looking in the shop window
on a walk into a quiet downtown
i am reminded.
Jun27
just be kind.
looking in the shop window
on a walk into a quiet downtown
i am reminded.
Author Archives: beth
Jun26
breakfast.
bunny stops by the yard for a quick breakfast
kitty sees bunny and considers breakfast
bunny sees kitty and keeps eating
kitty sees bunny seeing kitty
one inside, one outside
only a screen between them
understanding
each is safe
but what goes on in their heads?
—
“it is easy to be brave from a safe distance. “
-aesop
Jun25
breathing room.
walking in sugarbush woods
i ran across this tree man
just waiting for someone to find him.
“what art offers is space – a certain breathing room for the spirit.”
-john updike
Jun24
i know…
setting up spotify
there were many choices
this one or that one?
more of this or less of this?
pass by or play?
i thought i had a cool, eclectic, quirky sense of taste in music
until it was spelled out for me with some such statement:
“it seems like you’ve selected almost all 70s and 80s music.
you’re obviously most drawn to the music of these decades.
we’ll be customizing your playlist to reflect your taste.
what? called out by spotify? did i know that?
did i know that, but was in denial?
did i think i was cooler than i really am?
was spotify judging me?
while i do like a huge range of music
(especially the irish bards and americana)
it’s clear where my musical heart lies.
—
my taste in music ranges from
“here, listen to this”
to
” i know, please don’t judge me.”
(author unknown)
Jun23
teriyaki time.
teriyaki time (not for gambling)
—
the bag of loot my daughter gave me
with a friendly reminder
to pick up the sushi lunch
and not go to the casino or track
with the cash and the kids.
—
Quote from ‘Dumb & Dumber’:
LLOYD: “I’ll bet you 20 bucks I can get you gambling before the end of the day!?”
HARRY: “No way.”
LLOYD: “I’ll give you 3 to 1 odds?”
HARRY: “Nope.”
LLOYD: “5 to 1?”
HARRY: “Nope.”
LLOYD: “10 to 1?”
HARRY: “You’re on.”
Jun22
art and science.
Opera house performs first post-lockdown concert for an all-plant audience
Next week, Barcelona’s Liceu opera house will emerge from its lockdown-induced siesta by throwing a concert to a rather unusual audience. The attendees will not need masks or gloves, nor will they be required to follow physical distancing rules.
However, they might like to take along a nice comfy pot and some water to prevent their roots from drying out as a string quartet serenades them, fittingly, with Puccini’s Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums).
A total of 2,292 plants will occupy the venue’s seats and listen to the opera house’s first post-lockdown concert when it reopens next Monday. Non-vegetal music fans will also be able to enjoy the performance as it will be live-streamed.
According to the Liceu’s artistic director Víctor García de Gomar, the Concert for the Biocene, played the by Uceli quartet, is intended to help us ponder the current state of the human condition and how, in lockdown, we have become “an audience deprived of the possibility of being an audience”.
For Eugenio Ampudia, the conceptual artist behind the concert, the project will serve to reflect what has happened across Spain and around the world as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to retreat from shared public areas.
“At a time when an important part of humankind has shut itself up in enclosed spaces and been obliged to relinquish movement, nature has crept forward to occupy the spaces we have ceded,” said Ampudia.
After the concert, the plants will find themselves in a new home, with each one of them being donated to 2,292 health workers as thank you for their efforts over recent months.
—
“the first rule of opera is the first rule in life:
see to everything yourself.”
-nellie melba
—
photo and story credits: the optimist daily
Jun21
ride it out.
my dad and whole family in the 70’s
bell-bottomed out
in the midst
of an extended tour
through our hippie phase of life.
—
happy father’s day, dad
miss you.
—
“you can tell what was the best year of your father’s life because they seem to freeze that clothing style and ride it out.”
-jerry seinfeld
Jun20
just living is not enough.
on the cusp of summer
walking by the river
three hours
before the season’s return.
—
‘just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”
-hans christian andersen
—
hunron river, ann arbor, michigan, usa – summer 2020
Jun19
yard salad.
how did these veggies end up in the yard?
why did these veggies end up in the yard?
a child disliked them, hiding them?
someone was unhappy about healthy food?
bunnies in the area?
they’re just sitting in the yard, waiting.
—
“to make a good salad is to be a brilliant diplomatist — the problem is entirely the same in both cases.
to know exactly how much oil one must put with one’s vinegar.”
Jun18
intersection.
as the city begins to reopen
i find so many things at an intersection
guys on scooters, cars, pedestrians, orange construction cones,
lights, signs, trees, a clock, flyers
and of course
a robot delivering food across town
who gets the right of way?
man or machine?
—
“we’re fascinated with robots because they are reflections of ourselves.”
-ken goldberg
I didn't have my glasses on.... 