Damn it, with H gone this weekend on a boys-only camping trip*, got bored. Relief from boredom involved trip to store, chocolate followed by coffee followed by pina coladas with extra rum followed by hair dye and plastic gloves and bathroom mirror. Suffice it to say, the end result is, ah, hmm, well, it's red. Whereas formerly white towels are orangey-pink. Fortunately it washes out in 8 - 12, which means it will either wash out in 2 or never, ever. Thinking will leave it 'til H gets h...

Damn it, with H gone this weekend on a boys-only camping trip*, got bored. Relief from boredom involved trip to store, chocolate followed by coffee followed by pina coladas with extra rum followed by hair dye and plastic gloves and bathroom mirror. Suffice it to say, the end result is, ah, hmm, well, it's red. Whereas formerly white towels are orangey-pink. Fortunately it washes out in 8 - 12, which means it will either wash out in 2 or never, ever. Thinking will leave it 'til H gets h...

Outside our tiny apartment, the sun is inexorably browning our grass and boiling the asphalt. It's 105 dry degrees outside, and dusty—the combines are turning the fields back to dust in their metaphorical, cyclical patterns. Inside, the blinds are drawn and two fans are turning, somewhat lazily. It's cool and dark, and it smells like cool and dark in here. In the kitchen a few minutes ago, my hands were wet from the juice of peaches I made for breakfast. So ripe their skins came off w...

Today, I sat behind a desk for 11 hours. Today I made sure that serial commas were not used, that words were spelled correctly, that m-dashes were used instead of hyphens, that each story stressed the benefit to the reader (hey, I'm not in news and I'm allowed to edit). Today my boss bought us pizza for working overtime. Today I made $18 an hour—a career high for me—for three hours. Today I got home at 8 o'clock too tired to make dinner for my husband and too tired to read. And this is what ...

I kill you without words or meaning; with boredom— it's just, my friends left.

Taking a cue from Shadey's blog , here's a general update as proof that I'm still alive. 1. Yup, I'm now an official freelance writer, in addition to my day job. (Would it be lame to have a business card that said, "Anglo P. Esque, Freelance Writer"? Probably.) Nothing exciting or earth-shattering, but some nice portfolio material. If only it were on glossy instead of dirty old newsprint...but I'll get to glossy eventually. And then the kind that's actually bound with something besides ...

So...it's probably safe to assume that there aren't many on here who are excited about the next Harry Potter book, . But surely I can't be the only grown-up looking forward to this sixth installment in the seven-book series, either. Once upon a time, I thought J.K. Rowling got lucky by being able to spin so much plot off her first, rather innocent children's book. But as I read more, it's obvious she's been planning the series from the beginning. The sixth book reportedly answers many mor...

I'm in a bad mood tonight. I could blame my job, my cooking, my husband, the weather, the price of oil, but it's not really any of those. Rather, it's one of those more nebulous, everyone's-an-idiot kind of days that's just gotten to me. I can't shake it. It started with getting up late. Never a good way to start the day. Then at work, one of my "overworked" coworkers won't let us help her, but we still have to sit there listening to her whine about how busy she is (she's actually just slo...

My mom is a super mom. "Super Mom," sure, why not. She is also a breast cancer survivor (type III). Come Mother's Day, I'm really glad to have her around--believe me. But here's the thing: I'm not interested in businesses who try to get me to buy pink ribbon gifts for my mom--not for this occasion. Does she need to be reminded with a pink pin, or a wreath with pink breast cancer ribbons next to the pink roses, that she once had breast cancer? No. If she wants to remember that, all she has...

After months of groaning over the gas portion of the Visa bill, H and I headed down to the Toyota dealer and traded in our Honda CRV for a yuppiemobile: A gas-conserving, environmentally-more-friendly used Toyota Prius. And while we've probably been happier--our wedding, say, or the honeymoon--we're pretty damn pleased with our decision and the foreseeable future. However, given that we've had the car, uh, for two days, a more complete review will take place later. Here's a brief rundown of t...

This is Sudan. Many of us aren't super great at geography, so here's some perspective for you: This is what's happening in that country right now: "Every single day you go out to see another burned village, and more dead bodies," he said. "And the children - you see 6-month-old babies that have been shot, and 3-year-old kids with their faces smashed in with rifle butts." --Brian Steidle, former African Union team monitor. Read more about him in Kristof's article in the NYT: Link ...

GENERAL NOTICE: Pigeonhole for sale. Measures 9" X 11" X 6". Only one owner. A few years old, lots of wear. Fairly uncomfortable but just right for college students and 20-somethings looking to be misaligned, ignored, marginalized, and swatted aside for their silly idealism. Reply if interested. $10. Free shoehorn.

Contrary to how it may appear here at JU, I am actually fairly interested in politics. I keep up with the news and my local politics; Thursday during my lunch break I wrote to my senator. I vote, I get mad, I write letters to the editor and opine at length to a few friends and family. Generally speaking I am interested in the opinions and stances of all sides of the political spectrum--not just the 2-D conservative/liberal spectrum, but the 3-D conservative/ liberal/ anarchist/ totalitarian d...