Aug21
the sun and the moon.
Monthly Archives: August 2017
Aug20
the art of doing nothing.
“ah! to do nothing – and to do it well.”
-veronique vienne
Aug19
eclipsed.
for some reason
in anticipation of the upcoming solar eclipse
i decided that it would be a great time
to make 120 ‘solar eclipse’ cookies.
the plan was to give them to 3 different groups of people
who i would see this weekend
the recipe looked quite easy
and fitting in with the spirit of the big day
the idea was to add the sun yellow and moon chocolate icings
to the perfect moon shapes
increasing the dark moon coverage on each one
showing all of the phases of the eclipse
during the process
smoke and grease and sugar and cocoa and lemon
filled the kitchen
it took hours
the outcome was not quite as i expected
i’m not sure what exactly went wrong
but i am sure there were lots of things that did
the end result was best described by
steve carell while in character on ‘the office’ –
“it looks like it was put together by baby monkeys living on a farm.”
i’m going to embrace that and take it as a compliment
i know that the eclipse makes lots of things go a bit off kilter
and i can’t wait to see how excited everyone is
to receive this very special gift from me.
—
“there’s a victory in letting go of your expectations.”
-mike white
Aug18
unsung hero.
got a call from ‘h’ daughter number three
suddenly looking for solar eclipse glasses
we both called all of our possible sources
everyone was sold out
until
my last call
to the 7-11 store
right downtown
in the heart of the student area
the woman on the phone whispered
“the truck just came in with a shipment”
felt like i was in a mob movie
this was magic to my ears
the boys jumped barefoot into my car
we zoomed a few blocks to downtown
quickly pulled into an expired parking space
somewhat close to the store
(disclaimer: all of this was done safely, mom and dad,
so i’m not banned from future care taking)
just as i got out of my car
i spied a meter maid 3 cars ahead
intense and on a mission
the boys would try to talk her out of it
if she wanted to ticket us
just then
the police arrived to have a discussion
with a group of people and their dogs
who had gathered across the street
enough to distract and delay the meter maid hopefully
ran to the store
and straight into a dead stop
right at the back of a giant line
of students ordering up grilled food
paying with change
moving slowly
apparently not needing to be anywhere
found a friendly worker
asked her if they still had the glasses
she was reluctant and nervous at first
looked around
over her shoulder
said she could only sell me one
when i asked her
to please sell me a few more
the godfather/district manager
who happened to be in the store
overheard and stepped in
giving her the nod/authorizing her
to sell me what i needed
she moved me up to her register
rang me up
she was giggling and happy and smiling with the glasses in hand
my unsung hero
who worked small miracles on this day
i knew i had to sprint back to the car
but while i was in there
negotiating my deal
cement workers had arrived
and closed off the sidewalk
took a detour
made it to the car in time
with all the glasses i needed
no harm no foul
the stars had aligned
happy to have pulled off this caper
boys having learned some real life skills
no ticket
so glad to have met a person
who went the extra mile to help
that i gave her a tip
and wrote her a haiku in gratitude.
—
hero haiku
here’s to you hero
big gulp lotto chips seller
you make people smile
—
“for a true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength,
but by the strength of his heart.”
(or her)
-zeus (from hercules)
Aug17
inconvenient.
after watching
“an inconvenient sequel”
on a hot summer night
in ann arbor
i was left
absolutely chilled.
—
“a man has honor if he holds himself to an ideal of conduct
though it is inconvenient, unprofitable, or dangerous to do so.”
-walter lippmann
Aug16
this is mama.
dropped off the family entries
to the library’s annual lego building contest
there were so many good ones to see
elaborate, creative, funny, scary, lovely, colorful, detailed
some were quickly assembled
some took many hours and days to create
some made by children, some by adults,
some made by both working together
but it was the one above that really caught my eye
it was beautiful because
it was clearly made by someone
out of pure love
created by ivy, a preschooler
her piece’s title
written by someone
who knew how to write their letters
simply read:
‘this is mama.’
it was magnificent.
—
“every block of stone has a statue inside it
and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”
-michelangelo
Aug15
neighbors.
1st annual neighborhood block party
nice for all of us to mix together
rather than just pass on the street
get to know each other a bit better
police, fire, and ice cream people
the holy trinity of community support
came by for a visit
raised money for toys for our neighborhood park
lots of people, lots of food, lots of fun.
—
“nothing makes you more tolerant of a neighbor’s noisy party than being there.”
-franklin p. jones
Aug14
Rave For Dave Campaign #6, by beth k
here’s to my friend, dave.
Today special guest blogger, Beth, from I Didn’t Have My Glasses On, is helping us get out the word.
dave and i first crossed paths on his blog site, the blog of funny names, a few years back. since then, he has made quite the journey. while he cranked out blogs with some of the most unusual and humorous names (and their stories), that have ever existed, he made the decision to go to medical school. at that point, he enlisted the help of fellow bloggers to offer their takes on this theme and to keep the blog up and running. (can you believe it, who would give up such a incredible enterprise like writing a humor blog for something so serious as medical school?!)
while in medical school, with his studies focusing on becoming a neurologist, only to soon live with the most ironic twist of all, discovering the news that he himself had a brain…
View original post 372 more words
Aug14
solidarity.
spent tonight at a rally
on the diag at the university of michigan
with mayor chris taylor addressing our city
as we stand in solidarity with charlottesville
and for all those who continue to stand against
racism, hate, violence, and inequality
organized in 10 hours
through grass roots movements
and a lot of heart and passion
a police officer, a mayor, a photographer, a bagpiper, a retiree
and hundreds of others
all different
yet all here for the same reason
kindness.
—
“it is the kindness …that finally decides our fate.”
— barack obama
Aug13
human nature.
“race hate isn’t human nature; race hate is the abandonment of human nature.”
-orson welles
—
image credit: google images
I didn't have my glasses on.... 