"Take this Hammer"

- James Baldwin [1924-1987]

A man who lifted 5000 pounds when no current contemporary can lift a pinky finger.

Blind Willie Johnson

[1897-1945]

"I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well."

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
― Theodore Roosevelt [1858-1919]

That's Life

That's life (That's life), that's what all the people say
You're riding high in April, shot down in May
But I know I'm gonna change that tune
When I'm back on top, back on top in June
I said, that's life (That's life), and as funny as it may seem
Some people get their kicks, stompin' on a dream
But I don't let it, let it get me down
'Cause this fine old world it keeps spinning around

I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king
I've been up and down and over and out, and I know one thing
Each time I find myself flat on my face
I pick myself up and get back in the race

That's life (That's life), I tell ya, I can't deny it
I thought of quitting, baby
But my heart just ain't gonna buy it
And if I didn't think it was worth one single try
I'd jump right on a big bird and then I'd fly

I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king
I've been up and down and over and out, and I know one thing
Each time I find myself laying flat on my face
I just pick myself up and get back in the race

That's life (That's life), that's life and I can't deny it
Many times I thought of cutting out but my heart won't buy it
But if there's nothing shaking come this here July
I'm gonna roll myself up in a big ball and die
My, my

Spade

serenity now

“Anxiety is the handmaiden of creativity.”
– T.S. Eliot [1888-1965]

Priests and Kings

... until this:

perspiration

The Incas believed that gold was the sweat of the sun.

indispensable

"Plans are worthless, but planning is essential."

- Dwight Eisenhower [1890-1969]

comatose daylight hours

"The bartender is the aristocrat of the working class."
- Cocktail (1988)

Environmental Art

The ill-matched couple

- Lucas Cranach (the Elder) [1472 –1553]

A young girl robs a foolish old man who is blissfully unaware of anything other than her charms. She has a smile of satisfaction on her face as she slips her hand into the lecher's purse.

first mass-market artist

- Albrecht Dürer [1471-1528], Self-Portrait

faith cannot be fully understood in times of happiness

"... faith sees best in the dark"
- Søren Kierkegaard [1813-1855 ], Gospel of Sufferings

on longevity

"You've got to ride the swales."
- Dennis Miller [born 1953]

rocks

"Sinatra got me into Vodka."
- Don Rickles [1926-2017]

4000 years of human history

Zoom here.

COVID-19 infographics

Click here to view interactive dashboard.

Roman Emperor

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
- Marcus Aurelius [121-180]

victory

"Never does a man portray his character more vividly than when proclaiming the character of another."
- Winston Churchill [1874-1965]

Jelle's Marble Runs

billionaire row

740 Park is where Jackie O grew up.

Dutch elder care

" ... we thought of a way to house seniors in surroundings that encourage interactivity, physical activity and participation. From this idea, we found a 400 yrs old fortress: www.fortisabella.nl.
It will house 25 end stage Alzheimers patients. There are also houses for students, a child care facility and a hospital for cats and dogs that have a surgeon, orthopedist, gen medicine, cardiologist, dermatologist, neurologist, all just for cats and dogs!"

- Dr. Olivier Koning

mountain biking gopro pov

The Queen's chef makes scones

nourish the roots of our culture

"If sometimes our great artists have been the most critical of our society, it is because their sensitivity and their concern for justice, which must motivate any true artist, makes him aware that our Nation falls short of its highest potential. I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist."

- Robert Frost's full 1961 JFK inauguration text here. 

WCK

José Andrés says my modest $10 donation to World Central Kitchen will feed 10 people.

fabulist

"By the work one knows the workman.”
—Jean de La Fontaine [1621-1695]

Afternoon of a Faun

mum

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for."
- Georgia O'Keeffe [1887-1986]

The Great Plague

on literacy

There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away

- Emily Dickinson [1830-1886]

harrowing dystopias and opposition to totalitarianism

"The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history."
- George Orwell [1903-1950]

axiom

last in his West Point class

"The friend in my adversity I shall always cherish most. I can better trust those who helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity."
- Ulysses S. Grant [1822-1885]

paucity

"There's a reason Profiles in Courage is one volume."
- John F. Kennedy [1917-1963]

skip it

I ordered this from "Skip the Dishes":

But got this:

The interface needs to be crystal clear guiding you through the topping options. I spent a useless 45 minutes on mother's day trying to rectify this. The cost of new customer acquisition is more expensive than customer retention. "Door Dash" here I come.

motivation

"Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say, for one, that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow-men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem."
- Abraham Lincoln [1809-1865]

"saluted for my contributions"

"Sid Caesar didn't want fame, fortune. He just wanted to be appreciated."
- Mel Brooks [born 1926]

contrition

"Now that I'm older and mature, I admit that I was wrong."
- NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, who was arrested for a DUI and 6 times for confronting fans

axiom

Tom Foolery

routine

"I drink 5 martinis, smoke 20 cigars daily."
- George Burns [1896-1996]
- 

on leadership

bolt

"And once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, whether the storm is really over. ... When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about.”
- Haruki Murakami [born 1949]

on food

"No matter 3-star Michelin or a McDonald's Double Quarter Pounder, in a matter of hours it becomes excrement."
- Anthony Bourdain [1956-2018]

why skate?

Philosophers

"Look at the bad stuff and see if it can be survived."
- Stoicism: the endurance of pain or hardship without the display of feelings and without complaint.

street art

The doc shows the random rise of a "filmmaker" who accidentally fell in with the right crowd. He then copies them to their dismay, but cranks out $30k pieces. They imply he's a fraud copying Warhol who many say was a fraud himself. Madonna had him do her latest album cover. A distillation of how it is for many "success" stories.

serenity

"The only time I feel relaxed is when I'm racing."
- Paul Newman [1925-2008]

Durga

e plu·ri·bus u·num

History rhyming here.