Elegant Distractions

No flowers, no chocolates, no following the crowd on this day. Not for my lady. She wants flowers and chocolates but not because of a holiday-card mandate. Like all women, she wants to be cherished and adored yet she finds Valentine's Day a contrivance and unnecessary.

Things she values far more than Valentine's Day: flowers on a Saturday morning, a neck rub in the evening, keeping her laptop running, holding her close, a touch on the cheek, holding hands, and simply being near each other.

I've had seventeen more years with her than expected since she diced with Death and won. Every day her talents become greater and she discovers another ability she didn't know she had. Every day is a bonus.

She is a lady and a little girl, sometimes within seconds. Her joy is irrepressible yet she cries at sad stories. She dances when nobody is looking, loves puppies beyond reason and, most incredible of all, she loves me, which defies explanation.

All I can do is everything I can to deserve her love, to keep the joy in her eyes and the smile on her face when I come through the door at the end of the day.

I would do anything for that, anything for her.

Posted by director at 03:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm a Porsche 911!

You have a classic style, but you're up-to-date with the latest technology. You're ambitious, competitive, and you love to win. Performance, precision, and prestige - you're one of the elite,and you know it.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Posted by director at 07:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Director's Immutable Driving Law: the later a person starts driving the worse of a driver they are.

In this vast world of ours there might exist some exceptions to the law but I've yet to encounter one personally. Note, for example, people who immigrate from a non-driving environment. So much is, pardon the pun, foriegn to them: traffic laws, driving courtesies, the sheer speed and volume of other cars.

A child growing up with these things doesn't even consider them.

Continue reading "Driving Lessons" »

Posted by director at 09:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is one of those great Lomardi quotes that the anti-American forces would just as soon be forgotten.

Posted by director at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Apologies to everybody, but I've had to turn on registration for comments to stop the blog spammers.

Posted by director at 02:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

I don't mean people from other nations. Let me explain.

The Spousal Unit and I had the, um, opportunity to spend some time recently with a man who enjoyed expounding on East Coast Superiority^tm. He, and others from the East, found the people of the Northwest baffling beyond words. His experiences where this:

1. We won't support the arts.
   
2. We will break commitments.
   
3. We won't make friends with people from the East. This he said right to the face of a person whom he later described as a dear friend.
   

Let me proffer an alternative explanation. What if:

1. We do know good art from bad.
   
2. We have plenty of alternatives to sitting through some peoples idea of great art. It takes a special event to get us to come indoors.
   
3. We won't work with arrogant asses but are too polite to say so to the ass' face.
   
4. We don't consider people who sit in our homes and insult us as good prospects for friends.
   

Posted by director at 08:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (4)

I was talking to a friend yesterday at lunch and came up with some thoughts on the concept of happiness. They are not fully fleshed out but here is the rough version.

Most people that go off in search of happiness don't find it. Why? Because happiness is not something that can be found by itself. It is the byproduct of other things and usually not the sort of things one does when one pursues it. Happiness comes from contentment with one's surroundings. It comes from the sense of fulfillment of a job well done. It doesn't come from achievement. Getting a promotion won't make you happy. It doesn't come from experience. Doing something fun doesn't cause lasting happiness. It doesn't come from change. Often people use happiness as an excuse to have an affair or get a divorce. Unfortunately, that doesn't work.

To be truly happy, the easiest way is to become content with who you are and what you have. Enjoying the present circumstances is a much more sure route to happiness than the pursuit of anything.

Think I'm on crack? Let me know in the comments.

-Godshatter

Posted by Godshatter at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

I was driving with the Spousal Unit here, which is 30 miles past the boondocks, when I was pulled over by a county sheriff.

The last speeding ticket I had was around 1987. Since then I've gotten smarter about a few things.

In this case the officer was in an unmarked black Explorer and he paced me for quite some time. He said he had me doing 52 in a 40 mph zone plus 62 in a 50. I think I passed him and another car at one point.

I've had four speeding tickets but I've also been pulled over an additional six times without getting so much as a warning (other than verbal). This deputy scolded me, handed back my driver's license, then chased down some stupid kids on bullet bikes. I doubt he was as gracious with them.

Posted by director at 08:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (15)

I believe there are people who have spent more on self-help than me. Must be but I don't know them. Books, tapes, seminars, the whole gammut. Some of it was even useful. I'm about to save you thousands of dollars and tons of grief.

I'm going to tell you several secrets to changing any aspect of your life that you desire. But here's the real secret: none of this is a secret at all.

Continue reading "How To Change Your Life" »

Posted by director at 09:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (1)

Ever had a day like this? I know I have.

"I've never seen anything as brutally clear as this. It's as if I can actually see the blue troops in one long bloody moment, going up the long slope to the stony top, as if it were already done and already a memory. An odd, set, stony quality to it, as if tomorrow has already happened and there's nothing you can do about it. The way you feel sometimes before an ill-considered attack, knowing it will fail but you cannot stop it. You must even take part and help it fail."

The always impressive Sam Elliot as Brig. General John Buford in Gettysburg.

Posted by director at 05:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

"The Race"
by D.H. Groberg

"Quit, Give up, You're beaten." They shout at me and plead.
"There's just too much against you now. This time you can't succeed."
And as I start to hang my head in front of failure's face,
My downward fall is broken by the memory of the race.

Continue reading "The Race" »

Posted by director at 04:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Thomas Lipscomb writes a scathing critique of the Ancient Media, The Dog That Didn't Bark. He also mentions the good work by some bloggers:

There are bloggers out there today with more credibility than Dan Rather, Mary Mapes, Eason Jordan, and Linda Foley combined, and their audiences are growing.

I think I'm blushing.

Via Reverend Reynolds.

Posted by director at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Oversimplified, to be sure, but just for laughs go take the quiz and see where you fall.

Posted by director at 08:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (1)

If you find yourself taking a sick day with cold or flu symptoms, perhaps this isn't the best viewing choice. I'm just saying.

Posted by director at 05:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (1)

Godshatter comes from the Vernor Vinge Novel, A Fire Upon the Deep. In that world, there are extremely intelligent beings that live on the edges of the galaxy. They cannot travel to the center so they send normal beings who they use as emmissaries. These human beings have much of the superintelligence crammed into their head and their real personality is thus shattered.

I highly recommend the book by the way. If you want some hard science fiction with an amazingly detailed and alien world, check it out.

Posted by Godshatter at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Elegant Distractions welcomes new contributer Godshatter. Look for mind-bogglingly incisive entries and perhaps a disagreement or two. Nothing like a good spat to get people's attention, eh?

I, for one, am anxious to see what comes of this!

Posted by director at 09:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (1)

From Daddy's little Angel...

...to this beautiful woman in the flutter of a hummingbird's wing.

The most painful part is moving away from the center of her life. That place is taken by another man. Rightfully so but wrenching nonetheless.

Posted by director at 08:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)