Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Three Beautiful Things 12/24/08: Merry Christmas, Stir Fry, Coma

1. The scrawny, bored, preoccupied checker at 7-11 caught a twinkle in my eye and had the guts in Eugene, Oregon to wish me Merry Christmas. And mean it. My knees shook.

2. Ever rummage around in the icebox, half-assedly trying to figure out something to eat, and then you remember you were smart at the store one day, but you'd forgotten? I'd forgotten all about these precut stir fry vegetables I bought late last week at Trader Joe's and suddenly I launched into a most pleasing midafternoon lunch of stir fried vegetables and fried rice.

3. What am I doing on Christmas Eve watching a movie about a man in a coma dictating a book of memoirs before he died? It's just the way I roll. I found "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" absorbing, gorgeously filmed, and oddly fitting for Christmas Eve: it's about a man discovering light in his dark world.

4 comments:

Carol Woolum Roberts said...

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is on my Netflix list. I saw a trailer recently, and it looks very intriguing. I'm looking forward to seeing it soon.

Joel said...

"Its just the way I roll."
That's classic rp!

Anonymous said...

Although I was a bit reclusive at the start of my family's holiday it almost immediately felt right, necessary, and fulfilling. I absolutely felt at home by the end of the day. I'm tired but I'm still ready to go.

You are a good man of God and a great teacher...the best I've ever had. You taught me to love my family, first, and never stop. Even and especially the ones I cannot help but love to hate.

God Bless you, Bill. And I hope ALL your Christmas's are white as snow and light as a feather.

Fully On Empty
(Empty And Goodbye)

Whipping posts and bleeding boys,
'I saw cotton and I saw black.'
Nooses hanging like they're toys,
'Man, when will you pay them back.'
You are a token for the evil,
That keeps wide eyes from truth;
That puts a face upon the devil.
Only God could leave you level.

'There's no way out of this dark place.'
Said the mudheart master to the mudheart slave.
The world you've come to fall in love with
Is 'Someone for whom He still burns.'
Burns
Burns
Burns
Burns
Burning man rising,
Where do you think I can go?
Mud doesn't burn so easy,
And we're covered head to toe.

Enough graveling today,
It is my God-Given German name,
Get down them damned knees and pray.
Listen to the bluebirds sing.
Listen to the fucking bluebirds sing!

'If I go crazy then
Will you still call me superman?
If I'm alive and well
Will you be there holding my hand?
I'll keep you by my side
With my super human....might; (kryptonite).'

Saw it all and you saw too.
Now I'm sitting on the moon.
Watching the armies build the levees,
While the General plays a parable or two.

...'All in All is All We Are.'...

Aim high, pitiful bastards.
Pray their sons and daughters forgive me and you.

Anonymous said...

Well...not quite the best.

Matthew 23:8

But it's nice to know I'm not completely sane.