Spiral Pocus

The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz - This is an amazing book and I highly recommend it. The book centers on a family who emigrated to New Jersey from the Dominican Republic. Oscar is a fat, nerdy, star trek loving, sci-fi, fantasy geek. No friends, no women and few prospects are only a few of Oscar’s troubles as he stumbles through life. The book gives a family history, of sorts, focusing on Oscar, his mother, sister and grandfather and the setting changes from Jersey to the Dominican Republic many times. The book is so creatively written that it is easy to see why it won the Pulitzer prize. My only complaint is the many Spanish phrases that are peppered throughout the book. Of course, I know the author put them there to give the reader the impression of what it might be like to be an immigrant. Still, I am too lazy to research the literal meanings. However I figured out the gist of their meaning from the context. READ THIS BOOK!! You won’t be disappointed.

I have spent more time in Colorado than in any other state, except Kansas, of course. I was pleased to run across this site. There are some awesome photos of Colorado and many other wonderful shots of other places.

This is how Angel looks anytime she encounters our dog…or a leaf, shoe, sock, stick, curtain rod, piece of paper or just about anything she has never seen before. This cat is pretty funny - constant entertainment with few reruns.

Here is picture of her in a quiet moment. Whether you’re a cat person or not - this is a cute photo.

Here is a list of foods only Americans could have invented and my personal feelings about each.

1. Chocolate Cookie Dough Ice Cream - Certainly not my favorite flavor. I ate it once, thought it was gross. It’s just a gimmick to appeal to the under 10 crowd.
2. Turducken - Take a turkey and shove a duck inside - I prefer to take a Turkey and shove stuffing inside - never had it - probably never will.
3. Buffalo Wings - Love’m - tastes like chicken.
4. Baked Alaska - I like the presentation more than the dessert - fire is cool.
5. Cobb Salad - If it has bacon in it - got to be good - everything goes better with bacon - wrap Turducken in bacon and I bet it would be better.  Idea - Turbacon!!!!
6. Reuban Sandwich - my favorite sandwich
7. S’mores - No thanks, I will just eat straight from the sugar bowl.
8. Chinese Food - who’d have guessed.
9. Philly Cheesesteak - The’re OK - I don’t like fake cheese - so not my first choice.
10. Corn Dog - Sweeeeet!!!!!!

Creative shots of the sky via Toxel.com

Galadriel is a character in the Middle-Earth universe.Possessing a rare combination of wisdom and humility, while serenely dominating your environment you selflessly use your powers to care for others.

I am more than a bit surprised at this turn of events.

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Kansas has some really nice wildflowers. Not nearly as many other states but we have our share. I have been experiencing a renewed interest in photography and, of course, the first thing you do is take pictures of flowers. I took these shots on some Wyandotte county farmland. Clockwise from top:

Kansas Fleabane - Pioneers used to think these kept away fleas - they don’t
Musk Thistle - the flower is the only pretty thing about this plant- it is really a noxious weed
Not sure - I think this is called a venus looking glass; the flowers are really small
Plains Sunflower - looks like a Black-eyed Susan, but is not; there are many species of sunflowers in the state; hence the name - Sunflower State

via Hogwild.net 

Many of my readers or, maybe it was just one, (hard to keep track) wanted to see a better picture of our new owner - Angel. So here she is..

Angel is 6 weeks old and so far she has lived up to her name. I owned cats when I was younger but I have forgotten what wonderful creatures they can be. I suppose an angel slide show will be coming soon.

These hailstones fell just about an hour ago.  There wasn’t many but they are the biggest I have ever seen around here - big as a baseball.

As a new cat owner owner this quote makes a lot of sense:

In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.

–Terry Pratchett

Future materials by Lifeboat Scientific. This one is interesting - electronic textiles:

Why carry some electronic gadget you can easily lose when we can just wear our computers? We’ll develop clothing that can constantly project the video of our choosing (unless it turns out being so annoying that we ban it). Imagine wearing a robe covered in a display that actually projects the night sky in realtime. Imagine talking to people over the “phone” just by making a hand gesture and activating electronics in your lapel

Fine - what happens if you need to reboot your clothing at a party or have a complete hardware failure - embarrassing wouldn’t be the word for it.

It’s a virtual site, of course, who would go and visit if it wasn’t - worth visiting nonetheless.  This is an item from their vintage collection.  They have T.P. going back to the 1880’s.  Back then, I am sure T.P. was just for the upper crust.  People from my tribe were using corn cobs in outhouses.

The princess caught this toad in the yard the other day. It was about the smallest toad I have ever seen.

Nice photos of fog at sunrise in that wonderful part of the middle east known as Dubai. More here.