can we all just agree that it's nice to have your little compy fixed?

it's been almost unspeakably difficult to get compy 3000 all fixed up. the short version is this: applecare sucks. so does the apple store that is nearest to my house.

maybe i will tell you more later, but mostly, i'm back.

can we all just agree that today is a beautiful day?

i hope that your valentine's day, or your singles awareness day (s.a.d.), or your totally ordinary, nothing special wednesday (or thursday, depending on where you live) is totally glorious.

today in the town, the sun is shining, and i woke up joyful. the valentine's spoke cards project is continuing, i will be making cookie deliveries later today, and last night i enacted a secret plan with a nice friend.

and life is good. i hope yours feels the same.

can we all just agree that three is a nice number too?

can we all just agree that riding bicycles is dangerous enough without people in cars deliberately backing into you?

for pete's sake, dudes. i watched it happen today; this dude in a car got really really really angry at a cyclist for no good reason, and pulled over to fight him, i guess...but then changed his mind (maybe because his kid was in the car?) and decided to back into him instead and then drive off really fast. that was not cool. not at all.

if you drive, be nice to bikes. sometimes cyclists might not see you, and sometimes they might be real jerks...but seriously, cut them a break, okay? geez.

update: so that situation was totally lame, but then later last night i ran into the same guy (the cyclist, not the scary driver) and got to chat with him some more. and gave him a "good-job-you're-alive" beer and hooked him up with a mechanic friend who said he'd look at his bike. so yes, it was lame, but it was really good to see him.

update #2: i've talked to the cyclist a few times since this happened, and the police don't appear to be moving on it at all. which is lame. they have the license plate number, which seems like it would make it a lot easier to, you know, FIND THE DRIVER (or at least the owner of the car) and have a little chat. sheesh.

can we all just agree that the city is good, but that the town is sometimes even better?

so today i was riding my bicycle around the lake, and i saw two people on the side of the road, staring at something. they were arguing, and it was going like this:

"that's his chicken!"
"that's not his chicken!"
"it is!"
"no, it's not!"

and sure enough, there was a chicken standing on the island in the middle of the street. just chillin. a chicken.

can we all just agree that isabel allende's of love and shadows is a stunning book?

please read it. it might break your heart, and it gave me terrible nightmares when i read it right before bed, but it is beautiful and it has incredible tenacious strands of hope and dignity and quiet defiance, and a gorgeous love story interwoven with a brave and unflinching depiction of the dirty wars in latin america. (which, especially if you are a north american, you should know about.)

also, it has this passage, which i want you to read:

"'Gustavo has waited for me all his life,' Irene said, 'I am going to marry him.'
'I don't believe it,' whispered Francisco.
She clasped Francisco's dark head in her hands and looked into his eyes. They smiled, comforted, joyful, trembling, certain that they would never settle for a brief adventure, because they were born to share life in its totality and to undertake the audacity of loving each other forever."

amen.

can we all just agree that sometimes all it takes is deciding?

can we all just agree that three hours is far too long for a committee meeting to last?

seriously, guys.

can we all just agree that thursday is a terrible time for rain?

lame!

can we all just agree that audra is a veritable repository of funny things people say?

"she wasn't disturbing to look at, in any way."

seriously, audra, where do you come up with these things?

can we all just agree that this explains a lot?

"oh my god! he's like dr. jekyl and mr. ass!"

-audra (explains it all, really.)