Giving THANKS!

“When you practice gratefulness, there is a sense of respect towards others.” 

-Dalai Lama

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” 

-John F. Kennedy

"Keep your eyes open to your mercies. The man who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep in life."

-Robert Louis Stevenson

"Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all. "

-William Faulkner

Michael Brown's Shoes

Too many black youths in America walk in Michael Brown's shoes every single day of their lives.  The story is all too common now- an unarmed black youth gunned down by Police.  It's a frightening trend across our country which has garnered more and more attention with cases like this young man's from Ferguson, MO.  Each time a cop passes sentence on another citizen in the streets instead of the courtroom, minority communities lose a bit more faith in the justice system.

In his address to the public announcing there would be no charges against Officer Darren Wilson, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch stated that the young man's shooter exercised the same rights which all American's have to defend themselves if they fear for their lives.  Somehow, I don't think these rights would stand up to the same scrutiny under different circumstances.  Try putting Michael Brown's shoe on the other foot.  A white Police Officer strikes a black youth for trying to tell him what to do.  The youth retaliates by firing 12 shots at the Police Officer, killing him in the street.  The black youth would be sent to trial by a grand jury's decision in three minutes, not three months.  He'd be a cop killer and sitting on death row.  As the case rests today under these same circumstances, the public is told Darren Wilson did his job.

Michael Brown was only 18 years old.  He was no saint.  He disobeyed a Police Officer.  He struck a Police Officer.  He broke the law and he should have been punished, not murdered.  He should have been given a chance to reform himself through the proper channels of a justice system we're supposed to trust.  Instead, he was given a death sentence in the middle of the street.  Michael will never see a day in court for his wrongs- and neither will Officer Darren Wilson for his.  Today we were all told two wrongs make a right.

Tonight I was compelled to draw a portrait of Michael in memoriam.  Tonight I stand in solidarity with the people of Ferguson, MO as the city feels their unrest.  Tonight I stand in solidarity with every black youth who has been gunned down instead of being sent to trial.

IN THREES dOOdle

(Pen and Dry Erase Marker on Scratch Paper)

“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.”

-Leonardo da Vinci

“I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.”

-Lao Tzu

“Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men.”

-Confucius

“Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge”

-Plato

GET PHILOSOPHICAL in the dOOdle ARCHIVE

RiGHT EYE BLiND dOOdle

Can't help but feeling we're being led to slaughter some days.  Too many of us are rightly blind (political connotations intended...)

DUNCE HAT dOOdle No. 439

"Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish."

~Euripides

"Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven."

~William Shakespeare

"The more often a stupidity is repeated, the more it gets the appearance of wisdom."

~Voltaire

"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge."

~Charles Darwin

DEAD EYES dOOdle

"Men fear Death, as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other." 

~ Francis Bacon

"Years, following years, steal something every day;
At last they steal us from ourselves away."

~ Horace

"From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity."

~ Edvard Munch

CHEEZY dOOdle

All about that cheddar...

"A wise person should have money in their head, but not in their heart." -Jonathan Swift

"Money often costs too much." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver." -Ayn Rand

"Wealth is the ability to fully experience life." -Henry David Thoreau

"Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that." -Norman Vincent Peale

LiVE PAiNTiNG from TOUR of WURDZ

I had a blast this evening doing a live painting at a Benefit for the Lupus Foundation of America.  My partner in crimes of the arts, Gikuyu hosted this special edition of TOUR of WURDZ at the Flying Saucer in Downtown Nashville.  ToW is a non-profit open-mic event which has been going for around 10 years now.  Each event is hosted to bring attention to and raise money for a different cause.  This evening, representatives from the Lupus Foundation Mid-South chapter were on hand to raffle off prizes such as prints of my art and books of Gikuyu's prose and poetry. Toward the end of the night, my live painting was auctioned off to a good home and raised even more money for the cause!

WE DID IT TENNESSEE!!! Yes on 1!

Election Day dOOdle

Today is Election Day!  If you haven't gotten to your local polls yet, you have until 7PM in most places here in Tennessee to cast your vote. Contrary to some cynical beliefs, every vote does count and there are many important issues on our local ballot this year including the Constitutional Amendments we discussed here on my site last week. Get out there and let your voice be heard!

As for myself, I just visited my polling spot up the street at a local church.  Voting was a success.  Roof not blowing off the church with my presence was a success. Trying to fool senior citizens by wearing a red shirt was not a success.  I'm pretty sure the long hair and tattoos still give me away as a bleeding-heart liberal!

Day Trippin' on Natchez Trace Parkway

Adaptation is a key to life.  Along with nature, we have to adapt to the weather at times.  Over the weekend, Aurora and I experienced a lesson or two of such.  We had planned a few months back to drive halfway down the Natchez Trace Parkway on Halloween for a day-trip nature outing.  For years, I've wanted to make the drive while the Fall colors were setting in.  Due to some nasty weather, we decided to take the less scenic route down to Tupelo, MS Friday and hoped for some sunshine to drive back in on the Trace Saturday.  The shift in plans paid off well.  The Universe rewarded us with a reaping of nature which encompassed a full spectrum of fall colors and experiences!  We saw it all from areas completely bare of leaves, areas where the colors were peaked and areas where everything was still green and thriving.  It was a weekend of lessons counting our blessings when our plans didn't turn out as we envisioned.