DAILY GOALS

"Rise, wash, and address Powerful Goodness;"
-Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin has been on my mind this summer. I spent a couple of days in Philadelphia at the beginning of the summer and well, if you have ever been to Philadelphia, you know it is impossible to avoid being inundated with Benjamin. Franklin. He is the city's founder and participant in all the important historical events that took place there, and there were many. The signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to name just two. His statue is EVERYWHERE, unmistakeable as he was a particular looking gentleman. His inventions were many, his accomplishments many. And this is why he is on my mind, for his accomplishments, not his historical greatness. He kept a list of things to accomplish daily, divided into how many hours he would spend on each task. At the top of his list each morning was the above quote: "Rise, wash, and address Powerful Goodness;". He allotted 3 hours to this task, from 5 to 7 am each morning. He believed in Goodness, goodness with a capital G. What did he mean by Goodness? How did he define it? These are the questions I am asking myself today, and answering these questions is the goal I am setting for myself. I only hope I can be as productive as Benjamin and answer the questions from 8 am - 11 am, the hours he set assigned for "Work". Tomorrow, after spending 3 hours in the morning attempting to answer how Benjamin Franklin defined Goodness, I will be back to tell you about it.

"BLOGS ARE THE NEW CULTS"
- Quotidianne

Don't take my word for it. Think about it. There is a blog for everything. Hey, I'm all for blogs. But as in all walks of life, I'm mostly for that which makes one think. If a blog only agrees with your point of view, or is only interested in making you conform to its point of view, then it's a cult. Do a little research, as I say, don't take my word for it. But above all else, THINK ABOUT IT.

"Blogging is the new poetry."


Is it true? ? Can it be true? ? ??? Is this anonymous quote saying that the number of people who blog now in the 21st century are equal to the number of people (proportionally anyway) who wrote poetry in previous centuries? I find that hard to believe, even if I stretch my overactive imagination. Up until the 20th century vast proportions of the population were illiterate, never mind poetic. I choose this quote for today to bring focus to my own idea of blogs & blogging. I believe that "Blogging is the new cult culture."

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

I am pondering where exactly Confucius wrote down these and all his other words of wisdom. Did he have a blog? or a journal? Did he come up with all this wisdom himself, or did he just listen and choose the best lines he heard and had the foresight to write them down. I think all three. I am going to emulate Confucius and write down the best of what I think, what I hear, and what I come up with on my own. It will be up to you all to figure out what is what. In the meantime, the journey begins with this single step: write.

Absque Labore Nihil

["Nothing without Labor"]

So true, so true.....

Two quotes in Latin in two days. Don't get the wrong idea that all quotes will be in Latin. I think I only know one other Latin quote, which I will not post tomorrow. In the meantime, carpe diem.

AND SO IT BEGINS...the first blog entry:

CARPE DIEM.