dragon slaying

storm breathing dragon, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Happiness is like those palaces in fairy tales whose gates are guarded by dragons: we must fight in order to conquer it.

-- Alexandre Dumas Père

tango

slipstream, originally uploaded by McBeth.

The decision to kiss for the first time is the most crucial in any love story. It changes the relationship of two people much more strongly than even the final surrender; because this kiss already has within it that surrender.

-- Emil Ludwig

relaxed fit

seventeen year old blues, originally uploaded by McBeth.

I have often said that I wish I had invented blue jeans: the most spectacular, the most practical, the most relaxed and nonchalant. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity - all I hope for in my clothes.

-- Yves Saint Laurent

waiting

texaco tammy, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Ten men waiting for me at the door?
Send one of them home, I'm tired.

-- Mae West

classics

studebaker, originally uploaded by McBeth.

In less enlightened times, the best way to impress women was to own a hot car. But women wised up and realized it was better to buy their own hot cars so they wouldn't have to ride around with jerks.

-- Scott Adams

devotion

humble servant, originally uploaded by McBeth.

True strength lies in submission which permits one to dedicate his life, through devotion, to something beyond himself.

-- Henry Miller

kinship

brothers, originally uploaded by McBeth.

I bought my brother some gift-wrap for Christmas. I took it to the Gift Wrap department and told them to wrap it, but in a different print so he would know when to stop unwrapping.

-- Stephen Wright

war

blue star, originally uploaded by McBeth.

I am not only a pacifist but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace. Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war.

-- Albert Einstein

rest

uh oh, she's down again, originally uploaded by McBeth.

A babe in the house is a well-spring of pleasure, a messenger of peace and love, a resting place for innocence on earth, a link between angels and men.

-- Martin Fraquhar Tupper

you stuck your mudgeon in my cur

queen pricklehead, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Curmudgeon: Anyone who hates hypocrisy and pretense and has the temerity to say so; anyone with the habit of pointing out unpleasant facts in an engaging and humorous manner.

cynicism

It's hard to argue against cynics - they always sound smarter than optimists because they have so much evidence on their side.

-- Molly Ivans

magnetic attraction

Ella's fork holder, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Magnetism is one of the Six Fundamental Forces of the Universe, with the other five being Gravity, Duct Tape, Whining, Remote Control, and The Force That Pulls Dogs Toward The Groins Of Strangers.

-- Dave Barry

hear me out

hear me out, originally uploaded by McBeth.

To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.

-- Anthony Robbins

towering

above the market, originally uploaded by McBeth.

From what you would know and measure, you must take leave, at least for a time. Only after having left town, you see how high its towers rise above the houses.

-- Friedrich Nietzsche

looking glass

looking glass, originally uploaded by McBeth.

The world is full of fools; and he who would not wish to see one, must not only shut himself up alone, but must also break his looking-glass.

-- Nicholas Boileau

ssshh...

do you think he likes me, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Confidante. One entrusted by A with the secrets of B confided to herself by C.

-- Ambrose Bierce

distractions make it easy to lose yourself

distractions make it easy to lose yourself, originally uploaded by McBeth.

My idea of feminism is self-determination, and it's very open-ended: every woman has the right to become herself, and do whatever she needs to do.

-- Ani Difranco

losing fortunes

wealth (*cash value sold seperately), originally uploaded by McBeth.

Disappointment is a sort of bankruptcy -- the bankruptcy of a soul that expends too much in hope and expectation.

-- Eric Hoffer

this is your child

this is your child, originally uploaded by McBeth.

She will spin like a dervish around you and around you and around you until one day, when you suddenly realize she has spun right out into her own life, a life without your supervision, a life of expectation and hope and fearlessness.

Love your child right now. You don't get do-overs.

speaking in tongues

cheeky cactus, originally uploaded by McBeth.

And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.

-- William Shakespeare

play time

spidey peeker, originally uploaded by McBeth.

We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.

-- George Bernard Shaw

I gave her my number once

evening lobby, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Delusions of grandeur make me feel a lot better about myself.

-- Lily Tomlin

it is not over until it is over

never thought it would lead to this, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Don't let your special character and values, the secret that you know and no one else does, the truth - don't let that get swallowed up by the great chewing complacency.

-- Aesop

take the gesture

palomino's last laugh, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Every man has a different idea of what's beautiful, and it's best to take the gesture, the shadow of the branch, and let the mind create the tree.

-- William Faulkner

tre

three, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Even in war moral power is to physical as three parts out of four.

-- Napoleon Bonaparte

one's duties

blessings, originally uploaded by McBeth.

To act with common sense according to the moment, is the best wisdom I know; and the best philosophy is to do one's duties, take the world as it comes, submit respectfully to one's lot; bless the goodness that has given us so much happiness with it.

-- Horace Walpole

spinning discs

coliseum, originally uploaded by McBeth.

I gave up on new poetry myself 30 years ago when most of it began to read like coded messages passing between lonely aliens in a hostile world.

-- Russell Baker

an art form

DeGrazia, originally uploaded by McBeth.

When you become good at the art of letting sufferings go, then you'll come to realize what you were dragging around with you. And for that, no one else other than you was responsible.

-- Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

mother's day reminder

your attention please, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Mothers are integral members of families. Before a child is born they’ve read books written by experts. Despite morning sickness and her gag reflex your mother choked down prenatal vitamins the size of horse pills to give you every nutrient your sea monkey self would need for proper brain development. Mothers even refrain from consuming alcohol during pregnancy to ensure a safely delivered package. She does these things because she already loves you, even before your birth. Mothers feed us, they teach us to clean our hands, our ears and our teeth. They comfort us when our feelings have been hurt and they love us unconditionally. Your mother would put her personal safety behind yours in any dangerous situation. She would pitch you out the second story window of a burning building into the arms of a waiting rescuer before tossing herself out. She is the person who will reassure you that you are the most exquisite creature on earth, even during your clumsiest, most acne-laden years. She may dispense advice and demonstrations on completely embarrassing topics you are horrified to be speaking openly about, but this is because she knows the Universe will at some point hand you a pop quiz and she wants to know she did her best to help you study for it. But make no mistake: she who gives life can also take it away. If you giggle during worship services she will squeeze your hand so tight you’ll start to wonder as you squirm if she’ll ever let go, or if you’ll ever get the feeling back in your tingling purple fingers. You cannot imagine the challenges of motherhood, young friends. Mothers are burdened with the task of saving us from ourselves until we are old enough to recognize that we don’t actually know everything, and mothers take their jobs seriously. It might seem like unfair wrath, but trust me on this one: don’t talk back to your mother.

You and your friends have been engaged in covert ops during lunchtime and math classes, hatching plans to get to the Rat Poison show next Friday night. Your plan is to induce her into giving you her blessing by tugging at her heart strings. If you’re brighter than the average bear your argument will resemble some form of ‘I’ll die if I don’t get to go’. Be prepared: she will probably say no. Even if she does, even if you cannot convince her with sobbing and tears rolling down your cheeks, don’t tell her you hate her. She can, and will, come up with a list rivaling Santa’s ‘Good Children’ tome of ingenious ways she will teach you to regret the fact that you said you hated her. Unless you enjoy cleaning carpets with your tongue for a month, do not tell your mother you hate her.

It is a sunny Saturday afternoon and, because you’re bored now that you and your friends exhausted all the ways to set things on fire using a magnifying glass, you inform your mother that you’re going to head over to a convenience store two miles away to watch the clerk twitch as you and your friends paw each piece of pocketable candy. If your mother has a pulse she will say, over my dead body. This, young friend, is not the moment to tell your mother she is not the boss of you. Right there, in front of your friends, she will peel your emotional skin off with a single silent glance. She will grin her grinchiest smile. And because mothers are calculating creatures, she will calmly inform you, oh yes she is the boss of you. At this point you may hear the screen door slam, an indication that your friends have abandoned you. This is because they know you will be spending at least the next month setting tables and scrubbing toilets, cleaning the litter box, the hamster cage and your little sister’s stinky diaper pail until your mother is sufficiently convinced that you do understand she’s the boss of you.

Your mother wants the best for you even if the direct route to goodness is paved with dictatorial punishment and personal misery. Make her job easier while you save yourself some time and tears; don’t talk back to your mother.

celebration

two left over, originally uploaded by McBeth.

The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.

-- Oprah Winfrey

commitment

bouquet, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Onion soup sustains. The process of making it is somewhat like the process of learning to love. It requires commitment, extraordinary effort, time, and will make you cry.

-- Ronni Lundy

rest

lights off, originally uploaded by McBeth.

He who sleeps in continual noise is wakened by silence.

-- William Dean Howells

the quiet ones

paoli, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Do not assume that she who seeks to comfort you now, lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good. Her life may also have much sadness and difficulty, that remains far beyond yours. Were it otherwise, she would never have been able to find these words.

-- Rainer Maria Rilke

fun

night vision specs, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Fun is good.

-- Dr. Seuss

ignorance

cannot just ignore it, originally uploaded by McBeth.

An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out.

-- Will Rogers

gather around

rocking the firehouse, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.

-- May Sarton

transmogrification

grape hyacinth, originally uploaded by McBeth.

The fool inherits, but the wise must get.

-- William Cartwright

broken places

bug guts, originally uploaded by McBeth.

The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.

-- Ernest Hemingway

mortality

gumbutt tree seedlings, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent.

-- R.D. Laing

sundown

sundown, originally uploaded by McBeth.

What a nice night for an evening.

-- Steven Wright

try it

tentacle salad, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.

-- James Stephens

unfashionable

in here, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Fashion is gentility running away from vulgarity and afraid of being overtaken.

-- William Hazlett

hold please

michael graves design, originally uploaded by McBeth.

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.

-- George Bernard Shaw

limitless

spirits among us, originally uploaded by McBeth.

In the material world, there are limitations. We always want more, but in the spiritual world, just a short prayer and you're infinitely content.

-- HH The 14th Dalai Lama

thank you, and safe passage

leaning into light, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds.

-- Buddha

rebuke the darkness

rear view mirror, originally uploaded by McBeth.

I speak of peace, while covert enmity under the smile of safety wounds the world.

-- William Shakespeare

a little faith

face it, originally uploaded by McBeth.

I still say a church steeple with a lightening rod on top shows a lack of confidence.

-- Doug McLeod

jammed up

overflowing, originally uploaded by McBeth.

There's the given and the expected
I count my blessings while I eye what I've neglected
Is this for better is this for worse
You're all jammed up and the dam's about to burst.

I hear the owl in the night
I realize that some things never are made right
By some will we string together here
Days to months and months to years
What if everything we have adds up to nothing.

-- Indigo Girls

the best things

a watched pot, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Don't despair too much if you see beautiful things destroyed, if you see them perish. Because the best things are always growing in secret.

-- Ben Okri

virtue isms

the other way, originally uploaded by McBeth.

The excessive regard of parents for their children, and their dislike of other people's is, like class feeling, patriotism, save-your-soul-ism, and other virtues, a mean exclusiveness at bottom.

-- Thomas Hardy