Surroundings

Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes.

~ Debi Hope

- - - - -

This is really wise advice. If you think you may be surrounded by assholes but you're not sure, you are. I really very probably am sure that you are. And if you have to ask, don't ask them. People get really touchy when you ask, "Are you, in fact, an asshole?"

 

Hands

It is in your hands to create a better world for all who live in it.

~ Nelson Mandela

- - - - -

Last fall I was teaching on the first day of class. I like to try and learn a few things about students when I first have class with them. I wondered how many introverts and extroverts were in the class. I asked them to raise their hands. I started to say, "Raise your hand if you're an introvert," but I realized that was not the way to go. Instead I said, "Stand up and sing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' if you're an introvert."

(pause)

I'm just kidding. I asked the extroverts to raise their hands. I might try this other thing next time, though.

Ethics

Lying and stealing are next door neighbors.

~ Proverb

- - - - -

If we say that shoplifting is okay if the shop owner is awful, that's a slippery slope. Well, it's a slippery slope if the shop is on a slope and it's icy out.

 

Tired

Life is one long process of getting tired.

~ Samuel Butler

- - - - -

When you are tired, you should rest. When you are tired of certain people, you should get away from them. A good thing to do is to tell them you have to leave because you have to go take a nap.

Home

Love your home and it will love you back.

~ Rodika Tchi

- - - - -

It's nice that this place lets people stay in the church while they are having their homes renovated.

Rocks

The greatest legacy you can leave your kids are happy memories; those special moments so much like rocks on the beach that are taken from the white sand and put in tiny boxes that lay unopened on shelves until one day they fall out and time repeats, with joy and sadness, in the child who is now an adult.

~ Og Mandino

- - - - -

Dear beneficiaries,

Og Mandino said I should leave you a box of rocks for your inheritance. So, here you go.

Love, Michelle.

Endings

It is easier to resist at the beginning than the end.

~ Leonardo da Vinci

- - - - -

Some people think that endings are sad. That just isn't true for every situation. The end of a relationship can be hard. The end of a bad relationship can be hard, but once it's over then you can write short stories about that person. Of course when you get to the end of those stories that can be sad. But then you can write other stories. When those end you should probably get up and do some chores because you've been sitting around writing stories for a long time now.

 

Coke

In general the churches, visited by me often on weekdays... bore for me the same relation to God that billboards did to Coca-Cola; they promoted the thirst without quenching it.

~ John Steinbeck

- - - - -

I'd like to have the money to buy the world a Coke.

(pause)

That's right. I said what I said.

Gagets

When Michael and my daughter Finty saw those[Bond] movies, they screamed with laughter because I look like I can work all those gadgets - but I'm the person who can't work a bicycle pump. So, I'm drunk with power playing M.

~ Dame Judi Dench

- - - - -

Having the title "Inspector Gadget" is more impressive than the title "Gadget Inspector."

 

Kitchen

Everything happens in the kitchen. Life happens in the kitchen.

~ Andrew Zimmerman

- - - - -

I was thinking about the play kitchen I had as a kid. My dad made me a little stove out of wood. It was big enough that when we were small, we could get into the oven. I can't believe we never played Hansel and Gretel.

Anyway, my Grandma and Grandpa Hamlin had owned a furniture store. When Grandma sold the store, we got some things from it. One of the things was the fake food they used in the kitchen display areas. I remember having. plaster of Paris celery and white, chocolate, and butter milk cartons, and some other things. I don't really remember any meat, though. 

I guess we use to play vegetarian kitchen when I was a kid. I mean, other than cooking the small kids in the oven.

Shadows

There is a strong shadow where there is much light.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

- - - - -

You should never show up spontaneously for job shadowing. It really freaks people out.

Or so I have heard.

From someone who wasn't me.

 

Hell

Hell is truth seen too late.

~ Thomas Hobbes

- - - - -

I recently heard someone say that a person was "going to hell on a scholarship." I thought that was brilliant. Then I thought, "Hey, wait. I know exactly who they're talking about!"

Clean

When your environment is clean, you feel happy, motivated and healthy.

~ Laila Gifty Akita

- - - - -

After watching videos where people clean up unattended yards or power wash walls and steps, I got a power washer and finally used it last summer. It was less a thing that I felt needed to be done (hardly anyone notices when your concrete is dirty) and more a thing that has been therapeutic for me. 

What you don't see in these photos is that I had to stop at one point and there is a big contrast between the part of the concrete I cleaned and the part I did not. I will get to it eventually.

When part of your environment is clean and right next to part of your environment that is not you feel slightly less happy but slightly more motivated than before.

 

Stir

Those who stir shit up

Should have to lick the spoon.

~ American Proverb

- - - - -

I know some people who say they like to stir things up. They say that they enjoy conflict. That is not how I experience them. I see them coming in, stirring shit up, and then saying, "Okay, I have to go to another meeting now." 

That's not engaging in conflict. That is simply being the source of conflict. 

I would say "You know who you are," but I am confident they do not, in fact, know who they are. 

(pause)

They are NOT the people in this photo. I just used it because it was a photo of stirring. A stirring image, if you will.

Friends

One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.

~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca

- - - - -

Are you ever talking with a friend and you are trying to think of the right word for a story you are telling and you can't think of the word? You know the word, but it slips your mind. When that happens, the word for the experience is "lethologica." It is highly unlikely in the midst of the moment that you forget a word that you will say "I am having a lethological moment right now..." because you're not going to remember the word "lethologic, either.

Life is hard.

But at least you have a friend to tell stories to.

Daily

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

- - - - -

Bread is the daily bread of the stomach. So are tacos and lasagna.

 

Crossing

Courage is crossing a starting line.

~ Amy Burfoot

- - - - -

Crossing things can be important. Crossing things off a to-do list. Crossing that bridge when you get to it. Crossing your Ts (after dotting your Is, of course. Well, you can cross your eyes, too but that isn't what this is about. Unless I stop writing now. Then it IS what this is about.)

 

Robot

We're fascinated with robots because they are reflections of ourselves.

~ Ken Goldberg

- - - - -

The tin man in the Wizard of Oz was a robot. He wanted a heart. I don't think most robots want a heart. I think most robots don't really want anything. They don't try new things. They just do the things they were programmed to do. Like the robot Yoda who was programmed to say "Do. Or not do. There is no try."

Waffle

Who has more fun than people?

~ Jim Frazier

- - - - -

Based on the image above, waffles are happy and have fun. Or, perhaps, in nature when threatened, waffles wave their arms and legs and open their mouths in what is meant to be a threatening manner.

(pause)

I'm not going to lie. I am not threatened by this waffle.

(pause)

However, another not lie is that if this little waffle showed up at my house, I would probably run screaming away from it. I mean, who expects that of a waffle?

 

Sharp

In nature there are few sharp lines.

~ A. R. Ammons

- - - - -

In nature there are many sharp people. Sometimes they just get dulled not from use of their sharpness, but from being forced to be dull by those around them. I don't know why some people don't love to see others shine... Stupidheads.

Pardon my language.

Brave

Like timidity, bravery is also contagious.

~ Premchand

- - - - -

Like timidity and bravery, chicken pox is also contagious.

 

Introspection

Through travel I first became aware of the outside world; it was through travel that I found my own introspective way into becoming a part of it.

~ Eudora Welty

- - - - -

I really, really, really like being at home. Yes. Really. However, I have learned that it is only when I go out into the world that I see how people engage with one another. 

Then I go back home again.

 

Responding

Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.

~ Lao Tzu

- - - - -

I have been thinking lately about how the best response to some things is silence. Or walking away. Recently I heard someone say something like their response to some people is, "You clearly are dedicated to not understanding me." That resonated with me. I know that can't always be the way I deal with people, but it can be sometimes.

How sad that they won't get to enjoy my clever responses anymore.

Lily

Sometimes a dog's purpose is just to be a dog.

~ Elisa Weiss Friedman

- - - - -

This photo looks like a painting to me. I looked up a bunch of artists because I wasn't sure whose work I thought it resembled. I finally settled on Rembrandt van Rijn. I'm glad it doesn't look like a painting by Hieronymus Bosch or Caravaggio. Some of their work kind of freaks me out. I don't need a painting of Lily walking out of a giant ear or of her cutting someone's head off.

I guess I'm a bit of an art snob. 

Unlike

I do not like you, Sabidius. I do not know why, but I do not like you.

~ Martial

- - - - -

I read this years and years and years ago. It made me laugh out loud at the time. I still chuckle now when I think of it. 

I originally thought it was Marcus Aurelius who said it. It was not. And in some versions it says "love" instead of "like," but I enjoy the quote regardless. It was written down almost 2000 years ago and still exists. 

I would say "Poor Sabidius" but I don't know the backstory. There probably was some reason Martial didn't care for him.

One

There's only one mind-expanding drug that this man enjoys and that's called school.

~ Dr. Sheldon Cooper

- - - - -

When there is only one of something, we seem to value it more. Scarcity increases value. I wonder how twins and triplets feel about that. I mean, I don't wonder enough to ask them. 

Wonder. ONE-der.

Hm. So much to think about in the world.

 

Love

There is no remedy for love but to love more.

~ Henry David Thoreau

- - - - -

There are as many kinds of love as there are beings able to love. I know that I'm not the first person to say or think that kind of thing. There is the love of dogs or even of one special dog, the love of a grandmother who actively seeks to both create and capture memories for her grandkids, and even the obsessive romantic love of another person that can drive the love-er to do freakishly weird and unhinged things that the love-ee doesn't appreciate one bit. 

Interesting side note, all three of those kinds of loves can make for really interesting movies.

Love

All love shifts and changes. I don't know if you can be wholeheartedly in love all the time.

~ Julie Andrews

- - - - -

You can't be in love all the time because sometimes you're in traffic.

Love

(Photo by someone with my father's camera)

Nice people don't necessarily fall in love with nice people.

~ Jonathan Frandzen

- - - - -

I don't think everyone falls in love. I think some people creep into it, stalking their way into someone's life, squirming and slithering until they have wrapped themselves around the person they are pursuing.

No. Not people. I think snakes do that. Of course some people are snakes. They twist and turn and shed their skins gradually over time and then bite you on the leg when you don't expect it. Don't be with people like that.

Anyway, love is nice sometimes. Supposedly.

Safety

Adult children tend to be more focused on safety, and their parents tend to be more focused on living a meaningful life.

~ Laura Carstensen

- - - - -

Young children seem to be more focused on living a meaningful day (maybe meaningful lives if they are children that think in grander terms) and their parents are more focused on safety. So, basically that middle part where you are living most of your life you aren't really focused on living a meaningful life. 

I mean, not YOU specifically. Just you meaning people in general. I don't know your life. I hope it is meaningful if that's what you're going for, though. And safe, I guess. It can probably be both.

Anyway, I'm not the boss of you.

Longing

I preferred reading the American landscape as we went along. Every bump, rise, and stretch in it mystified my longing.

~ Jack Kerouac

- - - - -

I love road trips. I like driving and seeing unexpected things. I even enjoy seeing expected things sometimes - cornfields in Iowa, mountains in North Carolina, towns, cities, and silos on the horizon - depending on where you are.

Last year my summer was not filled with as many roadtrips as I had expected, but it was a journey. As I think back to that time, there are parts of the trip I don't want to take again. AND those same parts of the journey are adventures for which I am grateful.

But, seriously, a lot of those things I don't need to do again.

 

Frolic

vrolijk: Dutch - merry, cheerful

- - - - -

If you don't know how to frolic, watch a happy dog and then copy said happy dog. Don't worry if people are watching you. Unless, you are at a dog park without a dog. I personally think people without dogs should go to dog parks to get some dog time since not everyone can have a dog in their lives. Other people aren't as enlightened as I am. Yes, it is a burden, but I'm okay. I have a dog.

 

Disguise

No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered about which may be the true.

~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

- - - - -

Sometimes we have to conceal ourselves to pass through dangerous situations. During those times it is best to adopt wise guise.

 

Barometer

The arts are an even better barometer of what is happening in our world than the stock market or debates in congress.

~ Hendrik Willem Van Loon

- - - - -

Aurora and Ezra both like to make art. They both draw really well. They are creative thinkers. Their little sister Rosa Jean doesn't draw very well at all. Mostly because she's a baby, I think.

Grief

There is no grief like the grief that does not speak.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

- - - - -

I was listening to a show about grief. There was a researcher named "George Banana" who talked about his own experience and his scholarship. I thought, "It must be a challenge to talk about grief with a name like 'George Banana' who sounds like a standup comedian, a children's birthday party performer, or a boyfriend for Jan Brady."

I found out later that his name is actually, "George Bonanno." That is probably better.

I miss George Banana, though.

Gratitude

I always believed that the elders in my family are the reason for my success.

~ R. Madhavan

- - - - -

We should definitely thank our elders when we find success. We literally would not be here without them. And when we do thank them, we should yell loudly because they might not hear us otherwise.

 

Photos

Photograph the world as it is. Nothing's more interesting than reality.

~ May Ellen Mark

- - - - -

This is one of my favorite childhood photos. Seated from left to right are Andrea, me, Old Cowboy Statue Thing, Duane, and Erik. I do not know who that child with the ice cream cone is. I like to think that somewhere, that child's parents have this same photo maybe from a slightly different angle.

(pause)

I know they probably don't have this photo. I just like to think that they do.

Barns

Barns act as a bridge between the present and the past.

~ Eddie Daggett

- - - - -

Another thing that bridges things for us is a bridge. 

 

Helper

I get by with a little help from my friends.

~ John Lennon

- - - - -

Lily likes to help with things. However, since she didn't know a three letter name of a New Zealand parrot that can solve logic puzzles, she wasn't able to help me with the crossword.

 

Happiness

Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us.

~ Henri Matisse

- - - - -

If you're happy and you know it, keep quiet because some people are trying to sleep around here.

Shoes

Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world.

~ Marilyn Monroe

- - - - -

I threw Aurora's Croc under the picnic table when we ran outside for the head-to-head battle. Ezra took off one of his Crocs so that he and Aurora would appear as a solid front in their roles as teammates in the battle. Good thing he did or it would have been difficult to tell who was on whose team.

Communication

People may hear your words but they feel your attitude.

~ John C. Maxwell

- - - - -

This note is a cute little exchange Leslie and I had a while back. Our schedules don't always align, so sometimes we have to leave one another notes. 

Communication is fun.

Snow

A snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky, unbidden, and seems like a thing of wonder.

~ Susan Orlean

- - - - -

There is little more exciting than a snow day. To have your plans disrupted in a way that obliges us to stare out the window in wonder, what a gift. 

(pause)

Of course, you might not like this gift for 29 days in a row any more than you'd like getting the same book as a gift 29 times, but that isn't my point.

Gates

Still round the corner there may wait, 

A new road or a secret gate.

~ J. R. R. Tolkein

- - - - -

It probably is too late when you are standing at the gate. Unless you're a gate inspector.

 

Needs

Don't forget: beautiful sunsets need cloudy skies.

~ Paul Coelho

- - - - -

I want you to take a moment and think about what you need. What are you sacrificing to social pressure or negative self-talk or by putting others needs and wants before your own needs? 

Don't tell me about it. I don't have time to help you with that. Just think about it.

Clouds

The clouds - the only birds that never sleep.

~ Victor Hugo

- - - - -

The clouds are also the only birds that never poop on your windshield. Although maybe emus don't do that very much either. Or apteryxes. 

Happy

I'm delighted with how my career unfolded.

~ Margo Martindale

- - - - -

I don't know if we are supposed to be pursuing happiness in life or peace or enlightenment or what. I don't know if we are all here to pursue the same things to begin with.

I do know that an awful lot of us are looking for a really good pork tenderloin sandwich, though. At least that's what it seems like.

 

People

Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.

~ Voltaire

- - - - -

I hate the Q & A section of lectures. If you talk for more than a minute, you aren't trying to ask a question, you are trying to get attention and grandstand. I didn't come to listen to you talk, Bernard. 

Games

There are more important things in life than winning or losing a game.

~ Lionel Messi

- - - - -

Games are fun, but sometimes the thing that is more important than winning or losing is letting GoGo get to bed. She's tired.