One of the funniest Camera Obscura videos I've ever seen. I love the kids running around and the dad throwing goldfish into their mouths. And I wish it were that green in southern California.

I don't know what's sadder - The Heart is a Lonely Hunter or Teen Mom on mtv.

what is happening?

This morning I had a dream that I was on an airplane telling an Iranian couple next to me about another dream I had about being on an airplane. We were getting ready to fly to Egypt, and I told the wife that in a dream, I flew to Egypt to finally visit my brother, but the plane shot up from the ground like a rocket taking off instead of a plane, and when we were in the air the plane started spinning and we were upside down and right side up over and over. And when we got to Egypt, before we got off the plane, I said No way, I'm not getting off, I'm going back home. In the second dream, the one this morning, the wife said to me No, that's not going to happen this time.
Later in the day, one of my recurring nightmares actually came into fruition. (Not the purple Estee Lauder stuff Mom used to put on her face, either.) Nostalgia is fun, but I am not going back to Baltimore to finish something I already finished!

oldish new poem

Insomnia

He comes in without knocking,
takes a seat at your bedside
and wants to talk.
Sometimes about people you
used to know, but sometimes
he just wants to sing
about the Swede who cut his
finger off while slicing an
avocado.
Outside, the neighbor’s cat runs
through bushes.
A tiny jet flies somewhere
in the distance leaving a silent
trail behind it.
In the harbor something heavy
is dropped and the sound of
metal meeting the port echoes
against the hills and comes
in through the window.
You lean out of bed, look him
straight in the eye and ask,
How long are you planning on staying?
I have things to do tomorrow.

nostalgia

lessons learned from Les Bonnes Filles

Stalkers are charming but dangerous.
Dunking someone in a swimming pool can give them a weird rash.
Perfume can double as deodorant after a long night out.
If a coworker has a trinket they want to keep a secret, maybe that's best.

Thank God, my family arrived in Turkey safely! Now they're off to Lisbon, those lucky refugees.

some worry

My brother Mario and his wife Xochitl and my baby nephew Vincent (Boots) live in Egypt and I've been so worried about them. They live three hours north of Cairo, but still there is a military tank in the middle of their town and looters had already taken most everything at the store when my brother went to buy diapers for Boots. Since Mario works for a shipping company in the Suez Canal, they were able to board one of the company's ships headed for Istanbul, but the last thing we heard from them was that they were waiting for the port police to show up for work and guide them out of the port. That was a day and a half ago, and still no word. I'm hoping it is just because something happened to my brother's phone, and praying for their safety and trusting that God will take care of them. Boots, I hope you're being a good baby on the ship.