Typing

Words are but pictures of our thoughts. 

~ John Dryden

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I think communication is important. I typed that slowly so you can tell that I am stressing how important I think communication is. When you are communicating with someone you should focus on them. I don't believe in multi-tasking in general, but I especially don't believe in it when it comes to communication. We need to be fully present with others when we are communicating with them.

That's also why I don't use double entendres very often. I want to communicate clearly and focus directly on a single point. I try to only use single entendres.

Chicken

What is sauce for the goose may be sauce for the gander but is not necessarily sauce for the chicken, the duck, the turkey or the guinea hen.
~ Alice B. Toklas

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Overheard (not in a chicken restaurant): "I just used my 84 bags of chicken up."

I may have shared this before, but I am attracted to random things in large quantities. Plastic spoons, bottle caps, collections of buttons.

I just learned when I overheard this that I am NOT attracted to "bags of chicken." 

And the idea that she used them up... It scares me. 

Journaling

It's not my job to entertain anyone in my diary.

~ David Sedaris

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If it was my job to entertain someone in my diary, I would like it to be my job to entertain myself. That said, I can't really afford to pay me too much to do that, so I might not take the job.

Clarity

Mystification is simple; clarity is the hardest thing of all.

~ Julian Barnes

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Overheard...

"I'm not actually. And even if I was, the likelihood that would be is really small."

No idea what she was talking about. And even without knowing the subject, I feel as if I know something about her.

Winning

You wouldn't have won if we'd beaten you.

~ Yogi Berra

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I don't know why everyone got so upset when I took a picture of Elizabeth's Iowa Games softball medal and posted it on Facebook with the caption, "This is the medal I won for disc golf." It was the medal I WOULD have won if I had entered the Iowa Games in disc golf.

"There are gonna be some comments on that," Elizabeth said.

Summer

Summertime is always the best of what might be.

~ Charles Bowden

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If I had to use a seasonally-associated lotion, I think I'd use something associated with spring. Spring is a time of growth and new and damp potential and wonder. Winter is a smell of stale air and cold wind. Fall smells of decay. Summer smells of perspiration.

Also, "Damp Potential" would be a good band name. Or, if not a good band name, a better band name than "Moist Possibility."

Wheel

The wheel always comes full circle.

~ The Talmud

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Who put the "whee" in wheel?

The boss of spelling, I'm guessing.

Blue

I sell blue sky and coloured air.

~ James Turrell

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I get my blue sky and coloured air for free.

Fish

Being a fish out of water is tough, but it's how you evolve.

~ Kumail Nanjiani

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I know a fish out of water would need to get back in the water to survive. I sometimes wonder what other ailments fish suffer from. (Really, I've never wondered that beyond the occasional, "What's WRONG with that fish?!" but bear with me for the sake of this post).

Like do fish have gall bladder attacks? High cholesterol? Tension headaches?

I wonder if there is a fish CPR course. And I wonder if during the course when the fish are role playing with the CPR dummy (for the sake of argument, let's call her "Susie") if one fish ever yells:

"Susie!  Susie!  Are you a koi?"

(pause)

Reading the blog to get to that quote was worth it, wasn't it? Happy National Fish Day.

Barn

Each man is good in his sight. 

It is not necessary for eagles to be crows.

~ Sitting Bull

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Not everyone appreciates the same things. Some people love to look at birds. Some people love to watch TV. Some people love to drive through the countryside and look for great trees or awesome barns.

I don't know why I love barns so much, but I do. Barns, old houses, castles filled with free gold that you can take if you want to. I love driving around and finding all of those kinds of places.

Death

Maybe all we can do is hope to end up with the right regrets.

~ Arthur Miller

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Leslie: I'm bummed I've been at the library all day and I've missed the coverage about George Bush.

Me: I'm sure you can find it online.

Leslie: Say what you want about him, but he was definitely qualified to be president.

Me: And he respected the office of the presidency. Even if maybe he did some unethical things.

Leslie: He was qualified. And smart. Unlike some people.

Me: Oooh! I know someone who isn't qualified or smart and doesn't respect the office!  You think of someone and I'll think of someone and we'll say the name at the same time and see if it's the same person!

Eating

My salad days... when I was green in judgment, cold in blood.

~ William Shakespeare

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So if a cowboy went into a restaurant and ordered a salad, would the cowboy want ranch or western dressing? Well, it depends on where the cowboy was cowboying and what kind of cowboy he was, right?

False. The cowboy would not order salad.

True

(Photo by Rachel Heicher)

Be bold. Be brave enough to be your true self.

~ Queen Latifah

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I think what is important is not the truth, but what people believe to be their truths. It's not when you know the truth about someone that you can effectively engage with them as the truth and their truth are rarely the same. Instead, when you know what a person believes to be true about themselves, then you can connect with them.

Though I don't know why you'd want to connect with a bunch of liars!

Donald

Years ago I thought up the name Queen. It's just a name, but it's regal - obviously - and sounds splendid.

~ Freddie Mercury

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Sometimes I upload photos and give them a working title until I actually write the blog post to go with the image. As I was scrolling through today, I came across one - this one - that said, "Donald." At first I was afraid it was going to be an image of someone with a bad temper - and really just a bad demeanor in general who is always showing his ass is public.

Then I realized it was Donald DUCK, which was a relief.

Slippers

If it is peace you want, seek to change yourself, not other people. It is easier to protect your feet with slippers than to carpet the whole of the earth.

~ Anthony de Mello

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You might see these slippers and think, "I like those slippers" or "Why didn't she put her slippers away?" or "I wonder if those slippers are warm."

But what would you think if I told you they were made of glass and a guy showed up at the door to see if they fit anyone who lived here and that they fit me perfectly?

See? You're not so smart after all, are you?

Don't stress about it. I'm planning on being a pretty magnanimous princess, so you'll be fine.

Doing

Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.

~ Arthur Ashe

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There must surely be some things where the outcome is more important than the doing...

Actually I can't think of any. Of course I only thought about it for maybe 27 seconds. I thought maybe raising children - the children you raise and the adults they become are more important than the way you raise the children. But then I changed my mind because they are too closely connected. 

And because children will do things just to spite you. Like you might do all you can to raise them with love and joy and then they might grow up and be rotten people because they promised themselves that one day they'd show you. Because of that time you said they couldn't do that one thing.

"Now you get your comeuppance!" they think.

On a positive note, you taught them a pretty good vocabulary if they use the word "comeuppance," so you've got that.

Writing

Poetry is often the art of overhearing yourself say things you didn't know you knew. It is a learned skill to force yourself to articulate your life, your present world, or your possibilities for the future.

~ David Whyte

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Sometimes I go to a local bagel place to do my writing. I noticed something the last time I did that. I was working and I heard them calling out people's names. When the person yelled, "MARGARET!!" It sounded like Margaret was in trouble. It had that same tone of, "Margaret, get your a** over here! You don't want me to have to come over there!"

Bagels places can be terrifying.

Repair

No change of circumstance can repair a defect of character.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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I would like to open defect of character repair shop. I just hope people would come in with interesting character flaws. Poor moral judgment, selfishness -- stuff like that. 

If Elmer Fudd and Tweety Bird come in because Elmer's hat is not drawn to scale or Tweety's beak is slightly off-center, I don't think I'd be as good at helping with that.

Looking

It all depends on how we look at things, and not how they are in themselves.

~ Carl Jung

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I do this thing where I see people and I try to figure out who would play them in a movie. Or sometimes I see an actor and I realize that if you took two other actors and combined them you'd get that other person.

I'm not sure why it took me so long to realize that if you take a corgi and combine it with a pug that you get a mogwai.

Balls

What you need, above all else, is a love for your subject, whatever it is. You've got to be so deeply in love with your subject that when curve balls are thrown, when hurdles are put in place, you've got the energy to overcome them.

~ Neil deGrasse Tyson

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I agree. This is true in work, in study, in life in general. 

But what do you do when life throws you curveD balls?

Same thing. Rely on love for your subject.

And sometimes duck. If it's a huge ball of stone or metal, get out of the way. Don't love your subject so much you're an idiot. 

Silo

Silo, when I was young,

I used to call your name.

When no one else would come,

Silo you always...

~ Neil Diamond

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... Wait. That can't be right.

Questions

All the interests of my reason, speculative as well as practical combine in the three following questions: 1. What can I know? 2. What ought I to do? 3. What may I hope?

~ Immanuel Kant

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I wonder if people who shop at this store have a fourth question: 4. What box did I put my liquor in?