May's Links to Love

Artsy:

Pretty paper wreath (I want to try doing it with colorful paper).

Pia Jane bag!

DIY chandeliers.

"No One" cover by Morgan:

No One by Alicia Keys from Morgan Rindlesbach Rapp on Vimeo.

Light bulb ceiling.

Make a ruffly shower curtain.

Behind family/group pictures.

Staple art:

The Making of Ephemicropolis from Peter Root on Vimeo.

Skinniest house.

Charming front door.


Mormon:

Video about chastity for youth:



White House Mormon Youth Round Table.


Literary:

Languages' levels for learning. (I know you won't believe me, but German totally fits in the easy level.)

We had a black list for the yearbook in high school ("pearly whites" was quickly banned from captions), but I think Kurt Andersen's list is much more interesting.

Existential despair in Peanuts columns limited to three panels.

Re-enactments of romance novel covers.


Yes, I Love Technology:

If web browsers were celebrities.

I definitely need a KVM switch.

Add a tip jar to your blog. I'm not yet sure if I like this idea yet.

Flipboard, a personalized magazine. Cool.


Random:

Biblical sex quiz.

Baby's gender a secret?

Bicyclical benefits.

Bikers getting yelled at have several options.

For mothers with biologist children:



The reverse psychology of no smoking signs.

High education=less chance of divorce.

Creepy house decorations.

Butterbur for allergies?

Funny dubbing:




What would you take from your burning house?

A hilarious but explainable side-by-side of a couple at engagement and again three years later.

Egg Hatching

Baby peregrine falcons:





























Watch here.

Passing Down the Nostalgic

I totally understand now how people can want some of their childhood for their children and how they can want to disregard all budgetary limits. After converting my nephew and niece to Melanie Hoffman ("Oh Boy, I've Got Joy") and laughing about Mary Miché's Earthy Tunes and Nature Nuts, I want to get these for them, cheesy 80s music and all:

Safety Kids Set:



Sometimes you've just gotta yell and scream! Even if it costs $29.95!




Wendy Murdock Shurtliff's "I've Got Joy" ($8.99):




What else am I about to covet for someone else's sake?

This:

KidTunes: Lucky Diaz and The Family Jam Band - Oh Lucky Day:

Peregrine Falcon Video Stream

My dad has watched hawks nest across from his work for years. He recently sent me a link to a video camera installed to watch peregrine falcons that "nest" (they don't really build nests) on the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in downtown Salt Lake City. I've enjoyed waiting for a glimpse of the eggs/flap of the wings/vocalization more than you'd think.

Watch the falcons yourselves (for Mac users, try using VLC). Here's a screen shot I took a few days ago:




And look at these cool pictures that someone who works across the street took. (I love the comment about being sealed in the Temple. Ha.)

The four eggs should be hatching between May 24th and May 26th, so tune in!

Apparently these are some of the fastest birds in the world (they catch other birds mid-air at speeds up to 200 MPH), and these two birds come back to Salt Lake each year. Fans even block off the sidewalk below when it's time for the baby birds to be pushed out of the nest for flying lessons.

Best Reluctant Sound Ever

I re-discovered this treasure as I was moving all my Google Video videos to YouTube:



Ha ha.

What Kind of Weed Killer Do You Use?

Oh my, look what I found:


Watch The Phone Call in Entertainment | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

My Kind of Celebrity Sighting

I saw Carol Lynn Pearson in person. Just sayin'.

The Only Lip-to-Lip I'm Getting Around Here

I've posted about my beloved chapstick of choice, Natural Ice, several times. I've gone off it before and I didn't like being without it, even after more than a month, so I went right back to it after a surgery and never looked back. Natural Ice is a chapstick that I often think only my family knows about. I've only met a handful of people who know about it, and apparently it's hard to find in just any store. Luckily, my mom has somehow been able to find it at random stores and stock up on it for Christmas presents each year, so I haven't had to go without (thanks, Mom, birthday girl today).



Well guess what happened the other day?

I was at the library with two kids in tow. As we headed to the checkout kiosk, one of the kids kind stumbled over something and continued walking as she turned her head back to look at the culprit. Naturally, I glanced down, too, and discovered that it was my own chapstick lying on the floor. Oops! I was so glad that I hadn't lost it. I scooped it off the floor and into my pocket and within minutes we were in the car. After buckling in the children, I paused to apply my chapstick. The moment it touched my lips, I knew something was wrong.

In horror, I looked at the chapstick and saw immediately that the chapstick wasn't rounded the way I always have mine, and it had a dirty rim, which grossed me out. I quickly wiped my mouth and threw the chapstick into the seat next to me, then reached into my pocket to find my own chapstick safely there. I'd picked up someone else's Natural Ice! And put it on my lips. Yeck!

When I told the story later, my sister laughed and said, "Maybe the person who dropped it watched you pick it up and felt just as confused as you did."

Then she asked, "Are you going to cut off the end and use it?"

Yes.

Heroes of the Holocaust

While reading about Czech author Tom Stoppard, I learned that the owner of the shoe company his parents worked for, Tomáš Baťa, helped get his Jewish employees (mostly doctors) out of Czechoslovakia and to places where they could continue to work for branches of his company. What a commendable act.

When I visited Sofia, Bulgaria, I briefly wrote about their commendable actions in regard to the Jews of their city. Can you believe that they were able to get 49,000 people to safety? Can you believe that people got together to help instead of fearing what could happen to them personally? I wish there was somewhere to read more about it (there probably is, I just don't know about it).

Here's to 66 years since the end of World War II.

"Angels"

I can't describe the relief I felt that I had said no to singing when I heard that this was the song to be sung (and the joy I feel at making fun of it):

http://www.ldssacredsongs.com/music_manager.php?album=relief_society&song=1

Blech. Blech. Blech! If I had said yes, I would have vetoed it without a second thought. Blech.