To Test That It's A Mountain

Allman Brothers / Jerry Garcia: 12/31/73 (1)

A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct. This every sister of the Bene Gesserit knows. To begin your study of the life of Muad'Dib, then take care that you first place him in his time: born in the 57th year of the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam IV. And take the most special care that you locate Muad'Dib in his place: the planet Arrakis. Do not be deceived by the fact that he was born on Caladan and lived his first fifteen years there. Arrakis, the planet known as Dune, is forever his place.
--Manual of Muad'Dib by the Princess Irulan *

Think you of the fact that a deaf person cannot hear. Then, what deafness may we not all possess? What senses do we lack that we cannot see and cannot hear another world all around us?
--Wanna Yueh's favorite passage from The Orange Catholic Bible *

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death
that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it
to pass over me
and through me.
And when it has gone past
I will turn the inner eye
to see its path.
Where the fear has gone
there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
--Bene Gesserit Litany
Against Fear *

Allman Brothers / Jerry Garcia: 12/31/73 (2)

Any road
followed precisely
to its end
leads precisely
nowhere.
Climb the mountain
just a little bit
to test that
it's a mountain.
From the top
of the mountain,
you cannot
see the mountain.
--Muad'Dib:
Family Commentaries
by the Princess Irulan *

COMANCHE POINT
TANNER CANYON SIDEWALL
HOBO CAMP IN ROYAL ARCH CANYON
ELVES CHASM
CACTUS AND COLORADO RIVER
ELVIS SIGHTING WITH CAPE SOLITUDE
FOUR QUOTES FROM DUNE *

Only Those Who Will Risk Going Too Far

Schubert: Symphony No. 8 (unfinished)

Only those
who will risk
going too far
can possibly
find out
how far
one can go.

--T.S. Eliot

THE END IS WHERE WE START FROM
BUT WHERE YOU ARE IS WHERE YOU ARE NOT
THE JOURNEY OF THE MAGI
AWAKE MY SOUL

No Less Than The Trees And The Stars

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

--Max Ehrmann
Desiderata

Pau Casals: Bach ~~ Six Cello Suites

I Really Love To Watch Them Roll

John Lennon: Watching the Wheels

people say i'm lazy
dreaming my life away
well they give me
all kinds of advice
designed to enlighten me
when i tell them
that i'm doing fine
watching shadows
on the wall
don't you miss
the big time boy,
you're no longer
on the ball?






i'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
i really love to watch them roll
no longer riding on the merry-go-round
i just had to let it go

--john lennon
(HAPPY BIRTHDAY)

John Lennon: Watching the Wheels (acoustic)

Throw My Ticket Out The Window

Gillian Welch / David Rawlings: Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You

You never know
beforehand
what people
are capable of,
you have to wait,
give it time,
it's time that rules,
time is our
gambling partner
on the other side
of the table
and it holds
all the cards
of the deck
in its hand,
we have to guess
the winning cards
of life, our lives.
--José Saramago
Blindness

Gillian Welch: (soundcheck) Ramblin' Gamblin' Willie


SWING HARD IN CASE YOU HIT IT
A WINDING RIBBON WITH A BAND OF GOLD
PUNCTUATING A SOMBER LANDSCAPE
AND ALL THE SPINDLES WHINE

The Stone That Starts An Avalanche

Grateful Dead: Days Between ...2/28/93

Through Chance,
we are each
a ghost
to all the others,
and our only reality;
through Chance,
the huge hinge
of the world,
and a grain of dust;
the stone that
starts an avalanche,
the pebble whose
concentric circles
widen across the seas.

--Thomas Wolfe

8/23/93