life with a little pizzazz
Congratulations to Gabriel on second prize in the Seagate Billionth Drive 1K Competition run by boingboing Gadgets.
The challenge…”send us the most ingenious work of art, writing, code or whatever takes your fancy that fits into a kilobyte or less.”
There were numerous imaginative entries with Tiny Mona being one of the most artistic. Yes, I am biased since I know Gabriel but his miniature version of the Mona Lisa is awesome.
A long time ago a puppy named Buddy was walking down the road. All of a sudden he saw Mean Rat in his old car with that mean smile on his face.
Buddy dove into the nearest bush to hide, but it was too late. Mean Rat had seen him. Mean Rat said, “Hello Buddy, you look good in poison ivy!” Then he laughed and drove away.
“Stupid rat!” said Buddy as he ran away itching himself.
Later that afternoon Buddy saw Kikkie Kitty curled up in her chair and she saw him.
She said, “Hello Buddy, you look rather pink today. Why is that?”
Buddy said, “You know how I’m allergic to poison ivy?”
“Yes,” said Kikkie Kitty.
“Well, I saw Mean Rat in his car and I dove into the nearest bush and accidentally went into poison ivy,” he said.
“Oh, no!” said Kikkie Kitty.
“Let me finish the story. So, where was…” said Buddy being cut off by Kikkie Kitty.
“No, listen,” she said, “Your nose is wet from the poisoning.”
“I know,” said Buddy.
“It’s not stopping,” she said, “It might be permanent!”
“Oh, no,” said Buddy.
Three years later, it was still wet.
Our time, still wet!
That’s how dogs got wet noses!
Yet another year for a great book sale. I posted on last year’s sale also. More special finds and an enjoyable morning. Highlight of the day came from the little lady.
“This is one of my favorite days of the year.”
Last night we prepared her book list so she could check off her needs as she discovered them. It is awkward thinking of telling a child that she has collected more than enough books. Can there be too many?
This evening I headed back to the workplace to check out the Vietnamese Student Association’s badminton tournament. Lucky for me that a student needed a partner, so I got to play. Purely for the fun of it as I have not really ever played badminton. There has been those rare occasions at a backyard picnic but nothing noteworthy.
We did okay but did not make it into the final rounds. Our play kept improving which was nice. My partner was fairly new to badminton as well. I’d say we were respectable, one more win in the initial round and we could have moved on.
You may be wondering why I participated since I’m not Vietnamese and not an avid badminton player. One factor was the pure fun of it, especially since your expectations don’t have to be too high for a sport you haven’t really played. Second, I play volleyball at lunch with several people that were playing and thought it would be fun to join them.
I also participated with some of the lunch volleyball crowd in a Vietnamese Student Association volleyball tournament a few months back at Portland State University. On that evening our Portland Community College team took top honors. Tonight, PSU teams dominated.
Learned about the Zimmer Twins site at the WebVisions Event today. Checked it out and even produced my first Zimmer Twins movie. Be sure to check it out and rate it accordingly.
Honoring the event I am attending today, I thought I’d share my user experience using TriMet, Portland’s public transportation entity, for travel from home to the Oregon Convention Center.
In short, the bus and MAX train ride were technically flawless. Even the preparations went smooth. Last night I used TriMet’s website to verify my travel plans. After entering my home address, my destination (just entered “Oregon Convention Center,” no address) and the time I needed to arrive by, the website informed me of where and when to catch my bus. It also let me know where to depart the bus and then walk to catch my MAX train. As I said, everything was flawless. Even the times were right on. But, despite this, the experience was mundane and uninspiring.
Then, on my short MAX ride, the coachman alerted us to the presence of a sea lion in the river to our right as we crossed the Steel Bridge. My transportation experience transformed immediately from an impersonal task into a shared experience. People around me morphed from mere indistinguishable shapes to inquisitive and true community partners.
One little action changed my experience.
Enjoyed an evening of jazz stories. Lynn Darroch’s spoken jazz readings backed by guitarist John Stowell and saxophonist Rob Davis enthralled a small gathering at our small neighborhood library. The stories of jazz greats were intriguing and inspiring, and the pairing with live jazz backup pushed this from simply reflections from the lives of legends to a truly engaging encounter in poetic jazz art.
If you have a chance, catch a live performance or listen to samples and get your own copy on cdbaby.com.
You can also listen online to John Stowell and Rob Davis at the Portland Jazz Jams Podshow.
The Gazillion Jumbo Bubble Machine truly does work. I’m not sure what their bubble recipe is but it makes some nice bubbles as we discovered this weekend. Here are some quick shots that don’t really show how well the machine worked but are cute bubble shots. The machine does do as advertised — lots of bubbles and plenty of bubbles in bubbles.
Hopefully the author of the following poem won’t mind me sharing it with you. You can also enjoy this poem and other works in the newsletter of the San Gabriel Writer’s League.
After a run-in with …
Carol Menchu
I look at us
walking around
in our individual wrappings
looking out on the world
with our individual psyches
making mountains
out of mole hills
and mole hills out of mountains
and wonder at the
wonder(less)/ness of it.
I, who know life is but
imagination’s figment,
am as guilty as all
of de/constructing
monsters in my mind
reading into what goes on
what does not exist
beyond myself.
And while I seek a freedom
away from mind’s perceptions
I am afraid to let go of myself
to freely seek this peace—
this emptiness—
this freedom away from collective
human imagination of self.
I am afraid of losing something—
What?
Control?
But isn’t the ability to lose
control of control
gaining control
of myself?