International Jazz Day

Did you know that today is International Jazz Day?

In honor of the day, here's a song by Arturo Sandoval, one of the world's foremost jazz trumpeters.  Hubby Tony and I were fortunate enough to see him in concert last Friday night.  He and his band blew me away!



Five years ago today: Enough, Already!

Spectating

I see some crazy things from my perch at the mall Customer Service desk...

The other day I noticed three distinguished-looking middle aged men sitting in the armchairs closest to the desk.  They were all wearing nice business clothes--dress pants, ties, and blue blazers. I was too far away to hear, but I could tell they weren't speaking in English.

Each man had a suitcase in front of him, which didn't surprise me; there are several large office buildings in the area, and we often have people in the mall going to/coming from the airport. The men were taking items out of mall store bags and packing them into their cases.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the men slip off his dress shoes and take some tennis shoes and a pair of jeans out of his suitcase. I didn't think anything of it; I assumed he had to repack to make his purchases fit.

When I saw him take his belt off his dress pants, though, I started to wonder, and when he lifted his hips enough to slide his dress pants off I was completely floored! The arms of the chair and his blazer hid his body for the pants removal, but when he stepped into his jeans and briefly stood to pull them up there was a flash of his dark-blue underwear. He tucked his shirt in, then sat down to put on his tennis shoes.

It only took about 30 seconds for a Security officer to arrive. He tried to talk to the man, who shrugged his shoulders and acted like he didn't understand. With a 'don't do that again' the officer left. The men were laughing until they left five minutes later.

Five years ago today: Shake Your Moneymaker

Flip It

The Internet is full of interesting things.  For example, if you want to see your writing from a new angle, the website Flip Text lets you turn your words upside down.  To use it, you type in your text (or copy and paste) and push the "Flip Text" Button. The words appear upside down and the order of the letters is reversed, but they lose their capitalization.

Here's a sample.  The "About Me" element on the right sidebar of the blog says:

Welcome! Thanks for visiting my blog. I live in Manchester, Missouri (a suburb of St. Louis) with my husband and work at a mall Customer Service desk. Our three boys are all grown--two of them live out of town, and one is temporarily back home. We also have two cats who keep us amused with their antics.

When I flipped it I got:

˙sɔıʇuɐ ɹıǝɥʇ ɥʇıʍ pǝsnɯɐ sn dǝǝʞ oɥʍ sʇɐɔ oʍʇ ǝʌɐɥ osןɐ ǝʍ ˙ǝɯoɥ ʞɔɐq ʎןıɹɐɹodɯǝʇ sı ǝuo puɐ 'uʍoʇ ɟo ʇno ǝʌıן ɯǝɥʇ ɟo oʍʇ--uʍoɹb ןןɐ ǝɹɐ sʎoq ǝǝɹɥʇ ɹno ˙ʞsǝp ǝɔıʌɹǝs ɹǝɯoʇsnɔ ןןɐɯ ɐ ʇɐ ʞɹoʍ puɐ puɐqsnɥ ʎɯ ɥʇıʍ (sınoן ˙ʇs ɟo qɹnqns ɐ) ıɹnossıɯ 'ɹǝʇsǝɥɔuɐɯ uı ǝʌıן ı ˙boןq ʎɯ buıʇısıʌ ɹoɟ sʞuɐɥʇ ¡ǝɯoɔןǝʍ

I'm not exactly sure when I'd have a real-life use for flipped text, but it's good to know I can access it if I need it.

Five years ago today: Fīnis

Sheet Snob

Today was my twice-yearly bed renovation day. I took off the winter duvet cover and dust ruffle and put on the warm weather versions. I also removed the flannel sheets from the bed and washed the mattress cover. When it was time to re-make the bed I remembered I'd received a new set of sheets as one of my birthday presents back in January.

The beautiful new sky blue sheets came packaged in a sturdy plastic bag that had a zipper and a tassel.  When I took them out I was impressed at how soft and silky they were.  When I looked at the label I was surprised to find out that they weren't cotton, but brushed microfiber!

I've always used cotton sheets (percale in the summer and flannel in the winter), so the idea of microfiber was a little strange.  However, I try to be open to new ideas, so I washed the sheets and made up the bed.  The sheets came out completely wrinkle free.  I liked that the fitted sheet had a nice deep pocket, and elastic elastic that went completely around.  The flat sheet was long enough to tuck in securely at the foot of the bed.

I'll have to see how the new sheets wear.  If they're good, I may not go back to cotton.

Five years ago today: Create A Masterpiece, Feed A Family

"Around us, life bursts with miracles"

"Around us, life bursts with miracles, a glass of water, a ray of sunshine, a leaf, a caterpillar, a flower, laughter, raindrops. If you live in awareness, it is easy to see miracles everywhere. Each human being is a multiplicity of miracles. Eyes that see thousands of colors, shapes, and forms; ears that hear a bee flying or a thunderclap; a brain that ponders a speck of dust as easily as the entire cosmos; a heart that beats in rhythm with the heartbeat of all beings. When we are tired and feel discouraged by life’s daily struggles, we may not notice these miracles, but they are always there."

--Thích Nhat Hạnh

Five years ago today: BUNCO!

Irritating Insomnolence

Most nights I wake up at least once.  About half of the time I can take care of whatever business I need to and go right back to sleep.  However, on the other nights I'm not so lucky.  I go to bed and slumber for four solid hours, then wake up and spend the rest of the night drifting in and out of consciousness until the alarm goes off.  

I blame the annoying insomnia nights on my crazy middle-aged hormones.  Sometimes I have to go to the bathroom.  Sometimes I wake up because I'm hot, or I'm cold because I kicked off the blankets when I got hot.  Sometimes there's a combination of issues.  Whatever the reason, it's very irritating to lie awake in the wee hours of the morning and think about trying to get back to sleep.

I try all sorts of tricks to relax my mind.  Sometimes they work.  If they don't I turn on the radio next to the bed, which is set to our local NPR station. Overnight they switch to programming by the BBC World Service.  I start to listen to the soothing British voices, which eventually lull me back to slumberland. 

However, until I get back to sleep I'm usually learning random things.  For example, after last night I'm pretty confident I know more about the current elections in India and the fighting in South Sudan than the vast majority of people who live in the Midwestern section of the United States of America.

Five years ago today: Data Detective

One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Treasure (Part 2)

Yesterday I told you the story of how we upgraded our weight bench in the basement, then needed to get rid of the old one.  I got some great comments on the post, including one from a.eye who reminded me that instead of sending the bench to the landfill it would be better to give it to someone.  I don't know why that didn't occur to me; I've regularly used Craigslist, Freecycle, and local online recycling forums in the past.)

Resolving to do the 'green thing', yesterday afternoon when I got home from work I carried the bench out to the curb.  I set it next to the mailbox, making sure the large FREE sign taped to the side was easy to see.  As I did, I noticed the bench was still structurally sound but the vinyl on the pads was cracking more than it used to.  It was looking its age.  I figured the worst that could happen is that the bench would still be there in the morning and I'd have to drag it back inside.  Several hours later when I was sitting in the family room watching TV I heard car doors in front of the house.  When I looked outside the bench was gone. 

I didn't realize until this morning  that today's Earth Day, so it's appropriate that the old bench never made it to the landfill.

Five years ago today: Walking Down Your Street

One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Treasure

When Son Donald moved back home last year he brought his small collection of free weights.  He also returned the old weight bench I'd gleaned from a trash pile for him about five years earlier. He put everything in the basement, and when the weather was too hot/too cold or we didn't feel like going to the gym we'd use them.  However, the bench was rickety and missing a leg extension attachment on the end.  (Which was the same condition it was when it came into the house, so no surprises there.)

Last fall Hubby Tony noticed one of our neighbors had set out a weight bench with a big "FREE" sign on it.  It was much nicer than the one we had, so he brought it in the house.   We put the old bench in the unfinished area, where it was in the way any time I needed to get something off the shelves.

Twice a year our city has a bulk trash collection. The spring one is this week.  Guess what we're setting out to get rid of?

Old bench

New bench

Five years ago today: Appeal To The Masses

If There Is A God, He Did Not Mean This To Be So

Moses: No son could have more love for you than I.

Sethi: Then why are you forcing me to destroy you? What evil has done this to you?

Moses: The evil that men should turn their brothers into beasts of burden, to be stripped of spirit, and hope, and strength - only because they are of another race, another creed. If there is a god, he did not mean this to be so.

 The Ten Commandments

Five years ago today: Root The Crown

Superstar

Several years ago I started a Holy Week tradition of listening to the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar in the days leading up to Easter.  The two are a perfect fit, because the opera (one of the earlier works by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice) is loosely based on the Gospel accounts of the last week of Jesus' life. 

There are three versions--I have the rock opera one from 1970 (as opposed to the Broadway cast recording from 1971 or the movie soundtrack from 1973.)   When the album first came out my religiously traditional mother thought it was sacrilegious and banned it from the house. In her mind Biblical stories should not be set to rock music!  That just meant that instead of playing it at home I listened at my friends' houses. 

It wasn't until years later, though, when I got a copy on CD that I really began to appreciate the complex themes, lyrics, and music of the disc.  Now, driving around in the car I can crank up the volume and feel like I'm in my own personal concert hall.

The only problem with listening to the infectious songs, though, is getting them stuck in my head. At different times during the week walked around singing different snippets.  First it was "Hosanna" (Hosanna, Heysanna, Sanna Sanna Ho).  Next was "King Herod's Song" (So you are the Christ/You're the great Jesus Christ/Prove to me that you're divine/Change my water into wine.) and the latest has been "This Jesus Must Die" (What then to do about this Jesus-mania?/Now how to we deal with a carpenter king?/Where do we start with a man who is bigger/Than John was when John did his baptism thing?)

I could probably have worse things stuck in my head, though.

Five years ago today: It's Still Rock and Roll to Me