grandie j welcomes the summer rain
on a hot day in detroit
—
‘like a welcome summer rain,
humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you.”
– langstpn hughes
Jun30
Tag Archives: joy
May19
art is community.
‘los trompos,’ (spanish for spinning tops)
a giant spinning top art installation,
visits detroit’s beacon park from mexico city
the eight giant, colorful tops, designed by *héctor esrawe and ignacio cadena, are large enough for multiple people to sit or stand inside them, and visitors are welcome to take a spin. they were designed to facilitate play, celebrate culture, and bring people together to interact and connect. Los Trompos is an interactive piece that comes to life when people engage with it. the tops are based on the construction of the actual toy and reflect the work of mexican artisans, as well as mexican culture, art, and architecture.
community comes together to dance in the park
—
so fun to be here
as all kinds of people stopped by
just to play and connect with each other.
—
“simply enjoy life and the great pleasures that come with it.”
-karolina ku
Feb6
joy, love, peace.
May the coming New Year bring you joy, love and peace.
愿新年为您带来快乐，友爱和宁静。
yuàn xīnnián wèi nín dàilàái kuàilè, yǒu’ài hé níngjìng.
—
what would bring you joy, love, or peace in the new year?
—
image credit: freepik
Oct29
sing.
what a wonderful surprise
when at my salon
in the midst of the day’s music
‘say my name’ came on
one of the stylists
began singing along
before long
some of the staff
joined in
clients were
at least smiling if not singing
the space was filled with
song and dance and laughter
a sudden burst of happiness for no reason
the best kind
the woman cutting my hair
asked out loud
“why not?”
exactly.
—
“the only thing better than singing is more singing.
-ella fitzgerald
—
image credit: john drysdale, 1978, london, england
Oct23
silly.
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
Sep21
transforming.
kinders transform with hands, finger paint, foil, and joy.
—
“the goal of life is rapture. art is the way we experience it.
art is the transforming experience.”
— joseph campbell
Jul21
facts.
joyful young scientist
teaching and demonstrating
for even younger scientists
ends his hands-on physics and chemistry lessons
with a show-stopper
a fog-shooting cannon
crafted from a garbage can
and the crowd realizes how much they love science
and simply cannot get enough.
—
“facts are to the mind what food is to the body.”
-edmund burke
—
ann arbor public library, pittsfield branch
Jul16
alley cats.
collective joy in graffiti alley
ann arbor, mi – summer 2018
–
“the urge to transform one’s appearance, to dance outdoors,
to mock the powerful and embrace perfect strangers is not easy to suppress.”
-Barbara Ehrenreich, Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy
Mar19
blue sunbeams.
and michigan takes the win in the final second.
moving on to the sweet sixteen.
the tears and the joy flow freely.
go blue.
—
‘tears of joy are like the summer rain drops pierced by sunbeams.’
-hosea ballou
—
image credits: mlive.com – mike mulholland
Jan25
heal.
one of the sweetest cards ever –
created by one of my kinders
who “read” it aloud to me:
“I really, really, really hope that your foot feels better very, very soon.”
(complete with a picture of me with one foot in the giant boot. )
—
“if you carry joy in your heart, you can heal any moment.”
-carlos santana
I didn't have my glasses on.... 