The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell (the B-Quotes Series)

I've been reading some really amazing, life-changing, perspective-altering books lately. Well, always, I suppose. But it recently struck me that most of the wisdom I find on the page, as powerful as it might feel to me at the moment of reading, will inevitably fall into oblivion. I make notes, sure; I have dozens of notebooks--big, small, tiny--scattered all over the house with quotes of exquisite truth jotted behind a grocery or a to-do list.

Like I said. Oblivion.

So I thought, why not put them into a blog post? With a clear label, they'll be easily retrievable at any time, anywhere.

I thus give to you the B-Quotes Series. And we begin with the wondrous turns of phrase, vocabulary choices, descriptions, and thoughts I found in The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell, read just last month.

"Love's pure free joy when it works, but when it goes bad you pay for the good hours at loan-shark prices."
p. 39

Power is lost or won, never created or destroyed. Power is a visitor to, not a possession of, those it empowers. [...] Power is crack-cocaine for your ego and battery-acid for your soul.

[...] and what's this prodding certainty that I'm in a labyrinth not only of turnings and doors but decisions and priorities [...]
p. 264  

P.S. -- Have you seen my Facebook page? It's still a fledgling thing of wet wings and iffy sense of balance, which means it needs all the Likes you care to give ;) Once that first solo book of mine comes out later this year (more on that later), I'll be returning the love via giveaways and stuff :D

Curacao up for Best Caribbean Beach!

Cor and I at Seaquarium
Beach a few months after
that fateful Trafassi concert

The Seaquarium beach--aka Mambo beach--is one of Curaçao's most well-known, most-often-photographed, and probably the only one of all the island's beaches (yes, there's a lot) that every single visitor to the island goes to. It was certainly the first one I saw when I came here, so this smallish, man-made strip of sand is responsible for turning what was originally a six-month stay into a total about-face in my lifestyle that's lasted over a decade. And counting.

At this beach, one Thursday night in a long-ago October, during a Trafassi concert (in which I heard a song about "big washes, small washes" for the first time), the man that's since become my life partner and my best friend kissed me for the first time.

Lessons of 2014

1. Rhythm is the key to discipline. (Achieving that rhythm is on the list for 2015.)

2. Unconditional acceptance is the most beautiful gift of love.

3. Nostalgia is a powerful drug. It feels good (in a masochistic kind of way), is great as an excuse to avoid reality, is also great for writing fiction, and--because of the above?--is highly addictive. Do not exceed recommended dose. (Recommended dose still to be determined.)