a) BalkiPlace your vote (for the lesser—a.k.a. "better"—of two weevils).*
b) Yakov Smirnoff
* I find this one particularly brutal.
a) BalkiPlace your vote (for the lesser—a.k.a. "better"—of two weevils).*
b) Yakov Smirnoff
And though it doesn't qualify as "random", I think I'll start with our house. I've posted photos at previous stages of recovery, from foul shite-hole, to gutted shell, to on-the-mend. Now we're at something like full fruition:**
The flowers are blooming. The willow tree is willowing. The porch swing is swinging. The bamboo is shooting skyward. (And our new tenant is putting us to shame with his chock-a-block balcony-ful of plants.) I must say, I think it all looks pretty good, and I'm feeling rather house-proud.
We've come along way, baby. Next house tomorrow.
* I have no idea whether this will interest anyone else, but at least it keeps me off the streets. Well, actually it keeps me on the streets. But it keeps me on the streets in a sort of off-the-streets way.
** Though the picture doesn't show the backyard's wasteland of rusting paint cans and scattered concrete chunks. (That's the next big project. There's always more.)
a) the shoddy execution of an inherently plausible vision?In other words, did the patient want something different, but the doctor botched the job?* Or did the patient want something weird and got exactly what they wanted? Both? How much of each?
b) the successful execution of an inherently scary vision?
a) Full HousePlace your vote (for the lesser—which is to say the "better"—of two weevils.)
b) Growing Pains
#1 Cud Power!What is that? Sounds gross but kind of intriguing. I'm pretty sure I'm on board. Yeah, let's go! Cud power! But closer examination revealed a different reading:*
#1 Cub Power!Oh, sports. That makes more sense.
a) Kansas (the band)Place your vote* (for the lesser of two weevils... which is to say the "better" of the two... such as it is... because there's been some confusion... but hopefully we're squared away).
b) America (the band)
"¿Hablas español?" the grandmother-ish one asked me.It got big laughs.* Then they quizzed me on the precise extent of my Español/Taco knowledge: buenos dias? buenas noches? frijoles? queso? arroz?...
"No," I shook my head.
"¿Un poquito?" she asked, holding her thumb and forefinger together to indicate a little bit.
"Un poquito taco"—a little Taco—I said.
Saturday: I spent the day figuring out how to Sheetrock our tenant's ceiling (the consequence of a plethora of plumbing troubles I won't bore you with).As I crouched and tugged at a ferocious clump of crabgrass, a family strolled by, looking intently at our house and talking amongst themselves. The father said to me:
Sunday: I dodged raindrops and weeded the front yard, amassing a serious heap of dead greenery. (We're new to gardening and didn't quite understand this weeding thing. With the summer rains, our neglected yard was rapidly returning to its primal state, but I've discovered I actually like weeding, and it's much better now.)
"It come out good, man.”It was the most recent of many compliments I’ve received from all sorts of folks as I rooted around the yard in our all-sorts-of-folks neighborhood: grandmas shuffling by in their slippers (“gettin' it right”), mustachioed burn-outs from down the block (“you got a nice house, man”*), shirtless dudes in headphones (thumbs up), and a gamut of other nameless neighbors.
a) Chicago (the band)Place your vote.
b) Boston (the band)
snack·en·freu·deMaybe.
n.malicious joy in the bad snacks of others
"If the roaches are big enough for roadkill..."Others?
"...you just might be in N'awlins, darlin'."
Patchwork City: Largely Alone, Pioneers Reclaim New OrleansIt's good. (I think it strikes the right balance.) Read it.