And the beat goes on, the beat goes on . . . Sonny & Cher
All the best performers bring to their role something more, something different than what the author put on paper. That’s what makes theatre live. That’s why it persists. ~ Stephen Sondheim
August 6
Jazz has been such a force in music, that any musician, including classical composers, have been influenced, and obviously performers, also. ~ Yo-Yo Ma
If God wanted us to fly, He would have given us tickets. ~ Mel Brooks
May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house. ~ George Carlin
People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. ~ Isaac Asimov
We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don’t know. ~ W. H. Auden
Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. ~ Margaret Mead
Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. ~ Mark Twain
It’s hard for performers to grow old gracefully, but I’m trying. ~ Anne Murray
[The cast warmed up on the patio before the real stuff began . . . ]
Performers are the neediest people in the world. Unless you’ve been in that goldfish bowl – nobody can judge unless they’ve worn those shoes. ~ Jennifer Lopez
[Patrons and performers accompanied each other on stage just for the fun of it . . . ]
I think performers are all show-offs anyway, especially musicians. Unless you show off, you’re not going to get noticed. ~ Elton John
This joint is jumpin’, it’s really humpin’ . . . ~ Fats Waller
[Eventually ticket holders would leave the stage . . . ]
We shouldn’t feel restricted by our sexuality, and our sexuality doesn’t have to be a cultural choice. ~ Neil Tennant
[The theatre’s executive and artistic director faces the audience with play director, Eric Morris . . . ]
We have all, at one time or another, been performers, and many of us still are – politicians, playboys, cardinals and kings. ~ Laurence Olivier
[Cast photo, courtesy of Deb Trumm . . . ]
August 12(Once cast performance at Gathered Oaks)
Whatever the means of delivery, whatever the technological and corporate structures, music will always be about groups of talented individual performers communicating emotionally with individual fans. ~ Mick Hucknall
The role of an orchestra in the 21st century isn’t just playing, it’s about developing future audiences and performers. ~ Leonard Slatkin
[All music sounds better with pizzas from brick ovens . . . ]
If I had to live my life again, I’d make the same mistakes, only sooner. ~ Tallulah Bankhead
[The beautiful grounds and gardens of Gathered Oaks . . . ]
Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen. ~ Albert Einstein
[Known for, among other things, a fine taste in chapeaus . . . ]
It’s simple, if it jiggles, it’s fat. ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger
[Regulars at a lot of stuff . . . ]
It is a scientific fact that your body will not absorb cholesterol if you take it from another person’s plate. ~ Dave Barry
[From NOLA to Alex . . . ]
August 22
Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired. ~ ~ Jules Renard
[The soiree begins on the theatre’s patio with adult beverages . . . ]
I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific. ~ Lily Tomlin
They say marriages are made in Heaven. But so is thunder and lightning. ~ Clint Eastwood
[Ruthie with the evening’s entertainers, Walter (L) and Wagner (R) Caldas, a/k/a, the B2wins. (Bonus points for naming the background person . . . ) ]
I don’t have a bank account because I don’t know my mother’s maiden name. ~ Paula Poundstone
[We shall soon repair to the tent for dinner . . . ]
Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts. ~ E. B. White
When you come to a fork in the road, take it. ~ Yogi Berra
[The exit (or entry) road from the theatre . . . ]
I have tried to know absolutely nothing about a great many things, and I have succeeded fairly well. ~ Robert Benchley
[On a golf cart ride across the road to the theatre property on Lake L’Homme Dieu . . . ]
Roses are red, violets are blue, I’m schizophrenic, and so am I. ~ Oscar Levant
[Ibid.]
I have never been hurt by what I have not said. ~ Calvin Coolidge
[Returning from the lake . . . ]
I can resist everything except temptation. ~ Oscar Wilde
[Thank goodness for name tags . . . ]
The chief function of the body is to carry the brain around. ~ Thomas A. Edison
[Recent rain and forecasts initiated the use of a tent . . . ]
By all means let’s be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out. ~ Richard Dawkins
[Care had to be observed to prevent chair legs from sinking into the sod . . . ]
A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man. ~ Lana Turner
[Glen Fladeboe, the annual auctioneer for the fund raising part of the program . . . ]
Progress is man’s ability to complicate simplicity. ~ Thor Heyerdahl
You can always tell when a man’s well informed. His views are pretty much like your own. ~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before. ~ Mae West
If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life. ~ Henry David Thoreau
Cleanliness becomes more important when godliness is unlikely. ~ P. J. O’Rourke
Smoking kills. If you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life. ~ Brooke Shields
I distrust camels, and anyone else who can go a week without a drink. ~ Joe E. Lewis
Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it. ~ Charles Dudley Warner
[Submitted photo (Deb?) . . . ]
Until you walk a mile in another man’s moccasins you can’t imagine the smell. ~ Robert Byrne
Progress might have been alright once, but it has gone on too long. ~ Ogden Nash
[Just be aware, if you hold these signs up in some places you may receive a credit card bill . . . ]
I don’t deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don’t deserve that either. ~ Jack Benny
Yield to temptation. It may not pass your way again. ~ Robert A. Heinlein
[The parents of B2wins . . . ]
August 23
My one regret in life is that I am not someone else. ~ Woody Allen
[L-r: Steve Lehto, guitar; PK Mayo, guitar; John Wright, bass]
I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I have ever known. ~ Walt Disney
[Lehto . . . ]
Never put a sock in a toaster. ~ Eddie Izzard
The superfluous, a very necessary thing. ~ Voltaire
[Mayo, originally from Eveleth, met someone from his hometown there this night. He played drums in a band with PK, and they hadn’t seen each other in over 40 years . . . ]
A sure cure for seasickness is to sit under a tree. ~ Spike Milligan
I used to jog but the ice cubes kept falling out of my glass. ~ David Lee Roth
[Wright . . . ]
When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice. ~ Saul Bellow
I don’t need you to remind me of my age. I have a bladder to do that for me. ~ Stephen Fry
All the candy corn that was ever made was made in 1911. ~ Lewis Black
[Say “goodnight” all . . . ]
Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement. ~ Ronald Reagan
If you’re naturally kind, you attract a lot of people you don’t like. ~ William Feather
I’d like to kiss ya, but I just washed my hair. ~ Bette Davis
Lead us not into temptation. Just tell us where it is; we’ll find it. ~ Sam Levenson
[As we began in Part 1, Celia and grandson Tom on a Sunfish at Camp Brosius in Elkhart Lake (photo credit to nephew Chris) . . . ]
This was the year of the Paris Olympics. They made my camp stay comfortable. If not for Ruthie, I likely would have stayed home this year. I’d had carotid surgery a month earlier and lost my voice (projected to come back by February). Of course that made communication a tad difficult. I also felt like I had a low grade flu which made it difficult to breathe outside in the warm, humid air of summer. The TV room was in one of the few air conditioned areas in camp. I spent a lot of time in there watching the Olympics . . . ~ Me
July 29
Everybody denies I am a genius – but nobody ever called me one! ~ Orson Welles (for further explanation, Orson Welles was a Wisconsin native)
[Dining at the lake . . . ]
July 30
They teach anything in universities today. You can major in mud pies. ~ Orson Welles
[Ruth’s Camp Brosius universal bag crafted by past camper and frequent cruising mate Kathleen Gross (RIP) (Ruthie photo) . . . ]
July 31
I have a great love and respect for religion, great love and respect for atheism. What I hate is agnosticism, people who do not choose. ~ Orson Welles
[Let the camp games begin – grandson Tom flipping a cornhole bag (Ruthie photo) . . . ]
My mother and father were both much more remarkable than any story of mine can make them. They seem to me just mythically wonderful. ~ Orson Welles
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
At twenty-one, so many things appear solid, permanent, untenable. ~ Orson Welles
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
The two things you cannot do effectively on stage are pray and copulate. ~ Orson Welles
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
My kind of director is an actor-director who writes. ~ Orson Welles
[Yo, it was camp tie dye day (Ruthie photo) . . . ]
I am essentially a hack, a commercial person. If I had a hobby, I would immediately make money on it or abandon it. ~ Orson Welles
Living in the lap of luxury isn’t bad except that you never know when luxury is going to stand up. ~ Orson Welles
[It’s airborne (Ruthie photo) . . . ]
Now we sit through Shakespeare in order to recognize the quotations. ~ Orson Welles
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
I passionately hate the idea of being with it; I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time. ~ Orson Welles
[A camp staple since the Jurassic Era is euchre. There is an annual camp tournament and some games are just for fun – here Shane and Charley took on Tom and Celia. For the record, Ruthie and Rita are historically famous in camp as the Dreaded Callecod Sisters . . . ]
I don’t say we all ought to misbehave, but we ought to look as if we could. ~ Orson Welles
I started at the top and worked my way down. ~ Orson Welles
[And in this corner, the Dreaded Callecod Sisters were taking on Chris and Ed (who with Elke, the 5th person in the photo, are Chris’s parents . . . ]
I have the terrible feeling that, because I am wearing a white beard and am sitting in the back of the theatre, you expect me to tell you the truth about something. These are the cheap seats, not Mount Sinai. ~ Orson Welles
[The camp Sunfish in full display . . . ]
The notion of directing a film is the invention of critics – the whole eloquence of cinema is achieved in the editing room. ~ Orson Welles
[And next to the Sunfish, the Hobie Cats . . . ]
[Deniece (Beth) and Denephew (Chris) enjoying, as we all do, the camp waterfront . . . ]
Only very intelligent people don’t wish they were in politics, and I’m dumb enough to want to be in there. ~ Orson Welles
[The pontificating of the ancients, Rita and the DOM (from Fort Wayne, a camp attendee for over 40 years). In the foreground, the DOM’s youngest granddaughter Mabel . . . ]
Race hate isn’t human nature; race hate is the abandonment of human nature. ~ Orson Welles
Movie directing is a perfect refuge for the mediocre. ~ Orson Welles
[The camp pier with the Elkhart Lake water tower on the far side of the lake . . . ]
Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason. ~ Orson Welles
[Where the great issues of our time come to conclusion . . . ]
When television came along, I’d already done more than 10 years of radio work and I thought everyone would want me. I sat around waiting for the phone to ring – and it didn’t. ~ Orson Welles
[Meanwhile, back with Beth and Chris . . . ]
It used to be that we disagreed over the basic facts we were fighting over, and we had different opinions about them. Now I think we accept different sources of authority. … And people can establish credibility on their own say-so as long as nobody follows the trail and calls them out on it. ~ Rachel Maddow
[The DOM completed Rachel Maddow’s Prequel at camp and referred it to me. I too was able to finish the book at camp, though this was my continuing expression throughout . . . ]
People who disagree on important issues don’t agree on the facts. ~ Rachel Maddow
I’m a national security liberal, which I tell people because it’s meant to sound absurd. ~ Rachel Maddow
Ecstasy is not really part of the scene we can do on celluloid. ~ Orson Welles
[Ruthie capturing the true essence of the pontificating ancients . . . ]
I do not suppose I shall be remembered for anything. But I don’t think about my work in those terms. It is just as vulgar to work for the sake of posterity as to work for the sake of money. ~ Orson Welles
If I ever own a restaurant, I will never allow the waiters to ask if the diners like their dishes. Particularly when they’re talking. ~ Orson Welles
[Last night we witnessed the result of the worst economy in history. Here in the wilds of Eastern Wisconsin, with the largest population in Elkhart Lake (population under 1,000), we stopped at two restaurants for dinner (Schwarz’s of St. Anna (unincorporated) and Three Guys and a Grill (Sheboygan Marsh State Wildlife Area) where the only thing to be seen in all directions were farm fields, but the wait for tables at each place was an hour and and half. So we went into downtown Elkhart Lake where the Lake Street Cafe opened up a new room just for us . . . ]
I’m not a walking extra in a Chekhov play; I’m no Slavic gloom or Irish gloom. ~ Orson Welles
[Three Guys and a Grill . . . ]
I worry a lot about taking care of my dependents, all those perfectly ordinary middle-class preoccupations. ~ Orson Welles
[Lake Street Cafe . . . ]
I have no great message to the world. ~ Orson Welles
[The view across the street to a village landmark . . . ]
I’m a provincial. I live very much like a hermit: reading, listening to music, working in the cutting room, writing, commercial work – which doesn’t take up that much time. ~ Orson Welles
[I have no idea what was on the ceiling?]
The laws and the stage, both are a form of exhibitionism. ~ Orson Welles
[7/13ths of the entire team . . . ]
If everyone worked with wide-angle lenses, I’d shoot all my films in 75mm, because I believe very strongly in the possibilities of the 75mm. ~ Orson Welles
August 1
I’ve spent most of my mature life trying to prove that I’m not irresponsible. ~ Orson Welles
[Leaving our cabin early in the morning, I find the bunnies find people to be neverminds . . . ]
If I don’t like somebody’s looks, I don’t like them. ~ Orson Welles
August 2
Look at the real prodigies, and I look like nothing compared to them. ~ Orson Welles
[Every year I try to catch a daybreak photo of the sails . . . ]
I feel I have to protect myself against things. So I’m pretty careful to lose most of them. ~ Orson Welles
[Chris’s sister Emily visits with Beth, a/k/a, her sister-law, on the penultimate day at camp which tends to be quite busy . . . ]
Everything bad that has ever happened to me has been caused by agents or lawyers. ~ Orson Bean
[Congregating around the beverage and ice cream stand . . . ]
There were centuries when civilization had no theater. ~ Orson Welles
[The DOM and Ruthie caffeinating in the mess hall . . . ]
I was spoiled in a very strange way as a child, because everybody told me, from the moment I was able to hear, that I was absolutely marvelous, and I never heard a discouraging word for years, you see. I didn’t know what was ahead of me. ~ Orson Welles
[Tom and Celia won the two-person Sunfish race . . . ]
The only reason for doing a play is to make a statement about it, and by that I don’t mean a conceit of the producer. ~ Orson Welles
[WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!]
Hollywood is the only industry, even taking in soup companies, which does not have laboratories for the purpose of experimentation. ~ Orson Welles
[Vicki (the DOM’s supervisor), Rita, and the DOM outside the Sputh Roundhouse lakeside . . . ]
I’ve always found it very sanitary to be broke. ~ Orson Welles
As a producer, sitting on the other side of the desk, I have never once had an agent go out on a limb for his client and fight for him. I’ve never heard one say, ‘No, just a minute! This is the actor you should use.’ They will always say, ‘You don’t like him? I’ve got somebody else.’ They’re totally spineless. ~ Orson Welles
[Tom, Celia, Ruthie, and Rita prepare for a Hobie Cat ride . . . ]
One shouldn’t ever be conscious of the author as lecturer. When social or moral points are too heavily stressed, I always get uncomfortable. ~ Orson Welles
[This has many opportunities for excitement . . . ]
I know people who have a much better recollection of their childhood than I do. They remember very well when they were a year and a half and two years old. I’ve only one or two daguerreotypes that come to mind. ~ Orson Welles
I’m never certain of a performance – my own or the other actors’ – or the script or anything… But to me it seems there’s only one place in the world the camera can be, and the decision usually comes immediately. ~ Orson Welles
Each multiplex has screens allocated to each studio. The screens need filling. Studios have to create product to fill their screen, and the amount of good product is limited. ~ Orson Welles
Anybody who speaks quietly and shrivels up in company is unbelievably arrogant. ~ Orson Welles
I don’t like television when it gets near to photographed plays. ~ Orson Welles
[It’s sailing until you hit the doldrums – give me a big comfortable pontoon every time . . . ]
Film is like a colony and there are very few colonists. ~ Orson Welles
[The end is nigh, staff photos begin . . . ]
When I was ten, I won the horseshoe-throwing contest at summer camp. I was also the Wiffle ball champion in my town. ~ Dwayne Johnson
Criminals are never very amusing. It’s because they’re failures. Those who make real money aren’t counted as criminals. This is a class distinction, not an ethical problem. ~ Orson Welles
Every actor in his heart believes everything bad that’s printed about him. ~ Orson Welles
I broke my wrist at summer camp playing a game called ‘volleybat,’ which was baseball but with a volleyball. It is as dangerous as it sounds. ~ Josh Gondelman
Now I’m an old Christmas tree, the roots of which have died. They just come along and while the little needles fall off me replace them with medallions. ~ Orson Welles
Good artists copy, great artists steal. ~ Pablo Picasso
[The last night party on the patio . . . ]
The best artists know what to leave out. ~ Charles de Lint
[Chris, Emily, and Beth at the par-tay . . . ]
I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. ~ John Steinbeck
[The dancing was made much easier when they replaced the old flagstone patio with pavers in the last year or so . . . ]
We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased, we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too. ~ Langston Hughes
When artists make art, they shouldn’t question whether it is permissible to do one thing or another. ~ Sol LeWitt
[The camp celebrities . . . ]
Artists are just children who refuse to put down their crayons. ~ Al Hirschfield
[The last campfire and awards ceremony . . . ]
The fire is the main comfort of camp, whether in Summer or Winter. ~ Henry David Thoreau
All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart, which tells us that we are all more alike than we are unalike. ~ Maya Angelou
[Awards given to the Dom’s and Vicki’s granddaughters . . . ]
We have to support our local artists. It’s just that simple. Otherwise, we will have no art. ~ Al Jourgensen
[Ruthie, the DOM and Vicki, and Tom and Celia are in the picture . . . ]
Archimedes was my ideal. I admired the works of artists, but to my mind, they were only shadows and semblances. The inventor, I thought, gives to the world creations which are palpable, which live and work. ~ Nikola Tesla
[Tom takes a final stroll around the campfire . . . ]
Artists live in unknown spaces and give themselves over to following something unknown. ~ Kiki Smith
[It must be a photo from Ruthie because she caught me in the upper left hand corner . . . ]
August 3
The affirmative action of generational wealth. ~ Michelle Obama
[Lining up to go home . . . ]
Artists can color the sky red because they know it’s blue. Those of us who aren’t artists must color things the way they really are or people might think we’re stupid. ~ Jules Feiffer
I like kids’ work more than work by real artists any day. ~ Jean-Michel Basquiat
[And goodbye to the relatives from England . . . ]
Artists are losing the choice to use film. People have a love for it – the grain, how it feels, the texture. – Keanu Reeves
[If you leave camp by the back door, you will visit a big property in constant change . . . ]
Dance is certainly a sport, and they are phenomenal athletes, and they’re also artists. ~ Neve Campbell
[The gardens keep growing . . . ]
The best advice I’ve received is to be yourself. The best artists do that. ~ Frank Gehry
I love watching live shows from different artists from different stages of their lives. I’m always interested in the mastery of the live performance. ~ Stjepan Hauser
Bob Marley was one of my favourite artists. He sang politically conscious lyrics, yet he sang love songs, too. ~ Gregory Isaacs
[It’s a 7 1/2 road trip home. The St. Cloud sign popped up way too early – until I realized we were still in Wisconsin . . . ]
People don’t remember each tree in a park but all of us benefit from the trees. And in a way, artists are like trees in a park. ~ Yoko Ono
[Goodbye from the kids (photo credit again to Chris) . . . ]
History shows us that in times of people feeling like they are in need of some sort of rebellion or protests, the artists rise because the poetry we create about pain and its relationship to culture in the world begins to soothe and heal people who are feeling confused or afraid. ~ Lady Gaga
Things like ‘mad as a hatter’ or ‘grinning like a Cheshire cat’, are so powerful that music and songs incorporate the imagery. Writers, artists, illustrators, a lot of them have incorporated that. ~ Tim Burton
Without music, life would be a mistake. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
Camping is nature’s way of promoting the motel business. ~ Dave Barry
It’s time, once again, for summer camp. Camp Brosius is an Indiana University (IU) alumni camp in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. For eight weeks every summer, 100 new campers check in weekly for fun in the sun. Above is grandson Tom and his significant other Celia – they graduated together from Purdue in 2016 with degrees in computer graphics technology. They now live and work in Denver. Tom was a Camp Brosius staff member (summer job for college students) 10 years ago. Ruthie and her sister Rita are IU alums. Ruthie and I have been coming to camp most years since 1992 – we believe Rita may be approaching 40 years of attendance. (Photo credit to nephew Chris from San Diego). ~ Me
July 26
I married a woman who loves to camp, and I am what you would call indoorsy… My wife always brings up, ‘Camping’s a tradition in my family.’ Hey, it was a tradition in everyone’s family ’til we came up with the house. ~ Jim Gaffigan
[Ruthie and I were on the road for less than two hours when debris hit the windshield near Maple Grove, MN . . . ]
When I graduated from the University of Wisconsin, I was highly encouraged to move to Boston to train as a hopeful for the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games. ~ Hilary Knight
[Photo taken in Wisconsin often through the years, when we remember – for our friend Crazy Dave “Owen.” This year I advised him that we think we found his truck . . . ]
Whether the Sikhs want to worship in Wisconsin or the Christians want to worship in Texas or the Jews want to worship in New York, we’re living under the magnificent umbrella of a Constitution that says we can. ~ Marianne Williamson
[For several years now, we spend a night in Sheboygan before moving on to Elkhart Lake the next day . . . ]
I love Wisconsin. It’s a great place. ~ Donald Trump
[Several family members scour the Sheboygan waterfront ISO a place to dine . . . ]
I’m a Wisconsin kid, so I like brats and burgers and stuff like that. Cheese curds. ~ J. J. Watt
[Ruthie, Rita (from Nashville, IN), the aforementioned Celia and Tom, and Beth (Rita’s daughter and thus our niece, from San Diego) . . . ]
I believe in science. We’re going to bring back science to the state of Wisconsin. ~ Tony Evers
[The canal outlet to Lake Michigan, a pretty great lake . . . ]
I’m a normal kid from Oshkosh, Wisconsin. ~ Hornswoggle
[Oh boy, we found a place with food!]
I actually thought about some other schools, and I was interested in Nebraska. But they kind of backed off recruiting me. I think it was because of my name. They just assumed a Watt would go to Wisconsin. ~ T. J. Watt
[Tom trying to save Celia from the octopus eye on the playground adjacent to our hotel in downtown Sheboygan (Ruthie photo) . . . ]
A lot of parents pack up their troubles and send them off to summer camp. ~ Raymond Duncan
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
My first few films were institutional comedies, and you’re on pretty safe ground when you’re dealing with an institution that vast numbers of people have experienced: college, summer camp, the military, the country club. ~ Harold Ramis
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
The first rule of monsters is that you have to go find them. You have to make a conscious choice to go to the swamp or the desert or the abandoned summer camp. ~ Mel Brooks
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
I always try to describe making movies like summer camp, or some holiday where you spend all day, every day with a new group of people whom you kind of love and then never see again. ~ Eddie Redmayne
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
The whole experience on ‘Grown Ups 2’ was like going to adult summer camp. ~ Halston Sage
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
June 27
My first joke that ever aired on ‘Late Night’ was for a list of ‘Top 10 Least Popular Summer Camps.’ My contribution – ‘Camp Tick in beautiful Lyme, Connecticut’ – squeaked in at No. 10. Like a trip to Camp Tick, my time at ‘Late Night’ faded into memory like a short session at a dicey summer camp. ~ Nell Scovell
[Food market in Fountain Park, across the street from our Sheboygan motel (Ruthie photo) . . . ]
Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch. ~ Orson Welles (from Kenosha)
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
A film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet. ~ Orson Welles
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
If there hadn’t been women we’d still be squatting in a cave eating raw meat, because we made civilization in order to impress our girlfriends. ~ Orson Welles
[Scenic Shore Bike Tour for the cure, with up to 1,500 riders on a variety of routes including 25-miles, 75-miles, 100-miles and the traditional two day 150-mile (75-mile each day) routes (Ruthie photo) . . . ]
I spent 15 years on the road between touring and recording and I never saw anything. I want to enjoy life. ~ Gloria Estefan
[Where we did split tours – Celia, Tom, and Ruthie went to the lake shore, here standing on a breakwater (Ruthie photo) . . . ]
The enemy of society is middle class and the enemy of life is middle age. ~ Orson Welles
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
I have always been more interested in experiment, than in accomplishment. ~ Orson Welles
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
Gluttony is not a secret vice. ~ Orson Welles
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
Good evening, ladies and gentleman. My name is Orson Welles. I am an actor. I am a writer. I am a producer. I am a director. I am a magician. I appear onstage and on the radio. Why are there so many of me and so few of you? ~ Orson Welles
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
I have an unfortunate personality. ~ Orson Welles
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story. ~ Orson Welles
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
Everything about me is a contradiction, and so is everything about everybody else. We are made out of oppositions; we live between two poles. There’s a philistine and an aesthete in all of us, and a murderer and a saint. You don’t reconcile the poles. You just recognize them. ~ Orson Welles
[It appears to have been kite day (Ruthie photo) . . . ]
Popularity should be no scale for the election of politicians. If it would depend on popularity, Donald Duck and The Muppets would take seats in senate. ~ Orson Welles
[Ruthie photo . . . ]
Weirdness is not my game. I’m just a square boy from Wisconsin. ~ Willem Dafoe (from Appleton)
[Rita, Beth, and I went north out of Sheboygan for our daily excursion . . . ]
Wisconsin’s a special place. ~ Brett Favre
[The recently completed mural of Ruth West in downtown Manitowoc is a colorful and meaningful tribute to an avid gardener, patron of the arts and a beloved humanitarian (manitowoccountyhistory.org).]
So what do I do in Wisconsin? I don’t know. I just slug through it. ~ Jane Hamilton
I really like Wisconsin. I enjoy it. I enjoy the people. I enjoy the fact that it’s not L.A. or New York. And there’s some sense of normalcy here – people having children in homes they can somewhat afford to live in. ~ Michael Feldman
[The beaches of Manitowoc . . . ]
I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time. ~ Orson Welles
[A garden of Ruth West?]
Art is the only way to run away without leaving home. ~ Twyla Tharp
[Restroom sign #1 . . . ]
A good painting to me has always been like a friend. It keeps me company, comforts and inspires. ~ Hedy Lamarr
[Restroom sign #2 . . . ]
I hate television. I hate it as much as peanuts. But I can’t stop eating peanuts. ~ Orson Welles
I have a great deal of respect for Wisconsin workers. ~ Ron Johnson
I’m a lifelong Vikings and Packers fan because I lived in both Minnesota and Wisconsin as a kid. ~ Mark Batterson
I prefer the old masters, by which I mean John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford. ~ Orson Welles
Art consists of limitation. The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton
If you’re looking for can-do, earthy-crunchy attitude then you’ve got to go to Wisconsin. ~ Dar Williams
Are you really sure that a floor can’t also be a ceiling? ~ M. C. Escher
[Rita and Beth at a classic soda shop . . . ]
We heat our home with wood so the fireplace is always going and it’s pretty cozy in here, which is good because we have long winters in Wisconsin. ~ Rachel Campos-Duffy
[SS Badgeris a passenger and vehicle ferry in the United States that has been in service on Lake Michigan since 1953. Currently, the ship shuttles between Ludington, Michigan, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin, a distance of 62 miles (100 km), connecting U. S. Highway 10 between those two cities. She is the last coal-fired passenger vessel operating on the Great Lakes, and was designated a National Historic Historic Landmark on January 20, 2016 (Wikipedia).]
It is a well-documented fact that guys will not ask for directions. This is a biological thing. This is why it takes several million sperm cells… to locate a female egg, despite the fact that the egg is, relative to them, the size of Wisconsin. ~ Dave Barry
[With a shout out to Pequot Lakes . . . ]
In the state of Wisconsin it’s mandated that teachers in the social sciences and hard sciences have to start giving environmental education by the first grade, through high school. ~ Gaylord Nelson
I’m one of nine sisters. My parents were dairy farmers in Wisconsin. My father didn’t believe in girls doing farm work. Girls did housework, and he hired young men to do farm work. I would have preferred to be outside. ~ Diane Hendricks
[I’m not sure if anybody knows or not, but Wisconsin is famous for cheese . . . ]
I didn’t expect to pursue acting at all, let alone TV and film, let alone New York or L.A. I was quite content doing Shakespeare out in Wisconsin. ~ Carrie Coon
[Part of the aforementioned Scenic Shore Bike Tour . . . ]
Northern Wisconsin, where I’m from, is so ridiculously rural. ~ Trixie Mattel
In Wisconsin, style-wise, it was all about bundling up, maybe wearing a hat and forgetting about your hair. ~ J. J. Watt
I get a lot – a lot – of requests to make things that are like Lady Gaga. Like, ‘I’m a 9-year-old girl in Wisconsin. Please dress me like Lady Gaga. How much would this cost?’ ~ Chris March
[All men my age who are in a car with a woman will not be the driver. Beth is at the helm here as we cruise along a lakeshore drive . . . ]
My mama is African American and from Wisconsin. My baba was born in Iran. My parents have stressed the idea of creating your own path, and creating your own identity is part of that. That’s why embracing these two cultures is important to me. ~ Yara Shahidi
In Wisconsin, style-wise, it was all about bundling up, maybe wearing a hat and forgetting about your hair. ~ J. J. Watt
Full disclosure: the Russians did not tell Hillary Clinton, ‘Don’t go to Wisconsin.’ ~ Ed Schultz
My father had season tickets to the Packer games, and I have several of those. I have a lot of family that still lives in the Bay Area and in Wisconsin, too. And so, I like to get back as often as I can. ~ Tony Shalhoub
There was a point in time in Wisconsin football when people used to just go to watch the band. ~ Bret Bielema
July 28
When you take over at Wisconsin, nobody’s ever won there, nobody expects you to win and that’s when it’s really hard to do. And Bo Ryan won there, consistently. ~ Jim Boeheim
[Packed up, leaving Sheboygan for camp in Elkhart Lake . . . ]
This world is but a canvas to our imagination. ~ Henry David Thoreau
[A now annual occurrence, a stop at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan on our way to Elkhart Lake . . . ]
The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls. ~ Pablo Picasso
[The participants here in random order are Chris and Beth, Tom and Celia, Rita, Ruthie, and me, Emily (Chris’s sister) and Shane and their kids Henry and Charley from Cambridge, England . . . ]
There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept. ~ Ansel Adams
[The “art” greeter at the entry . . . ]
If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced. ~ Vincent Van Gogh
Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others. ~ Jonathan Swift
[As always, the museum tour begins in the entry restrooms . . . ]
I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for. ~ Georgia O’Keefe
The greatness of art is not to find what is common but what is unique. ~ Isaac Bashevis Singer
[“The Blob”?]
The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection. ~ Michelangelo
Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. ~ Scott Adams
The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity. ~ Walt Whitman
Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced. ~ Leo Tolstoy
[If it’s Kohler, it’s bathrooms . . . ]
Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still. ~ Dorothea Lange
[I’d like to challenge the art department’s choice of the male model in this instance . . . ]
Art is too serious to be taken seriously. ~ Ad Reinhardt
[The epitome of civilization . . . ]
Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos. ~ Stephen Sondheim
[Reminds my of my stellar work as a geography major at the University of Minnesota . . . ]
Art is not a thing; it is a way. ~ Elbert Hubbard
[A modern American Gothic . . . ]
Art distills sensations and embodies it with enhanced meaning. ~ Miguel de Unamuno
[Restroom as playroom . . . ]
A room hung with pictures is a room hung with thoughts. ~ Joshua Reynolds
A work of art that contains theories is like an object on which the price tag has been left. ~ Alexander Pope
All art is but imitation of nature. ~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca
[This is either a cooling system for a 1952 Studebaker or a Vulcan mind meld of saxophones . . . ]
An artist never really finishes his work, he merely abandons it. ~ Paul Valery
[A piano bird or a bird piano?]
An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision. ~ James Whistler
[The next 4 pieces are certainly eligible to interpretation . . . ]
One eye sees, the other feels. ~ Paul Klee
Art cannot be modern. Art is primordially eternal. ~ Egon Schiele
The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery. ~ Francis Bacon
I cried all the way to the bank. ~ Liberace (from West Allis)
[This is our forever first stop in Elkhart Lake, the Tiki Bar on the far side of the lake from Camp Brosius. Check in at camp isn’t until 1:00 pm so we while away to the time here until then. This year it a got a little drizzly so have no photos – so here’s our Tika Bar photo from 2015 . . . ]
Prayer and dependence on God has been our history. How unfortunate it is now that an unaccountable and unelected and misguided judge from Wisconsin, Judge Barbara Crabb, has declared National Days of Prayer – established by the Congress – to be unconstitutional. ~ James Dobson
[My golf cart ferry for the week, with Ruthie and Rita as my chauffeurs. Oy!!]
I hate camping, but I love summer camp. ~ Zooey Deschanel
[The lakefront dining room, with the rumored anticipation of new tables next year . . . ]
The coolest things I know how to do – I learned to do at camp. ~ Julia Roberts.
[Celia entering the camp scene . . . ]
What’s more important than a summer of fun? More important than making new friends? More important than sharing? ~ Addams Family Values
Queen is my all-time favorite band in history. I was an obsessive growing up after I discovered them at 10 at summer camp. ~ Adam F. Goldberg (or possibly Ruthie?)
I try to sign for as many kids as possible. Kids come first, and I’ll always sign for a kid before an adult. It’s funny, because I was never big into autographs as a kid. The only player who I ever wanted an autograph from was Dave Winfield. ~ Derek Jeter
Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” ~ C.S. Lewis
Dan, March 8, 2023: Dick Greene* had sent me the full Wash Post article [3rd story below] ……this guy is young , but has a good start, though obviously is a piker by comparison (he’s been to only about 132 arenas, and accumulated many of his D1 teams at conference tourneys with 8 or more at a time.) I would guess there are quite a few bball addicts who are much closer to my arena number than to his (though I would imagine that my “legitimately earned” souvenir cup collection could be unmatched ?)
* Dick Greene is from San Francisco, just a fellow Final Four fan who made a connection with Dan over the years. Dick was the guy who arranged for Dan’s Wimbledon tickets. The first photo under 2006 (below) is an Indianapolis Final Four dining meetup of our group with the San Franciscans – Dick is 2nd from the right in the photo, Dan is to Dick’s right . . .
Time doesn’t take away from friendship, nor does separation. ~ Tennessee Williams
2002
Starbucks really isn’t that expensive if compared to whatVictoria’s Secretcharges per cup. ~ Muskan Aggarwal
[We have entered a new millennium. It seems appropriate we start it off with Dan at the helm of the Moby Obie, our pontoon when we lived on Lake Darling . . . ]
Remember that the most valuable antiques are dear old friends. ~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
[Libby and Hans taking their lives in their hands with Dan at the helm of the Moby Obie . . . ]
2003
I’ll stick to finding the funny in the ordinary because my life is pretty ordinary and so are the lives of my friends—and my friends are hilarious. ~ Issa Rae
[Hans, Libby, Dan, and Ruthie atop Inspiration Peak, 25 miles north of Alexandria where one goes in search of topography . . . ]
2004
A restaurant is a fantasy—a kind of living fantasy in which diners are the most important members of the cast. ~ Warner LeRoy
[I remember this place. I think Dan set it up (some new hot place) where we were joined by our mutual friend Mayo. The only problem is none of the participants remember the name of the place or its location? (I seem to recall either on Washington Avenue in downtown Mpls or on University Avenue just east of the campus?)]
2005
I’d rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent. ~ John Wooden
[Dan wasn’t here, but he appreciated the effort. My brother Chris’s (far right) family cheering for George Mason [Chris’s daughter Jessica’s school) in the Final Four that year.]
2006
I never eat in a restaurant that’s over a hundred feet off the ground and won’t stand still. ~ Calvin Trillin
[The whole eating gang, including the San Franciscans, somewhere in Indianapolis . . . ]
If you want a reliable tip, drive into a town, go to the nearest appliance store, and seek out the dishwasher repair man. He spends a lot of time in restaurant kitchens and usually has strong opinions about them. ~ Bryan Miller
[Dan and Ruthie in December of that year at a place that can only be redeemed from my memory through hypnosis or DNA analysis . . . ]
2007
Good people are happy when something good happens to someone else. ~ Dean Smith
[Dan and Ruthie in Atlanta, checking our seat locations for the games. Kind of gives you an idea why we stopped going to Final Fours . . . ]
The only thing I like better than talking about food is eating. ~ John Walters
[Atlanta, thusly, the obvious source of this fine dining experience. Since it has taken me so long to complete Dan’s story, I can’t remember if I’ve previously identified the other diners: Dan’s cousin Mary and cousin-in-law Gus from Wichita . . . ]
When life gives you lemons, freeze them and throw them at the people who are making your life difficult. ~ Muskan Aggarwal
[At Hans’s, for what I seem to recall was his 60th birthday in Minneapolis . . . ]
No man who has once heartily and wholly laughed can be altogether depraved. ~ Thomas Carlyle
[All delighting in finally having their records (all) expunged from public scrutiny . . . ]
You’ve got a friend in me. ~ Woody, Toy Story
[Hans and Libby at my 60th birthday party at Chez Obert on Lake Darling in Alexandria . . . ]
Everyone needs a coach. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a basketball player, a tennis player, a gymnast or a bridge player. ~ Bill Gates
[“Basketball Dan” meets “Crazy Dave” – there hasn’t been such greatness in a single room since the Buckley-Vidal debates. “Crazy” is also a denizen of Lake Darling, but gained his fame in Youngstown, Ohio, where his neighbor Jim Tressel, former Ohio State Buckeye football coach, gave him the name “Crazy” . . . ]
I was brought up to respect my elders, so now I don’t have to respect anybody. ~ George Burns
[Basketball Dan meets Alexandria’s 1965 Homecoming Queen, which could rival the above photo in notoriety. Kathy has a granddaughter on the current Minnesota Gopher basketball team . . . ]
Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too much. ~ Johnny Carson
[OK, I did take a lot of turkey photos. If Dan was going to work that hard, we needed the evidence . . . ]
Winning is like deodorant – when it comes up, a lot of things no longer stink. ~ Doc Rivers
[This annual event was the only reason I could see for watching football . . . ]
The only difference between a good shot and a bad shot is if it goes in or not. ~ Charles Barkley
Come at once if convenient. If inconvenient, come all the same. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle
Half of the people in the world are below average. ~ Flavian Mwasi
It’s a little known fact that pigs are the smartest animal. Scientists say that if pigs had thumbs and a language that they could be trained to do manual labor. They give you 20 to 30 years of loyal service and then at their retirement dinner, you can eat them. ~ Cliff Clavin
The imaginary friends I had as a kid dropped me because their friends thought I didn’t exist. ~ Aaron Machado
I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal. ~ Jane Austen
It’s important to our friends to believe that we are unreservedly frank with them, and important to the friendship that we are not. ~ Mignon McLaughlin
Life is too short for fake butter or fake people. ~ Karen Salmansohn
[Kitchen talk . . . ]
2008
You’re mad. Bonkers. Off your head. But I’ll tell you a secret: Some of the best people are. ~ Lewis Carroll, Alice In Wonderland
[At a famous Texas BBQ place. I remember we drove a bit north of San Antonio or Austin to get here. Dan would remember the name and location. I can’t . . . ]
Marriage: a friendship recognized by the police. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson
[Dining in said Texas BBQ place . . . ]
2009
Friends come and go, like the waves of the ocean, but the true ones stay. Like an octopus on your face. ~ Unknown
[Returning to the scene of my best meal ever, thanks to Dan. In September 1985 we toured Oregon where at Jake’s Grill (in background) in Portland I enjoyed a three-salmon (white, pink, red) entree in a dark and woody “gentlemen’s” room . . . ]
Anybody can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend’s success. ~ Oscar Wilde
[Dan sent postcards from his solo travels . . . ]
In a restaurant, choose a table near a waiter. ~ Jewish Proverb
[This was somewhere in Scottsdale, Arizona, for an event which now escapes me. I remember it as a place where Dan specifically requested seating in a nonsmoking area. Though we were outside, smoke found us. Dan strongly requested we be moved. I don’t recall the outcome . . . ]
2010
I don’t like to commit myself about heaven and hell — you see, I have friends in both places. ~ Mark Twain
[In honor of our protagonist, this is an eatery in Jonesville, Indiana. I had to look it up. I have no recollection of ever having been in Jonesville (population: 177), but it is about halfway between Columbus and Seymour just off of I-65, an area I have perused . . . ]
I’m not a fan of the NCAA. I don’t think they make decisions for the kids. They make decisions for bureaucracy and for their structure. ~ John Calipari
[Lucas Oil Stadium or why (see next photo) . . . ]
Mark Emmert, the head of the NCAA, makes millions. Coaches today are making millions. Who’s not making anything? I don’t want to hear about they get scholarships. Yeah, they get scholarships all right, they earn those scholarships. ~ Dick Vitale
[We decided to no longer go to basketball games played in football stadiums . . . ]
Real friendship is when your friend comes over to your house and then you both just take a nap. ~ Unknown
[At the top of this missive Dan mentioned his souvenir cup collection (they filled grocery bags in his second bedroom, along with programs and media guides). Although he had attended games at Indiana State before, he didn’t have a souvenir cup. Luckily for him Ruthie is from Terre Haute and brought him a Sycamore cup . . . ]
Fan the sinking flame of hilarity with the wing of friendship; and pass the rosy wine. ~ Charles Dickens
[And then the fine dining in Indianapolis with Gus and Mary . . . ]
One measure of friendship consists not in the number of things friends can discuss, but in the number of things they need no longer mention. ~ Clifton Fadiman
[Hinkle Fieldhouse on Butler University campus in Indianapolis (and home to the movie “Hoosiers”), a doppelganger to Williams Arena on the U of M campus, both opened in 1928 . . . ]
I don’t want to go to heaven. None of my friends are there. ~ Oscar Wilde
[Continuing dining experiences in Indy where Ruthie’s sister Rita joined the table . . . ]
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. ~ H. L. Mencken
[The Indiana state capitol . . . ]
2011
Thanksgiving, man. Not a good day to be my pants. ~ Kevin James
[Dan’s annual turkeyfest: Chris mashes the spuds while Tom provides oversight . . . ]
I love spending Thanksgiving surrounded by all these great friends I met in the Best Buy parking lot. ~ John Lyon
A lot of Thanksgivings have been ruined by not carving the turkey in the kitchen. ~ Kin Hubbard
Thanksgiving, the day where there’s never enough food. You can’t just have a turkey. No, there has to be a roast beef or a ham too. Or both. It’s the only day we have mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. ~ Lewis Black
[Suzanne oversees the serving table . . . ]
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! It’s the day you forget about all the fighting and division in the world and just focus on all the fighting and division in your family. ~ Jimmy Fallon
One should never do anything that one cannot talk about after dinner. ~ Oscar Wilde
Turkey for me, turkey for you. Let’s eat the turkey in my big brown shoe. ~ Adam Sandler
[Making plans for next year?]
2012
Memories are like mulligatawny soup in a cheap restaurant. It is best not to stir them. ~ P.G. Wodehouse
[Ruthie & her sister Rita at the go-to burger place in Bloomington, Indiana. I have no idea if there is any connection to Hinkle Fieldhouse . . . ]
When you go to a restaurant, the less you know about what happens in the kitchen, the more you enjoy your meal. ~ Jeffrey Wright
[Inside Hinkle’s . . . ]
Every Thanksgiving I bring the champagne, because in my family we all know what our strengths are. ~ Gloria Fallon
[The supervisor arrives at Dan’s, with Champagne, for the annual turkey fest . . . ]
I’m giving thanks that we don’t have to go through this for another year. ~ Adele Larson
[Turkey Hans . . . ]
Did you nap after eating the Thanksgiving meal? Or did you pass out like you were shot by a tranquilizer gun? ~ Jim Gaffigan
[Libby with Turkey Hans . . . ]
A new survey found that 80 percent of men claim they help cook Thanksgiving dinner. Which makes sense, when you hear them consider saying ‘that smells good’ to be helping. ~ Jimmy Fallon
[Hans checks on the bird; Dan stands back in accordance with OSHA regulations . . . ]
The average time for eating a Thanksgiving dinner is 12 minutes, which, incidentally, coincides with halftime. ~ Erma Bombeck
Thanksgiving: when the people who are the most thankful are the ones who didn’t have to cook. ~ Melanie White
[Dan and Susanne checking the bird . . . ]
Happy Thanksgiving! This year I’m thankful that your family is so annoying you’re checking Twitter instead of talking to them. ~ Stephen Colbert
Cooking tip: Wrap turkey leftovers in aluminum foil and throw them out. ~ Nicole Hollander
[Ruthie got the carcass every year . . . ]
I love Thanksgiving traditions: watching football, making pumpkin pie and saying the magic phrase that sends your aunt storming out of the dining room to sit in her car. ~ Stephen Colbert
I like football. I find it’s an exciting strategic game. It’s a great way to avoid conversation with your family at Thanksgiving. ~ Craig Ferguson
I suppose I will die never knowing what pumpkin pie tastes like when you have room for it. ~ Robert Brault
[The pies! Every year, the pies . . . ]
After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working. ~ Kenneth Grahame
[Libby, Dan, and Ruthie prepping dessert . . . ]
2014
I believe the only muscles you need in basketball are the ones in your brain. ~ Nikola Jokic
[Reporting for turkeyfest once again . . . ]
Watch where you’re going, asshole! ~ Sid Hartman (when in his 90’s was knocked down by a car in a crosswalk)
[It was always a highlight to be greeted by “Sid” at Dan’s front door (Sid Hartman was a Minnesota celebrity who wrote for the Minneapolis StarTribune from his teen years until his death at age 100.) ]
He’s my close personal friend. ~ Sid Hartman (about any celebrity)
[Ruthie and I brought wine for the annual event. We did not make the wine . . . ]
Sid, it’s great to see you. ~ Joe Dimaggio
[Seriously, it was a different turkey every year . . . ]
I know people at Mayo. If you need to get them to Mayo just let me know. ~ Sid Hartman
Sid was the only reporter that I could always trust. ~ Rod Carew
If you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life. ~ Sid Hartman
[Thanksgiving fixins on full display . . . ]
Rest in Peace for Sid Hartman. That’s not a message of compassion for Sid. That’s an insult. Sid lived by hurrying up and not waiting. ~ Patrick Reusse
I’ve been in Sid’s company a couple of thousand times, and I’ve never seen a man at peace. ~ Patrick Reusse
[Dan never thought much of Sid as a sports reporter; he thought of him as a shill for the University of Minnesota. Dan was a sports generalist, he had no favorite team except game by game . . . ]
2015
I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. ~ Henry David Thoreau
[The only Turkeyfest photo of the year?]
My cooking is so bad my kids thought Thanksgiving was to commemorate Pearl Harbor. ~ Phyllis Diller
[At Williams Arena after Turkeyfest to see the Gophers vs. Louisiana-Monroe?]
It is now common knowledge that the average American gains 7 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. ~ Marilu Henner
[Dan’s friends and family from Wichita were in town for Turkeyfest and were at the game . . . ]
2016 I love Thanksgiving. ~ Justin Jefferson
[By photographic evidence, the last Turkeyfest . . . ]
The turkey. The sweet potatoes. The stuffing. The pumpkin pie. Is there anything else we can agree so vehemently about? I don’t think so. ~ Nora Ephron
Thanksgiving is so called because we are all so thankful that it only comes once a year. ~ P. J. O’Rourke
[Dan talks turkey . . . ]
For those of you who cannot be with family this Thanksgiving, please resist the urge to brag. ~ Andy Borowitz
[The sign of the times . . . ]
I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow. I just know for sure I’m going to keep playing basketball. ~ Kevin Durant
[Appropriate that my final shot of Dan should be this one!]
The Hander
The will to prepare is more important than the will to win. ~ Lefty Driesell
[One of our all-time favorite coaches was Charles “Lefty” Driesell (thus, the exchange of newspaper photos). The Old Left Hander, who we just referred to as “The Hander” . . . ]
Lefty vs. Dean! Lefty vs. Dean! All I hear is ‘Lefty vs. Dean!’ If it were really Lefty vs. Dean, I’d take him into the low post and burn his ass! ~ Lefty Driesell
I can coach. ~ Lefty Driesell
[When we were attending Final Fours, our main entertainment involved cruising the lobbies of the hotels where all the teams and coaches stayed. That’s when I got this photo of Lefty, March 31, 1991 . . . ]
I’d rather be a musician than a rock star. ~ George Harrison
[We end with the beginning. This is Pizza Hut Number One, which first opened June 15, 1958. Dan’s dad, Sidney, was a local attorney who did the legal work establishing the company. It was moved to this current location for historical preservation purposes. (This photo was posted on Facebook by the couple in the photo on June 4, 2022. The couple in the photo are BAT and Brenda who travel the country in a van. BAT sings and plays guitar, in barefeet without a break in 3-hour sessions. They have made Alexandria a performance stop for over 10 years.)]
Never leave a friend behind. Friends are all we have to get us through this life–and they are the only things from this world that we could hope to see in the next. ~ Dean Koontz
The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again. ~ Charles Dickens
Up Next: If there is a “next,” I hope Dan can get tickets!
We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. ~ T. S. Eliot
[Photo of Basketball Dan with my Uncle Dick, historically rated as the No. 1 and No. 2 sports fans in the world. Their common retort to each other was: “And you call yourself a fan?” (Photo courtesy of Steve Hansen)
Hey Tom, I was thinking about Dan’s early years in Minnesota. My first memory is Gordy Peterson telling me he met “that really smart guy “ in our Q.A. Class. Dan lived I think in House 3 or 6. He helped us get through three quarters of that God Awful subject. Then he played on our softball team – we were the second stringers behind the Anderson boys team (incidentally I saw a while back that Bruce Anderson died). Dan had apparently moved to Minnesota in the summer of ‘67 and lived with a Minnesota bowler, Dick Sternberg, he had met at the ABC tourney. That first summer he went to all the Twins games. I was wondering when Dan lost interest in the Twins. A bunch of us went to the last game at the old Met in I believe in ‘82, organized by Dan for old times sake. Do you know when he soured on MLB? [No, but like bowling, once he lost interest in something he never went back.] Of course Dan was a classic Obsessive Compulsive all his life from baseball to bowling to Iowa State Travelers Insurance to basketball (tourneys and all) to food to many more – sadly ending with Betty. Chris hired a company to remove the mess from Dan’s townhouse. We will go to watch his internment on Tuesday. Do you have your voice back? [No, are setting an appt. with a speech therapist.] ~ Hans, July 14, 2024
Adventures with Dan often involved more than basketball games and fine dining. They often led to hiking in national parks. I would never have, of my volition, decided that a 6-hour hike through Mineral King was a good idea. Oy! ~ Me
[Our namesake . . . ]
1983
Knowing that we are primates, I think, is a fascinating discovery, and a very interesting and rather cheering one. ~ Christopher Hitchens
[Dan did all the trip planning, the where’s, when’s, and what for’s. Hey, that’s fine with me . . . ]
In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration. ~ Ansel Adams
[But my idea of roughing it has always been a Holiday Inn Express. It’s hard for me to believe that I actually owned a tent and that we used them here in Zion National Park . . .
The most remarkable discovery in all of astronomy is that the stars are made of atoms of the same kind as those on the earth. ~ Richard P. Feynman
[The best photo ops always seem to be from bridges with cars roaring past . . . ]
He who never made a mistake, never made a discovery. ~ Samuel Smiles
[Onward . . . ]
Discovery is for forward lookers. So, no one is born with great knowledge. ~ T. B. Joshua
[We were on the trail to Angels Landing. If I had known ahead of time what was involved, I likely would have said “nyet” . . . ]
That is the exploration that awaits you! Not mapping stars and studying nebula, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence. ~ Leonard Nimoy
Exploration by real people inspires us. ~ Stephen Hawking
And your soul needs exploration and growth. And the only way you’ll get it is by forcing yourself to be uncomfortable. Forcing yourself to get outside, out of your head. ~ Mel Robbins
So, you know, I think the age of exploration is just beginning, not ending, on our planet. ~ Robert Ballard
And as I reinvent myself and I’m constantly curious about everything, I can’t wait to see what’s around the corner in newfound art and entertainment and exploration. ~ Pam Grier
As its interest in science wanes, the country loses ground to the rest of the industrialized world in every measure of technological proficiency. ~ Neil deGrasse Tyson
[Many years later, I stood at the base of the trail up to Angels Landing again. I didn’t do the climb that time. Now there is a sign at the base of the trail noting the number of people who have died over the years falling from this trail . . . ]
We need people pushing the boundaries. Exploration is what we, as humans, do. ~ Heidi Hammel
All space exploration is risky. As an astronaut, I had to decide each and every time I went to space whether or not to risk my life for the mission. ~ John M. Grunsfeld
[There it is – that’s where Angels Land . . . ]
I know that I derive the same kind of spiritual fulfillment from what I do, being a planetary scientist, seeing our exploration of the solar system come to fruition. I get such a spiritual high from it that I don’t even see the need for religion. ~ Carolyn Porco
[Although the hike to Angels Landing in Zion National Park is only five miles up and back, most hikers take four hours to make the round-trip. After all, you are climbing 1,488 feet in elevation, up steep switchbacks (myutahparks.com).]
Today, we are on a path of decay. We are seeing the book close on five decades of accomplishment as the leader in human space exploration. ~ Gene Cernan
[Here we have moved over to neighboring Bryce Canyon National Park. The lowest elevation in Bryce is 6,600 feet – thus, there was still plenty of snow in April . . . ]
Specifically choose not to take a GPS. Just create a challenge. You can climb Everest or walk across Antarctica with minimal gear and still have that sense of adventure. But in terms of exploration, Google Earth has this world mapped down to the square foot. ~ Conrad Anker
[Incredibly unique place as Dan walks out on the observation point, discovered absent the internet and GPS . . . ]
We humans were built for exploration, and we were built to do it together. ~ Anne McClain
[Oh, for the love of cold and snow . . . ]
The good is, like nature, an immense landscape in which man advances through centuries of exploration. ~ Jorge Ortega y Gasset
The days of exploration of Shackleton and Scott are long gone. Everything has been climbed, crossed, done. Now what we’re exploring are the full boundaries of human endeavour. It’s not physical – it’s all in the head. ~ Lewis Gordon Pugh
Let’s face it. Adventure and exploration are in my blood. ~ Philippe Cousteau, Jr.
Exploration is what you do when you don’t know what you’re doing. That’s what scientists do every day. ~ Neil deGrasse Tyson
[Snowshoeing? Why not . . . ]
The fundamental nature of exploration is that we don’t know what’s there. We can guess and hope and aim to find out certain things, but we have to expect surprises. ~ Charles H. Townes
[Danger, danger!]
My motivation is to get a deeper understanding and exploration of something that I want to know about the human condition. ~ Rose McIver
The Bright Angel Trail in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona is a popular, challenging day hike that can be 10.7 to 16.2 miles round trip and can take 9 to 12 hours to complete. ~ AI Overview
[I abandoned my mentor here. This is Dan heading down Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon. I started with him but as so often happens on a long downhill trudges, my knees started barking at me. I headed back to the top; Dan soldiered on with the MTXE wind breaker tied over his head for protection the from the sun. The farther down you go, the hotter it gets. He made it down and back, looking like death warmed over but managed to signal me with a middle digit that he was No. 1 . . . ]
We live in an age of universal investigation, and of exploration of the sources of all movements. ~ Alfred de Vigny
[Uff da! And I will admit that one’s first glimpse of the Grand Canyon is a sight like no other . . . ]
Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed. ~ Cavett Robert
[Albuquerque, New Mexico, a city at the bottom of a sand pit. In April of 1983, it was the location for one of the most famous Final Fours of all time . . . ]
Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. ~ Gloria Steinem
[The opening tip of the championship game between North Carolina State and the overwhelming favorite Houston Cougars (in white) of phi slama jama fame . . . ]
The human mind is capable of excitement without the application of gross and violent stimulants; and he must have a very faint perception of its beauty and dignity who does not know this.
[One of the last Final Fours to be held in a basketball arena . . . ]
Whether in a moment of peace and quiet or exhilarating excitement, savor every minute of every place. ~ Lorrie Morgan
[When NC State completed the big upset victory, the enduring image from the game was of Wolfpack coach, Jim Valvano, running around the floor looking for someone to hug . . . ]
1984
I’m attracted to images that come from a personal exploration of a subject matter. When they have a personal stamp to them, then I think it becomes identifiable. ~ Leonard Nimoy
[Next stop, Vancouver. Brother Cam looks out an adjoining hotel window . . . ]
I think the reason we should be in space is for the exploration; it’s the human endeavour. ~ Helen Sherman
[Basketball Dan on the left, Cam and his friend Rog on the right exploring the Vancouver waterfront . . . ]
One simply runs out of energy as you get old. One doesn’t take on new tasks of exploration because it takes an extended period of intense thinking and working on it, and that becomes impractical. ~ Eugene Parker
So, I decided that whatever I was, wanted to do with my life, it would have to do, it would have to have something to do with the exploration and doing new things. ~ Duane G. Carey
[On a ferry through the San Juan Islands, Dan visits with Steve, a fellow Final Four fan from Michigan and Marquette alum . . . ]
The history of exploration has never been driven by exploration. But Columbus himself was a discoverer. So was Magellan. But the people who wrote checks were not. They had other motivations. ~ Neil deGrasse Tyson
[The end of the road up Mt. Rainier. Brother Cam, at 6’3″, provides perspective . . . ]
1985
And, one thing I definitely enjoyed personally, from a selfish point of view, was exploration and going to places that I had never been to before and learning, you know, meeting the people and getting to know, new sights and sounds, etc. ~ Duane G. Carey
[Dan staring down downtown Portland. As I recall, this was just a two-week trip to explore Oregon . . . ]
If I wasn’t doing this kind of exploration, I’d like to be doing some other kind of exploration. It might be more risky, or less risky, but, in the business of exploration, risk is part of the territory. ~ John L. Phillips
[Washington Park – International Rose Test Garden. Roses bloom from late May to October depending on the weather. The primary purpose of the Garden is to serve as a testing ground for new rose varieties (www.portland.gov).]
In the 19th Century people were looking for the Northwest Passage. Ships were lost and brave people were killed, but that doesn’t mean we never went back to that part of the world again, and I consider it the same in space exploration. ~ John L. Phillips
[Plummeting 620 feet, in two different sections, Multnomah Falls is the most-visited natural recreation site in the Pacific Northwest with more than 2 million visitors each year (traveloregon.com).]
What drives me is exploration with a purpose, more the classic Royal Geographical Society genre. ~ Robert Ballard
[Under the Falls . . . ]
All of this got me thinking about the history of the westward expansion, and got me to wondering how the exploration of the Solar System would be changed if there were an indigenous presence out there. ~ Sarah Zettel
[The view of the Columbia River from the top . . . ]
I feel like every five to seven years I really need to put myself in this position of discomfort and exploration, just to survive. Otherwise I feel like I’m falling asleep, like I’ll go crazy if I don’t do it. ~ Karen O
[Timberline Lodge is a mountain lodge on the south side of Mount Hood about 60 miles east of Portland. Constructed from 1936 to 1938 by the WPA, dedicated September 28, 1937, by President Franklin S. Roosevelt. The National Historic Landmark sits at an elevation of 6,000 feet (1,829 m) within the Mount Hood National Forest. Publicly owned and privately operated, Timberline Lodge is a popular tourist attraction that draws two million visitors annually. The lodge and its grounds host a ski resort, also known as Timberline Lodge. It has the longest skiing season in the U.S., and is open all 12 months of the year (Wikipedia).]
There are plenty of people on Earth. It’s not like the human race is going to disappear if a few people don’t come back. Exploration is dangerous. ~ William Stone
[Dan hiking the Lost Lake trail . . . ]
For me, adventure and exploration is something in the blood. ~ Bertrand Piccard
[Dan standing by and looking at a body of water or, perchance, a beaver . . . ]
I want to know why I’m alive. I want to understand. It’s like exploration; it’s like someone being interested in a place and its history, digging into the earth and looking for it, searching – it’s a passion. ~ Juliette Binoche
[Almost 40 years ago – are they still here, wherever here is?]
1986
I believe in a tongue-first exploration of the world. Food is our most immediate daily relationship to our ecosystem, and there is something delectable and intriguing about it. ~ Natalie Jeremijenko
[Through all the years of travel together, Arthur Bryant’s, in Kansas City, MO, fame ranged far and wide. Here Dan is with Richard (on the left), an NC State friend, and Andy and son, longtime friends from Wichita . . . ]
Arthur Bryant’s is a restaurant located in Kansas City, Missouri. It is sometimes called the most famous barbecue restaurant in the United States. ~ Wikipedia
So few humans seem to fully exist themselves that I wonder if all this endless speculation and haggling about God is really an exploration of a more interesting and embarrassing question about ourselves. ~ Michael Leunig
[It’s all about BBQ . . . ]
1988
Scientific discovery and scientific knowledge have been achieved only by those who have gone in pursuit of it without any practical purpose whatsoever in view. ~ Max Planck
[When I first moved to the D.C. area, I lived in Lee Gardens, a multi-building garden style apartment of 1940’s vintage on Arlington Boulevard where the front gate to Fort Myer was right across the street. Dan loved to stay with me there on his many trips to this dynamic basketball hotbed. He called it “beautiful Lee Gardens” – parquet floors and crank windows with so many layers of paint they couldn’t be closed tight. In 1987 I upgraded to the Astoria, a condominium on Lee Highway (photo 2) where I met Ruth. Dan also approved of this place . . . ]
[The Astoria, mid-frame . . . ]
I’ve always been interested in exploration and the history of exploring the world, but it seems like we’ve found everything now. ~ Ransom Riggs
[But this is about trips, so here we are in San Francisco . . . ]
The more original a discovery, the more obvious it seems afterwards. ~ Arthur Koestler
[Dazzling in his MTXE windbreaker . . . ]
[A short hip and a hop later we were the great adventurers in Yosemite . . . ]
We made more than just scientific discoveries… we rediscovered how much people love exploration. ~ Alan Stern
[Dan with Half Dome and Yosemite Valley in the background . . . ]
Summer is meant to be for travel, for exploration, for leisure, but sometimes budgets and schedules dictate otherwise. ~ Rumaan Alam
[I believe we were on the Upper Yosemite Falls Trail. Discover this 6.6-mile out-and-back trail near Yosemite Valley, California. Generally considered a challenging route, it takes an average of 5 h 21 min to complete. This is a very popular area for backpacking, camping, and hiking, so you’ll likely encounter other people while exploring (alltrails.com).]
You define a good flight by negatives: you didn’t get hijacked, you didn’t crash, you didn’t throw up, you weren’t late, you weren’t nauseated by the food. So you are grateful. ~ Paul Theroux
[Looks like we’re still climbing here . . . ]
I crossed a time zone and I feel younger already. If I keep traveling west, I can become immortal. ~ Jarod Kintz
[Overlooking Yosemite falls . . . ]
The devil himself had probably redesigned hell in the light of information he had gained from observing airport layouts. ~ Anthony Price
[The other people you’re expected to run across . . . ]
Road trips require a couple of things: a well-balanced diet of caffeine, salt and sugar and an excellent selection of tunes – oh, and directions. ~ Jenn McKinlay
[I have reason to believe we are now in Tuolumne Meadows . . . ]
Backpacking is the art of knowing what not to take. ~ Sheridan Anderson
[Within Tuolumne Meadows (8,600 feet elevation), visitors see the Tuolumne River meandering quietly through its meadow channel and cascading over the granite river bottom against a backdrop of rugged mountain peaks and glacially carved domes. The river, declared by Congress a Wild and Scenic River in 1984, originates in the high country near the east side of the park (nsp.gov/yose).]
I think the 19th century is an extraordinary period with a welling up of creativity and all kinds of experimentation and exploration going on at least until 1940. ~ Edmund Phelps
[Ruthie and I had just become acquainted this year. Her name then was Ruth Hill and this sign was somewhere near Fresno . . . ]
What’s the use of a great city having temptations if fellows don’t yield to them? ~ P.G. Wodehosue
[Dan standing by a big tree . . . ]
I get pretty much all the exercise I need walking down airport concourses carrying bags. ~ Guy Clark
[Me next to the Michigan Tree . . . ]
Adventure without risk is Disneyland. ~ Douglas Coupland
[Yosemite home sweet home – in this day and age, you’d probably need to make reservations two years in advance to get this place . . . ]
It is forbidden to steal hotel towels please. If you are not a person to do such a thing please do not read this notice. ~ A hotel in Tokyo
[Dan walks by The Senate . . . ]
It’s important for the explorer to be willing to be led astray. ~ Roger von Oech
[Dan again acknowledges the photographer with a behind-the-back one finger salute . . . ]
Britain has bred many great explorers, but they seem to get so little coverage compared to soccer and rugby players. ~ Lewis Gordon Pugh
[Though a native Minnesotan, still excited by the discovery of snow . . . ]
If you look back as far as the first explorers, they all took with them the latest gadget. ~ Charley Boorman
[From spring through mid-summer, the marmots of Mineral King have been known to dine on radiator hoses and car wiring. They can disable a vehicle. On several occasions, marmots have not escaped the engine compartment quickly enough and unsuspecting drivers have given them rides to other parts of the parks; several have ridden as far as southern California! (nsp.gov/seki)]
I always wanted to be an explorer, but – it seemed I was doomed to be nothing more than a very silly person. ~ Michael Palin
[And now back along the Pacific Coast Highway . . . ]
In 2010, there was a TED event called Mission Blue held aboard the Lindblad Explorer in the Galapagos as part of the fulfillment of Sylvia Earle’s TED wish. I spoke about a new way of exploring the ocean, one that focuses on attracting animals instead of scaring them away. ~ Edith Widder
[With an occasional beach . . . ]
Human exploration is something that’s been going on for thousands of years, and the models that worked 500 years ago are likely to work again today. ~ Peter Diamandis
[Ending the trip at Stanford . . . ]
1989-90
There is no such thing as the pursuit of happiness, but there is the discovery of joy. ~ Joyce Grenfell
[Dan lived in New Jersey for a couple years while teaching at Kean College. That made it convenient for he and Pat to drop by on occasion for biking the National Mall and the bike trail to Mount Vernon . . . ]
When exploring London, you will come across lots of excitement by chance, so try to take everything in rather than just rushing around to all of the major tourist haunts. ~ Richard Branson
Love is the word used to label the sexual excitement of the young, the habituation of the middle-aged, and the mutual dependence of the old. ~ John Ciardi
1992
I like to be wild, and I like to do wild, crazy things. I need excitement. At all times. Normal is not my type. ~ Neon Hitch
[It seems appropriate to wrap up this session with more basketball tournament fine dining. Here Dan and Ruthie lead the highlife in Kansas City . . .
Freaks was a thing I photographed a lot. It was one of the first things I photographed, and it had a terrific kind of excitement for me. I just used to adore them. I still do adore some of them. ~ Diane Arbus
[Back once again to Arthur Bryant’s with Richard, Dan, and Ruthie . . . ]
You walk into a retail store, whatever it is, and if there’s a sense of entertainment and excitement and electricity, you wanna be there. ~ Howard Schultz
[Ruthie must have been the photographer as I snuck in on the left side . . . ]
I’m trying to stay as calm as possible and focus one day at a time, but when reality sets in, I feel everything: anxiety, excitement, nerves, pressure and joy. ~ Shawn Johnson
[Believed to have been an ad model for Arthur Bryant’s . . . ]
1993
There are not a few among the disciples of charity who require, in their vocation, scarcely less excitement than the votaries of pleasure in theirs. ~ Charles Dickens
[Whoa! Another BBQ joint? This was Calhoun’s in Knoxville. While in Knoxville (we were there for a Vol football game with Dan) I learned to hate Rocky Top to the point of physical pain . . . ]
You need to keep yourself busy all the time. There should be excitement, there should be work, there should be positive thinking. ~ Dharmendra
[The Final Four that year was in New Orleans at the Superdome. Fans included Dan, his cousin Mary, and his cousin-in-law Gus . . . ]
I was out of my bed in one second, trembling with excitement, and I dashed to the door and into the adjoining room, where I could watch the streets below from the windows. ~ Hermann Hesse
[Ruthie joins the above 3 for a little New Orleans nightlife . . . ]
1997
One feels the excitement of hearing an untold story. ~ John Hope
[Ruthie and I hadn’t planned on going to the Final Four in Indianapolis – we were going to Europe the following week. Then the Gophers made their first ever Final Four so we had to go. We drove to Indy from DC with no tickets and no hotel reservations. Once there, we ran into a family from Kentucky who sold us game tickets at face value. Then we some how found a room in the downtown Hyatt with a window view of the state capitol across the street. It was all quite unbelievable . . . ]
I really wanted to buy a Range Rover. It was a big dream, and the day I bought it, I was very happy, but by evening, I was immune to it. That’s when I realized that excitement, if it’s happiness, is not in reaching the goal but in the process. Thus process trumps over realization. ~ Sushant Singh Rajput
To look back all the time is boring. Excitement lies in tomorrow. ~ Natalia Makarova
Every man can transform the world from one of monotony and drabness to one of excitement and adventure. ~ Irving Wallace
The sensitivity of men to small matters, and their indifference to great ones, indicates a strange inversion. ~ Blaise Pascal
[Photo of Daniel G. Brick courtesy of Steve Hansen, c. 1969 – 1972 (the time I was away in the army in Okinawa).]
[This came totally out of the blue. Needless to say, we were gobsmacked.]
Brick, Daniel G., Wed, Apr 19, 2023, 8:25 PM, to me: Go Go Meeed*, does your TV favor hockey or bball during this time? Sorry to dump my tale of woe, but maybe you can send a rousing version of ‘Rocky Top’ to lift one’s spirits. Less than a month ago, I was still doing 90 minutes a day at the gym, 6 days a week. I had a regular doc appt, and told him my abdomen felt a little ‘distended’, and he did a CT scan, which showed that I had numerous tumors all over my liver (largest one about the size of a softball). Subsequent MRI and biopsy showed that the cancer had metastasized from the colon (even though my last colonoscopy was totally clear only 10 months ago). My energy level started dropping very notably right away, so I’ve turned over my classes to another guy, and sleep/rest most of the day. Fortunately only discomfort more than pain, so I hope that can continue as long as possible. Unfortunately Betty can only cope by having complete belief that “God will provide a miracle”….hence my reluctance to make calls at the present time. Can’t really complain much, as I’ve had 77.5 years of a 5-star life. I learned today that they’re going to try some chemo, which I hadn’t expected….not sure I’ve accepted that reality either. [* Meeed, a sobriquet we long applied to each other, as in we both graduated magna cum mediocre.]
Brick, Daniel G., Mon, Nov 13, 2023, 2:57 PM, to me: You’d be headed straight north/west, which means I’d need to go entirely across the metro….but as a compromise, you choose between these 2 (and for either, you should make a reservation for 9:30, as Sat mornings would be very busy), Good Day Cafe (in Golden Valley), Longfellow Grill (Lake St and West River Rd).
[And so, on November 18, 2023, we (joined by my brother Cam) breakfasted with Dan at Longfellow Grill. Though we made subsequent efforts to do so again, this was the last time we saw Dan . . . ]
Brick, Daniel G., Mon, May 27, 10:18 PM, to me A very sad day indeed……I was with you at that Loyola game…..also sad was rafa losing in the first round (after 3 years of injuries) due to the unfortunate draw of zverev.
Brian Kovalchuk, Thu, Jun 6, 5:19PM, to me, Chris Hey, Dan’s just entering hospice. Hopefully it will be at home. We think it may be up to a year. Anyway, maybe you can come for a visit.
stevehansen, Thu, Jun 20, 5:56 PM, to meDan was brought to United Hospital. He may be moved to another facility tonight or tomorrow. Hans
stevehansen, Sat, Jun22, 11:35 AMDan died this morning. Just got the word. Libby and I saw him in the hospital yesterday. Sadly we had a very unpleasant encounter with Betty. We hoped to bury the hatchet but that didn’t work. Sad day but a huge relief that his suffering, medical and marital is over. That’s all I know for now. I’ll keep you posted. Call anytime. Hans
Brian Kovalchuk, Sat. Jun 22, 1209 PM, to me News to share. Dan passed away this morning at 10:57. More info later. Do you know how to contact his friend from St. Thomas, Susanne ( I think ).
***
As I get older, I don’t aggressively pursue songs. All the great ones just appear. ~ Noel Gallagher
[Just tossed in here for no other reason than Maggie May was Dan’s all-time favorite song. I don’t know why or how I still remember that. I wasn’t a Rod Stewart fan at that time, though I became one in our respective old ages when he began singing the classics . . . ]
***
My dad always said, ‘There’s only a few great ones,’ and Prince was definitely one of the greats. ~ Adore Delano
[Why it all began. Why a native of Wichita, Kansas, ended up spending the rest of his life in Minnesota. This is Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, the original home of the Minnesota Twins. After his first two years of college at Wichita State, Dan transferred to the University of Minnesota (the ‘U’) in Minneapolis because the Twins were his favorite team. I was introduced to him by a fellow dormie, c. 1967, who said you’ve got to meet this guy. In his first two baseball seasons in Minnesota he went to every Twins home game – 81 games in each year. And the legend began . . . ]
[Prelude: Although this was previously “published” on my other blog (January 17, 2011), it seems fitting it should be amended as the cornerstone to the Dan’s biography. He arrived in Minnesota over 40 years ago from Wichita, Kansas, and immediately dazzled the locals by never wearing anything heavier than a windbreaker in Minnesota winters. He competed across the country in professional bowling tournaments – then suddenly quit cold turkey, leaving approximately 20 bowling balls instantly unemployed. He served as our tour guide through 30 years of Final Fours, which usually were mere fronts for fine dining across the country. We are forever thankful to him for that. He was eminently successful in his chosen field (statistics professor at St. Thomas University) – a field amenable to his rigorous avocation travel schedule. And he for 30 years hosted an annual Turkey Day (see following photo, also courtesy Steve Hansen) for old friends that generally coincided with the Ohio State-Michigan football game. Such, and the following, are what led his Englander roommate at North Carolina State, where he obtained his Masters degree, to dub him “The Great One.” (This was originally written in February 2005, amended subsequently based on my faulty memory and expected numerical corrections from the lead character).]
I don’t have a ton of friends, but the friends I have are great ones. I don’t have huge family, but the family I have is a great one. ~ Alicia Keys
***
During his post-graduate era, Basketball Dan acquired a near mythical standing on the ‘U’s’ intramural softball fields for his big bat, nimble fielding, and huge hands. It was also during this time that his legend began to grow. We discovered that he attended his first NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four in 1954 – as you may recall, LaSalle, led by Tom Gola, were the champs that year. He also attended the Final Four in 1957, 1970, 1973, 1974, and then in every year since 1976 (when I first joined him to cap Indiana’s undefeated season at the Philadelphia Spectrum) – with the exceptions of 1999 and 2000 for personal and family health reasons. Almost without exception, during each of those Final Four years, he also attended first and second round games (until the advent of satellite coverage and big screen TV’s) and regional semi-finals and finals. I recall one year when there were regional games in both Louisville and Cincinnati – and because of the Thursday-Saturday and Friday-Sunday formats, we were able to see all of the games at both regionals.
[I attended 25 Final Fours with Dan (between1976 and 2010) – below are some sample program covers. I always say I saw the United States (all 50 states) with Dan as my travel guide. (I subsequently saw the world (42 countries) with Ruthie as my travel guide.) Of course this could have never been accomplished without we two guys being single and having the time and wherewithal to do so. I’m not sure when he attended his last Final Four – my last with him was 2010 and then he married seven years ago.]
The great ones are about winning and winning only. ~ Skip Bayless
[My first was 1976. Indiana beat Michigan for the national championship, the last undefeated team to do so, at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. I missed a few years, here and there, when I was probably performing brain surgery. We stopped going after 2010 for three practical reasons: 1) It was getting exceedingly difficult to score tickets through the lottery (several times we bought scalped tickets on the street), 2) basketball was not made to be played in football stadiums, and 3) the big screen home TVs.]
***
There’s not many people – only really the great ones – who realize what they were born to do. ~ Ed Reed
Incredibly, Dan attended a basketball game at every NCAA Division 1 home arena. There are 355 (326 at my original documentation) Division 1 college or university basketball programs (Dan pointed out this number is always in flux because of programs like Longwood, Utah Valley State, and Northern Colorado that are in the process of moving up). If you averaged 10 new schools every basketball season, it would take 35 years just to accomplish that feat. There are 119 Division I football programs – he attended games at all of those schools. Included among the football games was “The Game” between Cal and Stanford (remember Cal did a multiple-lateral kick-off return and scored a touchdown trampling Stanford band members in the end zone as the game ended). And through it all, he was never denied entry into any game he went to see. You must recognize that many of these venues are total sell-outs to season ticket holders – his most difficult entry proved to be at a Gonzaga basketball game; he had resigned himself to finally being shut out, when at the last second a season ticket holder arrived with an extra ticket. Because of the nature of the beast, Basketball Dan was on a first name basis with nationally-known “ticket brokers” (a/k/a, scalpers), and through other interesting people he has met on these adventures was able to score access to Wimbledon tickets, his only venture into international athletics.
A typical weekend for him was thus (here from 2005): Belmont, Troy, Alabama-Birmingham, Southern, and possibly Huntsville in the NBDL, whatever that is. I would venture to say that quartet would not show up on the schedule of any other alleged rabid basketball fan. Northwest Airlines should have sent a limo to his front door for his every weekend getaways. His double secret platinum card with that airline did allow him to escape on the last plane out the Northeast after the big snowstorm in 2005.
[Addendum, by e-mail dated February 2, 2011, from the man himself: This weekend at Texas Southern, next weekend S. Dak. St, and March 3 at Grambling. That leaves only Mississippi Valley State (where I got snowed out of in mid-Jan), and where I can’t get back to again this season. There are 347 (then) D-1 college basketball schools – only Mississippi Valley State is left, giving it recognition far greater than anything else in the school’s history!]
[Addendem II, by e-mail dated February 2, 2011, from The Great One – the list is complete: “I’m glad you sent the follow-up message . . . I have indeed hit a stadium for each baseball, football, and basketball pro team. However, there are a few new facilities that I haven’t been to: Have Attended Have Not ————————————————– Foxboro Stadium Gillette Stadium Texas Stadium Jerry Jones Palace Shea Stadium Citi Field (but will get at this year’s US Open Tennis) The Met, Metrodome Target Field
And there are a few new college basketball facilities: at Louisville, Gonzaga, Texas Tech, Oregon (I’ll get that in a couple weeks), Quinnipiac, St. Joe’s (I’ll get at end of Feb) built since I was there last and a few more under construction: Texas Arlington, Bowling Green, Troy, Nebraska, that I know of.]
1973
Everybody in the NBA is good. And then you have the really good ones and the great ones. ~ Kyrie Irving
[In February 1973, the first toad trip for which I have photo evidence. Dan is driving us to Chicago from Minneapolis where we were going to see (next photo) . . . ]
I know it’s a team game, but, you know, the great ones can do that – have their team involved and take over a game. ~ Greg Owen
[UCLA beat Chicago Loyola 87-73 at Chicago Stadium. Here Bill Walton wins the opening tip, my only photo of the game . . . ]
The road has taken a lot of the great ones: Hank Williams, Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, Janis, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis. ~ Robbie Robertson
[We stayed at the Heart O’ Chicago motel right downtown. And here was the view from the John Hancock Building . . . ]
Globe-trotting Hemingways and brawling Christopher Marlowes are the exception, not the rule. ~ Paul Di Dilippo
[Fellow U student Dick Haas and Dan from the Hancock observation floor . . . ]
If I ended up having a big name, I’m still going to keep that fire because that’s what just drives the great ones. ~ Mike Daniels
[The Sears Tower was close to completion. One of my all-time favorite photos . . . ]
I have always liked to play against the great ones. ~ Giorgi Chiellini
[Dan cleaning his glasses . . . ]
1975
I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. ~ Noel Coward
[At game lost in the sands of time, Steve Hansen (the aforementioned photographer) climbing the steps to join us at a Gopher football game at the long since deceased Memorial Stadium . . . ]
There’s nothing wrong with you that an expensive operation can’t prolong. ~ Surgeon (Graham Chapman)
[Hans with my Uncle Dick at that game . . . ]
I’ve always appreciated great acting performances, but I’ve even learned to appreciate not so great ones ’cause it’s hard. ~ Zoe Bell
[Uncle Dick giving the OK sign – Gophers must have won?]
They that apply themselves to trifling matters commonly become incapable of great ones. ~ Francois de La Rochefoucauld
[And, of course, Basketball Dan at said game . . . ]
1979-80
The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery. ~ Mark Van Doren
[Back in the day, Dan lived in Minnesota and I lived in Arlington, Virginia (retiring to Alexandria, MN, in 2001). To communicate about basketball in those days, we each had a Betamax, and we would tape games from our locale (he, Gophers and Big Ten; me, ACC and Big East) and mail them back and forth. Seems quite antiquated today?]
1982
Great teaching – just plain old knock ’em dead, get it right, make ’em laugh, make ’em wonder instruction – is always going to be rare. Good teachers abound. Great ones are special. ~ Robert Krulwich
[His famous winter windbreaker – it arrived with him from Wichita State with its famous logo: MTXE (mental toughness, extra effort) . . . ]
I’m sick of following my dreams, man. I’m just going to ask where they’re going and hook up with ’em later. ~ Mitch Hedberg
I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious. ~ Michael Scott (Steve Carrell)
Up Next: There’s a lot more of Basketball Dan to come . . .
Fools have a habit of believing that everything written by a famous author is admirable. For my part I read only to please myself and like only what suits my taste. ~ Voltaire, Candide
Our labour preserves us from three great evils — weariness, vice, and want. ~ Voltaire, Candide
This wraps up Mini-U for another year. I learned a lot; likely have forgotten even more. The impact of the coming worldwide baby bust is hitting with all of the impact of climate change data. The countries that need to address the problem the most are the most stringently anti-immigrant. Go figure. George Carlin figured it out a long time ago that homo sapiens’ reign over the planet is coming to an end, as it did for the dinosaur. All hail the coming of the Super Bug? ~ Me
In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense. ~ Voltaire, Candide
June 12
If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others? ~ Voltaire, Candide
When a man is in love, jealous, and just whipped by the Inquisition, he is no longer himself. ~ Voltaire, Candide
Fools admire everything in an author of reputation. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[So it was Moby Dick and a bunch of others . . . ]
I hold firmly to my original views. After all I am a philosopher. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[Professor Canada dons an albatross, in what I seem to recall, as an accoutrement to his “Literature of the Sea” presentations . . . ]
Work keeps at bay three great evils: boredom, vice, and need. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[As the Mini-U students gathered for a group photo, who should happen by but our dinner host (Rick Van Kooten, executive dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, on the right) from the previous evening . . . ]
There are, however, some things good. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[Ann Schertz discovers trying to arrange a photo shoot of senior citizens is actually more difficult than one for kindergarteners. That said, still waiting for access to the photos she took . . ]
Surely you must be possessed by the devil. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[No, move the other way, and come down two steps . . . ]
[As the floor mat says, this is where you put the “I” in “IU.” Rita leads us off . . . ]
That may be, but I know them not. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[All hail the IU Biddies!]
Wherever you go in France, you will find that their three chief occupations are making love, backbiting, and talking nonsense. ~ Voltaire, Candide
He was my equal in beauty, a paragon of grace and charm, sparkling with wit, and burning with love. I adored him to distraction, to the point of idolatry: I loved him as one can never love twice. ~ Voltaire, Candide
It is love; love, the comfort of the human species, the preserver of the universe, the soul of all sentient beings, love, tender love. ~ Voltaire, Candide
It is noble to write as one thinks; this is the privilege of humanity. ~ Voltaire, Candide
I am the best-natured creature in the world, and yet I have already killed three, and of these three two were priests. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[A medical doctor who talked off the cuff for the entire class – impressive . . . ]
A State can be no better than the citizens of which it is composed. Our labour now is not to mould States but make citizens. ~ Voltaire, Candide
Beautiful maiden, when a man is in love, is jealous, and has been flogged by the Inquisition, he becomes lost to all reflection. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[Susan Kovacich, OD]
What is this optimism? Alas, it is the madness of maintaining that everything is right when it is wrong. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[I sat at an odd angle for this class. This was my only photo. A presentation of a complete anatomy of the eye and the maladies that can occur therein . . . ]
Miss, you do not know my birth; and were I to show you my backside, you would not talk in that manner, but would suspend your judgment. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[It’s just an eye patch and a cane. I am not a pirate. ~ Reetz]
If we cannot succeed in this world we may in another. It is a great pleasure to see new objects and perform new exploits. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[Ruthie’s dorm, back in the day . . . ]
Things cannot be otherwise than they are and since, everything is made to serve and end, everything necessarily serves the best end. ~ Voltaire, Candide
Meanwhile, all the travellers whom Candide met in the inns along his route, said to him, “We go to Paris.” ~ Voltaire, Candide
[This was The Biddies campus pizza joint 60 years ago – and it’s still there. And the pizza was really, really good!]
Contemplation of the stupidity which deems happiness possible almost made Voltaire happy. ~ Voltaire, Candide
Fools admire everything in an author of reputation. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[The words of the prophets are written on the pizza joint walls . . . ]
Yes I have seen Paris; it is like all those kinds, it’s chaos, it’s a crowd in which everyone seeks pleasure and in which no one finds it, at least so it appeared to me. ~ Voltaire, Candide
Mankind were born to assist one another. ~ Voltaire, Candide
You looked so gay and content. ~ Voltaire, Candide
All men are by nature free; you have therefore an undoubted liberty to depart whenever you please, but will have many and great difficulties to encounter in passing the frontiers. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[Ernest Taylor Pyle (August 3, 1900 – April 18, 1945) was a Pulitzer Prize–winning American journalist and war correspondent who is best known for his stories about ordinary American soldiers during World War II. He was killed by enemy fire on Iejima (then known as Ie Shima) during the Battle of Okinawa (Wikipedia).]
Secret griefs are more cruel than public calamities. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[This is located just outside the entrance gate to the Indiana Memorial Union . . . ]
. . . we must cultivate our garden. ~ Voltaire, Candide
I have seen the worst. ~ Voltaire, Candide
Is there no way of getting quickly out of this country where monkeys provoke tigers? ~ Voltaire, Candide
[The Indiana Memorial Union, where we lived and learned . . . ]
You lack faith. It is because I have seen the world. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[Co-eds at the union . . . ]
Ever since 1759, when Voltaire wrote “Candide” in ridicule of the notion that this is the best of all possible worlds, this world has been a gayer place for readers.
[Co-eds, co-eds, everywhere I looked . . . ]
June 13
[i]f Columbus in an island of America had not caught the disease, which poisons the source of generation, and often indeed prevents generation, we should not have chocolate and cochineal. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[These guys are physics professors (and we have had them previously for classes) who have wandered off into the planet’s demography . . . ]
There can be no effect without a cause, the whole is necessarily concatenated and arranged for the best. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[And they did a great job with it . . . ]
He never told a story, but everyone laughed at it. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[This topic was so timely it made “The Week” a week later. As a geography major, always a big fan of demographics . . . ]
You mean you don’t have any monks to teach and dispute and govern and intrigue and burn people to death who don’t agree with them? ~ Voltaire, Candide
I have been in several provinces. In some one-half of the people are fools, in others they are too cunning; in some they are weak and simple, in others they affect to be witty; in all, the principal occupation is love, the next is slander, and the third is talking nonsense. ~ Voltaire, Candide
A fondness for roving, for making a name for themselves in their own country, and for boasting of what they had seen in their travels, was so strong in our two wanderers, that they resolved to be no longer happy; and demanded permission of the king to leave the country. ~ Voltaire, Candide
He vainly said that human will is free, and that he chose neither the one nor the other. ~ Voltaire, Candide
All that is very well, but let us cultivate our garden. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[The Tudor Room where we had the good fortune to lunch all week . . . ]
His face was the true index of his mind. ~ Voltaire, Candide
Alas, it was love; love, the comfort of the human species; love, the preserver of the universe; the soul of all sensible beings; love! tender love! ~ Voltaire, Candide
My friend, do you believe the Pope to be Anti-Christ? I have not heard it, but whether he be, or whether he be not, I want bread. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[The oversight committee . . . ]
Do you think that mankind always massacred one another as they do now? Were they always guilty of lies, fraud, treachery, ingratitude, inconstancy, envy, ambition, and cruelty? Were they always thieves, fools, cowards, gluttons, drunkards, misers, calumniators, debauchees, fanatics, and hypocrites? ~ Voltaire, Candide
[This was a travelogue of Tanzania. Ready for an IU adventure?]
Apparently, then, sir, you do not believe in original sin; for if all is for the best there has then been neither Fall nor punishment. ~ Voltaire, Candide
I have seen so many extraordinary things that nothing seems extraordinary to me. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[This is at least the second Mini-U class we have taken from Dr. Pilachowski . . . ]
We are at the end of all our troubles, and at the beginning of happiness. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[An amazing class with beautiful photos by the Webb . . . ]
It must also be noted that until the present time this malady, like religious controversy, has been wholly confined to the continent of Europe. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[h]e would tell us most amazing things in regard to the physical and moral evils that overspread earth and sea. ~ Voltaire, Candide
Martin especially concluded that man was born to live either in a state of distracting inquietude or of lethargic disgust. ~ Voltaire, Candide
I did not know it was a crime for a Christian to be found naked in company with a young Turk. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[a] plagiarizing enemy “steals much, spends little, and has nothing left. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[Dining in Alumni Hall prior to the following evening class . . . ]
There is some pleasure in having no pleasure. ~ Voltaire, Candide
Imagine all contradictions, all possible incompatibilities–you will find them in the government, in the law-courts, in the churches, in the public shows of this droll nation. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[Pre-program stage mingling . . . ]
[t]he women are never at a loss, God provides for them, let us run. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[A selfie with The Biddies in the background as the auditorium fills . . . ]
Isn’t there a pleasure in criticising everything and discovering faults where other men detect beauties? ~ Voltaire, Candide
[At the time of this class, of course, nobody had any idea of the shenanigans SCOTUS was up to . . . ]
A great work must be novel without being far-fetched, frequently sublime, but always natural. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[We wrapped up another year of Mini-University this night with our annual favorite, Margie Hershey, a liberal, discussing the upcoming election. She was joined on stage by conservative Les Lenkowsky in the 400-seat Whittenberger Auditorium. It was wonderful to listen to two people discuss this with good humor, full and complete sentences in front of a surely liberal yet appreciative audience . . . ]
[t]he nose has been formed to bear spectacles—thus we have spectacles. ~ Voltaire, Candide
June 14
Music, to-day, is only the art of executing difficult things, and that which is only difficult cannot please long. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[West Side Story, with terrific video clips combined from the 1961 and 2021 movies, and Candide . . . ]
Alas…I too have known love, that ruler of hearts, that soul of our soul: it’s never brought me anything except one kiss and twenty kicks in the rump. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[My whole schtick for the Mini-U blog came from this class. The idea of using Lillian Hellman and Voltaire quotes throughout came from a Professor Glen slide containing a two-word phrase that I cannot recall for the life of me. I’m waiting for the slides of all classes to become available . . . ]
All is for the best in the best of possible worlds. ~ Voltaire, Candide
Let us work without disputing; it is the only way to render life tolerable. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[And even more eating in Alumni Hall . . . ]
[b]ut whether he be, or whether he be not, I want bread. ~ Voltaire, Candide
Fools admire everything in an author of reputation. For my part, I read only to please myself. I like only that which serves my purpose. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[w]ho demonstrated by A plus B minus C divided by Z, that the sheep must be red, and die of the rot. ~ Voltaire, Candide
My friend, you see how perishable are the riches of this world; there is nothing solid but virtue, and the happiness of seeing Cunegonde once more. ~ Voltaire, Candide
[On the way home, we stopped in Terre Haute, Indiana, to visit with Ruthie’s sister, brother, and their families. This is the impressive Vigo County Courthouse in Terre Haute (the courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983) . . . ]
Everywhere in the world, the weak detest the strong and grovel before them. And the strong treat them like flocks of sheep to be sold for their meat and wool. ~ Voltaire, Candide
We are also to observe that upon our continent, this distemper is like religious controversy, confined to a particular spot. ~ Voltaire, Candide
Up Next: The amazing life and times of Basketball Dan . . .
No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking. ~ Voltaire
The Holy Roman Empire is neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire. ~ Voltaire
It is called Mini-University for a reason. It was now time to go to class. ~ Me
In the case of news, we should always wait for the sacrament of confirmation. ~ Voltaire
June 10
When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion. ~ Voltaire
[The Biddies, sitting in line, for breakfast on the first day of class . . . ]
All the reasonings of men are not worth one sentiment of women. ~ Voltaire
[The Biddies breakfasting on that beautiful morning on the Solatium patio . . . ]
Let us read and let us dance – two amusements that will never do any harm to the world. ~ Voltaire
[Our classmates also breakfasting on the patio . . . ]
The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination. ~ Voltaire
[Welcome, in Alumni Hall!]
Everything’s fine today, that is our illusion. ~ Voltaire
[Our hosts with opening greetings . . . ]
I have lived eighty years of life and know nothing for it, but to be resigned and tell myself that flies are born to be eaten by spiders and man to be devoured by sorrow. ~ Voltaire
[Anne Schertz, annually the event’s professional photographer . . . ]
History is only the register of crimes and misfortunes. ~ Voltaire
[Alumni Hall, in its elegance . . . ]
History will be kind to me for I intend to write it. ~ Winston Churchill
LET (MY) CLASSES BEGIN
Mini University 2024 – Class Selection Form June 10, 2024 to June 14, 2024 Thomas Obert
Monday Session One 9:45—11 A.M. Free Speech ‘Hate Speech’ and Campus Culture War Session Two 1—2:15 P.M. 3 Billion Missing Birds Session Three 2:45—4 P.M. Why Is Socialism Still a Bad Word in America?: American Christianity and the Labor Movement
Tuesday Session One 9—11 A.M. How and Why Birds Sing Session Two 1—2:15 P.M. Russia-Ukraine War: Update and Prospects for Resolution Session Three 2:45—4 P.M. Update on the US Supreme Court
Wednesday Session One 9—11 A.M. Literature of the Sea Session Two 1—2:15 P.M. How Can a Book Help Us Lead Better Lives: Marilynne Robinson’s ‘Gilead’ Session Three 2:45—4 P.M. Doctor My Eyes (Have Seen the Years)
Thursday Session One 9—11 A.M. The Coming World ‘Baby Bust’ and Its Implications Session Two 1—2:15 P.M. Tanzania: Steward of Biodiversity and Human Evolution Session Three 2:45—4 P.M. Exploring the Universe with the James Webb Space Telescope Evening Events The Upcoming 2024 Election: What to Expect
Friday Session One 9—10:15 A.M. Leonard Bernstein’s Music and Social Change
Originality is nothing but judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another. ~ Voltaire
[I had Carl for a class last year. I found him equally delicious this time . . . ]
Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too. ~ Voltaire
[For those keeping score at home, this is the Georgian Room (I had several classes here) . . . ]
Of all religions, the Christian should of course inspire the most tolerance, but until now Christians have been the most intolerant of all men. ~ Voltaire
To the wicked, everything serves as pretext. ~ Voltaire
[The introduction of Professor Weinberg . . . ]
Chance is a word void of sense; nothing can exist without a cause. ~ Voltaire
[Yes, IU did have “Middle East protest camps” on campus . . . ]
To hold a pen is to be at war. ~ Voltaire
[This is Professor James Madison. I had him for a class last year, so I do remember stuff from year-to-year. I could have had him for “My Heroes in the Struggle for Racial Justice,” but I opted for finding out what happened to “3 Billion Missing Birds.”]
Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them. ~ Voltaire
[Next class . . . ]
It is better to risk saving a guilty man than to condemn an innocent one. ~ Voltaire
[Again, in the Georgian room . . . ]
Satire lies about literary men while they live and eulogy lies about them when they die. ~ Voltaire
History is only the register of crimes and misfortunes. ~ Voltaire
[The first question from Professor Drake was about the impact of socialism on our lives. I leapt into fray first and noted that we have roads . . . ]
It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce. ~ Voltaire
The opportunity for doing mischief is found a hundred times a day, and of doing good once in a year. ~ Voltaire
[Here comes that religion thing again . . . ]
The safest course is to do nothing against one’s conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death. ~ Voltaire
[So, the current trend is not new . . . ]
The superfluous, a very necessary thing. ~ Voltaire
In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to another. ~ Voltaire
[The university made arrangements with local restaurants to feed us one night . . . ]
Time, which alone makes the reputation of men, ends by making their defects respectable. ~ Voltaire
[A bus ride to Lennie’s, hard by the IU campus. Greeted by the previously referenced photographer, Anne Schertz, and locals appreciating elderly students . . . ]
What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy. ~ Voltaire
Governments need to have both shepherds and butchers. ~ Voltaire
[Inside Lennie’s . . . ]
Use, do not abuse… neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy. ~ Voltaire
[Under the auspices of Mini-U, I took 4 co-eds out to dinner that night . . . ]
We cannot always oblige; but we can always speak obligingly. ~ Voltaire
The multitude of books is making us ignorant. ~ Voltaire
[The soups were black bean and split pea with ham, my two favorites. So I ordered both and reached nirvana . . . ]
Froth at the top, dregs at bottom, but the middle excellent. ~ Voltaire
Ice-cream is exquisite – what a pity it isn’t illegal. ~ Voltaire
[Leaving Lennie’s . . . ]
I know many books which have bored their readers, but I know of none which has done real evil. ~ Voltaire
[Looking up the street from Lennie’s, the Sample Gates entry to the IU campus . . . ]
The public is a ferocious beast; one must either chain it or flee from it. ~ Voltaire
He is a hard man who is only just, and a sad one who is only wise. ~ Voltaire
[IU campus model . . . ]
June 11
Let us work without theorizing, tis the only way to make life endurable. ~ Voltaire
Love has features which pierce all hearts, he wears a bandage which conceals the faults of those beloved. He has wings, he comes quickly and flies away the same. ~ Voltaire
It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue. ~ Voltaire
Society therefore is as ancient as the world. ~ Voltaire
To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered. ~ Voltaire
[Ruthie leads the march into the Whittenberger room because this was the class that should have been streamed on all carriers of such . . . ]
Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes. ~ Voltaire
[Professor Kravchuk laid out a scenario that made one wish one was wearing Depends . . . ]
To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered. ~ Voltaire
[And now SCOTUS has thrown this open to a totally autocratic endeavor . . . ]
Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others? ~ Voltaire
It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets. ~ Voltaire
Prejudices are what fools use for reason. ~ Voltaire
[I’d like to take this class again – NOW!]
He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend; provided, of course, he really is dead. ~ Voltaire
[The professor presented in a dry and a fact-laced performance. I wonder how he would present this today?]
Man is free at the moment he wishes to be. ~ Voltaire
[In the early United States most judges did not wear robes, except for the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. Judicial robes reminded the founders of being ruled by England, since English judges wore robes and wigs in court and for other ceremonies. At the beginning of the 20th century, judges across the U.S. began to change their minds. They started to think of the robe as an important symbol of justice. By 1909 justices of the Michigan Supreme Court wore judicial robes when they met in the courtroom at the State Capitol in Lansing. It took many years before all trial court judges wore robes in court. Many preferred to wear business suits instead of judicial robes. Some said that robes were too hot in summer. Others thought that wearing a robe did not automatically make a person a good judge. Over time, more and more judges believed that robes added dignity to the courtroom. In 1973 a court rule was adopted that said all judges and justices must wear a judicial robe while on the bench. There is a similar rule today content.govdelivery.com/)]
Clever tyrants are never punished. ~ Voltaire
[Yes, it is my opinion that judicial robes have endowed the wearers with a grandeur far beyond that anticipated for an allegedly egalitarian society . . . ]
All styles are good except the tiresome kind. ~ Voltaire
[A lovely night for fine dining with friends we have known for many years through the IU alumni camp, Camp Brosius . . . ]
Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts. ~ Voltaire
[The gorgeous setting of their backyard. I seem to recall 47 varieties of Japanese maples . . . ]
A witty saying proves nothing. ~ Voltaire
The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease. ~ Voltaire
You don’t need to be a data scientist to connect the dots between the readership plunge for traditional journalism, Trump’s sustained popularity, and some stunning recent statistics, like the 17 percent of voters who blame the pro-abortion rights President Joe Biden for overturning ‘Roe v. Wade’, or the 49 percent who believe U.S. unemployment is at a 50-year high when it’s at a 50-year low. Many voters aren’t afraid of looming autocracy because 76 percent of Americans know little or nothing about Project 2025, the far-right’s 900-page blueprint for a Trump dictatorship. ~ Will Bunch
Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. ~ Benjamin Franklin
We left hearth and home at 6:30 A.M. on June 7. 12 1/2 hours and 798.5 miles later we arrived at Ruthie’s sister’s (Rita) home in Nashville, Indiana. Ruthie drove the entire trip (it’s fine with me because she does not make a good passenger). As indicated by the title of this screed, we were there to attend Mini-U at Indiana University in Bloomington. This was Mini-U’s 53rd year, it was the 4th for Ruthie and me – 2017, 2022-2024 (2020 and 2021 were COVIDed out). As Woody Allen postulated in AnnieHall, ”Cause adult education’s a wonderful thing. You meet a lotta interesting professors.’
Mini-U is a week long event. This year there were 67 classes available for the 400 attendees – registration for classes is very similar to how we did it in our original college days. Most of the attendees had one class every morning and two classes every afternoon, with occasional evening classes tossed in to see if we could remain awake that long. All-in-all, a good educational time was had by all. ~ Me
The only good thing about [aging] is you’re not dead. ~ Lillian Hellman [Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist, and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway, as well as her communist sympathies and political activism. She was blacklisted after her appearance before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) at the height of the anti-communist campaigns of 1947–1952. Although she continued to work on Broadway in the 1950s, her blacklisting by the American film industry caused a drop in her income. Many praised Hellman for refusing to answer questions by HUAC, but others believed, despite her denial, that she had belonged to the Communist Party (Wikipedia).]
June 7
I like people who refuse to speak until they are ready to speak. ~ Lillian Hellman
[Beanblossom, also spelled Bean Blossom, is an unincorporated community in Brown County. The town was named for the nearby Beanblossom Creek, which was in turn named for a person whose surname was Beanblossom. Beanblossom is located about four miles (6 km) north of Nashville (population 1,258) at the intersection of state roads 45 and 135 (Wikipedia).]
People change and forget to tell each other. ~ Lillian Hellman
[Beanblossom (population 3,133) on Bill Monroe Memorial Highway.]
Things start out as hopes and end up as habits. ~ Lillian Hellman
[Bean Blossom is best known as the home of the Bill Monroe Memorial Music Park and Campground, a 55-acre (220,000 m2) wooded campground which for more than 60 years has hosted music performances (mostly country and bluegrass), first at the Brown County Jamboree barn and currently at outdoor stages. A bluegrass festival (currently called the Bill Monroe Memorial Festival) has been held every June since 1967 and is the longest continuously-running bluegrass festival in the world (Wikipedia).]
June 8
Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth. ~ Lillian Hellman
[Rita thought Ruthie really needed to carb-up after her long previous-day’s drive . . . ]
It is best to act with confidence, no matter how little right you have to it. ~ Lillian Hellman
[Early trip highlight: Rita’s 50-year old dishwasher (the same age as her daughter) crapped out the day before we arrived. Remember when push buttons were really buttons?]
You lose your manners when you are poor. ~ Lillian Hellman
[Our fellow classmates from Ft. Wayne arranged a pontoon ride on Lake Monroe for all of us the day before reporting for classes. The lake is 10,750 acres in size (Editor’s note: Think Gull Lake in Nisswa), the largest body of water in Indiana. Its watershed covers 441 square miles, extending into six counties. The lake itself is in Monroe County, with portions extending into Brown and Jackson counties. Maximum lake depth is 54 feet with an average depth of 17.3 feet. Capacity varies from 292 gigalitres (237,000 acre⋅ft) to 428 gigalitres (347,000 acre⋅ft) depending on water level (lakemonroewaterfund.org).]
Success isn’t everything but it makes a man stand straight. ~ Lillian Hellman
[The Biddies heading down to the docks and our pontoon . . . ]
There are people who eat the earth and eat all the people on it like in the Bible with the locusts. And other people who stand around and watch them eat. ~ Lillian Hellman
[Looking back from Fourwinds Marina at the hotel from an incredible marine display of rental pontoons . . . ]
Nothing you write, if you hope to be good, will ever come out as you first hoped. ~ Lillian Hellman
[A view of available watercraft . . . ]
If you believe, as the Greeks did, that man is at the mercy of the gods, then you write tragedy. The end is inevitable from the beginning. But if you believe that man can solve his own problems and is at nobody’s mercy, then you will probably write melodrama. ~ Lillian Hellman
[And more of the same . . . ]
Nobody outside of a baby carriage or a judge’s chamber believes in an unprejudiced point of view. ~ Lillian Hellman
[And even more of the same . . . ]
Unjust. How many times I’ve used that word, scolded myself with it. All I mean by it now is that I don’t have the final courage to say that I refuse to preside over violations against myself, and to hell with justice. ~ Lillian Hellman
[Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, A tale of a fateful trip, That started from this tropic port, Aboard this tiny ship, The mate was a mighty sailing man, The skipper brave and sure, Five passengers set sail that day, For a three hour tour, a three hour tour . . . ]
What a word is truth. Slippery, tricky, unreliable. I tried in these books to tell the truth. ~ Lillian Hellman
[Rita, Vick, Ruthie, and Scott (a/k/a, the DOM) . . . ]
If I had to give young writers advice, I would say don’t listen to writers talking about writing or themselves. ~ Lillian Hellman
It’s a sad day when you find out that it’s not accident or time or fortune, but just yourself that kept things from you. ~ Lillian Hellman
[Entering the lake . . . ]
I’m too old to recover, too narrow to forgive myself. ~ Lillian Hellman
[A restaurant boat . . . ]
Writers are interesting people, but often mean and petty. ~ Lillian Hellman
[Prototypical Minnesota-type lake home . . . ]
[France] may be the only country in the world where the rich are sometimes brilliant. ~ Lillian Hellman
[Prototypical Minnesota-type pontoon . . . ]
(I did not connect the grown men and women in literature with the grown men and women I saw around me. They were, to me, another species.) ~ Lillian Hellman
[Well, this is a lake created from a river . . . ]
Very thin ladies, any age, with hand sewing on them, have always frightened me, beginning with a rich great-aunt and her underwear embroidered by nuns. The more bones that show on women the more inferior I feel. ~ Lillian Hellman
Intellectuals can tell themselves anything, sell themselves any bill of goods, which is why they were so often patsies for the ruling classes in nineteenth-century France and England, or twentieth-century Russia and America. ~ Lillian Hellman
Since when do you have to agree with people to defend them from injustice? ~ Lillian Hellman
[The public cruise ship . . . ]
Nobody knows what you want except you, and no one will be as sorry as you if you don’t get it. ~ Lillian Hellman
Nothing, of course, begins at the time you think it did. ~ Lillian Hellman
[The Ft. Wayners at the helm . . . ]
Drinking makes uninteresting people matter less and late at night, matter not at all. ~ Lillian Hellman
Fashions in sin change. ~ Lillian Hellman
[The Biddies at rest . . . ]
You can’t recover from what you do not understand. ~ Lillian Hellman
[Contrary to what you may think you see in the background, Indiana does not have snowcapped mountains . . . ]
Nowadays people write English as if a rat were caught in the typewriter and they were trying to hit the keys which wouldn’t disturb it. ~ Lillian Hellman
Don’t you think people often say other people are tough when they do not know how to cheat them? ~ Lillian Hellman
[We’ve arrived at the causeway from our start at the Fairfax area (see map at the top) . . . ]
Freedom costs you a great deal. ~ Lillian Hellman
[The causeway . . . ]
. . . I long ago came to the conclusion that I was not a political person and could have no comfortable place in any political group. ~ Lillian Hellman
You do too much. Go and do nothing for a while. Nothing. ~ Lillian Hellman
No one can argue any longer about the rights of women. It’s like arguing about earthquakes. ~ Lillian Hellman
Mama seemed to do only what my father wanted, and yet we lived the way my mother wanted us to live. ~ Lillian Hellman
You are what you are. It is my opinion that trouble in the world comes from people who do not know what they are, and pretend to be something they’re not. ~ Lillian Hellman
Rebels seldom make good revolutionaries, because organized action, even union with other people, is not possible for them. ~ Lillian Hellman
[Putting the propeller to the metal as we sprint for home . . . ]
Callous greed grows pious very fast. ~ Lillian Hellman
[The DOM occasionally liked to drive from an upright position . . . ]
Courtesy is breeding. Breeding is an excellent thing. Always remember that. ~ Lillian Hellman
[After our cruise, we dined at Sahm’s at Eagle Point Golf Club . . . ]
I wanted to see what was there for me once, what is there for me now. ~ Lillian Hellman
[The drive home to Nashville . . . ]
How often the rich like to play at being poor. A rather nasty game, I’ve always thought. ~ Lillian Hellman
A room of one’s own isn’t nearly enough. A house, or, best, an island of one’s own. ~ Lillian Hellman
Maybe money is unreal for most of us, easier to give away than things we want. ~ Lillian Hellman
[Arriving in beautiful downtown Nashville, 18.6 miles directly east of Bloomington . . . ]
Fear comes with middle age. ~ Lillian Hellman
[12.9 miles]
June 9
Haven’t you lived in the South long enough to know that nothing is ever anybody’s fault? ~ Lillian Hellman
[18.6 miles with John Mellencamp’s house somewhere in between . . . ]
History is made by masses of people. One man, or ten men, don’t start the earthquakes and don’t stop them either. Only hero worshipers and ignorant historians think they do. ~ Lillian Hellman
[The Biddies at Bruster’s in Bloomington. An automatic stop place like the DQ in Albany and the Tip Top in Osakis . . . ]
We are a people who do not want to keep much of the past in our heads. It is considered unhealthy in America to remember mistakes, neurotic to think about them, psychotic to dwell on them. ~ Lillian Hellman
As one grows older, one realizes how little one knows about any relationship, or even about oneself. ~ Lillian Hellman
[As students at IU, The Biddies seldom missed an IU basketball game . . . ]
It doesn’t pay well to fight for what we believe in. ~ Lillian Hellman
I’m good at embroidery. It’s what I always wanted to do…. Yep, instead of whoring, I just wanted to do fancy embroidery. ~ Lillian Hellman
[A personal claim to fame. As personal valet to Basketball Dan, we attended the 1976 NCAA championship game at the Spectrum in Philadelphia where Indiana defeated Michigan to complete an undefeated season. No team has subsequently accomplished that feat . . . ]
The past, with its pleasures, its rewards, its foolishness, its punishments, is there for each of us forever, and it should be. ~ Lillian Hellman
Decision by democratic majority vote is a fine form of government, but it’s a stinking way to create. ~ Lillian Hellman
I’ve always had great satisfaction out of writing the plays . . . It’s a fine feeling to walk into the theater and see living people respond to something you’ve done. ~ Lillian Hellman
[I was able to join The Biddies in a photo op when a guy from Nebraska showed up. He was there as just a fan of college campuses . . . ]
A man should be jailed for telling lies to the young. ~ Lillian Hellman
[The Perfect Season . . . ]
We all lead more pedestrian lives than we think we do. The boiling of an egg is sometimes more important than the boiling of a love affair in the end. ~ Lillian Hellman
[The Biddies with the IU football stadium . . . ]
Like all former thinkers, I’m writing a book. ~ Lillian Hellman
The world is out of shape when there are hungry men. ~ Lillian Hellman
[With The Biddies, checking in at The Biddle (Hotel and Conference Center) . . . ]
I live in a room and I go to work and I play a game called getting through the day while you wait for the night. ~ Lillian Hellman
A theme is always necessary, a plain, simple, unadorned theme to confuse the ignorant. ~ Lillian Hellman
[ . . . and classes begin tomorrow . . . ]
Some people are democrats by choice, and some by necessity. ~ Lillian Hellman
You can always spot clothes made in a good place. ~ Lillian Hellman
You want to know the secret of life? It is to breathe in and out. ~ Rodriguez
Welcome to the end of the earth. OK, we even have friends who have been to Antarctica, but it was still cool to visit the place referred to as the end of the earth. And Ushuaia is a cool sounding name. So, what’s not to like? ~ Me
And the mystery of life? You never know when it is going to end. ~ Rodriguez
December 30
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness. ~ Mark Twain
Would you believe, a quarter century has passed since Y2K? ~ Me
[Beagle Channel is a 150 milelong (240 km) strait in the Tierra de Fuego archipelago in the southern tip of South America. Also, Glacier Alley is a short stretch of Beagle Channel, that showcases 5 tidewater glaciers, named after European countries. These massive blue glaciers inch down the Darwin Mountains from the Southern Patagonia’s Darwin Icefield. Furthermore, the Darwin Icefield covers 2,500 square km of Isla Grande, the largest island in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. The channel is named after its voyage, made by the HMS Beagle, with the Naturalist Charles Darwin on his way to the Galapagos Islands (truewindhealingtravel.com).]
Would you believe, a half century has passed since the last undefeated NCAA men’s basketball champion? ~ Me
[The glaciers of Glacier Alley . . . ]
2011, for example, lasted for an entire year. It was shortly thereafter that cracks began to appear in my bodily infrastructure. ~ Me
I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list. ~ Susan Sontag
Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world. ~ Gustave Flaubert
Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends. ~ Pat Conroy
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature. ~ Helen Keller
[The view from our balcony of the ship’s bridge, where the officers keep an eye out for pirates (just kidding!) . . . ]
If you are going through hell, keep going. ~ Winston Churchill
[Yup, glacier . . . ]
Live your life by a compass not a clock. ~ Stephen Covey
[Ruthie ISO Ushuaia . . . ]
Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you travelled. ~ Mohammed
[And there’s Ushuaia, population 82,000 . . . ]
Going on a trip. Need about 5 outfits. I’ve packed 35 just to be safe. ~ Anonymous
If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home. ~ James A. Michener
[Ushuaia is really my kind of place. Beautiful geographic setting, between the mountains and the sea; 54 degrees south latitude (think Saskatchewan); the average temperature for the coldest month is 34, for the warmest month it’s 49 (surrounded by two oceans, certainly not a continental climate) . . . ]
Nothing lasts forever, except the day before you start your vacation. ~ Gayland Anderson
[Another cruise ship (duh!) . . . ]
A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for. ~ Grace Hopper
I wonder if the ocean smells different on the other side of the world. ~ J.A. Redmerski
Adventure is just bad planning. ~ Roald Amundsen
[Who knew National Geographic had such boats?]
Traveling tends to magnify all human emotions. ~ Peter Hoeg
[Piers are always a photographers paradise . . . ]
If you don’t know where you’re going any road will do. ~ Lewis Carroll
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance. ~ Alton Brown
To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries. ~ Aldous Huxley
Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. ~ Steve Jobs
Take only memories, leave only footprints. ~ Chief Seattle
[We’re heading out for a boat tour of Beagle Channel . . . ]
[And if there’s a wind, your tour boat windows will appear as such . . . ]
Drink heavily with the locals whenever possible. ~ Anthony Bourdain
[Little Ole was tempted by the South American version of a pasty . . . ]
Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life. ~ Michael Palin
[She was our fun host of this excursion. Unfortunately, because Ruthie and I had to sacrifice our Mensa membership for age related reasons, we can no longer remember her name . . . ]
People don’t take trips, trips take people. ~ John Steinbeck
Travel is like an endless university. You never stop learning. ~ Harvey Lloyd
A road trip is a way for the whole family to spend time together and annoy each other in interesting new places. ~ Tom Lichtenheld
I believe God did intend, in giving us intelligence, to give us the opportunity to investigate and appreciate the wonders of His creation. He is not threatened by our scientific adventures. ~ Francis Collins
If you are of sound mind and body, many exciting and challenging adventures are within your reach irrespective of your age. ~ Gad Saad
[It’s a photo shoot-off . . . ]
A lot of people go off and have fun adventures, or hard adventures, and their impulse is to write about them right away. What really makes a difference is having some perspective on what happened. ~ Cheryl Strayed [Editor’s note: But my perspective has been getting out of hand.]
When you’re in your 40s, you become more conscious of life being of limited duration and that you need to create memories and go on little adventures from time to time. ~ Louis Theroux [Editor’s note: Wait till you’re in your 70’s!]
The inherent purpose of American government is let people seek their own goals and to encourage them to be responsible on the various adventures they have on their way to those goals, good, bad, and otherwise. ~ P. J. O’Rourke
Girls just want to have fun. ~ Cyndi Lauper
I want to be the one to walk in the sun… ~ Cyndi Lauper
Adventures are to the adventurous. ~ Benjamin Disraeli
[We’re in the Beagle Channel, for Pete’s sake . . . ]
Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends. ~ Maya Angelou
Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world. ~ George Bernard Shaw
If you don’t know where you are, a map won’t help. ~ Watts Humphrey
[Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse (the French name “Les Éclaireurs” means “the Scouts”) is a slightly conically shaped lighthouse standing on the northeastern most island of the five or more Les Eclaireurs islands, which it takes its name from, 5 nautical miles (9 km) east of Ushuaia in the Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego (Wikipedia).]
The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it. ~ Rudyard Kipling
[Well, we were promised penguins and sea lions . . . ]
All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary. ~ Sally Ride
Never say ‘no’ to adventures. Always say ‘yes’, otherwise you’ll lead a very dull life. ~ Ian Fleming
We live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round. ~ Jack Nicholson
[Photo by the aforementioned “we forgot her name” . . . ]
Don’t worry about the world ending today, it’s already tomorrow in Australia. ~ Charles M. Schulz
Adventure, yeah. I guess that’s what you call it when everybody comes back alive. ~ Mercedes Lackey
[And this was the back window, a bit of ocean spray when traveling at speed . . . ]
If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine; it is lethal. ~ Paulo Coelho
[The brick-built tower is 11 metres (36 ft) high and 3 metres (10 ft) wide at the base, with its windowless wall painted red-white-red and topped by a black lantern housing and gallery. Only a door pointing to the west provides access to the building. The light is 22.5 metres (74 ft) above sea level emitting white flashes every ten seconds with a range of 7.5 nautical miles (13.9 km). The lighthouse is still in operation, is remote-controlled, automated, uninhabited and is not open to the public, guarding the sea entrance to Ushuaia. Electricity is supplied by solar panels. The lighthouse was put into service on December 23, 1920. It is a popular tourist attraction, reached on short boat tours from Ushuaia. It is known to the Argentines as the Lighthouse at the End of the World, although that name is misleading. The lighthouse is often confused with the San Juan de Salvamento lighthouse on the east coast of the remote Isla de los Estados, made famous by Jules Verne in the novel “The Lighthouse at the End of the World, which is actually much further east (Wikipedia).]
I need a 6-month vacation twice a year. ~ Unknown
[“Oh, the places I have seen.” ~ Little Ole]
We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. ~ Jawaharlal Nehru
The worst thing about being a tourist, is having other tourists recognise you as a tourist! ~ Russell Baker
Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. ~ Winston Churchill
If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading. ~ Lao Tzu
At the end of the day, if I can say I had fun, it was a good day. ~ Simone Biles
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