today is especially wonderful.

i got to spend time with my family. i got to spend time with my gorgeous nieces.
i want to talk about what i am thankful for because i rarely do so publicly; not on purpose, but only because i'm inordinately internal.

although, i guess i should correct what i just said because i do not want to talk about what i am thankful for, but who i am thankful for:
(Herman), (Lucile), (Albert Sr.), (Ruby), Albert Jr., Cherri, James, Malinda, Lexi, Jesse, Leslie, Allie, Trent, Vanessa, Sheila, Ryan, Matthew, Brenda, Duane, Les, Jami, Daisy, Scott, Charla C, Brittany W, Michael and Paul, Kamesha H, Brandt E, Cathy C, Chris M, Deb C, Ellie W, Eric and Sherrill M, Heather S, Paul and Jill M, Dwight and Jean, Mike and Emily C, Jordan and Meredith B, Jennifer L, Christopher C, Jessica H, Jordan F, Kristen B, Kristin P, Matt L, Megan B, Andrew and Alyse F, Katie C and Deilia and Elie (my two dogs!).

i wish i could list everyone...

all of the people in my life are amazing... and frustrating. but that's life and relationships. i'm thankful for each person. i consider it a good week when anyone i am close to and i have not killed each other.

in response to a question about what it means to be married, my priest said, "to be able to live with each other and not kill each other." i think that applies to any close relationship between any two people. being close with anyone, family or friend, is hard. it takes work. being friends isn't easy. being family isn't easy. well, sometimes it is, but sometimes it isn't. i'm thankful it's difficult sometimes. otherwise, if life and relationships were all sunshine, pancakes and lollipops then it wouldn't be as meaningful.

so, here's to another week of not killing each other...
the world would not be what it is without you.
i love you all.



ssdd,
levi

i'll never know what you have shown to other eyes...

surprise! both of my papers have been turned in and i'm awaiting for my 6:00 PM class to begin and i have just enough time to type out a little something.

my brain is officially fried, so i'll be entertaining you with some song lyrics from an artist that is very near to my heart. i say that because this song expresses perfectly how i've been feeling for the past four months.
______________________________________________________________________

Go or Go Ahead
by Rufus Wainwright

Thank you for this bitter knowledge
Guardian angels who left me stranded
It was worth it, feeling abandoned
Makes one hardened but
What has happened to love


Got me writing lyrics on postcards
Then in the evenings looking at stars
But the brightest of the planets is Mars
What has happened to love


So I will opt for the big white limo
Vanity fair-grounds and rebel angels
Can't be trusted with feathers so hollow
Heaven's invention, steel eyed vampires of love

You see over me,
I'll never know what you've shown to other eyes

(Chorus)
Go or go ahead and surprise me
Say you've lead the way to a mirage
Go or go ahead and just try me

 No Where’s now here smelling of junipers
Fell off the hay bales, I'm over the rainbows
But oh Medusa kiss me and crucify
This unholy notion of the mythic powers of love


Look in her eyes, look in her eyes
Forget about the ones that are crying
Look in her eyes, look in her eyes
Forget about the ones that are crying

Go or go ahead
Go or go ahead
Go or go ahead
And surprise me


Go or go ahead
Go or go ahead
Go or go ahead
And just try me


______________________________________________________________________
sometimes my thoughts are completely in music... this is one of those times.


ssdd,
levi

dynamite with a laser beam... guaranteed to blow your mind (anytime)

well, next week is a KILLER for me at school and there will not be a post :(.

so i'm going to have this quick update for this week with random thoughts:

- i saw last night a man drinking WHILE driving for the first time ever. i am well aware of drinking then driving but while driving?? i feel like this should be when Seth Meyers on SNL would say, "Really?!"

- a few weeks ago i came across what can best be described as a moped (as opposed to biker) gang. they were sitting at a red light revving their engines and everything. and except for wearing leather jackets and boots they were wearing fashionable scarfs and sensible loafers. no, i didn't make any of that up. it really happened.

- on the same day as i saw Hell's Vespas, i was at another stop light and saw this 4 or 5 year boy running around the front of a grocery store with a bucket on his head. he was running around screaming his head off and laughing in delight. after seeing this, i was more than jealous at his ability to be so easily entertained.

- by no means do i miss my last job... but i miss working. only a little bit though.

- earlier this week i spent approximately 1 entire hour on YouTube looking at videos of baby's laughing. few things in this life bring me complete happiness and this is one of them.

- even though "be careful what you wish for" has been over-used... it's true.

- i'm addicted to movies. there, i said it. i really am though. there's only one genre of movies that i refuse to watch (romance/romantic comedies)... other than that, it's fair game.

- i think that It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is one of the funniest shows in the history of time: "You know what dude, hear me out for a second okay. Now technically, that stain did appear to me. Also I am familiar with carpentry and I don't know who my father is. So, am I the messiah? I don't know, I could be, I'm not ruling it out."

- while i used to have some rosy thoughts about daylight savings time, i don't like it anymore. i want more daylight.

- and some wisdom to close things out:

The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it. - George Bernard Shaw

In every human being you encounter, there will be far more to celebrate than to denigrate. - Elie Wiesel

ssdd,
levi

"just take the path to Nothing, and go Nowhere until you reach it"

well, i felt badly for writing a post that was not for everyone to read so, imma gonna post another one for everyone.

i was going through some old things today in my humble apartment and ran across an old journal of mine. it was from when i was in high school. it was... almost embarrassing to read it. most of my entries written in that journal back then were, well, just plain embarrassing. but i came across one entry that in the midst of my youthful angst was this quote:

"I have always thought the actions of a man to be the best interpreter of his thoughts."

in the entry i did not write down who said this, but google.com tells me that it was spoken by John Locke. i don't remember where i came across this quote in high school; nor do i remember ever reading John Locke in high school at any length or depth. but, there the quote sits in my journal.

i have to say though, i love this quote. once in university, i got into a "discussion" about the essence of who a person is. my friend, and for the sake of keeping the "innocent" anonymous i'll not mention a name, said that he firmly believed that our actions defined who we are. he gave the example of crimes committed... a person who steals things is a stealer, a person who kills is a murderer, etc. likewise, he opined that a person who performs music is a musician.

this feels a bit like the old paradox of which came first the chicken or the egg, but i think he's a bit correct and a bit incorrect.

what we do is a reflection of what we think and who we are. do our actions have an effect on how we think? i think so. well, maybe a better answer on my part is: i hope they do. but do they have an effect so far as to say that they define us? i hope not. after all, we are human BEINGS, not human DOINGS. and we are not the sum of our parts, as far as i am concerned. but i digress... back to the quote.


i think/believe that our actions are a direct reflection of our thoughts: good, bad, beautiful, ugly.

and i'm gonna tie this in with last weeks post because that topic is still on my mind. i also think that our actions show what we want. i know that circumstance can play as big a part as our thoughts when it comes to actions.

i keep mentioning things a lot of other people say, but "the ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit" according to W. Somerset Maugham...

when i went to university my sister wrote me a letter giving me advice about things she had learned during her undergrad. towards the end she wrote that, and this is a paraphrase, people show who they are in the every day things that they do... in how they speak, how they dress, how they brush their teeth, how they walk, etc. i think that overall, our actions show others (and ourselves for that matter) who we really are. i also think that this is an incomplete picture, but it is a glimpse nonetheless.

every day, every interaction and every action is a chance to see who someone is. every day others show us who they are. not in whole, but in part.

any time spent with someone, any text message, any phone call, any conversation, any hug, any kiss, any handshake, ad nauseum is an opportunity. only two things can interrupt these opportunities: not spending time with people or not paying attention. we each have control over both.

so... pay attention.



ssdd,
levi

put the light back in my eyes

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