Random Acts of Sewing and Arts and Crafts

Do you remember this post from a while back where I totally dissed my Catholic school education by turning my old school uniform into a trash bag? Well, the other day as the family was sitting around reminiscing, somehow the topic of nuns and uniforms and my misguided youth came up. We were talking about someone rebelling and the topic of my old uniform came up and Snickers chimed in with "Way to rebel, Mom!"

And we giggled and chuckled and chortled for several minutes picturing me furiously cutting and sewing the maroon and gray plaid fabric, swearing and cursing the nuns with each prick of the needle. Hah! Take that Sister Daria! In your face Sister Mary Magdalene!

Sure beats getting pregnant at 16, or dropping out of school to become a drummer, or getting heavily pierced and tattooed. I can only hope my own ducklings take after me and rebel with random acts of sewing, arts and crafts and baking.

Quack!

60,000 Decibel Sneezes

  The other day I mentioned Snickers' knack for coming up with deep philosophical questions. Several years ago, as he was getting ready for bed (generally his most thoughtful time) he came up with this classic scenario:

"What if everyone in the world, even Santa Claus, sneezed at the same time. It would even scare god!"

That there is great! A quote for the ages!

Don't forget this comes from a child with a father who literally sneezes the roof off the house at about 60,000 decibels. Not only is the sneeze deafening, but the roof crashing back down is like a secondary aftershock. I kid you not! No wonder the poor kids was concerned with loud sneezes.


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What is Best in Life? Or Slurp Them Down With Gusto

  One of the Hubster's favorite movies is Conan the Barbarian. And of course, one of his favorite lines from the movie is this gem:

Conan, what is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you and to hear the lamentations of their women.

He even has the kids trained to answer it. Nice.

But I have a better alternative. How about:

To crush your cookies, to see them sprinked in your milkshake and to slurp them down with gusto.

Much better in my opinion.

Quack!

Random Quote of the Day

You lethargic, waiting upon me, waiting for
the fire and I
attendant upon you, shaken by your beauty

shaken by your beauty

shaken.

--William Carlos Williams, Paterson

I like just about everything I've read by William Carlos Williams. One of these days I'll get a book of his work out of the library and read the entire thing. I'm sure I'd enjoy it. In the meantime I'll just read and re-read this quote. I really like it.

Quack!

Random Quote of the Day

And yet another quote. (I've been too busy to be more creative).

"I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens, but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls off a string."

-- Montgomery

Playing catch in the backyard, sharing a tasty dinner, chatting before bed, snuggling on the couch in front of the TV, petting the guinea pigs together, tucking little ones into bed and feeling little arms wrapped around your neck in a hug, listening to stories of exciting school days, tickles and giggles. Those (and many more) are my pearls.

Quack!

Random Quote of the Day

This is another cool quote that I really like. It's just sort of plucked out of the middle of a story with no context, and at this point, I don't even really remember the story (I'll have to read it again), but I really like this:

". . . The wolf, who is not the monster that we think her, but God's dog, half-mad with hunger and the memory of his hands upon her head."

 -- from the story The Death of Koshchei the Deathless by Gene Wolf in the book Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears.

 
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Random Quote of the Day

This is my favorite quote ever. I discovered it while reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods and it caught my eye. If I ever have to visit a haunted house, this would be the kind:

"The house smelled musty and damp, and a little sweet, as if it were haunted by the ghosts of long-dead cookies."

--Neil Gaiman, American Gods

 

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Random Quote of the Day

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

~William Wordsworth, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," 1804

They haven't bloomed yet. These are from last year. But soon, very soon.

Quack!

Random Quote of the Day

"You step over the borderline of sanity not when you start talking to yourself, but when you stop to listen."

--Unknown

Twinkie the Kid told me he agrees. =)

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Random Quote of the Day

Most people see what is, and never see what can be.

-- Albert Einstein

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Random Quote of the Day

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. -Albert Camus 

A picture from a snowy day a few weeks back:

And the summer that is just waiting to happen again:

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Random Quote of the Day

“Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle…a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl.  And the anticipation nurtures our dream.”

– Barbara Winkler

I'm looking forward to seeing these again in a couple of months. (OK, more like 4 months.) This one is from a plant that sprouts in one of my pots each year. I love these. They are so tiny and colorful).

Quack!

Random Quote of the Day (And Winter Weather, Sunflowers and Squirrels)

"It was one of those chilly and empty afternoons in early winter, when the daylight is silver rather than gold and pewter rather than silver."
- G. K. Chesterton

That describes yesterday to a T. With a high of 20 F and lots of clouds, everything was gray, silver and pewter. A good day to remember this beautiful sunflower that we had growing in the back a few months ago.

It grew all summer long, getting taller and taller. We all watched the bud grow larger and larger, checking it daily for signs of blooming. Then it finally bloomed, huge and bright, following the sun every day. And when it finally faded, it provided entertainment for us and nourishment to the squirrels.

Quack!

Random Quote of the Day

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.

- Helen Keller

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Random Quote of the Day

"Things are more like they are now than they have ever been before.

-Dwight Eisenhower

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Random Quote of the Day

"Strength is the ability to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands - and then eat just one of those pieces."

- Judith Viorst

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Random Quote for the Day

Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.

-Edgar Allan Poe

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Quack!