Self Portrait

You must find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible.

~ Deepak Chopra

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How we see ourselves matters. I sometimes wonder how other people see themselves. I get a sense some see themselves as better than maybe the rest of us see them. I get a sense that a lot of people see themselves as not as good as the rest of us see them. Like, my brother Erik had red-green color blindness. I bet he saw himself as less colorful than the rest of us saw him. 

Less

My goal is no longer to get more done, but rather to have less to do.

~ Francine Jay

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It took me a long time to learn that if you do a bad job people ask you to do fewer things. I'm not saying that you should do a bad job. I mean, if everyone does a bad job, I'm still going to get asked to do things, and that's what I'm trying to avoid.

Leaving

I think there's something beautiful about being lucky enough to witness something on its way out.

~ Becky Chambers

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I think there's something beautiful about being lucky enough to witness someone you don't like on the way out of the room you are in.

 

Symbols

Symbols, or their absence, do not always mean what they seem to symbolize.

~ Kathleen Rooney

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I don't know if dogs read the world as symbols or not, but if they do, I bet they see tree as the symbol for toilet.

 

Leaves

I can hear a new story in each leaf that falls.

~ Isabelle Baker

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There was an oak leaf on the floor of the sun room the other day. Leslie picked it up and I said, "Just leave." I laughed. She laughed. 

All of that story is true except for the part where I said Leslie laughed. 

Fear

Your anger? It's telling you where you feel powerless. Your anxiety? It's telling you that something in your life is off balance. Your fear? It's telling you what you care about. Your apathy? It's telling you where you're overextended adn burnt out. Your feelings aren't random, they are messengers. And if you want to get anywhere, you need to be able to let them speak to you, and tell you what you really need.

~ Brianna Wiest

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If you fear the library, you care about the library. If you fear a pig is going to come charging you and bite your leg, you care about your leg. Also, run away!

 

Rain

For after all, the best thing one can do 

What it is raining, is to let it rain.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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I like rain. 

But not every day.

Which is how I feel about most things.

And people.

This is not a poem.

But it looks like one because of how I am writing it.

So... rain.

 

Waves

Sit in reverie and watch the changing color of the waves

that break upon the idle seashore of the mind.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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I love the ocean. I thought when I moved from Iowa to South Carolina that I would go to the ocean all the time. I don't go very often. I should go more. 

I wonder if the ocean misses me as much as I miss the ocean.

(pause)

Yeah, probably. 

But I'm not going to be one of those people who says - when they haven't been to visit someone in a while, "But they never come see me, either!!" because I do NOT want the ocean coming to northwestern South Carolina to visit me. 

Deception

The greatest deception men suffer is their own opinions.

~ Leonardo da Vinci

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The second greatest deception men suffer is probably some kind of card trick.

Electricity

Electricity is really just organized lightning.

~ George Carlin

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I sent this to my cousin Tamra for Halloween one year. I'm always trying to help people learn and make good choices. I really am an educator at heart.

Halloween?

Every day is Halloween, isn't it? For some of us.

~ Tim Burton

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Kirk: How are you guys? What are you gonna be for Halloween?

Me: Tired. I'm going to be tired for Halloween.

 

Reading

Of course anyone who truly loves books buys more of them than he or she can hope to read in one fleeting lifetime. A good book, resting unopened in its slot on a shelf, full of majestic potentiality, is the most comforting sort of intellectual wallpaper.

~ David Quammen

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There was a time in my life where if I started a book and realized partway in that I wouldn't like it, I pushed myself to finish it anyway. I think it was around 4 o'clock.

Elders

Our society moves so fast, and I was brought up in circles that have the belief that you only move as fast as your slowest. Meaning you're constantly taking care of and attending to elders and young children first. They're kind of the center of your whole world.

~ Lily Gladstone

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Here's something interesting (to me). I was recently looking at the National Fire Prevention Association web site and found an article called "Not Your Mother's Stop Drop and Roll: Evolution of a Key Fire Safety Message" by Andrea Vastis. One of the things she shared is that in the 1970s when the "Stop, Drop, and Roll," message was probably at its height, about 6% of clothing ignition fire deaths happened to children and fire deaths of children have significantly declined since the 70s. At the same time, about 75% of this type of death happened to people 55 and older in the 1970s, but the number of fire home deaths of those 65 and older is virtually unchanged.

The solution seems simple - teach the elderly to "Stop, Drop, and Roll." 

An alternative solution is just to wait until the kids who learned "Stop, Drop, and Roll" in the 1970s are 65 and older. They will already know what to do.

(pause)

I said it was interesting to me. I didn't say it would be interesting to you.

Fault

If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer, "He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone."

~ Epictetus

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It's kind of the homeowners fault if they put their garbage cans on the railroad tracks.

Thoughts

Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.

~ Lao Tzu

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People always ask me how I come up with things for my blog. My response? I just ask them, "How did you get into my house?"

Thoughts

Dogs tend to think about the present moment or what's happening next. They don't reflect on the past or contemplate the future as people do.

~ Ana Gascon

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I found this in my notes about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Day 161: I'm sitting in the quiet, cool morning before the sun comes up thinking about things I must do. Dog is sitting in the quiet, cool morning before the sun comes up thinking about the quiet, cool morning before the sun comes up.

 

Sausages

Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made. 

~ John Godfrey Saxe

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I'm not sure why you would need a file labeled "Sausages," but if you have need for such a label, I would like to know you more.

 

Librarians

I think the public library system is one of the most amazing American institutions. Free for everybody. If you ever get the blues about the status of American culture there are still more public libraries than there are McDonald's. During the worst of the Depression not one public library closed their doors.

~ David McCullough

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I don't think the game Clue should include a library. No one is ever going to get away with a murder in the library. Have you ever met librarians? They'd have that all figured out before the 911 operator answered the phone.

Pleasures

She found herself at 65 telling younger friends that there was nothing to getting old, quite pleasurable really, for if this or that good took itself off, then all kinds of pleasures unsuspected by the young presented themselves, and one often found oneself wondering what the next surprise would be. 

~ Doris Lessing

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Today is Dale Dickey's 65th birthday (amybe). I like her. I read this about her when she found out she was nominated for an Emmy for Widow's Bay, "I'm scrolling [Emmy nominations] and I get to Supporting Actors in a Comedy, and as I'm scrolling, I see my fucking face - excuse my language - but I'm like, 'No, why is that... What?"

I like people like that. People who are humble and swear and get recognized for good work. And I like that she survived being bitten by a copperhead because if I am ever bitten by a copperhead I would also like to survive, so she is kind of my inspiration about that.

Freedom

Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you.

~ Jean Paul Sartre

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One time I was at the dog park and this guy was telling me about how he got moved to remote work during the pandemic, but he really liked it because it gave him a sense of freedom. Then he said, "And you what freedom is another word for?" And we both said, "Nothing left to lose" at the same time.

After that he talked for a while about how much he liked Bob Dylan lyrics. I didn't tell him that "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose," is from "Me and Bobby McGee" and that Bob Dylan didn't write it.

The guy seemed like he was on a roll and I didn't want to stifle that energy.