let in the brilliant light of morning

i have no pictures of my own today so i've interspersed pictures from some of the blogs i love as i think they capture the essence of each and why they keep me clicking day after day.

well it was a disappointing day at mr. kuo's restaurant today. mr. wang and mr. whatever were soooo drunk that they were more or less comatose with their heads on their folded arms on the table. i guess i've known for a while that they were alcoholics, but it's never gotten to that point before. it's sad that anyone chooses to waste their life like that when there are so many ways you could better serve yourself and other people.
[this is from if it's hip, it's here. today's post is about an artist, federico uribe, who makes art out of found objects, pencils and shoelaces and shoes, like this swan he made for Puma, completely out of shoes].

today lesley told us that she's leaving taiwan in the first week of march. she decided she's been here long enough and it's time to do something new. i'm bummed that all of my favorite people have moved out or will be leaving within a month. i was just starting to get to know and really enjoy lesley's company. (i know i spelled her name 'leslie' a few days ago but it's confirmed leslEY).
[david lebovitz is an american baker living in paris. he's a professional blogger and he can get a little full of himself, but he really loves baking and his recipes look good.]

classes were good today. i taught my first class how to use a dictionary. much more complicated than you would think. the whole concept of the first word, last word, alphabetical order thing was lost on them. they don't have the alphabet drilled into them in order. i had them find 10 different words and i think the majority of them fully understood it by the end, but we were touch and go for a while.
[design crisis is written by a few women from austin and it's well-written and has lots of interesting pictures and design ideas.i like that they update often. that ceiling was done by an austin design group using paint and lots and lots of tape!]

in my second class we did the QA 'what do people do on valentine's day?' their answers were 'buy/make chocolate, buy flowers, make valentines, go to a romantic restaurant, eat conversation hearts, and my coteacher's addition: sit at home and cry'.
[salt and chocolate is written by a woman who lives in california and it's about her craft and food projects. she has young kids and she does lots of creative activities with them. how easy does that cookie cutter stenciled pillow look? but who thinks of stuff like that?]

lesley and i are planning a trip to the philippines or thailand before she leaves at the end of february and i'm getting excited! it's around $200 to fly round trip to either place. should be fun.

p.s. check out the picture my mom sent of ripley sleeping on my pillow. she's slept with her head on a pillow since she was a puppy.