Cruising


Tomorrow we leave on our first ever ocean cruise on a large cruise ship. I have always opposed cruises because in my uninformed opinion they were too organized and regimented. Too focused on comfort and too large to let opportunities for serendipity appear. I hope I’m wrong.

Historically this old saw was my go to one liner when the subject of cruises came up:

Who Goes on Cruise Ships?

The newly wed

The over fed 

And the nearly dead.

Let’s hope we are in category two not three. I expect to enjoy it because I’m a chameleon and we have had expert advice organizing the trip and because I will get to spend three weeks with Nurit away from the rush of daily issues. They have free laundry service.
The glass piece in the photos is made of glass with different refractive indexes so that as you move around it the colors change. Very cool. From the Imagine Museum in St Petersburg FL

Sensory Extension

“We listen to the unspoken, we gaze upon the unseen.”

Kakuzo Okakura,  The Book of Tea

From the Pendergast novels by Preston and Child. The books make wonderful summer reading. They have little redeeming intellectual value but are very engaging. You can read one in a day or two. Think Louis Lamour or Earle Stanley Gardener.

Photo is from our glass trip to St Petersburg FL.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Nurit

Thank you for always meeting me halfway or farther when we have disagreed. Thank you for putting up with my quirks and my quirky friends. And finally thank you for urging me to be much more than I would have been without you.

Happiest Ever

Words Seldom Seen: Cromulent

Cromulent

Adjective: Perfectly adequate.

Example: The hotel room at the Motel 6 was cromulent.

This word was made up for an episode of The Simpsons in 1966. It must have filled a need and has become an acceptable word listed in the Webster’s Dictionary among other sources.

“The key to happiness is expecting cromulence.”

A turtle in Palau in 2015.

Conversation

“It is often the case that the louder a person speaks the less they have to say.”

This quote has multiple attributions and so it is not necessary to find the original author.

the flower in the photo is created from glass. I’ll try to add another. It is at the imagine museum in St Petersburg FL.

Russia


“Russia is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”

Winston Churchill

Nothing much has changed since Churchill made this cryptic remark roughly 75 years ago. Putin has different goals and a different vision of the world than we do.

Another Cactus flower from my friend Bob’s garden.

Investment Advise

“Never bet against America”

Warren Buffett

This is both investment advice and general life advice.

The photo is of a cactus flower in Bob’s front yard. It is the season.

Beware


“Beware the dog that does not bark and the man who does not talk.”

Lakota Folk Wisdom

The photo is of one of the beautiful pieces of glass we saw on our recent trip to Florida. The quote is from one of the Pendergast novels

Words Seldom Seen: Stifle

Stifle

Verb: To prevent something from happening, being expressed, or continuing.

Example one: “She barely stifled a yawn as he droned on.”

Example two: “The parliament stifled dissent by jailing the opposition.”

I joined a school of fish in Palau for a photo opportunity.

Information

“Information is like electricity. It powers the light that allows us to see our way forward.”

Aloysius Pendergast

The first in a series of quotes from the Pendergast novels by Preston and Child. The books are definitely summer reading. They have little redeeming intellectual value but are very engaging. You can read one in a day. Think Louis Lamour or Earle Stanley Gardener.

The photo is one I took of Chihuly glass on display in St Louis.