Weekend linkage

On Wednesday I was at my parents' house, and my two youngest siblings were getting ready for their homeschool evaluations. Apparently they need to fill out a form beforehand, inquiring about their experiences this past year. Rachel was writing down Mark's answers for him.

Rachel: What's one area you need to improve in?
Mark [flippantly]: Paying attention.
Rachel: Oh yeah, that is a good one for you!
Mark: No! Stop, don't write that!
Rachel [writing]: Too late.
Mark: I want you to write something different!
Rachel: Fine then. Give me a real answer.
Mark: Um . . .
Rachel: Come on, hurry up.
Mark: Um . . . what was the question again?
Rachel: hahahahaha

I love them :)

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This strawberry mojito looks fantastic. So does this smoothie, also with strawberries, and a more unique ingredient: beets! (I just saw the season's first beets at the farmer's market the other day.)

Wee sculptures of food, from chef salads to chocolate chip cookies. And I though I was good with Playdough.

Also from Colossal, an Argentinean sculptor beaches a whale in the middle of the woods. This would be creepy but awesome to find while taking a hike.

How common is your birthday? It was no surprise to see August's popularity, since in our combined families, 30% of birthdays (six out of nineteen) occur in August. It's like crazy party month.

Miniature city built out of type.

A good one from Dinosaur Comics: "Wilde's the most egregious preemptive plagiarizer of my funny jokes ever!"

A wine hoax of gargantuan proportions. This article made me think about what we use as status symbols (in this case, expensive wines) and how we can fool ourselves into believing that they're more valuable than they truly are.

Marinated roasted mushrooms.

Famous authors denigrate their fellow wordsmiths. "Bulwer nauseates me; he is the very pimple of the age's humbug. There is no hope of the public, so long as he retains an admirer, a reader, or a publisher." Tell us what you really think, Mr. Hawthorne!

It is okay to say no to unnecessary crazy. Preach it sista.

Two unique wedding features from A Cup of Jo: colorful bridal gowns (I vote for the gold!) and a cheese cake. Like, literally cheese.

Praying as we work and as we live. "'True, whole prayer is nothing but love,' offered St. Augustine. Is the only reason we don’t really pray is because we really don’t love? . . . And real prayer isn't about changing God's mind but about finding God's heart--and letting His heart change my mind."

When coffee and chocolate were identified as the staples of life several weekends ago, we left something out.