In typical award fashion–I’d like to pass this along to a few great bloggers.
& that’s the way life goes (she gives a lovely account of life in the real world)
Everyday Adventure of Me in the City (she has a busy life and blogs about the darnedest things and i know she already got one of these awards but … this is just how cool she is)
Sticks and Stones and Impatiens (he has very insightful humor–and not insightful humor too!)

Hello out there.
I was gone and now I’m back to the internets. Ignoring my blog was somewhat painful and ignoring all those blogs that I read every day was even more painful. I have so much to catch up on. I feel like I did in college when I missed a week and came back to stacks I never thought I could comprehend. It makes you want to quit. But quit I will not. Ahoy.

If/when i make dinner on any and every given night there is never any manifestation that i will receive a dinner on my behalf. That would be nice but it is not required. It does seem like common courtesy though, doesn’t it?
I do not give to get.
moving on….

tonight didn’t really feel like a cooking night…or a cleaning night. so..
i dug into my old recipes and pulled out an old time favorite. cheap wine and popcorn ala. at $3.49 a bottle and, well, a nearly illegal supply of Orville from Costco that probably equates to about .7 cents per bag (our box-o-popcorn actually expired in August 07′ but we’ve nearly gone through the entire box now. I will probably blog my incredible success the day i get through that…it’s been years in the making)

Good popcorn
Good wine
Good God
Lets dine

footnote: oh, and the wine was purchased from KMART. ya folks, i’m the real deal

There was quite a crowd. Men in suits and men in gym shorts. People smacking gum and blatantly ignoring the ‘no cell phone’ rule. Ignorance never felt so apparent.
But then he was on stage, barefoot and smiling. He spoke about compassion and affection, he spoke about self-discipline.
The ignorance surrounding me was not for me to judge; if I wanted to be happy in my moment with the Dalai Lama I would need to choose to be happy.
One of the first things he said was “I am happy.” You fully trust and believe him. He said he wasn’t a healer and he doesn’t believe in them, itching at the back of his head he chuckled about his skin disease and remarked how he wouldn’t have it if he were able to heal himself.
The Dalai Lama has never taken a bath! This is his contribution. When he leaves a room he turns the light off.
As he spoke this I thought to myself, how elementary and basic. Everyone knows that they are supposed to do those things; turn the water off when brushing your teeth, close the refrigerator door… where is the profound wisdom?
It was there. I, in my infinite quandary of problems, had overcomplicated matters.
This man wasn’t going to sit lotus style and meditate the earth to pristine majesty. His answer was that he conserves water by not using it for bathing in a tub and when he isn’t using a room he simply switches off the light. Simple and true. This is what he can do, personally, and that is good. He is happy with this. Pollution is everywhere, natural resources are depleted, violence is surging, the gap between rich and poor is as broad as ever–our problems are overwhelming. We don’t know where to start to stop the madness. Choose one thing and do it well. I was making it too complicated because it is so complicated and in the mess of chaos one becomes indifferent. I was making myself as big as the problems themselves, taking myself too seriously. All you need to do is choose what you can do and then–do it.
Crisler Arena was steaming hot. There had to have been about 10,000 people all warming up to their own enlightening experiences. The Dalai Lama continued to converse with us, as if we were house guests coming over for a bit of lunch and tea. He entertained himself and laughed heartily after accidentally calling himself a Christian. “Obviously, I’m Buddhist,” he smiled out at the crowd and finished his thoughts about ecology and sustainability. “If this is interesting to you learn about it and experiment. If it isn’t you can go forget about it.” He gave a mighty laugh at this, waved his hands in a shoo motion and then bowed.
It was an experience I’ll remember forever.

Treasure Mart is a market crammed with necessities for your home, life and valuables to pass along after your death. Tables are riddled with magnificent finds. A fine painting could rest next to a tea cup, a bronzed horse could be brandished next to a sequined fur coat–you’ll need to wear your prescription lenses to this place because you could find anything anywhere!

Just look what I found.

“After a celestial day of praying to Jesus about her elongated limb syndrome (ELS), Angela rested her eyes and dreamed she was a demon train whore”

A young lad whimsically chases his bull with the blunt horn of the last bull who tried to pull one on him.

I especially like how the large ceramic goose “ooohs” in the background. It’s like the treasure mart items can even entertain themselves.

I hate that rat bastard, Earl Gray.

Doubles as a bridal veil!
These lamps are not just lamps-they are frayed lovers.

I will admit, I did take a picture of his underparts and this horse is no lie. He is all there and time is on his side.