some of these prints were not made by children….
—
“it is the smallest ego that leaves the biggest footprints.”
― c
― c
Feb7
footprints.
Author Archives: beth
Feb6
in the blink of an eye.
how many times do you blink per year?
a. between 3.5-5.1 million
b. between 5.2-7.1 million
c. between 7.2-9.8 million
if you guessed b, you are right.
(sent to me by my eye doctor, i’ve never really considered it before,
but it may be useful one day if i’m in a world championship trivia final)
—
“there can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis.”
-malcolm gladwell
—
image credit: it array
Feb5
rien ne vaut son chez-soi. (there’s no place like home).
here’s to staying warm and safe during these, the coldest days.
—
“i don’t take naps, i accidentally hibernate.”
-wordporn
—
image credit: ‘martha rabbit and tabitha cat,’ by shirley barber
Feb4
guts.
bandaids are the hot item in my classroom
after a number of kinder came up to me asking for one
pleading their case
(many with very old ‘wounds’)
we gathered together
as they each shared
their personal tale of woe:
i got scraped, the paper cut me, it’s red like blood,
you can’t see it, but it’s ouch-y, something poked me,
my sister, something in my pocket did it, nail polish came off of one nail,
bandaid from home is falling off….
we finally got to our last person, who stated:
“this happened to me on the next day after tomorrow.”
—
“life takes guts.”
-lucille ball
Feb3
driftwood.
a piece of driftwood
mixed in
among the vases and mirrors and tchotchkes and other home decor items
and while i’m a fan of natural found materials
i was not really motivated to spend $39.99 on this
but i do now have an idea for my summer job –
beachcomber.
—
“i imagined your stick, washing in the waves for hundreds of years,
turning to driftwood
smooth and hard like stone.
i imagined a little girl finding it on a beach so many years later.
saving it on her shelf,
where she put the things that made her feel like the world was magical.”
– ava dellaira
Feb2
groundhog theory.
happy groundhog day – at last it all makes sense!
—
image credit: quotesgram
Feb1
mo’ snow.
downtown snowman, safe and sound
—
“snowfall rouses your inner child to dream and play once more.”
-angie weiland-crosby
Jan31
cocoa.
happy international hot chocolate day!
time to cozy up with your favorite mug for a day that’s devoted to the delicious chocolate beverage
ancient Mayans drank chocolate made from crushed cocoa seeds mixed in water in 500 BC
they knew a good thing.
—
“watch the sunrise at least once a year, put a lot of marshmallows in your hot chocolate,
lie on your back and look at the stars, never buy a coffee table you can’t put your feet on,
never pass up a chance to jump on a trampoline,
don’t overlook life’s small joys while searching for the big ones.”
-h.jackson brown, jr.
—
image credit: bon appetit magazine
Jan30
living.
saw this beautiful, moving film yesterday
slow, quiet, understated
but, oh so incredibly powerful.
—
“i am delighted to experience the beauty of life.”
-lailah gifty akita
—
studio credits: lionsgate uk, darkside cinema
Jan29
hell level.
today, on national puzzle day
i’m reminded of one of my most memorable puzzle-solving adventures
(sounds like an oxymoron, i know)
years ago, when in grad school
my sister sent me a very special puzzle
i’ve always been a huge fan of challenging jigsaw, crossword, and sudoku puzzles
after reading the description, i thought this would be right up my alley
the puzzle was all black, with a pale, delicate, and finely drawn vine winding through it
it had no straight edges, pieces were mostly all the same shape,
just slightly different sizes, and had no picture to use as a solution
i finally decided to tackle it one snowy day
that turned into three
as we were in the throng of what turned out to be a full-out blizzard
i cleared my large square coffee table, sat on a pillow on the floor,
put on some music, brought over a big cup of creamy coffee
and began
what turned out to be the most challenging puzzle of my lifetime
determined to solve it
my back was hurting, my hands were hurting, my eyes were hurting
by the end of day one
all the lights ablaze to detect any slight differentiation
only stopping for brief breaks or to sleep
at one point
i felt like jack nicholson in ‘the shining’
holed up, shut off from the world, snowed-in, and involved in an insane enterprise
but
solve it i did
with the gift of those three long days
when it was impossible to go anywhere
the local world pretty much shut down for the snow
not going to let this puzzle beat me
after i put the last piece in place
i tore it apart and put it back in the box
making a decision to never make this puzzle again
i passed it on to a friend at school, told her it was a gift not a loan, and wished her good luck.
—
about this item:
- 🧩Black puzzles for adults – 1000 pcs. hell level difficulty jigsaw puzzles are made from premium quality materials, the size of each puzzle is different, each is precision made so that every piece fits perfectly, touch smooth, full of detail, Special surface film treatment. It’s a game to enlarge your brain capacity, a game to strengthen eye-hand coordination and your imagination. It’s not so easy to complete the black puzzle, but once finished, you will be proud of yourself.
—
puzzle history timeline:
2300 bc- early puzzles
before modern puzzles, labyrinth puzzles were popular in ancient egypt.
1767 – jigsaws
mapmaker, john spilsbury creates the first jigsaw puzzle
1908 – puzzle-mania
puzzles become a full-blown craze in the united states
1933 – peak popularity
during the great depression, puzzle sales soared to 10 million a week
—
“a puzzle with a solution is a game. a puzzle without a solution is a work of art.”
― m
