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I believe in enjoying life…and good drink and food is
one of life’s pleasures to be savored, as the Italian designer Elsa Schiaparelli stated: “Eating is not merely a material pleasure. Eating well gives a
spectacular joy to life and contributes immensely to goodwill and happy companionship. It is of great importance to the morale.”
I enjoy cooking (vegetarian dishes including using dairy ingredients of cheese, eggs, milk, butter, etc.) from
home-made deep dish pizza, spicy hearty enchiladas, fresh baked breads and cookies, to lemon meringue pie and my specialty
dark chocolate fudge to many other delicious main courses & desserts. Began cooking when I was about age 12,
you name it - I can prepare it well! |
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When not working, I enjoy and appreciate a variety of activities:
hiking & backpacking, aerobic and anaerobic (weightlifting) exercise, astronomy, gardening, cooking, singing, reading,
chess, music, art, films, etc.
History
particularly fascinates me, and I appreciate reading and viewing historically accurate books & films.
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MUSIC:
Music is well said to be the speech of angels;
in fact, nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine. It brings us near to the infinite.
~ Thomas
Carlyle ~
Among others: Classical--Mozart, Chopin, Wagner, Grieg, Handel (I appreciate a variety of classical); Musical compositions
by Anthony Hopkins (his 'August' cd); John Denver; Gordon Macrae, Kate Wolf, Stevie Nicks; Bonnie Raitt; Dixie Chicks, Faith
Hill, Juice Newton, Pam Tillis, The Judds, Lorrie Morgan, Shania Twain, Trisha Yearwood, Mary Chapin Carpenter, ; German traditional
folk songs & marches; The music of Ireland, the music of Italy, instrumentals: harp, flute, and piano.
ACTORS:
Anthony Hopkins, Colm Feore. (Click either name to be taken to my webpage regarding them--each page contains information
about their careers, film recommendations, and much more.)
I enjoy doing a little gardening; it's a short growing
season here! But I've grown a variety of flowers, squash, strawberries, lettuce, and a few others. Here are my daffodils:
Own a 45 &
a 40-caliber semi-automatic...excellent marksman!
QUOTES (Favorites
that express what I believe to be truth): "Love all God's creation...every leaf...every ray of light...the animals...the
plants...then thou wilt perceive the mystery of God." -Dostoevski
Any appeasement of tyranny is treason to this republic and to the democratic
ideal.
~ William Allen White Works, and not words, are the proof of Love. (Spanish Proverb) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:
He alone is great and happy who requires neither to command nor to obey in order
to secure his being of some importance in the world.
If you would create something, you must be something.
Nothing
is more revolting than the majority; for it consists of few vigorous predecessors, of knaves who accommodate themselves, of
weak people who assimilate themselves, and the mass that toddles after them without knowing in the least what it wants.
The first
and last thing required of genius is the love of truth.
To have a positive religion is not necessary. To be in harmony with yourself
and the universe is what counts, and this is possible without positive and specific formulation in words.
Our desires
presage the capacities within us; they are harbingers of what we shall be able to accomplish. What we can do and want
to do is projected in our imagination, quite outside ourselves, and into the future. We are attracted to what is already
ours in secret. Thus passionate anticipation transforms what is indeed possible into dreamt-for reality.
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With my beloved father. He is an intelligent, loving, wise, gentle soul...a real mountain man whose
happiness is found in solitude and contemplation. To visit his webpage, click here: MY FATHER'S PAGE.
I've considered heredity may also explain, in part, my aptitude
for writing, politics, and my desire to not only fulfill myself - but intrinsic to that is making a positive difference
in the world.
My father was involved in politics years ago. And, my great uncle, John Voelker, was a famous judge,
attorney and writer. He served as a Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, and under his pen name "Robert Traver"
he authored 11 books and numerous essays/stories, including writing the classic "Anatomy of a Murder" which was
made into the famous film of the same name starring Jimmy Stewart.
Both he and my father lived life on their own
terms, and though they got involved in politics they loved the wilderness and needed their solitude- characteristics I see
in myself - and which have become part of and critical to my devotion and ability to advance liberty.
Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society - John Voelker Biography
Michigan Lawyers in History--John D. Voelker: Michigan’s Literary Justice
by Frederick M. Baker, Jr. and Rich Vander Veen III
Anatomy of a Murder - John D. Voelker page from Northern Michigan University
AUTHORS/ESSAYISTS/POETS--
I
am an avid reader. I particularly appreciate the following writers/poets: Gore Vidal, Mark Twain, Robert Frost,
Emily Dickinson, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Walt Whitman, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Bertrand Russell, Stanley Kunitz, Italo
Calvino, and Frederic Bastiat. Gore Vidal is one of my favorite authors, and I regard him
as one of the finest historians and writers of our time. You may wish to visit my Gore Vidal page to learn more about Vidal's work. I have read most of his books
from The City and the Pillar to his most recent memoir Point to Point Navigation.
The TAO:
The universe came into being with us together; with us, all things are one.
The
baby looks at things all day without squinting and staring; that is because his eyes are not focused on any particular object.
He goes without knowing where he is going, and stops without knowing what he is doing. He merges himself with the surroundings
and goes along with them. These are the principles of mental hygiene.
FROM NIETZSCHE:
There are no moral phenomena at all, but only moral interpretation of phenomena
--(Beyond Good and Evil, 108).
Madness is rare in individuals--but in groups, parties, nations, and ages it is the
rule (Beyond Good and Evil,156).
Man may not be able to overthrow evil, but he can--and must--refuse to cooperate with evil. --Sartre
The way to live our vision on a daily basis is to understand that right now is the only time we have. --John
Hanley
"Always be kind to strangers. It's the friends to beware of." --Dawn Powell to Elaine Dundy at Gore Vidal's
home (as quoted by Vidal)
From Ralph Waldo Emerson's NATURE:
The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are
still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood. His intercourse with
heaven and earth, becomes part of his daily food. In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite
of real sorrows. Nature says, he is my creature, and maugre all his impertinent griefs, he shall be glad with me.
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