Her Secret Is Patience

A few months ago, I was on a date with N and saw the following floating in the sky:

(thanks, N, for taking the picture with your cell phone!)

Don't believe me? It's another one of those Phoenix treasures that I've loved discovering. The sculpture is titled "Her Secret is Patience." The following are pictures from an article from the ASU College of Public Programs (COPP) (from which I graduated with my MPA, go Devils!) website (click on the picture for more info).
For more about the inspiration behind this sculpture, see here. This link also contains a little bit of information about how this works, since the sculpture looks totally different at night (see here for pictures of the sculpture during the day). Unfortunately, there is not enough information in either of these articles to satisfy my curiosity, and I'm now going to spend additional time researching how the artist made this happen. This sculpture is awesome. Go see it. It is well worth your time and the Downtown Civic Space Park is beautiful.

Phoenix Treasures

One of the things I love most about living in Phoenix is discovering little treasures like the following door and associated building walls found in a small alley between a restaurant (see previous post) and another building. Most people probably don't even know this place exists. Loved it, took the picture, and cudos to M for being kind enough to stand in the picture for me. She's such a great gal and friend. And I LOVE the picture...her green shirt was perfect for it.

How to celebrate M's birthday...

step one: Take a ride on light rail (see previous post)

step two: Watch the movie Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.... I thought the first movie was better, but how can you not laugh at an Egyptian who speaks with a lisp and is trying to take over the world with the assistance of a few other nefarious villains from history? A few favorite quotes from him:

• (speaking to Darth Vader) "Ith that you breathing? Becauth I can't hear mythelf think! There'th too much going on here; you're athmatic, you're a robot. And why the cape? Are we going to the opera? I don't think tho."


• (speaking to Jedediah) "You're tho cute--juth like a little grain of couthcouth."

step three: Birthday dinner with friends at The Wild Thaiger. If you've lived or been to Phoenix but haven't stopped in to this restaurant, you're missing out. The food is phenomenal.


The Pad Thai is some of the best you can get. I personally love the Beef Waterfall Salad (second picture below). It's crazy good!

step four: sing Happy Birthday to M! (And thanks for sharing the incredible Homemade Coconut Ice Cream with all of us. YUM! It's also a definite must on the menu.)

step five: Ride home on light rail. Again, check out the previous post.

Public Transportation's Reputation

Some people think that public transportation can be a terrible experience, with strange experiences, people, and uncleanliness. I thought I'd try out Phoenix's new light rail system and draw my own conclusion. After all--there's no higher level of evidence than observation (sorry, all--just a little bit of the auditor coming out of me):

Exhibit A: Emily, M, and M out on our first ride, happy to find it clean and pleasant. This is just AFTER the cops boarded the light rail for their regularly scheduled check for our tickets. I have no objections to this. It seems reasonable to check for tickets, and I'm guessing it works.
Exhibit B, six hours later: Not a joke. Just the seat I happened to sit down in. When I looked to the right, I saw the following. Yes, it's a razor. No, I did not look to see if it had been used. Yes, we moved immediately. Yes, there was trash next to that seat, too, although it was only a magazine. Fact: we were seated in the back of the light rail, so this is not a fair comparison to the middle, open area where we were seated before.

Conclusion: All jokes and opinions regarding public transportation are fair game. (But I might try to ride it again--just not in the back...)

I love strangers...

....who ride their quads through forests I've never been in and pick up cell phones that they see on the ground. I especially love it when that particular cell phone was the one I lost while riding on the back of my friend's quad through Pinetop (but only on the roads). I think this stranger must be brilliant because it was such a great idea to take it to the nearest Verizon store. I, on the other hand, did not make the smartest choice by sticking my cell phone in my back pocket . (May anyone reading this learn the lesson from this story instead of through their own experience.) So, to whomever was so decent and AWESOME, I'd like to thank you. You are my cell phone hero, an angel, and the answer to a very sincere prayer. :)

p.s. In case you were wondering, this is evidence that prayers are very DEFINITELY heard and answered. :)