Day 3536: Another look

On National Another Look Unlimited Day, I’ll take another look at

• what I’m packing and not packing for my 10-day trip, which starts tomorrow,
• what I need to do around the house before I leave for Florida and Georgia,
• the lyrics I wrote last night for a new song titled “Don’t Worry, Don’t Hurry,”
• the numbers for my blog titles (if I started this daily blog on 1/1/13, shouldn’t the current number be lower?) (thanks to my loyal reader Debbie T and myself, this has been solved and fixed!),
• everything I’m going to miss while I’m away, and
• the images I captured yesterday for today’s blog.

I love how the Daily Bitch takes another look at everything, including National Another Look Unlimited Day.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “another look.”

Now I’m going to take another look at this 1990s photo of Gary Burton, my old business partner Jonathan, and me:

I’ll take another look at the comments section later in the day.

Here’s another look at the gratitude I have for all who visit this blog, including YOU.

Day 3512: Showing up

If you’ve been showing up for this blog for years, you might remember I’ve learned that the secret of life is three things:

1. Show up.
2. Be gentle (with others and yourself).
3. Tell the truth.

That simple wisdom keeps showing up for me. Now, let’s see what images are showing up on my iPhone.

Those National Days will be showing up on Twitter soon, posted by this left hander.

Here’s a song that was showing up for me on my walk yesterday:

Here’s another version showing up on YouTube:

Thanks to all strangers and friends showing up here and now, including YOU.

Day 3207: Sports

Two notable and different sports events happened yesterday in Boston: (1) The Boston Marathon (usually held in April) and (2) the Red Sox, against all odds, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays to advance in the American baseball playoffs. Here’s some reporting from ESPN about the unlikely Red Sox win:

I never played sports because of my heart condition, but as somebody once said, “If you can’t play a sport, be a sport.” Can you see sports in my images for today, many of which I took while going for a three-hour walk yesterday?

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “sports”:

Be a sport and leave a comment, okay?

If gathering and expressing gratitude were a sport, I’d be an elite athlete!

Day 3161: Just because

Just because I’m on vacation, I’m just taking my time, just relaxing, and just capturing images like these:

Just because I just took this video on National Just Because Day, I’m going to share it with you.

Just because I love Pat Metheny, I’m going to share this tune I was listening to yesterday.

Just because I created this blog post, I feel ready for the day ahead.

Just because I love to hear from you, please consider leaving a comment, below.

I always end these posts with gratitude, jus because.

Day 3092: Questions

In case you haven’t noticed, I ask a lot of questions.

That last question is one we are trying to answer in a training group at a group psychotherapy conference I’m attending this weekend through ZOOM.

Do you see any questions in the photos I took yesterday?

.

The Daily Bitch (who seems to have a lot of answers) sometimes asks questions, too.

This is the first thing I find when I search YouTube for “questions.”

Any questions?

Unquestionable thanks for reading this “questions” post, here and now.

Day 3089: Many happy returns

I have many happy returns to share in today’s post, including the return of my son Aaron from Scotland to Boston.

I was happy to return yesterday to my home work desk, Twitter, Wollaston Beach, the Kindness Rocks Project, Logan Airport, and Facebook; Aaron was happy to return to our home; and Harley was happy to return to our couches (if not happy about Aaron’s return).

I’m happy you’ve returned here today to share in our happiness.

The Daily Bitch is happy to return on this many happy returns day.

Stephen Colbert was happy to return to the studio after being away for 460 days.

If you have thoughts and feelings to share about this many-happy-returns post, please return to the comments section, below.

I am happy to return your support of this blog with my support and undying gratitude.

Day 2820: Hear my cry

Yesterday, after hearing people cry, I saw this:

Hear my cry about

• the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
• the state of the USA,
• injustice,
• suffering,
• climate change,
• imbalance of power,
• greed, and
• inhumanity.

I cried when I took one of these photos.

When I’m crying, I breathe in support and love and I breathe out fear and helplessness.

Here‘s “Hear My Cry” by Marvia Providence:

Of course, I want to hear your cry, laughter, love, hope, despair, and anything else in the comments section, below.

Hear my gratitude, here and now.

Day 2802: Suggested Locations

Apparently, my iPhone calendar makes suggested locations for events. Let’s see if I can locate any proof of that kind of suggested location.

I did spend my vacation day yesterday in the suggested location and in other locations very close to the suggested location.

I made sure to be in locations last night to see the full Corn Moon. My first photo, located above, suggests that I was thinking about the Corn Moon all day.

Before I took the last photo located above, I passed by some young neighbors I hadn’t met before, located outside their home. Here’s what transpired at that location, as I walked by with a mask located on my face.

Them: Hello!

Me: Have you seen the moon?

(pause) (during which some thoughts like “how weird am I?” located themselves in my head)

Neighbor: The Corn Moon?

Me: Yes! It’s beautiful.

After I continued on my way to locate the Corn Moon at the end of our street and then turned back, I saw that my young neighbors had followed me to locate the beautiful moon too.

Then, I returned to the suggested location to finish rewatching the Fred Rogers documentary  “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”

I wish that somebody like Fred Rogers was located in the White House and I plan to make my best suggestion about that with a future vote in a suggested location.

Today, my suggested locations include home and near home, again, and all suggestions indicate that those will be my suggested locations for quite some time.

Let’s see what YouTube suggests for this “Suggested Locations” post.

There are so many places that I am not allowed to visit these days, but I still love being in my suggested location.

The suggested location for you to express thoughts and feelings about today’s post is in the comments section, below.

The suggested location for gratitude is anywhere and everywhere, so thanks to all, including YOU.

Day 2771: Character

Because of the kind of character I am, I’m going to start this blog post with a definition of “character.”

character

noun

char·​ac·​ter | \ ˈker-ik-tər , ˈka-rik- \

1a: one of the attributes or features that make up and distinguish an individual.
“This is a side of her character that few people have seen.”
b(1): a feature used to separate distinguishable things into categories.
advertising of a very primitive character
(2): the aggregate of distinctive qualities characteristic of a breed, strain, or type.
a wine of great character
(3): the detectable expression of the action of a gene or group of genes.
c: the complex of mental and ethical traits marking and often individualizing a person, group, or nation.
the character of the American people
d: main or essential nature especially as strongly marked and serving to distinguish.
excess sewage gradually changed the character of the lake
2a: one of the persons of a drama or novel.
b: the personality or part which an actor recreates.
an actress who can create a character convincingly
c: characterization especially in drama or fiction.
a novelist good in both character and setting.
d: PERSON, INDIVIDUAL
a suspicious character
e: a person marked by notable or conspicuous traits.
quite a character
3: moral excellence and firmness.
a man of sound character
4a: a graphic symbol (such as a hieroglyph or alphabet letter) used in writing or printing.
b: a symbol (such as a letter or number) that represents information.
mathematical characters
also : a representation of such a symbol that may be accepted by a computer.
c: a magical or astrological emblem.
d: ALPHABET
e(1): WRITING, PRINTING
(2): style of writing or printing.
You know the character to be your brother’s?
— Shakespeare
(3): CIPHER
f: a conventionalized graphic device placed on an object as an indication of ownership, origin, or relationship.
5: REPUTATION
the scandal has damaged his character and image
6: POSITION, CAPACITY
his character as a town official
7: REFERENCE sense 4b
8: a short literary sketch of the qualities of a social type
in character
: in accord with a person’s usual qualities or traits
behaving in character
out of character
: not in accord with a person’s usual qualities or traits
his rudeness was completely out of character

I tried to add and remove some characters to that long definition to make it clearer but, because I’m an impatient character, I gave up before the ending.

People we know of excellent character have sent us sweet condolence cards characterizing our late kitty Oscar as a character.

 

I so appreciate the loving character of Janet, Ray, Lydia, and Bob.

Harley, who has a more nervous character than Oscar did,  is sitting next to me on the sofa as I’m typing the characters in this post.

What character(s) do you notice in my other photos, which I will characterize as “recent”?

Here‘s “The Top 10 Movie Character Musical Themes.”

Here‘s somebody with character playing “The Imperial March” (#3 in the Top 10 Movie Character Musical Themes) during day 55 of the Black Lives Matter protests in Portland:

I look forward to all the characters left by various characters in the comments section, below.

Many thanks to all the characters who help me create this daily blog, including YOU!

 

 

 

Day 2457: Temporary

Yesterday morning, before I drove to the farewell event of my 45th college reunion, I took a photo of this temporary parking permit in my car.

I have a temporary smile, here and now, thinking that The President and Fellows of Harvard College assumed no responsibility for damages to my little yellow car.

I took a photo of that temporary parking permit because of my “deep sense of mortality” (described in my speech at my reunion the day before), which makes me realize that everything is temporary.

On my way to the reunion brunch, I noticed a temporary phenomenon that I had never seen before, so I temporarily parked my car so I could capture it on my phone.

I loved that temporary gathering of more snowy egrets than I had ever seen together before.

Then, I got back in my car, which I had temporarily parked at the Kennedy Center.

I wonder if you had a temporary assumption about what Kennedy Center that was.

Then, my classmates and I met for some temporary conversation at a beautiful home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

I spent most of that temporary time there hanging out with people I love, because there’s no telling when we’ll see each other again.

On my ride home, I received news that another beloved friend of mine had died in the month of September. I wrote about my dear and long-time friend  Tony in this post from May, 2016 — Day 1219: Tone.

As I said in my temporary speech at my college reunion, “Life is too precious to spend on things I don’t love.”  I’m glad that when I heard that Tony had the same cancer that killed Senator John McCain and my friend Michelle last year,  I bought one of his books and sent him a card telling him I was reading it and how much I loved him.

Last night, when Michael and I were doing our temporary Sunday shopping routine at our local supermarket, I deliberately took photos of sympathy cards to comfort myself.

I now get comfort from sharing all these contemporary photos with you:

Even though life on this earth is temporary, certain things linger, like the distinct laughs of my late friends Hillel and Tony, who both passed away this September. I can easily imagine both of their wonderful laughs, here and now.

In honor of Tony, who played guitar and loved music, I’m posting a tune I associate with him, at the end of this post.

I’m hoping I can get temporary coverage today at work so I can attend one of the memorial events for my late, great friend Tony today.

Thanks to all those who helped me temporarily forget my grief by creating this post and — of course! — thanks to you.