What a Fool Believes

He came from somewhere back in her long ago
The sentimental fool don't see
Tryin' hard to recreate
What had yet to be created once in her life

She musters a smile
For his nostalgic tale
Never coming near what he wanted to say
Only to realize
It never really was

She had a place in his life
He never made her think twice
As he rises to her apology
Anybody else would surely know
He's watching her go

But what a fool believes he sees
No wise man has the power to reason away
What seems to be
Is always better than nothing
And nothing at all keeps sending him...

Somewhere back in her long ago
Where he can still believe there's a place in her life
Someday, somewhere, she will return

She had a place in his life
He never made her think twice
As he rises to her apology
Anybody else would surely know
He's watching her go

But what a fool believes he sees
No wise man has the power to reason away
What seems to be
Is always better than nothing
There's nothing at all
But what a fool believes he sees...

michael mcdonald/kenny loggins
Source: lyricsfind.com

9/11 Report

I have been reading a fantastic adaptation of the 9/11 Report into a graphic novel of sorts at slate.com











This is a telling snippet which reminded me of exactly how early in the great game (being played out in Iraq now) that the Bush administration knew that 9/11 and Saddam Husein were not really linked. Click on the graphic to see it in a readable size.

Miscellaneous

I have gone back to smoking my usual number of cigarettes. I blame it on the holiday in Philadelphia and my addiction to cigarettes.

Tarah now says, "manamana" for banana. Also, will pretend to cry and then laugh her head off. Will pretend to read (babble) while having a book open...if it is Seth's joke book, she will babble and then fake a laugh and then everyone in the room needs to laugh also. Generally, if you are eating something and she is eating something, she will want what you are eating. She says, "Hm-hmm" to say excuse me and thank you. If she farts (sorry, passes gas) she will say, "Hm-hmm." If someone else farts, she will say, "Hm-hmm." Which is kind of nice of her -- I think.

My garden has seen better days.

I still have to organize the basement.

I do not have a dog, nor is my neighbour named Azad. Sorry if I misled you burglars while we were on vacation. Although, we have some very vicious fish in our 10 gallon aquarium. And that's the truth, Ruth!

I am meeting with Tracey O and Sue (a friend of Rhea's) for lunch and then I will be meeting Sam and Bo for more lunch. Looking forward to the camraderie.

The boy wants to know if Satan is dead? If your shadow leaves you, will you die? How come tall buildings look like they're following you? How come Eren (girl next door) wears glasses and he doesn't? Could we visit New York City? When we visit New York City, can we see Spiderman? Some spiders are poisonous (true)...so, if a poisonous spider bites someone, would they die? What is ragweed? How does soap know what's dirt and what isn't dirt? And on, and on, and on.

Rest Your Eyes

My little boy speaks
with an accent.
I must remember sometime
to lean my head down
and whisper in his ear
and ask him the name
of the country
he comes from.
I like his accent.

Alexander Dumas

Beware!

Naguib Mahfouz died today at the age of 94. Mahfouz, a prolific writer best known for his Cairo Trilogy, became a literary force when he moved beyond traditional novels to realistic descriptions of Egypt's 20th century experience of colonialism and autocracy.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1988 for works which "formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind."

Declared an infidel by Muslim militants because of his portrayal of God, Mahfouz survived a knife attack in 1994 that damaged a nerve and seriously impaired his ability to use his writing hand.

"They are trying to extinguish the light of reason and thought. Beware," Mahfouz said after the attack.

Source: The Washinton Post

Rest Your Eyes

Ted Kooser

Untitled

What I would do for wisdom,
I cried out as a young man.
Evidently not much. Or so it seems.
Even on walks I follow the dog.

-- by Ted Kooser and Jim Harrison
From Braided Creek: A Conversation in Poetry

Global Day for Darfur - Toronto: Sept. 17th

In exactly 30 days time campaigners will hold the biggest campaigning day for Darfur since the start of the conflict. Thousands of people in dozens of cities will call on their governments to do more to protect civilians in Darfur.

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Please click on the title of this post to go to the website.

Rest Your Eyes

Algonquin Park...I really wish on days like we had in Toronto today, that I could be out there in a canoe.

Flickr

You can now view my pictures at Flickr.com. I have added a couple of family pictures and many pictures from our Philadelphia trip. Go here to see the both set of pictures.

Bumper Sticker

Spotted the following bumper sticker in Utica, NY:

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier."

Back in Toronto

We stayed at the nicest hotel in Syracuse: The Marx. I booked this hotel on Priceline.com, where you can name your price in the hopes that your offer will be accepted by a hotel in a given place which has a certain star rating. You have no other control over which hotel you will end up at. Neverthless, The Marx was wonderfuly decorated and thoroughly pleasant to stay at. We paid $80 for a night at this 4 star hotel.

4th Day in Philly

Went to the Please Touch Museum yesterday. A fun half-day for the kids. The "museum" is really just a big playground with many interesting things for kids to do.

Later, went to a mall in the downtown area and had lunch and returned home for a shower and naps for the kids. For dinner we went to a really nice Thai restaurant just north-west of downtown -- Lemon Grass.

Today: Went shopping in the area around the hotel...Gap Outlet, BCBG, Victoria's Secret, J. Crew, Bath and Body Shop and on and on...had a great Indian fast food lunch and then lost Tarah and Marsh. We later met up at the hotel and saw Dwayne to have dinner at a cool little restaurant in the west village district on their wide and sunny patio...very nice. Later still, visited Andrea's new coffee shop which is still being renovated and will open soon.

Tomorrow: Drive to Syracuse and then on Friday -- Toronto

Keep Them In Crisis Mode

Whatever happened to the "population bomb?" Stopped ticking? Never blew up? Or just plain forgotten?

Remember Noriega, Khomeini, Khadafy, the U.S.S.R? What about the "war on drugs?" Did the "free" world ever manage to win that particular war. There always seems to be a bogey-man. Always a crisis on the horizon. Some monolithic threat that is sure to engulf all us good people of the west.

Now: Islamo-fascists, terrorists, alliances of evil, invade Grenada, worry about Cuba, if not Cuba, Al-Qaeda. What about Iran? Never mind that Israel, India and Pakistan all have nuclear weapons...Iran must simply be stopped at all costs.

A cost increasingly at the expense of real simmering crises: AIDS, the greenhouse effect, inequities in global trading despite all promises to promote free trade.

Try not to get swept away in the CNN induced deluge...just try.