Month: May 2006
Wisteria Spirals
Until I looked at them from this angle, I never realized that the flowers grew in a spiral around the central stem.
“Wildwood Flower” by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The from the album Will the Circle Be Unbroken (1972, 3:33).
First Time in Five Years
Every so often, I get the urge to hack off my face fuzz. Most of the time, I manage to talk myself out of it — I don’t really look my age most of the time to begin with (or act it, but that’s a different matter), and going clean-shaven just makes me look even younger.
However, every few years I actually get up the nerve to see just how goofy I look without the beard. The last time was five years ago (and no photos exist of that round), so I figured it was finally time to give it another shot.
End result — well, I definitely look younger…the most popular estimate has been somewhere around 20 or 21 (which really isn’t bad at all for a guy who just turned 33). It’s hard for me to look at myself without thinking I look goofy this way, but I’ve been assured that I look fine, and that it’s probably just me being so unused to looking like this.
I still think that I’ll be letting the beard grow back in rather than stay like this.
“Keep On the Sunny Side” by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The from the album Will the Circle Be Unbroken (1972, 4:27).
Mother’s Day
It’s late in the day, so most won’t read this until the day after, but…happy Mother’s Day to all the various moms I know (and, for that matter, all those that I don’t know). My own mom is, of course, right at the top of that list. Other important moms that I know of: my sister-in-law Emily; my aunts Pam and Susan; Prairie’s mom Char; my friends Erika, and Melissa…and I’m sure there are more that I might be able to bring to mind if it weren’t just after eleven at night. ;)
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you.
Tiny Yellows
(Yet more in the “flowers-I-can’t-identify” ongoing series.)
coComment Enabled
I’ve been seeing rumblings about coComment for a few weeks now, but finally decided to take a closer look when I noticed it up and running on a post at The Republic of T. coComment is a service that lets you track the comments you’ve made on other weblogs, keep track of when people have responded to them, and so on…basically, trying to make sure that those comments you leave don’t just disappear into the great bit bucket of the ‘net.
So, I’ve signed up, and have enabled coComment integration on this site (for all future entries, at least…all entries on the main page have been rebuilt, the rest of the 3801 entries will be rebuilt eventually) — Movable Type integration was a snap with their included instructions. I don’t figure a huge percentage of my readers will be using it, but it’s there for those who want to.
“Bring on the Dancing Horses” by Echo and the Bunnymen from the album Pretty In Pink (1985, 4:00).
Hairy Tulips
“Not My Slave” by Oingo Boingo from the album Best o’ Boingo (1986, 4:46).
Dangerous Playgrounds Still Exist!
Something I’ve had a minor beef with for years now (as some of my old friends will be able to attest to, as this is a soapbox I’ve climbed onto from time to time) is how depressingly “safe” most of today’s playgrounds are. There are any number of reasons why this is so*, but the end result has been a constant and (to me) somewhat depressing “dumbing down” of playgrounds over the years. Any piece of equipment that could conceivably cause an injury more serious than a minor bruise has been torn out and replaced with rounded plastic contraptions that, while probably “safer”…are also boring.
(Be warned: gross generalizations follow. I know that there are specific instances that run counter to the general theme of my rant — and I consider them exceptions that prove the rule.)
Teeter totters? Long gone. Those great old merry-go-rounds that you’d get the older kids or parents to spin faster and faster until the smaller kids started flying off? Also a thing of the past. Heck, even today’s slides are mere stunted shadows of their former selves.
I was thrilled, then, to run across the Pinehurst Playfield this evening while Prairie and I were on a walk. We’d turned down a street we hadn’t walked down before, just a couple blocks away from our apartment, and heard kids playing. Once we got close enough to tell that there was a Little League game going on, we turned in to take a closer look at the park.
Then we saw the playground…and I couldn’t resist.
A jungle gym with lots of climbing bits, ropes, and various ways to clamber around on (and fall off of) it, including a marvelous slide with no rails that tips to one side. A…spinny thing…that had me so dizzy I could barely stand up. It was marvelous!
So, I spent some time being about seven years old or so, while Prairie giggled and did her best to get some shots of me being a kid (I think she did a pretty good job, too).
Hooray for dangerous playground equipment!
NyQuil Jello?
One dessert trick Prairie and I have been playing with for the past few months is using soda instead of water* to make Jello. Different combinations of flavors are possible, and the carbonation makes the Jello ‘fizz’ on your tongue when you eat it.
Today, we figured we’d try Berry Blue Jello and Root Beer. The Jello’s setting in the fridge right now, so we haven’t tasted it yet…but the color is exactly the deep green of NyQuil. Looks a little disturbing.
We’re hoping it tastes better than it looks.
* To clarify: Use hot water as normal to dissolve the gelatin, then use soda instead of cold water for the second step. We picked this up from a Magic of Jello recipe book that Prairie found in the discount stacks at Barnes and Noble last year, and have been experimenting with it off and on since then.
“Stigmata (Live)” by Ministry from the album In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up (Live) (1990, 9:31).