So in lieu of having anything actually INTERESTING to discuss, I have some random thoughts that are weighing heavy.
1. I am so ready for NPR's semiannual 'membership drive' to be over. SO READY. PLEASE STOP!!!! I loooove me some NPR. I've been an avid listener for the past two years or so. I feel like it's made me a better-educated, more informed, more interesting person. But twice a year it makes me want to die with its never-ending fundraising campaign. HOLY COW. I think it lasts like TEN WHOLE DAYS or something inhumane like that. Last week some fellow-membership-drive-hating friends made a brilliant point: they should figure out a way to make it so that if you donate, you quit hearing the rest of the membership drive. Like, back to your regularly scheduled programming! Because then we would all donate on the first day. Money like they've never seen before!! Because if I knew I wouldn't have to listen to them beg and plead for money for another week, I'd give STAT. Anyway. They don't do that, but they should. NPR, if you're reading this: please. I beg you. Stop the torture.
2. Sometimes being a homeowner sucks. Primarily when expensive things break and have to be replaced. This time it's our dryer. It broke the Thursday before Easter. So if you're wondering why I'm wearing clothes that haven't been in style since 1997, now you know. They're the only clean things left. We did do one small load of undies and such, but air drying is ridiculous and makes your clothes all crunchy, so...we haven't done any more laundry since. Our new dryer should be delivered on Saturday and we'll probably have 18 loads at the ready for the minute the installer guys leave. Ugh. I mean, the dryer is a slightly more exciting appliance to replace than our other two most recent Expensive Appliance Deaths (the water heater and the HVAC unit), but basically, I'm totally wanting new couches. And replacing boring appliances keeps stealing all of my money. Boo.
3. I took this picture over the weekend and it makes me laugh.
Welcome to Atlanta, where the painted and bejeweled dolphins hang out in random strip mall parking lots! (I can't judge- in Athens it's painted bulldogs everywhere.) (But at least bulldogs make sense (UGA mascot)...dolphins? In the middle of a landlocked, non-coastal city? Um okay.)
4. I have a craving to reread East of Eden. It just comes over me sometimes. East of Eden is my hands-down favorite book, my answer to "if you could only take one book on a deserted island," and the best book ever. In my opinion. I haven't read it in a few years and although it pains me to not be reading something new, I feel like I need to return to my roots. A slow, careful reread of the best book ever?? That sounds awesome.
That's all I've got today. Many apologies. Feel free to pray something interesting happens today so that I can be less boring tomorrow! Ha. But- interesting in a good way, obviously. Like maybe I win a large sum of money! Or overhear a hilarious conversation at the gym! Or...whatever, something good.
Oh man...no dryer! That's rough! I know when my mom's would go out...she would take laundry to anyone's house who would let her. You find out who your friends are when you want to hang for an hour or so doing a load of laundry.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya on having to buy non-fun stuff. Our living room TV went out and to me that is not a fun item to buy. Maybe it is to some people but not me :( By the way, have you had any of that terrible weather??
ReplyDeleteBack home in Nova Scotia we have painted and bejeweled lobsters everywhere! haha I kinda miss it actually... there are no painted critters here in the prairies at all...
ReplyDeleteUgh, large appliances breaking down SUCKS!! It makes me (kinda) miss our townhouse living when we could just snap our fingers and the maintenance man would come and have it fixed when we returned home from work!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had a better solution to your crunchy laundry problem. I do find that if I dry myself outside and shake it out well before I fold it, that does help. Some things though (I'm looking at you jeans and towels) just stay slightly crunchy until you use them the first time. And yeah, I thought being a homeowner was going to be all fun and stuff but it's a lot of work. And expensive (not fun) things to buy/replace.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should have your own NPR style fundraiser. Stop doing regular blog posts and just write about how you need financial support until you get a new dryer paid for! If you post that picture of Matt and the dolphin every day you should be able to bring in a bunch of money. And then instead of having to write a blog post you can read 'East Of Eden' again.
Don't you love how I can take a bunch of random thoughts and combine them into one super, amazing, awesome idea?!?!
I've never read East of Eden. We've started reading classics we've never read in our book club. That might have to move up to the top of the list.
ReplyDeleteHow do you define "best book ever"? I am curious because the book I would take to a deserted island and the book I consider to be one of the best ever written aren't the same. Also, agree 100% on radio marketing campaigns and the "perks" of home ownership. I think you should take Natasha's idea above and run with it!
ReplyDeleteAllergies, BLAH. That's the only comment I have because my head is too stuffy to think of anything else.
ReplyDeleteUgh! Sorry about your dryer! I'm waiting for ours to crap out on us any day.... That will be a sad sad day!
ReplyDelete3. Amen. We have to call a plumber to come out and look at a never-ending leak in our guest bathroom. Somehow I don't see this ending well for my bank account. BOO.
ReplyDeleteA giant peach or a tomahawk maybe, but a dolphin? That's confusion to tourists. They'll be looking for an ocean that doesn't exist!
ReplyDeleteI totally hear you on crunchy undies. I dreaded when my mom line dried our clothes. Felt like I couldn't bend my knees for the first hour of wearing my jeans!!! ;)
This makes me want to read East of Eden. I found out on Sunday at Book Club that NO ONE had read The Glass Castle, which is arguably my favorite book... or at least top five. I've read it so many times. Needless to say, we're reading it for our next meeting. Is East of Eden a series, or just a book? Because honestly I've gotten a little resentful of authors assuming I want to read three of their books. It's annoying, and perhaps a little pretentious.
ReplyDeleteEven non-boring things can be boring, and it sure beats disappearing into thin air (see: my last post). P.S. your comment about the constipation had me cracking the heck up. Now every time I re-read my own post (a frightening number of times, if we're being honest), I think of it that way and seriously laugh out loud. How awkward.
OMG I mean non-boring things can be INTERESTING. Serves me right for not proofreading my comments.
Deleteamen to #1! I love NPR but hate the pledge drives!!
ReplyDeleteWhat I appreciate (and relate to) about you is that your head can be empty and devoid of thoughts and you still find a way to crank out several paragraphs of thoughts!
ReplyDeleteI love posts like this, especially because I feel like I do them a lot. Buying boring house stuff sucks. I have been putting off buying a new garage door opener for months because I HATE spending money on things like that. I'd rather spend it on makeup, clothes, food, even the freaking gym over boring house stuff.
ReplyDeleteEast of Eden is among my favorites, too-- love Steinbeck! Side note-- have you read 11/22/63? It's incredible.
ReplyDelete