cassidy hall

"If your heart is a volcano, how shall you expect flowers to bloom?" Khalil Gibran

2011-08-30T19:41:00.000-07:00

Nobility by Alice Cary
True worth is in being not seeming-
in doing, each day that goes by,
some little good -- not in dreaming
of great things to do by & by.
For whatever men say in their blindness,
and spite of the fancies of youth,
There's nothing so kingly as kindness,
and nothing so royal as truth.

He asked for Charity, by Saint Francis of Assisi
God came to my house & asked for charity
And I fell on my knees & cried, 'Beloved, what may I give?'
'Just love,' He said.
'Just love.'

With Passion, by Rumi
with passion pray.
with passion make love.
with passion eat and drink and dance and play.
why look like a dead fish
in this ocean of God?

"all our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind" khalil gibran

2011-08-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

"prayer and love are really learned in the hour when prayer becomes impossible and your heart turns to stone." thomas merton

"only from the heart can you touch the sky" rumi

"...genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood" t.s. eliot

"We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing." Charles Bukowski

2011-08-21T07:19:00.000-07:00

"...Finally I am coming to the conclusion that my highest ambition is to be what I already am. That I will never fulfill my obligation to surpass myself unless I first accept myself, and if I accept myself fully in the right way, I will already have surpassed myself..." Thomas Merton

"...Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody's business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy..." Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton

"Be like the sun for grace and mercy. Be like the night to cover others' faults. Be like running water for generosity. Be like death for rage and anger. Be like the Earth for modesty. Appear as you are. Be as you appear." Rumi

2011-07-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

"Worry is a misuse of imagination." Dan Zadra

2011-06-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

"Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Rumi

"In your light I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside my chest where no-one sees you, but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art." Rumi

"Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free." Rumi

“Be humble, for the worst thing in the world is of the same stuff as you; be confident, for the stars are of the same stuff as you.” Nicholai Velimirovic

2011-06-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

The Invitation - By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes."

It doesn't interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the center of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

"He who cannot give anything away cannot feel anything either." Nietzsche

2011-06-09T19:21:00.000-07:00

THE ART OF LISTENING, by Lee Mun Wah

"to die, but not to perish, is to be eternally present." Buddhist Proverb

1. LISTEN to what is being said and what is not

2. OBSERVE the language of the body

3. Notice how something is being expressed and what words are used

4. What you feel is as important as what you hear and see

5. Be willing to adapt and to adjust to the moment

6. Notice how your body and words express your projections

7. Notice when you are asleep and why

8. Keep breathing. Allow space for humor, warmth, and grief

9. Compassion is one of the highest forms of being present

10. Acknowledge and utilize the wisdom that is in each person

11. Accept and Validate the truthfulness of each person's perception

12. Notice where someone begins and ends

13. Notice what is in the middle of the room

14. Model acceptance and openness to conflict, anger, and pain

15. Acknowledge the courage and intimacy of being vulnerable

16. Be kind to yourself and others

"…that my rushing blood was a river, my eyes two stars. my blowing hair all a quiver, a whispering field of grass…" david gray

2011-05-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

DESIDERATA (latin, "desired things") by Max Ehrmann

"Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or 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 virtue 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 and 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 dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy."

“This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.” Rumi

2011-05-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

"People can't live with change if there's not a changeless core inside them. The key to the ability to change is a changeless sense of who you are, what you are about and what you value." Stephen R. Covey

2011-04-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

"Nothing is built on stone; all is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone." Jorge Luis Borges

2011-04-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

Integrity, Thomas Merton

"Many Poets are not poets for the same reason that many religious men are not saints: they never succeed in being themselves...

They never get around to being the particular poet or the particular monk they are intended to be by God. They never become the man or the artist who is called for all by all the circumstances of their individual lives.

They waste their years in vain efforts to be some other poet, some other saint. For many absurd reasons, they are convinced that they are obliged to become somebody else who died two hundred years ago and who lived in circumstances utterly alien to their own. They wear out their minds and bodies in a hopeless endeavor to have somebody else's experiences or write somebody else's poems or possess somebody else's spirituality.

There can be an intense egoism in following everybody else. People are in a hurry to magnify themselves by imitating what is popular - and too lazy to think of anything better. Hurry ruins saints as well as artists. They want quick success and they are in such haste to get it that they cannot take time to be true to themselves....

In great saints you find that perfect humility and perfect integrity coincide. As far as the accidentals of this life are concerned, humility can be quite content with whatever satisfies the general run of men. But that does not mean that the essence of humility consists in being just like everybody else. On the contrary, humility consists in being precisely the person you actually are before God, and since no two people are alike, if you have the humility to be yourself you will not be like anyone else in the whole universe. But this individuality will not necessarily assert itself on the surface of everyday life. It will not be a matter of mere appearances, or opinions, or tastes, or ways of doing things. It is something deep in the soul...

To the truly humble man the ordinary ways and customs and habits of men are not a matter for conflict. The saints do not get excited about the things that people eat and drink, wear on their bodies, or hang on the walls of their houses. To make conformity or non-conformity with others in these accidents a matter of life and death is to fill your interior life with confusion and noise.

Ignoring all this as indifferent, the humble man takes whatever there is in the world that helps him to find God and leaves the rest aside. He is able to see quite clearly that what is useful to him may be useless for somebody else, and what helps others to be saints might ruin him. That is why humility brings with it a deep refinement of spirit, a peacefulness, a tact and a common sense without which there is no sane morality.

It is not humility to insist on being someone that you are not. It is as much as saying that you know better than God who you are and who you ought to be. How do you expect to arrive at the end of your own journey if you take the road to another man's city? How do you expect to reach your own perfection by leading somebody else's life?

And so it takes heroic humility to be yourself and to be nobody but the man, or the artist, that God intended you to be. However, you will be made to feel that your honesty is only pride. This is a serious temptation because you can never be sure whether you are being true to your true self or only building up a defense for the false personality that is the creature of your own appetite for esteem.

But the greatest humility can be learned from the anguish of keeping your balance in such a position: of continuing to be yourself without getting tough about it and without asserting your false self against the false selves of other people..."

"We struggle with the complexities and avoid the simplicities." Norman Vincent Peale

2011-04-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

Now Reading:
The Genesee Diary: report from a trappist monastery by Henri Nouwen
... Tuesday, 23rd ...

"...in the contemplative life every conflict, inner or outer, small or
large, can be seen as the tip of an iceberg, the expressive part of
something deeper and larger. it is worthwhile, even necessary, to
explore that which is underneath the surface of our daily actions,
thoughts, and feelings.
the most persistent advice of John Eudes in his spiritual direction is
to explore the wounds, to pay attention to the feelings, which are
often embarrassing and shameful, and follow them to their roots. he
keeps telling me not to push away disturbing daydreams or hostile
meanderings of the mind but to allow them to exist and explore them
with care. do not panic, do not start running but take a careful look.
it is interesting to mention here Diadochus of Photice's views on the
discernment of spirits. he says that we have to keep the surface calm
so that we can see deep into the soul. "when the sea is calm, the eyes
of the fishermen can penetrate to the point where he can distinguish
different movements in the depth of the water, so that hardly any of
the creatures who move through the pathways of the sea escape him, but
when the sea is agitated by the wind, she hides in her dark
restlessness what she shows in the smile of a clear day."
what is the importance of this? Diadochus says that with a clear mind
we will be able to distinguish the good from the bad suggestions so
that the good ones can be treasured and the bad ones dispelled.
That indeed is the value of being able to follow the movements of the
soul. when we do not panic and create waves, we will be able to "think
them through" to the end. when the end proves to be a dead end, a
blind alley, then we can be free to search for a new way without the
false suspicion that the old way might be the better one. when we keep
a diagnostic eye on our soul, then we can become familiar with the
different, often complex stirrings of our inner life and travel with
confidence on the paths that lead to the light ..."

"...The idealists and visionaries, foolish enough to throw caution to the winds and express their ardor and faith in some supreme deed, have advanced mankind and have enriched the world..." Emma Goldman

2011-03-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

"Art deals with things forever incapable of definition that belong to love, beauty, joy, and worship. The shapes, powers and glory of which are forever building, unbuilding, and rebuilding in each man's soul and in the soul of the whole world." Edwin Austin Abbey

"...Hurry ruins saints as well as artists..." Thomas Merton

2011-03-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

"...Hurry ruins saints as well as artists. They want quick success and they are in such a hurry to get it that they cannot take time to be true to themselves. And when the madness is upon them they argue that their very haste is a species of integrity..." Thomas Merton

"...Many poets are not poets for the same reason that many religious men are not saints: they never succeed in being themselves. They never get around to being the particular poet or the particular monk they are intended to be by God. They never become the man or the artist who is called for by all the circumstances of their individual lives. They waste their years in vain efforts to be some other poet, some other saint...They wear out their minds and bodies in a hopeless endeavor to have somebody else's experiences or write somebody else's poems..."

Thomas Merton

"Individuality is only possible if it unfolds from wholeness." David Bohm

2011-03-05T19:16:00.000-08:00

"art is the only way to run away without leaving home." Twyla Tharp

2011-02-23T07:06:00.000-08:00

Dawn, by Paul Laurence Dunbar

An angel, robed in spotless white,

Bent down and kissed the sleeping Night.

Night woke to blush; the sprite was gone.

Men saw the blush and called it Dawn.

The Moon, by Sappho

The stars about the lovely moon
Fade back and vanish very soon,
When, round and full, her silver face
Swims into sight, and lights all space.

How To Be An Explorer Of The World: Portable Life Museum, Keri Smith

"The fountain is my speech. The tulips are my speech. The grass and trees are my speech." George T. Delacorte

2011-02-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

"Don't you realize that the sea is the home of water? All water is off on a journey unless it's in the sea, and it's homesick, and bound to make its way home someday." Zora Neale Hurston

2011-02-17T13:51:00.000-08:00

"But more wonderful than the lore of old men and the lore of books is the secret lore of ocean." H. P. Lovecraft

2011-02-15T11:03:00.000-08:00

"Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment..." Monet

2011-02-04T07:39:00.000-08:00

“If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.” Charlie Parker

2011-02-02T08:43:00.000-08:00

How To Be An Explorer Of The World: Portable Life Museum, Keri Smith

"...The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page..." St. Augustine

2011-01-25T18:26:00.000-08:00

W.B. Yeats

"Art includes everything that stimulates the desire to live." Remy De Gourmont

2011-01-25T10:23:00.000-08:00

"...Nature never taught me that there exists a God of glory and infinite majesty. I had to learn that in other ways. But nature gave the word glory a meaning for me. I still do not know where else I could have found one. I do not see how the "fear" of God could have ever meant to me anything but the lowest prudential efforts to be safe, if I had never seen certain ominous ravines and unapproachable crags..." C.S. Lewis

"Whether he is an artist or not, the photographer is a joyous sensualist, for the simple reason that the eye traffics in feelings, not in thoughts." Walker Evans

"Love is love's reward." John Dryden

2011-01-15T19:21:00.000-08:00

"...Think and let think..." John Wesley

2011-01-14T15:19:00.000-08:00

"Every man's memory is his private literature." Aldous Huxley

2011-01-14T14:47:00.000-08:00

"Memory is a crazy woman that hoards colored rags and throws away food." Austin O'Malley

1•13•11

Today I thought about how it may be nice if I were one of those people that remembered when I peeled an orange for the first time, or one that was able to recall the smell of an October evening, my first sunrise, the first time I picked up a book I actually enjoyed.... etc.

...after considering this for a few sparse moments, I realized how much would be taken away from me if I were someone who retained such information; quite frankly, it's not a part of who I am. I am intrigued by those that remember such events with great detail and often find myself jealous of their 'talent,' but who am I to excuse my absent mindedness as an inability in and of itself? Who am I to suggest either way of memory is the 'right' way? It's such intriguing things that draw me closer to others.

...with that, I've chosen to accept this about myself as a talent. My ability to harbor anger or bitterness is greatly inhibited because of this talent, and I find myself often sitting in some form of a peaceful awareness due to my nature of not considering every detail critical to my memory. I must admit, I have brushed over crucial pieces of information from time to time (namely in my listening), yet I refuse to let my lack of remembrance mark those words as being insignificance or unimportant details. I've thankfully been blessed with extremely forgiving friends and family members, who have no problem reminding me of details particularly important to them.

...I know I cherish the things in my memory that are of utmost importance to me; I refuse to beat myself up for not recalling what fingernail polish I wore in 8th grade - yet in the same breath, I am in awe of those who do, and may even recall pieces of their lives in place of mine.

...being simply aware of our vast differences is growing on me in the form of appreciation as opposed to contradictions, conflicts, clashes, mismatches... it's our array of variation that form the whole, and the whole is such a beautiful thing with each of us there.

This, I suppose, was my feeble attempt today to appreciate the here and now. The who I am, who you are, who they are, and most importantly: who we all are. Together.

Old Memory, William Butler Yeats

O thought, fly to her when the end of day

Awakens an old memory, and say,

"Your strength, that is so lofty and fierce and kind,

It might call up a new age, calling to mind

The queens that were imagined long ago,

Is but half yours:he kneaded in the dough

Through the long years of youth, and who would have thought

It all, and more than it all, would come to naught,

And that dear words meant nothing?"But enough,

For when we have blamed the wind we can blame love;

Or, if there needs be more, be nothing said

That would be harsh for children that have strayed.

"The best lay in town is a poem" Daniel Ladinsky

2011-01-10T17:04:00.000-08:00

a super pal of mine ( laura allen -- http://la365project.blogspot.com/ ) talked me into doing the 365 project … both of us are into taking photos on our excursions-so what a great way to have a reason to always being taking photos.

Basically, my plan is on taking a photo or two every day -- I will then plan on posting a week's worth of photos every week -- or post a daily photo -- I'm certain it will depend on the day, week, or month...follow and enjoy the ride, or ignore me like a plague - the choice is up to you.

"To be always thinking about your manners is not the way to make them good;
the very perfection of manners is not to think about yourself." Richard Whately

wandering

2011-01-06T11:58:00.001-08:00

"Accept me as a wanderer, who from birth was made to stray from the sight of his brothers and sisters, his guides, his mentors, his comforters." Henry Miller
Two days ago I chased the sunset. and ran like a free bird. I knew my wings wouldn't work, but it didn't stop me from trying. Life is about trying. learning. living. and mostly loving. and I loved every single second of it.

welcome fall

2010-10-10T14:55:00.001-07:00

"...I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes..." e.e. cummings

presenting, the present. moment. now.

2010-09-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

"The present is the ever moving shadow that divides yesterday from tomorrow. In that lies hope." Frank Lloyd Wright, The Living City

"Zen lives in the present. The Whole teaching is: how to be in the present; how to get out of the past which is no more and how not to get involved in the future which is not yet, and just to be rooted, centered, in that which is." Osho, Zen: The Path of Paradox

"Today is the first and last day of forever." Stephenie Meyer, Breaking

"Live in the present, remember the past, and fear not the future, for it doesn't exist and never shall. There is only now." Christopher Paolini, Eldest

"The future and the past are equally meaningless because they are nebulous entities, times that do not exist, containing events which have no echo because they are gone, or which hold no import because they are yet to happen. What is important is the here and now, and now, and now, and the spaces between the nows." Tim Lebbon, Face

"Tomorrow gives a beck'ning hand--
I turn my face away;
I'll not invite her to my home--
I only love Today."
Ardelia Cotton Barton, "Today"

"We should not expect all the present to be as good as the best of the past." Lewis F. Korns, Thoughts

"The present is the food of the future." Edward Counsel, Maxims

quotes courtesy of: www.notable-quotes.com

oh happy day

2010-09-28T13:10:00.000-07:00

"God is love. Therefore love. Without distinction, without
calculation, without procrastination, love." Henry Drummond

"We become truly personal by loving God and by loving other
humans...in it's deepest sense, love is the life, the energy, of the
Creator in us." Kallistos Ware

refreshed

2010-09-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

sometimes i find a refreshing read...

"Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved."
William Shakespeare

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory." Howard Zinn

Days

2010-09-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

lovers. . .

2010-04-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

My brother got married. and it was the most lovely and magical wedding I've ever been to.

photos courtesy of DKweddings.net

2 things.

2010-02-09T20:22:00.000-08:00

1. my cat died. this is my favorite photo of her.

2.
"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -- myth is more potent than history -- dreams are more powerful than facts -- hope always triumphs over experience -- laughter is the cure for grief -- love is stronger than death." Robert Fulghum

Quiet Girl by Langston Hughes
I would liken you
To a night without stars
Were it not for your eyes.
I would liken you
To a sleep without dreams
Were it not for your songs.

cereal.

2010-02-09T20:03:00.000-08:00

"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop." Mother Teresa

"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity." -Gilda Radner

“Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.” Tom Robbins

todos los personas.

2009-12-06T09:02:00.000-08:00

POEM FOR EVERY PERSON
by John Thomas Wood

I will present you
parts
of
my
self
slowly
if you are patient and tender.
I will open drawers
that mostly stay closed
and bring out places and people and things
sounds and smells, loves and frustrations, hopes
and sadnesses,
bits and pieces of decades of my life
that have been grabbed off
in chunks
and found lying in my hands.
they have eaten
their way into my memory,
carved their way into
my heart.
altogether-you or i will never see them-
they are me.
if you regard them lightly,
deny that they are important
or worse, judge them
i will quietly, slowly,
begin to wrap them up,
in small pieces of velvet,
like worn silver and gold jewelry,
tuck them away
in a small wooden chest of drawers
and close.

brown town + black&white nights

2009-12-02T21:28:00.001-08:00

Enthusiasm moves the world.

~ J. Balfour

wrappers.

2009-12-02T21:23:00.001-08:00

"Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well."
Vincent Van Gogh

slap me in the knee.

2009-11-05T16:58:00.000-08:00

last photo = one of my brother's find's ... love it.

artist: David Shrigley

bud.

2009-11-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

"...I swore never to be silent whenever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented..."
- Elie Wiesel

squash.

2009-11-05T12:02:00.000-08:00

my thought of yesterday: often times... it seems as though when we feel we lack freedom- we tend make some of our most destructive decisions. and often times, in the midst of immense freedom, we lack the wisdom to cherish the precious moments.

“My great mistake, the fault for which I can't forgive myself, is that one day I ceased my obstinate pursuit of my own individuality.” Oscar Wilde

"...now i long for one of those old, meandering, dry, uninhabited roads, which lead away from towns...
where travelers are not too often to be met;
where my spirit is free;
where the walls and fences are not cared for;
where your head is more in heaven
than your feet are on earth..."
- henry david thoreau

2009-09-20T12:50:00.000-07:00

"To free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves -- there lies the great, singular power of self-respect."
Joan Didion

"1. Be Proactive.
2. Begin with the end in mind.
3. Put first things first.
4. Think win win.
5. Seek first to understand . . . then to be understood.
6. Synergize.
7. Sharpen the saw."
Stephen R. Covey

"You cannot make it as wandering generality. you must become a meaningful specific."
Zig Ziglar

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."
Henry David Thoreau

"Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed."
Corita Kent

"Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season.
It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year.
It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow.
Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the harvest and the playtime." W.E.B. Du Bois

Santa Cruz makes me happy

2009-07-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

2009-07-01T12:35:00.001-07:00

Posting from my phone never felt so good.

tick tock...

2009-03-14T10:42:00.001-07:00

HAPPY new year

2009-01-15T05:38:00.000-08:00

fa LA LA LA LA

2008-11-24T14:35:00.001-08:00

a briefing on a recent trip to LA, to be followed by details... eventually.

november happenings

2008-11-04T17:48:00.001-08:00

november of 2008 = a presidential election

2008-10-26T09:14:00.000-07:00

orange is for pumpkins

2008-10-15T14:27:00.000-07:00

another month, another HALLiday...
the hall family has begun preparations for HALLoween, which means an annual trip to the DeMoss Pumpkin farm. This ended with a selection of pumpkins with such deformities as warts, super green not yet ripe pumpkin, and a pumpkin that looks like a rope was tied around it while it was growing.
In addition to the HALLoween preparations, as a family (minus the brothers) we did a bike ride for breast cancer last weekend along with a 5k for arthritis. It was some great family bonding time as we got to encourage and challenge on another physically. Enjoy the pictures!

in additional news....
TA DA! My brother Hiland got engaged to his lovely lady friend Lauren... CONGRATS! This all went down in the Blissful DisneyWorld... where magic really happens.

THAAAA DREAM... THA BULLS....

2008-10-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

just some random thoughts from some random day...

what is the american dream?
the futility of such a thought and such a life only leads to emptiness.
who will care what you wore as you lie on your deathbed?
...what you owned...what you ate...what you lived for...
who will care what you're dying for if you are only dying to live?
if this is all there is, it isn't worth another breath.

if this isn't all there is; it's worth every last breath we have.

Ecclesiastes says that God has put eternity on the hearts of his people, that they might seek God.... (Ecclesiastes 3:11) (He also has planted eternity in our hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.) - amplified Bible

we long to live for a reason.
we long for forever for a reason.

super duper.

2008-10-04T12:25:00.000-07:00

here is a variety of photos from being a tourist at the missions and with mr. robinson himself... that is a self-taken photo... a challenge with such a tall man.

pasta roni.

2008-09-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

Texas is like a fiesta everyday.
Unfortunately for me, it hasn't been.
Some of you know I have had the joy of experiencing tonsillitis twice in the past 3 weeks. This has had me down and out enjoying the wide varieties of applesauce and pudding (yes yes, some ice cream and soup too).
The past several days have been great as I have been able to be a tourist on the riverwalk, see giant cowboy boots, the alamo and the missions of this great land. oh, and i suppose i've enjoyed a couple basketball games as well. it's been great hanging out with some close friends and family since i've been well.
Other than this, I have been working a lot on school and am very excited to finish up one of my first courses next month.

bibbity bobbity boo

2008-09-15T08:10:00.000-07:00

I suppose it's about time for a REAL update, some of you may be saying, 'enough of these quotes' so here's what's up...

Since I've last written I have had the joy of seeing my first Tractor pull, attending the Washington County Fair, going to the Nebraska State Fair and seeing the Band Third Day(no, not as wonderful as the Iowa State Fair if you were wondering), visiting Lisa and Andy in Iowa City, attempting to continue to train for a half-marathon at the end of the month, seeing some good pals around Ames, continuing my course work at Liberty University, and hanging out with my family. This, my friends, is clearly a summary... and let my photos summarize even more...

2008-09-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man adapts the world to himself. All progress depends upon the unreasonable man.
- George Bernard Shaw

You really can change the world if you care enough.
- Marion Wright Edelman

wise man makes his own decisions; an ignorant man follows the public opinion.
-Chinese Proverb

Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.
- Mother Teresa

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.
- Elbert Hubbard

recently ...

2008-09-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

i like animals.
goats and zebras included...

yellow.

2008-08-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God's business.
Michael J. Fox

Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.
Sir Winston Churchill

The man who has no imagination has no wings.
Muhammad Ali

school is back in session

2008-08-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

School has officially begun again, as I start the pursuit of my masters degree in marriage and family therapy (counseling). I am looking forward to all the reading as it pertains to something I enjoy and hope to work in the rest of my life. However, the amount of reading is slightly overwhelming (yet, exactly what I anticipated).

Here is my official 'first day of school' picture as taken by my mother in the traditional location (in front of our garage). I am fully equipped with a book, backpack and my mothers reading glasses.

good news...confession

2008-08-19T07:12:00.001-07:00

08/03/08

i wrote this in church one day because i was bored and frustrated... mostly with myself....

spaces of empty seats everywhere surround and interrupt community.
everyone in their finest clothes- where are the homeless, the blind, the broken, the poor, the lame, the adulterous, the thieves... here are the lonely rich.
the lovely rich christians of America. where and how are needs being met in this so-called community of Christ? where is the outreach to the lost neighbors, the lost nations? did my outfit cost me more than feeding a child for months or building a well in Africa? why do we stare at a person on stage? why can't i see the battles of sin? where's the imagination of losing myself in Christ and worshiping Christ? why did the children have to leave? Did Jesus have the children leave? Have I shown love to these people amongst empty spaces and chairs? how much did those fancy lights cost for the stage? or that illuminated cross behind that man on stage?

how good is the good news if i sit with you in this room with closed doors?
i drive myself crazy in this seat because i am one of the ones sitting here. i am one of the ones who spent more money on my outfit than my neighbors need for food or water. i am one of the ones who is entertained by the lighting, music, projectors, stage, microphones, illuminated cross. Have I become a follower of the american church and not of Christ? am i a result of being a convert in America? have i begun to follow those who appear to know what they're doing and not God's very word? have we all become followers of the americanized church and not of Jesus Christ and the Word of God? If the good news is SO GOOD- why am i sitting in a room of proclaimed believers (myself included) with the doors shut...?

2008-08-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

Thank God for this...

My Dad and I at the state fair...

2008-08-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

Some of the wonderful things in Iowa...

2008-07-25T12:28:00.000-07:00

you may see an Abe Lincoln impersonator... along the famous Lincoln Highway in Nevada, Iowa...
and you may see a sign that claims to be the center of Iowa...
both marvelous landmarks.

RAGBRAI 08' - team gloves 04'

2008-07-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

Some friends and I decided to bike a day of RAGBRAI (Registers Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa). The problem was the most convenient day for all of us ended up being one of the longest days of biking - nearly 80 miles.
RAGBRAI was in Ames on Tuesday night, so we figured we just jump aboard the next day and join the ride from Ames to Tama.
The night of Ames festivities included a performance by my sister that had bikers stopping from all over. Later that evening we went to the Nada's concert and hung out with all the spandex sporting folk that would soon become our friends the following day.
We figured we could handle it, souped-up our bikes with fancy racks, bought our padded biker shorts, got our camelbaks, we loaded up with granola bars and powder energy drinks.
We took off from West Ames and it was nearly an hour before we got out of Ames, we struggled to find other bikers so we could head in the proper direction. Once we got aboard it still wasn't a cloud in heaven.
We did enjoy the tasty treats of fresh baked and cooked items in the various towns we went through. From scotcharoos to cinnamon rolls to brats and fresh water.
We ended up making it - all 80 miles of it, minus a short-cut as suggested by a team we decided to follow after some drinks in a small town bar. This cut off about 6 miles on the ride.
Luckily we did get to experience most of the fun - wearing spandex and not have people stare, drinking in a small town bar with other people in spandex, going to the restroom in the great outdoors, having butt pain from sitting on a bike seat for so long, going to a random concert, biking through sprinklers, waving to the folks sitting on their lawn chairs, and seeing a sign that said "ONLY 12 more hills till Albion" (boy oh boy was that encouraging!)

random from July

2008-07-14T11:56:00.000-07:00

A lot of random-ness has been going through my head these days, and that as translated into my actions...
*Out of my boredom the other day I joined an adult soccer league here in Ames, Iowa. While this seemed like a good idea at the time - 4 22minute quarters later and a bike ride to the other end of town had me questioning my decision and what I do with my boredom. Considering I hadn't actaully placed soccer since some intramural games at Iowa State, I was quite rusty.
*Midnight Madness happened a few days ago- a 10k race. I decided to go all out and do the 10k with a buddy from high school. . . yet another enduring task that ended up being a wonderful choice. It was a lovely evening with a nice breeze, I suppose the best thing about running just over 6 miles outside in the summer time.

I went to church alone the other day and began to have somewhat of a panic attack in my seat... thinking things like - why in the world am I sitting in a completely comfortable seat while over half the world suffers? why am I in an auditorium setting being almost entertained while over half the world isn't even educated? These thoughts ran on and on, until I finally was able to relax myself with some writing in the church bulletin that had nothing to do with anything. Needless to say, I didn't listen much at church that day.

The Iowa Games are coming up, which means lots of people will be in Ames... but what's more exciting is RAGBRAI is going through Ames next Tuesday and I am joining the ride with a few friends and family members as they leave Ames to go to Tama. The ride is somewhere around 70 miles, should be another exciting challenge.

I guess there isn't much more to say... It's nice to be back in a city where you can smile and say hello to everyone you go by without them thinking you're crazy.

chicken crack corn and i don't care

2008-07-10T13:09:00.001-07:00

in iowa... we have chickens.
in my backyard... we have chickens.
we currently have 6 baby chicks. and daily we get somewhere around 6-10 eggs laid.
it's a marvelous farm-life.

Nebraska

2008-07-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

I realized I was almost home when I saw the endless fields along the sides of I-80. It was a joy to see as I was ready to get home.

The fourth of July was spent with Brittany's family which included all sorts of food, fantastic view of fireworks from surrounding towns and cities, our own fireworks show put on by Brett (Brittany's brother) and most exciting to me - getting to hang out with kids!

The following day I got to help watch the kids which included a trip to Wall-E. . . GO SEE IT! After that we joined ronald mcdonald for some ice cream.

apparently this is me writing my name with a sparkler:

Mesa Verde National Park

2008-07-03T16:56:00.000-07:00

I had a bad attitude here and then remembered this:

Philippians 2:1-11
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Ok, you're right... recalling this didn't immediately change my attitude, but it did remind me of what a great opportunity I had to see a National Park where the Pueblo Indians lived and what they did. . .

four corners

2008-07-03T16:26:00.000-07:00

The four corners monument is magnificent, in that it's LITERALLY a slab of concrete with flags and words. The surrounding area of the slab of concrete is a contraption of Native American food gifts and random shacks where gifts are sold. Considering the monument is in the middle of a desert, it is also in fact, in the middle of Indian lands. . . therefore, the Indians get to make money off of the tourists. It works well - I bought some things, Britt bought some things and I think I enjoyed the Indians far more than the slab of concrete itself.

The GREAT and somewhat non-existent Salt Lake

2008-07-02T18:43:00.000-07:00

Here are some more photos from temple square along with some from the Great Salt Lake:

Glen Canyon - Page, AZ

2008-07-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

Getting to Page began on a rough note...

We were in Provo, UT the night before and didn't get to bed until 12am. We figured in order to make our 1pm boat tour on the colorado river, we needed to awake at about 3:30 and be on the road BY 4am. Of course on a night like this NO ONE sleeps well and we get paranoid about missing our alarm clocks, etc.

However, we did hit the road by 4 and were on our way to Page, AZ. We passed some fantastic national parks including Bryce National Park- known for it's Hoodoos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodoo_(geology))
We did make the stop here to go to a view point and view these fantastic Hoodoos:

Once we finally arrived in Page, AZ... We THEN realized we were about 3 hours early due to time changes, a GPS system that underestimates my speed capabilities, and a state that does not recognize daylight savings time (except for in Indian Reservations, or something like that - that's what someone said).
So we spent our time in a small cafe drinking dt. pepsi that tasted like cherry syrup and a root beer float that looked like what I wanted to do in the bathroom.
In conclusion - we CLEARLY made our boat tour and were happy to do so. However, we did not realize this ALSO included a far bus ride to the drop off (we both passed out on the bus like it was our job). Once we got off the bus it was as if we had no idea where we were or what we were doing all we really recall was being told to leave our bags and put on hard hats:

We proceeded to the boat where we ended up (intelligently) sitting by the gasoline cans that were exposed and leaking gas the entire trip.
In conclusion, the 15 mile boat tour was fantastic and included beautiful sights, hearing thunder in the canyon, a great tour guide some great boat mates we later saw at the Grand Canyon, and a lovely ending rain that brought us to the Vermillions which start the grand canyon. We then realized this meant another bus ride. . . this one ended up feeling like 3 hours but was really around an hour (we clearly passed out yet again, due to lack of sleep). I just remember driving through Indian reservations and hearing our bus driver/tour guide speak about the Native Americans of that area. How some of the children STILL ride a bus 3 hours each direction in order to get to school.

I clearly have no idea what's going on in this photo and I have no idea where I am:

Gallup, New Mexico

2008-07-02T18:04:00.000-07:00

First of all, who names a town Gallup?
Well, according to Wikipedia:

"...The City was named after David Gallup, a paymaster for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad...Gallup is sometimes called the "Indian Capital of the World", for its location in the heart of Native American lands, and the presence of Navajo, Zuni, Hopi and other tribes...Route 66 runs through Gallup, and the town's name is mentioned in the lyrics to the song, Route 66. In 2003, the U.S. and New Mexico Departments of Transportation renamed US Highway 666, the city's other major highway to Route 491 since the number "666" is associated with Satan and devil worship, thus it was offensive to some people and local Navajos some who are superstitious felt it will lift the route from being "cursed""
REALLY?!?
... and more...
"Gallup was the subject of a 20/20 mini-documentary about the city's problems with alcohol."
... after reading that I knew that this was a town I wanted to stay in, I mean 20/20 is a great show that captures my attention after 30 seconds so of course this is where I wanted to stay.

The truth is, Gallup was the closest city inside the New Mexico Border and we wanted to keep up with staying in a different state every night- so that's where we landed after watching the Grand Canyon sunset in Arizona.

In the end, the best part about Gallup was the HORRIBLE drivers and the fact that we got starbucks coffee the following morning at 8 o'clock AM from a bar called Sammy C's Rockin' Sports Pub. Truth, my friends, truth.

I was officially Enchanted...

grand canyon black and white style.

2008-07-02T17:01:00.000-07:00

GRAND canyon

2008-07-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

Let's face it, the Grand Canyon was more than grand, it was brilliant, amazing, lovely, vast, magnificent, etc.
After a rafting tour at the Glen Canyon on the Colorado river that ends at the start of the Grand Canyon (Vermillions) - we drove down to stay at the Grand Canyon to get up the following day to hike.

grand canyon jumps

2008-07-02T16:32:00.000-07:00

You see a lot of people taking jumping photos these days... unfortunately, I am NOT an exception. The exciting part is from others taking these jumping photos, there were several families that had me take their photo jumping. . . I told them I look forward to seeing that on their Christmas card.

me n' Jesus - Salt Lake City, UT

2008-07-02T16:19:00.000-07:00

So I went to temple square to hang out with some Mormons and learn a little bit about them. . . and I did just that. I learned several things I never knew before - mostly about their continual modern day prophets... interesting.
Britt and I got an intimate tour with 2 ladies on their mission from Singapore and Japan. It amazed both of us how intentional and dedicated they were to their beliefs in terms of going door to door to dedicating those 2 years.
We then went on to see their conference center that is used 2 times a year to hear from their modern day prophets and choir.
Later in the day I walked by some kids and a few adults wearing name-tags that sported the logo of "Challenge" a modern-day evangelical church conference for students. This made me happy because it was at a challenge conference that I made a decision for Jesus 8 years ago yesterday. I told them this and then they questioned why in the world I was hanging out with Mormons and visiting the temple. I just simply said, "the same reason you're here."
I was there to love on some people - whoever I ran into. Learn more about why Mormon's believe what they believe and what exactly they believe and finally to...
get my picture taken with Jesus.

state line photos

2008-07-01T16:21:00.000-07:00

one time this summer...

2008-06-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

i wore a dress...

2007-09-05T17:25:00.000-07:00