Penguins

It's very difficult not to be excited by 10,000 king penguins.

~ Sir David Attenborough

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My brother Kirk likes penguins. That said, I bet if he had one of these penguins he would still bite its head off. 

I said he likes penguins. What I should have said is he likes TO EAT penguins!

Actually, I don't think that's true. 

In today's world there isn't really any truth at all anymore, though so I guess I can say whatever idiotic thing comes to mind. 

Wow this became a lot more emotionally-charged and political than I thought it was going to be when I looked at the photo. The unpredictability of our world is simultaneously magical and tragic.

It's tragical. Which is a combination of the words "tragic" and "magical." It is also just a regular word by itself without being a mashup word. 

(pause)

I think that about covers it for today.

Abandoned

It was always himself that the coward abandoned first. 

After this all other betrayals came easily.

~ Cormac McCarthy

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I think it is a sad thing to feel abandoned. Probably worse than always having felt alone. To have a sense someone was with you and then they are not. That's really rough.

And I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "But, Michelle - look at the word abandoned. Right in the middle of abandoned is the word band. So in the middle of being lonely is possible joy."

Except what if you are feeling abandoned because someone offered to help you start a band but then ran off with all the money you gave him for the instruments? Then your little words of advice not only aren't helpful, but in fact they provoke even more pain.

But not nearly as much pain as a musical about feeling abandoned by the instrument money guy. I forget the name of that musical, but I hate it. I think maybe it's called "The Instrument Money Guy." That sounds right.

Zak

The soul is healed by being with children.

~ Proverb

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I leave on my birthday to spend almost a week with Zak (and his parents, but let's be honest - they're kind of an afterthought). I like Zak a lot. Mainly because I am his favorite.

That is a pretty easy way to get me to like you. If I'm you're favorite, I probably like you. 

Unless you creep me out. Like Kathy Bates. Well, like some of the characters she's played. Honestly, if she told me I was her favorite, I'd probably like her. Unless she had a sledgehammer in her hand.

Binoculars

What I am looking for is not out there. It is in me.

~ Helen Keller

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I hope she's not looking for her house keys.

Mailbox

This at least should be a rule through the letter writing world: that no angry letter be posted till four and twenty hours will have elapsed since it was written.

~ Anthony Trollope

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Responding without reflecting; reacting instead of engaging; retaliating without processing. We do that stuff. And it doesn't serve us well.

Instead, what if we wrote those angry letters and then threw them away? Might we throw away the anger with them?

No. Because you should recycle that paper instead.

Movies

It's not what a movie is about. It's how it is about it.

~ Roger Ebert

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So Leslie is taking this online course about movie musicals. The other night she was watching one from 1929. I watched part of it. The plot was this:

Sisters - one is talented, the other beautiful. The talented one has a boyfriend who falls in love with the beautiful one. They end up together and the talented one goes off to keep performing.

I didn't really like it.

Time

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

~ Marthe Troly-Curtin

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One year for her birthday, Elizabeth planned the entire schedule for the evening. It read as follows:

Party 5:30
5:30 get seddle
5:40 jump on tramp
5:50 dinmer
6:10 hide n go seek or sardiens
                                    sardines
6:30 cake
7:30 nails/makeup/hair
7:30


The moral of the story is, you need a plan and you need to pace yourself. For example - it's good to get seddle before you jump on tramp.

Shine

If I could be granted one wish, it would be to shine in your eye like a jewel.

~ Bette Midler

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One day about three or four years ago I was shopping in Target with Kirk and Jared.  Don't ask why.  Anyway, we separated to accomplish our tasks and I saw this. Then I texted Jared and Kirk this: "Totally thought this said 'Shimmer Shine Pants.'  Now I'm sad."

They didn't write back.  Either they were sad, too or they were ignoring me.  Does that make me more sad?  No.  I hardly ever think about it anymore!!

Hiking

Carry as little as possible, but choose that little with care.

~ Earl Shaffer

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Jared: Kirk, do you think we will carry Zak more on the back or on the front with this new backpack.

Kirk: Okay, so... answer this instinctively. If you were going to fall into the Grand Canyon, do you think you'd fall backward or on your face?

Jared: Well, I think him facing forward would be better for pictures.

Kirk: Oh! True!

Barn

It will always be summer; build barns.

~ Hesiod

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So we should plan for what is to come because what is to come is what is now. Is that what this means? Or is it that what has been will come again and we should be ready for its return? 

Or maybe the barn represents something. People? Build up people because they are always a part of us? Or maybe barns represent safety and in good times (summer) it is important to cultivate safety for the bad times.

Or is it that Hesiod's family owned a lumber store?

Summer

Summer is always best through a window.

~ Jens Lekman

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Something not smart at bedtime is to try and look online to figure out what kind of snake that was that jumped up at you when you were walking in the woods earlier that day. 

Jazz

Man, if you gotta ask, you'll never know.

~ Louis Armstrong

- - - - -

How can jazz be so cool and jazz hands not?

Cherry

Who doesn't love a stuffed cherry tomato?

~ Alex Guarnaschelli

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Why is Hi-Ho-Cherry-O such an addicting game? Leslie said Aurora was addicted to it and wanted to play it over and over and over. I remember feeling that same way when I was a kid. It's not really much of a game of strategy. The board game is simple. It's just luck.

Kind of like farming. 

Wow. It harkens back to an agrarian time when there was peace and hard work and everyone knew that there were times when things would happen beyond their control and things may not go they way they wanted.

Wow. It's not only a parallel to farming, but to childhood. It represents the randomness of the world and not having any real control because your parents think they're boss of you. And you do what you can. And dogs happen. And birds happen. 

And cherries. Cherries happen, too. What a simple and beautiful game. 

Also that spinner is super fun to spin. WOO HOO!!!

Also, one more thing: I think it depends on what it's stuffed with, Alex Guarnaschelli.

Hydrant

I used to work in a fire hydrant factory. You couldn't park anywhere near the place.

~ Steven Wright

- - - - -
The word hydrant comes from the Latin "hydro" and the American "ant" and when translated literally means, "To drown a lot of ants in a lot of water."

Dog

Dog's lives are too short. Their only fault, really.

~ Agnes Sligh Turnbull

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This is Sadie. Sadie was Bill's dog. She died a while ago. That is sad. Bill is getting a new puppy that will be in Canada with us this summer. That is happy. It's a yellow lab puppy named Zeke. That is really, really good.

I still miss Sadie, but I am excited to meet Zeke.

Sometimes when I'm up late at night, I look at dog rescue / adoption sites. That does not make me happy because I want a dog. Leslie says no. I said I wanted a dog when I get tenure. Sometimes I find a really good dog and ask her about it and she says, "Do you have tenure, yet?"

She knows dang well I don't have tenure, yet.

Does it make me angry, sad, or motivated? That's what you want to know?

The answer to your questions is, "Yes."

Sleeping

I love sleep. My life has a tendency to fall apart when I'm awake, you know?

~ Ernest Hemingway

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The other night, I went to bed and dreamt I was traveling and visiting people. Unfortunately, the people I was visiting wanted to spend time with me and even though I was very, very tired,  they wouldn’t let me go to sleep. Also old episodes of Carol Burnett were on that I hadn’t seen before.

I woke up exhausted - yet somewhat amused.

Web

Oh what a tangled web do parents weave when they think that their children are naive.

~ Ogden Nash

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Kids are way smarter than you think. I mean, take Kid President vs. Actual President. 

Never mind. Don't do that. It's too depressing.

Quick

Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings.

~ Jane Austen

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I have a lot of little-known claims to fame. For example, one of my great-great grandfathers was the original advocate for a four-second rule. Of course he would eventually be outvoted in favor of the three-second rule. Still. Kind of famous.

Banjo

Setting my mind on a musical instrument was like falling in love. All the world seemed bright and changed.

~ W. C. Handy

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If you had a kid and your last name was Joah and you named him Ben, wouldn't it be ironic if he had no talent at all for stringed instruments?

(pause)

Yes. It would.

Cannisters

The more storage you have, the more stuff you accumulate.

~ Alexis Stewart

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The less storage you have, the more stuff you accumulate on your lawn.

Fighting

The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

~ Sun Tzu

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I think the supreme art of war is also to subdue the self without fighting. 

And for cats - especially ones who are fast as lightning - the supreme art of war is to subdue the self without Kung Fu Fighting.

Lights

I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.

~ Og Mandino

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And I will appreciate the nightlight for it shows me the corners of things that I otherwise bang my shins on and then say bad cusswords.

Myth

Science and technology revolutionize our lives, but memory, tradition, and myth frame our response.

~ Arthur M. Schlesinger

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Kirk and I are working on a book together about family. In writing this, I have reflected periodically on the difference between memory and myth. There are lots of ways to look at these two concepts. I think the biggest distinction between the two of them however, is that they are spelled very differently.

Dreamers

Dreams have only one owner at a time. That's why dreamers are lonely.

~ Erma Bombeck

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Also, the person who dreamt up the art form in this photo is lonely because just look at the art form in this photo.

Posted

Every time you post something online, you have a choice. You can either make it something that adds to the happiness levels in the world - or you can make it something that takes away.

~ Zoe Sugg

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I just read a lot of things about what "POSTED" on signs like this means and if it is necessary. I don't have a good answer, all I can say is this: It didn't work on me in this particular case. Will I say that it didn't work because I didn't understand if the usage of the word POSTED was descriptive or legal? That I didn't know if it was literal or figurative? That I didn't know if the poster was serious and was thinking specifically of ME when posting?

No. I'm not talking about this at all anymore.

Reach

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,

Or what's a heaven for?

~ Robert Browning

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I have heard all that "reach for the stars" stuff, but stars are made of fire and they will burn you. I say instead reach for reflectors on light poles. They don't burn you, you can actually reach them, and at certain times, they are even brighter than stars.