I love how you always cheer me up.
I love how I can tell you anything.
I love how you don’t mind all my fantasy boyfriends.
I love how you cook for me.
I love how you explain what happened in movies when I wasn’t paying attention.
I hate that you can be so confrontational but I love that you speak truth to power.
I love that you know everything about everything but I wish you didn’t spend so much time on the computer.
I love how brave you are.
I love that you would run into a burning building to save people when I would probably run away and cry.
I love that you don’t judge me for running away and crying.
I hate that you never throw anything away and that you always bring in stuff from the side of the road.
I love your style but I wish you didn’t have such an irrational aversion to sweaters.
I love that you are so committed to local and sustainable things.
I love that you picked all the labels off your clothes.
I love that you don’t care what anyone else thinks but I wish you would act a little friendlier sometimes.
I love that you drive me around and that you are the best parallel parker I have ever seen but I wish we liked more of the same music so we didn’t have to listen to the same 5 CDs on every road trip.
I hate that you always try to have conversations with me when I am asleep because you know I will say something crazy.
I love that you live day-to-day and take everything in stride but I wish that you would engage in discussions about hypothetical things with me.
I wish you would play Death is Not an Option with me.
I love that you always kindly capture the bugs in the house and take them outside.
I love how you always bring home treats and otherwise incorporate treats into everyday activities.
I love how I never have to do a dish with you in my life.
I love how you love all animals (except teeny tiny dogs).
I love how you can recite the entirety of every Chris Rock special with me.
I love how you can take a picture of a piece of trash and turn it into a beautiful work of art.
I love how you are such a hard worker and problem solver.
I love how you are such a loyal friend.

These ladies are almost as cool as my Grandma. And that is a feat!

Via.

ETA: Grandma's reaction to Margaret and Helen: "Kate my girl, Those are a couple of wild old broads. But they have it right, she [Palin] is a bitch and McCain is senile." As Margaret and Helen say, "Old ladies speak their mind. Deal with it."

Like, I know there are really important things going on in the world and no one cares about my freaking teeth, but I have to interrupt my regular schedule of not blogging to announce how happy I am to have (partially) unsheathed teeth again! (I will continue to have bottom braces for another 3-4 months, but whatevs, I can deal with that.) Behold, the difference between my smile yesterday at 11 a.m. and yesterday at 1 p.m. Hallelujah!

. . . I was born. I was good at two things as a baby: laughing and sleeping. I am still good at those two things. As far as I can tell, life just keeps getting better.

I am so excited to hear that Rachel Maddow is getting her own show on MSNBC, starting in September! She'll be on after Keith Olbermann instead of that shouty lawyer guy who's on now. This is great news for anyone who likes real news coverage: Maddow is a policy wonk, not a pundit. And she's not full of herself like Olbermann. Nor does she shout like Chris Matthews. Nor does she stumble over the teleprompter while making sexy faces like some of the daytime newsbimbo hosts. I'm hoping she'll be the savior of Cable TV news. Read more about her offbeat path to cable news host in this awesome article from The Nation.

Friend: John Adams on HBO. I am dying now that my free HBO preview is over. LOVE IT.

Enemy: 3/4 length sleeves. Seriously — What is the point? I want a short sleeve or a long sleeve. I don't want an in-between sleeve. Right now all I want is a normal cardigan sweater in navy blue or brown that I can throw in my bag in preparation for the upcoming alternating hot and crazy over air-conditioned season. Why can't I find one? Why do they all have to be cropped or shrugged or bedazzled or 3/4 length? Gah.

I graduated! Freaking finally!!!!!!!! Now, just six months till I start hacking at those enormous loans. . .

. . . and it is amazing.

In the meantime, my new job is challenging and exciting although currently quite stressful; I had a lovely birthday and am loving my first month of being 26; our new place is amazing but still pretty much in disarray; I am getting used to the braces but I would really like them to be gone already; and an old friend moved to town and reminded me of my roots, who I used to be and who I am now.

About year ago, I was waiting in a movie theater lobby with my friend Pat. A Queen song was playing, and Pat said, "Sometimes I think about the world, and I get sad that Freddie Mercury isn't in it." I have been thinking about that a lot lately. Freddie Mercury was the first, and I think only, star that I really felt connected to on a deep level. Sure, as a kid, I was into Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston and Paula Abdul (all of whom turned out to be so remarkably stable!) and I wanted to meet them so they could take me shopping or whatever. But as I grew older, my musical tastes shifted. I started listening to Queen right before Freddie Mercury died. The tabloid covers announcing his death are emblazoned in my memory — I felt cheated out of ever even having the ability to fantasize about being his friend. Even as a fantasy-prone kid, I knew there was no use in pretending to be friends with dead people.

So, why did I feel such a strong connection to Freddie Mercury? Because when I was about ten years old, I realized that I would never be a Paula or a Whitney or a Mariah. I connected with freaks and misfits and queers. And Freddie Mercury was, arguably, all those things, with bad teeth to boot, and yet he could charm and excite tens of thousands of people at a time. He was my hero. Lindsay ("You're the best friend that I've ever had. . ." ) and I used to listen to Queen together all the time in middle school when we both began to realize and appreciate that we were unusual. But there was one poppy, happy song that I was never really into as a kid that I have been listening to nonstop lately. And that is "Don't Stop Me Now." Every time I listen to it, I get a teeny bit sad that Freddie Mercury is not in the world anymore. But I get excited that I am.

So I am plugging along (or rather, unplugging along) quite well through Low Impact Week. I have not watched any more TV and everything else is going smoothly as well. I have made some transgressions, mostly forgetting reusable bags and yesterday I left a light on for hours — something I never do.

Also, yesterday I came across this amazing site which I found through Lighter Footstep, which I found through No Impact Man. This site is incredible! Not only do the recipes look mouthwatering, but grocery lists are included. How awesome! Thank you, Veggie Meal Plans!