my first love (when I was 5)

The honorable Levar Burton!

Here is Rhett and Link's tribute.

"Butterfly in the sky..."

the similarities of fashion and insects

The beautiful Banded Argiope spider:

The hideous Balenciaga shoe, in memory of the Wicked Witch of the East from the Wizard of Oz, whom we only remember by the hideous stockings she was wearing when she died.

These shoes are available with a human-sized web with hooks and an inflatable helpless bug, for the aspiring spider heroine on the go.

The revolting Alexander Mcqueen shoe. Perhaps these shoes might prove useful in the tenements of New York or Philadelphia, where mice and roaches are known to roam freely. Freedom at last for the forgotten style-fashionistas of the ghetto! These shoes are for you! With this dandy pair, the pests could conveniently crawl underneath your feet, instead of over them.

The stunning Arrow Shaped Micrathena Spider:

Sigh.

my favorite pictures of the day

Paris Hilton with a Buddhist Monk? Hilarious! You have to admire Paris' ability to keep a straight face, although she may have lost it for a moment when she apparently did the Buddhist Monk a favor by driving him home. Was Paris Hilton really seeking enlightenment? No! It was merely a prank on the paparazzi, and the psuedo-Buddhist monk is really an actor! Brilliant!
On another note, I love her dress.

thoughts on eyebrows....

Do your eyebrows love to be the center of attention? Or are they raised so high over your eyes that they appear to be flying away from your face like mini-boomerangs?

Are you sure of your ancestry, or is your father really Mr. Spock from Star Trek??

It disturbs me that many women, especially featured in commercials, ads and television programs, have over-arched eyebrows! Sometimes, you can even see their eye socket under their eyebrow. Maybe the childhood images of Cruella De Vil and Natasha from Rocky and Bullwinkle still subconsciously linger in their minds. In any case, people with over-ached eyebrows appear to be in a constant state of anger, amazement or analysis, or are making people uneasy by the perpetual look of suspicion that overly raised eyebrows produce.

My my, why are you so happy dear? "It is my over-arched eyebrows, of course!"

Natasha: "Boris, daaahlingck, you got plan?''
Boris: "I always got plan. Right now my plan for you is an eyebrow makeover!"
Natasha: "Boris, you don't mean it!"
Boris: "Well, you don't want to look like Fearless Leader over here, his eyebrows are so ugly... even his ugly is ugly!"
Fearless Leader: "Quiet, idiot! Have you liquidated Moose and Squirrel?"

Have you been searching for the perfect gift for your eyebrow-challenged coworker? Why not favor them with a limited edition Cruella De Vil pen holder? Or maybe you could set it in one of your home windows for security. I'm sure no burglar would attempt to break down your door if he saw this face peaking through the blinds, scrutinizing his every move.


Are you in an artistic mood today? Then perhaps you may wish to emulate the famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. She was a poor, tormented soul, whose eyebrows were true witnesses of her tortured existence. (Also note the prominent female moustache. More on this subject later.)




It seems that even men are not exempt from this malady. Why, is this Paul McCartney? Could his eyebrows have been the inspiration for the song "Help?"




Help, I need somebody,
Help, not just anybody,
Help, you know I need someone,
Help!

When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed any body's help in any way.
My eyebrows did their thing, I was so self assured,
Now I find I've changed my mind, I don't like them anymore.

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
and I do appreciate you bein' round,
Help me fix my over-arched eyebrows,
Won't you please, please help me?


For naturally beautiful eyebrows, they must follow the contour of your eyebrow bone. Run your finger along it.You should be able to feel it beneath your eyebrow. That is where the line of your eyebrow should be. If your eyebrows are far above this, then you most likely have over-arched eyebrows. It is much better to stay with the arch that you naturally have already.

Remember, if eyes are the window of the soul, then your eyebrows are their frames, and since we should all value our eyes as one of the most precious treasures we have, let us not detract from their beauty, but enhance them with beautiful, clean, naturally shaped eyebrows.

The Great Kitchen Escape

This is the best new game I have discovered! And I still haven't figured it out yet! But it is easy, yet challenging, fun, satisfying and a waste of time, all of the requirements for a computer game!

What sweet pea is listening to

Basia Bulat and her album "Oh my darling"

It's folksy. It's real. It has harmonica, guitar, violin. I love it.

http://www.basiabulat.com/

Reviews: "Oh My Darling is an enchanting collection of songs featuring Bulat's breathy vibrato set like a jewel into organic arrangements"

-Andy Gill
The Independent (UK) ****

"The Ontario-based singer's gorgeous debut is an old fashioned delight, full of waltzing rythms, twinkling piano and delicate strings, topped off with a voice so warm it barely needs accompaniment...a low key gem that should not be overlooked."

-David Smyth
London Evening Standard (UK) ****

"The set is perfectly paced and varied with the songs wrapped in a delicious warmth that pervades the room, drawing us closer into the songs. Most of Basia’s album Oh My Darling features with Why Can’t It Be Mine, La-Da-Da and December staying in the memory. Violin, piano and ukulele are interspersed over the drums and Basia’s autoharp and guitar with enough invention to keep the attention up.

Double-time hand claps from the whole band introduce I Was A Daughter, continuing until their instruments are needed and silencing for the duetted middle part before coming back in and rising to a quick crescendo.

Little Waltz comes mid-set and is the undoubted highlight. Plucked guitar notes decorate a sorry tale of love that didn’t quite blossom before the strings invoke the song’s emotion. The line “I learned how to dance but I never showed it to you” holds such repressed feeling than Ishiguro would be proud of it.

Basia’s between song banter is quite at odds with her demeanour when singing. She has trouble speaking between the giggling and manages to sound entirely genuine when she beamingly announces how pleased she is to be playing in Birmingham. Maybe she is genuine. Tonight is the one month anniversary of their being on tour so perhaps the novelty hasn’t worn off, but then with highlights like staying with the drummer from Dexys Midnight Runners how could it?

On drums Basia’s brother Bobby, teased for his surly onstage demeanour, is impressive, especially on The Pilgrimming Vine where he keeps a tight martial beat on the snare while the song unfolds around him. If there’s any suggestion that working with ex-Arcade Fire’s Howard Bilerman has had an influence it’s on this song.

A rousing rendition of Snakes and Ladders closes the set and as the band troop off they make it as far as the door before being called back by the crowd – not in the usual charade of these things but with more of a pleading edge. The band turn back at the door to give us one last morsel.

Basia Bulat and her band of family, friends and housemates have returned to Canada for the time being but until they come back I’d heartily recommend buying her album. You may as well get in early because as everyone seemed to agree after the show the little girl with the unusual name is headed for bigger things."

http://www.culturedeluxe.com/news_item.asp?id=1634

turkey breast

I went to a grocery store on Sat. night and I was feeling so hypoglycemic I wanted to eat a rotisserie turkey. It was near closing time and I knew they would be discounted. And there it was------a rotisserie turkey breast, abandoned, large, leathery-looking and only $5. Echoes of prehistoric men bearing clubs flashed for a moment in my brain, followed by Geico commercials, but they quickly disappeared when I sat down to eat in the little dining area they have by the deli, plastic fork and knife in hand.
I was not prepared for what followed. Soon, people walking by, supposedly absorbed in their store flyer or casually strolling their Wonder Bread-towered carts towards the meat aisle, slow down to stare at me, or whisper to their partner while "safely" casting their glances in my direction.
What, haven't you ever seen a petite woman eat a large turkey breast before??!!!!! My husband left me for a brief moment to get a magazine to read, and then when the first group of onlookers had passed, this ugly ghetto looking man who did not look like he was grocery shopping, wearing a dirty hoodie, baggy pants, unshaved face and nappy hair sticking out in uneven places upon his head, alone and cart-less, walked by me, looked at me, and then turned around to look at a pile of cheap sweat pants that was right in front of me. He didn't look that interested in the sweat pants. Finally he said "You gonna eat all that?" But I just ignored him, becoming even more seriously engrossed in the task at hand, and concentrating on the labels of Old Bay products. He walked away.

If you were wondering, my turkey breast was delicious.
Next time I decide to eat a large piece of meat in a public place, I will turn my back. No, I think I should purchase a very large bone, and contentedly gnaw on it to further entertain any onlookers.