Leah

I had some heartbreaking news yesterday about the loss of a really inspiring, sweet and genuine person, my friend Leah. Leah was working in Ghana doing development work for the research institute where I used to work in DC. She was involved in a car accident in Ghana and didn't make it through.

I am so saddened for her family and friends and having a hard time thinking of consoling thoughts at this time. Her life was cut so short and I find it devastating to think what a great loss this will be to everyone who knew her. The only thing that brings a little comfort to me was that Leah was truly living her life with great passion and joy. She was so dedicated to her work and so excited to be living in Ghana and traveling throughout Africa. And despite her serious work ethic, she was a totally fun and spirited person to be around. I will be thinking of her today and reflecting on the way she lived her life and how inspiring she was. And how sad it is that there never seems to be enough time...

Why I'll be eating only rice for the next two weeks...

My new blonde hair!

Just because...

it's Wednesday and I love you, I present to you Harry the Wonder Dog! (I love how perplexed he looks that his human friends find this so impressive.)



Addendum: Speaking of dogs and canine tricks...here is a photo of one of the helpers of the Top Dog Competition in Wayne, PA, my old stomping grounds. Yes, it is me. I was so excited to hand out dog biscuits to all the lovely canine competitors! This year I'm totally going to teach one of my friend's dogs to sneeze and blow away the competition (pun intended!! ha ha!)

Who are the people in your neighborhood?

Oh my goodness! Look who dropped in to say hi to me today. Why it's Oscar the Grouch's dear friend Slimey! Well how de do, sir! Who knew Slimey was not a worm at all, but a delicious cheesy curl...

I'm a wheel watcher!

This past weekend was Kensington's 3rd annual Kinetic Sculpture Derby and also the Trenton Ave. Arts Festival. To sum it up: the Derby is a parade of solely manpowered creations, usually involving bikes. Participants are judged in different categories like overall design and engineering. The fun culminates in a mud pit. Enough said really.

It did not disappoint! There was so much good energy out there. It really made me love our fair city. Here are some videos I swiped from youtube (thanks for letting me share, videographer people!). I was going to just post photos, but that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me because we are talking about "moving" sculpture after all. The thrill is watching it in action.

Harvey come back! You can blame it all on me.

I've been bad at blogging lately. Mostly because I've been dying of swine flu (actually a respiratory infection), but hopefully this will be rectified soon as I got a prescription for Amoxicillin yesterday. The doctor prescribed the highest dose available, twice a day, which is twisting my stomach in knots, but hopefully killing off all the nasties!

Anyways, on a happier, and completely unrelated note, we have started planting in the pots on the deck. Some heirloom tomatoes and peppers, cilantro and other herbs... I'm excited already! It made me think of last summer and I remembered my friend Harvey Pekar the baby praying mantis who took up shop in the mint. He looked a little like this:



One day he just disappeared though. I was terrified the next time I saw him he would be full-sized, peering around the tomatoes (I'm not so much into the mantises when they are huge), but I think he just left for greener pastures. Maybe one of his kin will come back this year, though!

Go on, Jeffrey!

In which Jeffrey explains a little about Dracula...

Gelflings.

Uh, yeah. I was just thinkin about Gelflings. Hm. 

Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde

Today is the anniversary of my mom's death...I guess it was almost 20 years ago today? I was thinking of her and trying to think of a suitable blog post to pay tribute to her on this beautiful (sunny?!) May morning. I thought maybe I could post a photo of her favorite flowers, or maybe a link to a song she liked, but instead I've decided to talk about...a Pacman puppet show!

Let me explain. So, we had these fuzzy Pacman finger puppets (the above photo doesn't cut it, but it's the best I could find) that we got for Christmas one year. And I don't know how it started, but my mom would put on these puppet shows for my brother and me in which the plot was always the same. Each ghost would introduce himself and state his name, "My name is Inky, my name is Blinky, etc., but when she got to Clyde, he would bewilderedly pause, forgetting his name, and then yell, "so my name must be Stinky!" and all the other ghosts would shake their heads and say, "NO, NO, NO" and pandemonium would erupt and my brother and I would grab our toes and literally roar with laughter. And this never got old--we would ask her to put it on again and again.

And that is how I would like to remember my mom today. Someone with infinite patience, warmth and kindness as well as a penchant for silliness (not to mention impeccable comedic timing!) which I can only hope to emulate someday. She probably would be surprised that a Pacman puppet show is one of my fondest memories of her, but I think even a small, loving gesture can have a lasting impact on someone's life. So remember that. Go forth and be love. What are you waiting for?

Make sure the government runs good

This may be my favorite Drunk History of them all! For those of you not familiar with these web shorts, the Drunk History series reinterprets a famous historical event, or biography of a famous personage, through the hazy recollection of a drunken storyteller. SOOO freakin great. This one features sweet potato Paul Schneider. I lurve him.

Goodfellas Peanuts