Today's Tendril...

Life is a series of deep breaths, punctuated by gasps, hiccups, and yawns.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Perspective — it makes reality real.

© Copyright 2011 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

The Playground Epiphany

Children on a playground that were strangers not more than twenty minutes
ago,
     are playing and laughing together;
          falling into a natural rhythm of fun;
               breaking out into spontaneous games of tag and kick ball;
                    creating on-the-spot adventures—fueled by imagination...

Kids come and go,
     like bees and butterflies in a garden;
          like rambunctious little clouds traversing a deep blue sky.

All are welcome.
     None are turned away.

All are different,
     in color, size, ability,
          yet somehow all the same.

Order and organization reveal themselves,
     naturally.
          Organically.
               Easily.

This is a true social network,
     at least
          until it's time
               to go home.

 

About

A parental observation.

If this applied to the adults, then the world would be a better place.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Opportunity

 

About

"Opportunity" (O) is about creative possibilities; taking a "good" idea and overworking it (or working it to death), and losing the forest for the trees.

O applies to anyone that has ever had to wrestle with an idea.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

The Day that Was

A message that I left for my wife, just to make her smile. (It did.)

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Inception to Completion

 

About

"Inception to Completion" (ItC) is about possibilities, struggling to find the finish line, and losing the forest for the trees.

ItC applies to anyone that has ever had to wrestle with an idea.

The maze was generated by the excellent The Maze Generator at www.billsgames.com/mazegenerator/ and used with kind permission from Bill Kendrick.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Another Today's Tendril...

In a heartbeat the naturally beautiful can turn destructive—and deadly. The naturally beautiful: Weather, animals, insects, relationships.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

When skies turn grey, don't run away. But when they're green, swirls may be seen.

 

About

One afternoon in late summer the color of the swiftly moving clouds had turned from dark grey to grey-green in a matter of minutes.

The wind had also gone from breezy, but unremarkable, to tree bending and howling.

Fortunately, the storm didn't turn tornadic.

This TT also has a cousin in the following weather TT: 2009.12.29.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

It's true that only a fool dismisses (out of hand) the advice of others. It's also true that only an idiot relies on the advice of fools.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

The business of doing business means dealing with a lot of P: Politics Paranoia Pomposity Process Procedure Pontification Plans Polling Peddling Prima donnas Patter Prattle Perception Promises Panoptic pandering "Power"

 

About

Pondering "the price of doing business"—personal, professional, spiritual—produced this P.

Updated 20220724

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Don't assume that others will know or understand. Provide the contextual clarity. Of course, lawyers and law makers seem predisposed to ambiguity and interpretation — and obsessed with contextual sensitivity.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Choices

The ever present now is all about choices.

       The ones you make,
           the ones you fake,
       the ones you regret,
           the ones you forget,
       the ones that fill your waking dreams,
           the ones that fill your inner screams.

The ever present now is about this or that,
       and a set of choices keep them apart.

To make a choice is not so bad.

It's their voices in your head that will drive you mad.

Today's Tendril...

Keeping it simple is easier said than done – especially when the tree of choice has many branches.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

The Golden Ratio (ASCII Face)

 

Tendrils

There are times when the path from idea to artwork takes you down rat holes, tumbling through rabbit holes, and into black holes.

 

The artist and the scientist know too well the meaning of begat.

 

Sure, an umbrella keeps the rain off of you, but what does it matter when you choose to play in the rain?

 

Simplicity is a tadpole that becomes a frog (or a toad).

 

Simplicity is a rat hole, if you let it.

 

For artists, engineers, and scientists alike, keeping it simple is easier said than done.

 

If balance and equilibrium were states of perfection, then we'd never know the wonders of frost or the jewels of dew.

 

Complexity is a Frankenstein stitched from the fabric of simplicity.

 

Chasing the possibilities can be a lot like chasing windmills.

 

At some point you have to accept that you're stuck in the quagmire of choice, especially when you're reaching for the clouds.

 

It's amazing how this, 8^), can cause so much consternation.

 

Soul Star (Surviving the Darkness)

 

About

What started out as a simple ASCII image (complete with tagline) turned into a tree with many branches.

The seed that became the tree:



© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Advantage: When you get your opponent to worry about the race, while you keep your eye on the prize.

© Copyright 2011 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Creativity isn't about formula; it's about formulation — turning the intangible machinations of the mind into a form that can be consumed by others.

Alternate Version

Creativity isn't about formula; it's about formulation — turning the intangible machinations of a restless mind into something—anything—that can be appreciated or criticized by others.

Dedicated to my Notebook Brother.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Patience, like praying, isn't a gift. It's a discipline — and requires diligence, mindfulness, and practice.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

The "best of times" are those moments that are deliberately experienced in the evolving dynamic of the ever present now.

Alternate Version

To make the "best of times" more than mere moments relived in hindsight, longing, and reflective fondness, embrace the tendrils of the ever present now—and then extend them; turn existence into purpose.

For nothing can be remembered, until it is lived.

 

About

This TT originally published on 2010.07.24 to my now retired Tags and Tendrils Twitter account.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Just One Word

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

A Dream that is You

 

About

A true story.

Made for, and dedicated to, my wife.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Many believe that dreams are lassoed from the wild plains of reality. Isn't it better to believe that the opposite were true?

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Life Lessons: Bowling

• Follow your dot.
• The arrows don't lie.
• It's better to hit the pocket than to throw a rocket.
• Bowling with bumpers is a metaphor for having a safety net in life.
• The 7-10 split is also known as "Devil's Horns." Good versus evil extends to all aspects of reality.
• Bowling with your family is hit and miss.
• Bowling etiquette should be carried into other lanes of life.
• This is what happens when you throw a lot of strikes in a row: You forget how to throw a spare.
• Just because it looks good going down the alley doesn't mean it'll amount to much.
• Smooth and easy wins the game.
• Cosmic bowling may be confusing and disorienting, but the pins, the lanes, the balls, and the rules don't change.
• Everyone throws a strike once in a while. Enjoy the moment, but then get on with the game.
• Approach and follow-through are more important than velocity.
• Bowling a perfect game, making a 7-10 split, or executing a great trick shot is a matter of practice, persistence, and perseverance.
• Whether you prefer traditional bowling, duckpin bowling, or candlestick bowling, the objectives are the same: Stay out of the gutter, knock down as many pins as you can, and get the highest score possible.

Dedicated to Monk.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Too often, faith is treated like the interior of a home — decorated to suit one's taste and filled with bric-a-brac and knick-knacks.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Said an Angel...

Said an angel in a dream–

Let one demon through the door,
     soon will follow many more.

Let temptation plead its case,
     and you'll not win the sinner's race.

When I woke,
    I looked and screamed,
        'cause in my bed
        the Devil said,
          "You, my friend, are what you dreamed."

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

At the Crossing of I

 

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

The "straight and narrow" doesn't have crooked lines, though it does have many circles.

 

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Sometimes our beliefs must be stepped on before we stop treating them like doormats.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

A moral girdle is easily removed, thus revealing the sausage of the soul.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Pressure is irrelevant when capacity, capability, and determination are present.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Just for Fun 1

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

Swallowed Me Whole

Somehow, in a way that I can't explain, the night snuck up on me – and swallowed me whole...

I found myself knee-deep in whispering grass
and at the center of a firefly vortex.

Distant drums thumped
   and punched
      and pounded
         a slow,
         steady,
         hypnotic
         rhythm.

A crow cawed.

The Snark clapped.

God smiled.

And the moment rolled on
   and on
     and on,
like an amber marble
      across a frozen lake.

Until finally,
   in a way that I still can't explain,
the morning snuck up on me
      – and swallowed me whole...

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.