Pablo Casals

There is a lot to explore - don't limit yourself.

"The love of one's country is a splendid thing.  But why should love stop at the border?"

-Pablo Casals

Lewis Carroll

I'm still trying to figure out my life, but I need to remember that it just figures itself out:

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there."

-Lewis Carroll

The Big Chill

Over the weekend, I watched one of the defining movies of my parents' generation, The Big Chill.  Not bad.  I particularly liked this exchange:


Michael: I don't know anyone who could get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations. They're more important than sex. 
Sam: Ah, come on. Nothing's more important than sex. 
Michael: Oh yeah? Ever gone a week without a rationalization? 


-The Big Chill

Claude Monet

This is probably how I feel about my blogging...

"People discuss my art and pretend to understand as if it were necessary to understand, when it's simply necessary to love"

-Claude Monet

Tobias Wolff

I think this can be applied to your approach to life, but it is most applicable to my recent past when thinking of relationships:

"The compromises don't diminish us, they humanize us."

-Tobias Wolff

Jay-Z

I'm determined to see and do all that NYC has offer.  It's a completely unique place that does, in fact, inspire me:

"In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made, oh
There's nothing you can't do, now you're in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you, let's hear it for New York
New York, New York"

-Jay-Z

Forrest Gump

"I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both."


-Forrest Gump, Forrest Gump

Chuck Palahniuk

Make life worth it...

"We all die.  The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will."

-Chuck Palahniuk

Nigella Lawson

Nothing compares to comfort food...

"What I'm doing here is seeking to offer protection from life, solely through the means of potato, butter, and cream...there are times when only mashed potato will do."

-Nigella Lawson

Jay Z

When the idea of work is bringing me down, I think this quote adds a little levity to the situation.

"I'm not a businessman.  I'm a business, man."

-Jay Z

Ernest Hemingway

As I blog or write, I need to remember that it should always come from the truest place within myself...

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”

-Ernest Hemingway

James Joyce

Never forget that you can learn most about yourself through your reflection (or refraction) in others...

We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love.  But alwasys meeting ourselves.

-Ulysses, James Joyce

Rose Franken

"Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly."

-Rose Franken

Rita Moreno

I'm feeling pretty good about myself...

“Bigger than life is not difficult for me. I am bigger than life.”

-Rita Moreno

Jacques Cousteau

Now that summer is up and running, all I can think of is how I can get myself to water (the result of growing up a river rat).  Shouldn't be too hard considering I live on an island...

“From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free.”

-Jacques Cousteau

Salvador Dali

Not totally sure why, but I really like this one...I think it's because it inspires me to be more creative and try to see things from the topsy-turvy perspective that infuses Dali's work.

"I don't do drugs, I am drugs."

-Salvador Dali

Shirley MacLaine

I'm So excited to leave for my big Memorial Day weekend trip to the Indy 500 today!

"I hoped that the trip would be the best of all journeys: a journey into ourselves"

-Shirley MacLaine

Jeff Foxworthy

Because my parents arrive in NYC tonight...

“If you ever start feeling like you have the goofiest, craziest, most dysfunctional family in the world, all you have to do is go to a state fair. Because five minutes at the fair, you'll be going, 'you know, we're alright. We are dang near royalty.”

-Jeff Foxworthy

Salvador Dalí

“There is only one difference between a madman and me. The madman thinks he is sane. I know I am mad.”

-Salvador Dalí

Orson Welles

Just another reminder to allow myself to evolve...

“If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.”

-Orson Welles

Jerome K. Jerome

Not only is this quote beautiful, its author shares my father's name not once but twice.

"Nothing is more beautiful than the love that has weathered the storms of life.  The love of the young for the young, that is the beginning of life.  But the love of the old for the old, that is the beginning of things longer."

-Jerome K. Jerome

Edward R. Murrow

Sunday is my day for serious thinking - gotta keep that brain working at all times!  I like this quote because it reminds me to always 1) question the status quo and 2) speak up if something is not right, it is our right and obligation to do so.

"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty.  When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it."

-Edward R. Murrow

Rita Hayworth

“After all, a girl is - well, a girl. It's nice to be told you're successful at it.”

-Rita Hayworth

Samuel Beckett

“Go on failing. Go on. Only next time, try to fail better.”

-Samuel Beckett

Anthony J. D'Angelo

Not only am I LOVING the sunshine that finally found its way to NYC, it's the start of the week and therefore time to remind myself to keep up the positive attitude (even when you're at the start of a work week).

“Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.”

-Anthony J. D'Angelo

Freddie Mercury

No specific reason why I picked this quote for today.  I just really liked it - it kinda got me ready to go for the day!

“The reason we're successful, darling? My overall charisma, of course.”

-Freddie Mercury

Sue Torres

Well said, Sue.  Time to start thinking about what new recipe I'll try this weekend...

"You cook for family, you cook for love, you cook for passion, and it comes through the moment the food hits your mouth. It’s like, 'I’m home.'”
-Sue Torres, Chef at Sueños, New York

Albert Camus

Being that today is St. Patrick's Day and I am from a city with pretty much the craziest St. Patty's celebration ever, I've got debauchery on the brain...

“True debauchery is liberating because it creates no obligations. In it you possess only yourself; hence it remains the favorite pastime of the great lovers of their own person”

-Albert Camus

Roald Dahl

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”

-Roald Dahl

Oscar Wilde

The weather has finally [slightly] warmed in NYC.  Though it may not last, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that spring has indeed sprunch and I can at least start thinking about putting my huge down coat away and pulling out more fun attire.

“Beauty is a form of genius - is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts in the world like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark water of that silver shell we call the moon.”

-Oscar Wilde

Calvin and Hobbes

Ready to shut my brain off for the weekend...

"-I've been thinking, Hobbes--
-On a weekend?
-Well, it wasn't on purpose"

-Calvin and Hobbes

Charles Schulz

After yoga last night, I'm feeling very calm today - not a care in the world!

“Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.”

-Charles Schulz, "Peanuts"

Dr. Seuss

It's a Monday, and I thought this quote would give me the energy I need to start the busy and stressful work-week after a relaxing weekend.

“You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.  You're on your own.  And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go.”

-Dr. Seuss

Shel Silverstein

I woke up this morning ready to take on the day, innovate, and think outside the box - naysayers beware.

"Listen to the mustn'ts, child.  Listen to the don'ts.  Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts.  Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me...Anything can happen, child.  Anything can be."

-Shel Silverstein

Calvin and Hobbes

Lately, I've been missing some of those important people I don't get to see nearly enough.  I've also been having some really bizarro dreams all week.  I think this captures both things going on in my head:

“I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can be together all the time.”

-Calvin and Hobbes

Pat Conroy

I read this passage a couple days ago in my current book.  Pat Conroy knows my part of the South better than most and reading this makes me remember why my home is so beautiful.

"I loved these salt rivers more than I loved the sea; I loved the movement of the tides more than
I loved the fury of the surf.  Something in me was congruent with this land, something affirmed when I witnessed the startled, piping rush of shrimp or the flash of starlight on the scales of mullet.  I could feel myself relax and change whenever I returned to the lowcountry and saw the vast green expanses of the marsh, feminine as lace, delicate as calligraphy.  The lowcountry had its own special ache and sting."

-Pat Conroy, Chapter 6, The Lords of Discipline

David Wroblewski

"Life was a swarm of accidents waiting in the treetops, decending upon any living thing that passed, ready to eat them alive. You swam in a river of chance and coincidence. You clung to the happiest accidents - the rest you let float by."

-Edgar, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski