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Posts Tagged ‘Thoughts’

James Earl Jones (1931-2024)

His career spanned three-quarters of a century and included work from stage to voice to movies, but for me he will always be Darth Vader. I’ve written about my love of Star Wars before, and that’s my anchor when thinking about James Earl Jones. 

Who else could have captured Vader’s complex and contradictory traits? Who made us both hate and finally feel for the tortured soul that was Anakin Skywalker? 

‘Star Wars’ colleagues lead tributes to James Earl Jones

“James was an incredible actor, a most unique voice both in art and spirit. For nearly half a century he was Darth Vader, but the secret to it all is he was a beautiful human being. He gave depth, sincerity and meaning to all his roles, amongst the most important being devoted husband to the late Ceci and dad to Flynn. James will be missed by so many of us…friends and fans alike.” 

— “Star Wars” creator George Lucas

A lot of tributes are being published, and if you’re interested in learning more about his impressive and wide-ranging career, I recommend reading them. Here’s just one, from NPR: Actor James Earl Jones, a beloved baritone, dies at 93.

But if you just want to take a quiet moment to appreciate the loss of this generational talent, may I recommend this: 

Thankfully, as Luke says, no one is ever really gone.

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Photo by Josh Howard on Unsplash

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Busy, Being Silly

“Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans. It is lovely to be silly at the right moment.”

— Horace

Hope you have fun being a little silly today too.

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Photo by Harry Cunningham on Unsplash

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I gave this advice to a friend once and still find it to be useful: Whatever you do, make sure you do it on purpose.

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Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

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Light, water, kindness, and not giving up. These are huge; all there is.

— Anne Lamott

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Photo by Ian Chen on Unsplash

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“Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you.”

— Walt Whitman

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Photo by Johen Redman on Unsplash

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“From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that we are here for the sake of each other – above all for those upon whose smile and well-being our own happiness depends, and also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of my fellow men, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.”

― Albert Einstein

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Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

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Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

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The Canadian Museum of Nature is situated in Ottawa’s Victoria Memorial Museum Building, a giant stone edifice built over a hundred years ago. Its mosaic tile floors, carved wooden bannisters and stained glass windows provide a lovely backdrop for exhibits old and new. 

Can’t go in person? Here’s a brief video tour:

We started at the top, in a temporary exhibit on insects. Some icky, yes, but the longevity, creativity and adaptability of that class of creatures is fascinating. 

Next stop wolves, then the Arctic, then Earth, Mammals, Water, Birds and finally, Dinosaurs.

The fossils throughout were impressive. Giant whale? Check. A complete Daspletosaurus torosus (a cousin of T. rex) skeleton? Check! 

A bit of fun from a Museum palaeobiologist:

I also picked up a box of Canadian rocks to remember the beauty and complexity of the geology beneath our feet.

Example rocks include rose quartz, quartz crystal, bornite, amazonite, sodalite, pyrite, amethyst, hematite, copper, labradorite, jade, rhodonite and fluorite. Lovely.

And in the floor of the Fossil Gallery, an embedded spiral* shows the extent of geological history as we know it, complete with a tiny section at the end for the Cenozoic era, age of mammals, with an even smaller epoch at the end featuring the rise of humanity.

* I should have taken a picture of this but did not, and can’t find a picture of it online. Here’s a different version to give you an idea. 

Jarred C Lloyd, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This is why I love history in general, and museums in particular. On the one hand, a long-term perspective is very good at making one feel small, but on the other hand, there is real joy in knowing that you are a part of something so very big.

The experience was both humbling and delightful.

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The aforementioned spiral is at the feet of this fine fellow. D. Gordon E. Robertson, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

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“This afternoon, burn down the house. Tomorrow, pour critical water upon the simmering coals. Time enough to think and cut and rewrite tomorrow. But today-explode-fly-apart-disintegrate! The other six or seven drafts are going to be pure torture. So why not enjoy the first draft, in the hope that your joy will seek and find others in the world who, by reading your story, will catch fire, too?”

— Ray Bradbury

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Photo by Aaron Huber on Unsplash

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I’m toying with an idea and I can’t decide if it’s crazy or cool. Here’s a peek inside my head:

“Hey self, maybe we should try something a little bonkers.”

“Why not? Sounds fun. What do you have in mind?”

“What about writing a bunch of drabbles?”

“One-hundred word stories? We do that all the time, so sure.”

“What about writing a hundred drabbles?”

“A hundred? As in, One hundred? 100? Ten times ten? Roman numeral C?”

“Yep. Because numerical symmetry. One hundred hundred word stories.”

“I know you like challenging goals but that’s completely bonkers.”

“Yeah?”

“Absolutely. Also… pretty cool, actually. Hmm.”

So there you have it, my current writing target dilemma. A project like this would be a fun challenge but the real question is whether it would help my writing or distract me from larger projects. 

What do you think, is this idea too much or not enough? Crazy? Cool? Bit of both?

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Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash

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