A little something for you


Our poor lilies and elephant ears are looking damn sad today after the freezing temps last night. Every botanical that could be moved is cold but safe in the garage. And we’re expecting the plumber because we had a pipe fatality on the back of Tim’s apartment.

But this little rose was looking jaunty and hopeful even after a dog knocked it to the ground, so I thought I’d share it with y’all. That vase is one I gave my parents on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary a loooooong time ago.

Even though my toes are cold and I may have to sell an organ to pay Guinness’s vet bill, I’m reading stories about Cyclone Yasi in Australia, the violence breaking out in Egypt (and found out one of my friends has family in Cairo), and I have family in the Midwest who’ve been without power (and heat) since last night. So I’ve got nothing to complain about and hope to hear good news from everyone soon.

Random

1. Today I can’t seem to stop watching what’s going on in Cairo and Alexandria via Al Jazeera. Apparently, this revolution will be televised. I can’t say I have any great understanding of the political situation in Egypt; here are the things that have interested me.

  • The Internet can be shut down, but with a press still able to give us reports through journalists in the field and broadcasters, the world gets news. And even without access to the Internet, Egyptians still manage to assemble to protest. They’re driving between towns and using their phones to organize, and even when there are no clear leaders, they aren’t turning into mobs.

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  • The cooperation between the military and the protesters has shifted the atmosphere from violence to orderly protest. I hope that continues.  Meanwhile, average citizens have stepped in where the police have failed to try to return normalcy and security to neighborhoods (there is looting of and damage to businesses).

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  • Regular citizens are linking arms to repel intruders who would loot and destroy cultural treasures inside museums. It’s moving to see their determination to honor and protect their country’s heritage.

2. It’s 34 degrees here and I still won’t get any sympathy because it’s so much colder/icier/snowier everywhere else.

3. Does anyone else think Lauren Conrad and Kate Middleton look like each other?


Lauren Conrad, Reality Princess Past – Kate Middleton, Real Princess Future

4. The Google Art Project is great! Today I’ve taken virtual tours of the Tate and National Gallery in London.

Magnetic Poetry 365: 31

I was composing a lengthy post inspired by an article linked by Jeffrey Ricker, when a couple of bad keystrokes cost me all but the paragraph I was working on–and nothing I could do would bring back my words. Over two hours of writing and research gone.

So, hey. Here’s today’s poem. Though even this mode of writing doesn’t always work out. The other day I picked up my poem to take it outside so I could photograph it, hit the door frame with the board, and all my magnets went flying into the great wide open. I still don’t know if I put the poem back together right or lost a few words in the process.

Confidential to …

Don’t take the silence personally. We simply disagree so profoundly about big things that discussing them is a waste of our energy. I stopped debating years ago. If I have opinions that can be changed, they won’t be changed by argument, but by my intellect and emotion applied to my own life experiences–which is how those opinions were formed in the first place.

Life is short. Use it well and enjoy it!