River Rats

"Doing this race is like having a baby. When it's all over, you forget the pain and remember how good it felt to stop. Then you start again and say, 'Why am I doing this again?'" -Cami Ronchetto talks about the Missouri River 340, a kayak race across the Show-Me State at the end of July. She and the amazing Linda LaFontaine won the women's tandem division in 2009 and are competing again this year. Read my Inside Columbia article here (page 61).

Together Forever

"A happy marriage has in it all the pleasures of friendship, all the enjoyments of sense and reason, and, indeed, all the sweets of life." -Joseph Addison, as quoted on a card from the Tripps (one of many great cards that are taking over our living room!)

What the Future Might Bring...

"Between Matt's height and both of your athletic ability, pick a name that looks good on a Wheaties box." -Beth's advice on our firstborn (don't worry, still many years away). This is from ages ago but just now making an appearence.

Together

"Marriage is ... the state in which you will find solid happiness." -Ben Franklin

Reception Tonight

She's talkin' to me with her voice

Down so low I barely hear her

But I know what she's sayin'

I understand because my heart and hers are the same

And in January we're gettin' married

-Avett Brothers

Oops

"I didn't have my filter in." -Kristy explains a conversation gone bad.

Do well

"Whatever you do, do it with purpose; do it thoroughly, not superficially." -Lord Chesterfield

Good Company

"She is such a good friend that she would throw all her acquaintances into the water for the pleasure of fishing them out." -Talleyrand of Mme. de Stael

Beth's coming to town today!

Job Hunting

From Kristy. Of course, we all know that I would be quite content working at Starbucks.

Let it Grow

"Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or animals. Some seem to smile, some have a sad expression, some are pensive and diffident, others again are plain, honest and upright." -Henry Ward Beecher.

Moral of this photo: always check what you're planting before you throw some bulbs in window boxes.

Looking Ahead

"Sorry if I look like shit for your wedding." -part of Tricia's text informing me of her eye infection. She'll be the girl wearing sunglasses.

Comma Sense

So I just started reading Step by Step and was thrilled when the author offered this aside about comma usage:

Winkley

"A catless writer is almost inconceivable. It's a perverse taste, really, since it would be easier to write with a herd of buffalo in the room than even one cat; they make nests in the notes and bite the end of the pen and walk on the typewriter keys." -Barbara Holland

Comic Sans

"People love me. Why? Because I'm fun. I'm the life of the party. I bring levity to any situation. Need to soften the blow of a harsh message about restroom etiquette? SLAM. There I am." -excerpt from I'm Comic Sans, Asshole. If you appreciate the importance of a good font, read the whole thing here.

Chocolate, etc.

"Everyone knows there are foods that are sexy to eat. What they don't talk about so much is foods that are sexy to make." -from Julie & Julia (the book, not the movie).

Redneck Style

"Jorts." -Jackson's word for cut-offs. Apparently I am the only person unfamiliar with this term.
To any male readers (Jackson included): jorts are not attractive.

Summer Sweat

"You smell like you've been running." -Andrew. Must have been bad if he could smell me before he saw me. Sorry.

Luck of the Mohawk

Mohawked last year, Mohawked again this year. Congrats to the Langley boys lacrosse team on another Virginia state championship.

Go Saxons

"[Andrew] Spivey is a cool customer. As John Wooden said, 'To win takes talent, to repeat takes character.' And we certainly have character. And characters." -Langley lacrosse coach Earl Brewer speaks to the Washington Post about his team defending its Virginia high school lacrosse state championship title this evening. Andrew is the goalie.

Always a Writer

"And by the way, everything in life is writable about, if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." -Sylvia Plath

Photo: 1986

Our First Tomato

"We would be happy if we studied nature more in natural things and acted according to nature, whose rules are few, plain and most reasonable." -William Penn

Pre

How appropriate: this quote appeared in my inbox only days after Matt & I watched Without Limits.

Discovery

"Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views, which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given, forgetful that Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries, when they wrote those books." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

When it rains...

"Nine of our cows were struck dead by lightning standing under a tree during a quick thunderstorm. They fell dead upon one another." -my aunt gives an update on life at the farm. Sounds like something out of a movie.

Tattooed

"Is that W on your ankle for George W. Bush?" -some smart alec at Art in the Park yesterday.

Ho ho ho

"Cute, but I only collect black Santas." -a (white) woman turns down a (white) Santa figure at a yard sale yesterday.

Social Networking

"Facebook: Not like a handshake, but not half-bad, either." -Nebraska Life promotes its Facebook page in the July/August magazine. Pretty good description, I'd say.

River Rats

"We call ourselves the AARP team because I'm almost sixty and she's fifty." -Linda jokes about her age during an interview with KOMU. Watch the clip here, and learn about the upcoming Missouri River 340 race.

Minutes and Hours

"Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away." -Marcus Aurelius

Carnivore Country

"I'm an Iowa boy; I need meat." -a waiter's response when asked about vegetarian items on his menu. Several variations of this conversation happened as we searched for a meat-free menu in Boonville restaurants. Clearly Midwesterners love their cows.