can we all just agree that snowshoeing is rad?

i'd never tried it before today, but dudes! it's great!

i lol'ed. thanks, cat.

and merry christmas to all you folks out there.

apparently, there is more than one music video that includes bmx bikes and furries.

who knew?

and thank you to meh-wee-uhn for showing this to me.

special bonus feature: this one stars a pretty girl instead of cute boys. there's something for everyone here at c.w.a.j.a.?. at least for everyone who likes girls/boys/furries/bikes.

update: link fixed! yes! go watch it! (thanks, brother bear!)

bat for lashes "what's a girl to do"

blogday time!

happy blogday to c.w.a.j.a.?.! two years of existence is a grand thing indeed. thanks for reading.

can we all just agree that buying international plane tickets and then forgetting about it and then opening up your credit card bill is a really,

really good way to freak yourself out?

because it is.

he's just so dang cute.

the four year old is quite the finicky eater. tonight he was disturbed to find that there was a "LEAVE" on his broccoli. (the horror!) so i told him about photosynthesis, complete with interpretive dancey beautiful arm unfolding movements, and ended up convincing him to try the leave. which he pronounced "GOOD!"

we then had a talk about how vegetables are healthy for you, and dark green vegetables are extra healthy for you. then the conversation turned to the carrots he was eating, and he also pronounced them "GOOD!" (seriously, it's like chapter one of genesis sometimes, when i trick him into trying something he's decided he hates without tasting it.) i mentioned that carrots have lots of vitamins in them, and that they're especially good for one's eyes.
"BUT WHY ARE THEY GOOD FOR YOUR EYES?" he asked.
"the help your eyes grow healthy and strong," i answered (this is pretty much my stock answer for why any healthy food is healthy. i think it's true, and if he notices that i always say the same thing, he hasn't mentioned it yet.)
"OHHHHH. YESSSS," he answered, in his WATCH ME I'M ABOUT TO DO SOMETHING ADORABLE voice, "THEY HELP MY EYES TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS WINKING THING."
and just as i was getting ready to watch him blink all twitchy-like, he opened his giant, blue, giraffe-eyelashed eyes wide, and winked. four. winked!

and as if that wasn't enough, the two and a half year old did a great job bringing the truly surreal to the table, announcing loudly and to no one in particular, "I AM A DOGGY! A MEAN, MEAN, SCARY DOGGY! AND I WILL EAT PEOPLE! BUT NOT BOYS! THEY ARE GIRLS! BUT I GET NICE WITH COOOOKIESSSS!"

vintage audra saying funny things:

(we found this tonight with some papers from more than a year ago! it was like finding a time capsule of funny.)

on eating popcorn: "so, you just shouldn't do it. it's like eating a porcupine or something."

brother bear recommends:

feist's 1-2-3-4

can we all just agree that jesse is a person with whom we can all just agree?

on minnesota:
"it's damn cold
no one should live there"

500 is a lot!

wow!

this happens to me too.

jesse: "im so tired im not thinking right
my bed is trying to seduce me"

can we all just agree that being sick sucks?

i have that weird kind of sore throat where it kind of feels like i'm drowning most of the time. i guess it's postnasal drip? but i don't have any sort of prenasal drip. is that even possible? (paging dr. beat! i mean, dr. joe!) also i kind of feel like i'm going to barf, but not because of a sad tummy situation; it's because i feel like my throat is gagging me.

and i think i'm a little feverish. so now i'm conflicted: do i go to work tomorrow? i have so much to do that being gone will be kind of awful, but i feel gross, but maybe i'll feel better tomorrow, but maybe i really do need to take it easy.

i also feel ambivalent about most forms of food. microwaveable bean and cheese burritos are still making the cut, but not much else. bleh.

i talked to the mamacita today and she said i should stay home tomorrow.

dear blogger, what the hell is wrong with you?

why, why, WHY do you screw up my links? not all the time, just often enough to really, really frustrate me. if i am trying to use your handy little link button, i DON'T want you to delete my text and insert this link instead: http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif. because, in addition to making my text vanish, you garble the link location too. this pretty much ruins everything.

update: i also do not appreciate it when you insert "http://www.canwealljustagree.blogspot.com/" in front of my links. that doesn't mess up the order of my text or randomly delete part of it, which i appreciate, but i would appreciate it more if you could really just stop doing that.

also, i know that i keep mentioning it, but it really burns my biscuits that i can't use a different gmail address in a different tab while posting. lame.

recommended reading

bikesnob nyc. hilarious. a little bit of hipster-hating, a little bit of mocking las bicicletas superfeas. it is good times, and you might learn some things about bicycles.

sleep is the new sex. also funny, and frequently also about bicycles. you will like it.

probably. he is a scientist*, after all.

[important sidenotes: the four year old and i are talking about the pizza i'm cutting for him and his sister to eat for dinner. he's really into learning all about the world lately, and we were discussing the fact that it is difficult to cut things exactly evenly.

both the four year old and the two-and-a-half year old are fascinated by the fact that i have housemates. i know for sure that i was way older than that before i began to consider the fact that i wouldn't live with my parents for ever and ever, amen, so i guess i can understand that. but they always ask questions about my housemates, and they remember the answers. then this is what happened:]

me: "i can't cut it in exactly the same-sized pieces."

four year old: "CAN JEFF CUT IT IN EXACTLY THE SAME-SIZED PIECES?"

(REMEMBER, THIS IS HOW FOUR YEAR OLDS TALK.)

*

things that i have learned today:

1. if you get vaccinated for tetanus, hep a, typhus, and yellow fever all at the same time, you can expect to feel like crap.

2. i'm really glad i'm not going to get yellow fever. because the wussy baby sickly version is making me pretty miserable.

3. throwing up is no fun, but feeling so crummy that you can hardly stand it is no good either.

vaccines: 1-sarah: 0.

kurt vonnegut improves my life, again

tonight i was taking the train home after a way too long day, feeling kind of crummy. (my train also broke, so it took a really long time to get home.)

but my life was improved. and on pages one and two, too. he really doesn't mess around; he just gets right to it:

"The year is 2001 now.
If all had gone the way a lot of people thought it would, Jesus Christ would have been among us again, and the American flag would have been planted on Venus and Mars.
No such luck!
At least the World will end, an event anticipated with great joy by many. It will end very soon, but not in the year 2000, which has come and gone. From that I conclude that God Almighty is not heavily into Numerology."

(this is from hocus pocus.)

can we all just agree that it's pretty nice to have the most pressing problems in your life solved for you by an internet advice columnist cat?

thanks, monchi!

good news! i bet you could ask monchi if you have problems that need to be solved too!

news that made me choke on a delicious microwaveable bean and cheese burrito.

if a person googles "how can i get the ladies," how not to get the ladies. a tutorial in two acts. is result number six! ridiculous.

can we all just agree that getting letters is nice, but that getting letters from darling two year old nephews is even better?

especially when they're addressed by the two year old nephew himself? (his dad addressed the other side, just in case the post office hasn't yet made fluency in two year oldese a requirement for employment yet.) oh man i love that kid.

attention everyone:

the players, the setting: brother bear, the dad, and i are hanging out at grandma's house. the super-catholic-yet-secretly-hindu grandma, who is awesome and occasionally says hilarious/baffling things.

as it so often is at this particular grandma's house, it is ice cream time. the dad, brother bear, and i have retreated to the kitchen to serve up gluttonously large bowls of ice cream (since all we've had so far has been thanksgiving leftovers and three pieces of pie each), when grandma starts talking to the dad.

grandma: "there's some cheese in there."

the dad: (rather perplexed, but not about to argue with her about what she can or can't eat [the dad's grandma-feeding philosophy is that once a person reaches a certain age {in her case, really really old,} they should be able to eat whatever they want, whenever they want it.]) "oh. you want me to melt some cheese on there?"

grandma: (sort of shocked that he would imply such a ridiculous thing.) "no, not me. the young people prefer cheese."

that would be such a good band name.

"MINOTAUR SPORTSCAR"

thanks, dude.

can we all just agree that a return to polo is a good plan?

even though my left brake is kind of grabby and cranky because my rim's wearing out? yes. even then.

can we all just agree that cornbread stuffing is totally delicious?

i have learned its secret. its secret is sage.

i think there will be a lot more cornbread stuffing in my life from now on.

(thanks for the recipe, mamacita!)

reasonable questions from the short set, volume 2

the two year old:

"okay toddlerbed, do you want to see PRETTYNESS???"

reasonable questions from the short set, volume 1

tonight the four year old and i ended up talking about about the tiny hat he was wearing (to the uninitiated, it might have looked like a metal one cup measuring cup, but it was a hat, okay?) and i asked him if it had shrunk in the dryer. this was a new idea for him, and he asked me a couple of questions about clothes shrinking before running off to inform his mother that clothes sometimes shrink in the dryer. he asked her why, and she gave him a very reasonable explanation involving the threads in the clothes getting really hot, etc. then there was a pause and he asked very earnestly,

"does it hurt?"

why? why! why.

"ginger spam cassarole."

!!!happy new frame day to me!!!

although i still have a very special relationship with my bike (and although i like frankenbike, the other one, too), i am very excited! to report that i got a new frame! and i'm going to build up a bike!

i have a crush on my bicycle.

during most of my lunch breaks, i sit alone in an office where i stash my bike while i'm at work. and i have realized that i have a pretty serious crush on my bicycle. i just like looking at it. i don't ever get tired of that, because i love seeing the familiar parts, and there is always something else to discover.

and even when i'm not gazing at the bike, it just feels nice to be in the same place with it. even when we're not touching, or when i'm doing something else entirely, it is wonderful.

and i think it is fond of me too. it was really understanding when we crashed (although the sidewalk was far less forgiving), we work very well together, we are very physically compatible, we're definitely comfortable with each other, and our relationship just keeps improving. it was never bad, we are just getting to know each other even better as time goes on, and it feels great.

don't we all, kid? don't we all.

while reading sleeping beauty with an incredibly precocious 3 year old (who i would have guessed was 4 1/2):

i.p.3.y.o.: "i like the party part."

me: "me too."

i.p.3.y.o.: "i like the true love part the best."

audra makes me laugh. again.

"i can't draw something as complex as a clown bike based on my definition of what a clown bike is."

"you need CLOWNS in the clown seats."

how not to get the ladies. a tutorial in two acts.

act #1:

girl on bike rides past you. you are getting out of your enormous truck near a bookstore. say "HI." in a deeply meaningful, borderline creepy way. she gives you a non-commital smile and starts to walk toward a parking meter near where you're parked to lock her bike. block her path to ask, "shopping or going to work?" "shopping," she says, and starts to walk around you to lock. ask her, "do you want to go to dinner, see a movie?" "no thanks," she replies, not looking at you. ignore this clear expression of disinterest, and ask several more times. ignore also the fact that she has stopped answering you at this point (almost like she doesn't want to go to dinner with you or something!) then, as she's walking around you, giving you the widest berth possible, yell, "WHEN I SAID 'YOU WANT TO HAVE DINNER,' I MEANT IT. I WASN'T TRYING TO GET YOU ALONE OR ANYTHING! GEEZ!"


act #2:
girl on bike is riding along a busy street. she's going pretty fast, because she's meeting someone for dinner and they don't have much time. also, she's hungry. hang out the window of your friend's truck, and say something unintelligeable to her. with any luck, she will have just started to be concerned that her back blinky may have fallen off, and she'll think that you are attempting to convey some sort of useful, socially appropriate piece of information. she'll say, "huh?" which gives you the perfect opportunity to repeat yourself, louder and clearer this time, "BABY, I'D LOVE TO BE YOUR BICYCLE!" be sure to make creepy eyes at her. although you don't know it, she will flip someone off for the very first time in her life. it is you! you were her first! then your friend, who is either impatient or marginally more perceptive than you, will speed off. which is kind of silly, because traffic is stop and go, and girl on bike is all go, all the time. when she inevitably passes you, shout, "HEY BABY! HEY BABY!" be perplexed when she doesn't respond. explain, "hey, i wasn't tryin' to be rude or nothin.'"

can we all just agree that the promise ring is excellent?

once i read that the promise ring was having a reunion tour, and i was really excited. but then it turned out that the reunion tour was one show in a state that i live very far away from. it was a bummer.

what is most certainly not a bummer, however, is the following video. it is for a song called "why did we ever meet?" (which is something that i have wondered about a few people myself.) this video is pretty rad. it has everything: cute boys, bmx bikes, furries, short shorts rollerbladers, cute boys.

also, the song is good. for a long time, i misheard the chorus as "you, you're always good / you're always dressed to fall in love," which i think is even better than the actual words.

hooray for the promise ring!

i spoke too soon.

blogger is lame again. sigh.

can we all just agree that casual friday is great?

i feel like a total weiner, being excited about casual friday. but i am. excited, that is. whether or not i'm a total weiner is perhaps open to debate.

but dude, it is so nice to have one day a week when i can always count on being able to wear something comfortable to the office. no constant tugging, special undergarments, or being kind of too cold all day, not on casual friday.

and comfy (and warm enough, and easy to bike in) shoes! yeah!

i wish every day could be like casual friday. clearly the world doesn't end when people wear jeans and sneakers to my office, so why not the other four days? (or just mwf, that would be fine with me too, because i have a different job on tuesdays and thursdays. tuesdays and thursdays could be suit of armor days or whatever, i don't really care.)

can we all just agree that goat cheese and honey on toast is amazing?

seriously dudes, sourdough toast, goat cheese, honey. a. mazing.

can we all just agree that this is pretty much one of the best days ever in the blog-o-sphere?

because:

blogger has finally made it so that i can be signed in to my c.w.a.j.a.?. account and posting in one tab, and using my other gmail addresses in another! hooray! hooray hooray!

and, more importantly, the nephews' mom has started her very own blog, So This is Motherhood...! now you can go read about the exciting exploits of the dudes from someone who has the opportunity to witness them firsthand! all the time! and you can leave her nice comments to welcome her to the interweb. (and to give her another valuable opportunity to interact with people who are potty trained.) ps it is very funny. you won't regret it.

¿podemos estar todos de acuerdo que los blogs de huesped son chidos? / can we all just agree that guest blogs are cool?

gracias, otra vez, a daniel.
thank you, again, to daniel.

¿podemos estar todos de acuerdo

de que lo siguiente es inaceptable?

-Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, habiendo estado formado en la fila 1 hora.
YO: aquí le tengo todos los documentos señorita, con fotocopia, incluyendo mi acta de nacimiento.
SRITA ATENDIENDO: ah, este acta bla bla bla requicito bla bla estatuto bla bla. Hay que traer éste otro papel.

-(2 horas después, habiendo manejado hasta mi casa y de vuelta, esperado en la fila otra hora)
YO: ahora sí, ¡aquí le tengo los documentos señorita!
SRITA: emmm, esteee, íjole. pues, vea que éste documento de aquí no le sirve porque bla ba trámite bla bla, tiene que traerme éste otro.
YO: ...

-(1 hora después, habiendo manejado hasta mi casa y de vuelta de nuevo)
YO: ¡ahora sí señorita, le traigo el documento!
SRTA: está bien, tome asiento por favor.

(1 hora después)
SRITA: aquí tiene su número jóven, en una hora le tenemos listo el trámite. pero vea que gracias a que bla bla exepción bla bla bla decreto bla bla, siempre no era necesario que trajera los otros documentos, ¡JAJAJAJA!
YO: !!!

(1 hora después)
SRITA: aquí tiene señor, le agradecemos su paciencia.
YO: (después de 5 horas realizando un trámite) -_-


can we all just agree

that the following is unacceptable?

-(Department of Foreign Relations, having stood in line for 1 hour)
ME: here you go miss. all the documents, with copies, including my birth certificate
LADY AT THE DESK: oh, this certificate blah blah blah requirement blah blah statute blah blah. You'll have to bring this other document.

-(2 hours later, after driving home and back, and waiting in line another hour)
ME: ok, now i've got them, here are all the papers, miss!
LADY: ummm, weeeell, jeez. Look, this paper here actually won't help you because blah blah procedure blah blah, you'll have to bring this other one.
ME: ...

-(1 hour later, after driving home and back again)
ME: ok, here's that other document, miss!
LADY: very good, please take a seat.

(1 hour later)
LADY: here's your number sir, we'll have your papers ready in an hour. but guess what, thanks to blah blah exception blah blah blah declaration blah blah, you actually didn't have to have brought that other document. HAHAHAHA!
ME: !!!

(1 hour later)
LADY: here you go sir, thank you for your patience.
ME: (after spending 5 hours processing my papers) -_-

can we all just agree that getting paid to ride your bicycle is pretty totally excefabulous?

dudes, i like it so much that i had to make a new word for it. and use two too many modifiers. today i ran an errand for work, on the clock, and instead of driving the janky work van for a total of 1.74 miles, i rode. (to the shock and amazement and a little bit of concern of my co-workers, who are still surprised when i turn up with my bicycle.)

but i rode! my bike! and got paid! and it was hooray!

can we all just agree that barbara kingsolver's the poisonwood bible is quite a good read?

i've been reading it on the train lately while i've been not driving to work, and last night i very nearly missed my stop because i was so engrossed in the book.

can we all just agree that working from home is excellent?

and not just because it allows you to respond promptly to voicemail messages like this:

nephews' mama: "i'm not going to try to tell the whole story on your voicemail, because it will cut me off like it always does, but i will just say that you need to call me back as soon as possible, and make sure that i don't forget to tell you about the babypowder incident. you're also going to be really sad that our camera is in the car that's in [name of city that is very far from where they live] in the shop. call me back!"

more wacky dreams.

just one, really. the other night i dreamed that i was at the beach but the tide was really low and so there were islands surrounded by shallow water, but really low long waves too.

and there were a bunch of dead horses in the water. they were all stiff, and their legs were sticking straight down, but when the waves rolled in and out, the dead horses were flipping over and over.

i was understandably upset about it, and i decided that i would try to find out who or what was responsible for the dead horses. i learned that the italian government had recently installed a huge iron fence, although it wouldn't keep the dead horses off of the beach when the tide came in.

this somehow meant that the italian government was implicated in the dead horses situation, and so i set off to learn more. i was moving through the cars of a passenger train, but i had to hide from the people who didn't want me to solve the mystery. they were trying to waylay me by doing things like offering me barbequed roadkill skunk on a fancy platter.

i was getting to the bottom of it, too, but then someone sent me a text message and it woke me up.

i probably shouldn't have eaten that grilled cheese sandwich right before going to bed a little drunk after staying up for 22 hours that day. blah blah.

can we all just agree that it was way better back before blogger automatically signed you in with the last gmail address that was being accessed on

your computer?

i would blog a lot more, but sometimes i find the prospect of signing out and then signing back in again too daunting.

dangit blogger, quit being so lame.

sometimes the answers to your questions are painfully obvious.

"are pincurls cool?"

sometimes i really, really wish i knew the answers to your questions.

"can goats hiccup?"

sometimes i don't even understand your questions.

"what is a cultural word that starts with y?"

good luck.

can we all just agree that the return of hardcore thursday is long overdue?

how will you be observing it this week?

well, i certainly didn't see that one coming.

me: blah blah cupcakes.
jesse: blah blah cupcakes.
me: blah blah you still bringing frosting?
jesse: "i have one question for you. i just got done buying my handlebar moustache..."

can we all just agree that, much like ants do not belong in either my bed* or in my underpants**, large pieces of fake plastic wood do not belong in

my eye?

especially the day after i was around the building project? sheesh. (also, come on eye, what's up with letting the giant fake wood piece hang out in there? i was even wearing glasses all weekend, just to help you out. aren't you supposed to take care of debris or something? you made me feel betrayed.)

*

**

can we all just agree that riding home from work is, in fact, totally excellent?

i have recently decided that the freeway i take to work is way too dangerous. it has all the normal freeway problems (serious slowdowns, accidents, ladders/wheelbarrows/recliners/boxes/mattresses in the road, stalls, cars on fire, etc.) but lately it has also had pretty spectacular problems as well. almost daily. so the freeway and i? no longer friends.

i also realized that i've been comparing driving and biking/taking the train in an unfair and inaccurate manner. i always think that driving takes 20-25 minutes, and i know that the train sometimes makes me wait up to 17 minutes, when i miss the one i wanted by a second or two, and then the train ride is 24 minutes, and then i bike for 10-15. but when you consider that the best case driving scenario is incredibly rare, and that i at least know how long the bike-train-bike operation will take, it becomes sillier and sillier to think about driving.

i rode my bike to the train station and took the train, and then rode from the train station to my office today, but i finally got a chance to ride home with a friend this evening and it was fantastic. i feel amazing (but really tired) from the exercise, and i didn't have the stress of driving at all today. score one for me! (and one for the polar bears!)

i hope that we will make a habit of riding together. she is a pretty serious cyclist and she rides almost every day. some days i know i can't do that because i've got things to do in the evening, but it just felt so good that i hope to do it often.

can we all just agree that the i.t. dude hates me?

i have a compaq. it is running windows 2000. sigh.

can we all just agree that the following are the ingredients for a fantastic weekend?

1. friends
2. bicycles
3. sunshine
4. sleeping
5. tasty food
6. placing in a race
7. prizes
8. sleeping
9. friends
10. bicycles

yes.

race place!

yep, i did. maybe a prize picture later. if you're lucky.

i am old, part 2.

last night i went to bed at 11:30, and it was so glorious. old.

gosh i love my vacuum cleaner.

i know i've mentioned this already. last night, though, while i was having the usual low-grade nightmares that i've had every single night for the last month or so, i had this wonderful dream about vacuuming! i was vacuuming a bunch of things, including my room (family and friends, shut it!) and it was so great. i haven't had that kind of wonderful amazing dream in a long time. seriously, when i thought about it today i still felt all happy and glowy.

also today i kept thinking about how much i would like to vacuum the carpet in my office. not the entire building, just my office.

because i'm still amused by your search terms...

"a diagram of how to do your hair like a movie star" (c.w.a.j.a.?. is google's #2 result)
if i could draw you a picture of you getting trims every once and awhile, finding shampoo and conditioner that really work for your hair (super moisturizing ones are totally essential to my hair health and happiness), and using a lot of bobby pins when you want it to be up, i would. but i'm tired. you'll have to use your imagination.

"reasoning behind narcoleptic daschunds" (c.w.a.j.a.?. is google's #3 result)
duh, jesse totally already explained this one. science.

can we all just agree that sometimes, a little change is okay?

i think it might be time to break out of the c.w.a.j.a.?. format. just a little bit. c.w.a.j.a.?., i won't forgetcha.

can we all just agree that two year olds can be harsh?

tonight, at dinner, the two year old i babysit: "YOU. ARE. NOT. DEEDEE! YOU. ARE. NOT. ONE OF THE DOODLEBOPS!"

lest you think this was one of those awkward situations where an old person tries to convince a young person that they are "hip...cool...tuka-tuka-tuka-tuka," let me state for the record that:

1. this was completely out of the blue. we had been eating in silence and i had been looking at her brother.

2. i have never, at any time, claimed, insinuated, intimated, or otherwise represented myself to be one of the doodlebops.

3. their cd drives me a little nuts.

below, deedee doodlebop, who i am not.

can we all just agree that b.f.h. coming to my metro area is SO EXCITING?

welcome to the neighborhood! yes!

can we all just agree that waking up because of earthquakes does weird things to me?

sometimes it makes me really sad. but the last two earthquakes that have woken me up have made me angry! i woke up recently around 4:30 in the morning because of an earthquake, but i was just furious with one wall in my room (which is only about a foot wide) because it was vibrating. and i was certain that this particular wall was vibrating intentionally. and i also had the idea that this wall woke me up every day at 4:30 in the morning by vibrating. ooh was i mad. and then i went back to sleep.

can we all just agree that riding home from work is a great idea?

i mean, i think it is. i guess i'll know for sure tomorrow. the internet tells me it's 13.8 miles to drive, so it should be a nice trip. wish me luck!

can we all just agree that new vacuums are exciting?

oh my gosh. the housemates and i just got a new vacuum and it has changed everything. (our old one was a 1960's model that weighed about 5,304 pounds and was a stunning lime green color, but it decided to go ahead and stop working. also, the hose liked to detach itself from the body while you were using it. i will let you decide if this was fun or not.) it is red and glittery, and it has a bunch of attachments for various tasks. my favorite one is a little oval-shaped brush, which does a great job on molding. there is also the power paw, which i like to call the "power paw. rarrgh!" which is adjustable—you can switch it to be horizontal or vertical, depending on your cleaning needs. the other exciting one is a duster that is made more effective by the power of science—it gets ionically charged or something, and then the dust flies to it. and then you put it back into its special little home, and the vacuum sucks all the dust off of it.

something else wonderful about the new vacuum is that it is bagless, so everything that you vacuum up gets sucked via tiny tornado into a plastic canister, so that you can look at it and be kind of grossed out and satisfied, all at the same time. today i vacuumed the area underneath my bed and both sides of my mattress, as well as some of the molding near my door and part of the kitchen floor. all of us have used the vacuum today. i want to vacuum my whole life.

can we all just agree that it is important to have a good bookstore?

there is one very close to my house. i went there shortly after they opened, because i was very happy about the prospect of an independent used book store a block away from my house. and it is awesome. i love going there, and i rarely leave empty-handed. and even when i was super underemployed, that wasn't a problem, because the books are really cheap (like usually less than $3 cheap).

i got a prayer for owen meany there, and i'm rereading it (one of my favorite high school teachers assigned it to me when i was a junior, and i didn't think that i would like it, but he knew me pretty well and it turned out that i loved it. a prayer for owen meany is absolutely one of my favorite books, and now i've got my very own copy. hooray!

today mamacita and i picked up a funny pie cookbook from 1965 (sample sentence: "most women are fascinated by pies."), a novel about the french resistance, the poisonwood bible, and even cowgirls get the blues. for $4. total.

and the weather was beautiful. and i got new tire levers. and i made a pear crisp and split pea soup. and life is good.

can we all just agree that flat tires are no fun?

this morning, mamacita and i were all set to ride bicycles to church...but then it turned out that i had a flat tire. and i mean a totally and completely flat tire. like no air whatsoever. and i don't understand, because i filled my tires on thursday night, and because they're really tough tires (that i put on myself.)

and we didn't have time to fix it (and it was the back tire, which always seems more complicated anyway) and we had to drive and that was lame.

can we all just agree that it must be really nice to be one of those old men who ride their bikes all the time?

you know the type i mean. old dudes, definitely retired, with top-of-the-line bicycles, supernice cycling clothes and shoes, and fancy helmets. and they look like they're on hour four of a six hour ride.

that's what i'd like to be when i grow up. an old retired dude* on a bike. (although i doubt i'll be outfitted the way they are.)

*okay, okay, it is much more likely that i will be an old lady on a bike someday. but i never see old ladies who look like they're on serious long rides alone. i'll make such a good role model, once i get there!

can we all just agree that people coming home (or at least getting closer to home) means a lot?

can we all just agree that two year olds are rad?

i was taking pictures of nephew #1 while he was eating a muffin. he said something i couldn't understand, and held the muffin right up to his forehead, then smiled for the picture. his mom, who is more or less fluent in his very own variety of weird alien little kidspeak, cracked up, and when she was finally able to translate for me, i learned that he was saying, "smile, muffin!"

oh dude, and the picture came out super cute too.

can we all just agree that childrens' radio is generally pretty awful, but that it occasionally provides bizarre listening experiences as well?

like "disarm," by the smashing pumpkins, lovingly rendered in pretty, cheery, xylophonic splendor? weird.

can we all just agree that dogs going down waterslides is an enjoyable thing to watch?

seriously, i laughed every time the dog hit the water.



thanks to lesley from this comment thread at the always-excellent sadly, no!

can we all just agree that nephew #1 is hilarious?

nephew #1 is very committed to saying, "excuse me" when he burps or farts. since he's two, it sounds more like "me me" (also, remember that two year olds have really high voices. adorable.) he also excuses other people by name ("me me, [nephew #1's rendering of nephew #2's name]!" "me me, mommy!")

his commitment to excusing himself and others also extends to sneezing, and hiccups. yes, hiccups. this leads to him saying things like:

"hic! me me.
hic! me me.
hic! me me.
hic! me me.
hic! me me.
hic! me me.
hic! me me.
hic! me me.
hic! me me.
hic! me me."

and i miss him already.

can we all just agree that life with little dudes is totally exhausting?

today i got to hang out with the nephews almost all day! and boy howdy, am i tired. the visit has been great so far, though. some highlights include:

•the fact that nephew #1 now says my name.*

•the leafy dance party that nephew #1 and i enjoyed, which involved both of us (but more frequently just me) raking up a big pile of leaves, and then the two of us taking turns dancing all around in the leaves and copying each other's moves. and if you have never had a copycat leaf pile dance party with a two year old, you should really look into doing that as soon as possible.

•the walk that nephew #1 and i took around (and around and around) the house, holding hands the whole time.

•nephew #2 smiling and laughing and laughing and smiling.

•a joint nephew #1-auntie SEE-wah photo session that produced some of the cutest pictures to never hit the internet.

*oh p.s.: my name is now pronounced "SEE-wah."

and now i must go pass out immediately. i hope you also got to have some good times today. goodnight.

can we all just agree that going to visit the nephews is really exciting?

so very soon! nephew #1 is very excited too; he knows that he gets to go to the airport and see the airplanes and the baggage claim, and that auntie sarah is coming to visit too. i'm totally fine with taking second place behind the first ever trip to the airport. oh man i can't wait!

can we all just agree that it is exciting to learn that c.w.a.j.a.?. is the first search result for "unlikely food combinations"?

woo! and now i'm off to eat breakfast. what am i eating, you ask? it is a mystery!

can we all just agree that "CRYSH" is a particularly unfortunate letter sequence to include in a flight confirmation code?

don't worry, we didn't.

can we all just agree that, in addition to giving good advice, brother bear regularly gives strangely poetic advice?

today's:

just remember
for the disco ball
cram the flashlight
in the chimney.

important update!: with a little bit of effort, this haikus pretty well. (yeah, i did make "haiku" into a verb.)

just remember for
the disco ball cram the flash-
light in the chimney.

can we all just agree that, oh man, what a day.

read what i wrote last year. i still mean it.

can we all just agree that it is very exciting (and somewhat confusing) to realize that c.w.a.j.a.?. is the tenth search result out of 63,700 for

"potted meat spotted dick"? huh.

can we all just agree that firefox is kind of pessimistic sometimes?

"firefox has detected that the server is redirecting the request for this address in a way that will never complete."

well, it sure will never complete with that kind of attitude!

hint: sometimes you really do have to enter www.

can we all just agree that b.f.h. is awesome?

because she is.

can we all just agree that ovens with windows are a great idea?

when i was a kid, i always wanted to look at the things that were baking in the oven. unfortunately, we didn't have a window in our oven door, so i would sometimes open it up and check things out. and sometimes i would accidentally let the heavy door slam shut. and between those two habits, i collapsed more than one baked good. bummer.

but then science managed to make a windowed oven! and i have one in my current house! and it is great!

can we all just agree that facebook should use stronger language?

i want something more than "ignore." i need a "hell no" button.

can we all just agree that it is really satisfying to be home for the weekend?

i got to do it last weekend too, but before that it had been more than two months. lame!

can we all just agree that it's kind of funny to be mistaken for a middle schooler?

i've been volunteering at a middle school recently, and today i was out playing four square with a bunch of kids who hadn't been formally introduced to me. and four times kids asked me if i was a new student. nope.

can we all just agree that fainting goats are rad?

so i know it's been a little movietastic around here lately...and that's because i'd really rather write about fun videos than things that suck.

and you'd rather read about (and watch) fun videos than reading about things that suck.

so, my friends...

fainting goats.

can we all just agree that the nephews' mama gives good advice?

"you know, sarah, there are times when you reach not a fork but an octopus in the road."

can we all just agree that having an itchy finger is a total bummer?

the middle joint of my middle finger on my left hand is super itchy and i don't know why. there aren't any bumps or anything. it looks normal, but it is so itchy. so itchy, dudes. i really don't know what to do about it.

that is all.

can we all just agree that the hipster olympics is, like, whatever...kind of lame, you know? at first i kind of liked it, you know, but then i was

reading this dave eggers novel...i have totally loved him since i read "here come the orphans," you know, the excerpt of a heartbreaking work of staggering genius that was published in the times in like 2000? you've heard of it, right? but now i think he's like kind of played out...i saw somebody reading eggers in STARBUCKS the other day. god, can you imagine? i know. disgusting. anyway, so whatever. anyone who thinks this video is funny is like a total idiot. i'm kind of over videos anyway. i have this great collection of laserdiscs, and i really think that digital video is totally overrated. anyway, whatever. what was i saying? do you have a cigarette?

can we all just agree that rusty, the narcoleptic daschund is ridiculously cute?

i know that not everyone appreciates daschunds, but i would like to think that even the most hardened weiner-hater could appreciate the following adorable/amusing video:



as jesse explains, "why is rusty narcoleptic? it's because of science."

can we all just agree that fires inside the house are kind of alarming?

can we all just agree that accurate labels are a really great idea?

word have meaning, dudes.

sheesh.

can we all just agree that the lovemakers make excellent music for the conflicted*?

"set me free"


"falling apart"


*and for the unconflicted too, i guess. they're cute, they're decent musicians, they put on fantastically energetic live shows, and people always end up with fewer clothes than when they began.

ps: i had a hard time choosing just two videos. if you like them, there are a lot of others out there.

pps: okay, one more. the sound is kind of crummy (okay, really crummy), and it starts just a bit into the song, but "dance" is my favorite song [it is satisfying], and for some reason i couldn't find another video of it, so here it is:

can we all just agree that baby hedgehogs are ridiculously cute?

these baby hedgehogs have been orphaned and have bonded to a cleaning brush at the wildlife sanctuary that took them in. (read all about it here.) apparently the brush is sufficiently momlike to keep them feeling safe and secure. good luck, little dudes!

also, hedgehogs eat snails and slugs! awesome!

can we all just agree that cutting health care services to poor kids is really nothing to laugh about?

disgusting.

can we all just agree that adding another tag is exciting?

b.f.h., you've totally earned it. even if you don't move here on monday. see you soooon!

can we all just agree that going to the state fair will be awesome?

but that going to the state fair with b.f.h. and audra will be even awesomer?

oh man, i can hardly wait! there will be sheep and various assorted highlights (or lowlights, as the case may be) of sheep anatomy, and lambs, and cows, and we get to have dinner with mamacita...yes!

(i hope that there are no sheep/cassette tape disasters.)

can we all just agree that the sugar-and-butter phase of cookie-making may, in fact, be the most delicious?

i'm making a megabatch of chocolate chip cookies right now, and it's taking a lot of self-control to continue past this point in the recipe, where i have a bowl with four sticks of butter, two cups of brown sugar, and two cups of white sugar. i kind of just want to eat it all with the wooden stirring spoon. but i won't. sigh.

can we all just agree that sometimes it is difficult to keep a straight face around kids?

this is what happened tonight. i was babysitting, and kid #1 exclaimed (as he often does) "HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPOES...YAY!*"

we had been eating dinner, and he was having a tough time with the idea of gnocchi, because i had been foolish enough to tell him that it had potatoes in it before he started eating it. he looked at me like i'd just announced that it was made out of the bones of the easter bunny and santa's head, and cried, "BUT I DON'T LIKE POTATOES!!!"

then his mom jumped in to say, "but you like those kind of potatoes! you don't like plain potatoes [sidenote: wtf?] but you like potatoes in gnocchi!" and he was down with the potatoes but then upset about the tiny bits of green stuff (parsley? something? i dunno, it didn't taste like anything) and then finally chilled out and decided that maybe he could in fact eat the pasta.

so anyway, he was possibly coming around to the idea of more than pineapple, blackberries, and orange juice for dinner when the hippoes thought occurred to him, so i asked, "are you a hungry hungry hippo?" all the while squelching my urge to tell him about how much i liked hungry hungry hippoes when i was growing up (although i may or may not be old, i try not to talk like it to little kids, because no kid wants to hear it.) he agreed with a big grin that he was indeed a hungry hungry hippo, so i encouraged the hungry hungry hippo to turn his attention to his tasty tasty pasta. then i got up to refill the orange juice cup of kid #2.

while i was standing at the counter, kid #1 snuck away from the table (okay, i totally knew he was there. i have eyes in the back of my head, and someday i'll work my way up to total momniscience) and came up behind me...and then quickly and carefully bit the back pocket of my jeans. i know he thought this was hilarious (and honestly, so did i) but we had to have a Serious Talk about how it is Not Okay to bite people, even if you are joking, because biting is not a funny joke. i opened my eyes really wide to indicate the depth of my seriousness. but on the inside, i couldn't really believe what had just happened. four year olds are stars of physical comedy, and he had really taken care to make sure that he was only biting the pocket; i didn't experience any physical discomfort (although i was a little weirded out.)

anyway, that is my kid story for the day. the end.

*i have no idea. kids say bizarre things. i know i did, and brother bear? whew! you could have filled a book. [p.s. brother bear: dead bug connected!]

can we all just agree that i have amusing friends?

b.f.h.: "i have to send you this picture because you're going to make a weird noise and i'm going to like it."

yes.

can we all just agree that yatta is amazing?

and they give such good advice! "try keeping dogs—they're cute!"

can we all just agree that jets to brazil's million is a song worthy of great appreciation?

just like death cab for cutie's cover of "all is full of love," i prefer the album version to the "i-probably-recorded-this-with-my-fancy-camera-phone" version...but here's what youtube has to offer today. i hope you like it*.

*old people alert! you probably won't! but i still like you anyway!

can we all just agree that the job search occasionally creates interesting questions?

interesting question of the day: could i do a job that involves twenty hours per week of taping books back together?

less interesting, but equally important question: why is the online applications system for the job that involves twenty hours per week of taping books back together refusing to let me register or sign in?

not a question, but a passionate statement or two: argh! curses!

can we all just agree that smoking is disgusting?

seriously, dudes, quit it.

can we all just agree that it seems kind of ominous when the heading at the very top of my browser window says, "Blogger: You are done."?

it kind of makes me feel like blogger is announcing its intention to end my life. and geez, i know that google already pretty much owns the internets and everything, but killing people? that isn't cool.

can we all just agree that sometimes, dick cheney is right?

damn. i don't really have anything to say that hasn't already been said already, by others and possibly by myself. but damn. it's too bad i don't have an "it's an outrage" tag.

can we all just agree that ann patchett's bel canto is an amazing book?

the dad lent it to me the last time i saw him, and it took me awhile to start reading it, but once i began, all 318 pages went fast. the premise (which didn't particularly impress me when i read the back cover) is that terrorists take an entire dinner party of diplomats and businessmen hostage, along with a world-famous soprano, and then "Friendship, compassion, and the chance for great love lead the characters to forget the real danger that has been set in motion...and cannot be stopped," which still seems to me like a totally goofy way to describe what actually happens.

but i would definitely recommend the book. it can be a quick read, even though she has nice complex satisfying sentences in which i sometimes found myself getting lost (in a good way.)

anyway, read it.

can we all just agree that audra is awesome?

from last night, while explaining that i shouldn't feel bad about the time that we were making bracelets together and she dropped one end of hers just as she was tying it off:

"i think of bracelet making the way that buddhists think of sand art."

can we all just agree that a bike race and an afterparty and a time with pizza and friends makes for a pretty excellent day?

oh man, i'm going to sleep well tonight.

can we all just agree that post number 400 is kind of exciting?

because it is.

can we all just agree that advanced leapfrog techniques is a pretty good video (see below), but that advanced international leapfrog techniques (see

belower) is even better?

Advanced LeapFrog Techniques

Add to My Profile | More Videos

can we all just agree that it is a total bummer to miss built to spill when they come to your greater metro area?

yep, i'm gonna do that in a bit. the good news is that it's for a good reason (prom-themed birthday party with beloved former housemate? yes please!) but all the same, i wish i could be in two states at once*, just for the evening.

*science? help me out on this one?

can we all just agree that 420ish miles is about 420ish too many to have driven in two days?

can we all just agree that search results are very strange sometimes?

so someone recently did a google search for the phrase, "we were all just ideas before we were born. all perfect, all so very beautiful" (which, i've recently learned, was written by arthur dekker, who may or may not be a distinguished architect.)

reasonably enough, the first google hit of "about 1,920,000" is for a page on "discordian metaphysics and the five realities" that actually contains the phrase...but the second result is c.w.a.j.a.?. so i dunno, i guess there are ideas here, and some are perfect and/or very beautiful, and thanks for the nod, google, and for stopping by, recent visitor(s), but huh.

can we all just agree that tandem bicycles are really fun?

but that if you are riding one behind a racer, it might be a little bit totally terrifying at first?

can we all just agree that "all is full of love" may have actually been a better choice for today's song?

because i've been listening to the death cab for cute cover more than the björk version lately, and because i'm still kind of caught up in the novelty of posting videos! on c.w.a.j.a.?.! i'm going to give you a live recording of it from a 2001 show in seattle. i like the version from cutie's stability ep better, but you go to blog with the videos you have, and not the videos you wish to have. word. i hope you like it.

can we all just agree that "some things last a long time" is the perfect song for today?

i spent a long time trying to find a video of it.

can we all just agree that sometimes it's hard to write a cover letter without feeling like you sound like smoove b?

"...i will bring to you and to your workplace the most energetic of enthusiasms for your critical and crucial work, work which is very important and which i would like very much to join you in doing. if you are not sufficiently enthusiased with the jobs that i am doing, which i have no reason to believe that you will not be, i will continue to try again with tenacity and grace, and also with skills which i have learned and gained in each of my previously-enjoyed employment opportunity experiences of the past, carefully articulated details of which can be found on the following page..."

can we all just agree that it's kind of funny to bring your own pillow to a sleepover when it's that kind of sleepover?

but maybe i'm just behind the times. i'm not really sure what-all* the kids are doing these days.

*yeah, i totally just wrote "what-all." i'm old, remember?

can we all just agree that it's a huge relief to find out that the visible dent in your knee is not, in fact, because you have broken a chunk out of

your kneecap?

don't get me wrong, i wish the little buddies would go back to normal...it's just that (potentially not even permanent!) damage to subcutaneous fatty tissue seems much less horrible than a chunk missing from the ol' patella.

can we all just agree that family kayaking time is pretty excellent?

i'm kind of sore today and i was really tired last night, but it was fun! and the chips...so delicious.

can we all just agree that rock+roll+brother bear+b.f.h.=a pretty excellent evening, even if there is 66.6% more dying than usual?

can we all just agree that it's really difficult to use the space bar with my left thumb?

seriously, dudes, i've always spaced with the right. this is really tricky.

can we all just agree that, much in the way that a peanut butter cup improves already delicious peanut butter cookies, spandex (or lycra, if you want

to get really technical about it) makes the already fun bicycle polo even funner?

it is true! i observed both phenomena today! with my own senses!

can we all just agree that peanut butter cookies are fabulous, but that the addition of a peanut butter cup on top makes them even fabulouser?

i thought so.

can we all just agree that job-hunting is totally tiresome?

today i have been working on a mega-application that requires me to list the number of units i earned at each of the colleges and universities i attended. fortunately, i found a photocopy of my application to transfer into the one where i finished, and it had the courses and units from the other two listed (phew!). unfortunately, i can't figure out how many units i took at my final (and favorite) school. i'm sure i have this information somewhere. i just can't figure out where that where is, and i'm afraid i'm going to have to download and print a form and then submit it along with money and then wait until the gigantic bureaucracy that is the university gets around to sending me a transcript, because i'm not sure if i trust myself to remember which classes were four units and which were three, and i refuse to put myself in a situation where i getthenlose a job because i remembered wrong exactly which classes i took when. yuck.

¿podemos estar de acuerdo que los infieles, y también los remixes que ha creado, es música fantástica?

yo sé. es una canción acerca de la infidelidád, algo tan fea. pero, por una razón, me encanta. la primera vez que la oí, no me gustaba, porque pensé en el cuento de las letras, pero hasta
entonces, a mi la encanta.

y, como explica el hombre: "si somos infieles / es por un gran querer*."

*ok, ok, es cierto: es una excusa horible. ¡pero todavía una canción fabulosa!

can we all just agree that toaster waffles with plain nonfat yogurt and real maple syrup are totally fantastic?

oh man, i could eat this particular food combination every day and still not get tired of it. i highly recommend it.

can we all just agree that the nephews' mama is amazing?

today, while we were talking on the telephone, she said, "[nephew #1], can you go take the letter H out of brother's mouth?"

it's no wonder her kids are totally brilliant.

can we all just agree that i am totally getting old?

in addition to enjoying raspberries, baby snuggles, and thomas the tank engine viewing parties, i have gotten into the habit of having a little bowl of ice cream when i babysit. i use one of the tiny kids' plastic bowls, because lately i have been pretty happy with a little bit of ice cream.

i used to eat huge bowls, and love it. the last time i had ice cream with my dad, we both ate so much that we had stomach aches (yeah, yeah, i know, total grownup superstars. be quiet.) but now, i find myself totally satisfied with a little bowl. and i'm also aware of how rich real ice cream is.

yep. totally old.

can we all just agree that there is nothing quite like fresh raspberries?

they can often be found in the refrigerator at the house where i babysit. just another reason to like that job.

can we all just agree that kittysitting is fun?

especially when the kitty you get to hang out with is extremely affectionate? he loves to sit on my lap (it's nothing special; he loves to sit on everyone's lap) and he wraps his skinny little kitty legs around my leg so that i can't get away while he rubs and rubs and rubs his little face against me. cuddlehumping, i call it. or, rather, i would if i had the opportunity to describe the behavior aloud.

anyway, he's darling and while i don't want a cat of my own, i am excited about the opportunity of hanging with him.

also! he has freckles on his nose. totally adorable.

can we all just agree that "please visit your national parks" by oxford collapse is a fabulous song?

oh man, it's been in heavy rotation around here, and has already found its way onto more than one mix cd. like the dying californian, it's beautiful, big music. and as an added bonus, the video for it, which i embedded below, unless i didn't (i've never tried that before) has corn plants, many cassette tape-related disasters, and sheep. tons of sheep. which are grown-up lambs. (audracity, are you watching?)



so, let the video-blogging commence! and enjoy oxford collapse!

can we all just agree that the recent absence of lolcats2.com is a tragic loss to the cultural heritage of the internets?

it's also really gotten in the way of me teaching more than one person about the wonders of lolcats. icanhascheezburger is good too, but lolcats2 was really my favorite.

can we all just agree that living with a scientist can be kind of amazing?

so tonight i was talking to one of the housemates about my ongoing ankle situation, and he told me that he had a water bottle in the freezer (which i already knew about! and it amazed me! because, in addition to being a real water bottle [like hot water bottle style], it had stars all over it. yeah, sometimes it doesn't take much) and that i could use if i wanted to...and that since it is half water and half alcohol, it never freezes! but it does get really cold. and since it is water in a flexible container, it gives great coverage. massive ankle swelling, i will get the best of you yet!

totally amazing? yes!

can we all just agree that it is time for my ankle to get better?

i sprained it a month ago. i've been pretty nice to it since then. it keeps acting like it's getting way better...and then swelling up all gigantic! i already have misshapen knees. i'm not interested in another permanently angry joint. come on body, get with the program.

can we all just agree that i should really try to make sure i bring my camera with me places?

tonight mamacita and i went for a walk along the river, and the moon was HUGE. HUGE! and then later on, the sunset was incredible (i know this is because of air pollution.) there was a complete rainbow effect—i haven't seen green in a sunset in maybe ever. and i wished that i had my camera. but i didn't, so she and i will just have to remember it, and you'll have to use your imagination.

can we all just agree that new shoes are fun?

so i'm in a wedding, and i had to buy fancy black dressup shoes with heels for the occasion. mamacita and i shopped and shopped today, and we found some totally fantastic ones. they're black with tiny silver accents and wee little pinholes, and i am really looking forward to wearing them. (i rarely feel this way about fancy shoes that were not selected for comfort.) maybe if you're lucky there will be pictures later.

can we all just agree that the harry potter series is excellent?

i just finished book seven a few minutes ago. excellent. please read them when you get a chance, and don't leave spoilers in the comments. thank you.

can we all just agree that train travel can be kind of treacherous, from an auditory standpoint?

so today i took the train to visit the mamacita, and just like last time, ended up sitting very near a dude who DID NOT HAVE A VERY GOOD INSIDE VOICE!!! AND WHO HAD A LOT TO SAY ABOUT...EVERYTHING!!! LIKE HIS BROTHER'S NO-GOOD EX-WIFE WHO DROPPED OFF THEIR TWO LITTLE GIRLS AT DAYCARE AND THEN SHACKED UP WITH SOMEONE SHE MET AT A BAR!!! BUT THEN HE MET A BEAUTIFUL BRAZILLIAN [woman] SO HE'S FINE BECAUSE SHE IS HOT!!!

so then i moved.

can we all just agree that there's really nothing quite like hearing your almost-23-month-old nephew saying your name over the telephone to melt your

little heart?

here is what happened:

nephews' mama: "[nephew #1], i'm talking to auntie sarah."
nephew #1: "sarah!?"

good heavens he's adorable and i can't wait to see him again soon soon soon.

can we all just agree that roy edroso is a brilliant writer?

seriously, dudes, you should be reading alicublog every day. because if you're not, you're missing an impressive roundup of rightwing columnists, regular commentary on the "culture wars," and incredible sentences like this:

And I'm sorry, but whatever you think of the Kosovo intervention, Iraq makes Kosovo look like we gave everyone in Serbia ice cream and then flew them to heaven in a private jet.

go read it.

can we all just agree that "destroy everything you touch" is an excellent song?

we've already established the greatness of ladytron, but i would like to give a special shoutout to "destroy everything you touch." because it is excellent, and also satisfying. and i understand, but do not endorse, that particular approach to life. that is all.

oh also! you can stream or download it here! thanks, the internet!

can we all just agree that children ask profound questions?

last night, while babysitting, i was talking to kid #1, who is four. he said to me, accusingly, "YOU DIDN'T RIDE YOUR BIKE."* i told him he was right, and that i might ride it next time, and then we had a little chat about bicycles. i learned that his mom doesn't ride hers, that his dad doesn't have one, and that he rarely rides his because, as he said,

"EVEN WITH MY HELMET ON, I STILL GET OWIES ON MY KNEES WHEN I RIDE MY BIKE. SO HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT?"

and, you know? he had a good point. so i told him that sometimes we get owies on our knees when we ride bikes, and that it's okay. then he looked at me like i was crazy and asked for some pizza.

*THIS IS HOW HE TALKS. HE IS FOUR.

can we all just agree that it's a real bummer when your compy gets overwhelmed?

i have a bunch of fun fotos that i want to post, but compy 3000 has been kind of stressed out lately, so i haven't been able to upload them. bummer.

can we all just agree that sometimes, one telephone call changes everything?

ridiculous. interesting. fun?

can we all just agree that new bikes are exciting!, no matter who's getting them?

yesterday i went test riding with the dad. he's been on a 40-something pound steel beast with shifters on the downtube for the last several thousand miles, but we were looking at some pretty, shiny, partly-carbon brand new bicis (for him at least; the saleswoman was kind enough to send me out too so that i wouldn't have to sit and wait, but i was on a slightly too-small commuter bike that just fit funny [but not ha ha funny] all the way around.)

so we were riding around near the bike shop, and he kept saying, "this feels way better!" "this bike is great!" and other related things. because yeah, if you go from a clunky steel frame to a 20 pound one with sweet shifters in the brake levers, of course it's going to be overwhelmingly awesome.

and i got to be there. sweet!

can we all just agree that i'm a poet, and i don't know it?

"the grass is always greener /
and i'm a total weiner"

thanks to audra for catching my poetic brilliance.

can we all just agree that cupcakes are fantastic?

somehow, they're a lot more fun than a comparably-sized slice of cake. something about their portability increases the deliciousness factor pretty dramatically.

can we all just agree that sometimes mysterious things are happening underground?

this is what i saw when i decided it was time to pick several carrots that had been growing close together in my garden. i wish i had been able to include the stalks, which were really long. i thought, though, that it might be more interesting to show a closer view of the carrot situation. check it out! i'm not sure what this most closely resembles to me. is it a heartwarming display of carroty affection? or is this one of those times when the phrase "food porn" comes closer to really meaning it? anyway, no matter what it looks like, it's exciting to think that i grew this myself, and now i can eat it. hooray for urban gardening!

can we all just agree that built to spill is fantastic?

i know i've mentioned it before, but i have additional evidence. from "you were right":

"you were wrong / when you said
everything's gonna be alright."

word.

can we all just agree that it's wonderful to catch up with good friends...

but that it can be even more exciting when they say funny things that even rival audra?

like this:

"...it is pitch black, and i mean that in a scientific way. there is no electromagnetic radiation whatsoever."

thanks, joe!

can we all just agree that finally adding photos to the pincurls instruction post is kind of exciting?

because i did! check it out! and give it a try! i mean, if you want to.

can we all just agree that citizens here & abroad is a fantastic band?

i heard them last year on college radio, and scribbled a note to myself on the back of a gas station receipt that said "citizens here and abroad drummy dreamy pop" and i stand by that characterization (though i would like to take the opportunity to express my concern at my occasional habit of writing on gas station receipts while driving. that's unsafe.)

two songs from their album entitled "waving, not drowning" have been on heavy rotation around here. they are called "accelerator" and "in the dark," respectively, and i feel they are deeply relevant to my life experiences in a way that i am not going to explain to the intertubes.

i will, however, point you to http://www.citizenshereandabroad.com, where you can learn more about citizens here & abroad yourself, and even download some free music. including a joy division cover. how is that?

can we all just agree that "the sneeze" is a great website?

check it out, dudes! worthy of special attention is "steve, don't eat it!"

can we all just agree that cryptic calendar entries are even worse than confusing lists?

my calendar says "rr" next saturday. what on earth does that mean? i have absolutely no idea, and it's driving me crazy. also, what if i forget to do something that i promised to do? what if it was going to be really fun? please, dudes, help me out. if you solve the mystery in my comments section, i will be eternally grateful, and may even make you a mix cd.

update: i figured it out. it was more of an "i'd-like-to-go-here-maybe-if-i-put-it-on-the-calendar-i'll-actually-round-up-some-folks-and-go" kind of thing and less of an "i-promised-to-do-something-today" kind of thing. i didn't manage to go, but the summer is still young. yes.

can we all just agree that summer camp is wonderful?

can we all just agree that plum tarts are beautiful?

this is what a plum tart looks like. sweet, buttery crust, homegrown, just-picked, organic plums sliced and sprinkled with sugar, cinnamon, and freshly grated nutmeg. and nothing else. totally gorgeous.

can we all just agree that photos of food are great enough to deserve their own tag?

i know, i know, i'm trying not to get too tag-happy...but i've been taking some pretty hott food shots lately, so i present to you: food porn.

can we all just agree that the dying californian is totally amazing?

i know that i've mentioned this before, but tonight i saw them live and they were way more amazinger in person. they make really big music. i don't want to listen to anything else right now because it is still in my ears.

can we all just agree that pocky is tasty?

i'd never had it before, but last night i was in a fantastic thai grocery store and i bought a package. tasty! yes! i would recommend it to a friend, for sure.

can we all just agree that ebay should rethink their marketing?

i just saw an ad that said something about expressing myself...and one of the three items pictured was a lime green croc. that makes me want to express myself like jennifer aniston's character in office space.

can we all just agree that, of all the people from whom i like receiving telephone calls, brother bear is pretty much the best?

and now he has a mobile! sweeet!

(i <3 you, brother bear.)

can we all just agree that built to spill gives excellent advice about life?

from "made-up dreams":

"no one wants to hear / what you dreampt about / unless you dreampt about / them /
don't let that stop you / tell them anyway / and you can make it up / as you / go."

also, this song is from an album called "perfect from now on."

i love built to spill. i hope you do too.

can we all just agree that getting rid of things is satisfying?

dudes, i have a lot of things that i don't need. many of them are giveawayable (goodwill's about to get a couple megabags of clothes, and people to whom i send packages are totally in luck [superballs! shh...]) but others are not. like bank statements from 2000. all of them. sometimes i wish i had a paper shredder. or a fireplace.

but it's still great to be making more space in drawers and stuff. satisfying. yes. (so satisfying, in fact, that a new tag has been born. welcome to the world, satisfying. i will now have to go back and read all previous posts, to ensure that no satisfying post remains untagged. and when i am done, guess how i will find that?*)

*satisfying!

can we all just agree that having your own plum tree is pretty awesome?

but that the awesome just continues when the plums are both ripe and delicious?

and when you might have baking adventure plum time with housemate? (stay tuned for photos of this!)

yes! happy friday!

can we all just agree that..?...aw, c'mon guys.

overheard at a junior high school graduation ceremony: "damn! middle schoolers are HOT!"

can we all just agree that i'm getting pretty good at this?

can we all just agree that splinters are a total bummer?

i got one yesterday, from weeding. yes, weeding. (not just for calluses anymore, apparently.) at first i was convinced that it was at least half an inch long, but i have since revised my estimate to the slightly less dramatic 4/10ths of an inch. or 2/5ths, if you really like reducing fractions.

it's pretty thick. i got some of it out last night (1/10th of an inch of it or so) but most of it is still in my thumb.

i wanted very much to take a picture, in order to add it to the gross*, injuries sections, but my camera is apparently unable to focus on something that close, so you'll just have to use your imaginations. i trust you.

today, the part that remains is kind of infected. not hugely so, but kind of white and raised. the splinter piece moves back and forth, too, but i can't get it out. i'm trying to decide if i should continue to wait it out, which was what we always did when i was a kid (we got tons of splinters), or if it is time to put a needle in some rubbing alcohol and perform some self-surgery. it's getting pretty distracting.

*i'm not sure how gross it really is...audra was pretty unconcerned, but both of the housemates were totally disgusted.

update: when i soaked it in hot water, the pus that i squeezed out had the consistency of snot! that is gross!

update #2: i sterilized a safety pin, and poked around a little bit until i could get it out. it was also a little bit gross.

but, falling squarely in the AWESOME department is the fact that the splinter had started to get slimmer and lighter in color already...oh yeah, my body was ready to break that thing down, if necessary, and assimilate it! we are the sarah. we will assimilate you.

can we all just agree that people arrive at c.w.a.j.a.?. by strange means sometimes?

recent favorites: web searches for "mayonaise are disgusting" (yes they are!), "boys with long girly curls," "i agree images," and "word that starts with y in science vocabulary."

¿podemos estar de acuerdo que lolcats son chistosos en español también?

he visto muchos de los cat macros en inglés, pero hoy encontré a esto. ¡ojalá que te gustes!

can we all just agree that, of all the weird people/entities from which to receive a myspace friend request, luxury homes are especially strange?

dudes. even if i could afford to live in a luxurious waterfront setting, i wouldn't. and seriously, myspace friends? i don't even approve people i know but don't really hang out with. come on.

can we all just agree that when you hate everything, you should definitely eat some smoked gouda?

can we all just agree that lieberman sucks?

having disregarded my excellent advice and run for congress and...sigh...won, lieberman continues to demonstrate his lameness. no, jackass, we shouldn't bomb people. this shouldn't be so complicated.

p.s.: you are contributing to the de-meaningification of language when you call yourself an "independent" but you really mean "republican sychophant."

can we all just agree that "alternative & punk" is a totally stupid itunes genre?

i'm not sure if it is one of the itunes defaults (at this point, i've upgraded something like 276 times) or if it made its way onto compy 3000 in some other way, but come on.

i am sensitive to the fact that some music is difficult to categorize (and i do love categorizing things) but come on..."alternative & punk"? what does that even mean?

can we all just agree that caller id is a fabulous invention?

sheesh.

can we all just agree that this is an interesting question?

"do you wish to persist the internet cookie?"

don't misunderstand; i like being asked those kinds of questions just as much as the next privacy-loving user of the interweb, but it makes me wonder who wrote that. and if we can talk soon.

can we all just agree that targetted text ads are good for a laugh, now and then?

gmail has done it again:

my mom sent me a google chat message while i was offline, which meant that it was delivered like an email. all it said was, "hooray!" (which made perfect sense to me.)

the awesome part, though, was that the ads in the sidebar looked like this:
"more about...
hip hop hooray
hip hop hooray naughty by nature
naughty by nature hip hop
naughty by nature nothing to lose"

yes!

can we all just agree that hanging out with junior highers provides a person with excellent opportunities to overhear funny things?

this afternoon i was riding bikes with some kids, and from behind me i heard a girl say, "we're going to have bike sex!" and immediately after that, a boy ahead of me (who was having a completely separate conversation) exclaimed, "it makes me feel like a real woman!"

can we all just agree that smooth tough tires are fantastic?

faster and less vulnerable to the broken glass that is everywhere (especially right in front of my house right now)...yes!

can we all just agree that it's kind of fun when other people start getting into the recording of funny things said on c.w.a.j.a.?.?

me: blah blah blah lame "customer service" rep

mamacita: "she was probably just trying to get you to buy a policy from them."

me: "yes, but at this point i wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire."

mamacita: "put that on your blog!"

can we all just agree that talking politics with the mamacita is really fun?

and not just because she occasionally says things like this:

(when talking about g.w. bush's response to russia's concerns about u.s. nuclear proliferation)

"i didn't think that i could regard him as any more of a low-life asshole than i already did, but today he really slipped a notch."

can we all just agree that changing out your own tires is pretty satisfying?

although i was sad to take off the "all-terrainosaurus" tires (yes! the fusion of dinosaurs + bikes is extremely compelling to me!), it's really exciting to have some smoother ones!

and so satisfying that i did the work myself. although i have a number of friends who could have switched out my tires in a fraction of the time it took me, i did it myself. now my hands are sore and still kind of grimy, and i am satisfied.

can we all just agree that "set me free" by the lovemakers is fantastic?

and good to sing along with? yes!

can we all just agree that it is good?

thank you.

can we all just agree that pictures of cats are excellent?

i hope that you are already enjoying the adventures of the greatest paws (i know we've been over this before) but i also wanted to make sure that you knew about plush life. the header says it's about "kittenz!! also politics, astronomy, science, photography and other four-legged snarky stuff," but as far as i can tell it's mostly pictures of cats. yes!

as the boys beastie would no doubt say, check-ch-check-check-check-check it out!

oh and also i trust that you're already enjoying i can has cheezburger? (to be honest, i think i.c.h.c.?. is kind of hit or miss, and the comments make me want to jump off a bridge. i'm not linking. don't look. you'll be sorry. [think cuteoverload or daily puppy, but quite possibly worse {which is sort of amazing, if you ask me}], but it's still worth checking out.)

but if you really really like pictures of cats with silly captions (you do, i can see it in your eyes!), i hope that you have seen the fantastic lolcats2. go look now. it is worth it.

can we all just agree that this is an ambitious project?

"i'm trying to create some sort of tunafish-sweet-potato-salsa stew."

can we all just agree that audra is awesome?

i thought so.

can we all just agree that driving sucks?

i have to do it today for SO LONG.

/whining.

can we all just agree that, although it's unfortunate to be awoken before you have to be awake, there is something totally fantastic about going back

to bed for an hour or so?

i think that's one of the reasons i so rarely turn my phone off when i go to sleep. it happened this morning. don't misunderstand, i would really rather be asleep right now, still (sorry, don't take it personally), but oh man that extra hour was delicious.

can we all just agree that "emails" somehow seems wrong?

i've been sending them since way back when all email addresses looked like this: <483759284736-3019275837@compuserve.com>, (thanks for letting me use your email address, mom!) but somehow "emails" still seems incorrect. like saying "deers" or "cattles" or something equally erroneously pluralized. that is all.

can we all just agree that dinosaur, jr. is awesome?

ah, they are fantastic. i liked them in junior high, but a couple of years ago a nice boy named boris in berlin made me some cds and my junior high band crush has reawakened. and it's back with a vengeance. yes. i love them.

can we all just agree that nephews can be totally hilarious too?

nephew #1 loves cows. like loves them loves them. he gets to spend time hanging out with cows, too, so he has a more realistic idea of cows than other little dudes who might just read about them in books or something.

one of the manifestations of this superior understanding of cows in theory and in practice is that he's got a great "moo" going. it isn't "moo," necessarily; it's more like "mnuuuuuhhnh." also, it is awesome.

the other day we were all in the car together, and there weren't any cows in the field on his side of the car (which is a major bummer, of course). he kept mooing (or mnuuuuuhhnhing, as it were,) and his mama said, "[nephew #1], there aren't any cows right now. let's keep looking, and i think we'll see some pretty soon!"

nephew #1 replied, "mnuuuuuhhnh. pease*?"

*you know, "please" for the folks who haven't yet mastered consonant blends?

and it was awesome.

can we all just agree that nephews are totally wonderful?

yesterday i got back from a visit to the dudes. and they are great! nephew #2 is the happiest baby i've ever met. if you make eye contact with him, he gets a huge grin on his face and wiggles around with joy. and it's not just the first time you look at him. it's every time. so adorable! i have a lot of nephew stories. stay tuned.

can we all just agree that being an aunt is exciting! and that mamas saying things like this to you is also exciting!?

"Today I taught [nephew number one] how to say Auntie, because I think it will be a while before he can say Sarah!"

aw shucks, i am excited! also, i'm bringing him a copy of the very hungry caterpillar. this will be good times, my friends!

can we all just agree that news of the weird has some pretty fantastic stories sometimes?

here is my current favorite, filed under "can't possibly be true":

Our litigious, anger-fueled, dispute-intensive society took a break in a Folcroft, Pa., courtroom in March, as landlord Genevieve Zumuda, 77, was suing tenant La Tina Osborne, 32. In the middle of Osborne's defense, Zumuda started shaking and suddenly stopped breathing, but Osborne interrupted her argument and gave Zumuda CPR until paramedics arrived. "When people are down," Osborne said, "if you can help them, you help them." [Denver Post-AP, 3-14-07]

you can find this story here, and many more stories like it here.

can we all just agree that it is really important to make sure that the area where you plant carrots has well-loosened soil that goes pretty deep?

and these pictures show why. i grew this carrot in my garden, but when i planted it (along with a bunch of others), it was late winter. so it was cold, and really muddy and wet. i didn't pitchfork the soil up the way i should have before putting in the seedlings. oops. but you have to admire the tenacity and commitment of this carrot! even when faced with a challenging soil environment, it tried to grow in several directions. despite physical discouragement, it didn't give up. even though it was straining against compacted earth, it found the energy to grew a beautiful set of greens on top. (the compost says thank you.) it is also important to note that it kind of looks like it's breakdancing or something in those last two pictures (particularly when they are viewed together). furthermore, it has provided an excellent visual reminder of the importance of proper pitchfork action, a reminder that has already informed my further carrot planting. finally, and equally importantly, it tasted good. in conclusion, kids, use your pitchforks. that's what they're for.

can we all just agree that springtime is a pretty great time to be eating?

here are some things that i had for dinner last night:

broccoli
mango
strawberries
corn
raspberries.

can we all just agree that it's funny to receive mail addressed "attn: manager or owner meow meow* estate"?

*where meow meow=my full name.

can we all just agree that repeatedly insisting that you really enjoyed meeting someone and you really enjoyed chatting with them and you really

enjoyed getting to know them every time you leave them a voicemail message or write them an email message is at best, meaningless, and at worst, insulting, when you were actually totally, unacceptably rude to a person during the first and only time you ever spent any time with them?

it is not a coincidence that i occasionally NEVER ANSWER MY TELEPHONE when certain people call. that is what caller id is for.

can we all just agree that having a gardening callus can make a person feel (justifiably) kind of tough?

and no, it's not even from using a pitchfork or a shovel or a hoe...it's from weeding.

can we all just agree that it's kind of amusing when someone finds c.w.a.j.a.?. by searching for "why can we be just together baby why can we be just

forever"?

i really hope that works out for you, kind lithuanian reader!

can we all just agree that sometimes, the dad is unreasonably cagey?

while chatting last night:

dad: "ah, yeah, i'll be gone for about three weeks in june."
me: "whoa! where are you going?"
dad: "oh, i'm going to go look at new hampshire."
me: "um, okay."
...[silence]...

can we all just agree that 12 hours is a long time to wear padded bicycle shorts?

see below for explanation. but i guess that this dispels any lingering worries i had about proper fit and comfort. i had plenty of opportunities to change out of them, but i just didn't. they are cozy.

can we all just agree that 20+ miles en cykel makes for a pretty nice saturday?

because it does.

¿podemos estar de acuerdo que la expresión <¡media naranja!> es fantástica?

la amo. (disculpe por ser tan emocionante, pero por alguna razón, no puedo escribir nada entre estas marcas: <> sin puntuación por ambos lados. no se por que.)

can we all just agree that it can be really satisfying, sometimes, when someone else gets something you really want?

not always, certainly, and maybe not usually even, but sometimes it is. that is all.

¿podemos estar de acuerdo que es un poco extraño tener resultos de buscar de méxico, preguntando, <¿qué es una quesadilla?>?

obviamente, alguien en méxico está preguntando esa pregunta, pero siempre me sorprendí. (y me hace esperar que esa persona puede comer una quesadilla prontito.)

[hint to english-speaking amig@s: quesadillas are tortillas with cheese melted inside. they are pretty much one of the most delicious foods ever invented and you should go eat one immediately.]

can we all just agree that perhaps i have spent too much time reading things on the internets?

because the title of the hymn which was written in 1747 is not "Lol I come with joy." that's an exclamation point, silly, from back when things were properly punctuated and people used the word, "lo," and from back before abbreviations had been invented.

can we all just agree that the three hundredth post is kind of cool?

i don't want to get all sentimental or anything, but wow! three hundred posts! you know, when i started this blog, way back in 2005 (yes, i am that old!), i never dreamed that it would reach 300 posts. excuse me, i need a moment...

can we all just agree that the democrats need to have some backbone right now?

no compromise. the will of the people is behind ending the war. they need to stand strong and not cave, and see who will blink first, instead of giving in.

i'm too tired to write much more than that. it's late, and it's been a long seven years.

can we all just agree that sometimes, the best way to respond to a potentially emotionally volitile, politically charged, somewhat nuanced situation

of slight national import is to just post a profanity-laden instant message transcript?

yeah, i totally did that.

me: "o.m.f'ing.g. do you know what day this was?"

brother bear: "sorry, i always forget that signing out of gmail closes google talk. anyway, i was going to say 'the day after the day that the freeway melted?'"

me: "no, that was yesterday [sic] (btw wtf!?!) today was may day. i.e. 'thank you labor movement for working so damn hard and often giving your lives so that children don't have to work 14 hour days 7 days a week in mills day'. and also let's fix immigration day (¡viva la causa!) BUT...check this shit out: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/04/20070430-3.html"

bb: "that's the biggest load of bullshit eeeeeeeeVAR."

me: "shut up, freedomhatertraitorsadddamosamaobamalovertroopmurdererer!!eleventy-one!"

bb: "if people observed that day the way it's described in the press release then michigan would be annexing wisconsin all uber-militia style."

me: "or fucking ALL OF CANADIA!!!"

bb: "well, yeah, that, too."

me: "those polite frozen freaks have been obstructing our path to alaska for TOO FUCKING LONG!!!"

bb: "dude, that sentence had a comma between every word! heh heh heh."

me: "it was poetry in motion. grammatical poetry."

fin.

[5/2: fixed. high five to brother bear, bruise photographer, nerve damage speculation expert, and proofreader.]

can we all just agree that brother bear is both hilarious and consistently reasonable?

me: "[brother bear]. what is your opinion on pecan pie?"

brother bear: "i haven't been a fan of pecans in the past but i'm ready to give them another try."

me: "okay."

bb: "i recently discovered that i'm ambivalent about asparagus, so that has to mean that pecans get another shot."

can we all just agree that blogger's habit of trying to sign me in with whatever gmail address has been used most recently on my compy is a really

annoying one?

c'mon, dudes...don't have a "remember me on this computer" checkbox for me to check if you are just joking. i mean, i like bloggering and everything, but i would like it a lot better if i didn't have to re-sign in every time i check my personal email. or anyone else who is using my computer checks a gmail account.

your not-so-secret goal is clearly TOTAL INTERNET DOMINATION anyway, and so i can't be the only person with this problem.

and i know that once the entire internet belongs to you, i might not be authorized to complain about it, but you haven't bought out aol yet, so at least some of it isn't yours. and i'm annoyed*.

*not annoyed that google still doesn't own the entire internet, sillies...i dislike monopolies and i don't own google stock, so that's a pretty solid double-whammy against that suggestion.