1. “If you’re in a bad situation, don’t worry; it’ll change. If you’re in a good situation, don’t worry; it’ll change.” — John A. Simone Sr.

2.  “An adult is one who has lost the grace, the freshness, the innocence of the child, who is no longer capable of feeling pure joy, who makes everything complicated, who spreads suffering everywhere, who is afraid of being happy, and who, because it is easier to bear, has gone back to sleep. The wise man is a happy child.”  -Arnaud Desjardins

3. “Life always gives us exactly the teacher we need at every moment. This includes every mosquito, every misfortune, every red light, every traffic jam, every obnoxious supervisor (or employee), every illness, every loss, every moment of joy or depression, every addiction, every piece of garbage, every breath.” — Charlotte Joko Beck

4. “The story is told of a holy man who lived in a large house on top of a remote mountain. Over time, news of the holy man’s greatness spread throughout the land, and many seekers made their way over the mountains in hopes of having even a brief moment with this saintly being. Each aspirant was greeted at the door by a servant, who ushered him or her into the house and guided the visitor through several rooms. After a few minutes the servant and aspirant arrived at another door, which led out of the back of the house. The servant opened the door and indicated to the visitor that it was time to leave. “But I was hoping to have even a few minutes with the holy man!” the aspirant would utter in frustration. “You just did,” answered the holy man as he closed the door.” — Alan Cohen

5. Leonard Cohen, Suzanne

1. The Sun magazine

2. Letter to Maxim

3. One Argument for the Existence of God

4. Wide-Eyed in the Gaudy Shop

5. Judy Collins, Sun Son, Shining on the Water

1. Signature Theater

2. The Little Dog Laughed.  Shaun and I saw this show last night, and it was such a nice surprise.  Not that I didn’t expect to be entertained, but I laughed through the whole thing.  You will see weiners and kissing dudes (Hi, Mom!), justsoyouknow.  I loved the show, and might even go back.

3. Holly Twyford.  We are so lucky in this town to have this actor — she is consistently awesome every season.  She’s really the sole reason why “Little Dog Laughed” is so good, and I’m not the only one who thinks so.  We attended the same high school and were friends — she was funny then too.  She’s a “sure thing” in terms of making a production worth seeing.

4. Tuna melts (the one at Luna Grill I had before the show was dreamy).

5. Robert Palmer, Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley

Battle against embitterment and take part in 365 days of Grace in Small Things.

1. Babies learning to talk.  HEAVENS this is cute.  Shepherd says new words every day…not perfectly…but just cute enough that the fall-out I talked about yesterday threatens.  Again.  I need to get some of it on video.  The talking.  Not the innards.

2. Ruby learning to talk, back in the day.  She rocked out at the animal sounds.  This I do have on video.  There it is, look!  Oh, wait.  I don’t know how to do that yet.

3. Robert Frost, The Silken Tent

4. Thomas’ English muffins.  I made the jump at Costco and bought 630 of them.  Just as I remember, they are delicious.  The nooks!  The crannies!

5. Ani DiFranco, Buildings and Bridges

Battle against embitterment and take part in 365 days of Grace in Small Things.

1. Butt warmers in my car.  I don’t think I even knew I had ‘em until I realized I was extremely warm in the passenger seat a week or so ago.  Shaun had turned them on and was cookin’ my tookus on a ride around town.  Hot cross buns!

2. Thievery Corporation, LIVE.  Live, people.  If you haven’t seen them — do.  There was so much bass at this concert that I think my spleen and about 12-18 inches of my intestine shimmied out of my bottom while I was dancing around.

3. Getting to 930 Club early enough to get a seat at the bar (there are only about 20 of them), so that when my innards fell out, I could just tuck them up under my stool until it was time to leave.

4. Frank Orrall of Poi Dog Pondering in a guest spot.  All the way from Chicago!  Frank!  Thievery who?  If the bass hadn’t caused the involuntary fall-out, my love for him would have.  Love.  Him.  Where’s my colon?

5. Thievery Corporation, Mandala

Battle against embitterment and take part in 365 days of Grace in Small Things.

1. Darkness.  Shaun and I learned that if we go to the trouble of lowering our shades (as well as closing the blinds), it gets almost completely dark in our room.  The first night of this was a revelation, and we zzzzed our way to a great night’s sleep.  Of course, in the morning it’s pretty dark too.  Not Vegas dark, but darker than we are used to.  We all slept later than usual, and woke with lots of “hrrrpmh,” and “pffffffft” and drool as we realized that this was the other side of the good news.

2. Soba noodles

3. More recycling bins than I know what to do with.  I remember at our old house (a mere six blocks away), our bin was constantly getting jacked, and the city would make us pay for a new one.  In all honesty, after the second or third $60, I started losing interest in recycling altogether.  I no longer cared about the world.  Now, my sense of environmental concern has been restored.  I have ten bins!  Count ‘em!  Hmm.  Maybe the guy we bought this house from is the one who was stealing everyone’s in the first place.  The hell with you, Mr. Asher!

4.  Knowing where the phone is when it rings.  Sweet Jesus I grow weary of the search.

5. Susan Werner, Misery and Happiness

Battle against embitterment and take part in 365 days of Grace in Small Things.

1. Finally uploading photos and videos from the camera.

2. The knowledge that someday I will be able to upload videos first to Youtube, then to Fannfare.  Sigh.

3. Eating lunch within hours of when one is supposed to eat lunch.  I normally forget to do this.

4. Overcoming eating way too much after everyone else in the world has gone to sleep.

5. Hem, Strays