Performance

Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. 

~ Thomas Merton

- - - - -

Leslie is one of my favorite people. How can you not enjoy being around someone who so enjoys being?

Clouds

Clouds suit my mood just fine.

~ Marie Lu

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Without clouds in the sky, what would meteorologists do?

Fortune

I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.

~ Hermann Hesse

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I got up early one morning, did my morning routine and saw there was one last fortune cookie on the bread box. I thought, "I can start my day and see what the universe has in store for me." 

The fortune cookie was empty.

I could have thought, "The universe has nothing in store for me." Or I could have thought, "There is no limit to what the universe has in store for me." What I actually thought was, "I wish I had opened this fortune cookie second to last so there was still a cookie with a fortune in it."

Mail

Strange as it may seem, I still hope for the best, even though 

the best, like an interesting piece of mail, so rarely arrives, 

and even when it does it can be lost so easily.

~ Lemony Snickett

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This is what is known as a "helpful list of resources":

 

Because

There would be no "Just because" or unjust because.

~ Barbara Kingsolver

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A year ago today we had a cool day for summer. The high was 79 degrees. I was having a rough day, though I'm not sure why. And then I had a revelation. Autumn would arrive again. 

And then I was okay.

(pause)

I also had a glass of water. That helped, too.

 

Objects

Try to forget what objects you have before you - a tree, a house, a field, or whatever. Merely think, "Here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow," and paint it just as it looks to you, the exact color and shape, until it gives you your own impression of the scene before you.

~ Claud Monet

- - - - -

I am at an age where I can forget objects without even trying. I guess that mens I'd be great at art.
 

Pounce

You have to be ready to pounce when a rare chance comes.

~ Susie Wolff

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There's too much jumping and not enough pouncing if you ask me. Pounce sounds playful and fun. Jumping sounds exhausting or scary. Unless you're jumping on a trampoline. That doesn't sound too scary. Unless you're jumping with a friend who is holding a pitchfork.

 

Confetti

8-year-old: Do you want me to throw the confetti in my pocket?

Mom: No not in the car! Why do you have confetti in your pocket?

8-year-old: It's emergency confetti, I carry it everywhere in case there is good news.

~ Ana the Distracted Gardener

- - - - -

Confetti comes from the Latin conficere which means "put together" and later, also Latin, confectum - "something prepared." In this case, the 8-year-old in the conversation above is really embracing the Latin roots of confetti. Way to go, 8-year-old.

 

Looking

We look at the world once, in childhood. The rest is memory.

~ Louise Gluck

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This is Ezra. He is looking down on the rest of us.

That's just how he is.

Art

Flattery and criticism go down the same drain.

~ Georgia O'Keefe

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When you make art, don't worry about what other people say. Just make the art. 

(pause)

Unless you're trying to sell it. Then what other people say might matter. But it probably shouldn't.

Wait. I didn't mean art. I meant methamphetamine. And also I meant, don't make that stuff. 

 

Thermometer

When you're hot, you're hot.

When you're not, you're not.

~ Jerry Reed

- - - - -

Oh those great thermometer trading pin days. 

(pause)

I do not remember those days at all.

 

Wander

A person does not grow from the ground like a vine or a tree, one is not part of a plot of land. Mankind has legs so it can wander.

~ Roman Payne

- - - - - 

It is important to remember that plants actually can wander. Like the genus Tradescantia. Or Socrateo exhorriza the walking palm in South American rain forests. 

I say remember as if you or I either one knew about that plant before and are just recalling the information. You know we were clueless about it until this post. 

Trolling

To live is to war with trolls.

~ Henrik Ibsen

- - - - -

I have someone (former student, fan, troll, etc.) who enjoys periodically sending me things related to Nicolas Cage. I have gotten candles, pillow covers, a wooden spoon engraved with Cage's image, and lots of other things. I also got a bunch of Cage-related stickers. 

While the person responsible for this has never come forward, I suspect I know the person (or people) who are responsible. Last year for Halloween I sent them this card. And as I type this today, I realize that I am in sort of a "Cage match" with this nemesis. 

Sometimes this sort of engagement is harmful or threatening, sometimes it is fun. I choose fun.

Dogs

What do dogs do on their day off? Can't lie around - that's their job.

~ George Carlin

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When you live with a dog and the dog has a lot of toys, sometimes you reach under the couch and feel something strange. You hope it's a dog toy, but then you pull it out and it's a dead opossum. When that happens you need to figure out how the opossum got in your house and also figure out if maybe your sense of smell is going because you didn't notice the opossum earlier.

Roads

Avoiding unhappiness is not the road to happiness.

~ Francois Lelord

- - - - -

I am pretty sure the route to happiness is not a road at all. I think it is a quiet path you walk alone for most of your life, but with good companions if you are lucky. Most of those good companions will be dogs. I am sure of that. If you are really lucky the companions will be dogs and a few excellent humans.

(pause)

Probably not very many cats, but maybe a few.

Dead

A loved one wishes to inherit nice things from you. Not all things from you.

~ Margareta Magnusson

- - - - -

I got the book All My Friends Are Dead for either my mom or dad. It was pretty funny. When Mom died and it was time to clean out the house and I saw it again, it was really sad.

(pause)

No. I'm just kidding. I still thought it was pretty funny. 

Smile

People would rather laugh at me than believe me.

~ Deborah Vance

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I used to work with someone who would tell everyone to smile or would say, "Are we smiling?" 

We weren't.

Leaving

And now, gentlemen, like your manners, I must leave you.

~ Dylan Thomas

- - - - -

Sometimes leaving things behind makes moving ahead easier. Sometimes leaving things behind makes moving ahead harder.

Like car keys. It's hard to leave without your keys. 

Unless you're walking. But then you'll have to eventually go back and get your car and then you haven't really left it behind, have you?

The moral of the story is, remember your car keys.

 

Certain

(photo by Leslie Lewis)

Certainty is the great enemy of unity. 

Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance.

~ Robert Harris

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Are you sure, Robert Harris?

Cars

(photo by Kirk Boettcher)

A toy car is a projection of a real car, made small enough for a child's hand and imagination to grasp. A real car is a projection of a toy car, made large enough for an adult's hand and imagination to grasp.

~ Michael Frayn

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I don't think children should be allowed to drive. Especially if they are too young to read road signs.