Tag Archives: friends

Sep6

comfort.

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 we lie around

on a rainy afternoon

listening to the radio

to hear

one of us

a first-time storyteller on npr

as she shares with the nation

her bittersweet tale

there are 11 people of all ages

4 dogs of all shapes

with all

the food, drinks, games

and

good cheer

we could possibly need

and no timeline or agenda

on this long lazy weekend

all tucked in together

in 1 cozy house

on 1 pretty lake

and all that

equals

1 huge level of comfort.

—-

it is one of the blessings of old friends

that you can afford to be stupid with them.

– ralph waldo emerson

Sep5

yeh, it’s a long weekend kind of weekend.

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i’ll be spending it relaxing with some friends.

cheers.

Aug30

what I love most about this crazy life is the adventure of it. – juliette binoche

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spent the afternoon at

 the rogers centre

in canada

where the

baseball opened with

the official roof report –

‘the roof is open’

 the game began

and we

watched our detroit tigers

get mowed over

by the toronto blue jays

such a game (15-1)

where

our outfielder even

lost track of

how many outs there were

and forgot to throw the ball back

toronto fans threw out hats

when their player hit 3 home runs

all in the same game

and

hockey and baseball

blurred lines

in the old hockey tradition

of the hat trick

then

every opposing starter

got at least on base

giving us the chance

to see their entire roster

all in one game

but the staff and the local fans

were very friendly

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except for the guy

who impounded

our piñata head mascot

kind of a chicken

who was meant to be a tiger

(a chi-ger)

upon entering the stadium

lest i possibly wear it

and conceal my identity

but we decided to shake it all off

and

embrace the huge loss of this game

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by enjoying the town

with fans from both sides

and

our pinata

came right along with us

as we met

a rickshaw driver

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a man with a chicken hat

( a kindred spirit who grew up in my hometown)

a street singer with a bag on his head

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a sweaty spiderman

a bachelorette partyIMG_0890

 and a band

playing american and canadian covers

so we danced a lot

and passed the piñata on to the band

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but upon returning to our hotel

i couldn’t exactly remember

my hotel room number

except for the last two digits

which caused a bit of a logistical issue

so i visited a few floors

on the elevator that only moved

in response to an electronic key swipe

(who knew?)

saw a lot of our beautiful hotel

made friends with the front desk

who made a few phone calls

to my fellow travelers

who mostly had their phones shut off

in this

faraway and friendly foreign land

and

finally got back into my room

where i soon after

got locked in the glass shower

for a while

then

relaxed and drifted off to sleep

in my pillowy bed

until there was

a 3am fire alarm (false)

but it was one great day

leading into the next

and

there certainly was a lot of laughter

i’d say there were

at least

3 major bouts of laughter

all in the same day.

and

that’s a hat trick.

—

‘that’s the beauty of sport.

sometimes you laugh,

sometimes you cry.’

– joseph gradual

Aug29

go north. and then go more north. and just a bit more north yet.

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heading to the great white north

speeding on a train

with

one group of friends

one piñata head

one group of others waiting for us there

and bringing heaps of american spirit to go around.

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“the cool thing about being famous is traveling. i have always wanted to travel across seas, like to canada and stuff.”

– britney spears

—

image credits: googleimages

Jul23

spend some time with your friends.

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truth at any age.

—-

image credit: roald dahl

Jul1

oh! canada?

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we set out on a 2-hour tour

not unlike

 *’gilligan’s island’

all kinds of us

togethe

with high hopes

for a grand day

on the detroit river

a natural boundary

between

the united states

and

canada

and were

met with

gale force winds

and

torrential downpours

and slippery decks

but we made the best of the rough seas

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most people are rowing against the current of life.

instead of turning the boat around,

all they need to do is let go of the oars.
– esther hicks

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and this guy

jack

our mascot for the day

survived

a bit the worse for wear

paper mache mashed

one eye blown off

quickly balding

open wounds

but

like jack

we all hung in there

(nowhere to get off really)

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and it was a grand adventure

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we may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.
– martin luther king, jr.

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canada is like a loft apartment over a really great party.
– robin williams

happy canada day to our very friendly neighbors!

—

*gilligan’s island backstory:

IT WAS INTENDED TO BE A “METAPHORICAL SHAMING OF WORLD POLITICS.”
One day in a public speaking class at New York University, the professor had students compose an impromptu one-minute speech on this topic: If you were stranded on a desert island, what one item would you like to have? Sherwood Schwartz (the show’s creator), was a student in that class, and the question so intrigued him that it remained lodged in the back of his mind for many years.
After working for some time as a comedy writer for other shows, Schwartz decided to pitch his own idea for a sitcom. Thinking back to that desert island question, he thought it would make for an interesting dynamic to have a group of very dissimilar individuals stranded together and have to learn to live and work together. The island would be “a social microcosm and a metaphorical shaming of world politics in the sense that when necessary for survival, yes we can all get along,” Schwartz explained in Inside Gilligan’s Island: From Creation to Syndication. Schwartz quickly discovered after his first few pitch meetings that words like “microcosm” and “metaphor” were not very helpful when trying to sell a comedy.

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—

credits: cbs television, mental floss, sherwood schwartz, diamond jack boats

 

 

Apr30

“a dream you dream alone is only a dream. a dream you dream together is reality.” ― john lennon

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dreaming together at nap time 

Mar8

the sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever. – jacques yves cousteau

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and so

we went to the sea

and it was

everything

and more

 moving sun

calm waters

 boats afloat

seals playing

fish tacos and ice cream

on the beach

and

friends

and

stories

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and

water

and

shore

alive

with color

and

changing light

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laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.
– victor hugo

Jan31

the trail of tears.

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it was

a wonderful morning

filled with skating

and sliding

and parents

and teachers

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and tumbles

and laughter

and happy screams

were heard

and

most of all

kids

just having fun

and sharing the day

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and

after the mad fun

it was

 time to warm up

and enjoy treats

and then

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some of the little ones

began to realize

 that parents

had to

head back to work

or home

and a bit of worry

set in

and

as we said goodbye

and hiked back

towards school

the tears flowed

and the wails were heard

and some

were

walking

and weeping

and clinging

as if

parting forever

and it was

dramatic

and

so full of love.

—-

ever has it been that love knows not its own depth

until the hour of separation.

– khalil gibran

—

image credits: jkurtz

Nov27

happy thanksgiving: rituals, relatives and rolls.

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7 Overlooked Thanksgiving Rituals,

According to Sociologists

The first major sociological study of Thanksgiving appeared in the Journal of Consumer Research in 1991. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with people about their experiences of the holiday.

They also had 100 students take detailed fieldnotes on their Thanksgiving celebrations, supplemented by photographs. The data analysis revealed some common events in the fieldnotes that people rarely remarked on in the interviews. Here are some Thanksgiving rituals you might not realize are rituals:

1. THE GIVING OF THE JOB ADVICE
Teenagers are given a ritual status shift to the adult part of the family, not only through the move from the kids’ table to the grownup table, but also through the career counseling spontaneously offered by aunts, uncles, and anyone else with wisdom to share.

2. THE FORGETTING OF THE INGREDIENT
Oh no! I forgot to put the evaporated milk in the pumpkin pie! As the authors of the Thanksgiving study state, “since there is no written liturgy to insure exact replication each year, sometimes things are forgotten.” In the ritual pattern, the forgetting is followed by lamentation, reassurance, acceptance, and the restoration of comfortable stability. It reinforces the themes of abundance (we’ve got plenty even if not everything works out) and family togetherness (we can overcome obstacles).

3. THE TELLING OF DISASTER STORIES OF THANKSGIVINGS PAST
Remember that time we cooked a green bean casserole and burned the house down? Another way to reinforce the theme of family togetherness is to retell the stories of things that have gone wrong at Thanksgiving and then laugh about them. This ritual can turn ugly, however, if not everyone has gotten to the point where they find the disaster stories funny.

4. THE REAPPROPRIATION OF THE STORE-BOUGHT ITEMS
Transfer a store-bought pie crust to a bigger pan, filling out the extra space with pieces of another store-bought pie crust, and it’s not quite so pre-manufactured anymore. Put pineapple chunks in the Jello, and it becomes something done “our way.” The theme of the importance of the “homemade” emerges in the ritual of slightly changing the convenience foods to make them less convenient.

5. THE PET’S MEAL
The pet is fed special food while everyone looks on and takes photos. This ritual enacts the theme of inclusion also involved in the inviting of those with “nowhere else to go.”

6. THE PUTTING AWAY OF THE LEFTOVERS
In some cultures, feasts are followed by a ritual destruction of the surplus. At Thanksgiving the Puritan value of frugality is embodied in the wrapping and packing up of all the leftovers.

7. THE WALKING
After the eating and the groaning and the belly patting, someone will suggest a walk and a group will form to take a stroll. Sometimes the walkers will simply do laps around the house, but they often head out into the world to get some air. There is usually no destination involved, just a desire to move and feel the satisfied quietness of abundance – and to make some room for dessert.

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credits: mental floss magazine, the graphics fairy