December 21

This is our Christmas card. Sorry.

[p]eople should be able to move and migrate where they need or want to. ~ John Washington

[Ye Olde Swimmin’ Hole at Camp Brosius on Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin . . . ]

We did not do a Christmas blog last year for the same reasons this is the Christmas blog for this year – bad health of the originators and the computer (oy, the computer). Ruthie is doing pretty well for someone who will be 81 years of age on New Year’s Day and does things I no longer can. I’m hanging in there though I have succumbed somewhat to the ravages of O-L-D – losing vision in my right eye (to TIA) last Christmas, needing a cane to ambulate, essential tremors (afflicting both of us, but why are they essential?), and it appears maybe lifetime access to a handicap parking permit.

So on to the Christmas card part. Christmas cards (blogs) have historically involved the year in review. This past year we made two road trips, both involved Indiana University (IU- Ruthie’s and Rita’s alma mater). In June we partook of Mini-University in Bloomington; in July we went to Camp Brosius, the IU alumni camp, in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The latter provides the substance of this missive

We have made the trek to Camp Brosius most years since 1993. Located along the west shoreline of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Camp Brosius is within an hour of Milwaukee and Green Bay, and a half hour from Lake Michigan . . . Elkhart Lake is home of world-famous Road America, where camp guests can take in NASCAR, vintage, motorcycle, or other competitive auto racing. Camp also is within a half hour of Pete Dye-designed golf courses located at the nearby American Club Resort. These courses, Blackwolf Run and Whistling Straits, are ranked among the best in the U.S. by leading publications. [https://campbrosius.iu.edu]

Elkhart Lake is a kettle lake located in the eastern part of the state that formed when ice from the Wisconsian glacial period melted slowly after being buried under glacial debris. It is named for the elk that used to roam the woods there; sadly, today there are no longer any elk present in the area. During the nineteenth century it became a popular place to vacation, and hotels and cottages sprung up along the shore. One of these hotels and the surrounding land was purchased by the Normal College of the North American Gymnastics Union, housed in Indianapolis, in 1920 for use as a summer training facility.Thus began Camp Brosius. “Brosius” comes from the name of the successful German-American gymnast and coach, George Brosius.  The camp stayed in possession of IU until in 1974, after another wave of financial difficulties, the IU Alumni Association purchased it. The children’s sessions then ceased and the camp’s primary focus became alumni and family camp sessions. The IUAA owned and managed the camp until 2003, when it was purchased by the IUPUI School of Physical Education and Tourism Management. Since then, Camp Brosius has continued to offer family and alumni camp sessions, and each May students of physical education and tourism management travel to camp to complete required coursework and to participate in teambuilding exercises.  [https://collections.libraries.indiana.edu]

July 25

We don’t have a country without a border. ~ Donald Trump

[Our annual homage to our old friends, “Crazy Dave” and Mary Owen, somewhere enroute from Alexandria through Wisconsin on Hwy 29. . . ]

After all, if there were no borders, there would be no migrants – only mobility. ~ Nicholas de Genova

[Owen, Wisconsin has a population of 940 and is 270 miles from Alexandria (more than halfway to our final destination of Elkhart Lake (455 miles from Alex) . . . ]

Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside. ~ Mark Twain

[First night fine dining in Sheyboygan. A place of first impression named Urbane . . . ]

Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch. ~ Orson Welles

[We thought Urbane a rather unique place . . . ]

Life’s too short. Start with Dessert! ~ Barbra Streisand

[Rita (Ruthie’s sister), Ruthie, and me . . . ]

In the last fifty years, sixty-three border walls have been built between countries, and watchdogs count at least 2,250 immigration detention centers across the globe, sites of human warehousing and squalid misery. Meanwhile, in 2023, the number of displaced people around the world neared 110 million. ~ John Washington

[Blue Harbor Resort in Sheboygan on Lake Michigan . . . ]

. . . while drugs are trafficked across borders, most of them are smuggled through ports of entry, and the most effective method to counter drug trafficking is to stem demand, which is not achieved with anti-tank vehicles or moats. ~ John Washington

[Blue Harbor closer-upper . . . ]

July 26

Every map is a fiction, a legend. It is no more the territory than memory is the past. ~ Frances Stnor Saunders

[Fountain Park, home to the local farmers’ market park across the street from the motel where we stayed for several years – until it closed this year . . . ]

The most convincing case – for me – of the urgent need to open borders is that borders kill. ~ John Washington

People are not plants. ~ Suketu Mehta

[Rita, Beth, and Chris – the latter two are Rita’s daughter and son-in-law from San Diego . . . ]

The reflexive solution to contagion – border closure, isolation, immobility – is in fact antithetical to biological resilience on a changing planet. ~ Sonia Shah

Indeed, when it comes to keeping human beings out, an important fact goes often overlooked: borders don’t work very well. ~ John Washington

[Every year we pay a visit to John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan . . . ]

The contagion of lack of empathy is going to be more harmful to us in the long run than anything else, because it will have no bounds. If we lose our empathy, we lose our empathy for everyone, and we isolate and atomize our society until it dries up, until it has nothing left. ~ Carolyn Forche

[This, and the two following, are in the Arts Center . . . ]

Any American who plans to get old should advocate for more immigration. ~ John Washington

[Despite the obvious circumstance, Rita and I never confused our canes . . . ]

The United States takes in fewer immigrants and refugees per capita than many other countries . . . nineteenth in the world in per capita immigration and fifty-fourth in the world in per capita refugee settlement. ~ John Washington

Of all the specific liberties which may come into our minds when we hear the word ‘freedom,’ freedom of movement is historically the oldest and also the most elementary. ~ Hannah Arendt

[A first time visit this year to the Art Preserve of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center . . . ]

Something only is what it is in its limit and through its limit. ~ G. W. F. Hegel

[This, and the following, in the Art Preserve . . . ]

The right of locomotion; the right of migration; the right which belongs to no particular race, but belongs to all and all alike. It is the right you assert by staying here, and your fathers asserted by coming here. It is this great right that I assert for the Chinese and Japanese, and for all other varieties of men equally with yourselves, now and forever. ~ Frederick Douglass

‘Black Pig’ is a unique dining experience inspired by casual comfort food, specialty drinks, and wine. Many of their ingredients are proudly sourced from local Wisconsin farms  (visit sheboygan.com).

[Note the T-shirt . . . ]

When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich. ~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau

[A meat eaters delight, though it doesn’t seem that we partook of such . . . ]

Two-thirds [of food stamp recipients] are over 60, children or teens or people with disabilities. The vast majority of the other third work, but get paid so poorly they still qualify for food assistance. More recipients are white than any other race, and undocumented immigrants don’t qualify. And the average food stamp benefit is $6 a day. Could you live like a queen on that? ~ Krissy Clark (Vox)

[Though we thoroughly enjoyed, as usual . . . ]

The death of classical music is perhaps its oldest continuing tradition. ~ Charles Rosen (pianist)

[Across the street from the Pig, it was undergoing a conversion from a movie theatre to a live performance venue . . . ]

Fortune knocks but once. Misfortune has much more patience. ~ Laurence Peter

Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful. ~ Molly Ivins

There is a Canadian culture that is in some ways unique to Canada, but I don’t think Canadian culture coincides neatly with borders. ~ Stephen Harper

I went to sleep away camp seven years in a row. I was such a pro. ~ Joe Jonas

[Our first night stay in Wisconsin, the GrandStay in Sheboygan. It’s a rather substantial facility with surprisingly only one elevator . . . ]

July 27

We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing. ~ George Bernard Shaw

[I had to send this to just retired Wendy Kohler, 40-year coach of the Alexandria girls’ basketball team, 2nd most wins in Minnesota history . . . ]

If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better. ~ Anne Lamott

[Beth in Off The Rail, an eatery in downtown Elkhart Lake. Following signs from said place . . . ]

Since becoming a central banker, I have learned to mumble with great incoiherence. ~ Alan Greenspan

One cat just leads to another. ~ Ernest Hemingway

July 28

People forget that coffee is a drug, a legal drug. Coffee consumption is not slowing down by any means. ~ Brian Phillips

[Mornings at camp begin with a flag raising and a singing of the birdie song . . . ]

I hate when people say, “Hey, don’t judge,” ’cause I think, “You don’t take away my hobbies.” ~ Marc Maron

[A field trip to Christopher Farm & Gardens (and the next 3 photos) on the shores of Lake Michigan . . . ]

The death of classical music is perhaps its oldest continuing tradition. ~ Charles Rosen

[A flower bed . . . ]

Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they are finished. ~ Dan Gilbert

[I don’t know if this came first . . . or the commercial?]

The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable. ~ John Kenneth Galbraith

[Shane and Emily, brother-in-law and sister, of aforementioned Chris. They are “regular” camp attendees from England . . . ]

July 29

Summer’s here and the time is right / For dancing in the street. ~ Martha and the Vandellas

[The annual lake swim begins and ends here on the penultimate day in camp . . . ]

Hatred will always give birth to more and more hate, and love has the power to demolish the borders between us. ~ Svetlana Alexievich

[And now a few items one can see as one walks the trail around the lake (previously the entire lake, now some home owners have exerted property rights and would rather not have complete strangers ambling through their yards) . . . ]

To protest against injustice is the foundation of all our American democracy. ~ Thurgood Marshall

Genres aren’t closed boxes. Stuff flows back and forth across the borders all the time. ~ Margaret Atwood

Life is a magnific robe, riddled with fleas. ~ Zhang Alling

While it’s easy for South Sudan to feel distant, the situation is all too real for the South Sudanese mothers choosing which child gets to eat tomorrow. This is a time when we must look outward together and declare that humanity has no borders – no one deserves to suffer like this, especially in a world of such abundance. ~ Forest Whitaker

The world’s problems transcend borders. ~ Antonio Guterres

When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich. ~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau

[Eating the rich on adult dinner night in camp . . . ]

From the beginnings of literature, poets and writers have based their narratives on crossing borders, on wandering, on exile, on encounters beyond the familiar. The stranger is an archetype in epic poetry, in novels. The tension between alienation and assimilation has always been a basic theme. ~ Jhumpa Lahiri

July 30

The fact is this is a great country because we’ve always embraced immigrants. The fact is we have every right to enforce our borders and to protect them, but we also need to provide a pathway for citizenship. ~ Antonio Villaraigosa

[The camp waterfront where young’uns enjoy feeding turtles . . . ]

I have Algerian, Turkish, Swedish, Spanish blood: I feel like a citizen of the world. Life and cinema don’t have borders. ~ Eva Green

[A genuine gully washer from our cottage . . . ]

July 31

In my earlier paintings, I wanted the space between the picture plane and the spectator to be active. ~ Bridget Riley

[A camp thing . . . ]

We still think of a powerful man as a born leader and a powerful woman as an anomaly. ~ Margaret Atwood

[Emily at the helm of a Sunfish . . . ]

I don’t believe love has borders. If I meet a nice man in China, I definitely think it’s possible. ~ Song Hye-kyo

[As others join in for the annual sailing regatta . . . ]

Put your idol worship on firemen or a schoolteacher or a rescue worker or a first-aid worker or Doctors Without Borders. I love those guys. Those are your heroes. ~ Jason Jones

[More sailors . . . ]

If everything seems to be in control, you’re not going fast enough. ~ Mario Andretti 

[The timing of all boats looks impeccable at the start . . . ]

Aerodynamics are for people who can’t build engines. ~ Enzo Ferrari

[Full speed ahead . . . ]

Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins. ~ Benjamin Franklin

[Campers line the dock and shore for the event . . . ]

I think words come between the spectator and the picture. ~ Howard Hodgkin

[The boats are all out there somewhere trying to find wind . . . ]

Old age, believe me, is a good and pleasant thing. It is true you are gently shouldered off the stage, but then you are given such a comfortable front stall as spectator. ~ Confucius

[Maybe my favorite photo of the whole trip . . . ]

To win is to drive as slowly as possible without relinquishing the lead. ~ Stirling Moss 

[And here comes the winner . . . ]

You don’t see any borders between countries from space. That’s man-made, and one experiences it only when you return to Earth. ~ Sunita Williams

[Shooting across the lake at 100x with the phone camera . . . ]

Music has no borders, which is most important. ~ Mohit Chauhan

[The Biddies living it up at the Lake Street Cafe in Elkhart Lake . . . ]

I’m exchanging molecules every 30 days with the natural world and in a spiritual sense I know I am a part of it and take my photographs from that emotional feeling within me, rather than from an emotional distance as a spectator. ~ Galen Rowell

[The pontoon cruise around the lake – enjoying the architecture . . . ]

I think Ray Charles did as much as anybody when he did his country music album. Ray Charles broke down borders and showed the similarities between country music and R&B. ~ Willie Nelson

[Such boat houses on the shoreline have been grandfathered in as OK . . . ]

When I help a farmer, I don’t differentiate between them based on their region, as farmers have no borders. I want to live like a world citizen and react like a human being. ~ Prakash Raj

For generations, America has served as a beacon of hope and freedom for those outside her borders, and as a land of limitless opportunity for those risking everything to seek a better life. Their talents and contributions have continued to enrich our country. ~ Spencer Bachus

[Previously named by visitors as the Johnsonville Brats house . . . ]

In fiction, you know, there are no borders. You can go anywhere. ~ E. L. Doctorow

[Just one of several million dollar homes on the lake, at one time including those owned by Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. . . ]

I love crossing borders. ~ Olga Tokarczuk

[Returning to camp, the water front, the Sputh Roundhouse on the point . . . ]

There are no borders in poetry and language. ~ Gulzar

[Elkhart Lake is 300 acres. For Alexandria area locals, about the same size as Lake Cowdry . . . ]

American greatness can be further unlocked if opportunity is expanded to all people within its borders. ~ Matthew Desmond

[As the sun sinks slowly in the west . . . ]

[No Hobbits were injured in the construction of this blog . . . ]

Up Next: Depending on abilities to do so, Part 2 of this story . . .

AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

July 12

Economists report that a college education adds many thousands of dollars to a man’s lifetime income — which he then spends sending his son to college. ~ Bill Vaughn

Now getting down into scholarship. We have reason to believe this was our 5th year of Mini-U. This is Part 2, meaning Part 1 has already been posted . . .

June 10

The only way to prove that you’re a good sport is to lose. ~ Ernie Banks

[Really good stuff to hear in this “current era” . . . ]

We forget all too soon the things we thought we could never forget. ~ Joan Didion

A melancholy lesson of advancing years is the realization that you can’t make old friends. ~ Christopher Hitchens

I’ve never been a millionaire, but I just know I’d be darling at it. ~ Dorothy Parker

To err is human. To blame someone else is politics. ~ Hubert Humphrey

I’ve just been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. I’ll tell you what, never again. ~ Tim Vine

[These guys have been two of our favorites over the years . . . ]

Statistics are like a bikini, what they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital. ~ Aaron Levenstein (business professor)

Egomania is not a duty. ~ Marianne Moore

Music is the space between notes. ~ Claude Debussy

Of course I talk to myself. I like a good speaker, and I appreciate an intelligent audience. ~ Dorothy Parker

Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~ Voltaire

Everybody dies famous in a small town. ~ Miranda Lambert

[This, of course, is the crux of what is going on today in these United States. The professor noted that his ethnic background (southern European) makes him a possible target for ICE . . . ]

Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition. ~ David Dunning

It took me 15 years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous. ~ Peter Benchley

Canada is the nice apartment over the meth lab. ~ Robin Williams

The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a culture about to fall into barbarism. ~ Hannah Arendt

[There are some interesting immigrant labor statistics here. Get to know them. And use them . . . ]

Contrary to popular opinion, it is institutions, norms, and laws – not elections – that constitute a functioning democracy. ~ M. Gessen

Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it. ~ Jonathan Swift

Never speak ill of yourself. Your friends will say enough on that subject. ~ Talleyrand

Definition of a college professor: someone who talks in other people’s sleep. ~ W.H. Auden

Commencement speeches were invented largely in the belief that outgoing college students should never be released into the world until they have been properly sedated. ~ G.B. Trudeau

80 percent of the final exam will be based on the one lecture you missed and the one book you didn’t read. ~ Unknown

I learned law so well, the day I graduated I sued the college, won the case, and got my tuition back. ~ Fred Allen

[This was outdoors for lunch at the Vault. Karen and Rita, Ruthie’s sister – coeds today, roommates in the 60’s . . . ]

I’m a philosophy major. That means I can think deep thoughts about being unemployed. ~ Bruce Lee

[Rita and Ruthie . . . ]

Somebody said to me, ‘But the Beatles were anti-materialistic.’ That’s a huge myth. John and I literally used to sit down and say, ‘Now, let’s write a swimming pool.’ ~ Paul McCartney

[Presents a cool and fun night time class in the biggest auditorium. Last year he gave us Bob Dylan . . . ]

If we’d know we were going to be the Beatles, we’d have tried harder. ~ George Harrison

For me, the Beatles are proof of the existence of God. ~ Rick Rubin

From one generation to the next, The Beatles will remain the most important rock band of all time. ~ Dave Grohl

As far as I’m concerned, there won’t be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead. ~ George Harrison

[Professor Gess teared up more than once during his presentation . . . ]

There are only four people who knew what the Beatles were about anyway. ~ Paul McCartney

There’s no outdoing The Beatles. ~ Brian Wilson

From 1958 to 1964, that’s real rock n’ roll. Then the Beatles hit and everyone sounded like them. ~ Wolfman Jack

No one person could have broken up a band, especially one the size of the Beatles. ~ Yoko Ono

From 1962 to 1965, the guitar became this icon of youth culture, thanks mostly to the Beatles. ~ Pat Metheny

The Beatles saved the world from boredom. ~ George Harrison

You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us. And the world will live as one. ~ John Lennon

[I had a brilliant, uncirculated White Album, still under the original wrap. I can’t find it?]

June 11

A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

[I thoroughly enjoyed his classes in previous years. Despite having multiple religious degrees, this year he advised us that he was no longer a Christian . . . a situation that would be interesting to pursue further . . . ]

When should a college athlete turn pro? Not until he has earned all he can in college as an amateur. ~ Will Rogers

I grew up Jewish. I am Jewish. I went to an Episcopal high school. I went to a Baptist college. I’ve taken every comparative-religion course that was available. God? I have no idea. ~ Michael Eisner

[Ann Schertz, our photographer every year and someone who Sid Hartman would recognize as a potentially close personal friend . . . ]

Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education. ~ Mark Twain

I am often amazed at how much more capability and enthusiasm for science there is among elementary school youngsters than among college students. ~ Carl Sagan

[It’s like herding cats to get a bunch of seniors to pose for a class photo. I believe there were 460 student in this year’s class . . . ]

I believe that we parents must encourage our children to become educated, so they can get into a good college that we cannot afford. ~ Dave Barry

[Her class photos are not available yet . . . ]

For one week I am exposed to a wide variety of topics and am mentally energized. What else could you ask for? ~ Elizabeth Tanis, Mini University attendee

When I was in high school and college, I thought everybody could think in pictures. And my first inkling to my thinking was even different was when I was in college and I read an article about, you know, some scientist said that the caveman could not have designed tools until they had language. ~ Temple Grandin

[A last minute class change here – I wasn’t sure what I was getting into. But the idea was interesting. Create another you from all your social medias post and through AI have conversations with yourself then continue on once your Earthly body is gone. Yup, enjoyed this class . . . ]

Christ, seven years of college, down the drain. ~ John Belushi

The thing that bothered me when I was in college was that I saw myself rejecting the way of life that got me to where I was. ~ Clarence Thomas

[Of course, he also noted several hundred people are in a deep freeze in hopes of being revived one day . . . ]

My whole goal in all of high school was to never go to college. ~ MrBeast

I got my diploma from Ealing College of Art, in graphics and illustration. ~ Freddie Mercury

We need to make college affordable in price, and also have lower-cost student loans and more available grants for students. ~ Debbie Stabenow

I always wanted to be some kind of writer or newspaper reporter. But after college… I did other things. ~ Jackie Kennedy

[This was Ruthie’s class and photos . . . ]

It’s funny because it’s funny. ~ David Spade

[Ruthie’s classmates . . . ]

There’s a lot of pretty funny women out there. ~ Chelsea Handler

[Same class . . . ]

Some of George W. Bush’s friends say that Bush believes God called him to be president during these times of trial. But God told me that He/She/It had actually chosen Al Gore by making sure that Gore won the popular vote and, God thought, the Electoral College. ‘That worked for everyone else,’ God said. ~ Al Franken

[Interesting subject – seems we’re still a long way from resolution . . . ]

Getting a college degree used to be free or low cost because, as a society, we saw providing higher education to young people as an investment – in them and in the future of our own country. ~ Pramila Jayapal

I think everyone’s intentions are to become a performer at first. But by the time I was in high school and college, I discovered that I liked writing and that I was probably a little better at it. ~ Tina Fey

In the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore got more votes than George W. Bush, but still lost the election. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Florida gave Bush that pivotal state, and doomed Gore to lose the Electoral College. That odd scenario – where the candidate with the most votes loses – has happened three times in U.S. history. ~ Juan Williams

The Clinton strength was to play to people without a college education. High school people. That’s how you win elections. ~ Steve Bannon

[C3 restaurant in Bloomington with IU administration and alums who have learned to tolerate us over the years . . . ]

Everything I learned about the Great Depression was from a college textbook. ~ Ralph Abernathy

[Our friends from Bloomington, Mary and Rick (in the middle, right side), are so smart they bought a house near Ely for their (for now) summer getaway place . . . ]

June 12

I met Howard Zinn in 1961, my first year at Spelman College in Atlanta. He was the tall, rangy, good-looking professor that many of the girls at Spelman swooned over. ~ Alice Walker

[He was too good – succeeded in scaring the hell out of us . . . ]

So when I told my parents I wanted to go into acting because I was flunking out of my first year of junior college, they were relieved that I had picked something other than joining the army. But I can’t imagine how they had high hopes for me. ~ Dustin Hoffman

When I went to college, I majored in anti-war demonstrations, you know? I mean, really! ~ Tom Noddy

No period of my life has been one of such unmixed happiness as the four years which have been spent within college walls. ~ Horatio Alger

As a small child in England, I had this dream of going to Africa. We didn’t have any money and I was a girl, so everyone except my mother laughed at it. When I left school, there was no money for me to go to university, so I went to secretarial college and got a job. ~ Jane Goodall

College campuses were once a hotbed of political activity. ~ Tom Ford

And sex is definitely part of college life. ~ Scott Speedman

[Although that somehow managed to escape my attention at the time . . . ]

A college education shows a man how little other people know. ~ Thomas Chandler Haliburton

College is part of the American dream. It shouldn’t be part of a financial nightmare for families. ~ Barbara Mikulski

If you have four years to complete your college education, do it. ~ Bo Jackson

Going to college offered me the chance to play football for four more years. ~ Ronald Reagan

I had tried to go to college, and I didn’t really fit in. I went to a real narrow-minded school where people gave me a lot of trouble, and I was hounded off the campus – I just looked different and acted different, so I left school. ~ Bruce Springsteen

[Another favorite class from year-to-year . . . ]

I was a student at Columbia College, actually, in the Architecture school. Paul would drive in from Queens, showing me these new songs. I can’t remember us working it out. ~ Art Garfunkel

There happened to be guitar classes at the college, and there was a guitar teacher there with whom I used to play. In addition, I also would go out into country schools and teach little kids basic guitar and singing a few times a week. ~ Mark Knopfler

I had a Neighborhood Crime Watch sign in my dorm wall in college. People would come in and laugh at it. ‘Where did you get it?’ ‘I took it. How good is their Neighborhood Crime Watch if they can’t even watch their sign?’ ~ Carrot Top

[Faculty reception in Alumni Hall . . . ]

As compared with the college politician, the real article seems like an amateur. ~ Woodrow Wilson

[The view from Alumni Hall into the Solarium . . . ]

The college graduate is presented with a sheepskin to cover his intellectual nakedness. ~ Robert M. Hutchins

[Annually, this is the show everyone comes to see and hear. Professor Lenkowsky bats for the conservative side (absent to current occupant) and Professor Hershey bat for the liberals. Both are excellent . . . ]

In a democracy, voters choose their political leaders. In a democracy that permits gerrymandering … elected leaders choose their voters. ~ Margie Hershey

[This is Margie Hershey, author of “Party Politics in America,” the gold standard of such tomes in its 16th printing. She was not impressed by “The Trump Administration at 6 Months.” She is 50 days older than Ruthie . . . ]

Al Gore has been one of my closest friends since the day we met, on the first day of college, 35 years ago. ~ Tommy Lee Jones

By making college unaffordable and student loans unbearable, we risk deterring our best and brightest from pursuing higher education and securing a good-paying job. ~ Congressman Mark Pocan (Ed’s note: “Good-paying” rather than “well-paying,” good for him)

I couldn’t go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years. ~ Ray Bradbury

I made my first white women friends in college; they loved me and were loyal to our friendship, but I understood, as they did, that they were white women and that whiteness mattered. ~ Alice Walker

Just because I don’t have a college degree doesn’t mean I am not smart! ~ Emma Stone

I can’t say it enough that learning how to learn is one of the greatest skills anyone can have. It’s why I advocate that everyone go to college. ~ Mark Cuban

The Electoral College was necessary when communications were poor, literacy was low, and voters lacked information about out-of-state figures, which is clearly no longer the case. ~ Gene Green

The Electoral College needs to go, because it’s made our society less and less democratic. ~ Pete Buttegieg

It is virtually impossible to compete in today’s global economy without a college degree. ~ Bobby Scott

June 13

Bankruptcy laws allow companies to smoothly reorganize, but not college graduates burdened by student loans. ~ Robert Reich

[Last class, leading to yet another graduation(?) . . . ]

I had a tremendous horror of going into the Army. That is probably why I went to college for so long. ~ Bruce Conner (Ed’s note: I don’t know who he is but a have a first cousin named “Bruce Conner”)

[He appeared to us by streaming (or whatever) – he was live from Europe. He knew his stuff . . . ]

A whale ship was my Yale College and my Harvard. ~ Herman Melville

College is a refuge from hasty judgment. ~ Robert Frost

[We always have to stop to put the “I” in “IU” . . . ]

I was not a good student. I did not spend much time at college; I was too busy enjoying myself. ~ Stephen Hawking

Do you mind if I sit back a little? Because your breath is very bad. ~ Donald Trump

[Do you see Trump’s profile on the right side of the cloud? This was on the way home, somewhere in Wisconsin. The worst driving trip ever. We left Bloomington, Indiana, in the morning hoping to be in Tomah, Wisconsin, in 7 hours. 11 1/2 hours later we checked into our Tomah hotel. Every road, highway within a hundred-mile radius of Chicago was all dug up. We even ventured into the city’s grid (interesting), but every street had a detour. We finally decided we would just follow our compass and keep heading west and north to the best of our abilities. And decided it would always be a good idea to keep a hospital urinal in the car . . . ]

People love me. And you know what, I have been very successful. Everybody loves me. ~ Donald Trump

[I’m not walking under any ladders for a while . . . ]

I owe it all to little chocolate donuts. ~ John Belushi

We’ll meet again, don’t no where, don’t know when . . . . Ross Parker / Hugh Charles / Angela Anuforo

July 11

Mini University offers a unique opportunity for adults of all ages to take classes with esteemed Indiana University faculty. No homework. No exams. Just unadulterated learning tailored for deeper discussion in a supportive environment. (alumni.iu.edu/)

June 7

An election is no time to discuss serious issues. ~ Kim Campbell (Canadian PM)

[On day two of the 791-mile road trip to get to Indiana University by way of Nashville, Indiana, long time home of Ruthie’s sister Rita, we’re within a stone’s throw here of the “Mountains of Brown County.” We believe this to be our 5th edition of Mini-U . . . ]

[Ruth’s son Rob joined us at Rita’s for his 55th birthday celebration . . . ]

Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent. ~ John Maynard Keynes

We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next 10. ~ Bill Gates

Hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue. ~ Francois de La Rochefoucauld

[Our first night at the on campus Biddle Hotel and Conference Center we discovered a new restaurant there – The Vault. We ordered the nacho appetizer. We told them they could have charged the same price for half the amount and no one would be the wiser . . . ]

June 8

In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. ~ Douglas Adams

[Looking out our bedroom window . . . ]

A government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have. ~ Gerald Ford

[OK, it was the last name . . . ]

Now would be a very good time for Washington to bring back its debt obsession. ~ Roge Karma

[Eskenazi Museum of Art . . . ]

As much as guns and warships, maps have been the weapons of imperialism. ~ Brian Harley, cartographer

Just when you get sick of saying something is just when other folks are beginning to hear it. ~ Cecile Richards

The separation of powers was adopted by the Convention of 1787 not to promote efficiency but to preclude the exercise of arbitrary powers. ~ Louis Brandeis

If you can’t have justice, you’ll settle for cartharsis. ~ Conan Neutron

A simple man may rob from a freight train, but give him a college degree and he will steal the whole railroad. ~ Will Rogers

You don’t want to own a boat. You want to be friends with someone who owns a boat. ~ Bill Burr

[The model for the famed Showalter Fountain at IU . . . ]

The true symbol of the United States is not the bald eagle. It is the pendulum. And when the pendulum swings too far in one direction it will go back. ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg

When did the future switch from being a promise to being a threat? ~ Chuck Palahnluk

There are many who do not know they are fascists but will find out when the time comes. ~ Ernest Hemingway

[There’s those magic words, made famous by the current administration . . . ]

A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. ~ Pope Francis

If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing slowly … very slowly. ~ Gypsy Rose Lee

[The Tudor Room in the Biddle was always our favorite place to eat, for the ambience if not for something else . . . ]

I sat with my anger long enough until she told me her real name was grief. ~ C. S. Lewis

I wonder what future generations will make of our architectural legacy – of crash-resistant walls and blast-proof glass. ~ Witold Rybczynski

[Where we were . . . ]

[And our classrooms . . . ]

WHY . . . . . . WHY NOT? (Think, Dayton Allen)

In the 2008 presidential election, 59 percent of respondents knew virtually nothing about the position of the candidates; 12 percent believed that Barack Obama was a Muslim. In 2011, Newsweek conducted a poll of one thousand Americans to see how they would fare on a standard citizenship test. . . . 29 percent could not name the vice president; 73 percent had no idea why the United States had been in the Cold War; 44 percent were completely mystified by the Bill of Rights, not sure what rights were even included in them. Only one in six Americans and fewer than one in four college graduates can find Ukraine on a map even though it is the largest country in Europe. The majority of respondents were off by 1,800 miles. . . . Only one out of four people can name all three branches of government, with one-third unable to even name a single branch. . . . A little more than one-third can name only one of the rights contained in the First Amendment. A slight majority believe that the media is not permitted to report on national security matters without first receiving the government’s approval – partly because they do not know that First Amendment includes freedom of the press. ~ Thane Rosenbaum, Saving Free Speech . . . from Itself

June 9

Riches should come as a reward for hard work, preferably by one’s forebears. ~ Steven Rubciman

[Excellent presentation, basically noting that the personal valet, maid, dish washer robots we thought we’d have 25 years ago are still a long way from fruition . . . ]

More is more and less is a bore. ~ Iris Apfel

[Good on the economics, but a climate change denier . . . ]

It happened, so it can happen again. ~ Primo Levi (Holocaust survivor)

No more dudes in dresses. ~ Pete Hegseth

The fool doth think he is wise, but wise man knows himself to be a fool. ~ Shakespeare

I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them. ~ Phyllis Diller

[She was very good, but this stuff sounds scarier than we’ve been led to believe . . . ]

Because you are the king of a nation, it does not follow that you are to gather for yourself all the wealth of that nation. ~ John Ruskin

The world will ask you who you are, and if you don’t know, the world will tell you. ~ Carl Jung

I’ve lived through some really weird shit. ~ Brooke Shields

You and I should date. You’re the most beautiful woman in the world and I’m the richest man, and people will love it. ~ Donald Trump (to Brooke Shields)

Our very own dreaded legislature is almost upon us. They’ll all be here, leaving many a village without its idiot. ~ Molly Ivins

Human kind cannot bear very much reality. ~ T. S. Eliot

[Our very good friend, The DOM from Ft. Wayne, who we meet up with every year at Mini-U and Camp Brolsius, asking the professor whether he should fear penguins . . . ]

There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law. ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Then it was on the Bub’s (Big Ugly Bill) Burgers and Ice Cream for dinner . . . ]

Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all. ~ G. K. Chesterton

[I walked up two flights of stairs to get here, a feat not previously duplicated in 10 months.}

No matter what ideology you turn to, no matter how utopian it is, it does not solve the problem of hypocrites, frauds, and charlatans. ~ Tony Tulathimutte

[Vickie, the better half of the DOM . . . ]

What makes equality such a difficult business is that we only want it with our superiors. ~ Henry Becque

[The DOM pondering, “I went to college here?”]

The robber barons probably looked in the mirror and thought they were God, too. ~ Doris Kearns Goodwin

Stay tuned for Part 2 . . .

March 30

It’s been quite a year for the Cardinals. The girls track team were class AA state champions last spring; the football team were class AAAAA runners-up last fall; the girls volleyball team were class AAA state champions last fall; the girls basketball team (26-5 record) are class AAA state 3rd place; and the boys basketball team (29-3 record) are class AAA state champions. Just for the record: the girls beat Little Falls 59-25, and Fergus Falls 73-52 in the sections; and DeLaSalle 60-40, lost to Benilde-St. Margaret’s 52-60, and beat Cretin-Derham Hall 66-36 at state. The boys beat Little Falls 115-41, Detroit Lakes 96-53, and Fergus Falls 94-72 in the sections (why yes, they were the #1 scoring team in the state at 92 points per game); and Byron 82-70, Totino-Grace 73-65, and Mankato East 73-64 at state.

March 22

We are the champions! ~ Freddie Mercury

[Alexandria – 73; Mankato East – 64, for Alex’s first ever boys basketball state championship, in class AAA. (Star Tribune photo March 22 of celebrating Gavin Roderick (35) and Chase Thompson (3)).]

March 7

Although Kurt Vonnegut may not be considered a humor writer, ‘Breakfast of Champions’ is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. ~ Justin Halpern

[Alex home game against Detroit Lakes in the section semifinals. I’ve suffered through various stages of O-L-D the last couple of years and haven’t been able to make live appearances at many of the games anymore . . . ]

In seventh grade, with some vague sense that I wanted to be a writer, I crouched in the junior high school library stacks to see where my novels would eventually be filed. It was right after someone named Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. So I grabbed a Vonnegut book, ‘Breakfast of Champions’ and immediately fell in love. ~ Jess Walter

[Chase Thompson (3) shooting a free throw with fellow co-captain Samson Hagstrom in rebounding position . . . ]

College is a place to keep warm between high school and an early marriage. ~ George Gobel

[At the half the Cardinals had a healthy lead . . . ]

What did I do in high school? I grew from 5 feet 4 inches to 6 feet 2 inches. ~ Gregory Peck

[For halftime entertainment, fans attempt a half court shot for a slice of pizza. Shooting here is 6’2″ Hadley Thul, star of the girls’ team, who would lead the Cards to 3rd place at state the following week, and who will play for South Dakota State next year . . . ]

Show business is just like high school, except you get paid. ~ Martin Mull

[Hadley fans appear to be seeking her autograph . . . ]

Before high school ended, I started applying to college. It really wasn’t even a choice because of the brainwashing of my parents. ~ Tatyana Ali

[5’11” junior Kate Hennessy, the only non-senior starter on the team . . . ]

I played varsity in high school as a 9th grader. I came off the bench during the first game of the season and had 25 points. Well, I became a starter after that and in the second game I scored 53 points. ~ Lou Williams

[Back for the 2nd half of the Detroit Lakes game with midcourt pressure from Gavin Roderick (35), Talan Witt (4), and Samson Hagstrom (11) . . . ]

I have to say I’ve worked very few days of my life. I used to have to cut the lawn, and when I was in junior high school, I worked at a concession stand at a stadium. ~ Steve Nash

What I remember most about high school are the memories I created with my friends. ~ J. J. Watt

[Myles Gray (2), Mason Witt (0), and Gavin Roderick (35), will be back next year . . . ]

You can think of Hollywood as high school. TV actors are freshmen, comedy actors are maybe juniors, and dramatic actors – they’re the cool seniors. ~ Owen Wilson

[Final score . . . ]

March 20

Never go to your high school reunion pregnant or they will think that is all you have done since you graduated. ~ Erma Bombeck

[The Alexandria class of ’65 (60 years ago???) had a mini-class reunion lunch at the Elks. We had to be home by 2:00 for the Cardinals state semifinal basketball game against Totino-Grace . . . ]

I remember reading the book in high school and always thinking of Gatsby as this strong, stoic, suave, mysterious man who had everything under control. But when I read it as an adult, I realized he is a hollow man, a shell of a person trying to find meaning, who is not completely in touch with reality. ~ Leonardo DiCaprio

High school is what kind of grows you into the person you are. I have great memories, good and bad, some learning experiences and some that I’ll take with me the rest of my life. ~ Giancarlo Stanton

True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country. ~ Kurt Vonnegut

Chemistry is a class you take in high school or college, where you figure out two plus two is 10, or something. ~ Dennis Rodman

When I was fifteen, I dreamed of living in the big city, as many a young person does if he is artistic and sensitive. By ‘artistic and sensitive’ I mean short, skinny, unkissed, bad at sports, and carrying a C average in high school. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

March 22

I remember when I was in high school I didn’t have a new dress for each special occasion. The girls would bring the fact to my attention, not always too delicately. The boys, however, never bothered with the subject. They were my friends, not because of the size of my wardrobe but because they liked me. ~ Marilyn Monroe

[We had just beaten Mankato East to become state champions so Ruthie & I broke out the bubbly . . . ]

I think it’s your mental attitude. So many of us start dreading age in high school and that’s a waste of a lovely life. ‘Oh… I’m 30, oh, I’m 40, oh, 50.’ Make the most of it. ~ Betty White

My friends and I started that motto early in high school – that attitude, that mentality – from way back then: Want to go to Stanford? Why not? Want to play in the NBA? Why not? ~ Russell Westbrook

I’d be satisfied just coaching in high school. I turned down a number of colleges when I was teaching in South Bend, Indiana, before I went into the service. I honestly believe that if I hadn’t enlisted in the service, I would never have left high school teaching. I’m sure I would have never left. ~ John Wooden

[The bling . . . ]

But there are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret. ~ Ronald Reagan

[Russ Hinrich, basketball dad, assistant football coach, sports analyst on KXRA, checks out the bling . . . ]

I crushed high school. I was a huge dork. ~ Alex Honnold

[Ruthie & I joined the celebration at the high school when the team arrived home to Pohlig Court from The Barn . . . ]

I worked as an intern. I worked at a high school. I worked at a college newspaper while I was taking 18 credits while on the basketball team. ~ Stephen A. Smith

[All but the two guys on the far right will be back next year . . . ]

By the time a man is 35 he knows that the images of the right man, the tough man, the true man which he received in high school do not work in life. ~ Robert Bly

I’ve been playing basketball since forever. The highlight of my high school career was scoring 51 points with 13 threes in a game. ~ Riff Raff

I had a great education. From kindergarten to John Dewey High School in Coney Island, I am public-school educated. ~ Spike Lee

You’re imprinted in high school more than any other point in your life. ~ Bud Grant

[“Men of Steal,” the state champion Cardinals kings in the art of pilfering: l-r: Talan Witt, Mason Witt, Thomas Hinrich, Gavin Roderick, Coach Witt, and Samson Hagstrom. All but the graduating Samson will return next year. What I found most unique about these guys is that at 6′, 6′, 6’3″, 6’2″, and 6’1″ is that they all can dunk and have great motors . . . ]

I went through a lot of battles in high school. ~ LeBron James

[Chase is Minnesota’s football and basketball player of the year . . . ]

All of my high school issues are resolved! ~ Oscar Isaac

[Section champs . . . ]

In 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which, as any American high school student can tell you, was an act that apparently had something to do with stamps. ~ Dave Barry

[State champs . . . ]

The funny thing is, all my friends are short. I wasn’t aware of tall people till I got to high school. I didn’t know they existed. I was sheltered. ~ Kevin Hart

[The JV team has had one loss in 4 years . . . ]

Junior high is so much worse than high school because at least in high school different is more accepted, celebrated actually: all the girls with blue hair and gothic Hello Kitty backpacks. ~ Nikki Reed

In high school, in sport, I had a coach who told me I was much better than I thought I was, and would make me do more in a positive sense. He was the first person who taught me not to be afraid of failure. ~ Mike Krzyzewski

We have fans in high school, all the way up to grandmas and 40-year-old housewives. College frat guys. It’s all over the map. ~ Joe Gatto

I think kids should go to high school until they’re 30. No, really, because people are staying younger now and there’s nothing to do. If you stayed longer, then it would be really great. ~ Andy Warhol

When I first went to New York I was right out of high school, I was 17 years old, and I had never seen a building over two stories high. ~ Florence Henderson

State 3rd place winners vs. Cretin-Derham Hall . . . ]

I played basketball and soccer my freshman year in high school. ~ Mia Hamm

[Hadley, accept no substitutes]

I was obsessed with romance. When I was in high school, I saw ‘Doctor Zhivago’ every day from the day it opened until the day it left the theater. ~ John Hughes

[Section champs: Hadley (11), Camree Miller (23), MaCee Linow (21), all seniors . . . ]

Art imitates life. Life imitates high school. ~ Brad Holland

[Section champs . . . ]

Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened. ~ Dr. Seuss

Up Next: ?????????????????

Fun Addendum: The Alex girls basketball team won the state tournament in 1997 under Coach Kohler. The seniors on this year’s team have been starters en masse since they were freshmen – many are daughters from players on the 1997 team and also under the tutelage of Coach Kohler.

February 19

Blues is to jazz what yeast is to bread–without it, it’s flat. ~ Carmen McRae

The last time I engaged in my retirement avocation, i.e., this blog, was last September. As I continue my battle with OLD I forget how to do stuff. I used to pump out 2 or 3 of these puppies a week. It took me two weeks to produce this masterpiece. I’m also in a nonfiction book club. I can read maybe four pages before I fall asleep, the book falls to the floor, and I lose my place. Nevertheless, I still enjoy my Saturday morning doughnut runs . . . ~ Me

[Ruthie displaying the event’s stocking cap . . . ]

Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time. ~ Ornette Coleman

[Once again, a big thank you to Nicole Mulder for putting this all together. Here’s to hoping this can be an annual event . . . ]

February 7

Jazz is the big brother of the blues. If a guy’s playing blues like we play, he’s in high school. When he starts playing jazz it’s like going on to college, to a school of higher learning. ~ B. B. King

[P K played at Theatre L’Homme Dieu this summer. We’re fans. . . . ]

[Starting off the program at the ice bar with drinks in shot glasses made of ice. It’s been really cold here for all of February . . . ]

If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know. ~ Louis Armstrong

[Nicole introducing P K – welcome to the beautiful performing area of Gathered Oaks . . . ]

Life is a lot like jazz. It’s best when you improvise. ~ George Gershwin

If you don’t live it, it won’t come out your horn. ~ Charlie Parker

Blues and soul and jazz music has so much pain, so much beauty of raw emotion and passion. ~ Christina Aguilera

[P K is from the Iron Range, a proud ranger . . . ]

The blues is the foundation, and it’s got to carry the top. The other part of the scene, the rock ‘n’ roll and the jazz, are the walls of the blues. ~ Luther Allison

What makes my approach special is that I do different things. I do jazz, blues, country music and so forth. I do them all, like a good utility man. ~ Ray Charles

[The view from our table . . . ]

I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues. ~ Duke Ellington

It is from the blues that all that may be called American music derives it most distinctive characteristics. ~ James Weldon Johnson

If you don’t know the blues… there’s no point in picking up the guitar and playing rock and roll or any other form of popular music. ~ Keith Richards

[Nicole sets up the next performance . . . ]

The whole of life itself expresses the blues. That’s why I always say the blues are the true facts of life expressed in words and song, inspiration, feeling and understanding. The blues can be about anything pertaining to the facts of life. The blues call on God as much as a spiritual song do. ~ Willie Dixon

Jazz and blues fests are everywhere now, and Americana is going strong on college radio. What I’m hearing is an appreciation of real music. ~ Bonnie Raitt

The jazz and blues clubs are like the jazz and blues musicians – they’re disappearing. ~ Buddy Guy

February 8

By and large, jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with. ~ Duke Ellington

In 1908 Handy didn’t know anything about the blues and he doesn’t know anything about jazz and stomps to this day. I myself figured out the peculiar form of mathematics and harmonies that was strange to all the world but me. ~ Jelly Roll Morton

[Ruthie at the Gathered Oaks performing center. If you see blue skies and bright sunshine in winter, you know it’s damn cold . . . ]

When I die, I want them to play The Black and Crazy Blues, I want to be cremated, put in a bag of pot and I want beautiful people to smoke me and hope they got something out of it. ~ Rahsaan Roland Kirk

[The cakes. Oh, the cakes . . . ]

Being materialistic is part of the hip-hop community’s nature, because jazz and blues and rock ‘n’ roll, when they started out in the urban communities, were about the American Dream, and the lack of opportunity in that structure. So they talked about everything – uplifting and getting what is perceived as success in America. ~ Russell Simmons

[And more cakes . . . ]

I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and am a product of a family that were jazz aficionados and also very interested in progressive politics. And so I had a lot of artists and musicians in my home. Lots of Latin music, folk, and jazz and blues, bluegrass-type of stuff. Painters and stuff like that. ~ Jack Waters

[The audience . . . ]

I use rock and jazz and blues rhythms because I love that music. I hope my poetry has a relationship with good-time rock’n roll. ~ Adrian Mitchell

[More audience . . . ]

Where I grew up, Bob Wills and his western swing was very popular. And western swing is not that far from jazz and blues. ~ Willie Nelson

[More Nicole . . . ]

When I discovered Mose Allison I felt I had discovered the missing link between jazz and blues. ~ Ray Davies

My grandfather was Bob Shad, one of those legendary jazz and blues producers – he worked with Charlie Parker and Dinah Washington, and he produced Janis Joplin’s album [1967’s Big Brother & the Holding Company]. He always owned small labels as well – he had a label called Mainstream Records in the 70s. ~ Judd Apatow

I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet. ~ Denis Waitley

Every bad situation is a blues song waiting to happen. ~ Amy Winehouse

I been in the blues all my life. I’m still delivering ’cause I got a long memory. ~ Muddy Waters

I’ve said that playing the blues is like having to be black twice. Stevie Ray Vaughan missed on both counts, but I never noticed. ~ B. B. King

Blues is easy to play, but hard to feel. ~ Jimi Hendrix

Don’t waste your time away thinkin’ ’bout yesterday’s blues. ~ Jon Bon Jovi

The blues are what I’ve turned to, what has given me inspiration and relief in all the trials of my life. ~ Eric Clapton

My idea of heaven is a place where the Tyne meets the Delta, where folk music meets the blues. ~ Mark Knopfler

Everybody started callin’ my music rock and roll, but it wasn’t anything but the same rhythm and blues I’d been playin’ down in New Orleans. ~ Fats Domino

The blues was bleeding the same blood as me. ~ B. B. King

Of course, there are a lot of ways you can treat the blues, but it will still be the blues. ~ Count Basie

Some of the greatest blues music is some of the darkest music you’ve ever heard. ~ Bruce Springsteen

February 9

I’m not a blues singer, I’m a diva. ~ Nina Simone

Blues Quotes

Anybody singing the blues is in a deep pit yelling for help. ~ Mahalia Jackson

[Nicole introduces the final performers while the patrons enjoy cinnamon buns and mimosas . . . ]

There was one emotional outlet my people always had when they had the blues. That was singing. ~ Ethel Waters

I wanna show that gospel, country, blues, rhythm and blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll are all just really one thing. Those are the American music and that is the American culture. ~ Etta James

I like blues but it is music I am too ignorant to understand. ~ Barry Gibb

I once wrote a short story called ‘The Best Blues Singer in the World,’ and it went like this: ‘The streets that Balboa walked were his own private ocean, and Balboa was drowning.’ End of story. That says it all. Nothing else to say. I’ve been rewriting that same story over and over again. All my plays are rewriting that same story. ~ August Wilson

[Time to go home . . . ]

Jimi Hendrix came from the blues, like me. We understood each other right away because of that. He was a great blues guitarist. ~ Miles Davis

When I came to The Moody Blues, we were a rhythm and blues band. I was lousy at rhythm and blues – I think the rest of us were. ~ Justin Hayward

[A view from a balcony . . . ]

White folks hear the blues come out, but they don’t know how it got there. ~ Ma Rainey

[Ruthie . . . ]

When The Who first started, we were playing blues, and I dug the blues and I knew what I was supposed to be playing, but I couldn’t play it. I couldn’t get it out. I knew what I had to play; it was in my head. I could hear the notes in my head, but I couldn’t get them out on the guitar. ~ Peter Townshend

[Window view . . . ]

Blues was my first love. It was the first thing where I said, ‘Oh man, this is the stuff.’ It just sounded so raw and honest, gut-bucket honest. From then I started rebelling. ~ Carlos Santana

[Window view . . . ]

And at no extra charge . . .

Valentine’s Day (our 24th)

Valentine’s Day: the holiday that reminds you that if you don’t have a special someone, you’re alone. ~ Lewis Black

You can’t buy love, but you can pay heavily for it. ~ Henny Youngman

[I soloed for the photo because Ruthie wasn’t feeling photogenic . . . ]

Without Valentine’s Day, February would be…well, January. ~ Jim Gaffigan

February 15

I might go my whole life stealing money. I got paid to play basketball, which is a scam. I get paid to watch basketball, which is a scam. ~ Charles Barkley

Our Alex boys and girls high school basketball teams are both very good, keep us entertained over the cold winter months, will both be favored to go to “state,” as they say, and could make runs at the titles . . . ~ Me

They shot the ball well early. What comes out of the microwave hot doesn’t always stay hot. I know, because I eat bagels in the morning. ~ Shaq

[The Cardinal girls vs. Delano game – the Cards pulled away with a strong 2nd half . . . ]

You never make any of the shots you never take. 87% of the ones you do take, you’ll miss too. I make 110% of my shots. ~ Larry Bird

I’d say I gave it the old college try, except that I never went to college. ~ Darryl Dawkins (Hadley is going to South Dakota State)

I have two college degrees, but the only way I could ever make a living was by showing kids how to put a ball in a hole. ~ Red Auerbach

[Congrats to Hadley! (And in an amazing coincidence, Orono’s star player, Nolan Groves, scored his 2,000th point later in the day against Alex.) She has been my favorite basketball player to watch since she was a freshman. This week she put a cool 37 points on Providence Academy, the No. 1-ranked team in the state . . . ]

You throw up an airball and then Shaq goes up 15 feet to catch it and dunk it, and everyone says, ‘Wow, what a pass’. ~ Anfernee Hardaway

[The Alex boys – Orono game was a real barn burner – two teams rated in the top four in the state in class AAA . . . ]

What I hate the most is when the other team scores. ~ Joel Embiid

Canada is the nice apartment over the meth lab. ~ Robin Williams

Poor Mexico, so far from God, so close to the United States. ~ Porfiro Diaz (19th-century Mexican president)

The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist. ~ Hannah Arendt

November 13

My sister has lived in downtown Washington, D.C. for over 50 years. Most of the excitement that has happened there over that time has taken place within walking distance of her home. This is her latest. ~ Me

This old gray mare ain’t what she used to be.

Husband said it was cold outside. I wore a long sleeve shirt and winter jacket. I was way too hot. I stuck my collapsible cane in my backpack (you can see it behind the right side of my head). Good move. I haven’t used it for years but glad I had it. I have sciatic nerve issues, at times, if I stand in one position for too long. No place to sit during the entire rally so luckily the cane came in handy to lean on. There was a huge crowd. We were in a line that snaked into several lines. All of us trying to get into the Ellipse. When they declared that it was full, they told us to walk down to the Washington Monument – which quickly filled up with thousands of people. Saw Kamala on the Jumbotron. Left the rally before the very end to avoid the thousands leaving the area. In a crowd this size, people should not bring a dog, weave their bikes, scooters and skateboards between thousands of people.

 I haven’t walked that much in a long time. From home to the Washington Monument and back home again. Worth it. 

 Gretchen

The big joke on democracy is that it gives its mortal enemies the tools to its own destruction. ~ Josef Goebbels

Ferrari will always deliver one less car than the market demands. ~ Enzo Ferrari

Don’t vote – it just encourages the bastards. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

You’ll never find an insurer saying, “I don’t believe in climate change.” ~ John Neal, Lloyd’s of London

Money is like an iron ring we’ve put through our noses. We’ve forgotten that we designed it, and now it’s leading us around. ~ Bernard Lietaer

No ship sets out to be shipwreck. ~ Joan Wickersham

The trouble with too many is they believe the realm of truth always lies within their vision. ~ Abraham Lincoln

Truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our government but civilization itself. ~ Gerald Ford

Many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices. ~ William James

Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi

It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America. ~ Molly Ivins

[The famous (infamous?) Willard Hotel – also known as the place where my golf guys would meet for lunch in the Christmas season . . . ]

There is no doubt fiction makes a better job of the truth. ~ Doris Lessing

Up Next: I have no idea . . .

September 2

Since 1961 Theatre L’Homme Dieu (TLHD) has contributed to the vibrancy and allure of Alexandria and the Lakes Area by presenting exceptional theatre and entertainment. Theatre L’Homme Dieu produces and presents exceptional live theatre, fine arts and educational programming that celebrates culture and nurtures community, enriching the quality of life throughout Alexandria, the Lakes Area and Central Minnesota. ~ TLHD

June 15

Brass bands are all very well in their place – outdoors and several miles away. ~ Thomas Beecham

The signing of the Sex Pistols was a turning point for Virgin. It put the company on the map and, over the years, attracted bands such as Genesis, the Rolling Stones, Lenny Kravitz, and Janet Jackson. It also attracted Culture Club, who were ground-breaking. ~ Richard Branson

[The theatre, facing the stage . . . ]

My first manager was Gordon Mills, who I’d met right at the beginning. We shared a flat in London and traveled with rock bands doing one-nighters. Later, he became a songwriter and manager whose stable was Tom Jones, Gilbert O’Sullivan, and myself. ~ Engelbert Humperdinck

[The theatre, facing the audience . . . ]

England is a profoundly bizarre place that has produced thousands of bands the world has worshipped. ~ Gene Simmons

[The theatre’s executive and artistic director faces the audience . . . ]

The Stones were more dangerous than other bands of the Sixties. It looked like they had more fun than the Beatles – like they stayed up later. ~ Alex Lifeson

[The performers facing the audience . . . ]

Most people know we’re kind of one of the only bands around right now that will admit that we’re Republican. ~ M. Shadows

[The performers performing . . . ]

Whitesnake more than most rock bands would get a very significant percentage of women in the audience and those were the ones I’d hear the voices because from where I am on stage is a pretty good spot. ~ David Coverdale

I have been influenced by many different artists at many different stages of my life. Starting out, it was people like Elton John, Billy Joel, Ben Folds, and Fiona Apple. As I got older I got deeper into the work of bands like the Beatles, artists like Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Etta James, and Joni Mitchell. ~ Sara Bareilles

My dad and mom were in bands: the Soda Jerks, Fat Time, Girls at Play – which is a play on Men at Work. ~ Sia

[Ruthie has a meet up after the show with one of stars. She happened to learn that like herself, and her sister, he is an alum of Indiana University . . . ]

June 25

I’m sure Sting’s a lovely guy. It’s just that nobody wants to be seen as that holier-than-thou thing. That over-earnestness is a bit of a problem with people in bands and celebrities or whatever. ~ Jarvis Cocker

[We missed this one as we were in St Cloud Hospital for a visit for Tom . . . ]

July 5

All I really wanted to do was make an album that was going to be just back to what I like to do… And it was a coincidence that these new bands, this new wave of bands, were doing Alice and Iggy rock. ~ Alice Cooper

It was a splendid summer morning and it seemed as if nothing could go wrong. ~ John Cheever

[Kiwanis Beach on Lake L’Homme Dieu, where the glitterati gather for Alexandria summers . . . ]

I have a total irreverence for anything connected with society except that which makes the roads safer, the beer stronger, the food cheaper and the old men and old women warmer in the winter and happier in the summer. ~ Brendan Behan

I definitely listened to country music. I don’t think I listened to hair bands as much as I did Bruce Springsteen and U2 and Aerosmith. ~ Julianne Hough

[On the theatre grounds for the outdoor concert . . . ]

If God came down here with the box that had the reason for living in it, I’d like to find just 2 words: The Music. That would be neat. ~ Garth Brooks

[To paraphrase Sam Cooke, I don’t know much about (or care for) country music. But everything I’ve heard about Garth Brooks’ personal life, I have to give him two thumbs up . . . ]

I believe that the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin are two of the greatest rock bands ever! ~ Jesse Ventura

[The theatre’s executive and artistic director faces the audience . . . ]

I think early on in my career, I was heavily inspired by bands like Throbbing Gristle and Test Dept, and films of David Lynch, for example, where the soundscape plays a very important role in the listening experience. ~ Trent Reznor

[As I recall (usually seldom), one of the musicians herein is the son of a retired Alexandria school teacher . . . ]

It’s funny how a chubby kid can just be having fun, and people call it entertainment! ~ Garth Brooks

Happiness isn’t getting what you want, it’s wanting what you got. ~ Garth Brooks

Just keep taking chances and having fun. ~ Garth Brooks

Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

[Another beautiful evening in Vacationland USA . . . ]

July 9

Before Rent, there was Tick, Tick… Boom!. This autobiographical musical by Jonathan Larson, the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning composer of Rent, is the story of a composer and the sacrifices that he made to achieve his big break in theatre. Containing fourteen songs, ten characters, three actors and a band, Tick, Tick… Boom! takes you on the playwright/composer’s journey that led to a Broadway blockbuster. His girlfriend wants to get married and move out of the city, his best friend is making big bucks on Madison Avenue and, yet, Jon is still waiting on tables and trying to write the great American musical. Set in 1990, this compelling story of personal discovery is presented as a rock musical filled with instantly appealing melodies and a unique blend of musical theatre styles. Everyone will love this youthful, endearing and thoughtful piece, and will surely embrace the universal ideal of holding onto your dreams through life’s most difficult challenges. Tick, Tick… Boom! features a three-person cast showcasing strong pop/rock singers and allowing performers to make creative character choices. ~ Playbill

You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need. ~ Vernon Howard

A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives. ~ Jackie Robinson

Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence. ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

[The theatre’s executive and artistic director faces the audience . . . ]

Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough. ~ Emily Dickinson

[The cast: Matt Riehl (as Jon), Suzie Juul (as Susan), and Phinehas Bynum (as Michael) . . . ]

You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life. ~ Victor Hugo

So it was out of necessity that Blackheart was born. I think it’s great that now, 25 years later, we’re not only putting out our own music, but are able to put out music by other bands. That’s really exciting for us. ~ Joan Jett

July 18

By all these lovely tokens September days are here, With summer’s best of weather And autumn’s best of cheer. ~ Helen Hunt Jackson

The sudden appearance of mushrooms after a summer rain is one of the more impressive spectacles of the plant world. ~ John Tyler Bonner

[Pre-performance fine dining at the Lure Lakebar on another Chamber of Commerce picture perfect weather day in the greater Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area . . . ]

Look, when I started out, mainstream culture was Sinatra, Perry Como, Andy Williams, Sound of Music. There was no fitting into it then and of course, there’s no fitting into it now. ~ Bob Dylan

[I notice our fine dining partners have obtained front row seats for the theatre . . . ]

The regular crowd shuffles in. ~ Billy Joel

[The audience stares down the stage . . . ]

Everything about Sinatra was good. He had the ability to pick great songs, and once Sinatra had sung them, that pretty much was it. He pretty much put his stamp on everything. ~ Willie Nelson

[The theatre’s executive and artistic director faces the audience . . . ]

Frank Sinatra took me to a whole new planet. I worked with him until he passed away in ’98. He left me his ring. I never take it off. Now, when I go to Sicily, I don’t need a passport. I just flash my ring. ~ Quincy Jones

[Andrew Walesch as Sinatra . . . ]

Sinatra had a lot of mood swings, but he was wonderful to my wife Barbara and to me. He made no bones about who he liked and who he loved, and he had this great charisma. When he walked into a room, it stopped. I’ve only seen that happen with Ronald Reagan. ~ Don Rickles

[The 7th inning stretch . . . ]

When Sinatra said, ‘For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer I’ve ever heard,’ it changed my career completely. He was my best friend, and I was his best friend… but I was never part of the Rat Pack. ~ Tony Bennett

I’ve been fortunate that when Frank Sinatra was in concert, he would say, ‘Here’s a song by a wonderful young songwriter, Jimmy Webb,’ and I’d be in the front row and stand up. That gets people talking about you. ~ Jimmy Webb

Well, I met Frank Sinatra and Bob Dylan in the space of 15 minutes. Frank Sinatra kissed me on the lips. He kissed me on the lips. And then he gave me a filterless cigarette. And then I met Bob Dylan. I came off all lightheaded and had to go sit on his dressing-room steps. ~ Kate Moss

July 23

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. ~ Confucius

[We attended Opening Night! Jami babysat the cats while Ruthie and I were off to Camp Brosius, Indiana University’s Family Camp in Elkhart Lake, WI, the following week. While babysitting she thought enough of this production to see it two nights in a row . . . ]

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them. ~ Dalai Lama

The truth is you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed. ~ Eminem

It was a splendid summer morning and it seemed as if nothing could go wrong. ~ John Cheever

Summer ends, and Autumn comes, and he who would have it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night. ~ Hal Borland

We do not remember days, we remember moments. ~ Cesare Pavese

[The theatre’s executive and artistic director faces the audience . . . ]

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. ~ Lao Tzu

I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man? ~ Zhuangzi

A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality. ~ Yoko Ono

Up Next: Part 2

September 3

And the beat goes on, the beat goes on . . . Sonny & Cher

All the best performers bring to their role something more, something different than what the author put on paper. That’s what makes theatre live. That’s why it persists. ~ Stephen Sondheim

August 6

Jazz has been such a force in music, that any musician, including classical composers, have been influenced, and obviously performers, also. ~ Yo-Yo Ma

If God wanted us to fly, He would have given us tickets. ~ Mel Brooks

May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house. ~ George Carlin

People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. ~ Isaac Asimov

We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don’t know. ~ W. H. Auden

Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. ~ Margaret Mead

Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. ~ Mark Twain

It’s hard for performers to grow old gracefully, but I’m trying. ~ Anne Murray

[The cast warmed up on the patio before the real stuff began . . . ]

Performers are the neediest people in the world. Unless you’ve been in that goldfish bowl – nobody can judge unless they’ve worn those shoes. ~ Jennifer Lopez

[Patrons and performers accompanied each other on stage just for the fun of it . . . ]

I think performers are all show-offs anyway, especially musicians. Unless you show off, you’re not going to get noticed. ~ Elton John

This joint is jumpin’, it’s really humpin’ . . . ~ Fats Waller

[Eventually ticket holders would leave the stage . . . ]

We shouldn’t feel restricted by our sexuality, and our sexuality doesn’t have to be a cultural choice. ~ Neil Tennant

[The theatre’s executive and artistic director faces the audience with play director, Eric Morris . . . ]

We have all, at one time or another, been performers, and many of us still are – politicians, playboys, cardinals and kings. ~ Laurence Olivier

[Cast photo, courtesy of Deb Trumm . . . ]

August 12 (Once cast performance at Gathered Oaks)

Whatever the means of delivery, whatever the technological and corporate structures, music will always be about groups of talented individual performers communicating emotionally with individual fans. ~ Mick Hucknall

The role of an orchestra in the 21st century isn’t just playing, it’s about developing future audiences and performers. ~ Leonard Slatkin

[All music sounds better with pizzas from brick ovens . . . ]

If I had to live my life again, I’d make the same mistakes, only sooner. ~ Tallulah Bankhead

[The beautiful grounds and gardens of Gathered Oaks . . . ]

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen. ~ Albert Einstein

[Known for, among other things, a fine taste in chapeaus . . . ]

It’s simple, if it jiggles, it’s fat. ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger

[Regulars at a lot of stuff . . . ]

It is a scientific fact that your body will not absorb cholesterol if you take it from another person’s plate. ~ Dave Barry

[From NOLA to Alex . . . ]

August 22

Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired. ~ ~ Jules Renard

[The soiree begins on the theatre’s patio with adult beverages . . . ]

I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific. ~ Lily Tomlin

They say marriages are made in Heaven. But so is thunder and lightning. ~ Clint Eastwood

[Ruthie with the evening’s entertainers, Walter (L) and Wagner (R) Caldas, a/k/a, the B2wins. (Bonus points for naming the background person . . . ) ]

I don’t have a bank account because I don’t know my mother’s maiden name. ~ Paula Poundstone

[We shall soon repair to the tent for dinner . . . ]

Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts. ~ E. B. White

When you come to a fork in the road, take it. ~ Yogi Berra

[The exit (or entry) road from the theatre . . . ]

I have tried to know absolutely nothing about a great many things, and I have succeeded fairly well. ~ Robert Benchley

[On a golf cart ride across the road to the theatre property on Lake L’Homme Dieu . . . ]

Roses are red, violets are blue, I’m schizophrenic, and so am I. ~ Oscar Levant

[Ibid.]

I have never been hurt by what I have not said. ~ Calvin Coolidge

[Returning from the lake . . . ]

I can resist everything except temptation. ~ Oscar Wilde

[Thank goodness for name tags . . . ]

The chief function of the body is to carry the brain around. ~ Thomas A. Edison

[Recent rain and forecasts initiated the use of a tent . . . ]

By all means let’s be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out. ~ Richard Dawkins

[Care had to be observed to prevent chair legs from sinking into the sod . . . ]

A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man. ~ Lana Turner

[Glen Fladeboe, the annual auctioneer for the fund raising part of the program . . . ]

Progress is man’s ability to complicate simplicity. ~ Thor Heyerdahl

You can always tell when a man’s well informed. His views are pretty much like your own. ~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before. ~ Mae West

If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life. ~ Henry David Thoreau

Cleanliness becomes more important when godliness is unlikely. ~ P. J. O’Rourke

Smoking kills. If you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life. ~ Brooke Shields

I distrust camels, and anyone else who can go a week without a drink. ~ Joe E. Lewis

Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it. ~ Charles Dudley Warner

[Submitted photo (Deb?) . . . ]

Until you walk a mile in another man’s moccasins you can’t imagine the smell. ~ Robert Byrne

Progress might have been alright once, but it has gone on too long. ~ Ogden Nash

[Just be aware, if you hold these signs up in some places you may receive a credit card bill . . . ]

I don’t deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don’t deserve that either. ~ Jack Benny

Yield to temptation. It may not pass your way again. ~ Robert A. Heinlein

[The parents of B2wins . . . ]

August 23

My one regret in life is that I am not someone else. ~ Woody Allen

[L-r: Steve Lehto, guitar; PK Mayo, guitar; John Wright, bass]

I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I have ever known. ~ Walt Disney

[Lehto . . . ]

Never put a sock in a toaster. ~ Eddie Izzard

The superfluous, a very necessary thing. ~ Voltaire

[Mayo, originally from Eveleth, met someone from his hometown there this night. He played drums in a band with PK, and they hadn’t seen each other in over 40 years . . . ]

A sure cure for seasickness is to sit under a tree. ~ Spike Milligan

I used to jog but the ice cubes kept falling out of my glass. ~ David Lee Roth

[Wright . . . ]

When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice. ~ Saul Bellow

I don’t need you to remind me of my age. I have a bladder to do that for me. ~ Stephen Fry

All the candy corn that was ever made was made in 1911. ~ Lewis Black

[Say “goodnight” all . . . ]

Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement. ~ Ronald Reagan

If you’re naturally kind, you attract a lot of people you don’t like. ~ William Feather

I’d like to kiss ya, but I just washed my hair. ~ Bette Davis

Lead us not into temptation. Just tell us where it is; we’ll find it. ~ Sam Levenson

Up Next: South America (6 months later)?

[As we began in Part 1, Celia and grandson Tom on a Sunfish at Camp Brosius in Elkhart Lake (photo credit to nephew Chris) . . . ]

This was the year of the Paris Olympics. They made my camp stay comfortable. If not for Ruthie, I likely would have stayed home this year. I’d had carotid surgery a month earlier and lost my voice (projected to come back by February). Of course that made communication a tad difficult. I also felt like I had a low grade flu which made it difficult to breathe outside in the warm, humid air of summer. The TV room was in one of the few air conditioned areas in camp. I spent a lot of time in there watching the Olympics . . . ~ Me

July 29

Everybody denies I am a genius – but nobody ever called me one! ~ Orson Welles (for further explanation, Orson Welles was a Wisconsin native)

[Dining at the lake . . . ]

July 30

They teach anything in universities today. You can major in mud pies. ~ Orson Welles

[Ruth’s Camp Brosius universal bag crafted by past camper and frequent cruising mate Kathleen Gross (RIP) (Ruthie photo) . . . ]

July 31

I have a great love and respect for religion, great love and respect for atheism. What I hate is agnosticism, people who do not choose. ~ Orson Welles

[Let the camp games begin – grandson Tom flipping a cornhole bag (Ruthie photo) . . . ]

My mother and father were both much more remarkable than any story of mine can make them. They seem to me just mythically wonderful. ~ Orson Welles

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

At twenty-one, so many things appear solid, permanent, untenable. ~ Orson Welles

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

The two things you cannot do effectively on stage are pray and copulate. ~ Orson Welles

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

My kind of director is an actor-director who writes. ~ Orson Welles

[Yo, it was camp tie dye day (Ruthie photo) . . . ]

I am essentially a hack, a commercial person. If I had a hobby, I would immediately make money on it or abandon it. ~ Orson Welles

[Celia as Tom’s cornhole partner (Ruthie photo) . . . ]

Living in the lap of luxury isn’t bad except that you never know when luxury is going to stand up. ~ Orson Welles

[It’s airborne (Ruthie photo) . . . ]

Now we sit through Shakespeare in order to recognize the quotations. ~ Orson Welles

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

I passionately hate the idea of being with it; I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time. ~ Orson Welles

[A camp staple since the Jurassic Era is euchre. There is an annual camp tournament and some games are just for fun – here Shane and Charley took on Tom and Celia. For the record, Ruthie and Rita are historically famous in camp as the Dreaded Callecod Sisters . . . ]

I don’t say we all ought to misbehave, but we ought to look as if we could. ~ Orson Welles

I started at the top and worked my way down. ~ Orson Welles

[And in this corner, the Dreaded Callecod Sisters were taking on Chris and Ed (who with Elke, the 5th person in the photo, are Chris’s parents . . . ]

I have the terrible feeling that, because I am wearing a white beard and am sitting in the back of the theatre, you expect me to tell you the truth about something. These are the cheap seats, not Mount Sinai. ~ Orson Welles

[The camp Sunfish in full display . . . ]

The notion of directing a film is the invention of critics – the whole eloquence of cinema is achieved in the editing room. ~ Orson Welles

[And next to the Sunfish, the Hobie Cats . . . ]

[Deniece (Beth) and Denephew (Chris) enjoying, as we all do, the camp waterfront . . . ]

Only very intelligent people don’t wish they were in politics, and I’m dumb enough to want to be in there. ~ Orson Welles

[The pontificating of the ancients, Rita and the DOM (from Fort Wayne, a camp attendee for over 40 years). In the foreground, the DOM’s youngest granddaughter Mabel . . . ]

Race hate isn’t human nature; race hate is the abandonment of human nature. ~ Orson Welles

Movie directing is a perfect refuge for the mediocre. ~ Orson Welles

[The camp pier with the Elkhart Lake water tower on the far side of the lake . . . ]

Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason. ~ Orson Welles

[Where the great issues of our time come to conclusion . . . ]

When television came along, I’d already done more than 10 years of radio work and I thought everyone would want me. I sat around waiting for the phone to ring – and it didn’t. ~ Orson Welles

[Meanwhile, back with Beth and Chris . . . ]

It used to be that we disagreed over the basic facts we were fighting over, and we had different opinions about them. Now I think we accept different sources of authority. … And people can establish credibility on their own say-so as long as nobody follows the trail and calls them out on it. ~ Rachel Maddow

[The DOM completed Rachel Maddow’s Prequel at camp and referred it to me. I too was able to finish the book at camp, though this was my continuing expression throughout . . . ]

People who disagree on important issues don’t agree on the facts. ~ Rachel Maddow

I’m a national security liberal, which I tell people because it’s meant to sound absurd. ~ Rachel Maddow

Ecstasy is not really part of the scene we can do on celluloid. ~ Orson Welles

[Ruthie capturing the true essence of the pontificating ancients . . . ]

I do not suppose I shall be remembered for anything. But I don’t think about my work in those terms. It is just as vulgar to work for the sake of posterity as to work for the sake of money. ~ Orson Welles

If I ever own a restaurant, I will never allow the waiters to ask if the diners like their dishes. Particularly when they’re talking. ~ Orson Welles

[Last night we witnessed the result of the worst economy in history. Here in the wilds of Eastern Wisconsin, with the largest population in Elkhart Lake (population under 1,000), we stopped at two restaurants for dinner (Schwarz’s of St. Anna (unincorporated) and Three Guys and a Grill (Sheboygan Marsh State Wildlife Area) where the only thing to be seen in all directions were farm fields, but the wait for tables at each place was an hour and and half. So we went into downtown Elkhart Lake where the Lake Street Cafe opened up a new room just for us . . . ]

I’m not a walking extra in a Chekhov play; I’m no Slavic gloom or Irish gloom. ~ Orson Welles

[Three Guys and a Grill . . . ]

I worry a lot about taking care of my dependents, all those perfectly ordinary middle-class preoccupations. ~ Orson Welles

[Lake Street Cafe . . . ]

I have no great message to the world. ~ Orson Welles

[The view across the street to a village landmark . . . ]

I’m a provincial. I live very much like a hermit: reading, listening to music, working in the cutting room, writing, commercial work – which doesn’t take up that much time. ~ Orson Welles

[I have no idea what was on the ceiling?]

The laws and the stage, both are a form of exhibitionism. ~ Orson Welles

[7/13ths of the entire team . . . ]

If everyone worked with wide-angle lenses, I’d shoot all my films in 75mm, because I believe very strongly in the possibilities of the 75mm. ~ Orson Welles

August 1

I’ve spent most of my mature life trying to prove that I’m not irresponsible. ~ Orson Welles

[Leaving our cabin early in the morning, I find the bunnies find people to be neverminds . . . ]

If I don’t like somebody’s looks, I don’t like them. ~ Orson Welles

August 2

Look at the real prodigies, and I look like nothing compared to them. ~ Orson Welles

[Every year I try to catch a daybreak photo of the sails . . . ]

I feel I have to protect myself against things. So I’m pretty careful to lose most of them. ~ Orson Welles

[Chris’s sister Emily visits with Beth, a/k/a, her sister-law, on the penultimate day at camp which tends to be quite busy . . . ]

Everything bad that has ever happened to me has been caused by agents or lawyers. ~ Orson Bean

[Congregating around the beverage and ice cream stand . . . ]

There were centuries when civilization had no theater. ~ Orson Welles

[The DOM and Ruthie caffeinating in the mess hall . . . ]

I was spoiled in a very strange way as a child, because everybody told me, from the moment I was able to hear, that I was absolutely marvelous, and I never heard a discouraging word for years, you see. I didn’t know what was ahead of me. ~ Orson Welles

[Tom and Celia won the two-person Sunfish race . . . ]

The only reason for doing a play is to make a statement about it, and by that I don’t mean a conceit of the producer. ~ Orson Welles

[WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!]

Hollywood is the only industry, even taking in soup companies, which does not have laboratories for the purpose of experimentation. ~ Orson Welles

[Vicki (the DOM’s supervisor), Rita, and the DOM outside the Sputh Roundhouse lakeside . . . ]

I’ve always found it very sanitary to be broke. ~ Orson Welles

As a producer, sitting on the other side of the desk, I have never once had an agent go out on a limb for his client and fight for him. I’ve never heard one say, ‘No, just a minute! This is the actor you should use.’ They will always say, ‘You don’t like him? I’ve got somebody else.’ They’re totally spineless. ~ Orson Welles

[Tom, Celia, Ruthie, and Rita prepare for a Hobie Cat ride . . . ]

One shouldn’t ever be conscious of the author as lecturer. When social or moral points are too heavily stressed, I always get uncomfortable. ~ Orson Welles

[This has many opportunities for excitement . . . ]

I know people who have a much better recollection of their childhood than I do. They remember very well when they were a year and a half and two years old. I’ve only one or two daguerreotypes that come to mind. ~ Orson Welles

I’m never certain of a performance – my own or the other actors’ – or the script or anything… But to me it seems there’s only one place in the world the camera can be, and the decision usually comes immediately. ~ Orson Welles

Each multiplex has screens allocated to each studio. The screens need filling. Studios have to create product to fill their screen, and the amount of good product is limited. ~ Orson Welles

Anybody who speaks quietly and shrivels up in company is unbelievably arrogant. ~ Orson Welles

I don’t like television when it gets near to photographed plays. ~ Orson Welles

[It’s sailing until you hit the doldrums – give me a big comfortable pontoon every time . . . ]

Film is like a colony and there are very few colonists. ~ Orson Welles

[The end is nigh, staff photos begin . . . ]

When I was ten, I won the horseshoe-throwing contest at summer camp. I was also the Wiffle ball champion in my town. ~ Dwayne Johnson

Criminals are never very amusing. It’s because they’re failures. Those who make real money aren’t counted as criminals. This is a class distinction, not an ethical problem. ~ Orson Welles

Every actor in his heart believes everything bad that’s printed about him. ~ Orson Welles

I broke my wrist at summer camp playing a game called ‘volleybat,’ which was baseball but with a volleyball. It is as dangerous as it sounds. ~ Josh Gondelman

Now I’m an old Christmas tree, the roots of which have died. They just come along and while the little needles fall off me replace them with medallions. ~ Orson Welles

Good artists copy, great artists steal. ~ Pablo Picasso

[The last night party on the patio . . . ]

The best artists know what to leave out. ~ Charles de Lint

[Chris, Emily, and Beth at the par-tay . . . ]

I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. ~ John Steinbeck

[The dancing was made much easier when they replaced the old flagstone patio with pavers in the last year or so . . . ]

We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased, we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too. ~ Langston Hughes

When artists make art, they shouldn’t question whether it is permissible to do one thing or another. ~ Sol LeWitt

[The camp celebrities . . . ]

Artists are just children who refuse to put down their crayons. ~ Al Hirschfield

[The last campfire and awards ceremony . . . ]

The fire is the main comfort of camp, whether in Summer or Winter. ~ Henry David Thoreau

All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart, which tells us that we are all more alike than we are unalike. ~ Maya Angelou

[Awards given to the Dom’s and Vicki’s granddaughters . . . ]

We have to support our local artists. It’s just that simple. Otherwise, we will have no art. ~ Al Jourgensen

[Ruthie, the DOM and Vicki, and Tom and Celia are in the picture . . . ]

Archimedes was my ideal. I admired the works of artists, but to my mind, they were only shadows and semblances. The inventor, I thought, gives to the world creations which are palpable, which live and work. ~ Nikola Tesla

[Tom takes a final stroll around the campfire . . . ]

Artists live in unknown spaces and give themselves over to following something unknown. ~ Kiki Smith

[It must be a photo from Ruthie because she caught me in the upper left hand corner . . . ]

August 3

The affirmative action of generational wealth. ~ Michelle Obama

[Lining up to go home . . . ]

Artists can color the sky red because they know it’s blue. Those of us who aren’t artists must color things the way they really are or people might think we’re stupid. ~ Jules Feiffer

I like kids’ work more than work by real artists any day. ~ Jean-Michel Basquiat

[And goodbye to the relatives from England . . . ]

Artists are losing the choice to use film. People have a love for it – the grain, how it feels, the texture. – Keanu Reeves

[If you leave camp by the back door, you will visit a big property in constant change . . . ]

Dance is certainly a sport, and they are phenomenal athletes, and they’re also artists. ~ Neve Campbell

[The gardens keep growing . . . ]

The best advice I’ve received is to be yourself. The best artists do that. ~ Frank Gehry

I love watching live shows from different artists from different stages of their lives. I’m always interested in the mastery of the live performance. ~ Stjepan Hauser

Bob Marley was one of my favourite artists. He sang politically conscious lyrics, yet he sang love songs, too. ~ Gregory Isaacs

[It’s a 7 1/2 road trip home. The St. Cloud sign popped up way too early – until I realized we were still in Wisconsin . . . ]

People don’t remember each tree in a park but all of us benefit from the trees. And in a way, artists are like trees in a park. ~ Yoko Ono

[Goodbye from the kids (photo credit again to Chris) . . . ]

History shows us that in times of people feeling like they are in need of some sort of rebellion or protests, the artists rise because the poetry we create about pain and its relationship to culture in the world begins to soothe and heal people who are feeling confused or afraid. ~ Lady Gaga

Things like ‘mad as a hatter’ or ‘grinning like a Cheshire cat’, are so powerful that music and songs incorporate the imagery. Writers, artists, illustrators, a lot of them have incorporated that. ~ Tim Burton

Without music, life would be a mistake. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Up Next: Whatever will be will be . . .

Camping is nature’s way of promoting the motel business. ~ Dave Barry

It’s time, once again, for summer camp. Camp Brosius is an Indiana University (IU) alumni camp in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. For eight weeks every summer, 100 new campers check in weekly for fun in the sun. Above is grandson Tom and his significant other Celia – they graduated together from Purdue in 2016 with degrees in computer graphics technology. They now live and work in Denver. Tom was a Camp Brosius staff member (summer job for college students) 10 years ago. Ruthie and her sister Rita are IU alums. Ruthie and I have been coming to camp most years since 1992 – we believe Rita may be approaching 40 years of attendance. (Photo credit to nephew Chris from San Diego). ~ Me

July 26

I married a woman who loves to camp, and I am what you would call indoorsy… My wife always brings up, ‘Camping’s a tradition in my family.’ Hey, it was a tradition in everyone’s family ’til we came up with the house. ~ Jim Gaffigan

[Ruthie and I were on the road for less than two hours when debris hit the windshield near Maple Grove, MN . . . ]

When I graduated from the University of Wisconsin, I was highly encouraged to move to Boston to train as a hopeful for the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games. ~ Hilary Knight

[Photo taken in Wisconsin often through the years, when we remember – for our friend Crazy Dave “Owen.” This year I advised him that we think we found his truck . . . ]

Whether the Sikhs want to worship in Wisconsin or the Christians want to worship in Texas or the Jews want to worship in New York, we’re living under the magnificent umbrella of a Constitution that says we can. ~ Marianne Williamson

[For several years now, we spend a night in Sheboygan before moving on to Elkhart Lake the next day . . . ]

I love Wisconsin. It’s a great place. ~ Donald Trump

[Several family members scour the Sheboygan waterfront ISO a place to dine . . . ]

I’m a Wisconsin kid, so I like brats and burgers and stuff like that. Cheese curds. ~ J. J. Watt

[Ruthie, Rita (from Nashville, IN), the aforementioned Celia and Tom, and Beth (Rita’s daughter and thus our niece, from San Diego) . . . ]

I believe in science. We’re going to bring back science to the state of Wisconsin. ~ Tony Evers

[The canal outlet to Lake Michigan, a pretty great lake . . . ]

I’m a normal kid from Oshkosh, Wisconsin. ~ Hornswoggle

[Oh boy, we found a place with food!]

I actually thought about some other schools, and I was interested in Nebraska. But they kind of backed off recruiting me. I think it was because of my name. They just assumed a Watt would go to Wisconsin. ~ T. J. Watt

[Tom trying to save Celia from the octopus eye on the playground adjacent to our hotel in downtown Sheboygan (Ruthie photo) . . . ]

A lot of parents pack up their troubles and send them off to summer camp. ~ Raymond Duncan

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

My first few films were institutional comedies, and you’re on pretty safe ground when you’re dealing with an institution that vast numbers of people have experienced: college, summer camp, the military, the country club. ~ Harold Ramis

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

The first rule of monsters is that you have to go find them. You have to make a conscious choice to go to the swamp or the desert or the abandoned summer camp. ~ Mel Brooks

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

I always try to describe making movies like summer camp, or some holiday where you spend all day, every day with a new group of people whom you kind of love and then never see again. ~ Eddie Redmayne

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

The whole experience on ‘Grown Ups 2’ was like going to adult summer camp. ~ Halston Sage

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

June 27

My first joke that ever aired on ‘Late Night’ was for a list of ‘Top 10 Least Popular Summer Camps.’ My contribution – ‘Camp Tick in beautiful Lyme, Connecticut’ – squeaked in at No. 10. Like a trip to Camp Tick, my time at ‘Late Night’ faded into memory like a short session at a dicey summer camp. ~ Nell Scovell

[Food market in Fountain Park, across the street from our Sheboygan motel (Ruthie photo) . . . ]

Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch. ~ Orson Welles (from Kenosha)

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

A film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet. ~ Orson Welles

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

If there hadn’t been women we’d still be squatting in a cave eating raw meat, because we made civilization in order to impress our girlfriends. ~ Orson Welles

[Scenic Shore Bike Tour for the cure, with up to 1,500 riders on a variety of routes including 25-miles, 75-miles, 100-miles and the traditional two day 150-mile (75-mile each day) routes (Ruthie photo) . . . ]

I spent 15 years on the road between touring and recording and I never saw anything. I want to enjoy life. ~ Gloria Estefan

[Where we did split tours – Celia, Tom, and Ruthie went to the lake shore, here standing on a breakwater (Ruthie photo) . . . ]

The enemy of society is middle class and the enemy of life is middle age. ~ Orson Welles

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

I have always been more interested in experiment, than in accomplishment. ~ Orson Welles

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

Gluttony is not a secret vice. ~ Orson Welles

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

Good evening, ladies and gentleman. My name is Orson Welles. I am an actor. I am a writer. I am a producer. I am a director. I am a magician. I appear onstage and on the radio. Why are there so many of me and so few of you? ~ Orson Welles

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

I have an unfortunate personality. ~ Orson Welles

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story. ~ Orson Welles

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

Everything about me is a contradiction, and so is everything about everybody else. We are made out of oppositions; we live between two poles. There’s a philistine and an aesthete in all of us, and a murderer and a saint. You don’t reconcile the poles. You just recognize them. ~ Orson Welles

[It appears to have been kite day (Ruthie photo) . . . ]

Popularity should be no scale for the election of politicians. If it would depend on popularity, Donald Duck and The Muppets would take seats in senate. ~ Orson Welles

[Ruthie photo . . . ]

Weirdness is not my game. I’m just a square boy from Wisconsin. ~ Willem Dafoe (from Appleton)

[Rita, Beth, and I went north out of Sheboygan for our daily excursion . . . ]

Wisconsin’s a special place. ~ Brett Favre

[The recently completed mural of Ruth West in downtown Manitowoc is a colorful and meaningful tribute to an avid gardener, patron of the arts and a beloved humanitarian (manitowoccountyhistory.org).] 

 So what do I do in Wisconsin? I don’t know. I just slug through it. ~ Jane Hamilton

I really like Wisconsin. I enjoy it. I enjoy the people. I enjoy the fact that it’s not L.A. or New York. And there’s some sense of normalcy here – people having children in homes they can somewhat afford to live in. ~ Michael Feldman

[The beaches of Manitowoc . . . ]

I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time. ~ Orson Welles

[A garden of Ruth West?]

Art is the only way to run away without leaving home. ~ Twyla Tharp

[Restroom sign #1 . . . ]

A good painting to me has always been like a friend. It keeps me company, comforts and inspires. ~ Hedy Lamarr

[Restroom sign #2 . . . ]

I hate television. I hate it as much as peanuts. But I can’t stop eating peanuts. ~ Orson Welles

I have a great deal of respect for Wisconsin workers. ~ Ron Johnson

I’m a lifelong Vikings and Packers fan because I lived in both Minnesota and Wisconsin as a kid. ~ Mark Batterson

I prefer the old masters, by which I mean John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford. ~ Orson Welles

Art consists of limitation. The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

If you’re looking for can-do, earthy-crunchy attitude then you’ve got to go to Wisconsin. ~ Dar Williams

Are you really sure that a floor can’t also be a ceiling? ~ M. C. Escher

[Rita and Beth at a classic soda shop . . . ]

We heat our home with wood so the fireplace is always going and it’s pretty cozy in here, which is good because we have long winters in Wisconsin. ~ Rachel Campos-Duffy

[SS Badger is a passenger and vehicle ferry in the United States that has been in service on Lake Michigan since 1953. Currently, the ship shuttles between Ludington, Michigan, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin, a distance of 62 miles (100 km), connecting U. S. Highway 10 between those two cities. She is the last coal-fired passenger vessel operating on the Great Lakes, and was designated a National Historic Historic Landmark on January 20, 2016 (Wikipedia).]

It is a well-documented fact that guys will not ask for directions. This is a biological thing. This is why it takes several million sperm cells… to locate a female egg, despite the fact that the egg is, relative to them, the size of Wisconsin. ~ Dave Barry

[With a shout out to Pequot Lakes . . . ]

In the state of Wisconsin it’s mandated that teachers in the social sciences and hard sciences have to start giving environmental education by the first grade, through high school. ~ Gaylord Nelson

I’m one of nine sisters. My parents were dairy farmers in Wisconsin. My father didn’t believe in girls doing farm work. Girls did housework, and he hired young men to do farm work. I would have preferred to be outside. ~ Diane Hendricks

[I’m not sure if anybody knows or not, but Wisconsin is famous for cheese . . . ]

I didn’t expect to pursue acting at all, let alone TV and film, let alone New York or L.A. I was quite content doing Shakespeare out in Wisconsin. ~ Carrie Coon

[Part of the aforementioned Scenic Shore Bike Tour . . . ]

Northern Wisconsin, where I’m from, is so ridiculously rural. ~ Trixie Mattel

In Wisconsin, style-wise, it was all about bundling up, maybe wearing a hat and forgetting about your hair. ~ J. J. Watt

I get a lot – a lot – of requests to make things that are like Lady Gaga. Like, ‘I’m a 9-year-old girl in Wisconsin. Please dress me like Lady Gaga. How much would this cost?’ ~ Chris March

[All men my age who are in a car with a woman will not be the driver. Beth is at the helm here as we cruise along a lakeshore drive . . . ]

My mama is African American and from Wisconsin. My baba was born in Iran. My parents have stressed the idea of creating your own path, and creating your own identity is part of that. That’s why embracing these two cultures is important to me. ~ Yara Shahidi

In Wisconsin, style-wise, it was all about bundling up, maybe wearing a hat and forgetting about your hair. ~ J. J. Watt

Full disclosure: the Russians did not tell Hillary Clinton, ‘Don’t go to Wisconsin.’ ~ Ed Schultz

My father had season tickets to the Packer games, and I have several of those. I have a lot of family that still lives in the Bay Area and in Wisconsin, too. And so, I like to get back as often as I can. ~ Tony Shalhoub

There was a point in time in Wisconsin football when people used to just go to watch the band. ~ Bret Bielema

July 28

When you take over at Wisconsin, nobody’s ever won there, nobody expects you to win and that’s when it’s really hard to do. And Bo Ryan won there, consistently. ~ Jim Boeheim

[Packed up, leaving Sheboygan for camp in Elkhart Lake . . . ]

This world is but a canvas to our imagination. ~ Henry David Thoreau

[A now annual occurrence, a stop at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan on our way to Elkhart Lake . . . ]

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls. ~ Pablo Picasso

[The participants here in random order are Chris and Beth, Tom and Celia, Rita, Ruthie, and me, Emily (Chris’s sister) and Shane and their kids Henry and Charley from Cambridge, England . . . ]

There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept. ~ Ansel Adams

[The “art” greeter at the entry . . . ]

If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced. ~ Vincent Van Gogh

Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others. ~ Jonathan Swift

[As always, the museum tour begins in the entry restrooms . . . ]

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for. ~ Georgia O’Keefe

The greatness of art is not to find what is common but what is unique. ~ Isaac Bashevis Singer

[“The Blob”?]

The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection. ~ Michelangelo

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. ~ Scott Adams

The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity. ~ Walt Whitman

Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced. ~ Leo Tolstoy

[If it’s Kohler, it’s bathrooms . . . ]

Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still. ~ Dorothea Lange

[I’d like to challenge the art department’s choice of the male model in this instance . . . ]

Art is too serious to be taken seriously. ~ Ad Reinhardt

[The epitome of civilization . . . ]

Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos. ~ Stephen Sondheim

[Reminds my of my stellar work as a geography major at the University of Minnesota . . . ]

Art is not a thing; it is a way. ~ Elbert Hubbard

[A modern American Gothic . . . ]

Art distills sensations and embodies it with enhanced meaning. ~ Miguel de Unamuno

[Restroom as playroom . . . ]

A room hung with pictures is a room hung with thoughts. ~ Joshua Reynolds

A work of art that contains theories is like an object on which the price tag has been left. ~ Alexander Pope

All art is but imitation of nature. ~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[This is either a cooling system for a 1952 Studebaker or a Vulcan mind meld of saxophones . . . ]

An artist never really finishes his work, he merely abandons it. ~ Paul Valery

[A piano bird or a bird piano?]

An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision. ~ James Whistler

[The next 4 pieces are certainly eligible to interpretation . . . ]

One eye sees, the other feels. ~ Paul Klee

Art cannot be modern. Art is primordially eternal. ~ Egon Schiele

The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery. ~ Francis Bacon

I cried all the way to the bank. ~ Liberace (from West Allis)

[This is our forever first stop in Elkhart Lake, the Tiki Bar on the far side of the lake from Camp Brosius. Check in at camp isn’t until 1:00 pm so we while away to the time here until then. This year it a got a little drizzly so have no photos – so here’s our Tika Bar photo from 2015 . . . ]

Prayer and dependence on God has been our history. How unfortunate it is now that an unaccountable and unelected and misguided judge from Wisconsin, Judge Barbara Crabb, has declared National Days of Prayer – established by the Congress – to be unconstitutional. ~ James Dobson

[My golf cart ferry for the week, with Ruthie and Rita as my chauffeurs. Oy!!]

I hate camping, but I love summer camp. ~ Zooey Deschanel

[The lakefront dining room, with the rumored anticipation of new tables next year . . . ]

The coolest things I know how to do – I learned to do at camp. ~ Julia Roberts.

[Celia entering the camp scene . . . ]

What’s more important than a summer of fun? More important than making new friends? More important than sharing? ~ Addams Family Values

Queen is my all-time favorite band in history. I was an obsessive growing up after I discovered them at 10 at summer camp. ~ Adam F. Goldberg (or possibly Ruthie?)

I try to sign for as many kids as possible. Kids come first, and I’ll always sign for a kid before an adult. It’s funny, because I was never big into autographs as a kid. The only player who I ever wanted an autograph from was Dave Winfield. ~ Derek Jeter

Up Next: Part 2 . . .