Feel Rich

I’ve been playing the coolest game. Every day I log on and there’s a check waiting for me. Granted, it’s virtual money, but still. Today there was a beautiful check, with my name spelled correctly (Yay!) for $5,000. Then I clicked on a button that said “Spend your check now!” which took me to a screen with a blank space for me to write in what I wanted to “buy.” No need to save or invest, or spend on practical things, because tomorrow there’ll be a bigger one. Woohoo!

You start out with $100. Even if Law of Attraction and/or New-Age stuff doesn’t float your boat, it’s worth playing the game. I’ve “bought” clothes and shoes, an MP3 player, high-quality courses, ukuleles, a land tour and cruise package to Greece and the Aegean, and more. Check out www.choosingprosperity.com and go to the prosperity game.

Ukuleles for Sanity

The website for Ukuleles for Sanity is sooooo well done. Great images, easy to navigate, humorous song parodies, free downloads . . . It’s just ingenious, even if you don’t agree with the point of view presented. This is funny stuff! Intelligence and creativity for a cause. I love that.

Click here to see what is now one of my favorite images, and/or read on for some quotes I've copied from the site. As a musician, I get a kick out of quote about expectations being low.

“And to those activist organizations that wish to create their own Ukuleles for Sanity group within their organization but don’t actually know any ukulele players, we say: 5 minutes. That’s how long it takes to learn a basic three-chord protest song on a ukulele. It doesn’t even matter how well you play it. It’s a ukulele. Expectations will be low. Novelty interest will be high. We think having your strings in tune helps, but it’s your call.”

“Weird times call for weird symbols, and we believe that the ukulele is the perfect symbol of empowerment in these times. We believe that this four-stringed underdog can be used to deliver a political statement that extends the artistic statement we already make when we perform on a uke. It’s a statement of hope and defiance and humor. Of unapologetic pride in being who we are. Of the belief that the smallest voice has its own special strength.”

“Ukuleles for Sanity. Providing all of your left-leaning ukulele political action needs!”

Bite the Wax Tadpole

What’s the difference between an interpreter and a translator? Both work with language, but the interpreter works with the spoken word (think Nicole Kidman in “The Interpreter”) and the translator works with the written word. I am a full-time, self-employed translator, and over the past 9 years I’ve learned to say that I translate documents into English from Dutch and French, otherwise people will assume that I interpret spoken Spanish and English. It’s a pet peeve of mine.

I’m a trained professional, and it usually grieves me to see stupid translation mistakes, but today I was translating a challenging legal text and needed to see other people’s mistakes to make myself feel competent. I’m not ashamed to admit it. Heehee!

Are you wondering about the wax tadpole? Rumor has it that when Coca Cola had its name translated into Chinese, the result was a mistranslation that meant "Bite the Wax Tadpole." Actually, that's an urban myth you can read about by clicking here. Then click here to see a list of crazy translations.

Black Velvet Art Yoda

One of my birthday presents this year was a Black Velvet Artist kit the size of maybe two decks of cards. The people around me when I opened the box were laughing, but I didn’t get it. I knew nothing about this art form. Later, my sister told me that my family used to have a large matador on black velvet hanging in the living room when I was a child. I don’t remember. P’rhaps it’s better that way.

Now that I’ve actually opened my kit, months later, I am intrigued by the tiny booklet with a brief history of black velvet art: Russian Orthodox iconic artwork; Jesus on black velvet in the Vatican, dating back to the 1400s; still lives and landscapes painted in the 1800s in Japan . . . and painting on black velvet made popular again by Edgar Leeteg, the “American Gaughin.”

I did a quickie search on Google, and below is a link you just have to see. I stared at it several times, but the novelty has yet to wear off. It’s an Elvis on black velvet, which apparently isn’t rare. BUT, this is Yoda dressed as Elvis, and the caption says, “All shook up, I am. Hmmmmmmm.” Omigosh. I love this. Human creativity at its best. Click here and see Lars deSouza's painting for yourself.

Welcome!

Welcome to my universe! My mission is to tell you about my
(mis)adventures and draw your attention to the wonderfully quirky, creative, amazing, and sometimes downright baffling things people can do. Above all, I want to make you smile.