THOUGHTS & QUOTES

1.}  Just thinkin'.... How stupidly bizarre many people in this country turn out to be when it comes to sexuality! Who among us asks the sexuality of anyone else using the same restroom that we're using? Unless you're totally incapable of controlling your own actions, what possible difference could it make?  The fact that anyone is taking notice of what I'm doing in terms of using the facilities concerns me as to their motivations, but not enough to care.  I'm not opposed to mustering a verbal response to someone's curiosity, but I'm fairly certain the restroom is NOT the place to do it.

2.}  I was reading the thought I wrote in the heading and came to the realization that it is very close to one of my favorite quotes by Frederick Perls: "I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine; if we find each other, it's beautiful.  If not, it can't be helped.  What's really interesting about this quote for me is that the first time I ever saw it, it was on a poster I bought in a novelty shop around the time 'Love Story' came out.  It featured a couple in silhouette with the quote at the bottom ... except the last line, "If not, it can't be helped" was missing.  At some point I lost track of the poster and subsequently looked up the quote just to have it in front of me.  That's when I discovered the 'missing' last line.  That's also when I really came to appreciate the thought because now it was more realistic.  Just like when I was a child and I learned - as many of us did - "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."  It always bothered me that in some cases, the accumulated additional effort wasn't worth the final outcome.  The old saying doesn't allow for a reality check - like why spend an hour trying to climb over a 20 foot wall when you can walk 30 feet around the end in two minutes.  That's why I was so happy at age twenty to discover a quote from Puritan minister Edward Taylor which read, "Strive not above what strength hath got lest in the brawl thou fall!"  Now that for me is an extremely realistic piece of encouragement because it includes a reality check.  That says to me that indeed you should 'keep trying' provided you have a reasonable chance to succeed.

3.}  Excerpt from Alfred Tennyson's Morte D'Arthur:

And slowly answered Arthur from the barge,
"The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
And God fulfils Himself in many ways,
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.
Comfort thyself: what comfort is in me?
I have lived my life, and that which I have done
May He within Himself make pure! but thou,
If thou shouldst never see my face again,
Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?
For so the whole round earth is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God."