ahhhhh....

Nothing like a man who knows to kiss the right thing at the right time,
then kisses the things he's missed. How had I ever settled for less?


[ Just had to say it again. Only it's my own version this time. ]

ok, let's

tweak that three point oh

Found this tip very useful: quick and dirty directions on how to "hack" Firefox 3 into delivering richer, brighter colors more faithful to the original photograph (or graphic).

1. Type "about:config" in the address bar of Firefox 3.
2. Click thru confirmation page and find: gfx.color_management.enabled.
3. Double click that until it says "true".
4. Restart Firefox 3.

It makes a BIG difference. Try it.

[via]

bullsh*t

Melting words. [link]

i am in love

If this is not love, than I don't know what it is... [link]

Bust a move!

grandma's chair

My grandma died last year, sometime in February. She was my godmother. Because of her I was born with fair skin and blue eyes. My father’s family always gathered around her table on weekends, she was a matriarch. She was the strong figure in my family – not my grandfather, but her. She could barely read or write by the time she was a grown woman, but she had a passion for learning that I am still to see in another human being. She had six kids, and she made sure they all graduated from university. She also managed to go back to school and get her own degree by the time she had a bunch of grandkids. I was a little girl at the time, and I remember notebooks piled on the dining table, where warm coffee and homemade pastries would sit, always fresh. She was a fighter, a woman with balls. She wrote a letter to the president of Brazil once asking for a job, and for some reason – maybe because she was a phenomenal woman – he responded and met with her one-on-one.

She was adorable and I don’t remember not wanting to be around her once. Not even for a minute. She always had a story to tell, always a smile on her face. The only time I saw her sad was last year, about a month before she died, when I went to see her in the hospital. I was still living in Indianapolis, and I hadn’t seen her for a year. She had been really sick for a while, and I think she probably thought she would die without saying goodbye to me. I remember walking in the door and as soon as she saw me she raised her arms and thanked every saint she could possibly think of because her goddaughter was there. She was frail, pale, but her smile was strong and as powerful as ever. She had this thing about her that made me feel like I was the most special human being alive. I was the granddaughter who clearly inherited her genes, and I’m still the woman in the family who resembles her most. We had always had a different connection from everybody else, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.


When she died, my father and his brothers found out she had her whole life – and death – carefully organized. She had mapped out how the little money she had accumulated throughout her 90-some years would be distributed amongst each child and grandchild. She left money for her funeral and burial. She didn’t miss a single detail.

Today something was deposited into my account. It was the money she left for me. I thought about her all day long. I felt her around me the whole time, and I thought about what I should do with what my grandma set aside for me.

I went out this afternoon and bought a beautiful white chair I’ve been dreaming about getting for my studio. I think if my grandma could have chosen something to give me, she would make sure it had sometime to do with my education, or how I provide for myself. She would have contributed to that somehow. So I bought the chair. It’s big, the most expensive item in my studio. I know I will be thinking of her every time I’m in there. She’s a part f my environment now, and she is making it more beautiful and practical. Making my life more comfortable. Just like she always did.

lovely

If "lovely" could be described in a 2 and a half minute video, this would be it.



Stevie Nicks, 1981.

Post-Traumatic Postcards

"Dear M.

I can’t wait until you’re married so I can tell you I love you, and not worry you’ll take it the wrong way. It’s a shame being a grownup is so complex we can’t be kind to one another without fearing the repercussions.

xo, L."


++++++++++


Apologizing for the mistakes you’ve made isn’t easy, unless you limit yourself to a paragraph. . [link]

wish i was there

Unfortunately, this year I'm not going to be anywhere around NY, Chicago or San Francisco this time of the year, but to those of you who are lucky to live in one of those three places, here's my recommendation:


RENEGADE CRAFT FAIR:

Brooklyn: June 14 + 15 from 11am - 7pm at the McCarren Park Pool

San Francisco: July 12 + 13 from 11am - 7pm at Fort Mason's Festival Pavilion

Chicago: September 13 + 14 from 12pm - 10pm along Division St. between Damen & Hermitage in Wicker Park.

whatever, i guess

I can't get enough of this Boondocks episode, with the R. Kelly trial. It's like every time I watch it, it gets funnier - and I've been watching it for a couple of years now. I know the little girl's words by heart, and I must say I impersonate her more often than I should. Sometimes more than once a day.

update

I got a bunch of messages from friends and a few people who read this blog asking for updates on my dog. Thanks to everybody for the concern and the lovely words of support. I'm a sucker when it comes to my little guy and last week was awful. He's still not fully recovered, he definitely can't see from both eyes yet, but he seems to be moving around a little better and improving every day. He's still a little dizzy, but the vet says it that should be temporary.

Again, thanks for the messages, comments, and phone calls. Puppy appreciates it all and says he'll be responding emails as soon as he feels a little better.

i absolutely love her

like porn, but better

I watched "My Blueberry Nights" yesterday. Loved it. Jude Law is freaking OUT OF THIS PLANET, and I don't even like cute men. Natalie Portman is perfect in every sense of the word. Norah Jones does really well for a non-actress. The soundtrack is nice. They play my favorite Otis Redding song at least 3 times. Plus that kiss scene... ah... who needs porn??

insult

by Michael Ryan

Before you went out I asked you
in no uncertain terms to button
the next button up your shirt
that showed your naked breast
from the right angle when you twisted
and bent, an angle admittedly rarely
reproduced in real-world space
and then what would need to be in place
is the mythical irresistible male
whose lust could flare furiously
(like mine) and push you ecstatically
beyond where you sexually go
with me. Obviously I don’t know
what would be possible for you
with another body than mine,
but I love you and yours so dearly
the thought’s too much for me
despite your saying your love for me
makes the idea preposterous
from the get-go. I’m sorry
I spoke harshly. My jealousy
is a jealous companion.
It wants me alone.

latest addictions

Michael Bublé - Everything


Adele - Make you feel my love


Adele - Best for Last

just say it

"Words were not given to man in order to conceal his thoughts."

-- Saramago

brilliant

Transcript:

"Good evening, my fellow Americans. As we all know, this has already been a long, hard-fought campaign for the democratic presidential nomination. But tonight, with my recent victory in Indiana, and senator Obama's in North Carolina, we remain exactly where we were four months ago: hopelessly deadlocked.

Therefore, this nomination is going to be decided as it should be - by the super delegates - based not on primary results or caucuses or delegate counts or popular vote. But on their sober assessment of which candidate will be the strongest against senator McCain in November.

Tonight, I'm here to tell you why I am that candidate.

First, I am a sore loser.

If and when I am the nominee, I know, as do the super delegates, that senator Obama will work his heart out for my election. If, on the other hand, senator Obama is chosen, I will probably refuse to campaign for him. Or if I do so, it will be in a resentful, half-hearted way, thus ensuring his defeat. So that I can run again in 2012.

You see, unlike my opponent, I'm just not going to lose gracefully. It's not a criticism of senator Obama, just a fact.

Second, my supporters are racist.

If and when I am the nominee, senator Obama's african-american supporters will be disappointed, perhaps. But they will still rally to me. If, however, senator Obama is the nominee, my supporters will refuse to vote for him. Partly because I will secretly tell them not to, but mainly because they are racially biased. And would never vote for any african-american candidate. I'm not bragging. That's just the way it is.

Now, to those of you that worry if my opponent is denied the nomination that african-americans might simply stay home, I remind you: a) until senator Obama shockingly and - might I add, rudely and selfishly - won the Iowa caucuses, most african-americans supported me. B) my husband was the first black president. And c) in the days ahead, we expect to receive the endorsement of America's preeminent african-american leader, Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

Which brings me to my third and final argument. Unlike senator Obama, I have no ethical standards.

Even my critics would agree that once I get the nomination, I will stop at nothing, absolutely nothing, to win. Whereas with senator Obama, there are some things he simply will not do. Take, for example, the race card. Which he has been reluctant to play. As in anyone who doesn't vote for me is a racist. I, on the other hand, will be happy to play the gender card. And claim that anyone who doesn't vote for me is a sexist. In fact, once senator Obama is out of the picture, I look forward to playing the race card myself. As in anyone who doesn't vote for me is both a sexist and a racist.

Now, to those of you who say she'll never do that, it doesn't even make sense! I answer - if you believe that, then you don't know me.

So there you have it - sore loser, racist supporters, no ethical standards - qualities senator Obama simply cannot match. That's not an attack on my opponent, it's just the truth. When you consider that, the choice is obvious."

really sad

I'm so sad today I can't really put it into words. I hadn't cried in a long time, but I think I was probably saving up for something like this. Puppy might be permanently blind. Updates to come.

+++++++++

UPDATE: Just came back from the ophthalmologist vet and he said this might be a case of optic neuritis. We're starting medication tomorrow and we're going back for another check up on Friday, to see if there is any progress. If it is optic neuritis, he should be ok. And that means I will be alright too. Pray for us!

The Kiss

by Stephen Dunn

She pressed her lips to mind.
—a typo

How many years I must have yearned
for someone's lips against mind.
Pheromones, newly born, were floating
between us. There was hardly any air.

She kissed me again, reaching that place
that sends messages to toes and fingertips,
then all the way to something like home.
Some music was playing on its own.

Nothing like a woman who knows
to kiss the right thing at the right time,
then kisses the things she's missed.
How had I ever settled for less?

I was thinking this is intelligence,
this is the wisest tongue
since the Oracle got into a Greek's ear,
speaking sense. It's the Good,

defining itself. I was out of my mind.
She was in. we married as soon as we could.

middle age

by Pat Schneider

The child you think you don't want
is the one who will make you laugh.
She will break your heart
when she loses the sight in one eye
and tells the doctor she wants to be
an apple tree when she grows up.

It will be this child who forgives you
again and again
for believing you don't want her to be born,
for resisting the rising tide of your body,
for wishing for the red flow of her dismissal.
She will even forgive you for all the breakfasts
you failed to make exceptional.

Someday this child will sit beside you.
When you are old and too tired of war
to want to watch the evening news,
she will tell you stories
like the one about her teenaged brother,
your son, and his friends
taking her out in a canoe when she was
five years old. How they left her alone
on an island in the river
while they jumped off the railroad bridge.

This Kind of Thing Doesn't Happen Often

and When It Does You Should Pay Attention

by John Stone

i thank heaven somebody's crazy
enough to send me a daisy
--e.e. cummings

On Piedmont Road, going north,
before my car there floated forth

a soapy bubble in the traffic,
glistening and holographic.

It drifted down into my path,
this ghostly sphere from someone's bath.

I watched it bob and almost tickle
A Harley-Davidson motorcycle

then rise (as it got quite exhausted)
That's where I left it, fair and frosted.

For this unexpected act
I thank heaven (I think), in fact,

that someone went to all the trouble
to blow me a bubble.

Click HERE to see an insulting animation.