Tags: photo

Discipline is not a restriction but an aid to freedom.

— Wayne Thiebaud

Tags: quote

Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me
All His wonderful passion and purity
Oh, Thou Spirit divine, all my nature refine
Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me

I really like this song.

From this excellent article:

Like all cults, the Cult of Love requires devoted gullible followers eager to believe that happiness and redemption are just around the corner. And like all cults, the Cult of Love frustrates its followers over and over again making for lots of exciting drama, and nothing else.

Pursuing happiness is the worst possible way to find it. Emotional experiences are based around highs and lows. Love is no different. That is why love stories end in tragedy. To find happiness you have to let go of emotion, and let it come to you from satisfaction in your accomplishments, not in the pursuit of another emotional/chemical high.

Tags: rant

For those suffering from persistent bouts of bubbly cheerfulness...

Went to see the Five Browns in concert last night.

The short? Two words: pretty impressive.

The longer?

Very enjoyable presentation. The short descriptions of each
piece before it was performed really helped me to enjoy it
more, I thought. Definitely extremely skilled and seemed to
have a decent personalities, for the most part, as well. They
did a meet-and-greet after the performance and a Q&A session
right after intermission. Finally: their choice of pieces was
very good. Of course, it's hard to go wrong with Rachmaninoff's
Variation of a Theme from Paginini, but pretty much everything
on the program held my attention and that's saying something!

While everyone knows that marriage can be stressful, recent studies have found professional women are more likely to get divorced, more likely to cheat and less likely to have children. And if they do have kids, they are more likely to be unhappy about it. A recent study in Social Forces, a research journal, found that women—even those with a "feminist" outlook—are happier when their husband is the primary breadwinner.
[...]
If a host of studies are to be believed, marrying these women is asking for trouble. If they quit their jobs and stay home with the kids, they will be unhappy ( Journal of Marriage and Family, 2003). They will be unhappy if they make more money than you do ( Social Forces, 2006). You will be unhappy if they make more money than you do ( Journal of Marriage and Family, 2001). You will be more likely to fall ill ( American Journal of Sociology). Even your house will be dirtier ( Institute for Social Research).

Critic's response? "Forget those studies! Here: read some anecdotes!" (src)

It amuses me... but also saddens me to witness people who are
already depressed making decisions resulting from their current
depression that will further depress them in the future.

Why is it that so many people struggle so hard to see beyond tomorrow?

Tags: nal

Tags: postcard

Dying would be easier.

Tags: rant