The Duke Boys

The first time I saw tombs like these was on the north side of Paris in a church filled with dead French Royalty. Here are the three Duke brothers, obviously inspired by the Grand Tour of Europe.  Funny, Daisy Duke was no place to be found (American cultural reference, if you grew up in the 70's you might get it.)   

I wonder if they posed for the sculptures? 

Duke University

Duke University is one of a handful of American universities that were privately founded by families with lots of money, who wanted to make a difference and leave a lasting legacy.  Legacy is how you are remembered, in Duke's case the family is remembered as being committed to world class higher education - not the source of the money - tobacco.

The centerpiece of the campus, and symbol along with the Blue Devil is the chapel.  Though it looks much older, construction started in 1930 and it was completed in 1932.  It is a lot of stone to cut and set in two years.  

Fountain of Knowledge

There is so much to see, and do and learn about in our world.  Never stop drinking from the fountain of knowledge.  Hence, today's Sunday Five. 

1: If you could go back to school, money and time being no object, what would you pursue? 
2: What is your all time favorite class? 
3: Learning is a lifetime activity, how many books have you read in 2018? 
4: What year did you last graduate? 
5: Where was the above photo taken?

My Answers: 
1: If you could go back to school, money and time being no object, what would you pursue? Medical school, there is so much to learn. 
2: What is your all time favorite class? Legal and Ethical Issues of Death and Dying with Marvin Newman at Rollins College. 
3: Learning is a lifetime activity, how many books have you read in 2018? 52 so far this year.
4: What year did you last graduate?  1999
5: Where was the above photo taken? If I told you that, everyone would know the answer, 

Your answers in the comments, 

Made Me Think Of

Anne Marie and her reminder to Dance Like No One is Watching! 

Mistress Maddie, elegant and classy 

Dr Spo, few understand what makes us tick like he does 

Fearsome Beard, beards through the ages. 

Seen anything that reminded you of anyone? 

Roman Tombstone

We recently drove down to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina to deliver a donation to the art museum.  The donation was a Roman Funerary Inscription, AkA, a Roman Tombstone.  When I met Jay, it was in a display case in the living room, there it has been for the past 27 years.  How did he come to have it? When he was in graduate school at Duke, he stopped to visit a monk in Minnesota - who was doing diabetes research.  The monk said, I have something you might like to have, pulled plastic bag off of a shelf and gave it to Jay.  The monk's father had been a geologist working in Italy in the 1930's, he came across this, thought it was interesting, and it as it was small and a fragment, no one wanted it, so he brought it home.  

We are consolidating two houses into one, going from 2,800 square feet to 1,100.  We are sorting out and deciding what to do with all of this stuff - we have given a lot of things away.  We were also concerned that when we are both dead, whoever cleans out the condo would look at it and think, another one of David's art projects and toss it in the dumpster.  So we decided to donate it. 

It will be part of the museum's permanent collection.  Given the opportunity they will display it,  they will also make it available to researchers or for loan to other museums. It is likely a Duke graduate student will spend a year, learning about inscriptions from this period and trying to paint a picture of the person it memorialized.  I hope they get a good article or a short book out of it. 

It is not the oldest thing hanging around, there is piece of 4th century BC pottery - we need to get that tagged so it isn't mistaken for something from the garden shop.  

What is the oldest thing in your living room?  

Differences

Two recent observations on how people are different. 

I generally sleep well, but I do enjoy a nice afternoon nap. It is rare for me to nod off to sleep sitting in a chair, watching TV or reading.  I love it when it happens, but it is rare, for me to take a nap, I have to darken the room and lie down (when possible, get horizontal.)  Jay on the other hand, nods off to sleep almost any place and time, except when he lays down for a nap.  He will be snoring watching television, and if he lies down he can't get to sleep.  

I nodded off recently, reading on the subway on my way home from work, only for a couple of minutes between Braddock Road and King Street stations. The first time in almost 10 years. 

Another difference is instructions.  I only look at the assembly instructions, when I am lost.  Operating instructions might as well all be written in Greek, I go boldly forth and only try to interpret the instructions if I can't make it work otherwise. Jay always reads the instructions and directions, and then keeps them carefully indexed and filed away.  Nether system seems to have an advantage, we have an equal record of success in putting things together and figuring out what button to push.  

How are you and your other half different? 

The Way We Were Wednesday

Four of the images above are me, any idea who is top right? 

Edit, I really have no idea, not me, not my mother!  

Reading List 2018 the first 7-months

Library of Congress

  It has been an unusually busy year so far, my goal was a book a week for the year, I have finished 52 in seven months.  I won't keep up this pace, I have a couple of longer works that I am just starting on.  

1. Stuffocation: Why We've Had Enough Stuff . . . James Wallman 
2. What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear, Danielle Ofri 
3. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, Michael Wolf 
4. The Art of Fully Living: 1 Man. 10 Years., Tai Gur 
5. Tell Me More: Stories About the 12 hardest Things I'm Learning to Say, Kelly Corrigan 
6. A Loving Approach to Dementia Care, Laura Wayman  
7. Living in Italy: The Real Deal - Hilarious Expat Adventures by Stef Smulders 
8. Adventures in The Old Folks Home, by Carol Netzer 
9. I am Keats: Escape Your Mind and Free Your Self, by Tom Asacker 
10. Treating People Well by Lea Berman and Jeremy Barnard 
11.  No Apparent Distress: A Doctor's Comming-of-Age on the Front Lines of American Medicine, Rachel Pearson
12. Fresh Eggs and Dog Beds: Living the Dream in Rural Ireland, Nick Albert
13. Too Young to Retire, Marika and Howard Stone 
14. Italian Life Rues, Ann Reavis 
15. A Homemade Life, Mollu Wizenberg 
16. Playing House in Provence, Mary Lou Weisman
17. An Italian Journey, James Ernest Shaw 
18. The Long Haul, Finn Murphy
19. Trot On, Tattie Limejuice
20. Strengths Based Leadership, Tom Rath
21. Attending: Medicine, Mindfulness and Humanity, Ronald Epstein 
22. Does it Fart? Nick Caruso and Dani Rabaiatti 
23. The Reluctant Farmer of Whimsey Hill, Bradford Smith, et al 
24. The Dyslexic Advantage, Brock Eide et al 
25. Not in a Tuscan Villa, John and Nancy Petrilia 
26. A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership, James Comey
27. Slovakia - Culture Smart, Bendon Edwards
28. People of the ER, Phillip Allen Green
29. Cute Poodles, Sweet Old Ladies, and Hugs, PJ Miller
30. The Red Caddy:Into the Unknown with Edward Abbey, Charles Bowden
31. It's a Strangle Place, England, Jack Strange
32. Alton Brown: Every Day Cook, Alton Brown
33. Not Quite, Mastering the Art of French Living, Mark Greenside
34. What Would a Muslim Say, Ahmed Rashed. 
35. Lost at Thaxton, Michael E. Jones
36. Calypso, David Sedaris 
37. In the Land of Cocktails, Ti Adelaide Martin, and Lally Brennan
38. Forever Nomad, Tynan
39. Miss Ella of Commander's Palace, Ella Brennan
40. The Viking's Guide to Pillaging the Real World, Charles Roos
41. Relentless Focus 27 Small Tweaks, Patrick King 
42. What Would It Take, Michaela Light
43. 32 Yolks: From my Mother's Table to Working the Line, Eric Ripert
44. A Kilo of String, Rob Johnson 
45. Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical,  Anthony Bourdain
46. On Living, Kerry Egan
47. My Twenty-Five Years in Provence, Peter Mayle 
48. Strange Tales of Scotland, Jack Strange
49. The Cottage Kitchen, Marte Marie Forsberg
50. How to Think Like an Anthropologist, Matthew Engelke
51. Feast: True Love in and Out of the Kitchen, Hannah Howard  
52.  Pig in Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures, Georgeanne Brennan. 

   So, what have you been reading? 

Yum

All things in moderation.  Eat what you enjoy, on their death bed no one says, I wish I had indulged in more kale.  My thoughts when I saw this, was what a work of art.  Nice pastry, velvety lemon filling the perfect top.  So good, my only regret, I didn't have one.  

What did you pass on this week, that you should have enjoyed? 

Funny Farms - Sunday Five

I was raised on a funny farm, we raised bees and produced honey.  I was running errands with my grandmother when she stopped by the local oil and gas delivery service to pay a bill. The clerk shouted into the back room, "I need the bill for that funny farm!" My Grandmother was furious, I doubled over with laughter.  So on a sweet and sticky subject, this week's Sunday Five.

1:  Would you suit up and venture into a bee hive with a beekeeper? 
2:  Would you know a honeybee from a wasp or hornet if one landed on you? 
3:   With a once in a lifetime exception, there is only one queen in a colony of bees.  Are you the queen of your colony? 
4:   Have you ever seen honey being extracted from combs? 
5:   The lighter the honey the milder the flavor, the darker the honey the more intense the flavor.  Do you prefer light or dark? 

My Answers!
1:  1:  Would you suit up and venture into a bee hive with a beekeeper?  - Yes, it is fun to watch up close.  
2:  Would you know a honeybee from a wasp or hornet if one landed on you? Yes, 
3:   With a once in a lifetime exception, there is only one queen in a colony of bees.  Are you the queen of your colony?  Not really, just another drone. 
4:   Have you ever seen honey being extracted from combs? Seen it,  done it, and filed the tax returns for being paid as child farm labor. 
5:   The lighter the honey the milder the flavor, the darker the honey the more intense the flavor.  Do you prefer light or dark? Dark and intense - my father and I differed on this. 

Your answers in the comments. 

Paris Flashback

I first encountered mobile rotisserie chicken in a street market in Paris at Christmas time about 15 years ago.  The smell is irresistible, I remember buying one - complete with the potatoes roasted in the drippings from the bird and devouring it on the way back to the hotel.  This is food good enough to serve on the finest table, or to bring out the cave man in any of us.  

I read about portable rotisseries in European markets, but I had never seen one in a market in the United States until San Francisco.  This is the Wednesday market at the Civic Center.  The smell would awaken the dead, if this does not revive your appetite, you need a doctor.  The country needs a thousand more of these.  

http://www.roliroti.com/ . 

Have you seen a mobile rotisserie? 

One Year

My father died a year ago this morning.  My sister checked on him about 6:30 that morning, he was sleeping, she nodded off, I checked on him just before 7:00 AM and he was gone.  Peaceful, quiet in his living room, as he wished.  He was sick, he had endured a couple of difficult years with few complaints or demands. 

I miss him, but he knew it was his time to go, and we honored his wishes to go peacefully at home, not fighting for an extra month, or week, or day or hour. I strongly believe that we did the right thing. (One of my brothers is not so sure.)  

Over the past year, I have developed a better understanding of our relationship, it was good.  We respected one another, we wished one another happiness in our own unique way. There are always woulda, coulda, shouldas in life, but overall he was a good father, who treated his kids well.  

Reading other blogs, I know I was lucky. He didn't believe in silver spoons, or giving his kids everything.  He was kind, and gentle; the couple of times he said something negative, stand out, because it only happened a time or two.  I learned from him to look for the adventure in life, to apply myself and do my best.  

I have peace and closure on his passing.   

Dirty Pictures

There is an old joke about a psychiatrist showing a patient ink blots.  He asked the guy what he saw in the first one and the patient said "tits." Doc showed him the second one and he said, "ass."  Doc showed him the third picture and he said "pussy!"  The doctor became indignant and said "sex, sex, sex, is that all you can think of?  The patient responded, "hey Doc, you are the with all of the dirty pictures!"  

I was not sure what to make of these sculptures, from the back they look vaguely phallic, from the front, much less vague.  

Are they art? 

WWW - Wild Wild Midwest

This image got me my first post card job. A local farmer in Michigan decided that a campground and golf course were more profitable and less demanding than cows. To learn about golf course building he spent a couple of winters working in the south west and fell in love with reenacting old west gun fights.  The campers enjoyed the shows almost as much as he did.  

All together I did half a dozen post card jobs in a couple of years.  It was fun. It was also stressful, I can find every imperfection in every one.  

Have you been published? 

Makes Me Wonder

A few days ago, I mentioned this alley way in China Town in San Francisco.  Barely wide enough to let the sun in, obviously a pedestrian way, or is it? Take a moment and look at the picture, what looks out of place.  

Go ahead, I will wait. 

Two things, the rolling trash dumpster, and the No Parking sign.  I can't imagine driving a trash truck down this passage, or driving my car in and blocking the entrance to the barbershop next door to the fortune cookie factory, but there it is, a No Parking sign, makes me wonder.

What has made you wonder this week? 

Big things start small

I like BIG things.  The bigger the better - call me a size queen if you want but I'd sooner ride a 777 than a 737 any day.  I miss the days when transcontinental flights were on large double aisle jets, I have experienced a trans-Atlantic trip on 757s.  Not too bad - with an overnight stop in Iceland.  But I really prefer huge planes.  The jet in this picture is a JAL 777.  The engine cowlings are about as big around as a 737 fuselage.  

When I think about it, I am amazed, that something as large and complex as that, began with one first part.  It might be something simple like a screw, or bolt, or rivet. The first sections of metal were cut, finished and assembled into the first subassembly.  From a humble beginning grew this marvel that flies non-stop from Chicago to Tokyo.  

Travel is like that, it all begins with a simple small beginning.  When I was a college student at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida there was a Godiva Chocolate shop in the Park Plaza Hotel on Park Avenue. I went by there one day and there was a 50 pound chocolate bunny in the window.  I stepped in and asked, "how does anyone eat a 50-pound chocolate bunny?"  The clerk had the perfect answer, "one bite at a time my friend, one bite at a time."  

Public Transit - Sunday Five

I try to use public transit, living in the Washington DC area, with the traffic we have, transit makes my life tolerable.  I think the USA should have more public transit.  Hence the Sunday Five.

1: Given a choice do you take a taxi or a subway train from the airport to the city? 
2: Which is better, a city bus, or a streetcar? 
3: Have you ridden on a cable car? (Several US airports have them.) 
4: Should cities build more expressways or subway lines? 
5: When will you be willing to ride in a self driving car? 

My answers: 
1: Given a choice do you take a taxi or a subway train from the airport to the city?  The train, almost always.
2: Which is better, a city bus, or a streetcar? I like streetcars better than buses 
3: Have you ridden on a cable car? (Several US airports have them.) Yes, several. The thing that sets a cable car apart from a streetcar is the moving cable that propels them.  The Cincinnati and Detroit airports have cable car systems.  
4: Should cities build more expressways or subway lines? Subways! 
5: When will you be willing to ride in a self driving car?  Today! 

Your answers in the comments,

Multiple Meanings!

Could be a poor choice of sexual partners.  My grandmother once said, "it is not the sleeping with that we are concerned about, it is what happens before or after that can get you in trouble." Could be someone whose dog is needy.  Could be a very cold night.  

Who should you send this hat to? 

Seen on the Street - Offered without further comment

Your Fortune Says - 50-cents please

We went for a wander and a nice lunch in China Town in San Francisco.  We stumbled across the cities oldest fortune cookie factory.  I had seen video of the place in action, if you are a TV celebrity they will let you take a stab at folding fortune cookies,  an exercise in silliness the first few times.  They will custom make cookies with your message.  Everyone gets a free sample, for 50-cents you can take pictures.  

It was in the kind of alley, you might not walk down. You might not feel safe - or comfortable - in reality it was filled with simple delights and warm welcoming people.  I bet at some point someone said, "if I had 50-cents for every picture someone took I could retire someday." 

Have you ever paid to take a picture?