Confuscious say

My very recent fortune cookie: Only the person who risks is truly free

The road not taken

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,	10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. -- Robert Frost

Looking for truth...

...where there is none


I am 32 flavors and then some, I'm nobody but I am someone, someone...
I'd never try to give my life meaning by demeaning you
And I would like to state for the record
I did everything that I could do

Curiosity

Like the song playing here says, in 6 words:

It takes courage to enjoy it.

Driving in October Sun

I was stunned by such beauty today. I try to look at things with fresh eyes which is essentially the thing (I think) that keeps me feeling young and alive. The bottom photo is something I see every day on my drive to work -- some days in rain (very romantic), sometimes in sun and it always looks inviting to me. It makes me want to walk the path and then discover a secret garden way beyond the trees...

Friends with nice surprises

Thanks to a friend who pinged me about it (thanks Brian), I watched a live broadcast of U2 at the Rose Bowl tonight. And it was sa-weeeeet!

opening with Breathe...

Every day I,
have to find the courage
to walk down
into the street,
with arms out
gotta’ love you can’t defeat
neither down or out
there's nothing you have
that I need,
I can breathe
Breathe now

I couldn't have said it any better

Messages of peace

I've recently checked out the sound of Fox Elipsus. In a similar vein as John Lennon, Elipsus claims to bring songs of peace. He is currently visiting my city.
http://www.elipsus.net/

Them Crooked Vultures Announce Debut Album at Long Last

Them Crooked Vultures Announce Debut Album at Long Last

Read more by clicking on the link above!

What's in a name?

"That which we call a rose,
by any other name would smell as sweet"

Since more than one person has commented recently on my name (on this blog and elsewhere) I thought I would clarify. My birth name is Julia. My first family (parents, sisters) call me Julie which is not my preference at all but hey what ya gonna do? My co-workers call me Julia. My close friends call me Jules, Jule, Julia, J, J-ness, tini, tiny, foodie, word nerd and dork.

Oh and I also go by mama, mommy, mom and "God Mom" -- as in, "God Mom! Why can't I go? It's not fair!" : )

waiting for the light

The tea bag sticks to the side of my cup
and a kitty caresses my kneecap, happy
I am home
again.
The weather of the day - it can't decide
whether to be sunny or gray
still I feel a lightness of being
even without the warm promise of May
and the way in which a wet
tangerine colored leaf clings to my window
thinking it may get tossed to the wind
or if not
linger awhile there, waiting
for the sunlight to return

A poet is the shaman of the heart

I went to a poetry reading on Friday night and heard some very amazing work. Poets who put themselves out there with bravery thrill me...they are such gifts to the world. I enjoyed every second and felt that preciously fleeting but sweet inspiration. I'm going back soon and will read my own stuff too.

an excerpt from one (untitled) I heard Friday night:

...Winter melts, she shys away,
quiet like the silence a dying star makes.
I'm a jailbird to your music,
a criminal in your prayers,
I watch you when you're sleeping
even when you're not there...

-- C. Reiss

The heart can think of no devotion
Greater than being shore to ocean -
holding the curve of one position
counting an endless repetition

Robert Frost

Crumbs

And you speak of signs and wonders
But I need something other
I would believe if I was able
I'm waiting on the crumbs from your table

On the menu this week

This week I will make Cashew Chicken and Pork Tenderloin with Morel-Calvados sauce. I have never cooked with Morels before - should be fun and interesting. And Calvados... mmm I can't promise I won't drink some :)

I have made some discoveries recently -- I am preferring French cooking lately and I think it's because of the buttah...it's my weakness.

I'm craving long rides on my bike like never before but the weather isn't cooperating so much. And man, that sun goes down fast now.

For some odd reason, I've lost weight without doing anything different in my normal workouts. I like it when that happens.

I've added a couple of tunes by Til Tuesday - an old band from the 80s. I'm really digging Aimee Mann's voice. She's doing some good stuff on her own these days.

There is Another Sky

There is another sky,
Ever serene and fair,
And there is another sunshine,
Though it be darkness there;
Never mind faded forests, Austin,
Never mind silent fields -
Here is a little forest,
Whose leaf is ever green;
Here is a brighter garden,
Where not a frost has been;
In its unfading flowers
I hear the bright bee hum:
Prithee, my brother,
Into my garden come!

-- Emily Dickinson

Honing in

As the days shorten, and the nights grow long, I consider goals to accomplish before the snow falls. One of those few important goals is to maintain my focus on finishing the book editing. Focus focus. Get er done!

I must finish it because I have something new and very fun that I really want to write! No, I'm not telling...

Bedazzled

The boys were brilliant and magnificent in their glory last night.

They brought us a spectacular show of rock, funk, and even some hippy hoppy groove under a gorgeous Chicago sky and a four-pronged, 90-foot-tall canopy they called “our spaceship.” In fact the high-tech mega stage was flippin' unique and a monstrosity that couldn't be denied. They brought us the newly loved songs, the beloved old songs, and songs they have never played before. I was taken by the rare acoustical version of Ultraviolet, elated with Elevation, touched by Where the Streets Have No Name, in awe with No Line on the Horizon, moved by Magnificent and Surrender. For an encore, they played ONE and the crowd, for a short while...seemingly was. There wasn't one of the many others I didn't like.

The weather was perfect! I stood the entire time to honor the occasion, dancing and singing to the sounds of four men who brought me inspiration and joy for over two decades of my life.

One thing that never escaped my mind as I enjoyed the moments last night was that I will drink this all in, every last moment and every song with passionate love, for it is unknown if this is the last time. I don't, nor shall I EVER, take ANY of it for granted.

U2 360 Tour

Only 4 more days!
Only 4 more days!


So excited to see the dudes on stage and in CHICAGO! I'm so flippin' excited I'm flippin.

So of course, U2 tunage takes precedence lately.

Raspberry Bavarian Cream

This girl is in a cooking and baking mood! Besides my thoughts of home baked bread, home made soups, ratatouille, shrimp scampi, crab cakes and what not - I have my sights set on making a gorgeous and velvety Raspberry Bavarian Cream - which incidentally was featured in the recent foodie movie, Julie and Julia.

I'm part Bavarian so it only makes perfect sense, right?

only kindness makes sense

As I say adieu to a kind friend, I thought of this poem. The poet, Naomi Shihab Nye, actually read it once in front of me. I never forgot it.


Kindness

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the
Indian in a white poncho lies dead
by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you, how he too was someone who journeyed through the night
with plans and the simple breath
that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness
as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow
as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindness
that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day
to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you every where
like a shadow or a friend.

Musicians of late summer

There really is nothing like late August. I speak of the orchestra of cicadas, crickets and katydids.


The stillness of that summer buzzing: it has the power to transfix one sitting on a porch in the hot dandelion sun or silver spoon light of a new moon.

Gymnastics for the tongue

Of course I am a word nerd. I love words nearly as much as some other fun past time that doesn't involve words at all.

OK, I enjoy words nearly as much as I enjoy...

nibbling, munching, devouring


...fine...







...FOOD! hee hee


Speaking of words, this is a cool one:

Sibylline
adjective

1.	of, resembling, or characteristic of a sibyl; prophetic; oracular.

2.	mysterious; cryptic.

Surprises

So I had lunch with an old friend from college today. Well, to be clear, he actually stopped over at my table and asked if he could join me. :)

He used to be kinda geeky and he had his own computer service company back then. Now he's married, and not surprisingly - even more successful. It's interesting how people change and sometimes, for the better.

Word to those young single women who read this blog (and YES you know who you are) -- don't discount those smart, geeky ones. They might surprise you.

Diverse music, all the time

There are many reasons why I really dig the radio station 88.9 Radio Milwaukee.

One reason is because this station makes it all about the music (and some cool local community/artist stuff) -- but mostly music.

When I turn to some other stations (in the morning especially) they are usually talking and it isn't music talk. No, those other radio stations are often babbling about TV shows, Hollywood, celebrities, and what worse - more drama queen stuff pulled by some arrogant drama queen football player, who shall remain nameless and uncelebrated on this blog. No thank you - I've heard and seen enough of all that jive.

Thanks 88.9 for making it all about what I turn the radio on for in the first place.

Karzai's deal with the devil

Thought for today: I'm grateful to be a woman in America, and sad for Afghan women.


The August 20 election looks dim for Shia women with the impending law to strip away their rights.

The law essentially gives a husband the right to withdraw basic maintenance from his wife, including food, if she refuses to obey his sexual demands. It grants guardianship of children exclusively to their fathers and grandfathers. It requires women to get permission from their husbands to work. It also effectively allows a rapist to avoid prosecution by paying “blood money” instead of going to prison.

It seems unthinkable for this to happen in the year 2009, but it's happening!!

Thankfulness

Once in awhile, I find a need to remind myself of the things I have. Today is a day to write a gratitude list:

I am grateful for my children - their undying love, their cheerleading, their hearts and their smiles
I am grateful for my children's health
I am grateful for my health
I am grateful for my job
I am grateful for the warmth in the air today
I am grateful for the many musical instruments and the inspiration behind the songs
I am grateful for my clean car
I am grateful for this yummy cookie :)
I am grateful for my awareness of things

I heart Chicago

Thank you ee cummings

a poet, a man, who felt it all fully and embraced his love, his angst, his passion

i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

The love of Vivaldi

I have a strange ability to remember pieces of useless information. One thing that I seem to remember frequently is the music I hear in films. I can remember the sound for years, even decades, without even knowing the song title but I never forget it.

Case in point: Vivaldi's Mandolin Concerto in C Major. I heard this piece of music in a movie for the first time when I was a young girl. I was maybe 7 or 8. I watched a movie on television with my parents that involved a man who was beached on an island and he fell in love with a beautiful woman of the sea - no she wasn't a mermaid and no it wasn't Splash or The Blue Lagoon.

I didn't hear the music again until I was in my 30s but I never forgot it. In fact, just a few years ago I played it for my piano teacher on the piano from memory and she identified the composer and piece for me. Lucky for me the piece was written by one of my favorite composers. Before that, I could only name other works by him such as the Four Seasons.

Listening to the thunder roll

I took a mega long nap with my baby love this afternoon and it was heaven on earth. Only problem now is, I'm all awake!

Luckily there's a fantastic thunder storm to enjoy right now. It's pouring outside and the loud thunderclap crashes above me are gorgeous and make me feel absolutely alive.

Willow wishes that could come true

Making some serious progress with the edits to my novel. It just may be ready for letters to agents, publishers and/or editors by September.

And as I said before, if it doesn't happen this time, I will self publish! Because seriously folks - this girl has so many more projects in her.

Sushi lovin'

I enjoyed a roll of spicy salmon and a roll of avocado today and it was fan-tab-u-lous. The avocado roll is just supreme by itself and I know that is that bit of purist in me shining through.

I think I could probably devour the delicious textures of sushi several times a week if my budget allowed. What's even better: I had very nice company for lunch. Thank heavens for beautifully sweet co-workers.

Thoughts

I had a thought today: what if I had never met those in my life? Those who are reading this - what if I would have never met you? With regards to some people in my life, my soul is touched and I have a feeling my world would be vastly different had our paths never crossed.

With regards to some others, my world would be not as full, rich or passionate.

I owe a lot to the people I love.

Sometimes the world is just so beautiful

Today I felt the sun on my back and shining on my hair. I watched quietly as my extended family talked, played, drank, ate, hugged, kissed. These summer days and dreaming those little dreams and smiling about it all - it's like living in the middle of the ocean.

On the day you read this - find a person you love and TELL them. Don't forget to tell them.

Make a run for it!

It's a new day and it's gorgeous outside. I think I'll make a plan to get some vitamin D from that beautiful sun during lunch hour today.

Now...I just have to escape the fluorescent bulbs of this cubicle hell! Escape plan is being drafted.

##
##

Reading and feeling the sonnets of life

This is the year that I am enjoying -- and actually noticing what I used to and perhaps lost track of: all the colors of the world that I haven't perhaps really seen in a while. I feel blessed to be reminded of such beauty that exists.

##
##

Sweet Summer Loving

The summer is finally in full swing and I'm going to Summerfest a couple of times. It should be great. I love outdoor music festivals. Now, I just got to get some work off my plate so I can really enjoy.

Thought for today: Enjoy a sunset with someone no matter how far away they may seem

Living as a yes person

I typically like to live as a "yes" person. A friend sent me an e-mail and in it, this message was at the bottom and I thought "Yes! That's cool" so here it is:

Life is short:
Break the rules
Forgive quickly
Kiss slowly
Love truly
Laugh uncontrollably
And never regret anything that made you smile.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here, we should dance

And I so agree

Saturday morning

Coffee and oatmeal with my baby love and her big cheeks and tiny feet. Sometimes, the love is so big I feel I may burst.

One Hundred Love Sonnets

Is this sonnet not completely awesome? I am grateful for having my eyes opened.

Neruda's poetry is the stuff that makes one feel truly alive and realize the human condition. It is the stuff of life and how the lines between lust and love get blurred. I really appreciate some new found knowledge too. It is so crystal clear now.


Pablo Neruda's Sonnet 11

I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.
Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.
Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day
I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.

I hunger for your sleek laugh,
your hands the color of a savage harvest,
hunger for the pale stones of your fingernails,
I want to eat your skin like a whole almond.

I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body,
the sovereign nose of your arrogant face,
I want to eat the fleeting shade of your lashes,

and I pace around hungry, sniffing the twilight,
hunting for you, for your hot heart,
Like a puma in the barrens of Quitratue.

The love of learning

I have discovered Pablo Neruda's poetry! Oh where have I been? Under a rock? To steal a line from a cool website I just found with some of this gorgeous poetry when speaking of Neruda's 100 Love Sonnets "You may need the whole book and keep it as a breviary you check: a sonnet a day, to start with a bang not with a whimper. "

to say thanks

There's a shift taking place, a slight and subtle change starting within me. A stirring. It's all good.
I can't help but look to the sky and say thanks.

Trekking

In the hours that drip away
under dark sky
and crescent moon
a jaunt
takes me to the avenues
of candid solitude
and the streets
of streaming lights
and winding tunnels
seeking the
perfect connection
to the highway of
my destiny,
the autobahn in my life's
movie,
as I begin to grasp
the dimensions of this new
journey
and the chambers of a sublime
heart I am discovering.
But for now
all that is heard is that familiar
voice
in printed letters
on the billboards
of my imagination

if only I could drive this fast

Midnight munchies

The trouble with staying up late is I get hungry. But I won't let myself eat. That would throw off my whole plan.

somebody

This song has been on my mind all day:

http://www.youtube.com/user/kingsofleon?blend=6&ob=4

xx

Too nice to be indoors today

A drive to remember

I'm caught on a high-speed exchange highway
somewhere in the area
where beguilement borders trepidation
at the cross streets:
Intrigue Avenue,
Confusion Lane and
Euphoria Boulevard.
And of course, killer road trip tunes are playing



Don't ask for an explanation. You won't get one.

Why I'm a night owl

When the shadows
peak around corners
and you can hear
the time tick
with delight of being acknowledged
and
the feline's yawn
fills the room
that is when
you can hear the
voice of your
choosing
at last
someone you have missed
someone you had forgotten
someone you again want to know

Dreams and goals

Today arrived with thoughts of the future and the endless possibilities. It's time to get off my arse and make something happen. I can't just pretend I'm really living anymore.

I've made the first step toward one of my life dreams. We'll see if the universe will humor me - at least for awhile.

It's you...again

How is it
that you unwrap
that last hidden layer,
the one I put away
on a secret shelf
to shroud from
the sounds of strums?
It is you again
with your one word
gentlest of gestures
stirring that private
underground to the core.
You again like no other,
even as names appear
to distract and
hundreds of lines
may try and
thousands of characters
in white space inspire.
But how to forget
yours?
How to disremember
that open spirit
sweet in
the purest form?
How to dismiss
you --
ever so kind
ever so unavailable
you?
How?

Swooning over Cage

I've forgotten how much I love Nick Cage -- especially in Moonstruck.

How true it is

Ocean waves are one of my fave natural sounds

Back from Arizona. Sweeeeeet. A beautiful place and wide open space to collect your thoughts and get back in the groove. I found some peace at cathedral rock in Sedona and staying with a great friend was especially comforting.

the twouble with twitterwaaand

Twitter feels like a big black hole where you can only hear the sound of your own chirps, dying on the branch. My tweets get lost in the maddening, tweeting jungle. I think this video says it best (at least it's funny as hell:

http://www.cbrich.com/supernews-twouble-with-twitters/

Looming birthdays and the mind tricks they play

When I start to wonder about age and feel a tinge of "ouch," I just recall women in Hollywood who are older than me (Sarah Jessica Parker, Demi Moore, Diane Lane, Halle Berry).

They look fantastic. I know they can afford all the "stuff" but that doesn't change the date on their birth certificate.

Meanwhile, I feel pretty great. Birthday? Fo-getta-bout-it!

zzzz

Really super chilling this weekend. :) Catching up on sleep.

my professional life

Today arrived with some surprises - but I'm rolling with it. In my life, I've learned to be flexible and focus on what is in my control.

mmmmmm

Dancing is the BEST! I wish it was Friday or Saturday night right now - I want to dance dance dance.

Assistance please

Visitors -
Please help me out. I need a name for the untitled poem I posted on Monday March 23. It's one of those rare times when I have a loss for a title. And no, you don't have to register to leave a comment - you can post as an anonymous person but leaving your name in your post is always nice.

Driving Through the Night

When it's all done,
and the chatter of the day
leaves you for awhile,
and only the radio is there
to witness your streams
through a
windshield of wishes,
all obligations dry up
to let your river open.
It's a quiet mind embrace
and you can finally
hear your waterfall
as solitude washes over it.
Like waves of years
you can surf
there are sights unseen
that only your
mind's eye
has permission to swim.
The dance of a thousand kind gestures,
someone scenarios and
conversation circles
all that you can remember,
loop through your spirit
like fresh water springs.
It's all there
raining in
until your ride
alone
ends.

Food

I'm back in the kitchen, cooking stuff! On the menu lately: Trapani pesto over pasta (homemade tomato pesto with roasted ground almonds) and homemade pizza crust using my new pizza stone.

strumming

I had to get the old guitar out tonight. I missed it.

when friends refer new musc

Added a song on here by Maria Taylor for a new friend, someone who enjoys her.

Thanks for the tip. I dig Maria now too and I dig it when people turn me on to new music. Thanks dude!

cafe rainsong

The rain along cobblestones
outside cafe window
doesn't wash it away
not even close
to clean or bright
or rinsed in light
just brings the streams
of empty waves
crashing to a beached
love affair
a puddle
in heaps of hope
and while I taste
the saltwater ambitions
I know there are only dreams
in the wake of tomorrows


##

putting it away for awhile

I think I have to stop listening to U2 for awhile. The old and new tracks are bringing tears lately and I'm not sure why.

xx

an untitled poem, for now

The universe

likes to play games

of sentiment

plucking two from

the countless numbers

with serendipity

under crescent moon

as Coltrane’s Stardust

rains over city

showering them,

fog devouring

their shore

as they live

within the confines

of obligation

and purpose,

but a turn,

a dance,

open and bright

finds

seamlessness of spirit

and dreams of light

in music and mirth

deepened relevance

even if

for the shortest spell

ever

on earth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whisper of Spring

This was taken next to a lagoon near Lake Michigan and downtown Milwaukee. The melting ice on the lagoon reminds me that Spring is not too far off.

Sounds on a Sunday

Updated the playlist - just wish I could find a decent recording of a Grateful Dead tune that I love - Scarlet Begonias.


XX

doing a happy dance

I'm going out to boogie tonight. YESSSSS. Can't wait.

tunage

I've decided to make the music optional. You can listen, or not.

scream until the last divide

How I'm feeling this week as opposed to the last few:

Real. Grounded. Domestic.

As Billy Corgan would say:

You make me real / lately i just can't seem to believe.
You make me real / discard my friends to change the scenery.
Strong as i feel / it meant the world to hold a bruising faith.
You make me real / but now it's just a matter of grace.

love of sound

Music has always evoked emotion in memory for me. I'm sure that isn't unusual.

However, my senses of memory with smell and sound wrapped around music seem to be particularly assiduous.

matinee musing

When reality strikes and it all starts sinking in, then it's time to go to the movies. I'm chillin' this afternoon by myself at a theater and I'll love every minute of it.

Wishing on a star

I'm wishing on a star that may never line up with the moon - but speaking of which, the moon was FANTASTIC last night. I laid awake on my couch for quite a while just gazing at it. Mental note: time to take photos of the moon.

boom shaka laka

Like the song on here says, my heart goes BOOM

Rain dance

The universe is playing with me again. It does this every so often. Not sure why and no, I can't elaborate on that at this time.

But at least some poetry is emerging, which is often the product of this dance.

driftwood photos

I took these photos in the north woods of Wisconsin - in the rainbow flowage, chock full of driftwood



Driftwood is a great subject for the camera. I was just told the one below looks like a gargoyle.

Rain and fog and thoughts

Ah, Saturday.

I heard this new tune on 88.9 Milwaukee this morning - while driving in the fog.

This girl likes fog

These are his lyrics not mine - but I like

...and the stars fell out of the sky
and my tears rolled into the ocean
now i'm looking for a reason why
you even set my world into motion

'cause if you're not really here
then the stars don't even matter
now i'm filled to the top with fear
but it's all just a bunch of matter
'cause if you're not really here
then i don't want to be either
i wanna be next to you...

Having some fun with my photos

music to my ears

I'm flippin' over "No Line"

Thank you

Paul
Dave
Larry
Adam

I'm finding amazing layers and new levels of appreciation that I didn't know I could feel.
-- like nothing before

-- Just when you think you've heard it all, or enough anyway...

The writer in me can't really describe this.

xx

senses on overdrive

So today I'm riding in my car, window actually down, and I suddenly get a whiff of that spring thing. You know what I'm talking about? It is that special something that sends you:

--the memory of getting the bike out for the year -- when you were like 7
--the slushy sounds of cars driving shiny saturated roads of winter melt
--the touch of warm sun drops that bathe lips and lashes
--the audible measure of purest riffs from passing car with open window
--the sight of burgeoning mint leaves and dogs' furry heads hanging out of moving cars
--the delicious taste of something new taking shape

one more

How could I forget, Carlos Santana?

guitar riffs make me...h__

Thinking lately about guitarists and how they have rocked my world.

These dudes rule!

• The Edge
• Jimi Hendrix
• Jimmy Page
• Stevie Ray Vaughn
• Kenny Wayne Shepherd
• Robin Trower
• Eric Clapton
• Randy Rhoads (high school crush)
• Eddie Van Halen
• Joe Satriani
  

it really is magnificent

...Only love...only love can leave such a mark. But only love can heal such a scar...

- Bono

lurkers, hope you check it out

No disappointment here

I'm digging U2's new song, Unknown Caller.

There seems to be mixed reviews of U2's new album, No Line on the Horizon.

I think a lot of albums get this kind of coverage, especially those that are transitional risks like this one. It's like the old adage of being resistant to change. Many need time to warm up to new music, especially new work by greats who have a history of pleasing most. The bar is always high.

Me? I like what I hear so far. I won't hesitate to make purchases for my iPod as soon as I'm able.

As usual, our friends from Ireland do not disappoint.

The email graveyard

E-mail is a funny thing. I think of it like a letter, with the same excitement as getting a fun piece of mail in the physical mailbox at home. (Can you imagine how wonderful it must have been to get a letter from a friend in the old days?)

Now, I don't really don't get much in terms of messages from friends in e-mail despite the convenience. Now with the availability of facebook and the like, for e-mail I only get a word here, a sentence there . It is sort of disappointing.