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!