Happy Belated Birthdaze! :)

Hello everyone –

Last Thursday, November 8^th, marked the 23^rd birthday of the RHC Fortnightly Quotemail emailing list! J The list now known as the RHC Quotemail began during my graduate school days in the German Department at the U of I. Its original name was REEL – Rob’s Eclectic Edutainment List. It was primarily aimed at friends and colleagues in the German Department, but it began to expand slowly but surely as my worksites changed over the years. When I moved to the Graduate College Information Office in 1997, this list became the “Quote of the Week,” and when I moved to the ACES James Scholar Honors Program in 2000, it was simply called “Quotemail.” Today, this list can boast over 130 members who receive snippets of poetry and prose, mixed in with some inspiration and humor, every other Friday.

In honor of this auspicious occasion, here are two of my favorite “philosophy of life” poems, which I would like to dedicate to my cousin, A.N.A., on the occasion of her own 23^rd birthday, which was also last Thursday. :)

“A Psalm of Life”

(What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist)

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream ! —

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

Life is real !   Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal ;

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way ;

But to act, that each to-morrow

Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle !

Be a hero in the strife !

Trust no Future, however pleasant !

Let the dead Past bury its dead !

Act,— act in the living Present !

Heart within, and God overhead !

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time ;

Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o'er life's solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate ;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait.

“The Rainbow Connecti8on” (1979)

Songwriters: Kenny Ascher / Paul Hamilton Williams

Rainbow Connection lyrics © Walt Disney Music Company

1. Why are there so many

Songs about rainbows

And what's on the other side?

Rainbows are visions;

They're only illusions,

And rainbows have nothing to hide

So we've been told and some chose to

Believe it;

But I know they're wrong, wait and see.

Someday we'll find it,

The Rainbow Connection,

The lovers, the dreamers and me.

2. Who said that every wish

Would be heard and answered

When wished on the morning star?

Somebody thought of that

And someone believed it

And look what it's done so far.

What's so amazing

That keeps us stargazing,

What do we think we might see?

Someday we'll find it,

That Rainbow Connection,

The lovers the dreamers and me.

All of us under its spell,

We know that it’s probably magic!

3. Have you been fast asleep

And have you heard voices?

I've heard them calling my name.

Is this the sweet sound that calls

The young sailors?

The voice might be one and the same.

I've heard it too many times to ignore it;

It's something that I’m supposed to be.

Someday we'll find it,

The rainbow connection...

The lovers, the dreamers and me.

Happy 23^rd Birthday to Quotemail and to my amazing cousin, A.N.A.! :)

Rob