Author Archives: beth

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About beth

Ann Arbor-ite writes about enjoying life with all of its ironies and surprises.
Jul24

charley crockett.

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cowboy singer charley crockett

 his low, smoky, smooth voice, like whiskey

vintage cowboy crooner gave a great show.

 

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‘i think a lot of it has to do with putting your heart into what you do and wanting to entertain people.’

-gene autry, the most famous singing cowboy of all

 

 

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royal oak music theater, michigan, usa, summer 2024

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Matthew Charles Crockett (born1984) is an American blues, country, jazz, americana singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He has released twelve studio albums since 2015, with Lil G.L.’s Blue Bonanza peaking at number 11 on the US Billboard Blues Albums chart and The Man from Waco breaking the US Billboard 200

 

Jul23

ten years after.

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ten years have passed

since the moment

when my entire 6-pack of grandies

at last

all on the same continent

 met for the very first time

in a large box on my front lawn

as long as i live

i will never forget that moment.

‘cousins are the barometers of how fun a family get-together will be.’

 – jm gaffigan

Jul22

Miss-Fortune?

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at the noodle restaurant

opened my  fortune after dinner

it was thrown away with my plate

can’t quite figure out what it meant

 not sure how to live my life from here on out.

what do you think this fortune means?

‘live for the nights you can’t remember with the people you’ll never forget.’

—

 

 

Jul21

unscathed.

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on the morning of the onset of the recent global outages

my sister was scheduled to fly in for a visit

as soon as i heard about it

i warned her that her flights might get complicated

but somehow she managed to get on two scheduled flights

fly across the country and land within 15 minutes of her original arrival time

 

 we found her suitcase in a baggage claim area that was mostly shut down

with luggage on a carousel but no people from the corresponding flights to claim them

 a line that grew longer with each incoming flight filing lost luggage claims

 surrounded by people left and right with cancelled flights

she somehow managed to get through the eye of the needle unscathed

how lucky is that?

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‘we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.’

-albert einstein

Jul20

getting puffy with it.

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i think we all get news overload now and then

getting puffy is not good for anyone

good to step away as needed.

 

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‘winning the election is a good-news, bad-news kind of thing.

okay, now you’re the mayor.

the bad news is, now you’re the mayor.’

*clint eastwood, american actor, director, mayor

*Clint Eastwood made a successful foray into elected politics. He won election as mayor in April 1986 (until 1988),  of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California (population 4,000),  small town and artists’ community on the Monterey Peninsula.

 

 

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image credit: scott metzger

Jul19

land shark.

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land shark!

here i thought they were only legends

saw them knocking on doors

way back in the day on saturday night live

have never crossed paths with one

until now

hopefully just passing through.

‘there’s a cardinal rule that you don’t talk about sharks. if you don’t see it, it’s not there.’

-mark warkentin, all-american open-water swimmer/coach

 

 

 

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saturday. night live, 1975, nbc

Jul18

the artists have landed.

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setup began yesterday

streets closing 

unloading, building, signage, displays

artists on task

townies abuzz

beautiful skies

everything in full swing

high excitement in the air

can’t wait to visit.

‘an artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one.’

-charles horton cooley

 

Jul17

‘if you can dream it, you can do it.’ -walt disney

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Today, the “Happiest Place on Earth” turns 69 years old. After a year of construction and a $17 million investment  (the equivalent of nearly $200 million today), Disneyland welcomed its first visitors, inviting thousands of studio staffers, construction workers, members of the press, and company sponsors to preview the Anaheim, California, park before it opened to the public the following day. At the time, tickets to explore Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, and Main Street USA cost $1 for adults and 50 cents for kids.

American movie producer, artist, and animator Walt Disney (1901 – 1966) at the end of opening day, as he sits on a bench in his Disneyland amusement park, Anaheim, California, USA. 
“To all who come to this happy place: Welcome. Disneyland is your land,” Walt Disney once said.

 

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‘it’s kind of fun to do the impossible.’

-walt disney

 

 

 

 

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source/image credits: travel and leisure, getty images, gene lester

 

 

Jul16

when you can’t find your hundred or so cars.

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rolling sculpture car show 
walked downtown to have lunch with my daughter and granddaughter
noticing a few cool cars
were slowly coming into town and parking on main street
interesting to see the mix
some new, some old, some not sure what they were
we guessed that more cars would arrive later for the show
imagine my surprise as i walked a different route home
just one street over
to see cars lined up as far as  the eye could see on both sides
ah, there they are
right behind us
 nothing gets by me
just another reason
why i chose to be a teacher
rather than a professional witness, detective, or spy.
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‘i know a lot about cars, man. i can look at any car’s headlights and tell you exactly which way it’s coming.’
-mitch hedberg

Jul15

‘i think hope and magic are probably connected. ‘ – Kate DiCamillo

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thanks to the library consortium, and the detroit public libraries

i recently had the pleasure of attending an online talk

featuring one of my favorite authors, kate dicamillo

 just as friendly and full of whimsy as i had imagined

she talked about how she got her ideas

for stories and characters

how they became a part of her

i’ve loved her books for years

she writes for children of all ages

 in the last few years i’ve read some of them again

 with new eyes and life experience

i’ve been even more taken with them

each filled with hope and joy and spirit

 characters who refuse to be anything other than who they are

and who, against the odds, never surrender

she has such a brilliant magic to her writing.

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‘i like to think of myself as a storyteller.’
*kate dicamillo
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*Kate Dicamillo has written 30+ bestselling books, beloved by children and adults in touch with their inner eight-year-old, for two decades, including Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux, The Magician’s Elephant, Flora & Ulysses, and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Some of these have been turned into operas and movies. Her new books in 2024 include the middle grade novel Ferris and Orris and Timble: The Beginning. She is a rare two-time winner of the Newbery Medal.

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below is a link to a post i wrote not long ago, about one of my very favorite books of hers, ‘the miraculous  journey of edward tulane’, which was beautiful and moved me to tears.

journey.