Miscellany . . .

While walking along the desert sand and rocks of a narrow path through the scrub I spied on the ground a... well, I stared at it for at least ten seconds before my brain registered what my eyes were seeing...it seemed so out of place on that path... it was a somewhat weathered and sun-faded ten dollar bill.. no kidding. As hard as it is to believe, I had actually found some money.

Since it was free, I decided to spend it foolishly, so when I got to Circle-K I bought five dollars worth of PowerBall tickets. Couldn't bring myself to blow the whole ten.

I'll post the result (if I win) after the drawing. Unless it's the grand prize of mega-millions, that is.

(I thought of taking a picture of the ten-spot but then opined that most readers know what a ten-dollar bill looks like)

But then, I wondered how many people can say, without looking, whose picture is on the ten-dollar bill.

Can you?

. . .

Last night Mike and JoAnn arrived back home from their vacation trip to London. And they came bearing gifts. I am now the proud owner of a box of GUYLIAN Finest Belgian Chocolate Sea Shells, a package of Marx & Spencer Orchard Mix (a delicious mix of soft and juicy dried fruit) and a box of Twinings Green Tea.

What a thoughtful couple of kids they are.

Thank you guys.

. . .

I finally managed to snap a picture of Eva doing her dream-time leg stretches while napping on the carpet. She cracks me up when she dreams. Sometimes, lying there on the carpet, her legs do tiny swimming motions, or running motions as if chasing some prey, and often she growls most menacingly deep down in her throat.

Eva stretching her legs and growling while asleep

. . .

I read an interesting and thought-provoking factoid this morning:

Amiri Baraka was the poet laureate of New Jersey during the September 11 attacks, and a year later, he read his poem "Somebody Blew Up America" at a poetry festival. In it, he suggested that Israel knew about the attack beforehand; the poem was labeled anti-Semitic and caused a huge controversy. The governor of New Jersey tried to fire Baraka, but discovered that it wasn't legally possible to fire a poet laureate. So the state passed a bill that dissolved the position, and since then, there has not been a poet laureate of New Jersey.

As I said, it's merely an interesting (and thought-provoking) factoid.

But I'll write nothing more about it... at this time.

__________

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
--Aristotle

A Couple Of Things...

Yesterday we went to take a look at a local Farmer's Market -- I bought a tomato advertised as:

tomatoes that taste like tomatoes

And I almost bought a homemade brownie (with a $2 price tag) but then had second thoughts and did not.

. . .

What is a douche bag? Or is that douchebag? Which prompts me to ask:

Did you ever contemplate what it's really like to be a copy editor?

An opinion piece from The Awl purportedly answers that last question.

And Mentions Patrick Stewart's Right Hand

Copy editing? I think not.

. .

Watched The Age Of Stupid -- a full-length feature film chronicling the results of global warming. In my somewhat biased opinion it is mainly a political propaganda piece, speculative and blatantly aimed at arousing emotions instead of being scientific or fact-based. Most of it made me suspect that I was being manipulated by marketing experts. But as I often note, I could be wrong.

And I must admit that I did not (could not) watch the entire thing.

If you would like to view this controversial movie and form your own opinion as to its value, you can do so (until 5 P.M. Pacific Time this coming Thursday) at which time it will no longer be offered at this site free of charge.

. . .

On this lazy Sunday morning Eva is sleeping soundly on the carpet in the front parlor. She's such a smart canine.