OOJ: Frankenveggietato

impressive, no? created by the hard-working guys at new brothers restaurant + deli in danvers, ma.

OOJ: Frosty the Chicago Bulls Fan

credits: reina, leah, matty, jvz

Kids, Try This At Home!

credits: pooh, amy, + tiffany

materials needed to create your very own dunkin' donuts eiffel tower:

• 50 dunkin' donuts munchkins, assorted colors 
• about 12 coffee stirrers swiped from dunkin' donuts
• large plate
• optional: lego ppl positioned on top and around it
• optional: a sugary glaze to hold it together better

Travel Tip of the Day

do NOT wear a metallic sweater when flying- the gold threads in my sweater set off the machine + i got a patdown. on the other hand, if you want a patdown, now you know what to do.

tip #2: dallas fort worth (DFW) airport has birds living in it! go wait for the skylink shuttle that connects all the terminals + look up. you'll probably hear the chirping first; at first i thought the airport was playing bird sounds to soothe travelers. then i looked up + saw these little round birds hopping around the beams in the ceiling. i wonder if they're happy there, like maybe dfw is a bougie bird neighborhood. 

loss part II

this is what happens when you lose someone you love:

this someone you lost, i will call him/her "your person".

when you first lose your person, your mind + body are confused. suddenly someone who was so important to you is no longer interacting with you. for a while, your mind + body may try to fabricate new interactions, to sustain your person's presence in your life. you may catch glimpses of your person, usually in crowded public places, like airports or cafes. you see the back of someone's head, shaved high + tight, like how your person used to do. you hear a voice that could almost be your person, but then the voice continues to make noise, no longer sounding anything like your person. each time this happens, you realize you are looking at or listening to a stranger. the disappointment is crushing.

over time, the mental image you have of your person begins to dissolve around its edges. you find that you no longer have a crisp picture of your person in your mind. this can be extremely upsetting. after all, what else do you have left of your person besides your memories? photos, clothes, letters- these are really nothing more than objects that cue memories of your person. but ppl say memories betray us; in other words, memories- what are they anyway? molecules? firing synapses?- have no loyalty towards preserving what you remember of your person, which is the only way your person exists for you now.

loss

after a natural disaster- hurricane, tsunami, tornado- the to-do list consists of clear, concrete items to be checked off: assess the damage, clear the debris, rebuild. it can be an overwhelming list, but eventually most items will be crossed off the list.

after an unnatural disaster, such as a school shooting of any size, the lack of concrete needs can be unsettling, both to the families who are directly experiencing loss and to the people around them who are watching them experience this loss. these families aren't lacking in physical needs- food, clothing, shelter- but their aching need for the deceased family member to return is impossible for anyone to remedy. there are no benefit concerts or telethons to organize, just frozen lasagnas left on the doorstep and words that attempt to convey feelings about an event that never should have happened in the first place. there is no aid for this kind of rebuilding: the construction of The Rest Of Your Life. 

OOJ: When Do We Get To Stop.

explanation: santa is throwing berries to rudolf to keep his energy up. rudolf is tired because he is the only reindeer pulling the sleigh. he has a magic water bowl that flies next to his mouth. brilliant.

a song for my fellow grinches

i typically can't stand holiday music: the relentless cheerfulness, the outdated references (bells on a sleigh?), the blatant disregard for the stress + sadness that comes with the holidays each year for so many families. don't even get me started on the ridiculousness of the santa myth. but if there's one thing that can turn my frown upside down, it's the Roots. i just can't look at questlove (far left) and not smile. throw in some jimmy fallon, 4 cute kids, and ok, i guess you can join in too, mariah carey, and you have a production that even i will hum along with: "All I Want For Christmas Is You"

the day the music died

sundays

my sundays start with poetry:
alexie, giovanni- but not corral,
his book has a twisted mass of black snakes on the cover
no way that's coming near my bed

my sundays start in bed:
blankets like the earth's layers,
mantle, crust, outer core
myself, the inner core

my sundays start with clear blue sky:
this is albuquerque, after all
silence, sunshine, gratitude
refuge