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Looks like there's a great new exhibit from the Young @ Art crowd at Scottsdale Center for the Arts starting next week. It's all about texting and the new language we have all had to learn in order to keep up with our kids. Shawn came to me laughing yesterday and showed me this latest text conversation (convo) with Shana on his cell phone.

Shawn: Sup?

Shana: Hey pops kickin it and cleaning room out but mainly kickin what about you my main man

Shawn: ya know jazz'n to some slow beat on the rad and looking forward to putting the beat down on some punks on xbox tonight

Shana: yeah you gonna dominate? You gonna make them cry for their master?

Shawn: Word

Shana: Fa shawh m g. Kickin it old skewl

Shawn: When r u coming home?? ???

Shana: Saturdayyy you know

Shawn: Good

Translation

Shawn: What are you doing, honey?

Shana: Hi Dad. I'm relaxing after some final exams and cleaning out my room here at college since it's the end of the semester, but mostly, I'm just relaxing. What about you, the best Daddy in the world?

Shawn: Oh, I'm just listening to some music between patients here at the office. I am looking forward to increasing my score on Xbox this evening. My friends and I have quite the competition going these days.

Shana: Great! I am sure that you will put forth your best effort and definitely win.

Shawn: I agree.

Shana: Absolutely, Dad, just like you used to do in the olden days.

Shawn: When are you coming home? I really miss you.

Shana: Saturday. It won't be that much longer.

Shawn: I can't wait to see you.

Jackalope Ranch

Jackalope Ranch - the brand new Culture blog at New Times. Be cool and check it out.

Rendezvous Review

Let's rendezvous in Amsterdam. Wait, we already did that. I still can't believe we jumped out of the Scottsdale bubble and flew to Europe on a whim. So the ladies needed to review. Couldn't find a Dutch restaurant in Phoenix, so we went to France. Well, not really France, but the great every time Petite Maison. There was wine, there was cheese, there was supplemental bread and even a beautiful slide show on the tabletop to remind us of a perfect trip.

True Foodie

My Dad's a true foodie. He can whip up an amazing meal with his eyes closed, but this morning we let some other guys do the work. Andrew Weil. Sam Fox. Yeah, those guys. In honor of Cinco de Mayo, Dad had a breakfast burrito (far from being a soy milk drinking vegan, he thought it could use a bit more flavor) while my fruit parfait was delish. We caught up - the one more bachelor day, the end of the semester, the Gay Pride parade in Amsterdam, June means France for him and Montreal for me, the importance of good colon health (that was before we were served) and how much more difficult life can be with only two freight elevators.

The Heat Is On

It hit 90 something today and I started to groan a little. Last summer I made a commitment not to bitch about the heat. It's hot here in AZ. We all know that. I'm a native, so I really know it and I figured that complaining only makes it worse. The other day somebody asked me if I was going to stick with that this year, too. It is a bit harder, takes more effort, really, to be positive rather than negative. Maybe it's not worth it after all. Then I saw my little solar-powered dancing flower on my window sill. It just goes to town when the sun comes out (click on play below). So I'm going to step it up a notch. No complaining, of course, but this summer there may be some dancing, too. Bring it on, Phoenix. I can take it.

Obama - a few laughs

The President joking around at the White House Correspondents Dinner

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/01/2010-white-house-correspo_n_559901.html

Field Trip to Leslieland

Went with the girls to Buckeye to visit Real Estate Maven Leslie at her new job at Verrado. Big front porches, new community living, tree-lined Main Street. Too bad it's almost to LA, but she was worth the trip. Leslie was in her element, selling, selling, selling, pushing those houses, placing the furniture, making the customers really believe they lived there. We toured the models, walked on the fake grass, played in the tree house, had a nice lunch and waved good-bye before hitting the highway for the trip back to the bubble.

Drill, baby drill

The thought of all of those animals out there in Louisiana drowning to death...heartbreaking

A Bunch of Illegal White People

What do a bunch of illegal white people look like? What does the hotel or restaurant owner look like that hires people at $3 bucks an hour, cash, under the table, to clean his rooms and cook his food, cutting payroll by more than half so his wife can drive an Escalade? I'm thinking bald, big beer belly, bad shoes, faded Bush/Cheney sticker on his bumper. How about the nice blonde haired, blue eyed lady in the suburbs, freshly highlighted and manicured, that leaves a few $20s on the counter every Wednesday morning so people magically appear to scrub her toilets, forgetting every April to tell her CPA about it. And what about all the white landlords and managers that employ millions that don't speak English (possibly a clue) that work throughout the night emptying the trash and mopping the floors in our office buildings and schools and factories and hospitals. What if we rounded them all up, handcuffed them, called in some news cameras and didn't let them go until they hired people legally at a fair wage, threw in some health care coverage and payroll taxes. And what about all the white druggies? What do they look like as they drive around our cities, texting all the way? The heroin addict shooting up in front of his kids that now has Hepatitis C and is on disability courtesy of you and me, the pothead that says he can quit any time...but never does, the guy snorting coke in the drive-thru line at Starbucks? What if we pulled over all of those folks and made them stop buying Mexican drugs, throwing in an American made, perfectly taxable, prescription for Prozac instead? Supply and demand, baby. Economics 101. If we let somebody just walk across our border, pay them enough to live on, plus some to send back home, educate their children and give them free health care, isn't that our fault? I just read a poll that 70% of Arizonans approve of the new immigration bill, hard to believe with 30% Hispanics in town, but why don't all of those white people quit illlegally hiring cheap labor and illegally getting high, cheating Uncle Sam out of billions a year, go stand on the border and see what happens.

Wildlife World Zoo

Wild morning with Shawn at the Wildlife World Zoo - lions, tigers, bears, oh my. Well, tigers, flamingos, monkeys, Shana's favorite, a Slow Loris, huge aquarium with turtles, penguins, sharks, a fun sky ride, perfect weather and so much more.