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

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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.