Wordy Wednesday New Year's Style

New Year's eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights. - Hamilton Wright Mabie

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. - Benjamin Franklin

New Year's Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. - Mark Twain

For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning. - T. S. Eliot

Wordy Wednesday

Scott and I saw Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett on Saturday night performed at IPFW. This is one of my favorite plays! I enjoyed it, though the production was somewhat startling to me as it was produced in a very vaudville-ish fashion. I personally find the play so filled with such meaningful dialogue that first of all the laughter that ensued in the audience caused us all to miss some lines. Secondly, the audience REALLY got on a roll and took the laughter too far as far as I'm concerned laughing at Didi and Gogo as they contemplate suicide, laughing at the character Lucky who is a servant with a rope tied around his neck and is called names like pig and hog and laughing in Act 2 as Pozzo has fallen and is calling for help. Like I said, I prefer a bit more serious production of this play, but the actors in Saturday's performance were very good and overall it was enjoyable. Best of all, Scott and I got to spend the evening out together.

Some of my favorite lines from Waiting for Godot...

We are all born mad. Some remain so.

Let us not waste our time in idle discourse! (Pause. Vehemently.) Let us do something while we have the chance! It is not every day that we are needed. Not indeed that we personally are needed. Others would meet the case equally well, if not better. To all mankind they were addressed, those cries for help still ringing in our ears! But at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us, whether we like it or not. Let us make the most of it, before it is too late! Let us represent worthily for once the foul brood to which a cruel fate consigned us!

Why are we here, that is the question. And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in this immense confusion one thing alone is clear. We are waiting for Godot to come.

We wait. We are bored. (He throws up his hand.) No, don't protest, we are bored to death, there's no denying it. Good. A diversion comes along and what do we do? We let it go to waste. . .In an instant all will vanish and we'll be alone once more, in the midst of nothingness!

The tears of the world are a constant quantity. For each one who begins to weep, somewhere else another stops. The same is true of the laugh. (He laughs.) Let us not then speak ill of our generation, it is not any unhappier than its predecessors. (Pause.) Let us not speak well of it either. (Pause.) Let us not speak of it at all.



And my favorite quote in regards to Godot by Samuel Beckett himself... "If I knew who Godot was, I'd have put it in the play."

Wednesday Again? Already? Hhhm...

Well, this Wednesday sure did sneak up on me! Here it is Wordy Wednesday again and I have not posted since last Wednesday. That is mostly due to me having my head stuck in a book, actually books for the last 5 days.

I had to take a break from many of my "extra-curricular" activities so I could turn my attention to Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy which begins with the book, The Golden Compass. I've actually had the trilogy sitting on my shelf now for more time that I'd like to admit. But as you know if you've ever visited my house, my husband and I probably own more books than we'll ever possibly be able to read. We don't mind though, we've learned to decorate with them!

Anyway, I receive lots of e-mails from a variety of sources and have recently been bombarded with e-mails calling for a boycott of the upcoming "controversial" movie, The Golden Compass. Don't you just love controversies? It amazes me how much energy people will put into boycotting and banning other people's thoughts and creations. My curiosity piqued, I put all other reading materials aside and dove in. I'm half way through the second book. The books are excellent reading so far, especially for a fan of fantasy such as myself.

For now, I will leave my commentary at that and leave you with everyone else's in the true spirit of Wordy Wednesday. Each quote is linked to a full online article.

"They’re intentionally watering down the most offensive element,” Donohue said. “I'm not really concerned about the movie, [which] looks fairly innocuous. The movie is made for the books. ... It's a (pro-atheist) deceitful, stealth campaign."

Calgary Bishop Fred Henry said there are more pressing issues facing Catholics than debating a children's fantasy novel.

For anyone who hasn't yet read the books, Tom said they would appeal to anyone who likes to ask questions about the world we live in and what things mean.

The plot involves (in the books at least) one side (the Church) trying to rid the world of sin by committing atrocious acts against children, while the other side, headed up by Lord Asriel, which is trying to stop them, are not clearly the "good guys" either. Unless someone has substantially changed the plot for the film to something that is certainly not in the book (and I doubt that, given that New Line would like this film to be marketable), saying this story is about a little girl trying to kill God is both misleading and irresponsible.

Welcome to WORDY WEDNESDAY

So on lots of blogs, I often come across "Wordless Wednesday" posts where the authors of blogs simply post a picture. I get this idea as Wednesday can be a trying day in Western Society. It's the middle of the week and any rest saved up from the previous weekend has been spent. At the same time Friday is just too far away to seem like it is within our grasp. Hence, brain cells are fried.

But here at Bicycle Built 4 Two, I have once again decided to swim up mainstream and from this day forth declare every Wednesday as Wordy Wednesday in which I will post quotes or poems or both from people in the world who have at some point expressed themselves in such a way as to make it unforgettable.

Feel free to post quotes or poetry you enjoy in the comments or e-mail me some of your favorites and I'll post 'em.

I'm just a human being trying to make it in a world that is very rapidly losing its understanding of being human. John Trudell Native American Activist, Poet & Musician

Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater. Albert Einstien US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. Edgar Allen Poe US Author (1809-1849)

Things do not change; we change. Henry David Thoreau US Author (1817 - 1862)

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. Chinese Proverb

If we value independence, if we are disturbed by the growing conformity of knowledge, of values, of attitudes, which our present system induces, then we may wish to set up conditions of learning which make for uniqueness, for self-direction, and for self-initiated learning. Carl Rogers US Psychologist (1902 - 1987)

If you're not living life on the edge, you're taking up too much space. Anonymous