NPR 11-23:Making It Up as I Go Along 不管明天会如何,我只管以我自己的方式走下去

Alice Brock, made famous in Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant," believes in improvisation¹. And it's a good thing, too — she knew nothing about running a restaurant when she opened her now legendary² business.

Welcome to "This I Believe", an NPR series presenting the personal philosophies of remarkable³ men and women from all walks of life.
I believe in mystery.
I believe in family.
I believe in being who I am.
I believe in the power of failure.
And I believe normal life is extraordinary.
This I Believe.

Our "This I Believe" essay today comes from Alice Brock, she once owned "Alice's Restaurant", the one that inspired the famous 18-minute-talking blue song by Arlo Guthrie. The song and later the movie chronically⁴ invents that began on Thanksgiving Day in 1965. It involved a friendly group of hippies. Some illegally dumped garbage and a draft for the Vietnam war and of course Alice's Restaurant.

You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant.

With that song, Alice and her restaurant became an iconic image for the country culture of the day. Here is our series curator independent producer Jay Allison.

In the case of icons⁵, the popular image is not necessarily an accurate representation of the person who inspired it. But Alice Brock's believes are not too distant from those commemorated⁶ by Arlo Guthrie song . They echoed the spirit of a time . And although she's left the restaurant business, she still lives by codes she developed there. Here's Alice Brock with her essay for "This I Believe".

"Just because you only have six plates and three glasses is no reason why you can't invite 12 people to dinner. You can drink out of a jelly jar or a tin can. And there are a lot of things you can use for plates, like hubcaps lined with tin foil. I once made to steak dinner in an apartment that had only one knife, we used scissors. It was quite memorable⁷. I believe in improvising⁸. It's exciting; it's an adventure, a challenge and a chance to be creative. Not being locked into a plan or a prescribed way of doing something leaves room for all kinds of wonderful stuff to happen. You don't always have to follow a recipe, I tend to use more butter, eggs and garlic than a recipe calls for. And the only unfortunate changes this brings about is in my size. I didn't study how to own and run a restaurant. I pretty much made it up as I went along. I was swept up with the idea, the fantasy of having a restaurant, the chance to make something happen. It never occurred to me I couldn't do it. I only felt that way after I have opened up, but by then it was too late . And of course making money at it was way down on the list what mattered, and that allowed me the freedom to focus on creating something really wonderful. I had no idea how anything was supposed to be. I just barreled ahead discovering all kinds of possibilities of making plenty of mistakes. And those are really great opportunities to learn . When something works, well, that's that. But when it doesn't, I have to think about why and I have to come up with some other ways that will make it work . Mistakes lead to discovery and that can produce delight, like cream of salt and pepper soup. I made it in a pinch once and believe me it's good. You should try it. In my restaurant, I really hired people who were trained. That wasn't important. As long as you can take down an order, treat people well and give them an experience they would remember. I didn't care if you were dressed up as the piece of broccoli⁹. In fact, it's the oddity that brought richness to everyone.

Someone said it's too bad my restaurant was a failure. Why, because it went bankrupt? I came away richer than any restaurant owner could possibly dreamed of, just not in terms of money. My belief in improvising was confirmed when I closed my last restaurant 29 years ago. I just walked away. I didn't make any plans. I left everything behind and I came to live in Provincetown where I always wanted to live and paint. I'm still making it up as I go along. I believe there's no one way to do things. The way that works for me is the way that works right now. But that might change tomorrow.

Alice Brock, with her essay for "This I Believe". Brock is now a painter, in Provincetown Massachusetts where she has her own gallery. Consistent with her belief, she sometimes gathers rocks on the beach, makes little drawings on them, and then puts them back on the beach or wherever she feels like putting them . Our invitation direct for the series goes out to everyone, so if you're interested, visit NPR. org /ThisIBelieve to find out more and to see the recipe for Alice Brock's cream of salt and peppers soup. For "This I Believe", I'm Jay Alison.

You can get anything you want at Alice’s restaurant.

Our “This I Believe”essay is produced by Jay Allison with Viki Merrick who, by the way, worked as a bartender in Alice Brock’s restaurant. Next Sunday, on Weekend edition an essay from Joe Ingardio on a belief in tolerance¹⁰, which he developed as child going door to door with his mother. A Jehovah's Witness.

Support for this I believe comes from Prudential Retirement¹¹.

1 improvisation   

n.即席演奏(或演唱)；即兴创作

参考例句：

• a free-form jazz improvisation 自由创作的爵士乐即兴演出
• Most of their music was spontaneous improvisation. 他们的大部分音乐作品都是即兴创作的。

2 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 chronically   

ad.长期地

参考例句：

• Similarly, any pigment nevus that is chronically irritated should be excised. 同样，凡是经常受慢性刺激的各种色素痣切勿予以切除。
• People chronically exposed to chlorine develop some degree of tolerance. 人长期接触氯气可以产生某种程度的耐受性。

5 icons   

n.偶像( icon的名词复数 )；（计算机屏幕上表示命令、程序的）符号，图像

参考例句：

• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons. 用图标来区分重要的文本项。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Daemonic icons should only be employed persistently if they provide continuous, useful status information. 只有会连续地提供有用状态信息的情况下，后台应用程序才应该一直使用图标。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

6 commemorated   

v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Lincoln commemorated the soldiers killed in the battle in his address. 林肯在演说中表扬阵亡将士。 来自辞典例句
• You'll be commemorated for killing a spy, and be specially discharged. 你们每杀一个间谍将会被记录到特殊档案。 来自电影对白

7 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

8 improvising   

即兴创作（improvise的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• I knew he was improvising, an old habit of his. 我知道他是在即兴发挥，这是他的老习惯。
• A few lecturers have been improvising to catch up. 部分讲师被临时抽调以救急。

9 broccoli   

n.绿菜花，花椰菜

参考例句：

• She grew all the broccoli plants from seed.这些花椰菜都是她用种子培育出来的。
• They think broccoli is only green and cauliflower is only white.他们认为西兰花只有绿色的，而菜花都是白色的。

10 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

11 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。