the journal of john ratcliffe-lee
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May. 11 2008
you are not in control.
without divulging too much personal information, it’s been obviously clear today that no one was ever and meant to be in control of their own lives. time and the circumstances of others whisk you along. it doesn’t matter what you’re doing. drop it because you’re being tugged on the arm by inevitability.
what you do have control over are the decisions you make in light of others around you. memory and story are made on the backs of what you decide to do without.
Paul Rand / ACE Jet 170
i used my hands a bunch yesterday and now i’m sore and have three blisters. although, i miss that stuff. i did hard manual labor for a few summers/years of my life and it was really rewarding on lots of levels.
For the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.
William Ross Wallace (via affremblequotes)
May. 10 2008
Fat Ohio
I never noticed it while growing up here, but now that I’ve lived elsewhere full-time for 4 years with almost no visits, it’s clear as day.
Everyone here is fat and looks the same.
I don’t mean that to be inflammatory or insulting to fat people. It’s just an observation — a generalization based on a very prominent majority. I thought the plane’s passengers were just a bad sample group, but they accurately represented most people here.
We went to a casual restaurant for lunch. The staff was all fat. The customers were all fat. If I actually ate all of the food I was served, I’d be fat too. The portions were ridiculously huge, and the food’s composition wasn’t even trying to be reasonable — everything was fried, fatty, oily, sugary, or salty (pick any three). I ordered a Greek-style chicken wrap. How could that be unhealthy? Ohio found a way: by filling it up with thick salad dressing. It was easily 30% dressing by volume. There were no air gaps. (And someone needs to tell Ohio that a “wrap” is supposed to be small enough to be easily held in one hand.)
We walked everywhere. It looked weird because nobody walks here. (The passing drivers were all fat, too.) The sidewalks are in pristine condition because nobody has walked on them since they were paved for the most recent sterile cookie-cutter developments. They were awkwardly routed around the ultra-wide street corners, with the crosswalks 15 feet into the blocks so drivers (unfamiliar with pedestrians) might have a chance to see people crossing while they’re turning their SUVs at 30 miles per hour.
I feel like I’m in a different country.
welcome to america, brother.
May. 9 2008
NPR: The Lesson in Operation Ivy's 'Knowledge'
great story. did a good job of consuming me while i drove into the office early this week.
personal stories.
i’ve been thinking, a lot, about my personal stories. the reasons i originally started writing on the web. to record my life and share. if you dive into the deep archives of this site, you’ll find lots of not very relevant (to you) recounts of my life interspersed with lots of bad grammar.
i like sharing things i feel are important and relevant to my life and yours. i have a small fire burning about writing more personal things. interesting stories, of course. just like my “title” says. everyday observations of regular people. however you, or i, may take that.
eight years ago, when i graudated high school, everyone around me was so sure of their future. the space in the yearbook where seniors have their last say was filled with unbridled stories of suburban success. the landscaping companies, the expected children. i just wrote that i knew i was taking the next step for one reason or another (“writing,” i put). part of me can’t believe where it’s taken of me and part of me says, “you know john, this was probably terribly obvious.”
they might not be as relevant or interesting as you’d like me to be but i’ve accomplished a lot of cool things in the past 25 years and, like i used to - bad grammar and all, i want to start sharing those things again.
The extraordinary thing is not that people in a lifetime turn out worse or better than we had prophesied; particularly in America that is to be expected. The extraordinary thing is how people keep their levels, fulfill their promises, seem actually buoyed up by an inevitable destiny
hoping for happy accidents: our legacy
if you’ve never met me before and are curious about my warm-weather style, check out our legacy. i sort of wish i was in sweden to pick some of this stuff up.
May. 8 2008
Pedestrian crossing buttons: placebos or legit? - Boing Boing Gadgets
interesting, comforting, confusing and terrifying all at the same time.
Employee Meeting - West Parking Lot, Last Day of Manufacturing Operations, 2005
“Toronto artist Robert Burley is currently documenting the fate of chemical photography, recording the abandonment and demolition of various Kodak plants. The films, papers and processing chemicals these factories produced will soon be obsolete.”
