WILSON AND GILLIGHAN IN THE SNOW…
1707 by Jeff Hess
Every evening, when I arrive home, Gillighan greets me at the door barking in loud, staccato ejaculations, demanding to play with Wilson. Being missed is important.
15 December 2013
14 December 2013
IGNORANT IS NO LONGER INNOCENT…
0325 by Jeff HessMark Twain wrote:
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things can not be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’ lifetime.
From “Conclusion”, page 498 of The Innocents Abroad, 1867.
13 December 2013
NELSON MANDELA AND WILLIAM HENLEY…
0949 by Jeff Hess
Invictus
By William Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
11 December 2013
6 December 2013
RIGHT SPEECH IS (SELF-) HEALING SPEECH…
1134 by Jeff HessImagine you’re sitting down to write a letter full of forgiveness and compassion. While you’re writing that letter, you’re healing yourself. Even if the other person hasn’t yet read your letter, the world around you begins to heal. You can practice Right Speech when you send an email, and it can relieve the suffering inside you and the suffering in the other person right away. Why wait? We can always practice Right Speech to heal ourselves, to reconcile with ourselves and with the world.
Right speech is speech that expresses nondiscrimination, forgiveness, understanding, support and love. We know that when we’re able to say or write something like that, we feel wonderful. It’s so liberating and healing; it brings relief. Right Speech brings well-being. Anything that we say that contains discrimination, hate and the desire to punish will make us suffer and will make others suffer. p. 84
From Good Citizens: Creating Enlightened Society by Thich Nhat Hanh
Found in my electronic chapbook.
5 December 2013
5 December 2013
EASY DOES IT… ONE DAY AT A TIME…
0405 by Jeff HessWe can get off to a good start by lowering our standards and initiating our mindful eating by having one conscious sip of tea in the morning. Take a moment to become aware of the color of the tea, its fragrance. Feel the liquid in your mouth and throat. Open your awareness to the presence of warm sunlight, cool rain and dark earth in this one sip of tea. Everything will unfold from this simple act. Just begin aware for a few moments seems like a small event. Don’t underestimate the power of mindfulness. It is through these small moments of mindfulness that we reverse old habits and initiate an inner movement toward health. p. 18
From Mindful Eating by Jan Chozen Bays Nhat Hanh
Found in my electronic chapbook.
4 December 2013
HOW WRITERS KNOW THEMSELVES…
0342 by Jeff HessWhat superstitions do for the athlete is to irrationalize. and that’s what you have to do as a writer; you have to irrationalize yourself somehow. p. 22
Found in From Where You Dream: The Process Of Writing Fiction.
3 December 2013
RIGHT SPEECH IS A VERY RARE EVENT…
0349 by Jeff HessThere are four guidelines concerning Right Speech. Speak truthfully, without lies. Speak consistently, without saying one thing to one person and something else to another. Speak respectfully, without insult. Speak accurately, without exaggeration. Then we are practicing Right Speech. p. 83
From Good Citizens: Creating Enlightened Society by Thich Nhat Hanh
Found in my electronic chapbook.
2 December 2013
ROLDO RIGHTS ON SHILLING FOR REAL MONEY…
1112 by Jeff Hess
Brent Larkin is taking off and running. He fakes to the left. And then goes right.
Larkin’s column on Sunday appears to be a spanking of Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Mayor Frank Jackson. It’s not.
The headline says, “City’s stadium deal with the Browns is not good for people of Cleveland.”
If you’re not paying attention it looks as if Larkin, traditionally the voice of corporate Cleveland, has changed his tune. He’s for the people now.
Not so.
The column – ostensibly against the $2 million a year for 15 years the city pledge to the Browns – really is the opening shot for a more than $200 million give-away to the Browns, Indians and Cavaliers. Let’s not go cheap.
Larkin, complaining about the smaller, but wrong, deal is really tilling the soil for the bigger subsidy – passage probably early next year of the extension of the so-called sin tax for a whopping 20 years. We’ve already paid for 25 years!
It will cost Cuyahoga/Cleveland residents mostly more than $200 million in sales taxes on beer, wine, liquor and cigarettes.
Larkin blatantly lies about the first sin Continue Reading »
1 December 2013
GOOD NOVELISTS HAVE BAD MEMORIES…
0943 by Jeff HessYou remember things; you can talk these things back and command details. You know literature. You’ve always found your self-worth there, and what I’m telling you is that literal memory is your enemy. It’s been a large part of your identity all your life, and that part is going to want to drag you down, to destroy the things you create. p. 19
Found in From Where You Dream: The Process Of Writing Fiction.
29 November 2013
ROLDO RIGHTS ON A CLEVELAND RUSH JOB…
1156 by Jeff Hess
Roldo Bartimole writes:
The city will fork over $2 million a year for 15 years to the billionaire-owned Cleveland Browns for stadium “improvements.” Plus another $12 million from the sin tax revenues. Both follow a $5.8 million capital contribution earlier this year by the city.
That’s a $30 million pledge, atop the $17.8 for $47.8 million. A nice holiday gift.
The Browns are supposed to invest $90 million. Where or how that’s guaranteed no one can really say. They might spend only $20 million or less. Private business.
Would you take Jimmy Haslam’s word for it? I wouldn’t, given his track record as a big time chiseler.
The Council vote was a rush job. It always is. Down and dirty. Better to avoid investigation. And on a holiday week, too. Just after an election. Diabolically schemed. Better to deceive Continue Reading »
28 November 2013
27 November 2013
JUST WHAT AM I TANGLED UP WITH…?
1219 by Jeff HessFood begins to serve many purposes. It is used to soothe, to distract, to procrastinate, to numb, to entertain, to seduce, to reward and even to punish. The once straightforward relationship between hunger, eating and satisfaction of our childhood becomes tangled up in all sorts of thoughts and emotions. p. 16
From Mindful Eating by Jan Chozen Bays Nhat Hanh
Found in my electronic chapbook.
27 November 2013
IF YOU’RE FEELING THANKFUL TODAY…
0739 by Jeff Hess
I bought a print this morning. If you’re feeling thankful today, you should buy one too.
27 November 2013
GOOD…! THEY CAUGHT THE #%$^%&*…
0351 by Jeff HessFrom The Associated Press:
The Ohio Attorney General’s office is suing a man accused of texting thousands of unwanted sales messages to people, including many on the National Do Not Call registry.
The lawsuit alleges that Darren Sizemore used an automated dialing system to send the unsolicited text messages to consumers across the country in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
The lawsuit filed in Lorain County court Tuesday also alleges that Sizemore directed individuals to websites to claim prizes or obtain free or discounted services.
Sizemore is accused of misleading consumers about the prizes and the conditions needed to win them.
I got probably half-a-dozen or so calls from Sizemore in the past few weeks. I hope they throw the book at him.
27 November 2013
LITERATURE IS A KIND OF CINEMA OF THE MIND…
0339 by Jeff HessBut this is the tough part: for those two hours a day when you write, you cannot flinch. You have to go down into that deepest, darkest, most roiling, white-hot place – it can’t be white-hot and dark at the same time, but I don’t care – that paradox, live with it – whatever scared the hell out of you down there – and there’s plenty – you have to got in there; down into the deepest part of it, and you can’t flinch, can’t walk away. That’s the only way to create a work of art – even though you have plenty of defense mechanisms to keep you out of there, and those defense mechanisms are going to work against you mightily. p. 18
Found in From Where You Dream: The Process Of Writing Fiction.
26 November 2013
A CHINK IN THE TAX-EXEMPTION ARMOR…?
1101 by Jeff HessI think [Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Geithner] is an important case that is going to have a big impact. As is common in major cases, the judge stayed the implementation of her ruling until all appeals are completed or the deadline for filing them has passed. If the government appeals, as is likely, it could go all the way to the Supreme Court. If the government does not appeal and eliminates the housing allowance, this could cost religious organizations an estimated $2.3 billion over five years. Religious groups will have to decide if they want to go to court to claim the exemption once again, or try to get the housing allowance in some other form that circumvents it being taxed.
My bet, as noted in a comment, is that latter will be the case.
24 November 2013
THIS IS OH SO VERY BUDDHISH…
0927 by Jeff HessIn Buddhism, thinking is already action. By your thinking, you can destroy the world. but, it’s equally true that your thinking can save the world and bring healing. p. 82
From Good Citizens: Creating Enlightened Society by Thich Nhat Hanh
Found in my electronic chapbook.
