Yosegi Hakkakkei to Sankaku (Octagons and Triangles)

Just in time for Be Late for Something Day, here's my version of the Procrastinator's Creed:
1. If anything is worth doing, it would have been done already. 
2. Never move quickly, except to make an excuse. 
3. Never rush into any job. 
4. Meet each deadline in direct proportion to the amount of harm you could receive from missing it. 
5. Remember tomorrow holds many exciting possibilities, including a reprieve from your obligations. 
6. All deadlines are unreasonable regardless of the amount of time given. 
7. The probability of a miracle, though infinitesimally small, is not exactly zero. 
8. If at first you don't succeed, there’s always next year. 
9. Always decide not to decide, unless of course you change your mind. 
10. You WILL take that first step, eventually, when you get around to it. 
11. The law of inverse excuses states that the greater the task to be done, the more insignificant the work that must be done prior to beginning the greater task. 
12. The work cycle is not plan/start/finish, but wait/plan/plan. 
13. Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid indefinitely.

Irori (Sunken Hearth)

I’m in the mood for The Wizard of Oz right now. I’ll blame it on the season. I grew up years before iPods, iPads, smart phones and laptops; before Blu-ray, DVDs, or even VHS.  If you wanted to watch a particular movie, you were out of luck unless it was in theaters or it happened to be ON TV. I was born a few decades too late to catch The Wizard of Oz on the big screen, but it would appear on television once a year just as school was about to start. When my kids were growing up I tried to share the experience with them by playing our video-taped version of the movie the Sunday night before the first day of school. To get them to sit still through the black-and-white scenes at the beginning of the movie, I usually had to bribe them with popcorn and chocolate milk; two more things I’m currently craving.

Another Well Curb Nail

When I was very, very young, I memorized a Eugene Field poem called “The Duel.” Here it is, seriously abridged (much like my memory).

The gingham dog and the calico cat side by side on the table sat.

Twas half past twelve and what do you think? Not one nor t’other had slept a wink!

There was going to be a terrible spat.

I wasn’t there. I simply state what was told me by the Chinese plate.

The gingham dog went “bow-wow-wow,” and the calico cat replied “meow.”

The air was littered an hour or so with bits of gingham and calico.

Next morning where the two had sat they found no trace of dog or cat.

And some folks think up to this day that burglars stole the pair away!

But the truth about the cat and pup is this. They ATE each other up!

Now what do you really think of that?

The old Dutch clock it told me so and that is how I came to know.