that moment
at the faculty party
when you get ready to leave
and go to pick up your coat
only to realize
that everyone has
a long, dark, down, winter coat
so you make a best guess choice.
—
“confusion is a word we have invented for an order which is not understood.”
-henry miller
as the youngest of 3 daughters
it took me a while to realize
that i was often being used
as the canary in the coal mine
sent in first to check
if the mud was sticky
if the place was scary
if it was wet
if there were spiders or alligators
if the others could squeeze in somewhere
if we were going to get in trouble
for whatever crazy scheme we thought up that day
i was curious and relished the adventure
excited to try things first
only to realize time and again
that it generally
had not
been a good idea in the first place.
whoever thinks they can fool me 267 times or so
has got another thing coming….
—
“a younger sister is someone to use as a guinea pig in trying sledges and experimental go-carts. someone to send on messages to mum. but someone who needs you – who comes to you with bumped heads, grazed knees, tales of persecution. someone who trusts you to defend her. someone who thinks you know the answers to almost everything.
~ pam brown
—
image credit: lets feast.feast-ed.org
apparently i have a bit of a reputation for opening my gifts early.
how bad is it when my sister thinks
i may get overexcited
and try to intercept a delivery at the post office?
i’m not worried, she’ll never know…
p.s. if she happens to be reading this,
i’d just like to say for the record
that it was already a little bit open when i found it.
if you have eaten the above, you are my contemporary.
—
here i go, around again
another trip around the sun
happy to say i’m still here.
—
google images
what it looks like when your french fry takes a stand.
—
imagine my surprise
just before undergoing
an out-patient medical test
listening to the waiver
read aloud to me
most of it
consisting of the usual
risks, percentages, side effects
somewhere in the middle
i heard:
“medicine is not an exact science.”
best liability statement i have ever heard.
—
“i am dying from the treatment of too many physicians.”
-alexander the great
—
image credit: aspca.org
Spijkenisse near Rotterdam has replaced the usual crossing sign by the town hall with one of a man with a bowler hat and briefcase flinging his leg high in the air, in emulation of John Cleese’s performance from the ‘Ministry of Silly Walks’ sketch.
Aloys Bijl, a local fan of the show, saw a similar sign put up by a prankster in Sweden, and asked Spijkenisse council to make an official version. “Cleese parodied a man from the ministry, and sometimes strange things do happen in town halls.”
Alderman Jan Willem Mijnans liked the idea, and agreed to preside at the not-very-formal opening of the rebranded crossing.
“It’s nice to see people crossing the street with a smile on their face, and we hope lots of people will do so,” he told the expectant crowds, before trying out his own silly walk.
The crossing is one of the busiest in town, but Mr Mijnans assured the public that, no matter how silly their progress, “traffic rules still apply, and cars have to stop as normal”.He added that the sign will revert to the original if it proves to be more of a distraction than an aid to road safety.
The people of Spijkenisse have taken to the idea with great enthusiasm, and filled social media with clips of pedestrians crossing with a variety of outlandish gaits.
—
‘mix a little foolishness with your serious plans.
it is lovely to be silly at the right moment. ‘
-horace
—
credits: abc news, news from elsewhere, martin morgan, nos public television
‘there is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky.’
-percy bysshe shelly
—
i’m not sure about today’s
hail, rain, snow, sun, wind, lightning, and thunder.
i suppose some could classify these as ‘luster’,
but probably not ‘harmony.’
caution: see-sawers in the area
and they are known to be a dangerous bunch
keep your windows up
and your hands in the car.
—
“the world is but a perpetual see-saw.”
-michel de montaigne
tomorrow is the two-week anniversary of my cold.
i look forward to leaving it behind
and not going for three.
—
image quote: google images
