Quote of the day (from one of my girlfriends):

“May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.”

one guy to another, at Starbucks this morning: “To her credit, my wife is a good mom.” (big pause… I’m thinking, Wait for it, wait for it…) “She’s sometimes too good a mom, if you know what I mean.” (yeah, there it was.)

they exchange meaningful looks.

well, no, I don’t know what you mean, will you please explain?

“It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.” — Oscar Wilde

Maybe I should post some before and after pix of our yard? The lot is terraced in the back, had some raised beds that were reinforced with pressure-treated wood (ie, nasty if you want to grow vegetables and berries) and needs a big ol’ makeover. Bones? Three birch trees, one of which was dead and already got yanked out by Steve. The other two were planted too close together. And there’s a pine tree in a pot, back in the other corner. I call it Pine Barrens.

I did plant some primroses, and Steve tore apart one of the raised boxes, only to find that half of the good wood (cedar) was rotted. We spent a big chunk of the weekend (along with Wacky Girl, who sketched for us) trying to make a blueprint of how we want the garden and yard to look. Wacky Boy doesn’t want to lose any of the grass; we want to lose all of the grass. We are a work-in-progress.

Will post pix when it stops raining long enough to go out and snap some.

Happy Monday, yins. Sorry, Steelers. (Dan, how could I forget Pittsburgh was playing? It’s Steve’s hometown. Bad football fan, bad, bad ;)

— wm

“Many wind up in jobs irrelevant to their training. That helot frothing your coffee expected to become a barrister, not a barista.” — Jonathan Guthrie; Russell Groupies to Target Newbie Unis; Financial Times (London, UK); Sep 23, 2010

(Do you subscribe to A.Word.A.Day, by chance? It’s the best listserv I subscribe to — tied with my library listservs for first place. Happy Groundhog Day, woo-hooooooooo…)

Excerpted interview with author Sherman Alexie, from 1/5/97 issue of the New York Times Magazine:

A: No. 1, recognize that we are sovereign entities, with absolute political, social and economic rights on our land. No. 2, that’s all I care about. Other than that, leave our culture alone.

“I never did a day’s work in my life. It was all fun.” — Thomas Edison, American inventor (1847-1931)

(that’s how i feel about my library work, i am happy to say. xo wm)

“Every burned book or house enlightens the world; every suppressed or expunged word reverberates through the earth from side to side.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” — Nelson Mandela, activist, South African president, Nobel laureate (b. 1918)

“Everyone, in some small sacred sanctuary of the self, is nuts.” — Leo Rosten, author (1908-1997)

Frances (from “A Birthday for Frances”): “That is how it is, Alice. Your birthday is always the one that is not now.”