There’s a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line. ~ Oscar Levant
Great thoughts reduced to practice become great acts. ~ William Hazlitt
Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing? Can one really explain this? no. Just as one can never learn how to paint. ~ Pablo Picasso
[Appreciate art . . . ]
Bus stops are far more interesting and useful places to have art than in museums. ~ Banksy
Flirting is the gentle art of making a man feel pleased with himself. ~ Helen Rowland
October 17
The illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn. ~ Alvin Toffler
[Senior college . . . ]
I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught. ~ Winston Churchill
[She was also very good last year talking about water . . . ]
The purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open one. ~ Malcolm Forbes
Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know. ~ Daniel J. Boorstin
The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education. ~ Albert Einstein
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. ~ Aristotle
Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. ~ H. G. Wells
October 18
The difference is the class clown is the guy who drops his pants at the football game, the class comedian is the guy who talked him into it. ~ Billy Crystal
[Alexandria vs. Elk River as the Cards were playing for a perfect 8-0 regular season record. Nevertheless, the Cards found time during the game for reruns of The Simpsons . . . ]
Why do kids play football? They can get hurt on any play, can’t they? Yet they can’t wait until Saturday comes around so they can play on the high school team, or the college team, and get smashed around. Writing is like that. You can get hurt, but you enjoy it! ~ Irwin Shaw
[The Elks were defending state champs in class AAAAA. Here, QB Chase Thompson (12) on a handoff to Mac Heydt (4) . . . ]
In high school, when I played football I got no respect. I shared a locker with a mop. ~ Rodney Dangerfield
On the last game of the season, the crowd was yelling, We want Youngman! We want Youngman! The coach says, Youngman – go see what they want! ~ Henny Youngman
[Chase on a drop back pass . . . ]
You have just so many holes in a line and you have eleven men playing, and there’s only so many ways you can go through those holes, and those ways have been used for forty, fifty years. ~ Red Grange
[Placekicker Daniel Jackson (9) in the hold of Evan Kludt (7) . . . ]
They don’t have much of a football team, but the half-time show . . . ~ Bill Maher
[The first of a scoreboard chronology . . . ]
I did play two years of high school football and was very short and uncoordinated but the second year I was very tall and skinny and very uncoordinated. ~ Kyle Chandler
I was a halfback on an American football team in Athens, Greece – the Kississia Colts – where I went to high school, and we took the Cup my senior year. The downside, and somewhat unfortunate piece of information I have to pass on, is there were only two teams in the league because of the limited amount of Americans. ~ Greg Kinnear
[The Elks crush people with an overwhelming rush attack. A great comeback by the Cards . . . ]
I’d done some acting in high school. Then I went to Kenyon College and got thrown in jail and kicked off the football team. Since I was determined not to study very much, I majored in theater the last two years. ~ Paul Newman
[The Elks last play of the game . . . ]
For some kids it’s art. For some it’s music. For me, it was strapping on those pads, yanking that helmet over my head, and getting out there with the team. ~ Rudy Ruettiger
[Snuffed out by the Cards . . . ]
I love sports. I was an athlete in high school, and my school was so small we didn’t have a football team, so it’s the one sport I didn’t bother to learn the rules to because I never went to game. ~ Katie Aselton
[Let the celebration begin . . . ]
J.J. Watt is larger than life and Houston’s newest sports hero, in every sense of the word. He is a guy who spends NFL Fridays at high school football games and actively seeks out those in need of his kindness. ~ Hannah Storm
October 19
Teach the children so it will not be necessary to teach the adults. ~ Abraham Lincoln
[Meanwhile, back in senior college . . . ]
Journalism’s been a continuing course in adult education for me. ~ Bill Moyers
[She took me beyond my usual disinterest in royalty . . . ]
My hope was that organizations would start including this range of skills in their training programs – in other words, offer an adult education in social and emotional intelligence. ~ Daniel Goleman
Instead of trying to produce a programme to simulate the adult mind, why not rather try to produce one which simulates the child’s? If this were then subjected to an appropriate course of education one would obtain the adult brain. ~ Alan Turing
October 21
Donuts. Is there anything they can’t do? ~ Matt Groening
[Saturday morning doughnut pick up day with a display of the upcoming holiday . . . ]
October 22
It looked like the world was covered in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon. ~ Sarah Addison Allen
[“Leafing” in the greater Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area . . . ]
Some say fall is the season when the leaves change. I say it’s the season when my sweat pants never change. ~ Katie Nicole Felton
[Lake Carlos on the left . . . ]
The thinnest yellow light of November is more warming and exhilarating than any wine they tell of. ~ Henry David Thoreau
[More Lake Carlos . . . ]
Autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this their only chance to soar. ~ Delia Owens
[Rotary Beach, Lake Le Homme Dieu . . . ]
Autumn teaches us the beauty of letting go. Growth requires release – it’s what the trees do. ~ Ka’ala
[County Road 120 along the north end of Lake Le Homme Dieu . . . ]
Never jump in a pile of leaves with a wet sucker. ~ Linus
[Ditto . . . ]
Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love—that makes life and nature harmonize. ~ George Eliot
And all the lives we ever lived and all the lives to be are full of trees and changing leaves… ~ Virginia Woolf
It’s the first day of autumn! A time of hot chocolatey mornings, and toasty marshmallow evenings, and, best of all, leaping into leaves! ~ Winnie the Pooh
[It wasn’t open . . . ]
A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand. I think, I too, have known autumn too long. ~ e. e. cummings
[Believe this to be on the north end of Lake Carlos . . . ]
October’s poplars are flaming torches lighting the way to winter. ~ Nova S. Blair
[Ditto . . . ]
Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple. ~ J. K. Rowling
Autumn is the hardest season. The leaves are all falling, and they’re falling like they’re falling in love with the ground. ~ Andrea Gibson
[In the vicinity of Carlos State Park . . . ]
Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree. ~ Emily Bronte
I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. ~ L. M. Montgomery
Two sounds of autumn are unmistakable…the hurrying rustle of crisp leaves blown along the street…by a gusty wind, and the gabble of a flock of migrating geese. ~ Hal Borland
[Lake Carlos . . . ]
I can smell autumn dancing in the breeze. The sweet chill of pumpkin, and crisp sunburnt leaves. ~ Ann Drake
How beautiful the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days. ~ John Burroughs
No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face. ~ John Donne
Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn. ~ Elizabeth Lawrence
Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year. ~ Chad Sugg
[The north end of Lake Darling . . . ]
Dancing of the autumn laves on a surface of a lake is a dream we see when we are awake. ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan
[Lake Darling from the Darling-Carlos Bridge . . . ]
Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting, and autumn a mosaic of them all. ~ Stanley Horowitz
[Alexandria Golf Club . . . ]
[And then it was on to see Killers of the Flower Moon . . . ]
AUSTIN, TEXAS – MARCH 13: Lily Gladstone attends “The Unknown Country” Premiere during the 2022 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Stateside Theater on March 13, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Errich Petersen/Getty Images for SXSW)
History is a merciless judge. It lays bare our tragic blunders and foolish missteps and exposes our most intimate secrets, wielding the power of hindsight like an arrogant detective who seems to know the end of the mystery from the outset. ~ David Grann, quote from Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
As Sherlock Holmes famously said, “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” ~ David Grann, quote from Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
It is not the fact of liberty but the way in which liberty is exercised that ultimately determines whether liberty itself survives. ~ Dorothy Thompson
I’m only about a month behind now. ~ Me
[I can’t remember where this was? Anybody?]
Knowledge isn’t power until it’s applied. ~ Dale Carnegie
October 8
A national park is not a playground. It’s a sanctuary for nature and for humans who will accept nature on nature’s own terms. ~ Michael Frome
[A beautiful day for a drive up to Itasca State Park and to see the kids at The Harn . . . ]
If you drive to, say, Shenandoah National Park, or the Great Smoky Mountains, you’ll get some appreciation for the scale and beauty of the outdoors. When you walk into it, then you see it in a completely different way. You discover it in a much slower, more majestic sort of way. ~ Bill Bryson
[We were still too early for full fall colors . . . ]
When I was 16, I discovered wildlife. My father took me to a place called Algonquin Park in Northern Ontario – it has some 1,600 lakes. ~ Lorne Greene
[These photos are all on the drive through the park . . . ]
I fell down in Hyde Park with a friend who’d had a hip operation, and neither of us could get up again. People must have thought we were a couple of drunks rolling around and walked on by. ~ Ava Gardner
[But it’s mostly coniferous anyway . . . ]
In fact, at Olympic National Park in my district, they 3 years ago had 130 summer employees they brought in for temporary work. This summer they have 25 because they cannot afford more. ~ Norm Dicks
[Check in, please, where we also ran into some Alexandrians . . . ]
The coniferous forests of the Yosemite Park, and of the Sierra in general, surpass all others of their kind in America, or indeed the world, not only in the size and beauty of the trees, but in the number of species assembled together, and the grandeur of the mountains they are growing on. ~ John Muir
[Onward . . . ]
I don’t know of a single park without serious environmental problems. ~ Michael Frome
[A U of M research station here . . . ]
I hate small towns because once you’ve seen the cannon in the park there’s nothing else to do. ~ Lenny Bruce
[Once a hostel, now an inn . . . ]
I grew up on the edge of a national park in Canada – timberwolves, creeks, snow drifts. I really did have to walk home six miles through the snow, like your grandparents used to complain. ~ Dan Aykroyd
[We will be here for Thanksgiving . . . ]
I regret the negative press that has come with my climb of the Delicate Arch, but I think that there is a bigger picture. And I would hope that it could open the eyes of the public and the community to the bigger problem of what’s going on, which is the mismanagement of our wild lands and the national park. ~ Dean Potter
[This photo is now my computer background . . . ]
Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land. ~ Aldo Leopold
[The entry for the walk down to the headwaters . . . ]
The fundamental idea behind the parks… is that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
[As the sign says . . . ]
When I was about fifteen, I went to work at Yosemite National Park. It changed me forever. Nature had carved its own sculpture, and I was part of it, not the other way around. ~ Robert Redford
[Any day is a fireplace kind of a day . . . ]
I need to be outside. I need to be in the world and to remember that I am of it. ~ John Green
Every other civilized nation in the world has been compelled to care for its forests, and so must we if waste and destruction are not to go on to the bitter end, leaving America as barren as Palestine or Spain. ~ John Muir
[Without me pointing at it, people could get lost . . . ]
We should just have a lottery. If you lose, you have to be speaker. ~ Rep. Mike Collins
In Yellowstone National Park, there are more ‘do not feed the animals’ signs than there are animals you might wish to feed. ~ Natalie Jeremijenko
[Like the sign says . . . ]
In a world that is becoming increasingly virtual, the parks remain places of visceral beauty. Places where we can remember that we are but a small part of the life on this planet, and that it is a truly wonderful planet and the only one we’ve got. ~ Nevada Barr
[It is a state law that Minnesotans must visit here not less often than every five years . . . ]
We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. ~ Aldo Leopold
[Where the mighty Mississippi begins its trek to the Gulf of Mexico . . . ]
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
Without wilderness, we will eventually lose the capacity to understand America. Our drive, our ruggedness, our unquenchable optimism and zeal and elan go back to the challenges of the untrammeled wilderness. ~ Harvey Broome
In wilderness is the preservation of the world. ~ Henry David Thoreau
[As the river leaves Lake Itasca . . . ]
If the national park is, as Lord Bryce suggested, the best idea America has ever had, wilderness preservation is the highest refinement of that idea. ~ Wallace Stegner
Wilderness is a necessity… there must be places for human beings to satisfy their souls. ~ John Muir
The second day of a diet is always easier than the first. By the second day you’re off it. ~ Jackie Gleason
[When hiking in the wilderness, one must maintain a high calorie intake . . . ]
The parks attract us in a deeply spiritual way; they are a place where so many of us have had a transformative moment; where we had our sense of place in the universe confirmed, or at least we were awakened to. ~ Ken Burns
[Beginning the park “roundabout” . . . ]
The farther one gets into the wilderness, the greater is the attraction of its lonely freedom. ~ Theodore Roosevelt
It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. ~ Henry David Thoreau
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. ~ Ernest Hemingway
[Both this and the record red pine lost their tops in storms . . . ]
It is my dream to build a park… that I one day visit with my White House staff on my birthday. And they say President Knope, this park is awesome. ~ Leslie Knope
As a woman of color, my history with the park is a bit different. My experience was not as a Rosie the Riveter; that tended to be a white woman’s story. Black women had been working outside their homes ever since slavery. ~ Betty Reid Soskin
[The identifying bark of the red pine . . . ]
The generation of our kids are more mindful of how we haven’t always taken care of the planet, and with climate change affecting everything, they are demanding action. Nature is more resilient than we think, if we are intentional about it. ~ Barack Obama
God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools. ~ John Muir
Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life. ~ John Muir
If you can get humor and seriousness at the same time, you’ve created a special little thing, and that’s what I’m looking for, because if you get pompous, you lose everything. ~ Paul Simon
Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong. ~ George Carlin
In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. ~ John Muir
Listen to the sound of silence. ~ Paul Simon
[Mary Lake . . . ]
One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. ~ William Shakespeare
[U of M research facilities . . . ]
The scenic ideals that surround even our national parks are carriers of a nostalgia for heavenly bliss and eternal calmness. ~ Robert Smithson
The same people in the Congress who are busy kicking holes in the social safety net are also those who would sell off the nation’s forests for a song, give away its national parks, and trash its wilderness preserves; there is a connection between the two impulses. ~ Paul Gruchow
Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads. ~ Henry David Thoreau
…Skyscraper National Park ~ Kurt Vonnegut
[Then we left the park from the north entrance on the way to Jami and Danny’s, “The Harn,” about 9 miles farther up the road . . . ]
Glaciers are almost gone from Glacier National Park. ~ Donella Meadows
[Along The Harn way . . . ]
I don’t really think, I just walk. ~ Paris Hilton
[Danny leads Ruthie, Jami, and me on a nature walk through their property . . . ]
Obviously the movement to save the Everglades runs up against agricultural concerns. ~ Carl Hiaasen
[‘Shrooms . . . ]
Folk music isn’t owned by anybody. It is owned by everybody, like the national parks, the postal system, and the school system. It’s our common property. There is nobody’s name on it. Nobody can make money on it. It’s not copywritten. ~ Utah Phillips
This is an especially good time for you vacationers who plan to fly, because the Reagan administration, as part of the same policy under which it recently sold Yellowstone National Park to Wayne Newton, has “deregulated” the airline industry. ~ Dave Barry
[Still hiking . . . ]
I’ve been through legislation creating a dozen national parks, and there’s always the same pattern. When you first propose a park, and you visit the area and present the case to the local people, they threaten to hang you. You go back in five years and they think it’s the greatest thing that ever happened. ~ Mo Udall
[The Harn . . . ]
Nature is located mainly in national parks, which are vast tracts of wilderness that have been set aside by the United States government so citizens will always have someplace to go where they can be attacked by bears. ~ Dave Barry
The earth is the very quintessence of the human condition. ~ Hannah Arendt
Wealth is the ability to fully experience life. ~ Henry David Thoreau
I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I’m awake, you know? ~ Ernest Hemingway
[Remaining photos by Jami, here starring Mr. Nature . . . ]
I get half a million just to show up at parties. My life is, like, really, really fun. ~ Paris Hilton
[Zeroing in on the ‘shrooms . . . ]
I haven’t been to Tasmania. I haven’t been to the South Pole, and I haven’t been to the North Pole. I want to see the polar bear migration before there are no polar bears. I want to see Glacier National Park before the glacier melts. ~ Martha Stewart
October 10
The past is never dead. It’s not even past. ~ William Faulkner
[One of our favorite senior college professors. The “poster” below is of another event, but something I could use to display his bona fides . . . ]
What we think, we become. ~ Buddha
[“The Increasingly Complex Global Challenges Facing US Foreign Policy” ~ Tom Hanson, Diplomat in Residence, UMD . . . ]
Never regret anything that made you smile. ~ Mark Twain
Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school. ~ Albert Einstein
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. ~ Mahatma Gandhi
[China’s population will continue to shrink; India’s population will continue to grow; Nigeria will become the world’s 2nd most populated country surpassing China . . . ]
The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding. ~ Leonardo da Vinci
[(From other sources: 7 out of 9 people on the planet will be Asian or African; “white” people will represent 1/20th of the world’s population . . . ]
As long as I’m learning something, I figure I’m OK – it’s a decent day. ~ Hunter S. Thompson
The top experts in the world are ardent students. The day you stop learning, you’re definitely not an expert. ~ Brendon Burchard
You can never be overdressed or over-educated. ~ Oscar Wilde
October 14
The instinct to worship is hardly less strong than the instinct to eat. ~ Dorothy Thompson
[The first batch of chili of the season . . . ]
October 15
I’ve been in companies where they have galas. U.S. companies aren’t government-funded, so they invite wealthier people to come to these events. It’s a very glamorous art form. ~ Sarah Hay
I don’t have a life where it’s galas, posh affairs. It’s me, my dog and a sofa. And a TV. ~ Phillip Lim
[We were late arrivers. The Super scanned the room looking for empty seats . . . ]
I don’t like ostentatious galas and stuff like that, but if you get to the Oscars, you’d better get used to it and you’d better enjoy it. ~ Philippe Falardeau
[The telephoto view from the back row . . . ]
In designing for the first lady, I tried to sort of be in her shoes, but I didn’t really look at her as an important political figure. I looked at her as a woman who would like to wear a beautiful dress to an important gala. ~ Jason Wu
The director is simply the audience. So the terrible burden of the director is to take the place of that yawning vacuum, to be the audience and to select from what happens during the day which movement shall be a disaster and which a gala night. His job is to preside over accidents. ~ Orson Welles
The returning troops marched up Fifth Avenue and girls were instinctively drawn East and North toward them – this was the greatest nation and there was gala in the air. ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t. ~ Douglas Adams
In the beginning, the universe was created. This made a lot of people angry and is widely considered a bad move. ~ Douglas Adams
[Musicians with a sense of humor . . . ]
War is the unfolding of miscalculations. ~ Barbara Tuchman
Man is made to adore and obey; but if you give him nothing to worship, he will fashion his own divinities and find a chieftain in his own passions. ~ Benjamin Disraeli
An intellectual is a man who doesn’t know how to park a bike. ~ Spiro T. Agnew
I don’t know that I can disrespect someone more than J. D. Vance. ~ Mitt Romney
Josh Hawley is one of the smartest people in the Senate, if not the smartest, and Ted Cruz [R-Texas] could give him a run for his money. “They know better” (than to believe Trump’s claim that massive fraud cost him a second term). ~ Mitt Romney
No one has been more loyal, more willing to smile when he saw absurdities, more willing to ascribe God’s will to things that were ungodly than Mike Pence. ~ Mitt Romney
[‘Tis the season . . . ]
Ron (Senator Johnson), is there any conspiracy you don’t believe? ~ Mitt Romney
A very large portion of my party really doesn’t believe in the Constitution. ~ Mitt Romney
Almost without exception they (GOP colleagues) shared my view of the president. ~ Mitt Romney
Trump is an idiot. ~ Mitt Romney (quoting Mitch McConnell)
September 17
What’s the point of having a book club if you don’t get to eat brownies and drink wine? ~ Jami Attenberg
In the end, we’ll all become stories. ~ Margaret Atwood
[Nonfiction book club talking about “real” stuff . . . ]
If you’re going to do a job, do it right. If you’re going to throw a birthday party, make it amazing. ~ Jimmy John Liautaud
I first met Erik Jacobson when he played at our wedding 26 years ago, and another thanks to Erik — this time with a couple Southside Aces compatriots and other friends — for helping usher in a new decade! (Thanks also Matt and Amber for the gumbo and fixings and Tom Obert for photos!) ~ Michael Tisserand
[The Tisserands enjoying the dance floor . . . ]
In the world of online invitations, nothing is sacred. People will invite all 500 of their ‘closest’ friends to their birthday party – and 485 of those people will RSVP ‘yes’ without intending to show up. ~ Susannah Cahalan
It’s odd the things that people remember. Parents will arrange a birthday party, certain it will stick in your mind forever. You’ll have a nice time, then two years later you’ll be like, ‘There was a pony there? Really? And a clown with one leg?’ ~ David Sedaris
My second play, The Birthday Party, I wrote in 1958 – or 1957. It was totally destroyed by the critics of the day, who called it an absolute load of rubbish. ~ Harold Pinter
In January 1962, when I was the author of one and a half unperformed plays, I attended a student production of ‘The Birthday Party’ at the Victoria Rooms in Bristol. Just before it began, I realised that Harold Pinter was sitting in front of me. ~ Tom Stoppard
I had the worst birthday party ever when I was a child because my parents hired a pony to give rides. And these ponies are never in good health. But this one dropped dead. It just wasn’t much fun after that. One kid would sit on him and the rest of us would drag him around. ~ Rita Rudner
I gave a funny speech at my wife’s birthday party, and I’m thinking, ‘Hey, I’ve still got it.’ ~ Larry David
[Ragtime music provided by the Southside Aces . . . ]
I had a wonderful childhood, which is tough because it’s hard to adjust to a miserable adulthood. ~ Larry David
As a kid, I would wake up, and there’d be a jazz funeral while I’m walking to school. And when I come home, you can find Rebirth band playing for a birthday party the same day. ~ Trombone Shorty
[I’ve been advised this is called dancing . . . ]
Sinatra invited me once to his birthday party in L.A. I was young, and I felt great about it. But when I got there, the Rat Pack were all in the kitchen laughing their heads off. ~ Tony Bennett
One of my favorite memories was one time Prince picked me up and said we were going to Michael Jordan’s birthday party. ~ Tamron Hall
September 20
To reminisce with my old friends, a chance to share some memories, and play our songs again. ~ Ricky Nelson
[The Boys of ’65 hit the road Wednesday for another new venue – Hot Shots Bar & Grill in New Munich (population 320). Bradley decided it was a tad too far for him to handle (94 miles round trip), so it is was just Mayo and me again. We did not know the bustling main street had been all torn up since May, but Mayo & I were able to find out way there by deftly following the detour signs. The detours were so much fun, I decided to take the back roads on the way home. On the way I passed past dining spots for the boys from Sidewalks in West Union; to the old Corral site in Nelson; to the legendary Carl’s; Sonny’s; Weston Station on the far outskirts of Alex. Mayo suggested a place for next month that I can’t find on maps issued after 1795.]
[Main Street, New Munich . . . ]
The essence of nostalgia is an awareness that what has been will never be again. ~ Milton S. Eisenhower
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
Friends: people who borrow my books and set wet glasses on them. ~ Edwin Arlington Robinson
Some people only get called by their nicknames. Usually, it sounds weird to even say their real name. ~ Kishore
Honestly, I just go to restaurants to eat so I won’t die. If there was a pill I could take in January and then I wouldn’t have to eat again for the rest of the year, I would take it. Of course, I wouldn’t want to sacrifice my chocolate cake and ice cream. ~ Steven Wright
[Sidewalks on West Union . . . ]
Murals in restaurants are on a par with the food in museums. ~ Peter De Vries
[Where the Corral in Nelson used to be . . . ]
I think fine dining is dying out everywhere… but I think there will be – and there has to always be – room for at least a small number of really fine, old-school fine-dining restaurants. ~ Anthony Bourdain
[Carl’s Fireside Steakhouse, then Sonny’s, then Weston Station, enjoyed a 50-year+ run . . . ]
[Lure Lakeside Bar in the west shore of Lake Le Homme Dieu . . . ]
True friends don’t judge each other, they judge other people together. ~ Emilie Saint-Genis
[The Wednesday night fine dining crew had moved on since the Alexandria Golf Club closed for the season . . . ]
There are three faithful friends, an old wife, an old dog, and ready money. ~ Benjamin Franklin
September 21
Friends make you smile — best friends make you giggle ’til you pee your pants. ~ Terri Guillemets
[Fine dining at Longtrees Woodfire Grill with the Prince and Princess of Ashby after another addition of Senior College . . .
When we think of classic American desserts, we tend to imagine apple pie and ice cream. However, the most classic American dessert of all might be the chocolate chip cookie. ~ Homaro Cantu
Eating a lot is an occupational hazard but it’s a pretty great problem to have. I spend a lot of time eating sweets on TV – cake, cupcakes, donuts, and pudding. It’s a dream job, but at the same time there will be days where I wake up knowing I will eat 15 desserts! ~ Gail Simmons
I don’t think I’ve ever seen pie advertised. That’s how you know it’s good. They advertise ice cream and other desserts. They advertise the bejeezus out of yogurt, but I haven’t seen one pie commercial. ~ Adam Carolla
September 22
Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. ~ Robert A. Heinlein
[The Super tending to the babies on their daily search and destroy missions . . . ]
The more cats you have, the longer you live. If you have a hundred cats, you’ll live 10 times longer than if you have 10. Someday this will be discovered, and people will have a thousand cats and live forever. It’s truly ridiculous. ~ Charles Bukowski
There are two means of refuge from the misery of life — music and cats. ~ Albert Schweitzer
‘Meow’ means ‘woof’ in cat. ~ George Carlin
Sleep is like a cat: It only comes to you if you ignore it. ~ Gillian Flynn
To err is human, to purr is feline. ~ Robert Byrne
September 25
I like storms. I would say I actively like stormy weather. I would not be afraid of them. I think that if I had not pursued journalism, I think storm-chasing would’ve been a really fun career. ~ Chuck Klosterman
[Just because it’s an interesting sky . . . ]
Rainbows are birthed in storms, not in sunshine. ~ Matshona Dhliwayo
September 29
When a cat adopts you, there is nothing to be done about it except to put up with it until the wind changes. ~ T.S. Eliot
[The babies waiting for Mom to come home . . . ]
September 30
Age appears best in four things: old wood to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. ~ Francis Bacon
[The music group at Rolling Folks Vineyards for Anthony Miltich . . . ]
A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world. ~ Louis Pasteur
The perfect lover is one who turns into a pizza at 4:00 A.M. ~ Charles Pierce
Unless you are a pizza, the answer is yes, I can live without you. ~ Bill Murray
[The group and the aforementioned Anthony all in one picture . . . ]
There’s no better feeling in the world than a warm pizza box in your lap. ~ Kevin James
[It was a tad breezy as usual situated many goldfarbs above Lake Minnewaska . . . ]
If the king loves music, there is little wrong in the land. ~ Mencius
Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. ~ Plato
I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music. ~ Billy Joel
Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart. ~ Pablo Casals
If music be the food of love, play on. ~ William Shakespeare
And although our bodies are bounded with skin, and we can differentiate between outside and inside, they cannot exist except in a certain kind of natural environment. ~ Alan Watts
[The aforementioned Lake Minnewaska in the far background . . . ]
October 1
Champagne is appropriate for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. ~ Madeline Puckette
[Long overdue visit to Polly and Dave at L’Etoile du Nord vineyard on Lake Irene . . . ]
Either give me more wine or leave me alone. ~ Rumi
[Said Lake Irene . . . ]
The discovery of a wine is of greater moment than the discovery of a constellation. The universe is too full of stars. ~ Benjamin Franklin
Give me wine to wash me clean of the weather-stains of cares. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
I can certainly see that you know your wine. Most of the guests who stay here wouldn’t know the difference between Bordeaux and Claret. ~ Basil Fawlty
[Polly planted these red pines some 60 years ago . . . ]
Accept what life offers you and try to drink from every cup. All wines should be tasted; some should only be sipped, but with others, drink the whole bottle. ~ Paulo Coelho
[The road home . . . ]
But there was a kitten on my pillow, and it was purring in my face and vibrating gently with every purr, and, very soon, I slept. ~ Neil Gaiman
[Catnapping trio . . . ]
Cats are connoisseurs of comfort. ~ James Herriot
October 2
The sky is the daily bread of the eyes. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
[Coming out of the Y one morning at sunrise . . . ]
The sky is an infinite movie to me. I never get tired of looking at what’s happening up there. ~ k. d. lang
Anybody can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathise with a friend’s success. ~ Oscar Wilde
[Making a mockery of not wearing white after Labor Day . . . ]
October 4
After a day’s walk, everything has twice its usual value. ~ G.M. Trevelyan
[With Friends of the Alexandria Nature Trail (FANT) . . .
Hiking—much like drinking—is something that sounds more fun to the uninitiated than it actually is. ~ Mindy McGinnis
[The meeting place for a walk of the part of the trail behind Discovery Middle School. I had no idea a lovely ballpark was hidden in the woods behind the school . . . ]
Hiking’s not for everyone. Notice the wilderness is mostly empty. ~ Sonja Yoerg
[“Friends” gathering for the walk . . . ]
Fact: Hiking is actually just walking, only on dirt or rocks or other uneven surfaces. Or walking where an animal larger than you can kill and eat you. ~ Brendon Leonard
[The ballpark from the outfield side looking back at where our walk began . . . ]
I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees. ~ Henry David Thoreau
[We’re rolling now . . . ]
It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe. ~ Muhammad Ali
[Approaching the back of the school was football practice was taking place . . . ]
Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit. ~ Edward Abbey
Hiking is just walking where it’s okay to pee. ~ Demetri Martin
Never follow someone else’s path unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost, and you see a path. By all means, you should follow that. ~ Ellen DeGeneres
[John Riggle, a member of the Audubon Society among other things, narrated the walk . . . ]
Let’s not mince words: Everest doesn’t attract a whole lot of well-balanced folks. The self-selection process tends to weed out the cautious and the sensible in favor of those who are single-minded and incredibly driven. Which is a big reason the mountain is so dangerous. ~ Jon Krakauer
[Appears to be a wasp nest . . . ]
I can’t understand why men make all this fuss about Everest — it’s only a mountain. ~ Junko Tabei, first woman to climb Everest
[Meanwhile, back at practice . . . ]
If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet. ~ Rachel Wolchin
[It’s a wrap!]
I don’t understand how someone who has said and done such mean things can win. ~ Adam Russell Taylor’s 5-year old son
Nazism has nothing to do with race and nationality. It appeals to a certain type of mind. ~ Dorothy Thompson
I don’t appear to be making much headway in my backlog, but I’ve finally made it to Homecoming. ~ Me
I’m still a month behind and wondering if I’m ever going to catch up. ~ Me
[Certainly one of my all-time favorite photos. This is Denali (nee Mt. McKinley) in Alaska shot at midnight on the summer solstice, June 21, 2008 . . . ]
I don’t know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot. ~ Marilyn Monroe
September 10
I read a funny story about how the Republicans freed the slaves. The Republicans are the ones who created slavery by law in the 1600’s. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and he was not a Republican. ~ Marion Barry
[Our local storyteller, Paulette Friday, and her band of merry minstrels, produced what we thought was their best show yet . . . ]
No story lives unless someone wants to listen. The stories we love best do live in us forever. So whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home. ~ J.K. Rowling, author
I’m obsessed with giving the audience something they don’t see coming. ~ Jordan Peele
You’re never going to kill storytelling, because it’s built in the human plan. We come with it. ~ Margaret Atwood
The most amazing thing for me is that every single person who sees a movie, not necessarily one of my movies, brings a whole set of unique experiences, but through careful manipulation and good storytelling, you can get everybody to clap at the same time, to hopefully laugh at the same time, and to be afraid at the same time. ~ Steven Spielberg
[The venue: The Performing Arts Center at Alexandria Area High School . . . ]
We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories. ~ Jonathan Gottschall
Story, as it turns out, was crucial to our evolution — more so than opposable thumbs. Opposable thumbs let us hang on; story told us what to hang on to. ~ Lisa Cron
September 12
Does college pay? They do if you are a good open-field runner. ~ Will Rogers
[The first class of senior college for the fall semester . . . ]
We spend the first twelve months of our children’s lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve telling them to sit down and shut up. ~ Phyllis Diller
[Tim Cochran and Doug Tatge as Sound Idea, a/k/a, our first contact with Doug . . . ]
Colleges don’t make fools they only develop them. ~ George Horace Lorimer
[Doug Tatge, retired dean of student affairs at Alexandria College, presented the history of the college . . . ]
A senior always feels like the university is going to the kids. ~ Tom Masson
Commencement speeches were invented largely in the belief that outgoing college students should never be released into the world until they have been properly sedated. ~ G. B. Trudeau
Never get married in college; it’s hard to get a start if a prospective employer finds you’ve already made one mistake. ~ Elbert Hubbard
At graduation you get to wear a cap and gown, but it’s a good idea to also wear something underneath it. ~ Greg Tamblyn
[After class fine dining at The Depot . . . ]
I could have said something profound, but you would have forgotten it in 15 minutes – which is the afterlife of a graduation speech. ~ Art Buchwald
A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car. But if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad. ~ Theodore Roosevelt
[A first visit to the upstairs makeover at The Depot . . . ]
You are the nerds who are going to make some serious bank, which is why I am here today… to marry the best-looking amongst you. ~ Minday Kaling
[Updating Alex: This is where D. Michael B’s used to be. On the plus side, the long forgotten potholed mall parking lot has been resurfaced (though not yet in this photo) . . . ]
September 13
In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this. ~ Terry Pratchett
[The babies, waiting for Mom’s return, in the guest bedroom . . . ]
Fish is the only food that is considered spoiled once it smells like what it is. ~ P. J. O’Rourke
[Approaching the entrance to the golf club for Wednesday night fine dining . . . ]
Why does man kill? He kills for food. And not only food: frequently there must be a beverage. ~ Woody Allen
[Said fine dining . . . ]
September 15 – HOMECOMING
Poetry is a sort of homecoming. ~ Paul Celan
[Pre-homecoming events began in the early afternoon with Anthony Miltich at Carlos Creek Winery . . . ]
I got suspended for 90 days for fighting beginning my freshman year, so I missed Homecoming, and that’s when I turned the page. I went on honor roll and had good grades after that. It was the changing point. ~ Tyron Woodley
In 1985 I graduated from Deshler High School in Tuscumbia, Alabama, and I was their first African American homecoming queen. You would have thought I won Miss America or Miss U.S.A. (wink), because of my excitement. ~ Cynthia Bailey
I was homecoming queen. I was star of my basketball team. ~ Marla Maples
For a time in high school, I had glasses, braces, and a cast. I like to call this look ‘no date for homecoming.’ ~ Lauren Graham
Sometimes you just have to throw on a crown and remind them who they’re dealing with. ~ Marilyn Monroe
Before the Colts arrived in 1947, the best athlete in town was a woman duckpin bowler named Toots Barger. Football? The biggest games in Baltimore had been when Johns Hopkins took on Susquehanna or Franklin & Marshall at homecoming. ~ Frank Deford
[The usual suspects eventually arrived to join us . . . ]
Football teams represent cities and colleges and schools. The people have built great stadiums, and the game is culturally intertwined with our calendar. We don’t go back to college for the college. We go back for a football game, and, yes, we even call that ‘homecoming.’ ~ Frank Deford
I always thought of Caesars as the gold standard. I had exactly one date in high school, and my father knew someone who got us comped here for the Sammy Davis Jr. show. We heard ‘Candy Man,’ ‘Mr. Bojangles’ – the whole list. And then my date and I went off to the dance – homecoming, I think – where she pretty much ignored me. ~ Charles Bock
Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn. ~ Orson Welles
One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art. ~ Oscar Wilde
Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can. ~ Danny Kaye
[Jeff James arrived to begin set up to relieve Anthony of entertainment duties . . . ]
I said, ‘Oh my, what a marvelous tune.’ It was the best night, never forget how we moved. ~ Taylor Swift
[“OK Jeff, your turn” . . . ]
The Parade
Raining on parades requires no skill or effort on the part of a politician. ~ P. J. O’Rourke
[We left the winery to blitz downturn to stake out a spot to watch the homecoming parade, which I believe has become the largest parade (both in terms of participants and crowd size) held annually in Alexandria . . . ]
I’ve got a motto. When the posse’s chasing you out of town, you just act like you’re the head of a parade. ~ Mike D’Antoni
[It’s about young sisters and brothers anxiously awaiting parade commencement . . . ]
Group conformity scares the pants off me because it’s so often a prelude to cruelty towards anyone who doesn’t want to – or can’t – join the Big Parade. ~ Bette Midler
[The classic county courthouse a mere block and a half away . . . ]
I tell you, if you’re in the front row of the parade and you stop walking, pretty soon you’re back in the tuba section. And if you want to lead the parade you’ve got to keep moving. ~ Phil McGraw
[Here comes the parade with lights flashing, sirens blaring, and horns honking . . . ]
Lots of times you have to pretend to join a parade in which you’re not really interested in order to get where you’re going. ~ Christopher Morley
I’m still passionately interested in what my fellow humans are up to. For me, a day spent monitoring the passing parade is a day well-spent. ~ Garry Trudeau
If you’re not in the parade, you watch the parade. That’s life. ~ Mike Ditka
[The Super staked out our position at 8th and Broadway right across the street from our bank. It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on your money . . . ]
No journalist has ever been in my house and no photographs have ever been taken of where I live. I don’t parade my family out for display, which is the way it will stay. ~ Tom Hanks
[Carol Dittberner took the Hall of Fame inductee ride on behalf of her late husband Dave . . . ]
War coverage should be more than a parade of retired generals and retired government flacks posing as reporters. ~ Amy Goodman
It’s always the generals with the bloodiest records who are the first to shout what a hell it is. And it’s always the war widows who lead the Memorial Day parades. ~ Paddy Chayefsky
[Homecoming royalty . . . ]
In the subprime mortgage industry, bankers handed out iffy loans like candy at a parade because such loans meant revenue and, hence, bonuses for executives in the here-and-now. ~ Thomas Frank
[The Cardinal girls soccer team, who by the time of this writing are in the state tournament with a 15-1-2 record . . . ]
I’ve been marching in every single ethnic nationality parade all throughout the City of New York. We’re all Americans first and foremost, but people understand their heritage and it’s good to see. ~ Joe Lhota
Parades are man’s attempt to make traffic exciting. ~ Demetri Martin
[Hockey!]
A procession is a participants’ journey, while a parade is a performance with an audience. ~ Rebecca Solnit
Some of us are like a shovel brigade that follow a parade down Main Street cleaning up. ~ Donald T. Regan
[DMac, KXRA’s sports announcer . . . ]
The one thing I never want to see again is a military parade. ~ Ulysses S. Grant
[The football team, undefeated at regular season’s end . . . ]
If you wait for inspiration you’ll be standing on the corner after the parade is a mile down the street. ~ Ben Nicholas
As I think of it, democracy isn’t like a Sunday suit to be brought out and worn only for parades. It’s the kind of a life a decent man leads, it’s something to live for and to die for. ~ Dalton Trumbo
With the greater part of rich people, the chief enjoyment of riches consists in the parade of riches. ~ Adam Smith
[Alexandria Mountaineers, with several peaks to choose from in West Central Minnesota . . . ]
I like parades. ~ Jim Nantz
I never thought that I would share a hit parade with the Beatles. ~ Vera Lynn
Opportunity is a parade. Even as one chance passes, the next is a fife and drum echoing in the distance. ~ Robert Breault
[The girls cross country team ranked #1 in the state Class 2A . . . ]
Poetry is a string of words that parades without a permit. ~ Linda Hogan
[The worn out training shoes . . . ]
We all have the drum major instinct. We all want to be important, to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
[Appears to be the volleyball team . . . ]
Leadership involves finding a parade and getting in front of it. ~ John Naisbitt
[Appears to be the band . . . ]
Language is the apparel in which your thoughts parade before the public. ~ George W. Crane
[Dance team . . . ]
He looked like something that had gotten loose from Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. ~ Harpo Marx
[Wrestling . . . ]
The loneliest feeling in the world is when you think you are leading the parade and turn to find that no one is following you. No president who badly misguesses public opinion will last very long. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
[Swim & dive . . . ]
I think everyone, once in his life, should be given a ticker-tape parade. ~ Gene Kranz
[Figure skating . . . ]
The Republicans could mess up a two car parade. ~ William J. Clinton
[Appears to be the balloon team . . . ]
Remember to lean back in a parade, so that people can see your husband. Don’t get too fat to ride three on a seat. Get out of the way as quickly as you’re not needed. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
[FFA . . . ]
If you are being run out of town, get in front of the crowd and make it look like a parade. ~ Sally Stanford
[Tennis . . . ]
I’m ready to go anywhere, I’m ready for to fade, into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way. ~ Bob Dylan
[Gymnastics . . . ]
Never let the guy with the broom decide how many elephants can be in the parade. ~ Merlin Mann
[Believed to be gymnasts . . . ]
I’m from New Orleans, which is all about direct engagement out in the street with all the parades and Mardi Gras Indians and jazz funerals. ~ Jon Batiste
[The pirate team . . . ]
It will be celebrated… with pomp and parade… bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other. ~ John Adams
[As the masses disappear to the south . . . ]
He who parades his virtues seldom leads the parade. He who puts up with insult invites injury. Health requires this relaxation, this aimless life. This life in the present. ~ Henry David Thoreau
Parades should be classed as a Nuisance and participants should be subject to a term in prison. They stop more work, inconvenience more people, stop more traffic, cause more accidents, entail more expense, and commit and cause I don’t remember the other hundred misdemeanors. ~ Will Rogers
[And the crowds rush the playing field . . . ]
In the public restroom, I always stand behind the teen-ager who is changing into her band uniform for a parade and doesn’t emerge until she has combed the tassels on her boots, shaved her legs, and recovered her contact lens from the commode. ~ Erma Bombeck
[Always in search of more height for the basketball team . . . ]
The Game
No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings. ~ William Blake
[The Cards hosted St. Cloud Tech . . . ]
What I remember most about high school are the memories I created with my friends. ~ J. J. Watt
I think a winner has to be a master of preparation, they have to be a master of connection, extremely competitive and have really high standards for themselves and the people around them. ~ Maya Moore
[The pre-game discussion about post-game dining . . . ]
Once you get on the playing field it’s not about whether you’re liked or not liked. All that matters is to play at a high level and do whatever it takes to help your team win. That’s what it’s about. ~ LeBron James
[The opening kickoff starring Daniel Jackson (No. 9) . . . ]
The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more. ~ Jonas Salk
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. ~ H. L. Mencken
I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. ~ Albert Einstein
[As young Mr. Jackson’s kickoff sails past the goal post . . . ]
For NASA, space is still a high priority. ~ Dan Quayle
[The Cardinal defense in action . . . ]
There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through a suitable application of high explosives. ~ Scott Adams
I actually think I think better in high heels. ~ Theresa May
What you wear – and it always starts with your shoes – determines what kind of character you are. A woman who wears high heels carries herself very different to a girl who wears sneakers or sandals. It really helps determine how you carry yourself. ~ Winona Ryder
[Chase rolls left . . . ]
I went to the University of Vermont because I had a kind of unrequited love for this high school girlfriend. She wasn’t even at the University but at another school nearby. But I thought if went to a school near her, just maybe… I was really remedial about girls in so many ways. ~ Ben Affleck
[Homecoming royalty, fresh off the parade float . . . ]
Their houses are all built in the shape of tents, with very high chimneys. ~ Christopher Columbus
Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence. ~ Vince Lombardi
[Chase in a drop back . . . ]
If you are humble, your concentration will be very high. That’s the way to go in sports. ~ Eliud Kipchoge
[Setting up a screen pass . . . ]
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring. ~ Rogers Hornsby
[To running back, Andrew Flaten (No. 28) . . . ]
The leader must aim high, see big, judge widely, thus setting himself apart form the ordinary people who debate in narrow confines. ~ Charles de Gaulle
[Field goal by Daniel Jackson . . . ]
Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world. ~ Archimedes
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. ~ Wayne Gretzky
Let’s face it. No kid in high school feels as though they fit in. ~ Stephen King
[Leaping into the future, the Cardinals finished the regular season 8 – 0. The section tournament begins October 28, with a home game (as the No. 1 seed) against Bemidji . . . ]
September 16
Laughter is the best medicine – unless you’re diabetic, then insulin comes pretty high on the list. ~ Jasper Carrott
[The Saturday morning doughnut run . . . ]
High heels were invented by a woman who had been kissed on the forehead. ~ Christopher Morley
White collar conservative flashin down the street, pointing that plastic finger at me, they all assume my kind will drop and die, but I’m gonna wave my freak flag high. ~ Jimi Hendrix
I grew up Jewish. I am Jewish. I went to an Episcopal high school. I went to a Baptist college. I’ve taken every comparative-religion course that was available. God? I have no idea. ~ Michael Eisner
[Back in the day as a Speedo model, Fenwick Island, Delaware, 1963, body surfing with my Delaware cousins. The photo was taken by their mother which is why I’m missing the top half of my head. Aunt Louise, the first woman state senator in Delaware, was apparently noted for her ability to not quite capture the entire head in photographs . . . ]
When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy”. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. ~ John Lennon
August 29
Puffballs are distinguished from other mushroom groups by the fact that they lack many of the features or characteristics that other common mushrooms possess. A puffball has no stem. It has no cap. And no external gills. All of the spores are produced inside of the fruiting body. (adirondackalmanack.com/)
[I thought Harvey had brought a Neanderthal skull to the gym that morning . . . ]
September 1
Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated. ~ Lou Holtz
[The Alexandria Cardinals opened the 2023 football season by hosting the Chaska Hawks on a beautiful day in Vacationland USA . . . ]
Being a woman is of special interest only to aspiring male transsexuals. To actual women, it is simply a good excuse not to play football. ~ Fran Lebowitz
[And it was Mom & Dad Day . . . ]
There are several differences between a football game and a revolution. For one thing, a football game usually lasts longer and the participants wear uniforms. Also, there are usually more casualties in a football game. The object of the game is to move a ball past the other team’s goal line. This counts as six points. No points are given for lacerations, contusions, or abrasions, but then no points are deducted, either. Kicking is very important in football. In fact, some of the more enthusiastic players even kick the ball, occasionally. ~ Alfred Hitchcock
[The Ever Amazing Mr. Ripley . . . ]
If the Super Bowl is really the ultimate game, why do they play it again next year? ~ Duane Thomas
[A sign from above?]
You guys line up alphabetically by height. ~ Bill Peterson
[Chaska, a suburb of Minneapolis, had allowed an average of only 11 points a game over the last 4 years. Granted, high school teams graduate players every year, but there’s always a lewacy carryover . . . ]
The reason women don’t play football is because 11 of them would never wear the same outfit in public. ~ Phyllis Diller
[We knew the Cards would have at least a couple “high-value” players in 6’8″ quarterback Chase Thompson (No. 12) and placekicker Daniel Jackson (No. 9) . . . ]
If I drop dead tomorrow, at least I’ll know I died in good health. ~ Bum Phillips
[When Alex scored touchdowns on its first five possessions we got the idea this could be a really special season . . . ]
I don’t know whether I prefer Astroturf to grass. I never smoked Astroturf. ~ Joe Namath
[Jackson’s opening kickoff – the first of almost all that go through the end zone . . . ]
Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field? ~ Jim Bouton
[The first play from scrimmage of the season – Chaska held to a short gain . . . ]
You need 1 yard. Run the ball. Run the ball! ~ Richard Sherman
Kicking is very important in football. In fact, some of the more enthusiastic players even kick the ball, occasionally. ~ Alfred Hitchcock
[A Jackson PAT . . . ]
Most football players are temperamental. That’s 90 percent temper and 10 percent mental. ~ Doug Plank
Sure, luck means a lot in football. Not having a good quarterback is bad luck. ~ Don Shula
[Chase on a rollout . . . ]
When you’re good at something, you’ll tell everyone. When you’re great at something, they’ll tell you. ~ Walter Payton
Gentlemen, it is better to have died a small boy than to fumble this football. ~ John Heisman
[Running back Andrew Flaten (No. 28) scores . . . ]
We can’t run. We can’t pass. We can’t stop the run. We can’t stop the pass. We can’t kick. Other than that, we’re just not a very good football team right now. ~ Bruce Coslet
When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team. ~ George Raveling
[Follow the flight of a Jackson kickoff with the Chaska returners. Going . . . ]
If you’re mad at your kid, you can either raise him to be a nose tackle or send him out to play on the freeway. It’s about the same. ~ Bob Golic
[Going . . . ]
Do you know my favorite part about the game is? The opportunity to play. ~ Mike Singletary
[Gone . . . ]
It’s ridiculous for a country to get all worked up about a game—except the Super Bowl, of course. Now that’s important. ~ Andy Rooney
No one has ever drowned in sweat. ~ Lou Holtz
[The sequence of a quick out . . . ]
Pressure is something you feel when you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. ~ Peyton Manning
The fewer rules a coach has, the fewer rules there are for players to break. ~ John Madden
Great football coaches have the vision to see, the faith to believe, the courage to do—and 25 great players. ~ Marv Levy
I feel like I’m the best, but you’re not going to get me to say that. ~ Jerry Rice
Don’t worry about it. It’s just a bunch of guys with an odd-shaped ball. ~ Bill Parcells
In high school, when I played football I got no respect. I shared a locker with a mop. ~ Rodney Dangerfield
[Another PAT . . . ]
The difference is the class clown is the guy who drops his pants at the football game, the class comedian is the guy who talked him into it. ~ Billy Crystal
On the last game of the season, the crowd was yelling, We want Youngman! We want Youngman! The coach says, Youngman – go see what they want! ~ Henny Youngman
I did play two years of high school football and was very short and uncoordinated but the second year I was very tall and skinny and very uncoordinated. ~ Kyle Chandler
High school football in Detroit was not easy at all. There were talented players everywhere. ~ Antonio Gates
[And the final score . . . ]
September 4
You know you’re getting old when you get that one candle on the cake. It’s like, ‘See if you can blow this out.’ ~ Jerry Seinfeld
[Happy Birthday to me!]
Put candles in a cake, it’s a birthday cake. Put candles in a pie, and somebody’s drunk in the kitchen. ~ Jim Gaffigan
[Photos with my collective booty . . . ]
I was brought up to respect my elders, so now I don’t have to respect anybody. ~ George Burns
[A Southern Virginia writer championed by my Southern Virginia brother and as a gift from my Washington, D.C. sister . . . ]
Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act. ~ Truman Capote
[Laddie enjoying a piece of birthday paraphernalia . . . ]
The really frightening thing about middle age is the knowledge that you’ll grow out of it. ~ Doris Day
[Birthday excitement with Anthony Miltich at Lure Lakebar . . . ]
Last year my birthday cake looked like a prairie fire. ~ Rodney Dangerfield
[Anthony joined us for some pre-performance scuttlebutt . . . ]
If you survive long enough, you’re revered-rather like an old building. ~ Katherine Hepburn
[Here comes the champagne . . . ]
From our birthday, until we die, is but the winking of an eye. ~ William Butler Yeats
I wanted to buy a candle holder, but the store didn’t have one. So, I got a cake! ~ Mitch Hedberg
[Just a group of regular people who enjoy a taste of the bubbly . . . ]
It’s sad to grow old, but nice to ripen. ~ Brigitte Bardot
Why is a birthday cake the only food you can blow on and spit on and everybody rushes to get a piece? ~ Bobby Kelton
Thanks to Facebook, I never forget the birthdays of people I don’t really know. ~ Andy Borowitz
[An assistant women’s basketball coach from St. Ben’s was there scouting the event . . . ]
Marriage is the alliance of two people, one of whom never remembers birthdays and the other who never forgets them. ~ Ogden Nash
[Thanks, Anthony!]
You know you’ve aged when you read events you lived in a history book. ~ Will Ferrell
September 7
We hope that, when the insects take over the world, they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics. ~ William (“Bill”) Vaughn
[Tom McDermott plays Scott Joplin at a Theatre L’Homme Dieu shindig to thank its donors and patrons . . . ]
I feel a very unusual sensation – if it is not indigestion, I think it must be gratitude. ~ Benjamin Disraeli
[Just a group of regular people who happen to like ragtime . . . ]
Though I am grateful for the blessings of wealth, it hasn’t changed who I am. My feet are still on the ground. I’m just wearing better shoes. ~ Oprah Winfrey
[Even more regular people . . . ]
So long, and thanks for all the fish. ~ Douglas Adams
[A plethora of regular people . . . ]
Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed. ~ Mark Twain
[Some regular people even enjoyed from the theatre seats . . . ]
I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose. ~ Woody Allen
[And now the thanks from theatre hierarchy . . . ]
Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses. ~ Alphonse Karr
Got no checkbooks, got no banks. Still I’d like to express my thanks – I’ve got the sun in the mornin’ and the moon at night. ~ Irving Berlin
[Gotcha three times Nicole!]
So on this day of reflection I say again, thank you for going on this journey with me. I’ll see you at the movies. ~ Roger Ebert
Life is short, wear your party pants. ~ Loretta LaRoche
[Theatre board member Michael Tisserand . . . ]
Parties are the nightly ritual of the sophisticated society. ~ Dominick Dunne
[Thanks for bringing in Mr. McDermott . . . ]
It’s not about going to a party. It’s life as a party. ~ Diane Von Furstenberg
If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun. ~ Katharine Hepburn
[Regular people reflected in the shiny piano . . . ]
Never miss a party…good for the nerves–like celery. ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
Hear no evil, speak no evil, and you won’t be invited to cocktail parties. ~ Oscar Wilde
[Ruth’s photo of Tom McDermott . . . ]
Life is a party. Dress for it. ~ Audrey Hepburn
Canada is like a loft apartment over a really great party. ~ Robin Williams
In all of living, have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured. ~ Gordon B. Hinckley
[He was a true joy (OK, I will admit to having visited the Scott Joplin house in St. Louis) . . . ]
At every party there are two kinds of people – those who want to go home and those who don’t. The trouble is, they are usually married to each other. ~ Ann Landers
[The Super joins in as a member of the regular people . . . ]
The best parties are the ones you never want to end. ~ Beyoncé
September 9
I’d rather get a hot dog or a doughnut than write a song. ~ John Prine
[Saturday mornings always begin with . . . ]
Don t play this piece fast. It is never right to play ragtime fast. ~ Scott Joplin
Ragtime was my lullaby. ~ Hoagy Carmichael
One day the ‘Maple Leaf’ will make me King of Ragtime Composers. ~ Scott Joplin
Up Next: The never ending supply of events long past . . .
I’m making a bingo card of all the places in Florida my book [Wrecker] gets banned. ~ Carl Hiaasen
The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness. ~ Joseph Conrad
This is a further consideration of things that happened in the past. ~ Me
[My photo of the originally-named Sears Tower under construction in February 1973 as shot from the John Hancock Center in Chicago. Well, I think it’s cool . . . ]
One of the delights known to age, and beyond the grasp of youth, is that of Not Going. ~ J. B. Priestley
August 17– The Soiree
I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being. ~ Oscar Wilde
[The annual fund raiser for the theatre . . . ]
It might seem that being a genius is a golden ticket to a life of glamorous soirees with the intellectual elite, champagne flute in hand, arm candy at your side, surrounded by a throng of smiling sycophants. But you might be confusing this scene with the lifestyle of a diplomat. ~ Andre De Guillaume
[The Super rang for champagne which was handed to her through the plant wall . . . ]
Life is a theatre set in which there are but few practicable entrances. ~ Victor Hugo
[Three members of the theatre board, a photobomber not meaning to, and one trying to duck under the paparazzo lens . . . ]
I think God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability. ~ Oscar Wilde
[A point was being made . . . ]
Of course we all come to the theatre with baggage. The baggage of our daily lives, the baggage of our problems, the baggage of our tragedies, the baggage of being tired. It doesn’t matter what age you are. But if our hearts get opened and released — well that is what theatre can do, and does sometimes, and everyone is thankful when that happens. ~ Vanessa Redgrave
[Why yes, it is a big par-tay . . . ]
From the start it has been the theatre’s business to entertain people … it needs no other passport than fun. ~ Bertolt Brecht
I believe that in a great city, or even in a small city or a village, a great theatre is the outward and visible sign of an inward and probable culture. ~ Sir Laurence Olivier
[The new patio is a stellar performer for such events . . . ]
When life gives you lemons, squirt someone in the eye. ~ Cathy Guisewite
[The entertainment was provided by Noah Sonie, an unbelievable magician . . . ]
For me, the most exciting thing is to create good magic that’s entertaining for an audience, and it would be lovely if a magician was fooled as well. ~ Ricky Jay
I think the theatre is as essential to civilization as safe, pure water. ~ Vanessa Redgrave
[The old lodge in the background from the days when this was a resort . . . ]
Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome. ~ Isaac Asimov
[Noah covered here by event photographer, Cassy Bender . . . ]
The theatre is so endlessly fascinating because it’s so accidental. It’s so much like life. ~ Arthur Miller
[Mesmerized . . . ]
When I was growing up I always wanted to be someone. Now I realize I should have been more specific. ~ Lily Tomlin
[Mesmerized, part 2 . . . ]
The theatre was created to tell people the truth about life and the social situation. ~ Stella Adler
[Just walking around, creating angles . . . ]
Don’t waste so much time thinking about how much you weigh. There is no more mind-numbing, boring, idiotic, self-destructive diversion from the fun of living. ~ Meryl Streep
[For the evening’s wining and dining . . . ]
Do things that make you happy within the confines of the legal system. ~ Ellen DeGeneres
Theatre is a series of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster. ~ Tom Stoppard
[The cabins from the old resort . . . ]
Theater is a verb before it is a noun, an act before it is a place. ~ Martha Graham
[Taking it all in . . . ]
Sometimes I arrive just when God’s ready to have someone click the shutter. ~ Ansel Adams
[Wrapping up the mesmerization part of the show . . . ]
There are no bad pictures; that’s just how your face looks sometimes. ~ Abraham Lincoln
[Cassy enjoying her job . . . ]
People say money is not the key to happiness, but I have always figured if you have enough money, you can have a key made. ~ Joan Rivers
[Moving into the tent area, this is Sidney Imsande, the theatre’s operations manager . . . ]
Speak the truth, but leave immediately after. ~ Slovenian proverb
[Sidney announces things past, things current, and things future . . . ]
The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it’s taken place. ~ George Bernard Shaw
[And, apparently, things funny . . . ]
Humor is a rubber sword – it allows you to make a point without drawing blood. ~ Mary Hirsch
I have no desire to spend every night of the next few months at balls and soirees or drowning in tea with morning callers. ~ Sarah M. Eden
[Sidney hands off to the theatre’s executive director, Nicole Mulder . . . ]
When you come into the theater, you have to be willing to say, “We’re all here to undergo a communion, to find out what the hell is going on in this world.” If you’re not willing to say that, what you get is entertainment instead of art, and poor entertainment at that. ~ David Mamet
[The list of what was, what is, and what will be . . . ]
Eloquence is the power to translate a truth into language perfectly intelligible to the person to whom you speak. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Speech is power. Speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel. It is to bring another out of his bad sense into your good sense. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Go to heaven for the climate, hell for the company. ~ Mark Twain
[Guests who allowed us to share their table . . . ]
My tastes are simple: I am easily satisfied with the best. ~ Winston S. Churchill
[Other table guests of similar kindnesses . . . ]
Follow your passion, stay true to yourself, never follow someone else’s path unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path then by all means you should follow that. ~ Ellen DeGeneres
[Meanwhile, Nicole continues . . . ]
Money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you a yacht big enough to pull up right alongside it. ~ David Lee Roth
[Time to raise money with auctioneer Glen Fladeboe and theatre board member Phil Eidsvold . . . ]
There is no such thing as fun for the whole family. ~ Jerry Seinfeld
Look your audience straight in the eyes, and begin to talk as if every one of them owed you money. ~ Dale Carnegie
I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues. ~ Dr. Seuss
[The assembled masses bid to have local artist Lyssa Lovejoy paint a subject of their request . . . ]
When genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot. ~ D. H. Lawrence
[Lyssa also often hosted the Wednesday fine dining group at the golf club . . . ]
Your smile is a messenger of your goodwill. ~ Dale Carnegie
Everybody wants to save the earth. No one wants to help mom do the dishes. ~ P.J. O’Rourke
[The McGranes, mom and daughter Tessa, who was a multi-sport athlete for the Alexandria Cardinals . . . ]
I hate housework. You make the beds, you wash the dishes and six months later you have to start all over again. ~ Joan Rivers
[I occasionally sat with Mom McGrane to cheer on her daughters, Mia and Tessa . . . ]
One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple. ~ Jack Kerouac
[Theatre board member Deb Trumm about to be bamboozled by Noah . . . ]
Magic is the only honest profession. A magician promises to deceive you and he does. ~ Karl Germain
I knew I was going to be famous later in life. ~ Sharon Jones
[“Didn’t I give you a fifty?”]
All the things I like to do are either immoral, illegal, or fattening. ~ Alexander Woollcott
[Fan Ken Howell regales the audience on the pleasures of local theatre . . . ]
Be wise, because the world needs wisdom. If you cannot be wise, pretend to be someone who is wise, and then just behave like they would. ~ Neil Gaiman
All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence — then success is sure. ~ Mark Twain
The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public. ~ George Jessel
There are two types of speakers: Those who get nervous and those who are liars. ~ Mark Twain
[Theatre board member Michael Tisserand with further regalement . . . ]
Eloquence is the essential thing in a speech, not information. ~ Mark Twain
The truth is, this being errand boy to one hundred and fifty thousand people tires me so by night I am ready for bed instead of soirees. ~ Rutherford B. Hayes
[They’re wearing their name tags, thus losing anonymity . . . ]
The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist fears this is true. ~ James Branch Cabell
[But nonetheless patron saints of theatre . . . ]
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it. ~ W. C. Fields
I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day. ~ Vincent Van Gogh
[Saying goodnight to the theatre . . . ]
How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon? ~ Dr. Seuss
Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night. ~ William Blake
My candle burns at both ends; it will not last the night; but ah, my foes, and oh, my friends – it gives a lovely light! ~ Edna St. Vincent Millay
[Art by Lyssa Lovejoy . . . ]
You have to smile, if you expect anybody to smile back. ~ Jonathan Evison
[Lyssa accompanying her art . . . ]
Do not go gentle into that good night but rage, rage against the dying of the light. ~ Dylan Thomas
August 22
A child’s learning is a function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher. ~ James S. Coleman
[Graduates of the Alexandria class of ’65 with their much more distinguished spouses dining at Pike & Pint . . . ]
Middle age is when your old classmates are so grey and wrinkled and bald they don’t recognize you. ~ Bennett Cerf
I loved school so much that most of my classmates considered me a dork. ~ Natalie Portman
August 23
I remember when I was younger, and in school, our teachers showed us films of plastic in the ocean, starving polar bears and so on. I cried through all the movies. My classmates were concerned when they watched the film, but when it stopped, they started thinking about other things. I couldn’t do that. Those pictures were stuck in my head. ~ Greta Thunberg
[The next day (see August 22) at Bradley’s, who couldn’t attend the previous day’s festivities for health reasons . . . ]
August 24
Almost 50 years old now, some 30 years after graduation, I look at my Caltech classmates and conclude that math whizzes do not take over the world. ~ Sandra Tsing Loh
[Tom and Pam came up from Austin, Texas, the day Austin’s streak of 100-degree days ended at 47 – it was only 99 that day. Unfortunately for them, the heat index in Alex that day was 106! Say what? We had a nice visit before they left for Texas with the remaining family household items. . . ]
I actually went to law school with Jim Comey. We were in the same class, and he was respected by our classmates just like he was respected by the agents that he supervised. ~ Amy Klobuchar
[Wondering how they could go back to Texas on a beautiful Minnesota morning like this?]
All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination. ~ Earl Nightingale
Still round the corner there may wait, A new road or a secret gate. ~ J. R. R. Tolkien
August 25
There is nothing higher and stronger and more wholesome and useful for life in later years than some good memory, especially a memory connected with childhood, with home. ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky
[A tour of Victoria Heights, the neighborhood from whence I grew from a small child to a version of a larger person . . . ]
Somewhere slightly before or after the close of our second decade, we reach a momentous milestone–childhood’s end. We have left a safe place and can’t go home again. We have moved into a world where life isn’t fair, where life is rarely what it should be. ~ Judith Viorst
The home is the laboratory of our lives, and what we learn there largely determines what we do when we leave there. ~ Thomas S. Monson
People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home. ~ Dagobert D. Runes
[Our home then; now it has a “Private Property” sign next to the front door. (Duh?) . . . ]
I cannot see it any other way. All of my fundamental principles that were instilled in me in my home, from my childhood, are still with me. ~ Hakeem Olajuwon
It was the most magical fun childhood. We had grape arbours and we would make jam with my mom. My dad would go to work and he’d come home. He’d clean out stalls and fix split-row fences. ~ Taylor Swift
[Was our ball field back in the day . . . ]
You can go other places, all right – you can live on the other side of the world, but you can’t ever leave home. ~ Sue Monk Kidd
[New construction trending toward the longtime public landing . . . ]
August 26
Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts. ~ James Beard
[If it’s Saturday morning, it’s the doughnut run to Roer’s Bakery. At the last stoplight on the south end of downtown (3rd and Broadway), the skeleton of a large apartment/condo (The Rune) rises to soon be a new city landmark . . . ]
I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it. ~ Mae West
I’m a one-man band! ~ Jose Feliciano
[Another afternoon with Jeff James at Carlos Creek Winery . . . ]
I didn’t love Jim Morrison. There was something very reptilian about him. And I didn’t care for his singing, but his band! The Doors were fantastic. ~ Linda Ronstadt
Lean your body forward slightly to support the guitar against your chest, for the poetry of the music should resound in your heart. ~ Andres Segovia
I’m not a big fan of lead vocalists, people who sing but don’t play. I never wanted to be in a band where the guy who was up front just sang. ~ Eric Clapton
August 27
Now that I’m coming out with my own record people can see I’m a solo artist. ~ John Legend
[Another afternoon with Anthony Miltich at Carlos Creek Winery . . . ]
I discovered that it was a lonely world being a solo artist. Then I started working with another solo artist, Rod Stewart, and he used to tell me how lonely he was! ~ Andy Taylor
I knew I didn’t want to make a country record just because that’s not really what I would have ever made as a solo artist. ~ Natalie Maines
I sing and play the guitar, and I’m a walking, talking bacterial infection. ~ Kurt Cobain
I’ve always wanted to smash a guitar over someone’s head. You just can’t do that with a piano. ~ Elton John
I never studied anything, really. I didn’t study the drums. I joined bands and made all the mistakes onstage. ~ Ringo Starr
[And later that same day at Theatre L’Homme Dieu . . . ]
Sometimes you lie in bed at night and you don’t have a single thing to worry about. That always worries me! ~ Charlie Brown
[The Super and the Tenor hanging out on the TLHD patio awaiting Vintage Cruise . . . ]
When I was growing up and listening to bands like the Dave Clark Five, the groove was what initially got me going. I really like that funky, heavy groove. ~ Eddie Van Halen
A lot of rock bands are truly a legend in their own minds. ~ David Lee Roth
We’ve been gone five years and the best they could come up with was boy bands? ~ Jon Bon Jovi
TLHD: We’re bringing in the big Alomere stage for a beautiful outdoor experience! The smooth & soulful music of the 70s and 80s, performed by some of MN’s great artists. “This is it” This is our final performance of the 2023 Season. We will also have season finale specials on our fine wines, beer, and merch.
Public speaking is very easy. ~ Dan Quayle
[Nicole Mulder made the pre-concert announcements . . . ]
Before every show, we get into a circle, hold hands, and someone makes a speech. Most bands are too cool for that. ~ Flea
So it was out of necessity that Blackheart was born. I think it’s great that now, 25 years later, we’re not only putting out our own music, but are able to put out music by other bands. That’s really exciting for us. ~ John Jett
Rock ‘n’ roll accepted me and paid me, even though I loved the big bands… I went that way because I wanted a home of my own. I had a family. I had to raise them. Let’s don’t leave out the economics. No way. ~ Chuck Berry
[Heads in the crowd . . . ]
The signing of the Sex Pistols was a turning point for Virgin. It put the company on the map and, over the years, attracted bands such as Genesis, the Rolling Stones, Lenny Kravitz, and Janet Jackson. It also attracted Culture Club, who were ground-breaking. ~ Richard Branson
[It was hot! Damn hot! Fans displayed normal herd instinct by heading for shade on a hot, sunny day . . . ]
Some bands today have the experience of really working together and honing their craft. And other bands are very much like, ‘I just got a guitar for Christmas, let’s start a band.’ And you can hear the difference. ~ Robbie Robertson
Rock n’ roll was one thing, and then they chopped off the ‘roll’ and called it ‘rock,’ which became a sort of umbrella term for anything with a guitar in it. Like hair bands. How could we possibly believe that? It’s just gotten downright silly, to the point where now it’s sort of become like professional wrestling. ~ Tom Petty
If you started in New York you were dealing with the biggest guys in the world. You’re dealing with Charlie Parker and all the big bands and everything. We got more experience working in Seattle. ~ Quincy Jones
I played in garage bands and rock and roll bands when I was in junior high and high school and saw some of the great talents of all time in the local area where I lived. ~ David Cassidy
[“This Is It” featuring Jack Cassidy (2nd from right with an Alexandria connection) . . . ]
There is a definite sound with all-girl bands, a good rudimentary sound, and that’s what’s cool and punk about all-girl bands that you still find, largely – it’s really kind of primal. ~ Nancy Wilson
Big companies are like marching bands. Even if half the band is playing random notes, it still sounds kind of like music. The concealment of failure is built into them. ~ Douglas Coupland
If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you’re a one-eyed man in the kingdom of the blind. ~ Kurt Vonnegut
If you have to tell people you are powerful, it means you aren’t. ~ Margaret Thatcher
There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches. ~ Ray Bradbury
When something’s happening politically that concerns me, my first reaction is how can we throw a party and have a positive event surrounding an issue. ~ Michael Tisserand
Any book worth banning is a book worth reading. ~ Isaac Asimov
Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance. ~ Laurie Halse Anderson
Read whatever they’re trying to keep out of your eyes and your brain, because that’s exactly what you need to know. ~ Stephen King
There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them. ~ Joseph Brodsky
The important task of literature is to free man, not to censor him, and that is why Puritanism was the most destructive and evil force which ever oppressed people and their literature: it created hypocrisy, perversion, fears, sterility. ~ Anaïs Nin
Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice. ~ Henry Louis Gates Jr.
[The place where people come to speak, and from whence Cherry Street Books live streamed the speakers on Facebook . . . ]
If a public school were to remove every book because it contains one word deemed objectionable to some parent, then there would be no books at all in our public libraries. ~ Peter Scheer
[Host Michael Tisserand introduced speakers who did readings from books that have been banned at various times through the ages . . . ]
Banning books gives us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight. ~ Stephen Chbosky
Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak just because a baby can’t chew it. ~ Mark Twain
[The total tally of attendees, as verified by the nonpartisan group We Don’t Have Skin in the Game(Seriously), was 107 . . . ]
I’m not, like, a book guy, but isn’t the point of all this book stuff like what Ms. Croft was teaching us—that unrestricted access to books allows us to be challenged and changed? To learn new things and to critically think about those things and not be afraid of them? To be better than we were before we read them? ~ David Connis
A dangerous book will always be in danger from those it threatens with the demand that they question their assumptions. They’d rather hang on to the assumptions and ban the book. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin
[Main Street by Sinclair Lewis (1920) read by James Pence]
Most troubles are unnecessary. We have Nature beaten; we can make her grow wheat; we can keep warm when she sends blizzards. So we raise the devil just for pleasure–wars, politics, race-hatreds, labor-disputes. ~ Sinclair Lewis
It has not yet been recorded that any human being has gained a very large or permanent contentment from meditation upon the fact that he is better off than others. ~ Sinclair Lewis
What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist. ~ Salman Rushdie
[Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937) read by Thressa Johnson]
I hate it that Americans are taught to fear some books and some ideas as though they were diseases. ~ Kurt Vonnegut
When these people call Eleanor & Park an obscene story, I feel like they’re saying that rising above your situation isn’t possible. That if you grow up in an ugly situation, your story isn’t even fit for good people’s ears. That ugly things cancel out everything beautiful. ~ Rainbow Rowell
[Co-host Barbara Benson doubled as microphone adjuster . . . ]
A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill. ~ Robert A. Heinlein
[Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (1952) read by Jessica Chipman]
There are no bad authors for children… because every child is different. They can find the stories they need to, and they bring themselves to stories. ~ Neil Gaiman
The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose. ~ James Baldwin
[Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (1956) read by Lewis Mundt]
Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor. ~ James Baldwin
Censorship of anything, at any time, in any place, on whatever pretense, has always been and always will be the last resort of the boob and the bigot. ~ Eugene O’Neill
[To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960) read by Sandy Susag]
If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed. ~ Benjamin Franklin
Let children read whatever they want and then talk about it with them. If parents and kids can talk together, we won’t have as much censorship because we won’t have as much fear. ~ Judy Blume
[Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (1970) read by Carla Grover Barnhill]
Yes, books are dangerous. They should be dangerous – they contain ideas. ~ Pete Hautman
The books that the world calls immoral are books that show its own shame. ~ Oscar Wilde
He who destroys a good book kills reason itself. ~ Milton
[Maus by Art Spiegelman (1991) read by Tami Hinz and Michael Tisserand]
Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you’re going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go in your library and read every book… ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower
Books and ideas are the most effective weapons against intolerance and ignorance. ~ Lyndon B Johnson
All censorships exist to prevent anyone from challenging current conceptions and existing institutions. All progress is initiated by challenging current conceptions, and executed by supplanting existing institutions. Consequently, the first condition of progress is the removal of censorship. ~ George Bernard Shaw
[And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson (2005) read by Rowan, age 11]
Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. ~ Potter Stewart
I can’t imagine a greater compliment for an author than making the banned book section. ~ Chris Colfer
[The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (2007) read by Alysa Ilchert]
Every burned book enlightens the world. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches. ~ Ray Bradbury
[Emily Regnier, owner, Cherry Street Books]
Torch every book. Burn every page. Char every word to ash. Ideas are incombustible. And therein lies your real fear. ~ Ellen Hopkins
The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion. In the long run it will create a generation incapable of appreciating the difference between independence of thought and subservience. ~ Henry Steele Commager
Every dictator gets rid of the artist first… They burn the books and execute the artist first… Art might do something. It’s dangerous. ~ Toni Morrison
[Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe (2019) read by Drac]
You can’t know something’s missing if you don’t know it exists. And that, to me, is sort of the greatest tragedy about all of this (in regard to the removal of LGBTQIA+ stories from libraries and classroom shelves). ~ Mark Oshiro
He drinks espresso coffee made in a little Italian percolator and seeks out controversial or banned books on the premise if a book is banned, it is probably interesting. ~ Tracy Sorensen
The school board banned one of Maya Angelou’s books, so the librarian had to take down her poster. I fished it out of the trash. She must be a great writer if the school board is scared of her. ~ Laurie Halse Anderson
Well, the man who first translated the bible into English was burned at the stake, and they’ve been at it ever since. Must be all that adultery, murder and incest. But not to worry. It’s back on the shelves. ~ Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Calling a book “Young Adult” is just a fancy way of saying the book is censored. ~ Oliver Markus
Censors don’t want children exposed to ideas different from their own. If every individual with an agenda had his/her way, the shelves in the school library would be close to empty. ~ Judy Blume
Some children were lucky enough to have their Potter novels banned by witch-hunting school boards and micromanaging ministers. Is there any greater job than a book you’re not allowed to read, a book you could go to hell for reading? ~ Ann Patchett
Books and all forms of writing have always been objects of terror to those who seek to suppress truth. ~ Wole Soyinka
Photos on loan from other sources . . .
Having the freedom to read and the freedom to choose is one of the best gifts my parents ever gave me. ~ Judy Blume
[In honor of Kathleen Pohlig, founder of Cherry Street Books]
All these people talk so eloquently about getting back to good old-fashioned values. Well, as an old poop I can remember back to when we had those old-fashioned values, and I say let’s get back to the good old-fashioned First Amendment of the good old-fashioned Constitution of the United States — and to hell with the censors! Give me knowledge or give me death! ~ Kurt Vonnegut
When the Viennese government compiled a Catalogue of Forbidden Books in 1765, so many Austrians used it as a reading guide that the Hapsburg censors were forced to include the Catalogue itself as a forbidden book. ~ Craig Nelson
Books were despised by the Viking Tribes, as they were seen as a horrible civilizing influence and a threat to the barbarian culture. ~ Cressida Cowell
Up Next: Back to catching up with the old stuff . . .
I always have a quotation for everything – it saves original thinking. ~ Dorothy Sayers [Editor’s note: I’ve always said Ms. Sayers knows whereof she speaks . . . ]
Leading off with the rehab team at Alomere Health, our local hospital (photo from a local newspaper ad). I spent three months (three days a week until 36 sessions completed) with them this spring. I was surprised to learn that less than a third of the people eligible for this program take it. I was a regular, as well as several other people on pretty much the same cycle as me, but I could never get the staff to buy into the notion that doughnuts have great nutritional value? ~ Me
Some people have knees, ankles. It’s always been my back. That’s been one thing I’ve always had to be conscious about strengthening and being in rehab. Pretty much I’ve always rehabbed it. ~ Diana Taurasi
I do a lot of heart rehab exercise, and cardio as well. I do some specialist stuff and then some bog-standard ‘bike to nowhere,’ as I call it. ~ Paul Whitehouse
Cardiac rehabilitation is a supervised program that includes: Physical activity. Education about healthy living, including how to eat healthy, take medicine as prescribed, and quit smoking. Counseling to find ways to relieve stress and improve mental health.
[This was on May 26, I believe my penultimate session. I seem to recall Emily took the photo . . . ]
Everyone I tell that I had an aneurysm always says, ‘Oh, my cousin died from that.’ Well, I didn’t, so I’m amazed. I was in a wheelchair, and I had to go to rehab. And now I’m walking! ~ Teri Garr
[I assume Emily’s taskmaster abilities came from the fact she was a member of the 2018 undefeated state champion Sauk Centre basketball team. By the time I was finished with this machine, it required a complete overhaul . . . ]
July 21
The Legacy of the Lakes Museum is pleased to welcome back Davina & the Vagabonds to the Legacy Gardens!
“Davina Sowers creates her own Americana mishmash — a little Amy Winehouse-worthy neo-soul here, a little Great American Songbook-influenced songcraft there.” ~ Rolling Stone Magazine (legacyofthelakes.org)
Davina and the Vagabonds is a jazz blues band based in the Twin Cities, Minnesota and formed in 2006. The band consists of Davina Lozier (formerly Sowers), Zack Lozier (trumpet), Steve Rogness (trombone), Connor McRae Hammergren (drums), and Andrew Foreman (upright bass). Their 2014 release titled Sunshine charted at #13 on the Billboard Blues Chart (Wikipedia).
Music is art, and art is important and rare. ~ Taylor Swift
Music can change the world because it can change people. ~ Bono
Without music, life would be a mistake. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
Music is my religion. ~ Jimi Hendrix
Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours. ~ Elton John
Please don’t stop the music. ~ Rihanna
I love rock n’ roll, so put another dime in the jukebox, baby. ~ Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
If music be the food of love, play on. ~ William Shakespeare,
[Lowell Pickett, the Minneapolis native helped found the famous Dakota Jazz Club in the Twin City in 1985, and helps out around Alexandria frequently as well . . . ]
A live concert to me is exciting because of all the electricity that is generated in the crowd and on stage. ~ Elvis Presley
By the ’90s, I wasn’t really an actor anymore. I was someone who went on the road with these gigantic concerts. ~ Bette Midler
[Davina!]
I’ve been to too many Dead concerts. There’ve been smokin’ holes where my memory used to be. ~ Ken Kesey
[Deadheads?]
July 22
I could never in a hundred summers get tired of this. ~ Susan Branch
[My second visit to Pilgrim Point, here on far side of Lake Ida, in one season . . . ]
Stay close to the serenity of a lake to meet your own peace of mind. ~ Munia Khan
[With thanks again to our Lake Ida hosts . . . ]
Summertime and the livin’ is easy. ~ Porgy and Bess
[Pilgrim Point with a paraglider . . . ]
July 23
One benefit of Summer was that each day we had more light to read by. ~ Jeannette Walls
[Another Sunday breakfast at the golf club . . . ]
The way I feel today, as long as my health is good and I can handle myself well and people still come to my concerts, still buy my CDs, I’ll keep playing until I feel like I can’t. ~ B. B. King
[And then it was on to Carlos Creek Winery for a musical interlude with Greg Donahue and Erik Schultz . . . ]
A lot of people that come to the concerts are in their 20s. I think they come to listen to something new, and I want to be able to provide that. ~ Joe Hisaishi
I think my meditation helps me to transcend and get beyond the grip of all the negativity and regenerate from within a more positive attitude, which comes in very handy when you’re going to do 150 concerts a year. ~ Mike Love
[Greg is taking on a more “vocal” role of late . . . ]
Concerts every night, autograph signings, endorsements, and so on. That’s not what real life is about. ~ Vanilla Ice
All my concerts had no sounds in them; they were completely silent. People had to make up their own music in their minds! ~ Yoko Ono
For a long time, I couldn’t actually deal with playing concerts; it was a totally alien concept to me, ’cause I was used to playing in clubs and dance halls. ~ Van Morrison
There’s a tendency to make more money at concerts. That’s from a financial standpoint. Night clubs have a better feel, better contact between the artist and the audience. ~ Al Green
[The kids in the truck . . . ]
I’ve looked at photographs of myself during concerts and it sometimes looks as if I’m in a fencing move, with a guitar in my hands instead of a sword. ~ Neil Diamond
[Fans, i.e., two of Greg’s three daughters, getting close-ups . . . ]
Barbra Streisand is without a doubt one of the most honest people I have ever known. There is no doubt in my mind that she will not be doing any more concerts. Of course, she still will be making records and starring and directing in movies. ~ Marvin Hamlisch
[The entire Donahue family . . . ]
Do you know how many concerts I’ve done in my whole life, in more than 35 years of performing? Sixty-four. ~ Carly Simon
[The traveling fan club . . . ]
We do a lot of light classical programming with that, too… obviously… a lot of Tchaikovsky music, Grieg, things like that which have become less classical with classical concerts. ~ Skitch Henderson
The biggest problem with American music right now, is that kids don’t listen. They come by it honestly, Americans don’t listen anyway. When people go to concerts, they say I’m going to see… not, I’m going to hear. ~ Branford Marsalis
July 24
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. ~ Edward Abbey
There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds. ~ G. K. Chesterton
July 26
Heavy hearts, like heavy clouds in the sky, are best relieved by the letting of a little water. ~ Christopher Morley
[Honoring our biggest rainfall of the season . . . ]
Life’s not about waiting for the storm to pass… It’s about learning to dance in the rain. ~ Vivian Greene
July 27
Gray skies are just clouds passing over. ~ Duke Ellington
[Happy Birthday, USA . . . ]
I know that if odour were visible, as colour is, I’d see the summer garden in rainbow clouds. ~ Robert Bridges
If you want to relax, watch the clouds pass by if you’re laying on the grass, or sit in front of the creek; just doing nothing and having those still moments is what really rejuvenates the body. ~ Miranda Kerr
We have chased away the clouds, the sky is all ‘rose.’ ~ Francois Hollande
I prefer the mystic clouds of nostalgia to the real thing, to be honest. ~ Robert Wyatt
In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds. ~ Robert Green Ingersoll
When you’re a kid, you lay in the grass and watch the clouds going over, and you literally don’t have a thought in your mind. It’s purely meditation, and we lose that. ~ Dick Van Dyke
Before we had airplanes and astronauts, we really thought that there was an actual place beyond the clouds, somewhere over the rainbow. There was an actual place, and we could go above the clouds and find it there. ~ Barbara Walters
August 7
I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer. ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
[The Salty Dogs with this Monday performance at Gathered Oaks . . . ]
Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. ~ Henry James
[The Super orders our pizza . . . ]
Summer bachelors, like summer breezes, are never as cool as they pretend to be. ~ Nora Ephron
[The boys . . . ]
A little bit of summer is what the whole year is all about. ~ John Mayer
Live in the sunshine. Swim in the sea. Drink in the wild air. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter. ~ Henry David Thoreau
I have only to break into the tightness of a strawberry, and I see summer – its dust and lowering skies. ~ Toni Morrison
I wanna soak up the sun. ~ Sheryl Crow
[The owner of the establishment and previous a fellow board member at Theatre L’Homme Dieu in the right background . . . ]
August 8
In my career I have never felt that my being a woman was an obstacle or an advantage. I guess I’ve been oblivious. ~ Carole King
[This will go down as one of the most entertaining days of my life: “Barbie” in the afternoon; “Beautiful” at night . . . ]
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 30: Greta Gerwig (L) and Margot Robbie attend the “Barbie” Celebration Party at Museum of Contemporary Art on June 30, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. “Barbie”, directed by Greta Gerwig, stars Margot Robbie, America Ferrera and Issa Rae, and will be released in Australia on July 20 this year. (Photo by Hanna Lassen/Getty Images)
It is the best day ever. So was yesterday, and so is tomorrow, and every day from now until forever. ~ Barbie
Thanks to Barbie all problems of feminism have been solved. ~ Narrator
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 30: Margot Robbie attends the “Barbie” Celebration Party at Museum of Contemporary Art on June 30, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by James Gourley/Getty Images)
My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue, an everlasting vision of the ever changing view. ~ Carole King
[We were fortunate this show had a two-week run because we were at camp the first week . . . ]
I only wanted to be a songwriter. I never wanted to be a singer. And I never wanted to be famous. ~ Carole King
[The stage is set for the big hit of the summer . . . ]
I’ve had a remarkable life. I seem to be in such good places at the right time. You know, if you were to ask me to sum my life up in one word, gratitude. ~ Carole King
When I was younger, I was kind of fearless. I think it takes more courage to do things when you know more. I was completely naive, and I was like, ‘Why can’t I do anything I want to do? ~ Carole King
[The entire cast out for a standing ‘O’ . . . ]
My one area of vulnerability was I didn’t know how to have a healthy relationship with a man. ~ Carole King
[Katherine Fried, who starred as Carole in the show, is the niece of Anthony Miltich, oft-featured in this blog . . . ]
I write heavily under the influence of James Taylor. ~ Carole King
I’ve had a remarkable life. I seem to be in such good places at the right time. You know, if you were to ask me to sum my life up in one word, gratitude. ~ Carole King
I just sort of try to be a good person; try to write music that lifts people and makes me feel good to sing. ~ Carole King
[Fans! As also a theatre volunteer, Jeanne saw this show perhaps a record number of times, so many that she recruited her son Jay to come from Madison, Wisconsin to see it . . . ]
I used to hate the sound of my voice. ~ Carole King
The downside of videos is that it will put my vision in front of other people, so they might not get the chance to create their own. ~ Carole King
My name at birth was Carol Joan Klein. It would take me five decades to appreciate my surname and the history that came with it. Along the way, I would add an ‘e’ to Carol and acquire several more surnames. ~ Carole King
There is a downside to having one of the biggest-selling albums ever. ~ Carole King
[I am not unique in owning this album. I may be rather unique in that I purchased it when I was stationed on Okinawa . . . ]
August 11
I wish I could relate to the people I’m related to. ~ Jeff Foxworthy
[As the sun settles slowly in the west, the view of Lake L’Homme Dieu from the Lure Lakebar patio . . . ]
There are no ‘Leave It to Beaver’ families. Everybody’s family’s got that one nut that comes to the family reunion and you’re like, OK, that guy’s here. ~ Eddie Griffen
[My “little” brother, Cam, came up from Mounds View for his class reunion. But he did not graduate from Alex – the family moved to D.C. in 1966. He came for the Alex reunion with a classmate, Rog, from his graduating class from Yorktown High School in Arlington, Virginia . . . ]
I’ve never been to a school reunion. Mainly because I’m still in touch with my two friends and after them, I only really liked the teachers. I’m pretty sure no one invites teachers to school reunions. ~ Sarah Millican
[Rog reportedly had more fun at the Alex reunion with Cam than he had at his Yorktown reunion . . . ]
Just thinking about the Pittsburgh franchise and Dan Rooney when he hired me, my first goal was just not to get fired before my 20th high school reunion. ~ Bill Cowher
[I’ve never been here, but whenever Rog comes to Minnesota the boys have to make a run to Cloquet for Gordy’s Hi-Hat (photo posted by Rog on FB, September 29) . . . ]
August 12
An actor without a playwright is like a hole without a doughnut. ~ George Jean Nathan
[Doughnut (?) Saturday . . . ]
August 13
We will never be an advanced civilization as long as rain showers can delay the launching of a space rocket. ~ George Carlin
[A rainy afternoon at the winery for the wine pick up party . . . ]
August 14
Do not be angry with the rain; it simply does not know how to fall upwards. ~ Vladimir Nabokov.
[A rainfall that topped July 26 . . . ]
Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet. ~ Roger Miller
August 16
I kept telling myself: Cold roast beef. Cold roast beef. Cold roast beef. ~ Stephen King
[A beef commercial at the golf club . . . ]
If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse. ~ Ryan Blair
Barbie has a great day every day, but Ken only has a great day if Barbie looks at him. ~ Narrator
We fixed everything in the real world so all women are happy and powerful. ~ Barbie
Up Next: Still more of this same exciting stuff . . .
As summer begins to heat up in Vacationland USA, we continue our quest to catch up with events gone by. ~ Me
You start way down on a low B flat on the tuba and you have a chromatic scale; you can match the colours all the way up, till you get to the top of the trumpet. ~ Gerry Mulligan
[This was the swan song for our long-time local trumpeter, Bill Riggs. Long since retired as a teacher in the Alexandria school system, he has played with many bands over the years as someone who can “fill in the blanks” absent music crib notes. He and Anne are moving to Northfield to be closer to the younger generations of the family. He will be missed (as I recall, this photo is on loan from Michael Tisserand) . . . ]
There’s a quality to the sound of a trumpet that you can really twist for any kind of sound and mood that you want to create. ~ Alexandre Desplat
July 11
I played football. I played trumpet. I could draw. ~ Jimmy Breslin
[Bill and company, i.e., Tuesday Nightclub, for what may have been the final performance of the group at the Garden Bar . . . ]
A superb tenor voice, like a silver trumpet muffled in silk. ~ Alec Guinness
Life is like a trumpet – if you don’t put anything into it, you don’t get anything out of it. ~ William Christopher Handy
The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet. ~ Theodore Hesburgh
There are those who wrap themselves in flags and blow the tinny trumpet of patriotism as a means of fooling the people. ~ George Galloway
The computer is not, in our opinion, a good model of the mind, but it is as the trumpet is to the orchestra – you really need it. ~ Gerald Edelman
[The aforementioned photographer, Michael Tisserand . . . ]
The first time I ever played the trumpet in public, I played the Marine Hymn. I sounded terrible. ~ Wynton Marsalis
I started playing trumpet when I was 11 years old. All I wanted to be was a jazz trumpet player when I grew up. ~ Flea
My friends tell me I have an intimacy problem. But they don’t really know me. ~ Garry Shandling
[“Hmmm, I wonder what this button is for?”]
Also, I’d like to play an athlete again, while I’m still physically fit, or a musician, like Nat King Cole, because I play the trumpet and sing. I’d like to incorporate that into a character. ~ Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
[The Super shares a front row table with Sue and Harvey (also a retired teacher and active member of the Fat Boys Walking Club) . . . ]
Louis Armstrong playing trumpet on the Judgment Day. ~ Al Stewart
The E Street band casts a pretty wide net. Our influences go all the way back to the early primitive garage music, and also, we’ve had everything in the band from jazz players to Kansas City trumpet players to Nils Lofgren, one of the great rock guitarists in the world. ~ Bruce Springsteen
There are two kinds of artists left: those who endorse Pepsi and those who simply won’t. ~ Annie Lennox
[Mary Lou Thunselle often participates in such gatherings as “the girl singer” . . . ]
You’re gonna have to learn to get out there in front of those cameras and hold your head up. Take charge when you’re singing. ~ Patsy Cline
It isn’t where you came from, it’s where you’re going that counts. ~ Ella Fitzgerald
I don’t try to sound like anyone but me anymore. If something is out of my element, I try to avoid it. ~ Norah Jones
As a singer I tried on all these hats, these voices, these clothes, and eventually out came me. ~ Carly Simon
Always be smarter than the people who hire you. ~ Lena Horne
Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. ~ Judy Garland
We needed something to express our joy, our beauty, our power. And the rainbow did that. ~ Gilbert Baker
[Bill with the aforementioned Anne Riggs, nee my high school French teacher . . . ]
Before we had airplanes and astronauts, we really thought that there was an actual place beyond the clouds, somewhere over the rainbow. There was an actual place, and we could go above the clouds and find it there. ~ Barbara Walters
[Thanks for the memories . . . ]
I’ve always taken ‘The Wizard of Oz’ very seriously, you know. I believe in the idea of the rainbow. And I’ve spent my entire life trying to get over it. ~ Judy Garland
Man’s greatest joy is to slay his enemy, plunder his riches, ride his steeds, see the tears of his loved ones and embrace his women. ~ Genghis Khan
July 12
You might not be riding high on a great show for as long because you didn’t have people to share the joy with. ~ Aoife O’Donovan
Of course we all come to the theatre with baggage. The baggage of our daily lives, the baggage of our problems, the baggage of our tragedies, the baggage of being tired. It doesn’t matter what age you are. But if our hearts get opened and released – well that is what theatre can do, and does sometimes, and everyone is thankful when that happens. ~ Vanessa Redgrave
[I think would probably be considered the surprise hit of the season – we loved it . . . ]
Theatre is a mirror, a sharp reflection of society. ~ Yasmina Reza
There’s no real theatre without taking risks. ~ Haris Pasovic
Great theatre is about challenging how we think and encouraging us to fantasize about a world we aspire to. ~ Willem Dafoe
[And now for my photos . . . ]
The word theatre comes from the Greeks. It means the seeing place. It is the place people come to see the truth about life and the social situation. ~ Stella Adler
[The stage . . . ]
A video taped stage performance is just – you know, it’s never gonna be the same as it is if you’re sitting there live in the theatre. ~ Nathan Lane
[An after play discussion with Nicole and the actors . . . ]
Because theatre is a story-telling art form, we feel entitled to assume that the playwright got there before we got there. ~ Tom Stoppard
If I only did theatre I would have had to waitress, and I didn’t want to waitress. ~ Kim Cattrall
July 14
I’m just a garbage American who only speaks English. And a little Gollum. ~ Audrey (Ashley Parks)
[Summer movie time . . . ]
Do not enjoy yourself. Enjoy dances and theaters and joy-rides and champagne and oysters; enjoy jazz and cocktails and night-clubs if you can enjoy nothing better; enjoy bigamy and burglary and any crime in the calendar, in preference to the other alternative; but never learn to enjoy yourself. ~ G. K. Chesterton
We must not be ambitious. We cannot aspire to masterpieces. We may content ourselves with a joy ride in a paint-box. ~ Winston Churchill
July 16
Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. ~ Henri Nouwen
[Why yes, another Sunday breakfast at the golf club . . . ]
You can’t take up golf on a whim and find yourself competing against Tiger Woods in the Masters six months later. ~ Richard Roeper
[The new pro shop . . . ]
Age is just a number. It’s totally irrelevant unless, of course, you happen to be a bottle of wine. ~ Joan Collins
[Approach to the Rolling Forks Vineyard . . . ]
What I like to drink most is wine that belongs to others. ~ Diogenes
Beauty is worse than wine, it intoxicates both the holder and beholder. ~ Aldous Huxley
[Where we went for an afternoon of music with Anthony Miltich. That’s Anthony with his back to the camera chatting with other Alexandrians who had made the trip to Glenwood . . . ]
[It was quite windy that day, Anthony used an overturned table as a wind block . . . ]
Either give me more wine or leave me alone. ~ Rumi
[The aforementioned Anthony at work . . . ]
I drink and I know things. ~ Tyrion Lannister
Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you. ~ William Shakespeare
Work is the curse of the drinking classes. ~ Oscar Wilde
[The Super checks out overhead Italian satellites, positioning to fraudify the 2024 elections . . . ]
A man’s got to believe in something. I believe I’ll have another drink. ~ W.C. Fields
[As Lake Minnewaska naps in the background . . . ]
There comes a time in every woman’s life when the only thing that helps is a glass of champagne. ~ Bette Davis
[Leaving the winery via the long road, Selnes, down to the lake . . . ]
A lake is a landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature. ~ Henry David Thoreau
There’s only one way to tackle life, enjoy a day at the beach, and jump into a Great Lake: Headfirst! ~ Viola Shipman
[Minnewaska lakeshore drive . . . ]
Do lovely was the loneliness of a wild lake. ~ Edgar Allan Poe
[Peters Sunset Beach Resort, long a local area landmark . . . ]
Real freedom lies in wilderness, not in civilization. ~ Theodore Roosevelt
July 18
He who marvels at the beauty of the world in summer will find equal cause for wonder and admiration in winter. ~ John Burroughs
[Summer in the backyard . . . ]
I still consider it a summer job, though. So, I try to maintain that summer job as long as I can. But it’s exciting to be able to have the opportunity to do things I always dreamed of as a kid. ~ Jimmy Buffett
Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time. ~ John Lubbock
People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy. ~ Anton Chekhov
I don’t ask you to love me always like this, but I ask you to remember. Somewhere inside of me there will always be the person I am tonight.~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
[Meanwhile, back at Theatre L’Homme Dieu . . . ]
I love you more than anybody in the world… I love you for millions and millions of things, clocks and vampires and dirty nails and squiggly paintings and lovely hair and being dizzy and falling dreams.~ Dylan Thomas
[The actors, rather well-known in Minnesota . . . ]
My blind eyes are desperately waiting for the sight of you. You don’t realise of course, E.B., how fascinatingly beautiful you have always been, and how strangely you have acquired an added and special and dangerous loveliness. ~ Richard Burton
Meg Ryan was nice [ in When Harry Met Sally] … the writing was good … but it was really kind of a boy’s club, I mean, there was Bruno Kirby, Rob Reiner, Billy Crystal – talk about your testosterone trio! ~ Carrie Fisher
I carry my iPod everywhere. My favorite group is the John Butler Trio, an Australian jam band. The lead singer and guitarist writes amazing lyrics. ~ Hope Solo
When I first organized the King Cole Trio back in 1937, we were strictly what you would call an instrumental group. To break the monotony, I would sing a few songs here and there between the playing. I sang things I had known over the years. I wasn’t trying to give it any special treatment, just singing. I noticed thereafter people started requesting more singing, and it was just one of those things. ~ Nat King Cole
A lot of musicians have a tough time hearing what we’re doing in a trio format. ~ Branford Marsalis
I don’t want to live – I want to love first, and live incidentally. ~ Zelda Fitzgerald
[The stage, unattended . . . ]
I answer one of your letters, then lie in bed in apparent calm, but my heart beats through my entire body and is conscious only of you. I belong to you; there is really no other way of expressing it, and that is not strong enough.~ Franz Kafka
[Theatre executive director Nicole Mulder “sets the stage . . . “]
You made me happy and you made me laugh, and if I could do it all over again, I would not hesitate. Look at our life, at the trips we took, the adventures we had. As your father used to say, we shared the longest ride together, this thing called life, and mine has been filled with joy because of you. ~ Nicholas Sparks
[A reunion of two former Hoosiers (photobombed by a local celebrity) . . . ]
You know these love letters mix with whisky, just don’t light a match when you kiss me. ~ Jon Bon Jovi
[Mr. Shelby with some of the theatre’s finest . . . ]
My number-one website is brainpickings.org. It opens you up to different authors and gives insights into the literary world. Reading about the love letters novelist Vladimir Nabokov wrote to his wife Vera blew my mind. Fascinating. ~ Brie Larson
[Don and Nicole . . . ]
My dream as a child was to play with a bass player like Ray Brown, who played with the Oscar Peterson Trio. The feeling I had listening to his work was almost carnal, so to actually play for him was earth-shattering for me. ~ Diana Krall
[Mr. Shelby joined the band for a little post-play entertainment . . . ]
I believe the core of most of us women is very simple. We want to feel appreciated, acknowledged, and something as simple as flowers with a little note or some love letters goes a long way. ~ Yolanda Hadid
[These people were all subsequently recaptured and returned to custody after a 20-county search . . . ]
July 19
I played a lot of tough clubs in my time. Once a guy in one of those clubs wanted to bet me $10 that I was dead. I was afraid to bet. ~ Henny Youngman
[Wednesday night fine dining at the golf club . . . ]
I like to be home on a Friday night. I don’t go out. I don’t go to clubs. It’s not my thing. I sit at home with my glass of wine and watch hours of reality TV. ~ Kaley Cuoco
[Don’cha just love eating your food container?]
July 20
I started out with a carpet-cleaning business. Then I had a lunch wagon business, where you pull up and serve food. Then I had bars and then restaurants. ~ Mike Lindell
[The new adjunct to the Garden Bar on 6th – just across the street . . . ]
When I was about 12, I had my first paying gig – 8 dollars to play rhythm guitar in a polka band. Pretty soon, I ended up playing in all the bars within driving distance of Abbott, Texas. ~ Willie Nelson
It’s okay to look at the past and the future. Just don’t stare. ~ Lisa Lieberman-Wang
Work is against human nature. The proof is that it makes us tired. ~ Michel Tournier
Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society. ~ Mark Twain
What they could do to make it easier is combine the two, real estate and obituaries: Mr. Klein died today leaving a wife, two children, and a spacious three-bedroom apartment with a wood-burning fireplace. ~ Billy Crystal
[Just wanted to let you know, it will be coming . . . ]
There’s nothing wrong with you that an expensive operation can’t prolong. ~ Graham Chapman
July 2
I went to a restaurant that serves ‘breakfast at any time’. So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance. ~ Steven Wright
[Sunday breakfast at the golf club . . . ]
My body is like breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I don’t think about it, I just have it. ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger
All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast. ~ John Gunther
[To include watching golfers ascend the 9th hole . . . ]
Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. ~ Lewis Carroll
Every morning, I would actually look at the obituaries before I had breakfast. And as a joke I said if I was not in it, I would have the breakfast. ~ Carl Reiner
The stainless-steel frets were a major breakthrough, because of the amount of playing and bending that I do. I have to get my guitars refretted every couple of months. ~ Eddie Van Halen
[In the afternoon, internationally-renowned Julie Patchouli and Bruce Hecksel at Carlos Creek Winery . . . ]
Guitars are like women. You’ll never get them totally right. ~ Slash
I wish they’d had electric guitars in cotton fields back in the good old days. A whole lot of things would’ve been straightened out. ~ Jimi Hendrix
Out of all the guitars in the whole world, the Fender Mustang is my favorite. They’re cheap and totally inefficient, and they sound like crap and are very small. ~ Kurt Cobain
I can’t take any more white boys noodling around on their guitars. ~ Gene Ween
Why did they keep changing guitars and amplifiers when they were perfect? They did the same things with cars, if you ask me. They forgot how to make them right, because they focused on style and bells and whistles. ~ Buddy Guy
Trent likes to record guitars direct, whereas I’ve always preferred playing through an amplifier. ~ Daisy Berkowitz
I love to collect guitars made in the 1950s. I like preserving and playing them. ~ Joe Bonamassa
He was like a real dad, you know. We used to sit down with guitars and mess around. ~ Julian Lennon
Never follow anyone else’s path. Unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path. Then by all means follow that path. ~ Ellen DeGeneres
[Major music aficionados, the family Trumm . . . ]
July 3
I like guitar. It just turned out that it’s the instrument I learned to play. I have a lot of respect for it, and I’m learning more and more every day. For me, the classic band setup – guitars, drums, bass – will stay fresh forever. I don’t know. I’m still into it. ~ Mac DeMarco
[Anthony Miltich at Lure Lakebar, fronting for Lake Le Homme Dieu . . . ]
I’m not too picky about guitars. I love to collect them, mostly oddballs, but I’m not married to any brand or model. Whatever guitar has the best character for the song is the one I want to use, because if you’ve got a style, you’re going to sound like yourself no matter what guitar you play. ~ Dan Auerbach
[The Super enjoying an afternoon snack and beverage . . . ]
And as far as guitars go, I loved Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West’s stuff. ~ Willie Nelson
I’ve had three wives and three guitars. I still play the guitars. ~ Andres Segovia
I’m not a collector, however, and I have no desire to own 50 or 60 guitars. ~ Mark Knopfler
I’ve always been into guitars… we want to put keyboards on, but keyboard players don’t look cool onstage, they just keep their heads down. There has never been a cool keyboard player, apart from Elton John. ~ Noel Gallagher
July 4
Dear optimist, pessimist, and realist—while you guys were busy arguing about the glass of wine, I drank it! Sincerely, the opportunist! ~ Lori Greiner
[A beautiful morning for the nation’s birthday . . . ]
I wake up every morning at nine and grab for the morning paper. Then I look at the obituary page. If my name is not on it, I get up. ~ Benjamin Franklin
I have a lot of growing up to do. I realized that the other day inside my fort. ~ Zach Galifianakis
Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination. ~ Oscar Wilde
I have the same goal I’ve had ever since I was a girl. I want to rule the world. ~ Madonna
You know you are in love when the two of you can go grocery shopping together. ~ Woody Harrelson
July 5
Simien is a two-time Grammy-winning Zydeco artist with a 34-year road warrior history of playing more than 7000 shows in 40 different countries. He’s an eighth generation Creole who settled in Mallet, just north of Lafayette area of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana and is a standard bearer for the Creole heritage called “one of the most pervasive yet overlooked cultures on the planet” by Kreol Magazine. ~ Dan Wilcox
[The beginning of back-to-back great shows . . . ]
Many have never heard of the Creoles, a name for a hybrid of Spanish, French, African, and native American cultures, but they consist of 15 million people in the southern swamps of Louisiana, Caribbean Islands, island nations of Seychelles and Mauritius in Indian Ocean. ~ Dan Wilcox
Zydeco is the energetic music of the Creoles. Simien quotes venerated musicologist Alan Lomax as saying that pre-Zydeco music called jure recorded in the 1920s was “the most African sounding music he heard in the country.” ~ Dan Wilcox
He’s a person that’s always there for everybody. If you got a benefit dinner, Terrance is there. It’s not about the money for Terrance. He’s always showing up and saying, hey, what can I do to help somebody. ~ Rockin’ Dopsie, Jr.
Mr. Terrence has been in the music industry for so long, and it’s opened many pathways for artists like myself. It’s very heartbreaking to hear of something of that nature. ~ Lil’ Nate
Legend has it that the word zydeco originated in the lyrics of Les Haricots Sont Pas Salés, a popular Cajun dance tune. Loosely translated, the song’s title means “the beans are not salty,” and when spoken in French Creole, les haricots (French for beans) sounds something like “zydeco.” “Zydeco” first appeared in print in 1960 and has been used to describe this kind of music ever since. ~ Mirriam-Webster
Simien is a Zydeco master: his voice yearning like Sam Cooke, he delivers soul worthy of Stax greats and shows crossover class. ~ Rolling Stone
An alluring zydeco talent. ~ Village Voice
You know it’s been a great night when, at the end, your smile muscles are just as tired as your dance muscles. ~ Philadelphia Inquirer
[A wonderful night, the group was glorious . . . ]
July 7
So remember when you tell those little white lies that the night has a thousand eyes. ~ Bobby Vee
[Following Terrance Simien with the Killer Vees remembering Bobby Vee – can’t get much better . . . ]
Come back when you grow up girl, you’re still living in a paper doll world. ~ Bobby Vee
I’m one stomach flu away from my goal weight. ~ Emily Blunt
[One of the few nights of rain this summer. We waited it out in the car . . . ]
Frank Sinatra is the only one that went from teen idol to superstar. ~ Leif Garrett
The great thing about rock and roll is that someone like me can be a star. ~ Elton John
If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry’. ~ John Lennon
[Theatre executive director Nicole Mulder announces the show . . . ]
Elvis may be the King of Rock and Roll, but I am the Queen. ~ Little Richard
I don’t know how much more expressive you can get than being a rock and roll singer. ~ Robert Plant
Should the Moody Blues [and Bobby Vee ~ Editor] be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? That’s absurd. Of course they should be. ~ Steve Miller
I played in garage bands and rock and roll bands when I was in junior high and high school and saw some of the great talents of all time in the local area where I lived. ~ David Cassidy
[Matt Velline, lead vocal, is Bobby’s Nephew; Tommy, on bass, is Bobby’s son; and lead guitar on the right is Bobby’s grandson . . . ]
Rock and roll music – the music of freedom frightens people and unleashes all manner of conservative defense mechanisms. ~ Salman Rushdie
All of a sudden, someone threw me in front of this rock and roll band. And I decided then and there that was it. I never wanted to do anything else. ~ Janis Joplin
Rosa Parks is rock and roll. ~ Yungblud
The biggest problem in rock journalism is that often the writer’s main motivation is to become friends with the band. They’re not really journalists; they’re people who want to be involved in rock and roll. ~ Chuck Klosterman
[Matt and Julie’s son Will on drums. We’ve watched Will from an early age when the family lived in Alex . . . ]
For guitar players especially, blues is the foundation of rock and roll. You take country music and rock and roll and jazz and you mix it together, and that’s my basic makeup. ~ Steve Miller
[Will solos . . . ]
I always felt rock and roll was very, very wholesome music. ~ Aretha Franklin
I take my job as a rock and roll sax player very seriously. To do it the way that I must do it, I must be in good condition. The better shape you’re in, the harder you can rock. ~ Clarence Clemons
Mickey’ is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a one-hit wonder. ~ Toni Basil
Some people come to our shows and think they’re gonna spend the night just listening to love songs, and they’re pretty much surprised cause we do a lot of rock and roll. ~ Bobby Hatfield
July 8
Australia is filled with roundabouts and everyone drives on the wrong side of the road. In the end we decided to split up the work and I feverishly watched the GPS and yelled, “Left! Right! ROUNDABOUT! ~ Jenny Lawson
[The Roundabout is ready!]
Until you’ve learned to drive, you’ve never really learned how to swear. ~ Robert Paul
[The Saturday morning it opened I had to give it a go on my way to get doughnuts . . . ]
The best car safety device is a rear-view mirror with a cop in it. ~ Dudley Moore
That’s why I love road trips, dude. It’s like doing something without actually doing anything. ~ John Green
My therapist says I’m afraid of success. I guess I could understand that, because after all, fulfilling my potential would really cut into my sitting-around time. ~ Maria Bamford
[This is not a roundabout. It’s a new parking lot on Pilgrim Point . . . ]
Trying is the first step toward failure. ~ Homer Simpson
[I’ve lived here since before Big Ole, but I’d never been on Pilgrim Point before. Jutting out into beautiful Lake Ida about halfway up the eastern shore, it shows off the beauty of an acclaimed lake . . . ]
There is no sunrise so beautiful that it is worth waking me up to see it. ~ Mindy Kaling
[Looking north, so you’re just seeing half the lake . . . ]
Doing nothing is very hard to do… you never know when you’re finished. ~ Leslie Nielsen
[Looking south, beautiful sandy bottom on both sides of the point . . . ]
Someone asked me, if I were stranded on a desert island what book would I bring: ‘How to Build a Boat.’ ~ Steven Wright
A good rule to remember for life is that when it comes to plastic surgery and sushi, never be attracted by a bargain. ~ Graham Norton
I’m not insane. My mother had me tested. ~ Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons)
There are only three ages for women in Hollywood: babe, district attorney and Driving Miss Daisy. ~ Goldie Hawn
“This is it” 
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