Carp Streamers In Shinagawa

Tina Fey's Prayer For A Daughter

First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Bea......uty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, May she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels. What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen. Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short – a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day – And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, That she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back.

“My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.”

And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me.

And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

(from Tina Fey's new book, Bossypants!)

Playing With A New App :)) /Sakura From Last Week

Dylan Looking Cute

Pepper On The Couch Again

Dylan Wants Out

P&D (& Catty!) View The Cherry Blossoms

Ohanami

Rescuing Animals in Fukushima

Hard not to well up while watching this and listening to the haunting, accompanying song....

'Tree Of Hope'

Taken by John Burnett/NPR and posted here on April 1, 2011: http://n.pr/g17hZj

Aeon supermarket in Kesennuma reopens; operating outside from... on Twitpic

Aeon supermarket in Kesennuma reopens; operating outside from... on Twitpic

A simply overwhelming photo (on so many fronts) from a person on Twitter I just started following @Mulboyne...

Evening Light

A Lucky Escape

More on the woman getting into her car while trying to escape the encroaching tsunami (see March 30, 2011 post):

Seconds after she got into her car, the tsunami bashed against it, throwing the vehicle against the side of a building. It didn’t take long for the car to be completely covered by water. She forced herself out of one of the cars windows, which had been broken by the impact. She swam up to the surface of the water and made her way to a tall building. She spent the night on its roof.

Sixteen hours after the earthquake, it was finally deemed safe for her to come down from the building and climb up to the evacuation area where the rest of the survivors had gathered.

Her son, who had been on top of a shorter building that had been overtaken by the tsunami, also miraculously survived the ordeal.

Taken from here: http://bit.ly/gHpJSa