Thursday, July 31, 2008

Watching the clothes go 'round

A local hot spot, especially popular on Sunday nights…

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After enlightenment, the laundry.
-Zen proverb

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Haircut anyone?

No, he’s not the barber of Seville, but Vince, the barber of Hyde Park, will give you a fine haircut – when he gets back from lunch.

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All things change except barbers, the ways of barbers, and the surroundings of barbers. These never change.
-Mark Twain

Inflation is when you pay fifteen dollars for the ten-dollar haircut you used to get for five dollars when you had hair.
-Sam Ewing

A celebrity is any well-known TV or movie star who looks like he spends more than two hours working on his hair.
-Steve Martin

Sunday, July 27, 2008

A little flower power


In keeping with the theme from my last post... ;)

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Daisies of the world unite - you have nothing to lose but your chains.
~ Anonymous

Those fields of daisies we landed on, and dusty fields and desert stretches. Memories of many skies and earths beneath us - many days, many nights of stars.
~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Friday, July 25, 2008

Need a ride?


Parked near the park in the neighborhood – son of Furthur?

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The bus came by and I got on, that's when it all began...there was Cowboy Neal at the wheel of a bus to never-ever land.
-The Grateful Dead

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Bridging


Boise’s version of the Golden Gate Bridge ;-)

Actually it’s a new foot bridge across the Boise River you can access from the greenbelt.

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Build bridges instead of walls and you will have a friend.
-Unknown

The wise man bridges the gap by laying out the path by means of which he can get from where he is to where he wants to go.
-John Pierpont Morgan

When one burns one's bridges, what a very nice fire it makes.
-Dylan Thomas

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Sun squared


A few "square" sayings:

You can’t fit a round peg in a square hole.
-American proverb

A round man cannot be expected to fit in a square hole right away. He must have time to modify his shape.
-Mark Twain

Square meals often make round people.
-E. Joseph Cossman

It is easier to square the circle than to get round a mathematician.
-Augustus de Morgan

The intelligence of the creature known as a crowd, is the square root of the number of people in it.
-Terry Pratchett

The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.
-Bill Gates

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

On the shady side...


Grab your coat and get your hat
Leave your worries on the doorstep
Life can be so sweet
On the sunny side of the street

-McHugh/ Fields

With it being summer, I’ll pass on the coat, but a hat would be a good idea.
Still, I think I’ll check out the shady side of the street this time…

Monday, July 14, 2008

Ice cream, anyone?


Continuing the Hyde Park theme: You can get homemade ice cream and fine candies here, at Goody's. It's a family favorite, especially during the summer. And being that it was in the high 90s here today, Goody's was packed tonight.
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I doubt whether the world holds for any one a more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice cream.
-Heywood C Broun

A Hyde Park institution


The Hyde Park Bookstore and post office.

Along 13th Street in north Boise is an area named Hyde Park. It has several little shops, including an art gallery, antique store, barber, shoe repair, bike shop, sporting goods store, gas station, eateries, and the combo bookstore/post office. Years ago, a trolley line ran along 13th. Now it’s a busy street, most often lined with parked cars.

I’m not sure how it was named Hyde Park. But it’s interesting to note the number of places named Hyde Park. Of course, London’s is the oldest and most famous. There are 27 other Hyde Parks throughout the world, with most of them being in the U.S.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Rosy sky


A rosy sky on a summer evening.

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If I can put one touch of rosy sunset into the life of any man or woman, I shall feel that I have worked with God.
~ G.K. Chesterton

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Neighborhood mural


A mural on the wall of a local business.

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As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has—or ever will have—something inside that is unique to all time. It's our job to encourage each other to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression.
- Fred Rogers

Monday, July 07, 2008

Little creatures


A "Little Lake Lobster" or "mudbug" moseying its way along the streambed of the Boise River.

According to this article from Idaho Rod and Reel, Astacus trowbridgi are plentiful throughout Idaho and the Pacific NW and, although most often used as fish bait, make delicious eating. (A blog entry about the "Blue Canoe Crawdad Feed" in Murphy, ID, which took place in June, seems to confirm this.) I found there are also monster-sized crayfish in Northern Idaho of a different species, Pacifastacus, which are another common species.

But there is one variety of crawdad that is native only to Pocatello, ID.
They are not found in water, but in concert venues playing "Classic rock, blues, and alternative."

Ladies and gentleman: The Crawdads.

Sunday, July 06, 2008

A day for floating


A hot summer’s day, just right for gliding down the Boise River.

We didn’t tube; we walked the greenbelt alongside the stream. But many others passed us in rafts and tubes. Families, groups of friends laughed and shrieked as they bounced over ripples. Other solitary souls floated alone in their inner tubes brushing the water with their hands, gazing at the passing scenery. One guy lay on his belly, staring down through the water as he rode along.

At the end of our walk we sat on a bench overlooking the river. Colored rocks nestled on the bottom, glowed through the water, while the stream skimmed by, shimmering like liquid glass.

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You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.
~George Bernard Shaw

You could not step twice into the same river; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.
~Heraclitus

Friday, July 04, 2008

Thursday, July 03, 2008

News from outer space


Our solar system is not symmetrically-shaped after all. According to an AP news article today, "the edge of our solar system appears slightly dented as if a giant hand is pushing one edge of it inward."

This revelation came via reports from Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 as they each traveled to different parts of our solar system. And because of this new information, the models of our solar system will need to be changed.

When I was a kid, we got a special "prize" inside either a cereal box or a package of hot dogs; a card that featured information about the planets in our solar system. You moved a wheel with your thumb and a new planet would appear in the window of the card, along with all the pertinent information. The sun was gigantic, raging yellow; red Jupiter with its eye, somewhat smaller; and Pluto, just a blue dot. [Pluto was still considered a planet then.] Now, we have incredible photos from NASA of planets, stars, galaxies, nebulae, and more, and we can see them via the internet.

May we each have a little space each day to contemplate planets, stars, and other worlds...

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Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another.
- Plato.

God could cause us considerable embarrassment by revealing all the secrets of nature to us: we should not know what to do for sheer apathy and boredom.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Astronomers say the universe is finite, which is a comforting thought for those people who can't remember where they leave things.
- Woody Allen