‘it is not what a lawyer tells me I may do;
but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do.’
-edmund burke
Jan19
Author Archives: beth
Jan18
surprise me.
in the same day
an good fortune landed in my hand at lunch
with a bit of a dash
later at another restaurant
a table-available beeper was in my hand
with a warning
not the kind of adventure I was looking for
is this my bold adventure?
I thought about it.
would I boldly go on the lam with this?
what would I do with it anyway?
I think there must be something else ahead.
‘do not know yourself. i want to continue to surprise me.’
-arielle dombasle, rench actress
Jan17
holy toledo!
i absolutely love
the toledo (ohio, usa) museum of art’s
creative announcement of their good news:
Cheers to the new year—and free parking!
Parking at TMA is now completely free.
Plan your next visit today: https://toledomuseum.org/visit
Man with a Wine Glass, Velázquez (Spanish, 1599–1660). c. 1630. Oil on canvas.
Lotus Lamp (shade), Tiffany Studios (American, 1902-1932). about 1905. Glass, and bronze.
—
‘creativity is contagious. pass it on.’
-albert einstein
Jan16
bagels.
‘i’ve said this before, and i’ll say it again.
bagels can be an enormous power for good or evil.
it is up to us to decide how we will use them.’
-daniel pinkwater
—
in honor of national bagel day
which i somehow missed yesterday
but am happy to celebrate today
—
art credit: bagel sunflowers by laurel greenfield art
—
fun fact: the first printed mention of bagels is found
in the community regulations of kracow, poland, for the year 1610
stating that bagels would be given as a gift to any woman in childbirth.
-leo rosten
Jan15
‘bring your peace to the table.’ – n. hoffman
i finally tiptoed my way back into doing jigsaw puzzles at home
with a planned delay after having pete the cat come to live with me
he’s a rowdy teenaged cat who loves to jump and play
i started out by trying a 100 piece puzzle sent by my friend
i could work quickly and cover it if needed
that went pretty well
he jumped up on the table
laid down on it and grabbed a piece but put it back when i ‘suggested it’
this was the gateway opening wide for me
i knew a 1,000 piece puzzle
would take up too much space and time
so i went for a 500 piece
quietly got it out
sorted, made the frame
he jumped up to check it out
suddenly i had an idea
he loves to play, especially laser chase games
i love to solve puzzles, especially jigsaw and crosswords
so i armed myself with a laser pointer in my left hand
while i worked on the puzzle with my right hand
each time he jumped up
i aimed that pointer across the room and he took off running
i had a couple of minutes to work on the puzzle again
then he would jump back up and we did this all over again
i assumed he’d tire after 5 or 6 jumps
but no
pete the cat had energy to burn
we must have repeated this close to 20 times
finally i finished by puzzle
he went to take a nap
a win for both of us
while my team may have come in very last
in our recent jigsaw puzzle competition
i have taken it to a new challenge level
two-fisted gaming
‘jig-laser-tag-puzzling.’
—
“let perseverance be your engine and hope your fuel.”
—j. jackson brown, jr.
.
Jan14
reading on the fly.
what an utterly brilliant idea
—
‘adventure is worthwhile, starting right from the airport.’
– insta quote
Jan13
password, please.
updating, saving, copying, forgetting
doing most anything with my passwords
never fails
to lead me on a trip down the rabbit hole.
this play-by-play found online describes it perfectly:
‘She died as she lived, clicking “Forgot password,” then checking her inbox for a code, then putting in that code, then setting up two-step verification, and then waiting for the text message that doesn’t come, and then calling the 800 number, and then downloading an authenticator app, and dying.’
-author unknown
Jan12
enthusiasm.
in the neighborhood
seeing bits of festive cheer
brings light to the day
—
“indeed there is an eloquence in true enthusiasm that is not to be doubted.”
-*washington irving
*washington irving was an american short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. best known for his short stories, including “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”.
Jan11
virtue.
This letter from Charles in response to a 5th grade student who had written to him as a class assignment to ask, “What Makes a Good Citizen?’
The student, Joel, still has this letter framed at his home,
and the link to the story is below:
https://www.kqed.org/arts/13852729/charles-schulzs-letter-about-democracy-discovered-50-years-later
—
Another take on virtue:
Moral beauty can be summarized in one word: virtue. The moral virtues include love, justice/fairness, compassion, wisdom, kindness, honesty, courage, forgiveness, self-sacrifice, etc. It is the enactment of such virtues, the display of them in behavior, which comprises moral beauty. Moral goodness can be noticed through cool cognition, but moral beauty is perceived by a warm heart. Noticing moral goodness may not motivate a human toward prosocial action; but the perception of moral beauty is highly motivating and often leads to prosocial and altruistic behavior. Engagement with moral beauty is the cause of many self-transcendent emotions, but in particular it is cause of the moral emotion of elevation.
-Rhett Diessner, Encyclopedia of Heroism Studies
—
image credit: Charles Schulz, American Cartoonist/Author, Peanuts
Jan10
I didn't have my glasses on.... 