Once before they die, everyone should hear my parents try to explain the plots of "Desperate Housewives" and "Boston Legal."

Also, came across this quote:

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” -Henry David Thoreau

I dig it.

Today's "provocative statement of the day" is brought to you by Powell's Books:

In many respects, the Bible was the world's first Wikipedia article

For some reason, this quote has been running through my head all day:

It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, if he wins, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.

-Teddy Roosevelt, 1910

A college student, upon hearing that he was awarded a Pell Grant, said to me today:

I knew there had to be a bright side to only making $9000 last year.  You know, taking last year off and going surfing may end up being the most fiscally responsible decision I've ever made.

Also, they drive me crazy sometimes, but I love my kids.

Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies -- :'God damn it, you've got to be kind.'

--Kurt Vonnegut, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action.  Within about 20 minutes today, the following were brought to my attention:

(1) "Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards." - Soren Kierkegaard

(2) Dead reckoning (DR) is the process of estimating one's current position based upon a previously determined position, or fix, and advancing that position based upon known speed, elapsed time, and course.

(3) " Mercury, the planet of agreements, communication, and contracts, is due to go retrograde from June 15 to July 9. Mercury in this mode is known to bring delays and confusion, and you will begin to feel the static in the air as soon as June 6, well before it actually retrogrades on June 15.... ... Why would the Universe give us Mercury retrograde? Because to move forward it is sometimes necessary to backtrack and reconfigure our paths in life. It is important to reconsider, repair, reflect, and reconnect."

You know, I look back to where I was and I see where I am going and I think I'm doing pretty okay.

I forgot one....this quote:

"Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead."  -Charles Bukowski

In mathematics you don't understand things. You just get used to them.  - Johann von Neumann

Okay, Gentle Reader, perhaps I was too hasty in my condemnation of blogging.  This weekend I found the most wonderful and pertinent thought on one of the many total stranger blogs I read.  Check it:

I think we're just trying to figure each other out in earnest, now, and it's strange and difficult.... Growing pains. Painful. You always forget about this period of negotiation that inevitably follows the giddy infatuation at the beginning, until you're in it and panicked. I am in love with her. I mean, lucky me! But fuck, that is a motherfucking mixed bag.

Source:  Mme Bovary

My current mantra is "this is a motherfucking mixed bag."