Signs Tell People Not to Drink from Toilet

Signs Tell People Not to Drink from Toilet

Chandler, Arizona City Hall has signs warning patrons not to drink from the toilets and urinals - what's wrong with this picture?

It's a new state of the art building with lots Eco emphasis. The new building and all its features will be dedicated on Monday before the first City Council meeting there. Free refreshments and entertainment from 5 to 7 p.m. will proceed the formal session. Presumably the refreshments will not come from the toilet.


Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/2010/11/10/20101110chandler-city-hall-toilet-water-warning1112.html#ixzz1522XYqXW

Would You Could You En Route To Work

My daughter Shannon rode into the city with us today as her car was in the shop. Somehow our discussions always gravitate to something interesting, and not uncommonly something related to poetry.


My wife made some comment about something being like a poetic moment, to which I asked if one can actually have a poetic moment without being a poet. [I take such abuse from them I felt compelled to stir the pot a bit] Knowing neither would likely admit to being poets I was anxious to learn their take on this. The discussion then digressed and traveled down a couple of divergent paths.


Our discussion followed a news story on NPR about some changes in various mental illness categories in the revised DSM. The DSM is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It’s like the trade “bible” for mental health professionals. My wife wondered aloud if poets had a classification within the updated DSM. Of course the three of us chuckled although mine was half hearted and mostly for aesthetic value.


Shannon then pronounced that she wanted to become a limerick artist. That she felt limericks have been marginalized by society and that she would like to help them regain proper stature. I suppose the same could be said for poetry in general. The discussion then took yet another turn to Dr. Seuss and his writing style. Morning drive time can be so fun.

Chaos as an art form

Have you ever thought of chaos as an art form? I mean there are people who thrive within it and others who cannot handle it at all.

There are times when I've tried to get my shit together so to speak and found that the attempts to organize simply lead to more chaos.

For a number of years, I've carried a Franklin Planner. Back before PDAs were like the gold standard in organizing your business and personal lives. My work life became dependent upon one. Still, utilizing the proper method of indexing and what-not adds a whole extra layer of chaos into your day. I'm not saying it's unnecessary, I'm saying it requires more steps, more detail, more time, etc.

For a long time I saw myself as one who could not give up the hard copy of notations for the electronic benefits of a PDA. Then I got a smart phone (a telephone with enough options at your fingertips to launch a war) and I settled into the idea of using the PDA aspect of it. It was nice to free myself of some of the paperwork, but alas, I found that I was not able to maintain enough detail (in work related projects) to rely strictly on the PDA. So now, I do both. More layers of work in what is already a chaotic work day.

My chaos is however not limited to my day-to-day work. No, my writing is also well amerced in chaos. I have drafts and poems on a desktop at home. I have drafts in journals with heavy emphasis on the "s" and I have them on a flash drive. Some are in folders and some are not. Now I have a laptop in which I am attempting to establish greater order. It seems like such a daunting task that when I think of achieving greater order, my mental picture is something akin to world order and that seems unattainable.

So, am I blessed with the "gift" of chaos? Or did I simply work hard in my earlier life to build on sound principals of chaos till I have achieved near perfection of the art?

Then I ask myself, are there some people who are predisposed to chaos? Are right brained people stronger in chaotic traits? How about Capricorns? People with ADD? Blondes? People who love baseball? First born children? Where does it come from?

Occupying the space in between

Mood: nonchalant
Listening to: Piano Man / Billy Joel

Found myself in the waiting room at the doctors office this afternoon writing about the floor covering and the ceiling. How drab is that?

Since arriving home, I've come upon another idea that feels promising but will take some time to flush out. I'll make some notes tonight that can keep the concept fresh while I let is sort of settle in my mind and see what kind of cream might rise to the top to skim off.

It's late, I'm going to get ready for bed, listen to a podcast and turn in for the night. Snow is falling ( again ) here and I am anticipating the worst in terms of road conditions in the morning. Perhaps I'll be jiggered..

On the Lighter Side

This is too funny.... "We Want The Funk"

Poets will bare their souls, and everything else, tonight

Poets will bare their souls, and everything else, tonight: "The Poetry in the Raw event is a fundraiser to help several of the poets travel to Halifax, where they will compete against eight other teams in the National Slam Competition. It takes place next week at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. 'The readers will be disrobed and unfettered tonight,' promised shayne avec i grec, a former member of the team, who now acts as coach. He said the idea of stripping came from two previous events in which he decided to read in the buff -- and garnered a surprisingly keen audience." [full story]

Presidential Candidates say the stupidest things...

If you are my age, you may remember Art Linkletter and his program and later book, Kids Say The Darnedest Things. A recent AP wire story about Presidential candidates and their gaffes, has the makings of a first class reality TV show.



A few gems:

• Republican candidate Mitt Romney - Defending the decision by his five sons for not enlisting in military service by uttering the following, "...one of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected." Romney later tried to clear the air and said he didn't mean to compare their campaign work to military service. Yeah, well duh.
• Republican Mike Huckabee has referred to Arkansas as a "banana republic" as well as jokingly attributed his 110-pound weight loss to spending time in a concentration camp. Way to go Mike!
• Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.,demonstrated fuzzy math skills when he drastically overstated the death toll from a Kansas tornado, saying "ten thousand people died." The real number was 12. As in one and two with no zeros following.
• Good old Republican Rudy Giuliani, the mayor of New York City during the Sept. 11 attacks, claims he was at ground zero "as often, if not more, than most of the workers" and was exposed to the same health risks. Ok, I don't think his photo opps were the same as digging through the rubble and I suspect there is a wee bit of exaggeration on the time as well.