REGARDING NATURE AND FINE MUSIC.

If we can help our children learn to like each other forever, and learn to dig nature and good music, then I'll be happy I guess; I still need a tractor though. ___ #pnwonderland #44pacificnwplaces #rivers #forestkids #marktwain

A post shared by Joseph Long (@josephivanlong) on May 24, 2018 at 10:54pm PDT

LEIF & LEONIDAS.

It couldn’t;
The sun could not be the center,
but then it was.

It couldn’t;
The earth could not be round,
but then it was.

It could not;
No one could score eight points in the final nine seconds to win a playoff game,
but then Reggie Miller did.

It most definitely could never ever happen;
A Viking and a Spartan will never be friends,
until they are.

And then you know anything is possible,
and all will come to pass.

A LETTER TO ALMOST-BIG PEOPLE.

Dear Almost Big Person, and Friends,

it takes a long time,
but finally you get there
and you realise
how cool it is to be big,

and then the nostalgia's
gonna kick in, kid.
ya still got a few moments of child-living left.
you're not all the way big yet.

but just about.

and when you're there,
all the way big,
you can eat popsicles whenever you want,
with your main peeps on each side twenty-four-seven;
that's how cool it is to be big,

today, ya just get one treat though,
cause you're not big enough for two.
enjoy that first one, don't ever forget it,
it'll be the best spinach-and-veggie popsicle your mama'll ever find ya.

and you don't have to do anything you don't wanna,
that's what it'll be like when you're all the way big.
but try to enjoy the journey for a tiny longer.
it ain't too good being little,

but it ain't all bad either.

there's a downside to getting big, maybe two:
ya gotta shower once a month or so,
or other big people get sore.

enjoy the bigness, and don't hurry it up.

sincerely,

A Really Cool Big Person.

THEN EVERYTHING GOES DOWNHILL.

The day ahead. Full of opportunities for optimistic opportunists.

One will continue learning how to properly wave goodbye and say thank you.

Another will fine-tune parkour moves and essay thoughts into words about what it meant to be a woman in ancient Sparta.

And a third will follow a love of Hebrew and linguistics and plot a future travel course around the world.

Enveloping all these will ideally be a trifecta of love, insatiable curiousity, and humor. Ah yes, humor. My wife, the delectable @countessbecca, remarked this morn that

😂

“... “Mornings are so full of hope and light. Then everything goes downhill.”

😂

To be with people who can take life sincerely and seriously and love learning...yet also keep a lightness of heart and sharpness of wit and interest in poking fun at ourselves (i.e. me) when we get too preachy....that is a wonderful thing.

Happy Friday, Universe.

BOY IN CHAIR.

Cross-legged blond
lounged in coffee chair comfort
scribbling with a finger on tablet.
sunlight drafting through windows

a February afternoon
three groups of solitaries.
Blond boy, leg-crossed artist;
a blonde woman on business;

an Irish Viking, long descendant
of Porthos; iced coffee and
punk stickers on laptop,
buried in something digital.

a cross-legged boy blond,
drawing oblivious,
a one-two punch of soul and Lilith
Fair soundtracking.

a fair-headed boy squirming
an athletic ballet of gestural
art-making and focused
purpose.

"I made a mistake!"
     he says, tears welling.
"I used purple instead of blue!"

It's digital,
I say.
Press Undo.

OVERHEARD. toilets and chores.

Sissy!
the voice shrieked cheerfully from the bathroom.
I'm on the toilet, so would you mind making my bed for me? I can't do my chores right now.

___

It is my understanding that this request was not responded to favorably.

SHOPPING WITH ELVES.

I have vague memories from long long ago of going holiday shopping without personal assistants. Those must have been dark times, because I can barely recall them. Thank goodness for the help I have now. Good help is hard to find, particularly when it’s crawling away to the Graphic Novels section of a bookstore. Happy happy, all. _____ #christmasshopping #books #44books

A post shared by Joseph Long (@josephivanlong) on Dec 15, 2017 at 10:45pm PST

WHAT CHILD IS ____?

I peered closer at my phone screen, and the new freshly-installed page of apps:

Hebrew Bible
Bilingual Bible (Hebrew, 2nd version)
Bible - Hebrew (3rd version)
Mango language - Hebrew
Hebrew Dictionary
Hebrew Bible (4th version)
Hebrew KJV Bible (5th version)
Holy Bible (just...English?)
Nemo - Hebrew
Nemo - Greek
Nemo - Arabic
Lonely Planet - Asia
Messianic Jewish Music
Shabbat Alert

Does not include the reams of Google Docs filled with carefully-typed Hebrew and Greek translations and interpretations of the Book of Daniel.

I cannot be completely certain which child is behind the appearance of these on my phone, but I have a notion which child I will commence conversations with concerning the matter. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

____

And you must simply take a listen to Loretta Lynn’s cheery, unapologetically twangy, and beautiful White Christmas Blue album from last year. Fantastic.

A PORTRAIT OF POSITIVITY.

The bright & glorious possibilities ahead on any given day.

SPEAKERS FOR THE FRINGE.

I'm sure there are more than three things I'm thankful for, but only three things popped into my head this morning, so I'll list them below (see below). They have brought so much joy to my life. If I think of other things to add, I'll try to do so later.

1. FRINGE. The most underrated science-fiction network television show of all time that drew comparisons to X-Files with its far-out speculations and conspiracies, but whose beating heart was the poignant and sometimes hilarious relationship between father and son. So good. Dr. Lee Long, you sir, have some of the best characteristics of Dr. Walter Bishop. Love ya.

2. SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD. Orson Scott Card's follow-up to Ender's Game that raised the idea of what a sequel could truly be and surpassed the original.

3. TOWELS. If I had to get out of the shower every day and completely drip-dry, it would take me a lot longer to get ready, and water could possibly end up congealing on the floor and getting underneath to the subfloor and possibly walls, and if it made its way to structural supports it could collapse our entire house and if we were inside and everything came down around us, it would be dusty and we'd have to shower and the cycle would start all over again, except for not having a house. So we'd be camping for a while, unless our tent was ruined. I'm grateful for towels.

I'm going to put some hard thought today into whether there's more I can add to the list. Will keep you appraised and apprised. In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving, and Gwen Stefani has a new Christmas album.

A LAD, A FOREST, A MUM.

a lad’s love for mom

is magnificent to behold;

whole-hearted loyalty

full-smiled royalty 

unabashed 

unbridled 

undisguised ecstasy at being together wherever. 

two-way trail. 

pretty,

pretty awesome.

OVERHEARD. chocolate, protein, and serving sizes.

Should I have some chocolate?
he asked his dad.
It has four grams of protein per serving and I think I could use some extra calories right now.

- anonymous 7-year old-ish male

Who knows what the dad said. Ideally he did the right thing and made the healthy choice.

DOTDOTDOTDASHDASHDASHDOTDOTDOT REAL FAST.

Buddy,
I said.
I need to take about ten minutes to send some emails.

Okay,
he said.
But I just need to ask you one question real quick.

Okay.
I said.
How can I help real quick?

Real quick,
he said.
I need you to teach me Morse code. I want to learn it so I can send messages on my ram’s horn.

Well,
I said.
That could take at least 15 minutes.

MANDATE.

There is a spark that every child has
- should have, deserves to have -
and it is our mandate to keep it alive,
and enable its spread.

The spark of adventure, curiosity, imagination,
intrigue,
truth-finding, connection-making,
and world-watching
that is the soul of every wandering wonderer,
no matter how many or how few moons have passed.

That spark will head toward an emberous death.
Or it will bonfire.
It will not stay the same.
It will head one direction or another.
To die or to
live.

We make choices.

Also, wear a helmet.

THOUGHTS ON COMPETITION.

Sometimes, it's not the winning that's important, it's the simple act of competing well and enjoying the process, and making sure you come in ahead of everyone else.

HE IS HEAVY, AND HE IS HIS BROTHER.

to care,
and to be cared for.
that is a balanced life.

_____

#thehollies

TWO DAYS FROM YESTERDAY MIGHT BE BETTER THOUGH.

a day like every other, and no other. 

use it well.

HELP, THEY'RE READING TOO MUCH.

One of my favourite things: watching the facial range of emotions when a child is completely absorbed in a book. On an irrelevant related note, for the love of all that is holy and dear to Nina Simone, definitely listen to Benjamin Clementine's 2014 album. So delicious. ____ #44books #reading #ivyandbean @benjaminclementine

A post shared by Joseph Long (@josephivanlong) on Sep 1, 2017 at 11:10pm PDT

AND TIMELINESS IS STUPID TOO.

"I don't really care for patience. It takes way too long. I don't really think patience is that good."

- anonymous

CONVERSATIONS. Grandmas, swimming, Transformers.

Mind if I sit here for a minute?
I asked the white-haired lady.

Of course!
she said.

Thanks!
I scooted a chair up close to the observation window.
Do you have a child in lessons right now?

Down there,
she pointed.
My grandson at the other end. The one clinging to the instructor. He was in the level up until they moved him back. He is so much happier being in the shallow end.

Oh.
I said.
Did he have a bad experience in the water?

No.
she said.
We've been at this two years now. I made the mistake a while back of using a bribe. I told him when he got to a certain point I'd take him to Toys 'R' Us.

How'd that go?
I asked.

He finally got there. So I took him with the $25 I had promised and he got to buy a toy. And now he won't do anything else now that he's got it. What I'm afraid I'm going to have to do is tell him 'Grandma's going to borrow your Transformer for a while until you can swim to the deep end and back.' I'm afraid that's what it's come to.

What does he enjoy doing?
I asked.

He does soccer,
she said.
And he will talk your ear off. But he's cautious. Very cautious. See him next to the instructor? He'll cling to her. For some reason...I don't know. He said he doesn't like swimming. I said 'well you're going to learn.' That's the kind of Grandma I am. Stubborn. I am very stubborn.

Sounds like he's fortunate to have someone who's helping him,
I said.
Swimming is definitely one of those foundational skills that's kind of important.

Yes.
she said.
His sister is twelve and she's been climbing trees since she was three. And he's seven and will still only go two branches up. He is very cautious.

Does he not want to get his head underwater, or does he want his feet touching, or...?

She nodded.
He wants his feet touching the bottom. That's a big thing. He'll just hang onto the rope or the side.
She shook her head.
I don't know.

Well,
I said.
There's plenty of situations where a healthy sense of caution is a good thing.

Oh yes,
she laughed.
Hopefully it will serve him well when he's a teenager! I was a special ed teacher for many years and we're just going to keep working on it. He's going to get it. I am very, very stubborn.

Special ed teacher?
I said.
Tip my hat.

I got up to go get my son out of his lesson, and realized later that I was wearing a hat at the time, and could have literally tipped it.

Next time.

Thanks, Grandparents, Parents, Teachers, Instructors, Uncles, Aunts, Coaches, Caretakers, and Guardians everywhere who help those in their care overcome unique challenges and not simply accept failure or sub-par performance as an option. Although methodologies may sometimes be much different than I would choose. smile emoticon.

ICARUS-SAN.

It is a happy talent to know how to play,* especially if you are combining moves from Karate Kid into it.**

Playing is truly one of those skills that you have to fight hard to hang onto. Fortunately, I knew early on I would work hard to fight hard for play. Don't get rusty at it. You can't play properly by walking elegantly on two feet. You should either be on hands and knees, or fumbling through the air in search of flight. That is playing. And if you blow out a knee or two, then..maybe you were playing incorrectly, and now you can practice walking on your hands.

*Ralph Waldo Emerson
**Joseph Ivan Long