can we all just agree that this, too, is interesting spam?

it is called, "re: brillian" and it reads, "door is a drinking parlor by the name of Dust on Your Tonsils. I can"

indeed.

can we all just agree that my blogday is an exciting day indeed?

today is my blogday! yes, 365 days ago, i had some things to say about making mix cds. (today, i find myself with similar concerns, if you were curious.) so, um, thanks for reading, and extra thanks for commenting, and extra extra thanks for sending me email, and i hope you like it. it's cool if you don't; i am still enjoying myself and i think that's the point, but if you do, all the better. stay warm! and happy blogday to me!

can we all just agree that the get up kids' "mass pike" is an excellent song to which to feel a little bit sorry for yourself?

cool.

can we all just agree that there is a lot to say about scrubbing the shower?

because there is. my most recent adventures in shower cleaning involved a disturbing discovery: in addition to forming unholy alliances with the hairballs in the drain, as previously discussed, the soap has also begun conspiring with the shower mold! there are a few lines of grout that are covered with soap, from the windowsill to the edge of the tub, and while i was scrubbing the soap away, all the while thinking about how easy and pleasant it was to gently wash away soap, i realized that there was crazy black mold growing underneath it!

yes, underneath it! it was thicker and scarier and more aggressive-looking than the rest of the mold! and rather than being intimidated or even killed by soap, it just lives beneath it! in a symbiotic relationship! yikes!

can we all just agree that colin hays' "i just don't think i'll ever get over you" is an amazing song?

i'm not totally crazy about all the verses, but this song captures something that is at once beautiful and tragic. ah yes and something to which i can relate! oh, little heart.

can we all just agree that broken social scene, though ridiculously named, is a pretty solid band?

seriously, for several years i heard people talking about broken social scene but i could never bring myself to listen to them because i thought the name was so unforgiveably pretentious...but oh boy was i missing out. some of the song names are also kind of silly, but their music is beautiful. even brother bear took some time out from his customary mockery of my musical taste to say that he liked it.

can we all just agree that there is something extraordinarily satisfying about cleaning?

today i scrub scrub scrubbed the gross greyish soap scum out of the bathtub. the person who i share my bathroom with goes somehow through truly mind-boggling amounts of soap (like several bars per week!), and the soap he's been using for awhile now has an unfortunate tendency to break up into small pieces, and then it ends up all over the floor of the shower (also known as the bathtub) and then it forms unholy alliances with the astonishing amounts of hair that i shed each time i shower, and then the soap/hairball hybrids close up the shower drain and then the soapy dirty water hangs out while it drains super slowly and then there's crazy soap scum.

that is what happens.

so today, i discovered a fantastic combination of cleaning products for dealing with a super scummy bathtub: this crazy "orange-scented" degreaser called "fabuloso," (although it should be called "¡fabuloso!") and baking soda. the ¡fabuloso! loosens up the soap scum, and the baking soda makes it really easy to scrub it all away! woo!

so yes, i would recommend ¡fabuloso! and baking soda to anyone with soap scum in their lives. that is all.

can we all just agree that it kind of sucks to have your right index finger bitten by a bunny?

disapproving rabbits, i turn your disapproving gaze back around toward you.

can we all just agree that the 200th post is kind of cool?

nerd party numer två...200 posts!

can we all just agree that voting is, unlike most other bullshit that passes for it, an actual reason to adorn one's body with our national symbol?

thank you, guest blogger N! you were super then, and you're super now. i love you.

oh and ps: good job democrats! now don't screw it all up. at least not all at once.

can we all just agree that california's prop 90 is a terrible idea?

here's the very short version: prop 90 has two provisions. the first increases protection against property seizures by the state under eminent domain (you know, when the state forcibly buys some little old lady's house where she's lived for 55 years and then bulldozes it to build a freeway expansion?) the second provision totally destroys any ability of state or local governments to reject any proposed development project.

"what?!?" you might say.

yeah. the first provision seems reasonable. the second is totally ridiculous. but a lot of people are so hung up on provision one that they don't really pay attention to provision two.

if a developer submits an application to build 200 condos, and the county decides that he only has room (zoning/density and health and safety-wise) to build 50, then the developer can demand that the county pay him "fair market value" for his lost revenue. so he doesn't build the 150 other condos, and then the county has to pay him all the money he would have been able to earn if he was able to build and sell (or rent) the 150 condos.

pretty clearly a bad idea? i think so too. tell your friends. no on 90.

can we all just agree that california's prop 85 is a terrible idea? still?

so last year, california voters rejected prop 73. and tomorrow, i hope we reject prop 85 as well. it's a law that would require parental consent for all minors seeking abortions. and it's a bad plan. in a super ideal world, no minors would have to seek abortions, period. (you know, that world in which no one is ever a victim of sexual assault, and all birth control is 100% efffective? that super ideal world.) in an ideal world, all minors would be able to talk to their parents and those parents would be supportive, emotionally and financially, if a minor decided to seek an abortion.

but here's the thing: we don't live in either of those worlds. sometimes girls can't talk to their parents about needing an abortion. because sometimes their parents would kick them out of the house, or kill them, or force them to keep a baby they didn't want and couldn't care for. and sometimes, those dads or stepdads are the fathers of the babies, or those moms or stepmoms are the ones who knew that girls were being raped and didn't stop it.

so seriously, california voters, think about this. sometimes girls will not be safe, and cannot get what they need, from their parents. awesome for you and your kids if that isn't your situation. but realize that this isn't the case for everyone. think of the girls who can't talk to their parents. and vote no on prop 85. it's a horrible idea, just like prop 73 was last year. no on 85.

can we all just agree that self-indulgent bruise blogging is quite enjoyable?

note the e.t. finger for scale.
(thanks for the tech help, paws!)

can we all just agree that this remains an interesting, if limiting, approach to dating?

we remember how you feel about unhygenic boys, audra. how's that working out for you?

"there's not an abundance of hygenic boys out there. there's just not. and it's sad."

aw.

¿podemos estar de acuerdos que queso fresco es fantástico?

¿especialmente en una quesadilla? ¡me encanta!

can we all just agree that playing in a bell choir is glorious?

i am so glad to do it again! hooray!

can we all just agree that disapproving rabbits are awesome?

seriously.

can we all just agree that broken social scene's "anthems for a seventeen-year-old girl," though sort of goofily-named, approaches total song

perfection?

can we all just agree that life is amazing?

seriously, dudes. tonight i was eating tater tots with ranch dressing and talking to one of my best friends when i noticed that through the over-the-kitchen-sink window i could see the sun setting behind the golden gate. and the sun was huge! enormous! and the fog or haze or whatever it was was just the right combination so that i could look right at the sun. and the sun (which was giant, just in case you'd forgotten) looked like a peach. it was that exact beautiful color of orangey. thank you, the universe.

can we all just agree that it's kind of surprising to find a possum in your yard?

there it was, just hangin out, chillaxin (thanks, paws!)...not at all perturbed by the presence of audra and me. odd.

can we all just agree that outdoor roller skating is rad?

even if you do fall down after 30 minutes of successful skating and skin your hand and knee. (at least the yellow tights didn't get a hole in them! thank goodness for that.)

can we all just agree that there is nothing like a nap?

can we all just agree that 18.5 inches is a pretty amazing perimeter measurement for a black and purple bruise?

ouch, bike crashes.

can we all just agree that riding 29 miles on a bicycle up and down hills is incredibly exhilirating?

good heavens. i almost finished the biggest race of the year around these parts, but then the people at the checkpoints started leaving. (i was in the back.) but it was amazing. and i loved it.

i also love my new smooth tires.

can we all just agree that dynamite hack's pretty excellent not-boyz-in-the-hood songs are unfairly ignored?

seriously, guys. yes yes, boyz in the hood is a fairly amusing cover, but every single other dynamite hack song is much better. you should give superfast a listen. it is an excellent album. trust me, you won't be disappointed. unless you have bad taste in music.