Yesterday, a good friend chose to send me this good thing to focus on:
It’s a good thing that soolooka created that, so that Vivian could send it to me exactly when I needed it.
Let’s choose to focus on good things in my photos from yesterday:
I chose to focus on that donkey last night during a good long walk with Michael and Aaron. I chose to focus on its expression and to share that the good donkey looked a little judgmental to me. My good boyfriend and my good son chose to disagree.
I choose to focus on this: civil disagreement is a good thing.
Choose to focus on good things in a comment, below.
I always choose to focus on gratitude at the end of every post, so thanks to all who helped me focus on the good things here and — of course! — to you, my good reader.
Yesterday, as I was in the process of leaving my home town of Boston and traveling to the great town of Chicago, I took these photos:
Ah ha! There I am in Chicago.
Here and here are today’s songs about leaving town:
Last night, I was feeling kind of shy in Chi-town when I was having dinner with some people I didn’t know,, but when the group organizer asked me to sing, I stood up, found my voice, and sang my latest song — “Everybody’s Somebody’s Asshole.”
People seemed to like my new song but even if they didn’t, I’ll be leaving town tomorrow.
No matter what town I’m in, I see gratitude everywhere. Thanks to all who helped me create this out-of-town post and — of course! — to YOU.
All my blog posts are based on a true story, so it’s true that I love starting today’s blog post with a true image from my true friend Barbara’s truly lovely home.
Yesterday, Barbara
went with me to see guitarist Pat Metheny for Barbara’s first time,
had the best fish dish of her entire life,
took selfies of herself and her friend of sixty-three years (me),
swapped amazing stories with her friend,
admired the gorgeous concert venue in Rockport Massachusetts,
We have proof that these stories are true, because of all these true photographs:
Barbara and I both agreed that we truly enjoyed Pat last night especially when he involved more instruments than just one solo guitar. I told her the true story of his development of his own incredible Orchestrion, of which he had a small sample on stage with him last night. I also told her the true story of how I saw Pat play at the Orpheum theater in Boston a decade ago when his Orchestrion album came out, and how truly amazing that was. She wished she could have seen more of that, so this is truly for you, Barbara:
I’m looking forward to all your true stories, below.
My gratitude is always based on true stories, so thanks to Barbara, to true friendship, to Pat Metheny, to all who helped me create today’s true post and — truly! — to YOU.
On the two thousandth, three hundredth, and sixty-ninth consecutive day of this blog, I am celebrating the first use of the word “Celebrating” in a post title.
I am also celebrating
the rich availability of relevant imagery all around me,
Since the 2016 election, I’ve noticed signs that I — and the United States — have somehow changed. I see signs of that in every blog post I’ve written since then. Of course, everything changes and everything changes us, although this saying
When I procrastinate doing something — like writing a Letter from the President for a newsletter — that’s a sign that I need more information or need to resolve some fear about the outcome.
We tend to look for signs, in the present, that replicate our experiences as children, sometimes ignoring richer, more diverse signs of a wider range of possibilities.
I am making a concerted effort to be open to signs that conflict with my expectations.
I’ve dealt with signs that I’m catastrophizing more than most people by writing a song about that (included in yesterday’s blog post, here).
I went looking for actual signs of spring, yesterday.
Signs of spring remind me that I’ll be seeing Pat Metheny in concert this spring. Here‘s “Spring Ain’t Here” by the Pat Metheny Group.
I’ll be looking for signs of your reactions to this post in the comments section, below.
No matter what the season, you’ll always find signs of my gratitude — for those who help me write this daily blog and for readers like YOU — at the end of every post.
In the midst of all the action in yesterday’s petty post, there was this invitation to take time to reflect:
You may not have noticed that good advice from this good book:
because I was guilty of reflecting it on its side, like this:
I didn’t take time to reflect those two page in their correct orientation yesterday, because there was so much petty information I wanted to share.
Like Wilma, I believe it is important to take time to reflect, even in the midst of emergencies and adventures. Today, I have a day off from work because of Presidents Day, so I can take time to reflect. My boyfriend Michael, who definitely takes time to reflect, asked me to reflect on who were my most favorite and least favorite U.S. Presidents.
If you take time to reflect, how would you answer Michael’s question?
I’m going to take time to share something else Michael reflected: “These days everything seems sinister to me.” I took time to reflect Michael’s feelings and then to ask him if I seemed sinister to him. When he said no, I took time to reflect that I AM sinister, because “sinister” means “left-handed” in Latin.
Yesterday, I saw how to create an aura of light and love.
“Live righteously and love everyone; you will build up around you an aura of light and love.”
I don’t know if I always live righteously and love everyone, but I am capable of seeing an aura of light and love, even when it’s raining.
Great baseball players, dogs dressed up in Halloween costumes, and giving sorrow words can all build up an aura of light and love, as can “Tears of Rain” by Pat Metheny and the late Charlie Haden.
Gratitude also creates an aura of light and love, so many thanks to all who helped me create today’s post and — of course! — to YOU.
Because many of my recent photos include circles, I’ve circled back to that title.
As I look around that previous post, there’s no definition of circular reasoning.
Circular Reasoning
circulus in demonstrando
(also known as: paradoxical thinking, circular argument, circular cause and consequence, reasoning in a circle)
Description: A type of reasoning in which the proposition is supported by the premises, which is supported by the proposition, creating a circle in reasoning where no useful information is being shared. This fallacy is often quite humorous.
Logical Form:
X is true because of Y.
Y is true because of X.
Example #1:
Pvt. Joe Bowers: What are these electrolytes? Do you even know?
Secretary of State: They’re… what they use to make Brawndo!
Pvt. Joe Bowers: But why do they use them to make Brawndo?
Secretary of Defense: [raises hand after a pause] Because Brawndo’s got electrolytes.
Explanation: This example is from a favorite movie of mine, Idiocracy, where Pvt. Joe Bowers (played by Luke Wilson) is dealing with a bunch of not-very-smart guys from the future. Joe is not getting any useful information about electrolytes, no matter how hard he tries.
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Exception: Some philosophies state that we can never escape circular reasoning because the arguments always come back to axioms or first principles, but in those cases, the circles are very large and do manage to share useful information in determining the truth of the proposition.
Tip: Do your best to avoid circular arguments, as it will help you reason better because better reasoning is often a result of avoiding circular arguments.
If you circle over to logicallyfallacious,com, you’ll find that explanation of “Circular Reasoning.”
Have you noticed any circular reasoning from not-very-smart-guys in our present?
Do your best to see circles in my photos because seeing circles in my photos will help you do your best.
