fire and brimstone

Today is the strangest day in LA. There was a huge fire in the hills, and it's almost like it's snowing outside - ash is falling from the sky all over. I thought I'd take a nice walk and get some "Fresh Air" - so much for that. And even though it's a warm sunny day, it's all smoky and brown outside. I didn't have a good fire and brimstone picture to use, but I thought I'd use this one, since Jason took it at a house that had been badly burned in a fire. It's weird - there's a Bible in it, and the Bible looks like it's in pretty good shape. I like the picture though because it would look like a normal windowsill, until you notice that there's no window in the pane and that little things are wrong in the picture...

The king of queens, really

Jason has been attending a weekly drag queen show. Well I guess they're not called drag queens any more. Now they're called female...oh darn I forgot what it is now. Not female impersonators either. Anyone else know?

Well, anyway, I'll probably be posting a few of those pictures here over the next few weeks. Here's the first one. This is actually the host, the star of the show. I love looking at this picture. There's so many little things to dwell on, and the funny part is that you wouldn't usually dwell on them unless you knew it was a drag queen (or whatever you call them). Like the size of her upper arm. A little meaty? The cleavage...a little fake? And the facial features - well I could go on about those forever. But ultimately, I like this picture because it intrigues me on many levels.

the battle for your colon

I'm vegan, so when I saw these two pictures they really spoke to me. It seemed like they were telling a story, an epic battle not quite as dramatic as 300, but for a much worthier cause. Save the animals! Save your intestines!

found

There's this magazine called Found Magazine, and they post a new found item every day. It's really fascinating - every object has its own story and kind of lets you know where it's been. This photograph of Jason's reminded me of that website, especially after he told me the story. He was in a house that had been burned in a terrible fire, and the entire house was a mix of water damage and fire damage, and items that the family had chosen to abandon in the wake of losing everything. I thought it was cool how you can see their old mail, a wallet from Walgreens, some playing cards, lottery stubs (is that what those are?), and then an old photograph in the middle of everything.

"I'm a scientist" said the...baby?

I heard the zaniest thing yesterday. Apparently a book came out that explains cognitive development in babies, and how the whole time we thought they were just screwing around, they are actually doing little mini-experiments.

For example, when a baby drops a spoon over and over from his high chair, he's performing an experiment on gravity, and also a psychological experiment on YOU - to see how you're going to respond, if it's the same every time. It gives Baby Einstein a whole new twist!

This picture summed up this idea perfectly. This little guy is definitely scoping out his mom thinking "Are you kidding me? This is how the world works?"

Generation Me

This is a term I hadn't heard before yesterday: "Generation Me." I refuse to believe that I'm a part of it, but apparently anyone born after 1970 is part of a generation of Americans who a recent study shows are more narcissistic than ever before. Apparently it may be a byproduct of the 1980s when kids were taught that they were special and unique. Silly teachers. I know I'm special, but why did they tell everyone else that nonsense?

Anyway, the spirit of the study is what I find intriguing about this picture. I feel like this boy looks way older than his age. And he looks like he knows some secret that his onlooking father doesn't know. Maybe the secret is that he's special?

Plamegate, or as I call it, boregate

The verdict was passed town in the Scooter Libby trial. After all the money spent on lawyers and all the media resources devoted to the story, Dubya will probably pardon him next year anyway. I think I pretty much understand what this whole fiasco was about, but I don't really understand why everyone is supposed to care. Didn't we already know the government was corrupt? Didn't we already know that Dick Cheney is involved in some weird friend-rewarding and enemy-punishing practices? And why are my news choices between this story and Anna Nicole's paternity mystery? Can someone please turn on some re-runs of Quantum Leap?

Capturing my cynical mood this evening is this photo. I love it because it's looks like an abandoned funhouse, but not quite. There's one of those Wizard of Oz doors to get into the cellar. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the inside of this place must be one of the scariest places on earth. Definitely children's bones in the basement. I mean, really - what is this place? And then the fact that they're trying to rent that sign on top is like the icing on the cake. To me, the sign on the top sums up the state of the media in the wake of all this CIA operative nonsense.

wheelchairs and inspiration

This weekend I went and watched the Los Angeles Marathon. I was at mile 4 very early in the morning, and then at the finish line much later in the day. The best thing about the marathon, hands down, is the wheelchair racers. I'm amazed by the top men and women, and how their bodies work and how they look when they run, and I'm entertained by the Elvis runners and the barefoot runner and everything. But the wheelchair racers are in a whole different class. Something about watching them compete is so touching, so motivational, so beautiful and sweet. I even saw a dad who was pushing his 5-year old daughter (she was in a wheelchair) the entire race.

So this picture seemed to fit today: I've never seen a mannequin in a wheelchair before. It's so strange, I had to look at the picture twice to even understand what I was seeing.