Prayers for Victims

This is a picture from my friend's marina at Possum Kingdom Lake right outside of Fort Worth city limits. The area in flames is filled with houses and people frequently anchor their boats here.

I am dedicating this post to the victims of the recent storms: tornadoes, tsunamis, wildfires, and severe thunderstorms. I know people who have been directly affected by each and it devastates me that they are experiencing such tragedy beyond their control. I do not remember a storm system this bad in my lifetime and I've heard it is already breaking records. I thought the hail damage on my car was bad, but people have obviously lost houses, lake houses, and even loved ones.
It makes me so thankful for all I have and so grateful that neither I nor my family have experienced hurt from these terrible storms. Do not take warnings lightly, cherish loved ones, and help however you can because, face it, you are safe and some aren't.
Especially tonight we all need to pray for the victims of the most recent Tuscaloosa, AL storms. Many have already lost homes, family, and friends and most still need safety.

The Red Cross is conducting relief donations for these tragedies: http://triangleredcross.org/

You Could Use Some Baseball

Texas Rangers advertising is pure brilliance. This is just one example of their many clever billboards, all of which feature catch phrases that relate to baseball or even ones that can change one word to associate them. My favorite features the saying "No 'I' in Texas" with a picture of the field players in a celebration huddle. They truly make me want to put down whatever I'm doing and go support my Texas Rangers. They make me want to even call them mine. This is rare for a billboard to have such a strong effect on me, and I hope they are having the same gripping effect on others. It's baseball season people! Eat, live, breathe it! YOU COULD USE SOME BASEBALL.

Peeping

Peeping: the act of sticking peeps all over someone's car windows and leaving them to find. This happens more frequently after Easter when the holiday candy is on sale.

I consider peeping an act of love. I have never been peeped by an enemy, nor would I ever peep someone as an act of contempt. It is like extending the holiday celebration an extra couple of weeks. Say you are going to try out this festive concept. Here are some step by step instructions:
Visit your local convenience store and purchase some peeps (about a dozen).
Decide on an unsuspecting friend to peep.
Find their car during a dark hour.
Lick the peep to activate sugar stick.
Stick peeps to windshield and windows. BE SURE not to stick on paint in case of heat wave and melting.
Sneak away giggling.

HAPPY EASTER!

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.." 1 Peter 1:3

Zoloraqua

I can't decide if this is real or not. So she is obviously an alien. It's the only solution. Human spines do not function like that. Maybe that is not a unitard, maybe it is her silver alien skin. She has come to Earth for the sole purpose of entertainment and her alien counterparts are observing from the space shuttle to see how the humans react. She does not sleep or eat. She does not mean harm, but she is looking to gain information about the human world. People learn to trust her because of her fascinating ability and, in turn, she sees into their interests and lifestyles.

Hercules

This image does not need much explanation, but it does need recognition. If you need clarification, the animal on the left is a horse and the one on the right (just a few inches shorter) is a dog. Yes, a CANINE. His name is Hercules, and he is considered to be one of the largest dogs in the world. He is an English Mastiff and weighs 282 pounds. His owner claims he fed him like a normal dog, but Hercules just kept growing. Good thing he didn't name him Fluffy.

Okay in reality this photo is fake. It sure fooled me at first. This dog is actually a photoshopped version of a Neapolitan Mastiff. Hercules, the actual 282 pound English Mastiff was granted world's heaviest dog a while ago, but the story got mixed with this photo and undoubtedly increased some doggie diets. We all give into a little exaggeration every now and then though. I think toddlers call it...imagination.

We Go Together Like...

peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese, pancakes and syrup, politics and controversy, Lady Gaga and weird, wine and cheese, puppies and cute, salt and pepper, shovel and pail, pen and paper, lock and key, needle and thread, ball and bat, milk and cookies, bees and honey, pizza and beer, fat kids and cake, mustard and ketchup, bread and butter, trees and leaves, dog and bone, eggs and bacon, ebony and ivory, poo and stinky, the sky and blue, car and speed, fork and knife, pillow and blanket...

YOU & ME

The Royal Perfection

Speaking of William and Kate, let us take a moment to rave over their perfection. Since news broke of their engagement and, really of their public relationship, I have yet to encounter a girl who would not trade places with Kate Middleton. Their engagement has been long awaited, and they have done a terrific job of making sure it was perfect. They are photographed happy together, attending charity events and spending time with the family. They have kept their class, despite the immense press coverage. Rumors are circling that their wedding could be the most watched show ever; nevermind the fact that you will have to wake up at 3:00am to catch it on this side of the pond. In my opinion, these two have done it exactly right and have made wonderful role models out of themselves. Compare the royal couple to our ever-so-classy Teen Mom characters mentioned in the previous post and think who we hold in higher regard. These two have given the exact right amount of information out about their engagement and nuptial plans; the public is engaged and, from what I've seen, has received little negative coverage. If only we could all live their fairytale...We wish you the best Will and Kate!

Teen Mom...More Like Mean Mom

There exists a show on MTV called Teen Mom that features single teenagers who had babies and their lives afterwards. Well surprise, surprise, this ended in upset. This show features young ladies who are unsure of their baby's father, do not have enough money to support their new family, drop out of school, become or already estranged from their parents, and other such un-motherly qualities. Sadly, this show has raised such commotion that it is swarming the covers of tabloid magazines everywhere. These mothers are actually getting famous off of their lack of parenting ability. The headlines read "I'm broke" and "Stealing my daughter back"...what kind of mother who wanted any sort of normal life for their child would post their name with those sayings for the entire country to see? Granted, Jen Aniston's life crises and Miley Cyrus showing too much skin does get repetitive, but I (and I hope I would have backup on this) would much rather see 40 magazine covers with the same picture of William and Kate on them than one more woe about these mothers scraping the bottom of the tabloid world for some publicity.

What picture am I?

Follow these directions and see what I turn out to be...
Draw a rectangle.
Split it in half with one line.
Draw a circle in each half of the rectangle.
Connected to the top of the rectangle and centered, draw two parallel lines that are perpendicular to the side of the rectangle.
Draw a circle at the top of those lines.
On either side of that shape, draw two circles (a little smaller than the ones inside the rectangle) that connect in the same place.
Write an H on the left circle and a C on the right one.

Do you have the picture?

It's a kitchen sink!

"Doctor, my sleep is up and down!"

Your eyes are not tricking you; this really is a roller-coaster bed. Unfortunately it cannot be found at a furniture store for your little prince or princess. This bed was specially created for an art gallery presentation. This curious creation brings about many questions: How many does it sleep? How big does your room have to be? Does it have seat belts? Does it have a weight or age limit? It isn't very conventional to combine one of the craziest potentially dangerous concepts with the concept meant to be so relaxing and necessary. Maybe it is the irony that brings us such amazement with this bed. Maybe it is the shock factor.  Either way, you must be lying if you don't want this coaster to serve as your new dreamland.

Ginger Extinction?

There is a theory that redheads will be extinct within the next 50 years. It is almost believable because red hair is the rarest hair color, and those that we do see stand out because of it. Turns out, this is only a myth. In reality, it is impossible for the recessive gene to "die out" unless everyone carries it dies or fails to reproduce. Other than being a crazy rumor, this is a perfect example of how easily society will believe what they are told. Poor redheads walking around believing their time is coming to an end when we had redheaded babies coming for ages.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/genetic/redhead-extinction.htm

Most Epic Lifetime Ever

Top 25Turns out that three fourths of what are considered the 25 headlines that shaped history occurred in my lifetime. We so often talk about all of the great or devastating things that happened in history, but our lifetime has seen things that those historians could never have predicted. We are the generation that people will be talking about forever for our dense event history. Is it possible that, in the next generation, children will not even study Benjamin Franklin? Electricity may be such an innate concept by then that it will not matter who gave life to it. History books will be filled with events that we watched on television for weeks and knew people who were involved, and we can literally sit our grandchildren on our lap and tell them first hand stories of what they are learning in school. What are considered the most important things in history are happening right now.

"Heaven is for Real"

Heaven is for Real
A little boy describes in great detail his great-grandfather 30 years deceased, Jesus, God, St. John the Baptist, and more. He was under anesthesia and thought to have slipped out of consciousness for a brief moment and the only explanation he and his family has is he traveled to Heaven. It is possible that Heaven is real. Does this give us more motivation to resist temptation or commit random acts of kindness? Take as look at the video before completely discredit this kid's story. Whether is was Heaven or not, he clearly experienced something life changing. People all over the world dream of experiencing something like this, but it was this 4-year-old boy. We can sit and be upset that we were not the ones to see this or we can just be thankful that he shared his story.

Cookie Typography

Mmmmm yummy and artistic! Typography is such an ingenious concept, especially when it involves baked goods. This one in particular features a chocolate chip cookie recipe within its design. Typography is generally defined as the art and technique of arranging type to refer to the subject at hand. What a fascinating talent to have!
So here's my proposition for your pondering...
Imagine if all print (books, magazines, newspapers, etc.) were written in typography. Each feature would only be one page long and entertainment for the mind and eyes. Each page would be different colors and shapes that associate with the subject. This could spread to billboards, commercial spots, and word processor programs. This could very well be the way of the future!

CAUTION: This link contains content that may not be appropriate for children.

Look at Me Now
Get it. I hope everyone who watches this, whether they love to dance or could not care less how low these people can drop it, is inspired to head to an underground club and busta move. The combination of the production, cinematography, voice talent, and dance talent is out of this world. The people in this video are having such genuine fun and you can tell just from the way they are moving. It is evident that this video had a high production value, but it is more real than more videos we see with people floating on clouds, living in adult-sized embryos (cough, cough Gaga...), or flaunting their immense numbers of sexual partners. The underground dance scene compliments the song perfectly and deserves creativity recognition. PROPS!

DIY

Obsession! I'll put down my pride and admit I am not in the crafting prime of my life anymore, but wrapping colored raffia around empty wine bottles for decor is the most clever display I've seen in a while. Apparently all it takes is an empty bottle, colored raffia, and strong glue and get to wrapping. I see big potential for this ingenious idea. If nothing else, this creates a hell of a conversation starter in your living room. This is really striking me so don't be surprised when you see me pawning off free glasses of wine or just a little tipsy. I'm only trying to make art!

World's Smallest Role Model...?

World's Smallest Waist

Ummm...WHAT? This is who we are looking up to? This girl pictured is Ann Ward, winner of cycle 15 of the hit show America's Next Top Model. WINNER! I have never seen anything like this. How does she even find clothes to fit her? She is 6'2" and a guy can fit his hands around her waist. She must blow over in the wind. This show airs on a family appropriate network and I, personally, have watched it since I was around 13, but you better bet that if this girl is who I wanted to look like at 13, my mom would've been hosting some forceful trips to McDonald's. I hope to God young girls don't see Ann and her image and her success associated with her image as inspiring. I'm sure Ann is a great girl with dreams of making the pages of magazines pretty, but please Ann, do not sway young girls' image of the ideal body. We don't need a bunch of guys running around seeing if they can fit their hands around those whose waists are not so...non-existent.

Happiness

"That's the best revenge of all: happiness. Nothing drives people crazier than seeing someone have a good fucking life."              -Chuck Palahniuk

"Happiness is only real when shared."             -Christopher McCandless

Which of these quotes is more true? As sad as it is, the first seems to present more examples in our everyday society. Especially these days, we all strive to live the perfect life: have the most money, have the most successful job, have the most functional family, be the happiest--but what is all of this but competition? Were we intended to live life as a competition? If everyone only considered themselves happy when those around them were happy as well, that wold make much more sense. But maybe that's what the first quote is trying to say. Competition may always be a problem, but we might as well stick it to those ignorant people. Prove them wrong and scream it in their face that happiness can be just a rewarding as a new sports car or a fat end-of-the-year bonus. So THERE fake happiness seekers: Share happiness and show happiness and you will come out on top.

The Grass and I Become One

Say I am the grass. I grow constantly, I keep a temperature, I bring joy to people, but I also must be taken care of. I change color depending on the season, I need water to live, I sway in the wind, and I flourish outdoors. I am only allowed certain places and I serve a specific purpose on this Earth. It hurts when people stomp on me, but a blanket is okay. The sun makes me glow and I like to share it with my friends, the flowers and the soil. I try my hardest to protect myself with built in defense, but I cannot stand tall against all obstacles. I am happiest surrounded by other life: people, other grass, leaves, animals, and anything that wants to share my day. I am compared to things of my same color, texture, and lifestyle but, in broad, I am much like you reading this comparison. Say I am the grass.

Man's Best Friend

Who says dogs are a man's best friend? Just because wildcats have a reputation for their occasional temper does not mean that they should be thrown out of this race. This picture says it all. Emotion is worldwide and is not partial to humans and dogs; these two guys have a serious bond. We as humans should give every living thing a chance to become someone's or something's best friend. Life is meaningless without these relationships and it very well may be that this man is the tiger's one friend in life and, in his own way, he relies on him for everything. Friendships should not be as limited as we make them and there could be great potential for society and problems we face (such as endangered animals, fossil fuel leaks, etc.) if we could open our minds to a more open way of connecting to the people, places, or things that we care for.

Also, check out this unlikely pairing...
Dolphin and Cat Together at Last