when a baby goes rogue looking for cracker crumbs in our classroom
at a class shower for my teaching partner’s soon to arrive first baby
roaming baby’s mom said not to worry,
she is just building up her immunity.
clearly not her first child.
—
“babies are such a nice way to start people.”
― d
the diag at center of the university of michgan campus
on a beautiful day
a good people watching place to be.
—
“i’m still passionately interested in what my fellow humans are up to.
for me, a day spent monitoring the passing parade is a day well-spent.”
-garry trudeau
-Garry is an american satirist whose comic strip, doonesbury,
reflected social and political life in the united states during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
“oh how I love to read, she thought. ihe whole world gets bigger.”
— Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet The Spy (1964)
—
i always was interested in detectives and spies, and books were a way for me to feel a part of it.
without any real danger, but just enough suspense…
on international book day
where are those kids going and what are they up to?
—
today we went back to the farm
to see how it has changed since our fall visit
there were no leaves
there were no pumpkins
there were lots of new babies
there was not a lot of green
but the animals were as sweet as ever
and that never changes.
—
‘to teach children that animals have certain rights
creates in their minds a respect and regard for life.’
*-caroline earle white
*Caroline Earle White founded the first animal shelter in the United States in 1869. Born on September 28, 1833 in Philadelphia, Penn., White became an influential figure not only in animal welfare, but also fought for women’s suffrage and equality. White and a group of 30 women activists created the Women’s Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (WPSPCA), America’s first official animal shelter. Later known as the Women’s Humane Society, the organization pioneered programs that helped save homeless animals and employed animal cruelty officers to prevent and punish animal abuse. The organization still operates today as the Women’s Animal Center.
toads, rabbits, certain bird species, kangaroos and wallabies hop and jump.
by contrast frogs, hares and jackrabbits and monkeys leap,
the latter
routinely covering the distance from one large tree to another in a single leap.
tough to pass up this amazing offer
it’s really got it all
charm, the military, friendship, threats, god, a random stranger, a thank you, a blessing,
and a photo of general milley of course
such a smooth operator
but i’m going to have to take a hard pass on this one
too bad, so close!
—
“bad decisions make good stories.”
-ellis vidler, american romance author
is it really, though?
what would stop anyone from just walking around the sign,
unsure of where the private part begins and ends?
or to test the boundaries?
—
“there is no private life which has not been determined by a wider public life.”
*George Eliot, Felix Holt: The Radical 1866
*Mary Ann Evans, known by her pen name George Eliot, (who changed her name because she wanted her writing to be taken seriously), was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and widely recognized as one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrote seven novels: Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Romola, Felix Holt, the Radical, Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda.
it’s been two years
—
“and the sunflowers are an eternity in themselves.
let them embrace our dreams and invigorate our hope evermore.”
* bhuwan thapalia
*Bhuwan Thapaliya is a nepalese poet writing in english.
he is an economist and is the author of four poetry collections.
—
photo credit: hollie adams, getty
apes playfully tease each other just like humans
Joking around is a key element of human interaction — one that starts emerging in babies as young as 8 months old, before they can even speak. Now, a new study is suggesting that the human instinct to play goes further back than previously thought.
An international team of cognitive biologists and primatologists documented playful teasing in the four species of great apes: orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas. They identified 18 distinct teasing behaviors, indicating that “the prerequisites for humor evolved in the human lineage at least 13 million years ago,” per a press release.
“Similar to teasing in children, ape playful teasing involves one-sided provocation, response waiting in which the teaser looks toward the target’s face directly after a teasing action, repetition, and elements of surprise,” explained lead author Isabelle Laumer.
The concept of playful primates isn’t new — Jane Goodall previously documented such behavior — but this is the first study to systematically analyze it. “We hope that our study will inspire other researchers to study playful teasing in more species in order to better understand the evolution of this multifaceted behavior,” Laumer said.
—
“the very essence of playfulness is an openness to anything that may happen,
the feeling that whatever happens, it’s okay…
you’re either free to play, or you’re not.”
-john cleese
—
source credits: Proceedings of the Royal Society, Laumer, Winkler, Rossano, Cartmill
photo credit: anup shah, getty
dealing with a bad sciatic nerve episode
over a few days
i tried waiting it out
only getting worse instead of better
to the point where it affected my leg
shooting pains
hard to even sit down
a knee refusing to bend
after trying many strategies to solve this
all to no avail
i sought out an expert
a therapeutic massage and body work practitioner
did a lot of reading
found just who i needed
a strong eastern european therapist
with a small practice
close to home
personalized for each client
luckily she had a spot for me
when i arrived we talked for a while
she explained
what she could offer
how she worked with olympic swimmers
and others whose lifestyles or vocations or circumstances
led them to have body pains and challenges
how the body is all connected
one thing impacts the others
it would not be easy
but i would find relief
me explaining
my medical history
current issues
goals for the visit
she assessed
how i
walked, moved, sat, stood
then we began
in a quiet and warm room
calming music and dimmed lighting
i had booked an hour and a half visit
knowing that i needed a lot of work
like nothing i’ve ever experienced
she was very physically strong
moving and realigning my body
in ways that i didn’t know it was possible to do
some of it hurt, as expected
she told me to tell her if it felt like too much
but i really wanted relief
so knew i had to try to endure it
i fell into a kind of relaxed state
lost all sense of time
in spite of the intensity
when it was all over
she mentioned a few things:
she had gone a little over our planned appointment
it had actually taken 2 1/2 hours
my body was so resistant
that i fought her much of the time
why she had to take water breaks
i had even inched up off the table
trying to escape?
survival instinct?
i asked if it was like wrestling with a bear
she laughed
covered me with hot towels to relax my muscles
i’m quite sure she must have been exhausted
told me all of the places that she could tell were tense
including my feet
not even mentioned in our conversation
also clear that i drink a lot of coffee
i now should feel better
when i stepped off the table
it was like a miracle
i was no longer hobbled
i could bend my knee
put weight on both legs
move without pain
all pain was gone
we had a conversation after
where she told me
the best ways for my body
to sit, stand, walk, run, eat
to keep it healthy and strong
told me to drink water after this long session
no extra charge
for the hard work, extra time, or helpful conversations
she had me stand again
i thanked her profusely
for taking my pain
changing how i treat my body moving ahead
i almost cried
maybe i’ll even become an olympic swimmer.
——
“massage is the study of anatomy in braille.”
– jack meagher
—
photo credit : catster
I didn't have my glasses on.... 