Feel better

Poor Lynne was supposed to be part of this photo. She was even here but had started feeling progressively worse at work today and decided it was better to go home than take a chance at getting us sick. At least we sent her home with a cupcake. I hope you feel better soon, Lynne! Kathy, Tim, Tom, and I had a great night talking and stuffing our faces with cake after getting food from Barnaby’s, who gave 33 percent of their day’s food sales to AIDS Foundation Houston as part of Dining Out For Life. From that site: In 2010 with the help of great Houston restaurants, AFH raised $43,000 in support for their programs and services such as housing, case management, and food assistance for nearly 5,000 HIV+ men, women, and children.

Good food and good work? Who could say no to that? Thank you Barnaby’s and all restaurants nationwide who do so much for their AIDS/HIV-impacted communities. And it’s fitting that this year’s event fell on the day we celebrate Steve R’s birthday. AIDS took him from his friends and family too soon, but his love of celebration–and chocolate–still brings us together.

Magnetic Poetry 365:118

I couldn’t sleep last night, thinking of the fury of all those tornados in the Southeast–most particularly my home state and the only city I consider a hometown, my beloved Tuscaloosa. The pictures and videos are numbing. We have family members still without power, but everyone is okay. Still hoping to get responses from friends in the areas impacted.

Clearly that was on my mind when I did today’s poem.

Numbers Photo Series, No. 1


I like the generosity of numbers.
The way, for example,
they are willing to count
anything or anyone…

From the poem Numbers by Mary Cornish.

This is the first in a new photo series. Though I’m a word person, I like finding numbers in random places. Probably I should use the numbers I find to buy lottery tickets. It’s as scientific a system as any, I guess. If you use my numbers and win millions of dollars, I’ll probably never hear from you again, right?