Sentences we love

Ageless

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:37:00 +0000

Age is something that doesn't matter unless you are a cheese.

Billie Burke, American actress (1884 - 1970)

I've always thought that was a great quote. Now I like it even more knowing who the speaker was. Burke was chosen to play Glinda the Good Witch of the North in The Wizard of Oz when she was 53 years old. Wasn't she lovely in that? Never would have guessed her age...

Summertime Lullaby

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:13:00 +0000

Summertime, and the living is easy
Fish are jumping, and the cotton is high
Your daddy's rich, and your ma is good looking
So hush little baby, don't you cry.

One of these mornings, you're gonna rise up singing
You're gonna spread your wings and take the sky
But till that morning, there is nothing can harm you
With your daddy and mommy standing by.

Summertime is a famous song composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. You may have heard it sung as a snappy jazz standard - however Gershwin was inspired to write it after hearing a Ukrainian lullaby. The back and forth rhythm is both soothing and sad. The lyrics have the same duality - comforting until you think of the context of African American life in the 1920's when the drama takes place.

Kindergarten Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:45:00 +0000

"Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap."

All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten is a book of short essays written by Robert Fulghum (published 1986). I'd read it years ago but the point of the title is more meaningful here on the last day of our kids' kindergarten year. As adults, we often make life more complicated than it needs to be. Fulghum's basic rules make for a pretty happy life. He advises to play fair, clean up your own mess and say you're sorry when you hurt someone. These simple kindergarten rules can be applied to politics, business, everything. Parents who have already been through the kindergarten graduation ceremony say it's a real tear jerker - I have no doubt. His essay ends with:

"And it is still true, no matter how old you are - when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together."

Tropical June

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:39:00 +0000

"The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain..."

We can probably all see Audrey Hepburn speaking those words leading into the pivotal song from My Fair Lady by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner. Eliza finally "gets" those tough vowel sounds with this rhyme and moves from a squashed cabbage leaf to a lady.

I wish the rain in Oregon was staying in Spain or anyplace else! This has been an odd start to June complete with tropical hail, wild wind, and power outages. Now our days should get back to normal summer wonderfulness!

To Be of Use

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Mon, 25 May 2009 21:54:00 +0000

The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.

Marge Piercy's poem To Be of Use concludes with these lines. I was reading her poem thanks to Matthew B. Crawford who has written a popular article in The New York Times titled The Case for Working With Your Hands. Crawford's essay is from his soon-to-be out book Shopclass as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work. It's hit a chord since many people - both in and newly out of work - are pondering work itself. Crawford's premise is that working with your hands is more tangible - that fixing a car or toilet is more satisfying than sitting in a cubicle without really seeing the fruits of your efforts. As a mother, one distinction I make is how easily a job can be explained to children. As Piercy writes, "the work of the world is common as mud."

Senseless Beauty

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Sat, 23 May 2009 01:57:00 +0000

"Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty."

You've been seeing this saying on bumper stickers for a few decades. It's credited to Anne Herbert who continues to write regularly on her blog. I think it's the use of unexpected words which gives it staying power. The word "senseless" has a negative connotation - yet is paired with "beauty." The wording suggests we shouldn't waste time thinking about what we might get back from kind acts - simply toss them out, feel good about it and move on. It's a concept I find both whimsical and solid at the same time.

Getting Some Fun Out of Life

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Tue, 12 May 2009 15:51:00 +0000

Maybe we do the right thing
Maybe we do the wrong
Spending each day
Wending our way along

But when we want to sing, we sing
When we want to dance, we dance
You can do your betting, we're getting
Some fun out of life

This song written by Edgar Leslie and Joe Burke was recorded by Billie Holiday in 1937. Then decades later Madeleine Peyroux recorded it. Both of their sultry voices do right by the sweet-tart lyrics. Nobody says wending anymore... it's just an old-fashioned way of saying you're traveling along. Get some fun out of life today by listening.

Twain on Austen

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:34:00 +0000

"Jane Austen's books, too, are absent from this library. Just that one omission alone would make a fairly good library out of a library that hadn't a book in it."

Mark Twain and I do not agree on the merits of Jane Austen. One aspect I admire is how well she chronicled her era (she died two decades before Twain was born).

Twain left behind a scathing and unfinished essay of Austen. Yet he certainly was familiar with her novels -- meaning he took the time to read them. Twain was a master of the "put down" and seemed to relish writing them. So I'm not sure if this literary feud was real or for the sport of it. You'll find an interesting essay on Twain's writings about Austen in The Virginia Quarterly Review. Twain went on to observe that an Austen novel was such that "once you put it down you simply can't pick it up."

May Day

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:56:00 +0000

"Be like a flower and turn your face to the sun."

Lebanese American poet Kahlil Gibran (1883 - 1931)

This morning it's snowing on our deck furniture and there is only gray sky to turn my face to. Somehow in this odd month where we wear shorts one day and practice T-Ball amid snow flakes the next, I'm hopeful we'll soon emerge and feel it's truly summer. Perhaps we'll leave May baskets on doorsteps tomorrow and ring the bell to spur the season along.

Abigail Adams

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:00:00 +0000

"I've always felt that a person's intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting points of view he can entertain simultaneously on the same topic.”

As wife of our second president and mother of our sixth, you would expect Abigail Adams to be one smart First Lady. She wrote incredible letters and managed her family and farm, often on her own since her husband was absent for long periods of time on political trips. But I remain amazed at her forward thinking attitudes about educating women and women's place in the new society. I'm just starting Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie Bober so hopefully that will provide some answers to the independent thoughts of a woman born in 1744. Bober's book is listed for young readers but is wonderfully written for adults too.

Toothpaste Troubles

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:44:00 +0000

"Money in the bank is like toothpaste in the tube. Easy to take out, hard to put back."

American journalist Earl Wilson (1907 to 1987)

Our toothpaste is causing me stress. The other day, we bought new tubes for the kids called Fun Sparkle - while my dentist recommended Age Defy for me. I am embarrassed to be seen at the check out counter buying Age Defy! Don't marketers realize the havoc they wreak with such names?! Why can't I have Fun Sparkle at my age? I think I'll throw caution to the wind and add a little sparkle to my day.

The Goldilocks Principle

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:56:00 +0000

"This idea that the way forward lies in finding an exact middle path between opposites is of extraordinary importance in storytelling."

English author Christopher Booker had this to say about The Story of the Three Bears. Or as Goldilocks would simply say, "just right."

English Poet Robert Southey (1774 to 1843) was the first to tell The Story of the Three Bears in print -- and in a kinder, gentler way than it had been told. While first versions depicted menacing bears, Southey's were good-natured. Also, the first versions listed the many ways the bears tried to kill the ugly old woman who ate their milk (who later became Goldilocks who ate their porridge) until resorting to chucking her aloft on a church steeple. Not exactly a cozy family tale!

Years later, Joseph Cundall re-told the story, praising Southey's version but changing the old woman to a pretty girl. Goldilocks had many names through the years including Little Silver Hair. To me it remains an odd tale with an uncertain interpretation. What do you think is the moral of the story?

Wicked

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 03:09:00 +0000

No rest for the wicked...

I just like how this sounds. This phrase originates from the Book of Isaiah where it had a serious meaning as in, "There is no peace, says the Lord, for the wicked." So literally - the wicked shall be tormented. Somehow it has crossed over into an idiom with a more light-hearted meaning and has been used by authors and rock bands. Now the saying suggests paying a penalty for a fun time.

Did you eat too many chocolate eggs yesterday and are now headed to the gym - no rest for the wicked!

Caught on Canvas

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:49:00 +0000

"Art is the insightful journey of the soul; where emotions spill out upon a canvas or a page, and leave behind lasting impressions of the heart."

This was said by Lisa Weedn Gilbert, an American author who often co-writes with her mother, the inspirational author and artist Flavia.

I don't think art can ever truly be defined... however, this thought of emotions made visible and of lasting impressions are features I would include in the definition. Looking at it this way, art is an emotion frozen in time -- one which is long gone yet captured to contemplate again.

Spring has sprung

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:44:00 +0000

"April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks Go."

American author Christopher Morley from the novel John Mistletoe

Ah, yes, the daffodils blooming, the red-winged blackbirds singing, dusting off the deck furniture and flip flops -- that's spring to me! I joke that we have two seasons here - snow boot and flip flop season. One company, Havaianas, created a whimsical print ad series to celebrate this harbinger of spring; they planted flip flops in public places around Europe. It's enough to make you smile (and get a pedicure!)

Papa's Advice

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:34:00 +0000

"All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know."

That was Ernest Hemingway's quest as a writer. Sounds easy - but is hard.

Many famous artists are known for their breakthroughs to fresh styles and the same is true for Hemingway. He sought to simplify, to write with understatement. Hemingway's quest makes for enduring writing. For writers, his novels are especially worth re-reading (you know, the books you were forced to read in school). Perhaps a bit of his economy of style will rub off.

Weston's Photographs

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 03:43:00 +0000

"The camera should be used for a recording of life, for rendering the very substance and quintessence of the thing itself, whether it be polished steel or palpitating flesh..."

so wrote famous photographer Edward Weston in 1932. Weston immortalized the California coast and made shells sensual. He knew the greats from Ansel Adams to Georgia O'Keefe and was a great himself. But Weston began by peddling his real, sculptural photographs for mere dollars; in death, they have gone for millions. What made his view through the lens unique? Weston looked for what was real, no artifice, so that objects and landscapes were almost more real than the thing itself. He died in 1958 in his home in Carmel and his family continues the legacy.

Heat of the Moment

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:02:00 +0000

"Forgo your anger for a moment and save yourself a hundred days of trouble."

A simple Chinese proverb to ponder... But what works for five year olds?

Art & Sanity

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 14:54:00 +0000

"Art is a guarantee of sanity."

Louise Bourgeois was born in Paris on December 25, 1911, and is still going strong as an artist though she turned 97 last January. Bourgeois is known for her sculptures, especially her large spiders. She has created within the many movements she's encountered in her decades as an artist - more about her current activities here. Her art seems as integral to her being as breathing. This is an interesting discussion of her impact as a woman artist during times when there wasn't much room for her gender in that field. On that point, she said:

“A woman has no peace as an artist until she proves over and over that she won’t be eliminated."

Murphy's Law

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:00:00 +0000

"I never had a slice of bread,
Particularly large and wide,
That did not fall upon the floor,
And always on the buttered side."

I'm an optimist. Really. But what are the odds that in the days before packing up the family for Spring Break, we should have a big leak from the upstairs bathroom showering down on our dining room table, one garage door should break, a rare cougar is sighted making outdoor play nerve-wracking, and a woodpecker in a misplaced effort to attract a mate should start pecking on my metal chimney flu while I'm attempting to finish some writing deadlines?

This little ditty is one of the precursor's to Murphy's Law. History seems a bit murky on exactly who Murphy was but we all know whoever it was said, "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." It's against my nature to think like that. So I will just add to my To Do list and count the hours until we're whizzing away blissfully down the road (hopefully from a dry house with our sense of humor in tact!). Happy Spring Break!

What a Mother Learns in 18 Years

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:52:00 +0000

"That many battles are not worth fighting, but others definitely are, and sometimes one kind masquerades as the other."

I've been pondering this sentence because I have felt that unsettling feeling too. Perhaps as parents, we waver on the question of 'is this a biggie or one to let pass' because we have so many of those decisions to make. And I'm always conscious that it's a truly important job. In my corporate life, I saw people get all excited over a meeting or report and thought how misplaced their emotion was. But with kids, your efforts actually matter.

The sentence is from The New York Times Motherlode column by Lisa Belkin. Belkin writes a poignant and funny column worth reading.

Freakonomics

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:58:00 +0000

"An incentive is a bullet, a lever, a key: an often tiny object with astonishing power to change a situation."

That's economist Steven D. Levitt talking about incentives as the root of his field of study, i.e. how people respond to negative and positive incentives.

Our economy is turned upside down these days so why not really shake ourselves up by reading a book which debunks commonly held beliefs. Levitt, with journalist Stephen J. Dubner, wrote Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. The book takes conventional wisdom, applies facts and gets to the truth. Levitt takes on subjects from whether reading to your baby will actually make them a better student to what is more dangerous than guns. In one of the most controversial sections, Freakonomics asserts the main reason that violent crime is down is due to the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision which kept a generation of unwanted children from becoming criminals. No wonder reviewers called the 2006 book both engaging and incendiary.

What Money can't buy...

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:52:00 +0000

"Knowledge is wealth."

Money can't buy most truly important things in life. But this quote struck me as especially fitting for our harsh economic times. Learning is (usually) free. I see the joy in my children's faces as they learn to read. Sometimes we forget as adults how fun the quest for knowledge can be. I want to know more about the constellations and to further my French. What's on your Life Learning List ?

CrazyBusy

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:46:00 +0000

"..to make the most out of this new world, to avoid feeling overbooked, overstretched, and about to snap, to make modern life become better than life has ever been, a person must learn how to do what matters most first. Otherwise, you will bulldoze over life's best moments. You won't notice the little charms that adorn each day, nor will you ever transform the mundane into the extraordinary."

What a lovely way to think of the bright spots in even our gloomiest days. I can almost see the charms sparkling amid the clouds, the harsh word, or the late appointment.

This passage is from CrazyBusy by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D. which was published a few years ago (his newest book is Overloaded Circuits). Hallowell uses what he learned in treating Attention Deficit Disorder to give strategies on handling rampant busyness which he calls the problem and the opportunity of modern life. Sometimes at the dinner table, we share the high and low points of our day. Perhaps, we should only share the charms. I think there is positive power in recalling those moments from our crazybusy days.

Abraham Lincoln Kind and Good

noreply@blogger.com (Susan from Sisters, Oregon) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:15:00 +0000

"If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what's said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference."

I am in awe of the inner strength any president must have to be criticised daily from voices around the world - yet remain true and unwavering in his goals. It's hard enough to withstand harsh words as a "regular" person. Lincoln was right; trust your inner core and perhaps put on blinders.

This blog title is from a song my kindergartners came home singing around President's Day holiday:

"Abraham Lincoln kind and good
Was loved and honored by many
To always remember this president
We put his face on the penny."