Books

There are some extra-ordinary things in books.

~ H. G. Wells

- - - - -

I was recently listening to an audiobook It involved a narrator with a British accent and a character named Jenna Taylor. I swear it sounded like the reader was saying "genitalia" over and over.

I've never giggled at a murder mystery more.

 

MANnequin

My signature scent is naivete.

~ William Bell

- - - - -

The scene: Two people watching TV.

Person 1: (about a character on a show) The thing I don't like about him is, you know he has to be wearing some kind of cologne that's stinky. I don't know what that cologne is called, but I know what it smells like.

End Scene.

Mantis

The Greek word mantis means "prophet" or "seer." Because of the way the insects hold up the fronts of their bodies and position their huge forelegs when at rest, it appears as though they are praying for insight.

~ George and Becky Lohmiller

- - - - -

 This was the smallest praying mantis I had ever screen. I mean seen.

(see what I did there?)

Water

If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.

~ Loren Eiseley

- - - - -

Animals can teach us so much. They can't really teach us how to swim, though because they can't talk. They also are bad at teaching math.

Beer

This is grain, which any fool can eat, but for which the lord has intended a more divine form of consumption. Let us give praise to our maker and glory to His bounty by learning about beer.

~ Friar Tuck

- - - - -

So, we go to a lot of breweries. Each one tells its own story through the beer it makes. And just like stories, not all beers are good. Also like stories, some are very good. And also like stories sometimes you accidentally spill them and get them all over yourself and other people. But then there are usually napkins around somewhere.

(pause)

What was I saying?

 

Today

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength

~ Corrie Ten Boom

- - - - -

I remember not so long ago when everyone posted their Wordle results on social media. Have we become such a cold and uncaring society that we no longer worry about one another's Wordles?! 

Yes. Yes, I believe we have.

Friends

Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years.

~ Richard Bach

- - - - -

I really love these two. They go on amazing adventures and sometimes even take me along. You see how cute they are? Well, let me tell you the truth. They aren't always this cute. Especially when they don't laugh at my jokes.

(pause)

Which, I just realized, is maybe why sometimes they need some adventures without me.

Gratitude

If it weren't for electricity, we'd all be watching television by candlelight.

~ George Gobel

- - - - -

Me: (to Leslie while watching TV) I absolutely love whoever came up with "Skip Intro."
 

Note

Writers live twice.

~ Natalie Goldberg

- - - - -

Leslie writes notes and leaves them around the house. The thing is, I never know if they are reminders to do chores or if they are potential band names.

Vegetables

A vegetable garden in the beginning looks so promising, and then after all, it grows little by little, nothing but vegetables, nothing, nothing but vegetables.

~ Gertrude Stein

- - - - -

When I was a kid, I had a play kitchen. There was a stove my dad made for me, and mom painted it so it looked like a stove. And my grandmother owned a furniture store. When it closed, we got the pretend food they put in the refrigerators they were trying to sell.

I remember I had a plaster of paris cluster of celery. 

I can't imagine that sold a lot of refrigerators.

Maybe that's why Grandma sold the furniture store.

Food

The history of pot likker dates back to enslaved cooks trying to make the most of the food they had... keeping the rich and flavorful liquid created by cooking a pot of greens or beans.

~ Amy Barnes

- - - - -

I thought it was "pot likker" or "potlikker." Then I saw on captioning that someone put "pot liquor." That seemed wrong, but I guess it's okay, too.

If you use the rich and flavorful liquid created by cooking a pot of pork butt, you are left with butt likker. 

Fly

The idiom a fly in the ointment is meant to describe a minor flaw or problem that spoils an otherwise excellent situation.

~ Candace Osmond

- - - - -

That idiom doesn't make sense to me. Doesn't it equate and "excellent situation" with ointment? Although if you have a rash and the ointment helps, that probably is pretty excellent.

Also, I don't particularly care for the word "ointment."
 

Farming

Whether conventional, sustainable, young, old, or tired, farmers are fascinating thinkers.

~ Polly Dalton

- - - - -

The book farmer's harvest was challenging. You could never know for sure if the books were ripe or not without opening each one. You see, you can't just a book by its cover. 
 

Cafe

The cafe was a special benefit to bachelors, unfortunate people, and consumptives.

~ Carson McCullers

- - - - -

While you come together to eat with people and build connections, sustain connections, or pretend connections over food or drink, it is through cafes and coffeehouses (cafe comes from the word coffee) that you build community. You can see everyone eating around you. You can see passersby.

I'm sure there are exceptions to my statements, but for those of you who are looking for an exception so you can call me out, I don't choose to build community with you, anyway. 

Silence

She's about to say, "I respect your work," but instead decides she will just stop talking. Men do that all the time, she reasons, and men rule the world.

~ Barbara Kingsolver

- - - - -

Why in the world is it "mansplaining" when "manswers" is so much easier?

Storefronts

A breeze, a forgotten summer, a smile, all can fit into a storefront window.

~ Dejan Stojanovic

- - - - -

Leslie: (watching the pilot for "Suits") What's this about? Are they attorneys?

Me: No. I don't think so. I think they run a habadashery and make men's clothes. 

Leslie: You're an idiot.

Me: Shh! I'm watching this show.
 

Tree

The antidote to exhaustion isn't rest. It's nature.

~ Shikoba

- - - - -

I read a thing on social media today that said, "Allow yourself 8-12 hours of alone time sitting in nature in the morning to mentally prepare for the day." That's pretty funny.

If everyone did that, the world would probably be a better place. I could get a lot done in the mornings because I'd have fewer emails.

Boats

Only the guy who isn't rowing has time to rock the boat.

~ Jean Paul Sartre

- - - - -

When a writer is stuck and about to give up on a character, a scene, or an entire work, they have to give it one more chance. They have to write a little bit more. They have to try before letting go of the people and worlds they have created. For writers, this kind of writing is called a "life draft."

Nielsen

Value what you know and start charging for it.

~ Kim Garst

- - - - -

This is money the Nielsens sent me to share my thoughts. 

When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a Nielsen family - which was weird since our next door neighbors' last name was Nielsen. But that's not what I mean. I wanted to be the kind of Nielsen family who decides what is on TV and the radio. I got to do that recently. I was compensated for my time. 

Don't blame me for what is on or not on TV, though. I don't think they listened to me.

Sunset

Never go too long without watching a sunset.

~ Atticus

- - - - -

I love sunsets. I love sunrises. Sun mid-day is a little less exciting unless there is an eclipse or a rainbow. Kind of like people. They're pretty interesting at the beginning and the end. In the middle they mostly are just going to work a lot and not as interesting to watch.

 

Frost

Wine gives a man nothing... it only puts in motion what had been locked up in frost.

~ Samuel Johnson

- - - - -

Well, that's terrifying, Samuel. There are a lot of people I know whom I would prefer kept that stuff locked up. 

Writing

If you write poetry, it's your own fault.

~ Michael Covistey

- - - - -

And if you don't write poetry, well, that's probably your fault, too. But would you rather live life having tried to do something or not trying at all? This is about more than poetry.

But it is not about robbing banks.

 

Anger

Anger is a funny thing. And it does funny things to us if we keep it inside. I encourage you to consider a question: Who benefits, my dear, when you force yourself to not feel angry..? Clearly, not you.

~ Kelly Barnhill

- - - - -

Millicent (always Millicent, never Millie) kept a lot of rage inside. As she grew old, she would pride herself on both the fire of her fury and the fact that it never affected her outlook or outward appearance. no, Millicent had always looked that way.

Watching

Dogs are colorblind, Gretchen. They don't see color. Just like we don't see time. We can feel it. We can feel it passing, but we can't see it.

~ Stuart Besser (in Kate & Leopold)

- - - - -

Dogs may be colorblind, but they aren't smell of food blind. 

(pause)

If that's a thing. 

(pause)

If that IS a thing, but I bet it has a better name than "smell of food blind."

Roads

The Road goes ever on and on,

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can, 

Pursuing it with eager feet, 

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

~ J. R. R. Tolkien

- - - - -

I think open roads are the best kind. Dead ends are not as good. And cult-de-sacs are the worst.

(pause)

No. That's not a typo. 

 

Hawk

Today [Cooper's Hawk] populations are thriving, owing to its ability to exploit human-altered landscapes. 

~ American Bird Conservancy

- - - - -

I have seen this Cooper's Hawk a few times in our yard. I guess I got old enough that I notice birds and look up information about them. I've always liked hawks, raptors, and those kinds of birds, but never understood people who watched other birds. And it seemed like all the elders in my world liked to watch birds.

I think it's because old people were alive when dinosaurs were alive and birds are the dinosaurs of today.

I should volunteer to teach science when I retire. 

Motivation

Motivation will almost always beat mere talent.

~ Norman Ralph Augustine

- - - - -

Motivation is being secured by each of us. Every day dedication must be made for us to be successful. Power is had by each of us for changes to be made. Doing it is something we can each do.

(pause)

Motivational speeches in passive voice aren't all that motivating.

 

Credit

All of us failed to match our dreams of perfection. So I rate us on the base of our splendid failure to do the impossible.

~ William Faulkner

- - - - -

I saw someone post a quote the other day. It said, "It's amazing what can be achieved when no one minds who gets the credit." It was attributed to an English footballer and manager. I've also seen it attributed to Ronald Reagan. Both of them likely said it but didn't give credit to Harry Truman. I believe he said it first.

However, it's kind of brilliant to take credit for this quote because if the quote is true, then who said it first really should not matter.

However, when it comes to this unicorn, rainbow bell, I think we need to know who created it. But it isn't necessarily "credit" I want to give them. 

Invisible

I don't know why people are so keen to put the details of their private life in public; they forget that invisibility is a superpower.

~ Banksy

- - - - -

I recently read 1897's The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells. You'd think I would have read it before now. Anyway, a lot of people in that book had their hands/arms "akimbo." I don't remember if the Invisible Man held his arms akimbo, but then maybe you can't tell if he does that or not.

 

Going

If you do not know where you are going, every road will get you nowhere.

~ Henry Kissinger

- - - - -

Lily rarely knows where she is going because she doesn't drive or read maps. 

(pause)

Or maybe she ALWAYS knows where she's going because she is always going to have a good time.

(pause)

I love that dog.