Like

There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other.

~ J. K. Rowling

- - - - -

This is Zak. 
I like him.
Tomorrow is his birthday.
I'm glad he was born.
I'm his favorite.
That's not the reason I am glad he was born.

(pause)

That's not the only reason I am glad he was born.

Menu

Life is a menu. Whatever you order is what's delivered to the table.

~ Tyrese Gibson

- - - - -

Zak was pretty ecstatic when he saw the menu included grilled cheese and chips. It's not like you can get that just anywhere, you know. As he'd discovered the hard way, they didn't have that at the car dealership or the umbrella cover museum. 

He chooses to celebrate joy where he finds it.

That's one of the reasons I like him.

Rebel

My only purpose is to teach children to rebel against authority figures.

~ Sherman Alexie

I love you even though you have been difficult today.

I do. I love you. I know you didn't mean to be so ornery and rebellious today.

 

Oh. I was rebellious? That made you sad? I had no idea. Heh heh.

                                                                  

I'm a REBEL!

         

Papa, you like my strong spirit, right? Right, Papa?

             

I like that you are strong, Zak. I don't always like it when you are bad at listening.

I gotcha, old man. Sorry, dude.

             

    And then they all lived happily ever after.

O

If she can't spell, why is she a librarian? 

Librarians should know how to spell.

~ Beverly Cleary

- - - - -

I think Kirk and Jared are great parents at almost everything. However, when they give him these and tell him to figure out how to spell pneumonia, I think that's mean.

Learning

Everything I know I learned from dogs.

~ Nora Roberts

- - - - -

Zak and Vegas are a great team. Zak often mimics what Vegas does. However, when Zak tried to convince Vegas to eat this little tiny pinecone, Vegas declined the offer. I would like to think that it taught Zak not to eat pinecones, but I think later I saw him tasting it a little bit.

Goats

Happiness isn't happiness unless there'a a violin-playing goat.

~ Julia Roberts

- - - - -

I'm not sure I agree. This kid looks pretty happy. So does Zak.

(pause)

Get it? They're both kids!

Farm humor is the best humor.

Semantics

Sometimes when you're in a dark place you think you've been buried, but actually you've been planted.

~ Christine Caine

- - - - -

If the place where I've been "planted" is a cemetery, I don't care what you call it. I don't like that at all.

Peaceful

Silence is the language of god. All else is poor translation.

~ Rumi

- - - - -

Since Zak's birthday is next Monday, I thought I'd do a week of Zak photos this week. Also I thought I would do that since I just visited them in July and I have a lot of Zak photos.

I love this photo. Zak looks so peaceful. Kirk looks pretty calm and quiet, too. It just goes to show that how people are during naptime is not always how they are during non-naptime. Yes, you can quote me on that. I'm not really sure how you'll be using the quote, but I think it holds up across a variety of contexts.

You're welcome.

Also, isn't this really an awesome photo? 

There

People don't take trips. Trips take people.

~ John Steinbeck

- - - - -

I love to travel. I really like to travel by car because then I can have little adventures on the way to what I originally thought was my main adventure. Sometimes the little adventures are more fun.

I'm not sure how my love for travel happened. When I would tell my parents where I wanted to go when I traveled, my dad always used to tell me, "I've been there. You wouldn't like it."

Sides

                            

                                       

The fewer the facts, the stronger the opinion.

~ Arnold Glasow

- - - - -

These quotes are on opposites sides of the same sign. I guess you can choose one side or the other. 

I don't know the story behind the sign. I don't know if the same person posted each side or if maybe a couple owns the sign and they disagree and they each post on one side of the sign. Maybe this is one of the true centrists in the country.

I have very few facts about this sign. My only opinion on it is that I like it.

Borscht

The perfect borscht is what life should be but never is.

~ Aleksandar Hemon

- - - - -

So I uploaded this photo a while ago. I was confused about why it was labeled borscht when it looked like maybe a photo of a pickled egg. Then I found that there is such a thing as borscht pickled eggs.

You can't beet that.

(I'd say I was sorry about that pun, but I'm not sorry so I I'm not going to say I'm sorry. You're strong. You can handle it.)

Wild

And the walls became the world all around.

~ Maurice Sendak

- - - - -

I like Zak's shirt. I like him for more than his fashion sense, of course, but I do like the shirt. If he had really horrible fashion sense, I'd still like him.

(pause)

Actually, let's not test that theory, okay?

Reserved

Ignorance is bold and knowledge reserved.

~ Thucydides

- - - - -

When I see reserved signs on parking spaces or chairs at events or tables at a wedding, I assume it means the signs themselves are very introverted, so I don't pester the signs as I park or sit in those places. I'm introverted too, sign. I get it. 

Blue

Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

~ L. Frank Baum

- - - - -

That's pretty funny, L. Frank.

Also, I wonder if the "L" stands for Lisa. 

Lounging

Everyone assumes writers spend their time lounging around, writing and occasionally striking a pose whilst having a think.

~ Sara Sheridan

- - - - -

One day Leslie said, "Look," and pointed out the window. This is what we saw. It is Tippy resting on the chaise lounge next door. It must be exhausting scolding me all day long. 

Actually, at first I was afraid Tippy had died, but he came over and barked at me, so he wasn't. Or he was a zombie dog... which would explain all the barking all the time - the barking dead.

Sky

My witness is the empty sky.

~ Jack Kerouac

- - - - -

The sky isn't empty in my world. It is full of hope. I like to look up into the hope and breathe and focus my energy on achieving whatever the hopes are that are there. 

Oh, and birds. I don't look up at those if they're flying directly overhead because, well - you know.

Faces

The countenances of children, like those of animals, are masks, not faces, for they have not yet developed a significant profile of their own.

~ W. H. Auden

- - - - -

I don't know how I feel about animal faces. Of course, I don't know how animals feel about my face, either.  I do know that the dog that lives by my mailbox at the place I lived before we moved didn't like something about me.  His name is Leo and he always barked at me when I got the mail.  I don't think he barked at Leslie.

(pause)

And now there is Tippy who barks at me and not Leslie.

(pause)

I need a countenance to wear as a mask to hide my confusion about why these dogs all dislike me. 

X

I see the whole concept of Generation X implies that everyone has lost hope.

~ Alanis Morissette

- - - - -

Why isn't it called "Y-Men"? "X-Women" make sense but... Oh, wait. They're mutants.

Gorillas

The more you learn about the dignity of the gorilla, 

the more you want to avoid people.

~ Dian Fossey

- - - - - 
From a past email conversation...

Rose: Anything fun planned for the weekend?

Me: I'm going to do a 5K dressed in a gorilla suit and break the world record for most people in gorilla suits.  You?

Rose: See, I'm never quite sure (if I can't see you face) if you are being serious or not.

Me: Of course I'm serious.

Rose: Well, I didn't think you were a runner.

Me: I'm not. 

Rose: But then I thought it sounded like something you might do. Do you have to buy a gorilla suit? Or do you already own one?

Me: NO! Of course I don't own one! You get one when you sign up. Why do you think I'm doing this race?!

Rose: Well, have a good time.

Me: I will. I hope it's misty.

Rose" "Gorillas in the Misty 5k?"

Me: Exactly.

Sunrise

At sunrise everything is luminous but not clear.

~ Norman Maclean

- - - - -

Sometimes that "luminous but not clear" thing lasts the whole day. Actually, sometimes "not clear" goes on for lifetimes. I think it's a teacher's responsibility - in part - to give assignments that help students find their own clarity. Unless it's Miss Othmar from the Peanuts comic. 

Weeds

Go often to the house of thy friend; 

for weeds soon choke up the unused path.

~ Scandinavian Proverb

- - - - -

Seems like the Scandinavians were more welcoming than Robert "good fences make good neighbors" Frost was.

Welcome

We know that in September, we will wander through the warm winds of summer's wreckage. We will welcome summer's ghost.

~ Henry Rollins

- - - - -

So that says "All Bikers Welcome," but there's no way they're all going to fit in that place.

Wax

If your head is wax, don't walk in the sun.

~ Benjamin Franklin

- - - - -

If your head is wax, also don't use a hairdryer. And q-tips might be a challenge. And I'm not sure what would happen if you ever needed a head x-ray (which I'm pretty sure has a different name). 

All that said, you could find you way and be successful in some pretty popular museums.

Grape

When the fox cannot reach the grapes, he says they are not ripe.

~ Greek Proverb

- - - - -

Actually, I'm not sure foxes eat grapes very often whether they can reach them or not.

Seeing

I see nothing in space as promising as the view from a Ferris wheel.

~ E. B. White

- - - - -

I saw something in space. I saw the moon. It was lunar see.

Laundry

An actress once advised me, "Make sure you do 

your own laundry - it will keep you honest." 

~ Cate Blanchett

- - - - -

I think you should have to air your dirty laundry in a laundromat so I can go there and hear what you have to say.  As someone who has spent time in a few laundromats, it seems as though quite a few people agree with me.

Mother

My mom said she learned how to swim. Someone took her out in a lake and threw her off the boat. That's how she learned to swim. I said, "Mom, the weren't trying to teach you to swim."

~ Paula Poundstone

- - - - - 

Today is my mom's birthday. I'm really glad she was born. If she hadn't been born, she wouldn't have been able to save me from drowning that one time. 

Aura

The aura of you remains, remains, remains...

~ Ann Sexton

- - - - -

When we meet people, they stay with us. They make an impression that becomes a part of who we are. We share a moment, so we share all moments after that.

We may not think of them every day, or every month. We may not even think of them once a year after we meet them. We may never ever think of them again.

(pause) 

Never mind. Sometimes people don't really leave much of an impression.

Wet

The most affectionate creature in the world is a wet dog.

~ Ambrose Bierce

- - - - -

The least affectionate creature in the world is a wet cat.

Fear

Have no fear of perfection. You'll never reach it.

~ Salvador Dali

- - - - -

That quote sounds like something my dad would have said to us. What's weird is this carpet looks like something my dad would have designed.

(pause)

You think I'm joking, but if you look at that old drop cloth he had in the basement, you'd see I'm right. Also, why are you in my parents' basement?

Weirdo.

Octopus

An octopus has eight testicles.

~ Archie Bunker

- - - - -

I love the octopus. I think it is magical. It looks like it happened by accident, but then was smart enough to avoid getting extincted and now it's around. 

And for you smart-alecks out there who don't think "extincted" is a word, well why don't you just ask Mr. Octopus about that.