July 2

June 10

I took the speed reading course and read “War and Peace” in twenty minutes. It’s about Russia. ~ Woody Allen

As a scholar of American literature, he has written extensively about Edgar Allan Poe, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Wolfe, Rebecca Harding Davis, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and other authors, as well as the intersections of journalism and literature.  His seven books include the Audible Originals Ben Franklin’s Lessons in Life and Edgar Allan Poe: Master of Horror, along with Literature and Journalism in Antebellum America and Thomas Wolfe Remembered. A former journalist, Mark also writes frequently for the mainstream media, as well as scholarly and trade publications.  His articles on Franklin, Poe, Henry David Thoreau, Rebecca Harding Davis, truth in the media, student success, and other subjects have appeared in The Conversation, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Southern Cultures, Journalism History, American Literary Realism, and other outlets (markcanada,org).

[I’ve had Professor Canada for several courses. He seems to know a lot about everything.]

I’d like to see Paris before I die… Philadelphia will do. ~ W. C. Fields

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

• PhD Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, 2009
• MS Geosciences, University of Arizona, 2005
• BA with honors, Washington University in St. Louis, 2002

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind. ~ Albert Einstein

There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew. ~ Marshall McLuhan

[The bulk of his research has been in Taiwan . . . ]

June 11

While some of the tales of woe emanating from the court are enough to bring tears to the eyes, it is true that only Supreme Court justices and schoolchildren are expected to and do take the entire summer off. ~ John Roberts

[The much sought after class every year . . . ]

Beth Cate is associate university counsel and special assistant for policy and procedure to the vice president for research and dean of the University Graduate School at IU-Bloomington. At IU, she provides legal and policy advice concerning intellectual property, information technologies, conflicts of interest and biosafety. She is a frequent speaker on copyright issues and is currently developing educational materials to assist faculty, students and administrators in understanding and complying with fair use and other provisions of copyright law. Beth Cate received a bachelor’s degree from George Washington University and a law degree from Harvard Law School. She has practiced law in Washington and Indianapolis (elon.edu).

[Professor Cate does not pull her punches . . . ]

You should see what our Founding Fathers used to say to each other and in the early part of our nation. But what they were able to do, especially in Philadelphia in 1787, four months, they argued about what a House should be, what a Senate should be, the power of the president, the Congress, the Supreme Court. And they had to deal with slavery. ~ Colin Powell

I will continue to be at the forefront, participating in rallies, marches, letter-writing campaigns, and fighting for federal funding for Planned Parenthood. And, I will always oppose the nomination of any anti-choice U.S. Supreme Court Justice. ~ Deb Haaland

How can we even call this a democracy when the House, the Senate, the White House, and now the Supreme Court are all controlled by the representatives of a minority group in America? ~ Krystal Ball

Stare decisis, which is the principle that the Supreme Court uses at the outset – the sort of background rule of judicial maintenance or precedence, in order to have predictability, stability in the law – is the kind of principle the court begins with, if it’s asked to overrule or revisit a precedent. ~ Katanji Brown Jackson

We sought justice because equal pay for equal work is an American value. That fight took me ten years. It took me all the way to the Supreme Court. And, in a 5-4 decision, they stood on the side of those who shortchanged my pay, my overtime, and my retirement just because I am a woman. ~ Lilly Ledbetter

Nobody has been arrested on Wall Street for the crash of 2008. They’re not paying their fair share of the taxes. And now with the Citizens United case of the Supreme Court, they get to buy politicians up out in the open. ~ Michael Moore

All the grand work was laid for people who came after me. The Supreme Court decided not to give it to me, so they gave it to two white guys. I think that’s what they were waiting for. ~ Curt Flood

That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history. ~ Aldous Huxley

My first book, In My Power: Letter Writing and Communications in Early America, published in 2009, focused on the cultural, social, economic, and political history of letter writing and communications in the early anglophone Atlantic World. Letter writing steeped the white middle class in imperatives of self-improvement and vulnerabilities of personal agency, while assuring them of their social innocence, their technical credentials, and their moral deserving. The force of this social myopia is as critical as racism, I argue, in explaining the glaring dearth of moral conscience underwriting the legalization of massive violence toward Native Americans and African-Americans so endemic to the eighteenth century (history.indiana.edu).

History will be kind to me for I intend to write it. ~ Winston Churchill

People are almost always better than their neighbors think they are. ~ George Eliot, “Middlemarch”

[This was a class I’d forgotten I’d chosen. It far exceeded expectations . . . ]

Richard Gunderman is Chancellor’s Professor of Radiology, Pediatrics, Medical Education, Philosophy, Liberal Arts, Philanthropy, and Medical Humanities and Health Studies at Indiana University. He is also John A Campbell Professor of Radiology and in 2019-21 served as Bicentennial Professor. He received his AB Summa Cum Laude from Wabash College; MD and PhD (Committee on Social Thought) with honors from the University of Chicago; and MPH from Indiana University. He was a Chancellor Scholar of the Federal Republic of Germany and received honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters from Garrett Theological Seminary at Northwestern University and Wabash College. He serves on numerous boards, including Christian Theological Seminary and Alpha Omega Alpha National Honor Medical Society, and he is the faculty advisor to over a dozen student interest groups, honorary organizations, and service events. He is the author of more than 1,100 articles and has published 15 books, including “We Make a Life by What We Give” (2008), “X-ray Vision” (2013), “Essential Radiology 3rd ed” (2014), “We Come to Life with Those We Serve” (2017), “Pediatric Imaging 2nd ed” (2018) and “Tesla” (2019). In 2020, he published “Contagion” and “Marie Curie.” He has delivered over 750 keynote addresses, named lectures, and grand rounds presentations. He is president of the 10,000+ member Indiana State Medical Association (medicine.iu.edu).

[As resume like no other. Has the ability to talk knowledgeably about, seemingly, any topic . . . ]

It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view. ~ George Eliot, “Middlemarch”

It is always fatal to have music or poetry interrupted. ~ George Eliot,  “Middlemarch”

And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better. ~ George Eliot, “Middlemarch”

Confound you handsome young fellows! You think of having it all your own way in the world. You don’t understand women. They don’t admire you half so much as you admire yourselves. ~ George Eliot, “Middlemarch”

[I’m pretty sure I would enjoy any topic espoused by Gunderman . . . ]

Faculty Reception

There was a water glass, a golden glass for red wine, a crystal one for white, and a saucer for consommé. There were seven forks of descending size and different numbers of tines, the last three whose use she couldn’t even begin to work out. ~ Liz Braswell

[And yes, that is Anne making photography from on high . . . ]

Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

[And here’s Anne closer-upper . . . ]

The sanity of the average banquet speaker lasts about two and a half months; at the end of that time he begins to mutter to himself, and calls out in his sleep. ~ James Thurber

[Our group enjoying our last fine dining together . . . ]

We Americans sit at the head of the banquet table, as we have done for a century. Our standard of living is luxurious by any measure. ~ Deepak Chopra

Life is a glorious banquet, a limitless and delicious buffet. ~ Maya Angelou

It is best to rise from life as from a banquet, neither thirsty nor drunken. ~ Aristotle

[This year I didn’t take any photos of our daily lunches in the Tudor Room? Very much similar to the ambience here in Alumni Hall . . . ]

Push on, friend. You’re just one exciting step from the banquet hall of life. ~ Zig Ziglar

[The eating is in Alumni Hall; the food is gathered below in the Solarium . . . ]

There are no bad photographs. That’s just how your face looks sometimes. ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Anne standing lookout over the festivities . . . ]

To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event. ~ Henri Cartier-Bresson

For me, pointing and clicking my phone is absolutely fine. People say that isn’t the art of photography but I don’t agree. ~ Annie Lennox

I have a master’s degree in photography as a fine art, and I would call my work primarily conceptual. I don’t carry cameras with me wherever I go. I get an idea of a subject matter I want to deal with and I pull out my cameras. ~ Leonard Nimoy

[Photos of the group, taken by Anne, with our phones . . . ]

I attack ideas. I don’t attack people. And some very good people have some very bad ideas. And if you can’t separate the two, you gotta get another day job. You don’t want to be a judge. At least not a judge on a multi-member panel. ~ Antonin Scalia

[Something about the university milieu that aspires one to become a “chair” of something . . . ]

Professor Hershey’s research and teaching interests focus on political parties, campaigns, and elections. Her research examines the characteristics of party activists, media coverage of political campaigns, and the commonalities among lobbying, framing, persuasion, and the creation of organizational histories by advocacy groups. She writes a widely-used textbook on political parties, Party Politics in America, which is now in its 18th edition, and its associated blog posts. She has published three other books of research, plus about four dozen articles in professional journals including the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, Public Opinion Quarterly, Party Politics, Polity, Political Communication, The Annals, Social Science Quarterly, and American Politics Quarterly. Her research has also appeared in the form of chapters in edited volumes. She has been fortunate to have received 17 teaching awards from the Indiana University College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Political Science, the IU Student Alumni Council, Golden Key, Mortar Board, Blue Key, the Indiana University Student Association, Indiana University Continuing Studies, The American Political Science Association and the AMOCO Foundation, and is the 2019 Sylvia E. Bowman teaching award winner. This award honors exemplary faculty members in areas related to American civilization. PhD, University of Wisconsin, 1972 (polisci.indiana.edu).

Dr. Leslie Lenkowsky is an expert in volunteering and civic engagement, nonprofits and public policy, civil society in comparative perspective, education and social welfare policy, and social entrepreneurship. A leading scholar on philanthropy, Lenkowsky has been a member of O’Neill’s faculty since 2004, and, for five years, was the director of Graduate Programs at IU’s Center on Philanthropy in Indianapolis. He also served for many years as professor of philanthropic studies and public policy at IUPUI.  Professor Emeritus in Public Affairs and Philanthropic Studies (oneill.indiana.edu)

[The moderator, new to the discussion this year. Hershey is the liberal, Lenkowski the conservative, the discussion always in good humor and entertaining . . . ]

My recurring nightmare is that someday I will be faced with a panel: Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson all of whom will be telling me everything I got wrong about them. I know that Johnson’s out there saying, ‘Why is it that what you wrote about the Kennedys is twice as long as the book you wrote about me?‘ ~ Doris Kearns Goodwin

[The introductions . . . ]

The notion of a free press is critical to the American version of democracy. And when we have a political leader who is deliberately trying to undermine faith in that institution, the institution has to stand up for itself. ~ Marjorie Hershey

[This is “the” class of the week – the last class on Thursday. The one seemingly most anticipated by the students year to year . . . ]

Each year, Americans give about 2.2 percent of their gross national income to charity, and that hasn’t fluctuated much over time. ~ Les Lenkowski

Fox News is really two news networks. It’s a center right news network that has good, solid, interesting coverage if you’re watching Chris Wallace or the panel on ‘Special Report’ or anything like that. Then, it has what Hannity and others like him do, which is just a sort of tribal identity politics for older white people. ~ Ross Douthat

[An interested customer . . . ]

June 12

School is learning things you don’t want to know, surrounded by people you wish you didn’t know, while working toward a future you don’t know will ever come. ~ Dave Kellett

[The final class on the final morning . . . ]

Yes, I did miss her identifying slide . . .

Rhonda Hylton, Assistant Professor

Campus: IUDepartments/Offices: Curriculum and Instruction Academic Programs: Literacy, Culture, and Language Education Research Areas: Literacy pedagogical practices of Black women faculty, epistemological ways of knowing and being for Black women faculty, intersectionality, cultural and social issues embedded in schools, preservice teacher education (education.indiana.edu).

I’m not a teacher: only a fellow-traveller of whom you asked the way. I pointed ahead – ahead of myself as well as you. ~ George Bernard Shaw

The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

[A spirited class discussion . . . ]

If you think education is expensive, try ignorance. ~ Derek Bok

[Led to a desire for another half hour to finish the class . . . but next came a farewell brunch, and then Ruthie and I hit the 770-miles road home . . . ]

I am about to – or I am going to – die. Either expression is correct. ~ Dominique Bonhours

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

June 30

The welcoming . . .

[Our first year at Mini-U was 2017. We missed the COVID year. Classes run from Monday thru Friday, with classes both morning and afternoon and occasional evening. There are multiple class options for each time period. Here was my class schedule:]

June 5

Nashville, Indiana is a cozy, quiet artist colony tucked into the rolling, forested hills of Brown County. Known as the “Art Colony of the Midwest,” it captures hearts with its small-town charm, pioneer history, and spectacular leaves. ~ AI Overview

[It was a two-day 800-mile drive from Alexandria to Nashville, Indiana (about 16 miles east of the university in Bloomington) with an overnight in Champaign, Illnois. Nashville is the home of Ruthie’s sister, Rita, and here we are in her backyard . . . ]

Having children is like living in a frat house—nobody sleeps, everything’s broken, and there’s a lot of throwing up. ~ Ray Romano

[Ruthie’s son Rob joined us from his home in Ohio . . . ]

I know family comes first, but shouldn’t that mean after breakfast? ~ Jeff Lindsay

[This is Rita and Ruthie with their boys, David (age 50 and single) and Rob (age 56 and single). Scott Pelley was going to do a feature on this page as to how the men involved manage to avoid marital bliss (well, me until age 53) . . . ]

Nouvelle cuisine, roughly translated, means: I can’t believe I paid $96 and I’m still hungry. ~ Mike Kalin

[Said formerly 53-year old guy. (This fine dining lunch took place at the Brown County Inn.) ]

To put it rather bluntly, I am not the type who wants to go back to the land; I am the type who wants to go back to the hotel. ~ Fran Lebowitz

[We have arrived at our final destination – the Biddle Hotel & Conference Center on the IU campus. We stayed at the hotel and most of the classes were in the conference center . . . ]

June 6

When my time on earth is gone, and my activities here are passed, I want them to bury me upside down, and my critics can kiss my ass. ~ Bobby Knight

[Lest you were unaware, the Hoosiers were the undefeated national football champions this year. (I, however, was taken aback that the university had done nothing (that I could tell) to recognize that 50 years ago the Hoosier basketball team was the last undefeated men’s basketball team. The 1976 Hoosiers beat Michigan in the championship game played at the Spectrum in Philadelphia – and even more importantly I was at that game (my first of 25 attended Final Fours.)]

The reason grandparents and grandchildren get along so well is that they have a common enemy. ~ Sam Levenson

[Our nephew, Aaron, an IU alum and, like his aunt Ruthie, a native of Terre Haute. And we learned on this trip that his daughter Liz will be starting a PhD program in political science at Minnesota this fall . . . ]

Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands – and then eat just one of the pieces. ~ Judith Viorst

[On Bloomington’s far east side – the exit from and entrance to the city . . . ]

June 7

The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad. ~ Salvador Dali 

[Ruthie’s new best friend, the artist Joel Washington . . . ]

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

June 8

If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you. ~ Muhammad Ali

[Classes begin with a continental breakfast and . . . ]

If at first you don’t succeed, find out if the loser gets anything. ~ William Lyon Phelps

[Opening convocation (Alumni Hall & Solarium) – we heard rumors of around 600 student attendees at a cost of $470 each for the week (for classes and other university events) . . . ]

Her name was Ann, and I’ll be damned if I recall her . . . last name?

[She has been the Mini-U photographer for as long as we’ve been coming . . . ]

About Catherine A. Pilachowski

Professor Pilachowski holds the Kirkwood Chair in Astronomy at Indiana University Bloomington, where she teaches and conducts research on the evolution of stars and the chemical history of the Milky Way Galaxy from studies of chemical composition of stars and star clusters. She served for more than 20 years on the scientific staff of the NSF’s National Opticall-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory in Tucson. While at NOAO, she served as Project Scientist for the design and construction of the 3.5-meter WIYN Telescope. Professor Pilachowski received a B.S. in Physics from Harvey Mudd College in California, and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii (astro.indiana.edu).

If we ever travel to far in the universe to another planet with intelligent life, let’s just make patterns in their crops and leave. ~ anonymous

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe. ~ Albert Einstein

[Well, it is a classroom . . . ]

When science finally locates the centre of the universe, some people will be surprised to learn they’re not it. ~ anonymous

[Professor Pilachowski is excellent, particularly in emphasizing the contributions of women astronomers . . . ]

In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. ~ Carl Sagan

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

[Ruthie’s new best friend again . . . ]

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. ~ Pablo Picasso

Professor Susan Walsh is an Associate Professor at the Department of Biology and Forensic and Investigative Sciences at Indiana University Indianapolis. Dr. Walsh completed her PhD in Forensic Genetics at Erasmus University in the Netherlands. She went on to complete post-doctorate work at Yale University before joining IUI in 2014 (walshlab.indianapolis.iu.edu). The goal of the lab is to enhance our understanding of the genetic basis of human physical appearance and ancestry. In a forensic context, retrieving information on the externally visible characteristics of a sample donor found at a crime scene can provide valuable intelligence information, e.g. eye, hair or skin color, to name a few. As we deal with quantitative traits where different genes and also environmental factors can contribute to the phenotype, we try to unveil the genetic basis of certain traits using genome-wide association approaches and next-generation sequencing, amongst others. We then try to determine what are the most-predictive biomarkers, and develop molecular tools to predict these traits for practical applications in forensics and anthropological studies (science.indianapolis.iu.edu).

Basic research is like shooting an arrow into the air and, where it lands, painting a target. ~ Homer Burton Adkins 

Science is like sex: sometimes something useful comes out, but that is not the reason we are doing it. ~ Richard Feynman 

[Terrific teller of this story, way beyond my expectations . . . ]

[Yes, I did miss his identifying slide . . . ]

Douglas Edmonds, PhD, The Pennsylvania State University, 2009

My research focuses on the sedimentology, stratigraphy, and geomorphology of depositional sedimentary systems. Example projects and scales of interest range from: secondary circulation and turbulence to formation of reach-scale features such as levees, to whole system behavior of deltas and river belts. I use a combination of mathematical modeling, field observation, and occasionally experimentation to understand these systems. My research is generally directed toward understanding the coupled surficial and sedimentological evolution of these systems (earth.indiana.edu).

I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious. ~ Albert Einstein

[Professor Doug Edmonds, on the right, got into the swing of this . . . ]

The Roots of Rock . . . And an Elvis Celebration . . .

In celebration of the 70th aaniversary of “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Don’t Be Cruel.” Ruthie went solo. I thought it was just about Elvis. Even though he knocked us over with Bob Dylan and The Beatles the previous two years I thought the 2-block walk to get to class too taxing. But Ruthie came home with tears in her eyes. Attendees will examine the many diverse American artists and influences that gave birth to rock and roll . . .

[Our nephews at IU had him as a professor – always worth the price of admission . . . ]

Provost Professor and Rudy Professor Emeritus of Music (Music in General Studies), D.M., Doctor of Music, Indiana University, 1985, M.M., Master of Music, Indiana University, 1981, B.M., Bachelor of Music, New England Conservatory of Music, 1977

Glenn Gass is Provost Professor and Rudy Professor Emeritus of Music in Music in General Studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He teaches a series of courses that he developed on the history of rock and popular music that were the first to be offered through a music school and are now the longest-running courses of their kind in the world. He is the recipient of the Herman B Wells Lifetime Achievement Award, Indiana University Sylvia Bowman Distinguished Teaching Award, IU Student Alumni Association Student Choice Award, Society of Professional Journalists Brown Derby Award, and other teaching awards and honors. He was inducted into the Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching and is author of A History of Rock Music: The Rock & Roll Era (McGraw-Hill, 1994). Gass is a member of the Education Advisory Board of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. He is the recipient of grants in composition from the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer, and Indiana Arts Commission (music.indiana.edu).

June 9

How to Bridge Political Differences: What John Adams and Thomas Jefferson Can Teach Us

John Lincoln Schilb

M.A., English Literature, Hofstra University, 1974, Ph.D., State University of New York, Binghamton, 1978

I specialize in composition, rhetoric, and literary theory, as well as being interested in how these areas connect. I explore possible links among them in my current work as editor of the journal College English, in my 1992 book Between the Lines: Relating Composition Theory and Literary Theory (Boynton/Cook), and in two collections I co-edited for the Modern Language Association: Contending with Words: Composition and Rhetoric in a Postmodern Age (1991) and Writing Theory and Critical Theory (1994). In my most recent book, Rhetorical Refusals: Defying Audiences’ Expectations (Southern Illinois University Press, 2007), I turn to examining a specific kind of persuasive act, one in which the writer or speaker deliberately breaks with rhetorical conventions to achieve some higher aim. Here at IU, I regularly teach both graduate and undergraduate courses, including a seminar on Holocaust representations for the University’s summer Intensive Freshman Seminars Program. Also, I train Indiana and Michigan high school instructors to teach our undergraduate course in Literary Interpretation at their home institutions (english.indiana.edu).

Instead of seeking congressional approval for a war on Iran, Trump turned to the co-equal autocratic strongmen of Saudi Arabia and Israel. ~ Jamie Raskin

[Schilb is an old pro, with good humor. I’ve had him previously . . . ]

For Thomas Jefferson, freedom meant protection against gross corporate power. ~ Zephyr Teachout

[Why aren’t there any statues of John Adams? ~ Professor Schilb]

Ecology and Folklore in Southeast Asian Art: Tour of the Special Exhibition – “Mulyna: Vital Ecosystems” and related work ~ Natasha Kimmet

Natasha Kimmet

Pamela Buell Curator of Asian Art

Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art Campus: IU, IU BloomingtonSidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art As Pamela Buell Curator of Asian Art, Natasha Kimmet manages the museum’s collection of approximately 3,500 Asian and Islamic art objects. Her research interests include the art and architecture of South Asia, Tibet, and the Himalayas, with an emphasis on Buddhist temple sites and sculpture and Himalayan vernacular architecture. Previously, she was Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Vienna and Austrian Academy Sciences, Curatorial Fellow at the Rubin Museum of Art, and an Editor at Shambhala Publications. She curated the exhibition Monumental Lhasa: Fortress, Palace, Temple (Rubin) and has taught Buddhist art in the Kabul Museum Project Curatorial Training Program for curators at the National Museum of Afghanistan. Kimmet has contributed to publications on Tibetan and Himalayan art and is co-editing Exploring the Contributions of the Shahi Kingdoms to Inner and South Asia (forthcoming, 2026). She has received grants from the Austrian Science Fund and Austrian Academy of Sciences for collaborative digital humanities projects to develop the Shahi Kingdoms Database and integrated digital publication. She received her PhD in the history of art at the University of Vienna, MA in the history of art and archaeology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and BA in the history of art and visual culture at Bates College.

Acclaimed Indonesian fiber artist Mulyana hand knits and crochets intricate sculptures using repurposed fibers from textile factories and plastic bages from the food delivery industry.

[This was Ruthie’s class about which, “I know nothing.”]

Logan teaches Luddy’s large introductory course, courses covering project management and databases, and the informatics capstone course. In addition to teaching, Logan administers the department’s internship for credit opportunities and is engaged in pedagogical research with collaborators around the campus funded by the Association of American Universities. He has been with the Luddy School since 2016 (luddy.iu.edu).

[Worked without notes . . . and without a net!]

There were 5 exabytes of information created between the dawn of civilization through 2003, but that much information is now created every two days. ~ Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman at Google

Data is like garbage. You better know what you are going to do with it before you collect it. ~ Mark Twain

Information is the oil of the 21st century, and analytics is the combustion engine. ~ Peter Sondergaard

Art is what you can get away with. ~ Andy Warhol

[Ruthie with Joel Washington, her new best friend again . . . ]

I don’t know anything about art, but I know what I like. ~ Elvis Presley

Bill Bennett, director of IU Alumni Association Alumni Travel, will speak about his “Journey to Antarctica: The White Continent.” With more than 21 years of experience in travel planning, Bill has led groups through more than 60 countries and 48 states, including trips to Cuba, the Galapagos Islands and the Arctic Circle (to see polar bears) (bloomington rotary club, january 7, 2024) (Not the former Secretary of Education.)

I wanna hang a map of the world in my house. Then I’m gonna put pins into all the locations that I’ve traveled to. But first, I’m gonna have to travel to the top two corners of the map so it won’t fall down. ~ Mitch Hedberg

What’s the capital of Burkino Faso? A: Ouagadougou. An icebreaking question for any occasion . . .

[He had some lovely slides of Benin, Togo, and Ghana, three countries along the southern border of Burkina Faso . . .]

Taste of Mini U: Dinner on the Town

Malibu Grill is one of Bloomington’s most popular downtown restaurants. The innovative menu features hand cut steaks, fresh seafood, unique pastas, wood fired pizzas, great burgers, amazing appetizers and an unparalleled selection of drinks. Voted B-town’s best restaurant multiple times, Malibu Grill is the perfect choice for a unique dining experience in the heart of downtown. The bar features a wide variety of memorable martinis, local draught beer and an extensive wine list. (tripadvisor.com/restaurant).

[A bus drove us around downtown, dropped us at restaurants of our choices, then picked us up later on a continuous loop. This place received excellent reviews from all of us . . . ]

I went to a fancy French restaurant called Deja Vu. The headwaiter said, ‘Don’t I know you?’ ~ Rod Schmidt

[The usual gang, fond of food and beverage . . . ]

The murals in restaurants are on par with the food in museums. ~ Peter De Vries

[This is Rita . . . ]

In a restaurant, choose a table near a waiter. ~ Jewish Proverb

[This is Vicki, a regular to this event and Camp Brosius with her husband, Scott. Natives of Fort Wayne . . . ]

June 10

. . . as we mark the 250th anniversary of the United Srates, let’s remember that the founders were quite clear about the vital importance of this being a deliberately secular nation. They even wrote it down – and more than once. ~ John Fugelsang

Dr. Andrew (Drew) Koke is a faculty member and academic coordinator at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB). He specializes in student success, academic coaching, and teaching. He holds a Ph.D. in History from Indiana University, focusing his historical research on colonial America, British imperial religious history, and theology. At IU’s Student Academic Center, Dr. Koke plays a major role in helping students improve their learning skills and academic performance (AI Overview).

America is not, has never been, and was ne..ver intended to be a Christian nation. ~ John Fugelsang

[Koke is a superstar . . . ]

But the truth is that America is something far more ambitious, and far more fragile: a secular republic where every belief is protected, because none is imposed. ~ John Fugelsang

. . . the founders got one very simple and moral concept just right: a system under which the government can’t dictate how you can or cannot pray, or whether you should pray at all. ~ John Fugelsang

Louisiana recently became the first state to pass a law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public-school classroom, so 7-year-olds will know not to covet their neighbors’ wives. ~ John Fugelsang

Part 2 will make its debut when chronologically appropriate. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

May 30

Conservative evangelicals have tended to prioritize interpretations that justify exercising power over others—men’s power over women, and Christians’ power over society. Many theologians argue that Jesus rejected this approach to power. He emptied himself and refused to claim earthly power, which was very much within his reach. He said the first must be last, and that to follow him meant to take up one’s cross, to sacrifice oneself for others. ~ Kristin Kobes Du Mez

[The above quote was in John Fugelsang’s book.]

The primary driver of most global conflict, oppression of women, suppression of science, persecution of gay people, and abuse of power is not religion. It’s the extreme fundamentalist wings of all the world’s religions that provide all these dramas for the rest of humanity. ~  John Fugelsang

May 13

And our meanest Christians tend to piously and publicly worship Jesus as their King, because that’s considerably easier than following his inconvenient teachings. ~  John Fugelsang

[Our best friends from our 30 years “out east” came for a visit. Over the years we have visited them, they have visited us in Alexandria, we have visited foreign parts of the planet together, but this is the first time they have visited us at our current abode where we’ve lived for eight years. So it’s likely we haven’t visited each other for a decade. Anne & Bill are the successful result of my one and only attempt at matchmaking. They have previously toured Minnesota places like Stillwater and the North Shore, so all didn’t feel the need for anything more exotic than the occasional day trip – beginning here . . . ]

Only in America can you be pro-death penalty, pro-war, pro-unmanned drone bombs, pro-nuclear weapons, pro-guns, pro-torture, pro-land mines, and still call yourself ‘pro-life.’ ~ John Fugelsang

[According to Karen Tolkkinen, columnist for the Minnesota StarTribune and previously for Alexandria’s Echo Press, the hottest outstate real estate markets in Minnesota are currently Alexandria (population 14,335) and Detroit Lakes (population 9,869) . . . ]

It’s called “selective interpretation,” which sounds quite more academic than “smorgasbord Gentiles.” ~  John Fugelsang

Obama is not a brown-skinned anti-war socialist who gives away free healthcare. You’re thinking of Jesus. ~  John Fugelsang

[Let the Troll search begin . . . ]

[r]emember—if your church isn’t telling you to love your enemies but keeps telling you who your enemies are, you’re not really in a church. ~  John Fugelsang

[High rise condos . . . ]

Jesus asserts that his true followers are the people and societies who care for the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the immigrants, and the incarcerated. And he tells you who his fake followers are—the ones who are openly religious but indifferent to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the immigrants, and the incarcerated, the lowest of the low. How we treat them is how we treat him. ~  John Fugelsang

[Our first troll . . . ]

Jesus was: A peaceful, radically nonviolent revolutionary Who wasn’t American and never spoke English Who hung around lepers, hookers, and crooks Never sought tax cuts for rich Nazarenes Was anti-wealth and anti–death penalty Anti–public prayer, too (Matthew 6:5) Never asked lepers for a co-pay Never called poor people “lazy” Never even slightly antigay Never mentioned abortion Supported paying taxes. ~  John Fugelsang

And that’s the point. We’re called to follow Christ, not the Bible. In fact, please understand this: the Bible does not tell us to follow the Bible. The Bible tells us to follow Christ. But Biblical Christians follow the Bible. They do not, in fact, attempt to follow Christ. ~  John Fugelsang

And if there’s one thing the Bible shows us, it’s that authoritarian government, aligned with some extreme conservative religious fundamentalists, literally killed Jesus. ~  John Fugelsang

[Anne continuing local research . . . ]

It’s not the miracles driving people away from religion, it’s the Christians who don’t live by Jesus’s words about how we’re supposed to treat each other. ~  John Fugelsang

I generally trust people who are seeking the truth; I tend to be wary of those who claim they’ve found it. ~  John Fugelsang

Christianity is under attack—but by divisive right-wing fundamentalists who publicly worship Jesus while fighting against, voting against, and legislating against his actual commandments. ~  John Fugelsang

All four Gospel writers specifically cite Jesus rejecting the accepted cultural norms and treating women with respect. Not only did he break rabbinic laws of his day by teaching and talking to women, but he allowed women to touch him—including those considered “unclean” by the culture at large. ~  John Fugelsang

If you want to trigger and enrage Christian nationalists, Jesus will show the way. Stand up for the oppressed, welcome the stranger, love your enemy, fight poverty and injustice, resist violence, and choose compassion. Or just ask them which Jesus teachings justify their politics. ~  John Fugelsang

[Yes, it was a perfectly lovely day . . . ]

And I was taught—relentlessly—that Christianity was about the things Jesus prioritized: Service to others. Forgiveness. Caring for the poor, the sick, the stranger, the prisoner. Fighting injustice with nonviolence, like Dr. King and Gandhi. Standing up for the less fortunate, like Dorothy Day and Catholic Charities. Love. Empathy. Compassion. ~  John Fugelsang

Trump defenders may be intrigued to know that while Jesus never once condemned abortions, immigrants, or gay people, he was seriously not a fan of adultery, and spoke out against the divorce laws of Moses because he thought it should be harder for men to dump their wives. ~  John Fugelsang

Not only are Christians supposed to prioritize following Jesus’s words above the other parts of the Bible, that’s also quite literally why this religion got its name. ~  John Fugelsang

Under Rome, Christianity transitioned from a persecuted little faith into a force powerful enough to persecute others. Once the empire got their hands on Jesus’s movement, they enacted huge changes in its theology, narrative, organization, and relationship with political power. Gone was the simple, direct message of love from the homeless Jewish faith healer. In its place sprung up new hierarchies, ecclesiastical institutions, and endless dogma and doctrines. More importantly, the merger of Christianity with imperial power led to it becoming a tool for political control, with countless spiritual teachings twisted for authoritarian purposes. Emperor Theodosius issued a series of decrees that enforced Christian rule—and suppressed pagan practices. As religion merged with empire, pagan temples were destroyed, pagans were executed for heresy, and marginalized pagans faced persecution for not conforming to the new normal. Jesus’s movement was now officially being used to justify violence, oppression, and authoritarian control. ~  John Fugelsang

The New Covenant established by Jesus marks a massive shift from the religious law and customs Jesus was raised with, to a different kind of faith-based user experience. It’s Jesus’s software update, from Law 1.0 to Love 1.0. Calling oneself “Christian” is to accept the new terms and conditions. ~  John Fugelsang

Care for the sick? No. Turn the other cheek? No. Render one’s taxes? No, sucker. Be kind to the incarcerated? Hell no. Welcome the stranger? Bitch, please. Modern right-wing Christians have been suckered into an anti-Christian trap of aligning with power, instead of challenging it. But conservative power was what Jesus stood up to—not for—time and time again. ~ John Fugelsang

Jesus taught love for all humanity, regardless of their nationality, ethnicity, or religious affiliation. But Christian nationalists are here to fight for Jesus—not listen to him. ~ John Fugelsang

[This was the farthest I’d walked in maybe a year (maybe two blocks?) . . . ]

Imagine the hecklers: “Meh, I didn’t trudge all the way up Mount of Beatitudes just to hear some virtue signaling from Woke Jesus.” ~  John Fugelsang

Jesus’s admonition to not look on women lustfully is not anti-sex—it’s anti–sexual harassment. ~  John Fugelsang

[While others strode off ISO trolls, I repaired to the car and the radio’s Sirius/XM Beatles channel . . . ]

It’s a gospel of control over caring, power over humility, and judgment over mercy. They won’t fight for the words of Jesus, but they’re profoundly committed to stuff they believe he said. ~ John Fugelsang

[We lunched here – the main intersection in Frazee (population 1,335). We had planned to dine at the renowned Spanky’s Stone Hearth, but as so often happens in small town America it was only open evenings . . . ]

But Christian nationalists are here to fight for Jesus—not listen to him. ~ John Fugelsang

[The world’s largest turkey, Big Tom, 22-feet tall, in Frazee burned down in 1998. This is the replica, located across the street from The Monarch . . . ]

May 15

In 1989, Ken Nyberg seemed like just an average guy. He worked in construction, and in his spare time he would make little sculptures out of scrap metal, such as an arboreal “family tree,” or a dog. Then he decided to build an 11-foot-tall human foot. “I wanted to make something bigger and better,” Ken explained. “And I thought, ‘A Big Foot. There couldn’t be many of them around. I’d hate to make something that there’s a lot of already.” Despite Ken’s misgivings, his wife was understanding and his neighbors loved Big Foot so much that they placed it in a permanent spot of honor next to the main road through town. “Now I can get by with anything,” said Ken. Decades have passed since Ken made Big Foot, and his tiny hometown of Vining (pop. 78) has gradually become an outdoor gallery for his metal art (As have neighboring towns such as Henning and Ottertail). Ken’s busy hands have created anything-goes pieces such as a dancing knife and spoon with arms and legs, a huge doorknob floating in mid-air, and a giant pair of pliers topped with an equally large cockroach. One of the sculptures in Nyberg Park is of Ken’s daughter Karen, a NASA astronaut who’s flown two missions to the International Space Station. Was she pleased with her father’s tribute? “I can’t really say,” said Ken. “I never discussed it.” (https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11669)

[Anne perusing Nyberg Sculpture Park . . . ]

Nobody hates like a Christian who’s just been told their hate isn’t Christian. ~  John Fugelsang

If anyone’s trying to use the Bible to justify any meanness to LGBTQ people, they’ve always got to go around Jesus. Being gay is natural; hating gay is a lifestyle choice. And unlike being gay, homophobia is highly curable. ~  John Fugelsang

[So, here we are, welcoming the alien . . . ]

Human hate has been around a lot longer than religion. It’s natural and at times we all fall prey to it. ~  John Fugelsang

Many Christians passionately cling to the antigay parts of Leviticus, but they don’t exactly live by the rest of Leviticus, which also forbids tattoos, wearing mixed fabrics, working on Saturdays, and eating shellfish. ~  John Fugelsang

The Bible has a lot of truth. ~  John Fugelsang

I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. ~ Susan B. Anthony

[The above quote was in Fugelsang’s book.)

Jesus taught humility, self-denial, and service to others, often warning against the dangers of wealth and materialism. ~  John Fugelsang

Religion, like all institutions of man, is inherently flawed, but irony will never let you down. ~  John Fugelsang

You can’t groom a kid to be transgender—but you can groom a douchebag to think he’s Christian. And Christian transphobia is yet another stark rejection of the words of Jesus. ~  John Fugelsang

Science has never made me doubt the existence of a loving God. ~  John Fugelsang

[Apparently taken by accident as it was so bright out I couldn’t see the screen . . . ]

The “Levitical laws” were essential regulations for a deeply religious and desperately nomadic tribe hoping to survive without a home in the desert. It’s a guide to staying devout while also keeping your tribe’s numbers up in a Bronze Age wilderness with no refrigerators, antibiotics, or Wi-Fi access. ~  John Fugelsang

I think mediocre men hate sexually independent women because they can’t handle the truth, and the truth is that SLUT is secretly an acronym for Sexually Liberated, Unapologetic, and Truthful. ~  John Fugelsang

It’s a convenient substitute for tangible help or systemic solutions. Prayer is supposed to be a way to seek guidance, not an excuse for inaction. ~  John Fugelsang

Scapegoating is how prejudice and discrimination become normalized within societies. It’s very easy to get caught up in what your culture considers to be normal, and most of us raised subjectively within a cultural prejudice generally don’t realize it. ~  John Fugelsang

Congressmembers assailed the ACA as socialism. ~  John Fugelsang

I would argue there’s a large and growing religious group we don’t acknowledge—people who were raised religious but now consider themselves “spiritual” because they’re turned off by the cruelties and hypocrisies of organized authoritarian religion. Spiritual people use religion to become better people. Fundamentalists use religion to pretend they’re better than other people. ~  John Fugelsang

It’s hypocrisy to call yourself a Christian and chase away a refugee or someone seeking help. ~ John Fugelsang

[Ruthie signs the Nyberg Park guest book . . . ]

Any Christian individual or group who advocates, engages in, or justifies violence directly rejects Jesus’s unglamorous, deeply unsexy teachings of non-retaliation and love. Jesus blessed the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9) and taught reconciliation (Matthew 5:23–24). His true followers are instructed to live in peace with everyone (Romans 12:18). ~ John Fugelsang

[a]part from a “Year of our Lord,” the Constitution doesn’t mention God, Jesus, or the Bible in any way. The First Amendment explicitly prohibits any national religion. The Establishment Clause stops the government from ever favoring one faith over another, and the Free Exercise Clause protects individuals’ rights to practice their religion without undue government meddling. ~  John Fugelsang

[The aforementioned Karen Nyberg . . . ]

Jesus modeled servant leadership, washing his disciples’ feet and teaching that the greatest among his followers should be the servant of all. ~  John Fugelsang

[Coffee for the road . . . ]

[a] movement that manages to gloss over the well-documented wishes of both the founding fathers and Jesus in equal measure. ~  John Fugelsang

These were the fundamentalists, the power-hungry grifters who took advantage of the fact that most people don’t know the Bible all that well. They were charlatans, frauds, hypocrites, and villains. And they made for great TV. ~  John Fugelsang

[“Indian on Horse,” apt name for this sculpture . . . ]

But if you do decide to engage with a biblical literalist in a public setting, especially featuring loved ones, try to ask questions. Do our creationist friends believe the passage of Genesis 6:1–4 that describes fallen angels mating with human females and creating a race of Nephilim, or giants? That’s really there. In Genesis 4:14–15, Cain is scared that “others” will kill him after he is exiled for murdering Abel. Who are these “others” if Adam, Eve, and Cain were the only humans at the time? Where exactly did Cain’s wife come from, please? Where’d all the water go after the flood?” ~ John Fugelsang

[Big Foot, how it all began . . . ]

How a devastating 1795 battle created Minnesota’s most misunderstood roadside attraction. Drive through Battle Lake, Minnesota, and you can’t miss the 23-foot fiberglass warrior with his arm raised in greeting. Most visitors snap photos and move on, never realizing they’re looking at one of Minnesota’s most complex historical figures. The real story of Chief Wenonga isn’t what the heroic statue suggests. (https://www.enclavemarine.com/blog-posts/chief-wenonga-biography-ojibwe-warrior-battle-lake-history)

[We have now ventured from Vining to Battle Lake (population 857), which is overseen by Chief Wenonga . . . ]

Wenonga’s name means “Vulture” in the Ojibwe language, according to historian William Whipple Warren’s 1852 account in “History of the Ojibway People.” This wasn’t a man born to leadership despite the statue’s portrayal. Wenonga was a young Ojibwe warrior from the Leech Lake region, part of the Pillager Band during the late 1700s. The era was marked by intense conflict as the Ojibwe migrated westward into territory long held by the Dakota nation. These weren’t simple territorial disputes but fights over hunting grounds, wild rice beds and sacred sites that sustained entire communities. (https://www.enclavemarine.com/blog-posts/chief-wenonga-biography-ojibwe-warrior-battle-lake-history)

In fall 1795, Chief Uk-ke-waus organized a 50-warrior raiding party targeting a Dakota settlement near what French traders called “Lac du Battaile.” After a four-day journey south from Leech Lake, the Ojibwe spotted a small Dakota hunting party and gave chase through thick woods. Three of the fastest runners, including Wenonga, burst onto open prairie to discover a massive Dakota village of approximately 300 lodges. The surprise attack had become a death trap—50 Ojibwe warriors faced potentially 2,000 Dakota defenders deep in enemy territory.The Dakota response was swift. The outnumbered Ojibwe retreated to marshland near what is now West Battle Lake, fighting desperately from reed beds and shallow water. Chief Uk-ke-waus made a fateful decision: he ordered younger warriors, including the wounded Wenonga, to escape while he and his three sons held off attackers. All four family members died that day. According to Warren’s historical account, fewer than one-third of the war party survived. The Ojibwe named the lake Ish-quon-e-de-win-ing: “Where But Few Survived.” (https://www.enclavemarine.com/blog-posts/chief-wenonga-biography-ojibwe-warrior-battle-lake-history)

[For more on Wenonga, read Jess Lourey’s murder-by-month book series . . . ]

Our official religion is All and/or None. ~  John Fugelsang

[West Battle Lake, at 5,615 acres, is a giant among Minnesota lakes . . . ]

[And just for fun, here’s Minnesota Gopher basketball star Amaya Battle, with whom we share a two degrees of Kevin Bacon connection. (Photo courtesy of the ‘connector.’) . . . ]

Shakespeare tells us that even “the devil can recite Scripture for his purpose.” ~  John Fugelsang

[On Battle Lake’s main street ISO of our favorite restaurant, Stella’s, only to discover that it had closed and moved to the metropolis of Fergus Falls (population 14,258) . . . ]

May 16

The reality is that you’re statistically far more likely to be groomed and/or sexually assaulted by a priest than a trans person. ~  John Fugelsang

[At Carlos Creek Winery (4 miles north of Alexandria) ISO of outdoor music – only to discover that 40 mph winds required we move inside for pizza . . . ]

Decent Christians—including moderates and sane conservatives—along with righteous atheists, agnostics, and many people of other religions, have always had to band together to beat back the batshit-crazy Christians. ~  John Fugelsang

Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them. ~ Barry Goldwater, 1994 (this quote from Fugelsang’s book}

[Later that day, at the high school’s Performing Arts Center . . . ]

The number-one killer of children in America is gun violence. What is the pro-life plan to save the born children? ~  John Fugelsang

Science and biblical literalism don’t mix. ~  John Fugelsang

[Anne & Bill, season ticket holders at Washington, D.C.’s, Arena Stage for 50 years, found this performance quite entertaining . . . ]

High certainty, low empathy, science resistant. Fundamentalists are deeply into hierarchy, raised on patriarchy, and they always prop up oligarchy. ~  John Fugelsang

[We also attended Conductor Brad Lambrecht’s pre-concert maestro’s notes . . . ]

May 17

Jesus disdained wealth and earthly power, and challenged traditional laws of his own faith. He rejected earthly materialism, renounced the idea of revenge, and commanded us to welcome the stranger.
I know, right? Just like Donald Trump. ~ John Fugelsang

[And after a wonderful six days, it was time to say goodbye . . . ]

The modern conservative is… engaged… in one of man’s oldest, best financed, most applauded, and, on the whole, least successful exercises in moral philosophy. That is the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. ~ John Kenneth Galbraith, 1967

[Quote from Fugelsang’s book . . . ]

Go Figure?

Anti-Tax fetishist Grover Norquist owns a bust of Ronald Reagan, who raised taxes 11 times. ~ John Fugelsang

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