Magic Coin

At every restaurant, the
beaming faces of
bus boys and
servers and
children
would gaze, mesmerized,
as my dad made the magic coin
disappear from his hand.
The coin swirled and swirled,
around and around,
teasing his palm.

And then it was gone,
each finger lifting
to show nothing.

And now he is gone,
but unlike his magic coin,
he will not reappear
to delight the crowd once more.

How are you like bread?

• You're crusty on the outside, soft and vulnerable on the inside
• People avoid you like you're evil (or full of carbs)
• You really hold it all together (like lunch meat and stuff)
• You're everyone's favorite part of the meal
• You like to loaf around (sorry, just couldn't resist...)
• You're soft and doughy (because of all the loafing...)

I am the Pack Leader

The Dog Whisperer has changed my life. I think Cesar Millan is my new best friend.
I've been obsessed with TiVoing all episodes of the show, and have been watching nothing else. I think I'm almost caught up on all three seasons now. Meanwhile, I've been annoying everyone around me by spewing forth "the wisdom of Cesar."
Since he says basically the same things over and over again, I have taken to repeating them and applying them to unrelated situations. My favorite parts of the show:
• Daddy the pit bull, possibly the coolest pit bull alive
• Predicting what type of Jeep Cesar will arrive in (can you say product placement?)
• Rules, boundaries & limitations...in that order
• Calm-assertive AND calm-submissive (both are good)
• Learning to bite your dog before he can bite you first
• Blue polo shirts in EVERY episode (can't the dog whisperer afford a wardrobe whisperer?)
• Cesar imitating the facial expressions and actions of the dogs (SO funny)
• Me imitating Cesar (even funnier)

So besides being quite entertained, I can now better control the dogs in my life as well as the sixth graders. I learned to be the pack leader -- calm assertive (insert goofy facial expression here).