Category Archives: Life

the fixer.

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the tiny drinking fountain in our room

had been shut off for over 2 years

as a precautionary measure due to covid.

this year

one kinder, a young 3

decided he was going to fix it

fidgeting with it every day

without any tools

looking under it and all around it

pushing the button

day after day

he never stopped trying

nothing happened

until

one day we came in

noticed it was working

(perhaps a building elf had stopped by after school)

i took our little fixer over to see it

showed him the water coming out

told him he must have finally fixed it!

hard to imagine

the look of shock and joy on his face

to see it working

after all of his hard work

and refusal to give up

the class now celebrates him as a hero

and use the fountain every day

 he proudly checks on it often

his face still amazed every time.

“i’m good at figuring out how things work, but I don’t know how this happened.” 

-nora roberts, the collector

to raisin, or not to raisin? that is the question.

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on the very first day

of my new and improved

healthy eating and exercise initiative

a rogue chocolate-covered raisin

emerged from hiding

 under a blanket on my sofa

where it had quietly sat

lying in wait

for me to discover it

i stopped

breathless

 knowing this tiny temptation

was a test

 oh, what a test

who would know

just one

 practically a fruit and coffee/cacao product

dark chocolate and fruit are both good for my heart

who cares if there’s a bit of blanket fuzz on it

that’s just added fiber

could this be the gateway

to a slice of triple-layer chocolate cake or velveta-laden nachos?

not today, fuzzy amazing hidden chocolate-covered raisin, not today.

the struggle is real.

i looked to the writers to seek their wisdom

they have a difference of opinion on this.

are you on team wilde or team emerson when it comes to temptation?

“i can resist everything except temptation.”

-oscar wilde

“we gain the strength of the temptation we resist.”

-ralph waldo emerson

world famous.

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work somewhere world famous

plus,

fries.

 

“there is this power that comes with being famous.”

-rod stewart

 

only 30 more.

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Santa speaking to crowd in front of J.L. Hudson department store

during the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade-1942

only 30 more sleeps!

“to celebrate a festival means;

to live out, for some special occasion and in an uncommon manner

the universal assent to the world as a whole.”   

-josef pieper

the beginner.

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The holidays are here and the barrage of advertisements has begun, but one brand is standing above the rest for their powerful message this season.

U.K. retailer John Lewis & Partners, known for their imaginative Christmas advertisements, is instead putting a spotlight on an important cause for 2022.

In this year’s highly anticipated ad, the brand has launched “The Beginner” which shares the story of a family preparing to welcome a child in foster care — but the viewer doesn’t know that at first.

As the 90-second ad begins, a man is seen buckling on a helmet and attempting to learn — unsuccessfully — to skateboard.

A cover of Blink 182’s “All The Small Things” by Mike Geier begins to play as the man’s efforts progress through more falls and skateboard-related injuries through the Christmas season.

At the end of the video, the family is seen opening the door to a social worker and a girl, who is holding her skateboard. “I skate a bit too,” the man says pointing to his own battered board.

The ad ends with a frame sharing that there are more than 108,000 children and young people in the U.K.’s care system.

In the United States, according to a 2021 report by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, about 391,000 children are in foster care.

In just 24 hours since being shared, the ad has amassed more than 2.2 million views.

“As someone who’s been in the care system myself as a child, this really feels close to home … It does make you think about how powerful adverts can be, even if they are simple and basic,” one user wrote.

Another added, “This hits home really hard, as a former foster kid who was in the system for 11 years. It’s really heartwarming to see this.”

“there will come a time when you believe everything is finished. yet that will be the beginning.”

-louis l’amour

credits: today show, kait hanson, john lewis and partners

getting ready.

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as we prepare to gather together in a few days

often with all kinds of people

 often anticipating how it will go

 often happily surprised. 

 

“it’s never the differences between people that surprise us.

it’s the things, that against all odds, we have in common.”

-jodi picoult

 

 

 

 

photo credit: muppets.disney.com

 

lots of years plus one.

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yesterday i went to sleep being lots of years old

today i woke up being lots of years plus one more year old

i’ll begin by sharing the day with my kinder

who love to celebrate most everything. 

“do not grow old, not matter how long you live.

never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.”

-albert einstein

image/cartoon credit: gary larson, the far side

on the road to discovery.

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when the problem is that

you have to drive and carry all of your equipment

it calls for an unconventional solution.

 

“the intellect has little to do on the road to discovery.

there comes a leap in consciousness,

call it intuition or what you will,

the solution comes to you and you don’t know how or why.”

-albert einstein

what to do?

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how to spend a beautiful fall day 

when you love music?

meet up with people who love it too

and make music where you are.

a lovely surprise concert i enjoyed when walking in the park.

 

“music always has the answer”

-wordporn

carry on.

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trying to piece the world back together

Warehouse giant Costco likes to do everything big, from super-sized bottles of ketchup to barrels full of Jack Daniel’s whiskey. Their latest exclusive offering: A jigsaw puzzle with 60,000 pieces that may take up an entire room when it’s finished.

The sprawling What a Wonderful World puzzle is actually 60 interconnected 1000-piece puzzles to make assembly (somewhat) feasible. Each features a painting from the Dowdle Art Studio of a fascinating landmark from different parts of the world, including The Great Wall of China and The Eiffel Tower.

Once each section is completed, it can be connected to the larger canvas. When finished, the puzzle measures 8 feet tall and 29 feet wide. An included legend helps you keep track of which puzzle goes where in the literal bigger picture of things. Costco has declared it the world’s largest jigsaw puzzle, and that’s likely to be true. The What a Wonderful World puzzle retails for $599.

“the world is like a dropped pie most of the time.

don’t kill yourself trying to put it back together.

just grab a fork and eat some of it off the floor. then carry on.” 

-elizabeth gilbert

 

credits: penn news, chris hopkins, jake rosin, mental floss,