ASL covers of some popular songs

"Born This Way" (Ontario


"Call Me Maybe"


That Gotye song....

Mystery plant

Botanical queries

I had fun with the "flower" setting of my camera while in the Denver Botanic Garden, but now I don't remember the names of these plants! I know that this first image is a very close shot of a large Queen Anne's Lace "umbrella" (daucus carota), with the tiny red floret in the center. I remember my mother teaching us to distinguish between Queen Anne's Lace (wild carrot) and poisonous Hemlock when we lived in California.

But what is this bush? are these leaves, stems, or needles? are these orange berries or blossoms? I think I remember something about Spain from reading the tag, but I don't even know how to begin to search for it by describing it.

I've seen these pods with their jewel-like seeds before, but I can't remember what they are.

I'm fairly sure these are the bulbils of some kind of garlic.

There are some Egyptian walking onions down the block, next to a garage, that have produced their little baby onions. I may harvest a few and plant them in our yard.

Denver Botanic Gardens: some sculpture features

I was giddy throughout our time in the Denver Botanic Gardens.  I was not only impressed by the beauty of the many gardens, but also by how well-cared for, how healthy the entire place was. I have been in other gardens not as well cared-for. You can tell that this is a well-run, well-loved place. And they have free wi-fi! I gave my friend and her family a gift membership, since they live so close, so that they can come any time, wander, sit, read, browse, even work.

My photos can only provide a glimpse of how gorgeous these are. You can't see the clouds of bees, hear the sound of water and birds, smell the myriad odors of plants and flowers, taste the apricots we picked up off the ground under the trees loaded with fruit. A few of the more dramatic sights are some of the many sculptures, fountains and ponds.

"Barracuda" suspended in front of a curtain of water

 "Zen" is a highly polished bronze, curved frame for different views of the lilypads and flowers of this pond

Temporary installation of floating woven bamboo sculptures placed throughout the gardens.
This annual report gives a great overview of the Gardens

On top of Mt Evans, Colorado

Mt. Evans is only an hour from Denver. It's over 14,000 ft in altitude at the summit. Above the tree line, there are the tiny flowers of the alpine tundra, and mountain goats.

Denver: Jelly

While I was in Denver, we had brunch at a placed called Jelly.  The food was terrific. They passed the home fries test with flying colors.

There was a wait to get it, but the place was full of fun details, like the collection of vintage cerial boxes framed on the wall. My picture of the Spock Sugar Smacks is too blurry, alas, but the Krusty-0's are a classic.

 The chandelier combined coffee cups and spoons.
What size coffee would you like: hobbit, elf, or wizard?

lily pads at the Denver Botanic Gardens

Testimony about Mitt Romney's record re: LGBT people

"Julie Goodridge was a lead plaintiff in Goodridge v. Dept of Public Health -- the lawsuit that brought same-sex marriage to Massachusetts. In this video, Goodridge shares her family's encounters with Gov. Mitt Romney, including a meeting with Romney, which Goodridge describes as "the most frustrating experience in the entire marriage case." Mitt Gets Worse

The invention of air conditioning

I lived in the Twin Cities for years without air conditioning in my home, office, or car. It was hard. I'm thankful for my A/C now, because otherwise this place would not be fit for human habitation. Yes, I know it is not sustainable. *sigh* (via NewsCut)

"That Gotye Song"

Wait for it.

I'm going to Denver!

A friend has recently moved to Denver to take a new job as a result of some major life changes. I am going to spend a few days with her and her daughter, and I'm so excited to spend time with them, exploring a place I've never been before. Although at first, the "unsinkable Molly Brown" was not one of my first associations with Denver, this little video, a project by a second-grader that is included on the web site of the Molly Brown house, has made me want to learn more about her and her life. as told by Lydia Weinshanker on the Learn page of the Molly Brown House in Denver.

Lovely zucchini blossoms

I went to a local farmers' market, the Fulton Market (on 49th and Chowen) yesterday. It was charming and had terrific vendors of locally grown produce, meats, cheeses, honey, and baked goods. I saw some zucchini blossoms, and was tempted to buy them, but already had enough to last me for the next several days. I took home some delicious icelandic style yoghurt cheese, called skyr, from Star Thrower Farm. It's full of live cultures, but since rennet is used in making it, it's classified as a cheese. Here's a segment from the New York Times about how to prepare squash blossoms without cooking them.

Dies caniculares

 We've been watching this coming for years, but just a month ago I met a man at a party who told all of us in rambling, incoherent, belligerent nonsensical detail that climate scientists are all incompetent and/or liars, that the warnings of human-accelerated climate change are a hoax, bla bla bla. I was filled with such a sudden rage that I had to leave the party. I want my daughter's future to be bright, yet all around me, for decades, I have been watching as we push the planet's limits. The planet will go on without us, but we can make life intolerable and even impossible in a very short time, in our lifetime, and when I look at that reality straight on, I want to break things.

Last year on the 4th of July, I was with friends from Spain here in Minneapolis. We were able to see the fireworks right next to the Stone Arch bridge, in the pouring rain. It was fun as hell. This year, everyone is out of town, and yesterday it was over 100 degrees with an excessive heat advisory, so I stayed home with the cat and heard the booms over the noise of the air conditioner and the fan that are keeping my place at a barely tolerable temperature. This past week of super-hot temps and super-high dew points is fraying my nerves. I think today it may be time to see 3 movies in a row so I can have some decent air-conditioned time. The headlines today are "This is what climate change looks like."

I finally gave up my foolishness and installed a window A/C unit in my bedroom, because the one in the living room can't cool the whole apartment, and it is 95 degrees inside my house. My poor cat and I just can't deal with it any more. This city was never intended for permanent human settlement in the first place.  My consumption is part of the problem, but I don't want to die of heat stroke.

Spain wins the Eurocopa 2012, 4-0 against Italy

Spain is grateful for the distraction from its economic woes and the wildfires raging near Valencia: the national team has won the UEFA Championship--the Eurocopa--for the second time in a row. With the World Cup, this makes three major championships in a row. The level of play in the final, against an Italian team that had also performed brilliansly, left no doubts as to the team's ability to integrate the individual skills of its players into a apectacular team effort. Yes, they have one of the best keepers in the world, yes, they have gifted strikers, but the ticking heart of the team is the unselfish, amazing work of Xavi, Iniesta, Fábregas-who control the ball. the humble, the amazing, always at the heart of the team, Andrés Iniesta. He and Xavi are amazing together, and Cesc Fábregas will be returning to play on a Spanish team.
mad skills, yo! gotta ignore the crappy music that seems to be rule for these tribute videos.

The players' kids on the field after the game were ADORABLE!
And, once the hard work and focused, disciplined team play was over, we had a repeat of the triumphant bus tour of Madrid, culminating in that beloved tradition, the "megabotellón" in Cibeles, complete with jokes, singing, and lots of noise.
"el show de Pepe Reina" blew up Twitter (el megabotellón de Cibeles). His presentations of the players in order of their numbers are drunkenly hilarious and absolutely loved by the crowds.

Garlic Mustard, and other invasive species

I have an unidentified weed in my back yard. Is it garlic mustard? I will have to pull and bag whatever it is because it's going to crowd out whatever else can grow back there. Not that our back yard is very big, but this year I actually have had success in planting and keeping alive some perrenial herbs.