All Work And No Play Make Jack A Dull Boy

Yesterday, I wrote about riding my bike and drinking coffee. I really like my little thermos that I bought years ago at a gift shop called Plum (now sadly gone) off Magazine Street in New Orleans. It is small and has a cool leather wrap printed with graphics inspired by The Shining.

 

It’s pretty cool and keeps the coffee pretty hot.

My coffee thermos.

I See A Red Door

“I see a red door and I want it painted black.”

The Rolling Stones, Paint It Black

Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas

Feeling Bubbly

There’s a darkness upon me that’s flooded in light
In the fine print they tell me what’s wrong and what’s right
And it flies by day and it flies by night
And I’m frightened by those who don’t see it
—-The Avett Brothers, Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise

at DFW Airport

The Book Is Written In Mathematical Language

“Philosophy [nature] is written in that great book which ever is before our eyes — I mean the universe — but we cannot understand it if we do not first learn the language and grasp the symbols in which it is written. The book is written in mathematical language, and the symbols are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures, without whose help it is impossible to comprehend a single word of it; without which one wanders in vain through a dark labyrinth.”
Galileo

Richardson, Texas

A Single Open Window

“We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it.”
Tennessee Williams, The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore

Republic Tower, Dallas, Texas

Morning Has Broken

Morning has broken like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing
Praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world
—-Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) (born Steven Demetre Georgiou), Morning Has Broken

Sunrise, Boston, Massachusetts

I was way too tired. We had finished work the day before (a long, tough week) and treated ourselves to dinner at an Italian Restaurant in the North End (Ristorante Limoncello) some pastry (Modern Pastry shop, Mike’s was too crowded – line was down the street) and a drink at the end of the hockey game (The Black Rose). Then, when I settled down in my hotel room I discovered that HBO GO was on the TV complimentary and, against my better judgement, I watched the episode of Game of Thrones I had missed because I was flying the previous Sunday. It was getting too hard to avoid spoilers.

My flight was scheduled for eight (though, due to mechanical problems it didn’t actually leave until ten) so that meant I had to get up at five, which meant only a couple hours of sleep. I was woozy in the morning, but was treated to a glorious sunrise painting the buildings of downtown Boston a bright crimson.

Still I’d Like To Express My Thanks

“Got no checkbooks, got no banks. Still I’d like to express my thanks – I’ve got the sun in the mornin’ and the moon at night.”
Irving Berlin

Thanksgiving Square, Dallas, Texas

Everybody in Dallas takes this photograph. I have several times. Still, it’s an amazing scene and you never really can capture its beauty. It’s a surprise the first time you see it – especially concerning the drab (though interestingly-shaped) exterior of the chapel.

 

Chapel, Thanksgiving Square, Dallas, Texas

Thanksgiving Square Chapel, Dallas, Texas

Thanksgiving Square Chapel, Dallas, Texas, 2003

I Ended Up With A Broken Fiddle

“And I never started to plow in my life
That some one did not stop in the road
And take me away to a dance or picnic.
I ended up with forty acres;
I ended up with a broken fiddle—
And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories,
And not a single regret.”
Edgar Lee Masters, Spoon River Anthology

Fiddler, Denton Texas

It’s Got Eight Cylinders; Uses Them All

It’s got a Lincoln motor and it’s really souped up.
That Model A Vitimix makes it look like a pup.
It’s got eight cylinders; uses them all.
It’s got overdrive, just won’t stall.
—-Charlie Ryan (also Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen), Hot Rod Lincoln

Car Show, Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas

Waltzing Matilda

Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong,
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee,
he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
you’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me
—-Slim Dusty, Waltzing Matilda

Streetcar, Dallas, Texas