The best way to know you are having an adventure is when you wish you were home talking about it." — a mechanic on the Alaska State Ferry System. Or as in my own case planning how I will be writing it on this blog.
"You can't promote principled anti-corruption without pissing off corrupt people." — George Kent
"If only the British had held on to the airports, the whole thing might have gone differently for us." — Mick Jagger
"You can do anything as long as you don't scare the horses." — a mother's favorite saying recalled by a friend
A poem is an egg with a horse inside” — anonymous fourth grader
“My children will likely turn my picture to the wall but what the hell, you only get old once." — Joe May
“Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.” — Ernest Hemingway
When I write, I feel like an armless, legless man with a crayon in his mouth.― Kurt Vonnegut
“If you wrote something for which someone sent you a cheque, if you cashed the cheque and it didn't bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented.”―Stephen King
The thing about ignorance is, you don't have to remain ignorant. — me again"
"It was like the aftermath of an orgasm with the wrong partner." – David Lagercrants “The Girl in the Spider’s Web.”
Why worry about dying, you aren't going to live to regret it.
Never debate with someone who gets ink by the barrel" — George Hayes, former Alaska Attorney General who died recently
My dear Mr. Frost: two roads never diverge in a yellow wood. Three roads meet there. — @Shakespeare on Twitter
Normal is how somebody else thinks you should act.
"The mark of a great shiphandler is never getting into situations that require great shiphandling," Adm. Ernest King, USN
Me: Does the restaurant have cute waitresses?
My friend Gail: All waitresses are cute when you're hungry.
I'm not a writer, but sometimes I push around words to see what happens. – Scott Berry
I realized today how many of my stories start out "years ago." What's next? Once upon a time?"
“The rivers of Alaska are strewn with the bones of men who made but one mistake” - Fred McGarry, a Nushagak Trapper
Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stared at walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing. – Meg Chittenden
A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity. – Franz Kafka
We are all immortal until the one day we are not. – me again
If the muse is late, start without her – Peter S. Beagle
Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. ~Mark Twain Actually you could do the same thing with the word "really" as in "really cold."
If you are looking for an experience that will temper your vanity, this is it. There's no one to impress when you're alone on the trap line. – Michael Carey quoting his father's journal
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. – Benjamin Franklin
It’s nervous work. The state you need to write in is the state that others are paying large sums of money to get rid of. – Shirley Hazzard
So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence -- Bertrand Russell
You know that I always just wanted to have a small ship to take stuff from a place that had a lot of that stuff to a place that did not have a lot of that stuff and so prosper.—Jackie Faber, “The Wake of the Lorelei Lee”
If you attack the arguer instead of the argument, you lose both
If an insurance company won’t pay for damages caused by an “act of God,” shouldn’t it then have to prove the existence of God? – I said that
I used to think getting old was about vanity—but actually it’s about losing people you love. Getting wrinkles is trivial. – Eugene O’Neill
German General to Swiss General: “You have only 500,000 men in your army; what would you do if I invaded with 1 million men?”
Swiss General: “Well, I suppose every one of my soldiers would need to fire twice.”
Writing is the only thing that when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.—Gloria Steinem
Exceed your bandwidth—sign on the wall of the maintenance shop at the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center
One thing I do know, if you keep at it, you usually wind up getting something done.—Patricia Monaghan
Do you want to know what kind of person makes the best reporter? I’ll tell you. A borderline sociopath. Someone smart, inquisitive, stubborn, disorganized, chaotic, and in a perpetual state of simmering rage at the failings of the world.—Brett Arends
It is a very simple mind that only knows how to spell a word one way.—Andrew Jackson
3:30 is too late or too early to do anything—Rene Descartes
Everything is okay when it’s 50-below as long as everything is okay. – an Alaskan in Tom Walker’s “The Seventymile Kid”
You can have your own opinion but you can’t have your own science.—commenter arguing on a story about polar bears and global warming
He looks at three ex wives as a good start—TV police drama
Talkeetna: A friendly little drinking town with a climbing problem.—a handmade bumper sticker
“You’re either into the wall or into the show”—Marco Andretti on giving it all to qualify last at the 2011 Indy 500
Makeup is not for the faint of heart—the makeup guerrilla
“I’m going to relax in a very adult manner.”—Danica Patrick after sweating it out and qualifying half an hour before Andretti
“Asking Congress to come back is like asking a mugger to come back because he forgot your wallet.”—a roundtable participant on Fox of all places
As Republicans go further back in the conception process to define when life actually begins, I am beginning to think the eventual definition will be life begins in the beer I was drinking when I met her.—me again
Hunting is a “critical element for the long-term conservation of wood bison.”—a state department of Fish and Game official explaining why the state would not go along with a federal plan to reintroduce wood bison in Alaska because the agreement did not specifically allow hunting
Each day do something that won’t compute – anon
I can’t belive I still have to protest this shit – a sign carriend by an elderly woman at an Occupy demonstration
Life should be a little nuts or else it’s just a bunch of Thursdays strung together—Kevin Costner as Beau Burroughs in “Rumor has it”
You’re just a wanker whipping up fear —Irish President Michael D. Higgins to a tea party radio announcer
Being president doesn’t change who you are; it reveals who you are—Michelle Obama
So many of us are going through the same kinds of things, about a half-step behind you, Tim. Sorry to hear about the TIA. That's very frightening, but happy to hear it wasn't worse. Life changes. I've started that mental process of going through things, as well. A heart attack last summer prompted my decisions. We always wonder about people who retire and move somewhere that is so remote there's no help available when they need it. Sounds like you have the best of both worlds.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your attitude - remember my comments earlier a few days ago?? TIA: gets your attention quickly, is a wakeup call, should not be ignored. I so sorry to hear that you experienced a TIA, but so relieved you have no apparent sequelae. My mother experienced about six while we moved in Wasilla, and she too was lucky. I'm glad you were home in the Butte. I am going through stuff too and have given a significant number of "treasures" to my kids just so they won't to wait until later.
ReplyDeleteTim, sorry to hear about the health, but happy you have attached the seriousness. These thing do slow us down. I was diagnosed with Afib a couple years ago, when I went for my annual checkup. My doctor said he should put me in the hospital, my heart rate was 29. He asked me how I felt, I told him fine, except I was more tired then usual. I had just returned from a four day business trip to Miami. I told him it must be my years in Alaska, being winter and time for hibernation. Fortunately, he laughter, prescribed medication, and let me go home with an appointment with the heart specialist in two days. Fortunately, my wife is RN, and director of the stroke department and ER. To summarize, I was shocked back into rhyme at the hospital a few days later. Because of continued Afib, I was implanted with Pace maker with continued medication. I do heavy work out at health club, including lots of pool aerobic exercise & biking. You can check on the Silver Sneaker exercise program with Medicare. It's included in most insurance programs, free workouts at participate health spas. You can check it out on inter net. My body has slowed down, but my mind still wants to challenge the unknown.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the photo, I had forgot about the dancing moose. Happy you still enjoy it's great humor, it made me smile. Take good care of your medical with good tests, you should be great. If you have any concerns give me a call, Sheila has been heading up the outreach strong program at the University of South Carolina Medical school. She has received some national awards with stroke programs for doctors and medical staff.
The cabin sounds great, and the one thing I miss most is the solitude of remote living in Alaska. After 30 plus years, I'm still on the Alaska time schedule. The Bears will get you before anything else, keep smiling and attach the dam bears. Two glass of wine a day is pretty good medication. That red wine helps clean the tubes. I'll be rooting for you.
Your old buddy, Del Allison
Hi Tim! I just read about your trip to the East Pole. I am very sorry to hear about the mini-stroke. It sounds like you will not let it have any significance at all which reassures me that you will be just fine!! I love hearing about your adventures. I am so happy for you and so impressed with not only your energy level, but the way you are living life to the fullest and enjoying all the little things. The cabin is amazing! I can't believe you go there in winter-wow. You are tough!! I looked at some other pics, very fun. So glad you enjoy your garden. I find daily happiness in working in my yard tending my flowers. Rambling here, but wanted you to know Iove the updates and am so glad to still have you in my life through facebook. I'm so glad the fire did not steal anything dear to you!! Take care of yourself!! Keep up that exercise!
ReplyDeleteheart emoticon -- Nikki Klinger