Things one should never outgrow:

"tea."

Hint: if necessary, you can put anything you want in your cup and call it, tea. *winks*

May your cup never reach half empty. Happy Hogmanay!

2014 Reads

"No two persons ever read the same book." ~Edmund Wilson

Absolutely. True.

Just one of the reasons why books are so powerful. Following (in no particular order) are my five favourite reading experiences this year.

Raw. Violent. Tender.
Exploitation. Colonialism. Pain.
Perseverance. It's everything my
country was founded on and
almost 400 years later
 these wounds remain unhealed.

Ever want to smash everything
because unfairness has ruined
everything? This cathartic
journey with a 13 year old boy
both smashes and soothes.

A clever little book especially
for creatives written in ABC
format (and I'm always a sucker for that).
Never forget: umbrellas
completely miss the point. 

I just love that Banksy exists
and he wants us to THINK
about art, about what we value,
about who we are. 

Quite simply it just felt
like unadulterated TRUTH
to me. So useful (especially
if you're human). Validates.
Inspires. Guides. Heals. 

Things one should never outgrow:

family road trips.

Determined not to go down that road. What's the worst that could happen? (I will make a list if once we return.)

?

Skor squares for breakfast? Yup. So what?

Plus I also ate that cookie in the upper left hand corner and some poppycock and a few other things too (heehee) but I'm not counting that one cookie I didn't like.

Isn't this what holidays are for? Why do people keep giving us delectable combinations of the four food groups: sugar, salt, fat and alcohol, if not to immediately commence enjoying it? Especially for breakfast? Don't people realize this is how eating works? Put food in front of me and I eat it and then I'm happy. It's just common hence. Right?

Aim them.

source

What's the very last thing you said yesterday? And to whom? And why? And are you good with that?

Think about the hiccup-cure: "what did you have for supper last night?" Pondering that, oddly, the hiccups disappear. People think actions trump words. Often, they do. But besides magically curing hiccups, words work other wonders too. Remembering them though? It's tough. They have a casual way of escaping, floating away unnoticed. Yet we've all felt them like shrapnel too.  

I know a man who wakes every morning, shuffles into the bathroom, looks into the mirror and without sarcasm, declares, "I get better looking every day!" This man is neither arrogant nor inordinately good-looking. His words are only for his own ears. Well, mostly. One could say he models this for his kids too. And sure, it's his particular brand of Dad-humour, but there's a worthwhile lesson in there too. How many of us could say that our self-talk uses a uplifting tone? Joyful? Even remotely positive? Is your inner voice a cheerleader? A reverse cheerleader? (A drearleader?) This is why I think singing in the car is such a good practice. Car kinda-karaoke drowns out the negative little stowaway bastards inside that cardboard refrigerator box house we built inside ourselves when we were kids. 

Our words matter. They are powerful. And sometimes they mean everything (even move everything). To ourselves and to others. Equally.

I remember the last words I said to my mother...my father...my brother. Others too. Because I often feel compelled to say what I need to say, even when it's awkward, I am thankful for most of those last words. And the very last thing I said last night? Nothing special: "goodnight." At one time, those words were throw-aways, little intent. But usually I mean even those now. People tend to say, "you never know," but the truth is you do know. You do. So be selective. Especially those words given in love and respect and appreciation. And if you want them to stick, aim them. Intentionally. 

“A strange thing, words. Once they're said, it's hard to imagine they're untrue.” ~Sharon Biggs Waller

Problem Solving

My poor wife. She did it again. Some people struggle to learn and that’s why they repeat the same mistakes. What grievous error now you ask? She bought the Christmas baking much much too early again. Plus, she “hid” those sugary bonbons in the freezer where ANYONE can find them. And by anyone, I mean my teens. And since they moved away, by my teens I mean me. But none of this is my fault. I blame the washing machine.

The washing machine said it needed five more minutes before I could transfer my clothing to the dryer. So I looked in the freezer. And that’s when I spotted a Tupperware container of home-made cookies of various shapes, sizes, and delicious-es. What’s a guy to think and what’s a guy to do when confronted with such a conundrum? This:

1. She won’t notice if I eat just one.
2. Hmm. Now there’s an empty spot in the container. I better eat one more, make it an even number again.
3. Uh oh, now there’s only one left in this row.
4. I better eat the last one in this row.
5. Uh oh. The entire row is gone.
6. I will rearrange them.
7. Hmm. Still gaps. I will arrange them differently.
8. It looks like I broke a few moving them around so I should probably eat those too.
9. More gaps. Bummer.
10. Hmm. If I eat all the cookies then hide the container, there is a 98% chance my wife will not remember purchasing them. Perfect.

Who says problem-solving is hard?

Just so you know, the answer is no.

Could there possibly be a better Christmas tree than Charlie Brown's?

Things one should never outgrow:

animal-themed treats. Blue whales? Turtles? Gummie bears? Peeps? For me, most especially, behold the hedgehog. Not just one of my favourite fables, it's scrumptious.

Are you a hedgehog or a fox?

Both

Surrender? Transition? Change? Flux? Letting go? Transformation? Giving in? Giving up? All endings.

And depending on how you look at them, they are all beginnings too. Both.

Wordfuse (Wordlers Edition)

source

The world needs more literary ambassadors and the like, people who make us think and think again, people with thoughtful diction, keen word-sense, (wordlers?) people who can shift worldview through wordview, wordly people who specialize in word makeovers. Dare I call them dictionairdressers?

Just so you know, the answer is no.

Does snow spray in a can taste the same as whipped cream in a can?

#oops
#readthelabel