Smiles

Just be a joy to be around.

~ Sasha Colby

- - - - -

I think most dogs live in joy. Unless it gets messed up by humans. Of course humans can mess up the joy of other humans, too. 

So quit doing that.

 

Beer

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

~ Kinky Friedman

- - - - -

I understand that sometimes people drive you to drink, but when that happens, I think it's equally important to have someone drive you home from drinking.

Coveting

I don't read advertisements. I would spend all my time wanting things.

~ Franz Kafka

- - - - -

Wow is coveting a popular sin right now. Wanting instead of giving is popular in our culture, in our churches, in our minds. 

There are a few, however, who are not coveting or wanting or focused on what everyone else has. Their brains are quiet. They are at peace.

I wish I had what they have.

Cat

The worthy administrators of justice are like a cat set to take care of a cheese, lest it should be gnawed by the mice. One bite of the cat does more damage to the cheese than 20 mice can do.

~ Voltaire

- - - - -

Some days you see injustice in the world and don't know what to do. Other days you see injustice in the world and you know exactly what to do. Like when they degrade and dismiss heroes and you join the Cats on a Couch on Instagram as an act of subversion.

(pause)

Some days you take smaller steps to eradicate injustice than others.

World

Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia.

~ Charles M. Schulz

- - - - -

I had a conversation with a friend a few days ago. It went something like this:

Ryan: How are you doing?

Me: I have food, shelter, and people who love me, so I'm doing all right despite the fact that the world is a shitshow.

Ryan: Let me offer you a reframe on that. The world is beautiful. It is filled with beautiful people. And a few selfish people who are making decisions with no regard for the consequences to others.

I have some wise friends.

And, yes, this is a photo of Canada. And, no, that isn't an accident.

Hope

They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.

~ Tom Bodett

- - - - -

I might add food, shelter, and potable water to that list. 

Humor

Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.

~ Euripides

Once upon a time I was in a meeting. We were talking about someone named John Schmidt. I feel comfortable sharing this because there are a lot of John Schmidts in the world. Anyway, I wanted to share a thought with the group, so I posted the following:

This may be the single most hilarious thing that I will ever share in work chat. As you can see, two of my colleagues appropriately acknowledged this comment. There were more than two people in the meeting. The ones who failed to laugh at this... I am not angry at them. I am sad for them. 

 

Previous

"Absolutely Previous"

~ Schitt's Creek Fans

- - - - -

A more accurate caption for an image, I may have never seen.

 

Seeing

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

- - - - -

I call this photo "Dear God."

 

Darkness

The darker the night, the brighter the stars.

~ Fyodor Dostoevsky

- - - - -

I heard someone use the phrase "rehearsing my fears" the other day. I didn't have a name for that activity before, but I do that. You can call it worrying, I guess, but it's a bit more than that. For me it involves a script, casting, an arc of plot and emotion, and in most cases a tragic end.

(pause)

Anyway, I guess there is supposed to be brightness in that. I don't know. Whatever. 

Questions

Life is a question in the form of an answer.

~ Piero Scaruffi

- - - - -

A text from Kirk:

Zak randomly asked me a question while we were driving today. "Hey, Papa! When I'm 30 will Aunt Michelle be dead?"

We did the math. We do not anticipate you will be. But he wanted me to remind you to be sure you know he loves you just in case. 

ummmmm.... I will say I think he's developing a healthy relationship with death.

He then started talking about how much he loved fishing with you so it might just be he wants to be sure you two can still fish when he is 30.

Jump

(photo by Richard Boettcher)

If obstacles are large, jump higher.

~Steve Backley

- - - - -

I believe this photo of Kirk was taken on a trip to the Wisconsin Dells. This was the trip where Erik and I flipped a canoe. We didn't really come close to drowning because we had on life jackets. In my head, I thought you were supposed to turn the boat upside down. Guess what. You don't do that with a boat that curves up on the ends or it just spins in circles. 

Erik was saying, "We're going to drown!" over and over again. We didn't drown. We got in trouble (As if we flipped it on purpose. I can assure you we did not.). 

This is how I imagine Kirk felt realizing there was still a chance he could be an only child. 

Dork.

Friends

When friendships are real they are not glass threads or frost work, but the solidest things we can know.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

- - - - -

Try to have at least one brilliant friend in your life. Someone who brings out the best in you and loves even the worst in you. Someone you can go for beers or bagels with. Someone who is there when you create a character named "Leslie Fretwell, Librarian." We all need a friend like that.

Door

Uninvited don't mean unwelcome.

~ Maggie "Mags" Bennett

- - - - -

This is my motto, however it is NOT the motto of my home.

 

peaceful

Set peace of mind as your highest goal, and organize your life around it.

~ Brian Tracy

- - - - -

I have role models of peace around me all the time, I just don't always pay attention.

(pause)

I also have roll around in leaves models around me all the time.

 

Meaning

We should use common words to say uncommon things.

~ Arthur Schopenhauer

- - - - -

Autocorrect is kind of like mansplaining. You didn't mean this, you meant that. Let me fix it for you.

Shut up computer robots! I do, in fact, actually mean "Live and let like"!!!! So leave it that way.

(pause)

I didn't really mean "Life and let like," but shut up.

Door

I went to the door slowly. I wanted to stay in my life for just a few seconds more.

~?

- - - - -

I don't know if I read this, heard this, or wrote this myself, but it is a a really cool pair of sentences. 

(pause)

I hope I wrote them. I mean I know I just typed them here, but I hope they are mine. If not - good job mystery person.

 

Fading

Old soldiers never die, they simply fade away.

~ Folklore Song Stanza

- - - - - -

I think this is especially true for soldiers who play a lot of basketball and are particularly good at jump shots.
 

Spring

[Spring] is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine.

~ Frances Hodgson Burnett

- - - - -

Spring is a time of beginnings. A time of new things. A time of not getting as much sleep as you did before the time change. A time of wonder. Like, "I wonder what time it is."

Ice

Like fragile ice, anger passes away in time.

~ Ovid

- - - - -

Some winters are longer than others.

Look

Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.

~ Marcus Aurelius

- - - - -

Well... some of the things we see are idiotic, Marcus Aurelius. Seriously. And, yes, that is me being observant without judgment. I mean, you know. You see it, right?

 

Railroad

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.

~ Will Rogers

- - - - -

When I visited the California State Railroad Museum, a guy in line behind us said that place was on his bucket list. I guess some of us have to train ourselves to achieve our dreams.

Travel

There is no luck except where there is discipline.

~ Irish Proverb

- - - - -

It is easier to drive out of Chicago at 11:00 a.m. on a Tuesday than to drive into Chicago at 10:30 p.m. on the Saturday night of St. Patrick's Day weekend.

Join me for more wisdom I should have known before I actually lived it. 

 

Pain

There is no coming to consciousness without pain.

 ~ Carl Jung

- - - - -

Child: [crying]

Mom: What happened honey, did you get pinched?

Child: No. I only got hurt.

Dang it, kids are stupid. I mean, this is your chance to use your pain to get something, kid. 

Mystery

(photo by person with a bunch of 2 liter sodas)

There is always more mystery.

~ Anais Nin

- - - - -

For what event were these intended? Did the event get canceled? Who bought this soda to begin with? Why is it free? How long have they been driving around with these in their car?

Mysteries are awesome.

Rich

Wisdom outweighs any wealth.

~ Sophocles

- - - - -

The boy was the heir of a great fortune. But not that great. He was born with a silver spork in his ear.

Line

The bottom line is to have fun and enjoy life.

~ Rekha

- - - - -

I was looking up ways to deal with hard times and one of the things they suggested was to "tackle your problems." 

I'm pretty sure I would get arrested if I actually did that.

 

Sick

It's a chilling reminder that people with plans get sick.

~ Liane Moriarty

- - - - -

What plans do you have that you have been ignoring? What plans should you be attending to and nurturing? What will people see and think if you get sick and those plans are left to die and rot?

(pause)

PLANTS. I mean what plants do you have? 

 

Searching

Part of adulthood is searching for the people who understand you.

~ Hanya Yanagihara

- - - - - 

Another part of adulthood is realizing that most of those who understand you are dogs. Which isn't bad at all.

 

Sunset

Be confused. Confusion is where inspiration comes from.

~ Robyn Mundell

- - - - -

For along time I thought that David Attenborough was the old guy scientist who created the original Jurassic Park in the first movie. That is not the case. That actor's name is John Hammond. Still, I will likely forever picture John Hammond when I hear Sir David talk about animals and the wild. 

A lot of mistakes and confusion are relatively harmless.

Unless David Attenborough has a temper. Then there could be issues. He sounds mellow when he's talking about 

On a loosely related note, John Hammond actually looks a bit like David Attenborough's brother Richard.

(pause)

Upon further research... John Hammond is the name of a character played by Richard Attenborough who is David Attenborough's brother. While confused in new ways, I actually seem to be more right about things than I thought I was when I started this post. For example, John Hammond in Jurassic Park does look remarkably like David Attenborough's brother Richard.

And I feel like I might have written about this before at some point. 

Where

The middle of nowhere doesn't exist. Everywhere is somewhere.

~ Me

- - - - -

Wherever you are, there are interesting things - at least if the light is right. I guess even in the dark there are interesting things. They can just be a little scary since you can't see what the heck they are.

 

Puzzles

The art of simplicity is a puzzle of complexity.

~ Douglas Horton

- - - - -

I enjoy doing puzzles. Especially in times when I feel like things don't make sense. There's some peace I get by putting the puzzle together so the image makes sense.

There are actually several pieces I get.

 

Simplify

(photo by Hugo Moreno)

Our life is frittered away by detail... simplify, simplify.

~ Henry David Thoreau

- - - - -

I got so caught up in the spelling of "cabinets" on this ad that I initially missed Hugo's photo. I guess he is in bad shape and just doing the best he can by clearing a few things out. He only has so much energy to give to things right now.

Like so many of us. 

 

Smart

Granny says people who think slowly always accuse quick thinkers of concentration problems. "Idiots can't understand that non-idiots are done with a thought and already moving onto the next before they have. That's why idiots are always so scared and aggressive because nothing scares idiots more than a smart girl." 

~ Fredrik Backman

- - - - -

I love Fredrik Backman and cannot improve upon what he has said here.

So, that's all for this post.

 

Frisbee

When a ball dreams, it dreams it's a frisbee.

~ Stancil Johnson

- - - - -

If a frisbee can be fun when it's flat and throw and dropped and sometimes gets a hole in it and dogs chase it and it lands in the water and people grab it all the time...

Then you can be fun, too. 

(pause)

But don't let people treat you like that.

 

Window

Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.

~ Joseph Campbell

- - - - -

Find a place inside where there's fire, and the fire will burn out the pane. If the fire is by a window. And if the panes are flammable.

Words

(photo by internet robots)

 The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.

~ Mark Twain

- - - - -

This social media post is more perfect than if it had been what the author intended. 

Last

If you died today and the last text you sent was on your tombstone, what would it say?

~ Somebody on Instagram

- - - - -

My text: Can you close the garage door on my side for me?

Posts

Things that happen on the internet never happen in real life.

~ Liane Moriarty

- - - - -

What we post in real life may not outlast what we post on social media, but often it might be more useful.

Past

Let go of the past, but keep the lessons it taught you.

~ Chiarra Gizi

- - - - -

A year ago it was still February. 

What do you think about that? 

(pause)

I bet you don't even think about it at all. I know how you are.

Thinking

It honestly does not matter. Trust me, people are not thinking about you the way that you're thinking about you.

~ Alexis Rose

- - - - -

I believe this is true. I wish I could put it into practice, but sometimes I get in my own head too much about other people.

(pause)

Also, it really does matter what dogs think of you. A lot.

Toast

        Linus: You gonna make some toast, how about putting a 

                   slice in for me?

        Lucy: Here you are.

        Linus: Thank you very much. Hey! This is too light! It's 

                   hardly singed! Surely you don't expect me to eat RAW 

                   toast!

~ Charles M. Schulz

- - - - -

First of all, Linus is pretty ungrateful here.

But much more importantly, you know Charlie Brown Thanksgiving? Where did the kids get all those toasters?!

Laughter

The highest state is laughter.

~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

- - - - -

The laughter of two friends who have known each other since they first started deciding the adults they wanted to become is magical. It really doesn't matter what the subject of the laughter is - it's the shared moment. When you feel safe enough with someone who knows you well to laugh hard, that's a phenomenal thing.

For the record, they weren't laughing at me. In case you were wondering. They weren't. I asked and they said they weren't. I'm sure they were telling the truth.