Click on for a larger photo.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Library Book Drop
In Newton Massachusetts after a three day weekend
From the 07/28/09 issue of New Yorker magazine.
From the 07/28/09 issue of New Yorker magazine.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Love at the Five and Dime - Nanci Griffith
A favorite song.
R.I.P.
These Five and Dime — "downtown" — department stores are gone forever:
S.H. Kress (1896-1981)
J.J. Newberry (1911-1997)
F.W. Woolworth (1878-1997)
and others were the precursors to the big box stores
of today: WAL-MART, KMART, etc.
R.I.P.
These Five and Dime — "downtown" — department stores are gone forever:
S.H. Kress (1896-1981)
J.J. Newberry (1911-1997)
F.W. Woolworth (1878-1997)
and others were the precursors to the big box stores
of today: WAL-MART, KMART, etc.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Deep Thoughts
From Jack Handey's interstitial segments on Saturday Night Live (1991 - 1998)
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
Children need encouragement. If a kid gets an answer right, tell him it was a lucky guess. That way he develops a good, lucky feeling.
If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did."
The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face.
One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. "Oh, no," I said. "Disneyland burned down." He cried and cried, but I think that deep down, he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.
Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically, it's made up of two separate words - "mank" and "ind". What do these words mean ? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.
The memories of my family outings are still a source of strength to me. I remember we'd all pile into the car - I forget what kind it was - and drive and drive. I'm not sure where we'd go, but I think there were some trees there. The smell of something was strong in the air as we played whatever sport we played. I remember a bigger, older guy we called "Dad." We'd eat some stuff, or not, and then I think we went home. I guess some things never leave you.
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
Children need encouragement. If a kid gets an answer right, tell him it was a lucky guess. That way he develops a good, lucky feeling.
If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did."
The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face.
One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. "Oh, no," I said. "Disneyland burned down." He cried and cried, but I think that deep down, he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.
Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically, it's made up of two separate words - "mank" and "ind". What do these words mean ? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.
The memories of my family outings are still a source of strength to me. I remember we'd all pile into the car - I forget what kind it was - and drive and drive. I'm not sure where we'd go, but I think there were some trees there. The smell of something was strong in the air as we played whatever sport we played. I remember a bigger, older guy we called "Dad." We'd eat some stuff, or not, and then I think we went home. I guess some things never leave you.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Neko Case
Deep Red Bells
“It’s based on the Green River killer,” she says. “When I was a kid in Tacoma, we were all scared all the time. I actually carried a knife to school with me. The ‘you’ in the song is one of his victims. They were all prostitutes, but we didn’t know that. They could have been anybody; they could have been us.”
When you know this, “hiding place” becomes pretty ominous, and “silver tongues” may allude to the way the killer — Gary Ridgway — used sweet talk and photographs of his son to lull his victims into trusting him.
This song's powerful lyric