An Idea

"A man may die,
nations may rise and fall,
but an idea lives on."

-John F. Kennedy

Broccoli

"I do not like broccoli.
…And I'm President of the United States,
and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli."
-George H. W. Bush

Imperfection

“We look for medicine to be an orderly field
of knowledge and procedure. But it is not.
It is an imperfect science,
an enterprise of constantly changing knowledge,
uncertain information, fallible individuals,
and at the same time lives on the line.
There is science in what we do,
yes, but also habit, intuition,
and sometimes plain old guessing.
The gap between what we know and what we aim for persists.
And this gap complicates everything we do.” 
― Atul Gawande,
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on An Imperfect Science

Sailing

"Flying might not be all plain sailing,
but the fun of it is worth the price."
-Amelia Earhart

I Spy

"What we do see depends mainly on what we look for.
… In the same field the farmer will notice the crop,
the geologists the fossils,
botanists the flowers, artists the coloring,
sportsmen cover for the game.
Though we may all look at the same things,
it does not all follow that we should see them."

-John Lubbock,
The Beauties of Nature and the Wonders of the World We Live in 

Feather

"All those who see me
and all who believe in me,
share in the freedom
I feel when I fly."

-John Denver 

Surf

Salt air
Cool breeze
Adventure in my soul

-Anonymous 

Protozoans

"Somewhere,
something incredible
is waiting to be
known."

-Carl Sagan 

Peer Through

trust,
is a luxury.

r.m. drake

Eclipse

Three things cannot be long hidden:
the sun, the moon, and the truth.

Buddha 

On A Perch

"I'd rather be the weird kid that everybody
remembers ten years from now than
that popular chick that nobody
remembers ten years from now."

-Avalon Kirkland Jones 

Marbles

"My greatest achievement?
I was the neighborhood marbles
champion in the third grade."

-Frank X. Sutton 

Tree Frog

 "It it's your job to eat a frog,
it's best to do it first thing in the morning.
And if it's your job to eat two frogs,
it's best to eat the biggest one first."

-Mark Twain

Cramps

"Women on their period
always ovary act."

-Anonymous

Toucan

The Toucan by Shel Silverstein

Tell me who can
Catch a toucan?
Lou can.

Just how few
Can ride the toucan?
Two can.

What kind of goo can
Stick you to the toucan?
Glue can.

Who can write some
More about the toucan?
You can!

Skull

"To succeed in life you need three things-
a wishbone,
a backbone
and a funny bone."

-Reba McEntire

Bubble Fish

"If you judge a fish on its ability to climb,
that fish is going to live its whole life
thinking it is stupid."

-Albert Einstein 

Circus Circus

"Damn everything but the circus?…
 The average 'painter' 'sculptor' 'poet' 'composer' 'playwright'
is a person who cannot leap through a hoop
from the back of a galloping horse,
make people laugh with a clown's mouth,
orchestrate twenty lions."
-E.E. Cummings

The Monster Mash

"Man as an individual is genius.
But men in the mass form the headless monster,
a great, brutish idiot that goes where prodded."

-Charlie Chaplin

Balloons

Who knows if the moon's
A balloon coming out of a keen city
In the sky - filled with pretty people?

-E.E. Cummings 

Bird Village

Keep a green tree in your heart,
and perhaps a singing bird will come.

Chinese proverb

Whorl

"The truth is you don't know
what's going to happen tomorrow.
Life is a crazy ride,
and nothing is guaranteed."

-Eminem 

Anatomical Heart

"Her heart was a secret garden
and the walls were very high."

-William Goldman, The Princess Bride 

Electrolytes

"I've miss more than 9000 shots in my career.
I've lost almost 300 games.
Twenty-six times,
I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed.
I've failed over
and over
and over again in my life,
and that is why I succeed."

-Michael Jordan

Hello Mr. Owl

To live content with small means;
To seek elegance rather than luxury,
and refinement rather than fashion;
To be worthy, not respectable;
And wealthy, not rich;
To study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly...
To listen to stars and buds,
To babes and sages, with open heart;
Await occasions, hurry never...
This is my symphony.

William Henry Channing

Octopus

Sometimes I wish I were an octopus
so I could slap eight people at once. 

Growing Flowers

 "The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower,
share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's,
smile at someone and receive a smile in return,
are to me continual spiritual exercises."

-Leo Buscaglia

Dreamers

"Ode" by Arthur O'Shaughnessy

We are the music makers,

And we are the dreamers of dreams,

Wandering by lone sea-breakers,

And sitting by desolate streams;—

World-losers and world-forsakers,

On whom the pale moon gleams:

Yet we are the movers and shakers

Of the world for ever, it seems.

Sail Away

"Twenty years from now you will be
more disappointed by the things you didn't do
than by the ones you did do.
But there is some satisfaction that is mighty sweet to take,
when you reach a destination
that you thought you'd never make."

-Mark Twain 

Feet Off The Ground

"Anxiety uses imagination to picture something you don't want.
Vision uses imagination to picture something you do want.
Either way, you tend to get what you focus on.
Imagine a future where you shine, others thrive,
and the light of hope shines brighter in the world.
If you can see it, you can be it."

-Ian Lawton 

Chicken

"The key to everything is patience.
You get the chicken by hatching the egg,
not by smashing it."

-Arnold H. Glaskow 

Vino ~ The Process

"The discovery of wine

is of greater moment than

the discovery of a constellation.

The universe is too full of stars."

-Benjamin Franklin, c. 1700

The Race

“Patience, grasshopper," said Maia.
"Good things come to those who wait."
"I always thought that was
'Good things come to those who do the wave,'" said Simon.
"No wonder I've been so confused all my life.”

-Cassandra Clare, City of Glass

Flux: n. continuous change

"I wanted a perfect ending.
Now I've learned, the hard way,
that some poems don't rhyme,
and some stories don't have a clear
beginning, middle, and end.

Life is about not knowing,
having to change,
taking the moment and making the best of it,
without knowing what's going to happen next.

Delicious Ambiguity."

-Gilda Radner

Robo Hippo

Click to enlarge.

"Is a hippopotamus a hippopotamus,
or just a really cool Opotamus?"

-Mitch Hedberg 

Hammy

"I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion,
treating people the way you'd want to be treated
and helping those in need.

To me, those are the traditional values.
That's what I stand for.

I also believe in dance."

-Ellen DeGeneres 

Splatter

"If you hear a voice within you
that says you cannot paint,
then by all means paint,
and that voice will be silenced."

-Vincent Van Gogh 

Floating Blimp

"Gloating is a superficial glowing,
floating is an idle flowing,
bloatedness is the paralysis of blowing up;
because silent movement
results in loud victories."

-Criss Jami

Horse & Buggy

Click to enlarge.

"When I am traveling in a carriage,
or walking after a good meal,
or during the night when I cannot sleep;
it is on such occasions that ideas
flow best and most abundantly."

-Woodrow T. Wilson,
28th President of the United States 

Wise Old Owl

A wise old Owl sat on an oak,
The more he saw the less he spoke,
The less he spoke the more he heard,
Why aren't we like that wise old bird?"

-Wisdom Quote

Avocado

Shrimp, Grapefruit, Avocado Salad

Ingredients: 1 pink grapefruit,
1 tsp. grated zest and 1 Tbsp. juice of one orange,
2 minced shallots, 1/2 tsp. cumin,
1/4 c. olive oil, salt and pepper,
1 lb. cooked and peeled shrimp,
1 (14 oz.) can hearts of palm thinned-sliced,
1 thinly sliced avocado,
2 heads Bibb lettuce separated leaves

Steps:
1. Segment grapefruit over bowl to catch juice.
Set aside segments. Transfer 2 Tbsp. juice to large bowl.
2. Add orange zest, juice, shallots, cumin to bowl.
Slowly whisk in oil to combine. Salt and pepper.
3. Add shrimp, hearts of pam, avocado, grapefruit, lettuce.
Toss to combine. Serve cold.

9.11.01

"When I look out the window,
I exhale a prayer of thanks for the color green,
for my children's safety,
for the simple acts of faith like planting a garden
that helped see us through another spring,
another summer.
And I inhale some kind of promise to protect
my kids' hopes and good intentions we began
with this country.
Freedom of speech, the protection of diversity--
these are the most important ingredients of
American civil life and survival.
If I ever took them for granted,
I don't know."

-Barbara Kingsolver, novelist

The Squire

“When people say a knight's job is all glory,
I laugh and laugh and laugh.
Often I can stop laughing before they edge away
and talk about soothing drinks.” 


― Tamora Pierce, Squire

Elephant Scratchboard

Click to enlarge.

"My roommate got a pet elephant.
Then it got lost.
It's in the apartment somewhere."

-Steven Wright 

5 O'clock Band CD Cover

"Faith is the bird that feels the light
when the dawn is still dark."

-Rabindranath Tagore 

Boston Bombing

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news,
my mother would say to me,
'Look for the helpers.
You will always find people who are helping.'
To this day, especially in times of 'disaster,'
I remember my mother's words,
and I am always comforted by realizing
that there are still so many helpers --
so many caring people in this world."
-Mister Rogers

Hot Air

Who knows if the moon's
a balloon,coming out of a keen city
in the sky--filled with pretty people?

(and if you and I should get into it,if they
should take me and take you into their balloon,
why then we'd go up higher with all the pretty people
than houses and steeples and clouds:

go sailing away and away sailing into a keen 
city which nobody's ever visited,where
always it's spring) and everyone's
in love and flowers pick themselves” 
― E.E. Cummings, Collected Poems

The Key

“You want me to give her a key?" the guy asked.
"I want you to give her a possibility," she told him, looking at my necklace again. "And that's what a key represents. An open door, a chance. You know?” 

― Sarah Dessen, Lock and Key