The Many Poses of Foil Man

This is Foil Man.

Born out of a moment of creative frustration, my roommate twisted a scrap of foil into a dignified fellow. It was an accidental encounter, you might say, but a pleasant one.

He spends most of his days reclining on the kitchen counter. Foil Man has tried out a few other backdrops as well, for his occasional photo shoot. Peanut  m&ms in a glass candy bowl are quite a lovely backdrop for his photo shoot, don’t you agree, dear sirs and madams?

Oh yes, yes – candy coated chocolate isn’t healthy, you say? He ought not to encourage an over-indulgence in sweets through subtle marketing?

Yes, of course.

How about a nice tart citron?

A bit bored of modeling, he has since moved on to more intellectual, albeit, still leisurely activities, where he now resides on a bookshelf – surrounded by great literary works.

What better way to chill than to rest upon a cool pitcher of ice lemonade, portrayed by a poet whose inspirational topic of choice includes delightful quips about lemonade…novels ecrit en Francais…the tale of a mouse’s first day at school…and of course, the Bible?

He also has similar tastes to the owners of this abode: he can appreciate a good selection of tea.

Since birth, he has…well… suffered a few injuries. From jumping off Tea Mountain, he dislocated his shoulder and arm.

His joints and sinews were fortunately quickly repaired with a red Turbana Banana sticker. He now continues to reside comfortably, alongside an Egyptian camel, a pair of turtles (one hailing from Belize, and the other from Mexico), and a well-traveled purple bear, where they all enjoy peaceful days strolling through ebonyshelving woods and smelling the scents of good reads, old and new.

a recent menu – call it a slice of summer inspired!

I rarely repeat what I make, but I wouldn’t mind making this again.The blender and crock pot were good friends while preparing the meal. A food processor would have been helpful for the sauce. Sorry, I was too hungry and busy to take photos!

Drink: Fresh mint limeade

salad: beet (sauteed first in olive oil with fragrant fennel seeds), grapes, tomatoes, herb salad drizzled with red wine vinegar vinaigrette.

soup: creamy corn soup – garlic, shallots, salt, pepper, a dash of cream, cilantro

served with:

toasted pita wedges with sauce and garnish.

-garnish: radish slices, kalamata olive slices

-sauce (which doubles as a delicious and flavorful salad dressing) : 2 inch cube of feta, a individual serving of plain yogurt, cilantro, green onion, a 1/2 tsp of minced garlic and shallots

main: whole wheat couscous tossed with seasoned ground beef and fresh roasted pepper medley.

dessert: assorted cupcakes (Crumbs Cake Shop) and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Delighted…and in Diapers

It’s a pleasant Saturday afternoon and I’m heading up the stairs because the elevator is busy attending to some Urgent matter on floor #5.

My roommate turns behind her and wonders if I’m able to take the stairs (I’m sick and probably should be in bed, but don’t like being in bed during the day when the world is oh-so-interesting so instead I’m out and about and tired.)

I nod, and assure her, “I’ll make it.” Mentally I add, “…eventually.”

As I proceed up the second flight, I hear the sounds of babies. I wonder, is it the family on floor 2, or the family on floor 3 (Noz and company). I pass floor 2 and ahha, I know the source of the clamor is floor 3.

My roommate opens the door, and is greeted by a short-haired, curly-crop, curious, knee-high princess with a cream ruffly top and bright floral print tiered skirt. My roommate says a cheery “hello!” and the little diva almost returns the gesture and begins a wave. I reach the door and smile and wave, (after all, I do have a soft spot for my knee-high friend) and her little hand begins to flutter into waving posture as well which butterflies into a full wave in a quick moment. My roommate enters our house and the door is mostly closed.

I am now in front of Noz- she is all that is between me and my front door-  and yet she earnestly claims my attention. It doesn’t require much work, actually, for her.

She exclaims, “hello! I have diapers!!”

Inwardly, I am dying laughing at the …er… delicate yet matter of fact manner with which she chose to punctuate her greeting.

I respond, seriously, “You do? Well, where are they?”

She skips around the corner. At this point, I could easily reach my door, but I am too entertained, so I pause in front of my door, and she continues excitedly, “In my stWOLLer.” She points to the bottom part of the carriage which was waiting next to the elevator (undoubtedly delaying Noz and Co.’s outing as well, for the Urgent matter on floor 5 was apparently stopping traffic everywhere in the building).

“What kind of diapers are they?” I inquire.

She pauses to consider. She smiles and shouts, “Elephant diapers!”

At this point, her Dad hears her shout this in the hall which we share with two other apartments, and he comes out with a scooter. It must be family outdoor outing day for Noz and Co. I greet him and say hello, and chuckle as I say, “She is really excited about her elephant diapers!”

He laughs a little and sighs,  “So much for potty training…”

Delighted and in Diapers. Fortunately, I’m not dealing with potty training a little diva anytime soon.

Noz’s dad says, “Say bye bye! Bye bye!” referring to me, as I’ve now opened my door and am standing there while she looks at me a little confused as to why I was excusing myself so rudely from our floor time with Her Eminence.

I shut the door and can hear her singing. She is passing time while her kindergarten-aged brother gets ready by singing a made-up song in which I catch a verse or two about Cinderella, and she then transitions into Happy Birthday (to the correct tune), and then makes up a whole other song, probably about all the exciting new things she will see and do on a lovely Saturday afternoon. Noz is one to make interesting musical arrangements, I must say.

Oh, the imagination of a 3 year old! To not have a care in the world! And to love elephant diapers! Strikes a funny chord, doesn’t it?

 

Now, if you‘ll excuse me. I believe I have some ice cream awaiting.

 

after greens on marina boulevard

What is it

like to see the world

through a splatter,

pit-patter

of dew from the day

in full bloom?

Curiousity, I captured it,

frame by frame.

Through lenses, I did not

make, I see the

patterned view,

out from behind the

handprints of the fruit

of waves aimed high.

They change the sight

just a little, but that little

is still enough to bring a host of sounds

and memories crashing

gently against the bay

with each gust of

thought.

3/16/12 San Francisco, CA

Swallowing

Swallowing

Words

Thoughts

Sadness

Requires me to first open my mouth.

 

What if I didn’t ask for it?

No, I didn’t open my mouth.

Shut.

If nothing comes in,

Nothing should come out?

 

But something got

in a fraying soul

Transforming it into

expansive aches,

cold-doused in more words.

 

Words

Just words, they could be something,

But, they’re just marks on a page.

No matter how they are scratched in,

They are fleeting still.

 

Crumple it up, those words.

Breeding aches, they

find a way in,

But never get out.

Get out, get out.

 

Somehow, I didn’t swallow

but yet evidence shows,

my soul is clamped shut.

The only space left got

Swallowed up.

a little note

Dear friends,

Please pardon my absence these past months. For all intents and purposes, I have emerged from a chasm called Doctorate, Semester 1.

I’ve turned a corner this weekend and left my first semester of graduate school behind me. (Hurrah!) Although I’ve had many a point of interest to note during the recent months, I’ve deeply felt the absence of the heaping helpings of Time that inspiration demands in order to pen itself. Somehow, all my measuring utensils also seem to have shrunk, leaving inspiration to collect dust (and other things – perhaps shreds of paper, cracker crumbs, chocolate chips, craisins…) in a corner of my mind, buried under stacks of 100s of pages of literature on therapeutic indications and dietary requirements of Vitamin A,B,C,D,E…Z (just kidding – there is no vitamin Z – not yet, at least).

So, although we’ve all moved past the moment to share those stories and little laughs, there is still the promise of more adventures, more delightful discoveries of yummy bites, and very importantly, more fresh and new enjoyment of the Lord Jesus.

sincerely yours,

BlueBoots

Hymn-a-Day: 66

4. Jesus, our Savior, Shepherd, Friend,

Our Prophet, Priest and King;

Our Lord, our Life, our Way, our End,

Accept the praise we bring.

 

I love this stanza because Jesus is all of these, at different times and in different situations. What He is, meets our every need (especially because we don’t necessarily know what we need but often just that we are lacking something that will give us a sense of wholeness, and completion). I think I would enjoy it if I were to write all the below short phrases on small slips of paper, but them in a basket, and draw one out in the morning to spend some personal time considering how Jesus is all these things to me.

Jesus is my Savior.

Jesus is my Shepherd.

Jesus is my Friend.

Jesus is my Prophet.

Jesus is my Priest.

Jesus is my King.

Jesus is my Lord.

Jesus is my Life.

Jesus is my Way.

Jesus is my End.

Praise Him!

Hymn-a-Day: 65

* New * section! Praise of the Lord – His Name

Hymn 65

1. Jesus! that name we love,

Jesus, our Lord!

Jesus, all names above,

Jesus, the Lord!

Thou, Lord, our all must be;

Nothing that’s good have we,

Nothing apart from Thee,

Jesus, our Lord!

Hymn-a-Day: 64

Hymn 64

3. Unsullied blaze of glory!

O ever-radiant Face!

Thy rich, unfathomed story

Transfigures us  in grace!

Made like Thee, soon, completely,

With love-lit eyes we’ll scan

God’s face unveiled so sweetly

In Thine, Thou Son of man!

Hymn-a-Day: 63

Hymn 63
3. O wisest love! that flesh and blood
which did in Adam fail,
should strive afresh against the foe,
should strive and should prevail.