From the Associated Press:
Ben Keysaer is running out of room -- for tattoos. The Monroe, Michigan, man is just about covered from head to toe. He even has tattoos on places where most people can't see, like in his mouth. Keysaer's tattoo on the inside of his bottom lip says ``glutton.''
He tells the Monroe Evening News it tasted terrible to get. His arms, chest and upper back are also covered in ink. He says all of his tattoos were free, from artists who wanted the practice. But his days of being a guinea pig could be numbered. Keysaer notes he just doesn't have much bare skin left for new designs.
Okay...not only has this guy been tattooed on every conceivable - and some certainly inconceivable - part of his body, but he's also had them done by people who needed the practice...
Yes, I searched for a photo...couldn't find one (sigh).
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I have an old time radio, one of those big cathedral-style jobs...a 1938 Zenith. It still works, when I plug it in. I'll admit I had to unplug it while young Emily was staying with us because she was fascinated with turning it on and off and those old tubes are only going to last so long.
Anyway, if you'd like to revisit the days of yesteryear...or more likely experience what radio was once like for the first time...I stumbled upon this site today. Very cool..very free.
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I have to admit I've had this longing lately to flee...to Turkmenistan.
Okay, maybe not actually go there, but to write a novel about an American defecting to Turkmenistan.
If you're not familiar with this little country, let me explain that for the past 15 years or so it's been run by a full-fledged nut named, Saparmurat Niyazov, who among other things has recently ordered a pyramid built in the middle of the capital city. A full-sized pyramid, like 130 feet tall.
The country is closed off to most outsiders, it's got a good supply of natural gas and oil to help fuel the economy and Niyazov's various edicts, and the country is run by a nut.
It sounds appealing doesn't it? I mean isn't that what most of us really want? To close ourselves off from the rest of world, enjoy our riches...who cares if a kook is at the helm?
Niyazov apparently hasn't been overthrown because people are laughing too hard. He has banned opera and lip-synching, he's ordered people to call him, "Turkmenbashi," or Father of All Turkmens, and has erected gold statues of himself all over the country, including one in the nation's capital that rotates so his face always faces the Sun.
Maybe it's just my fascination with the nutty...but there's something appealing about Turkmenistan...then again maybe it's just Monday.
If we don't return from Moldova...you'll at least know where to look...toward the Sun.
