Author Archives: beth

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About beth

Ann Arbor-ite writes about enjoying life with all of its ironies and surprises.

rain or shine?

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cold, morning rain does little but make one anxious to reach their destination, even if that is work or school. this innovative student solved the problem of hands free walking on one such campus morning in 1969. “U-M engineering student gary keck of detroit is too unconventional to raise an umbrella. he wards off the morning rain with a stylish sombrero. ole!”

“optimists are neither in denial nor naïve about challenges and difficulties in life.

they simply attend to and acknowledge the positive.”

– eric kim

credits: oldnews.aadl.org, ann arbor townies

on april fools’ day and beyond.

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(someone who looks a lot like me at happy hour last night)

“it is the ability to take a joke, not make one, that proves you have a sense of humor.”

-max eastman

image credit: funnytimejoy.com

“colors speak all languages.” -joseph addison

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                                                        Crayola Is About to Kill Off One of Its Colors

The world’s most famous crayon-maker is planning to make this year’s National Crayon Day (today, march 31), one for the record books. As TIME reports, Crayola is planning to retire a classic color from its 24-pack crayon box for the first time in a century. Is dandelion facing certain death? Could blue violet be waving bye-bye? Is scarlet saying see you later?

Crayola hasn’t confirmed which color is being killed off yet, which means that every shade is on the colorful chopping block. But they’ll announce their final decision via a live stream event today, which you can RSVP to on Facebook.

While you’re awaiting the big news, you can make your own voice heard by telling Crayola which color you can’t live without by sharing a photo on Instagram with your favorite color and using the hashtag #ShareYourFave.

“colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.”

-pablo picasso

credits: istockphoto, jennifer wood, mental floss, time magazine

gnosiophobia.

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“lalalalalalalalalalalala……..”

gnosiophobia is the fear of knowledge. 

image credit: quickanddirtytips.com

“i’m hoping this matter will not involve my eagerness to help you.”- joel

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and yet another encounter with a customer service rep 

this was the rest of our live chat conversation

once joel and i reached an impasse with no solution:

Joel: Still with me?
Me: yes
Joel: Will there be anything else I can assist you with?
Me: no, thank you anyway
Joel: I’m hoping that this matter will not involve my eagerness to help you.
Joel: Hope you had a great rest of your day.

(somehow i really had hoped that joel would have involved his eagerness to help me…)


“patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen

in a different order

than the one you have in mind.”

― david g. allen

wingspan.

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at the nature center for grandie v’s 6th birthday celebration

the scientist helps us to measure our wingspans

before we take a stroll outside to find this beautiful bird

rescued and healing a broken wing

 whose wingspan we hope will return one day

and we are grateful to have our wings.

“happiness makes up for height for what it lacks in length.”

-robert frost

time after time.

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a clock that forces you to do math to find out the time 

The Albert Clock is no simple timepiece. In fact, it requires you to think pretty hard. It will tell you the time of day, but only if you can do the math to read it, as Nerdist reports.

Designed by the Paris-based Axel Schindlbeck, the clock is meant to be a mental workout, providing the mathematical calisthenics you need to keep your number skills sharp. It’s technically designed for classrooms and kids, but adults need to practice their multiplication tables regularly, too.

The digital clock has four different levels to help you ramp up your addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division abilities over time. For a real challenge, you can program it to change equations more often than every minute, so you’re presented with a new time-telling puzzle every 10 seconds.

The wall-mounted clock retails for about $300, but you can also download a mobile version of the design for free. It will make you yearn for the simplicity of analog clocks in no time.

(if i had to wake up to this, i might opt for just using the sun or wildly guessing instead)

“the two most powerful warriors are patience and time.”

-leo tolstoy

credits: MNTNT, nerdist,shaunacy ferro

 

mercy.

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afternoon in the rain at the ann arbor immigrants’ march

another power loss at dusk

and a warm dinner date to end the day.

“a little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just.”

-pope francis

undiscovered brothers.

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“community cannot for long feed on itself;

it can only flourish with the coming of others from beyond,

their unknown and undiscovered brothers.

-howard thurman

l’esprit de l’escalier.

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and it was so good, too…!

L’esprit de l’escalier (French)
literally, stairwell wit—a too-late retort thought of only after departure.