the last paycheck. the day hath come.
—
*‘fear no more the heat o’ the sun, nor the furious winter’s rages.
thou thy worldly task hast done, home art gone and taken thy wages.’
– william shakespeare, cymbeline
*i know shakespeare wrote this about the final goodbye, but it also works for commuting and retirement
scout (in the original), walks home dressed as a ham.
—
I was cast to play scout
in a scene from ‘to kill a mockingbird’
as a favor for my friend
who was in an oral interpretation class
during her later in life college days.
the scene was the one
where scout was dressed as a ham
walking home through the woods
and the victim of an unknown attacker.
as I’m an incredibly horrible actress
I double-checked to see if she was sure
about wanting me for the role.
she was desperate and had no one else
so I was perfect, and was in!
she also cast my boyfriend at the time
as my brother
and our about to deliver a baby any second friend
as the narrator
that was it.
the only actors in the scene.
we were the holy trinity of non-talent.
one important thing that I needed to know
in spite of knowing my few lines
to be delivered in a frantic southern accent
with lots of screaming and thrashing movements
was that my attacker was not going to actually exist on stage
it was all interpretive
I had to imagine and act
like I was being attacked
as I wrestled with my invisible assailant.
at last the big day finally arrived
the curtain rose
I drawled and shrieked out my part
rolling around, slamming into the walls
and fighting my attacker who did not exist
all while dressed in my ham costume.
once it was over
we all took our bows
happy when the curtain finally went down.
after, I asked my friend’s husband,
(who was kind enough to have been in the audience
so we would be sure to have someone who clapped)
what he thought of my performance
and while his review was not exactly as expected
it was probably right on the mark:
‘you were like a cat in heat!’
my friend got an ‘a’ on the project.
—
“drama starts where logic ends.”
-ram charan
—
a repost – follow up to yesterday’s post
image credits: ‘to kill a mockingbird’ -universal pictures
not my bear, not my state, not my deck
but i get it
everyone needs relief from the heat
such extreme weather
just a quick over the shoulder glance
and then –
relief
you find it where you can
careful not to bother anyone else in the process.
—
‘if you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?’
-steven wright
—
image credit: nature is amazing
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.
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
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
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.
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
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
“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
I didn't have my glasses on.... 