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Our daily chores take a little longer this week.  We are pet sitting for one of our neighbors.  Jenny was telling Christy about it in the picture above.  She was video chatting as Daphne sat in her lap.  Slash made a run for it Tuesday morning when Jenny went over to let Daphne out.  That crazy cat was soaked from the wet weather by the time I finished my shift at Homer’s and let him back in the house.  He was glad to see me and a dry towel.

It’s usually ominous and foreboding.  For the longest time I only knew it as a teasing anticipation for a live Elvis show.  The theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of those big movie scores that’s only played by an orchestra.  I guess that’s why I wanted to play it on my Casio and take all of the pomp and billowy notes out of it.  On the Casio it sounds like a kid slowly letting air out of a balloon or someone breaking melodic wind.  Now that’s something I can be proud of.

Since my new job at KU Med doesn’t start for a couple of weeks I’m filling in some shifts at my old coffeehouse.  The baristas at Homer’s were more than happy to take some time off.  I covered Mary’s shift from noon – 6:30 on Saturday.  Steaming milk, blending frozen drinks, and ringing up customers is still second nature to me even though I haven’t done it since last September.  I was a little surprised at how easy it all came back.  Jenny brought Beth and Gary by around 3:30.

He looks better with a slight cheek bulge.  I didn’t know if the goat was chewing anything when Darla asked me to draw it, but I couldn’t imagine a goat without something in his mouth… but then again I didn’t imagine a goat with a bandana or a billy club either.  One of my sister’s friends dreamed up this image.  He (or she) told Darla about the dream, and she described it to me in a text over the weekend and asked if I could draw a bearded billy goat wearing a bandana and holding a billy club.  I added the “wife beater” tank top for good measure.  Chalk this drawing up as a dream come true.

I found this piece of art in the driveway.  Our neighbors on the corner are moving and this blew out of a dumpster that’s in front of their house.  They held on to this picture for a long time because their kids are well past the age group that produces images like this one.  I always wonder what the artist was thinking when I see these types of pictures.  Is the person in front of a window?  Does the person’s expression reflect happiness or exasperation?  How long has he or she been shaped like a letter from the alphabet?

Wednesday I answered a phone call from Brennan, The Talent Acquisition Manager at KU Med.  He offered me a full time job with benefits and I accepted it.  I start training May 3rd to be a Patient Service Representative!  I’ll be checking people in when they arrive for their doctor’s appointment.  I also received an official offer from the hospital via email.I realize they probably send this letter to everyone who is hired, but when I read “You have impressed us with your skills and background…” it felt personal in a good way.

Add the cent sign to the list of “Things I Thought Would Always Be There.”  It’s still possible to make it with a pencil or a pen.  Here are the instructions:  write the letter “C” and draw a vertical line through it.  However if you want to type the cent sign, the key isn’t there anymore.  The process involves a manual and the proper tools.  Make sure you have a ruler and plenty of thumbtacks.  If that doesn’t work, try holding your tongue a different way and you might be able to produce something that looks like this: ¢

This year I’m going to step inside a painting.  It could be Starry Night (above), it could be Sunflowers, I don’t know how many I will experience, but I’m willing to try all of them.  An Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit is coming to Kansas City and I’m on a waiting list for tickets.  This is actually the kind of experience I would like to create for audiences.  I’d like to make a space where people go in and something happens and they are changed… like apples dipped in caramel.

Look!  There’s a boombox, spinach leaves, a hi-hat cymbal… it’s the stuff that dreams are made of!  I could live in a world like this.  This particular piece is titled Communication With Departed Souls Via the Amplified Sounds of Spinach Leaves Dropped on a Hi-Hat.  My friend, Bryan Voell, has a steady hand and a cool imagination.  He is the creator of this and other illustrated works.  You can see more of his drawings and collages on bryanvoell.com.

The sky was blue and the grass was dry.  Conditions were perfect for an outdoor birthday party.  Last Saturday Adelyn and Lincoln, turned four together and a handful of us came outside to celebrate the milestone.  The birthday kids played with their cousins on the playground next to the shelter, after that they sang The Wheels on The Bus, and then they opened their presents and ate birthday cupcakes.