Dalas

There's something about public art that has always given me a great feeling. Even if I don't like the object I am thrilled by the idea that it is allowed to be there for all to see. Apparently the folks of Lindsborg, Kansas (pop. 3200) feel the same way. In the same spirit as Chicago's cows and DC's elephants and donkeys, Lindsborg, Kansas has jumped on the bandwagon with their Dalas.

Dalas (prononunced daw-lah) are the carved, wooden tailless horeses that have been carved in Sweden for generations. The Swedes who founded Lindsborg brought these charming ponies with them and made them a symbol for their town. In 2000 the town of Lindsborg started to display large dala statues all over the city. Here and here are more information on this charming town. Boy I would love to have one of those statues. I've always loved all sorts of folk art and I've always had a penchant for Nordic folk art.

With the recent shark attacks I was wondering if there was a registry or some sort of documentation on shark attacks. I found the International Registry of Shark Attacks. Very interesting information.

I can remember in nursing school the big deal they made about making a patient's bed with them in the bed, with them out of the bed, with different injuries, practice, practice, practice. What was really fun was when we would go back to our rooms (they were downstairs from the labs and classrooms) and started making our beds with one student playing patient. So many times we were flipping people on the floor and laughing our heads off. One problem that some of the students had was those wonderful hospital corners. My mother is a nurse so I was schooled in that technique at an early age. One thing that drives me nuts is trying to fold those dreade fitted sheets. I have always had this dream that my linen closet would look the way they do in magazines, but the dreaded "curly sheet" prevents that. I haven't tried this yet, but maybe this will help.

As anyone who knows me will tell you I am a magazine whore. I've gotten better the last few years mainly because I was in grad school and just didn't have the time for a lot of leisure reading. One magazine that I enjoyed was Geist. Geist is a Canadian magazine that covers lots of cool stuff, but mainly culture and ideas. One item that I really enjoyed was the maps. I love maps anyway and Melissa Edwards puts together these wonderful, irreverent maps that, well, just take a look. Make sure to enlarge them otherwise you will miss all the fun.