Wednesday, November 16, 2011

I'm alive!

here I am! I think I may be emerging from a lack-of-sleep induced black hole - with some good news, to boot. I found my whole body ugg. it's not form-fitting, and it doesn't have sleeves like a snuggie, but it is AWESOME.  it's a faux-fur throw from restoration hardware.


my advice is, "get one now. you may not think you need it, but once you have it, you won't be able to imagine life without it." for those who have children or pets, it's exactly that feeling you get when you think about how much more simple your life would be without them (children and / or pets), but then you realize you can't even imagine how empty it would be to go back to your life before you had them (children and / or pets). these throws may end up being my go-to wedding gift (for when there's no registry, of course). to get the best deal, find an outlet and purchase when they're on sale. they are pretty dear, I'm not going to lie - mine cost $58 after a 20% discount on top of an already discounted price - but they are SO worth it that I want another one! the desire for a second one isn't rational. it's a wholly emotional reaction to how wonderful the first one is. they're heavy (in that great blanket weight way), super-soft, look great on a couch, and oh so uber comforting. mine is the mink color. I'm about 5'3" and it's the perfect length for me. I can't think of a better way to spend my winter than curled up on my couch, with a fire going in the fire place, and reading a book. kids? what kids? husband? what husband? dogs and cat = extra fur supplement to my faux fur. 

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

I'm sorry sheepies


I apologize, but you have beautifully soft locks and hide that clad my feet and legs and make me all warm and cozy. I am so happy that I can wear you. my only sadness is that I don't have a full-body suit. I know that those are "bad" thoughts, maybe even "perverse," but I live in a stone house, and I need all the coziness I can get.

my vote is old and stupid

ok, I couldn't hang with the dynamic view. I didn't know where the links were. I didn't know how to post. I didn't know where the pages went. ai yi yi.

Monday, October 10, 2011

is it just too confusing, or am I just too old?

so yes, I am a blogger hold out. not having moved my site over to an application like tmblr and my own domain makes me feel like I'm still using an aol email address (no offense). but I did take blogger's suggestion to make my blog views "dynamic." I think it looks pretty cool (and I know it would be even better if I'd make some regular entries), but it's sort of confusing. for example, it took me nearly a minute to figure out what I had to do to write a new post. but that's neither here nor there for you, dear reader. what I'm wondering is, is it obvious which entry is the newest entry? do you get confused when you land on the page, or does it all just make sense to you?

I was recently out riding with a virtual stranger for work, and we totally bonded over food. andy, who was driving me around (letting me tag along with him as he worked), is Korean and he told me about what sounded to me like the most wonderful place in the world, Jeju Island. as andy described the island to me, it was evident that he thought so too, and then once he actually began to reminisce about his experience there, he got all dewy eyed and daydreamy. sigh. so Jeju island is not simply beautiful, it's also uniquely delicious. you go there, hang out on a rock and drink soju, while women dive (haenyo) without oxygen to bring up super fresh seafood snacks for you. they go down armed with only masks, nets, knives, and wet suits. it's not only a lovely time, but apparently very sustainable as well. andy said it was such an impressively awesome experience that even though he ingested a decent amount of soju, he didn't feel drunk at all.
image via zumaworld.blogspot.com

I've been having some serious escape fantasies lately. I think it's the lack of uninterrupted sleep in my life.

so have you noticed that Korea is the new Japan?  it seemed to begin with electronic appliances (tvs & etc.), then went on to cars, and now it's pop culture all over the place. for me, it's like having a new psyche in my world to adjust to. it strikes me as dark. the funny thing is that Japan has never felt foreign to me. maybe because I grew up with it, but I also see it as an inviting culture (at least its arts culture). Henry has been watching something called Eon Kid. it's Korean, dark, creepy, and terrifying. I've tried to get him to give it up, but no dice so far (thanks, John!). the protagonist is a kid, with the power of an iron fist.

 
I don't want to be ethnocentric, but Eon Kid freaks me out. why can't henry just watch innocent Fruits Basket?


it might be a bit girly, but John LOVES it, so...?

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

me & my new uggs

scored my new uggs.  I got chocolate tall.  rather than try on a variety of different colors and styles, I went straight to mail order.  on the advice of Kate (since she's my ugg authority), I ordered them from Zappos. they arrived next day even with free shipping. hello sheepskin.  here I am, in my new boots:


oh, OK - fine, my only readers actually know me.  here I am in my new boots:


it's a little dark near my feet, so you probably can't see the boots.  even though I don't really want to see summer end, I do want to wear my boots.  my plan for work this winter is, dress+boots = don't need to think in the mornings.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

this is the year!


despite the fact that the aforementioned Kate has told me every year since I've known her that I must buy uggs, I haven't. I've always thought that they'd just make my legs look like tree trunks and because I'm not a skinny person, I'd look like the michelin man when wearing them (truth is that I often look like that without them). well, I woke up the other day, and decided - PEOPLE, I'm going to get me some Uggs.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

I suppose they have to loom over something

once upon a time, I used to work with a girl named Kate. she was there when I moved into my very first corporate cubicle, and I was there when she spent nearly one entire work day creating a will ferrell ring tone (chicken pot chicken pot chicken pot pie). she proposed a magical date that we never went on: outlet mall + cici's pizza. that was really more of a John kind of day, but he was invited.

fast forward about a year and a half, I'm on baby number two, and John and I decided to finally take a drive to the outlet mall. this is what we found.


of course we knew there was a nuclear reactor in Limerick, PA, but we didn't really think about it all that much. what we didn't expect was that it would be nestled so close to the shopping area. it took our breath away. make what you will out of that statement.

it's hard to be so big these days. I finally scraped up my self-esteem and went clothes shopping. it does make me feel better to have some outfits that don't make me look like a totally dumpy sad sack, but people, it's hard to keep running in the mornings, when all I want to do is SLEEP. I'm waiting for my infant to grow up, but then I won't have a baby any more...it's a conundrum

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

mmmm vacation and eating

for those of you who want to disappear into a serious fantasy posthaste, check out this blog. sigh. dreaminess.

Monday, July 25, 2011

moonlighting

I've been totally remiss here because I've been feeling less than sparkly lately. I'm not positive, but it may be due to lack of sleep. not that I'm traumatically under-rested, I'm just not at my usual deep sleep level.


not that I would ever complain about such a squish-able baby! and besides, if I'm being completely honest, I've also been moonlighting on another site. a site that's completely unrelated to most of my life, and I've been in the closet about it. but, I'm ready to cop. it's called previous pod, and it's about super-old Engadget podcasts. how old? so old that not only is the technology out-of-date, but the hosts have all left Engadget for greener pastures. they're currently writing and podcasting from This Is My Next, and will shortly be launching a site called, The Verge.


it's weird.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

out of touch much?

this is how far removed from popular culture I am these days...

this morning, I am beseiged by the following thought, "what does it mean that I'm totally obsessed by turntable.fm?"

there are implications here, serious ones, for my IDENTITY. which, by the way is in CRISIS.

Monday, June 13, 2011

short ribs and short men part 2

ok, so it's an unauthorized title extension, but I think you'll see the add-on is apt. perhaps a disclaimer is in order, however:

despite the title to this blog entry, the contents of this post have not been approved by Fitting Into the Windy City and My Clothes. the content expressed herein do not represent the views and/or opininions of FItWC&MC.

I just hope the kerm doesn't mind me riffing on her lyrics. but ANYWAYS...

my family and I raided my brother's house this weekend. going there is like going to your favorite happy place. it doesn't matter who you are, in my brother's house, there exists something just for YOU. something that will take you to your best childhood moments, and it's all wrapped up in that happy, unconditional love package. I'm only exaggerating slightly. when we go to my brother's house, his family has new toys pulled out of storage for Henry every time, a movie selection lined up for us to choose from - to be viewed in is deluxe home theater (snacks included), a pool for our swimming pleasure, babysitting services (my niece and nephew), video games, delicious food - you name it, they're ready to furnish it. suffice it to say that once we get there, it's nearly impossible for us to tear ourselves away. the only problem is that we start to feel really guilty about lounging around in their house, having my brother and sister-in-law cook for us, and clean up after us. yes, we tidy up after ourselves, but my sister-in-law specializes in cleaning up after large meals... this weekend, I brought some Korean-cut short ribs over to marinate and grill. I had in mind a traditional marinade, but it turns out my bro's family dislikes sesame oil. that didn't matter a whit, however, because my brother is a master when it comes to whipping up a tasty 'nade. he threw together brown sugar, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, onion, juice of one orange, juice of one lemon, pepper, and oh, I don't know, probably some other stuff. whatever he did, it was great. this isn't an actual photo, but the grilled ribs looked something like this.
we devoured them with sides of rice and salad. soooo good. I'll be eating this all summer long. just what the grill ordered.

yesterday, I was indulging myself with a bit of 30 Rock re-run viewing (instant-watch Netflix, I love you). and had to explain to henry that this person
was not a "baby." he asked me in a voice that sort of said, are there REALLY toddlers out there that are THAT MATURE? I had to explain to him that no, it wasn't a "big boy," but a man that stopped growing before he got tall. and the mysteries of the world continue to reveal themselves to henry.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

I'm most likely a hologram

"There are no random events. Everything is everything else and you are all holograms, save the 500 real people. You know who you are."

Jennifer Bates, 1961-2007

Friday, June 3, 2011

brainwave

I realized this morning that I am quick on the draw with TMI. that's me, always ready to lead the conversation right into territory where most don't want to go. so what I was thinking, right after having this dawn on me was, "I'm pretty sure I wasn't ALWAYS like that." I mean to say that I know I've always sort of had the tendency to be the kind of person that was inclined to that sort of behavior, but think I've been more private in the past despite those proclivities. nowadays, my sense of decorum is pretty much gone. oh well, except at work, where I studiously hide most of my real self as much as possible!

then, believe it or not, I had yet another thought. I said to myself, "you know, I think this whole TMI-readiness came on to me only after I became a parent." but, why would that be? I have wracked my brains and I think it all comes down to vomit. since becoming a parent, I have also become largely immune to the effects of vomit. I used to be one of those people who couldn't stand to hear retching, let alone see it, smell it, partake in it, and etc. the thought of it would make me gag for reals. but now, after having been thrown up on so many times, having had to clean it up many times more, and also needfully having been sympathetic during all of that, I am, for the most part over the nauseous reaction I used to have to nausea. the breaking down of such a valuable biological barrier must lead to other breaches in one's make-up. collateral damage, so to speak. naturally, the correlation it brought me to the following hypothesis, which I am eager to test: those who do not react negatively to vomit are also in deficit in the way of filters that prevent the spillage of personal information.


by the way, I don't claim to be immune to the puke of all people (45-year old post golden trough gorging drunken puke is something I definitely want to stay away from, don't want to clean up, would not be sympathetic about, & etc.).

Thursday, May 26, 2011

fruity

suggestive breakfast today is at that perfect state of ripeness. yum.

ktiker's post is a tear-jerker, but I wanted to mention that it heartened me greatly to read that she's "never had an easy mile." when I'm struggling with running, it always seems like everyone else is just breezing through their workouts. it helps to hear that it isn't easy for everyone else, after all. thanks kerm!

oh and another comment, imspired by kerm's post: since coming back to work after having baby number 2, I've been thinking hard about life priorities. family and friends and community people, these are what I've identified as being important to me. after all, what happiness can we have without a mirror to reflect our greatest moments back at us? what would we do without our dearest to bring our sadnesses to? I've done my share of bringing superficial stress home to bear on my personal life, and I for one, am going to pledge to (1) try and remember what's really important when 'things feel rough,' and (2) be present in my life, and not to keep thinking, if I just get through the next...hours/days/week/month. sometimes blurring out stressful times seems like the way to keep on keeping on, but then you also end up forgetting the good things that happen in small moments. thank goodness for cats and kids!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

holy frijoles - inspiration out of nowhere - ok from somewhere - namely the interwebs

flowers from the garden - my garden! david austin old english roses are the way to go - especially if you love peonies.

but what I really wanted to say is, check out this website. this ben person is truly inspirational, but to get the full impact, scroll down to his video, on the bottom of the right sidebar. I was poking around fitness sites, wondering if I would be able to finish tomorrow morning's run, when I found real motivation.

time to go to sleep! good night friends.

more beiber madness

I'm not one to court controversy, but then, I'm not writing a national magazine editorial here, so publishing a photo of my and my son's matching bieber-cures likely won't raise even one eyebrow. pretty sweet, huh? by the way, grammaticaly, I did not know how to construct that sentence (the one previous to "pretty sweet, huh?").

currently working on week 4 of the c25k plan. I'm not going to lie for the sake of my fragile ego. yesterday was tough. I made it through the beginning 5 min walk just fine, thank you very much! the last three minutes of the first 10 min run were rough (incline = 1, mph = 5.7), and I wanted very much to stop. but, I finished it and all the while I thought, "oh man, these are just the first 10 minutes! how am I supposed to run 20 minutes nonstop in a week and a half?" for the rest of the workout, I kept the treadmill incline at 1 and adjusted my jogging speed to 6 mph. all went well...except those last five minutes jogging. ugh, again, I wanted to stop after 3 minutes (or maybe after 30 seconds), but I made myself finish. nothing feels better than finishing a run that you wanted to abort. even still, though, I'm not sure I'm looking forward to tomorrow's run. I get anxious thinking that I might not be able to do it. is that silly? I'm used to getting all harsh on myself for being so out of shape, but I'm going to try something I saw on 13lbs' blog. she had the graciousness to THANK her body for its performance. perhaps I will do the same and my body will respond with newfound generosity. is this the same as speaking of myself in the third person? it certainly feels the same.

Monday, May 16, 2011

camera roll

I'm downloading a trial version of adobe illustrator, which is crawling at an anxiety-inducing pace, so I've decided to post from my phone. will not using my computer for anything else speed the download? no, probably not, but every once in a while, I allow myself to engage in some magical thinking.

I'm happy to report that I've faithfully completed two full weeks of c25k, and that I started week three today. even though I modified the program by adding in a 10min starting jog period, I want to tell any non-runner reading this now: if you want to start running, but don't know what to do, follow the c25k schedule. it's gentle and empowering.

and now for some saved photo randomness:

japanese candy bar/lifestyle enhancer - on the market for actual consumption! I like to think that music plays as you open the wrapper and eat - while dancing, of course.


these tights are sized for a five-year-old. I say that they're being wasted on those who cannot appreciate true fashion. I want a pair, though I have no idea where I'd wear them. maybe just for the secret satisfaction of the declaration itself.
even though it looks like it here, I did NOT instruct the hairstylist (Shira) to give me "The Beiber." I admit that this photo makes it seem as if I did, but it's lying! however, max is definitely winking. and yes, he is monstrously large, which is nice because he makes me look smaller than I actually am.

so, did YOU know that this is an actual product??? who buys this? who uses this?

back to the Beib - my neice turned me on to the purple glitter one less lonely girl opi color. henry and I are both currently sporting the shade on our toes. the absolute glittery-ness of it is captivating. so much so that I decided I needed to buy a bottle. um - sold OUT at target!

the hair that got chopped away is all ready to be sent to locks of love.


btw, the phone post had some serious bugs, so I had to abort the download and fix the errors via better blogger user interface. even still, there seems to be some spacing issues. sigh. I'm off to purchase the plants for our new front-yard horticulture project!!!!

o&o, e

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

destination nowhere


I was on the phone with eye-fi customer service for an hour yesterday and maybe resolved the issue? it's hard to tell because the upload goes so slowly. that's the one photo that the card managed to upload while I was on the phone yesterday. but it took all day for only four other photos to upload. what's with that? I still can't figure it out, plus the utility doesn't work with the macbook. ugh. a little bit of working is certainly better than no working, but not as good as just plain working. before I go back to work, I'll be on the phone with them again. today is too soon for my psyche.

went to the gym again today - two times in one week! that's a big deal for me right now. the treadmill workout wasn't so bad today because it was rainy outside. it was also more tolerable because I decided to copycat thirteen pounds (right sidebar) and take the C25K (couch to 5K) approach to running, and the treadmill is great tool for doing those tiny repeats. I did decide to modify the C25K program by adding in a 10min run just after the 5 minute walking warmup. so, for my workout today: I walked five minutes to warm up, ran 10 minutes, then did the C25K week one workout. after 35 minutes, I'd travelled about 2.6 miles and nowhere all at once. well, I did see millionaire matchmaker for the first time in my life...

technical info (tmi?): the treadmill incline was set at 1 the whole time. all walks were done at the leisurely pace of 3mph. the initial 10 minutes were run at 5.5mph. all subsequent 1 min runs were performed at 6mph.

it felt good, I just hope I can keep it up. my body needs some help. serious help. I've been a postpartum mess. I still have to add core workouts in somewhere. oh, and strength workouts on the days I don't run. I've always preferred to be an everyday runner, versus an every other day runner, but I'm not going to push my body too hard right now. but that means that there's no excuse to not do a strength workout at least twice a week.

when I left the gym and got back into the car, destination unknown was playing on satellite station new wave1 (we got free service with our car - will it run out? we have no idea). remember missing persons?


I also found this photo of dale bozzio - the same lady as in the previous photo (lead singer). apparently, she's an animal hoarder, and she got brought up on charges. reported by tmz - of course.


the end of the 80's was rough on a lot of people.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

customer service

so, no photos due to eye fi card failure. eye fi is the name of my camera's sd card manufacturer. the card automatically uploads my photos to picasa when it's working properly. it's seriously one of the best technical innovations I've ever experienced, but now it's not working! wtf? so, I'm about to embark on a trip through customer service land. fortification needed, but I can't drink alcohol this early in the morning. coffee will have to do.

I went to the gym yesterday. ran a mile on the treadmill. walked a little. yes, it was a beautiful spring day here, so why didn't I run outside? because it wasn't early morning, and I was embarrassed to do my pitiful jog past all the kids walking home from school. sad, isn't it? well, anyhoo, this is my month to begin my fitness come back. kid #2 popped out, no more pregnancies in my future, and no excuses not to be in shape.

so, wow, running on the treadmill just feels so blah when it's beautiful outside! cheers, off to chat with someone who will inevitably think me a retard.

Monday, April 25, 2011

too big for yr britches

this is just a tiny entry to herald the fact that I'm ready to rejoin the online community.

it's been ages since I've checked email, paid bills, read anything digital, or posted.

but, I finally renounced my cocoon of my so called life and reading printed matter to pay my peco bill, and navigate to my library's website to reserve bossypants, tina fey's memoir. I didn't think about how wildly popular she is, and so I was fairly surprised to see that I was like two-hundred-and-seventy-eighth in line to get the book. luckily, I'd noticed that there was also a large-print version of the book available. I took a gander at how long that line was, and there were only 27 people ahead of me there. I signed up for the large-print version instead - natch! so, does that make me a terrible person? an illicit thief of handicapped parking spaces and for no good reason user of handicapped bathroom stalls? I definitely feel like I'm doing something wrong here, but seriously, to be like the 300th person in line for a book? I'm still waiting for the battle hymn of the tiger mother, and I've been on that list since the book came out (practically).

on the current reading list: jonathan franzen's, freedom

to quote borat, "i liiike."

next up, russel brands', my booky wook

Thursday, March 31, 2011

rethinking


so I looked bosu up at target, and they cost 99$. forget it. I seriously don't need to spend that much money on a piece of exercise equipment. I have a thing against getting exercise stuff other than yoga mats, sneakers and other clothing, gps/heart monitor (not that I have one or other), hand weights and dvds. it's the big stuff I don't like. first of all, big equipment is expensive. second of all, where do you put it all? a bosu is practically a piece of furniture. once, I bought an exercise ball and tried really hard to pretend that it was an extra chair in my living room (I lived in a tiny apartment). it wasn't a terrible chair, but it was an awful exercise accessory because it was so hard to pump up, never got completely full, and would never stay 'mostly' inflated. in the end, it just got covered in a maddeningly fine layer of cat and dog hair that was impossible to remove (impossible is probably a bit strong - it's likely I didn't try very hard to remove it). of course I stopped using it for crunches, and then, I was like, what do I do with this giant piece of weird plastic? just throw it away? that's why I don't like exercise furniture - because they just hang about and taunt one if they go unused. that exercise ball became a monument to the moment I had the misguided idea that it would somehow revolutionize the way my abs looked. I would look at the sticky, partially deflated, slightly furry, blue ball and think, you're no hippity hop, and what's so wrong with doing sit-ups on the floor?

I'm sure a hippity hop would have gotten way more play from me

I think what I really wanted was a rody horse

I can't remember what happened to it in the end, but I have a suspicion that john did the dirty work for me and tossed it. maybe I got lucky and convinced someone that they needed a free exercise ball? if I'd been more entrepreneurial, I could have sold it at a yard sale, but that didn't happen.

so now I realize that the bosu will NOT help me regain the body I had when I ran and did yoga every day. 2005 is like waaay gone. no bosu for me. I think I'll ask ktiker about those shred vids she likes. maybe I'll buy the entire family hippity hops. I'll throw a rody horse in for good measure. hm, I'll still have that animal fuzz, weird kind of sticky plastic issue though...I have some more thinking to do.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

the tiles I miss

I don't miss fishtown, but I do miss being within walking distance of many friends. I also miss the tiles that I made and installed. needless to say, those tiles would have been nothing without the beautiful glazes and skills graciously donated to me by liz. if you feel like taking a look through the stock she has in her studio now, check out this website. she was photographing pieces this past monday, so the blog should be updated with new pieces shortly.










I absolutely love the neighborhood we moved to, and the house, of course. again, we're indebted to skip for holding the place for us. now that we're finished with the epic rewiring project, the house is nearly ready for some personalization. it's funny, I still think of the house as nick's. I also still think of our bedroom as skip and betsy's...

oh and


bathroom tiles, glazed, but not fired. I'm super excited to see how they turn out. there's matte white, glossy white, occasional pink, occasional green scales.

and this is my life now

  • my boobs hurt
  • I've lost my baby weight, now I'm only 35lbs overweight
  • I wear a baby around all day
  • my sacrotuberous ligament is messed up, which means that my butt hurts when I sit down
  • I have a rash, ahem, on my ***areas from wearing pads and panty shields for so long
  • everything, but mostly my tummy, jiggles when I move too fast
me from another's point of view

me from my perspective

sigh, I know my body will feel like its normal self again one day, but it's so dark in my world right now that super-milf isn't enough on her own to drag me out of nega brain mode. enter two new role models; co-role models, if you will. I'm thinking about pinning their portraits up in my breakfast room. maybe I should make an inspiration board.

#1 Kelly Osbourne: no offense to KO, but as I non-ironically type that she has become a non-ironic source of inspiration in my life, I'm thinking, "oh F, this is what I've come to." AAAIIIEEEEEEEEEE! that's a typed scream, in case you were wondering. earlier today, I was waiting, half-naked of course, in my exam room at the OB/GYN office today (final postpartum checkup!), reading an OK magazine that featured a long snippet about Kelly Osbourne. yeah, well, even out-of-touch-me knew that she is the face of Madonna & Lourdes' clothing line, but I had no idea she was on Shape's DEC 2010 cover (I was actively avoiding workout magazines during my pregnancy. I LOVE them, but they made me feel sad and yucky during the pregnancy). I came home and found the article online; I must say that KO looks damned good in a bikini.


KO claimed, in the article, that she'd never worn a bikini before. um, I watched the Osbournes and have a very difficult time believing that with all the POOR style choices she made over the years, she NEVER put a bikini on, but whatever


see? not a bikini per se, but certainly an outfit that bares a bunch of stuff. I'm not judging, I'm just sayin, hard to believe no bikini. anyways, go KO! for my early birthday gift to myself, I might buy a bosu. my trainer at my work gym used one all the time with me (all those times I went, ha!), and I really liked it. furthermore, I plan to do the KO workout.

#2 Ricky Gervais: I love RG, he's HILARIOUS! and I think, well, if he can lose weight, then I should be able to lose weight. a false premise, I know, because he dreamt up and co-wrote The Office AND was David Brandt, AND has crazy funny podcasts - none of which I can do, nor think I should be able to do. so, we'll see how the weight loss thing goes...


these before and after pics come from the Shape magazine website.

Monday, March 28, 2011

pika pi!

a long time ago, whilst I was working on my MS degree, NPR kept talking about Pokemon. "what IS this thing, this odd word, pokemon?" I would think. then my friend, tracey told me: "one of the little girls in my after school photography class told me that she's not even allowed to say the word pokemon during school."


that sealed it, I decided that as soon as I finished writing my master's thesis, I'd figure out just WHAT pokemon WAS. but, I'd started dating John a few months before, and didn't account for his romantic stylings. for valentine's day (months before I finished my writing my thesis) he presented me with a cute, red game boy


and a Pokemon Yellow game


in no time flat, I was hooked on being Ash, hanging about with Pikachu. MS thesis BE DAMNED! I was catching them all.


so, anyways, I got real up close and personal with the phenomenon of pokemon, and to this day I have a clear memory for many of the original pokemon, as well as their transformations and properties. pikachu is still my favorite pokemon. how could it be ANY other way, when Yellow was the first version I played? yes, you read that right, "first version." I've played at least three of those games. scary, I know.

but really, pokemon is waaaay old news. there's a new (to me) PHENOM in town, the Bieber... right now, he's as alien to me as pokemon was when NPR began to report their stories, and I've never heard any of his songs, well, except for at the store, when I elected to push the "try me" button.


ktiker's sunday post reminded me that I'd taken the following photo on Saturday, when I remarked to myself, "huh, his haircut, 'the bieber,' even beavers are getting it."


maybe pikachu should get it?


oh wait, what was I writing about? um, hm. I'm pretty sure that I began this post with a point. lost it. OK then! hey, how about that justin bieber guy? that's his name, right?

btw, kudos to ktiker for turning me onto pizap! thanks!