Tweak-A-Deak

Regular visitors may notice things look a little different around here. Yep, I got tired of looking at my pictures in that tiny old Blogger format, so I've tweaked-a-deaked the layout. And fonts were starting to look a bit mid-aughts to me, so I tweak-a-deaked those too. (And now that I've started, I'll probably keep tweak-a-deaking for a bit.) Anway, bigger pictures—whoomp, there it is.

Phone Phauna Phun: M is for moose.

Phone Phauna Phun: L is for lovebird.

Phone Phauna Phun: K is for koala.

Phone Phauna Phun: J is for jaguar (in a terry cloth robe).

Phone Phauna Phun: I is for intermediate egret (in a pink pill box hat).

Phone Phauna Phun: H is for hog. (I think the polka dots suit him.)

Phone Phauna Phun: G is for giraffe.

Phone Phauna Phun: F is for frog.

Phone Phauna Phun: E is for emu. (Have you ever really looked at an emu? Seriously, they're crazy looking.)

Phone Phauna Phun: D is for dachshund. (I promised you funny hats and facial hair.)

Phone Phauna Phun: C is for chicken.

Phone Phauna Phun: B is for baboon. (Louise suggested the hat and bow tie. I think they're the perfect additions.)

Phone Phauna Phun: Alphabet Animals

Let's mix up the Phone Phun a bit, start a new little digital drawing game. Are you ready for this?

I will draw an animal for every letter of the alphabet.

To which perhaps you respond, "Uh, that's been done. Like by totally like a million kids' books..." To which I respond, yes, but I have special rules which make mine novel and exciting. For example:

1. All the animals will be drawn on my phone.

And um, yeah, that's it. I guess that's just "special rule", singular. Oh, wait! I've got another one:

2. Some of the animals will have funny hats and/or ties and/or facial hair.

So there you have it: two rules that guarantee this will be a novel and exciting series of alphabet animals. First up, "A is for alligator"!


A is for alligator

Aww, look at that happy alligator, all swaddled in pink. (Note: This particular animal does not have a funny hat or tie or facial hair. I didn't say they all would.) Stay tuned. Twenty-five more to go!*

* What will the animal be for X? I can barely stand the suspense! (Because really, I have no idea.)

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Day Parade

Broad Avenue, late afternoon

Screaming Bruisers, Jason's last hurrah. (Apparently I was trying to eat the microphone.) Photograph by Jonathan Traviesa. (Much obliged, sir.)

P.M. Pensées: "I'm Just Saying"

June has taken to using the phrase "I'm just saying." I'm just saying that "I'm just saying" is rarely really just saying. It's almost always anything but just saying. It's almost always really saying something that's particularly loaded—with an agenda or an awkward implication or a subtle barb. (June usually has an agenda: stirring up trouble.*) And "I'm just saying" functions as a little deflector to distract from or diffuse the laden content: Hey, don't look at me. These are just words that happen to be coming out of my mouth. People who really are just saying don't generally bother announcing the fact. I'm just saying.

* I've probably mentioned it before, but in her younger years (younger-than-now-younger), her nickname was "Stir-pot", an allusion to her fondness for "stirring the pot". Even as a toddler. (Man, kids really do come out the way they are from the get go.)

More Phone Photography Phun

Swan


Pink jacket, pink bike


Brick house, Gentilly


Afternoon shadows and utility pole


Utility pole and contrail

Adios, Amigo

Well, it's been a long time coming, but Jason is finally going: loading up the rental truck (mostly full of his umpteen million records), hitching the Lincoln Towncar to the back, and driving kitty-corner cross-country to the Pacific Northwest later this week. We had a household hootenanny last night to send him off: loud songs and quiet songs, hollerers and slow country weepers. (Which songs did we play? All of them.) A good end to a good era. Adios, amigo.

Slim's Predictions for 2011

• President Obama will appoint Justin Bieber "Tween Czar".
• Republicans and Democrats will agree to ban use of the filibuster, put an end to congressional gridlock, and henceforth "just get jiggy with it".
• Twitter will be surpassed in popularity by the new social-media-of-the-moment, Twit, a micro-blogging service in which all messages are restricted to four characters.
• Beige will be the new black. Conversely, black will be the new beige. This will create a recusive trend paradox, causing the fashion industry to implode.
• All wars will cease. International disputes will instead be resolved by competitive ballroom dancing.
• As nations dismantle their armies and replace them with dance squads, monkeys will rise up and take control of international shipping lanes. A banana shortage will ensue.
• Bananas will become more valuable than gold. In the new gridlock-free congress, Ron Paul will successfully push through legislation changing the nation's currency to a Banana Standard. After several days, the the National Banana Reserves will turn brown and icky. Financial chaos will ensue.

It should be an exciting year. Your predictions?

Are geese auspicious? Let's pretend they are. Happy auspicious geese-filled New Year! (Sorry, my brain is still too addled by the gluttonous blur of holiday festivities to come up with any properly sensible well-wishing.)