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.

Movember Fails

As many of you know, November, is the month that many men wear mustaches and raise money for cancer research.  Well, although I'm a fan of Movember, I'd like to state the following.  A goatee is not a mustache.  I've known several individuals who proudly post photos of their mustaches when in reality.....its actually a goatee.

Case in point:  Brad Pitt looks pretty good here, but that's a goatee.  Not a mustache.

Brad Pitt with Goatee

Tom Selleck with Mustache

As much as a fan I am of Tom Selleck's mustache.........unless you are Nick Offerman, Sam Elliott, or Tom Selleck, a mustache takes a little bit of sacrifice.  A goatee usually does not.  So on that note..... HAPPY MOVEMBER!!

Great Article on the Yarnell Fire

As a former wild-land fire, I haven't really talked about the Yarnell Fire much until now.  19 fire fighters, members of a hot-shot crew, were killed last Spring.  In fact, although I shared this article with my brother, I didn't read the article until last night.  Once I started reading the article, I couldn't stop.  The author did a great job of describing the events that happened last Spring and I believe was the first journalist to interview the surviving firefighter.  One thing I liked about the article is that its clear where the supervisor made several mistakes but the author doesn't explicitly condemn him.
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/nature/YarnellFire.html

New

Like most people of a certain age, I've been a fan of the Beatles as long as I can remember, and specifically Paul McCartney (the cute Beatle, as my mom always calls him) post Beatles for many years.  Oh sure, Paul has written a few goose-eggs, but so has Bob Dylan (most of the 80's).  Anyway, Paul's new album is one of his strongest efforts in years and the first single off the album, New, is a song most people will enjoy.  Below is the lyrics video for the song.  About 3/4 of the way through the video is a shot of Paul laying a guitar pick on Elvis's grave.  My brother and I happened to be in Memphis the same day Paul visited Graceland (I really wanted to go to the concert that night but we didn't have time).  The bottom video is Paul singing "New" acoustically and demonstrates that Paul McCartney is still "the cute Beatle."

Quote of the Day

"What do you wish you were?
Do you wish you were the light of every star?
Nobody Knows, but maybe that's just what you are."

---Patty Griffin

True Roundy Feild and Keith Alma Feild

My cousin Trudy started a family blog recently called "Trudy's Tree."  Trudy's first two entries are family histories of our grandma, True Roundy Feild, and our grandpa, Keith Alma Feild.  Although my "gramma" was suffering when she died just two years ago, two weeks ago, losing her was losing my "third" parent. My mother and her siblings refer to my grandma as Mama..and my cousins and I called her gramma..which I think was partly out of laziness..and partly because our parents called her mama.  I know Grandma True is in a better place but I think I'll always think of her this time of year.  Grandma True's  birthday is this week though and I plan to celebrate by laughing, reading Robert Frost, and eating fish sandwiches; something we both did together as a treat. We would often go out and get fish sandwiches to celebrate my birthday..or just as a special little thing we would do.

True Roundy Feild on left...Keith Alma Feild on right.  Both pictures taken in the 1940's I believe. 

My grandpa, Keith, died when I was seven years old from a recurrence of lymphoma.  I only have "little kid" memories of Keith, but I still remember many things about him.  He was a huge reader and would read to me, even when he was sick.  When my younger brother was born, I was excited, but the only person I didn't want to share Richard with was my Grandpa Keith.  He was a quiet man, but very loving..and intellectually curious.  Grandpa Keith didn't get a chance to get a college education, but he read engineering journals that a friend dropped off.  My mom says that she wishes my grandpa would've lived long enough to meet my youngest brother because he would've gotten a kick out of Steven.  Grandpa Keith also was well-read and loved literature.  Although my grandma True didn't approve of novels, my grandpa often had a library book tucked away to read after he finished the chores.  His book collection was eclectic, and I remember seeing his copy of "Roots," after he died.  Both my grandparents loved poetry and rhyme..and I think they both realized that I thought in rhyme..or responded to rhyme, because they both had me memorize poetry at a young age.  Anyway, reading my grandparent's histories (which I've read before..but its been several years) was interesting.  It was interesting to read what the two talked about in their personal histories.
Here's the link again.  http://trudyanne.wordpress.com

Health Update: Lungs just want to hug

I'm doing better.  Healing from strep, dealing with antibiotics and my old frienemy, prednisone, has been a daily adventure, but I was able to work almost a 40 hour week last week, talk to my brother over a hour, go see "Austenland" with a few dear friends, garden, and go to dinner with a close friend last night. So yeah, hopefully Kelli's (my roommate) cold won't be passed onto men and I'll be able to continue healing up so my posts won't be all laments about my reactive lungs.  Hope each of you that have been reading this post have a great, week ahead.

Originally Titled, "Hugs Keep us Alive"

Quote of the Day

In Rolling Stone this week, a fascinating article about the "poorest" rich kids in the world appears.  These kids, from the Duke family (think Doris Duke and Duke University) were completely neglected and abused until a few years ago.  Now 15, they may or not be able to move on and lead productive lives.  Here's the quote from the author of the piece:

"You need not be shaped by your past, but rather the path ahead can be forged solely by your own actions, starting now." Sabrina Rubin Erdely

"The Poorest Rich Kids in the World" Why did the heirs to one of the largest fortunes in America grow up horribly neglected and abused?

And I'm Back

I spent a week in Colorado working and then a week in Utah enjoying family and friends.  The trip was recharging and now I'm back in DC.  My lungs aren't quite the saddest or angriest lungs anymore although they still have their moments. I'll write more about the trip later.  I did get to see Mr. Z perform twice in eight days which is always a treat.  

Robert Zimmerman (Bob Dylan)

The Saddest Lungs

Rather than going to church today I'm stuck at home breathless and a bit crippled.  Now, its my own fault.  I'm pretty sure I overdid it yesterday and should have stopped when I was (very minorly) injured in (hopefully my first and only) a freak shopping cart accident and gave myself a black eye with my car door.  But no, I decided to clean this morning...and the house is spotless, but now I'm at home breathless.  At least I feel better than I have for the past 10 days or so.  Progress!

My lungs....

a crazy kind of love

A couple of years ago, I happened across the book below.  The title made me laugh out loud. Love, really?  I've been meaning to pick up a copy of this book to read, maybe this fall.  That title maybe lost in translation, but the author is Russian, so maybe not.

Amazon Link