Oct3

‘life is a collage of events, really.’ – mohanlal

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for those of you who’ve followed, read, or commented on my posts over the years

 I’ve finally put my finger on my ‘writing style’

it’s collage

and no surprise to anyone who knows me outside of the blogging world

it goes along with the creative outlets I’ve always enjoyed

making cards, books, and art

using pieces of things I’ve found, read, and collected in the world

it’s simply a matter of combining

images, thoughts, prose, quotes, poetry, music, and ideas

that generally don’t begin together

but once gathered

looked at in new ways

rearranged mixed and shuffled

like a puzzle with no absolute solution

suddenly seeming to belong together

to bring new meaning

when combined into a whole

my blog is the same

but the difference is

 rather than being made of anything concrete

 it’s abstract

it’s a mix of electronic media

 it can vanish into the ethernet at any time.

like all of life

it’s about making connections.

and having lived a while

I suppose I am a bit of a collage myself.

 

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 “every art I do is a collage.”

-santigold

Oct2

stepping up.

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Michigan football team with no band invites band with no team to play at its games

Forest Area Marching Band

The Forest Area Marching Band poses for a photo. The band’s school lost its football season this year due to a lack of players and a nearby school lost its band. Forest Area Marching Band traveled to Maple City – Glen Lake to bring music and the full gameday experience to the fans at its home game on Friday, Sept. 27.

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Maple City – Glen Lake invited the marching band from Forest Area Schools to play at its home game, according to the AP. The band traveled about an hour to be there and played the National Anthem before kickoff and took the field at halftime – in the rain – for its “Out of this World” show. Forest Area’s football season was canceled when too few players came out for the team.

The school’s band members were thrilled to bring their music to a football crowd.Ashley Peckat, a senior, said she “absolutely flipped.” She said it’s important to “show people what we can do.”

Glen Lake athletic director Matthew Mattson proposed the idea to Forest Area band director Brandon Deike who told MLive that an athletic director calling a band director an hour away to play at a football game is “just bizarre” and “really cool.”

The band is welcome to return for future games, Mattson said. There’s nothing like having a band “rocking out with our fans,” he said. Deike said he and his 43 players hope to return if scheduling allows because Forest Area knows what it’s like not to have a band.

In 2011, the district’s music programs were cut. That year, Deike volunteered to teach band before school. In 2012, the high school band program was reinstated but it took years to restart choir and elementary music, he said. “We had eight kids in band,” Deike said. “We’ve rebuilt here; we know what they’re going through.”

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“and as the players tried to take the field, the marching band refused to yield.”
– don mclean
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credits: justine lofman, mlive.com – photo: tawni Deike, associated press, up north live
Oct1

holding the moon in october.

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‘the winds will blow their own freshness into you,

and the storms their energy,

while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of autumn.’

-john muir

 

 

 

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image credit: Holding the Moon by Eric Houck

Sep30

fan-addict.

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and there’s a good possibility it’s me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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image credit: Pinterest

Sep29

origami and chocolate.

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it’s important we each do our part to help Mother Earth

and here is a way we can all pitch in,

with two of my favorite things on this earth,

paper and chocolate.

you are welcome.

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Japanese KitKats Are Replacing Plastic Packaging

with Origami Paper You Can Turn into Cranes!

From plant-based, bio-plastic Lego to Adidas’s first fully recyclable running shoe, companies worldwide are working hard to make their products and packaging more sustainable. Last year, food and drink manufacturer Nestle announced that it plans to use 100% recyclable packaging for its products by 2025. As part of that goal, nestle Japan recently released new packaging for its popular miniature KitKat chocolate bars, which will now be wrapped in origami paper instead of plastic.

“Plastic waste is one of the biggest sustainability issues the world is facing today,” Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider says “Tackling it requires a collective approach. We are committed to finding improved solutions to reduce, re-use and recycle.” Japan is the biggest market for KitKats, with 4 million being sold every day. By swapping out the candy bar’s shiny plastic wrap for eco-friendly matte paper, Nestlé expects to cut down on roughly 380 tons of plastic each year.

The new packaging is not only good for the environment, but it’s fun too! Each KitKat bar will include instructions on how to fold a traditional origami crane—a symbol of hope and healing. Customers are encouraged to turn their trash into art, with the hope that the paper will remain in use for longer.

The environmentally-friendly packaging debuts with the most popular KitKat Mini flavors—original, matcha, and dark chocolate—but the positive change is just the beginning. Next year, Nestlé Japan plans to release paper bags for its normal-sized KitKat multipacks, and will roll out single-layer paper wrappers for individual KitKats in 2021.

“the visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper, and re-imagines the world.”

-malcolm gladwell

 

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credits: mymodernmet.com, atlas obscure, emma taggart, nestles japan

 

Sep28

national neighbor day.

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won’t you be my neighbor?

“the more we can be in a relationship with those who might seem strange to us,

the more we can feel like we’re neighbors and all members of the human family.”

-fred rogers

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in honor of mr. rogers on this day and every day

 

 

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image credit: pghcitypaper.com

Sep27

infinite value.

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 the sands of time slip away so quickly. 

who better to understand this

knowing they cannot stop it,

than the kinder

who live every moment to the fullest?

 

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“every second is of infinite value.”

-goethe

Sep26

accidents.

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along the way on my weekday drive

there is often a traffic mishap or accident

and if I begin to worry about being late

or get annoyed by the hold up

  i think about how the person/people involved must feel

how their life instantly changed in that moment

they were just having an ordinary day

and then

this happened

maybe they were

headed to work

to visit someone

leaving for a vacation

going to a celebration

helping someone

so many possibilities

 i’ve got no room to complain 

 nothing to worry about

puts it all right back into perspective

so i listen to my music and sit with my gratitude.

 

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“since human wisdom cannot secure us from accidents,

it is the greatest effort of reason to bear them well. “

-john paul jones

 

 

 

 

 

 

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image credit: wellandgood.com

Sep25

the future.

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yes, yes you are.

and for that, we are lucky.

 

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“children are one third of our population and all of our future.” 

— Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health, 1981

Sep24

playing chicken.

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as merely an observer of the event

I’d have to guess

that she when she arrived at the store

 perhaps with the intention

of buying a tea towel

she did not plan to leave

with a giant metal chicken

and may have even worried

that if she did not buy it today

someone else might come along

and find

they too could not live without it

one day longer.

life is funny that way.

 

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‘buying involves decision-making.

it’s a performance activity, like sports or acting.’

-mark goulston