What it means to be human?

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When an author creates a character who feels utterly real, it’s like you’re
inside that character’s soul, and every time you have that experience, it makes
your life a little richer. Reading strengthens our sense of what it means to be
human. – Oprah Winfrey (Ironically, the day after she goes off the air.. ha)

What does this mean to you?

I know when I read, if it is a good book, I get WAAAAY overly involved in the character's lives and feel like they should be making certain choices or doing certain things. I weep with them when they hurt and I rejoice with them when something good happens. A good book, is a good friend.

Date a Girl Who Reads..

This quote has been shared quite a few times on different blogs and every time I read it, I smile. It makes me want to grab a cup of coffee, snuggle in and lose myself in the world of books. So, grab a cup of coffee, snuggle in and find yourself in this quote. [Note: I don't condone lying to your significant other, being a book snob or insulting women's intelligence by assuming they don't know what they are talking about. ]

Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You'll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. She's the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That's the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She's the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she's kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author's making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

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Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce's Ulysses she's just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or if she would like to be Alice. (I do have a problem with this paragraph. Nothing like insulting women's intelligence.)

It's easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by God, she's going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

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She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world. (Also, not a fan of this part...)

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who read understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She'll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she's sick. Over Skype. (Or on a random Thursday while you are getting ready to head out for beer and nachos with friends, as she is dancing half-naked around an apartment... )

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn't burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you're better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.

- Rosemary Urquico

A few of my favorite quotations..

I figured after my rant last night, I needed something uplifting to lead me into the weekend. So, I am going to share some of my favorite quotes from someone that I have always looked up to and respected with his ability to turn the other cheek and use words instead of violence. Patience is something I lack and am always working on, as well as ways to better control and redirect the rage I feel for those mistreated.

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.
Martin Luther King Jr. (If only, more people met the world/day with love instead of hate)

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.
Martin Luther King Jr. (he sure was one smart man)

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. MLK, Jr. (word)

Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.
Martin Luther King Jr. (easy to say, hard to manage)

Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
Martin Luther King Jr. (I wish I was as smart as him)

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
Martin Luther King Jr. (This I take seriously)

and which leads me to one of my all-time favorite quotes by another wise wise man.

I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.
-Elie Wiesel

Who do you look up to for words of wisdom and that has possibly a little more grace than yourself to handle situations when anger and rage are all that you can focus on?

Have a fabulous weekend!

Pushing Onward..

I’ve been in a bit of a funk the last couple days and I don’t know if it is the weather, the many changes going on or the transition into another school year. Since I can’t seem to finish my current read anytime soon nor pick a new one up; I decided to share some quotes. I love quotes and what better time to look through my collection, than a Friday evening with a glass of wine in hand and the unknown swirling around.

Take chances, take a lot of them. Because honestly, no matter where you end up and with whom, it always ends up just the way it should be. Your mistakes make you who you are. You learn and grow with each choice you make. Everything is worth it. Say how you feel always. Be you, and be okay with it.” -Hollie Seals

"A good friend is hard to find, hard to lose, and impossible to forget..."

"Try to be governed by your loves and not your hates and find goodness and beauty where you can."

"No lapse of time or distance of place can lessen the friendship of those who are truly persuaded of each other's worth."

"How lucky I am to have known someone who was so hard to say goodbye to."

Good-byes make you think, they make you realize what you've had, what you've lost, and what you've taken for granted.

*There are moments in life when you really miss someone so much that you want to pick them up from your dreams and hug them for real*

To laugh often and much;To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.This is to have succeeded

It is easier to be wise for others than for ourselves.Francois De La Rochefoucauld

Silence does not always mark wisdom.Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. Henry David Thoreau

What are some of your favorite quotes? Any nice plans for this dreary weekend?