33 Days 'Til 40 (Toolin' Around and Circus Talk)

Well, I started to play around with my solder gun today, only to burn my finger. (Ouch.) Soldering bottle caps together is not easy and I have no idea why I though it would be. But I'll keep at it until the smell of my own flesh burning is but a distant memory.

How fitting that I burned my middle finger.

Kenmore enjoying a nonfat latte.
He, too, loves the old Starbucks logo. 

I love my tools, but there is always a probation period where we (that is, the tool and I) are not quite sure if things will work out. Sorta like dating. Will you be there for me? Can I depend on you to do what I want you to do? Will you treat me right? I go through this each and every time a new tool makes its way into my work room. Last year I had to work out the kinks in my relationship with the new sewing machine. And though he (yes, the machine is a male named Kenmore) acts up every now and then, I find him to be the most dependable piece of machinery I've ever had.

My favorite tool is an awl. I use every day, from big jobs to small fix-its. It can pierce through binders boards when I'm bookmaking or delicately undo knots when I'm embroidering. In the case of the Eiffel Tower journal I made a few years ago, my awl performed both tasks.

Okay, now about this past weekend: I took my two kids to the circus. Last Saturday, I met up with my two sisters and their families to see the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ. They presented a themed show called "Fully Charged." There was a lot of energy in the arena, but at times all the simultaneous activity (three rings with three acts going almost nonstop) made me anxiously look around for a coffee vendor. I felt myself nodding off when I should have been, well, fully charged. I started to think that the promoter of this event was in a sarcastic mood when he (or, to be fair, she) came up with the title of the show.

There were some acts that stood out amongst the usual animal cruelty displays. I didn't get a chance to get a program, so the captions that I wrote may not be entirely accurate. My apologies in advance.

These two brawny men are from Uzbekistan? Kazakhstan? It was a 'stan country for sure... anyway they were not only the proverbial strongmen of the circus, but they also proved to be agile and flexible. They used each other to stand on, jump off of, and twirl around like a baton.  

The high wire act. This daring group of men and women (siblings? married couples plus one?) jumped rope, leaped over one another, rode bicycles, and did splits. As a person who cannot stand on a step ladder more than 3 steps from the ground, I am always impressed by a high wire act.

The best part of the show was the human crossbow, but not because I enjoy seeing a man being set on fire and shot across the arena.

The highlight of my evening was the 5 frantic seconds that occurred after I stopped shooting this video. What you didn't hear is my sister yelling, "Put him out! Put him out! For God's sake, PUT HIM OUT!!"

Fully charged, indeed.