left detroit behind
crossed the river
got on the train for a canadian getaway
looking forward.
Nov20
Tag Archives: united states
Feb20
who will be our leader?
“if your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more,
do more and become more, you are a leader.”
-john quincy adams (U.S. president 1825-1829)
–
on presidents’ day.
—
image credit: attackofthecute.com
Nov22
light.
Barrow, Alaska in darkness on Monday
On Friday, the sun set for the final time in Barrow, Alaska, as the city plunges into polar darkness for the next two months and, in December, formally changes its name to Utqiaġvik, according to Alaska Dispatch News.
The next dawn in Utqiaġvik will be January 22, 2017, the first sunlight under its new name, an Inupiaq word that the wider area of Barrow has long gone by. The city of around 4,300 was incorporated in 1958 and originally took its name from nearby Point Barrow, named by a Royal Navy officer in 1825.
The city is the northernmost in the U.S. and each year spends a couple of months in darkness, owing to its position hundreds of miles north of the Arctic Circle, and about 2,000 miles northwest of Seattle.
Residents recently voted to permanently change the town’s name to honor indigenous peoples and the area’s roots. Locals seem relaxed about Barrow’s final sunset. As ADN reports, the sun “was nowhere to be seen” on Friday, and Qaiyaan Harcharek, a Barrow City Council member who led the drive to change the name, said the event didn’t have much of an effect on him. “I didn’t put much thought to it,” Harcharek told ADN.
—
“hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”
-desmond tutu
—
credits: alaska dispatch news, erik shilling, university of alaska- fairbanks, atlas obscura
Nov9
after.
“history is nothing if not an epic tale of missed opportunities.”
-graydon carter
Nov8
to do list.
1. vote.
2. go have a donut.
—
photo credit: the dexter bakery
Nov7
tired.
one more day
until the election
and i am tired.
—
“i am tired of talk that comes to nothing.”
-chief joseph
—
image credit: google images
Aug25
“who am I to blow against the wind?” – paul simon
sunday’s strong winds turned
the annual port huron, michigan float down
into an accidental international expedition.
the associated press reports around 1,500 people were sent across the st. clair river’s international border while riding inflatable rafts, tubes, boats, and other floatation devices.
canadian authorities helped bring them back to michigan from sarnia, ontario. police reportedly arranged for sarnia transit to take the stranded rafters back stateside.
Facebook post from the rafters:
“we want to express our gratitude to the canadian authorities for their assistance and understanding with the floaters who’ve unintentionally been forced to the canadian shoreline. you’ve shown us true kindness and what it means to be amazing neighbors!”
sarnia police tell the a.p. only minor injuries were reported in the incident, which started at port huron’s lighthouse beach and was slated to end at marysville’s chrysler beach before mother nature took control.
authorities report that “a strong current and lack of life jackets” heightened the hazards in the incident. the port huron float down is an annual event between michigan and canada, which takes participants 7.5 miles down the st. clair river. shipowners are speaking out against an annual, loosely organized event that sends thousands floating down the st. clair river.
—
credits: associated press, mlive.com, sarnia police,
blackburnnews.com, benjamin raven
Aug15
act.
yesterday
i went to the official opening
of the local headquarters
for
my choice of candidates
for the office of
the next
president of the united states of america.
when i pulled into the parking lot
there was not a space to be had
there was a torrential downpour of rain
yet people of all ages
were waiting
and
pouring out of the door
and
once i walked into the room
there was
so much enthusiasm
and
so full of hope
and
postive thinking
it was overwhelming
i’m excited to say that
tomorrow i’ll begin helping them
to try to make it all happen in november.
—
“act as if what you do makes a difference. it does.”
~william james
—
image credit: googleimages
Jul4
liberty.
happy 4th of july
—
“the boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave.”
-thomas jefferson
—
image credit: google images
Jul1
oh! canada?
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
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
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)
and it was a grand adventure
we may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.
– martin luther king, jr.
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.
—
credits: cbs television, mental floss, sherwood schwartz, diamond jack boats
I didn't have my glasses on.... 