by Marty Coleman | Jan 5, 2010 | Oscar Wilde |
This is dedicated to some knuckleheads I had the honor of conversing with first thing this morning. They happened to be of the conspiratorial type, sure that the US is in the grips of a secret communist cabal.
But the danger isn’t really about those people, the danger is with people of any stripes, left, right, up down, Christian, Muslim, atheist, etc. who aren’t paying attention to evidence, proof and history.
They instead are purposely bending the little bits they do know (not much) to match their anger, their prejudices and their self-serving agendas.
Whether it be UFO true believers, anti-Obama birthers, anti-Bush anarchists or any number of groups, the test is whether they are truly interested in finding truth, figuring out solutions, including compromises, or if they are interested in just building on their wobbly prejudices with more true believers.
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“The worst vice of a fanatic is their sincerity.” – Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900, Irish author and playwright
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by Marty Coleman | Jan 4, 2010 | Horace |
Fighting someone else’s fire is good, but it is always important to remember that self-preservation is not a sin.
It does you no good to ignore your own home (relationship, family, job, etc.) while trying to save someone else’s. Doing both is the trapeze act we all have as part of a community of caring people. But, if the choice must be made, I think it is better to take the chance of damage to our own property than to not care for others in danger.
My frozen winter weather reporter, inspired by SP, is a bow to all our intrepid journalists who go out on frozen days like this to tell us stories we need to hear. Thank you!
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“Your own property is concerned when your neighbor’s house is on fire.” – Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) , 65 BCE – 8 BCE, Roman Poet
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by Marty Coleman | Jan 3, 2010 | Henry Moore, New Years Resolutions |
This is how you stick to New Years resolutions, breaking them down into new day resolutions.
Seriously think about it. What is your goal? Is it something amorphous like ‘lose weight’ or ‘get organized’ or is it something very specific like ‘calling my mother every Saturday’ or ‘cleaning out my attic’.
Specific is better of course, but either way, you still need to break it down into parts. You can’t make every Saturday call on one Saturday, you are very unlikely to clean out and organize an attic in one day.
What part of your goal can you plan and do today? This week? Next Saturday? Break it down and guess what, it will appear more manageable and more interesting to tackle.
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“I think in terms of the day’s resolutions, not the years'” – Henry Moore, 1898-1986, English Sculptor
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by Marty Coleman | Jan 3, 2010 | Chinese Proverbs |
Of course, this is not true. You can go to a jewelry store and purchase one. You can steal one. You can inherit one.
But you can’t find your very own pearl, uniquely yours, never owned or touched by another person, unless you dive for it.
Even then you need to know to look for the ugliest thing at the bottom of the sea, an oyster, to find the pearl. Then you have to use a very sharp knife to pry open the oyster and see if a pearl even exists inside it. A lot of work is what that is.
And for what? For a piece of sand, the most commonplace of natural material, surrounded by hardened oyster phlem. Yum. Who will do that? Someone who REALLY desires it. not sort of desires it. REALLY desires it.
So, let’s unmetaphorize this (yes, I just made that word up). I REALLY want to make a success of the napkin drawings. I want to have them seen by the largest amount of people as possible. I want people who like the drawings and my commentary to be willing to buy napkin merchandise from me. I want to make a living at it. That is my pearl.
If the pearl were on the shore, it would just wash up at my feet. But it isn’t on the shore. I have to go out and call, write, post, purchase, think, collaborate, spend, draw, research, talk, listen, learn, focus, discipline, and more. And I have to do that every day. I am excited to do it. But I REALLY have to want this pearl to do this amount of work, right? Especially since there is no guarantee. But that is ok. I really want this pearl. I am going to dive deep for it in 2010.
Wish me luck and when the merchandise is ready to purchase you know what to do!
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
“Pearls lie not on the seashore. If thou desirest one thou must dive for it.” – Chinese Proverb
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by Marty Coleman | Jan 1, 2010 | Joey Adams, New Years Resolutions |
First, a caveat: If you are the type that actually makes resolutions AND sticks to them, then my 2010 blessing is this instead: ‘May your resolutions beat the crap out of your troubles all year long’. But if you are like most of us then this napkin blessing is for you.
Everyone’s life has them. Some are of our own making (more than we would like to admit). Some are due to who we are in relationship with. Some are random accidents and twists of fate. Some are biology and chemistry. Some of you would say it is all God. Some of you will say it isn’t. No matter though, you still must deal with your troubles.
Be it resolved for all of us that we will face them head on in 2010.
- We won’t make excuses
- we won’t hide our head in the sand
- we won’t enable others to continue in their troubles
- We will use our troubles to increase our love. We will use them to increase our understanding, our empathy, our giving, our tenderness.
- We will not use our troubles to build our resentments. We won’t use them to increase our anger, our prejudices, our hatreds, our meanness.
Keep these as your resolutions and they will beat the crap out of any troubles that come your way now and forever.
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman“May all your troubles last only as long as your New Year’s resolutions.” – Joey Adams, 1911-1999, American Comedian
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