in warmer days of not so long ago, kinders w and n, try to figure out how to blend the past with the present and the future.
Study the past, if you would divine the future. Confucius
Feb15
Tag Archives: life
Feb14
my valentine’s day dream date
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image credit: pick up and play
Feb10
I’m surfing the giant life wave. – William Shatner
“Remember that when you think you are seeing giants, they may not be giants at all; perhaps it is you who is the dwarf.”
and yet another true story, of path-crossing, and timing, and luck, and circumstance. i was on my way to school for a faculty work day, and walked into a huge multi-purpose all-things-you-could-ever-want-and more store, (air compressors, makeup, yarn, chicken tenders, cabbage, towels, scotch, and goldfish – all sold there), and i went to get a cart.
as i pulled my cart out of the corral, i turned and was stopped in my tracks because –
i saw a giant.
literally.
his hands were huge and he stood right in front of me, manning his cart, ready to head off into the aisles, in search of whatever diverse collection of items he may on the hunt for. and everything about him was huge. stunningly massive.
my eyes slowly looked up, and up, and just kept going. and going. he was the tallest man i’ve ever seen close up, other than a basketball player, but he was not built anything like a basketball player, he was built like an oak tree- huge, and solid, and unbending.
i was in awe of his physical presence and as i kept looking up and looked up finally got to his face, he smiled at me with a huge giant’s grin. i smiled back, he seemed so gentle, not scary at all, as i had always imagined a giant would be if i ever encountered one. and we headed off through the aisles, each on our own retail scavenger hunt.
when i got to the grocery section of this massive store that is a like small city, i turned the corner from the cereal aisle, and who should i encounter –
but a second giant!
again, another surprised reaction from me, but i just took it in, and wondered about the odds of finding two men of this ilk, in the same building at the same time. i thought perhaps there was some kind of convention or fest going on in the area, that both may have attended. sort of specialized, like a ‘mothers of twins’ event, but for really, really, really big people.
i finished my shopping, not crossing paths with either of them again, and went on to school. i sat through the professional development meetings, but could not shake the memory of these men. i tried to imagine what a day spent as a giant must be like, how it must be to always have people surprised by encountering them, wondering if people were kind or cruel to them, and wondering what kind of items a giant shops for.
at lunch that day, i sat with one of our phys ed teachers and told him about my stop at the store on the way to school. he got a very surprised look on his face, asked me if i was kidding, and told me he was shocked that i brought this up because he had also run into a giant at another location of the same store across town, that very same morning. it was a surprising encounter for him as well, and he’d taken a picture of his giant because he didn’t think anyone would believe him. he shared the picture on his phone with me, and it was yet another giant that i had not met.
what are the odds of this set of circumstances? that we would each encounter one or more giants on the same morning, in the same brand of store, in different locations, on different sides of town, that he had taken a picture, and that we actually had lunch together, and it would come up in our conversation?
it raised so many questions. why so many giants in one state at one time? why at this chain of stores? did they offer a giants’ discount, like they did for senior citizens each tuesday? or did the giants feel comfortable there because the store itself was so giant? how did the universe conspire to have us all cross paths on the same day and then have the two of us cross paths to share our stories and be amazed by it all?
we will never know the answers to any of these questions, but it was a huge day for all of us.
Definition of giant in English:
NOUN
an imaginary or mythical being of human form but superhuman size.
an abnormally tall or large person, animal, or plant.
a person of exceptional talent or qualities: a giant among sportsmen
Astronomy a star of relatively great size and luminosity compared to ordinary stars of the main sequence, and 10-100 times the diameter of the sun.
“Well, first of all,” said the BFG, “human beans is not really believing in giants, is they? Human beans is not thinking we exist.”
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credits: library of congress, roald dahl, the bfg (the big, friendly, giant), quentin blake, harper collins publishing, oxford dictionary
Feb9
A book is like a garden carried in the pocket. ~ Chinese Proverb
i have found my favorite bookstore, ‘literati,’ and feel happy each and every time i walk in there. it is independent, local, walkable, friendly, and welcoming. when i open the door and step in, i feel like cliff in the old show ‘cheers,’ but without the bar or the beer or boston.
winter comes to literati
one of my favorite pastimes is to spend time with books, reading, browsing, picking them up to see the cover, the text, reading the notes, and just hanging out among them. after the demise of borders, (created by the local borders brothers), which was based here and included the original store, a local couple decided to open ‘literati.’ a giant had fallen. and in it’s place, three lovely bookshops have come to the forefront here. one has held on throughout the mega-giant bookstore era, and been around for years, with the others, more recently arriving on the scene. each is wonderful, but something about the feeling of ‘literati’ has immediately grabbed me. the owners of the three have embraced and welcomed each other, and rather than be rivals, they’ve become friends and partners in the community.
on
downstairs at literati
in this, its first year, the store has supported and invited local authors to share their work, created nooks for reading, and spaces for browsing, provided a small staff that is well-read and friendly, a children’s story hour, a book club, a newsletter, took part in community charity events, and the place simply oozes with an amazing good feeling.
have an set up an old typewriter for people to leave notes and messages. here are a couple of them:
“To be in love gives you the ability to raise up the sky and see the whole world.”
-Note left on our typewriter
“I am 7 months sober today. I’m finally learning how to forgive. Not only those who hurt me, but myself. I’m forgiving myself…”
-Note left on our typewriter
a recent note from owners, mike and hillary, written in their newsletter to the community, shows a bit of who they are:
Happy New Year, everyone!
This past week, we’ve been feeling nostalgic. Since we signed the lease one year ago we’ve zoomed along with build-out, construction, opening, logistics, accounting, and the chaos of the holidays… Finally, we’ve had a chance to catch our breaths, pause, and reflect.
Thank you everyone who has bought a book from the store. You didn’t have to. You could have gone to Amazon, but you didn’t. You came to us.
A huge thank you to Jeremiah Chamberlin and this profile of our opening in the latest issue of Poets & Writers Magazine. Jeremiah witnessed the store long before anyone else did. He was there when we painted the floors, for our shipment of boxes, for all those anxiety-producing pre-opening weeks… and then he wrote about it. We thank Jeremiah for taking an interest in telling our story and doing such a wonderful job.
Thank you all, again, for making our 2013 successful. It’s a scary time to open a bookstore. But everyone here made it much, much less scary. We have a lot of work to do. We are inspired by this year’s success, but there is a long road ahead.
Thank you again. -Mike, Hilary, and the rest of the Literati Book Ninjas.
It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it. ~Oscar Wilde
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image credits and links: http://literatibookstore.com
Feb8
‘it is none degrees out.’ – c, age 4
I shall not die of a cold. I shall die of having lived. – Willa Cather
Feb7
Education is all a matter of building bridges. Ralph Ellison
the kinders are so proud of what they have built together. they say it is ‘the biggest thing in the world!’
Whatever good things we build end up building us. –Jim Rohn
Feb5
* ‘when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.’
s, age 4, has taught himself to read. here, he has a teaching moment, when he reads a challenging non-fiction book, about the amazing story of two unlikely animals who became the best of friends. the animals were drawn together, through circumstance and fate, and each found what they needed in the other, becoming somehow better, and changed forever, by being together. as s reads aloud to his classmates, they begin to understand this, and learn that all things are possible.
“Teachers have three loves: love of learning, love of learners, and the love of bringing the first two loves together.”- Scott Hayden
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* title quote credit: a saying, alternately attributed to Buddha Siddhartha Guatama Shakyamuni and the Theosophists.
Feb3
the happy poet.
and yet again, a movie i’ve never heard of, begged me to take it off the shelves of my local library, and into my living room. 
‘the happy poet’ is an indie-comedy, a classic tale of the underdog, fighting the system, and trying to make the world a better place. (and hot-dog free, in this case.) written and directed by paul gordon, who also stars as the lead, ‘the happy poet’ was shot in austin, texas, on a small budget, and released on the film festival circuit. slow-moving, quiet, wryly funny, simply shot, with single piano notes as its only soundtrack, i was quickly drawn into this very human story.
when we meet the poet, he is struggling – in life, in trying to find his happiness, and with no idea about where to go for the answers. he is as dry, deadpan, and honest a character as you will ever meet, and one who has an understated passion for the things he believes in. it’s his sincerity and heart, that draws an eccentric bunch of people to him, each with their own heart of gold, who stay close, keep him motivated, look out for him, and prove their loyalty in interesting ways. I’m happy this poet quietly called out to me from the shelves.
When what we are is what we want to be, that’s happiness. – Malcolm Forbes
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image credit: Cinema Libre
Feb2
Too clever is dumb. – Ogden Nash
i was in arizona, visiting my sister and her family, and we crossed the border to go bargain shopping at a market in mexico. we saw lots and lots of wonderful things for sale, but there was one item i simply could not resist. i have always been a huge fan of pinatas, and of all of the celebrations and craziness that go with them, and i saw one that topped all the others. it was a giant. life-sized, santa claus piñata. i knew right away it had to be mine. and, in the spirit of being in the open-air market, i knew i would drive a hard bargain for st. nick.
soon after, there were 5 seconds of tough negotiations that went something like this,
‘how much for that santa?’
’10 dollars and 25 cents.’
‘how about 10 dollars?
‘okay.’
i knew i had been so clever, and had gotten the bargain of a lifetime. i was so happy, and santa and i kind of walked off with a newfound swagger, as i talked about how clever i had been, how the seller didn’t know how much this gem was worth, and how clever i really was.
we drove to the airport and i checked in, proud to be carrying my new friend santa, ready to show him how we like to celebrate the winter holidays in michigan. we got lots of odd looks, smiles and questioning faces, but no matter. it was so clever, that we had ended up together, and for such a bargain price. it was at the ticket counter, however, that my ‘so clever’ bubble was quickly popped, i was told the following: ‘he’s too big to stow above, you’ll have to buy him his own seat.’ what, my $10.00 clever bargain santa would now cost me hundreds to get home??
and soon after, yet another round of intense negotiations took place:
‘okay, what are my other options?’
‘there is only one.’
‘okay.’
we found a compromise. santa could fly with the luggage in the cargo section of the plane, and i had to be willing to accept that he may not look the same upon arrival. we parted ways – him on a conveyer belt, and i walked down a long hallway. i imagined all sorts of terrible things happening to him without his clever mama watching over him, but he would have been an expensive companion to have on board.
when i landed i saw him coming around the luggage carousel, feet first, and with a toe tag on. i thought about how he looked like he was in a morgue, and i knew it had been a very rough flight for him. i picked him up, stood him upright, and as we walked away, he was not quite as jolly, and i, not quite as clever. it had been a good run of clever for both of us though, and how quickly it was over.
The desire to seem clever often keeps us from being so. – Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Feb1
Nature always wears the colors of the spirit. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
made it downtown to the hair appointment. saw people out with skis, babies, guitars, coffees, dogs, eating under awnings outside, smiling, calm, and happy, and chatting, and skittering along through all of the weather. what’s more snow and freezing rain when you’ve already had 40 inches or so this month? life goes on. and now i like to imagine that my hair will look stunning as i listen to my’ extreme winter rock mix ‘on my iPod, and shovel my driveway, yet again. we are a hearty lot.
The poetry of the earth is never dead.
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image credit: jahna vashti
