"Cookies" by Arnold Lobel
Toad baked some cookies.
"These cookies smell very good," said Toad.
He ate one.
"And they taste even better," he said.
Toad ran to Frog's house.
"Frog, Frog," cried Toad,
"taste these cookies
that I have made."
Frog ate one of the cookies.
"These are the best cookies
I have ever eaten!" said Frog.
Frog and Toad ate many cookies,
one after another.
"You know, Toad," said Frog,
with his mouth full,
"I think we should stop eating.
We will soon be sick."
"You are right," said Toad.
"Let us eat one last cookie,
and then we will stop."
Frog and Toad ate
one last cookie.
There were many cookies
left in the bowl.
"Frog," said Toad,
"let us eat one very last cookie,
and then we will stop."
Frog and Toad
ate one very last cookie.
"We must stop eating!" cried Toad
as he ate another.
"Yes," said Frog,
reaching for a cookie,
"we need will power."
"What is will power?" asked Toad.
"Will power is trying hard
not to do something
that you really want to do,"
said Frog.
"You mean like trying not to eat all
of these cookies?" asked Toad.
"Right," said Frog.
Frog put the cookies in a box.
"There," he said.
"Now we will not eat
any more cookies."
"But we can open the box,"
said Toad.
"That is true," said Frog.
Frog tied some string
around the box.
"There," he said.
"Now we will not eat
any more cookies."
"But we can cut the string
and open the box," said Toad.
"That is true," said Frog.
Frog got a ladder.
He put the box up on a high shelf.
"There," said Frog.
"Now we will not eat
any more cookies."
"But we can climb the ladder
and take the box
down from the shelf
and cut the string
and open the box,"
said Toad.
"That is true," said Frog.
Frog climbed the ladder
and took the box
down from the shelf.
He cut the string
and opened the box.
Frog took the box outside.
He shouted in a loud voice,
"HEY BIRDS, HERE ARE COOKIES!"
Birds came from everywhere.
They picked up all the cookies
in their beaks and flew away.
"Now we have no more cookies to eat,"
said Toad sadly.
"Not even one."
"Yes," said Frog, "but we have
lots and lots of will power."
"You may keep it all, Frog," said Toad.
"I am going home now to bake a cake."
Moral: some days I feel I'm Frog ... but most days I realize that I'm Toad.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
sex may sell ... but is the product worth the price?
Yeah. First of all, lame title. I know. What can I say. It's late. I should be asleep already, but I've just gotta write down some of these thoughts in my mind before it'll rest.
Tonight I watched two shows that were, ironically enough, rather similar. I've had Adventureland on Mac for a while now, and I finally got to watching it yesterday and today, with the bulk of it landing on today.
It was alright; I mean, I feel that I could have spent that 2 hour chunk in a worse way. Ha. It all felt rather contrived. Pseudo-awkward guy finds out that he's not so awkward, and he ends up getting the girl. Yep. That's pretty much the way it goes. Despite the fact that I saw a lot of that coming, I was still disappointed by the ending.
Because he's always been so awkward, he's a virgin; there've been a couple of times when maybe, if he really wanted to pursue it, he could have had "intercourse" (as he tends to call it), but he's a romantic at heart, and he's waiting until he falls in love.
She, on the other hand, is a much more worldly girl. Some sex in high school, some in college and she's currently screwing around with one of their coworkers, who just so happens to be married.
And they have a fight where they lose trust in one another and don't speak for a few weeks at the end of the summer, but then, after a change of heart and a sudden influx of confidence, he moves away to find her in the big city (New York). They meet up, kind of apologize and the screen blacks out to the beginning of their consummation.
Come on, boy. You've waiting this long, and that's how you let it end? But then again, I guess that's what we do when we fall in love ... sex it up.
That was the first thing I watched. The second was the most recent episode of Glee. As usual, I listened to the music for the episode first, and I like it a lot. I was pretty stoked for the show, and I find that this approach often allows me to give each episode a kinder review. This time, though, it was lame.
Three of the main characters--the jock who's actually a good guy deep down, the leading lady from the nerdy crowd and the school's severely OCD guidance counselor--all make the initial decision to master their bodies and do it for the first time. Each person has a different reason for approaching sex, but their situations are paralleled quite well (and, of course, accompanied by nothing other than their cover of Madonna's "Like a Virgin.").
What we find, later in the episode, is that the latter two--both the gals--just couldn't do it. The guy, however, went right ahead--even though he expressed some sort of regret immediately after finishing.
Now, I think that Glee's on the right track when it portrays sex as a rite of passage ... because it is. I'm frustrated, though, that it takes such a shallow, predictable, mainstream approach to sex and just lets it happen.
While I watched the episode, one of the other viewers commented on how he liked the parallelism between the guy and the gals, showing that both could have a similar struggle. I initially agreed with him. In later reflection, though, I was only annoyed all the more by that point.
This episode begins by placing those three characters in very similar situations; granted, as I earlier mentioned, they were there for different reasons, but they all faced "first time sex" on the exact same night. But then the episode splits, and it draws a clear distinction between the guy and the gals.
Faced with sex in an uncertain (or even slightly unwanted) situation, of course girls are going to hesitate and stop because they have a better perspective on the circumstances and implications, while, of course boys are going to go ahead, get it on and probably regret it because, well, that's what guys do--they fuck things (pardon my language, although the coarse sex term is exactly what I want here).
This isn't the first time, and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last that Glee, despite my high hopes, approached a situation in which a great example could be made, but it, instead, chose to follow the well-beaten path and give us sex 'cause that's what the masses really need.
Tonight I watched two shows that were, ironically enough, rather similar. I've had Adventureland on Mac for a while now, and I finally got to watching it yesterday and today, with the bulk of it landing on today.
It was alright; I mean, I feel that I could have spent that 2 hour chunk in a worse way. Ha. It all felt rather contrived. Pseudo-awkward guy finds out that he's not so awkward, and he ends up getting the girl. Yep. That's pretty much the way it goes. Despite the fact that I saw a lot of that coming, I was still disappointed by the ending.
Because he's always been so awkward, he's a virgin; there've been a couple of times when maybe, if he really wanted to pursue it, he could have had "intercourse" (as he tends to call it), but he's a romantic at heart, and he's waiting until he falls in love.
She, on the other hand, is a much more worldly girl. Some sex in high school, some in college and she's currently screwing around with one of their coworkers, who just so happens to be married.
And they have a fight where they lose trust in one another and don't speak for a few weeks at the end of the summer, but then, after a change of heart and a sudden influx of confidence, he moves away to find her in the big city (New York). They meet up, kind of apologize and the screen blacks out to the beginning of their consummation.
Come on, boy. You've waiting this long, and that's how you let it end? But then again, I guess that's what we do when we fall in love ... sex it up.
That was the first thing I watched. The second was the most recent episode of Glee. As usual, I listened to the music for the episode first, and I like it a lot. I was pretty stoked for the show, and I find that this approach often allows me to give each episode a kinder review. This time, though, it was lame.
Three of the main characters--the jock who's actually a good guy deep down, the leading lady from the nerdy crowd and the school's severely OCD guidance counselor--all make the initial decision to master their bodies and do it for the first time. Each person has a different reason for approaching sex, but their situations are paralleled quite well (and, of course, accompanied by nothing other than their cover of Madonna's "Like a Virgin.").
What we find, later in the episode, is that the latter two--both the gals--just couldn't do it. The guy, however, went right ahead--even though he expressed some sort of regret immediately after finishing.
Now, I think that Glee's on the right track when it portrays sex as a rite of passage ... because it is. I'm frustrated, though, that it takes such a shallow, predictable, mainstream approach to sex and just lets it happen.
While I watched the episode, one of the other viewers commented on how he liked the parallelism between the guy and the gals, showing that both could have a similar struggle. I initially agreed with him. In later reflection, though, I was only annoyed all the more by that point.
This episode begins by placing those three characters in very similar situations; granted, as I earlier mentioned, they were there for different reasons, but they all faced "first time sex" on the exact same night. But then the episode splits, and it draws a clear distinction between the guy and the gals.
Faced with sex in an uncertain (or even slightly unwanted) situation, of course girls are going to hesitate and stop because they have a better perspective on the circumstances and implications, while, of course boys are going to go ahead, get it on and probably regret it because, well, that's what guys do--they fuck things (pardon my language, although the coarse sex term is exactly what I want here).
This isn't the first time, and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last that Glee, despite my high hopes, approached a situation in which a great example could be made, but it, instead, chose to follow the well-beaten path and give us sex 'cause that's what the masses really need.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Snapping back to reality
I've been gone from town for about a week now, and it's been pretty wonderful.
Last week I, along with 41 other Red Cross AmeriCorps members, went down to a small town in West Virginia and worked to repair homes for people afflicted by disasters (primarily flooding) and poverty.
In a very typical "service project/missions trip" kind of way, it was a great experience. We were able to do great things for the families we served, while we simultaneously learned more about ourselves and strengthened some friendships that've been around for a while.
This is the type of effect that I've encountered from my earliest days serving anywhere--through church, school or work groups. Each time a trip like this is made, however, the feelings that existed during the project aren't really expected to last very long after the project itself. That's just the way it goes, it seems.
I don't think I've ever given much thought to why this shift happens--why it can be so good (for weeks at a time) but then revert to blah, blah, blah so quickly. While laying in bed last night, something clicked for the first time.
During that service project week all those involved believed in a common good and strove for a single goal. Collaboration was the rule, not the exception. Selflessness, to a certain degree, occurred without much thought, and although petty squabbles did appear, they didn't stand in the way of every other positive aspect.
And all that ended yesterday morning around 8 am.
Even before I took the first step into my house last night I began thinking about all the things that are contrary to that service project mindset; all the ways in which we, the people I live with and around and I, don't share a common or single vision for our lives. We appear at odds so often because we simply don't buy into the same desires on a regular basis, and it's such a bad way to live.
During that week-long project, not only did we work full, strenuous days and get less sleep than we probably should have, but I also felt sick (due to a cold and some allergies) the entire time we were there, yet despite those potential drawbacks, I enjoyed every one of those days so much more than any single, perfectly healthy "normal" workday back here at home. The prevailing atmosphere and mindset were enough to sustain and maintain even when the rest of my feelings were sub-par.
So, now that I begin my normal routines again, I will be searching all the more for people who can, outside of the service project atmosphere, believe in and strive for that common good, so that we might together live a better life than we'd ever have independent of one another.
Last week I, along with 41 other Red Cross AmeriCorps members, went down to a small town in West Virginia and worked to repair homes for people afflicted by disasters (primarily flooding) and poverty.
In a very typical "service project/missions trip" kind of way, it was a great experience. We were able to do great things for the families we served, while we simultaneously learned more about ourselves and strengthened some friendships that've been around for a while.
This is the type of effect that I've encountered from my earliest days serving anywhere--through church, school or work groups. Each time a trip like this is made, however, the feelings that existed during the project aren't really expected to last very long after the project itself. That's just the way it goes, it seems.
I don't think I've ever given much thought to why this shift happens--why it can be so good (for weeks at a time) but then revert to blah, blah, blah so quickly. While laying in bed last night, something clicked for the first time.
During that service project week all those involved believed in a common good and strove for a single goal. Collaboration was the rule, not the exception. Selflessness, to a certain degree, occurred without much thought, and although petty squabbles did appear, they didn't stand in the way of every other positive aspect.
And all that ended yesterday morning around 8 am.
Even before I took the first step into my house last night I began thinking about all the things that are contrary to that service project mindset; all the ways in which we, the people I live with and around and I, don't share a common or single vision for our lives. We appear at odds so often because we simply don't buy into the same desires on a regular basis, and it's such a bad way to live.
During that week-long project, not only did we work full, strenuous days and get less sleep than we probably should have, but I also felt sick (due to a cold and some allergies) the entire time we were there, yet despite those potential drawbacks, I enjoyed every one of those days so much more than any single, perfectly healthy "normal" workday back here at home. The prevailing atmosphere and mindset were enough to sustain and maintain even when the rest of my feelings were sub-par.
So, now that I begin my normal routines again, I will be searching all the more for people who can, outside of the service project atmosphere, believe in and strive for that common good, so that we might together live a better life than we'd ever have independent of one another.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Living Like I Were Eternally Drunk
Part One:
So today I return to this blog after quite the hiatus. I've been away for a while, but now I'm back ... for now ;)
I've been thinking through this recently, and I've decided that here's where I'll try to spell it out: what would it be like to perpetually live like I were drunk?
Now I know that many have, over the ages, denounced drunkenness as deeply deplorable, and, for my part, I've most often agreed with that sentiment--although I, of course, as the chief among hypocrites, still yield to it from time to time.
It's in that very yielding that my thoughts have dwelt of late.
There have been times when I was consumed enough to feel the "liquid confidence" (as some have called it) coursing through my veins, and with this extra power I said all sorts of things that a more stoic, sober me would not have said. Not could not have said, mind you, but merely would not have said.
Here in this small shade of gray, I find a world of interest.
Despite the above fact that I have "said all sorts of things," I've never regretted what I've done--either at the time of action or even in retrospect during the ever-infamous morning after. I've always said (or even done) things that my normal allotment of self-control and inhibitions would handily squelch or delay until "just that right moment."
I may have wanted to say these things for a long time ... but I just couldn't quite muster the determination to do so. And it was only when I let down my guard just a little bit more than usual that I was able to suppress my own self-suppression and allow expression.
Out of this mindset, of finding a little more courage than normally I find, I wonder what it would be like to always feel the confidence that a few shots somehow instill after meager consumption.
So today I return to this blog after quite the hiatus. I've been away for a while, but now I'm back ... for now ;)
I've been thinking through this recently, and I've decided that here's where I'll try to spell it out: what would it be like to perpetually live like I were drunk?
Now I know that many have, over the ages, denounced drunkenness as deeply deplorable, and, for my part, I've most often agreed with that sentiment--although I, of course, as the chief among hypocrites, still yield to it from time to time.
It's in that very yielding that my thoughts have dwelt of late.
There have been times when I was consumed enough to feel the "liquid confidence" (as some have called it) coursing through my veins, and with this extra power I said all sorts of things that a more stoic, sober me would not have said. Not could not have said, mind you, but merely would not have said.
Here in this small shade of gray, I find a world of interest.
Despite the above fact that I have "said all sorts of things," I've never regretted what I've done--either at the time of action or even in retrospect during the ever-infamous morning after. I've always said (or even done) things that my normal allotment of self-control and inhibitions would handily squelch or delay until "just that right moment."
I may have wanted to say these things for a long time ... but I just couldn't quite muster the determination to do so. And it was only when I let down my guard just a little bit more than usual that I was able to suppress my own self-suppression and allow expression.
Out of this mindset, of finding a little more courage than normally I find, I wonder what it would be like to always feel the confidence that a few shots somehow instill after meager consumption.
Monday, November 10, 2008
A little overdue ... a weather report.
And he said "let there be snow." And there was. And it was good.
The weather lately has been such a roller coaster ride. As you can tell from these photos, we do now have snow outside. Part of me thinks, "It's about time, dammit." While another part more naturally retorts, "Whoa there. Just hold on one damn minute." And yet another part wonders, "Do you other parts always have to muse with such damn language?"
Now, the snow, in and of itself, isn't necessarily bad ... or unwelcome. I only question it because, just 3 or 4 days ago, the weather much more closely resembled a mild to moderate summer ... not the end of Autumn and beginning of the winter season. Ridiculous. Yes, this weather is ridiculous.
Why, during that time just last week, we had weather of this sort:
Seriously. This photo was taken around 9:00 am. The very first one captured 11:42 am today. Same pond. Same mansion on the hill. Yet amazingly more pleasant appearance, wouldn't you agree?
The walk to campus, on that glorious day, remains one of my most enjoyable. Ever. It was just that good. And, you know, I have seen my fair share of beautiful skies. I would contend that that's one of my greatest claims to fame. My uncanny ability to inadvertently stumble across gorgeous days.
Imagine, if you can, stepping outside on just another typical morning, expecting the 10 minute walk to be just the same as always, and instead of the usual blue or gray, you look upward and encounter ...
... Glory. Of the fluffy, whitish, spongy sort. How can one think about anything other than the seemingly unending expanse of wondrous clouds? Seriously. It was awesome.
And I really can't remember the last time that I was so taken by the simple pleasure of looking at the sky. And I'm certain that it made my entire day all the more enjoyable ... just walking under the sky for the 10 minutes I did.So, there you go, now I've begun the "catch up" process. That's the weather from the past couple weeks. In all the glory in which I have experienced it. Wonderful.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Can she bake a cherry pie?
Today was quite the day. And it's been a rather long one, at that. I woke around 7:00 this morning, so that I might leave for Ada with Matt and Joel. I ended up arriving around 8:00, and the service I attended didn't begin until 11:00. It was wonderful. That time, from 8 to 11 (which, of course, only ended up being about 2 hours of productive time) gave me a much need chunk of time for focusing and writing and reading.
And today, on the drive to Chicago, we made a detour for Crane's Pie Pantry Restaurant, which, by the way, was rather enjoyable ... especially the raspberry rhubarb pie. Anyway, as you can see from the pictures, the restaurant featured the most amazing artw
ork. Please note, in the above picture (which hung above a urinal in the bathroom), the second dog from the right. Apparently, on the parade to the post, some dogs really need to take a break ... and do it in a very hands-on manner. That's news to me.
And the picture on the right, well, we found this creepy life-like statue. It looked so modern and real-ish. We couldn't believe the verisimilitude. So, just to make sure that this moment was captured, we had Sarah stand next to the model while holding the Crane sign. So good.
And here's just another shot of the trees. The vibrancy within the leaves. The hot pinks and oranges and yellows. Absolutely blow my mind. Apparently someone didn't tell this maple that it's no longer the 80s. And neon jump suits are not the style.
And today, on the drive to Chicago, we made a detour for Crane's Pie Pantry Restaurant, which, by the way, was rather enjoyable ... especially the raspberry rhubarb pie. Anyway, as you can see from the pictures, the restaurant featured the most amazing artw
ork. Please note, in the above picture (which hung above a urinal in the bathroom), the second dog from the right. Apparently, on the parade to the post, some dogs really need to take a break ... and do it in a very hands-on manner. That's news to me.And the picture on the right, well, we found this creepy life-like statue. It looked so modern and real-ish. We couldn't believe the verisimilitude. So, just to make sure that this moment was captured, we had Sarah stand next to the model while holding the Crane sign. So good.
And here's just another shot of the trees. The vibrancy within the leaves. The hot pinks and oranges and yellows. Absolutely blow my mind. Apparently someone didn't tell this maple that it's no longer the 80s. And neon jump suits are not the style.
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