just a quote (II)

Today was a long day. It was mostly a good day, but it was a long one.

We went up to Gotemba to the Premium Outlet mall to see if we could find a new suitcase and met with mild success. Not sure if it'll work for our needs, but it might. It wasn't the easiest of tasks because of the "family-friendly" atmosphere, but we managed to get through the day. And then we rewarded ourselves with a delicious French dinner at a hotel in the area. A good start to our last week in Japan. It's hard to believe that we'll be flying away on Sunday.

Because it's been such a busy day, I haven't had time to work on a blog post. Also, a lot of my extra time lately has gone to preparing for Nanowrimo - plotting and gathering notes and such. Even writing a memoir takes preparation, and I have a lot of ideas to get down, so organization is important. My posting schedule will probably change some for November. For now, I'll leave you with another quote, this one by C. S. Lewis, who has long been a favorite author of mine, not just for the Chronicles of Narnia (some of which are still some of my favorite stories) but also for his other works. Here is a quote about love and loss and the importance of leaving ourselves open to love - and therefore open also to the possibility of losing what we love. Enjoy.

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."
     - C. S. Lewis, "The Four Loves"

just a quote (I)

We're going off to Tokyo today, so I haven't much time to dedicate to a long post, though I have plenty circulating in my brain. But to make sure that I stick to my goal of posting every day, I present to you one of my favorite quotes. It's from a short story by Ray Bradbury, from probably my favorite short story by him. I've liked Bradbury's novels, but for me, his short stories are often like little masterpieces. So, here you go.

"I'll make a voice that is like an empty bed beside you all night long and like an empty house when you open the door, and like trees in autumn with no leaves. A sound like the birds flying south, crying, and a sound like November wind and the sea on the hard, cold shore. I'll make a sound that's so alone that no one can miss it, that whoever hears it will weep in their souls, and hearths will seem warmer, and being inside will seem better to all who hear it in the distant towns. I'll make me a sound and an apparatus and they'll call it a Fog Horn and whoever hears it will know the sadness of eternity and the briefness of life."

≫ Ray Bradbury, "The Fog Horn"