Sometimes a misunderstanding ends up being a beautiful painting

So today before entering my Islamic World Studies class, I was feeling rather adventures and dare I say tawdry. I had recently heard a naughty joke and I wanted terribly to tell someone. Jenny of course comes to mind. I knew telling a joke and making someone laugh was exactly what I needed to do in that moment, so I was very excited. You could almost say that I was too excited to tell this joke. And might I add, it is never good to tell a dirty joke via text message, it is all in the delivery. That is why I will assume stage directions for the conversation that arises.

Patrick (almost too excited to tell a dirty joke via text message)
What did Mozart say was better than roses on your piano?

Jenny (with what I imagined and hoped to be a greatly enthusiastic tone)
What?

Patrick (still too excited before heading into the impending doom that is his next class)
Tulips on your organ!

I am in class and there is no reply for sometime. A sense of failure is beginning to enter my mind, and it may be catalyzed by the great void of speaking I do in this class.

Patrick then says (not giving up yet
get it tu-lips ...ORGAN
SO SALACIOUS

when you have to point out how salacious your joke is you cannot help but feel a bit of failure.

Jenny (with what I hope is both earnest compassion and confusion)
I am not sure what it means, but I feel like its sexual

Patrick (not fully dead yet, he is remaining strong because that is what life and humor demands sometimes)
two lips on your organ.....penis....Beeeeeejdeeeeets

Jenny
Oh that reminds me of a Dali painting

Patrick (a bit shocked)
I think I am writing this down

Jenny (with a simple air of knowledge and understanding)

He did a painting of a bunch of flowers, but instead of petals the had two lips because they are tulips


I promised myself not to make that joke anytime soon and to go find the painting when I got back to my room



It is a nice painting. I think its rather witty and nice
Thank you Jenny.


moral: Sometimes vulgarity is not what we need, sometime we need beauty. Sometimes we need misunderstandings to figure out what we really need.

an interesting thought

This is the beginning of the french film "La Haine (Hate)".
Here is the translation:
"Heard about the guy who fell off a skyscraper? On his way down past each floor, he kept saying to reassure himself: So far so good... so far so good... so far so good. How you fall doesn't matter. It's how you land."

2 observations - from the observation journal of patrick james gill on May 10th 2008

I like that I have calloused feet, it makes me feel accomplished. More accomplished that being able to drinking almost an entire carton of Naked Mango Juice.

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Being alone is nice sometimes. To be in a comfortable place, with only your thoughts, or something benign and not to stressful to watch or listen too. Being with someone is good as well. Just you and a person, in frank discussion or quite closeness. I feel that I am growing, growing to understand degrees of intimacy and

There are some people that I just love talking too, some people I just cannot run out of words with. That being said, I am left speechless by a few people (this is usually a good thing and to these people I give massive kudos).

Cosmic Circus

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90321001

This is a story about a traveling family circus.
A decade on the road, the child's entire life.
Ever since listening and reading this story, I have been imagining the things one could see from a double decker bus going no more than 33 miles per hour.
I would also like to see the reception I get from different nations, seeing how each culture sees the circus.


Going along with this theme, I feel it would be apt to mention the Gypsy Circus.
The Gypsy Circus is a collective of ladies and gentlemen, each in ownership of at least one pair of red pants and a gusto for existence, that exhibit these two attributes on various occasions. Someday we will find out how to put our talents to use, organization may come with more time and less space between members (ie: patrick is in chicago, jenny is in san francisco, other members range from Santa Cruz to Minnesota). At this juncture we are just happy to be, we are in fact accepting new members with quirks and talents.

Sometimes I like believing we are all in a circus. Its a tired cliche, but everyone does their part in expressing their idiosyncratic nature, not only keeping either the lord, the universe, or maybe everyone else entertained, but being exactly what they are: a freak. We are all a little freaky, we are all a bit of performers, I have always held those truths to be self evident. Some are just called

oh look at me now, believing in the vocationally abnormal, that goes to show you what growing up Catholic really does to you.

turning in your drunk dry sleep

(Not posted under the influence of alcohol, as the title suggests. They are lyrics from a pretty amazing tune called "Gemini (Birthday Song) by Why. Give it a listen, it's pretty romantic and has poignant imagery. Personally, I do not find the word very poignant. I mean, when you say it, it sounds bouncy. Poing, poing, poing, Poignant. Just goes to show you how language quite often falls short of conveying actual meaning and thought. Totally different story, probably not meant for this blog. )
I normally close the blinds when I go to sleep to keep the bright lights of the city out of my sleeping eyes. Since I recently purchased a snazzy sleeping eye mask, I decided to let the city lights be. It's a pretty comfy eye mask, with an adjustable elastic strap. It is even made of this sensual silky material, to comfort your eyelids that much more. And on the front, or back, or whatever side you would call the one that faces out and away from your face, are pretty little golden stars and planets with oscillating rings. I guess those planets would be considered Saturn. If it is, there are three Saturns on my eyemask, and several ying yang shapes, too. And the shooting stars! There are probably at least five shooting stars, all travelling from left to right! That must mean something, they must be shooting away from something! Well, shit. That's unsettling. How am I supposed to sleep knowing the shooting stars are running away from something? Or maybe they are shooting towards something? That would make more sense, seeing as the one and a half smiling crescent moons are facing the direction the stars are shooting in. And, I mean, if the moons are smiling like that, there must be something pleasant going on in that direction. Okay, problem solved. So, on the the main story. In the middle of the night, however, the mask slipped off. I began to stir, and rolling over, I looked out the window. Somehow, the cityscape and Victorian houses transformed into a giant man opening the door of his house and walking away. It's not like it made my particularly happy at the time, but it was incredibly bizarre. I rubbed my eyes and little ol' Masonic Ave. turned back into just that. I reached for my eye mask and went back to sleep.
Perception, perception, perception!

to be your housewife

The following is a narrative of how empowering I find grocery shopping to be. If you think this bizarre, you should hear how I feel when I drive on the freeway. Speaking of empowering, try listening to George Gershwin while shopping in the Container Store. What a trip.
I am a Queen in this Kingdom of fruits and vegetables, with my loyal steed of steel. I examine my subjects with the most critical of fingertips and most sensitive of sniffers. I am forever grateful for your selflessness, however, as I wheel you through the sliding doors towards certain death, where you will be sacrificed by saucepan.

something i could rest my hands on

Adventures can take place on a daily basis. Love can be found on a daily basis. Beauty can be found on a daily basis. You just have to train your eye to see it all happening right before your eyes. You perception shapes your reality which shapes your life, so why not train yourself to see even the smallest of miracles?
Everyday I try to make mental lists of little events, situations and things that bring me joy. Here is a short list of small, all too often ignored things that have recently made it on my list. Most likely you will recognize a lot of these things as being part of your life, too. And, like switching the lens on a telescope, many new things will come into focus.

-Many people despise a crowded bus. I myself am not very comfortable revealing my armpit to strangers while bumping cabooses with junkies. I do revel in the rare opportunity to be the one standing at the front of the crowd, right in front of the wide windshield. I take a sideways stance, knees bent as the bus driver rushes up and over each hill. I like to imagine myself surfing, via bus, through the city this way.
-Living on a college campus, I have grown especially fond of elderly eccentric, flustered professors with tattered suits and even more scattered brains. My heart goes all fuzzy whenever I see them and I fall in love, at least for a few seconds.
-The act of pouring hot water from the teapot into the glass.
-Stepping up onto the sidewalk.
-Making eye contact with strangers (especially the aforementioned professors)
-Spoons in general.
-Jaywalking
-Dizzy Gillespie's cheeks.
-Brushing my teeth in the shower.

Now go and make a list of your own and send it our way!

ADDITION:
this is partick's short list of things he looks forward too, mundane things turned extraordinary, and simply good times.

-Overcooked tofu and reading the snippets of trivia on the back of the soy sauce packets.
-The form,coloring, and general nature of a fully bloomed tulip.
-When the wind shakes through a tree with blossoms, scattering the petals all over, and you can bow your head and pretend you are the Dali Lama (that’s not blasphemous is it?).
-Any moment I am allowed to hold Ben, walk with him, or talk with him.
-Trying to name flowers with Erin or anyone for that matter.
-The unpredictability of a thunderstorm, and laughing about your own wet clothes all day. Along with this is the way lighting rules the sky for the briefest moment and really listening to the wax and wain of rainfall (it really is not always a consistent downpour).
-Reading stories about dark and dirty Havana right before I got to bed, just so that I am to that almost fearful place, then I count my blessings and feel safer because I am on the second floor, then I fall asleep listening to some relaxing music.
-Always making eye contact with strangers.
- Natural hair grease and messing with my hair.
-Figuring out in the morning if actions were dreams or not.
-Putting a letter in the mail box or taking a letter out of my mail box
- Making and then forgetting my future goals
-Train rides everywhere are fun, especially with other people’s conversations being loud enough for me to not even try to eavesdrop. Silence on the train is fine as well.
-When people look at me and the golden unicorn on my bag funny.