Blogging To Find Shape

I think one of the noblest projects for anyone in age is to find a shape in his life.  It was a drama in how many acts.  How can he make the last act worthy of the earlier ones?  He is the author, the protagonist, the audience and the critic.  He has to work under handicaps while the stage hands fidget and the audience is eager to go home.  But perhaps he can succeed in acting out “I was” or even “I was this.”
—    Malcolm Cowley
Letter to Thomas Ferril, 30th Aug 1978
From:  “The Long Voyage“
[Found at one of the blogs I follow:  https://news.lettersofnote.com/
The specific post is:  https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/i-think-one-of-the-noblest-projects
Please visit the original site and support it if you are able.     —     kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022	My Conservative View
2021	Are We Getting Close To Uncertainty?
	How It Could Be
2020	Two Loves
	A Short Count
2019	Don’t Forget: Fire Burns
2018	Especially In The Middle East
2017	A Good Local
2016	Life Unlimited
2015	Still Trying
2014	Destiny, n.
2013	No Apologies
2012	Utterly Convinced
2011	A Key To Effectiveness

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A Journey And A Story

To err is to wander, and wandering is the way we discover the world;  and, lost in thought, it is also the way we discover ourselves.  Being right might be gratifying, but in the end it is static, a mere statement.  Being wrong is hard and humbling, and sometimes even dangerous, but in the end it is a journey, and a story.
—    Kathryn Schulz
[This quote was found at one of the blogs I follow:  https://aponderingmind.org/
The specific post was located at:  https://aponderingmind.org/2023/05/18/todays-quote-8/
Please check out the original site if you have a few spare minutes…    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022	I Want His Job
2021	I Better
	The Way I Will
2020	Necessary Events
2019	I May Have Started Too Soon
2018	But Me
2017	A Little More, Please
2016	In Full Vigor
2015	A Good Lad
2014	Who Dare Not Speak
2013	I Love Beer
2012	Trial By Jury
2011	First Class
	Got Knowledge?

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No Trick At All

There is no trick to it.  If you like to write and want to write, you write, no matter where you are or what else you are doing or whether anyone pays any heed.  I must have written half a million words (mostly in my journal) before I had anything published, save for a couple of short items in St. Nicholas.  If you want to write about feelings, about the end of summer, about growing, write about it.  A great deal of writing is not “plotted” — most of my essays have no plot structure, they are a ramble in the woods, or a ramble in the basement of my mind.  You ask, “Who cares?”  Everybody cares.  You say, “It’s been written before.”  Everything has been written before.
—     E. B. White
From: Letters of E. B. White, edited by Dorothy Lobrano Guth
[This quote was found on one to the sites I follow:  https://news.lettersofnote.com/
The specific link is:  Nobody ever became a writer just by wanting to be one
Please visit the original site if you have a few spare minutes.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022	Particularly Peaceful Neighbors
2021	Thoughts
	It’s A Rich Man’s World
2020	Pax Et Justitia
2019	And Unlawful Orders From A President
2018	Instinct For Presence
2017	Hard Enough
2016	Jumps
2015	One View Of Failure
2014	We Speak For Earth
2013	Inward Urgency
2012	Delayed Reviews
	Fulfilling My Duty
2011	Interference

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And I Always Will

October 17, 1946
D’Arline,
I adore you, sweetheart.
I know how much you like to hear that — but I don’t only write it because you like it — I write it because it makes me warm all over inside to write it to you.
It is such a terribly long time since I last wrote to you — almost two years but I know you’ll excuse me because you understand how I am, stubborn and realistic;  and I thought there was no sense to writing.
But now I know my darling wife that it is right to do what I have delayed in doing, and that I have done so much in the past.  I want to tell you I love you.  I want to love you.  I always will love you.
I find it hard to understand in my mind what it means to love you after you are dead — but I still want to comfort and take care of you — and I want you to love me and care for me.  I want to have problems to discuss with you — I want to do little projects with you.  I never thought until just now that we can do that.  What should we do.  We started to learn to make clothes together — or learn Chinese — or getting a movie projector.  Can’t I do something now?  No.  I am alone without you and you were the “idea-woman” and general instigator of all our wild adventures.
When you were sick you worried because you could not give me something that you wanted to and thought I needed.  You needn’t have worried.  Just as I told you then there was no real need because I loved you in so many ways so much.  And now it is clearly even more true — you can give me nothing now yet I love you so that you stand in my way of loving anyone else — but I want you to stand there.  You, dead, are so much better than anyone else alive.
I know you will assure me that I am foolish and that you want me to have full happiness and don’t want to be in my way.  I’ll bet you are surprised that I don’t even have a girlfriend (except you, sweetheart) after two years.  But you can’t help it, darling, nor can I — I don’t understand it, for I have met many girls and very nice ones and I don’t want to remain alone — but in two or three meetings they all seem ashes.  You only are left to me.  You are real.
My darling wife, I do adore you.
I love my wife.  My wife is dead.
Rich.
PS  Please excuse my not mailing this — but I don’t know your new address.
[The above letter was written by Dr. Richard Feynman.  To quote the origin site / blog:  “In June of 1945, his wife and high-school sweetheart, Arline, passed away after succumbing to tuberculosis.  She was 25-years-old.  16 months later, in October of 1946, Richard wrote his late wife a heartbreaking love letter and sealed it in an envelope.  It remained unopened until after his death in 1988.“
Disclaimer:  The above (letter and quote) are posted here on my site without prior permission or approval by either the originating site or whomever may own the rights to the actual letter.  My posting is being done without claim of ownership and without any attempt to solicit or obtain monetary compensation for myself.  I just think both the letter and the site deserve a wider distribution and this is my small effort to “spread the word”.  If either the letter owner or the originating site object to my post and request removal of this post, I will, of course, comply.
Found on one of the blogs I follow:  Letters of Note
The specific post is located at:  https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/i-adore-you-sweetheart
Please visit the original site if you have a few minutes.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022	What You Know
2021	Some Doctors Are Better Than Others
	Lessons
2020	A Liar As President Corrupts Us
2019	Is It Dark And Quiet For You?
2018	Undeniable Requirement
2017	Orange Corrosion
2016	Both Particle And Wave
2015	Deep In Debt
2014	The Difference
2013	My Heart Is Described
2012	Keen To Be Alone
2011	The Ideal Business…
2010	55

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Squeeze Your Opportunity

We cannot predict the value our work will provide to the world.  That’s fine.  It is not our job to judge our own work.  It is our job to create it, to pour ourselves into it, and to master our craft as best we can.
We all have the opportunity to squeeze every ounce of greatness out of ourselves that we can.  We all have the chance to do our share.
—     Albert Einstein
[This quote was found on one of the blogs I follow:  ram H singhal
The specific post is:   I have done my share | ram H singhal (wordpress.com)
Please visit the original site if you have a few spare minutes.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022	Completely Reasonable To Worry
2021	Seeking Happiness
	Check Your Watch
2020	Expectation For The Near Future
2019	Indian Myth
	Did He Even Have The Courage To Ask?
2018	Nothing
2017	Approval First
2016	In Search Of Words
	Day 2 – Blending
2015	At What Price?
2014	Intricate And Subtle Order
2013	Attention To Detail
2012	Aequanimitas!
2011	Consider This

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For All

I do not want art for a few any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few.
—    William Morris
[Found at one of the blogs / web sites I follow:  https://ididnthavemyglasseson.com/
The specific post is at:  https://ididnthavemyglasseson.com/2023/02/22/33779/
Please visit the original site if you have some spare time…    —  kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022	Dreading The Slide Towards War
2021	Joyous Incompatibility
	My Heart Will Be Waiting
2019	Two Guarantee Freedom
2018	Less Mouth And More Back
2017	I Ought To Be A Little Careful
2016	Rising From The Ashes
2015	Honor
2014	Disappointment
2013	Seeing Heart
2012	On Success
2011	What This Place Needs Is Another Theory

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Near The Heart Of The World

As long as I live, I’ll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing.  I’ll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche.  I’ll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can.
—    John Muir
[Found at one of the blogs / sites I follow:  A Pondering Mind   (https://aponderingmind.org/)
The specific link is:  https://aponderingmind.org/2022/12/06/nature-9/
Please give the site a visit if you have a few spare moments.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022	Limited Knowledge And No Control
2021	Gifts
	Look Inside Your Heart
2020	A Strength Of Science
2019	A Higher Standard
	Make Two Calls
2018	Irreplaceable Sparks
2017	Saving For April 15th
2016	First Wish
2015	Tracing Shadows
2014	One Thing
2013	More Is Less
2012	The Screw-Up Gene

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Christmas Wishes For 2022

First off:  Merry Christmas to all… !!
Second:  Hug everyone at your table and say a prayer of blessings for absent friends and family.
Third:  Please remember in your thoughts all of the first responders and essential workers who are working each day to maintain the health and the safety of our families.  The “COVID pandemic” may be over, but they remain on the job where we need them.  Police, firefighters, EMTs, health workers, PPE and vaccine manufacturers, supermarket / food-store / essential services staff, transportation (truck drivers and delivery) staff,  our military defending us around the world and our civilian government employees working to keep our water, food and air clean.
Finally:  Please, please, please…
Keep current on your vaccine(s) / booster shot(s).
And, to those of you traveling:  drive safely (to and from wherever you roam)…
[A big shout-out to  http://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/  for providing today’s two images.  Please visit the site if you have a chance.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021	Christmas Wishes For 2021
	This Simple Phrase
2020	Christmas Wishes For 2020
	Best Wishes For All
2019	My Thoughts About The X-mas Turkey…
2018	Merry X-mas – 2018
2017	Focus On Christmas — 2017
2016	Merry X-mas – 2016
2015	Merry X-mas – 2015
2014	Merry X-mas – 2014
2013	Merry X-mas – 2013
2012	Merry Christmas – 2012
2011	I Have Seen

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Discovering Humanity

The joy of playing classical guitar extends beyond the prize (the perfect performance).  It’s the daily journey and how we travel it.  That’s where we find the gold.  That’s where we discover the humanity, in both the music and in ourselves.
—    Allen Mathews
Allen Mathews is a professional musician and classical guitar instructor who maintains a site located at:  https://classicalguitarshed.com/
Every Tuesday, Allen posts a quote (which may or may not be specifically about music).   He then goes on to tie the quote to a “teaching moment”.  Allen’s “Quote page” is located at:  https://classicalguitarshed.com/tuesday-quotes/
[Disclaimer:  Although I have viewed many of Allen’s videos and subscribed to his emails for over a year, I have not personally purchased any of his packages of instruction as I am merely dabbling in “classical” guitar to see what it’s about.  I have no other association with Allen or his site and have not requested permission to re-post this quote.  If he requests it, I will remove or substantially edit this quote.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021	Likely To Be Subtle
	My Temp’s Pretty High
	Scratching A Persistent Itch
2020	A Word Of Assurance They Are Not Alone
	Is #45 Still Crying?
2019	It’s Obvious
2018	Passed Too Swiftly
2017	On Our Wall (Part 1)
2016	Or The Ripples From A Good Life
2015	Titles And Reputations
2014	Unfolding
2013	Again
2012	Needs
	Damned
2011	Potter & Prejudice
	Blink, Blink

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Decision, Decisions

Your future depends on how you decide to remember your past.
—    Henri Nouwen
From his book: “The Inner Voice of Love“
Found at one of the blogs I follow:  Pointless Overthinking.com
The specific post was:  https://pointlessoverthinking.com/2022/09/08/romancing-the-stone/
Please visit the original site if you have a minute.    —    kmab
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On This Day In:
2021	Bring The Void
	Home Cookin’, Anyone?
2020	Growth Mindset
	I Wonder Where You Are
2019	Steps To Impeach #45
	Science Upgrade Needed
2018	Come November 6th
2017	Hearts And Memories
2016	Tremendous Energy
	Beyond Trying
2015	Tell Me…
2014	Live Forever (To Remember Me)
	Orange October (VI) – Giants Win Game 4
2013	More Than Just Words
2012	Egotist, n.
2011	Good And Bad

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Unlimited Curiosity In Finite Time

I want to know what everything is, and nothing is;  the beauty of a note and the silence which surrounds it.  I like to know and understand myself, and those whom I meet, or nearly meet.  I am conscious that I will not always be conscious:  that my curiosity is unlimited but my time is finite, and I cannot waste a moment of it in acquiring things which will not make me richer in a way I value.
The amusing thing is many would consider me as living in la la land, where poetry is a secret form of currency, and music a mode of transport which might carry me to lands and vistas invisible to the naked eye:  to where angels might dwell and we begin to forgive and truly understand the love which passes all understanding.  I can live with the opinions of the “many”, but I cannot live without my imagination.”
One of the great temptations of life is to lose sight of the beauty of the whole, or the mystery of an instant amidst the mass of worries, jealousies and insecurities which crowd in on the average day, including mine, but while I have a breath to draw I will, whatever my circumstances, raise my eyes in wonder to the horizon and marvel at the miracle of consciousness.
—     Peter Wells
Originally found at one of the blogs I follow:  Countingducks
Located at:  https://countingducks.wordpress.com
The specific post is:  A Matter Of Philosophy
https://countingducks.wordpress.com/2022/07/18/a-matter-of-philosophy/
[Please visit the original site if you have a few minutes to spare.  You’ll get hooked, too!    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021	How Learning Infections Begin
	Stay Young At Heart
2020	Policies Not People
	Just Thinking To Myself
2019	Should I Start With My Religion?
2018	Fear And Hope
	Day 33: Good News & Prep
2017	Directions
2016	Handle With Care
2015	Nothing But Pride
2014	Go
2013	Well, Does It?
2012	Near Misses Aren’t Successes
2011	Uncomfortable Feelings
2010	San Francisco (favorites)…
	Bullets or Butter?

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Small Comfort

It may give us some comfort in these worrisome times to know that in all of history only one country has actually been crazy enough to detonate atomic weapons in the midst of civilian populations, turning unarmed men, women and children into radioactive soot and bonemeal.  And that was a long, long time ago now.
Kurt Vonnegut
Letter to the New York Times
12th September 2002
—     Kurt Vonnegut
From:  “Kurt Vonnegut:  Letters”
Edited by:  Dan Wakefield
Found at one of the sites I follow:  “Letters of Note“
The specific post is:  https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/most-letters-from-a-parent-contain?s=r
[Please visit the original site if you have a few spare minutes…    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021	Get It Done
	Toe Tappin’ And Head Bobbin’
2020	Saddle Up!
	Practicing To Be Clever
	Anybody Want A Bagel?
2019	Welcome Home
	The Whole Community
2018	The Cells Are Right
	Day 19: Broth
2017	Be Responsible
2016	Thinking About November 8th, 2016
2015	Lonely Teardrops
2014	Pleasurable Law
2013	Room For Justice
	In The Minds Of Others
2012	Extinction, n.
2011	Snap!

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Units Of Measure

Scientific progress is measured in units of courage, not intelligence.
—     Paul Dirac
[Found on one of the blogs I follow:  “ram H singhal“
Located at:  https://ram0singhal.wordpress.com/
The specific post is at:  https://ram0singhal.wordpress.com/2021/07/13/1933-nobel-prize-in-physics-paul-adrien-maurice-dirac/
Please visit the original site if you have a spare moment.     —     kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021	True Fervor
	Still Sparkles
2020	A Destructive Mistake
	I’d Rather Live In HER World
2019	And #IncompetentTrump Is A Failure At Both
2018	To Excel At Your Craft
	Day 12: Waiting
2017	Like When You Can Order Others To Fight For You
2016	Holding Fast
2015	Alms Or Balms
2014	A Day At The Beach
2013	Pillows
	Steppin’
2012	Invincible Summer
2011	Being Objective
2010	First Things First…
	Northwest Passages – Intro
	Northwest Passages – Day One
	Northwest Passages – Poetry
	Northwest Passages – Evening One
	Northwest Passages – Morning Two

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Immerse Yourself Fully

I urge you to find a way to immerse yourself fully in the life that you’ve been given.  To stop running from whatever you’re trying to escape, and instead to stop, and turn, and face whatever it is.  Then I dare you to walk toward it.  In this way, the world may reveal itself to you as something magical and awe-inspiring that does not require escape.  Instead, the world may become something worth paying attention to.  The rewards of finding and maintaining balance are neither immediate nor permanent.  They require patience and maintenance.  We must be willing to move forward despite being uncertain of what lies ahead.  We must have faith that actions today that seem to have no impact in the present moment are in fact accumulating in a positive direction, which will be revealed to us only at some unknown time in the future.  Healthy practices happen day by day.  My patient Maria said to me, “Recovery is like that scene in Harry Potter when Dumbledore walks down a darkened alley lighting lampposts along the way.  Only when he gets to the end of the alley and stops to look back does he see the whole alley illuminated, the light of his progress.”
—     Anna Lembke
From her book:  “Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence“
Found at one of the blogs I follow:  https://davidkanigan.com/
The specific post is:  https://davidkanigan.com/2021/09/06/monday-morning-wake-up-call-267/
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On This Day In:
2021	And Then You Begin
	A Familiar Song
2020	A Prayer For China
	He Says The Last Five Questions Are Really Hard
	Fear And Cleverness
2019	Historic Contact
	All Good
2018	History Judges Incompetent Presidencies, Too
2017	Our Confident New President
2016	Ways
2015	Be Happy, Too
2014	At Least Smile
2013	Comfortably Bound
2012	Certainty
	Thinking About Fathers
2011	And In Every Level Of Media

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I’m Not Okay Either

Home of the Brave?
May 27, 2022 By Gabe Kapler
The day 19 children and 2 teachers were murdered, we held a moment of silence at sporting events around the country, then we played the national anthem, and we went on with our lives.
Players, staff and fans stood for the moment of silence, grieving the lives lost, and then we (myself included) continued to stand, proudly proclaiming ourselves the land of the free and the home of the brave.  We didn’t stop to reflect on whether we are actually free and brave after this horrific event, we just stood at attention.
When I was the same age as the children in Uvalde, my father taught me to stand for the pledge of allegiance when I believed my country was representing its people well or to protest and stay seated when it wasn’t.  I don’t believe it is representing us well right now.
This particular time, an 18 year old walked into a store, bought multiple assault rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, walked into a school with an armed resource officer and its own police district and was able to murder children for nearly an hour.  Parents begged and pleaded with police officers to do something, police officers who had weapons and who receive nearly 40% of the city’s funding, as their children were being murdered.
We elect our politicians to represent our interests.  Immediately following this shooting, we were told we needed locked doors and armed teachers.  We were given thoughts and prayers.  We were told it could have been worse, and we just need love.
But we weren’t given bravery, and we aren’t free.  The police on the scene put a mother in handcuffs as she begged them to go in and save her children.  They blocked parents trying to organize to charge in to stop the shooter, including a father who learned his daughter was murdered while he argued with the cops.  We aren’t free when politicians decide that the lobbyist and gun industries are more important than our children’s freedom to go to school without needing bulletproof backpacks and active shooter drills.
I’m often struck before our games by the lack of delivery of the promise of what our national anthem represents.  We stand in honor of a country where we elect representatives to serve us, to thoughtfully consider and enact legislation that protects the interests of all the people in this country and to move this country forward towards the vision of the “shining city on the hill.”  But instead, we thoughtlessly link our moment of silence and grief with the equally thoughtless display of celebration for a country that refuses to take up the concept of controlling the sale of weapons used nearly exclusively for the mass slaughter of human beings.  We have our moment (over and over), and then we move on without demanding real change from the people we empower to make these changes.  We stand, we bow our heads, and the people in power leave on recess, celebrating their own patriotism at every turn.
Every time I place my hand over my heart and remove my hat, I’m participating in a self congratulatory glorification of the ONLY country where these mass shootings take place.  On Wednesday, I walked out onto the field, I listened to the announcement as we honored the victims in Uvalde.  I bowed my head.  I stood for the national anthem.  Metallica riffed on City Connect guitars.
My brain said drop to a knee;  my body didn’t listen.  I wanted to walk back inside;  instead I froze.  I felt like a coward.  I didn’t want to call attention to myself.  I didn’t want to take away from the victims or their families.  There was a baseball game, a rock band, the lights, the pageantry.  I knew that thousands of people were using this game to escape the horrors of the world for just a little bit.  I knew that thousands more wouldn’t understand the gesture and would take it as an offense to the military, to veterans, to themselves.
But I am not okay with the state of this country.  I wish I hadn’t let my discomfort compromise my integrity.  I wish that I could have demonstrated what I learned from my dad, that when you’re dissatisfied with your country, you let it be known through protest.  The home of the brave should encourage this.
—    Gabe Kapler
Manager, San Francisco Giants (baseball team)
Mr. Kapler’s personal blog can be found at:  Kaplifestyle – A Lifestyle and Fitness site by Gabe Kapler
The specific post can be found at:  Home of the Brave? (kaplifestyle.com)
[Disclaimer:  The above post has been copied from the original site without permission or prior approval.  I make no claim of ownership – implied or actual.  I read the original blog post multiple times to try to extract the hi-lights for a “fair-use” review / quote.  I lacked the skill (or heart) to do this, so I am reprinting the author’s post in its entirety.  If Mr. Kapler feels I have misused his intellectual property and asks me to remove or modify this post, I will do so.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022	Smoldering Or Burning?
	I’m Not Okay Either
2021	Make A Difference
	What’s That Sound?
2020	Promise Her In Music
2019	But I’m Well Past 100 By Now
2018	Learn
	Land Of The Free, Because Of The Brave
	4 Appearances In A Row, 4 Wins To Go
2017	And Yet I’m Still Having Fun
2016	I See Coincidence Everywhere
	CA3: Civil War
2015	I Resemble That Remark… (5!)
2014	The Writer’s Dilemma
2013	Just Paying The Rent
2012	Remembering…
2011	A Little Farther

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