rock on

he also makes great crepes

I know that I am married to someone awesome, because when I send him links to things like this, his response is, "Let's get one!"

& i've been driving a lot lately too...

I'm a little embarrassed to find out that my favorite tp & paper towels both rank at the bottom of the list of earth-friendly tissue products, just published by Greenpeace. I know we shouldn't be using paper towels in the first place, but I'm married to an avowed paper towel lover, so I guess the least we could do is switch to something recycled, or at the very least, somethign that doesn't contain a ton of bleach.

I talk the talk, but I guess I don't walk the walk.
We only use cloth napkins, though!

Back on the bike next week, I swear.

things i don't need to be doing right now

1. walking to the bookstore to buy candy

2. watching videos of boston terrier puppies. (So cute!)

3. shopping for new sneakers

4. writing this post

So, now that we've cleared that up, back to work!

books white people like

Not to go on harping on this race thing, but the BBC's list of 100 favorite books is making its way around the blogs, and I'm wondering where are all the non-white, non-European authors? 

The rules of the meme are that you post the list, making notes regarding which ones you've read. Supposedly most have only read six, which blows my mind, because that is just not possible unless you skipped out on all of high school.  But more to my point, it all seems very self congratulatory and self back-patting.  I've read my fair share of the list, but I'd so much rather say I spent my college years reading the likes of Nawal el Sadawi and Jamaica Kincaid than J.K. Rowling.  

My point is not to sound like a snob.  

My point is this:  The Shell Seekers?  Seriously?  And no Toni Morrison?  For shame.

goings-on upstairs

also good with real fruit added

Aside from its total lack of nutritional content, I don't know why I don't eat more jello. It's so fun!

no i won't go out with you
Why does Google keep asking me if I want to submit a story about how much I looove my iGoogle homepage?! For the record I do not. Love it, I mean. It bores me to tears, and i hate that the mail doesn't function properly.

eeny-meeny
I am engaged in a years-long debate with myself over the merits of always using the same bathroom stall, versus mixing it up. Pro one stall: at least you know that some of those germs belong to you. Pro multi-stall: possibly decreases your chances of continually mingling with something invisible yet nasty. But maybe not?

especially annoying when she sneaks onto my pillow
When my dog wakes up from a nap she smells like crackers. What's up with that?
(Also, she totally talks in her sleep, like me. I find this hilarious--that I make the same bad-dream noises as my dog).

shiny happy people holding hands
The debate open discussion regarding race in the local elections that I half-attended this eve only served to remind me that this place is about 20 years behind so much of the country in that regard. Or, maybe just the coasts? Just the northeast? Have too many years of Sarah Lawrence College & the Brian Lehrer show made me too post-post-modern? My first impression is that everything everyone is saying sounds so provincial, but I have to realize that's only because race relations here are truly so far behind, and I am waaaay too new here to even begin to try to fry those eggs around this blog. So I guess my point is that I'm glad the discussion is being had, and I wish the crowd at this particular establishment was regularly so multi bi-racial (where were the immigrant peeps et al.?!)

and then i reveal my achilles heel
A certain proprietor of a certain aforementioned establishment approached me with a white bag of loot this eve. I know that bag. That is the kind of bag that always, and exclusively, contains candy. Yes--yes, I would like to have some of your candy. Thankyouverymuch.

library

I'm supposed to be entering data but it is Saturday, and Ga!  Why am I here right now?  The sun is shining!  The lights in here look like an alarm clock & I keep staring at them, rearranging the squares to spell BOOBLESS like you did on your calculator in 5th grade math.  

55378008 & flip it, man.

This would make way more sense if I had that Calculator/Alarm clock font.

bridge to nowhere

his 'n' hers

sneakers

boxing gloves

hobbies

whiskey

candy

recent unfortunate purchase

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I cannot rest until I have eaten them all.  Oh, the chewy cinnamony goodness.

fessing up

I resisted.
I was skeptical.
I was offended & repulsed.
Then I was bored, so I watched some more.
Then I kind of liked the costumes.
And then I had to make a late night run to the video store for all of Season 1.
And now I'm casting around the reruns frantically, hoping for a glimpse, or something to take its place.

There is a Mad Men shaped hole in my life.

----

Also from the list of shows I picked up on many seasons after the entire country had agreed it was good and moved on: Top Chef.
Who knew? I don't like reality shows so I never considered watching it. But I do like to cook, and nerd out about cooking, and the damn production with its suspense and nail biting...
So yeah. That show is good too.

25

25 Random Things -- About Billy Bragg

1. I was twenty one years when I wrote this song
2. I'm twenty two now, but I won't be for long
3. People ask when will you grow up to be a man
4. all the girls I loved at school are already pushing prams
5. I loved you then as I love you still, I put you on a pedestal
6. They put you on the pill
7. I don't feel bad about letting you go
8. I just feel sad about letting you know
9. I don't want to change the world
10. I'm not looking for a new England
11. I'm just looking for another girl
12. I don't want to change the world
13. I'm not looking for a new England
14. I'm just looking for another girl
15. I loved the words you wrote to me
16. But that was bloody yesterday
17. I can't survive on what you send
18. Every time you need a friend
19. I saw two shooting stars last night
20. I wished on them but they were only satellites
21. Is it wrong to wish on space hardware
22. I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care
23. I don't want to change the world
24. I'm not looking for a new England
25. I'm just looking for another girl

Sigh. Go buy that song now. It is so good.

___
post script-- I did finally tag back all the people who 25-things'd me on Facebook, and in all the pressure to come up with a list that was equal parts self-deprecating humor and dry sharp wit I completely forgot the two most defining aspects of my existence:
1. Sneezes, to me, are like fingernails on a chalkboard. I try to keep my recoiling disgust in check but inside I'm writhing in discomfort.
2. I eat a lot of candy, and my preferences tend toward the kinds targeted at eleven year olds--no artisan dark chocolate truffles for me, thanks. I'll just grab that box of Spree.
So there, I didn't tag you in the original 25, but you got the good ones anyway.

because it was 70 degrees today

I had to buy some flowers. They smell lovely, like a season I barely
remember.

advance warning

So, you might be thinking to yourself "I need to get me one of those blogs. I have ideas. I lead a humorous existence."
But don't. Seriously. Take it from me: the big liability of having a blog is that sometimes its existence, and your need to post something onto it, shines a big beaming light onto exactly how boring your life has been of late.

Oh, let's see... I've been drinking a lot of tea...no, boring.
Valentines candy is now on sale and it is not even the 14th! Whoa, no. Totally boring, and kind of weird too.

Take the advice or don't, but you can't say I didn't warn you.

snow puppies

It was in the 60's in STL this weekend & I rode my bike for the first time in weeks, but last weekend it was still snowy & we made snowmen in the park. By Wednesday it will be 70, but I'm fairly confident there are more snow puppies in our future before this winter is over. Crazy St. Louis weather.

new pet peeve

Dear Twitter-ers who post 85 messages in a row,

Maybe you have 85 different points to make, or maybe you are just feeling restricted by that oh-so-bothersome 140 character limit, but thems-the-rules, kid. Reign it in.

If you feel the need to wax poetic about such a plethora of topics, maybe you could space them out a bit across the day.

And if it your prose needs more than 140, perhaps you should consider a different outlet.
It is annoying & you're clogging my Twitterific feed.

Write it on your blog, I read that too.
______

Man, some day we will totally look back on this as a quaint time when professionals around the world were hoodwinked into a gigantic scheme to make us sound silly: twitter, tweet, twitterific. I'm starting to think it is a big conspiracy.

reviews

2 movies we've seen recently that I thought would be just ok, but actually were really good:

1. In Bruges
2. The Wrestler

2 movies we've seen recently that I had a feeling would not be good, but we watched anyway b/c someone associated with it was on Fresh Air and we're totally those nerds who think anything that makes it onto NPR has to be worth our time, and in fact were totally horrible:

1. Pineapple Express
2. The Rocker

So, tailor your Movies-to-Watch list accordingly.

on being sick

See, the thing about getting sick, especially really kind of grossly sick, in a way that takes its time getting well and drags on for days, is that it messes with my blogging.
Not because I cannot think of anything to say. I can think of tons to things to talk about but they all involve my fascination with my own progression of symptoms. And I know better than to air that nonsense to the masses.

So, all I'll say about it is Narcotic Cough Syrup. Who knew?