And the Coxswain says......

"C'MON you can do BETTER than that!
BOW give me a stroke.
I said STROKE!"












It's regatta time.

A regatta means waiting for two hours
until you see your team's boat go by and
then you get to yell and cheer for 10 seconds.

It is a beautiful rowing day today.
Sunny, calm, warm.
David's boat came in 2nd this morning.
The finals are to follow this afternoon.
Go 'Pool!



















Addendum:

They took silver
in the finals.

Circle of Friends

A few years back 5 friends from high school started a tradition.
A circle of friends, along with a journal,
would arrive on or before each of our birthdays.
The circle would be hung, the journal written in,
and then both would be passed on to the next friend
on or before her birthday.

It was a gift to get each year.

The journal has become a compilation of memories
from the time we were 14 until present day.
It includes photos and music and poems and even a family tree.
Each entry is from the perspective of the individual writing in it.
It is a history of our lives together.

This year, Joi sent us each our own circle of friends.
To keep with us year round.
Now just the journal will make the journey .
from Liverpool, NY to Marblehead, MA
to Vancouver, WA to Orinda, CA to Cornwall, NY
and then the circle starts again.

I received my circle of friends in the mail today.
Once again I am reminded how lucky I am!

FUN FUN FUN!

I got a special package
in the mail today for my birthday!

Mmmm, goodies from waaaaaay back in the 1960's.

Besides the gum cigarettes that blow "smoke" and the "sparkler" toy,
my favorite is the wax lips.

SMACK!







Thanks Richard!

A Birthday Party!

It's April 25th.
It's my birthday.
I am the one in the yellow dress.
The one who is checking out the presents.

Put on your party clothes.
Get yourself a cool party hat.
And let's celebrate.

Want a cupcake?

Want to go for a walk?

I had my niece and nephew over on Friday.
We spent the afternoon making stuff and playing, and then went for a long walk.

I say a long walk because it took a 1/2 hour to cover the distance it would usually take me 5 minutes to walk.

It was a walk of exploration and I got to see and experience some new things.

















Drainage ditches. I never knew just how interesting these are.
There is a lot you can do at drainage ditches.
Clean the garbage out.
Drop rocks down the grate.
Drop grass down the grate.
See if there is anything COOL down there.
Maybe monsters?
And even though there were three on our walk
and in my eye, they all looked alike, nope,
they were all different and worthy of a full exploration.

















Then there was the dog walking.
4 year old dog walking.
Pull, yank, stop, run.
Pull, yank, stop, run.
Pull, yank, stop, run.
As you can see, Bailey was exhausted by the end of our walk.

And talking.
Walks are a good time to talk.
About everything.
and anything.
I learned that to this particular 4 year old boy, girls are yucky.
Except me (thank God)
and his mom (of course)
but not Jenna (sorry Jenna)
because Jenna tickles him WAY too much. Geesh.

There is nothing like a 4 year old perspective on life to make you laugh.

And there is nothing like a Kate baby to make you smile.

Grrrrrlfriends, we need one of these!

Rosanna Kilfedder,
a 24 year old design student at London’s Brunel University,
has invented the world’s first solar powered handbag —
The Sun Trap.

Need to find your keys in the dark?
The handbag turns on an interior light when you
unzip the bag to reveal the contents. The purse uses a
solar cell to tap into energy from the sun,
storing it in the internal battery.
When the bag is opened the light goes on for 15 seconds
and then turns off to conserve energy.
The internal battery also acts as a portable
renewable energy source and can be used to charge mobile phones,
PDAs and other wireless devices while on the move.

The handbag will go on sale at Rosanna’s own site,
rosannakilfedder.com soon.

IF - Robot

This Robot brought to you by

Will Harrington

Age 4

To see all the other Robots, click here.

Gecko Turner

I am loving his sound.

The dazzling debut album from Gecko Turner, Guapapasea!, is an exquisite blend of soulful laidback jazz and Brazilian rhythms with an irresistible reggae groove.

Check out Monosobio Blues on his website. (nice website too)

Light up!

Don’t you just love it when things that are normally
tiny are suddenly made big and turned into art objects?
I do and I also have a thing for lamps.
Which is why I love these two.
They're cool.


















The Push Pin Lamp comes in four different and equally cool colors.
The lamp stands about 15” high and turns on
with a press to the head of the push pin.
The base is also corkboard so normal-sized push pins can worship their giant god. ($19.99)













Besides being out of scale and making you feel small,
this will also light up your life.
Its matchstick tip turns into a lamp.
Choose it with either a red or white light at the top.
It’s $189 from Generate.

Need a chocolate fix?

C'mon in for a lick or a bite.

















Looking for that special something to add to your next party?

How about an edible chocolate room?

Complete with lickable chocolate walls AND lickable sugar walls, a chocolate chandelier, edible artwork, and a solid chocolate fireplace and hearth.

(but what about all those germs? everyone licking your walls and biting stuff? how about that? and that rule that says you're not supposed to eat anything bigger than your head? what about that? and what do you say to people when they come in? hey, take off your shoes and lick my walls? I'm not sure about this idea....)

Happy Easter

A gift!

Each year I bring back any shells I find on my beach walks.
Usually they are of this variety.














Once in a while I find something different
Like these
















But this year I received a gift from the ocean.
Just sitting on the edge of the shore.

This is for Jenna

The boys begged to do this. BEGGED.
I was going to post just one photo (the last one)
But I knew you would appreciate all three of these.
Jenna, you know how I LOVE to torture the boys.
David was stoic. "Let's just do this for Jenna"
Zach was the jokester "Stop making fun of me everyone"
and Chase, well first I had to find Chase.
Then once captured, and sure no one was watching,
"Can we just get this over with please?"
But at the end, when I said " your sister will appreciate this",
they all smiled indulgently at me
and said "I know, we miss her"
xo

Walking the beach....

Walking the beach is good for the soul.
(Kinda like chicken soup is)













Things to do and see while walking the beach.
1. Listen to music. This week I am loving Annie Lennox and Kasabian.
2. Watch birds (all kinds)
3. Watch people (all kinds)
4. Pick up sea shells.
5. Watch the landscape change from the tide and the wind.
6. Realize there is no use beating a dead horse. It is dead. Move on.
7. Realize emotions and time are wasted on fruitless endeavors. Again, move on.
8. Run in the water and get your feet wet.
9. Run in the water and get your whole self wet.
10. Run.
11. Say hello to strangers and watch them smile at you and say hi back. Everyone is happy on the beach.
12. Dance when no one is looking.
13. Dance when everyone is looking. (I miss you Meow - we could have some awesome dance parties by the light of the silvery moon)

Bella Luna

Today was enlightening.

Hidden Places

Went to St. Augustine, Florida today.
The oldest city in the U.S.
It was quaint with a mix of spanish and colonial architecture.
Most old homes now turned into shops.
Much more touristy looking than I expected.
What grabbed my attention were the little courtyards behind each of the shops.
Individual secret gardens like this one.
Secluded and quiet.
Very cool.

Stormy Water

I LOVE the ocean before a storm.
The great wildness of it all.
We had a cold front move through this afternoon.
Happiness = walking, watching, and wet on the beach.

Before the sun worshippers

Picture Perfect Day

Blue skies
White fluffy clouds
Beach walking
Alone time
Wet feet
Sandy feet
Tan shoulders
No crowds
Familiar faces
80 degrees here
30 degrees there
It was worth the drive.

One day down, one day to go....

Did I mention that I was traveling with 3 teenage men?
Yep, 3 teenage men in the back seat of a van.
Did I mention they are TALL teenage men?
6' 3", 6' 3" and 6' 4".
Did I mention they are TALL teenage men with HUGE feet?
Size 14.
Those tall teenage men FEET end up on either side of my front seat.
And those 3 tall teenage men?
They eat nonstop.
NONSTOP.
If it is not nailed down, they eat it.
And then? Well, what happens when 3 teenage men eat alot?
Sometimes, (most times), they might develop some gas.
SO......
3 tall teenage men with big feet on either side of me and GAS.
In a car for 12 hours.
Yes.
One day down.
One day to go.
Hellooooo beach!

The drive will be worth it (I think)

For me.....











For the boys....


The next 7 days.
Sunshine and warmth.
Beach and books.

The Chronicles of Narnia

They open a door and enter a world....

And so Lucy found herself walking through
the wood, arm and arm with this strange
creature, as if they had known one another
all their lives.

C.S. Lewis




Going to Florida tomorrow.
Driving.
In the car.
21 hours.

I am bringing the 7 book Narnia series
with me.
That should keep me occupied for a bit.

I love this series. I haven't read it since the kids were small.
If you haven't had the pleasure of reading it, you should.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia Chair!

Summer's coming, who wants to grow an armchair?

For £65.00 (about $114.00)
you can purchase
and grow your own grass armchair.

This Grass Armchair is self assembled.
Each pack contains:
14 corrugated cardboard frames.
100g pack of grass seeds.

You will need about 240 litres of soil
(approximately 530 lbs)
to fill in the frame.

And you must find the right spot because once the armchair
has grown, you won't be able to move it.

Hello Moto? Pay my bill.

I read another article in the NY Times last week about
cellphones becoming the latest digital wallet.

The idea is not new.
These have been used in Europe and Asia for years.
In Japan, almost 10 million cell phones have prepaid swipe chips.
You can use them at train stations or small convenience stores.

But up until 2 years ago the idea had largely been a gadget geek's fantasy here in the U.S. (I am a gadget geek but this is not my fantasy)

Now it is feasible we will see the use of wallet phones in 2007.

What are the benefits for consumers?
Convenience I suppose.

For retailers, banks and credit card companies?
More buyers
Younger buyers
Lots more fees
Potential rise in credit card sales

For advertisers?
A couple ideas being bandied about - text messaging receipts and using interactive poster ads to beam virtual coupons for discounts at nearby shops.

Another Clue Figured Out!

There have been over 300 million of these sold since 1950.
Silly Putty, the American Classic Toy.

Everything you wanted to know about Silly Putty

I learned a new game!

First of all let me say Chicago and Coldplay was wonderful!
A great concert.
A much needed fun weekend.
One for the memory books.

While staying at Richard's I learned a new game.
It's called "Take something from your host, mail it back to them and see if they missed it!"
Being a novice at this stealing thing, I was rather obvious at times when attempting the "steal".
And my accomplice was a bit of a novice as well.
So our host was ever watchful.

BUT, I did manage to walk away with three things.
(yeah, I liked the idea of taking NUMEROUS items).
And I changed the rules of the game a little.
Now it is "Take something from your host and post it to your blog."

Here are items one and two.
(To our host's credit, he found these two missing right away.)

Item One - Prickles the Hedgehog
Or as Richard refers to him, his car pet.
Now my car pet. (For a little while)
















Item Two - Stone Crab Fetish
Brought back from Australia
Meaning: It has none, damn it!
(Oops, maybe not a good one to "steal")














Item three: Not found missing yet so no picture will be posted.
Instead, some clues for the host.

It is NOT a slinky.
It is smaller than a breadbox.
It came out around 1950.