July 5
I hate writing, I love having written. ~ Dorothy Parker
These are the final days of Mini U, i.e., college; a day of rest in Nashville; and the return home. I came home so much smarter again I decided to re-take the SAT’s. At my age, it has taken me so long to pound out this puppy I need a new avocation. But I love paying homage to Dorothy Parker . . . ~ Me
It serves me right for putting all my eggs in one bastard. ~ Dorothy Parker
June 14
Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone. ~ Dorothy Parker
[It’s all about writers . . . ]
Their pooled emotions wouldn’t fill a teaspoon. ~ Dorothy Parker
If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of ‘The Elements of Style.’ The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy. ~ Dorothy Parker
[Truman Capote and Harper Lee were friends . . . ]
Four be the things I’d have been better without: love, curiosity, freckles and doubt. ~ Dorothy Parker
[Mark Twain was popular as a writer and speaker . . . ]
I’d like to have money. And I’d like to be a good writer. These two can come together, and I hope they will, but if that’s too adorable, I’d rather have money. ~ Dorothy Parker
[Lest you were wondering about the Dorothy Parker quotes . . . ]
I require three things in a man: he must be handsome, ruthless, and stupid. ~ Dorothy Parker
[Out of a list of 12 writers, I correctly discerned that the two “jerks” were Hemingway and Capote. Unfortunately, I took the class pass-no pass . . . ]
I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy. ~ Dorothy Parker
[Thomas Wolfe was 6’6″, quirky, didn’t drive, was only 37 when he died from tuberculosis . . . ]
It’s always something. ~ Gilda Radner
[Unfortunately, our professor for this class was medically indisposed . . . ]
One half who graduate from college never read another book. ~ G. M. Trevelyan
[Fortunately, the gentleman in charge of IU travels was immediately available to present a slide show of a recent trip to Antarctica. The day was saved by a nice recovery by Mini U . . . ]
If matters go badly now, they will not always do so. ~ Horace
If there is no struggle, there is no progress. ~ Frederick Douglass
[By the mere accident of table choice, we had dined with Professor Schlib earlier in the week . . . ]
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. ~ Frederick Douglass
[Lincoln and Douglass met three times; Douglass was invited to Lincoln’s 2nd inauguration . . . ]
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. ~ Frederick Douglass
[A most interesting fact: There are more photographs of Frederick Douglass than of any other person of the 19th century (which, of course, includes Lincoln) . . . ]
I am a Republican, a black, dyed in the wool Republican, and I never intend to belong to any other party than the party of freedom and progress. ~ Frederick Douglass
[Douglass grieved Lincoln’s death . . . ]
I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted. ~ Frederick Douglass
[The Emancipation Memorial was erected in Washington, D.C. in 1876 (the centennial) funded by the wages of freed slaves . . . ]
To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker. ~ Frederick Douglass
[Douglass was concerned that the 1876 election ended the Reconstruction era . . . ]
No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck. ~ Frederick Douglass
[D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton tries every year to have the Emancipation Memorial removed because it’s paternalistic, despite being funded by freed slaves . . . ]
I got all my work done to graduate in two months and then they were like, I’m sorry, you have to take driver’s ed. I just kind of went, Oh, forget it. ~ Fiona Apple
[The view from the DOM’s room. We’re angling for a similar room next year . . . ]
I learned law so well, the day I graduated I sued the college, won the case, and got my tuition back. ~ Fred Allen
[This statue was banned in Florida . . . ]
Yeah, I spent about 20 years in a dorm room. It took me a while to graduate. ~ Douglas Wilson
[The adjacent man was subsequently also banned in Florida . . . ]
I don’t look to find an educated person in the ranks of university graduates, necessarily. Some of the most educated people I know have never been near a university. ~ John Keegan
[A wall mural in the Memorial Union . . . ]
Really, the potential for, first of all, any college graduate today is enormously good. These are good times for anyone with a college degree today, particularly African Americans. With a college degree today, you really breach the unemployment rate. ~ Alexis Herman [Editor’s note: Ms. Herman was once the Administrator of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, a/k/a, where I worked. We once had a fine dining lunch together with other staff.]
[Students touring the campus. Here at the Sample Gates . . . ]
For many, graduation marks the end of formal student life – the end of long spring breaks and of thinking that a 10 A.M. class is far too early. ~ Alexa Von Tobel
[ISO a fine dining experience . . . ]
Earlier today, Arnold Schwarzenegger criticized the California school system, calling it disastrous. Arnold says California’s schools are so bad that its graduates are willing to vote for me. ~ Conan O’Brien
You know what has made me the happiest I’ve ever been? Seeing my son and daughter graduate from college. More than wanting them to be educated, I wanted them to be nice people. To see that they have become both is just a wonderful thing. ~ Gil Scott-Heron
[With the real IU alums at Nick’s English Pub, their hang out back in their days 55+ years ago!]
You must realize that honorary degrees are given generally to people whose SAT scores were too low to get them into schools the regular way. As a matter of fact, it was my SAT scores that led me into my present vocation in life, comedy. ~ Neil Simon
[The penultimate day of college (we have a morning class tomorrow). We have had a lovely week and today we look forward to classes from the superstars. Beth Cate (a Supreme Court expert) begins the day with “Just Shoot Me . . . “, about the 2nd Amendment, of course; and this evening Margie Hershey will address a packed auditorium about the “2024 Elections”.]
June 15
Whenever you put a man on the Supreme Court he ceases to be your friend. ~ Harry S Truman
[Starting the day with a lecture from Beth Cate. There are worse things in life . . . ]
His [Justice Anthony Kennedy] uncertainty on which way to go in partisan gerrymandering and the Masterpiece Cakeshop case shows this. And while he wrote some forward-thinking opinions, he also wrote or joined decisions that contributed to a substantial weakening of our core institutions. ~ Beth Cate
We want to bear witness today that we know the relation between corporate greed and what goes on too often in the Supreme Court decisions. ~ Cornel West
In America, the Supreme Court and the American people believe no one is above the law. ~ Jeff Sessions
If the publicly passed campaign finance laws had not been struck down by the Supreme Court, Club for Growth Action would be illegal, and Heritage Action wouldn’t have the SuperPAC threat to back up its small ad purchases. ~ Zrphyr Teachout
I willingly accept that we who judge must not deny the differences resulting from experience and heritage but attempt, as the Supreme Court suggests, continuously to judge when those opinions, sympathies and prejudices are appropriate. ~ Sonia Sotomayor
Just because a majority of the Supreme Court declares something to be ‘constitutional’ does not make it so. ~ Rand Paul
It’s hard not to have a big year at the Supreme Court. ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Our review of more than 700 years of English and American legal history reveals a strong theme: government has the power to regulate arms in the public square. … Indeed, we can find no general right to carry arms into the public square for self-defense. ~ Judge Jay Bybee
When I joined the Supreme Court in 1975, both state and federal judges accepted the Court’s unanimous decision in United States v. Miller as having established that the Second Amendment’s protection of the right to bear arms was possessed only by members of the militia and applied only to weapons used by the militia. ~ John Paul Stevens
The U.S. Supreme Court has a lot to answer for, because it has made it impossible for Congress to reduce the corrupting influence of money on American political life. ~ Peter Singer
District of Columbia v. Heller, which recognized an individual right to possess a firearm under the Constitution, is unquestionably the most clearly incorrect decision that the Supreme Court announced during my tenure on the bench. ~ John Paul Stevens
Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people. ~ Carl Sagan
We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. ~ Carl Sagan
[There are a thousand to a million stars in a cluster . . . ]
Sometimes I think we’re alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we’re not. In either case the idea is quite staggering. ~ Arthur C. Clarke
[A cluster is up to 10’s of light years across . . . ]
If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. ~ Carl Sagan
[The universe is 13.7 billion years old. Globular clusters are up to 13 billion years old. There is no available literature from that time . . . ]
When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. ~ Arthur C. Clarke
[The Milky Way has 160 globular clusters . . . ]
Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works. ~ Carl Sagan
[In other words, for to have minds wide awake, one must be woke . . . ]
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. ~ Carl Sagan
[“Order” is the goal of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam . . . ]
I don’t believe in astrology; I’m a Sagittarius and we’re skeptical. ~ Arthur C. Clarke
[Catholicism dominated the 16th century . . . ]
It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God – but to create him. ~ Arthur C. Clarke
[In early maps East was up and Jerusalem was the center of the universe . . . ]
I don’t believe in God but I’m very interested in her. ~ Arthur C. Clarke
[By 1450, maps were fairly accurate with North facing up . . . ]
Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowed from deep nonsense. ~ Carl Sagan
[The Garden of Eden is an allegory . . . ]
I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious. ~ Albert Einstein
[The DOM of Fort Wayne . . . ]
Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. ~ Oscar Wilde
Never go to your high school reunion pregnant or they will think that is all you have done since you graduated. ~ Erma Bombeck
Success didn’t spoil me; I’ve always been insufferable. ~ Fran Lebowitz
[Undergrads showing off their ‘IU’ cookies at the faculty reception . . . ]
How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean. ~ Arthur C. Clarke
[What we learned in college today . . . ]
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
[She is the author of “Party Politics in America,” now in its 18th edition . . . ]
In a democracy, voters choose their political leaders. In a democracy that permits gerrymandering … elected leaders choose their voters. ~ Marjorie Hershey
[I had a bad angle and bad lighting for photos. But I could hear her just fine. Each year we really look forward to the classes from Professors Hershey and Cate . . . ]
June 16
Hotel rooms inhabit a separate moral universe. ~ Tom Stoppard
[The shared hotel room of the three of us packing up after graduation . . . ]
I stayed in a really old hotel last night. They sent me a wake-up letter. ~ Steven Wright
There was a girl knocking on my hotel room door all night! Finally, I let her out. ~ Henny Youngman
Gaslighting is mind control to make victims doubt their reality. ~ Tracy Malone
[Our last class before graduation. A subject matter appropriate for this day and age . . . ]
Here comes the gaslighting. He’s attempting to make me feel crazy for being scared, even though my fear is more than warranted. ~ Colleen Hoover
If you decide to label a behavior as gaslighting on social or in real-time, be sure you are correct. Because if you are not, you’d be the one gaslighting. ~ Richie Norton
Our potentially prosperous nation is beset by treasonous imbeciles, forgoing commonsense and reason for fearmongered, preconceived notions they’ve been gaslighted into by the very people profiting from their ignorance. ~ Bryan (Nyrhalahotep) Hardbarger
Gaslighting is a subtle form of emotional manipulation that often results in the recipient doubting their own perception of reality and their sanity. In addition, gaslighting is a method of manipulation by toxic people to gain power over you. The worst part about gaslighting is that it undermines your self-worth to the point where you’re second-guessing everything. ~ Dana Arcuri
You just need to be convincing enough to fool the public. That’s easy. ~ Sol Luckman
Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. ~ Buddha
[“The Biddies” planned this visit for after Mini U on the way home to Nashville . . . ]
Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship. ~ Buddha
[Our first view matched the brochure’s cover . . . ]
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. ~ Buddha
[The Cultural Center . . . ]
The mind is everything. What you think you become. ~ Buddha
[The interior of the Cultural Center – beautiful . . . ]
Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one idolized. ~ Dalai Lama
I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done. ~ Buddha
[Rita with our tour guide (for just the three of us) . . . ]
I was born into the world as the king of truth for the salvation of the world. ~ Buddha
[Made of individual beads . . . ]
He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes. ~ Buddha
Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace. ~ Buddha
A woman of the world is anxious to exhibit her form and shape, whether walking, standing, sitting, or sleeping. Even when represented as a picture, she desires to captivate with the charms of her beauty and, thus, to rob men of their steadfast heart. ~ Buddha
Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace. ~ Buddha
It is better to travel well than to arrive. ~ Buddha
Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue. ~ Buddha
[Then we took a stroll around the site . . . ]
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. ~ Buddha
[Yurt style cabins . . . ]
A jug fills drop by drop. ~ Buddha
[A lilypad pond . . . ]
Know how to travel from your town to a nearby town without a car, either by bus or by rail. ~ Marilyn Vos Savant
[A Bloomington landmark more famous than Hinkle’s Hamburgers, it’s the last stop on the way out of town towards Nashville . . . ]
I prefer the things around town. I’m not one for going out of town too much. ~ Julie London
[A must stop whenever we’re there . . . ]
All my friends are so small town. ~ John Cougar Mellencamp
[On State Road 46 between Bloomington and Nashville, we passed John Mellencamp’s pre-divorce house . . . ]
Ain’t that America home of the free, yeah? Little pink houses for you and me. ~ John Mellencamp
[It’s hard to see the house, particularly if you’re driving by apace (and there are no shoulders for stopping) . . . ]
I’m not a princess this ain’t a fairytale. I’m not the one you’ll sweep off her feet. Lead her up the stairwell, this ain’t Hollywood, This is a small town. I was a dreamer before you went and let me down. Now its too late for you and your White Horse to come around. ~ Taylor Swift
[We missed this Theatre L’Homme Dieu show while we were away. Fortunately, we have witnessed their excellence in the past. Jami and Danny went in our stead and loved it!]
I meet a lot of young people in the Midwest, and I saw what a difference a show like In the Life can make to their lives in some of these small towns where, you know, there are probably two gay people in the whole damn town. ~ Lesley Gore
[Jami got to visit with Lori after the show . . . ]
June 17
There is a comfortable feeling in small towns. It is salubrious. ~ Andie MacDowell
[Just a day for hanging out with “The Biddies” in Nashville . . . ]
June 18
I hate small towns because once you’ve seen the cannon in the park there’s nothing else to do. ~ Lenny Bruce
[The morning of departure back to Minnesota enjoying a sit in Rita’s porch . . . ]
The secrets of small towns have fascinated writers and readers since the first psychological thriller was penned. ~ Fiona Barton
[Her porch view to the west (toward Bloomington) reflects the “mountains” of Brown County . . . ]
Small towns are the worst for getting recognised. ~ Wayne Knight
[Then a visit to Rita’s United Methodist Church where her Pastor Mary was getting a public buzz cut in advance of upcoming chemo therapy treatments . . . ]
When I read ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ I was so struck by the universality of small towns. ~ Tom Brokaw
I think in small towns like this one, whether you’re a man or a woman, you basically do what there is to do. ~ Estelle Parsons
[Confetti flew and applause grew upon completion . . . ]
I grew up with this crazy upbringing of living many places and always being the new kid in town . . . I was constantly arriving in small towns and going to school with kids who’d been together since they were in kindergarten. ~ John Lithgow
[Then just across the street (which describes everywhere in Nashville) for a cool one . . . ]
Fame is only good for one thing – they will cash your check in a small town. ~ Truman Capote
[While Ruthie took care of the bill . . . ]
There are things about growing up in a small town that you can’t necessarily quantify. ~ Brandon Routh
[Rita joined me with her strawberry margarita and Ruthie’s pina colada . . . ]
I come from this really small town near Nashville, Tennessee, where everything was la-di-da and normal. ~ Miley Cyrus
[I opted for the Cold Ass Beer . . . ]
I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities. ~ Sarah Palin
[Here’s to another fine week in Hoosierville!]
I’m a small-town girl, and it’ll never be beaten out of me. ~ Erica Durance
[Who has more fun than “The Biddies”?]
My plan is to have a theatre in some small town or something and I’ll be manager. Ill be the crazy old movie guy. ~ Quentin Tarantino
[For reference to where we were, that’s Rita’s church’s steeple in the background . . . ]
Everybody wants you to do good things, but in a small town you pretty much graduate and get married. Mostly you marry, have children and go to their football games. ~ Faith Hill
[And then we were gone . . . ]
June 19
The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don’t know what you’re doing, someone else does. ~ Immanuel Kant
[Jami babysat our babies while were gone. As she prepared to leave for home, Ruthie gave her a squirt off!]
A small town is a place where there’s no place to go where you shouldn’t. ~ Burt Bacharach
[Jami, Danny, and a friend painted and cleaned our garage while we were gone. As a reward for such efforts, along with many thanks, they’ve likely earned a dinner at El Loro on their next visit . . . ]
I think us guys are fortunate to have such a great female fan base, from age eight to 80. I know my grandparents have lots of friends who are saying we want pictures of him topless. It is quite the talk in a small town. ~ Kellan Lutz
These two girls start wanting the same thing because in this neighborhood, they know all the guys so well. It’s a small town and all the guys are just really boring to them. ~ Caroline Dhavernas
I really understand where Alice is coming from – I’ve been in exactly the same place coming from a small town and knowing that I need to do other things, that I have to leave. ~ Molly Parker
That would be a good thing for them to cut on my tombstone: Wherever she went, including here, it was against her better judgment. ~ Dorothy Parker
“Excuse my dust.” Parker suggested that this be used as an epitaph on her final resting place – and it was. ~ Dorothy Parker
Up Next: May the Fourth Be With You ( . . . I heard that!)
alexandriacardinals2.wordpress.com 