sweaters

I love ugly sweaters. Really, I do. Knit atrocities pull on my heartstrings with a pathos usually reserved for commercials about shelter pets and third world orphans. I can’t help it. Whenever I see something particularly hideous, I feel compelled to pick it up and bring it home. I prowl thrift stores, lurk in consignment shops, and pillage attics mercilessly.

My closet is immaculately organized. I have a section for dresses, for my Chinese cheongsams, and for shoes. Finally I have sweaters- subcategories upon subcategories of sweaters. Dress sweaters, casual sweaters, seasonal sweaters, and even the occasional cardigan. Sweaters are the comfort food of the clothing world, and cables are the strongest armor that I have. I’ve asked myself why I need to welcome the tacky, the purled, and the hobnob masses yearning to be free. Maybe it’s 90’s nostalgia, or because I was never allowed pets of my own. Though I doubt I’ll ever have an answer, and although I may never be remotely well dressed, at the very least, I’m delightfully warm.

jokes from a 5 year old

knock knock
who's there?
banana!
banana who?
lamp!

knock knock
who's there?
pepperoni!
pepperoni who?
shallow water!

my cousin really likes knock knock jokes. try them on your friends!

edit: he can also quote star wars!

fear leads to anger. anger leads to hate. hate leads to suffering. suffering leads to tangerines.

a good thing

I like fabric stores because they smell beautiful like possibility.

flower show

Oh how I love the Philadelphia Flower Show.
I live for it.
or, if not for it, at least I live because of it.

(you might think I'm joking, but I'm not.)
my parents met for the first time when my mom was leaving the flower show.
I suppose this makes me something of a flower child. (insert laugh track here?)

My mom and I attended the flower show on Friday this year, but my mom had already been there on opening night with my dad.

so, here are my thoughts on the 2010 Passport to the World Philadelphia Flower Show. I'm sure that you're positively dying to know my opinions, so I won't spend any more time introducing this post.




the shipping containers were really wonderful. one was mirrored on the walls and ceiling, and when you walked through it you could see yourself looking back at you from all directions. On the side of another container there were three small arrangements that used construction lighting and various flowers. (ranunculus were included. and you should know that I'm a sucker for anything/everything with ranunculus.)



The Antarctica section was absolutely amazing. big icicles were made out of flowers and fabric, and the lighting was nice too. A really beautiful part of it was that there were calla lilies in slowly melting blocks of ice, being held above a pool of water by ice tongs. probably my favorite section of the entire show. (It didn't hurt that the cruise ship themed display was positioned right next to it. Can you say RMS Titanic? I laughed.)



the African themed section was astounding. an entire lion was made out of plant materials and stood at the entrance. The giraffe was equally impressive, and was made out of a metal base and suspended containers of orange orchids.



ikebana, la tour eiffel, and a kiwi.
just some various other things that I really enjoyed.

The ikebana was more interesting than what I can remember from previous years, as was some of the smaller displays.

I geeked out a lot at the 'window shopping' section, especially when it came to the rain gear themed shop. Umbrellas made from pussy willow branches? Colorful boots filled with flowers? Yes please. The chocolate/Parisian themed 'shop' was nice too. (just three more weeks until I'm up off and away!)

the smaller scaled arrangements were nice too, and as they shared a common theme it was pretty unique. The ways that people varied a single theme were wonderful. The theme was kiwi... and while most people themed it after the kiwifruit there were a couple that used the lovable and flightless kiwi bird.

And that's about it. I spent a little time meandering around the various shops, and (as per usual) questioned the amount of cat themed wall hangings.

today is sunday.

AND WHAT A BEAUTIFUL AND SUNNY DAY IT IS! (and why yes, I'm even thinking in caps right now.)

I went for a walk with my dad. :)

There was an awful lot of people in the park today, on account of the wonderful weather.

Sweet: a toothless baby smiling at me.
Awfully nice: spending time outdoors.
Random: seeing a couple being pulled in a horse drawn buggy.
Ridiculously delightful: hearing somebody scream "FOR NARNIA" at the top of their lungs atop a giant rock. (and here I was thinking things like that only happen on the internet.)

I love people so much sometimes.

gosh I love math.

I sent my math teacher an email the other day.

I needed help with matrices, and as a post script I added "if it helps, I think my problem is that I am spending too much time trying to bend the spoon, and not enough time realizing that there is no spoon to bend."

He responded & signed the email as Neo.

THANKS.

missing.

Weekend = jam packed. (There's only one man who would dare give me the raspberry!)

Tonight I did not go and see Where the Wild Things Are. Woe.

Also, was not able to go see Ludo in concert.

A note about Ludo: they are fantastic. Heard their song Hum Along about two years ago... and I was hooked.

"Maybe you'd be kidnapped by pirates
and they would take you to their hideout
as pirates often do
but I'd find the secret map
and I would vigilante-bushwhack
through the jungles of Peru..."

Really, how could I not love them? Anyway, they would have played Broken Bride (in its entirety!) tonight, and I am very sad that I missed it. Broken Bride is a rock opera about a time traveler and his time machine and some dinosaurs and a zombie invasion and then a happy ever after. (The most delicious CD ever. Well worth the $5 on itunes.)

But, I had other things to do. Like making beef sticks with Asian Club. My hands still smell like secret beef stick sauce. 80 some pounds of beef went into making these. I think we bought an entire cow. I should be disgusted, but I'm too busy being amazed.

we're selling them tomorrow. they will be delicious. (I'm a vegetarian and I'm saying that so you know it must be true.) buy some.

And now, for something completely different:

another reason why I love everything: CHEMISTRY HOMEWORK!
Mole day is coming up! The mole, 6.02*10^23 is a basic measuring unit in chemistry. it is also a cylindrical shaped mammal that burrows into the ground.

Homework for Chemistry? MAKE A MOLE. I just got assigned to make a stuffed animal for school. Bonus points if I put silly clothes on it. ASL;KJDFAKSJF K SO EXCITED I CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO DESCRIBE SA;SLKFALKSJFD!!!!1!!!MOLES!!! I think it is safe to assume that I will be getting an A on this assignment.

in the past 3 days

The past three days have been great. :)

I love having things to do. (the greatest problem that I find myself faced with during the summer months is the complete lack of activities. with nothing to do, I find myself sitting on my couch and watching the same re-runs for days at a time. While I do enjoy the ability to recite entire episodes of Avatar the last airbender (I am cool), having plans makes things more interesting.)

Thursday and Friday were spent (where else?) at the library. A special science program for children was taking place on oceanography, and I helped kids use microscopes, used a pile of solargraphic paper, and watched an old movie about undersea life. I think it was an educational disney movie, and it had classical music involved.

As a thank you for being fantastic, I got a pair of awesome safety glasses. I'm a very happy (and very geeky) kid.

Saturday was spent visiting my Grandpa. :)

We drove to his house, and spent some time together. I picked green beans from the garden in his yard. I like green beans. Being the cool guy that he is, my Grandpa had a previous engagement (visiting a neighbor for dinner) so we left at six.

Driving home, we saw these:we pulled over by the side of the road and took pictures. It was fantastic. The balloons passed directly overhead, and were low enough that you could see the features of the people inside of the baskets. The people in the baskets were waving down at us, and we were waving up at them. We took pictures of their balloons, and they took pictures of us. I thought that was a little strange, but who am I to judge?

I hope that everyone else has had as wonderful of a week (or past three days) as I have.

With love,
Pi

(P.S. those four pictures are mine. I'd kinda like them to stay that way. if you want to use them for anything, just ask me, and I'll happily give you permission. just please ask first!)

Things that make me happy

Yesterday, was a beautiful day. That made me happy.

Yesterday, I finished compiling my English Portfolio, and realized that it was awesome. That made me happy.

Yesterday, I picked flowers. Lily of the Valley, to be exact. That made me happy.

After I brought them inside and put them into a fancy shot-glass, *ahem,* vase, I went back to doing my homework. That made me a little sad.

But I could still smell the faint aroma of Lily of the Valley clinging to my fingers. That made me happy.

---

Today, I was told that a not so good grade I got on a French test wouldn't be counted toward my overall grade. That made me happy.

Today, I took a physics test. That made me feel okay.
While taking the physics test, and blanking on an answer, I got a thumbs-up from somebody in the hallway. That made me very happy. (I wish I could have done something more interesting then wave back. I'll brainstorm some more about this.)

Today, I went on a 35 minute run.
My running group left without me. That was a little sad.
Instead, I went on a 20 minute run with some of my friends on the track team, and ran an extra 15 minutes alone. That made me happy.

While on my 15 minutes of alone time, I got waved to by a very tall 8th grader who was playing tennis, I watched several events of a middle school track meet, and I almost got hit in the face by a frisbee that was thrown by (Varsity?) Boys Tennis team who were playing an intense game of Ultimate Frisbee.

I think that the first bit made me feel happy, the middle bit made me feel happy (and a little weird), and the third bit made me fear for my life, my face, and made me very happy.

---

The past two days have made me happy.

I hope it stays like this.