Spoopy scary skel . . . Wait! The moon's not full.  Thwarted! Halloween canceled. Daily Stoic: We're born good. We all have the potential and ready-made abilities to be a positive influence in our communities.  If I'm vicious, it's something I've done, some decision I've made, that's lead me to this place. And it must be my decision which leads me back from the wilderness. No one can do it for me.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Missa Papae Marcelli, 1. Kyrie  by Giovanni Pierluigi daPalestrina Daily Shakespeare: Macbeth , Act 4 Scene 1

Holy cow! That catch A thing of beauty, it was.  One hand, behind. Wow!  Daily Stoic: I've been pretty good about getting my reading done lately. I think it's been more than a month since I last missed a daily entry.  I feel bad when I skip a day, but I don't let it get to me too much. It brings to mind Emerson's maxim , "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."* So . . . philosophy is a "foolish consistency?"  No. But insisting that 'if I don't get this done before midnight the world is gonna eeeeeeeennnnnd!' IS foolish.  Sometimes life gets in the way; it happens. No sense beating myself up about it. Accept it, move on, fix it tomorrow. Go to sleep already.  That said, I do see the value in daily meditation. I want to study each day. I like  to study each day. It's better when I study each day.  And that's why I do it.  Today's Meditation: Today's Music: Suite from Appalachian S

Rosy-fingered dawn,  Throwing colors across skies! Odysseus reigns.  Daily Stoic: Find the diamond in the rough, spot quality people before they've fully demonstrated that quality . . . but how? Intuition I suppose . . . 'following Nature,' as they say.  And if I err, might I err on the side of inclusion: treat people as worthy as the default until the betray unworthy character. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III: Today's Music: Someone to Watch Over Me by George Gershwin arr. Joseph Turrin Today's Odyssey: Book 2,1-5 When young Dawn with her rose-red fingers shone once more the true son of Odysseus sprang from bed and dressed, over his shoulder he slung his well-honed sword, fastened rawhide sandals under his smooth feet and stepped from his bedroom, handsome as a god. 

Friday! I feel good! Joys of life blooming around, Friday! I'm in love! Daily Stoic: We are, eventually, inevitably, communal animals.  Our highest duties and responsibilities appear only in relation to others. Personal progress is solitary as those things which reside in my head are the only ones under my control.  They are all I can only reliably count on and improve.  But those are personal achievements, not for glory or rewards. If I want to continue my journey, if I want to be fully human, if I want to move along that road which leads to wisdom, I must engage with and benefit the people around me. I can't let being introverted stop me.  It's not really a hindrance, though I pretend sometimes it is.  Introversion means I have a limited social battery; after short- to medium-length interactions with others, I need to withdraw and recharge.  But I can come back.  Alone time is a  break in the action, not the end of the scene. But what in this forced-yet-chos

Heroic couplets Nature's own rhyming, timings Of unknown meter.  Daily Stoic: I ought to be careful about what behavior I display for my children. I ought to be careful with whom I spend my time. I ought to be careful of my thoughts, examining them, correcting them as soon as I can.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Cantabile in D major, opus 17 by Niccolò Paganini Daily Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing , Act 2 Scene 3

Navelgazing thoughts,  Like sun lighting everywhere, Too bright to see much.  Daily Stoic: Reason allows me to follow Nature. But what does that mean?  Will I always have an innate sense, of whatever derivation you please, of what is right in a situation?  Will that intuition be right?  Will it be demonstrably right?  Will I be able to articulate that?  Will seeking to be better, to follow and use wisdom, justice, temperance, and courage, help me answer these questions? In deed if not in explanation?  But come that explanation as swiftly as possible through focused effort. Let me think on it until I understand.  Or change my mind if no argument can be made.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Sonata in A major, Kk 208 by Domenico Scarlatti Daily Shakespeare: Henry V, Act 4 Scene 7

Hindrances and dams Barring canyons, deep, boundless. Water finds a way. Daily Stoic: All Marcus lists — wealth, office, kingdom, and more — are externals I cannot control.  Wealth may be lost, stolen, or taxed.  Office may be recalled or stripped.  Kingdom may dissolve or abandon me.  Health may crumble due to circumstances or unknown defect.  Life itself may flee at any moment. I can count on none of these to provide sure comfort and lasting benefit.  Only the internal working of my mind are mine alone.  Only they can be counted on to prove resilient and trustworthy.  Only they are constant companions, giving peace and tranquility. Here is where I put my efforts. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Gala Water by Sally Beamish  Daily Shakespeare: Henry V , Act 4 Scene 3

Hidden reserves swell Springing forth, headwaters flow.  My deep wells dug well.  Daily Stoic: I have caches of energy and drive, fortitude in abundance if I but tap it.  Rarely do I need them. Rarely used. But always there.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Rataplan by Maria Malibran

Vast o'erflowing well Swelling awash awishing Health pouring o'er sides.  Daily Stoic: So I'm not the slimmest, the most talented, the swiftest, the smartest, the strongest.  But I can be the kindest, most generous, loyal, honest, rational, loving person I know how.  I fail constantly, but I must keep trying.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Canon and Gigue in D major 1: Canon by Johann Pachelbel 

A worthy haiku,  For a day in fullest bloom.  Wisdom in puddles.  Daily Stoic: I win a game. I impress the girl. I "show 'em" I'm better.  And if I'm a shit father? A crap friend? A dissolute or ungrateful spouse? An unhelpful ally?  Matthew 16:26 — For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III: Today's Music: 3 Pieces for cello and piano 1: Modéré by Nadia Boulanger Daily Shakespeare: As You Like It, Act 1 Scene 3

No, now!! I want a ball I want a party Pink macaroons and a million balloons And performing baboons and . . . Give it to me Now! I want the world I want the whole world I want to lock it all up in my pocket It's my bar of chocolate Give it to me Now! Daily Stoic: Only now can I experience things.  Only now can I say or do things.  Only now can I be virtuous. Perhaps I ought to pay more attention to now.... Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Songs of Auvergne 2: 'Bailero' - 'The Shepherd's Song' by Joseph Canteloube Daily Shakespeare: The Taming of the Shrew , Induction Scene 1

Fell through the trap door to morning again. Why was there no sleep in between? (I wrote this several years ago, found it this morning, and thought it fun / worth sharing.) Daily Stoic: Virtus est summum bonum . How to be virtuous?  Follow Nature.  Practice wisdom, justice, temperance, and courage.  Act, don't re act.  Discriminate between what is up to me and what is not up to me.  Be kind. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Homages, 1: 'Contemplation' by Cheryl Frances-Hoad Daily Shakespeare: Henry Vi, Part 2 , Act 2 Scene 4

Change can be scary,  Sameness, certainly deadly.  Gonna be ok.  Daily Stoic: When I'm ready for it, this will probably help me a lot. But there are some issues in my life I haven't quite made the decision yet. The obvious, easy, only, ineluctable-yet-still-unmade decision.  It will come.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Kehaar's Theme from Watership Down by Angela Morley