Mountains

Chasing angels or fleeing demons, go to the mountains.

~ Jeffrey Rasley

- - - - -

I leaned my forehead against the glass and stared out at the mountains. Rugged, beautiful, and defining the horizon, they set the stage for everything that had and would happen here. Slowly the fog rolled in, clinging to the ridges and filling the valleys. Well, not the fog. It was my breath steaming up the window. 

Still... mountains are so beautiful.

Daylight

Outside, daylight was bleeding slowly toward dusk.

~ Stephen King

- - - - - 

 Eighteen days in and I'm pretty happy about the amount of daylight I've saved so far.

STAGGERING

Photo by Kirk Boettcher

 Exaggeration is truth that has lost its temper.

~ Khalil Gibran

- - - - -

My brother has a gift for exaggeration. He was born a few decades too late to write movie advertisements. Fortunately, he was born right on time to write the news. 

Wings

No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.

~ William Blake

- - - - -

It would take a long time to get to the sun. I think that Icarus story is made up because I don't think a person could actually fly to the sun. If they tried, they would have to go to the bathroom on the trip. It's gross being pooped on by a bird, imagine if it was a person.

Ickarus.

 

Battle

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.

~Sun Tzu

- - - - -

Sometimes all we need to fight the battles of life is a badminton racquet. 

(pause)

Those times are rare.

Lutefisk

Nothing revives the past so completely as a smell that was once associated with it.

~ Vladimir Nabokov

- - - - -

Nothing revives the dead so completely as the smell of lutefisk.
 

Ripples

Even the smallest act of caring for another person is like a drop of water; it will make ripples throughout the entire pond.

~ Bryan Matteo

- - - - -

Don't mistake a Canadian goose for an act of caring. Both will make ripples through an entire pond, but only one will bite you if you aren't careful. 

World

He's got the whole world in his hands.

~ African American Spiritual

- - - - -

I know a mom who has the whole world in her handbag. 
 

Unexpected

Some things are so unexpected that no one is prepared for them.

~ Leo Rosten

- - - - - 

I was looking at some stuff online and I found an item for sale. The listing was for "black friends socks." I was like, "Whoa. What is that about?" It was for some black socks with stuff from the TV show "Friends" on them. 

Conflicting

True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information. 

~ Winston Churchill

- - - - -

I know some people who say they enjoy conflict. I used to present on conflict, and I would always say that conflict is good because it means people care about something.

Unfortunately, I know some people who willingly or excitedly engage in conflict in order to call people out instead of inviting people in. They seek to shame rather than seeking to love. I think maybe they see this as strength or are focused on being right rather than doing right.

I don't enjoy conflict. I enjoy "proflict".

(pause)

Wait. That's not right... It's proverbs! I enjoy proverbs. Like, "Don't argue with people who argue for the sake of arguing."

It's not a common proverb, but I like uncommon proverbs. Probably because I'm an uncommon person.

Poetry

Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.

~ William Wordsworth

- - - - -

You look up to the ceiling and the roof, 

But that doesn't mean they don't cry.

And instead of trying to help them,

You simply wait for their tears to dry.

Or maybe you do something more

And you go and set out a bucket

But that doesn't cheer the ceiling or roof

And they end up saying, "Just

Just...

Just...

Not sure how to end this poem.

Community

I am often struck by the dangerous narcissism fostered by spiritual rhetoric that pays so much attention to individual self-improvement and so little to the practice of love within the context of community.

~ bell hooks

- - - - -

I think it's called "community" instead of "commonity" because every community is unique and there are none that are common.

Well, I guess "Washington" and "Franklin" are the most common town names. And there are town commons. 

Anyway, my point is that I'd rather live in the country.

Scary

I'm scared but in a productive way.

~ Daniel Harthausen

- - - - -

The clown here reminds me of the old Officer Ug (or is it Ugh?). I guess now it's "Mr. Yuk." Anyway, it was a campaign when I was a kid to discourage from eating poison. I remember one of my brothers was very scared of it. I can't remember which one. 

That's an example of being scared in a productive way. Being too scared to eat poison gives you the chance to be scared again in the future.

Which is like being scared of clowns trying to sell you cotton candy is productive because cotton candy is gross and clowns are terrifying. 

Beer

A man who lies about beer makes enemies.

~ Stephen King

- - - - -

Today is St. Joseph's Day. I associate it with the Czech people because some people I know with Czech heritage are the first ones who told me about it and introduced me to the red beer you drink to celebrate it. When I told Leslie, "St. Joseph's Day is coming up. It's a big Czech holiday," her response was, "Czechoslovakia doesn't exist."

Maybe. But Czechoslovakians do. And some of them like red beer.

Green

Remember, green's your color. You are spring.

~ Gwendolyn Brooks

- - - - -

Today is a day for green. But if you don't like green, that's okay. But in that case, you are not spring.
 

Cooking

Laughter is brightest where food is best.

~ Irish Proverb

- - - - -

One time I saw a guy post a photo with the following caption "Tater tot casserole MADE FROM SCRATCH!" No way. I do not believe for one second he made those tater tots by hand.

The world is full of lies and liars, children. Never forget that.

The end.

Information

The most enduring outcome of a formal education is that it creates rows of coat hooks so that later on, when you come across a new piece of information, you have a hook to hang it on. Without a hook, the new information falls on the floor.

~ Ursula Goodenough

- - - - -

"I have a lot of information, but it is antidotal. It is not based on research, but it IS antidotal." 

(pause)

I'd prefer my antidotes based on research, I think.

Basketballs

You must write for the wastebasket.

~ Johnny Mercer

- - - - -

I once saw someone post: "Only in the NCAA tournament would you see an outcome like St. Peters making The Elite Eight." I agree wholeheartedly. I agree mainly because only the NCAA has a tournament that uses the phrase "The Elite Eight."

Grasshopper

"My dear young fellow," the Old Green Grasshopper said gently, "there are a whole lot of things in this world of ours you haven't started wondering about yet."

~ Roald Dahl

- - - - - 

There are people who like grasshoppers and people who don't. I honestly don't think most grasshoppers care. I also think most people don't like grasshoppers who hop in their mouths. I mean, even if you like to eat grasshoppers, you probably like to be prepared for that.

I do think that grasshoppers care about that hopping-in-the-mouth thing.
 

Barren

Wise sayings often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away.

~ Arthur Helps

- - - - -

A black and white photo of a beach like this is sort of like the landscape in a dystopian movie of some kind. The weird thing is, I would like to be in the place where this photo was taken. I would not like to be in a dystopian future. 

(pause)

Though, truth be told, I'd probably be pretty good in a dystopian movie. I would be the villain or the first person to be killed, but I'd be good.