Loose Leaf Notes

1. I’m always up for live music at Dogtown, and by “up” I mean dancing.

2. Mona is to Bob Dylan what jellyroll is to Van Morrison.

3. During my meditation this morning, my two-syllable meaningless TM mantra turned into four-syllable INTJ (my Meyers Briggs type) when my mind wandered and I wondered if Dylan was a INTJ.

4. When I took TM in the mid-1970s, a teacher gave you your mantra and you weren’t supposed to tell anyone what it was. Now they have chant videos online telling you how to pronounce them.  Listen HERE.

5. My mantra often has a placement or takes on a shape. On one recent morning while starting to meditate, I said to myself, ‘Oh, my mantra is in Marshfield (MA).”

6. So about that Aretha Franklin song RESPECT, which I vowed to dance to when I hear it, no matter where I am. I was playing Scrabble at Outer Space a few weeks and they venue’s playlist of about 10 songs kept playing it over and over. I got up and danced half-heartedly (because I love Scrabble as much as Aretha) before I gave it up and figured ‘I got that out of my system.’

7. I’m not a “colly dog” anymore (a childhood nickname). Now I’m more of a watchdog. I regularly do a news roundup of excerpts on Facebook following the January 6 investigation and more.

8. “Jesus was not killed by atheism and anarchy. He was brought down by law and order allied with religion – which is always a deadly mix. Beware those who claim to know the mind of God and are prepared to use force, if necessary, to make others conform. Beware those who cannot tell God’s will – from their own.” – Barbara Brown Taylor, Progressive Christianity

9. Breakfast with Jerry.

10. Getting older is bittersweet. It’s an acquired taste. It’s also a time of harvest when the fruit is ripe for picking, and the work done over time to get to this stage of age pays off… More from Getting (G)old on a poetry reading at Yoga JamSept. 1 -4 HERE. 

11. When the soul takes the lead / there’s a deep delving / There’s a widening horizon / with the narrowing of life… Read The Last Dance in its entirety HERE. 

12. I love a good torch song, a good reggae song and Eric Clapton  HERE. 

13. “Dylan freed your mind the way Elvis freed your body. He showed us that just because music was innately physical did not mean that it was anti-intellectual.” Bruce Springsteen

_________Thirteen Thursday