Art

An artist can best speak as a member of a moral community.

~ Ursula K. LeGuin

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An artist can also speak as a member of a morel community if they draw mushrooms.

Grandmother

If nothing is going well, call your grandmother.

~ Italian Proverb

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Some notes from a summer visit to see Aurora and Ezra:

Aurora - in a tone both wise and annoyed, "Baby brother's still hiccuping."

Aurora - losing at a board game, "Aw NUTS! Are you kiddin'?!"

And then we watched some kid show. Here is the plot summary:

The main characters on the show made their grandma lift a piano to the upper level of their home through a window by pulling it up on a rope. The family then sent the grandma to the grocery store for ice cream, but didn't let her get the kind of ice cream she liked. They next sent her up to the roof to retrieve a kite that was stuck there. Finally, they sent her to the cellar to get a toy for one of the kids.

It's a big job being a grandma. Apparently, it's an even bigger job if you are a cartoon grandma on TV. 

Early

Work hard, stay positive, and get up early. 
It's the best part of the day.

~ George Allen, Sr.

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I am definitely a morning person. A good day for me is when I wake up on my own around 5 a.m. and get up and journal for a while, then work for a while, then get to enjoy the world around me. That can happen on a beach, that can happen when I teach. It can happen when I'm reading, it can happen in a meeting.

(pause)

Okay, I'm going to be totally honest with you. It probably doesn't happen in a meeting. I just used that because it rhymed. And it sounded nicer than "It can happen when my eye is bleeding."  

Assistance

I think life is hard without assistance from others.

~ RuPaul

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Overheard

Kid: HEY-UP HEY-UP HEY-UP HEY-UP HEY-UP HEY-UP HEY-UP

Mom: Someone help Rebel. She needs some help.

C'MON!

I'm either going to be a writer or a bum.

~ Carl Sandburg

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Aurora: C'mon you lazy bums!

David: Don't call us "lazy hobos." 

Aurora: You're not "lazy hobos."

Me: You're just regular hobos.

Aurora: No - you're LAZY BUMS! Nuts!!

Pioneer

Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.

~ Deepak Chopra

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I think the pioneers are always strong and brave - no matter what they are pioneering. Like the first person to play a keyboard instrument. I'm sure the doubters and those resistant to change were really unkind. It took a lot of strength and bravery to be a pianoeer. 

Web

The web of life, love, suffering, and death unites all beings.

~ Alex Grey

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I was looking online at my ear infection symptoms. This list of options came up:

I thought the second option said, "history of exposure to assholes." Then I thought maybe I had vision issues as well as an ear infection.

Breaks

Science may never come up with a better office communication system than the coffee break. 

~ Earl Wilson

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Do workplaces have coffee breaks anymore? And if they do, do people put away their devices while they're at coffee break? Well, not the coffee making device, but the other ones?

Pennyslvania

Pennsylvania is home to some of the hardest-working, toughest, most decent people in America.

~ Bob Casey, Jr.

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The other states are home to the rest of them.

Orange

I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It's amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor.

~ D. H. Lawrence

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Making marmalade is a brilliant way to deal with a gloomy future. When you're done and you think of the future you can think, "Oh! I'll have some marmalade on toast later." Then the future is better.

Attention

Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are.

~ Jose Ortega y Gasset

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Leslie talks to and listens to her mom every day. Some days - many days lately, actually - her mom shares that she has been watching The Sound of Music. Other days her mom has played Bingo. Other days she has been coloring or painting. Other days her mom has questions about what movies Jimmy Cagney has been in.

Personally, I think that Leslie should put a camera in her mom's room and one on a helmet for her mom to wear. Then she could be really immersed in her mom's daily routines. I think the idea of a Grannycam is brilliant. 

However, I'm pretty sure neither Leslie nor her mom nor the people who help take care of her mom would agree. Because they're all so disagreeable.

Glass

We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.

~ E. B. White

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If my friend Wayne Glass complained all the time, he would a Glass of Whine.

But he doesn't really do that.

Danger

Remember that life's big changes rarely give advance warning.

~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

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I believe that Grandparents are psychic. Especially in knowing when bad things are about to happen.

The other day I saw a baby belch up food on its grandpa. 

Grandpa: I saw that coming.

Fence

Fear is the highest fence.

~ Dudley Nichols

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Sometimes I find myself scrolling through social media, and I'll come upon an image of a person with their head in their hands. I wonder, "What's that about?" and then think, "I should probably read that." It is never a photo of a person I actually know. It is never a problem with which I can actually help. 

I don't know what that says about me.

I do know this - I'm taking some "unplugged weekends" to disconnect from those messages (almost always negative) and all other messages (almost always negative). So, if you find yourself with your head in your hands and I am someone who can actually help, try not to have that happen on my unplugged weekends, because you won't get a hold of me then.

Negativity

Negativity is the enemy of creativity.

~ David Lynch

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A while back I posted that my friend Terri always says, "Is it really that bad or is it just November?" or "Are you really angry with that person, or is it just November?"

Then I thought about sharing the same thing now that it is early December and people are worn out. "Is it really that bad or is it just December?" "Are you really angry with that person, or is it just December?"

Then I thought you could do that for all of the months. There is a reason to be cranky any month, I suppose. 

So then I had to stop and think, "Is it really that bad or is it just my friend Terri?"

Sightseeing

Sightseeing is the art of disappointment.

~ Robert Louis Stevenson

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When Marty and Carol came to visit, that was fun. They were pretty interested in going to see the Georgia Guidestones. It was only later that they admitted they thought they were going to see the Georgia Satellites. They both love that song, "Keep Your Hands to Yourself." 

Of course when they admitted it, they didn't actually say it out loud, but I could read it on Marty's face. I think Carol had written it there.

Tractors

Technically speaking, you drive like a rabid chicken who has hijacked a tractor.

~ Sarah Rees Brennan

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Technically speaking, only mammals can get rabies.

Reading

If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books.

~ Roald Dahl

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This is a screenshot I took when looking for kids' books for kids I know. 

It reminds me that song from Sesame Street, "One of these things is not like the other..." 

Seat

Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night.

~ Herman Mankiewicz, All About Eve

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And if there isn't a seatbelt to fasten, well - I don't know what to tell you. It's still going to be bumpy. And it's still probably all about Eve.

BLT

Too few people understand a really good sandwich.

~ James Beard

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This was an excellent BLT that Leslie made for me. 

Big tomato
Little strips of pork meat
The green salad stuff

Mmmm.