To thine own self be true

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove;
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error, and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

–William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116

(Keats’ death mask)

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;
When I behold, upon the night’s starred face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love;–then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.
–John Keats, “When I Have Fears”
……………………………….

The search is a lifelong one, of course, amidst the transitoriness of change and time passing. Happy is the poet or person who can say he or she has found what this poet sought unsuccessfully in vain, succumbing to T.B at 26.

Certainly there is much–money, fame, celebrity, etc.–that pales viewed against the prospect of “the faery power of unreflecting love”. One learns much about the sensibility of both poet and blogger in this one.

“Oh how is it that I could come out to here and be still floating
And never hit bottom and keep falling through
Just relaxed and paying attention.”
–Jim (Roger) McGuinn, “5D (Fifth Dimension)”, by The Byrds

“Full many a gem, of purest ray serene,
The dark, unfathom’d caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”

My parents had no car. We lived on a Winnipeg bus route and seemed to get around ok without one. January or February 1965: I decided to take my girlfriend to my school’s dance. I lived in St. James, about half-an-hour from downtown. I would have to transfer downtown to take a bus out to Transcona on the other end of town. There was a wait and then I believe it was another 40 mins. to get there to where the bus turned around on the edge of Transcona where she lived. I then had to walk down several blocks of back lane to get to my girlfriend’s house in the cold, another 10 or more minutes.

We left together to catch a bus headed back into Winnipeg where we’d transfer and head west to St. James. We got off the bus at the apartment building where I lived and we walked a very long block (more like 2 long street blocks up to the avenue where we turned to walk another 80 yards to the school. The band was Chad Allan and the Reflections (later to become The Guess Who). We had a dance, watched the band a bit, talked to my West Indian teacher, then headed on the long trek back to her place so I could catch the last bus headed back to downtown Winnipeg.

All this in the winter cold. My trip was twice as long as hers and the stay at the dance was brief–maybe 30 mins. max. But I wanted to show her my school and see/hear Chad Allan so mission accomplished. It was a crazy 4-5 hours, mostly on the move, but I planned it, she was agreeable, we did it, and it actually worked. Just shows you what is possible when you plan, trust and believe, and actually risk. This was typical of the risks I took and the wild things I did in my high-school years.  Romantic and adventurous. And it was one of the most memorable evenings of both our youths, I’m sure.

(Chas Da Man)

What a terrific, transcendental Friday evening spent in the company of the only be bop maestro from the ’60s still goin’ strong at 75! A show that 99.9999% of Edmontonians missed. A veritable aural banquet for true aficionados.

New York’s Tolliver plays ‘outside’ so 99.99999% of music listeners would not be remotely interested in his music. There is nothing conventional or predictable about it. He plays all possible notes on trumpet and then many you have never heard. A true virtuoso of the instrument.

His sidemen were strong especially young, Afro-haired Devin Starks and full-court-press Darrell Green on drums. Tolliver gave ample room for his quartet to air out their own significant chops.

The evening was a love-in; Charles had an awesome, cool time as did the locals. The Yardbird continues to deliver with some of the best retro jazz acts still alive and available the past five years. The club has a very pleasant ambience since its reconstruction-makeover. Seating is thoughtfully varied and volunteer service remains gracious. And the popcorn baskets are still the best in town. Ticket prices continue to be very modest considering the legendary talent ($30 last night). If you have not been to Edmonton’s Yardbird, you are missing out from a lot of good music and many remarkable, pleasant evenings.

is, of course, on the floor. Your Better Homes and Gardens rooms won’t be picture perfect and end up a mess, but if you want to connect with kids and grandkids, the place to do it is to play with them on the floor. Having a stock of age-appropriate toys also makes your place kid-friendly and gives them something to play with. (Young kids need toys they can engage with. No, not just screens.)

(a sample of what kids see when they arrive in two rooms here on a visit)

(Haystack Rock pictured)

I bought for the living room coffee-table