This and That

Woman, about late husband:  "He was a man of few words, and by the time we got married, he had already said them."

Overheard:  "Okay, I admit it, I like people with limited vocabularies.  In fact, many of them think I'm AWESOME."

Nothing reduces your need for someone's approval like getting to know them better. 

I don't suggest we give up the idea that there's a little good in everyone, but, by gosh, it would certainly explain a lot of things.

I'll just say this -- that nothing makes a good first impression on me like an obvious attempt.

Not only do I believe in dressing for an occasion, I believe that dressing for it is often what makes it an occasion.

I've come to realize this -- that "smart casual" is not some particular style of dress; it is anything a smart casual person shows up wearing. 

Sometimes it's got to be fate, as when two people meet and discover they not only share the same likes and dislikes but the same don't give a damns.

More Speaking For Myself

 "The thing I like best about keeping my own company is that I can usually sense when it's time to leave."

"I have never pleaded temporary insanity, doubting I could prove it was temporary."

"Actually, I long ago discovered the real me -- and realized it was not someone my parents would have wanted me playing with." 

 

"As reported in Genesis, the Creator surveyed His handiwork and saw that everything was good, not great, which confirms my own observations."

Perhaps I can't handle the truth, but it is a short list of people I would trust to make that decision for me."

"If God had wanted a better me, He would have created a better me, which leads to the daunting possibility that He did."

"I don't know a thing about heaven and hell, except that it's probably a mistake to judge them by the people who expect to go there."

Latest From The Grammar Police

Different From vs Different Than 

Does a possum differ than a cow

Does that make sense to you?

Does an oboe differ than a drum?

Does that at all ring true?

No, a possum differs from a cow,

And an oboe from a drum,

So mustn't logic then conclude

They end up different from?

But why so often do we hear

That something's different than,

That Abigail's different than

Her friends Michelle and Stan?

Does Abigail differ than

Her friends?  Why, no indeed!

She's differs from Michelle and Stan.

On that we're all agreed.

So please, no more this different than,

This phrase that comes from naught,

This phrase that doesn't mean at all

What people think it ought.

A possum's different from a cow

And from a kangaroo.

An oboe's different from a drum

And from my toy kazoo.

And Abigail's different from

Her friends Michelle and Stan,

So please, Dear God, may ne'er again,

We hear of different than.

(Note: I'm aware that the British say "different to," but, as we know, the Brits have been in decline for some years now.)

Notes From The Grammar Police

"Home In" vs "Hone In"

If you're one who's given to, "Honing in"

 Then you might pause and think for a smidgen

To ask yourself why a messenger bird

  Is not called a "honing" pigeon. 

~~~

Between You and ?

How often is said, "Between you and I"

When meaning, "Between you and me."

One would almost think the objective case

Has lost its relevancy.

But whatever the case, the posh-sounding "I" 

Is the choice as most people view it,

Unless, of course, you note how it sounds

when you add the "fencepost" to it.

I Wonder If Life They Imitate

I wonder if life they imitate, 

Those games that sit on my shelf ,

 Each sacrificed pawn accepting its fate, 

 Each domino blaming itself.

Speaking for Myself

"I'm accused of favoring dogs over people when in fact I favor whoever comes running when I whistle."

"I never hear of anything being part of a larger plan without wishing there were a smaller plan."

"If I distrust people different from me, it is because they are not different enough."

"You can reach an age, I've discovered, when even your sub-conscious has no desires."

It never fails.  Ask me to name the Seven Wharfs, I always forget, "Dock."

Reflections

There are mem'ries I choose to live with no more,

 Though often we walk the same lonely shore,

Or pause in the night 'neath the same pale moon, 

Or meet for a drink at the corner saloon.

"Seaburn" Ken Devine at kendevineart.com

Some are sad for many reasons.

 Some are sad for none.

But saddest is the lonely heart

Who's sad for only one.

Something On The Lighter Side

 Deep in the desert I came to a stall

Surrounded by sand and cactus.

My steaming car needed water, that's all,

So I said to myself, "I'll practice."

I got my golf clubs out of the trunk,

Took aim for the open spaces,

I let  'er rip and heard, "Kerplunk!"

I'd found the nearest oasis. 

Just Beyond Our Door

How oft nostalgia conjures up

Some happiness of yore,

Or fancy paints some wistful dream 

Of happiness in store,

Whilst all the while the happiness

Our heart so hungers for

Sits scarcely to our left or right

Or just beyond our door.

This Morning In The Glade

 

"What says the secret whispering 

Aloft among the pines? 

What stirs the anxious twittering

From deep amidst the vines?

What lures the mournful wail 

From some creature in the shade?

What cosmic message circulates

 This morning in the glade?"