i was sorely tempted to wear a hat, mittens and down vest on my walk to work today.
the only thing that stopped me was the thought of lugging all that stuff home by this afternoon.
when it had warmed up to a respectable august temperature.
summer on the north shore, folks.

i had the best dinner ever last night.

a generous co-worker gave me fresh green beans from her garden.
boil about an inch of water in a pot.
drop in green beans with the little curly ends cut off.
boil uncovered to desired tenderness [i left mine pretty crunchy].
drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper.

seriously, i could eat it every day for the rest of my life.

right now i am knitting like a crazy person in hopes that i will finish my sweater in time to wear it this fall.
oh wait, who am i kidding...it will be comfortably wearable for at least the next ten months.
and, actually, would have been comfortably wearable every day this summer except for a few days last week.

the experience of knitting it has been fun, and i have discovered a few things about myself:
i get motion sickness if i try to knit and watch a movie at the same time.
i understand why people pay $70 for a premade sweater [although it is, of course, about the experience, not the ultimate cost].
if i was selling this thing when i was done it would be perfectly fair to charge at least $400.

soon i will have a new, grey, hooded, cable sweater.
hooray!

i think this whole new habit thing might actually be cultivating an addiction.
although, what's the difference, really?

i am trying to start a habit.
i read that it takes 21 days to establish a habit.
as in, if a person does something for at least 15 minutes for 21 days straight, by the end of the 21 days it will seem strange to our complicated little minds to not do it.

so i am trying to make myself start running consistently again if my ankles and knees will have it.
since moving from mpls i haven't been keeping up with running very well [oh, how i miss the trails along the mississippi river].
it really helps to be moved into town where i have choices beyond:
1. run on the highway
2. run on croftville

i am on day three.
we will see how this goes.

it also necessitated buying new running shows b-c i am long overdue for a new pair.
they should come next week, and hopefully they don't suck like the asics gel 3000s did.
[the new, improved version of the gel empires you say? rubbish.]

here's the deal.
i hate pontiacs.
with a burning passion.
i'm not sure how this deep seated loathing developed.
i think it has something to do with the ridiculous number of people who live in small towns that seem to LOVE them.
there's probably a 50/50 chance that anyone i went to high school with drove a grand am or a grand prix.
[oh, that awful stripey back bumper. shudder.]
where i grew up it was kind of a flag for a certain mentality.

this is a huge generalization, i know it's not true across the board, but it's just an association i have.

[if you drive a pontiac and take offense to this, i'm sorry. i'm sure you're not a bad person. if it helps any, i drive a vw (albeit an old one) which fits right into that loathsome hipster stereotype]

but here's my point--i have been considering the pontiac vibe as a future car possibility.
granted, the vibe is probably the most un-pontiacy pontiac there is [basically a toyota in wolf's clothing], but i am having a hard time reconciling with my attraction to that car.
it's a good size, it comes in AWD [might be nice], and it's way better looking than the atrocious toyota matrix.
a station wagony thing just seems more practical than a car.

if only i could afford a volvo C30.
drool.

seriously server?
is it really necessary to use the little searchy flashlight thing when the files are RIGHT THERE.
you have accessed them instantly every other time, and suddenly you decide that it requires a lengthy search to find them?!

we are having server problems at work.
which really screws up any sort of flow to the day--i live in fear of a crash and loss of labor.
and i have developed a nervous tic causing me to compulsively hit the ctrl+s keys.
and everything takes like half an hour to save.


a new server is in the works.
thank god.



i am currently reading the sword in the stone.
i didn't even know it was actually a book.
[yes, i am part of the disney generation]
it's pretty light, but can probably be considered a classic of some sort.
and i am quite amazed, after reading the first few chapters, how spot on disney managed to make the animated characters.
it's going to be a good read.