I Hope He's Right

It is good to realize that if love and peace can prevail on earth, and if we can teach our children to honor nature's gifts, the joys and beauties of the outdoors will be here forever.

~ Jimmy Carter ~
Photo by Shawn Hayes.

Yes, Go to the Library!

If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want an education, go to the library.

~ Frank Zappa ~

Everybody Sing!

It's practically impossible to look at a penguin and feel angry.

~ Joe Moore ~

Sunday's Kat Kwote

...In the pewter mornings, the cat,
a black fur sausage with yellow
Houdini eyes, jumps up on the bed and tries
to get onto my head.

~ Margaret Atwood from "February." ~

Photo by stychy.

The Truth

The truth is rarely pure and never simple.

~ Oscar Wilde ~

Poetry Friday

Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.

~ Bertolt Brecht ~





Photo by ho visto nina volare.

Faery Songs

Illustration by Edmund Dulac courtesy Project Gutenberg.

Happy World Day of Social Justice

I want my fair share--and that's ALL of it.

~ Charles Koch ~
I guess Mr. Koch won't be honoring this special day. To learn about World Day of Social Justice, click here.

Names

And so with all things: names were vital and important.

~ Algernon H. Blackwood ~

Happy President's Day!

Property as compared with humanity, as compared with the red blood in the American people, must take second place, not first place.

~ Woodrow Wilson ~



Photo courtesy Library of Congress.

Sunday's Kat Kwote

The organization of cats is musical; they are capable of giving many modulations to their voices and in the different passions which occupy them they use diverse tones.

~ F. A. Paradis de Moncrif ~

1805 engraving courtesy Library of Congress.

Common Sense

And for me, to live in fear of you and your unnecessary fears, that’s not Freedom, nor is that Liberty. A gun doesn’t make a fearful person brave, it only makes you a fearful person with a gun…and I can’t think of a worse combination in this society for the rest of us. That’s why I support treating a gun the way we treat owning a car or buying a box of Sudafed, like it may just be a big enough deal to have a few rules, since they have the power to end an innocent life.

More than 12,000 a year, to be more precise.

~ Vince Yanez ~

Poetry Friday

Poets write, I do believe, because they have to--it's something nothing else quite satisfies. One has to do it--compulsively.

~ Robert Creeley ~

Happy Valentine's Day to All!

Love is a human experience, not a political statement.

~ Anne Hathaway ~
Image courtesy Open Clip Art Library.

What is Art?

True Art is an organized piece of work that effectively communicates a genuine human experience.

~ Caleb Jacobo ~
13th century Chinese fan courtesy ibiblio.

Sunday's Kat Kwote

Sorry, you'll probably have an earworm for the rest of the day. --KK

Valentine's Day Is Coming

'I'll love you, dear, I'll love you
      Till China and Africa meet,
             And the river jumps over the mountain
                  And the salmon sing in the street,

~ W. H. Auden ~

Poetry Friday

I could never, even as a child, see any good reason why the language of verse should be distorted almost out of recognition in order to be poetical.

~ Edwin Arlington Robinson ~





Photo courtesy Maine Historical Society.

Yes, We Do!

The audience likes to be taken on new journeys.

~ David Copperfield ~

Train Station

The energy in a train station is an odd combination of adrenaline and boredom; anticipation for the destination tempered by impatience at how long it's taking to get there.

~ Beth Novey ~
Photo courtesy Library of Congress.

Proverbial Wisdom

A bad word whispered will echo a hundred miles.

~ Chinese proverb ~
Courtesy New York Public Library Digital Gallery.

Not Quite Sure I Get This One!

I shall not die of a cold. I shall die of having lived.

~ Willa Cather ~




Photo courtesy the Willa Cather Archive.

Sunday's Kat Kwote

It is not worth the while to go round the world to count the cats in Zanzibar.

~ Henry David Thoreau ~
Photo by katstan.

From "On the Grasshopper and Cricket"

The Poetry of earth is never dead.

~ John Keats ~
Photo by Striving to a Goal.

Poetry Friday

Most of the time, poetry enjoys the visibility of other minor cultural subcultures like chess or quilting.

~ Anita Diamant ~
Cover of The Patchwork Quilt, a book of poetry, courtesy Baylor University Libraries Digital Collections.

Television

Television is a medium because anything well done is rare.

~ Fred Allen ~


Graphic courtesy Open Clip Art Library.

Ef You, Mr. Darcy!

"She is tolerable I suppose."

~ Mr. Darcy ~

Happy Birthday, Pride and Prejudice!

There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.

~ Jane Austen ~
[Note: Pride and Prejudice has been long-lived and is well-loved around the world. Today is the 200th anniversary of its publication. In 200 years there have been many attempts at creating the perfect cover. Make sure you check out The Atlantic Wire article "200 Years of 'Pride and Prejudice' Book Design," from which I borrowed the cover above. There are book covers from ten countries at The Bennet Sisters blog, which are also of interest.]

Sunday's Kat Kwote

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. This is also posted today at Random Noodling.

Here's What the Testing Brouhaha is Really About

When teachers, aides, school counselors, and others spend hours in early spring drilling students on test-taking techniques, that is time that children are not reading, are not learning about math and science and history, and are not experiencing or creating art or music.

~ Sherman Dorn ~

Poetry Friday

I say I don't like the dance image which always occurs when you try to figure out where the poet is doing things, and it's like a dance, maybe, of the Indian fakir on hot coals, but it ain't very much like a dance that I'd like to dance of choice.

~ Jack Spicer ~
Fakir photo courtesy Library of Congress.

Creative Thinking

There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon.

~ Matsuo Basho ~

Comic Books

At a young age, I was interested in comic books, which was really how I learned to read.

~ Nicholas Cage ~

Pets

Pets are humanizing. They remind us we have an obligation and responsibility to preserve and nurture and care for all life.

~ James Cromwell ~

Happy Inauguration Day!

Courtesy NPR.

Sunday's Kat Kwote

And while milk is not poisonous to cats, it is also not ideal for fully grown and mature cats. The reason for this is that the majority of these cats are lactose-intolerant. This tells us that their digestive systems are not able to properly process the sugars that are found in cow’s milk, goat’s milk, etc.

~ Little Cat Paws website ~

A Back-Handed Compliment If Ever There Was One

But there is another glory belonging to this age, and almost to this age alone of our poetry--the glory of Female Genius. We have heard and seen it seriously argued whether or not women are equal to men; as if there could be a moment's doubt in any mind unbesotted by sex, that they are infinitely superior; not in understanding, thank Heaven, nor in intellect, but in all other "impulses of soul and sense" that dignify and adorn human beings, and make them worthy of living on this delightful earth. Men for the most part are such worthless wretches, that we wonder how women condescend to allow the world to be carried on; and we attribute that phenomenon solely to the hallowed yearnings of maternal affection, which breathes as strongly in maid as in matron, and may be beautifully seen in the child fondling its doll in its blissful bosom.

~ John Wilson from "An Hour's Talk about Poetry," in Recreations of Christopher North, Volume I (MDCCCLXVIII) ~

Poetry Friday

You come by your style by learning what to leave out. At first you tend to overwrite—embellishment instead of insight. You either continue to write puerile bilge, or you change. In the process of simplifying oneself, one often discovers the thing called voice.

~ Billy Collins ~



Photo by wwwes.

Cheesy

Cheesiness seems to belong to whatever strikes us as cheesy. The cheese fountain would be cheesy, we think, whether it burbled at the biggest Super Bowl party in Las Vegas or in the woods where a tree falls that no one hears.

~ Eric LeMay ~





Photo by Wajiii.

It's True

People who cannot distinguish between good and bad language, or who regard the distinction as unimportant, are unlikely to think carefully about anything else.

~ B.R. Myers ~

Multitasking

She read while doing other things, multitasking back when it was called rudeness.

~ Jeanne Darst from Fiction Ruined My Family ~

Common Sense Dancing!

Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.

~ William James ~

Sunday's Kat Kwote

the cat joins
the party...
drinking away the year


~ Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue ~

Photo by Eerko.

Or Better Yet...

We are living in the future! Enjoy it. Or better yet, help build it by pursuing a career in a science, technology, engineering or math-related field. The President has held the first-ever White House science fairs and Astronomy Night on the South Lawn because he knows these domains are critical to our country's future, and to ensuring the United States continues leading the world in doing big things.

~ Paul Shawcross ~

Poetry Friday

Putting poems in your memory bank is better than dollars.

~ Maxine Kumin ~

Lesson Learned

I've learned the hard lesson that you can't pin your heart on anything until it's a completely done deal.

~ William Kempe ~

Stars are Stars

Things are as they are. Looking out into it the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.

~ Alan Watts ~
Photo courtesy Sarah G...

Snow!

Snow provokes responses that reach right back to childhood.

~ Andy Goldsworthy ~
Photo courtesy Library of Congress.

Can You?

If you can see the magic in a fairytale, you can face the future.

~ Danielle Steel ~

Sunday's Kat Kwote

It's tough to find out who's responsible for the action as the cat doesn't speak.

~ A prison spokesman, reported by the BBC ~

Taking Insanity to a Whole New Height

House Republicans have unsuccessfully voted 33 times in the last two years to eliminate health care reform and wasted at least 88 hours and $50 million, while failing to pass a single piece of job creation legislation in the last session of Congress.

~ Adam Peck ~

Poetry Friday

To the artists and writers, let's nigh drink a health,
The people whose hopes, and whose joys are our wealth,
Whose tools are upon canvas and paper and pen,
Whose harvest is the future, the progress of men.

~ Peggy Seeger from "Come Fill Up Your Glasses" ~

Jewelry

Jewelry takes people's minds off your wrinkles.

~ Sonja Henie ~
Photo courtesy Historic Royal Palaces.

In Books

The instruction we find in books is like fire. We fetch it from our neighbours, kindle it at home, communicate it to others, and it becomes the property of all.

~ Voltaire ~

Happy 2013!

The dark night is ending and dawn has begun;
Rise, hope of the ages, arise like the sun,
All speech flow to music, all hearts beat as one!

~ John Greenleaf Whittier ~

Photo by PTorrodellas.

The Highlight

The highlight of my childhood was making my brother laugh so hard that food came out of his nose.

~ Garrison Keillor ~
Graphic courtesy Library of Congress.

Sunday's Kat Kwote

My sister grumbles about sharing dedication space in my book with my cat, Perdita. I like cats. People are fine, but, like Ivan Karamazov, I prefer them in the abstract. Most of them are very stupid.

~ Michael Robbins ~

Wake Them Up!

Walking the stacks in a library, dragging your fingers across the spines--it's hard not to feel the presence of sleeping spirits.

~ Robin Sloan from
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore ~

Poetry Friday

The web, then, or the pattern, a web at once sensuous and logical, an elegant and pregnant texture: that is style, that is the foundation of the art of literature.

~ Robert Louis Stevenson ~
John Singer Sargent painting of Stevenson courtesy ARC Museum.

Literary Tattoo

Photo of Alice in Wonderland quote by never going home.

He Was Right

It feels great to have the iPad launched into the world--it's going to be a game changer.

~ Steve Jobs ~



Photo by Matt Buchanan.

Christmas Greetings!

Courtesy how to build & repair.

Getting Ready!

Note: click on the image for a larger view.
From Christmas: Its Origin and Associations by W. F. Dawson.

Sunday's Kat Kwote

Meowy Christmas!

Dance Me

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

~ Leonard Cohen ~

Poetry Friday

Knowledge is good, method is good, but one thing beyond all others is necessary; and that is to have a head, not a pumpkin, on your shoulders and brains, not pudding, in your head.

~ A. E. Housman ~
Christmas pudding photo by Turkinator.

Forget Yourself--More Good Advice

Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music--the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.

~ Henry Miller ~

Good Advice for Non-Hoosiers, Too!

If I could offer but one helpful hint to young Hoosiers hoping to better their odds for success in life, I would simply note the importance of thoughtful reading.

~ Richard Lugar ~

Plastics

Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. McGuire: Plastics.

~ From The Graduate ~

Yes, You Can Teach an Old Dog...

You must invent your own games and teach us old ones how to play.

~ Nikki Giovanni ~

Sunday's Kat Kwote

Now, Pussy, you must be real good,
       And learn to spell like me;
When I say, "Pussy, what is this?"
       You must say, That is C.

~ R. Worthington, "The Spelling Lesson" from Baby Chatterbox ~

This Sickness...

Some look for scapegoats, others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear; violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleaning of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.

~ Robert F. Kennedy ~

Poetry Friday

Waiting...

I didn't know the full dimensions of forever, but I knew it was longer than waiting for Christmas to come.

~ Richard Brautigan ~
"Hello Santa" stereograph card courtesy Library of Congress.

The Very Latest Fashion

Watch 'em splishin' and a-splashin'
(Do de rubber duck!)
It's the very latest fashion!
(Do de rubber duck!)

~ Guy Smiley singing "Do de Rubber Duck" ~

Guy Smiley courtesy Sesame Street.

Beyond the Picture Book

I certainly think we're going to see more and more graphic novels and more illustrated novels.

~ Charlaine Harris ~