perfect branding.
what could possibly go wrong?
—
“the opportunity for doing mischief is found a hundred times a day, and of doing good once in a year.”
-voltaire
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stoney cabin toyshop, elk rapids, mi, usa
Jul27
Category Archives: Life
Jul25
to the lake.
night slowly arrives
warmly wraps around the lake
color fades away.
—
“of all the paths you take in life make some lead to the lake.”
– unknown
—
on glen lake, empire, michigan, usa – summer 2024
Jul24
charley crockett.
cowboy singer charley crockett
his low, smoky, smooth voice, like whiskey
vintage cowboy crooner gave a great show.
—
‘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
—
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.
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?
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.
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?
—
‘we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.’
-albert einstein
Jul20
getting puffy with it.
i think we all get news overload now and then
getting puffy is not good for anyone
good to step away as needed.
—
‘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
Jul16
when you can’t find your hundred or so cars.
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.
—
‘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
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.
—
‘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.
Jul13
I didn't have my glasses on.... 