what if this storm ends?

What if this storm ends, and I don't see you
As you are now ever again?
The perfect halo of gold hair and lightning
Sets you off against the planets' last dance.
Just for a minute, the silver-forked sky
Lifts you up like a star that I will follow.
But now it's found us like I have a found you.
I don't want to run -- just overwhelm me.
-- Gary Lightbody (Snow Patrol) 2008

when giants fall

Businesses will find it hard to survive, let alone thrive, amid increasing violence and conflict, shortages and logistical interruptions, and a breakdown of markets and financial mechanisms. Individuals will be forced to rethink livelihoods, lifestyles, living arrangements, and locales. Political structures will be in flux. Around the globe, gangsters, maniacs, and mobs will compete with established regimes for the reins of power. Nuclear attacks, domestic terrorism, and other threats that once seemed so remote to most Americans will become an all-too-frequent reality. So, too, will breakdowns, epidemics, and other fallout stemming from economic deterioration, growing social unrest and criminality, and a forced shift toward greater self-sufficiency.
-- Michael J. Panzner, When Giants Fall (2009)

the inner light

"Seize the time. Live now. Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again."
-- Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) 1992

anthem

Know your place in life is where you want to be
Don't let them tell you that you owe it all to me
Keep on looking forward -- no use in looking 'round
Hold your head above the ground, and they won't bring you down

Anthem of the heart and anthem of the mind
A funeral dirge for eyes gone blind
We marvel after those who sought
New wonders in the world they wrought

Live for yourself -- there's no one else more worth living for
Begging hands and bleeding hearts will only cry out for more

Well, I know they've always told you selfishness was wrong
Yet it was for me, not you, I came to write this song

-- Neal Peart (Rush) 1975

take it from the man

it's just like i said -- they're fucking with your head
you ain't safe in your bed or even when you're dead
they're out to school you, so they can rule you
they try to fool you or just get to you

and i seen it coming down, so i headed out of town
because i'm quick like that

i seen them on tv -- they even look like me
they said they'd set me free, but that can never be
but i know it's coming down, so i'm headed out of town
because i'm quick like that, always bounce right back

stupid magazines to sell you useless things
silly as it seems, they even steal your dreams
and i know it's coming down, so i'm headed out of town
cause i'm quick like that, never coming back

man i know it's coming down, so i'm heading far from town
cause i'm smart like that; i'm not coming back

-- anton newcombe (brian jonestown massacre) 1996