Open wide

I see this sign a couple of times a week and it always makes me laugh.

The relationship between the text and the two figures is elusive--are they swallowing the words, or did they just cough them up?

The latter, I think. It feels more meta. "Regurgitate nothing," says the sign, which was itself regurgitated. A text fit for a graduate level literature course.

Or, me, hurrying to my bus and chuckling.

Overheard around town, part hmmmph

Kid on the Ave: Dude, that gay guy in Red Light--he looked at me!

Guy on the 373 bus (on the phone): Yeah we caught all our buses. We'll be there in 5 minutes. No, it's not like we're gonna beat him up or anything. We're just gonna steal his dope. (Hangs up and hands phone back to his pal.) Your battery says extremely low. Not just low--extremely low. (Laughs loudly. I see he has H-A-T-E tattooed on his knuckles. Relieved when he de-buses to go steal dope.)

Me (asking rocket scientist about upcoming mountain observatory expedition): Is it going to be a tent situation?
Rocket scientist: Excuse me?
Me: (repeat)
Rocket scientist (giving me troubled look): No, it won't be tense at all. In fact I think it'll be quite relaxing.

Simply amazing

Here's one of the pieces from the Jim Hodges show I went to in New York a few weeks back. The family very kindly allowed me to tag along and take a peek at the pieces before opening night.
This piece greeted visitors as the entered the show.
The night of, a security guard stood nearby to make sure nobody trod on the lighted bulbs (there were a few close calls).
The simplicity and loveliness of this work is echoed throughout the show -- get yourself to New York if you can, or Paris, posthaste.

Drip drop ya don't stop

After a fairly dry spell we've had about a day and a half of nonstop rain and it feels as though after the initial shock--crabby co-workers, interstate crashes and neighborhood power blips--it feels as though Seattle has relaxed into its damp, soggy self. Yeahhhh.
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At the farmer's market this morning my friend Pat valiantly cooked up Burmese squash curry and talked about her new cookbook. The lady at the Appel cheese stand told me if she stood in exactly this spot she wouldn't get wet. Not even a sagging rain-filled canopy could deter my favorite plum seller from Eastern Washington, a brunette Betty White who handed me samples of Japanese apples and sent me off with a pound of juicy Italian prunes. Traffic lights were out as I walked on, but cars skimmed easily by on the hissing streets.
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Honestly, it's my favorite kind of day. Mild, damp, the filtered light making everyone look like extras in a Wim Wenders movie. I sloshed up the final hill, the sidewalk carpeted with leaves too freshly-fallen to have turned to mush yet, some red-gold, others outrageously vibrant yellow, all studded with glittering rain drops.

Seeya lata

I thought I'd take a ton of pictures in New Orleans, what with all the scenic corners, the characters, the graffiti--Abe Lincoln with a lawnmower, random phrases such as "you've been had" and, leaving the Lower 9th Ward, "seeya lata" illustrated with a grinning alligator--but in 3 1/2 days I managed to take a grand total of 2 photos.
One you'll see later. Here's the other, taken on Royal Street in a block crowded with art galleries.
I have no excuse, other than I was living in the moment. Loving the experience and not what I would make of it.
For a writer, not typical. But it was just what I needed.

You can call me Aunty Lease

Today is the one year blogaversary of BusySmartyPants.
One full year of photos, posts, links, thoughts, bright ideas, some whining, and not a few snarls. In other words--life.
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So, paper is the traditional first year anniversary gift and I received a piece of paper far more valuable than a crisp benjamin or a winning lottery ticket: yesterday at brunch, my niece grabbed a crayon and deftly edited her kid's menu from "twelve and under" to "twelve and {sic} underweer." She read out the edit with a low giggle. This is the same seven-year-old who, while taking the WASL last year, wrote in her own answers if the multiple choice offerings didn't suit her.
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Here's to another year of re-writing the menu.

A change is as good as a d'oh

Welp--5 flights, 1 Ambien, no lost luggage, 1 medical emergency and 5500-odd miles later, I'm back in Seattle. I wish I'd taken more pictures, eaten less, danced more and worked smarter, but mostly I'm just tired and happy that it was such a fun week.

I'll post a few pictures later but for now here's a taste of my travels:

• Saw this exhibit--at a private viewing and later at the public opening
• Had pizza and bubbly here
• Visited this new park but didn't see anyone behaving inappropriately
• Stopped in here for cupcakes
• Ate here twice--and, well, je regrette
  
• Heard this amazing band, and this one too
  
• Spent 3 days working with these fine folks
• Had the best French 75 ever here, not to mention a burger extraordinaire