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?