Art + Math = Awesome

Artist Reuben Margolin makes amazing kinetic wave sculptures out of recycled and repurposed materials. Check out this video and take a look at his website. It's like DaVinci reincarnated.

And a grateful nation rejoices...

Tales from the Cafe

"One person's futon is another person's toilet brush."

--heard in passing

Like mother, like daughter?

So I called my mom this morning to tell her how I fell yesterday while walking the dog. I tripped on the curb and went down with a thud, hitting my head and jamming up my arm. So very graceful. I went to the ER. They said I had a mild concussion and possibly a small broken bone in my elbow.

Mom replied with the appropriate motherly concern and then with the story of how she fell in the Rehab Center yesterday with all the accompanying trauma and distress. She hurt her hip. Not broken, but still.

We compared aches and pains. We compared embarrassing moments. We compared wonderfully helpful husbands.

My arm is in a sling.

My mom is back to bed rest.

DOH!

Friday Fill-Ins ::

1. Why do we have to jump through impossible hoops to get coverage for basic health care?

2.My daily walks and weekly yoga class are now habits.

3. I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.

4. I had never heard the phrase "kiss it up to god" and it sounded pretty ridiculous as my childhood pals would use it to 'clean' whatever food they had dropped on the ground.

5. I am enjoying my day off the way I always do.

6. How was I to know that coming on to Chuckie was a federal offense? (Only the college friends mentioned in #9 from yesterday will get that one. I told you I was an idiot.)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading more of Uglies (really good, highly recommened),


tomorrow my plans include enjoying the Spring temperatures and Sunday, I want to do whatever feels right!

You can find the Friday Fill-Ins here!

Thursday Thirteen - Going Random

13 Random Thoughts, Reports and Links

1. My mom is out of the hospital and into a nice rehab center for a couple of weeks. She seems on the mend. Again. Keeps those good thoughts a comin'.

2. A reason to like NJ after all?

3. The Vatican Rag. I just rediscovered this today. It has always made me laugh. Now it makes me laugh AND think of my friend Frank

.


4. It has been 17 weeks since my last confession Thursday Thirteen.

5. Time sure flies when you're planning a party for 500 friends.

6. Speaking of the LIFE is Good Conference, have you seen the design for this year's t-shirts? Jon and I collaborated on it. My idea, his design talent. I love it.

7. Apparently we weren't the only one with this particular design in mind. Check out these sneakers! We did NOT know anything about these before we designed the t-shirt. Pretty strong similarities. I'd love a pair if only they didn't cost $60!
8. Creation mythology as told by lolcats.


9. I've had friend requests on Facebook from people I haven't heard from in 30 years. College friends. It makes me a little uncomfortable. I was pretty much an idiot 30 years ago.

10. Qacei did one of those random question memes on Myspace recently. I loved this answer.

If your doctor said you were pregnant, what would you do?
I haven't been to a doctor in years. I'd probably request for a religion to be made around me though.

11. Toddlers and Tiaras on TLC. I shouldn't watch it. Worse, I shouldn't like it. But I do. It's fascinating, like a zombie horror movie. I can't turn away. (Ooh look, they're doing full glitz.)


12. Rejected dwarf names for Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (my favorites are in bold): Blabby, Jumpy, Shifty, Snoopy, Awful, Baldy, Biggo-Ego, Biggy, Biggy-Wiggy, Burpy, Busy, Chesty, Cranky, Daffy, Dippy, Dirty, Dizzy, Doleful, Flabby, Gabby, Gloomy, Goopy, Graceful, Helpful, Hoppy, Hotsy, Hungrey, Jaunty, Lazy, Neurtsy, Nifty, Puffy, Sappy, Sneezy-Wheezy, Sniffy, Scrappy, Silly, Soulful, Strutty, Stuffy, Sleazy, Tearful, Thrifty, Tipsy, Titsy, Tubby, Weepy, Wistful, and Woeful. (as found on Wikipedia)

13. 7 Big-Ass Holes in the Earth

Thursday 13 has a new home. Other Thursday Thirteeners can be found here.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Buddha Quote of the Day

A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these minds love one another the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden. But if these minds get out of harmony with one another it is like a storm that plays havoc with the garden.

~the Buddha

Tales from the Cafe

We try really hard to give good GREAT customer service at our cafe. We smile. We assist. We serve the best food and drink in town. We do our best. Really.

We are human though, so occasionally (very occasionally I hope) we fall short. When that happens we go out of our way to make it right. When people leave, we want it to be with a smile on their face, good food in their bellies and maybe even some new found sunshine in their heart.

Sunnyside Up. It's a cafe AND a metaphor.

So imagine our dismay a few weeks ago when an unhappy customer left us some graphic feedback. Apparently nothing we could do was what she wanted. A sorry state of affairs for everyone involved. We thought it was one of the more clever commentaries though. Turn your head to the side for a better view.

See it?

I call it "the Fuck You Pancake."

I don't think she left with too much sunshine.

The Best Undeveloped Screenplays EVER

Samurai on the Toilet & Man Blowing a Bubble

Could these really have been written in the '70's? I doubt it. But I must admit these screenplays are obviously perfect for the attention span of today's reality TV viewer. (And yes, I include myself in that market.)

As seen on Kitsune Noir.

rainy day sunshine

early morning phone call
waves of emotion
a return to the hospital
a return to the inevitable
a return

waiting
not knowing
what to wish for
an end to pain
but not the end

feeling
not all sad
just feeling
close to the surface
ripples

thankful
for solitude
for feeling
for breaking through

seize the moment
a moment of sunshine
to capture a walk
a moment of sunshine
to capture a life

(Mom is back in the hospital. Thank you all for your notes and good wishes. They have really been helping us all.)

Soon to be a new reality show on Bravo

Make Me A Supermodel hero

Go for it!

14 Questions

I saw this meme in a couple of different places. I decided to spice mine up with photos I found using the song titles as a Google image search. Amazingly, I did not land on any porn.

14 Questions, One Artist

Using only song titles from ONE artist/group, answer these questions.

Artist: James (who else?)

1. Are you male or female?

"Senorita"

2. Describe yourself:

"Gold Mother"

3. How do you feel about yourself?

"So Many Ways"

4. Describe where you currently live.

"Top Of The World"

5. If you could go anywhere, where would you go?

"God Only Knows"

6. Your best friend is?

"She's A Star"

7. Your favorite color?

"Blue Pastures"

8. Did you know that...?

"You Can't Tell How Much Suffering (On A Face That's Always Smiling)"

9. What's the weather like?

"Rain Whistling"

10. If your life were a TV show, what would it be called?

"Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)"

11. What is life like to you?

"Waltzing Along"

12. What is the best advice you have to give?

"Live A Love Of Life"

13. If you could change your name, what would it be?

"Bubbles"

14. Your favorite food is?

"English Beefcake"

DON'T FORGET: Leave a note for my mom!

and...

What's going on?

It's been a whirlwind of a week. Last Monday I dropped everything and headed down to the gray haired capitol of the eastern seaboard Florida to see my folks. Being the good parents that they are they fought me every step of the way because, you know, it costs money to visit and I've got my own family to worry about and there's snow and ice so I shouldn't fly and people are sick in Florida and I night catch something and, and, and...

I just smiled and hopped the first flight I could find. I'm so glad I did.

Dad's been out of the hospital for over a week. He's feeling better and seems to be on the road back to good health. He's kind of like the Energizer Bunny that way.

Mom however was in the hospital for the duration of my visit. She had a bad infection in her digestive tract. No fun at any age, believe me. They seem to have it under control but it really has taken a lot out of her. She went home on Friday, but she's feeling weak, her arthritis is bad, she's in pain and she's just about had enough. I think Mick Jagger said it best, "What a drag it is getting old."

I want to thank everyone for your good wishes and thoughtful notes. It really helps to know people care. If you could all do me one more favor, I'd really appreciate it.


Could you leave an encouraging note for my mom in the comments? I'll have my dad print them out and read them to her.

Her name is Ethel and she feels like shit she's not feeling well at all. Any good thoughts or well wishes you can send her way would be wonderful. Thanks y'all!