Death

Life is intrinsically, well, boring and dangerous at the same time. At any given moment the floor may open up. Of course, it almost never does; that's what makes it so boring.

~ Edward Gorey

- - - - -

I recently sent my nephew some Edward Gorey books. I found a contest to submit art to the Gorey Museum and thought Zak might like to do that, but realized he might not be familiar with Edward Gorey. One of the books I sent him was The Gashlycrumb Tinies. Zak said he liked it. He sent me a video that said, "I read The Gashhlycrumb Tinies. It's about people getting dead. Thank you."

Zak is a bit like Wednesday Addams, sometimes. 

(pause)

I like to encourage that part of him.

Ghost

In one aspect, yes, I believe in ghosts, but we create them. We haunt ourselves.

~ Laurie Halse Anderson

- - - - -

How do you throw out a ghost? It seems risky to even try to do such a thing. Still, this is something I saw in an alley in Clemson a few years ago. 

Spooky, isn't it?

Magic

The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.

~ Eden Philpotts

- - - - - 

The word magic originated in Greek as a reference to the priestly class. This was especially a reference to Zorastrianism. Zorastrianism originated with the prophet Zarathustra. "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" is a book by Friedrich Nietzsche. "Also Sprach Zarathustra" was written by Richard Strauss and later used in Stanley Kubrick's movie "2001: A Space Odyssey". One of the co-author's for that screenplay was Arthur C. Clarke who once said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

So... magic.

Reflection

Reflection is one of the most underused yet powerful tools for success.

~ Richard Carlson

- - - - -

Reflection isn't popular because it requires time - SLOW time. We have to slow down and process things. We have to think about what we have done (or not done). In a society where speed, constant affirmation, and never being wrong are prioritized, we neither reflect nor learn from what we have done already. 

Well, that is a broad statement. Some people are very reflective. We know a few things about these people, they build toward larger future successes on their own terms. They understand the value of slowing down. And they are not vampires.

 

Pretty

Humor and laughter - not necessarily derogatory derision - are my pet tools. This may come from my general philosophy of never taking the world too seriously - for fear of dying of boredom.

~ Marcel Duchamp

- - - - -

I think maybe I understand why Lily doesn't like me taking photos of her all the time. I wouldn't like that, either. I mean, she's beautiful most of the time. But on occasion I do get an unflattering shot of her. And she knows I'm going to share those photos even if - maybe especially if they aren't really flattering.

I think I might be part of the reason she avoids social media. And regular media. And my camera.

Leader

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.

~ John Quincy Adams

- - - - -

Lily is definitely a leader. She's just the kind of leader who looks back a lot to make sure her followers are following. Not a bad trait in a leader.

Running

Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast.

~ William Shakespeare

- - - - -

Of all the things to run to get, propane seems like a strange thing. I'm not against propane. I'm not antipane. It is just an odd marketing ploy. With limited graphics skills required. 

Or maybe this is a great graphic. In which case, I can make great graphics, too.

You can learn so much from advertising.
 

Beginnings

No matter how hard the past is, you can always begin again.

~ Jack Kornfield

- - - - -

No matter how difficult someone is in their present, you can always begin to not be around them.

 

Doing

We need not wait to see what others do.

~ Mahatma Gandhi

- - - - -

It can be scary to go and do new things. But it can also be scary to stay in place. Sometimes going ahead takes you into the light. Or maybe just wait until daytime and then it's more light everywhere and it's all less scary. 

Pests

How we love sequestering, where no pests are pesting.

~ Lorenz Hart

- - - - -

I would imagine sitting around in one of these might also help you avoid people pests, too. At least I know it would be unlikely for me to go up and talk to someone sitting in this thing.

 

Small

It is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change. 

~ Queen Elizabeth II

- - - - -

This is one of the best photos I have ever taken.

Pictures

Let sleeping dogs lie.

~ English Proverb

- - - - -

If Lily had a camera, I bet she wouldn't take many pictures. She doesn't have fingers or thumbs.

 

Compromise

(photo by Leslie Lewis)

We are not put on earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are there always for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you.

~ Jeff Warner

- - - - - 

I once read this quote an author used to describe a place: "a community where there is no shame in staying across generations." I am not 100% sure where it came from, but think it was from God of the Woods. 

Anyway, whether you choose to stay in a community or choose to leave, there are always trade-offs. You might lose some security or close connections if you leave, but could potentially find more security or closer connections elsewhere. The people you leave behind may think you have changed when you try to go back and visit, but you may realize that staying the same is not the goal in life.

Wherever you are or you go , I hope you find other people. Unless you go into your apartment, you live alone and it is filled with other people you don't know and didn't invite. In that case, you might want to move.

The point is, life is about compromise.

Watching

The eyes only see what the mind is prepared to comprehend. 

~ Robertson Davies

- - - - -

There is a difference between watchdogs and dogs sitting around watching things.

Seeing

Always eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or bed - no escape. 

~ George Orwell

- - - - -

I'd love to have one of these in my yard pointed at the neighbor's house.

(pause)

And some quarters. I'd like some quarters to go with it.

Endurance

A wife was to be endured. Men learned that from television, she thought.

~ Barbara Kingsolver

- - - - -

If we think of endure as related to endurance as opposed to giving up, then maybe enduring a relationship is a good thing. Ideally there is more to it than just to endure it. I'm not the boss of you, so if you are with someone just as someone to endure, but as someone with whom to mature. If you are just enduring, I suspect you aren't learning or growing. 

Like I said, I'm not the boss of you. If I was, you'd probably give me a pretty nice Boss's Day card, though.

 

Happy

Avoid people who complain about everything.

~ Mackenzie Smith

- - - - -

Most days - for me - the quote above could have a period after the second word.

Water

Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress.

~ Margaret Atwood

- - - - -

You know that saying, "Come hell or high water"? I am pretty sure that sometimes you don't choose between the two and hell comes right alongside high water.

Labels

And I came to believe that good and evil are names for what people do, not for what they are. All we can say is that this is a good deed because it helps someone or that's an evil one because it hurts them. People are too complicated to have simple labels.

~ Philip Pullman

- - - - -

I can't remember if I shared this or not, but when I was in sixth grade, our teacher, Mrs. "Sit down, Shut Up, Keep Still" Richardson would let my best friends Joel Hanson and Dave Fischer and me go to do special activities outside of class. I don't remember everything we worked on, but one assignment she gave us was to make clocks for the time zones in the U.S. we made clocks and stenciled the names of locations at the bottom. 

Anyway, the way the poster was set up, there was only room for two lines of stenciled text at the bottom. I had made a clock for the Mountain Time Zone and for some reason we agreed that Salt Lake City would be the city we would use. I ended up labeling the clock as follows:

SALT LA-

KE CITY 

Dave and Joel laughed and made fun of me for that. I had to agree it looked ridiculous. 

(pause)

Mrs. Richardson didn't laugh. She just said, "No. Fix that." 

You learn lots of things in school.

Sunshine

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy.

~ John Denver

- - - - -

John Denver is the perfect name for someone who wrote "Rocky Mountain High." Too bad the guy who wrote it is named Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. 

Music

'Cause though the truth may bury us

This ship will carry our

Bodies safe to shore

~ Nanna Bryndis Hilmarsdottir and Ragnar porhallsson

- - - - -

The other day I was driving and playing my music. I had four songs come on in the following order:

Pyschopath by CeCe

Diagnosed Dissociative by Shawnee Kish

Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men

Only Happy When it Rains by Garbage

I don't know if this is a reflection on the type of music I listen to or the lives of lyricists. 

(pause)

I like those songs.

Hurt

No man is hurt by himself.

~ Diogenes

- - - - -

Overheard in a QuikTrip...

Kid: I mainly don't put band aids on once I get hurt... (Takes a big drink of his blue slushie while looking at his hand, then gestures to a spot on his finger). This ain't healing.

Storytelling

There's so much grey to every story - nothing is so black and white.

~ Lisa Ling

- - - - -

Aurora is pretty creative. She is a pretty good storyteller. She exercises personal agency through her storytelling - like when she told us the story about the girl named Diarrhea Pepperfeffer. 

Heel

I think the thing that's her Achille's heel that keeps stabbing her in the butt cheek is that she doesn't listen to people around her. And I can't work with that.

~ Saiounia Hughley

- - - - -

Trust me when I say that there is not a lot that is more uncomfortable than getting stabbed in the butt cheek with your Achille's heel.

 

Time

Everything in life is just for a while.

~ Philip K. Dick

- - - - -

The trick in life is making things that go on forever short and making moments last forever. The other trick in life is sawing a person in half.

 

Divided

(photo by Richard Boettcher)

The dividing line between wish and need was never clear.

~ Jame Buchan

- - - - -

I wish the fade out line on this slide was in the middle of where my Mom is standing. It's like the universe (or the person who developed this image) is just messing with us.

World

We pass through this world but once.

~ Jay Gould

- - - - -

There is so much to be astounded by in the world. In good ways. I mean, especially right now, there's a lot to be astounded by in bad ways, but the good stuff is still here, too.

Take a moment and pay attention and you'll see it. You'll see a flower or a nice looking tree or a beautiful sunset or a puppy or a happy child. 

Don't stare, though. That's weird.

Menu

The menu is not the meal.

~ Alan Watts

- - - - -

The word "menu" comes from the Latin "minutus" meaning something made small - and eventually from French for small list. I want you to remember that the next time you go out to eat and the wait staff person says, "I'll get your order in just a minute." That is someone with both a gift for vocabulary and etymology and a sense of humor. They know that the origin of minute and menu and are trying to make humorous banter with you. 

And if you are hangry and don't find the humor in that moment, then you should have had a little snack or come to restaurant earlier. That's on you, not the restaurant staff. Unless they made you wait for a really long time. In that case, it's probably karma for something awful you did in this life or a past life. And if the worst karmic revenge you get is having to wait a little longer for your food, then you were probably pretty nice in the past. So be nice now, too.

Kiss

'Scuse me while I kiss the sky.

~ Jimi Hendrix

- - - - -

What if, when they drink from puddles or lakes or rivers, animals are not drinking, but they are kissing the sky? I bet you never thought about that, did you? Of course not, you're too busy thinking about other things. I mean, you're a busy person. Keep up the good work.

Robots

We're fascinated with robots because they are reflections of ourselves.

~ Ken Goldberg

- - - - -

Recently I was in a gas station/convenience store. There was a robot mopping the floor. It said, "Excuse me while I mop this area" or something like that every time it moved to a new place. Then, when I went to check out, this particularly gas station convenience store was also selling sushi. This is not quite the future I imagined watching The Jetsons, but it is close.

(pause)

Also, I did not buy any of the sushi. In case you were wondering.

Zak

Actually being funny is mostly telling the truth about things.

~ Bernard Sahlins

- - - - -

Zak is curious and often has a lot of questions. One time when I was visiting, he quizzed Kirk and me about some of the things he was curious about.

Zak: Who's taller?

Me: (pointing at Kirk) Him.

Zak: Who's older?

Me (while Kirk is pointing at me assertively): Me.

Kirk: Ask who's funnier.

Zak: Me.