that enron dick!

i love largeheartedboy. i've been a faithful reader for almost a year now, and not only is it still a perfect blend of all things literary and musical, but every now and then it points you toward something as off the wall as cracked magazine's 10 most dead people of 2006.

Know who didn't seem to know how money worked, though? Ken Lay, that Enron dick. Think he needed a special oversize casket like that other money guy named Ken? No, Ken Lay was allegedly quickly cremated after suddenly dying during a ski vacation following his conviction on fraud charges, thus conveniently escaping 20 to 30 years of life behind bars. Ken Lay is in fact quite possibly tanning his fat hide on a beach on a private island bought with the billions stolen from ordinary Americans at this very moment. Sadly, Ken Lay gets the award for Least Dead Person of 2006.

here's the full list. hilarious.

with that out of the way, i remember what i couldn't during my last post. i was at work the other night, when i had to run over to our main office to take care of some data entry i couldn't do from my own desk. i had timed it so i'd miss the 9-5 crowd and have more of the place to myself... but one of our staff, stephan, was still there. until this point, i'd been telling jeff that stephan was like our office's dwight schrute. i mean, the guy and i had a lengthy discussion about the benefits of gatorade, after i asked him why he had two gallons of the shit sitting on his desk. picture dwight defending himself in this situation, and that's exactly how it went down.

but the other night, stephan and i fell into a very different conversation. he let me in on a pretty serious, life-altering moment he had just before thanksgiving last year, and how it's affected him since. i gotta give the guy more credit, he's a soldier. he asked me about my new year's plans, and after i reveled him in my half-recollected tale of drunkennness, he told me how he packed up his car, drove out to a state park, pitched a tent and read and wrote for a few days.

i was a little shocked, and very jealous. why can't i do cool things like that? why is that such an unnatural streetch for me? it shouldn't be, but i'm so busy being all crazy and constantly in my head, the idea would never even cross my mind.

this is when he handed me an old, ratty copy of the prophet, by kahlil gibran, open to a section "on love" --

Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love."
And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them. And with a great voice he said:
When love beckons to you follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

the book is public domain, so you can read it in its entirety online. it's short, but pointed. reminds me of the zen-like people i often surround myself and wish i could be.

when i went in to the office last night, again after everyone had left, stephan wasn't there. but you know what was? a tiny, broken acorn, sitting next to his computer screen...

peter & the wolf - lightness