Tag Archives: Joy Jar

The 02/09/13 Joy Jar

8 Feb

Hard to believe but, the first day of Spring is March 20 and Daylight Savings Time starts in March as well. The news reports are about a blizzard in New York and New England. Fall means that one begins to think about colder weather and the need for sweaters. In many parts of the country where there are clearly defined seasons, people store their sweaters. In Seattle, one keeps their sweaters handy until at least August. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is a warm sweater.

 

Sweater, n.: garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly.
Ambrose Bierce

“When the bold branches Bid farewell to rainbow leaves – Welcome wool sweaters.”                                                                                                             B. Cybrill

I’ve about decided that’s the main thing that separates happy people from the other people: the feeling that you’re a practical item, with a use, like a sweater or a socket wrench.

Barbara Kingsolver

 

I’m a super hero, too, underneath my sweater.

Rusted Root

 

Dramatic art in her opinion is knowing how to fill a sweater.

Bette Davis

 

If you are a dog and your owner suggests that you wear a sweater suggest that he wear a tail.
Fran Lebowitz

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

The 02/08/13 Joy Jar

7 Feb

Do you ever think what one welcomes after a long tiring week? A pillow and a good night’s rest. A time when one doesn’t have to turn on the trusty alarm clock and one can sleep until you wake-up. The pillow becomes an ally and friend. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the pillow.

 

Fatigue is the best pillow.
Benjamin Franklin

No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.
Lin Yutang

“What pillow can one have like a good conscience?”
John Steinbeck, Tortilla Flat

 

Comfy jammies, cozy bed, big soft pillow for your head. Worry not, the world can wait take your time and recuperate.

Unknown

 

I put a piece of paper under my pillow, and when I could not sleep I wrote in the dark.
Henry David Thoreau

 

Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.

Maya Angelou

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , ,

The 02/07/13 Joy Jar

6 Feb

Urban areas have a varied and rich street life populated by cubicle dwellers, money people, tourists, and the life of the streets. Street dwellers are young, old, all races, all philosophies, and all conditions. Some sing or perform for their supper, some ply their trade or peddle the wares. Many have a favorite corner and regular folk who are not engaged in street life that they look to for sustenance. If one lives in a city, one lives with the street whether you are part of street life of not. The street life makes one happy for whatever one has and definitely ensures that on the street, each day will be different. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is street life.

I met in the street a very poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his coat worn, his cloak was out at the elbows, the water passed through his shoes, – and the stars through his soul.
Victor Hugo

All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning. Great works are often born on a street corner or in a restaurant’s revolving door.
Albert Camus

At any street corner the feeling of absurdity can strike any man in the face.
Albert Camus

A court is an assembly of noble and distinguished beggars.
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

“The beggar is the only person in the universe not obliged to study appearance.” Charles Lamb

“We are all beggars, each in his own way.”                                                                     Mark Twain

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

The 02/06/13 Joy Jar

5 Feb

Moi is a member of the Seattle Free Lances which is a writer’s group based in Seattle. She works on membership for the group. One of her duties was to oversee a directory for the group. That task is finished and the directory has been published and ready to be distributed. Looking at the directory, one can trace the printed word from Gutenberg to those high tech laser printers which produce all sorts of materials. The printed word allows people to share information, knowledge, silliness or whatever. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the printed word.

 

Before printing was discovered, a century was equal to a thousand years.
Henry David Thoreau

 

The printing press is the greatest weapon in the armoury of the modern commander.
T. E. Lawrence

 

We are the children of a technological age. We have found streamlined ways of doing much of our routine work. Printing is no longer the only way of reproducing books. Reading them, however, has not changed.
Lawrence Clark Powell

 

“Writing or printing is like shooting with a rifle; you may hit your reader’s mind, or miss it – but talking is like playing at a mark with the pipe of an engine; if it is within reach, and you have time enough, you can’t help hitting it”

Oliver Wendell Holmes

 

“The greatest inventions were produced in the times of ignorance, as the use of the compass, gunpowder, and printing”

Jonathan Swift

 

“What these critics forget is that printing presses in themselves provide no guarantee of an enlightened outcome. People, not machines, made the Renaissance. The printing that takes place in North Korea today, for instance, is nothing more than propaganda for a personality cult. What is important about printing presses is not the mechanism, but the authors.”
Jaron Lanier, You are Not a Gadget

 

“What gunpowder did for war the printing press has done for the mind.”

Wendell Phillips

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

The 02/05/13 Joy Jar Jar

4 Feb

Moi goes to the Seattle Public Library several times a week. The library is one of the few places in society where all types and classes of people occupy the same space. The Seattle Public Library is an urban library and has as regulars a fair share of the homeless, mentally ill, and those who may have had too much of that as patrons. The librarians treat all as valued patrons, the library is a welcoming place. It occurred to moi when she went to the public restroom that quite often those who use the restroom have all of their belongings with them. It occurred to moi that it is difficult to live if you don’t have access to bathroom facilities. Most people in America don’t think about not having a bathroom, but many have that worry. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is a private bathroom.

 

“Today, the degradation of the inner life is symbolized by the fact that the only place sacred from interruption is the private toilet.”

Lewis Mumford

 

 

“Like when I’m in the bathroom looking at my toilet paper, I’m like ‘Wow! That’s toilet paper?’ I don’t know if we appreciate how much we have.”

Peter Nivio Zarlenga

 

 

“The flush toilet, more than any single invention, has ‘civilized’ us in a way that religion and law could never accomplish.”
Thomas Lynch, The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade

 

 

The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.
John W. Gardner

 

 

“When you’ve finished your own toilet in the morning, then it is time to attend to the toilet of your planet, just so, with the greatest care”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

The 02/04/13 Joy Jar

3 Feb

There was about a thirty-five minute delay in the 2013 Superbowl when a power surge caused the lights to go out in the Superdome. Players waited anxiously on the field for the lights to come on. The lights came on and play resumed where it had been halted. Sometimes, not often, in dress rehearsals something doesn’t go according to plan and the production has to be halted to make a fix. Then, on cue the actors and artists usually proceed without missing a beat. There is a lesson for all. Often, grace under pressure allows the game, the play, and life to go on. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is grace under pressure.

 

Courage is grace under pressure.
Ernest Hemingway

 

When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.
Peter Marshall

The pressure of adversity does not affect the mind of the brave man… It is more powerful than external circumstances.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

He who is of calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition youth and age are equally a burden.
Plato

No pressure, no diamonds.
Thomas Carlyle

 

Tags: , , , , ,

The 02/03/13 Joy Jar

2 Feb

Moi is not an athlete and has no athletic ability. Walking is what moi does. When moi was growing up, she was that geeky kid with her head in a book. Still ,moi can appreciate the grace of a really good basketball game and wonder how those hockey players can get around on skates so fast. The Superbowl would have been more fun to watch if the Seahawks were playing, but moi like everyone will be watching Beyoncé sing. Watching sports adds another dimension to life just as music and the theater do. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is watching an athletic event that makes one think about competition and grace.

 

“Winning isn’t everything–but wanting to win is.”
Vince Lombardi Jr.

 

“Don’t let them drag you down by rumors just go with what you believe in.”
Michael Jordan, I Can’t Accept Not Trying: Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence

 

“Outcasts may grow up to be novelists and filmmakers and computer tycoons, but they will never be the athletic ruling class.”
Chuck Klosterman, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto

 

“They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they’d make up their minds.”
Wilt Chamberlain

 

“The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.”
Muhammed Ali

 

“Academe, n.: An ancient school where morality and philosophy were taught. Academy, n.: A modern school where football is taught.”
Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary

 

“I have failed many times, and that’s why I am a success.”
Michael Jordan

 

“Always keep an open mind and a compassionate heart.”
Phil Jackson

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The 02/02/13 Joy Jar

1 Feb

The Winter Solstice in December marks the beginning of the march toward Spring. Slowly the days get longer and there seems to be more light. In January, people are acting like it’s Wednesday and there is too much week or too much winter left. Almost defiantly those who weren’t wearing bright colors before, start testing the waters in expectation of Spring. Bright, vibrant colors start appearing as accessories in the form of a hat, gloves, or a scarf. Some are bold and wear a neon coat or sweater. Everyone is waiting for the Primroses to appear, the first sure sign of Spring. Meanwhile random bright colors will suffice for now. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the bright colors of winter.

Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

All colors are the friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites.
Marc Chagall

Beauty without colour seems somehow to belong to another world.                    Murasaki Shikibu

Colors are the smiles of nature.                                                                     

Leigh Hunt

It is the eye of ignorance that assigns a fixed and unchangeable color to every object; beware of this stumbling block.                                                            

Paul Gauguin

I cannot pretend to feel impartial about colors.  I rejoice with the brilliant ones and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns.                                                            

Winston Churchill

 

Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.
Pablo Picasso

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

The 02/01/13 Joy Jar

31 Jan

Moi is a ‘bus chick’ and rides the bus all over Seattle or she walks. She is registered with the two pay-by-use car programs, but rarely uses them. The bus takes moi everywhere she needs to go. The bus tunnel runs under downtown Seattle and is deep underground. To reach the surface, one takes an escalator, at the deepest points of tunnel, to the street. Today moi was leaving the tunnel and riding the escalator to the street. There were several people who went past moi walking up the escalator. They shaved maybe 30 seconds off the escalator ride. Than got moi thinking about the speed of contemporary life. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is a liveable pace of life.

Life is made up of special moments which make it worth living. There are many cherished moments that are missed due to the stress and fast pace of daily living. We must slow down and remember how precious it is to be alive and to love!!!!  

Unknown

“Smile, breathe, and go slowly”                                                                          Thich Nhat Hanh

“Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.”                                        Ovid

“Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.”                  Chinese proverb
“There is more to life than increasing its speed.”                                                Mahatma Gandhi

Tags: , , , , , , ,

The 01/31/13 Joy Jar

30 Jan

A couple of weeks ago, moi’s favorite soap and fragrance store at the mall had a sale. You could get three things for x dollars and you could mix and match items. They gave you cute little bags to put you stuff in. The place was crowded and although they say Disneyland is the happiest place on earth, the crowd was happy. Today, moi broke open the Lemon Vanilla lotion and the subtle calming scent really made the moment. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is scented lotion.

 

 

“A good fragrance is really a powerful cocktail of memories and emotion.”
Jeffrey Stepakoff, The Orchard: A Novel

 

Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains.
Diane Ackerman

To wash one’s hair, make one’s toilet, and put on scented robes; even if not a soul sees one, these preparations still produce an inner pleasure.

Sei Shonagon

“Each day has a color, a smell.”
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Mistress of Spices

 

That awkward moment when you have to much lotion on and don’t know where to put it…

Unknown

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →