Community

For too long in this society, we have celebrated unrestrained individualism 
over common community.

~ Joe Biden

- - - - -

When we come together to work on things - problems, art, projects, barn-raisings - we come up with better solutions than when we face these things alone. We are more creative. We are able to see the larger picture.

That said, there is a limit to how many seats there can be at the table. But I don't think there is a limit to how many tables there can be. Also, it shouldn't always be the same people at the same tables. That limits us as a community.

Also, I think there should be a kids table. In case they spill.

Questions

The only interesting answers are those that destroy the questions.

~ Susan Sontag

- - - - -

Wow. That is a powerful quote. I think that maybe the opposite is also true.

For example, when I stopped to take a photo of this mailbox at the house around the corner from where I used to live, a woman from the house came outside. She asked, "What are you doing?" I responded that I hadn't ever seen someone paint part of their address on the mail flag before, so I thought it was interesting.

I thought that was the end of it. She asked a question. I responded. My answer in no way destroyed her question.

Then she asked me another question, "Want a cat?"

I didn't know how to respond, so I said, "No."

Perhaps the only interesting questions are those that the destroy the answers before you even get a chance to respond.

Also, why was she giving away cats?

Poetry

Not knowing when the dawn will come

I open every door.

~ Emily Dickinson

- - - - -

Knowing that the palmetto bugs and mosquitoes will come
I close every door.

Sometimes practicality does not lend itself to poetry.

Butterfly

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.*

~ Muhammad Ali

- - - - -

How come it's called a butterfly? We don't call a wasp a "stingerfly." We don't call a bee a "buzzerfly." We don't call a lady bug a "round spotted fly." We don't call a witch a "cacklefly."

(pause)

I'm going to start calling witches "cackleflies." Who's with me? 



* Perhaps should be "Float like a butterfly, sting like a buzzerfly."

Chair

When fortune calls, offer her a chair.

~ Yiddish Proverb

- - - - -

If it is a short-term fortune, I suppose you offer her a high chair.

If it is a leisure-related fortune, a recliner.

A fortune old and wise, the rocking chair.

And bad fortune - the most uncomfortable chair in the house. Or a beanbag chair (which is likely the same thing). That way she won't stay so long.

Bottle

Life is like a little message in a bottle to be carried by the winds and by the tides.

~ Gene Tierney

- - - - -

I saw this in an antique store with Leslie. I thought about buying it for my brother, Kirk. Instead I decided to rewrite the theme song to the Golden Girls as if it were a commercial (a LONG commercial) for this soda. You're welcome, Kirk. You're welcome, everyone.

Thank you for being a drink

To toast with my friend clink, clink, clink

Your taste is true you're a very yummy refreshment

I'm not ashamed to say

I hope you always will stay this way

Your cap is off,

I'm excited I get to drink you now

And if I threw a party

Invited everyone I knew

You would see, you're the beverage for me

And the crowd would cheer along and say,

Thank you for being a drink

Thank you for being a drink

Thank you for being a drink

(pause)

I think maybe I should have just gotten he bottle for Kirk.

Recipe

A recipe has no soul. You as the cook must bring soul to the recipe.

~ Thomas Keller

- - - - -

Recipe 1: Bowl of Chips

Directions: Put chips in a bowl. Eat chips out of the bowl.

Recipe 2: Chips and Dip

Directions: Put chips in a bowl. Set out some dip. Dip chips in dip. Eat chips dipped in dip.

Recipe 3: Chips and Ham

Directions: Eat chips with some ham.

This would be better if the photo read "Simile Recipes with Chips."

Recipe 1: Nachos

Take chips as salty as the sea and light like a butterfly's halo. Top them with cheese as cheesy as cheese, jalapeños hot like habaneros, ground beef as ground as the meat from that book The Jungle, sour cream white like snow that no dogs have peed on, and tomatoes as red and juicy as the reddest and juiciest tomato ever.

(pause)

Note to self: Write book of recipes.

Eyes

One eye sees, the other feels.

~ Paul Klee

- - - - -

One night I was talking with Leslie and she said something that made me laugh. At the same time I had a sharp pain in my eye. I tried to describe it to her. She said, "Maybe someone has a voodoo doll of you."

While I the comment didn't make me feel better - in fact it made me feel much worse - it did make me forget about my eye hurting.

Friends

I wanted to buy a candle holder, but the store didn't have one, so I bought a cake.

~ Mitch Hedberg

- - - - -

Maybe instead of me expecting "birthday cards" and "birthday gifts" from people, I should send out cards and gifts to people who make me glad that I was born.

(pause)

I'll definitely do that next year. (or the year after).

M

If I want sarcasm, Mr. Tanner, I'll talk to my children thank you very much.

~ Judi Dench as M

- - - - -

Why is M the best letter of the alphabet? Because ME starts with M. So does MELLOW. So does MICHELLE. So does MOON. So does MEADOW.  So does MICHELLE. So does MAGNIFICENT. So does MOTIVATE. So does MORNING. So does MICHELLE.

So MANY nice words start with M.

Freedom

We must be free not because we claim freedom, 

but because we practice it.

~ William Faulkner

- - - - -

Last Fourth of July it was Leslie and Granny and me.  I had been wanting to try out a rib recipe and so I did.  Originally, I thought David and Michael would be there too, but they had to go get some of David and Natalie's stuff from North Carolina.

Anyway, I posted this photo on Facebook and tagged the two of them and said basically that Granny was going to eat all the ribs and there wouldn't be any left.  They were good ribs.  Since they took about two days to prepare, they should have been good.  And we had Leslie's deviled eggs, baked beans, watermelon margaritas, potato chips and I think Granny had a bowl of watermelon.

That evening we went to see fireworks.  It took us a while to find a good parking place to see them, but eventually we did.  Then Granny fell asleep during the fireworks.  In her defense, it was about the time she usually falls asleep in front of her TV at home.

On the drive back to the house, Granny said, "This is what the Fourth of July is all about.  Fireworks and picnics with good food."  

I said, "I thought it was about freedom."

She paused, then said, "Freedom first.  Then ribs."

Fireworks

There should be fireworks at last, when a dream dies.

~ Kirby Larson

- - - - -

I'm thinking of writing a story about an old guy who sells fireworks. His name is Sparky Ashton and his family has been selling fireworks for generations. Each of the people ahead of him in the family line has died a gruesome and fire-related death. Maybe Uncle Earle was burned up fighting a fire as a volunteer firefighter. Aunt Selma's apron caught on fire when she was frying chicken.

And Sparky - whose nickname is a joke: his actual name is Vigil (because they forgot to put the R in his name on his birth certificate, so he wasn't named after his great uncle Virgil after all) - Sparky one day spontaneously combusts and the entire fireworks store goes up in flames.

(pause)

I'm pretty sure it would be a good story.

Impossible

I love those who yearn for the impossible.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

- - - - -

Remember the secret to impossible is hidden in part of the word itself. If someone tells you something is impossible, simply say, "Ble. I didn't want to do that anyway."

History

You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has freedom.

~ Malcolm X

- - - - -

Celebrating the founding of the United States is a complex issue.  We celebrate different ways. Some people do not celebrate it at all.  I think it's important to think about our history on this date.  And I always think it's important to think not just about the good parts of our history, but the very bad parts of our history.  All of those pieces make up where we are today.

Here is an exchange I had with my brother a while ago (a couple of years ago) about how to celebrate July 4th.

Me:  Kirk, I just made "Mom's Banana Split Dessert" for 4th of July.  Jealous?  Also, why were we so poor with the creativity in food-naming at our house?  Consider the following in addition to "Mom's Banana Split Dessert."

* "Chip Cookies" (not chocolate chip cookies, but the cookies that look like chips)

* "The Hot Dish that Chelle and Erik Like"

* "Those Brownies that Grandma Makes"

The most creative food name we have is "Fruit Salad" which is what we call a bowl of grapes.  And I think Jared came up with that.

Kirk:  I started reading this and totally thought you were wrong or exaggerating...  And then as I read, I knew exactly what each of those was and could not come up with another name for any of them...  BTW, I love "Those Brownies that Grandma Makes."

As you can tell, not only in the history of nations complex, but the history of persons who make up nations is also complex.  

Whisper

It isn't what they say about you. It's what they whisper.

~ Errol Flynn

- - - - -
Dottie: Just ignore Felicia, Rhoda. She thinks she better than everyone else.

Rhoda: But why, Dottie? Why does she think she's so great?

Dottie: Because she doesn't have just a plain fabric head.

Rhoda: So she's hard-headed?

Dottie: Yes. Exactly.

Rhoda: But why is that good?

Dottie: It's not, Rhoda. She just think it's make her better. It doesn't. It just makes her different.

Rhoda: Like a baby chick with a broken wing?

Dottie: Exactly.

Rhoda: And don't the other baby chicks peck the one with the weird wing to death?

Dottie: Um...

Rhoda: So shouldn't we --

Dottie: Rhoda, stop. 

Rhoda: I mean, if she's --

Dottie: Rhoda, I said stop. She's different, but she's still like us, too.

Rhoda: I don't see how. She doesn't have on blue. She doesn't have yarn hair.

Dottie: But she has fabric arms.

Rhoda: Is one of them broken?

Dottie: Rhoda - you have to stop that.

Rhoda: Okay. I will.

Dottie: Good.

Rhoda: Until she falls asleep.

Dottie dropped the conversation at that point because Felicia's eyes were painted on. 

So, I was going to finish this by saying, "But Dottie vowed then and there NEVER to introduce Rhoda to _______" and I was going to fill in the blank with the name of a doll with closing eyes, but I couldn't think of one and then I went to look it up and I found a listing on eBay for "doll eyes" and I thought about a pile of doll eyes and I got freaked out.

Color

Fog and smog should not be confused and are easily separated by color.

~ Chuck Jones

- - - - -

You know that song  about the colors of the wind? I like it. I think the title is "Colors of the Wind." Anyway, I think the music is pretty. I like the way that the singers who sang it (Judy Kuhn and also Vanessa Williams) sang it. While I think there may be some issues with the storyline of the film (some major issues), it is a pretty song.

I think a less good song would be "Colors of the Breaking Wind." And also those colors wouldn't be very pretty. Mostly browns and ugly shades of green and grey and off-yellow.

Brushes

Every artist dips his brush into his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.

~ Henry Ward Beecher

- - - - -

I believe this.

I believe it is true of anything we do or create - art, research, stories, music, children, pets, interior decorating. Whatever we help to create, we put ourselves into that - our biases and beliefs, our joys and sorrows, our truths - explicit or hidden.

I also prefer the idea of dipping the brush into the soul rather than the heart. An artist who dips his brush into his heart is going to have some sort of myocardial infarction.

Nontraditional

There is a lot of food culture that goes on in the home and in the community in non-traditional ways. Food is a lot more than restaurants.

~ Eddie Huang

- - - - -

The other night I found the image above and the following as a draft in my blog posts:

"Be untraditional in what you give in an Easter basket.

Also if you don't have an actual "Easter basket" it is fine to use a stock pot instead."

I'm guessing I wrote it since the above is what I gave Leslie in her Easter stock pot this year, but who knows? I could have written it for any number of reasons.

Market

In America we eat, collectively, with a glum urge for food to fill us.  We are ignorant of flavour.  We are, as a nation, flavor-blind.

~ M.F.K. Fisher

- - - - -

Crab apples are the only apples native to the United States.  Given the tone of what I read on Facebook a lot of days, that seems about right.

Also, I guess in the United States we ought to tell someone, "You are the crab apple of my eye."

Also, crab apples and cranberries aren't the same thing.

You're welcome.

Pairs

Commas, like nuns, often travel in pairs.

~ Mary Norris

- - - - -

Some letters are scarier in pairs. E is one of those letters. Want proof?  Here you go:

EErie

crEEpy

bEEs

eyetEEth

grEEd

skrEEgh

yes, really on that last one. look it up if you don't believe me.

Also, what if someone decided he wanted to collect all the purebred dogs in the world and keep them only for himself. You know what that would be? Do you?  Huh?

It would be "pediGREED."

Initial

My initial response was to sue her for defamation of character, 

but then I realized I had no character.

~ Charles Barkley

- - - - - 

I know I have the same initials as "Major League Baseball."  What I didn't realize until recently is that my friend Ann has the same initials as "America's Got Talent!"

I'll let you decide which is the national pastime.

It's baseball.  Baseball is better.

K

Don't try to solve serious matters in the middle of the night.

~ Philip K. Dick

- - - - -

Remember yesterday's post? If not - here is a recap:

A while ago Kristy posted photos of Bryan and the boys fishing. In one particularly great photo it shows one of the boys sitting in a camp chair looking out at the water. Across the way is a dock with two people on it. From the photo it looked like they were fighting. 

Kristy said they were fishing not fighting.

My response, Are you sure? They look like they might be fighting. Like everybody. Everybody was fighting. Everybody was Kung Fu fighting." 

And then I realized that the world would probably be a little more peaceful if instead everybody was Kung Fu fishing. 

(pause)

Or maybe not. I'm not exactly sure what that would entail.

Okay, more than a recap - that is actually an exact repeat. Recap. Repeat. I didn't cap again. I peated again.

But here is my point. What if everyone was Kung Pao fighting? Would that be good because Kung Pao chicken is good? Would it be bad because it might be hot and people would get burned? Would it be good because - hey - FREE FOOD! or would it be bad because you would get the sauce on you and that might attract bees or fire ants and you could get stung?

The moral of the story is that I couldn't think of something new to post for today. Also the moral of the story is just because everyone else is Kung Fu fighting doesn't mean you have to do it to. Not while you're living under my roof, buddy!

Docks

I'm just sitting on the dock of the bay wasting time...

~ Otis Redding

- - - - -

A while ago Kristy posted photos of Bryan and the boys fishing. In one particularly great photo it shows one of the boys sitting in a camp chair looking out at the water. Across the way is a dock with two people on it. From the photo it looked like they were fighting. 

Kristy said they were fishing not fighting.

My response, Are you sure? They look like they might be fighting. Like everybody. Everybody was fighting. Everybody was Kung Fu fighting." 

And then I realized that the world would probably be a little more peaceful if instead everybody was Kung Fu fishing. 

(pause)

Or maybe not. I'm not exactly sure what that would entail.

Zen

For studying Zen, one should have quiet quarters. Be moderate in food and drink. Case aside all involvements and discontinue all affairs. Do not think of good or evil; do not deal with right or wrong. Do not intend to make yourself a Buddha, much less be attached to sitting still.

~ Dogen

- - - - -

I guess if you want to study Zen there are a lot of things you're going to have to do...

Cancel your magazen subscriptions.

Move to the country.

Eat and drink less.

Quit doing stuff.

Quit seeing people.

Quit thinking.

Don't judge.

Don't sit still.

I guess you have to stop doing.

Just be.

It's like the opposite of the Nike slogan.

Of course, I think it's even more powerful if you can pair "Just Be" with "Be Just."

We already have everything we need.

Except for Pop Tarts.  I think that even the Zennest among us can appreciate the occasional Pop Tart.  In moderation.

Progress

Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.

~ Sir Winston Churchill

- - - - -

Um... you do get to the end of the journey.

Truck

I didn't wait for Luck. I tore after it with a truck.

~ A. A. Bell

- - - - -

This looks like a truck my Grandpa Boettcher used to have. For a while he kept it in the shed by the chicken coop. Then later it was in the shed by the pig pen. My grandparents lived on a farm - if you didn't catch that from the chicken coop and pig pen references.

I loved that truck - even though it was green and I don't always like the color green.

I learned to pretend drive in that truck. I also learned to pretend work on a farm in that truck. And to pretend my brother and cousin were evil villains trying to capture me while I hid in that truck.

Everyone should have a grandpa's truck in their childhood. And by childhood I mean time when they were a child, not a neighborhood of only children. If that were the case, then the truck should be a Ford and not a Chevrolet.  Why, you ask?

I'll give you a moment to figure it out on your own.

(waiting)

(waiting)

Sigh.  Okay, fine.  Because if it was a truck in a neighborhood of children it would probably end up being a Ford of the Flies.

(pause)

Get back to work.

Options

I believe that if we really want human brotherhood to spread and increase until it makes life safe and sane, we must also  be certain that there is no one true faith or path by which it may spread.

~ Adlai Stevenson, Jr.

- - - - -
Is it weird that we have manure spreaders and cheese spreaders but no human brotherhood spreaders? Wait, I am mistaken. PEOPLE are brotherhood (and sisterhood and humanhood) spreaders. People are also manure and cheese spreaders.

Dumping

I just need somewhere to dump all my negativity.

~ Van Morrison

- - - - -

I like Van Morrison a lot.  There was a time when I was pretty sad.  So sad I couldn't listen to music for a while.  And I really like music.  Well, I think it was Kirk who sent me a Van Morrison CD.  Which seems odd now that I think about it.

Anyway, I listened to it.  A lot.  And then I got another Van Morrison CD.  I listened to it a lot, as well.

Eventually I could listen to music again.

I guess I'm sort of dumping this here. I don't know that it is negative. I think it is hopeful. See? When bad things happen then they get less bad and then good things happen. 

I guess I'm not dumping at all when you look at it that way. I tend to dump all my negativity into my sarcasm. And a chasm of any kind is not a bad place to dump stuff. Well, other than toxic stuff that will destroy the earth.

And my negativity isn't really THAT bad.

Flag

If I was to put a little flag everywhere I've been in the world, there'd be a lot of little flags.

~ Charles Dance

- - - - -

Did you realize that the words "barn" and "flag" both have four letters and both have only one vowel and in both cases that one vowel is the letter "a"? And did you think that was just a coincidence? Because I'm pretty sure it is.

Seeing

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

~ Buddha

- - - - -

But is that also the greatest strength? What if the greatest strength is seeing through things with x-ray vision? Does that mean Superman is greater than Buddha? Would he win in a fight with Buddha? Would Buddha even worry about "winning"?

And what if these glasses we saw on a beach in South Carolina are Clark Kent's glasses? In that case can not everyone see through him and realize he is Superman? And if that takes away some of his power then maybe Buddha was right after all.

Take that, Superman.

Puppets

Don't become a puppet to other people's desires. Live and create your life as you intend it to be.

~ Steven Redhead

- - - - -

Why are puppets less scary than dolls? Because puppets are operated by people. The human puppeteer controls the puppets mouth, what the puppet is saying. She also controls the ways the puppet moves - arms, head, body.

When dolls move, they're just doing that stuff on their own. 

And that is terrifying.

Irony

Listen: our culture is saturated with irony 

whether we know it or not.

~ Barbara Kruger

- - - - -

If flamingos are pink because they eat shrimp. Then blue flamingos must eat blue crabs. Or maybe blue flamingos do not actually exist and seeing blue plastic flamingos is simply meant to be ironic.

In truth, isn't seeing ANY plastic flamingo ironic?

Shoes

Personally I am stuck with one foot in the past and one in the present.

~ Anthony Kiedis

- - - - -

I think maybe a human foot is the ultimate stocking stuffer.

Relaxing

If you do what you love, it is the best way to relax.

~ Christian Louboutin

- - - - -

I very much enjoy relaxing, but the truth is I like laxing the first time around, too.

Road

When within yourself you find the road, the right road will open.

~ Dejan Stojanovic

- - - - -

On a recent road trip Leslie and I were talking about landscapes and roads and driving and traveling. We were somewhere in the mountains of North Carolina or maybe Tennessee. She said that she always felt more comfortable with mountains on the horizon - maybe even better if she was actually in the mountains. 

I am not like that. I prefer the plains. I like open landscapes disrupted only by occasional trees or houses or silos or windmills or cemeteries. The evenness of a field of corn or soybeans is what I grew up with. I like being able to see the next town or see when someone is approaching you.

I know that is terribly boring to some people. I do like changes of scenery, but I do like levelness, as well. There is a sense of calm and awareness that gets disrupted when you throw in mountains or skyscrapers or giant robots fighting enormous dragons. 

Life

In life, as in art, the beautiful moves in curves.

~ Edward G. Buller-Lytton

- - - - -

Some people need a lot of structure. A LOT of structure. They use checklists and planners and accountability partners. If they teach, they plan class down to the minute. If they parent, they use their calendars and fill their calendars and live their lives by their calendars. They have short term goals and mid term goals and long term goals and lifetime goals.

I'm not really like that.

I like to leave room for the spontaneous. I like for there to be pauses and gaps so that creativity and innovation can claim them rather than regulation already dictating how those moments will be used.

I like more motion and curve in my day - round edges rather than blocks and boxes.

"Is it because you often just leave things to the last minute?" you might ask. "Is it because you are so disorganized you rarely know what you are doing?" you might ask. "Is it because you are totally winging it and just making crap up as you go?" you might ask.

"Don't you have a calendar and timeline and schedule you need to be attending to instead of asking me a bunch of questions?" I might respond.

Use

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

~ Arthur Ashe

- - - - -

"What good is a broken spade?" you ask. Like all of us, when broken we find new ways of being, new tasks to accomplish, and new purposes in life.

Even if it's more than we can handle.

Get it? There is no handle on the spade on the right? Get it now?

Anyway, it's good to be adaptable. I hope you find this very motivating and that it changes your life for the better and you give me some money for the way that I helped you with that.

Tiki

I have a need to do something and know I can be successful.

~ Tiki Barber

- - - - -

Here's something I bet you had not considered: If Tiki Barber ever went to prison, when he got out he'd be "ex-con Tiki." 

(pause)

I was right, wasn't I?

Upward

Our way is not soft grass, it's a mountain path with lots of rocks. But it goes upward, forward, toward the sun.

~ Ruth Westheimer

- - - - -

Knowing Dr. Ruth, I wonder if by "our way" she meant "penises." If so, I don't like this quote. 

Awesome

While living in America when I attended Harvard in the 1970s, I saw for myself the awesome, almost miraculous power of a people to change policy through democratic means.

~ Benazir Bhutto

- - - - -

There is no "i" in awesome, but there should be. There also is not a "u" so I guess that makes us even.* 

Also, I know there is a "u" in Trump. There is not an "i" or a "me" in that word. There is an "um" and also a "rump." I imagine those things are significant and funny and ironic.





* Yes, I know there is a "me" but by not mentioning that it makes this post funny and ironic.

Attitude

For success, attitude is equally as important as ability. 

~ Walter Scott

- - - - -

I think it is hard to know if another person has a "good" attitude or a "bad" attitude. You don't know them. You don't know what they've been through. Maybe what looks like a bad attitude is really a great attitude given the obstacles someone has overcome. And maybe a good attitude is actually lacking given someone's advantages.

I guess you never know for sure.

But "sucky" attitudes? Well, those are blatantly obvious. And for those of you with 'em - knock it off.

Two

Absurdity and anti-absurdity are the two poles of creative energy.

~ Karl Lagerfeld

- - - - -

This statue reminds me of me. Two sides of one being. Positive and negative. Serious and funny. Reflective and active. Peaceful and troubled.

And also I like to sit on patio tables. 

(pause)

And also I don't.

Squirrel

"This squirrel is inadequately afraid of humans! Squirrel, I am a threat to you! We are enemies! Please get off my bench! Oh, god! Oh, god! Don't touch me—oh, god!"

~ John Green

- - - - -

I have said it before and I will say it again: I really, really like squirrels. Unless I look too closely for too long at their handpawclaws. Those things freak me out.

Flag

I will acknowledge Memorial Day, whether my institution or my state do or not.

~ Michelle Boettcher

- - - - -

Grass

Related Poem Content Details

By carl Sandburg

Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo. 

Shovel them under and let me work— 

                                          I am the grass; I cover all. 

And pile them high at Gettysburg 

And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun. 

Shovel them under and let me work. 

Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor: 

                                          What place is this? 

                                          Where are we now? 

                                          I am the grass. 

                                          Let me work.

Shed

A man builds his house in England with the expectation of living in it and leaving it to his children; we shed our houses in America as easily as a snail sheds does his shell.

~ Harriet Beecher Stowe

- - - - -

So did you know that shed is a variation on the word "shade"? I didn't until I looked it up. If that is accurate. Maybe it isn't. Makes sense, I guess. You wouldn't want your lawnmower in days of yore to get sun damaged. Of course your lawnmower in days of yore was a goat. I wonder where the word "goatshed" comes from. Probably "goat shade."

Language is fascinating.

Also, just for the record Harriet Beecher Stowe - a snail doesn't shed its shell. It's attached. 

Marco

We live in a society obsessed with public opinion. But leadership has never been about popularity.

~ Marco Rubio

- - - - -

Today is Marco Rubio's birthday.

I wonder if he still believes that quote I found that was attributed to him. Also, I wonder if he has heard of something called "the popular vote." Though we may be about to elect a very unpopular president. Actually, I'm pretty sure of it - no matter who wins the person is going to be very unpopular with some people.

But it won't be Marco Rubio.

That sounds meaner than I meant it to. I just meant he isn't probably going to be an unpopular president as a result of the next election.

(pause)

That was maybe slightly nicer-sounding.

(pause)

Not a lot nicer-sounding, though.

Seeing

If your eyes are opened, you'll see the things worth seeing.

~ Rumi

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This is part of the alley where I walk from my house to my work. For a few days, I thought there was a dead cat in the alley. I hadn't walked near it, but I had driven on the crossroad. The neighbors by me have a few cats. One is white with a gray part on it's head (fur not a beret or a splotch of paint) and gray paws. I saw it one day and then later I saw it lying in the alley - which it never has done before that I have seen. 

Then a day or two later, I saw it still laying in the alley. And I was sad. I realized it must have gotten hit and died. I felt guilty for a while because maybe it wasn't dead the first time I drove by it and I could have helped save it. I could at least tell my neighbors. I don't think they go into the alley very often.

Anyway, today I realized it wasn't a dead, squashed, rotting cat. It was a pizza box.