Smacksy Sunday Links

This teacher wore the exact same outfit in his yearbook photo every year for forty years. I love him.

Authors' summer reading lists.

And somehow endearing, portraits of guys wearing their girlfriends clothes.

Happy Sunday.

Smacksy Saturday Photo: Scooter Boy

Like a flash.

The Five Awesomest Things About 4th of July by Bob Rosenberg

1. First you get to walk in the parade with your dad and his dad friends and they will wear matching t-shirts and do a funny dance. In the morning before the parade you get to see your dad practicing the funny dance in the living room in his underpants. This is awesome.

2. You get a really good taco and a popsicle at the park. The popsicle has ice cream in the middle and crunchy strawberry things on the outside. Super awesome.

3. Then you have a barbecue dinner at your friend Felix's house and play with Legos and the guinea pigs, Honey and Squeaky. More awesome.

4. You all walk to the high school and lay on blankets in the football field and watch the fireworks show. You and your friend Felix yell, "Incoming!" before every firework goes off until your parents make you shhh. The fireworks come out of real cannons. That is awesome.

5. When you get home it is almost, barely 10:00pm at night and you are up way past your bedtime but you're not even tired, except that when you get in bed you suddenly get really tired. The whole entire day was awesome.

The Outside Guys

"Mom, I like being outside because that's where my bugs are."

Happy 4th!

Flight

"Dad how do helicopters fly?"

"Well, they have an engine that makes the big propeller on top go around very fast, so fast that the propeller pushes down the air forcing the helicopter up."

"Mom how do planes fly?"

"Um... magic?"

"Mom."

"Ask your dad."

Sweet Sorrow

 
We traveled all day and part of the night to get here. The beautiful matriarch of Mr. Rosenberg’s family was making a fast and graceful exit and we were coming to say goodbye.

We held her hand to let her know we were near. We spoke to her gently and she responded with a whisper. “I’ll call you next week, “ she said, joking.

We saw other family and held them close. We thought about the woman who would soon be leaving us.

Always turned out in carefully chosen outfits and matching jewelry, she knows what’s best for everyone. She often shares her views in the form of hand-written letters that rhyme. She is always right. She plays the violin and is a studied card sharp. She knows her way around a dirty joke. She makes brisket and strudel like no one else and though she tried to teach us her recipes no one can quite replicate them.

She loves the shore.

She loves us.

Her absence will leave a deep cavern in all of our lives.

We stayed for just one day.

We will be going home soon and so will she.

Cloudscape

"You see those clouds, Mom?"

"I do."

"That one looks like a bear. Or maybe a wolf. No, definitely a bear."

"Which one?"

"Wait. Now it turned into a king. A scared looking king."

"I don't see it."

"You might need to crawl back here."