Hoop

Create unselfishness as the most important team attribute.

~ Bill Russell

- - - - -

I like this photo of the basketball hoop on the side of the barn. I could almost guarantee you that there is no court in front of that hoop - and yet people still probably shot hoops there. Maybe a lot.

Maybe they also shot them when they shouldn't have. To be completely honest, I don't know what the penalty is for shooting hoops out of season.

Libraries

Bad libraries build collections. Good libraries build services. Great libraries build communities.

~ R. David Lankes

- - - - -

Leslie told me a story about how she was at the library and a librarian and a police officer were arguing about whether or not a man sleeping in the library should be arrested. The officer didn't think arresting him was the right approach, but that's what the librarian wanted to have happen. Leslie said that she didn't know why the two of them were arguing in front of her.

Me: You should have said, "SH! This is a library."

Leslie: Yes, I should have.

Me: No - you should have said, "SH! I'm trying to sleep!"

We laughed and laughed. Deep down inside I think she resented me telling her what she should do and I resented her not finding out why there is a police officer stationed in the library.

But then we got over it. 

Construction

Originality is the best form of rebellion.

~ Mike Sasso

- - - - -
I don't like seeing these protest signs all over. While I think we have to be good stewards of the land and try to respect nature, I don't know that we need to end all construction. Sheesh

Blue

Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

~ L. Frank Baum

- - - - -

I don't like it when my peeps are blue. I try to cheer them up, but they usually stay blue. I'm not the boss of them and their feelings. Or maybe they are the blue peeps of happiness and they aren't the sad kind of blue at all.

I guess I won't know. Can't know. Don't know. I have asked them repeatedly how they are feeling, but I get nothing. Not a peep.

(pause)

Peep is not only the name of the candy, but also a small sound. Thus the humor in this post.

(pause)

Please feel free at any time to wander off and start your own blog. 

Barns

Build the barn before you buy the cow.

~ Serbian Proverb

- - - - -
The mother barn made her way slowly across the prairie so that her baby would not be left behind. In the evenings when they would rest, she would whisper stories and words of advice to the little one.

"Always keep moving. If you stay in one place too long they'll make you a chicken house and chickens stink to high heaven."

"When you hear old humans say to young humans, 'Where were you born - in a barn?!' Don't take it personally. Some of the best people ever were born in barns."

"Don't worry about how uppity silos are. They think they're better than everyone else, but they mostly keep to themselves."

And then she would sing her baby to sleep with the anthem of lot, "Baby You Were Barn This Way."

Deceit

Guard yourself from lying; there is he who deceives and he who is deceived.

~ Sextus

- - - - -

You think Leslie is all nice and calm and reflective, but you could be wrong. Like the other day whens she tried to convince me it was "ola" not "hola." She didn't know what the hell she was talking about. She makes crap up all the time - in multiple languages, even! Leslie is lielingual.

Drumming

My drumming is always an experiment.

~ Pat Mastelotto

- - - - -

Zak is into drumming right now. I am happy he got his own drum set for his birthday. He really seems excited by drumming. 

I hope he goes on to become a famous drummer. I'd be really proud of him.

And then I could sell some of the photos I have of him for a ton of money.

Language

As wonderful as dogs may be, they are famous for missing the point. 

~ Jean Ferris

- - - - -

Language is a weird thing. We string together sounds to make words. We string together words to make sentences (or not). We string together sentences to a make a point (or not).

And yet we don't do any of that very well.

Let's take the following as an example:

"I may have screwed the pooch."

(pause. long pause.)

You MAY HAVE? One would think you would most definitely remember that  in vivid detail.

Also, what the heck is wrong with you?

Yes?

Make sure that by saying "yes" to someone else, you aren't saying "no" to yourself.

~ Paul Coelho

- - - - -

Molly, think about this before you follow through. Really, really think about it. This is the rest of your life. How do you want people to know you? What do you want them to call you? Please, Molly. Please, please, please, think about this carefully.

Please.

Half

When my mother had to get dinner for eight, she'd just make enough for 16 and only serve half.

~ Gracie Allen

- - - - -

Why don't they call this product "whole"? Half and half make whole. No wonder kids can't do math. They go and drink all that half and half and then don't know fractions.

Ride

If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.

~ Toni Morrison

- - - - -

I saw this at an amusement park. I thought, "A shoe ride isn't really all that fun." But maybe this park isn't an amusement park. Or maybe it's an amusement park for your mind. You get on the shoe ride and just sit there. Then you wonder about the nature of "rides" in general. 

Maybe this was a confusement park.

Crafts

I like crafts that come out of poverty or necessity. There used to be hobby shops where you'd get your supplies, and then you'd use your imagination.

~ Amy Sedaris

- - - - -

I saw this a while ago at an antique / repurposing store. I just realized it looks like Amy Sedaris. I kind of wish I had bought it for her and sent it to her. But then I realized I don't have her address. And postage would probably be a lot because I vaguely remember it was pretty big. And who knows? Maybe she made it and then got rid of it. And when you get rid of something, you don't always want it back. 

Sometimes you do want things you got rid of back. Like all the money I spent on other things to send to Amy Sedaris. 

Liquid

If architecture is frozen music, then music must be liquid architecture.

~ Quincy Jones

- - - - - 

I really wish I had the job of making signs for museums or tourist places or history displays. Of course, I could not possibly top this sign. Brilliant. Simple. Honest. Beautiful. Succinct. Accurate. 

Good job sign writer person. 

Golf

It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

- - - - -

If this is Plan B, what was Plan A?

Bearing

We are born believers. A man bears beliefs as a tree bears apples.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

- - - - -

But not every tree bears apples. Some bear oranges. Some bear acorns. Some bear bears. Well, for periods of time, anyway. 

I guess similarly, not all beliefs people bear are the same. Like the belief that bears can't climb trees.

Zebra

How fast does a zebra have to run before it looks gray?

~ Demetri Martin

- - - - -

I wonder if zebras think of themselves as the tigers of the horse family.

(pause)

Probably not.

All

The whole world is you.  

Yet you keep thinking there is something else.

~ Hsueh-Feng

- - - - -

I actually believe this. I just don't understand why other people don't realize that the whole world is ME. 

Sigh.

BBQ

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

~ Anthony Bourdain

- - - - -

Leslie:  Why are you staring at me?

Me:  Because you're so pretty.

Leslie: I probably have barbecue sauce all over my face.

Me:  You do.  You look delicious.

In and of itself this is a pretty innocuous conversation.  But what if we examine it through the lens of film?  What if we add to the dynamic the fact that one of my favorite movies is "Silence of the Lambs?"  Then this isn't innocuous at all. Instead it becomes very, very disinnocuous. 

Beaver

That was bad grammar of course, but that is how beavers talk when they're excited; I mean in Narnia -- in our world they don't usually talk at all.

~ C. S. Lewis

- - - - -

Would I be angry if a beaver did this at my house? If a beaver ate through a tree and the tree fell on my roof? Yes.

What a stupid question.

Stuff

The things you own end up owning you.

~ Chuck Palahniuk

- - - - -

I don't think it's ever a good idea to buy a couch for $1.