Interesting

Interesting doesn't always mean good.

~ Christian Barrientos

- - - - -

The doll caught my interest the same way a stranger in my yard in the middle of the night would. I was interested. Not as interested in the same way that I would be interested if there was a congregation of dolls in my yard in the middle of the night. I'd be interested in both, scared of one and terrified by the other.

 

Windows

Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.

~ Edith Wharton

- - - - -

I was looking out a window not long ago and saw a man using a toilet seat to keep a dog away from him. it wasn't really a fight. More just a standoff... with a toilet seat.

You see weird, interesting, and beautiful things if you look at them.

Windows

Just because there's a hurricane going on around you doesn't mean you have to open the window and look at it.

~ Taylor Swift

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They say people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. But what if the house is on fire and the only way out is to break a window?

What about that?

I'll ask again: WHAT. ABOUT. THAT?

Music

Music is my religion.

~ Jimi Hendrix

- - - - -

Me: A four letter word... Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee.... Billy ______?

Leslie: Idol!

Me: um...

Leslie: No, Joel!

Me: I think it's hilarious you thought of Billy Idol first.

Leslie: It could have been him.

Me: I suppose. I don't know if Billy Idol still performs. But it's still rock and roll to Billy Joel.

Portraits

You can die, but you can't unlive.

~ Dennis Lehane

- - - - -

I'm glad people can't unlive because they do some ridiculous things and if they could unlive them, I'd have fewer chuckles in my life.

 

Shadow

Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it, But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.

~ George Eastman

- - - - -

If the light in your photo is fire, don't embrace it.
 

Joy

Everything with joy.

~ Proverb

- - - - -

I try, but I fail to drive in city traffic with joy.

(pause)

I'll keep trying, though. I mean... look how awesome joy is.

Towels

Why do we wash bath towels? Aren't they clean when we use them?

~ Steven Wright

- - - - -
 

Using toilet paper to dry our hands is apparently a bigger issue than I imagined.

Toys

I bought my son an indestructible toy. Yesterday he left it in the driveway. It broke my car.

~ Milton Berle

- - - - -

 

Cloudy

A library is a rainbow in the clouds.

~ Maya Angelou

- - - - -

I like this image. A library is also like an oasis in the desert. If it's really hot outside this is especially true since a lot of libraries are air conditioned and have water fountains.

Hodor

"Hodor?"

"Hodor."

~ George R. R. Martin

- - - - - 

People are pretty funny. Or at least funny even if they aren't pretty.

Chicken

If you dream of becoming an eagle, you follow your dreams and not the words of a bunch of chickens.

~ Penny Johnson Jerald

- - - - - 

Dominique Frizzle was never sure when she saw "Chicken House" if it meant a chicken coop where she might rest on her journeys and share stories with other chickens or if it meant a house where they served chicken where she might be murdered alongside the other chickens.

That's why she just booked a room at the Ramada Inn.

Cafe

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

~ Carson McCullers

- - - - -

If YOU were a special benefit to groups of people, which groups would those be?

I bet not consumptives. I mean, you're kind of worthless to them.

Colors

Color is a power that directly influences the soul.

~ Wassily Kandinsky

- - - - -

There have been years I have failed to get out and see the colors of the leaves. I try not to do that anymore. I love it too much and life is too short to miss magic like that.

However, I have yet to see the colors of the wind. Mainly because I can't see the wind.

Photography

Using risk as a tool in your career is not specific to photography, but it is especially important in this field... The nature of risk taking is that the result could be game changing good or painfully bad.

~ Christopher Scotti

- - - - -

Sometimes you have to put yourself at risk to get just the right shot. And sometimes that means you might get a kid's foot in your gut or a headbutt.

And often that also means it will totally be worth it.

Time

Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth, "You owe me." Look what happens with a love like that! It lights up the whole sky.

~ Hafez

- - - -

I remember that one time that I spent a month or so a full day early for everything. I didn't understand what was going on. Then I realized that instead of setting my clocks to Eastern Time, I had them all set to Easter Island Time.

So weird. 

Words

Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people.

~ William Butler Yeats

- - - - -

I just realized the other day a new way that the English language is particularly cruel. For example, "neckless" and "necklace" sound the same. That seems mean to me.

Salamander

[Salamanders] prefer other slow-moving prey, such as worms, slugs, and snails.

~ Alina Bradford

- - - - -

Salamanders don't like fast food.

Film

You have to listen to the movie while you're making it. I think that's important.

~ Gary Ross

- - - - -

Part of listening to the movie is listening to the actors. Like if Kate Winsl Et and her sister Cate Blanch Et are both on the film, you should listen to them. Of course they will probably fight a lot. The Et sisters are like that. You don't have to listen to that part.
 

Library

The classroom was a jail of other people's interests. 

The library was open, unending, free.

~ Ta-Nehisi Coates

- - - - -

 Library mouse just wants to give you a hug.

Or typhus.

Webs

It's not the hard way, it's the right way.

~ Chef Dylan Jones

- - - - -

I heard someone say the other day that it is rare when excellent work is easy. I agree. 

(pause)

Also, I really like it those few times when excellent work is easy.

World

Remember, we see the world not as it is but as we are. Most of us see through the eyes of our fears and our limiting beliefs and our false assumptions.

~ Robin S. Sharma

- - - - -

We can choose to see the world through fear but we can also choose to see the world through joy. Or through a bowl of orange gelatin.

Trust

I am very cautious of people whose actions don't match their words.

~ Alex Elle

- - - - -

I agree, Alex Elle. The good news is that they are not hard to spot. The difficult part is that I have an inclination to give them multiple chances. The good news is, once I commit to being cautious, I'm good at establishing distance.

The other good news is that this photo is all about good trust, not betrayal. So there's that, too.

Laughter

My way of joking is to tell the truth. That's the funniest joke in the world.

~ Muhammad Ali

- - - - -

I like to make jokes to make people laugh. I like to make jokes to make people think. Sometimes, if I'm totally honest, I like to make jokes to make people be quiet.

Mostly though, I just make jokes for my own amusement. Let me assure you, I am quite amused.

Rabbits

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.

~ John Steinbeck

- - - - -

Kids are funny. Most of them love Peeps which are just marshmallows shaped like rabbits and rolled in sugar. But if you take a REAL rabbit, skin it, and roll it in sugar - kids don't want anything to do with it! 

Searching

You can't be in love with a Google search.

~ Taylor Swift

- - - - -

Or with an Ingles search -- amiright, Taylor?
 

Books

You can't judge a book by its cover.

~ English Idiom

- - - - -

Lily believes sometimes you can indeed judge a book by it's cover.

Going

People don't leave home because things are going well.

~ Vanessa Vaselka

- - - - -

I think there are two kinds of people - people who run to things and people who run away from things. And I think we become whichever kind of people based on our lived experiences. Some of us have things we legitimately should run away from. Others may not and instead have things we want to run toward.

I imagine there are other people who prefer just to stay put. Nothing wrong with that - unless you're hogging the middle aisle of the grocery store. That's just annoying. 
 

Wash

Look after your laundry, and your soul will look after itself.

~ W. Somerset Maugham

- - - - -

I was watching a show one time and the characters were at a dinner party. In front of everyone, one person called out a guy she was living with, I think her significant other (I don't remember the specific dynamics of their relationship) for always leaving clothes in the dirty hamper. I hate it when couples call each other out in front of other people just to embarrass one another. When I said to Leslie, "I hate it when people do that," she responded, "You hate it when people do what? Air their dirty laundry?"

Fragile

. 

I suppose I have found it easier to identify with the characters who verge upon hysteria, who were frightened of life, who were desperate to reach out to another person. But these seemingly fragile people are the strong people, really.

~ Tennessee Williams

- - - - -

We are each fragile in our own ways. Breakable. Brittle. What causes that vulnerability is unique to each of us. It's like a recipe. A recipe for making something that you can break easily. Like a havreflarn cookie. 

You know what I mean

Writing

The easiest thing to do is to NOT write.

~ Samuel L. Jackson

- - - - -

So I have a very active inner life. My mind can go on a roll and combined with my interest in storytelling, a lot of things can happen in there. What is weird is that I know my way of writing and storytelling is my own. Each of us has our own way. Sometimes I think my way is wrong or bad and the whole team of other people in the world who are writers are doing it "right."

Hahahahahaha. That's not true. I mean, I think it, but it isn't a true thought.

The true thought is: There is no TEAM in "writing."

Burden

This is what normal looks like when you've had my f***ing life.

~ Sam, Gen V, Season 1, episode 8

- - - - - 

I wouldn't want to bear the weight of the world on my shoulders. I wouldn't want to have to forever roll a boulder uphill. 

I guess I better not do the things those guys did.

Mail

It seems a long time since the morning mail could be called correspondence.

~ Jacques Barzun

- - - - -

It seems a long time since the morning mail could be called the morning mail.

Parking

Life is a journey, but don't worry, you'll find a parking spot at the end.

~ Isaac Asimov

- - - - - -

Then there was the time we were sitting a CVS parking lot waiting for our COVID-19 self-test results. Suddenly, the Battle Hymn of the Republic started playing on a bell tower in town. Now, what you may or may not know is that Julia Ward Howe wrote the lyrics to the song using the tune from John Brown's Body - as in "John Brown's body lies a mouldering in the grave." Mouldering means to slowly decay.

And what you may or may not know is that John Brown's Body is a set of lyrics set to the old folk tune Oh! Brothers which includes the lyrics "Oh! Brothers, while you meet me on Canaan's happy shore?"

When people talk about "Going parking" I don't think this is what they mean. 

(pause)

Also, do people even talk about "Going parking" anymore?

Glamorous

I love glamour and artificial beauty.

~ Dita Von Teese

- - - - -

Evangeline couldn't agree more with Dita. They weren't friends and didn't run in the same circles, but Evangeline loved artificial beauty - in part because her entire head was artificial. And they didn't run in the same circles, but Evangeline had no legs.

But, oh my, was she glamorous.

Distraction

If you don't separate yourself from you distractions, your distractions will eventually separate you from your goals and the life you want.

~ @HustlersNTheHood1

- - - - -

And sometimes those distractions are people. People who say, "It's funny when she does that mean thing to other people, but I don't like it when she does that mean thing to me."

Did I say distraction? Apologies.

I meant sometimes those people are assholes. Distracting assholes, maybe, but assholes nonetheless.

I would say, "They know who they are," but I am confident they have no idea who they are. 

Snakes

Those who give you a serpent when you ask for a fish, may have nothing but serpents to give. It is generosity on their part.

~Kahlil Gibran

- - - - -

How did they get those serpents, though? And why did they keep so many of them?

Life is a myssssssssstery.