I went our today having  certain expectations.

Plans didn’t work out at all like they were supposed to.

They worked out so much better though.

The reason I believe that the outcome was so positive is because I didn’t sweat the situation, and just went with it.  Sometimes people don’t have control of their workday and they can’t show up.  I have been there.

I opened myself up to opportunity and reconnected with a friend I hadn’t seen in years and had a great meal and just enjoyed my night.

Why am I writing this?  The message here is simple.  Smile, accept life as it comes.  Fighting it by getting mad and creating a drama, just prevents the opportunity to have another adventure.

Concrete Blonde – Everybody Knows

I named my blog Who Knew? almost exactly one year ago.  I had no idea how aptly I had titled the blog and as a year passes it reinforces within me a certain innate ability to honestly say “I have no idea what the future holds.”

I am someone who lives in the day, which has it’s distinct positives i.e. I am very spontaneous and most of my travels have occurred very spur of the moment, and it’s devastating drawbacks.  It is who I am however and I make no apologies or excuses, it is how I live.

Things tend to come full circle in life so this post features a song called Everybody Knows by a legendary performer Leonard Cohen.

Cohen rose to the opportunity this audience represented by releasing two consecutive albums, I’m Your Man (1988) and The Future (1992), that not only rank among the finest of his career, but that perfectly capture the texture of particularly complicated times. Cohen had long documented the high rate of casualties in the love wars, so the profound anxieties generated by the AIDS crisis were no news to him. Songs like “Ain’t No Cure for Love,” the wryly titled “I’m Your Man” and, most explicitly, “Everybody Knows” (“Everybody knows that the Plague is coming/Everybody knows that it’s moving fast/Everybody knows that the naked man and woman – just a shining artifact of the past”) depict Cohen surveying the contemporary erotic battleground and reporting on it with characteristic perspective, insight and wisdom.

I first heard the song in a movie called “Pump Up The Volume“  in 1990 and it was performed by the band Concrete Blonde.  Later I learned it’s origins and became a Leonard Cohen fan.  It came at a time when everything was changing, I was going off to college and my senior year in high school was marked by a clinical depression which almost prevented me from going off to University.  Thankfully I was able to get through it and I remember listening to this song on repeat in my car almost compulsively.  I think it quite fits the brooding and scared teen I had become for the song is not very hopeful, and in many ways very true.

So here I am 17 years and half a lifetime later posting my first post-hiatus entry into this blog.  Who Knew? the poem I wrote asks many questions.  Everybody Knows offers many answers, some all too true and others can be debated.  I know though that it evokes for me a great deal of truth, some fear and it does so in a very poetic fashion.  Leonard Cohen wrote what he knew.  I say who knows?

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded

Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed

Everybody knows that the war is over

Everybody knows the good guys lost

Everybody knows the fight was fixed

The poor stay poor, the rich get rich

That’s how it goes

Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking

Everybody knows that the captain lied

Everybody got this broken feeling

Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody talking to their pockets

Everybody wants a box of chocolates

And a long stem rose

Everybody knows

Everybody knows that you love me baby

Everybody knows that you really do

Everybody knows that you’ve been faithful

Ah give or take a night or two

Everybody knows you’ve been discreet

But there were so many people you just had to meet

Without your clothes

And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows

That’s how it goes

Everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows

That’s how it goes

Everybody knows

And everybody knows that it’s now or never

Everybody knows that it’s me or you

And everybody knows that you live forever

Ah when you’ve done a line or two

Everybody knows the deal is rotten

Old Black Joe’s still pickin’ cotton

For your ribbons and bows

And everybody knows

And everybody knows that the Plague is coming

Everybody knows that it’s moving fast

Everybody knows that the naked man and woman

Are just a shining artifact of the past

Everybody knows the scene is dead

But there’s gonna be a meter on your bed

That will disclose

What everybody knows

And everybody knows that you’re in trouble

Everybody knows what you’ve been through

From the bloody cross on top of Calvary

To the beach of Malibu

Everybody knows it’s coming apart

Take one last look at this Sacred Heart

Before it blows

And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows

That’s how it goes

Everybody knows

Oh everybody knows, everybody knows

That’s how it goes

Everybody knows

Everybody knows

Leonard Cohen

Ever since I first wrote this signature post for my blog I have had the pleasure of learning so much more and meeting so many new people through my blog and social media. So I wanted to repost it for those new and wonderful people that have become so supportive of my writing. Thanks guys, you know who you are.

Who Knew? by Veronica Romm

Who knew knowledge could be sorrow?

Who knew our rights could be stripped away?

Who knew laws could never govern?

Who knew leaders could get lost?

Who knew identities could be stolen?

Who knew faces could be altered?

Who knew science could betray us?

Who knew history could be ignored?

Who knew evil could be taught?

Who knew heroes could be villains?

Who knew our neighbors could be saints?

Who knew sinners could be teachers?

Who knew clothes could make the man?

Who knew possessions could be priceless?

Who knew wealth could be so hungry?

Who knew money could buy power?

Who knew fame could be an illness?

Who knew words could soon be censored?

Who knew hate could turn to love?

Who knew our bodies could betray us?

Who knew hearts could really break?

Who knew laughter could be medicine?

Who knew our children could be cruel?

Who knew man could choose a bomb?

Who knew mothers could kill their babies?

Who knew sisters could be strangers?

Who knew our sons could die at war?

Who knew pain could be a business?

Who knew pleasure could lead to death?

Who knew friends could turn against us?

Who knew memories could fade so quickly?

Who knew lovers could be untrue?

Who knew time could heal all wounds?

Who knew questions could be left unanswered?

Copyright ©2007 Veronica Romm

The Gambler

Sometimes I get really sentimental, and this is what happens. So here is me, in a mood rarely shared.  I usually escape into my world and listen to whatever makes me feel like this, today I felt like it was time to share it with others.  Maybe we are all gamblers, just trying to make it through the hand we are dealt.  The lyrics in this song apply to so many things (the chorus specifically) in life.  But I would rather be a gambler, then sit by and watch the others play.

When our fore father’s were writing what would become one of the most important and controversial documents framing societal mores so to speak, they obviously believed that “happiness” was an important  factor by including;

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” one of the most famous phrases in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and seen as part of the Bill of Rights, namely, these three aspects are listed among the “inalienable rights” of man.

It seems in this time of political turmoil, an ongoing war in Iraq and the economy stressing out just about everyone, the subject of “happiness” is being discussed and dissected more than ever.  

Time magazine devoted an issue to The New Science of Happiness. 

The British BBC television kicked off a six part series on the subject this week;

“The series looks at the newest research from around the world to find out what could it be that makes us happy.

We all want to be happy but the problem has always been that you can’t measure happiness.

Happiness has always been seen as too vague a concept, as Lord Layard, Professor of Economics at the LSE and author of “Happiness – lessons from a new science” points out.

“There is a problem with the word happiness.

“When you use the word happy, it often has the sort of context of balloons floating up into the sky or something frivolous.”

Now scientists say they can actually measure happiness.

Neuro-scientists are measuring pleasure. They suggest that happiness is more than a vague concept or mood; it is real. “

Clearly “happiness”, it’s meaning and importance differs individually.  The following are some fascinating and revealing quotes about the subject from writer’s, philosophers and other colorful characters I found worth sharing:

•  I have the true feeling of myself only when I am unbearably unhappy. ~Franz Kafka

• If only we’d stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time.  ~Edith Wharton

• Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys.  If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it.  ~Fyodor Dostoevsky 

• This is my “depressed stance.”  When you’re depressed, it makes a lot of difference how you stand.  The worst thing you can do is straighten up and hold your head high because then you’ll start to feel better.  If you’re going to get any joy out of being depressed, you’ve got to stand like this.  ~Charlie Brown

•  You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life. ~Camus

• There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year’s course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word ‘happy’ would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.~Carl Jung .

Obviously there are divergent views of the concept of “happiness.”  The song below is my own way of perhaps mocking the idea as well as sharing a great tune.  There is a great deal of controversy over what the song means.  Some claim it represents heroine, others say it refers to homo-erotocism, and a bevy of other theories.  I won’t even pretend to know what was meant by the song, but for me it is one more brilliant contribution from the Beatles both musically and philosophically. 

The Beatles – Happiness is a Warm Gun

It seems to me that we are so busy worrying about “happiness” and attaining it that perhaps we are missing the point all together.  With that said, I want to know what “happiness,” the word or idea mean to you?  Are you happy?  Do you care?  Either way, feel free to share your thoughts, I look forward to exploring this further and maybe even learning something about myself in the process.  Have a “happy” day.

Copyright ©2008 Veronica Romm

A question came to me yesterday seemingly out of the blue.

“Does G-d have a G-d?”

Does any religion address this? Do any of you have a suggestion, or answer? I am seriously curious now because I never once thought about this before. Please feel free to offer up an opinion or a belief, perhaps even an explanation.

Copyright ©2008 Veronica Romm

This is the Proust Questionnaire once regarded as a party game where guests would write their answers in a book. Today it is used by Vanity Fair as their final page to ask relevant individuals either featured in the magazine or otherwise to answer. Also there is a version that James Lipton uses in his interviews with movie stars on Inside the Actor’s Studio, on Bravo. I wanted to post it as a way of letting those who are curious get to know me a little better. I would love to have some of my more frequent visitors do it and whether you wish to answer in a comment or in a private email either way feel free to share, or just read and think about your answers.

~What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Losing a loved one

~Where would you like to live?
A beachfront property.

~What is your idea of earthly happiness?
The feeling of intense love and connectedness to another.

~To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
Absent mindedness and escapism

~Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?
Superman

~Who are your favorite characters in history?
Martin Luther King Jr., Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein,
Catherine the Great, Marilyn Monroe

~Who are your favorite heroines in real life?
Audrey Hepburn, Princess Diana, Golda Meier

~Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?
Not sure will return

~Your favorite painter?
Salvador Dali

~Your favorite musician?
Jimi Hendrix

~The quality you most admire in a man?
Honor

~The quality you most admire in a woman?
confidence

~Your favorite virtue?
Patience

 ~Your favorite occupation?
Doctor

~Your most marked characteristic?
Intelligence

~What do you most value in your friends?
Loyalty

~What is your favorite color?
turquoise blue

~What is your favorite flower?
Sunflower

~Who are your favorite writers?
Dostoevsky, Austen

~Who are your favorite poets?
Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Plath, Dickinson

~Who are your heroes in real life? 
My mother

~What are your favorite names?
Alexandra, Sophia, Max, Jack

~What historical figures do you most despise?
Hitler, Stalin

~What natural gift would you most like to possess?
To Sing

~How would you like to die?
Quickly

~What is your present state of mind?
Pensive

~Favorite swear word?                                                                                                                                                                               
fuck

~What is your motto?
This too shall pass

• It is a wise father that knows his own child.
• That which in mean men we entitle patience Is pale cold cowardice in noble breasts.
• Striving to better, oft we mar what’s well.
• If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?
• We know what we are, but know not what we may be.

http://shakespeare.thefreelibrary.com/