Lava Lamp Figure Shaping

I unearthed my lava lamp, and it still works churning purple: How exciting! Can you see the pink flamingo lurking in the background on the left? Do pink flamingos lurk? Mine does.

Better then to ask no questions? Better then to be a contented pig than an unhappy Socrates? Since factory farming is tougher on pigs than it is on philosophers, I'll take a chance.

Jeanette Winterson, Written on the Body

Sweet Season

shuck shuck boil and eat

Sweet corn is a bit phallic- ew!

Corn silk clings to mom's shoes.

July 24, 2011 - We (my mama and I) bought the first sweet corn of the season at the downtown farmers' market on Saturday. I couldn't remember the verb for cleaning sweet corn tonight. I knew it wasn't "peel" and then I remembered: SHUCK.

Ah, shucks, I forgot the verb. ; )

My mom was hard at work peeling (shucking) the sweet corn when I brought our her polka music. We enjoyed listening to the "Laughing Polka" by the Wendinger Band while we worked. My mom probably enjoyed it more than I did because she is such a Polka Nut!

http://www.wendingerbandtr​avel.com/

Here's the Musicmeister Band playing that same polka.

candle light eye candy

Inviting Julia and Philip into my electricity-free apartment and enjoying the companionship of a language exchange in the dark, punctuated by flickers of orange flares from the candle lodged in the NesCafe tin was a completely normal evening. Oh Brazza!!

Eye Candy

I was comparing notes with Andrew, a former student from Zimbabwe, who lives with his family in the U.K.

Being black in rural England

Being white in Congo-Brazzaville

We decided it’s like being the wrong variety of eye candy- orange jellybeans in a bag of cherry.

Sometimes, I think people enjoy being with me because I am an odd sort of status symbol, like an expensive car or a golf club membership. This feels awkward and uncomfortable. I had the benefit of blending when I lived in Lithuania at least until I opened my mouth. But most of the time, I love the Congolese friends who surround me daily and the missionary community members who have embraced me as SIL.