http://www.photoclub.by/work.php?id_photo=10555&id_auth_photo=435#t

My wife said this was the most popular dish at our daughter's birthday party:

http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Movie/CID/Medium/EM-0004-01.mpg
http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Movie/CID/Medium/EM-0004-02.mpg

Fun game. Just use the arrows & keep trying to hit the rectangle.

Try this illusion. Follow the directions. Mushrooms anyone?

Oh, turns out I don't have blockage in my left anterior descending artery after all. Had a false positive on the test done last Friday. So no explanation for my pain two weeks back. More on this later.

DT

I bought some gum the other day. It produced by Xlear Inc. and is sweetened with Xylitol, which apparently is the new "wonder drug" of the 21st century. The only problem is that it is not a drug. It is a naturally occurring sweetener that can be produced from corn cobs or other fibrous plants. Too bad for the drug industry.

If you read the text at the hyperlink above, you'll read how Xylitol can help the body in the following ways:

* Increases energy by enhancing ATP production
* Increases utilization of fat
* Replenishes glycogen
* Anabolic -- keeps biosynthetic pathways open
* Anticatabolic -- —helps maintain lean muscle mass
* Antioxidant -- —generates NADPH, keeping glutathione in an active state
* Increases endurance
* Reduces free radical and oxidative damage

Jez! I gots to get me some more of this wonderful Xylitol sweetened gum!

I Know

I know peanuts,
peanut butter, peanut brittle.
I know sweet tarts
and milky way and granola.
I know pizza
and pasta, sun-dried tomatoes
and olive oil and basil.
I know sunshine
and warm sidewalks, sprinklers
and sweat.
I know parties and bubbles
and cake and noise and smiles
and presents and candles
and children.
I know daycare and preschool and
four weeks of kindergarten.

I know joy;
I know depression.

I know winter and its
icy fingers that tickle the windows
and beckon to get in.
I know cloves and cinnamon
and anise and nog.

I know my breath
I know my wife
I know my children
and their favorite things.
I know we are all
wrapped in the sun's arms
and tomorrow I will know at least one thing more.

~David Tumbarello, 2006

The amazing rotating snakes.

Do not, and I repeat DO NOT, click on page 3 of "The page of rotating snakes". Medical intervention might be required. Please heed this warning and the warning at the top of the page, if you dare.

One of the advantages of spending a night in the hospital, besides being diagnosed as a prime example of a patient with cardiac disease, is that one finds time, tremendous amounts of time, to read. I finished The DiVinci code last Sunday, the day after returning home from the hospital. The book was liveley, even if the character study was barely above zero on a scale of one to ten. Even so, I was pulled into the chapters and enjoyed the mystery revealed at the end.

In honor of this experience, I give you a link to a page unembarrassingly called Leonardo Da Vinci'’s Machines.

So Tuesday I return to the hospital so they can do a heart catheterization, which you can read about here or here. Go ahead and read--I've been avoiding this education and I only have 3 days to go!!

Just found this Double Agent Video.

Did I ever post the Make-a-Flake page?

And yet another listing of youtube.com videos.

I found this poem recently, then went to Google's Translation Tool, and translated the page from Spanish to English with this result.

I overlook the word "single" in the last line, but other than that, I am impressed with the translation and the skill of the images and connotations expressed by the poet.

I never shared the second poem I wrote for my father for Father's day. Here is "Hands", which I would have preferred to call it "Balance" or something like that.


Hands

Frisbee throwing with warm grass under feet
Splashing, rowing, in our pool in the heat
Catching balls, throwing jarts, climbing trees
Sunday pitching golf balls was a dew stained treat.
Polishing windows, mopping floors,
Sanding my father's pine wood derby cars
In the workshop downstairs, carefully carved
from two-by-fours.
Vacations to destinations in the back seat of cars
misery prevented by daily ice cream bars
and soda.
Laughter, spinning, airplane rides
in the consummate fingers of his outstretched arms.
Algebra and equations and mathematical pluck
bore fortified courage as challenging tests
clamored for perfection--
but not nearly as tested
as the student
for he had a teacher who reduced the abstraction
into two steps or four
and smaller bits, like fixing an engine or righting a tire,
and wiseness occurs when the student perceives
the tools required of the man
at times dwell in the head
and other times reside in the hand.

~David Tumbarello, 2006

Here are some collected videos that are slightly more interesting than our home videos of the kids playing in the back yard. Actually I find these videos of Saturn and its moons incredible. But then again, I've been accused of using the word "incredible" a bit too much.

So if you like astronomy, perhaps the Cosmic Log (blog) is for you.

I was about to write "makes me dissy" but then I corrected my slurred speech. Can one slur his speech when writing???



My wife took this dynamic picture last time we visted the John Hancock building in Chicago.

And yet another link. Over 1400 Videos from the 80's. Be sure to check out Enola Gay and (duh) Take on Me.

Will this magical day of bountiful links ever end???

I can't go on without sharing this link of Selected Works by Duane Hanson, again found from the interesting links listed here.

And now I'm editing this post because I am blessed tonight with some awesome surfing, this time stumbling on this picture. Amazing.

Cool barn here.

All part of the bigger project here.

Do visit the links page at planetperplex.com where I found this treat: virtualdali.com

Had therapy earlier today. I wonder if I'm tense because I haven't found out the test results yet, or if I'm just tense. I think I'm finally starting to have some anxiety because I haven't found out the results of the echo cardiogram yet. My mom said on the phone, if it was serious, they would have called me so right away it wouldn't have been funny. Ha!! Now that's funny!

I spent a night in the hospital this past Friday. It was the first night I ever spent in the hospital.

Last Thursday, I dropped my son off at his baseball practice and had to run back to the car to lock the doors. I left him in the care of another mother there, then I took off running for the parking lot. I felt my heart have a minor pain, and then felt a little tingly feeling in my left arm. I locked the doors and ran back to the baseball field, once again feeling the pain. I thought about the pain for a few moments but quickly forgot as I got on the field to practice throwing, catching, and hitting with our 4-year-old.

After 30 minutes, he decided he'd rather get angry at his skills than practice, so without any remorse, I decided to leave practice early. After all, I thought, I could get in an early run before dinner now.

When I got home I changed for running, confirmed with my wife I'd be home before she had to leave for soccer, then I took off down the neighborhood streets. I turned into the forest and felt fine. I rose up a small bump in the sidewalk and I could see kids playing soccer on some of the soccer fields to the right. I felt pain in my heart and felt my arm feel tingly again. I got closer to the kids playing soccer and felt that if I had a heart attack, at least one of them would have a cell phone and would be able to place a call to my wife, less than a mile away. After a minute, the pain went away. Then it returned 3 or 4 more times during the 25 minute run. I conceded a few times and walked. Walking isn't a big deal as I enter my upper 30's. But walking because of a heart pain concerns me.

I returned home and explained the run to my wife. She encouraged me to make an appointment with my doctor and see him the next day. These symptoms, coupled with the light headedness I had Tuesday and Wednesday, gave me a full resume of ailments I could present to the doctor.

Friday morning I called the nurse on-call who said with those symptoms, I should pack a bag, bring a book and clothes for the night and head off to the Emergency Room at the hospital of choice.

The wife and I drove to the U of M hospital, checked me in, and I learned that heart patients get the highest triage priority.

They gave me an EKG in the ER, then I was moved to the Chest Pain clinic down the hall where I was going to wait for a consultation with a cardiologist "in the morning". I was glad I brought The DiVinci Code, because I spent Friday night and all Saturday morning reading. I didn't have the TV on at all because the book was quite good. Not as good as the hype, nor was it the best book I've read all year, but it was a quick read. Then Saturday at 12:06 p.m. I met with the cardiologist. I shared with him my symptoms and the fact that I was swinging an axe the weekend before. He was interested in getting me in for a stress test, then said I wouldn't be able to do this until later in the week. Okay. Check me outta here, please. Then 15 minutes later, nurse Leigh (yes, Leigh, as in The DiVince Code! (who had read the book and with whom I shared several conversations telling her about my progress in the book)) ran into the room and said "We gotta go. We'll talk on the way..." and held out her cell phone as if I wanted to dial my wife. Sorry, Leigh. I won't call my wife now, she is on her way to the mall in Novi to Build A Bear with my daughter and her friends. We walked down the hallway to the South, then back to the West, then back to the North, then back to close to where we started--I think--when we saw the sign for Pulmonary Examinations. Leigh keyed into this secure wing, then said good-bye, since she had to return to the cardiac portion of the ER. I dressed into my running gear, got the first ultrasound, then got on the treadmill for the physical part of the exam.

After 12 minutes, I quit with the words "I don't want to go any more". I felt I could have run further, but the incline was killing my feet and lower legs.

I then had the second ultrasound and it took me several minutes to recover. At minute 7 in my recovery the technician noticed an inversion in my T-wave! I later told one doctor about this inversion and remarked I never knew T-waves had inversions, and then admitted I never even heard of T-waves until Friday.

So Friday and Saturday during the recovery from the run, the EKG graphed this inversion.

What I do know is that I didn't have a heart attack. But I don't know the results of the Ultrasound. I don't know the recommendations from here. I don't know how long I've had this inversion in my T-wave. If you visit the hyperlink to the left, you will see several diagrams of inverted T-waves. The one I saw in one of my EKGs looked mostly like the diagram labeled (possibly mislabeled) Antiarrhythmics. Now I get confused, but the bottom line is that I might have an Arrhythmias, which you can read about here or here. I want to deny the inversion was there, but it definitely was. Minor, but concerning.

Time to clean the kitchen.

Oh, before I forget, here is the "final" version of the poem I wrote last week:



Neighbors, Brothers, Fathers

I search the sky for snowflakes alike,
two twins in the crystalline dance.
I do not consider they regard the man
who inhabits their eminent land.

When I accept their presence means more
to each other than I understand
I discover my search for the mythical other
Is as close as my outstretched hand.

~David Tumbarello, 2006

Hole in One video.

Then again, if you can't make a hole in one, you can always drink one.

Hole in 3?

Then there is the Hole in One game. Makes sense once I read the directions.

I proposed an idea to the church the other day. Actually, I didn't propose anything to the church, because we don't attend a church. It's a congregation. Given that, I didn't even propose an idea to the congregation. That's a metaphor, like saying "The White House today announced ..." I never saw the White House open its lips and speak. Nor did I propose anything to a building, also known as the congregation. I did, however, propose to the Board and the Program Council an idea that I had at 1:15 a.m. June 12, 2006. I wrote a little something to the minister about my desire to start a small publication which would contain works of poetry, short prose and fiction, and limited visual art, submitted my members/friends of the congregation. She wrote back later in the morning and said this sounds like a wonderful idea, and said I should pitch the idea to the Board and the Program Council. I still haven't heard back from anyone in those groups, except one "Out of Office" reply.

Upon entering my office this morning, I turned on the computer and had an awful thought. What if some of the interested parties used this forum to bash our President. Well, they are free to bash the President if they want, but it doesn't mean I will include their rant in the publication. But before receiving submissions, a fellow editor or editors and I would have to draft submissions criteria. Do I include an item that would prohibit any direct criticism of our government or world politics? Not sure. After all, the aim of the UU congregation is freedom of thought and expression--especially when it concerns criticizing the Bush administration and anyone who aligns him or herself with the conservatism.

So I have a working title for this publication: Landscapes. I was thinking of calling it "Landscapes which run free of conservative political thought", but then I puked and wiped my mouth of the bad taste. Landscapes is more appropriate and expresses what I want to accomplish.

Do visit Live-Radio.net and browse the listings that begin on the left side of the page. Yesterday, I was listening to WQKL and submitted this station to live-radio.net since I didn't see it listed. I'll need to check out some of the Western African stations in the near future. I notice a few from the Ivory Coast.

For those annoying times when you need to translate your prose to something the Jedi Master will understand, visit the Yoda Speak Page.

I was in church today listening to approximately 21 8th graders present their credos, what they believe. I was stunned by the depth of their introspection and their insight on life. I glanced at the woman next to me, in her mid to late 80's. I then looked down at her white, gently used, velcro shoes, and smiled an internal smile. I thought about my 4 year old son, who uses velcro shoes and weighed how this woman, up in years, is charmed by her velcro shoes as much as my son is delighted by his. Up in years, down in years, approaching each other.

I thought about getting a gift for my father for father's day. I thought I'd visit him for the weekend until my wife reminded me that my daughter will celebrate her birthday party Saturday at the Build a Bear store in Novi. Yes, I forgot about the party, but at the same time, I remembered to include my father in the equation. I often forget to carry the one.

Now I was in Meijer's earlier today, scanning the isles for something for my father, when I came upon the ever popular father's day gift--the polo shirt. I rejected the idea and decided to write him a story, or a poem. At least this way, I will give him something from the heart, and something that will either be appreciated or at least show a sign that I appreciate him.


I search the sky for snowflakes alike,
two twins in the crystalline dance.
I do not consider they contemplate me
and wonder why I wander their land.

If I accept their presence means more
to each other than I understand
I discover my search for the mythical other
Is as close as my outstretched hand.
~Tumbarello, 2006

 

 

A Man Said to the Universe

A man said to the universe:
"Sir I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."
~Stephen Crane


The Wayfarer

Love entered in my heart one day,
A sad, unwelcome guest;
But when he begged that he might stay,
I let him wait and rest.

He broke my sleep with sorrowing,
And shook my dreams with tears,
And when my heart was fain to sing,
He stilled its joy with fears.

But now that he has gone his way,
I miss the old sweet pain,
And sometimes in the night I pray
That he may come again.
~Sara Teasdale


Faults

They came to tell your faults to me,
They named them over one by one;
I laughed aloud when they were done,
I knew them all so well before, --
Oh, they were blind, too blind to see
Your faults had made me love you more.
~Sara Teasdale
 


 

I would be remiss if I didn't include a picture of the nifty spiderman pajamas my wife picked up for my son at a garage sale earlier today (see previous post, below):

My son likes his Rescue Heroes and especially Cliff Hangar.


Then I came across this link which shows us Special Forces and the strap on "Bat Wings".

Click here for the soccer dude.

My wife wants me to take a vacation. Where should I go? She's off to Mexico in a few weeks with her friends and thinks I should have some down time from the kids and work and home before then. Maybe I'll go with all my friends. Then again, maybe it would be better not to travel alone.

She gave me a suggestion of someone to go with. I said I wasn't so sure. Why is it I click click better with women? That would solve all my problems--right!--if I could travel with people of the opposite sex. Right! Not going to happen, but I guess I long for the days when I was 16 and single. I never really travelled when I was 16. Or 17. When I was 19 I met my future wife. I travelled that summer. Since then, not much. Maybe I'll get a hotel and check out for a week. That would be something! Just me and the TV. Sounds pretty boring. Then my wife says maybe I should go for just a night. Hmmm... sounds like she wants to to spend all of 12 hours to clear my head. Hmmm. I think I'd rather take a balloon ride for 160 dollars.

An interesting thing happened two nights ago. I learned that despite being not welcome in the house, I need to cross into the house with the kids in order to put them to bed. I incorrectly extrapolated the unwelcome words from before dinner to potential unwelcome words after dinner. Rule #458: despite unkind words in one instance, do not allow the potential of unkind words affect the act of re-entering a situation.

It is also interesting that given the opportunity to nap at 5:30 p.m., I am able to successfully rest for 2 hours if the conditions are right.

In honor of 6-6-6, I give you The Jesus Pan!

If you are a relative of someone in an accident, please identify the body. This warning comes to you courtesy of mlive.com. Darn it, that makes me mad!