J.B. Sommerset

"Snow again" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 There is an old Marxist saying that goes, "Religion is the opiate of the people." I agree in part with that quote, but there is more to that, it's summed up, sort of, in the rest of his writing. I have chosen to shorten that and add it here. So here you are, the quote of the week.  "Power is the opiate of the rich, much like religion is the opiate of the people..." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"Adolf Drump" J.B. Sommerset (2024) Wow, that election really through me off my game, I gotta make up for this somehow. Here's a quote I thought would be fitting for the times. This one isn't mine, but it needs to be said anyway: "The harshest tyranny is that which acts under the protection of legality and the banner of justice". F. Montesquieu Cheers! Here's to getting back on track.

"The End of the Horizon", J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 Hello again! And welcome back. This week has been physically challenging for me, I finished a retaining wall, and it was just me doing it. So my back kind of hurts, but I have this stone wall out front now, and that's kind of cool. With all that struggle, I still fill accomplished because every time I look out that window, I am going to see that wall. Hooray! I can't say that for most of the jobs I have worked through out my life. That's why this week the quote is about crap jobs we all worked at one time or another. Here you go, served up cold, just the way we like it. "The most grievous injury a person can suffer on the job is the loss of the self, the soul, and forgetting purpose." J.B. Sommerset  Cheers!

"The Way Down", J.B. Sommerset (C) 2024 This should have been posted on Friday, I was, however, indisposed. So I am posting it now. One of the things about living on a mountain, and it being the fall, is that you have to get prepared for winter. This year, I have been chopping a lot of fire wood, and winterizing the house. We did alright last winter, but it was a mild winter in comparison to the one before it. This morning is the first morning since Friday that I have been able to sit down to update. So here it is, your quote of the week, it all about autumn: "Fall is the reminder that all things end, even suffering, and also that there is reprieve in the ending of things."  J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"The Little Blue Flower" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 I am not sure if I have posted this one before, but this is an election year and all kinds of talking-head lip-service is occupying our time. So things get a bit jumbled. This one is about bureaucracy. I hate bureaucracy more than most things. Most of it is unnecessary, and what isn't gets buried by the rest. So, here it is, your quote of the week: "Bureaucracy is an always will be the hammer the privileged use to keep the poor and impoverished subservient to their agendas..."  J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"Little Yellow Flower", Copywrite J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 Folks, I am not one for drama, but sometimes people just start things because they can't live without the rush of endorphins that accompanies rumor spreading, bickering, gossiping, complaining, etc. I, in fact can't stand this kind of behavior. Some events recently led me to coin a new quote. So here it is, this is my reply to people who complain that they don't like the way people see them when they behave in certain ways: "You can't show up to the party with a big 'Shit-stirring stick' and expect that people think you are a baker..." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

                                                      "Moe Mushrooms", Copywrite J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 Living way up here in the mountains I have to admit a few things. One of the hardest and most obnoxious is that nature does some hard lessons on all of us mountain folk- and also that there is nothing we can do to change that. For instance, forest fires, I dread July and August every year now, because everything is on fire for two to three months. But, and this is a hard understand, there isn't much I can do about it. So this weeks quote is an admission to it: "Mankind's power over nature is and always will be an illusion as far as nature is concerned. There is no amount of action that will stop the rain from falling, and no amount of begging that will save us from the flood. In essence, we are and always will be at it's merci. We have no power to cha...

                                                    "Mountain Moon", Copywrite J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 It's been a long couple of weeks, summer is winding down and there are a lot of projects that I need to get caught up on before the snow flies. Like all the wood choppin' and the stacking of at least a couple of cords. So, needless to say, I am very sore, and there is so much more to do. This week my "quote of the week" will reflect that. So here it is, short, simple, and almost like it was said by another old timer standing in his underwear on the front porch: "It will quit hurting when the pain goes away..." J.B. Sommerset. Cheers!

"The Red Belt" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2023 I was watching the news the other day, I know, I know, I shouldn't do that... anyway, I was reminded of how slanted the new is in this day and age. I noticed how certain news networks only play the part of the action that supports the narrative that bolsters their agenda. This is nothing new, I have noticed this many times, it's one of the reasons I don't watch the new much. Here's a quote that represents how I feel about news in these modern times.  "He who controls and filters the context of events can effectively control the narrative and change the meaning of how people see the truth..." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"Sand Between Toes" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2023 I have a family, and like most families some of them "ain't right". There has been some drama in the last few months and I won't bore everyone with those details. But here is a quote that I think encompasses some of the way people feel when confronted with the unpleasantness of family matters. "When we are sick out immune systems purge the poison- the viruses, the bacteria, the toxins. Emotions do the same for our spirit. When we are wronged, our anger is the inflammation of our soul trying to purge that wrong."  J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"Mushrooms on the Mind" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2023 (Designed as tattoo art for a client) This week is more of an except than it is a quote. I was going through and editing one of my old works and this stood out to me. I wrote this years ago, I never thought I would work on it again, yet here I am. This one is from "Stories from Umbria". I liked it so much I decided to make it the quote of the week. The strange thing is, I don't remember writing it. "When we die, we are as children in the folds and voids contained within death, that is to say, what ever comes next. Lost in those vast infinites of unknown and incomprehensible experiences. In that place we shall be as children in the dark, much like when we were brought into this world, alone, weak, and ignorant to our predicaments. We will be as tadpoles in a vast pond, and sadly, many of us will be food for what ever lives there- the beasts that live on the other side of life." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"Mist on the mountains" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2023 Up here, on this mountain I am frequently alone. It's never really bothered me, sometimes I wish there were some company, but I am never bored or unhappy with where I am, in part it's because it's not the first time I have lived this remote. Years ago I discovered what it was like to be surrounded by people, but still feel alone. It was then that I started to understand that it wasn't a need for company that made me feel alone, but it was that the quiet gave me space to hear my own voice in and that was the start of my self exploration. So, this weeks quote is about isolation and being lonely. I am pretty sure this has been said before in a different way, I just don't know who said it or when. "If you take the time to get to know yourself, and learn to prefer your own company, you will never be lonely." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"The Rift" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2023 I was talking to an insurance company the other day, wait, hold up, don't click off... This post only starts with something as boring as an insurance company. It's the quote of the week, so it's the situation that inspired the quote. It needs some context. I kept hitting the prompts trying to talk to a real person, and all that happened was that I got sent around and around- I didn't even get a lousy tee from it. Nothing got accomplished in that two hours of my life. It was all about bureaucracy. Here's your quote of the week: "Bureaucracy is a tool of unimaginative and boring people. It's purpose is to bind and control those who think beyond rules and regulations." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"Orange Rays" by J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 Sometimes we meet people who just can't let things go no matter how small and irrelevant to the rest of their life. They become fixated on those things and inflate them into HUGE battles that didn't need to be fought. These people are "shit stirrers". You'll know them because they will be proud of the fact that they use their "stick" to stir things up. Sometimes you might hurt their feelings when you acknowledge this trait because they don't see that they are the ones who start these things, they are placed into them by other people. They will complain about how people see them, about the image they have, the one they created. I have this quote I came up with  along time ago to encapsulate these people: "You can't show up to the party with a big moist shit stick and expect people think that you are the baker." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

Thimble Flower by J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 Sometimes quotes can be super formulaic and that can be annoying, but sometimes just because it's annoying doesn't make it less profound. One of the most common ones is: "If you don't learn to master your rage, your rage will become your master." There is an old Ben Stiller movie that pointed this out, it's called  "Mystery Men" . That movie was okay, it gave me a chuckle, but he was right about this. Most of the great quote writers do this. I am not great, but I have a couple of these formulaic little bastards in my notebooks, so here's one for the day: "Be specific to the particulars of your craft, but also, be particular to the specifics of your craft." J.B. Sommerset. Cheers!

"Lil' Shroom in the Potatoes" by J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 This summer has been strange, too cold and too cloudy, and now- instantly hot, a raging inferno. I went from bringing my plants in because it was too cold, to making sure they had enough shade within a couple of weeks. Half way through June it was 40 F at night here. Last night it was 85 F. Lousy climate change. Through my sweat and feverish delirium, I remembered I owe you guys a quote of the week, so here it is: "Love should be testing at times, but never at any time should it be a test." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

  "Driveway Bear" By J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 Most of the photos I post for the quote of the week are in fact photos I took from at "mountain lair". My 10 acres in the woods where I live, where I am surrounded by trees, animals, and magic. I have too many photos at this point to use in a life time of posts. I capture all kinds of wild life up here, and I do mean all kinds. I have mountain lions, bears, bobcats, elk, moose, deer, etc. This guy (in the photo above) was passing across my driveway as he moved down the mountain to a place with less secure trash cans. Sometimes it can be a little interesting and also a little dangerous, but I love being this close to nature. So, to honor that, this week I am posting an old quote about the subject at hand. “Consider all beings and where our progress puts them. Nature is not exclusive; it is inclusive with all its children, even it is chooses to eat them.” J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

  "Trillium Goes Pink" By J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 There's not much to say this week, busy is as busy does- super busy to be exact. So here I pulled something from some of my literature I thought was a good quote. Here it is, the quote of the week.  “Always keep promises, and always make true apologies. Do not exhaust their credit with overuse...” J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

  "Orange Juice Sunset" By J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 It doesn't quite feel like summer yet, at least not where I live, but I get the feeling it's coming- that is with hope. Hope is an interesting thing, an intangible piece of magic in an sometimes dark world. Hope guides us through dark waters without asking much. This week is all about hope. So here it is, your quote of the week. “Always guard your hope because without it you are hopeless.” J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"Little White Flowers": By J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 I was having a conversation about religion the other day with a good friend who also just happens to be Christian, it's not their fault, it's hereditary. All jokes aside, they are a good person, and we have been friends for a while and we have always butted heads around one topic. That topic is church, and being that I am who I am I said some things- interesting things. Some of which I have been saying for years but never had the wherewithal to write down.  This time I wrote some of them down. So here you are, the quote of the week: "The difference between spirituality and religion is that Spirituality will help you find your God, religion will help you find someone else's..." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!