You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

OK, it's not exact. But it's what I thought of when I saw a license plate that said LORD ICY.

They probably meant: Lord, I see why.

I read it as a shout-out to the White Witch in the Chronicles of Narnia.

It's alarming how charming I feel

One of my (male) coworkers said to my (male) boss this morning, "Wow, you look nice today!"

My boss replied by saying -- then singing -- "I feel pretty." (It doesn't start til the 50-second mark.)

I tried not to guffaw.

Mail

I got two unexpected pieces of mail -- and one of them, adorably enough, was an invitation to a first birthday party. How cute.

To reciprocate, I sent three pieces today of what will likely be unexpected mail when they arrive. OK, two of them are unexpected -- I didn't have the last address I needed.

Even so, the content is a surprise!

It's not Eureka, but still

Today during our lab meeting, my professor said, "By Jove." It was cute because it's so, so, so stereotypically professor-ish.

Water, water everywhere

In case you haven't heard, it's pretty wet in Atlanta these days.

I came across this picture (tweeted by a friend who's now living in Philadelphia) and was amazed by how beautiful it was. This, actually, is my favorite spot in Atlanta -- it's a bridge that's always covered in the most beautiful graffiti. In addition to just being a gorgeous scene, I'm jealous that these guys were able to take such a leisurely trip through it.

Lovely.

Yiddish curses

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, was this weekend, and part of the rabbi's sermon today had most of the congregation doubled over in their seats laughing.

He began by lamenting the cursing of recent times -- not the fact that there is cursing, mind you, but the fact that we aren't more creative about it. Yiddish curses, he said, start off sounding like a blessing -- but then there's a twist. My favorite, which I've used more than once, is this: May you grow like an onion, with your head in the ground and your feet in the air.

Others include: May you lose all your teeth but one, and may you get a toothache in the one you have left; May you have a sweet death, may you be run over by a sugar truck; May you be like a chandelier, hanging all day and burning all night. You get the picture.

So now I'm contemplating good curses. (Some others are here -- enjoy!)

Names

One of my friends is having a baby, and doesn't yet have names picked out. This means I get to pore through baby name books and make suggestions.

Of course, I'll be pleased if my suggestions stick. In the meantime, though, I'm happy enough to learn that the female form of Xerxes is Sherry -- and that it means "pertaining to Caeser."

Names rock my world.

On paper

One thing spotty Internet access will lead you to is the written word. Like, on paper.

As such, I've been spending a lot of time with cookbooks, instead of looking up recipes online. And coming across things that look delicious, but that I wouldn't have thought to make, had I not flipped past them. Like tonight's frittata. Yum. Mushroom leek risotto is next on the list.

And this weekend brought a trip to the library, which meant three unread (adult) Roald Dahl books. Maybe no computer (I'm on a borrowed one right now) isn't all bad.

What's up, Doc?

Last week, I went to Blossom to see a performance of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies music, complete with cartoons. This was super-adorable and fun.

But the thing thing that made me really grin? At the end of the show, instead of tossing flowers on the stage, someone brought a bunch of carrots to the conductor.

Bugs Bunny, indeed.

On a completely unrelated note, I have a dead computer. So I will once again be sporadic, at least until a new one is acquired. Anyone have suggestions for awesome new or horribly awful computers?

America's Roller Coast

If this doesn't make you smile, then I don't know what to say to you!

Maybe try one of the other ones, I guess. (In other words: A day well-spent.)

I hope a rhyming dictionary was involved

Because otherwise, why would the Black Eyed Peas rhyme "mazel tov" with "take it off" in the song "I Gotta Feeling"?

They did add a "l'chaim" in for good measure, though.

The future is the past

I saw a woman hula-hooping on the sidewalk today. She was really good -- it was going up and down her torso to her neck, over a shoulder, on an arm. I was impressed. Much better than me -- either IRL or on a Wii.


And then, a limo that had doors that opened up, like a DeLorean. I wanted to stop and stare, but the light was green.

Hey, mister... can I have a ride?

One of my co-workers interviewed a German steel magnate at his Gates Mills home (for example) today. He came back talking about how impressive it was -- the driveway til forever, the giant house, all the trees. The carved wooden table. The fact that everything in the house looked like it was an antique. The organ that the house had been built around, that played through the vents.

And this magnate, after the interview, invited my co-worker to lunch with him at the country club. But my co-worker declined, deciding he had to get back to the office instead.

Just one problem.

The magnate had just flown in from Germany. His wife had the corvette. Could he get a ride to the country club anyway?

I don't remember what kind of car my co-worker said he had, but it was a 1990 something with CDs all over the seat. And that's how the magnate got to the country club.

But no one knows how he got home...

Don't forget your sheath

From the Web site of the Ohio Renaissance Festival: (It's in caps lock, so you know it's important!)

PLEASE OBSERVE THE VILLAGE POLICIES: NO PETS. NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR BEVERAGE MAY BE BROUGHT INTO FESTIVAL.
ALL WEAPONS MUST BE TIED IN A SHEATH AT ALL TIMES.

Mr. Golden Sun

Drove past a car on the way home that had a giant sun, branches and a ladybug painted on the side. It was lovely and creative and fun. And way better than the original wood paneling, too!

Board game mania

I played a lot of board games this weekend, which I love.

But I need to give a special bit of glee to games of Scrabble that net words like xenon (mine) and quinoa (not).

Also, the "xenon" game had only two words that were more than one syllable (ova was the other). I thought that was pretty amusing. Especially since the words were still good ones -- like jeered and thrall.

And it feels just as hot, too.

As I was driving to Peoples State Forest this evening (which is a story that most definitely does NOT make me smile...... at all), I passed the most awesomest thing ever: Satan's Kingdom Road. And then, as if things couldn't get better, I passed Satan's Kingdom Recreation Area!! And you can go tubing there as well!
I squealed gleefully in my car. Multiple times. I think Connecticut just clawed its way into the top 5 of the "Best States Ever" list.

Busting makes me feel good

As if Ghost Busters on the big screen wasn't enough... the half-dozen guys (and a girl) who sat in front of us totally came in costume.

And one even had a light-up pack!

Banana banana

I make a mean banana bread. But today, I made these with my overripe bananas instead.

The frosting has yet to be done, but the cake part is delish.

Wilbur

I went to the fair today (technically, yesterday) and had a fantastic time walking the Midway, riding a Ferris wheel and getting my fair-food fix -- lemonade, french fries, fried cheese, fried pickles and, of course, an elephant ear.

But it was the animals at the fair that particularly made me smile. To be precise, it was the piglets.

Let me back up and tell you that we saw the horses and cows, sheep and rabbits, guinea pigs and chicken. We pet quite a few goats (and one of them nibbled at my purse). We oohed and ahhed at llamas and alpacas (which looked exactly like walking stuffed animals) and giggled at turkeys and ducks.

But in the back of one of the barns were two sows, each with a number of piglets -- maybe 10 for one and six for another. They were pink and soft and tiny with big eyes. Both sows were sleeping; one was surrounded by sleeping piglets (and the poor piglet that found itself under her neck when she went to roll over! -- my, what a squeal) while the other had piglets clambering all over her in search of food.

Nursing piglets are way too cute.

The nursing piglets had a definite runt of the litter, a pig that was half the size of the others. It made me think of Wilbur, which wasn't much of a leap since county fairs already conjure up Charlotte's Web images.

A fair is a veritable smorgasbord, orgasbord, orgasbord...

My sister's awesome

She just is.

(She told me to say that. But it remains fact.)

Tampico

This is why I love love love the Big Band station.

It played a version of this song, which I was merrily humming along to, when all of a sudden the (redundant) lyrics changed... to "we're getting sick of this song" and "it's repetitious and long." All in a very cheery, Big Band-y sort of way. I chuckled. And tried to find the same version at home, but couldn't.

How 'bout that?

I drove home super-psyched after bowling with a friend tonight because not only did I break 100 in all three games -- 112, 116, 102 -- but I bowled a turkey, a definite first. But then, 116 is also my high score.

So there I was, thrilled with my bowling victories, about to pull into the driveway, when I was blinded by a bright light right on the curb. We're talking bright lights. Like, the kind they use to make it look like daylight during road construction. And there was another one on the neighbor's lawn, and what looked like a giant projection screen, too.

I decided to go explore.

It turns out that my neighbor works for an ad agency and that the lights (and plastic forks stuck in the lawn) were part of a campaign they're filming for Hot Pockets. It has something to do with senior citizens who are mad that people are eating without utensils and stick forks in the lawn (Oh, the beauty of Google) to protest. If you see it (I think they said it's for the Web, not TV), you should watch. And send me a link, so I can see how it came out.

I talked to one of the senior citizen (his words) actors, who's a civil engineer by day and has done seven commercials and roles as extras, this year, by night. It's a little random for a Wednesday night, but certainly cool.

Although I'm still proud of my turkey.

I think I can

It wasn't The Little Engine That Could, but I think the transportation story can be extended to boats.

While having lunch at the river today, I saw a tugboat pushing a barge (we'll pretend that I know the different names of water-faring vessels and that I got that one right -- which, if Wikipedia is to be believed, is a possibility). The barge (for lack of better knowledge) was rust-colored, low and long, while the tugboat was bright red and looked just like a bathtub toy.

It was groovy. And it was totally this boat. Which, for the record, is also the one shown above.

Come fly the friendly skies

In case any of you want to come visit (hint, hint), the Akron-Canton airport and AirTran are offering $25 off your next ticket to or from our lovely metropolis. And there's even an AirTran sale for the next few weeks! Get it while the getting's good.

You just have to travel by the end of January.

Aaaaand we're back

Getting let out of work early on Friday afternoons.

Strange farmers' market finds -- such as the husk cherry, a fruit a friend said tastes like buttered toast. I'm still not sure that I see it.

Tea at the Ritz, followed by a (touring) Broadway show.

Interesting books. Beach. Cooking. Conversation. Company.

Meaningful moments with friends. Random moments with friends. Being butted off of Twister boards by friends.

Knowing that friends care enough to show up, even with little notice.

Good news. Good food.

Tourists trying to tip a trolley driver because he chatted with them about Asheville (where they're from) and gave them some suggestions about what to do and where to go.

Air conditioning. I contemplated driving around this afternoon, just so I could have it. In the end, the book I was reading won out.

Church bells

I managed to time the drive home to be outside a church at 6, when the bells began to toll. It's a lovely sound. Wind blowing through windows, music in the air. I like it.

Pineapples

I had a late meeting today and ended up walking back to my car from a direction I don't usually come from. As I headed past a gated parking lot, I noticed that the fence posts were topped with pineapples.

Psych always has pineapples, too.

Often, it's the little things.

From scratch

I came home one day last week to a new oven, which is enough to put a smile on anyone's face in and of itself. I had company, and we inaugurated it with brownies-from-a-box. Which were good. But for some reason, I was feeling slightly more ambitious today.

I'm going out of town (again) and have been trying to eliminate some of the perishable things from the fridge before they, you know, perish. So I had one egg left in a dozen. Since I've also avoided going to the store to add more things to the list of items I must consume, I ran out of junk food to pack in my lunch. Baking chocolate chip cookies, then, was the perfect solution to both of those problems.

This certainly isn't the first time I've made cookies from scratch, but it has been a while. And they turned out well, if I may say so. If you see me in the next week, ask for one -- they're chocolate chip-pecan, and most delectable.

Better than a mullet

I was distracted from the Indians game I went to tonight (we lost) by the man who sat down in front of me late in the game.

He was in his late 50s or 60s with glasses and a grey mustache -- unremarkable. But his hair... oh, his hair. It was solid grey, bordering on white. It was buzzed to the crown of his head and on the sides. But from the top of his head to the nape of his neck, there were long, flowing grey locks. It was scraggly and ended midway down his back. And it was the most bizarre haircut I have ever seen.

I was at the game with my grandfather, and had to point it out. He was also confounded.

Funny story

My parents are vacationing in the Seattle area (at least that's where they started out) and called to ask for help finding a hotel in.... Forks, Washington.

Sadly, the significance of the location was not lost on me. Although I don't think they'll be making use of any of the themed tours. God, I hope not.

Movies under the stars

Atlanta has this event, Screen on the Green, that I looked forward to every summer. It's just as it sounds -- a giant movie screen on Piedmont Park, a picnic dinner with your friends and thousands of people screaming, "Don't open that door!"

Tonight, I went to a Cleveland event called Wade Oval Wednesdays (both of these happen multiple times throughout the summer) -- and despite the amount of fun I always had at Screen on the Green, I think WOW has Atlanta beat.

From 6 to 9 p.m., there was an Irish band. There were falafel, pizza, popcorn, gyros, fresh-sliced watermelon and odd-flavored (but tasty) ice-cream sandwiches to eat. They sold beer and other beverages, alcoholic and non- (and my blueberry beer had a handful of blueberries tossed into the glass!). There were local vendors selling jewelry and t-shirts. The sky was a gorgeous shade of purple. The air was warm.

Then, right as it was getting dark, The Goonies. Everybody laughed in all the right spots, booed in all the right spots. But it wasn't as crowded (we're losing population, after all!) and the city provided chairs. Less to lug and better traffic when you left.

I didn't like The Goonies the first time I saw it (before you start throwing things at me, appalled, remember that this was just two or three years ago -- I didn't grow up with it as a child), but it was lovely under the stars.

Free money

Technically, I earned it. But the check was still unexpected.

Every once in a while, money falls from the sky. It's nice when that happens.

If only they weren't gelatinous

My brother, walking into the room with a bag of them: "Marshmallows always make me feel happy when I'm feeling bad."

Job well done

I'm pretty psyched because now I can say I'm an award-winning journalist. I won several awards -- jointly, individually and as part of my paper's staff -- for coverage of a big story on my beat last year. And since I took over in the middle and was still learning the ropes, it's all very cool. Not that it wouldn't be cool if I'd been doing it a while.

But I was also excited because the awards -- and the subsequent story the paper wrote about them -- garnered me a few e-mails and one note of congratulations. The notice is nice, of course, but what was even cooler was the sentiment expressed. The CEO of a company I write about sent me a letter that said, "It's nice to know (my company) is being covered by someone with your talent." Pretty rocking.

Also, I'm really pleased with some digging I did on a story this week. It's been a little while since I got to break news.

Huzzah!

Shout outs

To awesome friends. One helped me break into my house last night (my climbing through a window in a skirt is a very elegant sight, let me tell you) and another is giving me his keys so I have a place to stay on this trip, even though he's out of town.

That's some pretty good friend-moves for 24 hours. Thanks, dudes, (and all the rest of you, too) for rocking my world!

Away, away

Just a quick note to say that computer annoyances and travels will be making me scarce. Hope to add grins when I have the chance, but I can tell you in the meantime that despite what anyone may tell you, any town that has a dedicated golf cart parking lot at a place of employment, an ice cream truck on the real streets and a lemonade stand set up on the golf cart trails is officially adorable. Even if it does make some residents feel like they're in a scene out of A Wrinkle in Time (pretend I put links in appropriate places).

It was good to see those of you I saw on the last trip and I'm looking forward to the ones to come!

The oh so most joyful!

Seeing Rel, even if for less than 24 hours.
Oh, and flavour tripping.... with Rel, none the less!
AAAND golf-carting with Rel!

Tasty

I picked strawberries this weekend, and woke up early Saturday to go to the farmers' market. Only the brie I ate for dinner (and the olive oil I cooked some veggies in) came from the grocery store. And that was a pretty exciting thing.

Relatedly, I also had my first cooking foray into exotic mushrooms. I've eaten some before, but never by my own hand. And my goodness, were they delicious (brown oyster mushrooms on toast, sauteed with olive oil and garlic scapes). Plus, the mushroom man at the market said they were a good "starter" 'shroom. So y'all should feel free to experiment with brown oyster mushrooms. The dude says it's cool, and I say it's delectable.

Text messages

This falls under the saved-for-posting category.

My friends, awesome as they are, sometimes send me pretty wonderful text messages detailing their own amusements (or, I'm just amused by their insanity). I'll recount a few of them for you below. (And you may well recognize yourself here. That's right -- I saved it. Though now that I'm saving them here, I can probably free up some much-needed cell phone memory and delete.)

Oh, and I left the punctuation/capitalization/etc. alone:

There is a ton of dirt on the Dooley statue and a sign that says "Wash me! --Wash U"

Coolest Halloween costume ever: Sylvia Plath. Wear a bathrobe and carry an Easy Bake Oven

Can you steal an amish child and keep it as a pet? Or is that only permissible with midgets?

OMG the m&ms I'm eating are so good I needed to tell someone!

I just saw an ice cream truck! I think it was playing, sewanee river. I don't know how to spell that. The truck itself was unadorned which was sad

I just saw a shirt that said 'i was raised on the street' and it had a picture of the sesame street characters.

There was a possum just sitting on the sidewalk as i just walked past your house. It sat there and swiveled its head and looked at me. Crazy!

Keep 'em coming!

More wheeled fun

We're back to two-wheeled bicycles for the moment because I saw a couple with baskets, and they were snazzy. One was like a grocer's basket at the front of the bike -- oversized, black mesh, nothing fancy. The other was a white wicker one with flowers that looked like it had been pulled off a kid's bike and made to fit an adult's. Both were way cool.

Then there was a police Segway (or some reasonable variation of a Segway) and that was purely amusing.

Unicycle

Walking out of work this afternoon, I was passed by someone on a bike, which is not an odd occurrence. Until I realized that the bike had only one wheel.

And to make matters even better than just the fact that there was a dude unicycling down the street (I say dude, though I'm not sure if it was a guy or a girl -- I only saw from behind, and the hair didn't help), there's this: said dude had a plastic grocery bag in his/her right hand. And that bag contained a frozen pizza.

He/she totally unicycled to the corner store to get dinner. Which rocks.

Reach for the stars!

As I was driving home this afternoon, the guy in the car next to me had his moon roof open. And his right arm was sticking out the top, like if he had been resting his left arm on the windowsill (is that the proper phrasing for the car window's edge?), but in the sky.

It looked pretty funny, the disembodied hand in the air. And I started laughing because I drive like that, too. And I'd never seen anyone else do it before. A little disconcerting, as a bystander.

Also, I won concert tickets from the radio for recognizing the theme to Mad Men, which is a super-awesome show. This is the second time that's happened in a year! Hooray free concert tickets.

Lastly, I've been at my job a year now. It doesn't feel like that long at all. And that's pretty cool. So happy work-iversary to me.

Chrome

My sister got a new messengers bag for her birthday, and its kind of amazing!

(note the seatbelt buckle!!)

Yay city

Between the Cleveland speller and the Cavs' victory (just two more!) I think my city will be a very happy place tomorrow.

OK, I'm perhaps the only one who cares about the speller. But let's not parse the reasons for the celebration!

The most wonderful time of the year

Those of you in Cleveland are likely sick of it before it starts, but... today is spelling bee day! And spelling bee day is a time for celebration (but not of the Rex Manning variety).

So, if you're looking for something to do tonight, I highly encourage the watching of said bee. It's monumentally entertaining, as last year's winner demonstrates.

And you can read more on Wednesday's preliminary developments here and see what's happening Thursday here, if I did this right. Yay spelling bees!

Edit: Cleveland speller in the finals! Cleveland speller in the finals!

Find me a find

Someone I interviewed last week called and asked if she could give my name to a yenta.

I laughed and said sure. After all, it can't hurt anything.

It takes how long?

I had an interview in Seven Hills today, and with my sense of direction -- which is very, very bad -- I figured it couldn't hurt to map where I was going before plugging the address into the GPS in the car.

So imagine my surprise when Google maps told me it would take more than 55 days to get there.

This is because the Seven Hills I wanted was not the one Google maps found.

The best part of the directions? When I was told to kayak across the Pacific Ocean. Three times. I'm curious as to how they determine how long it will take me to do that without knowing my arm strength. Or my ability to kayak a straight line.

The string of directions in Japanese was a close second in the amusement factor.

Then, I started looking for directions to other foreign lands. But Google cannot get me to Tegucigalpa, London, Paris or Madrid. Only Australian suburbs, apparently.

And sad news -- there's no public transportation option available for any of these trips.

No more pencils, no more books

I call a local school for a story I'm working on. The woman who I talk to says, "Are you an intern there, is that your senior project?"

I say no. I just sound young.

She says, "Well, one day you'll appreciate it."

I already think it's funny. This is at least the third time I've been mistaken for 18 or under at work. At least this time, it was just on the phone.

(The other two were at a high school journalism banquet the paper I worked for was hosting, when I was actually surrounded by teens. No, I wasn't an intern then, either. I guess they're just that much more stylish than I am.)

A different lazy Sunday

Between the truck (I've since seen at least two more) and the Bruster's rewards I get in my e-mail, ice cream's been on my mind (realistically, though, it's always back there somewhere). So I need to implore you, should you ever find yourself in Columbus, to check out Jeni's. It's interesting and creative and just downright tasty.

So: a waffle cone with lime cardamom, pistachio honey and dark chocolate ice creams. In a park. With awesome people. And a crazy, crazy wet dog.

Fantastic Sunday afternoon, if I do say so.

Amused

The woman at the Bruegger's stopped by our table to tell me I had "the best laugh."

I giggled.

Amalgamation

To make up for my failure to adequately aid your work-week procrastination, I give you three things this Friday afternoon:

Kilts. Four men wearing them, walking down the street (and might I add that at least one was young, and pretty attractive?). True, they were part of some Chicago police band (that's what the drum carried by one of them said -- I'm only assuming that it's this band). But that in no way lessens the fact that the members of said band (who were not marching at the time, mind you, but merely crossing at a crosswalk) were kilt-clad.

Pink scooter. This middle-aged woman was riding down the street (in the Warehouse District, mind you, which we'll get to next) on a Mary Kay-colored scooter. One of the sit-down kinds.

Cornhole. I don't know how I managed to not hear of this game during my first iteration as a Midwesterner, but it's apparently all the rage. And there was a dude standing outside a bar in the aforementioned Warehouse District (there are a lot of those around there), cell phone to his ear, just tossing beanbags into holes. It was all very zen.

I am so spoiled.

So, I recently quit my job. (Tuesday.) I am ecstatic about this (no, no sarcasm. I feel GREAT!)
Not only do I have the support of my friends and family, but I am being rewarded, as Andy is in the process of buying a hot tub! For our back yard!

Bring on the crazy naked nights, y'all!

Pushing Daisies is gone

But its influence lives on! (Thanks, Resa).

And the last few episodes will exist again. As long as Kristin Chenoweth is somewhere, I am happy.

Whenever I call or text Bek, Kristin Chenoweth says "Bosom, bosom, bosom. I just can't help myself; I'm a bosomaholic."

And that's just funny.

(There's a bosom story that makes it all make more sense, but suffice to say that bosom is an amusing word that isn't used with nearly enough frequency.)

Yeah!

I didn't realize how long it'd been since I heard Cake on the radio until "The Distance" came on this morning. Cake is happiness (in both its edible and musical forms).

Free chocolate

Need I say more?

Scrambled Eggs at Midnight

I just started reading this book, which has one of the best first lines in recent memory:

My mother is a wench. It says so right on her W-2.

It also has, at might be expected, renaissance festivals. (Huzzah!) And Asheville. And illegally obtained explosives. I can't tell you for sure to go out and read it because I don't know if it ends well, but I'm liking it so far.

Better than ordering pizza

Pardon the date on this - I have a small stockpile of things I've been meaning to post, but couldn't at the time for one reason or another.

This story, about a woman who ordered ...adult magazines for a neighbor she was fighting with, is among them. And amusingly creative. Not that I'd ever do a thing like that.

Timing is everything

Car I parked next to this morning had this bumper sticker:

We're working ...to be the best. Chrysler.

Oh, boutiques

The jewelry was out of my price range, but the shop dog was super cute!

Arr, matey, do this be buried treasure I spy?

Facebook has a "Pirate" option under available languages!!!!!!
This is the happiest day ever.

Actual conversation

Via text message, between my brother and myself, from 2:32 p.m. until 2:40 p.m. today:

Him: Guess what??!?!!

Me: What?!

Him: You'll be 30 in a few years!

Me: Thanks!

Him: You're old!

Me: And working :(

Him: Sucks. I have 2 classes left then 3 finals and no job for the summer! You're old

Aah, siblings. Aren't they sweet?

So many recent posts!

Let's have a poll. Which one takes the cake?
My vote is for this post, because it teaches you about the four Ruppies.
I want one.

-----Edit on April 29 2009 12:33 AM -------
Scratch the above, I want this.

This post is going straight to cuteness overload.......

Let's try this at home

A friend needed folks to do a Johari window for a project -- and now I'm curious to see how I am adjectived. Check this out and post yours in the comments if you want the rest of us (who know you) to vote on you.

We all scream

That vaguely familiar sound you remember from your childhood, but haven't heard in years? That's an ice cream truck circling Public Square.

And this is kind of weird. And not the song my ice cream truck played. But maybe yours is there.

Nerdy happiness

GoogleScholar actually finding an academic peer-reviewed article for me when Emory couldn't! That's never happened for me before. Usually, all I get are links to the publisher's website saying, "You don't have access to view this article" (ok, so I'm paraphrasing).
And then, I managed to find another article that the database said wasn't available by searching for the e-journal itself. Aaaand ta-da: more unexpected success through an alternative route!
Plus, I found a really cool article about the consequences and contributions of speaking Spanish in the workplace. Not really related to the topic I'm writing on (the impact of social identification by employees on group functioning and culture), but very interesting -- and applicable to my own life -- nonetheless!
I'm absurdly delighted by all this.
(P.S. If anyone needs an academic article or more information on a topic, for any reason, let me know!)

He's mine!

Usually, I just gaze at bike messengers from afar, but today I shared an elevator with one.

I learned that the secret of happy bike messengering is to dress in layers. Especially when you have 11-hour shifts (not fun) and the day starts in the 30s and is supposed to end near the 70s. (It didn't get there, but he had no way of knowing that this morning.)

My bike messenger (yes -- I'm claiming him) had a bag slung across his chest that had a seatbelt, complete with buckle, for a strap. I should have asked him where it came from. Because now I kind of want one.

Woot

One editor told another one that the lead of my story was "engaging." When he read it, the second editor was impressed enough to shout across the newsroom, "That is a good lead!"

So that's exciting.

In related news, I thought I saw a bumper sticker that said woot. But that was just the glare -- it really said woof.

Rush hour

There are a lot of traffic light on my commute, but it usually isn't too much trouble otherwise. Today, though, the road was backed up longer than it should have been and cars were moving from the right lane to the left. I figured there had been a fender bender. But I was wrong.

There was, instead, a long line at the Popeyes. So long, in fact, that it stretched out into the street and blocked traffic.

Which of course reminded me of this story -- it's not actually true, so I'm sending you the Snopes link, but it amuses me nonetheless.

Buses

Twice, now, I've seen giant blue buses -- school buses, if you will -- with "SHERIFF" emblazoned on them, driving down the street my office is on.

Aside from the image of prisoners having to sit three to a seat, it's funny for the paint job and because the bus seems too large for the road that it's on, where buildings are right up against the street.

It makes me giggle.

Spring is in the air

Or in my lawn.

That's right... we have daffodils. And other flowering things, the names of which I do not know.

Colorful, though. And awesome.

Title

Webster is all mine!

Technically, he was all mine a month ago. But it's harder to know that if you don't realize there's mail to be opened. But now that I have both tracked down and opened said mail, I have my very own car title. Huzzah!

He may get a long-overdue oil change and checkup. You know -- to celebrate.

Babies have death grips

I met the four-month-old daughter of two of my good, good friends tonight. Of course, seeing them alone was excellent -- they live far too far away -- but adding an adorable baby just makes it that much more awesome. And she's a sweetheart. So I'm smiling.

Also, did you know that babies' ages are apparently calculated by weeks, and not actual months? I had no idea!

After all

I'm having a lot of small-world moments this weekend, finding that people are connected all over the place. It's kind of cool.

D'oh!

Each morning, I drive past a coffee shop, Carnegie Java, that has a mannequin (I suppose -- it's a life-sized, clothed person, but he has a face) outside beckoning me to come in. It's a lot like this guy, who welcomes you to Italian restaurants. Except for coffee.


Anyway, the guy creeps me out a little. His grin is too big. But this morning, he was wearing a Homer Simpson mask. And that was awesome.

Moon roofs

Being observant is sometimes very distracting.

I drove home with my moon roof open today (what a strange phrase, moon roof) -- and when stopped at a light, noticed that all the cars around me had moon roofs. And all were also open.

So from then on, I had to pay attention to the tops of the cars around me. And there was many an open moon roof, let me tell you.

Most of them were tilted, though. I'm a slide kind of gal, myself.

Reporters' humor

Y'gotta love a good sunshine law joke! (And more specifically, one about executive sessions. Humor about political details is failproof. Everyone gets it.)

See the cutline under the picture for the funny.

P.S. Have I ever mentioned we can be a bit.... nerdy?

All that in under a week!

Last Friday, Iowa passed legislation to legalize gay marriage!
And just this morning, Vermont followed suit!
AND as if that weren't enough, just today Washington, D.C., approved legislation to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states!

It's a good week for civil rights. :)

I still can't help but to worry and fret, however, over the future of the despicable Proposition 8 in my own beloved California.....

So long

There's been a whole brouhaha regarding the sheriff here, who resigned late last month after being accused of all sorts of unsavory things. You can read all about him here (and it's interesting), but I want to call attention to one particular part that I thought was golden. From this article (Bova is the new, interim sheriff and McFaul is the old one):

After Bova was sworn in Saturday, he found two cabinets stuffed with about 30 liquor bottles. The booze was packed up and delivered to McFaul.

"It is his personal property," Bova said.

I am beautiful!

I listen to college radio in the mornings, and one of the features of this particular station is commentary from God Squad member Father Harry, who is somehow affiliated with the Catholic college this station comes out of.

Father Harry usually pairs a pithy piece of advice with some pop music, to make it relevant to us young'uns. The other day, I burst out laughing as he started talking about self worth over Christina Aguilera's "I'm Beautiful."

"I know I'm not fat. I know I'm not stupid. I know I'm not ugly. I'm Father Harry," he said.

I just had to giggle at the thought of the priest going all Stewart Smalley with Christina in the background.

Yum

Tommy's milkshakes are delicious. I just had a Moosetracks one, with fresh banana and peanut butter.

By the rivers of...

Cleveland, there we sat down, and ate our lunch on the banks of the Cuyahoga.

(It makes a little more sense if you know the song, but it's still a bit of a stretch. I suppose.)

Point being that it was gorgeous yesterday and I ate lunch at the river with a couple co-workers. There was a saxophonist, there were dogs, everyone was smiling. It was good.

Joy is everywhere

I'm having a couple friends over for dinner and making blintze souffle, which is the most delicious thing in the world, as far as I'm concerned. (Though that isn't my recipe -- if you want mine, just ask. I don't have the time to type it out at the moment.) One of the ingredients is sour cream. And the brand I bought, Daisy, told me this when I took off the cap:

Little acts of kindness can add up to a lifetime of happiness.

Everyone's getting in on the wisdom-sharing these days!

Overheard

"It's a good thing I don't like cocaine as much as I like animal crackers."

Smart cars

Are just so fricking adorable.

I want to go to there.

Because who doesn't need wenches and mead?

Scottish pirate metal!

Support your local newspaper

Considering all of the newspaper tumult, this makes me happy.

So does the fact that my local paper can do this and this, even while this and this are going on.

I could ramble on for a while, but I won't. And this one isn't happy, but you Atlanta folks should know this.

So, for the ending-happy: this zebra was found on the side of the road a year ago -- and is apparently doing well. Amazingly, it was not the first zebra in the news at the time. I believe there was another escaped one on the highway. And of course, zebra-kidnapping makes for a great prank (as long as you aren't a zebra owner, that is).

The zebras' names, by the way, are Evidence (which is what the police called the highway one) and Barcode. Which should be self-explanatory.

Happy spring

Yes, yes... I know the equinox was Friday. But it's hard to believe it's spring when it's in the 30s and you put on a sweater in the morning.

Which is why I can wish you a happy one, at last.

Driving home, it was warm enough to open the moon roof (what a funny phrase, moon roof). And so I did.

Sun + wind + no snow. Yay!

(I've selectively forgotten that there tends to be a late-March/April snowstorm each year. I'm hoping the elements will, too.)

It has come to my attention...

...that Pandora is not the household name it should be.

So let me tell you of its amazingness!

(It's amazing.)

Pandora lets you create a radio station based on songs or artists that you like -- it doesn't play only Madonna, for example, but it plays songs that are similar musically to what Madonna's doing. You can make your radio station Madonna-broad, and get songs like her total repertoire, or Like-a-Virgin-narrow, and only get songs similar to that one. You can mix Madonna and Billy Joel and Metallica and see what comes out.

And the cool thing is that it plays a lot of stuff from people you've never heard of. So you get to discover people!

If you hear a song you like, you can buy it. You can also share radio stations that you think other people would enjoy. And you constantly tweak them by giving specific songs thumbs-up or -down, or moving them to a different station.

Let me know if you join -- I'm happy to share some of my more-favorite stations to get you started.

Limbo is the new Hell

There's a thread on the Grad Cafe dedicated to the creative expression of the pain of waiting for grad school acceptance letters through haikus (whew! Did that make sense?). First, asking members of the forum to compose haikus on such a topic is utterly wonderful in itself. Second, someone posted this haiku:

One letter today
Never been so sad to see
Grandma's birthday card

I know it's really quite tragic, but I can't help but take a disturbing, sadistic pleasure in that hopeful grad student's situation -- maybe because I know so well the disappointment therein. (And I know at least 2 other people on here who can also identify with this whole process!)

On an unrelated note, the latest episode of Dollhouse featured a song by Greg Laswell. Although this is not that song, I have to post it because I can't help but feel warm and hopeful and comforted when I listen to it; it's an assertion of the goodness in people (even though really, it boils down be to a simple love song). Listen to it, focus on the lyrics, and I dare you to disagree with me.

I've been delinquent

Sorry, all you seekers of joy!

It's tardy, but I was most excited by last weekend's rash of named days -- Friday the 13th, Pi Day, the Ides of March and St. Patrick's Day, nearly all in a row.

And on St. Patrick's Day, the top of the Terminal Tower was green-lit and happy. Toora Loora Loora was on the Big Band station, followed by other Irish music. And there were drunken, green-clad people everywhere downtown -- including a guy in a Leprechaun costume and a gigantic green mohawk.

It was pretty snazzy to see so many people bouncing around, even if I did have to work through it.

Other awesome things: fantastic hot chocolate, the converging of friends from four states for makeshift reunions, Clue, international films, the making of new friends and the reconnecting with old ones -- and finding out they're worth reconnecting with, Gail Collins, Pandora and this song.

It doesn't make up for my absence, but maybe it's enough to tide you over for the inevitable next one.

Epic WIN!!

(From the ever-so-wonderful Fail Blog.)

But wait, there's more!

And today, for Theresa, the same bumper sticker... but with a squirrel!

Moose!

You know those oval bumper stickers with letters that represent all the totally awesome places you've vacationed and I haven't? Yeah, those. They're kind of annoying.

But the one I saw today was kind of awesome.

It was a yellow oval with a black moose in it. That's all.

Kristy and Jennie will most appreciate my joy. So will Chrys and Christy, by proxy.

It looks like red celery

I really like rhubarb.

So I made some tonight.

(It smells good, but I wasn't hungry anymore by the time it finished... so it's on tomorrow's menu.)

There are a ton of things you can do with it, but the easiest: Wash and cut a few stalks. Add to boiling water that just covers the pieces. Keep on low heat, stirring until the rhubarb pieces break up. Add sugar to taste (rhubarb is really tart, so it depends on how much you like that). When the pieces are really stringy, add some sliced strawberries. Stir. Remove from heat (cool, if you want) and enjoy!

Mmm, tasty.

Dancing fountain

I went to a play Friday night, and had some time to kill before I headed over to Playhouse Square. So I went to Tower City, Cleveland's downtown mall, to watch the dancing fountain for a little while. The video isn't awesome, but you get the idea -- it shoots water in time to classical music. There's room to sit around the base and you can't see it, but spotlights focus on the water. It's really pretty cool.

And the play wasn't too shabby, either.

Too funny for words.

Said Arielle to me: "I don't want to be a bad influence on you!"

(Placing it in context, I had offered to take her to a strip club and get her drunk by doing tequila shots from the bosom of one of the girls there.)

awesomeness

Edible Book Festival 

Combining my two greatest passions.

Enough said : )

Sunny day

Sweeping the -- clouds away...

Today, I met Rosita from Sesame Street. (Don't worry, she wasn't around when we were kids. You aren't missing out on some integral part of your childhood.) That brings my Sesame Street total to three (if you count Big Bird and Oscar as two, even though they're voiced by the same person... which I totally do).

The pre-school class that performed with her was loving it. She was pretty fantastic.

Then my iPod did a really good job of playing all the Sesame Street songs while I was listening at work... including, yes, the Oscar ballad "I Love Trash."

Which was performed at my college graduation.

After which the person I sat next to and I turned to each other and said, "I think I can die happy now."

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

Not the numbskulls

Bumper sticker on the car in front of me for part of the drive home:

Forget Life. Play Snood.

My college roommate (hi!) has a Snood T-shirt. She also used to think that you were graded on speed, not how many Snoods you knocked down, so she would play rapid-fire games on my computer (it's easier with a desktop mouse) and shout things like "No!!! The monsters are going to eat me!"

It was all very funny.

And you can get the bumper sticker on that second site, btw.