View

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

~ Henry James

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You might think this quote doesn't go with this photo. Let me explain. 

I took this photo at a place that was a scenic overlook. I think in Georgia. I forget.

Anyway, I'm not suggesting that one should overlook ice cream. I mean, you can if you want, but I'm not the boss of you. You should do what you want. 

See how it all makes sense now?

Beauty

If there is light in the soul,

there will be beauty in the person.

If there is beauty in the person,

there will be harmony in the house.

If there is harmony in the house,

there will be order in the nation.

If there is order in the nation,

there will be peace in the world.

~ Chinese Proverb

- - - - -

This place wasn't open any more. I'm not sure why. With a name like that it had to be eligible for some sort of small business administration funding.

Natural

Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better.

~ Albert Einstein

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There is nothing natural about this image at all. In any way. But I guess, "Unnatural-cut fries" isn't going to sell a lot of holiday ornaments, now is it?

Buildings

The work of art of the future will be the construction of a beautiful life.

~ Raoul Vaneigem

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For whatever reason, I have seen a lot of residence halls imploded. I mean, the reason is they were old and needed to be replaced, I guess.

I just can't help but think that if buildings would do more to manage  their stress, maybe they wouldn't implode like that. They just need better coping strategies.

See how I played with the word "implode"? I anthropomorphized buildings to have feelings to self-destruct rather than discussing how companies are hired to implode buildings.

I don't know why you're getting all worked up about this. 

Branches

Presidents come and go. The Supreme Court goes on forever.

~ William Howard Taft

- - - - -

Thank God.

Creek

Don't taunt an alligator until you've crossed the creek.

~ Dan Rather

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And don't cross an alligator at all. 

Cross a crocodile all you want. Just be ready to pay the consequences - but not right away. With a crocodile you're more likely to pay the consequences after while.

Birdhouses

We've got to make sure we don't foul our own nest.

~ John Lithgow

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So, I drive around and look for interesting things and take photos of those things. This is an interesting thing I saw once. It was a fence line with a different birdhouse on every fencepost. And it got me to thinking...

1. If the early bird catches the worm but you are a bird that doesn't care about catching the worm, does it bother you - if you live in this particular neighborhood - when your neighbor's alarm goes off?

2. Who is the realtor for these places?

3. I wonder what the HOA fees are here.

4. Can a firebird live in one of these houses? If so, is that a permanent thing or short term? Also, does it affect the neighbors' property values?

5. If birdwatchers hung out around these, does it make them peeping toms?

6. Is a baby bird named Tom a peeping tom because of the sound it makes when it's a baby bird?

7. Blackbird singing in the dead of night is probably a menace around here, right?

8. I wonder if potential owners ever say, "I'd like to see a one bed, one birdbath with an eggcellent view."

9. When they visit each other, I wonder if they knock or wing the bell.

10. Standard furnishings include: catbird seat and nesting tables.

11. I bet the birds crack up when they walk past woodpeckers in the morning and greet them. And I be they time it just right so they say, "Morning wood...  pecker."

12. In the winter I bet they worry about their heating bills.

13. Do they use Grey Goose in their cockatiels?

Omitted

If in other lands the press and books and literature of all kinds are censored, we must redouble our efforts here to keep them free.

~ Franklin Delano Roosevelt

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This is either the bus to the school that trains government / legal document redactors or the bus to the Public School of -- well, I probably shouldn't say. 

Trees

All the trees are losing their leaves and not one of them is worried.

~ Donald Miller

- - - - -

None of them except the anxietree, that is.

Batman

I'm digging Batman. I'm digging that balance, that duality. He's always on the edge and trying to balance himself within the rules of what's lawful and justice, and being Bruce Wayne and being Batman.

~ Ziggy Marley

- - - - -

Leslie: Why hasn't any college chosen Batman for a mascot?

Me: . . . 

I am not speechless often. I am without a smart aleck response rarely. I am completely confused by questions completely obvious and yet unanswered hardly ever.

This was one of those times.

Birthdays

Every birthday is a gift. Every day is a gift.

~ Aretha Franklin

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Last night at 10:03 p.m. I got a call from Leslie and some of her friends - classmates from West Point. They are having their annual get together weekend - this year in Washington D.C. Anyway, they sang me happy birthday. Yesterday at 10:03 p.m. was not my birthday. That's not the point. The point is that my birthday is super important.

Grandparenting

Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.

~ Alex Haley

- - - - -

I have heard people say that youth is wasted on the young. I think maybe that grandparenting is wasted on the old. I wonder what the world would be like if people were grandparents first and parents second. 

(pause)

No, that's probably a bad idea. Kids would be even more spoiled than they already are and no one would go visit grandma because she would be so mean. 

Sometimes you know what you're doing, universe.

PS. I am in no way calling Leslie old just because her photo is here. She's a super-young and super-awesome Grandma. (I hope I wrote that down the way she told me to...)

Tchotchkes

You know what? There aren't a lot of quotes that use the word "tchotchke."

~ Michelle Boettcher

- - - - -

I love antique stores or junk shops or whatever you want to call them. I sometimes buy things, but I mostly like to look at things from days of yore and think, "What in the world were they thinking in days of yore?!"

Leslie goes with me sometimes. I think she really likes it even though she pretends she doesn't like it as much as I do.

Me: (in a store like the ones described above) What is this thing? Is it a bottle opener?

Leslie: I think it's a tchotchke.

Me: You know who loves tchotchkes?

Leslie: Not me.

Me: Joanie.

(It makes me sad for younger generations who will never really understand how funny that is.)

Bathrooms

What makes graffiti special, and worthy of its own entire category, is the uniqueness of the space in which people are writing. Public bathrooms are weird places. There's a tension to doing private activities in a public space...

~ Julie Beck

- - - - -

Overheard...

Kid: Mama, I saw your name on the back of the bathroom door.

Mama: Your dad probably wrote it there.

Kid: Nope. I asked him. He said he always just writes it on the wall.

Love

Oh baby there ain't no mountain high enough

Ain't no valley low enough

Ain't no river wide enough

To keep me from getting to you babe...

~ Ashford & Simpson

- - - - -

I like the idea of love that can't be stopped. Unfortunately, I'm pressure sure there are mountains high enough to stop me. I'm sort of clumsy and would likely fall down into a ravine or something.

I hope I wouldn't be trapped and have to cut off my arm, though. I probably couldn't do that, either. 

And if I did, I wouldn't get far because I am not sure I know how to make a - the thing that stops all the blood from falling out of your body? A tourniquet! I'm not sure I know how to do a tourniquet.

Tourniquet is kind of a pretty word. Like banquet. Or bouquet.

Bouquets are sometimes about love, too. I could climb one of those for love. If it wasn't ridiculously huge and didn't have poison ivy in it.

Anyway, love is nice.

Humans

In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.

~ Thurgood Marshall

- - - - -

I wonder what it would be like if a community put up these little tiles and plaques for the less positive characters in town. What if this said, "Local Philanderer" instead of "Philanthropist?" I would love to see and read those tiles. 

Regardless... philanthropist OR philanderer, I have to say that walking 21 miles a per day is pretty impressive. 

Fear

Fear is stupid. So are regrets.

~ Marilyn Monroe

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Sometimes I stumble upon old deleted stuff that never got fully deleted. That happened the other day in my email. I found a folder labeled "Stupid" but couldn't see what was in it. 

It would be weird if there was a document that just said, "Fear" in there and another that just said, "Regrets" in there. Wouldn't that be weird?

I do not have a folder of clowns because I am afraid of them and I don't regret it because it's not a stupid fear.

Poop

You aren't what you eat. You are what you don't poop.

~ Wavy Gravy

- - - - -

When Jared and Zak and Kirk were coming to visit, Zak was constipated. Jared and Zak stopped to buy prunes before they got to our house. Leslie said that apple juice also helps. I texted them that. I said that I thought Leslie would know because she has pooped before.

Different people have different kinds of expertise. I don't know half the shit Leslie knows. 

Stairs

There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.

~ Zig Ziglar

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For a while last summer the elevator in our building was down. I sent myself an email that said:

Make sign that says, "There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs."

I didn't do that. mainly because of ADA. Zig Ziglar should have known better. There are a lot of people who can't take the stairs who are very successful.

Also, there are a lot of places without stairs, so what about that, Zig Ziglar? What. About. That?

Power

The most common way that people give up their power is by thinking that they don't have any.

~ Alice Walker

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So power in and of itself is nothing. It has to be put into action. Electricity has to be carried by wires or lightning. Solar power has to be shared with some sort of receptor. The power of a leader has to be supported by followers. Without some sort of enacting body or process, power is powerless.

(pause)

I really have no idea what I'm talking about sometimes.

Tired

I wish I had an answer to that because I'm tired of answering that question.

~ Yogi Berra

- - - - -

Sometimes when you're in an architectural salvage / antique store you just get so tired that you need someone to carry you out to the car so you can leave. But if you're a grown-up falling asleep and hoping someone will carry you to the car, you're in for a long wait. Or in for a Lifetime Movie - one or the other.

Vintage

Old things are always in good repute, present things in disfavor.

~ Tacitus

- - - - -

I disagree, Tacitus. I like present things. Birthday present things. Christmas present things.

I feel like you don't know a thing about me, Tacitus.

BIRTHDAY!

Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art.

~ Stanislaw Jerzy Lec

- - - - -

Today is Leslie's birthday. I don't think she worries too much about getting older. If she does she doesn't say much about it.

I worry, though.

I mostly worry about her vocabulary. She's using old people vocabulary. The other day she used the word "fisticuffs" and last night she used the word - I forget what word it was.

Actually, now that I think about it maybe I should be more worried about the fact that I can't remember what that other word was than the fact that she is using old timey language.

Anyway, I said, "You're talking like an old person. You just said [whatever the word was that I forgot] and last night you said 'fisticuffs'!"

She said, "I always say fisticuffs."

I asked, "When?!" 

She said, "When I'm talking about fisticuffs!"

Bowling

After tea, it's back to painting - a large poplar at dusk 

with a gathering storm. From time to time instead 

of this evening painting session I go bowling in 

one of the neighboring villages, but not very often.

~ Gustav Klimt

- - - - -

It is as if Gustav Klimt and I are the same person except that I am not a painter and I rarely go bowling - in neighboring villages or elsewhere.

Spelling

Nanny Ogg knew how to start spelling "banana" but didn't know how you stopped.

~ Terry Pratchett

- - - - -

For some reason lately when I try to type "You rock" to someone, the first thing I type is "You co" Now, fortunately I stop myself before I type and send "You cock." Or maybe I'm about to type "You cork" - transposing the r and the c.

My point is, if I send you a message and say, "You cock" I mean "You rock." 

(Michelle was pleased at how she crafted a narrative whereby she could forever get away with calling people derogatory names and they would actually see it as a compliment. Sometimes she was astounded by her own brilliance. Actually, not just sometimes, but often.)

Language

The development of language is part of the development of the personality, for words are the natural means of expressing thoughts and establishing understanding between people.

~ Maria Montessori

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I think that we are bad at communication lately. And by we, I mean the whole entire world. I know there are a few of you who are exceptions, but for the most part we're horrible at this. 

I think one thing we can do to help resolve this is to listen and try to understand instead of just biding our time until it's our turn to talk. Of course some people don't wait, they just interrupt. But my point is to listen.

And if you hear something and you think you misheard or you aren't sure exactly what it was that you heard, I think it's important to clarify instead of just assuming you knew what was said.

Here is a recent example from my own lived experience:


Leslie: You're such a dimwit.

Me: Did you just call me a dimwit?

Leslie: No. I called you an asswipe.

Neighbor

Your neighbor's vision is as true for him and your own vision is true for you.

~ Miguel de Unamuno

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While I feel this quote is perfect for this photo, I'm not really sure that any comment I make could add to it. With that in mind, I will stop here.

Look

As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.

~ Bill Gates

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I hear people talk about the word "empower" as a negative thing. To empower is to authorize or give permission. I think the way a lot of people use it they mean to support and encourage people in doing their own work and creating change. 

Regardless, I think that a show called Mighty Morphin Empower Rangers would be a good show. I think the premise could be the same as how Wikipedia describes Mighty Morphin Power Rangers that their job is to "overcome periodic antagonists."

That's the story of our lives, isn't it? That we try to overcome periodic antagonists? And who couldn't use a little support in that. Support - not permission. 

Bring it on periodic antagonists! Well, bring it on later. I'm busy right now.

Collector

I'm not a hoarder, I'm a collector; if you have something you like, every time you see it you have a little happy hit.

~ Douglas Coupland

- - - - -

"Well, we have to honor him," declared the mayor. "After all he was a member of one of the pioneer families in this region." 

"I concur," bellowed Councilman Lyon. "After all he did for the trees in this area - he deserves a marker in commemoration of his contributions."

"But what about the collection?" asked the County Recorder. "I mean... dare we mention that he collected --"

"The collection," stated Councilman Lyon firmly, "Can be acknowledged, but not named."

And so, they designated him a "collector" but did not share what it was he collected. It helped many rest easy. It helped many maintain their high levels of vigilance. One could call it win-win, but only if one didn't know all the details of the situation.