Desiderata-- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s --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.I prefer food for the soul and the mind. I write in a journal and read some of the greatest novels ever written: Jane Eyre, Fathers and Sons, Great Expectations, Tom Jones, Love in theTime of Cholera, Go Tell It on the Mountain, Siddartha(Hesse), The Alchemist, and the Diary of Anne Frank, to name a few. I like to stay conscious of issues happening in the world concerning human rights(hrw.org), enviroment(greenpeace.org and iwillevolve.org and futureforests.com), poetry especially the Hands on Stanzas program at the Poetry Center Chicago(poetrycenter.org), Support the new Center on Halsted for the Gay Lesbian Transgender/Transexual Bisexual Chicago Community(centeronhalsted.org), Listen to great poets read their work(poets.org),See pictures of the graves of great poets and read their poems for free(www.poetsgraves.co.uk), Search great poets on ilovepoetry.com classical search, community gardens(neighbor-space.org), Please sober up before getting behind the wheel, have a cup of coffee instead(Madd.org) AIDS statistics(avert.org), ending gun violence(ceasefirechicago.org), suicide prevention(theovernight.org and suicide/deperession helpline 1 800 SUICIDE), ending extreme world poverty(unicef.org) and pet rescue(pawschicago.org), building houses for the needy and for survivors of disaster(habitat.org), making business and trade fair for struggling businesses(Oxfam.org), plant more trees for future oxygen(sierraclub.org), gay rights(hrc.org), Make a quilt for the AIDS quilt(namesprojectchicago.org or aidsquilt.org), dropping the debt owed by extremely empoverished countries(one.org and thelunchboxfund.org), Help buy musical instruments for musicians who lost it all because of Hurricane Katrina (musicrising.org), raising awareness of the need for peace in the world(peacemuseum.org), read stories about 9-11-01 attack victims(legacy.com), register to vote(musicforamerica.org), help make education more affordable(campusprogress.org) and more. I encourage people to write to their congress people about just about anything, even if its a little curt note(www.congress.org). I may not be able to change the world but I could try to make a difference.
My romantic life is starting to feel like realism photography. I am very tolerant to all kinds of personalities, especially people who mold their personalities like a unique fingerprint of intelligence. I am aware that there is no completely perfect person or relationships so I am willing to stick around and work things out. I'd rather live simply and be easy going but like Einstein, it's a simplication for a deeply learned theory of life, E=mc2. You don't have to have ambitions to win the Nobel Prize in any field but being sensitive to the human condition through the arts will make me fascinated by you. Some one who loves to learn and teach interesting things to you can be a soul mate forever. Hugh Hefner, Harvey and Bob Weinstein for IL POSTINO, Charlie Kaufman, Enrique Iglesias, Placido Domingo for the Broadway album, Ruben Salazar in heaven(journalist from the sixties killed in a street riot), Gimme Gimmes for the "Drag" Broadway album, and Andre 3000 for writing "Hey ya." Mick Jagger to ask him how the hell can he keep swishing his waist like an 18 year old in his sixties.Cinema ParadisoMy life has been a montage of kisses
On my death bed, I'll string them all together
With that cosmic celluloid glue.
A dashing moment like smashing a glass
in a fireplace and taking one assertively in a kiss
Liberates one from loneliness.
Kisses that reconcile one from an argument by saying:
"Now I have the right to kiss you."
As well as the kisses that start arguments
Between one's head and one's heart.
Drunken kisses under a strobelight flash.
Plush kisses that inspire to sing in the afterglow.
Automatic car wash drive thru kisses,
Eighteen year old Teenage lips that slide on red candy flavored Eighteen Year Old lips in movie theaters while procrastinating homework.
Kisses that break down defenses and make one willing
to risk the vunerability of love.
Cinematic Kisses where helicopters hover all around.
Kisses we give to one another on the cheek
in graditude for a birthday gift.
Mother-father kisses when they have been rarified by monotony.
Cool mint chocolate kisses deep with arduous breath.
Kisses that dawn and set the sun.
Kisses with grief to one after they have passed away.
Dreams of being kissed initiating a fantisized disrobing of muscle and wealth.
A dizzy kiss while falling into a swimming pool,
Stolen kisses and ones given away liberally,
A crash kiss against the daily grind of Mayakovsky and Maria under the sleeping bears of stars with their paws full of starlight,
Morbid Keatsian wine-kisses that swell the mouth like bee stings and inspire one to say:
"Oh god, I wish that I could take poison from your lips to send me out of this world."
Kisses in the middle of riots, hurricanes and blackouts
that light up like popping Christmas lights,
Kisses that counsel one into composure,
Kisses in the wash of guitars,
Kisses that cause heartbreak and wreck homes.
The first and last kisses that ring with the
Resonance of a rainstorm. Soft kisses that kill.
Even frightening kisses that run the risk of mono or herpes.
Airy etheral kisses at a wedding in the clink of flute glasses,
Kisses that heal and end suffering. Kissing are the source of all suffering when they are lost.
Kisses that move one to act in charity and love.
The first and last kisses always remembered the most.
For these, I'll know then I did not live for nothing.From my book, "A Journal of Kisses."
Ruben Santos Claveria
Copyright 1999
Write to me if you want a copy sent to a p.o.box to you.
Your element is Earth. You have your feet on the
ground and are in touch with reality. Some may
say you need to lighten up, but you are just
not that way. It's not that you don't enjoy
having fun, you only find it in more calmer
activities such as writing or reading a book.
But before you have your fun you always make
sure your work is done. You are considered the
reliable one among your friends, you would
never betray anyone just like and are not
influenced on peer-pressure. Friends and family
can always come to you for guidance because you
are wise and smart. You know what is right and
what is wrong and you study hard to become
something big in the future. The bad side is
that your friend/s feel ignored when you spend
more time with books and papers rather with
them. You are not such a people person and are
sometimes a question-mark on how to behave
around them at certain times. Luckily it always
works out, somehow. Love is not really desired
in your world right now, maybe in the future
when you've got a work and so on under control.
After all, you are a perfectionist. Rate and
message!
What is your element? [with pics + detailed answeres]
brought to you by QuizillaHarp Seals Link
I love music of all kinds and have compile a vinyl record collection that goes back to Tchiakovsky--The Tempest(Shakespeare wrote the line "O a Cherubin" in that play--)all the way to Billie Holiday, the Beatles, Marvin Gaye, Barbara Streisand and Seal, New Order. I have been to many concerts with my friends. I say Hairspray on stage on Dec. 8, 2007 with my husband, Mike. Sometimes I listen to DIDO and U2 and Coldplay(love "Green Eyes" and "Speed of Sound") Ruben Studdard is cool when he sings gospel. I like greatest compilation c.d.s that's about all you need for me to like you. I like a little of all that's good in our time, Norah Jones, Mary J. Blige, Foo Fighters, Pixies, The Jaguares. I like John Lennon, Van Morrison, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Melissa Etheridge, George Michael. I like the concert film about the blues called Lightning in a Bottle, Janis Joplin from the sixties and Neil Young, Linda Rondstadt in the seventies, The Sounds and Oasis(She's Electric, All Around The World, Stop Crying Your Heart Out.) Jesus, I love a lot of stuff, maybe too much. I think people searching songs comes from their hunger for poetry, so keep my mind open to be enlightened by just about any song. Songs that I love: "Iris"(Goo Goo Dolls), "Shine On"(Elton John), "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" "Ruben Remus" and "The Hurricane"(Bob Dylan), "Privelege(Set Me Free)(Patti Smith), "Just Like Heaven" and "Pictures of You" (The Cure), "Blackout" David Bowie, "Southside" Moby, "Atomic" Blondie, "Born Slippy" Underworld, "Lust For Life" Iggy Pop, "Big Sister's Clothes" "God's Comic" Elvis Costello, "One Step Beyond" Madness, "Walking in My Shoes" (Depeche Mode), "All is Fair in Love"(Stevie Wonder), Evergreen and Somewhere(Barbara Streisand), "What a Wonderful World(Louis Armstrong), "Por un Beso" (Los Jaguares), "Penelope" (Robi Rosa), American Pie(Madonna), "Fool on the Hill" and "The Long and Winding Road(The Beatles), "Moodance"(Van Morrison), "Zombie"(The Cranberries), "There's More to Life than This"(Bjork), "Angel of Harlem," "Ultraviolet Light(Light My Way," "Drowning Man," "Electrical Storm," "Playboy Mansion," and "Always"(U2), "Politik," "Yellow," "Moses," Square One," "Till Kingdom Comes"(Coldplay), "Walking After You"(Foo Fighters), "Birds," "Words," "Old Man"(Neil Young), "The Wind Cries Mary(Jimi Hendrix), "Suffering"(Satchel), "Waterfalls" (TLC),Mariah Carey, "My Love Don't Cost a Thing" Jennifer Lopez, "Solo Tu" Enrique Iglesias, Ricky Martin,(Salt and Pepper), "No More Drama"(Mary J. Blige), "Do You Realize?"(The Flaming Lips), "Vincent(Starry, Starry Nights"(Don McLean), "The World Spins Madly On" The Weepies, "Under Pressure"(David Bowie and Queen), "Too Much Love Will Kill You" (Queen), "Songbird"(Fleetwood Mac), "Happy When It Rains" (Garbage), "So Alive" (Ryan Adams), "Irene"(Ledbelly), "Do You Have a Friend in the Ruben James?" (Woody Guthrie), "Flowers of Guatemala" and "Superman"(R.E.M),"Jealous Guy" "Beautiful Boy" "Love" (John Lennon), "Devil Inside" INXS, "Goodnite" Smashing Pumpkins, Track: The Day My Dreams Came True(Great Expectations movie underscore), "Yesterday, When I was Mad" (Pet Shop Boys), "A Little Respect"(Erasure),Red Hot Blue(Cole Porter),"I Say A Little Prayer" "Respect" and "Dark End of the Street"(Aretha Franklin), "What a Little Moonlight Can Do"(Holiday), "Zephyr" Red Hot Chili Peppers, Track: "The Heart Asks Pleasure First" (Jane Campion's The Piano score--Nyman), "The House I Live In" (Mahalia Jackson), "You'll Never Walk Alone" (Elvis Presley), "Let the Four Winds Blow" (Fats Domino), "My Ding a ling" (Chuck Berry), "Kissability" (Sonic Youth), "Laid" "Say Something" "Born of Frustration" by James, This Fire(Franz Ferdinand), Bittersweet Symphony(The Verve), Someday(The Strokes), The Smiths, Spooky Ruben, The Rubens, "May the Good Lord(Shine a Light on You)" "I'm Free" "Angie" (The Rolling Stones), "I better leave you before I(Commit a Crime)" Howling Wolf, "Rollercoaster" Buddy Holly, "Now That You're Gone" Ritchie Valens, "Somebody Told Me" and "Mr. Brightside(The Killers), "Your Own Private Idaho" "Rock Lobster" and "Love Shack" (B-52's), All of New Order(I danced to Peter Hook at the cd dj booth in Chicago on January 5, 2007, he signed my greatest singles cd too. What a cool guy, he played "Galvanize" by the Chemical Brothers, Krafty, Regret, Bizarre Love Triangle, Confusion, Monaco, Out of Control, and Regret by New Order, a cool remix of Morrisey's song "How Soon is Now," "Born Slippy," "Love Will Tear Us Apart," and a lot of other cool songs.) Symphony No. 9 and the Moonlight Sonata(Beethoven), Bach wrote a piece for piano and the clavierrubung which sounds like my first and last name. I feel like giving up all pretention all loving all and serving all.Country songs that I listen to with my partner Mike, "For Ever and For Always," by Shania Twain, "Safe in the Arms of Love," by Martina McBride(Who I saw in concert at the state fair), "You Made Me Feel" by Clint Black, "I Told You So," by Keith Urban, "You'll Never Walk Alone" by Tammy Wynette, "Lullaby," by Dixie Chicks, and "Somewhere Over The Rainbow "by Martina McBride and Ray Charles. "Georgia On My Mind."
Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only left-out saint of cinema because I love Eastman Kodak films in all their forms and genres and have seen so many films that have been created since the beginning of all film about one hundred years ago from Melies to Bertolucci. Great site to learn about film: www.sensesofcinema.com. I always find pieces of myself in the movies and I think it's all in the movies, everything, all the beauty and ugliness of the truth. I say I watch saintly because sometimes we find healing metaphors in films in the most unlikely of stories. I loved Hairspray and the soundtrack. <