Hearing Laurie Halse Anderson

Tonight, I attended Herrick District Library's virtual author event featuring the New York Times-bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson.  I look forward to reading her poetic memoir, SHOUT, in the days ahead.

Quote of the Day

When I was growing up, to be a girl was to be told to minimize the space you took up: "Close your legs.  Don't be loud.  Smile.  Be cute.  Be attractive.  Be pleasing."  I inherently balked against that as a kid.  I was a rebellious kid, and I wasn't going to sit in the corner and be quiet.  I've never been like that.  However, looking back, I still notice some of the patterns of my own compliance.  It's not that I hate myself for it, but I just wish I could turn around and say to my young self, "Take your seat.  If there's not a seat there, drag a seat up to the table and sit down."

-- Shirley Manson

Quote of the Day

Because of the dog's joyfulness, our own is increased.

-- Mary Oliver, Dog Songs, p. 119

Quote of the Day

Rights are won only by those who make their voices heard.

-- Harvey Milk

Quote of the Day

You are not responsible for your mother's emotions.  You are not responsible for your mother's reactions to your boundaries.  You are not responsible to make your mom understand you choosing a different life.  You are responsible to live your life in a way that shows self-respect.

-- Nate Postlethwait

Quote of the Day

Music to me is like breathing.  I don't get tired of breathing, I don't get tired of music.

-- Ray Charles

Quote of the Day

Put a grin on the groove and aim the beat at your feet.

-- Duffy Jackson

Quote of the Day

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.

-- Maya Angelou

Quote of the Day

Men are afraid that women will laugh at them.  Women are afraid that men will kill them.

-- Margaret Atwood

Hearing Kristin Kobes Du Mez

On Nov. 18, 2020, it was my pleasure to hear author/historian/professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez speak about her poignant, pivotal book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation via Zoom for Calvin University's history department colloquium, "Jesus and John Wayne."

Quote of the Day

(Artists) have a mission to go out there and be an antidote to war, and all of the dark side of what happens on Planet Earth.  We're the ones that go in and remind people about their creativity.

-- Chick Corea

Quote of the Day

Learning never exhausts the mind.

-- Leonardo da Vinci