Monthly Archives: July 2018

courage.

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Boars🐗, frogs🐸, naga🐲, lions🦁and tigers🐯 and elephants🐘, oh my! 

During the BBC’s coverage of the ongoing cave rescue operation in Thailand, they came across this adorable cartoon by Bangkok-based illustrators Sisidea, which caught their attention after it was shared on Facebook by the Thai Navy Seal team. 

This is what Aruni Aunhawarakorn and Jantima Manasviyoungkul (the people who drew the picture) had to say:  “We are so, so happy at the news and our cartoon shows our appreciation from the Thai people – to everyone around the world who have been involved in the search as well as those [unsung heroes] who haven’t been mentioned.” 

“from caring comes courage.”

-lao tzu

 

 

 

credits: bbc news, thai navy seal team, sisidea

dance ’round.

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found the fairy woods and troll hollow
tucked away in the middle of the trees

when your eyes are open

there is always so much to discover.

“we dance round in a ring and suppose,

but the secret sits in the middle and knows.”

-robert frost

ninja vs. peaches.

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when i received my ninja 1000

as a wonderful gift

i (aka peaches) was elated

ready to chop, dice shred, blend, puree..

but right from the beginning

it was clear that my ninja had the same plans for me

 every time i used it

my fingers would somehow end up sliced

 everyone i asked who had one

said this had never happened to them

and it was obvious to me

that the ninja was winning.

in my own ninja counter move

i have decided to pass him on

to another potential victim

with the user’s manual, a box of ‘my little pony’ bandaids,

and a wish to both of them for the best of luck.


*tangent: during this saga, i was reminded of the pink panther movies

where peter sellers and his manservant/ninja, cato

were constantly battling in surprise situations

in an effort to keep inspector clouseau in top form. 

*Cato Fong is Clouseau’s Chinese manservant, trained to attack him regularly to keep him alert and skilled in martial arts. Cato and Clouseau have a love-hate relationship, with their fights being long and vicious, as well as destructive to the furniture, and always interupted by the telephone ringing, at which point they will become civil again. Cato puts a lot of effort into taking his employer by surprise, and Clouseau never really feels safe as Cato will stop at nothing. A running gag is Cato attacking Clouseau during a romantic moment, or else Clouseau going away and Cato transforming the apartment.

“only a ninja can stop a ninja”

-sho kosygin

 

 

 

 

credits: united artists, pink panther films

t-rexcue.

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Waru, the rescue kangaroo joey does his best Tyrannosaurus Rex impersonation 

Waru is still very young so spends most of his time in the pouch.

He spends just a few minutes a day learning how to stand up.

 

 

 

“NOTE: In the rare situation a megatsunami washes a T. rex into your path, you won’t be carrying a weapon large enough to hurt it. If it’s intent on eating you, it will eat you. However, you will be killed by the coolest dinosaur ever. Most people go their whole lives without ever seeing a T. rex in person. Do you know how lucky you are?” 

Andrew Shaffer, How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters: Fight Back When Monsters and Mother Nature Attack

 

 

The Kangaroo Sanctuary Alice Springs, Australia

frida.

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happy birthday to frida

one of my favorite artists

thanks for keeping the flowers

and everything else you painted,

so alive.

 

“i paint flowers so they will not die.”

-frida kahlo 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

image: the art of knowing, by frida kahlo, angst gallery

amy’s choice.

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oh, amy what have you done?

after a bit of an unexplained absence

and when rejoining us outside at her picnic

amy tells us that she was busy inside

setting her mother up with her old iPad

and is already feeling a bit of remorse and worry

that this choice may have created

a life-long need for her tech support

and round-the-clock calls to her

yearning for immediate answers

to the endless questions as to the subtleties and mysteries

contained within the world of apple products.

her brother quickly makes it clear

that he is hands-off

and is not in any way involved in this endeavor.

she speaks openly of her fear

while the only other things we know

that she is afraid of are mascots

though this new level of fear

may have even topped that.

we all reassure her that she is a good daughter for having done this

while at the same time privately harboring

our own personal doubts

about the potential risk/reward factor involved in her choice.

about 3 minutes went by

and this is a picture of amy re-entering her house

after she has been called in

to where her mother sits with her new iPad

and her first ‘question/glitch.’

she looks frightened and unsure of what awaits her inside.

 

“choices are the hinges of destiny.”

-edwin markham

 

walk together.

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what better way to celebrate the day than walking all together
the local merchants

the stormtrooper

the pride

the squirrel

the roller derby team

the pedal bikers

the mayor

the musicians with a cause

the snow buddies

the creatures.

and so many, many, more.

 

“diversity is about all of us,

and about us having to figure out how to walk through this world together.”

-jacqueline woodson 

jacqueline is the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. She received the 2018 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award and the 2018 Children’s Literature Legacy Award, and is the 2014 National Book Award Winner for her New York Times bestselling memoir Brown Girl Dreaming, which was also a recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor, the NAACP Image Award and a Sibert Honor. In 2015, Woodson was named the Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation.

you say potato, i say patriot.

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“you have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks and soldiers who file by the white house in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy and the flies die from happiness. you may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.”

-erma bombeck

 

happy  birthday u.s.a!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

image credit: savorthebest.com

where some see light, others see night.

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The City of Ann Arbor Government
and the 
US National Weather Service – Detroit
issued this statement yesterday:

 

We lost 38 seconds of daylight yesterday. By the end of the month, we’ll be losing over 2 minutes each day and by the end of next month, nearly 20 minutes per week. Here’s what you can expect as you savor the waning days of Michigan’s warm season:

July: -45 minutes lost
August: -1 hour 16 minutes lost
September: -1 hour 22 minutes lost
October: -1 hour 23 minutes lost
November: -1 hour 1 minute lost

It won’t be long until you have an extra 6 hours of darkness to spend on your indoor hobbies. Have a great Monday.

i think that someone may have been very hot and had a tough monday.
“we’re burnin’ daylight.”

-john wayne

image credit: kur4

 

literacy?

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when reading this article about literacy

i was saddened by it

yet i was struck by an typo

not meant to be ironic

that perhaps unknowingly proved the point.

“literacy is a bridge from misery to hope.”
― kofi annan