Tug Of War

Are you more of a...

or a...

on Valentine's Day? 

   

Marcelo Behind The Lens

Much to my delight, a friend of mine recently started a blog where he's posting his photographs. We're often in different hemispheres and on different continents so it's been a real treat to see examples of his artistry now that the internet can foreshorten those distances...

Poetry In Motion

   

 
     

Nothing about this I don't love.

   

High Five To All The Heroes

How cool is this? The window washers at this children's hospital in Pittsburgh dressed up on the job as superheroes. What an awesome way to make someone's day! 

And speaking of superheroes (shield your eyes, children), here are some underoos from a French Etsy site... 

Just in time for Valentine's Day? They'd be perfect for Halloween in the Castro.

सबसे रहस्यमय हत्या

Combine Scotland Yard with the Romanov Dynasty and throw in a heavy dollop of the Subcontinent under British rule and you've got all the ingredients for a fantastic mystery series. Welcome to my world, thanks to Barbara Cleverly...

   

For anyone wondering why I've been taking my "lunch break" at 8am recently, you now have your answer! Just. one. more. chapter.

      

Winning Words

   

There are so many champion words in the English language, ones that are a delight to say: tithe, dragoon, splay... 

And so many words in other languages, ones I don't know how to pronounce, that have something fun to say...

Shemomedjamo (Georgian)

To accidentally eat the whole thing.

Pelinti (Buli, Ghana)

To move hot food around in your mouth.

Rhwe (Tsonga, South Africa)

To pass out on the floor, drunk and naked.

Tartle (Scots)

The hesitation just before you have to introduce someone whose name you don't remember.

Koi No Yokan (Japanese)

The sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall in love.

Cafune (Brazilian Portuguese)

To tenderly run your fingers through someone's hair.

Kaelling (Danish)

A parent who curses at their children in public.

Age-otori (Japanese)
To look worse after a haircut.

Backpfeifengesicht (German)
A face badly in need of a fist.

Duende (Spanish)
A climactic show of spirit in a performance or work of art.

Gigil (Filipino)
The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute.

Ilunga (Tshiluba, Congo)
A person who will forgive any abuse the first time, tolerate it a second time, but never a third time.

L’esprit de l’escalier (French)
Thinking of a clever comeback when it is too late to deliver it.

Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan)
A look between two people that suggests an unspoken, shared desire.

Meraki (Greek)
Doing something with soul, creativity, or love-- putting something of yourself into what you’re doing.

Nunchi (Korean)
The art of listening and correctly gauging another’s mood. 

Pena ajena (Mexican Spanish)
The embarrassment you feel watching someone else’s humiliation.

Schadenfreude (German)
The pleasure derived from someone else’s pain.

Tingo (Pascuense, Easter Island)
To borrow objects one by one from a neighbor’s house until there is nothing left.

Waldeinsamkeit (German)
The feeling of being alone in the woods.

Yoko meshi (Japanese)
The stress particular to speaking a foreign language.
   

Hushpuppy's Bathtub

Beasts of the Southern Wilds finally made it up to Wyoming. So glad! This apocalyptic bayou fable packs a punch-- it's a meaty beauty of a film.  

Reminded me of the magic realism inherent in life, wherever we lay our heads. One day the Dairyland sign reads, "EH BETTER NOT" and the next, "HI YOU". Brings on a grin every time.