Day 36: Happy Coming-of-Age, America!

Happy Independence Day! Or, if America were a person, happy recognition day of when you officially left the kid's table to take your place with the adults!

As I'm sure you know, there are many other - more common - celebrations of the day: fireworks, wearing the American flag in some form, and (made official by my Dentist's office) HOTDOGS.

This was the image of my 'Happy 4th of July' email from them:

Wow, a mustard "America," that just takes it to a whole new level. And don't forget the baseball!

Animals especially love the July 4th holiday. As witnessed on my walk to the train:

OWNER: "Oh, it's alright. Come on, Sweetie, just pee. Just one time."

Day 35: Contemporary Street Art

Piled up on the side of the road.

Not a typical location for an art installation, but modern art tends to stretch the boundaries far and wide these days.

Walking by at dusk, the pile seemed massive; strategically placed to resemble an effortless abandon. Bravo!

And in the darkness, the reflective strips emit an eerie glow from a colony unknown.

Now, if we view this pile of caution cylinders from the perspective of one who is NOT going to an art show, but simply going about their normal life walking down the sidewalk, we might think this pile looks like it was a complete accident, through which a car may or may not have driven into it multiple times.

But hey, who am I to question ART?!

Day 34: On This Date . . .

28 years ago, I was born. Happy birthday to me! And happy day to you, dear reader, as you are in for a treat. Well, I hope you are. I enjoyed what I'm about to show you, so I'm hoping you have as many giggles as I did.

I know another special lady, let's call her Janice, who is also celebrating a birthday today. In preparation for the start of a new year, she decided to get herself a new hairstyle - as seen here:

Unfortunately for Janice, she was caught in a sudden rainstorm, soaked in the downpour. She then turned into what resembled a drowned rat (hehehehahahahohoho! Sorry, Janice, I just had to).

I never got an update on whether or not she was able to re-fluff those locks, but I did see how God made up for his funny trick afterwards.

A BEAUTIFUL RAINBOW!!! [in a golden city]

(Bonus points for you if you can identify where this is.)

I found it quite fitting this was taking place for our shared birthday - especially the rain part - because, on this date in 1843, the following was recounted in an article from the Times-Picayune newspaper of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Headline: The Day an Alligator Fell from the Sky.

Credit: onthisday.com

Is the article true or not? We'll never know. But at least we can gain renewed perspective that getting caught in the rain isn't such a big deal. Getting caught in the rain, tossed in the air, and dropped down in a completely new location however, is a different story.

Day 33: Artificial Fail

Two 10 year old boys sit in the middle seat of an Uber van. Just finished from playing arcade games, they were hard at work digging into their loot, which, of course, consisted entirely of candy.

First up:  Gummy Bears.

After eavesdropping over the conduction of very scientific taste tests to distinguish the acuteness of one's palate, came something I NEVER thought I would hear as a complaint:

BOY 1: "I hate the orange ones."

BOY 2: 'Why?'

BOY 1: "Because they taste too much like real oranges."

Too much like real oranges. Wow, Artificial Flavor-Makers - you've really missed the mark on this one. Making flavors that actually resemble the natural food you're trying to replicate?! Preposterous!

But that conversation? Hilarious.

Day 32: Eat My Feelings

You're bored. You're upset. You created a bad habit. Surprisingly, eating isn't always the solution to everything - and it won't always make you feel better . . .

WOMAN: . . . I just want to eat my feelings . . .

THERAPIST: Ok, you can do that.

WOMAN: WHAT? REALLY?!?

THERAPIST: Yes, but first you have to identify your emotions and tell me why you think you're feeling them.

WOMAN: [mumbles] . . . I'm not hungry anymore . . .

Day 31: Gettin' The Band Back Together

If this happened in real life (and I got to be a fly on the wall to witness it) I would be sooooo happy!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SETTING: High School Reunion

STEVE: Hey, Jim.

JIM: Hey, Steve.

STEVE: So, I was thinking since everyone's back for a couple of days, what do you say we try to get the old band back together?

JIM: That's a great idea! I'll tell Connie & Bill.

TEXT MESSAGES

JIM: Jam Sesh with the old band. Tomorrow at 3

CONNIE: OMG, YES!!! I'll tell the others.

BILL: The bldgs open all wkend. Lets use the music rm

3:00PM - MUSIC RM - JAM SESSION

. . . as in, High School Band . . . not what you were expecting, huh???!

Day 30: Summer School

Summer break may be in full swing, but one school near where I live isn't letting that stop it from engaging minds.

Very interesting . . . Do you think it's speaking generally or to something specific? I'm not sure, but I certainly like the idea!