Live Your Dreams Billboard

Billboard seen in NC: On one side a picture of Kermit the Frog, next to that reads "Eats Flies. Dates a Pig. Hollywood Star...Live Your Dreams"

You can see a picture of the billboard at their sponsoring organizations website 'The Foundation for a Better Life":
http://www.forbetterlife.org/billboards/live-your-dreams

Frog Leg Buffet

We just stopped for dinner at the border of Virginia and North Carolina ... at the 'Down-Home Buffet'...they had frog legs on the buffet. Word.

Wikipedia

I love wikipedia. I love the philosophy of free and easily accessible information. I love the collaborative nature of the website. I love that I can find a plethora of information on just about anything.

I love this quote from their founder:

"Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge."
— Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia

How cool is that.

The problem is ... there's no such thing as a free lunch. Computers and bandwidth and developers all cost money. Someone has to cough up the dough so that we all can benefit.

If you feel similarly about how totally amazing wikipedia is and are in a position to do so .... click below and donate a little money for their annual fundraiser.

A Tasty Vegetarian Lasagna

A few friends from work came over for dinner last night. Some of them are here visiting from India and are vegetarian. I queried my expert resources (i.e. my vegetarian sister, Natalie and always-experimenting-with-new-recipes sister, Melissa) for a yummy recipe to make. The last time I had Indian friends over, I made this North Indian chili that was ... well, it's not like it tasted bad, but it didn't taste good either. Just kind of tasted like kidney beans and onions and a lot of spices without a coherent blending of flavors.

So Natalie suggested a yummy vegetarian lasagna (click here to get the recipe) that she had made from a recipe on epicurious. After a series of phone consultations with both sisters, I made two lasagnas, one with asparagus/sweet peas, and one with marinated artichoke hearts/sweet peas. I added a couple big spoonfuls of minced garlic and some red pepper flakes to the filling ... and the end result was quite tasty.

I sent some leftovers home with my Indian friends, and this morning they told me ... "The food was very good. We had it for breakfast." :)

Quilt of postage stamps

I am very bad about going to the post office to mail a card and purchasing a whole book of stamps ... and then the next time I need to mail something I forget or can't find the book of stamps so I buy another one. My sweet honey lamb has changed all that! He has collected all my partial books of stamps from over the years ... all different denominations reflecting the different postage rates over time .... then he bought some 1c, 2c, 3c, and 5c stamps and now every time I need a stamp he pulls out the big envelope and comes up with a combination of stamps for me to use. As you can see from my christmas cards (pictured below .... 3 or 4 stamps for each one!!!!) this makes for a very colorful patchwork on my envelopes! The more postage I need ... the bigger the quilt of stamps!

Contumacious ... my new favorite word.

Definition: stubbornly perverse or rebellious; willfully and obstinately disobedient

Seriously .... I know several people whose picture shoulde be in the dictionary next to this word.

A friend heard it used in court to describe their opponent. I think it is perfect. I told my husband tonight that he was contumacious. He denied it.

A Community Affair

Parker was asked to play bass guitar to accompany the choir at his middle schools choir/band concert last night. I was able to attend and am so pleased that I did. While the musical talent displayed was not unusual for middle school level (although the 6th grade band was particularly adorable), the level of community involvement was surprising and heart-warming. The concert was held in the school gymnasium and if you have ever been to a middle-school concert before, you would understand me saying that normally you would have no problem getting a seat. However at this one .... it was standing room only!! I am serious that there had to be 75 or 100 people standing around the edges of the gym .... plus the bleachers were full as well as the folding chairs ... kids sitting on laps ... it was complete mayhem.

The school makes an effort to include a large portion of their students in the event ... they had a theme 'The Starry Night' and the art classes made decorations themed after Van Gogh's painting entitled the same. The faculty also participated in the program with a joint faculty/student choir and the science teacher (wearing a spiderman santa cap) played electric guitar as part of the choral accompaniment. It was a riot.