The secret of life is to appreciate the pleasure of being terribly, terribly deceived.

Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance, Act 3

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One's real life is often the life that one does not lead.

Oscar Wilde, L'Envoi, 1882
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I have had many hobbies over the course of my lifetime so far...crafting, reading, sewing, hiking, cooking/baking, gardening...to mention a few...Keeping life simple and getting closer to Nature has been the running thread of my existence. Some people think this lifestyle means less work...but it isn't. It's more work...however, it is work which is meaningful, pertinent, and fulfilling.

Classical Music (well, most any kind of music, really) and Literature...the Arts...Philosophy, Psychology, Nature...EVERYTHING! I WANT TO LEARN IT ALL!!! but there's not enough time for that, so I'll focus on Music and People. Not necessarily in that order...People always come first. Especially Family. Pursuing my lifelong passion: promotion of reading to young people especially, along with arts and music appreciation. Planning on expanding this into  a program on the order of kindermusik but with my own special touches. Part of it will be based in my home studio; the other will be ala Carte which reaches out to the community via visitations to libraries, schools, and other organizations. Recorded a cd with two of my extremely talented friends and am looking forward to making another, singing Italian arias, some blues and jazz pieces, etc.

KATARINA's Sililoquoy from Shakespeare's "TAMING OF THE SHREW": Fie, fie! unknit that threatening unkind brow,  And dart not scornful glances from those eyes, To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor:  It blots thy beauty as frosts do bite the meads,  Confounds thy fame as whirlwinds shake fair buds,  And in no sense is meet or amiable.  A woman moved is like a fountain troubled,  Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty;  And while it is so, none so dry or thirsty  Will deign to sip or touch one drop of it.  Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,  Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee, And for thy maintenance commits his body  To painful labour both by sea and land,  To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,  Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe;  And craves no other tribute at thy hands  But love, fair looks and true obedience;  Too little payment for so great a debt.  Such duty as the subject owes the prince  Even such a woman oweth to her husband;  And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour, And not obedient to his honest will,  What is she but a foul contending rebel  And graceless traitor to her loving lord?  I am ashamed that women are so simple  To offer war where they should kneel for peace;  Or seek for rule, supremacy and sway,  When they are bound to serve, love and obey.  Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth,  Unapt to toil and trouble in the world,  But that our soft conditions and our hearts  Should well agree with our external parts?  Come, come, you froward and unable worms!  My mind hath been as big as one of yours,  My heart as great, my reason haply more,  To bandy word for word and frown for frown;  But now I see our lances are but straws,  Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,  That seeming to be most which we indeed least are.  Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot,  And place your hands below your husband's foot:  In token of which duty, if he please,  My hand is ready; may it do him ease.
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*AN EYE FOR AN EYE MAKES THE WHOLE WORLD BLIND.(MOHANDAS GHANDHI)

*Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful.(Annette Funicello)

*Shoot for the moon...even if you miss, you'll land among the stars!(Les Brown)

*The grass is always greener...over the septic tank.(Erma Bombeck)

*A friend is a gift you give to yourself.(Robert Louis Stevenson)

*You don't have to live forever....you just have to live.

*Life is not a dress rehearsal.

*Life is not a vacation.

*Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain.