Tag Archives: inspiration

The Faintest Ink


I have a general policy of surrounding myself with people who are positive, uplifting, and challenge me to be a better person. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge a friend of mine who has reinvigorated my relationship with books. First, I must give a little background on how this love affair began…it all started with a librarian, also known as, my mother.

As a child, my idea of a fantastic weekend was to have the privilege of accompanying my mother to work at the various libraries where she was employed throughout my youth. I can recall spending hours upon hours with stacks of books, hungrily devouring the pages, sometimes reading through the night to find out how it all ended. My mother had to take away my books to get me to sleep. In recent years, my reading list has tended to outpace my ambition. I slowed to perhaps a book every other month then along came ortizzle.com.

When you live with a librarian, you take for granted the continuous stream of good book recommendations, new releases and glowing reviews, so I was delighted when my friend, announced his plan to launch a site dedicated to collective reading. I may not always be on track with the reading schedule, well lets face it I usually read the books a month after everyone else, but I know that when I get around to it the reading lists will be available and the forums are ready and waiting for my thoughts. I am currently mulling over Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita which, in short I will say, is a beautiful monstrosity. I will close with the quote gracing the front page of ortizzle.com:

The faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory.

My friend, thank you for tatooing your ink, I am better for it, and better for knowing you.

Next up: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

can we?

tomorrow is “super tuesday.”

i sit at my computer wondering what i can write to convey the emotion that i feel… how can we expect change if we are not the catalyst? i have heard people say that they will vote for barack obama if he receives the presidential nomination, but not tomorrow. have we become so afraid to dream? from a very young age we are taught that statistically, the odds are not in favor of the dreamers. the first time you lose a love, the first time you try and fail, it hurts. and it never stops being hard to go out on a limb because the higher you climb, the more broken you will be if you fall. it is not easy to get back up and keep trying when you have constantly been knocked down, but happiness is not the absence of discomfort, it is the presence of joy. there are many things in my life that i am not proud of because of the cowardly route i have taken, but tomorrow will not be an addition to that catalog.

i will not stand idly by in this monumental moment in history because i thought that my voice did not matter. alone, maybe no one will hear me sing, but i am not alone. i am joining a chorus of voices that is loud and resounding and the message is: “yes we can.” i say to those who will vote their heart in the general election, but not tomorrow that without tomorrow, there is no nomination.

nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change. we have been told we cannot do this by a chorus cynics. they will only grow louder and more dissonant. we have been asked to pause for a reality check. we have been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope, but in the unlikely story that is america, there has never been anything false about hope.

–senator barack obama

YES. WE. CAN. but not without you. vote.