Dear Strangers out there in Strangerville: happy Friday. Two weeks from today I'll be departing from the land of coconuts. With each passing day I become more excited and more nostalgic at this prospect. Some moments I think, "how can I possibly leave the most beautiful piece of Earth for the comparatively barren frozen wasteland of Salt Lake City?" And then I'm like, "oh yeah. BURRITOS."

It's been a bit of a rough week in some ways. Not a bad one. Just sort of difficult. Difficult is ok. That's what ice cream and yelling at the T.V. are for.

And now, your pictures and distractions:

Rilong, her brothers, and John Thing in the house.
At the church just a few hours before Daniel's departure.


Daniel with some of the kids just after church.


We hosted a Saturday morning breakfast and guitar jam with the church kids at our place. All of them were LATE.


Part of the Malaria Garden.

*****
Stranger Picture of the Week: From Magan

What the crap? No pun intended.


Crap to distract you from whatever you're supposed to be doing:

TAYLOR BERRETT--one of our Strangers and someone I'll call a friend--has recently signed with Warner Brothers Records. He's an unbelievably talented musician with a modern Paul Simon-esque sound (the highest compliment that can be given to any artist). His music is getting the most playtime currently on my what the kids are calling "the ipods." Check out a video of one of my favorite songs. Another favorite here. And hurry and become a fan before he turns into a superstar so that the hipster in you can brag to others that you liked him way before he was big.

The only way Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" could have been more terrifying. Thanks, Lori.

Fashion predictions for the year 2000 from the 1930s. Thanks, Brad.

10 habits that steal your happiness. This is amazing. I've written "consume less, produce more" on a sticky note and stuck it to my computer monitor. It's next to the one that says "buy more rat poison."

I just noticed that America's favorite mom checked in this week. Thanks, June Snapple.

One Stranger drew some pictures of her favorite Stranger posts. WARNING: her Leotrix will haunt your nightmares for time and all eternity. Thanks, Jae.

And finally, one Stranger informed me that the International Astronomical Union is looking for public input on what to name a bunch of planets. I bet if we all email and plead, we can get them to name one "the Queen of Colors?" Suggestions may be sent to iaupublic@iap.fr. Thanks, Kenneth.

~It Just Gets Stranger