Talking

If writers wrote as carelessly as some people talk, then adhasdh asdglaseuyt[bn[ pasdlgkhasdfasdf.

~ Lemony Snicket

- - - - -

When Leslie and I went to the Wildthings game last summer, we waited a long time for the game to start.  The softball game that had happened in the afternoon had gone into 15 innings or something and they had to get the field ready. 

There was a woman with a microphone who was trying to keep the crowd entertained while we waited.  She kept giving out tickets to TNA Wrestling which was going to be in town the following week. She would have people do little quizzes or whatever to get the tickets.  Then she would give them tickets and yell, "Tell us what you know about T 'n A!!"

It seemed very inappropriate for a family event.  She also called them the "Wahld things."  And at some point she referred to a guy as an "amputee victim."

Leslie kept murmuring things to me like, "The Wahld Things are in number first place!!"  Leslie is a troublemaker.  At least she didn't run around screaming about T 'n A, though.

Love

You have to walk carefully in the beginning love; the running across fields into your lover's arms can only come later when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip.

~ Jonathan Carroll

- - - - -

I like to play with the lyrics in existing songs.  Lots of times I think I can come up with better words than the ones in the actual song.  But that's how I am.  Pretty full of my songwriting self.

Here is an example I thought of a few months ago when Leslie called the Campanile a "Concubine."  

My funny concubine,
Sweet comic concubine,
You make me smile with my heart.
Your looks are laughable.
Unphotographable.
Yet you're my favourite work of art.

Is your figure less than Greek?
Is your mouth a little weak?
When you open it to speak
Are you smart?

But don't change a hair for me.
Not if you care for me.
Stay little concubine stay.
Each day is Concubine's Day.

I know it isn't my most creative work.  And I'm not 100% sure I'm an advocate for "Concubine's Day."  Still thinking (though not too much) on that.

Oh, and for the record, if I saw someone running across a field in a sprint of love and they fell, I'd laugh.  Whether it was beginning love or later love.  I would definitely ask about broken hips and chipped teeth, but I would be laughing while I asked.  

Valentine's Day is so romantic.

Bad

Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life.  I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have - life itself.

~ Walter Anderson

- - - - -

The other night I got a paper cut.  It was inside my left index finger.  It was one of those paper cuts you don't realize you have until you get something in it.  In this case it was something like barbecue sauce.  Or maybe some sort of household cleaner.  

Who am I kidding?  It was barbecue sauce.

Anyway, it stung and stung and stung.  I didn't like it.

I mean, what's worse than a paper cut?

(pause)

A lot of things - poverty, war, hate, ignorance.  Really?  you couldn't come up with things worse than a paper cut on your own?    Like I just said - you're ignorance.  

Also, know what is worse than a paper cut?  Confusing barbecue sauce and some sort of household cleaner.

Senses

Seeing, hearing, feeling are miracles, and each part and tag of me is a miracle.

~ Walk Whitman

- - - - -

When we go to the island with Bill and Suzanne, we can see and hear lots of things.  Birds, bears (allegedly, I've not seen any bears the two years I've gone), snakes, sunsets, sunrises.  You can hear the water sometimes the rain.  You can hear people talking as they kayak by or talk on islands nearby.  You can hear geese and boats and the wind.

One time we were sitting on the dock and heard banjo music.

Leslie said, "Sounds like a Ken Burns documentary."

I really like her.

Family

Sometimes it's heartbreaking to see your siblings as the people they've become.  Maybe that's why we all stay away from each other as a matter of course.

~ Jonathan Topper

- - - - -

Kirk:  How is Leslie's mom doing???

Me:  Pretty well.  They just get on each other's nerves sometimes because they can both be stubborn.

Kirk:  Glad she is well!  Family is the worst!  I always...  Oh crap. I forgot who I'm texting.  Damn autocorrect.  "Family is the worst" was supposed to read "Family is wonderful.  I'm so glad my family is super friends with each other and never argues ever." Stupid autocorrect.

Hm.

I think that if we were indeed Superfriends, Kirk would be Gleek.

Seriously

Everything is changing.  People are taking their comedians seriously and their politicians as a joke.

~ Will Rogers

- - - - -

 

I love this sign.  Don't just consider going with experienced paddlers.  And we can't REQUIRE you to go with experienced paddlers.  SERIOUSLY consider going with experienced paddlers.

 

Seriously.

 

At least don't go alone.  Always outdoorsy with others.  Otherwise you have an accident and you are alone.  And you have to cut off your arm.  Or you have to feed your leg to a bear to escape.  Or you have to figure out a way to purify your urine so you can drink it to survive.

 

On second thought...  Seriously consider staying inside at home.

Messages

Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or else the message and the messenger will be rejected.

~ Mahatma Gandhi

- - - - -

 

I like it when Wayne shares updates with me.  He tends to find bitlits of news and information that I would like to know about.  Then he texts me.  Then I know.

 

Sometimes we discuss what he shares at length.  More often we each make a couple of comments and I thank him and tell him he is wonderful and he says I am wonderful and I agree that we are wonderful.  It's nice.  And oh so true.

 

A recent example:

 

Wayne: "Author and Publisher of Choose your Own Adventure Books Dies at 78..."

Me:  Aw...  I'm surprised he turned to that page.

Wayne:  I see what you did there.

Learning

I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.

~ Lily Tomlin

- - - - -

Learning isn't always easy, fun or exciting.  Sometimes it can be.  Sometimes it is just really hard work.  And often you don't realize what you have learned until a long time later.

Like this bulletin board tribute to Walter White.  He didn't learn how valuable chemistry can be until a long time after he was done in school and even a long time after he had been teaching.  Then he knew.  Then he used what he learned to make some money.

I'm not sure people should make bulletin board tributes to Walter White, though.  I mean, that show isn't even on anymore.

Annoyed

The classic pose of a female model is to look kind of sexy and a bit annoyed.

~ Caitlin Moran

- - - - -

When I write my blog, sometimes I have an idea and I find a photo to go with it. 

Sometimes I come across a quote and think of something to write along with it.

Sometimes I have a photo and then find the perfect quote to go with it.

This post is the latter.

The end.

Happy birthday, Leslie.

Diva

The word diva to me means doing something supernatural with something natural.

~ Patti Lupone

- - - - -

I was thinking about Patti Lupone the other day.  I don't know her.  I did see a video of her yelling at rude people who didn't turn off their cell phones during one of her performances.  "Good for her," I say.  Well, "Good for her, " I type.

I think she is very talented.  I also am kind of intimidated by her.  Like, I bet she would get really angry if you spelled her name Patty Lupone instead of Patti.  Or if you spelled it Pattilou Pone.  I understand that.  People should spell other people's names correctly.  And I don't think you have to be  a diva to expect that.

I don't think Leslie is much of a diva (though she certainly could play one on TV).  I know she loves swimming, though.  And being in the water.  I have heard she is really good at scuba.  Does that make her a scuba diva?  Maybe.  Very, very maybe.

Commentary

The first forty years of life give us the text; the next thirty supply the commentary on it.

~ Arthur Schopenhaur

- - - - -

And the however many years after that next thirty give people permission to say whatever they want. At least that runs in my family on my mother's side.  Which scares me for when she gets to be an oldster.  She is already good at speaking her mind.  Who knows what she'll have to say when she decides it really is okay to say WHATEVER she thinks?

One thing is for sure, when that time comes there will be a lot of description and detail.

And I will be making some commentary.

Deer

Oh dear.  Oh d-d-d-d-dear, dear.

~ Piglet (A. A. Milne)

- - - - -

Me:  There is a deer running through that yard.

Leslie:  Mmm Hm.  DAMN!  There's a deer!

Me:  That's what I said!  And there are two more.  Be careful.

Leslie:  I thought you meant one of those light up deer winter decoration lawn ornament things.

Me:  But...  I...  Wait.  You're right.  (laughing) I totally do that..

Leslie:  Yes.  You do.  "Look!  A deer!" and it's a stupid lawn decoration deer.

Me:  That could have led to an accident.

Leslie:  Maybe next time you could yell, "LIVE DEER!"

Me:  That's a good idea.

Snow

 Is it snowing where you are?  All the world that I see from my tower is draped in white and the flakes are coming down as big as pop-corns.  It's late afternoon - the sun is just setting (a cold yellow colour) behind some colder violet hills, and I am up in my window seat using the last ligth to write you.

~ Jean Webster

- - - - -

It's not snowing where I am.

(Note: If Jean Webster and I were pen pals, I'm not sure if she would write me back.)

Magic

We do not need magic to transform our world.  We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already.

~ J. K. Rowling

- - - - -

 

I agree with this.  I think that if we listen to ourselves and pay attention to the world around us, we know things that we don't realize we know.  We can do things we didn't think were possible.  We just have to open ourselves to the possibilities - imagined and not - in the world.

 

For example, I texted Rachel and said, "Headed to your house.  Need anything?  Deviled eggs?"

 

She responded, "HOW did you KNOW?!!"

 

I texted, "Psychic."

 

Do I think I'm psychic?  Is being psychic magic?  Is the devil magic?  I don't know.  Do I think the devil got into me the same way he gets into deviled eggs?  No.  Deviled eggs are called that because they are spicy (pepper, mustard, Tobasco, something).  I suppose I'm deviled since I have eaten pepper, mustard and Tobasco, but I think you're mixing up your words. 

 

I am called divine.  I can see where you'd make that mistake, though.  Because you're bad at spelling.

Mail

I get mail, therefore I am.

~ Scott Adams

- - - - -

 



I sent out some cards at the beginning of this year.  Well, it was more like the end of last year.  I started a few years ago sending out New Year's cards.  I like New Year's Day.  I don't like New Year's Eve.  I think I've shared that.  I do like the reflective nature of the end of a year.  I just don't like the frivolity that goes along with it.  I'm not a very frivolous person. 

What's the opposite of frivolity?

According to my computer, it is sadness, work, understanding, sensibility, wiseness, seriousness.

Those are probably more true of me.  I don't know that I'm sad or that I work hard.  There are lots of things I don't understand or that don't make sense to me.  I'm not always serious and less often wise.

What's the opposite of those things?

Whatever it is, that's what I probably am.

And also, I send people mail sometimes.

Encouragement

Instruction does much, but encouragement everything.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

- - - - -

Encouragement...  To cause a state of courage.  I don't know if we always think about the fact that we are inspiring people to be brave and courageous when we encourage them.  We are just motivating them to finish something.  We are supporting them in doing something scary or intimidating.  We are letting them to know we are with them as they move forward in bravery.

If we need to be encouraged it is because we are scared of something.  And it's okay to be scared.  And it helps when people are with us.

Like if we wanted to create a new community.  I mean, all the states had to go through it.  EnIowament.  EnPennsylvaniament.  EnMainement.  To cause a state of Iowa.  To cause a state of Pennsylvania.  To cause a state of Maine.

Granted, none of those are as scary as EnDCment.  I know a lot of people are still not very brave when it comes to enDCment exposure.

Run

Time and the hour run through the roughest day.

~ William Shakespeare

- - - - -

I got Elizabeth a book on running for Christmas this year.  I couldn't really remember much about it.  I thought it was about runners in South America.  I was talking to Leslie about it.  She asked the name of it.

Me:  I forget.  It's a bunch of people who run... maybe in the rainforest in South America?  I can't remember the name of it."

LL:  Is it "Run, Rainforest, Run?"

It was not.  She is not always helpful.  She is usually amusing though.  At least to herself. 

Guess

If your happiness depends on what someone else does,

I guess you do have a problem.

~ Richard Bach

- - - - -
Sometimes I like to play with Web MD.  I had a game when I was a kid that was a lot like Web MD.  I think it was called Doctor, Doctor.  Yes.  It was.  Apparently it now sells on eBay for $42.

Anyway, you would get a list of the patient's symptoms and run tests on the patient and then eventually diagnose the patient.  And if you got it right you won the game.  

Well, the other night when I was playing with Web MD, I was answering questions and one of them asked if the symptoms were "made worse by swallowing irritating chemicals or poison."

I didn't choose that as an option, but I'm guessing that if you said that yes the symptoms were made worse by swallowing irritating chemicals or poison that the medical recommendation you got was, "Let natural selection take its course."

Fortune

I believe in censorship.  I made a fortune out of it.

~ Mae West

- - - - -

I think we make our own good fortune.  If we look for good things, we find good things.  If we focus on negative things, we find negative things.  We have a lot more control over our experiences than we sometimes realize.  Like if I want to win the lottery, I just have to go out and win the lottery and then I will win it.

No, wait.  I was thinking of soup.  

I think we make our own soup.

Change

Change is the end result of all true learning.

~ Leo Buscaglia

- - - - -

 

We do learn through change.  As a kid I remember getting lots of worksheets with pennies and nickels and dimes on them.  We had to figure out how to count change. 

 

I guess my elementary school was preparing me for a job as a cashier.  Or a wishing well fabricator.  I'd like to be the latter.  I like the idea of making people's wishes come true.

 

Or maybe they were preparing me for a job as Santa Claus.  He makes wishes come true.  Sometimes.  If you're good.

 

But being good is sometimes overrated.  You probably ought to focus on just making your own wishes come true.

Rooms

I've seen how you can't learn anything if you're trying to look like the smartest person in the room.

~ Barbara Kingsolver

- - - - -

Different rooms carry different stories in our lives.  Some rooms are novels or even a series of novels.  Lots of chapters.  Lots of anecdotes.  Lots of people moving in and out and through those rooms.

Other rooms are rooms of a singular incident.  Tragic.  Comic.  Ironic.  Romantic.  Stoic.  Epic.  Acerbic.  But a room and a memory and a moment that stays with us.  However we choose to capture it - whether accurate or not.

And other rooms are filled with quiet.  Places of reflection.  Private places where we can collect our thoughts.  Places of isolation where we can recuperate and get ready to move ahead.  Where we need a moment.  Time.  Time to breathe before going to what is next or what is waiting or the unknown. 

Those are the rest rooms. 
 

Learning

The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn.

~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

- - - - -

I went on a hike a few months ago and found this.  It was at the top of a hill in the woods.  It was in a county park.  The trail was called "Cabin Loop" or "Old Cabin Loop."  Something like that.

It was not called "Cult Get Together Loop."  If it had been, I probably wouldn't have gone on that trail.

(pause)

Who am I kidding?  I DEFINTELY would have gone on that loop.  I'm always saying I don't have enough arts and cults in my life.  Wait, maybe that's not what I always say.  Or maybe my spelling is wrong. 

Sometimes I have to learn the hard way.

Work

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

~ Thomas Edison

- - - - -

 

Leslie is a very hard worker.  She pays a lot of attention to detail.  She gets frustrated with people who are willing to settle for less than their best.  It just doesn't make sense to her.  If you are going to do something, why would you ever not do the best you can?

She is always working on something.  Sometimes it is rewarding like writing or creating something.  Sometimes it is something tedious like paying bills.  Sometimes it's something helpful like running an errand for a friend or going through every cabinet in the house to try and scrounge up some chocolate for Granny.

Other times what she is doing is work-related.  Sometimes that is rewarding to her.  Sometimes it is tedious.  Sometimes it is  helpful.  Maybe all of our jobs are like that.

And sometimes she does stuff at work just confuses me.  Like the other day when I asked her what she was doing and she responded, "Right now I'm trying to get the curriculum center to order me a female sailor puppet."

Librarian work is a mystery.

Bridge

True teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over 

which they invite their students to cross; then, having 

facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging 

[students] to create their own.

~ Nikos Kazantzakis

- - - - -

Are teachers bridges or tunnels?  Do they help us cross over gaps in knowledge?  Do they get us over chasms?  Or maybe do they help us through things - through mountains of ideas and information.  Through good research and bad?

Or are they people?  I think mostly they are people.

Leaf

Only with a leaf can I talk of the forest.

~ Visa Zhiti

- - - - -

 

Leaves are like people.  When they are on a tree, when they look like all the other leaves and blend in... you don't notice them.  It's only when they forego the safe anonymity of the leaves on the tree that you see them as individuals.  When they burst into color - red, brown, yellow, orange - you see them as something distinct from the green branches.

 

And people are the same way.  If they huddle together, safe in the group, painted green so they all blend in with each other, you don't notice them. 

 

Who am I kidding?  You would totally notice a swarm of people painted green hanging around your neighborhood.

 

People are not like leaves.



World

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed.

~ Mahatma Gandhi

- - - - -

Or, as I like to say, it's a man's world.  And you know how they keep house.

You might think this post is sexist.  Or you might think it's sexiest.  Depends on your spelling.

Wagon

A hundred wagon loads of thoughts will not pay a single ounce of debt.
~ Italian Proverb

- - - - -

 

I don't like it when people jump on the wagon just because everyone else is.  I mean - addiction clichés aside.  I mean bandwagons.  You don't need to be jumping on those.  Well, unless you are the driver of the bandwagon.

Even she or he shouldn't probably jump on the wagon.  It's not good for the springs.

Learning

There is no school equal to a decent home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent.

~ Mahatma Gandhi

- - - - -

Babies learn a lot.  And they learn a lot in a short period of time.  And their learning is mostly the responsibility of their parents. 

But I don't think we should put ourselves down because as adults it might take us longer to learn things.  Our brains are more full.  We have already learned all that baby stuff.

And we could totally still defeat babies in a game of Trivial Pursuit.  And isn't that the ultimate test of learning and knowledge?

(That's not a rhetorical question.  It's an essay question.  So get to work.)

 

Books

Books are a uniquely portable magic.

~ Stephen King

- - - - -

 

This is the bookshelf in my office.  Well, how it looked at one stage when I was moving in.  

 

As you can see, I arrange my books by color.  This is terribly aggravating for some people.  Say...  librarians for example.  Or at least one specific librarian I know.

But it's okay.  I don't know that this would work on a larger scale, but for my books, it works.  I think I may have written this before, but I know my books well enough to know what color they are.

 

That isn't the point I'm trying to make, though.

 

My point is that I was on Amazon the other day and under "Inspired by your browsing history" the first book listed was, The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance: And Other Real Laws That Human Beings Actually Dreamed Up.  

 

Yep.  That seems about right in terms of how I am inspirational.  At least to myself.

Youth

Youth is wasted on the young.

~ George Bernard Shaw

- - - - -

I think I know why people went searching for the fountain of youth.  I think that they hoped to stay young physically and mentally, but with the experience and memories of age.  I don't think they wanted to regress or forget things.  Even the painful things make us who we are.  Being young and healthy and experienced enough to know better than to ruin your health...  maybe that's ideal.

I also think I know why people don't go searching for the fountain of euthanasia.  Because you can use any fountain for that.

Arise

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

~ Marcus Aurelius

- - - - -

Arise.  It is important.  It is about beginning and persisting and being.  It can be the start or the continuation.  Certainly you can wait for a moment to arise, or you can play a role in making things arise.  And getting beat down might only be preparing you for greater things.

Like bread.  Getting beat down is the yeast of your worries.  It isn't something to loaf about, but you butter arise again and again and again even on the crumby days.  As I'm sure you've bread, the bun also arises.

Fences

Love recognizes no barriers.  It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

~ Maya Angelou

- - - - -

When I was driving from Iowa to Pennsylvania on the first leg of my move to South Carolina (I know it's not a direct route geographically, but it was a direct route emotionally and organizationally), I listened to a lot of music.  

A little kid once asked me why almost all songs are love songs.  I thought that was pretty profound.  I hadn't really considered it before.  It's true, they are.

With that in mind, I got to thinking about how almost any love song, if sung to you by someone who makes you uncomfortable or who creeps you out, does not sound like a love song.  It sounds like a pretty scary song.

Try it next time you listen to music.

Or don't.  It kind of ruins music for you if you do it too much. 

Memories

Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.  I think I've forgotten this before.

~ Steven Wright.

- - - - -

When I went back to Athens to visit, Maddie and Elizabeth and I toured town.  I commented on things that were the same and things that had changed since I was there.  We drove past a lot of things and I said, "That wasn't here when I was here."  Then we drove past a restaurant - "Lam's Garden."  I said, "That restaurant was here when I was here."

Elizabeth said she went to school with the kid whose family owns it.  I said, "Really?  Does he have a sister named 'Mary Hattalyttle'?"

She paused.  And then - with a confused expression she said, "Mary Hattalyttle..?"

Maddie laughed.

Elizabeth, looking disgusted, said, "Ha ha.  Very funny."

I said, "Elizabeth, it was worth driving seven hours just for that."

Truck

Always remember the last words of my grandfather who said, "A truck!"

~ Emo Phillips

- - - - -

I talk to Leslie often when she is driving home from work.  In addition to getting a rundown of her workday, I also get a play-by-play of the traffic.  Commentary is a little more heated if there is a Penguins or a Pirates game.  She isn't often driving home from work during a Stillerz game or I imagine I'd get that info, too.

The other day she was driving and talking (hands-free, of course) to me.  Suddenly, she said, "AAAAHH!  That truck scared me!"

Worried about her safety, I responded immediately, "Was it a MONSTER truck?  Bwaaa ha ha ha!!"

"You're such a butt," she said.

I think that is code for, "Thanks for being so concerned about my safety.  I really appreciate you."  I'm pretty sure I'm right because I'm good at deciphering codes.

Yuck

There are only two mantras, yum and yuck.  Mine is yum.

~ Tom Robbins

- - - - -

I would not buy these.  Well, I might buy them and send them to Kirk or Maddie as a joke.  But I did not buy them when I saw them.  I thought, "Yuck."  Then I thought, "I wonder if the Target people get mad if you take photos of their products."  Then I thought, "No one is around right now."  Then I thought, "Good.  I got that photo."

I do a LOT of thinking.  I'm a thinker.

I think someone should make Fruit and Veggie Blend Veggie Flavored Snacks.  Instead of strawberry, raspberry, orange and peach, they could have celery, peas, kohlrabi, and eggplant flavors.  

I would DEFINITELY buy those.  And give them to people - people I do not like and people I like to harass.  That covers most all people.

Mental

People need to know that they have all the tools within themselves.  Self-awareness, which means awareness of their body, awareness of their mental space, awareness of their relationships - not only with each other, but with life and the ecosystem.

~ Deepak Chopra

- - - - -

When I was a little kid I used to have dreams that I was committed to a mental asylum.  It was in the basement of my elementary school - which was under the gymnasium.  It was not a pleasant place.  There was dripping water and bad lighting.

I am not sure where I got that image.  I guess from TV.  Not sure why my parents let me watch TV shows about asylums when I was a kid.  Or maybe it was stories my mom - the nurse - used to tell.  She used to tell about when she worked in Salem, Oregon and all the problems she had with Randle McMurphy.

Wait.  Maybe I have her stories confused with something else.  

Anyway, I'm glad I don't have those dreams anymore.

Dog

A well-trained dog is like religion, it sets the deserving at their ease and is a terror to evildoers.
~ Elizabeth Goudge

- - - - -

I might argue that a well-trained religion is like a dog, it sets the deserving at their ease and is a terror to evildoers.

Okay, I wouldn't argue it.  I might say or think it, though.

And like a dog, a good religion will let the evildoer figure out on his own that he is an evildoer.  A religion that judges before it knows a person isn't a safe place.  A religion that judges a person after it knows a person isn't, either.

Unless it was a religion started by Judge Judy.  Because you can't fault her for judging.  It's who she is.  She wields judging and guilt pretty well.  I guess her religion is Judyism.

Discs

Life is more fun if you play games.

~ Roald Dahl

- - - - -

I love disc golf.  I am not good at it.  That's okay.  I find that there are lots of things I'm not good at that I enjoy.  It's part of my carefree nature that I can be like that.

(pause)

Who am I kidding?  I'm not carefree.  My cares definitely cost me something.

I do like disc golf, though.  And I like it with Leslie even though she is better at it than I am and she's only played it twice.  What that means is that I am a very good teacher of disc golf.

See?  Even if you don't win, you can be a whiner.  

(pause)

I mean winner.

Mucus

Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing.  And even if you don't come up with a picture to cure world poverty, you can make someone smile while they're having a piss.

~ Banksy

- - - - -

In writing this post, I tried to find a quote about mucus to go with this photo.  There weren't a lot out there.  The ones I did find were oogey.  Which was not surprising to me.

Apparently, there was someone at an institution where I used to work (which shall remain nameless) and that someone used to write "mucus" on things at the union there.  I don't know why.  I found it amusing, but my friend Scott didn't so much. 

I imagine Scott recited this poem over and over.

I cuss
Mucus
We all cuss
About graffiti.

He probably didn't, but if I had written it sooner, he might have. 

Days

Every day is a gift.  It's just...  Does it have to be a pair of socks?

~ Tony Soprano

- - - - -

Some days are better than others.  We know that is true.  Some days everything seems to fall into place.  Other days the obstacles just keep coming up over and over again.  

Here's the thing, though.  The thing is that you have a day.  You get to make some choices about how you go through that day.  There are people with a lot more obstacles than you and they forge ahead and some of them are very positive people.

And, just for the record, I think socks make good gifts.

Destruction

I guess humans like to watch a little destruction.  Sand castles, houses of cards, that's where they begin.  Their great skill is their capacity to escalate.

~ Markus Zusah

- - - - -

Remember Toonces the Driving Cat, the Cat who Could Drive from Saturday Night Live?  I do.  And this photo reminds me of that.  Is it because "Doosan" and "Toonces" sound kind of alike?  No.  Is it because of the destruction in this scene - and Toonces always crashed the car he was driving?   No.

It's because it looks like a cat is operating this thing.  

Feedback

Feedback is the breakfast of champions.

~ Ken Blanchard

- - - - -

Assessment is very important. And if you do it only part way - you're an ass. And if you do it only part way with others then you're asses. But if you do it all the way through, you have assessment.

See what I did?

I was once asked for feedback during residence life training. I provided that feedback.

1. Confirming if you can present on the listed topics.

I can present on the topic listed for me to present on those topics listed for presenting on by me.

2. Ideas to improve the experience.

Snacks. Desk relay races. Worst Case Scenario session where we all go to MWL desk, ravage it and watch MWL staff sort it out -- learning from their every move.

3. Criticisms of what is identified thus far...

Didn't much like the font.

4. Criticisms of each other.

Too many to list.

I don't remember being asked to provide feedback after that. I guess I must have been pretty thorough.

Well

True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new.

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

- - - - -

"Well, well, well..."  I began.  Actually, I probably just began by saying, "Well."  I tend not to use percussive speech patterns. 

"Well," I sometimes began.

"That's a deep subject," my father would reply.

By then I forgot what I was going to say.  Which, I am only left to assume, was his plan.  Clever.  So clever.

Dogs

I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult.

~ Rita Rudner

- - - - - 

I appreciate that people love their dogs.  Dogs can be outstanding companions.  They can be loving and loyal and more excited to see us than anyone or anything else ever.  It is often good to be around a dog - some of its good habits might rub off on us.  

I guess that just goes to show that , like people, some dogs are odd.  And some dog owners are also weird.  I'm not sure which comes first the weird dog or the weird dog owner.  No, I do know which comes first.  It's the weird dog owner.

A few months ago Leslie and I were at an event, and the guy in front of us was showing pictures of his dog to a little kid sitting next to him.  The kid asked what kind of dog it was.  The guy said, "It's part wiener dog and part pit bull."  He then showed the kid a video of the dog eating corn on the cob.

Inspiration

Time spent laughing is time spent with the gods.

~ Japanese Proverb

- - - - -

I get inspiration from a lot of different places.  Sometimes things just come to me, but more often I hear or see something and it makes a connection to something else in my mind.  Or sometimes I'm in the middle of a project and I hear something and it makes me think of a different way to do my project or something new to include.

The other night I was trying to write an end of the year thing.  I love the end of the year (though I do not like New Year's Eve as a holiday).  I like reflecting.  But it takes work.  At least for me.  I have to take some time and go back and consider what has happened.  Notes help.  Looking back to see what I wrote or journaled about can help me understand my experience better.

Anyway, I had been working on this end of 2014 thing for quite a while and it just wasn't coming together.  Then it was New Year's Eve and I really wanted to finish it and post it.  So I was working and writing.  I got it done.

Later that night, Leslie was reading it.  One of the things I mentioned was that I was glad I hadn't had to interact with Elmo because I don't like him especially when he talks baby talk.

Leslie:  But you like Aurora and she talks baby talk.  You do like her don't you?

Me:  What?!  Yes I like her.  But she's a BABY - gosh dang!!!

Sometimes it's hard when people don't understand your mind.  Sometimes it's even harder when they DO understand it and they mess with it.

Try

If you not yet try

How to know you can or not?

~ Sopharat

- - - - -

All you can do is try.  If you try to be kind and people don't accept your kindness, that is about them not about you.  If you try to find common ground and other people avoid it, at least you tried.  If you make mistakes by doing something to try and make the world a better place that is better than making the mistake of doing nothing.

I have made a lot of mistakes in my life.  I anticipate making a lot more of them.  If I do, I will be correct.  If I don't make any more mistakes, I will also be correct.

See how that works?