“The point is not to perfect yourself. It is to perfect your love. Let your imperfections be an invitation to care. Remember that imperfections are deliberately woven into Navajo rugs and treasured in the best Japanese pottery. They are part of the art. What a relief to honor your life as it is, in all its beauty and imperfection.”
— Jack Kornfield, “The Tyrrany of Perfection”
If I ever got a tattoo (unlikely!), it would probably be an ensō. This is a symbol important in Zen Buddhism and Japanese ink painting.
The circle is drawn quickly and fluidly, in a single stroke.
“Once it’s drawn, there is no changing it. … the circle signifies unity and completion. Perfect balance. What makes the ensō more intriguing is that it is not perfect at all. It is rough, messy, and at times not even complete.” [Aly Juma]
A self-help book from 1992, “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron, has developed something of a cult following. This quote, shared by the podcaster Tim Ferriss in his weekly email “Five Bullet Friday,” captured my attention recently:
The perfectionist is never satisfied.
The perfectionist never says, ‘This is pretty good. I think I’ll just keep going.’
To the perfectionist, there is always room for improvement. The perfectionist calls this humility. In reality, it is egotism.
It is pride that makes us want to write a perfect script, paint a perfect painting, perform a perfect audition monologue.
Perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough—that we should try again.
No. We should not.
— Julia Cameron
It’s a question that could change your life. The author of “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” points out that our struggles determine our successes in life. If you want muscles and health, you have work your muscles and watch your diet. If you want money and success, you need to make sacrifices to get there. If you want happy relationships, you have to undertake the hard work of having relationships. [Mark Manson]
"I once said something in the zendo that upset a lot of people. I said, 'To do this practice, we have to give up hope.' Not many people were happy about that. But what did I mean? I mean that we have to give up this idea in our heads that somehow, if we could only figure it out, there's some way to have this perfect life that is just right for us. Life is the way it is. And only when we begin to give up those maneuvers does life begin to be more satisfactory."
“Grumpy Cat. Lil Bub. Maru. What do all of these internet-famous cats have in common? From ankle down, their paws are as white as the trendy marble countertops vying for attention in the very same Instagram feed.” Why do so many cats — like our dear fluffy Audrey, below— look like they’re wearing socks? It’s called piebaldism. [Popular Science]
Hooked by the first graf: “On the morning they were arrested for allegedly burning bodies as part of a series of Mafia murders, Marie-Josée Viau and Guy Dion had already finished breakfast and packed their daughter off to elementary school. A hand-drawn Mother’s Day card hung on the fridge next to family photographs. Viau, 44, didn’t have to go to her shift at the roadside poutine restaurant until later that day, so she tried baking something new: blueberry phyllo puffs. The pastries were still on the stove top when police arrived at 9:56 a.m. on October 16, 2019.” [Vanity Fair]
“The Wife of Bath is the first ordinary woman in English literature. By that I mean the first mercantile, working, sexually active woman—not a virginal princess or queen, not a nun, witch, or sorceress, not a damsel in distress nor a functional servant character, not an allegory. A much married woman and widow, who works in the cloth trade and tells us about her friends, her tricks, her experience of domestic abuse, her long career combating misogyny, her reflections on the aging process, and her enjoyment of sex, Alison exudes vitality, wit, and rebellious self-confidence.”
— An excerpt from “The Wife of Bath: A Biography,” by Marion Turner. [Lapham’s Quarterly]
The Hawkman: A Fairy Tale of the Great War, based in part on a Brothers Grimm story ("The Bearskin"), was published June 5, 2018. It was the first novel by my wife, Jane Rosenberg LaForge, a poet and memoirist. 2024 update: For the latest on Jane’s other publications, check out her blog here. She published a second novel, “Sisterhood of the Infamous,” in 2021, and has several collections of poetry. They all make great holiday gifts!
Before Twitter and other microblogging platforms consumed my attention, I used a variety of blogging tools or platforms in the first decade of this century: Wordpress, Blogger, Blogspot, Tumblr, Posterous and probably some I’ve forgotten. Now I use Squarespace, mainly to house this leftover material and to keep this domain and About bio page alive to verify my identity on other platforms. When I shifted to Squarespace, I migrated material that seemed worth saving but have not really done any blogging since. These are the remainders, frozen in blog amber. Now that I’ve retired, I’ve done some cleanup on this site and plan to start blogging again occasionally.
Read MoreWhen I read this Washington Post article about people who listen to hours of podcasts, practically nonstop, I felt a jolt of recognition. I’m not quite as invested as the people in this article, but I do listen to a lot of podcasts while doing chores, playing chess online, walking around the city, commuting and so on. Here are the ones that interest me now.
Read MoreHere are the podcasts I had in heavy rotation on this date.
Read MoreI have increased my podcast listening in recent years, and there are many more podcasts out there since I first start compiling these lists. Here’s what I’m listening to now.
Read MoreSome friends have been shaking their heads because I have been unapologetic about my intention to get an Apple Watch. I even woke up at 3 a.m. to place the order. It is expected to arrive sometime in the next couple of weeks: a 48-millimeter stainless steel watch with a classic buckle (like the leather band on this pictured 38-millimeter model). Technically, it's a belated birthday gift from my wife. (Buy her book so she can afford to pay this off.)
Read MoreSome people have found the older installments of this list to be helpful, so I figured it was time for an update. The Apple App Store for iOS continues to suffer from discoverability and search issues. App prices have dropped, but it can still be costly to try out new mobile software. I am mainly focused here on the iPhone, but many of these apps work on iPads and have Android or other non-Apple versions versions. I pay for these out of my own pocket and do not accept compensation related to these, with the exception of the two mentioned here that are offered by my employer. The order is roughly based on frequency of use.
Read MoreI'm a big podcast fan, so I was intrigued by two articles over the weekend, one in The Washington Post and the other from Fast Company, both with similar sourcing and examples, noting the rise of podcasting and podcast networks.
Read More
Fine Art by Mary Ann StrandellOrder a copy of An Unsuitable Princess, published by Jaded Ibis Press. Two editions are available: a black-and-white edition (full retail value $16.99), and one with full-color illustrations by Mary Ann Strandel (full retail value $56). The e-book is available at Amazon.
I mostly read Twitter on my iPhone using the Tweetbot app. When I see an interesting article, but don't have time to read it, I usually save it to Instapaper, the read-later service. There are plenty of such services, but Instapaper was the first and best, and I like that I have access to my articles on many devices, from my computer to my iPhone to my two iPads (a mini for work, an Air for home pleasure use, like movies and games).
Read MoreI am pleased to report that Jaded Ibis Press has announced that my wife's book will be published this spring. Jane Rosenberg LaForge's "An Unsuitable Princess" -- part memoir, part fantasy -- will be released with art by Mary Ann Strandell.
My co-pilot, Jane Rosenberg LaForge, will be taking part in a series of poetry readings in September and October 2013. She also has a book --part fiction, part memoir -- coming out in 2014 from Jaded Ibis. It is called "An Unsuitable Princess."