Surprise

Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let's not be afraid to receive each day's surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy. It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity.

~ Henry J. M. Nouwen

- - - - -

If you expect a surprise, is it really a surprise? I think maybe if you seek surprises you can find them, but if you expect them you just get your expectations met. If that is your preference, then expect really great surprises because you don't want to have low expectations. 

Or maybe have low expectations and hope to be surprised when they are exceeded. 

Do what you want. I'm not the boss of you.

Music

(original photo by Leslie Lewis)

One good thing about music: when it hits you, you feel no pain.

Bob Marley

- - - - -

I think it's cool when kids are little and they think their parents are magic. Sadly, that doesn't last very long. 

Unless your parents are magicians.

(pause)

Also "music" and "magic" not only have the same number of letters but also a lot of the same letters. 

(If you didn't think that first part about parents being magic was deep and insightful, I'm hoping you'll think this second part is even though it's really just knowing spelling.)

Art

No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.

~ Ingmar Bergman

- - - - -

I want Leslie to get a job writing movie synopses for Netflix or someone. Here is her description of Masterminds:

That movie with what's her name and what's his name. Where they steal some shit. The woman who played Hillary Clinton on SNL. And that bowl haircut dude.

She is brilliant.

Reward

Every society has the criminals it deserves.

~ Emma Goldman

- - - - -

That seems harsh, Emma Goldman. And true.

I hate it when things are both true and harsh.

Grandpas

When grandparents enter the door, discipline flies out the window.

~ Ogden Nash

- - - - -

I think most people are better grandparents than parents. I think it should be that way. You can't replace your grandparents. You can replace your parents with teachers or stuffed animals or a jar of apple butter. But not grandparents.

And I think grandparenting should be verb. However, every time I type it, the technology monsters correct it to "grandpa renting" which seems exploitive.

Also, I don't really think you can replace parents with stuffed animals or a jar of apple butter. But you can replace them with robots. Well, and maybe with a few select stuffed animals. 

Kindness

There's no use doing a kindness if you do it a day too late.

~ Charles Kingsley

- - - - -

Do I believe that you may as well NOT do kindnesses because it might be too late? No. That is something that I do not believe.

Do I believe in killing people with kindness? Yes. I do. Even the rotten people. And for the super-duper rotten people I believe in doing it, but just without the kindness.

Path

Every path serves a purpose.

~ Gene Oliver

- - - - -


Jared showed me the tag from the hiking backpack he and Kirk got for Zak for a trip to the Grand Canyon. Among the warnings included "Do not go running or swimming with baby in backpack." While I'm glad Jared and Kirk are responsible parents who read the warning, I am sad and afraid for the parents who would go swimming with a baby strapped to them. 

Messages

Honestly, if everyone like what you say, something is wrong with your message.

~ Ashley Ormon

- - - - -

A good day is when I have only two (or fewer) messages in my inbox. A GREAT day is when I have five messages in my inbox, but three of them are marked, "Notes to self."

(pause)

Yes, that has really happened to me.

(pause)

Yes, more than once... or twice...

Books

No two persons ever read the same book.

~ Edmund Wilson

- - - - -

Leslie: SH!

Me: Because you're a librarian?

Leslie: Because I'm reading!

Me: Is it good?

Leslie: I don't know, I haven't started reading it, yet.

Me: It can't be that good if you waited all these years to read it.

Leslie: What if it just came out?

Me: It can't be that good or someone would have written it already.

Rooster

Even when there is no rooster, the morning will still start.

~ African Proverb

- - - - -

"Tell someone you love them today." 

I saw that on my FB once. Followed by:

"I'm pretty busy, so this post will have to suffice."

I'm a real jerk sometimes. But in a charming sort of way, I think.

Butler

It is said that no one is a hero to their butler. The reason is, that it requires a hero to recognize a hero. The butler, however, will probably know well how to estimate his equals.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

- - - - -

We were driving and passed a sign that said "Belvedere."

Leslie: Wasn't that a show about a butler?

Me: Yes. I believe it was called, "Mr. Belvedere."

Leslie: My favorite butler was Mr. French.

(pause)

Me: I can't believe you have a favorite butler.

(Also, the correct answer to "Who is the best butler" is Alfred Pennyworth, not Mr. French)

Tea

If a man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty.

~ Japanese Proverb

- - - - -

There must be a LOT of non-tea drinkers trying to lead and be the bosses of us these days. It's ironic because truth starts with T(ea) and beau-tea ends with tea.

Wait, I don't mean that it's ironic. I mean that we have a bunch of liars as leaders. That's what I meant.

Yield

You win the victory when you yield to friends.

~ Sophocles

- - - - -

I think Sophocles came up with this quote at the end of a game of Monopoly he lost.

So wise, Sophocles. So very wise.

Kids

When I was a little kid we had a sandbox. It was a quicksand box. I was an only child... eventually.

~ Steven Wright

- - - - -

I don't know why, but Aurora went through a phase where she was saying "Baloney Gundark." I think she was using it as a name for someone or something. I heard her say it and I heard her repeat it more than once. I never heard anyone else say it before she did, so I think she had to have made it up.

I can't remember when that all happened, but I know that it did.

(pause)

I am really excited about one day becoming a great storyteller. That said, I realize that I haven't quite gotten there, yet.

Gravity

Gravity hurts.

~ Viktor Alexandrov

- - - - -

I like it when kids are learning things. I like to help teach them things. History things, literaturey things, sciencey things.

Like a while back when David, Leslie, and Aurora and I went on a walk. There was a bridge that crossed over a little creek. Aurora was collecting rocks, and I had an idea.

I called her over to the edge of the bridge that looked over the water. I said, "I have a rock and a leaf. I'm going to drop them both into the water. Which one do you think will hit the water first?"

"The leaf," Aurora said confidently, without hesitation.

"Okay," I said. "Why?"

"Because I'm going to take the rock."

Bread

If you have extraordinary bread and extraordinary butter, it's hard to beat bread and butter.

~ Jacques Pepin

- - - - -
We stopped at an inn and restaurant one time. It was on a college campus and college students worked there. Our waitress came up. She was a first-year student and this was about her third day on campus. She said she was a little homesick, but really liked her job and the people she was working with.

Then she asked us if we wanted some of the house specialty for that particular inn / restaurant.

Waitress: Would you like to try the spoon bread? It's 70 years old!

Me: It's probably a little stale then, isn't it?

She stared at me blankly. 

I stared at her blankly.

The food was good even if her sense of humor lacked taste.

Fitting

It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.

~ Arthur Conan Doyle

- - - - -
Once upon a time on a road trip, Leslie and I passed a "Jasmine Cain" trailer. We didn't know who that was, so I looked it up. Based on my preliminary research, she apparently sings at a lot of motorcycle-related events. That sort of fit with the images of her with motorcycles on the sides of the trailer.

Me: I didn't know there was a big market for music for motorcycle people. (pause) That's how out of the loop I am. I just called them "motorcycle people." There must be another name for that demographic other than "motorcycle people."

Leslie: Bikers.

Me: That would be it. 

(pause) 

Leslie: I bet "Jasmine Cain" isn't her real name. It's probably "Jasmine Chain."

Me: (pretending to read information online) Her real name is Hulgu McButtonstuff.

Mirth

I never get any protests from children. All I get are giggles of mirth and and squirms of delight. I know what children like.

~ Roald Dahl

- - - - -

Natalie gets more than giggles and squirms from children. One time she posted she got vomit, urine, and feces from them - all in a single day. 

(pause)

I bet there were some squirms in that mix, too. Maybe not of delight, though.

Photography

In photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more than reality.

~ Ansel Adams

- - - - -

Every time I'm flipping through TV channels and a I see a Polaroid and the show is called "Snapped," I think the show is about photography. It's not. It's about murders. Polaroids mean murders.

Enjoy

The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.

~ Richard Bach

- - - - -

You know how computers are taking over the world? You know how algorithms tell us what to buy or for whom we should vote? I say we rebel against that. I say we stand up for our own likes and dislikes. I say we do it for ourselves and we do it for our future.

So when Netflix suggests that I would like 
Cheapest Weddings
Lock Up
Women Behind Bars
and 
Bad Santa II

I'm not going to watch those things! I'll watch what I WANT to watch. And if I happen to want to watch and enjoy Lock Up, that's MY choice - not you computers and machines and algorithms!

Colors

Color is a power which directly influences the soul.

~Wassily Kandinsky

- - - - -

I showed Leslie a car that was the color of the car I almost bought. We talked about what they should dame the color - it was sort of gray and blue and maybe a little green. Leslie suggested "glacier silt" and I favored "stagnant pond."

We both have our fingers crossed we'll be hired to name paint colors for cars one day. 

Tongue

Teach your child to hold his tongue. He'll learn fast enough to speak.

~ Benjamin Franklin

- - - - -

The other day I was in a crafts store. As I was waiting in line to check out, I heard a mother snap at her child who was licking an item he picked up in the check out line, "STOP THAT! That's disgusting! That thing is covered with sickness and diseases and stuff!"

"If she really believes that things in the store are covered with diseases," I thought, "Why does she shop here?"

Bell

Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh.

~ William Shakespeare

- - - - -

It seems like they might need more of this.

Boats

Often it does seem such a pity that Noah and his party did not miss the boat.

~ Mark Twain

- - - - -
Not sure, but since the Oconee Nuclear Station is pretty close to the lake where I saw this sign, maybe it should read "In the event of an emergency involving Oconee Nuclear Station... or other conditions requiring evacuation of the earth..."

If the nuclear power plant goes, maybe just enjoy the last few minutes on your boat.

Similes

It seems to me that trying to live without friends is like milking a bear to get cream for your morning coffee. It is a whole lot of trouble and then not worth much after you get it.

~ Zora Neale Hurston

- - - - -

How would she even know that? 

Sunrise

Someday is not a day of the week.

~ Denise Brennan-Nelson

- - - - -

Good one, Denise Brennan-Nelson. But don't you come around on July 6th trying to tell me birthDAY is not a day of the week or we're going to have some trouble between us.

Have a nice day.

Going

Only those who will risk going to far can possibly find out how far one can go.

T. S. Eliot

- - - - -

The other day I saw a hearse pulling out of QuikTrip. I guess hearses have to get gas somewhere, but it struck me as odd. I wonder if the driver got a slushy drink thing while he was there.

I have so many questions about this world.

Words

The language of friendship is not words but meanings.

~ Henry David Thoreau

- - - - -

Remember my post yesterday that used this same image? I have a confession to make. When I pulled the blog idea from my email, this is what I had typed to myself:

When you say words can't express I think you're just showing how limited your cocabilary is.

Pause.

That makes me sad for you.

I think I'm funny and then I go back and read stuff like this. Well, one thing I know for sure - I think  I'm funny.

Words

Where words fail, music speaks.

~ Hans Christian Andersen

- - - - -
I don't like it when people say, "Words can't express how..." and then go on to use words to express whatever they are talking about. Of course, I hate it when people say, "No words..." and then do the same thing. Obviously they do have some words, probably just not very good ones.

Really, instead of, "I'm sorry your cat died. I have no words to express my sorrow," they should write, "I"m sorry your cat died. I have a poor vocabulary."

Be

Be -- don't try to become.

~ Osho

- - - - -

Leslie and I play games sometimes. One time we were playing this game called "Finish Lines" where you get part of a quote or a song or a piece of dialogue from TV or movies and you have to finish it. It's pretty fun. It's also challenging sometimes. 

Leslie: If you can't be good...

Me: Be very good.

Leslie: No.

Me: Be bad.

Leslie: No.

Me: Be quiet.

Leslie: No.

Me: Be yourself.

Leslie: No.

(pause)

Leslie: Be careful.

I think that this game sometimes reveals a lot about people. 

Danger

Never was anything great achieved without danger.

~ Niccolo Machiavelli

- - - - -

I recently found an email I sent to Sara and Joe in 2014. 

Subject: Not sure
Me: But I may have heard a Geiger counter in our lobby a minute ago.
Joe: It might have been because of you radiating awesomeness.
Me: I'm sure that had to be it. There aren't any Geigers around here.

You'll note that Sara is noticeably silent in this exchange. You probably think it is because she was either trying to work or she went to investigate what was going on since clearly neither Joe nor I was going to do anything about the situation.

But the reality might be that she was laughing and laughing and couldn't really type.

(pause)

You're probably right, though. She was probably trying to work.