Ready

The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.

~ Emily Dickinson

- - - - -

LOOK OUT, FUTURE!! HERE WE COME!!!! 

(pause)

I mean, we're mostly going to just stay in the current moment and wait for you to get here, but you know what I mean.

Postcard

The world before us is a postcard, and I imagine the story we are writing on it.

~ Mary E. Pearson

- - - - -

My brother is a playwright. I am an academic writer. We both write about the stories around us. We both thrive on creativity. We share our work with each other. We offer feedback. We accept feedback. We both have fire alarm pull stations by our desks for those moments when we are writing and we find that we are just ON FIRE with our writing.

(pause)

Most of that is true.

Sit

All men's [people's] miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.

~ Blaise Pascal

- - - - -

I think it's good to sit and reflect at this time of the year. Or, yes, you can stand. Okay, or lie down. 

I don't know why you're being so difficult. You get the point. 

Sheesh.

Hospitality

Planning a dinner party in a way that you're actually capable of getting it done without panicking is important. It's bad hospitality for the host to be freaked out.

~ Ted Allen

- - - - -

I just learned when you put quotes around a word or phrase they could be SCARE quotes. I was not scared of the image above until I read that. Now I'm scared of the quotes and all the foods pictured on this box. 

Wait.

I was a "little scared" of most of those foods before.

Kirk

I don't believe an accident of birth makes people sisters or brothers. It makes them siblings, gives them mutuality of parentage. Sisterhood and brotherhood is a condition people have to work at.

~ Maya Angelou

- - - - -

Today is my brother Kirk's birthday. I agree that our siblingness has required work. Particularly on his part since I use words like "siblingness."

He is one of the greatest people I know.

Mandonna

Children always understand. They have open minds. They have built in shit detectors.

~ Madonna

- - - - -

I call this photo "Mandonna with Child." I thought that was a little more clever than, "My Brother Staring Off in the Distance While Holding his Son Who is Laughing and Wearing a Green Dinosaur Shirt."

But what do I know. No one pays me to name things.

(pause)

I wish they would, though.

Tree

Friendship is a sheltering tree.

~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

- - - - -

Today isn't every tree a Christmas tree?

Decorating

It's not what's under the Christmas tree that matters, but who's around it.

~ Charlie Brown

- - - - -

I agree, Charlie Brown. I think you can have gifts or not. You can decorate or not. And if you do decorate, it doesn't matter how you decorate. It's about the people you get to spend time with.

I think this message is emphasized in a quote from my own family. Here is that quote --

Erik's Kid: (not sure which one it was) Wait - that's not an ornament!  That's a tag from a sweatshirt!!

Nick's

There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired.

~ Nick Carraway 

(The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

- - - - -

Did you know that Santa... St. Nick... Saint Nicholas - who was Greek - was also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker?

He was.

I bet if he was alive today he'd be surprised at how much people use his image all over the place and how people dress up like he probably never dressed up, but then pretend to be him.

I also read that Martin Luther tried to replace Santa Claus with Baby Jesus as the bearer of gifts. In German - "Christkindl." Later that got transformed into Kris Kringle - another name for Santa Claus. 

Now that I think about it, I be the Christ Child is pretty surprised at how much people use His image all over the place, too. I don't think He is all that much into self-promotion. Of course, I'm just speculating. I wasn't around then. I don't know for sure.

Except that I do know pretty much for sure. 

On a very loosely related note, I think that in the off-season Santa would make a great bar owner / bartender. 

Holiday

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

- - - - -

Don't literally write it on your heart. That will make it not a best day of the year.

Priorities

Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

- - - - -

At this time of year we might all be well-served to take a moment and reflect on our priorities. Rather than things, who are the people we want in our lives? Whom do we value in our lives? Have we told them that? As evidenced in this photo and blog and a lot of my random posts, Leslie really matters to me.

Apparently Leslie's phone really matters to her.

Winter

Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius.

~ Pietro Aretino

- - - - -

You have to watch your step when it's icy out.  You could slip and fall.  You could break something like a hip or your leg or your collarbone.  Or you could crack the ice and fall through into the freezing waters below.

Also, don't walk on ice that is over water.

Also, if it's so cold that the breeze is frozen - don't fall on that either. If you do, you might break wind.

Art

An artist can best speak as a member of a moral community.

~ Ursula K. LeGuin

- - - - -

An artist can also speak as a member of a morel community if they draw mushrooms.

Grandmother

If nothing is going well, call your grandmother.

~ Italian Proverb

- - - - -

Some notes from a summer visit to see Aurora and Ezra:

Aurora - in a tone both wise and annoyed, "Baby brother's still hiccuping."

Aurora - losing at a board game, "Aw NUTS! Are you kiddin'?!"

And then we watched some kid show. Here is the plot summary:

The main characters on the show made their grandma lift a piano to the upper level of their home through a window by pulling it up on a rope. The family then sent the grandma to the grocery store for ice cream, but didn't let her get the kind of ice cream she liked. They next sent her up to the roof to retrieve a kite that was stuck there. Finally, they sent her to the cellar to get a toy for one of the kids.

It's a big job being a grandma. Apparently, it's an even bigger job if you are a cartoon grandma on TV. 

Early

Work hard, stay positive, and get up early. 
It's the best part of the day.

~ George Allen, Sr.

- - - - -

I am definitely a morning person. A good day for me is when I wake up on my own around 5 a.m. and get up and journal for a while, then work for a while, then get to enjoy the world around me. That can happen on a beach, that can happen when I teach. It can happen when I'm reading, it can happen in a meeting.

(pause)

Okay, I'm going to be totally honest with you. It probably doesn't happen in a meeting. I just used that because it rhymed. And it sounded nicer than "It can happen when my eye is bleeding."  

Assistance

I think life is hard without assistance from others.

~ RuPaul

- - - - -
Overheard

Kid: HEY-UP HEY-UP HEY-UP HEY-UP HEY-UP HEY-UP HEY-UP

Mom: Someone help Rebel. She needs some help.

C'MON!

I'm either going to be a writer or a bum.

~ Carl Sandburg

- - - - -

Aurora: C'mon you lazy bums!

David: Don't call us "lazy hobos." 

Aurora: You're not "lazy hobos."

Me: You're just regular hobos.

Aurora: No - you're LAZY BUMS! Nuts!!

Pioneer

Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.

~ Deepak Chopra

- - - - -

I think the pioneers are always strong and brave - no matter what they are pioneering. Like the first person to play a keyboard instrument. I'm sure the doubters and those resistant to change were really unkind. It took a lot of strength and bravery to be a pianoeer. 

Web

The web of life, love, suffering, and death unites all beings.

~ Alex Grey

- - - - -

I was looking online at my ear infection symptoms. This list of options came up:

I thought the second option said, "history of exposure to assholes." Then I thought maybe I had vision issues as well as an ear infection.

Breaks

Science may never come up with a better office communication system than the coffee break. 

~ Earl Wilson

- - - - -

Do workplaces have coffee breaks anymore? And if they do, do people put away their devices while they're at coffee break? Well, not the coffee making device, but the other ones?

Pennyslvania

Pennsylvania is home to some of the hardest-working, toughest, most decent people in America.

~ Bob Casey, Jr.

- - - - -

The other states are home to the rest of them.

Orange

I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It's amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor.

~ D. H. Lawrence

- - - - -

Making marmalade is a brilliant way to deal with a gloomy future. When you're done and you think of the future you can think, "Oh! I'll have some marmalade on toast later." Then the future is better.

Attention

Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are.

~ Jose Ortega y Gasset

- - - - -

Leslie talks to and listens to her mom every day. Some days - many days lately, actually - her mom shares that she has been watching The Sound of Music. Other days her mom has played Bingo. Other days she has been coloring or painting. Other days her mom has questions about what movies Jimmy Cagney has been in.

Personally, I think that Leslie should put a camera in her mom's room and one on a helmet for her mom to wear. Then she could be really immersed in her mom's daily routines. I think the idea of a Grannycam is brilliant. 

However, I'm pretty sure neither Leslie nor her mom nor the people who help take care of her mom would agree. Because they're all so disagreeable.

Glass

We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.

~ E. B. White

- - - - -

If my friend Wayne Glass complained all the time, he would a Glass of Whine.

But he doesn't really do that.

Danger

Remember that life's big changes rarely give advance warning.

~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

- - - - -

I believe that Grandparents are psychic. Especially in knowing when bad things are about to happen.

The other day I saw a baby belch up food on its grandpa. 

Grandpa: I saw that coming.

Fence

Fear is the highest fence.

~ Dudley Nichols

- - - - -

Sometimes I find myself scrolling through social media, and I'll come upon an image of a person with their head in their hands. I wonder, "What's that about?" and then think, "I should probably read that." It is never a photo of a person I actually know. It is never a problem with which I can actually help. 

I don't know what that says about me.

I do know this - I'm taking some "unplugged weekends" to disconnect from those messages (almost always negative) and all other messages (almost always negative). So, if you find yourself with your head in your hands and I am someone who can actually help, try not to have that happen on my unplugged weekends, because you won't get a hold of me then.

Negativity

Negativity is the enemy of creativity.

~ David Lynch

- - - - -

A while back I posted that my friend Terri always says, "Is it really that bad or is it just November?" or "Are you really angry with that person, or is it just November?"

Then I thought about sharing the same thing now that it is early December and people are worn out. "Is it really that bad or is it just December?" "Are you really angry with that person, or is it just December?"

Then I thought you could do that for all of the months. There is a reason to be cranky any month, I suppose. 

So then I had to stop and think, "Is it really that bad or is it just my friend Terri?"

Sightseeing

Sightseeing is the art of disappointment.

~ Robert Louis Stevenson

- - - - -
When Marty and Carol came to visit, that was fun. They were pretty interested in going to see the Georgia Guidestones. It was only later that they admitted they thought they were going to see the Georgia Satellites. They both love that song, "Keep Your Hands to Yourself." 

Of course when they admitted it, they didn't actually say it out loud, but I could read it on Marty's face. I think Carol had written it there.

Tractors

Technically speaking, you drive like a rabid chicken who has hijacked a tractor.

~ Sarah Rees Brennan

- - - - -

Technically speaking, only mammals can get rabies.

Reading

If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books.

~ Roald Dahl

- - - - -

This is a screenshot I took when looking for kids' books for kids I know. 

It reminds me that song from Sesame Street, "One of these things is not like the other..." 

Seat

Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night.

~ Herman Mankiewicz, All About Eve

- - - - -

And if there isn't a seatbelt to fasten, well - I don't know what to tell you. It's still going to be bumpy. And it's still probably all about Eve.

BLT

Too few people understand a really good sandwich.

~ James Beard

- - - - -

This was an excellent BLT that Leslie made for me. 

Big tomato
Little strips of pork meat
The green salad stuff

Mmmm.

Character

We are like chameleons, we take our hue and color of our moral character from those who are around us.

~ John Locke

- - - - -

I have been doing a lot of reflecting lately. I have been trying to take time to think about what I value, how I want to spend my time - especially my mental time - and how to make different things fit in ways that align with what I want to prioritize and what I value.

Kirk emailed me and asked how I was doing. I shared some things I was working through and some things I had been trying to figure out. He was wonderful, supportive, and asked me good questions. When he wrote back, I think he was encouraging me not to give time to people who don't lift me up and inspire me, but he didn't write "them," "him," or "her," at the end of the sentence. Instead he wrote this: 

Seriously though, don't waste your time with you.

(pause)

If that wasn't a typo, he might be one of those people I need to not give time to as this neither lifted me up nor inspired me.

Ice Cream

My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate.

~ Thronton Wilder

- - - - -

As Aurora recapped the previous evening's bedtime story, David felt his eyelids getting heavier and heavier. In a few moments there would be scraped knees and elbows and a cone melting on the ground. 

Aurora never told that story again. 

Within

Anything that has real and lasting value is always a gift from within.

~ Franz Kafka

- - - - -


However, not everything from within has real and lasting value. If you've ever changed a baby's diaper, you know this to be true. And if you haven't ever changed a baby's diaper, maybe you could try and be more helpful when you're around babies.

Doughnuts

Mmmmm... Doughnuts.

~ Homer Simpson

- - - - -
 
If you see a van transporting delicious doughnuts, I understand why you might want to follow it. Of course it could be empty. Don't be sad, though. If it is empty, it's probably headed back to the doughnut place where they have doughnuts.

Adventures

Adventure is worthwhile.

~ Aesop

- - - - -

Leslie is my favorite person to have adventures with. It could be going around to do the waterfall tour that Kathryn suggested. It could be appreciating the unexpected as we travel to Pennsylvania or Iowa. It could be finding new parks to explore. We have lots of adventures.

Usually the adventures leave us with good memories and good stories. Like recently when we were driving back from Iowa. We stopped at Denny's for dinner. When we went to pay, the woman started to ring us up, then paused and said, "Are either of you truckers?"

Matic

When you have learned compassion for yourself, 

compassion for others is automatic.

~ Henepola Gunaratana

- - - - -

Just matic because you don't always have time to spare to read "AUTOmatic." Also the diagram looks a little like a Frankenstein head.

Traveling

When we get out of the glass bottle of our ego and when we escape like the squirrels in the cage of our personality and get into the forest again, we shall shiver with cold and fright. But things will happen to us so that we don't know ourselves. Cool, unlying life will rush in.

~ D. H. Lawrence

- - - - -

I need to travel every once in a while so I remember that there is a world beyond my daily routine. I go and see different things or different places and that allows me to see my own world and spaces differently. 

Plus, let's face it, I just need to get away from some of you once in a while.

(pause)

I know the feeling is mutual, but it's more mutual on my side.

Hiding

Don't wait to be hunted to hide, that was always my motto.

~ Samuel Beckett

- - - - -

I think it's funny when kids hide in places like this. I mean, she's doing a horrible job of hiding. Unless, of course, she has given herself a horrible self-haircut, in which case she is doing an excellent job of hiding that.

Papa

Dads are most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, storytellers, and singers of song.

~ Pam Brown

- - - - -

My brother teaches his son kindness, humor, and wisdom by being kind, funny, and wise. More importantly though, he teaches it by recognizing moments of kindness, humor, and wisdom in Zak when Zak engages in that work.

And it is work. It is much easier to be unkind, somber, and to exercise poor judgement. To have a good life takes work. To be happy takes effort. 

So get to work.

Kirk does the work.

Zak does the work.

And if a little kid can do the work you can, too. Not because you are stronger and better and smarter than a little kid. He's got you beat on all of that. But because you allegedly have a longer attention span.

Pay attention. 

Cranberries

If you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce, it tastes much more like prunes than rhubarb does.

~ Groucho Marx

- - - - -

I love cranberry sauce. I love making cranberry sauce. If there was a competition for the best cranberry sauce, I wouldn't win. Mine is really good, but I'm busy the day of the competition.

Still

There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.

~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

- - - - -

I think I get the idea behind this quote, but at the same time I suspect that FDR never played "freeze tag" as a kid.