Is anyone bothered by this? Maybe it's just me.

“When I think about why Israelis visit Pushkar, I can’t find any logical reason except for the fact that it’s a G-dly birur of a place that needs it so badly. The most amazing thing is that right in the center of impurity, hundreds of Israelis return to their Father in heaven, and connect with the ‘tree of life,’ the Rebbe. 

From here, as always. Since when do we refer to the rebbe as the tree of life? Is that just since his passing?

Forest took the kids to Winchester yesterday for Mayfest again, big thing with lots of morris dancers and Indian fusiondancers and various bands performing in the streets, though apparently it wasn't as good as the past couple of years. And he wanted to share, so he phoned up to say hi.

Did he want to share the joys of the dancing? No.
Did he want to let me hear some fabulous music, like last year? No.
Did he want to tell me all about the venison and red wine burger he was about to consume and make me all envious and drooly and unable to do anything about it as I'm several hundred miles away?

Why yes, yes he did, how ever did you guess?

He is officially mean and evil, as was the text I got a couple of hours later:

"I eatz your bambi burgerz slurp"

Arghhhhhhhhhh!

::giggle::

I'm really looking forward to my new phone (see earlier post on same) and quite impatient for it to turn up.. playing with the online simulation is just good sense to get the hang of how to navigate and set things up in advance and not be utterly perplexed when it arrives, and not just really, really sad, right? :>

The interactive thingy on the SonyEricsson site is pretty nifty actually...

If you're looking for something different for your kids this summer, consider the programs at the American Visionary Art Museum!

• Art is fun! Especially at the Visionary
• Campers can sign up for one, two, or three weeks! July 8–26
• Each of the three weeks of the Visionary Experience Summer Camp features a different, talented Guest Artist! A painter! A performing artist! An experimental animator!
• The theme of the camp is "Storytelling" in all of its amazing forms
• The camp culminates with a Salon for campers' families and friends to see what Visionary Tales were created
• Need-based scholarships are available
• There's no other camp like this one!

( read more about it )

Looking to move out to MD in July, and the fiance and I were wondering if there were community garden plots around?  We've never tried it before, but we both would like a chance to grow some things ourselves, and the apartment doesn't really have the space for it.  We'll be in the Severn area (21144), so the closer to that the better.  Any tips, stories, or places to investigate greatly appreciated!  Thanks!

• 21:49 For the record, I really hate when I lose my patience w/ the kids... #

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Does anybody have any experience with the Residences at Mount Vernon (asignaturecommunity.com)? If not, any other recommendations for renting in the Mount Vernon area? I'm looking for a one-bedroom. Thanks :)

I eat pretty healthily these days thanks to the diabetes, not really a hardship as I'd take feeling stable and well over plunging blood sugars and nausea any day, but sometimes a girl's just gotta have junk food, so my treat for tonight while Forest was away and to avoid cooking was a portion of kebab meat, and some garlic bread with cheese, and it should have been onion rings but they messed up the order and sent fries instead... had about half of everything (they're generous with their portions) and part of me is revelling in greasy food and lovely melty cheesy stuffs but the rest of the body is going, "Man, what the hell did you just feed us on? Where's the vegetables? Where's the nice lean meat and carefully planned balanced plate? Like, whoa, man!"

::giggle::

Brown rice earlier and a walkies down the street should help battle the shock to the system, and its back to wholesomeness tomorrow :)

Bush asks Saudi arabia to pretty please increase oil production. SA reples: kiss my ass.

it's nice to see someone else who is able to tell Bush to go screw. Usually it's Bush who's telling everyone else to do that.

• 09:43 @JCC Lilis taking a class, then my turn! #
• 12:55 yoga was OK. I didn't feel very coordinated. heh #
• 13:00 Holy heck Pelin returns to Turkey in 5 days. She IM'd "i just wanted to say thank you very much for everything you did for me" #
• 18:35 I love my husband! #

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Jacob drew a picture of a beach with a apple tree.

Of course one of the things about incipient new phones (see previous post) is that one can then drool over accessories - for my last phone I knitted a wee case because I couldn't find any to fit. The world has finally noticed that nifty phones need nifty containers so one is rather spoilt for choice... and I'm left with a big decision: do I got for the rock-chick biker-style leather case with studs and skull (thusly) or choose sweet girly pink with added dangle (thusly)? Hrmm....

Mind you, if I could find a pink *leather* case that would suit admirably! :)

Any thoughts on where I can get a good, not-too-expensive manicure? I live in Towson, but I don't mind going to the city for it.

Mr. Li, the father dressing his dead daughter, also said he believed that the school was poorly built. He arrived at the school minutes after the quake and spent the next four hours searching for his daughter. His forearms were bruised and his fingernails were split and bloodied from digging.

He proudly handed over his cellphone and showed a picture of his daughter, Ke, taken last week. But Thursday morning, he and his wife were preparing for her cremation. They struggled to slip her into the pink pajamas and then dressed her in a gray sweatshirt and pants. Her mother placed a white silk mourning cloth under her clotted black hair.

Mr. Li said he lost his job in 1997 and had been living on a meager welfare payment. He said the school was filled with children from poor families. “My daughter was a very good student,” he said. “She was a quiet girl, and she liked to paint. We’re putting her in these clothes because she loved them.”

He said he was angry and sad. He said his daughter’s body was still warm when he found her at the morgue on Wednesday. He wondered how long she lived beneath the rubble. And then he turned away, leaning down slightly, and whispered in her ear.

“My little daughter,” he said quietly. “You used to dress yourself. Now I have to do it for you.”

Having small children is like being jetlagged...except you never catch up on your sleep enough to return to your local time zone.

This post brought to you by the 450mg of caffeine I have consumed so far today. It's not working. Someone get the jumper cables.

Oh, another huge seizure last night, and I was doing so well too - likely doing too well, we've been busy getting stuff sorted for Forest heading off to see the kids this weekend and I was bright and bouncy and getting things done and we needed to go shopping and its not surprising I went splat, even though I spent all of Tuesday resting. Still, I'm on my ownsome till Monday now so not much chance of overdoing things. I'm incredibly hyper right now because I was up with the larks getting the last bit of sorting done before shoveling him out of the door and I'm hoping naptime will hit soon after lunch, come to think....!

~Television~
Usually him being away means I spend much more time online and updating LJ but I'm still finding it better if I avoid the screen, in fact I suspect the seizure wasn't helped by a couple of hours happy browsing of Amazon for a big box of books delivered yesterday, plus plenty of library books reserved. I've lots of television to catch up on - watched a cool thing the other night, GhostBoat with David Jason, a spooky thriller thing about a submarine that vanished in the Second World War and suddenly reappears, but there's something weird going on and past and present start getting mixed as they try and recreate its previous journey. Definitely worth waiting for - recorded it from the tv in April, that's April 2007 and its taken a year to feel up to concentrating, but highly recommended.

~Russian~
Ooh, did some Russian too, its quite tricky trying to re-learn Russian whilst avoiding thinking too much (lots of study wears me out) but I'm doing pretty good with the various poetry books, and the fairy tales. I read my first proper story in Russian too, actually understanding it and knowing what the words meant rather than guessing a lot and looking at pictures, I'm really pleased with myself. Ok, I spent much time checking the glossary for unknown words but I now know all about the story of the tsar with 3 sons and the youngest who has to marry a frog. I like frogs, prince in the story didn't seem as keen, oddly... :>

~Geeky Toys!~
Sneaking online just now to do some research on a nifty mobile phone I spotted at PCWorld yesterday, my current phone is ages old and basically makes calls and does texts, which has been all I've wanted, but I'm very envious that Forest can do video and photos and send picture messages and the like. I've been pondering a replacement for about 6 months but just haven't found anything I liked, except one Nokia but it had such lousy reviews I was quiite put off.

This one I was looking at is 3G so you can go online and look stuff up from google, as well as do email and stuffs, plus its actually a decent size and shape and isn't plasticky and isn't one of those slidey phones, thankfully, too many of those around and I've used Forest's Samsung enough to know I'm not keen. The Phone Of Much Niftiness is a Sony Ericsson K530i and its hard to get hold of except as a pay monthly, keeps being discontinued as its an older model; I don't use enough minutes to make that cost effective, but I just spotted it as an Orange pay-as-you-go at Play.com.

It should be here by Monday and that was my Giftmas money finally used, was saving up for something else but this is more fun, whee! :)

~Random~
So my plan for the weekend is to watch more telly and read some of my lovely new books, lots of fantasy-type things with werewolves and demons, nice brain-candy, plus I've dual-language short stories by Tolstoy and Gogol to ring the changes on, depends what the brain is in the mood for. And I might manage some music too, piano would be nice though I'll settle for some classical guitar playing. Will try and read lj and catch up with folk more, still a bit hit and miss though. Hmm, and I'd better log off now as I'm feeling all nauseous. Oh bother, said Pooh, too much screentime :(

My LJ posts are getting long and infrequent now so I'm trying subsections with titles to keep track of things...

-PA Yellow* purchases hott dress for the Closing Party! Is taking The Headband Guy! But it's not a date!

-PA Yellow looks like giant Skittle in closing present! Doesn't care!

-PA Yellow has to do five pages of schedule change forms! Gets yelled at!! Bursts into tears in the bookkeeping office!!!

-Cast member quits with only four shows to go!! PA's Yellow and Krispix figuring out the understudy madness!!


*My codename at work.

• 11:02 Had 1st Bodypump class @ JCC. 3/4 way through had to leave. S was hysterical @ babysitting. Next time bring a bottle. #
• 13:13 Electricians are here. Whip is done. Some dispute over who is responsible for putting up a "point of termination" #

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The internets are full of win today. I will pass the win on to you.

stolen from sui_generis: When Obama Wins... website. my favorite: "When Obama wins, iphones will have cut-and-paste." Because Patrick is very unhappy that his iphone doesn't have cut-and-paste. So everyone, vote Obama. Think of the iphones.

Stolen from lisa: Stuff White People Like: correcting your grammar.

Stolen from nothingmuch: Republicans are losing interim congressional seat races in firmly red districts all over (including Dennis Hastert's old seat). I guess most people are smarter than marlowe's friend the_never, who is convinced that the economy crashing is due to the Democrats who were elected less than two years ago. (Srsly.)