Huzzah!

Image courtesy Tralalere.

Really you should be checking her blog, I'm clearly addicted...

So this jump for joyness seen above is pretty much how I've felt since last week. Remember how my mom sent a package of care for Bayan and I? Specifically, she sent some books that he could read - all by himself! Oh friends - he is so excited! I saw him at the Holy Day celebration of Ridvan (marking the Declaration of Baha'u'llah) and he was SO excited by those books!

Well (!!) when we had reading times tonight, Bayan read to me from one of his new books! And he's so happy and proud to be able to read on his own! I'm so happy and proud of him!

Coordinates...

Courtesy Le Love

The interwebs have come to the rescue - again. As you may suspect I'm struggling with a nasty bout of sleep deprivation today (exhaustion courtesy midnight bongo drums and pre-dawn construction) - and while I'll likely make myself an afternoon caffeinated delight, this picture has done wonders for my mood. ...alas I'm wont to be a little grumpy when I'm tired.

On Hallucination...

Image credit.

So I think that Matthew McConaughey may have moved in next door. No? You're sure he's not living in Haifa, Israel? Well... my neighbors have bongo drums and they're not afraid to use them. The least they could do is masquerade as good looking southern gentlemen - am I right?

Did I mention the part where I'm a light sleeper - and that I'm clearly hallucinating?

UPDATES: I was (rudely) woken at 6 am by ear-splitting, room shaking, dream shattering construction work. I like a remodel as much as the next girl (HGTV anyone?)... but really? 6 am? Sigh.

Having More Fun...?

So I've been blonde(r) for about three and a half weeks now and I've had a digital camera exactly six days. I've already taken a picture of the inside of my purse.... The chance is great I would have also done this a month ago, and I don't follow the dumb-blonde stereotype. But sometimes, when I start to prove the rule, I get nervous.

Like today. For afternoon snack I had an orange and a cup of coffee. Friends it took me the better part of 15 minutes to peel that orange, and I had juice all over my hands...! [You may remember my thoughts on dirty hands.] Sometimes I wonder how I'm even alive.

Cinco de Mayo...

The first Cinco de Mayo celebration I remember was in the first grade - we were living in Orange, California and we were in a largely Hispanic neighborhood. There was a parade for the whole school! Needless to say it's still one of the more vivid memories I have of our family's time in Orange. I still love Cinco de Mayo. As it's not a holiday commonly celebrated in Mexico itself, I feel that it is something unique to Mexican-American culture. As a born and (mostly) raised Southern Californian, I feel like this is a time of year that we really get to celebrate our history, unity and diversity.

Dictionary(dot)com's Word of the Day today - not unlike this holiday - comes to us via Mexico:

vamoose \va-MOOS\, verb:

1. To leave hurriedly or quickly; decamp.

2. To leave hurriedly or quickly from; decamp from.

Vamoose originates in the 1800s, derived from the Spanish vamos, or "let us go." The word likely entered American usage through Mexico.

...Oh La La

This little number, originally peeped on Tralalere!, is amazing. It's also a shout out for my friend Jason.

Doesn't it remind you of the AcaFella's goodness from Glee?

Original video courtesy herself here.

A Moment In Time...

Water Polo Tournament

Technion University

Haifa, Israel

So in addition to all of the water polo I play with the Maccabi Haifa women's team, I also workout with the men's team at Technion University here in Haifa sometimes. This weekend (yesterday, specifically) they hosted an intercollegiate tournament and I naturally went to support my friends.

Also yesterday the New York Times organized a global photo opportunity (peep the link for information). The idea was that at a specific time (that translated to 6pm in Israel) photographers - be they novice or professional and everything between - were to take a single picture, and then we (they?) would wind up with a global snapshot (pun intended) of a single moment in time. So the above picture marks my submission.

Reunited with a digital camera ...and it feels so good. I'm not really sure that this will make a big difference here in this space, I realize that I'm sort of lazy when it comes to these things and I don't want to disappoint...?