Grandmothering

No one can do for children what grandparents do.  Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.

~ Alex Haley

- - - - -

Leslie loves being a grandma. 

She isn't one of those scary grandmas who chases her grandchildren around the yard with a screeching chicken.  Which is good.  I think that might negatively affect how Aurora feels about her.

Also, I don't know where Leslie would keep the chicken in the downtime.

Motel

At Motel 6 in Amish country I wonder if they leave the light on for you?

~ Jay London

- - - - -

If the word hotel come from "hote" which means "host."  Then motel probably comes from "mote" which means to be allowed to.  So, the next time you're traveling you need to decide if you want to be hosted or simply tolerated.

Actually, that's a good way to navigate life.  Do you want to be a person others look forward to seeing?  Or someone people just put up with.  Or better yet, do you want to be someone people look forward to arriving or someone people look forward to departing.

Or even worse, deporting.

Or even worse, deposing.

Or even worse, despoting.  Okay, despoting is not a word, but if it was, I sure wouldn't want it done to me.  

Food

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.

~ Hippocrates

- - - - -

The idea of food as medicine is a good one.  Making choices to help your body feel better.  To nourish and encourage and sustain.

Take an orange to strengthen your bones.  Here are some root vegetables for good mental processing. How about some salmon for a healthy heart?  Have a plate of pasta to keep your body going in the hard days to come.  Enjoy this barbecue to lift your spirits.

The idea of medicine as food..?  Less appealing.  

Also, I wonder if Hippocrates' friends called him "Hippo" for short.

(pause)

Probably not.

Roads

The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind.

~ Sigmund Freud

- - - - -

Some roads weren't meant to be traveled, but rather to be observed.  You don't have to go down every road there is.  You can't.  You have to just look at some roads.  Or watch other people go down roads that you won't or can't go down.  And, if you're lucky, then the people going down some of those roads will be people you don't like.  And if you're really, really lucky, the road they are on will never converge with the road you are on.  Or, if the roads do converge, you won't reach the same intersections at the same time.  Or there will be a red light holding them back while you pass.  Or you will have tinted windows and they won't see you.

Another analogy could be railroad tracks.  Or paths.  Or stairways.  Or hallways.  

Or escalators.

Or elevator shafts.

Ice

It's a strange world of language in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water.

~ Franklin P. Jones

- - - - -

It's amazing how nature can take things and freeze them and they become things we would never have imagined.  They take new forms and create a new way of seeing things.

I think people do the same things with memories.  They take moments and freeze them and then they become something new.  Sort of like what really happened, but not completely like what really happened.  

Kind of like the water frozen above.  It isn't what you might have imagined ice would look like.  But you take it and cut a chunk of it and hit someone in the head with it, they'll see that it's ice.

You can do the same thing with memories.  Well, if you carve your memories into big chunks of ice.

I guess everyone needs a hobby.

Farm

We have neglected the truth that a good farmer is a craftsman of the highest order, a kind of artist.

~ Wendell Berry

- - - - -

I love farms.  I respect farmers.  It is hard and risky and important work that they do.  My grandpa was a farmer.  I love the creativity of farmers.  Of using what there is to use and  not wasting things.  Of creating what is needed in ways that are helpful and not hopefully not destructive.  Hard working.

What do farmers grow?  Is it hope?  Dreams?
Or cows?  Or beans?
Crops of goldens and greens?

No.  They grow restless waiting for this post to finish up.

Railroad

Wherever I go I'm watching.  Even on vacation, when I'm in an airport or railroad station, I look around, snap pictures, and find out how people do things.

~ Richard Scarry

- - - - -

One time in 5th grade we were playing Christmas Hangman.  First of all, we used to celebrate Christmas in elementary school.  I'm not going to get into whether I think that was good or whether I think it was oppressive to people.  My point is simply that we did it.

Now, I could explore how "playing" something called "hangman" is problematic.  However, that is also not the point of this post.

My point is this...  There was one round where the following letters were on the board:

R_ _ _ _ _ _    _ _ _    R_ _ _ _ _ _ _  R_ _ _ _ _ _ R.

The person who was guessing had a time limit before her turn was over.  She panicked and screamed, "Railroad Near Road!"

I couldn't quit laughing at that.  I don't think my classmate appreciated it.  

I don't know that I was the one who got to solve the puzzle, but I could have.  I was good at things like that.  I was less good at other things.  Like showing compassion for my word-puzzle-impaired classmates.

Listen

Be grateful for luck.  Pay the thunder no mind - listen to the birds and don't hate nobody.

~ Eubie Blake

- - - - -

I think I am a pretty good listener.  I am probably a better listener in my work life than in my personal life.  I am probably a better listener in person than on the phone.  

Leslie and I talk on the phone a lot.  That is challenging because phones pick up other noise, you can't see the person when they are talking or when you are talking and it is easy to get distracted by other things when you are on the phone.  Still, I try to listen.

When Leslie is driving home, there is a point in her drive where the reception is really bad.  At that point I have to ask her to repeat things.  Or if she is tired, she doesn't always speak as clearly.  Or if I am tired I probably don't always listen as well as other times.

The other night we were having some communication problems.  I had to ask her to repeat things a few times.

Leslie:  I hope you're not losing your hearing.

Me:  I hope you're not getting the elder mumbles.

(pause)

We have big hopes for each other.

Envy

As iron is eaten away by rust, so the envious are consumed by their own passion.

~ Antisthenes

- - - - -

I think pretty much everyone is envious or jealous or covetous at times.  Hopefully not too often.  And I really am not trying to provoke that in any of you, but I am about 73% sure that I have a pillow with the same fabric pattern as a chair I saw on the TV show "West Wing."

Love

You're like a song that I heard when I was a little kid but I forgot I knew until I heard it again.

~ Maggie Stiefvater

- - - - -

Love does weird things to people.  And people do weird things to love.  They manipulate it.  They twist it.  Sometimes that is good and creative.  Sometimes it is disconcerting.  Sometimes it is other things.

For example...  take the idea that a person loves.  In fact, take the quote, "I love."  That can mean a lot.  You can stretch that to cover feelings about people or animals or places or memories.  You can make it about things or food or hobbies.

Or you can scramble it up into "Olive."  Though maybe it's a bit more romantic to scramble it up into "O, live!"  Or maybe it's more romantic not to play anagram games with love.

Secrets

A good friend keeps your secrets for you.  A best friend helps you keep your own secrets.

~ Lauren Oliver

- - - - -

I know some secrets.  Some are mine.  Some are other people's.  Some are things I probably think are secret which are not secret to the people who shared them with me.  

Some people think secrets are usually bad.  I disagree.   don't know that we need to label them "good" or "bad."  Especially if they are not our secrets to begin with.

I do appreciate that I have some good people around me who can exercise discretion.  Or at least if they share things I share that I hope don't get shared they don't share those things with people who will share them so widely that the sharing gets back to me.  So, thank goodness for that.

I have some cool friends.  (pause)  I just can't tell you who all of them are.  Or at least not their real names.

Some of my best friends are spies.  That sounds like a joke.  For the sake of argument, let's just pretend it's a joke.  That's best for everyone involved.

Snake

Because we focused on the snake, we missed the scorpion.

~ Egyptian Proverb

- - - - -

I have heard people refer to things as "lower than a snake's belly."  In reality though, lower than a snake's belly is even closer to the earth.  Grounded.  Connected to nature.

I understand why we are afraid of snakes and what they represent.  I understand that something so different from us can be disconcerting, dangerous.  But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't appreciate the differences of these other creatures.

Snakes eat mice and hardly ever come into my house.  Mice, on the other hand, do not eat snakes and have been known to come into my house.

Okay, once a snake came into my house and that really freaked me out.  

What freaks me out even more is how many scorpions are in my house and I don't see them because of all the mice and snakes.

And why can't I find better housing?

Labels

It's not what you call me, but what I answer to.

~ African Proverb

- - - - -

We seem compelled to label things.  I get having to have names for items - spoons, toilets, harmonicas.  You wouldn't want to get those things confused.

I even understand giving people names.  Referring to everyone as "Hey, you" would slow down the communication process.

But why do we have to label things "good" or "bad"?  Can't we just keep the good yogurt in the refrigerator and throw the bad yogurt away?

Trains

I like trains.  I like their rhythm, and I like the freedom of being suspended between two places, all anxieties of purpose taken care of: for this moment, I know where I am going.

~ Anna Funder

- - - - -

I also like trains.  I haven't ever traveled any significant distance by train.  I have ridden the train at Adventureland, but - let's face it - that train doesn't even go around the whole park.

Hobos ride trains.  They have to be clever and quick and sneaky because usually they are riding trains without tickets.  In a way that is a credit to their ingenuity, I think.  I'm not an expert on hobos.  I'm fascinated by them, but I don't know a lot about them.

I should learn more about them.  Maybe I could become an expert.  And maybe then they would be more widely recognized and acknowledge as an important counterculture.  Maybe they could even be on a US Postal Service stamp!

Of course, that would be problematic in and of itself.  Because - of course - it would be a tramp stamp.

Details

Our life is frittered away by detail... simplify, simplify.
~ Henry David Thoreau

- - - - -

I really am not good with details.  A few weeks ago I went to Issaqueena Falls.  I thought it said it was an easy five minute hike.  This is what the description ACTUALLY said...

Issaqueena Falls

An easy 5-minute walk from the parking area on a well-maintained path takes visitors to a viewing platform overlooking the falls. The descent to the base of the falls is steep and challenging.

That second sentence I apparently didn't read.  That second sentence is accurate.  

Danger

Learning is not child's play; we cannot learn without pain.

~ Aristotle

- - - - -

I love this photograph.  I should think it is more a warning to pedestrians than cars, though.  Or it ought to be.

Sometimes we don't always pay attention to signs in the way that we should.  We might read what is written on them, but at the same time we can miss what they are really telling us. 

Like, "This might be a crosswalk, but every crosswalk is a 'Use at your own risk' kind of pathway."

Forbidden

Forbidden things have a secret charm.

~ Publius Cornelius Tacitus

- - - - -

 

Jam is sweet.

Happy

The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.

~ Henry Ward Beecher

- - - - -

So on Facebook (which is a social media platform, if you're not familiar) I get notifications each day of who has a birthday.  I like to look at the list of birthday-havers and figure out what sorts of things they have in common.  Are there personality traits?  Do they work in similar areas?  Are there geographical connections?  Do they share hobbies?

I can always find at least one thing.  It's really interesting.  Of course some days there is only one person I know on Facebook with a birthday.  Then I don't play that game.  And most days - when there is more than one person - the only thing I come up with as a commonality for the people sharing a birthday is that they have the same birthday.  I actually don't spend a lot of time on this activity.

Friend

Happy is the soul that has a friend.  Happier is the soul that trusts in the truth of the heart of a friend.  Happiest is the soul that knows the solemnity of friendship and honors its laws.

~ Ogwo David Emineke

- - - - -

So when I find photos I want to use in my blog, I put them in here in draft form.  I used to just do that.  Then I ended up with so many photos that I needed a system to figure out what they were without having to open every draft I had.  So now I give each one a tentative title.  I put photos on at different times.  Often I forget what photo I have put with a given title.

All I can see in draft form is the title.  I just opened this draft.  This one was titled, "Friend."  

It made me smile when I saw it.

This was in West Virginia when we took a hike around a lake at Pipestem.  We heard the ice creaking several times while we were there.  It was warmish in the sun and coolish in the shade.  There were some icy spots, but nothing too bad.  

It was a good day.

This is a good friend.

Everyone should have a good friend.  And you don't have to hike around a lake with your friend, you can do other things with her.  You could do macrame or clean chicken coops or eat black licorice.  If those are things you love to do, I hope you find someone with whom to do those things.  

And also, don't ask me to be your friend and do those things.  I might be your friend, but I really don't want to do those things.  And I really don't want to just "hang out" after you clean your chicken coop, okay?

Expression

Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn.

~ George Bernard Shaw

- - - - -

 

I wish I could read the mind of babies.  Not kids and not adults.  I don't want to know their thoughts.  But babies?  Toddlers?  I'd like to know what they are thinking.

 

I have heard some things recently about how it's good that toddlers are so small because they only have a sense of themselves and their own wants and needs and they might kill us all if they were bigger and stronger.

 

That's scary.  But It also might be kind of funny to read the thoughts of a little baby thinking, "I am going to beat the crap out of you if you don't give me more candy!  I hate you!  I hate you and your sweet potato puree!  I. WILL. DESTROY. YOU."

 

And by "you" in the above, I do not mean me.  I mean you.



Nature

The higher nature in man always seeks for something which transcends itself and yet is its deepest truth; which claims all its sacrifice, yet makes this sacrifice its own recompense. This is man's dharma, man's religion, and man's self is the vessel.

~ Rabindranath Tagore

- - - - -

Nature and religion are connected.  Really everything is connected.  What affects one of us has some effect on all of us.  We don't have to share beliefs or philosophies or space or language or ideology or experiences. 

Like my friend Allison.  We were at lunch a few weeks ago and she said, "I'm not religionous."

I get it, Allison.  I don't know what being "not religionous" means to you, but I respect that.  I think I am not religionous in my own way too.

Grind

You cannot expect people to understand your grind.  It is not theirs to make sense of, it's yours.  Stay focused and fulfill your destiny.

~ Tsepiso Makhubedu

- - - - -



I bet it's nice, after the daily grind to come home to your house on the corner of Pepper and Mill.

Wait.  I don't mean nice.  I mean ironic.

Time

Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.

~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

- - - - -

 

Time is a difficult thing to get a handle on.  I think it was Einstein who said time was an illusion.  I don't know about that.  I just know that time can be challenging because it can feel different to different people.  Additionally, it can feel different to each of us at different times.  Crazy.

 

And how do you know where you are in time?  Or where someone else is? 

 

Leslie:  Are you still up?

Ok, guess not.

 

Me:  Sorry.  Just leaving the grad celebration. If you happen to be up give me a call.

 

Leslie:  right now?

I mean, is this now?  It is so late.

 

Me: Up to you.  It's okay if you're sleeping.  Tomorrow is fine.

 

Leslie:  No.  I meant is this current?

I think it is.

 

Me:  It is.

 

Or is it?  Was it?

 

I dunno.

Llama

The greatest pleasure when I started making money was not buying cars or yachts but finding myself able to have as many freshly typed drafts as possible.

~ Gore Vidal

- - - - -

Sometimes when I am preparing blogs, I have a photo I like and a rough idea of what I might write.  I haven't wrestled with it enough to get it to the point that I want to post it.  I jot notes, preliminary ideas, possibilities. 

Then I leave it.  I leave it to sit because I know that stepping away is the right thing to do.  And that when I come back, the pieces might fall into place.  Or I might have had a new idea that would work to bring it all together better.  Or I may decide to take it in a completely different direction.

Here is an example of notes I had to go with this picture.

"So they have llamas in Argentina."
"And a baby llama is called a cria"
"There's some sort of joke about don't cria for me Argentina there"

Sometimes when I come back to a draft, the pieces don't come together.  Then I either leave it longer or I delete my notes and figure I'll come back to the photo later on or I delete the entire thing.

Or sometimes I write stuff like this and go ahead and post it anyway.

Art

Art is unquestionable one of the purest and highest elements in human happiness.  It trains the mind through the eye, and the eye through the mind.  As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life.

~ John Lubbock

- - - - -

 

 

You know what else colors life?  Crayons.  But my friend Julie didn't like the color of life from crayons in her carpet.  Some people just aren't art lovers, I guess.

Self

I was a pretty good imitator of Roy Acuff, but then I found out they already had a Roy Acuff, so I started singin' like myself.

~ Hank Williams

- - - - -

I like this. 

The world has already had the people it has had, but it hasn't ever had you before.  So be yourself.  You're the first one to be you.  And the best person suited to be you.

Now if you are an impersonator, I don't know what to tell you.  You're on your own.  Well, on your own with a lot of other people you impersonate.

Good luck, brother.  Or sister.

Good luck, sibling. 

Locked

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

~ Samuel Johnson

- - - - -

 

Sometimes the things that wine puts in motion are not good things.  Emotions or actions that can't be undone.  While they might be locked up again so as not to recur, they can't be taken back.  They are there and done and said and felt and heard and experienced and lingering and carried.

 

Like if you get mad because you spill your wine.  If you never were drinking that wine to begin with, you wouldn't have spilled it.

They say there's no point in crying over spilled milk.  Well, there's no point in crying over spilled wine, either.  But people still do it.

I guess people also cry in their beer.  At least I remember our bus driver when I was a kid yelling at us and saying, "No sense crying in your beer!"

(pause)

I wonder how they decide whom to hire as bus drivers.



Yorick

Alas, poor Yorick!  I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy...

~ William Shakespeare 

- - - - -

 

Don't we all have a Yorick?  Someone from our past who made us laugh.  A person with incredible imagination?  Someone who mattered to us a great deal in dark moments.  Somehow we lose track of those people from time to time.

 

Sometimes we find them again.  If you have a Yorick, you should try to find him or her.  You should appreciate him or her.  It would be good to find them.

Hopefully we find all of them and not their skulls.  Also, why are we hanging out and digging in places where we might come across skulls?  It's not like we're archaeologists, right?

 

Well, some of us are. 

You're missing my point.

 



Nature

See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...  we need silence to be able to touch souls.

~ Mother Teresa of Calcutta

- - - - -

 

If yu are quiet in nature, you can hear things.  But even if you are very, very quiet, nature can hear you too.  It hears your breathing.  It hears your quiet movements on leaves and grass and rock.  I suspect it can even hear you blink or turn your head.

 

And if you are in a forest and no one is around and you fart, well I know nature hears that, too.  And smells it.   And the people you thought weren't around?  They heard that, too.  You know because you hear them giggling.

 

Nature is wonderful.

Talking

If writers wrote as carelessly as some people talk, then adhasdh asdglaseuyt[bn[ pasdlgkhasdfasdf.

~ Lemony Snicket

- - - - -

When Leslie and I went to the Wildthings game last summer, we waited a long time for the game to start.  The softball game that had happened in the afternoon had gone into 15 innings or something and they had to get the field ready. 

There was a woman with a microphone who was trying to keep the crowd entertained while we waited.  She kept giving out tickets to TNA Wrestling which was going to be in town the following week. She would have people do little quizzes or whatever to get the tickets.  Then she would give them tickets and yell, "Tell us what you know about T 'n A!!"

It seemed very inappropriate for a family event.  She also called them the "Wahld things."  And at some point she referred to a guy as an "amputee victim."

Leslie kept murmuring things to me like, "The Wahld Things are in number first place!!"  Leslie is a troublemaker.  At least she didn't run around screaming about T 'n A, though.

Love

You have to walk carefully in the beginning love; the running across fields into your lover's arms can only come later when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip.

~ Jonathan Carroll

- - - - -

I like to play with the lyrics in existing songs.  Lots of times I think I can come up with better words than the ones in the actual song.  But that's how I am.  Pretty full of my songwriting self.

Here is an example I thought of a few months ago when Leslie called the Campanile a "Concubine."  

My funny concubine,
Sweet comic concubine,
You make me smile with my heart.
Your looks are laughable.
Unphotographable.
Yet you're my favourite work of art.

Is your figure less than Greek?
Is your mouth a little weak?
When you open it to speak
Are you smart?

But don't change a hair for me.
Not if you care for me.
Stay little concubine stay.
Each day is Concubine's Day.

I know it isn't my most creative work.  And I'm not 100% sure I'm an advocate for "Concubine's Day."  Still thinking (though not too much) on that.

Oh, and for the record, if I saw someone running across a field in a sprint of love and they fell, I'd laugh.  Whether it was beginning love or later love.  I would definitely ask about broken hips and chipped teeth, but I would be laughing while I asked.  

Valentine's Day is so romantic.

Bad

Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life.  I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have - life itself.

~ Walter Anderson

- - - - -

The other night I got a paper cut.  It was inside my left index finger.  It was one of those paper cuts you don't realize you have until you get something in it.  In this case it was something like barbecue sauce.  Or maybe some sort of household cleaner.  

Who am I kidding?  It was barbecue sauce.

Anyway, it stung and stung and stung.  I didn't like it.

I mean, what's worse than a paper cut?

(pause)

A lot of things - poverty, war, hate, ignorance.  Really?  you couldn't come up with things worse than a paper cut on your own?    Like I just said - you're ignorance.  

Also, know what is worse than a paper cut?  Confusing barbecue sauce and some sort of household cleaner.

Senses

Seeing, hearing, feeling are miracles, and each part and tag of me is a miracle.

~ Walk Whitman

- - - - -

When we go to the island with Bill and Suzanne, we can see and hear lots of things.  Birds, bears (allegedly, I've not seen any bears the two years I've gone), snakes, sunsets, sunrises.  You can hear the water sometimes the rain.  You can hear people talking as they kayak by or talk on islands nearby.  You can hear geese and boats and the wind.

One time we were sitting on the dock and heard banjo music.

Leslie said, "Sounds like a Ken Burns documentary."

I really like her.

Family

Sometimes it's heartbreaking to see your siblings as the people they've become.  Maybe that's why we all stay away from each other as a matter of course.

~ Jonathan Topper

- - - - -

Kirk:  How is Leslie's mom doing???

Me:  Pretty well.  They just get on each other's nerves sometimes because they can both be stubborn.

Kirk:  Glad she is well!  Family is the worst!  I always...  Oh crap. I forgot who I'm texting.  Damn autocorrect.  "Family is the worst" was supposed to read "Family is wonderful.  I'm so glad my family is super friends with each other and never argues ever." Stupid autocorrect.

Hm.

I think that if we were indeed Superfriends, Kirk would be Gleek.

Seriously

Everything is changing.  People are taking their comedians seriously and their politicians as a joke.

~ Will Rogers

- - - - -

 

I love this sign.  Don't just consider going with experienced paddlers.  And we can't REQUIRE you to go with experienced paddlers.  SERIOUSLY consider going with experienced paddlers.

 

Seriously.

 

At least don't go alone.  Always outdoorsy with others.  Otherwise you have an accident and you are alone.  And you have to cut off your arm.  Or you have to feed your leg to a bear to escape.  Or you have to figure out a way to purify your urine so you can drink it to survive.

 

On second thought...  Seriously consider staying inside at home.

Messages

Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or else the message and the messenger will be rejected.

~ Mahatma Gandhi

- - - - -

 

I like it when Wayne shares updates with me.  He tends to find bitlits of news and information that I would like to know about.  Then he texts me.  Then I know.

 

Sometimes we discuss what he shares at length.  More often we each make a couple of comments and I thank him and tell him he is wonderful and he says I am wonderful and I agree that we are wonderful.  It's nice.  And oh so true.

 

A recent example:

 

Wayne: "Author and Publisher of Choose your Own Adventure Books Dies at 78..."

Me:  Aw...  I'm surprised he turned to that page.

Wayne:  I see what you did there.

Learning

I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.

~ Lily Tomlin

- - - - -

Learning isn't always easy, fun or exciting.  Sometimes it can be.  Sometimes it is just really hard work.  And often you don't realize what you have learned until a long time later.

Like this bulletin board tribute to Walter White.  He didn't learn how valuable chemistry can be until a long time after he was done in school and even a long time after he had been teaching.  Then he knew.  Then he used what he learned to make some money.

I'm not sure people should make bulletin board tributes to Walter White, though.  I mean, that show isn't even on anymore.

Annoyed

The classic pose of a female model is to look kind of sexy and a bit annoyed.

~ Caitlin Moran

- - - - -

When I write my blog, sometimes I have an idea and I find a photo to go with it. 

Sometimes I come across a quote and think of something to write along with it.

Sometimes I have a photo and then find the perfect quote to go with it.

This post is the latter.

The end.

Happy birthday, Leslie.

Diva

The word diva to me means doing something supernatural with something natural.

~ Patti Lupone

- - - - -

I was thinking about Patti Lupone the other day.  I don't know her.  I did see a video of her yelling at rude people who didn't turn off their cell phones during one of her performances.  "Good for her," I say.  Well, "Good for her, " I type.

I think she is very talented.  I also am kind of intimidated by her.  Like, I bet she would get really angry if you spelled her name Patty Lupone instead of Patti.  Or if you spelled it Pattilou Pone.  I understand that.  People should spell other people's names correctly.  And I don't think you have to be  a diva to expect that.

I don't think Leslie is much of a diva (though she certainly could play one on TV).  I know she loves swimming, though.  And being in the water.  I have heard she is really good at scuba.  Does that make her a scuba diva?  Maybe.  Very, very maybe.

Commentary

The first forty years of life give us the text; the next thirty supply the commentary on it.

~ Arthur Schopenhaur

- - - - -

And the however many years after that next thirty give people permission to say whatever they want. At least that runs in my family on my mother's side.  Which scares me for when she gets to be an oldster.  She is already good at speaking her mind.  Who knows what she'll have to say when she decides it really is okay to say WHATEVER she thinks?

One thing is for sure, when that time comes there will be a lot of description and detail.

And I will be making some commentary.

Deer

Oh dear.  Oh d-d-d-d-dear, dear.

~ Piglet (A. A. Milne)

- - - - -

Me:  There is a deer running through that yard.

Leslie:  Mmm Hm.  DAMN!  There's a deer!

Me:  That's what I said!  And there are two more.  Be careful.

Leslie:  I thought you meant one of those light up deer winter decoration lawn ornament things.

Me:  But...  I...  Wait.  You're right.  (laughing) I totally do that..

Leslie:  Yes.  You do.  "Look!  A deer!" and it's a stupid lawn decoration deer.

Me:  That could have led to an accident.

Leslie:  Maybe next time you could yell, "LIVE DEER!"

Me:  That's a good idea.

Snow

 Is it snowing where you are?  All the world that I see from my tower is draped in white and the flakes are coming down as big as pop-corns.  It's late afternoon - the sun is just setting (a cold yellow colour) behind some colder violet hills, and I am up in my window seat using the last ligth to write you.

~ Jean Webster

- - - - -

It's not snowing where I am.

(Note: If Jean Webster and I were pen pals, I'm not sure if she would write me back.)

Magic

We do not need magic to transform our world.  We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already.

~ J. K. Rowling

- - - - -

 

I agree with this.  I think that if we listen to ourselves and pay attention to the world around us, we know things that we don't realize we know.  We can do things we didn't think were possible.  We just have to open ourselves to the possibilities - imagined and not - in the world.

 

For example, I texted Rachel and said, "Headed to your house.  Need anything?  Deviled eggs?"

 

She responded, "HOW did you KNOW?!!"

 

I texted, "Psychic."

 

Do I think I'm psychic?  Is being psychic magic?  Is the devil magic?  I don't know.  Do I think the devil got into me the same way he gets into deviled eggs?  No.  Deviled eggs are called that because they are spicy (pepper, mustard, Tobasco, something).  I suppose I'm deviled since I have eaten pepper, mustard and Tobasco, but I think you're mixing up your words. 

 

I am called divine.  I can see where you'd make that mistake, though.  Because you're bad at spelling.

Mail

I get mail, therefore I am.

~ Scott Adams

- - - - -

 



I sent out some cards at the beginning of this year.  Well, it was more like the end of last year.  I started a few years ago sending out New Year's cards.  I like New Year's Day.  I don't like New Year's Eve.  I think I've shared that.  I do like the reflective nature of the end of a year.  I just don't like the frivolity that goes along with it.  I'm not a very frivolous person. 

What's the opposite of frivolity?

According to my computer, it is sadness, work, understanding, sensibility, wiseness, seriousness.

Those are probably more true of me.  I don't know that I'm sad or that I work hard.  There are lots of things I don't understand or that don't make sense to me.  I'm not always serious and less often wise.

What's the opposite of those things?

Whatever it is, that's what I probably am.

And also, I send people mail sometimes.