Author Archives: beth

Unknown's avatar

About beth

Ann Arbor-ite writes about enjoying life with all of its ironies and surprises.
Jun24

on the hook.

Posted on by
Standard

 

 

how exciting to find a real working payphone

caused me to do a double take

the umbilical cord connecting to many a ride home

 the joy of finding a quarter in the coin return.

 

—

“the telephone gives us the happiness of being together yet safely apart.”

*mason cooley

 

 

 

—

 *mason cooley, 1927-2002,  was an american aphorist known for his witty aphorisms. One of the aphorisms Cooley developed was “The time I kill is killing me.”He was professor emeritus of French, speech and world literature at the college of staten island and an assistant professor of english at columbia university.

 

 

 

 

Jun23

saving Michigan Central.

Posted on by
Standard

opening of Michigan Central Train Station, 1913, Detroit, Michgan, USA

one of the great historic icons in Detroit

the last train came through in 1988

it became a victim of neglect. abuse, theft, time, and the elements

the locale for a number of end of world/armageddon films

the city couldn’t afford to demolish it

bill ford (grandson of henry) bought it in 2018

these 2 pics, above and below

show how it looked on the last day we could go in

before it was shut down and renovation plans began

 he had plans to

make it ford world headquarters

create a newlab technology hub

support the surrounding neighborhood

develop a 30 acre campus

restore the parks around it

after 6 long and incredibly challenging years

at last restored and ready

he returned this landmark

to it’s original luster

the city could not have a greater gift.

“how soon country people forget. when they fall in love with a city it is forever, and it is like forever. as thought there never was a time when we didn’t love it. the minute they arrive at the train station or get off the ferry and glimpse the wide streets and the wasteful lamps lighting them, they know they are born for it. there, in a city, they are not so much new as themselves; their stronger, riskier selves.”

-toni morrison

Jun22

‘okily, dokily’- ned flanders.

Posted on by
Standard

not long ago

i was stuck for an unexpectedly long chunk of time

waiting to have my car repaired

(some of you may remember my tire store post from a couple of weeks ago)

i entertained myself

by reading, writing, watching things on a big screen

thinking about

the phone calls and paperwork and research

i still needed to complete

questions i hoped to have answered

now that i was officially retired.

nothing to be done about it

i’d deal with it later when i got home.

armed with a mean cup of mechanic-grade coffee

(i drink all coffee)

accepted i’d be a captive audience

to whatever happened for the next couple of hours.

in walked a quiet, unassuming man

who sat down at the table

where i was working on my computer

he began working on his

asked me how long i’d been waiting

he had a long wait ahead of him too

i shared that i had just retired

 wanted to be home lolling around

instead of sitting in an auto repair waiting room.

(first world whining on my part)

that opened the genie’s bottle

for the next 100ish minutes

 he told me

about he and his wife’s retirement last year

she was a teacher too

he was an engineer

gave me tips

answered all of my questions

told me what not to waste my time on

offered me shortcuts

suggested what not to forget

talked about life after retirement.

 after their double retirement

he decided to get social

formed a book club with his guy friends

mapped out his garden projects

set up a spread sheet system for them to keep track of things

started exercising more

i had more of that coffee…

 shared some of the things that i’d learned as a newbie.

such a sincere, humble, genuinely friendly guy

(all i could think of was ‘ned flanders’)

a character on the long-running animated tv comedy, the simpsons.

he was smiling, happy, optimistic, helpful, and so very cheery

just like ‘ned.’

i have no idea what his real name was

but we happened to be stuck waiting together

at the just the perfect time

(i wonder if he was thinking ‘marge simpson’ with regard to me)

our long waits flew by

we chatted about family, teaching, the city, the world..

 he helped me fill in so many blanks in the retirement universe

gave me confidence that i could navigate it easily

thank you, ‘ned’

sometimes you find your answers in the least expected of places.

—

“the measure of wisdom is in simplicity, humility, and in friendliness.”

-debasish mridha, m.d.

 

 

 

 

 

—

image/show credits:  the simpsons, fox broadcasting

 

Jun21

up and down.

Posted on by
Standard

—

or both.

welcome summer.

coming in hot.

Jun20

unimaginable.

Posted on by
Standard

above created by a 7 year old boy, met by doctors without borders 

– on world refugee day

“Humanitarianism is about more than medical efficiency or technical competence. In our choice to be with those who suffer, compassion leads not simply to pity but to solidarity. Solidarity implies to demand a minimum respect for human life and to recognize the dignity and autonomy of others, and asserting the right of others to make choices about their own destiny. Humanitarianism is about the struggle to create the space to be fully human.”

-doctors without borders

—

“in a way, the same is true of the immigrants.

they have contributed in their way to the flowering of the community,

and their individual striving and suffering have remained unknown.

unemployment is not decreased by restricting immigration.

for unemployment depends on faulty distribution of work among those capable of work. 

immigration increases consumption as much as it does demand on labor.

immigration strengthens not only the internal economy of a sparsely populated country,

but also its defensive power.”

-albert einstein, in a speech at the World’s Fair, New York, USA 1939

 

Jun19

on *juneteenth.

Posted on by
Standard

Jordi Prat Pons.Books that had been cast aside, unwanted.

Villa del Arte Galleries Barcelona (at Mandarin Oriental). Passeig de Gràcia 38-40

 

—

“it really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tired into a single garment of destiny. whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.”

-REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

—

*Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday. On June 17, 2021, it  officially became a federal holiday.

Jun18

‘there is food for everyone on this planet, but not everyone eats.’ – carlo petrini

Posted on by
Standard

a Too Good To Go bag from Give Thanks Bakery

Americans waste a lot of food, but an app that recently expanded to Metro Detroit is aiming to get that food on plates and out of landfills. The United States throws away approximately 120 billion pounds of food a year, according to Recycle Track Systems. The bulk of that waste comes from homes, followed closely by restaurants, grocery stores, and food service companies.

Too Good To Go partners with restaurants to help the eateries sell surplus food to customers at a discount. It’s pretty simple – the restaurants list surprise bags on the app that customers can claim for a small fee and pick up during a specified time. The app is open to restaurants, grocery stores, and food suppliers. Currently, nearly 80 Metro Detroit businesses have signed up for Too Good to Go.

Surprise bags in Metro Detroit typically range from $3.99 to $6.99, and could contain anything from entrees and baked goods to ingredients used at the restaurant. Customers can expect to pay about ⅓ of what the items would have cost at full price. Baked goods are the most popular category of leftover food, but any unsold food item could end up in your bag.

“It’s really fun for the customer,” said Too Good to Go spokesperson Sarah Soteroff, referring to the surprise that comes with each bag. She said the variety “reflects the unpredictability of food waste.” Since the Detroit launch, the app is now also open to restaurants statewide.

According to the Michigan Sustainable Business Forum, food is the most prominent waste in the state’s landfills. That waste is bad for the environment, the economy, and people in need. Food waste is responsible for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Additionally, about 25% worth of freshwater is used annually to produce food that gets wasted. These food losses amount to around $1.1 trillion lost annually. Beyond the environmental and economic issues, this food is going to waste while millions of people go hungry.

Too Good To Go got its start in Coppenhagen in 2016. It then launched in the U.S. in 2020, and it is now active in 30 cities across 17 states. Soteroff said the app has helped save about 330 million meals worldwide, with 12 million saved in the U.S. alone. According to Soteroff, since Too Good To Go expanded to Michigan, around 3,200 meals that otherwise would have ended up in the trash have been saved.

Beyond keeping food out of the trash, Soteroff said using the app helps both participating businesses and customers financially. Participating businesses are charged a small fee to use the app. Through the app, Soteroff said these businesses have been able to earn an estimated $39 million from food sold through the app that otherwise would have ended up in a dumpster. Meanwhile, she said customers have saved about $120 million by purchasing discounted food through the app. Once you make your first Too Good To Go purchase, the app tells you how much you’ve saved compared to retail price.

—

 “imagine walking out of a grocery store with four bags of groceries, dropping one in the parking lot,

and just not bothering to pick it up. that’s essentially what we’re doing.”

– Dana Gunders, Food & Agriculture Scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

 

 

 

 

—

souce credits: amber ainsworth, fox 2 news, recycle track systems

Jun17

the company you keep.

Posted on by
Standard

capybaras are herbivores, therefore harmless to other animals around them.

they’re easy-going semi-aquatic mammals, social, friendly, and gentle,

and get along with just about everyone,

so it makes sense that other animals would enjoy their company.

be the capybara.

 

 

 

—

image credit: the atlantic magazine

 

Jun16

on father’s day.

Posted on by
Standard

“my daughter said, ‘why are you yelling at us?’ and i said, ‘i’m trying to discipline you!’

and then she looked up at me with her tear-stained eyes and said,

‘this is how you teach children, by making them cry.’

and it was such a clenching reminder —

she won not only the argument, but she won life with that statement.

i just burst out laughing, and i think they were so surprised that i burst out laughing, that they did too.”

-stephen colbert

 

—

image credit: eric carle, illustration from ‘mister seahorse’, penguin random house books – 2004

Jun15

when opportunity does not knock.

Posted on by
Standard

not my house or cats, but i get them.

—

when you are having

a private informal window of opportunity urgent under the radar ad hoc committee meeting

there is a quorum 

someone opens the closed door and peers in

odds are incredibly high

this is the same person

who is the subject of the meeting. 

—

“you can’t knock on opportunity’s door and not be ready. “

-bruno mars

 

 

 

—

image credit: google images