Moo

A while back I was listening to a guy (probably some world famous scientist) talk about (i think...) genome sequencing. He asked:

"What is the essence of bovinity? What makes a cow a cow?"

Awesome.

Best COMPLIMENT Ever

I was just called "America's Best Little Stimulous Package." Yay!

Pacaya es Pacaya

I am a big investor. Mainly I invest my millions in pupusas, which I keep safely inside my belly. El Rincon Santaneco is the Salvadorean restaurant where I convert my dollars for pupusas. The girls who work there are really nice (except for one, she's a little grumpy.) They have jars of items for sale on the counter, including pacaya. Neither Osito nor I knew what pacaya was so we asked, "Que es pacaya?" "No se" responded the girl. So she asked another girl there and her answer was...."Pacaya es pacaya." I love the certainty and directness of that answer. It is very zen, really. What is that? That is that. As Mary Catherine would say, "done and done."

A Glimpse...

My view on a recent visit.


These are copied and pasted from two consecutive emails from my mom. This explains a full 50% about me:

I'm in the little room,broiling, with the door closed because Dad is fadoodling with the new TV set and if I go in there, one of us will have a nervous breakdown like the old set. . we'll be home Saturday, waiting for Time Warner if you want to come over and pick up all the body parts. Would Osito like to come tonight. I'll give him chicken, potato salad, cucumber salad and all my sodden tear drenched hankies. Love you - Ma

What do you care if we have impressive cables lying all over the living room floor and a brand new impressive TV unplugged in the cabinet. Go ahead - laugh at this two elderly woebegone people. Just because the salesman said there are two cables - one to plug into the wall and one for the Cable box, but there were four cables. Go ahead laugh. You'll be sorry when our toes curl and there's no inheritance for you. We'll see who's laughing then. Ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:)

My elderly rooster-hating mom has learned to use emoticons. Watch out - there is no telling what's next. Y'all better fortify your firewalls...seriously.

Best. Letters. Ever.

Super deluxe diamond edition Scrabble with super deluxe diamond edition letters to match!

Toano

Visiting Laurie and Mike in Toano Virginia. In case anyone forgets, this is the South, darlin'!

This sunflower is from their community garden, where, I am sure, Laurie never sets foot!

And This is Why I Don't Drink

Here, in its entirety, is the text I sent to Mary Katherine Christiansen:

"i love snesthesia. yay."

And I sure did. I haven't felt that good since, well, actually, I truly cannot remember. And that is why I don't drink.

And as an aside, why is someone lighting fireworks off at 3:15am? Not the pretty kind, just the loud kind.

Delaware River

Reminiscent of the Liberty Bell, isn't it?

I guess blue paint is on special for the municipality of Philly...

Actually, I'm Impressed

I am from New York. A Queens girl all the way. So I am rarely impressed by other cities. However, Philly was impressive. The history, the architecture, the stench. Sorry, but I don't think they've updated their sanitation practices since the 1600s.

There are always wonderful things to learn when you visit a new place, and Philly is no exception. At the Fireman's Museum, I learned a valuabe lesson (pssst - the answer is "no"!):




Sadly, I was not impressed by the LOVE statue. It is much, much smaller that I thought...


Philadelphia City Hall. It's huge, overwhelming, incredible. It took 30 years to build and cost $24 million - in 1870 dollars. It is testimony to what? Self-importance? Racism? Inequality? Look at some of the details:

Are these babies holding up the building? African American babies?

And of course, built on the backs of Native people.

Philadelphia really drives home the depth and insideous nature of racism. How could so many people who thought so profoundly about isues of liberty, freedom, and self-determination oppress others without a care? There were others of course, like the Quakers, but still...

I went to the Athenaeum of Philadelphia for a great little exhibit of children's book art. Here is an illustration from The Princess and the Pea.

I went to The National Liberty Museum. It explored ideas of liberty and freedom using a really diverse spectrum of individual experiences.

Visitors were encouraged to leave a message (that wasn't me...)

And finally, a Philly fave, the walk-through heart at the Franklin Institute. In case you ahven't been there, it is waaaay larger than life-sized. You walk through it to learn how the heart works. Awesome.

City of Brotherly Love

We are in very good company here in Philly!

More when I return...

Brutus, Here We Come!

En vacaciones! Te veo!