Posted in Animals & Critters, Laughing, Nature, Personal, Photography, tagged anthromorphizing animals, Baby the bullsnake, bullsnake, pet bullsnake on May 15, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Baby was up and at it the other day. She almost seemed to be posing for me. She’d eaten a rat a few days earlier, and the sluggishness from winter had all but worn off.
Do you ever look at your animals and wonder what’s going on inside their heads? I do, especially [...]
Posted in Everyday Art, Haiku, Laughing, Nature, Photography, Poetry, Practice, Seasons, tagged rubber stamp collection, the practice of haiku, tools of the trade on April 10, 2008 | 8 Comments »
Rubber Stamp, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 100-year-old maple floors of the Casket Arts Building, April 3rd, 2008, photo © 2008 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
ink covers rubber
thunder blizzard covers spring
paper covers wood
-posted on red Ravine, Thursday, April 10th, 2008
-related to posts: haiku (one-a-day), WRITING TOPIC - TOOLS OF THE TRADE, ybonesy’s PRACTICE: Tools Of The Trade - [...]
Posted in Architecture, Art, Culture, Family, Fotoblog, Laughing, Nature, Personal, Photography, Place, Seasons, Skies, Structure, Vision, Weather, tagged Art Shanty Projects, David Pittman, Medicine Lake, Peter Haakon Thompson, The Art Of Ice, winter in Minnesota on April 6, 2008 | 10 Comments »
The Face Of Winter, Medicine Lake, Minnesota, February 2008, photo
© 2008 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
When photographer Peter Haakon Thompson came up with the Art Shanty Projects in 2003, he never meant for it to become a huge event. The original plan was to take a break from work, build his own ice shack, and [...]
Posted in Animals & Critters, Family, Growing Older, Laughing, Life, Nature, Personal, Place, Practice, Relationships, Topic Writing, Writing Practices, tagged bugs, doodlebugs, humans & nature, insects, memories of bugs, the practice of writing, writing about bugs on March 25, 2008 | 10 Comments »
There is a lot I don’t know about insects, spiders, and bugs. I do know they are connected to memories, sometimes traumatic memories. I had no idea my family had so many connected memories about bugs and creepy crawlers until this Writing Topic was posted and I started reading their comments. Memories are part of [...]
Posted in Body, Bones, Culture, Death, Family, Growing Older, Laughing, Life, Memoir, Obituaries & Epitaphs, Personal, Photography, Place, Writing Topics, tagged ancestors, cemeteries, epitaphs, excavating memories, family history, names, researching memoir, Shirley Ellis, the name game, what's in a name, writing about names on March 13, 2008 | 42 Comments »
I continue to pore through photographs and tapes of my trip to Georgia and South Carolina last summer.
“What’s taking you so long?” Monkey Mind yells from the wings (grabbing every opportunity to scratch his haunches).
“It’s a slow process, excavating the past,” I soberly reply. “Don’t rush me.”
Family history rises from the rich, black compost - memories, stories, [...]
Posted in Holidays, Laughing, Life, Love, Photography, Practice, Seasons, Writers, Writing, tagged primroses, Ted Kooser, the practice of haiku, Valentine's Day, Valentines on February 14, 2008 | 14 Comments »
Valentine Primroses, Minneapolis, Minnesota, February 2008, photo © 2008 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
red primrose surprise
fluffy white valentine hearts
fall from the gray sky
-posted on red Ravine, Thursday, February 14th, 2008
-related to post, haiku (one-a-day)
Posted in Animals & Critters, Art of Rebellion, Haiku, Holidays, Laughing, Photography, Place, Politics, tagged famous Pennsylvanians, get out and vote, Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil, Smith Lake Jake, the politics of groundhogs on February 2, 2008 | 94 Comments »
Walking The Susquehanna River, Central Pennsylvania, taking a walk with Mom on on her 70th birthday weekend, November 2007, photo © 2007 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
forget politics
cast your vote for the real deal
Punxsutawney Phil
-posted on red Ravine, Saturday, February 2nd, 2008, Groundhog Day
-related to posts, haiku (one-a-day) and The Politics Of Primary Season 2008 [...]
Posted in Animals & Critters, Family, Food, Laughing, Personal, Random, tagged mouse in the house, Mr. StripeyPants, totem animals on January 20, 2008 | 42 Comments »
Mr. StripeyPants bolted off of his gentle resting spot, purring and catching some z-z-z-z’s on Liz’s side this morning. I knew he’d heard a noise. With the frigid, stony, -24 degree skies, and all the creaking and popping ice on the roof this weekend, I got up to see what the fuss was. The kitchen cabinet [...]
Posted in Animals & Critters, Laughing, Random, tagged humor on January 19, 2008 | 9 Comments »
Posted in Family, Laughing, Life, Relationships, tagged child's hair, hair, long hair on men, tangled hair on January 8, 2008 | 26 Comments »
What do you get when you cross
a rhino knot with an orangutan butt?
A rhino butt, says Em.
Peas in a Pod, Em and her dad watching TV.
Posted in Animals & Critters, Art, Body, Bones, Laughing, Photography, Quotes, tagged Deborah Butterfield, horses, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, sculpture, The Horse Colors, Woodrow on January 6, 2008 | 8 Comments »
Woodrow, Deborah Butterfield sculpture, bronze, 1988, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 2008, all photos © 2008 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
I was thinking of Novelty Pets when photographing this Deborah Butterfield sculpture at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden yesterday. When she created the sculpture in 1988, she named the horse, Woodrow.
The inscription on the plaque [...]
Posted in Family, Laughing, Life, Relationships, tagged child's hair, hair brushing fights, tangled hair on December 30, 2007 | 46 Comments »
“Em, let me brush your hair. It’s all tangled in the back.”
“NOOOO! I refuse to let you brush my hair!!”
“Em, you have no choice in the matter. Until you’re old enough to brush your hair right, you have to let me or Mom brush your hair.”
“NOOOOOO! It’s my hair, and I say who gets [...]
Posted in Death, Film / TV / Video, Food, Gratitude, Great Places To Write, Growing Older, Holidays, Laughing, Personal, Quotes, Seasons, tagged A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Christmas Story, Bob Clark, celebrating the Holidays, Holiday classics, Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol, never eat December snowflakes, nostalgia, Peanuts, snow, Vince Guaraldi, winter on December 24, 2007 | 17 Comments »
A Charlie Brown Christmas, snippets on YouTube by FlyingForGlory
Patty: Try to catch snowflakes on your tongue. It’s fun.
Linus Van Pelt: Mmm. Needs sugar.
Lucy Van Pelt: It’s too early. I never eat December snowflakes. I always wait until January.
Linus Van Pelt: They sure look ripe to me.
I love to watch the snow fall. I’m a [...]
Posted in Family, Growing Older, Laughing, Love, Memoir, Music, Personal, Practice, Relationships, Secrets, Topic Writing, Writing Practices, tagged Beatles '65, ghosts of Christmas past, growing up, listening to albums, love of music, music and memories, music nostalgia, the first time, vintage, vinyl, wax on December 20, 2007 | 10 Comments »
The first time I heard Beatles ‘65 I was 9 or 10. It was a big deal because it was my first LP, the FIRST vinyl 33 1/3 Long Playing record album I ever owned. Before that, I had a series of 45’s, neatly stacked in the small bedroom I shared with my younger sister. [...]
Posted in 25 Things, Culture, Family, Family Recipes, Food, Home, Laughing, Life, Memoir, Personal, Place, Relationships, tagged Amish foods, history of food, how the Whoopie Pie got its name, how to make Whoopie Pies, Labadies Bakery, Lancaster County, Maine Whoopie Pies, passing down family recipes, Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Red Velvet Whoopie Pies, tradition on December 14, 2007 | 33 Comments »
Whoopie Pies, Falmouth, Maine, photo by alcinoe, 2006, image released to public domain.
I’m having way too much fun with these old family recipes. The comfort foods we grew up with connect to memories. And memories connect to family stories. In a comment on Memories, Writing, & Family Recipes, Mom mentioned the delectable Whoopie Pie and my [...]
Posted in Art, Body, Doodling, Laughing, Personal, Secrets, Travel, tagged Costa Rica, feet, foot, foot massage on December 13, 2007 | 23 Comments »
My Right Foot, pen and ink drawing © 2007 by ybonesy. All rights reserved.
A few years back I found myself in San Jose, Costa Rica, in early June with my friend and colleague Gail. We decided to celebrate our birthdays our last evening there — we’re both Geminis — by getting full-body massages before dinner.
That day our [...]
Posted in Art, Culture, Dreams, Film / TV / Video, Growing Older, Laughing, Music, Photography, Place, Poetry, Politics, Vision, Writers, tagged 1960's counterculture, 6 Faces Of Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan, D.A. Pennebaker, Don't Look Back, Dylan Days, entertainment, film as art, Hibbing, I'm Not There, Minnesota, movie reviews, movies, Renaldo & Clara, Subterranean Homesick Blues, Tangled Up In Bob, Todd Haynes on December 6, 2007 | 26 Comments »
The 6 Faces Of Dylan, Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan in I’m Not There, Uptown Theater, Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 2007, photo © 2007 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
Buttered popcorn in hand, I viewed I’m Not There at the Uptown Theater a few weeks ago. I have to admit, when my friends and I plopped down in the [...]
Posted in 25 Things, Family, Growing Older, Laughing, Life, Life In Letters, Relationships, tagged 1970s, being a teenage girl in the 70s, Hallmark, humor, letter writing, old letters, Peanuts on December 5, 2007 | 44 Comments »
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
You.
You who?
You who, take a look at what a dork you were as a teenager!
Have you ever received a Box of Life from your parents? You know, the box they’ve been storing in their garage for the past two or three decades.
I got mine two weeks ago. It’s Box #3. Boxes 1 and 2, which I got [...]
Posted in Haiku, Laughing, Nature, Photography, Place, Poetry, Seasons, tagged , skulls, snow rules, snowfall, winter haiku, winter storms on December 1, 2007 | 12 Comments »
3 1/2 skulls, first winter storm, Minneapolis, Minnesota,
December 1st, 2007, photo © 2007 by QuoinMonkey.
All rights reserved.
sun sinks in gray skies
winter drops her grainy pearls
3 1/2 skulls
-posted on red Ravine, Saturday, December 1st, 2007
Posted in Creative Nonfiction, Essay, Family, Food, Laughing, Place, Wake Up, tagged coffee, coffee beans, essays about coffee, humor, OmbudsBen, red Ravine Guests, social beverages on November 28, 2007 | 19 Comments »
By OmbudsBen
Yesterday Part 1 ended with my newsletter story “Coffee Muggings,” about the misappropriation of coworkers’ coffee cups. Little did I know, that was one of the more peaceful brew-hahas the stimulating bean would initiate for me. This was back in the years B.W. (Before Wife), and for a while I dated a lively young [...]
Posted in Creative Nonfiction, Essay, Family, Food, Laughing, Place, Wake Up, tagged coffee, coffee beans, essays about coffee, humor, OmbudsBen, red Ravine Guests, social beverages on November 27, 2007 | 35 Comments »
By OmbudsBen
I’ve known a lot of women who rely on coffee for ignition. A kind of starter fluid, rise and grind. In my experience, it’s enough to draw a tenuous gender distinction, so long as I draw it carefully, or at a safe distance. Of course coffee can be starter fluid for men, too, but [...]
Posted in 25 Things, Family, Food, Home, Laughing, Photography, Random, Relationships, Secrets, tagged candy, Family, fun, Laughing, Pixy Stix, The Pixy Stix Challenge on November 24, 2007 | 17 Comments »
Steve Almond would have loved this! I was visiting with my brother in Pennsylvania a few weeks ago, when my niece and her friend charged in the door, all excited for a great scientific experiment: The Pixy Stix Challenge.
My brother prepared a wonderful dinner in the kitchen: mashed potatoes, brined chicken, sweet tea, apple cider, [...]
Posted in Animals & Critters, Family, Gratitude, Growing Older, Laughing, Love, Personal, Photography, Relationships, tagged animal lovers, birthdays, cats, Mr. StripeyPants, Pants turns 10 on November 17, 2007 | 21 Comments »
When Liz woke up this morning, she mumbled something about Mr. StripeyPants’ birthday.
“What?” I said. “I missed his birthday?” I strolled into the kitchen and checked out the refrigerator door where Liz has the cats’ birthdays posted.
There (in Liz’s neat artist block print) was the following:
Kiev - ‘Kiki Bell’: Jan. 1, 1995
Chaco - ‘Wooley Pokes’: [...]
Posted in 25 Things, Body, Bones, Culture, Family, Family Recipes, Food, Gratitude, Growing Older, Home, Laughing, Life, Love, Personal, Photography, Relationships, tagged birthdays, daughters, Family, Food, Gratitude, home & hearth, Mom's 70th Birthday, mothers, surprises on November 14, 2007 | 46 Comments »
Cutting The Cake, Amelia’s hands cutting the cake on the day she turned 70, Central Pennsylvania, November 2007, photo © 2007 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
I’m sitting in Amelia’s kitchen. The smell of homemade chicken and dumplings spins across the room. My brother and sister-in-law stopped over for breakfast. Amelia made Canadian bacon, grits with [...]
Posted in Art, Doodling, Laughing, Life, On the Road, Skies, Things That Fly, Travel, tagged conversations with myself while I'm flying, flying with strangers, plane rides on November 13, 2007 | 40 Comments »
Dear Person Sitting Next to Me on the Plane,
Do you plan to never make eye contact? I thought I was a cold traveler, but you take the cake.
BTW, that haircut is kind of silly. It’s so David Schwimmer on Friends.
Signed,
yb
Dear Person Sitting Next to Me on the Plane,
Why did you [...]
Posted in Animals & Critters, Family, Food, Home, Laughing, Seasons, Things That Fly, tagged bunches of turkeys, raising turkeys, Thanksgiving, turkeys, turkeys for sale on November 8, 2007 | 8 Comments »
Hey, look, it’s Mom, she’s home for lunch!
Hi, Mom, d’ya got anything for us? What d’ya got?
What d’ya got there, Mom? D’ya got anything??
She dudn’t got anything, let’s get the flock outta here.
Posted in Animals & Critters, Art, Family, Holidays, Home, Laughing, Photography, Things That Fly, tagged amazing turkey tricks, famous turkeys wallenda, turkey drumline, turkeys, who ya callin' "turkey"? on November 4, 2007 | 19 Comments »
Um, hel-loooo… can someone let me in?
They’re lining up to do a drumline.*
Don’t leave me out here alone with ‘em.
OK. Everyone into formation. Not you, duck.
Quacky idea…stupid turkeys. Hmmph!
Line ‘em up, turkeys, straight and narrow!
Watch this…they’re fluffin’ up for the finale…
Woo-hoo, show some tail! Duck, get out!
We’re done…let’s get the flock outta here.
Wait a sec, is there any food?
*Drumline [...]
Posted in 25 Things, Bones, Culture, Death, Family, Food, Great Places To Write, Growing Older, Holidays, Laughing, Life, Personal, Photography, Practice, Random, Relationships, Spirituality, Vision, Writers, Writing, tagged 1 Year Birthday of red Ravine, All Souls' Day, anniversaries, birthdays, celebrations, Day of the Dead, Food, Halloween, Happy Birthday To You, rituals, writing relationships on November 3, 2007 | 25 Comments »
Day Of The Dead Birthday Celebration, detail of Halloween bouquet, Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 2007, photo © 2007 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
We went out to dinner at Mysore Cafe in Uptown to celebrate a friend’s birthday last night. It was All Souls’ Day, day after All Saints’ Day, and both days following the Celtic rooted celebration [...]
Posted in Dreams, Gratitude, Holding My Breath, Laughing, Photography, Random, tagged begging, digital cameras, open letter to camera makers, plea, product giveaways, technology on November 1, 2007 | 37 Comments »
Dear Makers of Exceptionally Good Digital Cameras,
I write with a proposition I think you’ll find too good to pass up.
Send me one of your top-of-the-line digital cameras, and I will post on this blog unimaginable images of giant bull snakes, wild feral turkeys, and other natural phenomena.
No, I am not a photographer by training nor a [...]
Posted in Death, Family, Laughing, Life, Personal, Practice, Writing Practices, tagged humor, inappropriate giggling syndrome, stupid jokes, uncontrollable laughter on October 25, 2007 | 21 Comments »
I find humor in the oddest places. In fact, I think humor finds me.
Like nervousness, humor sneaks up on me. It replaces my nervousness. I can list all the times where I have giggled uncontrollably in places where I should, instead, have been somber.
Jim’s parents’ Thanksgiving dinners. I’ve now gone to how many years of [...]
Posted in Film / TV / Video, Laughing, Life, Love, Music, Personal, Practice, Topic Writing, Writing, Writing Practices, tagged humor, Laughing, Les Paul, mercury, moon, Music, Writing, writing practice on October 25, 2007 | 14 Comments »
I find humor in ridiculous things like the Great Pumpkin Catapult or singing moldy oldies with Liz in the morning when I’m spooning French Roast into the Braun. I crack up after belting out dreadful tunes from the seventies, something by Gilbert O’Sullivan or Bread, or rocking out, jammin’ to Stevie Wonder in Happy Feet.
I [...]
Posted in Laughing, Photography, Practice, Quotes, Writing Topics, tagged humor, laughter, Porky's Drive-In, writing exercise, writing practice, Writing Topics on October 21, 2007 | 12 Comments »
Porky’s Smile, tile floor inside of Porky’s Drive-In, St. Paul, Minnesota, June 2007, photo © 2007 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
Hey, did’ya hear the one about the roof? Ah, never mind…it’s over your head.
How about the jump rope?? Nah, skip it.
Did you hear the news about the elephant with diarrhea? It’s all over town.
Ah, uhem. This [...]
Posted in Art, Body, Doodling, Growing Older, Laughing, Personal, tagged clothing, fashion, fashion trends, sweaters, tunics on October 17, 2007 | 26 Comments »
Green Sweater and Tunic, my current fashion obsession, pen and
pencil doodle © 2007 by ybonesy. All rights reserved.
I was one of those girls in high school who latched on to a particular look and didn’t drop it for a couple of years. My devices back then: painter pants, waffle stompers, and any one of my [...]
Posted in Culture, Food, Holding My Breath, Holidays, Laughing, Life, On the Road, Personal, Photography, Place, Seasons, Structure, Things That Fly, tagged All Hallow's Eve, Family, friends, Grantsburg, Halloween, Holidays, Home, minerals, pumpkins, rocks, Siren, The Great Pumpkin Catapult, The Midwest, Wisconsin on October 14, 2007 | 24 Comments »
The Great Pumpkin Catapult, The Lee Roberts Farm, Grantsburg, Wisconsin, October 2007, photo © 2007 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
Yesterday Liz and I traveled out to Siren, Wisconsin with friends to check out Verne Peterson’s lifelong rock and mineral collection. It was a beautiful Fall day and the almost two hour drive flew by like [...]
Posted in Art, Culture, Dreams, Laughing, Photography, Spirituality, Vision, Wake Up, tagged car art, religion, religious icons, Virgin Mary sightings on October 11, 2007 | 28 Comments »
I know this isn’t the greatest photo, but if you squint your eyes you might be able to see the pale image of Virgin Mary on the side of this VW. Or, try covering your left eye AND squinting.
And if you really look hard, you might see Jesus peering down from what vaguely looks like an [...]
