Oo, links...

Things you should see:

Since I happily spent the evening playing mandolins with Phyllis & Grandpa I now have bluegrass stuck in my head. :) I was searching for a version of "Will The Circle Be Unbroken?" with lyrics because I didn't know what they were. Its such an awesome recording, but my goodness, what terribly sad lyrics for such a happy sounding song!

Will's Post. (which includes an article about crazy humboldt squids. if you didn't know, they eat people. and horses. and they're at it again!)

This is a model of Minias Tirith. Out of matchsticks. Matchsticks.

These two peacocks by Preston Bailey made out flowers are absolutely gorgeous.

This episode of entitled The Mayhem of the Music Meister from Batman: Brave & The Bold. It is a half hour long, but it features Neil Patrick Harris singing, so that alone should entice you. Plus, it's really funny.

I leave you with my favorite conversation from last week at the shop:
Bobby: "Careful, those are hot."
Me: "Can I let them touch the floor?"
B: "What?"
M: "Can I let them touch the floor?"
B: "No, they won't burn a hole in the carpet. Just don't tap them together, they might explode."

...
Thanks Bobby. Always there for me. :)

Mario Awesomeness

This was actually done illegally, but woooow this is awesome. Portland, please do not take this down.


Portland Bike Lane Gets Mario Kart Makeover

Blog Feature: Why I Read the Blogs I Read

Currently I'm being (wonderfully) distracted by Batman: the Animated Series which was a birthday gift this year from Sam & Holly. I'm at a loss on what to update because all I can think of is the episode I just watched ("You're gonna melt like a griiiilled cheese sandwich Batman!" - Joker) and the fact that I all I want is to watch more.

So....

Feature!

This time around is Cake Wrecks. CW has become more and more popular over this past year and a half, so you may already be familiar with this one (plus, I talk about it. a lot. and reference it.) I actually found it haphazardly through Dave's blog and have been pretty attached to it ever since.

CW's premise is simple. In Jen's own words: "A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places."

For example: currently the one being featured is this cake that is entirely covered in sprinkles. Entirely. And then come to find out they're not even really sprinkles - it's a photocopy of an edible image of sprinkles.

Or much simpler (and my favorite recent one) a customer bought two cakes from a bakery and requested they write Happy Birthday on both. And when she went to pick up the cakes and glanced at them she saw "Happy Birthday on Both" actually written out on the cakes. On both cakes. And apparently the bakery refused to fix it because it was what she had asked for.
....
That my friends is the kind of thing that happens at CW's. :)

The awesome thing about CW's though isn't always the cakes as much as it is Jen and John's commentary. That, however, you just have to keep up with the blog to see.
(They're hysterical. Trust me.)

But while the commentary and the misguided cakes are amusing on their own what really keeps me coming back to CW's is their Sunday Sweets. Sunday's are the exception to their "cake wreck" rule - it's the one day they will pick a theme and feature the best of the best in cakes under that category.

Some examples:
Threadcakes (Inspired by Threadless.com)
When Mario Marries (LOVE! LOVE THIS ONE!)
Downright Gorgeous
Pirate Cakes (This is one of my personal favorites of all the sweets).

Seriously, I could look through them and post them for hours, so I'll spare you.

As you can see, they range drastically in topic. There are Ghostbusters sweets, holiday sweets, book sweets, weddings, craft sweets, sport sweets.... While I may not read through every daily blog they post (although admittedly, I usually do) I will always be there on Sundays. The bakers never fail to impress and Jen & John never fail to point out the difficult details each cake entailed.

There you go. Much love to CW's and the daily entertainment and enjoyment they provide. And now I'm going to settle down with one last episode of Batman:TAS for the night.

In the middle of it all.

My birthday week ended up pretty spiffy. On the evening of I was super excited it was completely free of errands, projects, etc. Grandma & I went to Chilis to celebrate. We ate too much (including dessert) but it was deliiiicious. Yum.

And then I napped for three hours. It was wonderful.

Again, thanks to everyone who made my birthday week really awesome. By the end of the day I felt really special and it's because I'm surrounded by amazing people. :) You rock.

Anyway, today was also very quiet, which was nice. Jesse & I caught a matinee of Scott Pilgrim vs the World this afternoon which was very enjoyable. I loved all the video game music references and I'm sure I didn't catch them all. It was just a fun movie. I had Chick Fil A. And then I came home and got started on (another) project involving pictures. The whole day was calm. It was nice.

While I'm here:
Did you know yesterday was National Lemonade Day? I'm sorry I'm late on this, but I'm not heartbroken since I'm not a fan of the drink. So my apologies to all you lemonade lovers out there. Hopefully you already knew or celebrated anyway. :)

But this is super cool: Images of Russia, color images no less, from a century ago. They're really beautiful shots - you can't help but stare at their faces and wonder who they were, what their lives were like. I was in awe since I can't even wrap my mind around their lifestyle.
Also, the website those images are on (The Big Picture) is a really awesome photography blog to keep up with. They usually update once a week with a theme or category and show an average of 40 pictures or so from around the world that fit it. The images are always wonderful.

And while the Russia pictures caught my eye more, if you're looking for old photographs to browse through, the Life gallery is here. Also, beautiful, beautiful pictures.

Flyin' in the sky with you today!

Humboldt Penguins chasing a butterfly! (and all I can wonder is if they're anything like humboldt squids.)

Enjoy!



(Note: After the :40 mark, nothing else happens, except for watching cute penguins.)

(beginning of ) Birthday Week!

I'm going to start this out seemingly-negative. But it's not. It's more neutral. Statement of fact. Stick with me.

I am exhausted. Over-extended. Burnt to a crisp. Worn out. Nothing left. Eeeempty.

But.
It's (thankfully) really hard to dwell on that when people keep pouring love on you. And for some reason, they keep doing it. And although I'm tired, it doesn't matter. These kindnesses trump weariness.

When your family goes to the extent to surprise you with your very first ice cream cake and gifts, that's incredibly awesome.

And then when more family decides to throw a cookout for you and you get to see some of your kiddos and play with them, that's more awesomeness.

And then when your friends throw a combined party for you and your beloved sister and friends drive down from the city and come in late after work...
Well, my friends, there's not much that can bring you down. And I'm reveling in the overwhelming kindness and beauty that are found in those people and their hearts.

Honestly, I'm still very, very tired. Socially, I feel I have very little left to give. But that doesn't seem to matter when I'm surrounded by wonderful people who know that, love me anyway, and occasionally let my face glaze over in conversation without thinking twice about it. :)
(Ha! I guess it helps when you're used to my face glazing over anyway, whether I'm tired or not. ;) )

The emails, the comments, the thoughtfulness, all of it just really warms me to the core. And my birthday's not even here yet!

Does this make any sense? I'm attempting to say I LOVE YOU ALL in huge, giant neon letters. YOU ARE AWESOME. THANK YOU for who you are. I always appreciate you and I want to use this outlet to make sure you're aware of it.
Thank you for making the beginning of my birthday week wonderful.

Birthday wishes! Stuff that is way mushy and yet completely sincere.

Ashlyn: You who brighten my face whenever I see you and made my birthday by all your hugs and playtime on Monday. You are my forever princess, sweetheart. I can't believe you're five.

Holly: You who are always dear to my heart and always make my day. I wouldn't know what to do without your wisdom, friendship and love. Lots of love, always, in return.
I thank my God every time I remember (both) of you - Phil. 1:3

(And Nikolai, who could forget you? I hope your birthday was full of kittens and monologuing. Thanks for all the good times!)

(By the way, all those cakes? Delicious.)

Always I wanna be with yoooooou....

My cousins left this morning. :(
My aunt and one other cousin will be flying out on Saturday. :(

So I'll probably start posting again.

If you have not played Robot Unicorn Attack, you are missing out. I had a previous high score of 33,130 that I could not get past, but now it's sitting at 42,521. HA! Take that doubtful narrator. I will not fail. One day my wishes will come true.

"I love unicorns, I love unicorns..."

Can't...stop...playing.

Robot Unicorn Attack

(Thanks Neal! Eventually I'll stop stealing your iPhone to play it.)