You want fantasy? 

Here's one... 

There's this species that lives on a planet a few miles above molten rock and a few miles below a vacuum that'd suck the air right out of them. 

They live in a brief geological period between ice ages, when giant asteroids have temporarily stopped smacking into the surface. 

As far as they can tell, there's nowhere else in the universe where they could stay alive for ten seconds.

And what do they call their fragile little slice of space and time? 

They call it real life.

 

 two firemen go into a forest to put out a small fire.

Afterwards, when they emerge and go over to a stream, the face of one is all smeared with black, while the other man’s face is completely clean. 

My question is this: which of the two will wash his face?

That’s a silly question. The one with the dirty face of course.’

No, the one with the dirty face will look at the other man and assume that he looks like him. 

And, vice versa, the man with the clean face will see his colleague covered in grime and say to himself: I must be dirty too. I’d better have a wash.’

 

        Your children are not your children.

        They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

        They come through you but not from you,

        And though they are with you yet

they belong not to you.

April

 

April

I open wide the portals of the Spring 
To welcome the procession of the flowers, 
With their gay banners, and the birds that sing 
Their song of songs from their aerial towers.
 
I soften with my sunshine and my showers 
The heart of earth; with thoughts of love I glide 
Into the hearts of men; and with the Hours 
Upon the Bull with wreathed horns I ride.

 

Oh to be in England 

now that April's here 

 April is the cruellest month,

breeding Lilacs out of the dead land,

 mixing Memory and desire,

 stirring  dull roots with spring rain

To what purpose, April, do you return again?

April this year, not otherwise 

Than April of a year ago, Is full of whispers, full of sighs

The sun was warm but the wind was chill. 

You know how it is with an April day

The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night 

and I love the rain

And with a windy April grace 

The little clouds go by … 

I could not be so sure of Spring

save that it sings in me

Oh, to be in England 

 Now that April’s there,

And whoever wakes in England 

Sees, some mourning, unaware, 

That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf 

 Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf, 

While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough 

 In England — now!

What is in this drink but 

The April sun, squeezed 

Like an orange in My glass?

 I sip the Fire,

 I drink and drink 

Again, 

I am drunk Yes, 

but on the gold of suns…

Life begins again — in April! 

 How this dead earth comes to flower! 

 How the dry boughs wake and quicken 

 In this blooming, springtime hour! 

Life begins again — in April! 

And the bird is on the wing, 

Books are flowing, breezes tender 

 In a rhapsody of spring

April changes her sweet mind 

Every other second. 

 With her many moods and minds, 

Nothing can be reckoned. 

 I always carry an umbrella, 

 It serves for rain and sun! 

 I take my boots and out I go 

To share in April’s fun

Praise the spells and bless the charms,  

I found April in my arms.

  April golden, April cloudy, 

Gracious, cruel, tender, rowdy;

  April soft in flowered languor,

 April cold with sudden anger

, Ever changing, ever true —

 I love April, I love you.

April, April,  

Laugh thy girlish laughter;  

Then, the moment after, 

Weep thy girlish tears! 

April that mine ears Like a lover greetest,

 If I tell thee, sweetest,  

All my hopes and fears,  

April, April,  

Laugh thy golden laughter,

But, the moment after, 

Weep thy golden tears!

 March went out like a Lion today 

Like a roaring Lion in search of prey 

Find your team. 

Work shoulder to shoulder. 

Let them help you when you falter. 

Let them push you to make you better.

 

In a hospital the standard of care changes over the years. 

If you had a cold in the late 1800s, your doctor would prescribe heroin as a cough suppressant.

 If you had schizophrenia in the 1930s, your doctor would perform a lobotomy. 

But despite the increase in knowledge and research, doctors still aren't perfect. 

Even today, your doctor's not likely to offer pain relief for an IUD placement, even though it can be more agonizing than a vasectomy. 

We expect doctors to not make mistakes. But the history of medicine is a history of flawed judgment. 

Beneath the white coats and fancy titles, medicine is just humans treating humans. The most brilliant surgeons have made questionable choices. 

No one gets it right all the time. 

 

From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of particular interest. 

But for us, it's different. 

Consider again that dot. That's here, that's home, that's us. 

On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. 

The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. 

Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

 Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.

 Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark.

 In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. 

There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet.

 Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. 

There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world 

it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, 

and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, 

the only home we've ever known.

 

each of you has his or her own death, 

you carry it with you in a secret place from the moment you're born,

 it belongs to you and you belong to it

Tom Jones

Is the man who killed Delilah the same man who dreams of going home to see the green green grass on the night before his execution ? 

You know I rather think he is

 iSatan is not stuck in Hell, He comes up here all the time, as seen here. He just can't go back to Heaven. 

Check out Book of Job in the Old Testament. Satan is walking the Earth freely, then Him and God meet up for a pint, a chat, and even have a little bet. 

Einstein says God doesn't play dice, but maybe he plays poker.

 Concepts of afterlife and Heaven vary and just as there are many people who choose to follow a fixed belief system there are people who choose to not believe them.

 What we always say, as a people, and write on tombstones and cards is RIP - Rest In Peace.

 The idea that after a hard life someone gets to rest and be at peace.

 So having all these desires on earth, striving to satisfy them and never being fulfilled, in despair and agony, extended for eternity after death is here a vision of Hell. 

So to be free and at peace, resting, is Heaven, whether the Christian take on being "with Jesus in Paradise", or Nirvana free from desire, birth and rebirth. 

To quote Hank Moody "satisfaction is the death of desire", maybe in this case it would be a good thing. 

Satisfaction, no more desire, no more suffering.

 Have you ever sat down, put on a Tom Waits CD and read Bukowski while drinking Jack Daniels? 

It is a mind blowing evening.

Heart Attack And Vine

 Yeah, there is no such thing as the Devil - God just downs a whole bottle of Jack Daniels in one go and misbehaves for a bit.  

And I bet you see him doing it on a Saturday night on (Heart Attack) The Boulevard.

 "I've conquered the past, the future is here at last

Stand there at the entrance of a new world I can see The ruins to the right of me, will soon have lost sight of me Love, rescue(d) me"

 I said love

Climb up the mountain, said love I said Love All my love up here On the hill of the sun I'm on the eve of a storm And I will walk though my feet are numb I said Love rescue me Yeah I'm here without a name In the palace of my shame I said Love, rescue me

 Met an old friend from Uni who has become a "working girl "

She says she related to the first verse. " Many strangers I have met On the road to my regret Many lost Who seek to find themselves in me I am here without a name In the palace of my shame Love rescue me " I told her I related this verse to Mary Magdelene, the whore, who looks to Jesus, Love rescue me Then later in the bridge "I have cursed thy rod and staff, they no longer comfort me " See yourself in the mirror of the glass May Love rescue you, me, all of us Maybe that's Gods plan

 Bono does this in his songs, often the third verse.

For example "You broke the bonds, And you loosed the chains Carried the cross of my shame Oh, my shame, you know I believe it But I still haven't found What I'm looking for"

Love rescue me

 

Love rescue me
Come forth and speak to me
Raise me up
And don't let me fall
No man is my enemy
My own hands imprison me
Love rescue me

Many strangers have I met
On the road to my regret
Many lost who seek to find themselves in me
They ask me to reveal
The very thoughts they would conceal
Love, rescue me

And the sun in the sky
Makes a shadow of you and I
Stretching out as the sun sinks in the sea
I'm here without a name
In the palace of my shame
I said, love, rescue me

In the cold mirror of a glass
I see my reflection pass
I see the dark shades of what I used to be
I see the purple of her eyes
The scarlet of my lies
Love, rescue me

Yeah, though I walk
In the valley of the shadow
Yet, I will fear no evil
I have cursed thy rod and staff
They no longer comfort me
Love, rescue me

Sha la la la
I said love, love, rescue me

Yeah, I'm here without a name
In the palace of my shame
I said love, rescue me

I've conquered my past
The future is here at last
I stand at the entrance to a new world I can see
The ruins to the right of me
Will soon have lost sight of me
Love, rescue me

 30 days has merry March  and so do all the rest 

Except for 

January, May, July, August, October, December 

and February which has 29 

but only every year in four 

to coincide with the World Cup 

 Thirty days has September,

 April, June, 

and November" 

 while the rest have 31, 

except February which has 28 

or 29 in leap years

Spring Equinox - Thu, 20 Mar 2025

 

At the equinox, the Earth's axis is tilted neither towards nor away from the Sun, making day and night nearly equal in length. The equinox happens twice a year - in March and in September. Wherever you are on the planet, the equinox occurs at the same moment.

The equinox is the moment when the circle of illumination passes through the poles as a result of the Sun's rays hitting perpendicular to the Equator. During the Spring Equinox on March 21, which heralds spring, day and night are actually equalized. This happens twice a year, in spring and fall

In the northern hemisphere, the vernal equinox (March) conventionally marks the beginning of spring in most cultures and is considered the start of the New Year in the Assyrian calendar, Hindu, and the Persian or Iranian calendars, while the autumnal equinox (September) marks the beginning of autumn.

Pagans celebrate the spring equinox, often called Ostara, with rituals centered around rebirth, renewal, and the return of spring, including planting seeds, egg symbolism, and bonfires

The spring equinox, also known as the vernal equinox, is a time of new beginnings, renewal, balance, and spiritual growth, marking the transition from winter to spring and symbolizing the rebirth of nature and the potential for change and growth in one's own life

The spring equinox, a time of renewal and rebirth, holds significant meaning in folklore, particularly in Celtic and pagan traditions, where it is seen as a balance of light and darkness, marking the start of spring and the awakening of nature

In cultures around the world, the spring equinox has represented a time of renewal, fertility, and rebirth. In agricultural societies, the spring equinox marked the start of the planting season, when crops are sown and farmers begin preparing for the coming season of growth.

While Christmas was a celebration of the winter solstice, Easter was a celebration of the spring equinox for the pagans. Pagans lived their lives in strong accordance with nature's rhythms and patterns, and solstices and equinoxes were considered to be sacred times.

Jesus Christ Super Star

 

Every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. 

And, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. 

It really is the most poetic thing about physics: 

You are all stardust. 

You couldn’t be here if stars hadn’t exploded, 

because the elements 

- the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, 

all the things that matter for evolution and for life - weren’t created at the beginning of time. 

They were created in the nuclear furnaces of stars, 

and the only way for them to get into your body is if those stars were kind enough to explode.

 So, forget Jesus. 

The stars died so that you could be here today

 

I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.

 

Look again at that dot. 

That's here. That's home. That's us. 

On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives.

 The aggregate of our joy and suffering, 

thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, 

every hunter and forager, 

every hero and coward, 

every creator and destroyer of civilization, 

every king and peasant, 

every young couple in love, 

every mother and father, 

hopeful child, 

inventor and explorer,

 every teacher of morals, 

every corrupt politician, 

every "superstar," 

every "supreme leader,"

 every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-

-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam

 

I don't want to believe. 

I want to know.

 

 Be ready for the worst.

It's not a guarantee against bad outcomes

 but it does mean, when the curveballs come, when the sky starts to fall,

hopefully you're less likely to get completely knocked off your feet.

 

We hope for the best and prepare for the worst. 

Because the worst has a nasty way of finding you.

There are moments when all of the stars align...

 

 When everything seems as it should be. Your life seems to have sorted itself out.

 It's not like all our problems go away. It's just the problems are suddenly manageable. You feel so good you wonder if it's real. And if I've learned anything, I can tell you it is. It's very real, but it will not last. 

There are days when you feel like you can conquer anything and it feels like everything will be okay. Like I told you, the feeling doesn't last. 

I'm not trying to be cynical. 

It's just that even when a day starts out so, so well, that day can end so, so badly.

 

Picture the life you dreamed of living. 

The person you pictured being with. 

Picture the job you dreamed you'd have.

 Are you living the life you envisioned for yourself? Are you who you wanted to be when you grew up? 

Open your eyes.

 Take a good look around you. How's the view? Do you like what you see? 

Think back again to when you were little. 

Are you living the life you pictured for yourself? 

Or are you still dreaming of something even bigger?

 

In a rare instance when a patient died while hooked up to brain monitors, doctors saw an increase in brain activity right before and after his heart stopped. 

The brain waves that surged were associated with dreaming, information processing, and memory recall. 

It confirms what we often hear when a patient is revived in cardiac arrest, that right before their heart stopped, they saw their life flash before their eyes.

 What happens in our brains in the moments before we die has puzzled scientists for centuries.

 While we have some evidence of our lives flashing before our eyes, there are still many questions. 

No one knows exactly why it happens. 

Some people think it's biology. 

Others believe it's spiritual. 

What we know for sure is that you can try to look away, pushing down all the uncertainty and pain. 

But your life will catch up with you in the end.

 

Before they're even scheduled for surgery, every patient asks how long it will take to recover.

 The implication being, the quicker, the better. 

Search online and you'll find advice from all kinds of people without medical degrees about how to heal faster. 

Because most people don't want to hear what is said, which is to rest and let your body heal on its own time. 

They say patience is a virtue.

 But it often feels overrated. 

Especially when we're in pain.

 When we're recovering from a fractured leg, a bruised ego, a broken heart, all we want is to feel better. 

Now. 

We can look for shortcuts to speed things up but more of than not, it's best to let things play out in their own time. 

It's usually worth the wait.

Ides Of March

 

Ides of March, day in the ancient Roman calendar that falls on March 15 and is associated with misfortune and doom. It became renowned as the date on which Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 bce

Caesar was stabbed to death at a meeting of the Senate. As many as 60 conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, were involved. According to Plutarch, a seer had warned that harm would come to Caesar on the Ides of March

Caesar was stabbed to death at a meeting of the Senate. As many as 60 conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, were involved. According to Plutarch, a seer had warned that harm would come to Caesar on the Ides of March 

Now, people see The Ides of March as bad luck. However, before Julius Caesar's death, the Ides of any month celebrated the first full moon in that month. In Rome, the Ides of March was usually a time for celebration, family gatherings, and even parades, but now, it's seen as an unlucky day.

Although almost every month has an ides, the Ides of March has had a history of unfortunate events. An ides refers to days that land in the middle of the month, which in months with 31 days means March 15. It's known as the deadline for settling debts in Roman times

 Every day we face death. 

Every day we lose life. 

And every day, we're hoping for a stay of execution. 

We're attached to death. 

Chained, like prisoners. 

Captives.

Smell of Death

 

When the great beyond is headed for you, you feel it coming. 

What's the one thing you've always dreamed of doing before you die? 

Okay, hello? 

Clearly not my dream. 

See, I told you. 

Not my dream.

 

when the great beyond is headed for you, you feel it coming. 

Whatever it is, it's creepy. 

Because if you know, what do you do about it?

 Forget about the fact that you're scared out of your mind.

 If you knew this was your last day on earth, how would you want to spend it?