Bubble

Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.

~ Marcus Aurelius

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Sometimes things bubble up and pop out without you even looking within. Yes, I'm talking about dog farts. Was I too subtle?

Days

 Every day brings new choices.

~ Martha Beck

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Leslie: (reading motivational and uplifting quotes) You can always make more money, but you only have a limited number of days to make memories.

Me: You only have a limited number of days to make more money, too.

Tacos

Tacos are like what the voices of a hundred angels singing Bob Dylan while sitting on rainbows and playing banjos would taste like if that sound were edible.

~ Isabel Quintero

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I was recently engaged in a conversation where I was asked, "What is your favorite fast food." Another person then added, "There's only one right answer." 

I responded, "I feel like if someone says there is only one right answer, then their favorite fast food place is Taco Bell."

I was correct.

NOTE: These tacos are not from Taco Bell, but they are photos of tacos that I had available.

Awesome

The human capacity for survival and renewal is awesome.

~ Isabelle Allende

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Awesome has "we" and "me" in it. We is awesome and Me is awesome. 

But maybe not awesome at grammar.

Photography

Only photograph what you love.

~ Tim Walker

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I prefer to take photos of others than photos of me. I love to take photos of Lily. She doesn't love having her photo made. That's okay. I understand what that's like.

This probably captures how we both feel about having our photo taken.

 

Stanley

Stanley, Part 3: The Conclusion

Anyway, Stanley sent a bunch of postcards to a third grader and his classmates. I did think it was cool that I knew a guy named Jeff Brown (also the name of the author of Flat Stanley), so I sent a photo of a bunch of his name tags, too.

I know this series of posts isn't what I usually share, but I wanted to do something different. This is a great example of "Things don't happen TO you, they happen FOR you" which is something I have been trying to hold onto. I know that sometimes bad things happen to you. However, as the Stoics say, the obstacle is the way. Sometimes things happen that inspire you to be more creative than you would have been if things worked out the way you wanted.

One of the themes of my life has been MAIL. I love photos of mailboxes. I like to send mail. And in my life I have received some very strange mail. Mostly NOT terrifying. To me. My mom... well, she has been scared a few times. Like when I got Barbie parts in the mail. 

Barbie body parts. Unsolved mystery of Flat Stanley. So many unsolved mysteries involving the USPS. 

Yes. Yes, I DID say "Barbie body parts." But that's another story for another time.

Sweet dreams, everyone.

Stanley

 Part 2: The Adventure Continues

Maybe it was for the best that Stanley got lost. As you can see, some of the photos I got of him weren't all that exciting. By a sign for a dam/reservoir. By a sign for a botanical garden. By a sign for Farm Bureau.

Since Stanley was lost, he would send postcards. Here are some of my initial thoughts inspired by Jared:

So, I was telling Leslie last night about some options and I said, "Jared suggested that maybe Flat Stanley got lost or something." I don't actually remember all the ideas Jared had, but I did think that maybe writing to schoolkids with messages like:

"I'm lost and scared. The only thing I can do is send letters."

"I don't know where I am right now. It's dark. And cold. And damp." 

"I'm so sad. And lonely. I keep thinking someone will come and help me, but no one does."

"Can't... hold out... much... longer..."

"A nice truck driver is giving me a ride. I hope he's not like the one that Kirk's mom always talks about."

Stanley

 

Part 1: The Adventure Begins

So one time I was asked to be a stop on a journey for Flat Stanley. I took this responsibility very seriously. I had Stanley visit a lot of interesting places. However, the people I sent him on to failed. Stanley's journey ended after his stop in South Carolina. I reached out to the teacher to take responsibility for what had happened.

Dear Mrs. HERNAME ISASECRET,

I sent a Flat Stanley update for Jude a few weeks ago. I then forwarded it to friends who had agreed to participate. Unfortunately, I got the update that there haven't been any messages from Jude's Stanley since South Carolina and my friends have not responded to my requests for a status update.

I don't want Jude to be left out of the fun, so I was wondering if it would be all right if I had some postcards sent "from Stanley" from different places instead of Stanley photos. I know that is not the exact purpose of the project, so I wanted to check before doing that.

Is there are a mailing address I could use? Or have you used other options in the past if a Stanley has gotten lost on his travels?

Let me know your thoughts / how I can help Jude continue to participate. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

Best of luck with the rest of the term. I hope you have a wonderful break in the coming weeks.

Michelle 

I then also reached out to Kristy for additional information. While Stanley was missing, it didn't mean that Jude couldn't get MESSAGES from him!

Dearest Michelle, 

The address of the school is ALSO THIS SHOULD BE KEPT SECRET. 

I appreciate your help in this matter, please don’t feel that you have to do anything extra though. I hope Flat Stanley’s captors release him.

-Kristy

Kirk also brought his creative whimsy to the project.

OMG.  We should write a horror novel about the family that kidnapped Flat Stanley!!!!!!!!!!! 

Perhaps the title could be Flat Stanley and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Last Day of His Life!!!!!!

I don't know why Kirk thought there would be a FAMILY of kidnappers. He is a freak.

Also, I would totally read that book.

Confusing

Don't be afraid to be confused. Try to remain permanently confused. Anything is possible.

~ George Saunders

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This picture on this sign is confusing. It says "NO LOITERING" but it doesn't say "NO POOPING ON THE STEPS."

So... is the person on the left in the wrong or not?

Mysteries

That's the beauty of the universe. 

There's always a new mystery.

~ James Rollins

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I recently solved a mystery. We had a kitchen knife that had been missing for a long time. It was a bird's beak knife. We couldn't figure out what had happened to it because we are not in the habit of taking our knives out of the kitchen and - in all honesty - it wasn't a knife we used very much.

Then I was in the kitchen and used the scissors. We had put the bird's beak knife is the scissor slot and not realized it. The knife has been gone for months. Then we found it. It was a victorious and glorious day.

I have yet to solve the mystery of this "BUNNYTUNA" sign, though. However, to be completely honest, I haven't really tried.

Tired

A house without either a cat or a dog is the house of a scoundrel.

~ Portuguese Proverb

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People say "let sleeping dogs lie," but Leslie doesn't believe in letting sleeping dogs lie in her spot on the couch or the bed. She's more of a "make sleeping dogs lie somewhere else" kind of a person. 

Good luck with that, Leslie.

Hotdogs

I just want to lie on the beach and eat hotdogs. That's all I ever wanted.

~ Kevin Malone, The Office

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I think this is a great dream to have. Except for the lying. Why can't you just tell the truth, Kevin?!

Swing

It don't mean a thing if you ain't got that swing.

~ Duke Ellington

- - - - -

(pause)

My house don't mean a thing.

(longer, more sad pause)

Dogs

Life is a series of dogs.

~ George Carlin 

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At least a good life is, George Carlin. 

Shopping

 You can always find something you want.

~ Sophie Kinsella

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I found all of the above images online. I think my curiosity about them speaks for itself. Not sure I have to add any other comment.

Just in case that isn't true... Then: You are what you buy.

Gratitude

I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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I am the luckiest person I know. I try to remember that and to show gratitude and to give thanks for people, events, and things in my life that make it better each day. 

(See, you thought I was going to say something like, "I won't say which of the friends in this photo is the "old" and which is the "new", but I didn't do that. Instead I was just full of gratitude.)

 

Mailbox

 23 Tractor Mailbox Ideas - Pinterest

~ The Internet

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I am annoyed in two ways with "23 Tractor Mailbox Ideas." First, I am annoyed because you only need TWO tractor mailbox ideas - get a mailbox with a tractor on it or make a mailbox look like a tractor.

However, if you are going to go with multiple tractor mailbox ideas, coming up with only 23 of them seems like you just quit trying. I mean just go to TractorData.com and you'll find at least 260 types of tractor.

The internet has everything and nothing all at once.

Soulmate

... and when one of them meets the other half, the actual half of himself, whether he be a lover of youth, or a lover of another sort, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy and one will not be out of the other's sight, even for a moment...

~ Plato

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"Soulmate" and "cellmate" sound a lot alike.

Chicken

I don't know which is more discouraging, literature or chickens.

~ E. B. White

- - - - - -

Roy: Bernice, what are you doing?

Bernice: I've decided to be a "trash chicken."

Roy: Why?

Bernice: Well, if a raccoon can be a "trash panda" then I can be a "trash chicken."

Roy: But "trash panda" is funny because while a raccoon isn't a panda it sort of looks like one and it eats trash.

Bernice: Well, I sort of look like a chicken and --

Roy: I know, but --

Bernice: -- and I eat trash. Stop crushing my dreams.

Roy: Stop crushing that --

Bernice: McNuggets box. I have part of a McNuggets box.

Roy: Oh, Bernice...

Bernice: Stop crushing my dreams.

Bug

Time is for dragonflies and angels. The former live too little and the latter live too long.

~ James Thurber

- - - - -

This is such a true saying. Charlie's Angels was on TV from 1976 to 1981. At least two years too long.

Farming

There are only three things that can kill a farmer: 

lightning, rolling over in a tractor, and old age.

~ Bill Bryson

- - - - -

Wow. That is one of the wrongest things I've ever heard. Other things that can kill farmers: bears, rolling downhill into a dell and smacking up against a tree, if his dog BINGO gets rabies and bites the farmer, getting fed cyanide brownies by Mrs. Farmer because she's had enough of the farmer's B.S., being buried alive with B.S., a tornado, a flood. 

I could go on, but I won't. I like a lot of farmers.
 

Power

Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same.

~ Thanos

- - - - -

I think it's cool that the health tech company Thanos took its name from a comic book character. The idea of bringing stability to the universe and bringing stability to healthcare... It makes sense. However, I think that people should have been cautious of a company called Than--

Wait. 

It was Theranos, not Thanos. Anyway, people still should have been suspect because it was so close to Thanos. C'mon now people. Seriously

Masterpiece

A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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I think Lily would be a good host for Masterpiece Theatre. She wouldn't be judgmental about the performances. She would watch the parts that interested her. And she looks cute sitting in chairs. 

Bored

She refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn't boring.

~ Zelda Fitzgerald

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Lily is about the least bored creature I've ever known. She always wants to be going and doing. Or even sitting and thinking. She can sit for an extended amount of time just looking out the window. I don't know what she's thinking, but she seems to be watching and processing and trying to learn more about the world around her.

If at some point in the future I learn she was thinking, "This is so boring," I will be surprised. 

Sky

Excuse me while I kiss the sky.

~ Jimi Hendrix

- - - - -

I love it when the sky clouds up and looks all scary. I mean, I don't want harm done to anyone or to things like crops or homes or other things that are outdoors. I just think the sky looks exciting. Is it because harm COULD be done? Maybe, I haven't thought that much about it. Mostly I just think, "Ooooh... look at that."

Pretzels

There aren't as many quotes about pretzels as you might expect given how wonderful pretzels are.

~ Michelle L. Boettcher

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Here's an ethical conundrum for you. If you are in charge of getting someone their favorite pretzels for their 90th birthday, do you use a seatbelt to keep the pretzels safe knowing that some of the pretzels could get crushed, OR do you leave the pretzels unsecured and hope not to get in a car accident?

Also, I hope this is the biggest ethical dilemma you ever have to face because that means you have a pretty great life.

Daybreak

What breaks in daybreak? Is it the night? Is it the sun, cracked in two by the horizon like an egg, spilling out the light?

~ Margaret Atwood

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I think daybreak is like an egg breaking. Sometimes it is a chicken or a duck egg and you have albumen and yolk. Sometimes it's one of those chocolate eggs and you have a toy toaster or a little doll inside. And sometimes it is like a baby bird egg and now you've touched the baby bird and its parents will never have anything to do with it. 

Daybreak is what you make it. 

Don't touch baby birds.

Barn

You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful.

~ Alan Alda

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I don't know everything you'll discover in every barn you explore. I do know one thing you'll find. Bugs.  

Tunnel

To survive, you've got to keep wheedling your way. You can't just sit there and fight against the odds when it's not going to work. You have to turn a corner, dig a hole, go through a tunnel - and find a way to keep moving. 

~ Twyla Tharp

- - - - -

Funnel cakes are something that a lot of people like. If you really like them and want even MORE of that, you could make "Tunnel Cakes." That would be a HUGE amount of that stuff. The problem is that I don't know a lot of tunnels that would meet FDA standards. I guess it's time to let that dream go and keep moving to the next one, my friend.

BBQ

Barbecue may not be the road to world peace, but it's a start.

~ Anthony Bourdain

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Sharing food can make a difference in any relationship, I think. Like, if you and I are friends and you serve black licorice soup for dinner, that is not going to have a positive impact on our relationship. 
 

Car

You can know or not know how a car runs and still enjoy riding in a car.

~ David Byrne

- - - - - 

I don't know what kind of car this is. I'm sure someone does and is dying to show off that they know what kind of car it is. The actual make and model are irrelevant to this particular post. 

My point is, this car has some stories to tell. 

Garden

All gardeners know better than other gardeners.

~ Chinese proverb

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I don't know bette than other gardeners. I just try stuff and then realize I should have planted sooner, planted later, watered more, watered less. 

I don't mind. I like learning. 

I especially like learning when something goes well - like "Hey, these tomato plants did great!" I like learning less when it's things like, "Hey! I didn't know squirrels ate green tomatoes! KNOCK IT OFF, YOU SQUIRRELS!!!" 
 

Music

 I hope to refine music, study it, try to find some area that I unlock. I don't quite know how to explain it, but it's there. These can't be the only notes in the world, there's got to be other notes someplace, in some dimension, between the cracks in the piano keys.

~ Marvin Gaye

- - - - -

I remember, in marching band, playing the song "Africa" by Toto and I thought the same thing, Marvin Gaye. Anyone who has ever played that opening trombone part understands exactly what you're saying.

Bridge

Nothing is beautiful from every point of view.

~ Horace

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I wonder if this bridge thinks I captured it's "good side." 

(pause)

Actually, I don't think this bridge thinks about my taking this photo much at all. And that's okay. 

Doors

Be an opener of doors.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

- - - - - 

I think this is a good quote to say to most everyone. Except maybe diamond burglars, unless you are encouraging them to open the doors to more education so that they don't burgle anymore. 

 

Breakfast

Expect problems and eat them at breakfast.

~ Alfred A. Montapert

- - - - -

Something that's sort of like breakfast is like something that is sort of like lunch -- only breakfast.

Deer

"It is hard to believe that it will ever be better, " Bambi's mother sighed, Aunt Eva sighed, too. "It is hard to believe that it was ever any better," she said. "And yet," Marena said, looking in front of her, "I always think how beautiful it was before."

~ Felix Salten

- - - - -

This is how I feel about the pandemic a lot of the time. Except without talking deer. 
 

Children

Mystery

Mysteries about where most we seek for answers.

~ Ray Bradbury

- - - - -

I think every kid goes through a stage where they want to solve mysteries. They want magnifying glasses and fingerprint kits. They want to solve things. 

I bet that is why there are so many true crime podcasts.

Dead

Sometimes dead is better.

~ Stephen King

- - - - -

I heard someone suggest one time that what we say at funerals we should say at birthday parties. 

Maybe. But I don't think the opposite is true. For example (sing songs - you know the tune): "How old are you? How old are you? How old dear Grandma..."

Doesn't work.