Riding

It is the unknown around the corner that turns my wheels.

~ Heinz Stucke

- - - - -

One time I dreamt that I lived back in Ames, but for some reason decided to go to Huxley. Instead of driving, I rode an adult-sized Big Wheel to get there. I got to a house and there were two little girls playing in the yard. I talked to them. They loved my Big Wheel. Then the mom came out, and I realized I had met this family before. We chatted and then I pedaled off.

In that same dream I had lunch (without the Big Wheel) with a large group of people in a very crowded cafeteria of some sort. I was at work and ended up sitting at a table with two new students in my program. I wondered why all of my colleagues sat with each other leaving the students to sit with me (and someone else - I don't remember who) at the last table. I thought that wasn't very friendly of my colleagues (whom I don't know in real life, but they were co-workers in my dream, you know how that is sometimes). Anyway, I chatted with the students and they really got excited about some of the things I shared about the program. I realized it was for the best that I got to sit with them.

I share all of this to make two points. One, no one's dreams are really interesting to anyone else. Two, I'm way more social in my dreams than in real life.

Mediocrity

External signs of wealth and success are often cheap storefronts that hide internal mediocrity or even incompetence.

~ Real Live Preacher - Gordon Atkinson

- - - - -

I have found that mediocrity tends to be loud to drown out critique. Excellence is quiet. In both cases the work speaks for itself. You don't have to tell me what you've done. I can see it.

I can also see what you haven't done. Like that list of things I left you to do. You are so mediocrity.

Window

They own the window,

You own the view.

~ Vaneet Raj Kapoor

- - - - -

You might think that it is odd that when you are outside you are always trying to look in and when you are inside you are always trying to look out. You might think about the symbolism of windows in our lives. I think that is great and all except if you are thinking about it while sitting in the car in front of me and you are stopped at a green light.

Falls

Just let go - and fall like a little waterfall.

~ Bob Ross

- - - - -

A word of warning if you fall like a little waterfall. Just be careful you don't hit your head or break a bone on a bunch of rocks when you do that. Remember, Bob Ross was a painter, not a neurologist or an orthopedic surgeon.

Ending

Every ending will meet its own end. For every ending is destined to be swallowed up by a beginning.

~ Craig Lounsbrough

- - - - -

I like endings. I like them because then you can move on to something new. Like when a garden ends and you can move on to enjoying the leaves of the fall. Or when a book ends and you can find a new book to read. Or when you talking ends and I can finally get some peace and quiet. 

 

Shadows

When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.

~ Thomas Paine

- - - - -

What really sucks is when they yield up the privilege of thinking to people who think stupid things. That is the worst. 

Jesus

Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.

~ Saint Augustine

- - - - -

I went to a doctor's appointment one time and the woman at the patient check-in desk had 15 (I counted them three times) little Jesus figures on her computer monitor. They looked like this:

What I appreciated was that some were facing out toward the people at the counter and some were facing back at her. It seemed slightly less judgmental or proselytizingish than if they were just all facing out toward me. 

Laundry

I'm not one to air my dirty laundry for the whole world.

~ Jenna Fischer

- - - - -

You don't want to live downwind from people airing their dirty laundry. 

 

Dog

To bond with a true dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth will ever be.

~ Konrad Lorenz

- - - - -

Every night between 3:00 and 430 a.m., Lily does a body slam against me. I think she just wants to be as close as she can get. It's sweet when I think about it throughout the day. It seems slightly less sweet between 3:00 and 4:30 a.m.

 

Goggles

     

I saw a commercial for an above-ground pool, it was 30 seconds long. Because that's the maximum amount of time you can picture yourself having fun in an above-ground pool. If it was 31 seconds, the actor would say, "The water is only up to here? What do I do now? Throw the ball back to Jimmy? Or put some goggles on and look at his feet?

~ Mitch Hedberg

- - - - -

Goggles change the way you see the world. 

(pause)

Not necessarily for the better every time. Sometimes change is just change.

Dogs

While there haven't yet been any studies done on whether dogs like being read to, anecdotal reports suggest they do.

~ Pet Expert Team, Purina

- - - - - 

Lily doesn't mind being read to if you don't mind her sleeping while you read to her. 

Gaze

It is beautiful to talk about beautiful things and even more beautiful to silently gaze at them.

~ Dejan Stojanovic

- - - - -

How lucky am I to have a creature like this in my life?

June

Spring being a tough act to follow, God created June.

~ Al Bernstein

- - - - -

I like June. June is the end of things that you may be ready to be done. June is also the start of new things that you may be ready to start. Additionally, June is not predictable, so whatever it is you're hoping for, June may surprise you. 

 

Life

Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you can only spend it once. 

~ Lillian Dickson

- - - - -

When figuring out how to spend time in your life, I think it is good to take the lead set by children and dogs. Both enjoy the moment and often approach things with a sense of wonder. If you have to choose between following the lead of children OR dogs, maybe choose children only because they are less likely to role model pooping in the yard. 

 

Fire

When times are dark, build a crackling fire, and gather good people.

~ Silas House

- - - - -

When times are sunny, build a crackling fire and watch it all by yourself.

 

Tree

I love a good tree.

~ Michelle Boettcher

- - - - - -

What makes a good tree? I assume a seed of some sort.

 

Bites

You are what you eat.

~ Victor Lindlahr

- - - - -

"You are what you eat," emerged from "Man is what he eats" (Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach) which emerged from "Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are" (Anthelme Brillat-Savarin).

 Anyway, if you eat tripe, you are foolish.

Past

There's a bit of magic in everything, and some grief to even things out.

~ Lou Reed

- - - - -

I used another quote on another blog post one time. The quote was "We pass through this world but once" by Stephen Jay Gould. I later realized I had typed, "We past through this world but once." That seemed as true as the original quote, but maybe not grammatically correct.

Flimflam

The American economy relies more on the con than we like to think.

~ Harlan Coben

- - - - -

Someone should make a show about a guy who sells cheap wigs for outrageous prices. They should call it "Scamson." 

(pause)

I won't watch it, but someone should make it.

Teeth

I am called a dog because I fawn on those who give me anything, I yelp at those who refuse, and I set my teeth in rascals.

~ Diogenes

- - - - -

I read something the other day about how brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand strengthens neural pathways and improves cognitive pathways. I tried it that night. It was hard. I suspect that brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand might also increase cavities.

Brothers

What strange creatures brothers are.

~ Jane Austen

- - - - -

You got that right, Jane.

 

Mom

The kitchen is where we deal with elements of the universe. It is where we come to understand our past and ourselves.

~ Laura Esquivel

- - - - -

My mom died two years ago today. This was her kitchen. My dad made the pegboard rack and I'm not sure how old the spices in the spice rack were. And today none of this looks the same. Time changes things. Time changes memory.

Time even changes the meaning of things - advice, history, songs. Like, you know that one song? I used to not have a lot of feelings about the line that goes, "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child"? Now I feel like that all the time...  Because I am.

(pause)

It's okay. My mom would have laughed at that.

Wonder

Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder. 

~ E. B. White

- - - - -

Not all who wonder are lost.

 

Street

To know only part of the story is to know only part of the truth, a part of the whole, a part of a word, a part of yourself.

~ Riana Rain

- - - - -

Do you wonder what the rest of this street name is? Is it Hoover or Dover? Is it Forever or Never? Clishmaclever?

(pause)

You don't? 

Your lack of curiosity disappoints me.

 

Language

(screen shot from the internet)

But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.

~ George Orwell

- - - - -

 I love adorable prices.

Peas

Peas are terrible and a joke food.

~ Annie Murphy

- - - - -

I bet this Lego minifigure isn't welcome at many pool parties. I won't bet a lot, but I bet.

Doing

I want an opportunity to create opportunities, (Casey, 2024).

- - - - -

When we let go of things and give others opportunities, we are letting them do new things. This works best when they are things we didn't really want to do in the first place. Better for others to do those things.

Covered

There are no secrets in life; just hidden truths that lie beneath the surface.

~ Dexter Morgan

- - - - - -

We keep a lot of things covered. Well, some of us do. Some of us don't. Those of you who don't, keep you distance. I don't have time to listen to all of your things. 

Shadow

Pulvis et umbra sumus.

(We are but dust and shadow)

~ Horace

- - - - -

I think that the original name of that one song by the group Kansas was "Pulvis et umbra sumus."

(pause)

I wonder why they changed it.

Wind

Dust in the wind,

All we are is dust in the wind.

~ Kerry Livgren

- - - - - -

If I end up being dust in the wind, I hope I don't end up in someone's eye. 

Fungi

All fungi are edible.

Some fungi are only edible once.

~ Terry Pratchett

- - - - -

To learn something for this post, I googled "What percentage of mushrooms is..." and the search offered me "poisonous" when I wanted "edible." What I learned is that the robots are a little pessimistic.

Calls

Call me.

~ Blondie

I was watching something the other day and a person was making a call on her cell phone. When the other person answered, the woman said, "It's me." 

If a person knows who "me" is on a cell phone, they probably have the caller's name in their caller ID. You don't have to say, "It's me."

Just an observation.

(pause)

A note on the format of this blog post. I wanted the second photo LARGE so you could read the sign and see the phone pole next to the sign, so that's why it is the way it is. if you don't like it, start your own blog or substack or whatever.

Garage

Normal people are so hostile.

~ Dexter Morgan

- - - - -

When I searched my blog for something related to this quote, I tried all of the following:

• Angry
• Anger
• Fire
• Hostile
• Hostility
• People
• Rage

The only thing I got was "garage" when I searched for "rage."

I feel like that's a sign that my blog isn't about hostility. Maybe it also means it isn't about "normal people." That seems about right.

 

Bears

Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body.

~ Martha Graham

- - - - -

When Martha Graham said the above, she was talking about bears not people. She was a huge fan of and advocate for bears. In recognition of her love of all things ursine, Nabisco honored her in 1988 by naming their newest snack after her, thus we have Teddy Grahams.

Store

The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are about three billion to one.

~ Erma Bombeck

- - - - -

Maybe if I ever have a store I will call it "What the Future Holds In." It will probably be difficult to stock, though.

Strangers

A stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet.

~ American Proverb

- - - - -

Some friends are stranger than others.

 

Leaping

Leap and the net will appear.

~ John Burroughs

- - - - -

This was a painting in one of the places we visited one time. I really liked it and bought a postcard of the image. It's called "Diving Pig" by Michael Sowa. I like to pretend the pig's name is Faith and that the pig is leaping not diving.

(pause)

I'll give you a minute, not that you'll need that long.

Vibrant

Some colors reconcile themselves to one another, others just clash. 

~ Edvard Munch

- - - - -

The colors of this meal Leslie and I had in Maine were vibrant. I just learned that the words vibrant and vibrate have the same origin. Was I vibrating with excitement about this meal? No. I mean, I was excited and all, but not really vibrating. 

I'm relieved to say that Leslie wasn't either or she might have dropped our food. Of course that would have led to Lily vibrating as she grabbed it. 

(pause)

That's enough about that.

Tortoise

We called him Tortoise because he taught us.

~ Lewis Carroll

- - - - -

We are always asking why the chicken crossed the road, but we don't ask why the tortoise crossed the road. Our lack of curiosity is really disappointing sometimes.

Learning

Learning never exhausts the mind.

~ Leonardo da Vinci

- - - - -

Yes it does.

Play

The dog was created specially for children. He is the god of frolic.

~ Henry Ward

- - - - -

If you have a job that you love, a job that feels like play, then I think you should call it "playbor" not "labor".

(pause)

No. I guess that could sound like "play bore" which isn't what I was going for. 

 (pause)

Anyway, the point is, dogs looks scary sometimes when they are playing. 

(pause)

People, too, I suppose.

(pause)

In conclusion, I hope you have a job you like, but more importantly, I hope you have a life you love.

Fish

The fish will be in the pool where you least imagine it to be.

~ Ovid

- - - - -

And it won't last long because of all the chemicals in your pool.

Thinking

IYKYK

~ Kids These Days

- - - - -

"If you know you know," seems an unnecessary thing to say. Clearly if you know you know and if you don't know you don't know. We all know that. Those. We all know those things. We all know. WAK.