What the heck in the world? (as Elizabeth would say)

Elizabeth seemed excited to sit down with Mrs. Whatsit who was attempting to sell me a gutter guard system for mah home. Leaning into the table I'm stunned I invited her in.

E: You know you look just like Daniel's Mom only she washes her hair.

Me: Elizabeth, that's impolite to say something like that.

Mrs. Whatsit: That's ok honey...I pulled it up today because I didn't wash it.

E: See she didn't wash it.

Mrs. Whatsit: She's got a lot of spunk. (I wish she hadn't used the word spunk). I nod and turn to E.

Me: It's ok if she wants to tell you she didn't wash her hair...it's not ok for you tell her she didn't wash her hair...feel me?

E: Like I can say Hilary's fatty-fat-fat but I can't say it when Hillary is around.

Me: What does Hillary's weight have to do with who Hillary is? Better yet, how could what she weighs be any of your business?

(Dramatic Pause)

E: If she was sitting on my leg it would really be my business.

Me: Please go to your room.

E: Why? I didn't call her fat?

Me: Take a break

E: If she was on my leg then I would have to go to the hospital and drink with a straw in my arm.

Me: Seriously...your room...now.

I sidestep the hard sell, shuffle Mrs. Whatsit out the door, and visit Lizardo who is singing to her fish.

Me: Is there something you would like to say?

E: You know some people might call you big ole fat Daddy...(pause)...but I never would (evil grin).

What the hell do you say to that?

dreamy baby

Greater than meditation is to share God with someone.

Greater than prayer is to fulfill someone else's need.

Greater than fasting is to feed someone who is starving.

I am thankful today for the food in my home...the ability to care for and support my children...and for all of the possibilities Spring brings.

Cheery...nauseating...a cardboard cutout for my own brand of Up With People optimism? Maybe -

Off to Nashville for work...and hopefully some good gallery bopping.

End of the day

There was a girl on the roof...barefoot and wrapped in traditional fabrics. Reconnaissance shoppers...craned their necks and scrutinized the motionless figure. Some determined reasons, others simply asked why? Quite a hooha on the ground as the wind wrapped around her, fifteen feet above their heads. Excerpt of their day, energy consumed, prattle to yackety-yak...all for something, absolutely, none of their business.

Here is The Ad

Human characteristics assigned to non-human things

Anthropomorphic - got called to the mat on that one today and was dictionary.com'd. It was over a baby doll pict. Not the hoochy-mama, hot pants, sort...an actual baby doll with pigtails and a pink bow to tie them wid. Doing a new ad -

Innocent Baby Doll looks coy/frightened - Light Pink/Yellow grad BG

Headline - Show Me On The Doll Where Broadcast Design Has Touched You.

Some concerns were tossed about that it might offend movie studio/tv network/ad agency folkses. But, I love it...we'll see what kind of response we get?

anywhere...really

I could just wipe it on the floor
How about you wipe it in a tissue
I wipe'm on the floor in nap time...then Jamie thumps them
That's gross baby
I'm not making it up Daddy
I didn't think you were
I always tell the wiping truth
That's mah girl:)

mixing happy and sparkle without the sparkle

I was told this evening (for the 3rd or 4th time) that my youngest daughter’s favorite color is shiny. I happen to like the color happy. You could say happy makes me happy…even if I’m feeling shiny. I also like the color melancholy…I seem to write longer under the spell. Not that length matters. I’m a fair distance from writing goals this week. Not that, that matters. I did learn a new color and that makes me happy. Happy, happy not the color happy.

that's the dial tone

There’s a simple litmus test to determine how close you are to someone by listening in on their cell phone conversations. Listening, as in eavesdropping when they are in the vicinity – making it impossible for you not to hear the conversation, not the listening that requires electronic devices and a court order. The better you know someone the more you know about the conversation. Can you tell who they are talking to by the way your friend responds? Do you have “insider” knowledge about a life event that was only covered in a cursory overview to the phone “friend”? Everyone has pretended to be on the lookout for mythical creatures (“the fifty yard cell phone stare”) when someone interrupts a one-on-one….sometimes you can’t help but get bits of the conversation. Depending on how well you know the person on the phone...and how long they stay on the phone in your presence…both serve to determine how uncomfortable/bored/annoyed/nonchalant you are during the hiatus. In addition, I have found the less I care one way or another about the person on the phone…the less I actually absorb of the conversation. Much like the friend who uses you to vent…and that is the sole subsistence of the relationship…my mind wanders to greener pastures during the phoning. I rarely answer the phone when I am with someone else, for no other reason than I want the person I am with to have my attention…even if it is for five minutes. I should also confess that I put off getting a cell phone until I absolutely, had no other choice. I much prefer not talking on the phone at all.

Musings

As if to suggest that we had something in common by our preference for Arial Condensed. My font choice says nothing about who I am…really. I find that people go to great lengths to find common ground. Constructing dependable enclosures…corralling beliefs, political affiliations and personal interests. I enjoy watching people outgrow patterns. Not intimating all patterns should be lobbed topside. “The mind takes a certain attitude, and then the whole world comes under the shadow of this attitude.” Our perspective shapes our reality…no doubt about it. With so many realities bopping around it’s amazing folks agree on anything. I suppose on some levels we don’t. When it doesn’t click…folks widen their attempt at connection. Ever-growing and contracting cocentric rings. Some we invite closer to the inner circle…others we orbit…satellite acquaintances…until the relationship’s mutual utility is sucked into the stratosphere and disappears.