Rhyme Zone

Yesterday, I had to write a haiku and a limerick for a departing co-worker. Last night, I ended up on the train writing limericks about my friends and family members.

I got stuck on one about a recently-engaged friend, and today was delighted to discover this website, Rhyme Zone, to help me find a suitable rhyme for "bride."

I also came up with this one:
There once was a writer named Ben
who preferred Microsoft Word to a pen
he wrote a book about his crush
called The Cranberry Hush
which he revises every now and then

Reunited

My cat rescue group was holding our adopt-a-thon in a local pet store about a month ago. A woman came in and immediately recognized one of our strays as her own cat, which had been lost in early November. She scared the bejesus out of us where she shrieked, "That's my Smudgie!" and tore the cat from its crate to squeeze it to her body, tears already flowing.

The lady was so happy to find her lost friend that we all cried too. What are the chances, five months after Smudgie disappeared, that she would find her at a pet store. We hold adopt-a-thons only once a month, and we are there for only 3 hours. Lucky the lady came in when she did!

The whole tale of the lost and found Smudgie is captured in a front-page story in one of the local town papers. It gave our little rescue group a great chance to get our name out there, as well as to highlight issues like feral colonies.

Steakloft Restaurant

Not a likely place for a vegetarian to go, but anyway, here's my first restaurant review for the local town paper.

Hard to be Humble

Many people inevitably find a way, justified or not, for blaming their self-esteem problems on their parents.

Aside from being self-conscious about my super-height, I generally have good self-esteem and I credit my parents. My mom always gave me lots of compliments and, unlike some girls' mothers, frequently told me I was too thin instead of suggesting I watch what I eat.

My dad set a positive example simply by having good self-esteem. I am thinking of a little song he used to sing to himself while shaving over the sink, or combing a part into his hair:
Oh Lord, how it's hard to be humble
When you're perfect in every way
Each morning I look in the mirror
I get better looking each day...

I always wondered if he made the song up or not, and if not, what kind of song was it? Sinatra-esque? Jazz-y?

A quick Google search just gave me the answer: It was written by Mac Davis, a country singer, and the rest of the chorus, which my dad never sung, is:

To know me is to love me
I must be a hell of a man
Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
but I'm doin' the best that I can

Full lyrics are here. Maybe I'll sing this to myself every morning to start my day confidently.

And, as a side-note: there are some truly hilarious country music lyrics.

A Prayer to Google

I just came across this funny prayer to almighty Google, written by the managing editor at CIO magazine, where I used to work.

Flash Mob

Yesterday, we took part in our first flash mob.

First, 400 people gathered outside Faneuil Hall for a synchronized, silent dance party. Everyone downloaded a 13-minute-long MP3 with music and instructions. The dance party ended with a conga line, which really was four conga lines, since there were so many people.

A few minutes later, less than half of the people from the silent dance party met up, and went on to perform a freeze mission in Quincy Market. We were told to freeze somewhere near the first 6 food booths at the front entrance, but there were so many of us, that we moved into the center of Quincy Market. We froze going up the stairs towards the Comedy Connection and several other people froze in the center by the tables.

Mike froze with the camera up and was able to get a great video of the start of the five-minute freeze:

I was frozen next to Mike with my water bottle in mid-air, my mouth open. Not everyone broke the freeze at the same time. I broke when the girl in the red jacket walked away, but the guy on crutches and the guy in the background, also with a mid-air water bottle, broke later.

Quincy Market was a good choice of location, but it was a too cramped because of the Saturday afternoon foot traffic. A great freeze mission was accomplished by the New York group Improv Everywhere, who froze for five minutes in Grand Central Station.