Phantom Tollbooth

"Time is a gift, given to you, given to give you the time you need, the time you need to have the time of your life."

"The Mathemagician nodded knowingly and stroked his chin several times. “You’ll find,” he remarked gently, “that the only thing you can do easily is be wrong, and that’s hardly worth the effort.”

"... for one of the nicest things about mathematics, or anything else you might care to learn, is that many of the things which can never be, often are. You see it's very much like your trying to reach Infinity. You know that it's there, but you just don't know where-but just because you can never reach it doesn't mean that it's not worth looking for. "

“But as you know, the most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what's in between.”

"Expectations is the place you must always go to before you get to where you're going. Of course, some people never go beyond Expectations, but my job is to hurry them along whether they like it or not."

"And remember, also," added the Princess of Sweet Rhyme, "that many places you would like to see are just off the map and many things you want to know are just out of sight or a little beyond your reach. But someday you'll reach them all, for what you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow."

"But it's not just learning things that's important. It's learning what to do with what you learn and learning why you learn things at all that matters."

"You must never feel badly about making mistakes," explained Reason quietly, "as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons."

~~~

"henceforth,
and forthwith,
let it be known by all men
that rhyme and reason
reign once more in wisdom."
...

"As the cheering continue, Rhyme leaned forward and touched Milo gently on the arm.
"They're shouting for you,'" she said with a smile.
"But I could never have done it," he objected, "without everyone's help."
"That may be true,' said Reason gravely, "but you had the courage to try; and what you can do is often simply a matter of what you will do."

"That's why," said Azaz, "there was one very important thing about our quest that we couldn't discuss until you returned.:
"I remember," said Milo eagerly. "Tell me now."
"It was impossible," said the king, looking at the Mathemagician."
"Completely impossible," said the Mathemagician, looking at the king.
...
And for the remainder of the ride Milo didn't utter a sound.

Finally, when they'd reached a broad, flat plain midway between Dictionapolis and Digitopolis, somewhat to the right of the Valley of Sound and a little to the left of the Forest of Sight, the long line of carriages and horsemen stopped, and the great carnival began. ...Alec Bings set up an enormous telescope and invited everyone to see the other side of the moon. ...King Azaz and the Mathemagician pledged that every year at this same time they would lead their armies to the mountains of Ignorance until not one demon remained, and everyone agreed that no finer carnival for no finer reason had ever been held in Wisdom.
...
And yet, even as he thought of all these things, he noticed somehow that the sky was a lovely shade of blue and that one cloud had the shape of a sailing ship. The tips of the trees held pale, young buds and the leaves were a rich deep green. Outside the window, there was so much to see, and hear, and touch--walks to take, hills to climb, caterpillars to watch as they strolled through the garden. There were voices to hear and conversations to listen to in wonder, and the special smell of each day.

And, in the very room in which he sat, there were books that could take you anywhere, and things to invent, and make, and build, and break, and all the puzzle and excitement of everything he didn't know--music to play, songs to sing, and worlds to imagine and then someday make real. His thoughts darted eagerly about as everything looked new--and worth trying."

pics

old truths

"you didn't know?"
"no..."
jefferson goes on.
"up until the day we moved in with you..."
freddie chimes in, "yeah, at least you got to stay over your friends a lot. i was left there. but you're older so you still got it a lot more than i ever did."
jefferson looks far and away, tight lipped, quiet.
they go on for a while...and we listen.
"up until the day we moved in with you..."
steve is still. unnaturally still.
tears streaming down my face.
"up until the day we moved in with you..."
jefferson's face stern, angry...distant.

...

"you know i talked to my father over the summer. i thanked him for leaving us. i got the better end of the deal. like i wouldnt be where i am if he stuck around. when i talked to my sister she told me that he was really hurt by what i said. and i'm like, how you going to turn that around and pin it on me. come on now."
jefferson laughs a laugh of "ridiculous", body in motion, shaking his head.

...

"i'm not a bitter person. like what's the point of that. i have a great life. i got the better end of the deal." jefferson smiles.
freddie pipes in, "yeah...."

....

conversation moves to basketball, college, grades, goals, graduation, next pausing points perhaps a stop or two along the way.
i look at each face.
listen.
"incredibly lucky"

college stories

sitting watching freddie's game. college stories....

"yeah, like someone started that"
laughing
"i mean i know how it got started--because I said my dad (steve) is jewish. but like i said he's not like really jewish, just like born that way. "
laughing harder

"and it's weird, cause like there are all these italian kids from new york that are jewish--like how does that happen?"
seriousness for a minute, "result of the roll into the 80s and dropping the overbearing guilt of being the grandchild of a holocaust survivor..."
we're quiet for a moment, heads nodding.

jefferson begins again, "like everyone's--oh yeah, you dont celebrate christmas--you're jewish. and then i'm like, my grandmother is a baptist sunday school teacher--i celebrate christmas"
i can't stop laughing. I can't imagine jefferson not celebrating xmas...tearing through presents, paper everywhere, an incredibly happy young innocent smile on his face (even at 20...at 40).

"jefferson--your life--always interesting. black jewish kid with white parents"

listening

"...the delicate fluency of silence."

"part of me is made of glass"

"aside from myself, there was no sign of me."

"question marks are my favorite form of punctuation...."

....

i could listen to certain voices for hours.
just sit and listen.
absorbed, still, wanting.
listening.

of course

:-)

strains

"The more deeply you can feel fear, the easier it will be to handle."

is your mind an ally?

51 degrees, blistering heat

"lunch?"
"nadda. already did a lunch thingy this week."
"quota for talking met? vocal chords hurt? throat parched?"
laughter.

~~

the sun has never felt better
sinking in, soaking it up
"everything", lifehouse
on repeat
half listening, half wandering

~~

"you there?"
"yep."
"it's a phone, zane. you have to speak."
laughter.

73 million

unhappy, snarky boy says, "we voted in a black president and everyone hoped that we ended the era of discrimination. our wonderful california voters, with a little help from "god" (according to them), have amended our Constitution to ensure we still have one group to discriminate against."

ballet slippers & doll collections

she would say,
"grace is ever showing delight...even in the somberest of occasions."

as if to say
regardless of the circumstances
one's passions ought never be subdued
just adjusted for the environment.

lovely things

we meandered through needless markup (nieman marcus) and lingered around chanel.

eyes convey the most sensual of caresses
"try it on."
hands reaching, "look at this..."
"try it on."
quiet pensive smile
then laughter in my head,
the thought, "totally fitted."


other lovely things...


first sighted in vegas
now visited daily online
the diorette rings.
we laughed in vegas--the memory sticks,
"it must be weird to see someone making love to their hand all day"
the sound of your laughter, my hand in yours, knocking shoulders.

lovely things are not always meant to be had.
their only purpose to be appreciated, adored, loved from a distance.
the wide-eyed smiles they bring enough...those too are lovely.

Hilarious site

Living with a snarkster I fall upon odd destinations that generally leave me saying a whole lot of, "I don't get it." {Of late, this "I don't get it" seems to be plaguing every part of my life}. But this site is hilarious even for the slow witted. For the quick and clever folks (you know who you are...and never let me forget)--you will love this. Charters -- I swear this is your husband (#s 44,46...proximity of those two, haha), SF soccer dad #75, Pokey #94, S/J #90, Kate #106, Rainy #50, Clay #111, Eye #36, Vidya #45, Spence girls #29, Nik #49, Jackson #18 commentary on the generations before, walker of dogs named John Galt #104 ;-) and on and on ... don't send mail that you've not been sighted {uhm, ja, seriously}--those just happened to jump out at me.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/03/23/91-san-francisco/

Excerpt:
"The City of San Francisco has a very multicultural population that ranges from white to gay to Asian. Within white culture this known as “ideal diversity” for its provision of exotic restaurants while simultaneously preserving property values. The presence of gays and Asians is imperative as it two provides two of the key resources most necessary for white success and happiness."
...
"Though it is exceptionally easy to put someone from San Francisco in a good mood, there are some caveats. When talking to a white person who lives in San Francisco, it is best not to bring up New York City. Though they live in a world class city, San Franciscans have a crippling inferiority complex about New York and even hinting at that will make them very sad or very defensive."