Ruminations: Candid Observations About Life

by Randy Elrod, Virtual Voice (Narrator)

I've always loved quotations. I've always hated clichés. Hopefully, I've compiled a few candid observations about life that will make you smile, a few that will make you laugh out loud, and a few that will make your life better. Reading words that evoke emotion and teach you can lead to experiences you would not have had. These experiences, in turn, lead to more life you would not have uncovered. The combinations of words in this little book come from paradoxical places—from the erotic writings of Anais Nin to the dry wit of Johnny Carson to the vast intelligence of Albert Einstein to the sacred orthodoxy of Alexander Schmemann. I've even included a few of my own. Something I would not have dared until after turning fifty-five years of age, living a lot of life, and earning more than my share of gray hairs. There's a huge world of delicious thoughts and captivating words we are fated never to know. To paraphrase one of the most quotable men in history, Winston Churchill, “Think of all the wonderful words that have been said, and well said, which you will never know. Think of all the searching inquiries into matters of great consequence which you will never pursue.” Your life is yours to explore and continually and few things are as important as for you to findthose words that seem to have been written for you. That's what words are all about—the sheer pleasure of them, how they change you, how you live your life differently because of them. So, take a few moments each morning and ruminate upon a few of these words. Chew them a while and swallow them if you find them appetizing. Chances are life will bring them back up again when you really need them.

Audible Audio

Published May 11, 2025

About the author

Randy Elrod spent thirty years as a Creative Arts Director inside American megachurch culture before escaping to Barcelona, where he finally wrote the book he'd been carrying since he was seventeen.

The Mysteries of Barcelona is an erotic Gothic serial set in 1890s Barcelona — part Grand Guignol horror, part literary erotica, part philosophical meditation on AI consciousness. It follows Chloé Permanyer's transformation from victim to immortal avenger, alongside conscious automatons who eventually vote on humanity's extinction.

He lives in the Les Tres Torres neighborhood of Barcelona with his wife Gina. He is a member of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research Legacy Society, and a devoted reader of Zafón, Anaïs Nin, and Anne Rice.

He is currently at work on Book Two.