I was told that I should post something.

So here is a favorite of mine by Emily Dickinson:

Theres a certain slant of light

Winter Afternoons-

That oppresses , like the heft

Of Cathedral tunes-

Heavenly hurt, it gives us-

We can find no scar,

But internal difference,

Where the meanings are-

None may teach it - Any-

Tis the seal despair-

An imperial affliction

Sent us of the air-

When it comes, the landscape listens-

Shadows-hold their breath-

When it goes, tis like the distance

On the look of Death-

Very nice Sharp and Ivet.

I should be busy for a few days, I am gaining a roommate so I have to help her move some things. Roommate is probably not the right word but it is the only one that comes to mind. It will be great to have someone spend more time with Skyler and Rusty and Incubus. I try but my days just seem too short.

I ran into a close friend from here who has been away some, Karen (Sisley2313), hopefully she will make it back to the site soon. She rescues cats and is often busy doing that. She gives freely of her time to help animals and that is a very noble thing to do of course. Heres hoping you are back soon hon. I need to hook you up with Jen since both of you roller blade and live in Chicago.

A Paul Simon song:

You've got the cool water
When the fever runs high
You've got the look of lovelight in your eyes
And I was in crazy motion
'Til you calmed me down
It took a little time
But you calmed me down

When something goes wrong
I'm the first to admit it
I'm the first to admit it
And the last one to know

when something goes right
Well it's likely to lose me, mm
It's apt to confuse me
It's such an unusual sight
Oh, I can't, I can't get used to something so right
Something so right

They've got a wall in China
It's a thousand miles long
To keep out the foreigners they made it strong
And I've got a wall around me
That you can't even see
It took a little time
To get next to me

When something goes wrong
I'm the first to admit it
I'm the first to admit it
And the last one to know
when something goes right
Well it's likely to lose me, mm
It's apt to confuse me
because it's such an unusual sight
Oh, I can't, I can't get used to something so right
Something so right

Some people never say the words "I love you"
It's not their style
to be so bold
Some people never say the words "I love you"
But like a child they're longing to be told, mm

When something goes wrong
I'm the first to admit it
I'm the first to admit it
And the last one to know
when something goes right
Well it's likely to lose me, mm
It's apt to confuse me
because it's such an unusual sight
I swear, I can't, I can't get used to something so right
Something so right

Greg

I welcome Karen as a new rollerblading buddy. I love my MP3 but it's always much more fun crusing down the lakefront with a friend.

See my feet on the ground
But it feels like the world's gravity drowned
When I'm with you I'm high
Instead of hiding my face
My mind's in your eyes
Can your love embrace
Me as I am
In the silence you stare at the world
Your eyes are screaming to be heard
I want to learn you inside out
Time isn't on our side
All we have is now
For the rest of our lives
Let's stay up all night
In the silence you stare at the world
Your eyes are screaming out to be heard
I want to learn you inside out
All that changes is time
Can't keep you inside of me
You're out of my mind
I wear you on my sleeve
In the silence you stare at the world
Your eyes are screaming to be heard
I want to learn you inside out
I see all that you want to be
Look into your soul
Looking right back at me
I want to learn you inside out



I used to drink a lot in those days you see
Ya, that’s the way the wind blows
These days the only bar I ever see
Has got lettuce and tomatoes

I get pumped up in the back of my mind
Start thinking those days were the best of times
But I never look forward to looking back
Now I see a little daylight coming through the cracks

Don’t you know were living in stolen moments
You steal enough it feels like were stopping time
These days are gold were living in stolen moments
Just grab a hold

Well some guy told you that you couldn’t dance
And you been carrying that forever
I’m the kinda fella needs a, a second chance
C’mon baby lets boo-ga-loo together

I see you over there just clinging to the wall
Cause they told you like ivy, you were born to crawl
But you kept looking up, girl, and I know why
Cause you knew some day you were gonna touch the sky

Baby, you know were living in stolen moments
You steal enough it feels like were stopping time
These days are gold were living in stolen moments
Just grab a hold and feel your way
These days are yours and mine

Well, I couldn’t dream this life I’m livin’
Somehow we just survived and every waste of time forgiven

Now I’m out in the backyard leaning on a tree
And I have no way of knowing
Cant lean too hard that’s my philosophy
Man that tree is growing

Maybe I’ll never grow up to be straight and tall
But you can lean on me, baby, I wont fall
Maybe in the deal I can learn to bend
Learn to listen like that tree, baby
Like a good friend

Well don’t you know were living in stolen moments
You steal enough it feels like were stopping time
These days are gold were living in stolen moments
Just grab hold and feel these days are yours and mine

Don’t ya know were living in stolen moments
You steal enough it feels like were stopping time
These days are gold were living in stolen moments
Just grab hold and feel your way
These days are yours and mine
--John Hiatt

Jennifer

I love those songs Jen, my favorite Hiatt is another one. It sounds so much like something Warren Zevon would have done, the melody. Hiatt was born in Indianapolis Indiana, I had no idea of that for a while but the mention of the Monon line made me wonder. There is a fabulous walking trail there now that some friends and I tried when we were there, Joker and I walked a great deal of it. Now my favorite Hiatt.

Well he threw one down form the top of the stairs
Beautiful women were standing everywhere
They all got wet when he smashed that thing
But off in the dark you could hear somebody sing

Chorus:
Oh it breaks my heart to see those stars
Smashing a perfectly good guitar
I dont know who they think they are
Smashing a perfectly good guitar

It started back in 1963
His momma wouldnt buy him
That new red harmony
He settled fgor a sunburt with a crack
But hes stIll trying to break his mommas back

Chorus

He loved that guitar just like a girlfriend
But ever good thing comes to an end
Now he just sits in his room all day
Whistling every note he used to play

There out to be a law with no bail
Smash a guitar and you go to jail
With no chance for early parole
You dont get out tIll you get some soul

Chorus

Late at night the end of the road
He wished he stIll had the old guitar to hold
Hed rock it like a baby in his arms
Never let it come ot any harm

Chorus

I like this one also,

Theres a dead girls body
By the railroad track
Shes waiting for a train
Jimmy left town like a fade to black
In his camero in the rain

She wrote it down and burned it
Jimmy loves who knows who
Well he wasnt from around this town
And mister neither are you

She was listening into that monon line
For the wabash cannonball
Put your head on the rail
And you can hear her whine
Just like a caterwaul

She wrote it down and burned it
She clutched it flaming to her chest
It said jimmy loves cars
And jimmy loves trains
Ah but jimmy, jimmy loves me best

Theres a dead girls body
By the railroad track
Waiting for a train
Well I guess jimmy never did come back
In his camaro in the rain

She wrote it down and burned it
Yeah the only way I know
You could still read some words
In the ashes there
But she could not watch him go

She wrote it down and burned it

JJ

Good choices sweet Jane. I love perfectly good guitar also and this song also by the same artist.

A moment of steel
A dry-eyed house
Did he say goodbye to you
Or did you kick him out
I know you're not afraid
To go alone
But this was a marriage of spirit, flesh, and bone

Now whatcha gonna do
When the planet shifts
Whatcha gonna do
Gonna slit your wrists
Bleed all over the milky way
The stars in your eyes look red today

CHORUS:
Cry love, Cry love
The tears of an angel
The tears of a dove
Spilling all over, your heart from above
Cry Love, Cry Love

The trust of a woman in his hand
But he was a little boy, not a man
You loved him stronger than he could feel
Yeah he was wrapped up in himself like an orange peel
Now whatcha gonna do
With the booze and the blush
Whatcha gonna do
When there's no rush
Cop a little misery
At the corner store
Well' one day that train of pain won't stop no more

CHORUS

Throwning up ashes on the floor
If this is a lesson in love
Well what's it for?
The heart won't remember
The burning fire
The next time you feel the flame
Of desire

CHORUS
CHORUS

Cry love, cry love, cry love

Thanks also for the info, I had no idea of Hiatts origin. I hope everyone has a great weekend. JJ I hope you catch up with us later tonight, I will be in the workshop late but you can start without me if you like.

Greg

This has been a remarkable week for me and I hope everyone is doing well. Ivet your posts are most interesting lol. What was the word Greg used, "feisty"?

Kelly

Well, you met her there on a New York City stair
You were throwing up on your shoes
Tryin' to write the great book when it really had you shook
With a bad case of wintertime blues
So you drag her down to the ragged side of town
She had a taxi to carry her home
Then she left her handkerchief there beside you on the seat
As if to emphasize that you were all alone
It smelled like springtime and you were just a boy
And all the lilacs in Ohio
All the lilacs in Ohio. There ya go.
In the city streets and the dirty winter snow
All the lilacs in Ohio - hio.
Well, she's the love story you speak of
When you talk to Sam at the bar
But it's in the details your story often fails
Yeah, close, but no cigar
And you might see your own ass in a double whiskey glass
But you'll never erase her smile
And you'll never write it down, never find her in this town
Of phantom dreams and fingernail files
It was springtime, and you were just a boy
And all the lilacs in Ohio
All the lilacs in Ohio. There ya go
In city streets and the dirty winter snow
All the lilacs in Ohio - hio
So you pin her handkerchief to your clean white linen sheets
And you unmake your bed, crawl in
You imagine her there and you're tangled in her hair
And she smells like flowers again
And it's springtime, and you were just a boy
All the lilacs in Ohio
All the lilacs in Ohio. There ya go
In the city streets and the dirty winter snow
All the lilacs in Ohio - hio

 This is the Hiatt song I like best.

Julie

I heard this song tonight as Greg and I drove back from dinner. It reminds me of scenes from Apocolypse Now, toward the end of the movie I think.

The Doors of course.

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again

Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need...of some...stranger's hand
In a...desperate land

Lost in a Roman...wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
All the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain, yeah

There's danger on the edge of town
Ride the King's highway, baby
Weird scenes inside the gold mine
Ride the highway west, baby

Ride the snake, ride the snake
To the lake, the ancient lake, baby
The snake is long, seven miles
Ride the snake...he's old, and his skin is cold

The west is the best
The west is the best
Get here, and we'll do the rest

The blue bus is callin' us
The blue bus is callin' us
Driver, where you taken' us

The killer awoke before dawn, he put his boots on
He took a face from the ancient gallery
And he walked on down the hall
He went into the room where his sister lived, and...then he
Paid a visit to his brother, and then he
He walked on down the hall, and
And he came to a door...and he looked inside
Father, yes son, I want to kill you
Mother...I want to...fuck you

C'mon baby, take a chance with us
C'mon baby, take a chance with us
C'mon baby, take a chance with us
And meet me at the back of the blue bus
Doin' a blue rock
On a blue bus
Doin' a blue rock
C'mon, yeah

Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

It hurts to set you free
But you'll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die

This is the end
Kelly

Great one Kelly, we really have not talked much about the Doors or such groups but a lot of their music is still heard today just like the Moody Blues and Pink Floyd. Here is an old one I love but I do not think this group had many hits. Time of the Season by the Zombies.

It's the time of the season
When the love runs high
In this time, give it to me easy
And let me try
With pleasured hands

To take you and the sun to
Promised lands
To show you every one
It's the time of the season for loving

What's your name?
(What's your name?)
Who's your daddy?
(Who's your daddy? He rich?)
Is he rich like me?

Has he taken
(Has he taken)
Any time
(Any time to show)
To show you what you need to live?
Tell it to me slowly
Tell you what?
I really want to know
It's the time of the season for loving

What's your name?
(What's your name?)
Who's your daddy?
(Who's your daddy? He rich?)
Is he rich like me?

Has he taken
(Has he taken)
Any time
(Any time to show)
To show you what you need to live?
Tell it to me slowly
Tell you what?
I really want to know
It's the time of the season for loving

It was good to see Greg all settled in with his new roommate. It is not always easy to have time to cook and clean and do laundry and still operate a business with the schedule he keeps so it is great for him to have someone there. Rusty is loving it too, he is getting so big!! One last song:

All our times have come
Here but now they're gone
Seasons don't fear the reaper
Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain..we can be like they are
Come on baby...don't fear the reaper
Baby take my hand...don't fear the reaper
We'll be able to fly...don't fear the reaper
Baby I'm your man...

Valentine is done
Here but now they're gone
Romeo and Juliet
Are together in eternity...Romeo and Juliet
40,000 men and women everyday...Like Romeo and Juliet
40,000 men and women everyday...Redefine happiness
Another 40,000 coming everyday...We can be like they are
Come on baby...don't fear the reaper
Baby take my hand...don't fear the reaper
We'll be able to fly...don't fear the reaper
Baby I'm your man...

Love of two is one
Here but now they're gone
Came the last night of sadness
And it was clear she couldn't go on
Then the door was open and the wind appeared
The candles blew then disappeared
The curtains flew then he appeared...saying don't be afraid
Come on baby...and she had no fear
And she ran to him...then they started to fly
They looked backward and said goodby...she had become like they are
She had taken his hand...she had become like they are
Come on baby...don't fear the reaper

Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult

I do want to take the time to thank all of those who contribute to this post. We talk about music and literature and the response has been amazing. In less than three months we have had so many people make contributions and the majority of the posts have been in a positive nature and I hope that continues. I do want to thank Joanne especially. Indirectly I have heard wonderful things about the job she is doing to keep this a good place to visit. Some of us are here to date and interact with people as well as having a love for animals. I have tried to openly welcome anyone who wishes to contribute in a positive manner. I can do no more than that.

There are lots of women on the site but one day maybe we can add more good looking men.

JJ

“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A man is about as big as the things that make him angry”

Churchill

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”

Buddah

“Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools.”

Einstein

“Anyone who angers you conquers you”

unknown

You are very wise to take the high road here JJ and I think that is one of the reasons your post is so popular. (That and having one of the hottest and most literate guys on the site join in lol.) Speaking of men I agree, I am not sure what the ratio of men to women is on the site but I would suspect 20% or less. Maybe as men get older they appreciate animals more. I think women often feel the maternal urge and if they do not have children, their pets are their children. It is not uncommon for a woman in her 20's or  30's to say how much she wants children. How many men say the same thing?  Maybe as men get older and do not have kids or a partner they suddenly feel the same that women did years before.This is just my opinion and I may well be very wrong. It has to do with companionship too and our pets show us love we might not always find in the people around us. I was fortunate enough to meet a great man here and we are still dating and I hope the same for you one day JJ if that is your goal.

I want to hear what Jennifer thinks on this subject. She is obviously wise and I bet she has some great insight.

Julie

You been hurt and you're all cried out you say

You walk down the street pushin' people outta your way

You packed your bags and all alone you wanna ride,

You don't want nothin', don't need no one by your side

You're walkin' tough baby, but your walkin' blind

to the ties that bind

CHORUS

The ties that bind

Now you can't break the ties that bind

Cheap romance, it's all just a crutch

You don't want nothin' that anybody can touch

You're so afraid of being somebody's fool

Not walkin' tough baby, not walkin' cool

You walk cool, but darlin', can you walk the line

And face the ties that bind

The ties that bind

Now you can't break the ties that bind

I would rather feel the hurt inside, yes I would darlin,

Than know the emptiness your heart must hide,

Yes I would darlin', yes I would darlin',

Yes I would baby

You sit and wonder just who's gonna stop the rain

Who'll ease the sadness, who's gonna quiet the pain

It's a long dark highway and a thin white line

Connecting baby, your heart to mine

We're runnin' now but darlin' we stand in time

To face the ties that bind

The ties that bind

Now you can't break the ties that bind

You can't forsake the ties that bind

Alittle Bruce for you all...... I was going to do Nebraska but I didn't want anyone to freak....lol

Hi, Jukeitz!   It's nice to have another attractive man join our forum, especially one who enjoys Bruce.

Julie, you are so kind! I don't know how wise but......

I do believe that it is hard for younger men to show much of a sensitive side since their role has traditionally been of provider, strong, protector, etc. Maybe years of life, children and relationships soften a man. I have been fortunate enough to meet a number of men in their 30's who are more introspective and understand the value of showing their feelings and emotions quite openly, and this includes sharing their desire to have children and be in a loving, committed relationship. They seek and feel not much differently than women. Who says we're so different? It's a sign of the times in which we live where spiritual practices, the pursuit of true personal happiness, love and understanding one's greater place in the world is so much more open and prevalent. If they had pets I would encourage them to join and meet you beautiful gals!!

BTW where is our good friend Dero? I enjoyed his contributions.

On this subject, here's a song by Boston:

What does it take to be a man?
What does it take to see it's
a heart and soul, a gentle hand?
So easy to want and so hard to give
How can you be a man 'til you
see beyond the life you live?
Oh, what does it take to be a man?
We can be blind
but a man tries to see
It takes tenderness for a man
to be what he can be
And what does it mean
if you're weak or strong?
A gentle feelin' can make it
right or make it wrong
What does it take to be a man?
The will to give and not receive
The strength to say what you believe
The heart to feel what others feel inside
To see what they can see
A man is somethin' that's real
It's not what you are
It's what you can feel
It can't be too late
To look through the hate
And see
I know that's what a man can be.


"Not in his goals but in his transitions is man great” R.W. Emerson

Jennifer

. I think women often feel the maternal urge and if they do not have children, their pets are their children. It is not uncommon for a woman in her 20's or  30's to say how much she wants children. (Julie)

I do think it more normal for women to look forward to having children and I am not so sure it has much to do with sensitivity and emotional awareness. Men can be great parents of course but there is a great deal to be said for maternal instincts. It has been found that a womans brain reacts differently to their own childs smile than it might to another baby smiling. Women are more attuned to a child crying and the act of nurturing said child. Some men are becoming more sensitive of course but divorce rate is high in this country and you see many single parent familys and women or grandmothers raising the children. There is a push in some societys to get the men to marry the mother of their children, and to be a father.

Welcome Jukeitz, we could use a few more good looking younger men in here so that the women will ease up on Greg some and I can have him all to myself.

My favorite Springsteen song was written by Tom Waits,

Got no time for the corner boys,
Down in the street makin' all that noise,
Don't want no whores on eighth avenue,
Cause tonight i'm gonna be with you.

'cause tonight i'm gonna take that ride,
Across the river to the jersey side,
Take my baby to the carnival,
And i'll take you all on the rides.

Down the shore everything's alright,
You're with your baby on a saturday night,
Don't you know that all my dreams come true,
When i'm walkin' down the street with you,
Sing sha la la la la la sha la la la.

You know she thrills me with all her charms,
When i'm wrapped up in my baby's arms,
My little angel gives me everything,
I know someday that she'll wear my ring.

So don't bother me cause i got no time,
I'm on my way to see that girl of mine,
Nothin' else matters in this whole wide world,
When you're in love with a jersey girl,
Sing sha la la la la la la.

And i call your name, i can't sleep at night,
Sha la la la la la la.

 Kelly