Quote of the Day: Dangerous Creativity

“…creativity is dangerous. We cannot open ourselves to new insight without endangering the security of our prior assumptions. We cannot propose new ideas without risking disapproval and rejection. Creative achievement is the boldest initiative of mind, an adventure that takes its hero simultaneously to the rim of knowledge and the limits of propriety. Its pleasure is not the comfort of a safe harbor, but the thrill of the reaching sail.” -Robert Grudin in The Grace of Great Things

http://blog.lifemanifestos.com/willing-to-live/ *
Thanks Janette!





*The first quote by Lenin in this article is not a complete quote, but rather, someone condensed it, therefore the quote is incomplete.  

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men*

Thanks to Garrison Keillor's, "The Writers Almanac," I learned that one of my treasured books (read it when I was 12 on a drive from Moab to Vernal in the shell of our pickup truck, finished it, and then immediately read it again), "Of Mice and Men," was published on this day in 1937. Steinbeck's puppy, Toby, chewed up half the manuscript.  Check out Steinbeck's reaction to his pup making confetti of his manuscript.

*Reference to the poem Steinbeck took the title of this book from

Word of the Day: Acquiescence

Etymology:

Song of the Day: Arrested Rose

This morning I woke up with a song from the Gypsy Soundtrack in my head, or more specifically, Buster Bluth Buster Bluth dancing to (Ethel Merman's version if I remember right) "Rose's Turn" from Gypsy.  I've always been a fan of Gypsy since I was a kid, and the selection of this song for the character of Buster was brilliant.  Anyway, I can't find the (hilarious--and poignant) dance Buster does to the song, but here's Ethel singing "Rose's Turn" from Broadway.

A Brief History of True Roundy Feild

True and Verna Roundy.  Sisters.  

Yesterday was my mother's birthday.  I only got to chat with her briefly and then left my phone at work (oh, well), but I was thinking of my mother and my mom's mom.  I noticed that Trudy Anne, my cousin, posted the second biography of our grandmother True.  I read through this biography which I'm not sure I've read before (but nothing in the biography really surprised me.)  Yes, my grandmother loved to wander (sometimes in a book (even though she didn't approve of fiction), sometimes on the road, loved her baby sister, and family, and loved the ranch. If Grandma didn't have the "risk" gene, I would be very surprised. We have a picture of her in her late 50's or 60's riding a motorcycle...and we always joked about grandma speeding. Yes, she loved animals in her own way. Yes, she had a really hard time after Keith, my grandpa died.
Yes, the hardest thing about her getting old for me was we never laughed together anymore.  We were always giggling about something, and she stopped giggling her last couple of years. I missed laughing about something whether it be spilled milk, or someone saying something clever.
My grandma was a rock to a lot of people, and pretty much everyone who ever met and spoke with her, thought that True was their best friend.  The past couple of years since my grandma has died has been hard on my mom and the rest of the family (immediate and extended) but my mom is hanging in there...and hopefully will get to speak to my mom today.  Yay! And get a card out to my Aunt Hannah (Trudy's mother), whose birthday is today,  in the mail too.

http://trudyanne.wordpress.com/2014/01/12/breif-history-of-true-roundy-feild/

Random Musings: Pneumatic Lungs (NOT MINE!!)

So, let's say you get home, notice your best friend aka roommate's car in the driveway and realize she didn't go to work.  You come into the apartment.  She tells you that she has pneumonia.  You Do a few chores, ask her for what she needs, and she keeps telling you that she's fine and has it under control.  She also tells you that her dad who was diagnosed with pneumonia last week is back to work.  She then says she has this under control even though her mother is worried about her and wants to come to DC and take of her.  Yeah, I'm pretty sure that no one is "fine" when they have pneumonia.  No. One.  But she sure made me chuckle.  Darn, stubborn, best friend.  I may still love her, but she's a stubborn one.

Quote of the Day: (Lake) Wobegon Faith

I was listening to  Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion podcast (that's the way I roll) this morning when Keillor ended the broadcast from Lake Wobegon stating, "Martin Luther once said, ~Your laughter is the measure of your faith.~"
I like that a lot.  I recently read an article from Malcolm Gladwell about how he rediscovered faith. The article resonated with me.  As someone with Mennonite roots several generations back,  I find the Mennonite's concept of faith and love fascinating, even if I'm a lazy scholar in regards to the Anabaptists.  

"True" Friendship

My cousin Trudy blogged about my grandmother True (yes, the names aren't a coincidence) yesterday.  Grandma or (Gra-ma) had a dear friend from Randolph, Utah, that she met up at Utah State.  Her friend, Kathleen, married after her freshman year, but Grandma and Kathleen stayed the best of friends.  I remember visiting Kathleen a few times and being "ordered" to stop by Kathleen's when I lived in Randolph one summer.   Kathleen and Grandma stayed friends for 70+years and died within three weeks of each other.  My mom and dad went to Kathleen's funeral and my mom reported how happy Kathleen's family were to see my parents.  Here's a link to Trudy's web-site.



And yes, my grandmother's French Bread?  Best. French. Bread. Ever. (really).

Song of the Day: Merry Go Round Kacey Musgraves

Although I grew up listening to country (and western) music and am a fan of much of Country Music's "old-guard," I stopped listening to Country Music when I was 14 (early nineties) for the most part.  Oh, I still heard a lot of country music around, but I pretty much gave up the genre. The quality of country music on the radio about that time went down a lot (and ironically the quality of rock went up about that time) and I just wasn't interested any more in country music on the radio.  That being said, I still follow the genre somewhat.  Several of my favorite song-writers have been covered by mainstream country artists (Bob Dylan, Patty Griffin, Ryan Adams),  in the past 10 years and quite a few of the artists I listen to would be considered "alt-country."  I'd go see Dolly Parton perform in a heart-beat and I listened to several George Jones singles non-stop the week after he died last year.  So, anyway, last year I started seeing more and more articles in the newspapers and magazines (NPR, New Yorker etc.)  about the women in country music so I clicked on the single below and wow......this artist pretty much summed up settling in a small town perfectly.  The lyrics, the melody, the word-play....if you get a chance, just listen!

Song of the Day: Top of the World

I woke up with an "oldie" ('96) from Patty Griffin in my head, and since I couldn't get the CD player in my car to work this morning so I could hear the album "Top of the World" was originally supposed to be released on, I thought I'd post this song on here.  Wow, that was a run-on sentence.  Anyway, enjoy a gem from Ms. Griffin.