Looking Fierce!

Old helmet, goofy...

New helmet, Ready to Ride!!!

Sometimes you just really need some "out with the old, in with the new"...especially when it comes to protective head gear. Because my primary motivation in getting a new helmet was definitely safety, not style. Mm-hm...

Did everyone have a great 4th of July? Daniel and I met Mums and Jim in Ponca City for a mid-way [between Tulsa and Wichita] day trip. We walked around the grounds at Marland Mansion, picnicked by Lake Ponca, left when Autumn got in trouble for being in the water, went hiking at Kaw Lake...for about 100 ft before we realized the trail was covered in poison ivy and ticks were abundant :) At which point we abandoned the Great Outdoors in favor of ice cream at Braum's. Perfect.  We returned to Tulsa in plenty of time to ride along Riverside before heading to a friend's house  to watch the fireworks--which had shapes this year! The sky was lit with hearts, smiley faces, Rudolph-doves, and other unidentifiable shapes. I don't think smiley face fireworks are about to replace the old classics, because half the time they were upside-down or smashed. Which was amusing, but not particularly beautiful : ) A wonderful day!

If any of you need an awkward-but-lovable British comedy series in your life, may I recommend Miranda? Miranda Hart stars (you may know her a Chummy from Call the Midwife) and, though I initially thought the show would be too awkward to watch in comfort (she is 6'1", clumsy, embarassing with men)--I ended up loving it and have subsequently watched all six episodes of season 1 twice (that's the only season you can get on hulu, so I haven't seen the others). I think the reason the awkwardness doesn't make me cringe is that, even if the other people in Miranda's life give her a hard time, they love and accept her. It's not like they wish she'd go away and never return. Plus, the guy she likes is totally into her, too, although they are "just friends."

Here are some things I like about Miranda:
1) She appreciates words like "cusp" and "Sachet"
2) There is always an uncut cake or other pastry in her kitchen.
3) She glues googly eyes onto household items such as a teapot, eggs, etc.
4) She runs a joke shop and gets a kick out of "the little things"
5) The horrified looks she gives the camera when, for example, asked to exercise
6) She thinks people should commute via gallopping (not on a horse, like you used to when you were young and pretending to be a horse)
7) British accents!

Anyhow, watch Miranda. Here is a clip from the first episode to get you hooked!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxMS8Q6FTl0

[Inhuman] Death in the Family

After sewing the worlds ugliest eyesore of a dress...

...my poor sewing machine needle just couldn't take it any more. : (

Other observations:

1) Don't worry, I was never intending to wear this dress, heavens no! Just seeing if I could figure out a "simple" dress pattern using some cheap-o estate sale fabric.

2) The dress pattern (vintage) is a size 16. For some reason, reading the measurements on the sizing chart, I thought this would fit--and despaired over "flattery size" inflation. But never fear! Our decades be not so disparate. This dress is too large.

3) It's been a weird week, and I'm ready for things to settle down already. Sigh...

The Great American Spider Hunt

Possibly first-ever feltie commission! Somebaby needed a monkey!

Go far, far away, my creepy friends...

This week has been full of ups and downs. Can't say anything about the ups, because they mostly involve potential opportunities that may or may not come to fruition, but have been pleasant to think about either way. Downs involve Daniel's cut finger and possible (hopefully not!!!!) brown recluse bite. So this afternoon, my task is to wash our bed clothes, sweep under the bed and chant anti-spider curses. Blegh.

In other news, here are some of the issues I've been facing today. How would you respond?

1) If I walk 1.5 miles to Quik Trip for a pint of ice cream, how much can I eat before negating the good effects of the walk?

2) What if I've already had dessert today?

3) What if I also already rode my bike to work?

4) Is it better to save money (by baking something at home) or to gain exercise?

Do you know what sounds (almost) better than ice cream? A nap. Too bad the sheets are in the laundry being de-spidered. Ah, well.

Happy Saturday, y'all.

Love Song

So...I know this is controversial, and normally I shun unpleasant internet "debate" but...pretty sure I have the handsomest husband. ;)

Thank you, Christi, for keeping me company at feltie-selling day. I wouldn't say it was a successful day as far as making money goes, but it was fun getting to meet some very creative and nice people!

If anyone wants to buy me this shirt, I promise to love it and wear it forever and when it is dead and full of holes I will turn the picture into a quilt:

http://shirt.woot.com/offers/wizard-of-aws

And here is an encouraging passage from the end of Madeleine L'Engle's book Walking on Water:

   "Great art. Great artists. What about all the rest of us little people, struggling with our typewriters and tubes of paint?
   The great ones are still the best mirrors for us all, because the degree of the gift isn't what it's all about. It's like the presents under the Christmas tree: the ones which came from Woolworth's may be just as rejoiced over as the more expensive ones, and best of all are those which are handmade and which may have cost love, rather than money. Perhaps it's something like the parable of the workers in the vineyard; maybe those who worked through the heat of the day were the Michelangelos and Leonardos and Beethovens and Tolstoys. Those who were able to work only one hour served their gift of work as best they could. And, as in Alice in Wonderland, everybody gets prizes; there is the same quality of joy in turning a perfect bowl on the potter's wheel as in painting the Sistine Chapel.
   The important thing is to recognize that our gift, no matter what the size, is indeed something given us, for which we can take no credit, but which we may humbly serve, and, in serving, learn more wholeness, be offered wondrous newness.
   Picasso says that an artist paints not to ask a question, but because he has found something, and he wants to share--he cannot help it--what he has found."

Speaking of little artists...if anyone wants to read the complete Everyday Day at the Zoo and offer suggestions, let me know and I'll email it to you (only about 8 pages or so, very fast reading).

Finally, a song (once again, with credit due to Madeleine L'Engle for writing about love/vulnerability):

I. What voice will win the day--
Distancing and dismay?
But even you
Will be renewed.
Take heart when love says
"Trust me again."

II. What is it you have lost?
Everything love had brought.
But lost or found,
Love can't be bound.
Just when you reach the end
You'll find love again.

[Optional Bridge:
One hand asks for another--
But what if that other
Has a past?
It's a question of courage:
Don't be discouraged,
Let past be past.]

III. Does a heart ever heal--
Regroup, re-learn to feel?
If it can choose
Between these two:
Avoiding pain or never
Knowing love again.

3:30 in the Summer...Must be Ice Cream Time!

Guess who got married last weekend?? My beautiful sister and awesome brother-in-law!

The bride and groom with two sets of grandparents! 

Photo credit today goes to my D, Aaron Bowen! Sorry I couldn't get the pictures any bigger...blogger's being a hater and they go blurry fast!

So, I am up to V in my Zoo Poetry Book! V for Veronica, a shamefully self-righteous girl. But here is the poem for T (for Tara, of course!):

Tara’s growing tired of

“You must be Tara-ble!”

What may have been amusing once

Now pains her very soul.

And so, she seeks out sympathy

From one who, she assumes,

Has sailed this same pun-filled boat

To humor’s certain doom.

“Tarantula,” she sighs, “We are

Most cruelly beset

By the most nauseating jokes

Our language can beget.”

“What jokes are these?” the spider asks,

“I’ve lived a sheltered life…”

So Tara, who would rather eat

A needle and a knife

Than help this pun perpetuate,

Must crack the cursed joke,

Expecting that the spider will

At least pretend to choke—

But, rather than look mortified,

Tarantula guffaws,

“Ha-ha! That joke’s the best I’ve heard,

Your wit deserves applause!”

And so he claps eight hairy legs

While Tara, in despair,

Runs blindly from Arachnid House

Into more wholesome air.

Jojo Was a Man Who Wished He Was a Monkey...

Behold! Le Chicken and Waffles! With pineapple salsa...yumm...

Enjoying some time at Guthrie Green with a Smoked Lamb Pita and Aranciata

If you live in Tulsa, or nearabouts, get yourself down to Guthrie Green sometime in the next few days for some Shakespeare in the Park (Much Ado About Nothing)! It is a wonderful production and watching outdoors is an added bonus, because there is much (but not too-much) un-sought audience participation (You Go, Benedick! or BOOO!!! etc.). Very relaxed atmosphere and tons of laugh-out-loud moments, hooray! And family friendly, I might add...if your child is getting fidgety, just send them over to the splash pad or let them run around a bit, no biggie!

Here are the newest Zoo poems (up to K, almost half-way!). From a psychological perspective, the first is about an exuberant, fool-hardy, yet good-hearted boy, while the second is also about a reckless--but rude and disobedient--boy. "The good end happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means." [The Importance of Being Earnest.] I think kids could learn a lot from this collection! ;)

Jojo's Trip to the Zoo

Jojo's in the jungle and
Attempting to be sly--
He's tiptoeing in camouflage,
But not because he's shy;
He aims to climb a jungle tree
And swing from vine to vine,
But if he's caught, he'll be kicked out
And forced to pay a fine.
He's made it! Jojo, vine in hand,
Abandoning his stealth,
Let's forth a wild jungle cry,
Regardless of his health.
But Jojo's in a jungle in
A building, not Brazil,
So Jojo's Tarzan transformation's
Bound to end up ill.
He hits a wall--ker-thud!-- and lands
Atop a metal cage
(Belonging to a sloth, though that's
Superfluous, I'd gauge.)
Still, Jojo's never down for long,
He's up and running soon,
Concocting plans to slingshot from
This planet to the Moon.

Konstantine's Trip to the Zoo


"Be careful, Konstantine," his mother
Warned him ere he left;
He rolled his eyes and muttered
"Blah, blah, blah," beneath his breath.
But Konstantine has far more chance
Of growing fat and old
By listening to Mum, and doing
Just as he is told.
Will Konstantine take care today,
Or risk a wayward arm
By teasing some demented beast
Who only means him harm?
The Tale of Konstantine's Demise
Gets worse before the end.
I dare not tell you any more--
Your heart may never mend.
But please, before you leave, take heed
To this last good advice:
Don't try to pet piranhas, 'cause
They really aren't that nice.

An Everyday Day at the Zoo, Part 1

New project, begun last night: a collection of 26 short poems, each one titled "[So-and-so's] Trip to the Zoo". Each "so-and-so"'s name will begin with a different letter of the alphabet--so far, I'm on H for Hubert. It's fun inventing wacky scenarios between children and zoo animals. I'll type the poems from the pictures shown down below, since my handwriting is still atrocious. (Or, if you want to be kind, artistic??)

Bertie's Trip to the Zoo

Bertie was bewildered by
A wildebeest (or gnu)
That introduced itself as Fred
And said, "How do you do?"
"I must be ailing," Bertie answered,
"Though I would have sworn
To be as hale as any age-d infant ever born."
"My sympathies," the gnu replied,
"I hope you get well MOOOOOO....."
(As final words, these may be bland,
But they will have to do,
For Bertie never heard another
Human sound from Fred,
The beast whose manners rivalled those
Of many a noble head.)

Elsinora's Trip to the Zoo

Elsinora Everbeen
Inspired Billy Bear
To dance upon his two back feet
With elegance and flair.
It's true--'twas love as fast as sight
(On Billy's side, at least)--
That's why this inner ursine
Ballerina was released.
So: Was it wit or charm that made her
Billy's deepest wish?
Oh no, it was her goggling eyes--
He thought she was a fish.

Hubert's Trip to the Zoo

"Hi, this is Hubert Hemlock...Yes,
I hear you loud and clear!"
"Ooh-ooh, ooh-ah, ooh-ooh, ooh-ee!"
Met Hubert's waiting ear.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand--
Could you repeat that, please?
I fear this new banana phone
Can't translate Chimpanzese!"