1-1-11

Today, as I transferred important dates from my Zolo calendar (such as birthdays and travel plans) into my 20!! calendar, I ran across this quote scribbled in the margins and thought it in perfect alignment for 1-1-11.

"Open to a new understanding
a new vision
a fresh perspective
an inspiration
an illumination.
   Send out this light to all who are in resonance with you and who you will meet in the coming year. Standing radiant, imagine this light clearing the path, opening the new, bringing inspiration throughout the year to come. This will bring a deeper understanding of your purpose, more compassion, an awakening heart, and a greater feeling of connection to your inner self and to all life.”

Alphabet Soup

Og ,u fomgers fet pff bu ecem pme leeu. My father asked me the other day if I ever took a typing class in high school. Mom and I started laughing (hysterically? uproariously?), for she remembered, and I quote, “the typing test you failed was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.”

Let’s just say I channeled a lot of my teenage energy into schoolwork, so my parents never had to hound me about getting any of it done and my grades were no big deal. My A’s (of which there were many) were not particularly celebrated (other friends were taken out to dinner for their good report cards), nor were my failures penalized (ooh, I winced as other friends were chastised for anything less than an A).

Therefore, when I brought home an F on my typing test, I presented it to my mother without any fear of being in trouble. In fact, my mother saw the artistry in it, for not one typed sentence out of twenty ended up on the paper without catastrophe. I remember her laughing and laughing. Not at me, for she did not make me feel shame, but instead, showed me the humor in it.

She taught me to laugh at myself, a gift for which I am truly grateful. But I also share the wealth, and can laugh (good naturedly of course), at the humorous things other people say and do.

This week’s entry therefore, is dedicated to the fun quips and quotes by people I know (or have encountered), either spoken with conviction or slipping out unintentionally. Famous people are credited with most of the quotes we’re familiar with, but these were uttered by real folks and deserve their chance in the sun.

As for the photos, Groom and I saw a broken typewriter which inspired the question: What happens to all the spilled and discarded letters of the alphabet? Since then, we’ve been trying to collect them. While we haven’t found them all, here are some of the ones we’ve gathered so far.

I’d never wanna drive one of them inbreds - A farmer at a coffee shop in Burns, Oregon discussing a Prius with his friends. Uh, did he mean hybrid?

Speaking of… last Saturday while at the Eugene Saturday Market, a woman carrying a baby and pushing a toddler in a stroller walked past the booth and I heard her say, I don’t want to have another inbred. Oh, I hope she meant another Prius.

I’m morift of chagrin. Huh?

I love your decorum. (Commenting on our interior design).

Witherall. (perhaps wherewithal?) – V. Smith

You wore the Norma Kamali until it was a Betsey Johnson. – Julie Stoike commenting on one of my fashion moments.

I’m not gay but I want to look in your closet. – Link, a gentleman at the Eugene Saturday Market commenting on one of my fashion moments.

I look like a beer keg with material stretched over it. – Alicia, a vendor at the Eugene Saturday Market commenting about one of her fashion moments.

Her wings are broken, her tennis shoes are smokin’. – Vickie Getchell discussing her Guardian Angel.

I’m doing really, really great, but don’t worry, I’ll get better. – Christopher, a customer.

I am an overachiever plagued by underachievement. – D. Andrew Huffman

I love animals. They are delicious. - Amy from the Market.

If you could whine every five minutes, how many things could you whine about in an hour and a half? – A customer to his son who didn’t want to do his math homework when they got home.

$60 for that thing? No wonder nobody’s bought it yet. – A little girl looking at one of our pins.

Peacock: A goose with flowers. – A different little girl who stopped by the booth.

Do you ladies make these? – A customer asking if Groom (who is 6’5” and has a beard) and I make the jewelry in our booth.

I don’t know what he’s talking about, and he doesn’t either. – Everett Cade.

Endearing,

Annoying,

Tomato,

To-mah-to. – Donald Webb

By the time the old man decided that butterflies, dandelions and grandchildren were more interesting than dollar signs, his grandchildren had decided that dollar signs were more interesting than butterflies, dandelions and grandfather. - Sara Cade

The ways we respond reveal our soul. – Valerie Brooks

As the soul sows, so the spirit reaps. – Bradley Welch

And I’ll close with a couple of mine. During a difficult experience, I once asked, Um God, does this lesson come in a smaller size?

And afterwards, when I had survived it, I meant to say, “That which does not kill you, makes you better.” Instead, I came out with, That which does not kill you makes you bitter. Whoops!

And just to let you know, I’m very flexible as long as I don’t have to change.

The Word on the Street

“The summer looks out from her brazen tower,
Through the flashing bars of July.” – Francis Thompson




“If people destroy something replaceable made by mankind, they are called vandals; if they destroy something irreplaceable made by God, they are called developers.” – Joseph Wood Krutch

 

 “Without music, life would be a mistake.” – Friedrich Nietzsche






 “I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much.” – Mother Teresa

“Never has there been a good war or a bad peace.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.” – Charles F. Kettering

“Just become quiet, still, and solitary, and the world will offer itself to you to be unmasked; it has no choice. It will roll in ecstasy at your feet.” – Dana Hawksister

“Without love, life would be a mistake.” – Cindia Carrere

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” – William Arthur Ward

“Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live.” – Author Unknown

“The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.” – Joseph Campbell

“Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance.” – Brian Tracy

Communal well-being is central to human life.” – Cat Stevens

“If you’re going to be thinking, you may as well think big.” – The Donald

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller

“Lenin could listen so intently that he exhausted the speaker.” – Isaiah Berlin

“The Lord loveth a cheerful giver. He also accepteth from a grouch.” – Catherine Hall