By Aaron Belz
I specialize in mud homes.
So if you have a mud home,
Call me right away.
Call me by throwing mud
Over the fence
Behind your home.
I will bring a variety of muds
In buckets, plus trowels
And a towel.
In the end you will receive a bill
Not unlike a standard
Utility bill.
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I planned to go to Target today because their Sunday circular said their microfiber tops were on sale for $10, then Kay e-mailed asking if I wanted to have lunch one day this week and since Target is right near where we always meet, I said let's do today! So we went to Potbelly, which was lovely, then I went to Target (which is in the middle of its seasonal sale and has lots for 50-75% off, including many summer blouses and long-sleeve print shirts) and Barnes & Noble (which had the sequel to Kate Mosse's Labyrinth, Sepulchre, on the bargain table for $6 -- I didn't even realize there was a sequel till I saw it). So that was a delightful way to spend the day till the kids got home.
I had four loads of laundry to fold after dinner (low-sodium pecan-crusted chicken, mmmmm) so I put on the anniversary edition of Disney's Pocahontas, which I got from Paul for Chanukah -- I wanted to see what Disney stole from James Cameron and Avatar, heh. What surprised me weren't just the plot similarities but the palette -- it always seems to be sunrise or sunset in Pocahontas, and deep summer in the woods, early fall in the village and settlement, so there are lots of glorious purples and pinks in the sky, rich emeralds and forest greens among the trees, turquoise water, glittering magical light filtering from the branches...I am a shameless fan of Pocahontas and it was fun to have an excuse to watch it again, though I like the science underlying the religion in Avatar much better than Disney's schlocky simpified Native American spirituality.
We also watched Heroes, which is at least making sense to me again -- well, most of it, anyway, but that's about the same as every other season. I was sorry that Angela doesn't like Emma because she saw a vision of her in a dream -- I was hoping that we were going to get some big revelation about how Emma got her power from her mother or by her mother's request, because that might mean Louise Fletcher would be on again and Nurse Ratched could kick Angela Petrelli's ass any day! But that was made up to me in the preview when George Takei showed up, since I love him too and it looks like there's new material, not just like a Nakamura family flashback was going on.
A model of the U.S. Supreme Court with cinnamon-stick window girders on display at the U.S. Botanic Garden from their holiday display.
All these tiny details are made from leaves, twigs, bark, seeds, and other natural components, even the corn-husk-and-moss statue inside the Lincoln Memorial...
...and Thomas Jefferson, constructed from eucalyptus leaves and pear pods, inside his gourd monument.
I love the replica Statue of Freedom on top of the Capitol Building. She is made in part of shelf fungus and beechnut seeds.
The Smithsonian Castle uses many materials to show wonderful details like the rose window and gargoyles.
The National Museum of the American Indian is new this year, with a giant fungus roof and deer bone walls.
Though the White House is not new, the little swingset in the lower left was added in honor of the Obama daughters.
There is even a miniature Botanic Garden. Someone once asked me whether the miniature contained a mini-miniature Botanic Garden, but I couldn't see inside!
Rest in peace, Miep Gies. And Mark McGwire...why am I not surprised? Does this mean the home run record reverts to Sammy Sosa?
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