can we all just agree that it's nice to have a job?

yes! with kind people. doing really meaningful work. in the faith-based peace and justice field. i am a happy kid!

can we all just agree that it's nice when your sweet little eye makes a valiant recovery from an accidental chemical spill?

one tiny drop of diluted shower gel can produce dramatic reactions, apparently. i think left eye is gonna be okay, but it was all halloween-looking for the entire morning. it's a good thing i have glasses, or i would have had to lie in bed reading with the book just a few inches from my nose. instead, i did all kinds of things in the garden, rearranged my kitchen cupboard, and now i'm tackling laundry. so much laundry. left eye and i will emerge victorious! mark my words.

can we all just agree that pizza and beer is a fantastic combination?

seriously, i could have pizza and bread soda every day and still be quite happy. i could even be fine having pineapple on my pizza several times a week to be sure to ward off scurvy.

can we all just arrrgree that national talk like a pirrrate day is rrrad?

i trust that you are observing it as well.

can we all just agree that tapas are fantastic?

oh my.

can we all just agree that budgets, though occasionally frightening and often kind of discouraging, are nevertheless very useful?

can we all just agree that this is yet another awesome spam title?

"your future, paper-footed."

can we all just agree that sometimes waking up way earlier than necessary can be cool?

this morning i woke up convinced that i had overslept my alarm (i hadn't) and i sprang out of bed saying, "oh dear oh dear!" because apparently my response-to-crisis monologue is set to "that-cute-little-girl-from-the-movie-annie" these days, but as i got ready and worried a little bit, i realized that i had gotten up almost 45 minutes early. and not overslept my alarm. so i had oatmeal for breakfast and answered a bunch of email and now i'm going to go ride my bicycle to church.

happy sunday morning, everyone.

update: i realized that she doesn't actually say "oh dear oh dear!" she says "oh my goodness oh my goodness!" silly me.

update #2: i just remembered, after puzzling over it for quite some time, that her name is molly. the little one, with dark long hair? she was totally my favorite when i used to watch that movie as a kid. SO CUTE.

can we all just agree that sometimes a person just needs an accidental two hour nap?

and that at those times, it's best to just enjoy them?

can we all just agree that fake bacon is lovely?

i know that i've been posting about food a lot lately, and the loveliness of fake bacon is certainly not new to me, but i just wanted to make sure that we could all be clear about this. the end.

can we all just agree that egg and cheese and bagel sandwiches are excellent?

i have a complex love-hate relationship with eggs, but this morning i had an egg and cheese and bagel sandwich because my plans to have a waffle were foiled (curses!) and it was totally delicious.

can we all just agree that pumpkin pie is phenomenal?

although some people don't include pumpkin on their list of approved fruits and vegetables (so sad!), pumpkin pie is wonderful. especially when you make it at home from scratch. and double especially when you respond to the mysterious disappearance of your measuring spoons (what the heck?) by just dumping in cinnamon and cloves and ginger, and you add nutmeg also even though the recipe doesn't call for it, because cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg just go together. it's true.

can we all just agree that it's great to like what you're wearing?

i am wearing a pink ribbed wide tanktop and i am so into it right now! it's like a hug for my torso, but it leaves my entire arm (x2) free to be an arm (x2). it's like free to be you and me (or free to be a family, the book we owned when i was growing up) in shirt form. and it smells nice.

can we all just agree that cute housemates are the best kind to have?

just now, the microwave beeped, in the way that it does when someone has left something inside of it, and cute housemate #1 said, "good job microwave! thank you for remembering!" and it was cute.

can we all just agree that there is no excuse for violence?

today is september 11. you know. i don't have to remind you. bush is talking about it to justify the war and to justify torturing people.

republicans are talking about it to try to win some elections.

democrats, as usual, couldn't come up with a coherent, compelling, and concise statement on anything if their lives depended on it. thanks, guys.

but i'm talking about it because it was a tragedy. and—this might be hard—the 3,000 people who died, sons, daughters, all, some mommies and daddies, best friends, secret crushes, first kisses, husbands, wives, cute neighbors, excellent babysitters, the girl with the awesome shoes, the boy with the gorgeous crooked smile, the woman who never smiled, the man with the goofy ties...though each a precious child of god or the universe or just two other people...they were no better or worse than any of the people who have died since as part of the united states' plan for retribution. right now, at 1:34 am on september 11, between 41,650 and 46,318 civilians have been reported killed by the war in iraq. 41,650, if you want to take the low estimate. versus 3,000. and did it bring them back, those 3,000? and what about afghanistan? and the soldiers, on both sides, all sides?

iraqis, afghanis, americans, we all love our kids. and our families. and our friends. and our lovers. there are differences that people seize upon, to try to divide us, and differences that we ourselves might be hung up on: some of us look different, they talk funny, we don't understand islam, they live so far away it's almost like they don't actually exist because we've never seen them and we are unlikely to ever see them and since we live in america, we are often priviledged enough to pretend like it isn't happening, but today is yet another ripe opportunity to make a commitment to yourself and your humanity and this world and all of the kids and the future, and to make a commitment to rejecting violent solutions.

don't write me off as one of those infuriating people who insists, ostrich-style, that there are no dangers in the world. the united states has enemies, certainly (in many cases, not entirely unearned enemies), but there are better ways than bombing desperately poor countries into even smaller bits of rubble than they stood in before, and lying to invade another country in a strictly elective war of ideology, to deal with these enemies.

i am heartsick when i think of the kids, on both sides, on all sides, who will never be the same because of this mess.

september 11, 2001 was, and is, a heart-wrenching tragedy. there is absolutely no excuse for re-creating the agony of loss and bereavement worldwide.

peace.

can we all just agree that drunk people can be really obnoxious?

can we all just agree that the harry potter books are fascinating?

sheesh, i'm having trouble doing important things (sleeping, eating, gardening) because i can't wait to find out what happens next!

can we all just agree that being in bike races is rad?

but that the radness is dramatically increased when you place?!? woo! second girl, that was me! yay!

can we all just agree that random lists to oneself are both fun and confusing?

i just found one that says,
"Fred
Steve
FAWaPP"

unless it says

"Fred
Steve
FAWaDD"

sometimes, i get so confused by myself.

i'm going to throw away this list, but i kind of wonder if i should maybe keep it. just in case.

can we all just agree on the universal excellence of the jets to brazil song "cat heaven"?

gosh, i hoped so. if i were you, i would go listen to it now.

can we all just agree that bike polo is rad?

and even radder when you get way better at it after only a week? woo! go bike polo!