I'm yawning and snacking at the same time.

I have been pretty terrible at this as of late, huh? I will tell you something I hate more than anything, and that is the bullet list blog. You know, a list of this and that that has not been formatted into paragraphs? Disgusting. But I feel as though I need to do a list like that, because I have a lot to report.

3. We went to New Orleans for Memorial Day weekend. I didn't drink a drop (more on that later). There were a lot of really drunk people there, and not being one of them was... odd. I am pretty positive it saved us a pile of cash, the lack of bar hopping. All the root beer barrels we had at the Green Parrot in Key West really broke the bank on that trip. We did eat a lot, because we're gluttons from hell. We ate things like this, that made us very full and satisfied, while at the same time disgusted with ourselves.


Also, we met up with Megan and Shane, who are Memphis-Americans (I have robbed that term from Toby, by the way) that we have never met in Memphis; we rode the streetcar a lot, I lost $5 in a slot machine, Brandon found out too late that he could not order a sandwich at the Cafe Du Monde, we saw some nice jazz at the Rock and Bowl, went for walks in the Garden District and Audobon Park, and, yes, laid up in the hotel room watching cable, drinking gin (B) and napping (me).

2. We had a pretty fine potluck in which Brandon took some of the finest party pics I have seen in quite some time. The theme was "Summertime" and the food was very nice and Liz came, which made me very very happy!

1. Ok, on with the show. The big news: We are going to have a little baby Dilbro at the end of the year! Yep, that is right, we decided to make the big leap into parenthood. I think turning 28 made the tick tock of my clock go bang bang bang and I decided it was time to shit or get off the pot. We made the baby in the normal way, as in we took off our pants and looked each other in the eyes tenderly. I have to say that sex without a net for me was pretty mystical and now feels even moreso since I have the knowledge that everything went to work as it was intended and we created a teeny spark of mushy human life that is growing bigger everyday. According to Babycenter.com, it's now the size of a kumquat, which looks like this:

Crazy shit, huh? We are terribly excited and I am ready to get a nice round belly. I am 10 weeks along as of this weekend and I am already ready to meet this weird, tall person. However, I can wait, and in the meantime I am giving the little booger lots of water, veggies, cookies, fried chicken, yogurt, tofu, cheese, cereal, and fish oil capsules, which are apparently very good for its brain. Although my boobs are a size bigger and I have to take a nap 5 days a week when I get home, the whole thing is still just *brimming* with unreality, and in two weeks I will be very glad when we return to the midwife and get to hear the heartbeat for the first time.

Ok, now I have to do an interview and have a snack. I'm fucking starving.

Bueno bueno bueno

Because I haven't blogged lately and inspiration didn't seem to be dawning from within, I thought that I would take a cue from my dear friend, who, in turn, took a page from Martha Stewart Living, and write about just a few things that I think are good. In other words...

Good Things!

1. The other night I was terribly depressed about something really boring, and in order to cheer me up, after we went to bed, Brandon only whispered. He kept whispering everything he had to say to me, and it made me laugh and laugh and laugh. It might have been the mere whispering itself, or it might have been the fact that his personality changed a bit, into someone more prudish -- a goody-two-shoes seventh grader crossed with a librarian, I'd say -- but it did the trick and I managed to cheer up in time to shuffle off to dreamland.

2. The coming of Spring, and its little details, including the sprouts that have been successful in our kitchen. Black Beauty Zucchini is very eager for the sun; only the peppers and one type of tomatoes have proven unenthusiastic. The fact that the next time I visit my mom's house, it will be the beginning of April, and more than likely, sunny and breezy enough to fly kites, and since it'll be my Decatur County birthday weekend, we'll do this very thing, like we did last year and the year before. Those are nice things. I had the idea to buy a croquet set or some kind of outdoor game thingy too. Which, really, just makes me think of Heathers.

4. The new Neko Case album, which you can preview for free on NPR right now, and Ashley was kind enough to burn for me. I think I will buy it when it comes out anyway because if there's anybody I want to give $13.99 to, it's Ms. Case. She is the nearly always the first person I put on the list when pressed by some social networking tool to list musical interests.

5. Tofu. I can't get enough tofu. Usually when I'm not eating tofu, I'm sitting around fantasizing about it. Liz gave me the ultimate tofu advice that has changed my tofu-life. FREEZE THE TOFU. That's right, freeze the tofu, thaw the tofu, press the tofu, cook the tofu. Cook it like this and it's cheap and easy but incredibly satisfying. Especially if you steam the potatoes, I have to say.

I didn't know they made bikinis in size fat fuck.

I love my kitchen. I was up 15 minutes earlier than normal this morning (although I was still my standard 20 minutes late to work), and I straightened up in there and watered the seeds that we planted Monday. We have ambitious plans for the teeny bed just outside the back door, and have started our peppers, zucchini and tomatoes from seeds purchased from Bountiful Gardens and got their tomato mix, which contains heirloom varieties with names like "Big Rainbow," "Cherokee Purple," and "Moneymaker." They're on a shelf that Brandon fixed up in the window last week; the kitchen is perfect for this because it's the only really sunny room in our house. The entire corner of the room is windows, and there is no better feeling to me than just hanging out there in the morning, drinking coffee, and plotting out my day. There is certainly a lot to be said about the restorative powers of sunshine. My mood is really dictated by whether or not it's sunny when I go out for work in the morning. Gloomy days make me want to hibernate.


I'm sending in our application and payment for the Whitton Farms CSA this week. I'm so excited, because it's the first time I've ever participated in a co-op. Starting in the middle of May, we'll be getting a sack of farm fresh produce from these good people every week!


Thanks for your many comments regarding the high school reunion thing. I remain undecided. I may be swayed by the price of the thing -- I saw the blurb in the county paper about the 1998 reunion last summer, and it was somewhere around $60 per couple for what I pessimistically assume was overcooked prime rib, a baked potato, and no booze. Plus, you had to pay cover to be in the same venue as some shitty band. Double Ew Tee Eff, man.


I had a nice three-day weekend (that's the kind of thing that makes me heart working for the gov't). Sushi on Friday night, the symphony on Saturday. I got a pile of lovely cookbooks, as well as a tome entitled "The Intimate Sex Lives of Famous People" from my dear husband. He knows me too well. The next time you use the potty at my house, you are free to browse it. We spent a rollicking Saturday night at Mr. Whitten's, where too much booze was consumed, for sure. My memories may be foggy but LT had sweetly posted the photographic evidence of it before I even woke up the next morning. What a doll. We made tamales on Monday, which was an all day ordeal that resulted in success! Everything on the internet advises that if you're going to go to the trouble of making the babies, you should go ahead and make 100 or 200 and freeze them. After cooking the meat and mixing the masa, and rolling all those little sons-of-bitches, I could see why. They were tasty and steamed perfectly, though.

Speaking of food, if you guys have not been checking in on the blog This is Why You're Fat, you should. It's photographic evidence of everything that's wrong with America's gastronomy. Be careful, vegetarians. There's a lot of graphic meat up in that bitch.

Cardio Psychosis

Yesterday I finished my first full week of exercising regularly. I went after work every day Monday-Thursday. Hope & Healing closes at 2:00 on Friday, and I'm considering Saturday an optional day. Hooray me! I did 35-40 minutes of cardio every day, and I have to say: I don't hate it too bad. Going to the gym gets to be like going to class -- something you know you need to/have to do, but you get that wicked little charge from skipping. I'm going to try to keep this up a least through the end of March, and see where it gets me.

We had two truly delicious dinners this week; on Tuesday, Brandon made pinto beans from this recipe from the Pioneer Woman, and after I got home I made the cornbread, spiked with jalapenos, and we ate it with some sauteed turnip greens, raw slices of sweet onion, and my mother's "Amish relish" -- it's a tomato, onion, & pepper relish with a touch of sweetness. I felt a bit of shame that it took a recipe found on the internet to inspire me to make this meal that is so, so Decatur County. So country-ass and delicious. I felt as though my daddy's spirit was laughing at me somewhere, and he'd feel a little pride in seeing his daughter and her decidedly non-countryass husband moaning in taste ecstasy over one of the most basic meals in creation. The next night, I mashed the beans up, adding a little cumin and chili powder, and B fried some corn tortillas and plantains (Jesus fucking Christ, I love plantains! Why didn't someone clue me in about these years ago!) and we had the tortillas with the beans smeared on top, covered in that crumbly Mexican queso, salsa, romaine, and avocado slices. NOM NOM NOM.

Meals like that remind me that although I have a tendency to go spend $50 on Kroger preparing for some meal that includes at least a few pricy, hard to find ingredients, sometimes the simplest can be the most satisfying.

Although I have to say that after two days of bean consumption, my cubicle/our bedsheets have taken on a peculiar aroma. Ahem.

Photo tour of the potluck life...

Well, we had our second potluck on Sunday night, and I have got to say, first off, that these fools can cook. Earlier in the week I had sent out a big email suggesting that we have an Italian theme, and everybody went all out and once again the food was muy delicioso. Which is a fucked up thing to say, technically, but I don't know any Italian. We had fresh pasta and meatballs, toasted lasagna, antipasto, vegetarian white lasagna, wild mushroom risotto, an Italian spinach dish, some awesome sauce with eggplant, and a lovely selection of wine brought by the wonderful David, who keeps any party well-lubricated. Since we were expecting to have several people over, Brandon set up the photobooth and took some pretty lovely pictures. He's so smart, y'all.

What can I say, other than these folks can photograph as well as they can cook. The whole set can be found right here, including one of Brandon with NO SHIRT ON. Back off ladies. Potluck will be back in session not this coming weekend, because I'm going to Decatur county to hang out with my mom and attempt to make & can butternut squash chutney, but the next, October 26. I think we are going to do the whole traditional Southern home cooking thing, so y'all can put on your thinking caps, which, in this case, may be camo trucker hats, and start conceptualizing.

you're a mean ole daddy, but i like you

Is it just me, or am I being bombarded by images of jiggly flab bellies on a large number of websites these days? Even the fantasic food blog Smitten Kitchen sometimes has large ads that scream suddenly, out of the midst of images of glorious full fat foods, suggesting that maybe I need to lose weight, and the simple act of clicking will reveal calorie-burning secrets I've never even considered. The tummies on Myspace are really too much; I wonder if it's targeted for women, or those of a certain age, or if everyone gets them. I know that sometimes, when they catch me off guard, I suck in my breath and my gut at the possibility that I look just like that when I take my shirt off.

I'm in need of a butcher; Sunday night potluck is on again this week after our Arkansas hiatus last weekend, and the theme is Italian. I am determined to make meatballs with beef, pork, and veal, and after visiting a butcher in Millington on our first camping trip, I'm pretty convinced this is the way to go. Note to self: Check Viet Hoa and see if they have veal. After all, they have duck heads.

School has been kicking my ass this week, but I have to say that the more I am immersed in the cirriculum, the more I feel as though I am doing the right thing. The bottom line of all my policy studies so far is social justice, a concept I can confidently say means a lot to me. I've been learning all about Clinton's welfare reform, why it is bullshit/doesn't work, and, most interestingly, why corporates appointees had a say in the changes and the corporate interest in welfare reform. It's a lot like listening to Democracy Now; the truth about the nation is gut-wrenchingly depressing, but putting your fingers in your ears and pretending that none of it exists is even moreso. Anyway, all this reading and studying has at least saved me from the string of violent hangovers that seem to have affected my Memphis peoples this week.

OhmyGod tonight I will make veggie sushi rolls and EATTHEMALLUP because the sushi craving has hit and I haven't made any at home in a coon's age.

How does stress affect the brain, anyway?

We had a nice weekend out at Shelby Forest, camping with Dave and Amy. The ultimate in miracles has happened, you see, and we have found couple friends, in the town that we live in, that we can agree on, and who seem to want to be friends with us as much as we want to be friends with them. This is an elusive animal, as I think those of you who have been/are in relationships can attest. Either one half of the duo doesn't get along with someone in the other duo (usually split along opposite gender lines), or the dynamic between the other couple starts to get to you after awhile, and what was once your casual analysis of the relationship explodes into a situation in which, after every episode of hanging out with them, you end up saying things like "Did you notice how he said/did this thing and SHE JUST LAPPED IT UP?? THAT IS SO ANNOYING!!!!" Anyway, the point is, as of right now, Dave & Amy are our couple friends and we like it. I like it, anyway, I can't speak for the rest of the three of 'em.

We went to Shelby Forest because it was close by and I was happy that we'd picked it. Camping had never really occurred to me before 2007, I don't think? I had a tent that I'd bought for Bonnaroo... 2004?? I believe, and it had merely hung out in my closet/under my bed since then. I think that my enjoyment of camping relates directly to what a pseudo-spiritual guy told me soon after meeting me one time, that I was a "householder." I really squee over getting to set up a little home away from home in the woods. I think I'm certainly a householder. The intense joy I feel when seeing my primary colored Fiestaware stacked up in the kitchen cabinets confirms this. I feel the same satisfaction when smoothing a plastic gingham tablecloth over a concrete picnic table, rolling out our sleeping bags in our newly popped up tent, and spreading Patsy's homemade cherry preserves over a slice of peanut buttered bread in the chilly morning time, surrounded by trees. I am planning a birthday camping spectacular weekend in Arkansas for my best husband next weekend, and I believe we are going here, Petit Jean State Park, which the internet has told me was Arkansas's first ever state park. Say what you want about Arkansas, it does have all that natural beauty.

Yep, Mr. Dill's birthday is next week, his 28th (it feels surreal to be getting so close to 30) and I am orchestrating gift-giving and special dinner-making to make up for last year, when I had just started my job and was broke as a joke and only gave him a subscription to Aperture magazine. I am super proud because not only have I had both his gifts, which were ordered off the internet, in my possession for more than a week, I have secreted them away in my work cubicle away from his prying eyes. Score! My goal is to prepare more surprises and pull them out at random times from October 2-5, at which time all birthday celebrating will finish. It's funny because he doesn't really give a shit about his birthday, which I took full advantage of in both 2006 and 2007, but Goddamnit he deserves some attention and I'm going to give it to him.

The last point I want to touch on is the fact that I am considering initiating a weekly Sunday night potluck at our humble abode on Lawrence Avenue for old & new Memphis friends. When we first moved to Memphis, we happened to stumble upon Brandon's ol' MTSU friend, Jen, at El Mezcal, and she and her husband invited us to one they had each Sunday night that was attached to viewing of Curb Your Enthusiasm. I miss the tradition, especially since Fall is coming and the cool weather is inviting me to make homemade mac and cheese and pad 5 additional pounds onto myself. We will not be watching any tv shows, but we will be talking and drinking wine (if anyone has the forethought to buy it on Saturday). We would do it at like 7'ish, and anyone would be invited to come and bring friends with them. We can get a real little network built, and it's the perfect night for Lindsey & Dave to hang out. I will be discussing this more with youse guys in real life, I hope y'all want to do it.

P.S. I have been spending at least two hours daily at work listening to Suspense old time radio. Is that really weird??

Friday good stuff of all kinds

I don't know about you guys, but I'm happy it's Friday; Brandon and I will be visiting my mom this weekend while all the rest of the Memphis folks get TEE-rashed at Cooper-Young fest but it's okay, because I love my mom and she makes me lots of good food and gives me all her elder woman wisdom when I come around.

Last night I uploaded a video to YouTube for the first time ever, and I'm going to try and do some more soon. When we are travelling B always shoots lots of video on my little camera, and we've been meaning to start postin' em on ye olde internet for a long time. For a grand, adorable debut, I give you: Puppet Bike!!!!



Now, we saw Puppet Bike outside the poster shop where we bought this (let me tell you, it took much hemming & hawwing to make a decision). I don't know the gender of the person inside the Puppet Bike stage thingy, but whoever it is, I love them. This is probably the most awesome street entertainment I have ever seen, because it is so unexpected and out of the ordinary and CHARMING. Look at those puppets! I'd say what you need to do right now is go get in your car, or, be more environmentally responsible/cheap and get a megabus ticket and get your ass to Chicago and DO NOT REST until you see this puppet wonder for yourself. Amen.

Also, in the grand tradition of Liz, also known as Bette Davis Lies, also known as Peggy Noir, I wanted to post a recipe that I cooked last night, boosted from Recipezaar. I have to say that the dinner I made last night was one of the best dinners I have cooked in my life. Like, definitely the top 10. And it was vegetarian! And it was an incredible amalgam of spicery! Yes! (Can you tell I've had my morning coffee??) OK, so I made I Can't Wait for Chole, which I had made before, except this time I added some sliced zucchini in with the chickpeas because I am in lust with zucchini. But the real star of the meal was the COCONUT RICE, people. The recipe follows. Make it. Make love to it, and thank Mother Earth that coconut milk exists.

COCONUT RICE

1 cup long grain rice or jasmine rice
2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 inch peeled fresh ginger
3/4 teaspoon salt
chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

1. Bring the coconut milk to a boil in a medium sized pot.
2. Add the rice, ginger and salt.
3. Stir and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to low and then cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
5. While waiting, heat the shredded coconut in a skillet, toasting it lightly.
6. Remove from heat and set aside.
7. When the rice has cooked for 20 minutes, fluff it with a fork and throw out the ginger root.
8. Toss with toasted coconut.
9. Garnish with chopped cilantro just before serving.

We've got a lady pilot; she's not afraid to die

It is suspiciously quiet at work today. But, as soon as I type this, I can hear the ladies in the row next to me crank up their daily unending yammering. If they would shut up, for even a few minutes at a time, I could have my morning quiet time, getting wildly caffeinated in peace.

Also, I have both a "Delicious," and a "Iguana" on my schedule today. That is all I will say about that. It writes itself, really.

When I came home from work, it was so hot outside and in our apt. that, it wasn't that I wanted to die, but I just didn't want to live anymore. I wanted to take a hiatus from life. I eventually mustered up the energy to got some clothes back on, since the first thing I do every day upon entering the house is take off all my clothes, and we ran errands, including our good deed of the week, which was taking a man from Walgreen's down to Ike's to get some gas. His woman had tricked him into taking the car out when she knew it didn't have any gas in it, apparently. Because I am a Crazy Mooney,* while he was pumping the gas I imagined that the whole thing was an elaborate ruse and, in fact, his plan was to immolate himself in my backseat while we both freaked out and I wrecked the car. This did not happen. Instead, we engaged in a completely boring, predictable conversation about high gas prices. Our friend predicted that prices may rise to as high as $12 per gallon by Christmas.

We watched The Last Picture Show last night.

This is a movie that I remember that my parents both used to talk about as a favorite, so I picked it out at Black Lodge. Also we both like Paper Moon a lot, and that is another Bogdanovich film from the same time. Anyway, Picture Show did not disappoint, it was really sexy and weird and depressing, all at the same time. Plus it had a young Cybil Sheperd (a Memphian, how 'bout that?) in it, and she is super easy on the eyes:


So, put this on your "Movies To Watch List." It's in B&W, which also scratches my current constant desire to watch old movies. Larry McMurtry wrote it, and he is also responsible for, in no particular order: Terms of Endearment (which is playing at the Orpheum this evening, in an odd coincidence. I will not be seeing it, I don't think; I don't want to invite the whole parent-child/death from cancer theme into myself today), the mini-series Lonesome Dove, and the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain. What a weirdo, huh?

This weekend, our great friends Rebecca & Michael are coming to Tennessee, to my mom's house in Decatur County, actually, to be more exact. They live in Massachusetts, and Rebecca is a performance artist originally from Knoxville. She misses the South a lot and when they were down for the wedding, decided that she wanted to shoot some pieces down on my mom's land. I think it's going to be video, but I'm sure B will shoot some stuff too. Liz & Dusty are coming as well, so we're going to have a rural southern couples retreat on Saturday night. I'm terribly excited, and probably going to make the following dessert. We ate this when WWOOFing at the Sunshine House in Greece last summer, and I ripped the recipe off Takis. I've never attempted to make it; I'll have to figure out the metric equivalents of all this shit.

Takis’ Chocolate Avocado Cake
½ kilo oats (soaked for 2 hours)
juice of 2-3 oranges
½ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup chopped dates (soaked with oats)
½ cup raisins or chopped figs (soaked with oats)
2 spoons of flaked coconut
cinnamon
water
2 tbsp. honey
½ kilo nice dark chocolate bars
rice milk
zest of one lemon
zest of one orange
2 avocados, pureed very well
Various fruits for topping

Mix oats, orange juice, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, chopped dates, raisins/figs, flaked coconut, cinnamon, and let sit for one hour. If not think enough to form crust, add more oats (unsoaked).

Oil 9” cake pan very well.

Pat oat mixture firmly down in pan. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 30-45 minutes.

Melt chocolate bars with a small amount of rice milk. Add to this the lemon and orange zest, as well as the avocado puree, and combine thoroughly. Top with sliced fruit (fresh cherries and peaches are primo) and nuts while chocolate is still warm. Chill until firm.

Celsius??? KILOS?? WTF?

*Oh, yeah. The Mooneys are my mom's side of the family, and they are definitely crazy. The particular shade of Mooney crazy that this fear of immolation in the car came from is probably Cousin Joy-flavored. She, who once plead with her pregnant daughter-in-law not to go outside during fireworks because "one might light on your belly."

Josie's on a vacation far away...

In my house, we have a new deep obsession with The Outfield's "Your Love" [The assholes have disabled embedding, so I can't put the cheesey video on here for your viewing pleasure. You will not be sorry if you go to the link above and listen to this song, especially if you like 80s songs that seem to have been written to provide you with a platform to screech lyrics such as "I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOUR LOVE TONIGHT!!! I JUST WANT TO USE YOUR LOVE, TOOOOONIIIIIGHT!! (YEAH!!!)" in your best eardrum-splitting falsetto.]

What's up with this heat haze in Memphis? It's humidity, I am thinking? I think I've been told it is humidity. They put it on the forecast, along with warnings about not leaving your house. This time of year I start developing elaborate fantasies about living in a part of the world where the peak temperature in the summer is 80 degrees. Our apartment has 3 window unit air conditioners, 2 of which work pretty well (especially if you are sitting directly in front of them, which I am known to do), but considering we live on the second floor of a house built in 1925, with piss poor air-conditioning... well, yeah, it is Hot as Hell. I have tried to tell B that he is going to have to run the AC when he's at home by himself, but he refuses. I imagine that I'll come home one day to find him passed out cold (hot?) from the intensity of the heat. August is coming, be afraid, be very afraid. These are the dog days and senior citizens will start kicking off any minute now.

We are supposed to go to a BBQ this evening and last night I made bettedavislies' Church Lady Creamy Lemon cake to take, and I'll put some presliced & seasoned eggplant slices in a baggie too, for the hosts to throw on the grill. I don't know about you, but I get very impatient when waiting for a cake to cool down enough to spread on the old icing. The afforementioned Mrs. Lies gave me the most handsome, thoughtful handmade cookbook for the wedding, and as of late I have been trying to cook a recipe a week from it. My mother and I recently had a conversation questioning how young Bette maintains her lovely figure with her well-known penchant for sweets, and came up stumped. I suppose her allegiance to exercise could be the answer but the lazy American in me refuses to believe that moving could be good for you.

more clever than ever

When I was home this weekend, my mother cautioned me to look out for snakes when venturing out to her walking path. Tuesday in Overton Park, the thought to watch my feet didn't even cross my mind until, mid-run, I looked down to find myself just about to step on a small snake. Now, I'm not trying to be an alarmist, but when I saw it, I noted that it had a diamond-shaped, rather than rounded head, and some nugget of wisdom buried deep in my skull reminded me that this was a trait of a venemous snake, and sure enough, when I investigated on the internet, it seemed pretty certain that my little friend was a southern copperhead:

He was pretty ittybitty, I'd say 9" at most, but I felt pretty smart leaping over him in the nick of time. Apparently although I was surrounded by woods, it didn't occur to me that a snake might want to leave the comfort of leaves and dirt for pavement.

I am pretty excited for a weekend in which I do no travelling; I have been coming or going every weekend for the past month, it seems. The flea market is in town this weekend and I'm thinking of going and see how it compares to the big one in Nashville; also, I think we'll go see the new Batman. Summer's the only season I can really get behind the idea of seeing blockbusters; maybe it's just that 1 or 2 per year is all I need.

Tonight: chilled avocado soup & tomato sandwiches with basil mayo. Yum yum.

Please don't let me be misunderstood

I'm listening to the All Songs Considered "Best CDs So Far" show, and I've got to say that I'd always heard of Panic At the Disco! but I didn't know how much they truly sucked until a few minutes ago. Goddamn, I hate shitty music that is just a ripoff of bands too old for kids to know the difference. They sound just like The Smiths to me. I'm always desperately trying to find some new music that's not too whiny or overproduced. Sometimes I have good luck with ASC, plus, I love Bob Boilen; he's so earnest and sweet. If I haven't found a new band in awhile, I start to feel dead inside. I have a couple of good leads from this show.

So, I am starting the Masters in Social Work program @ UT Memphis this fall, and I was really pleased and surprised to find out just how cheap my tuition's going to be since I'm a state employee. Yippee for cheap schoolin'. I can't believe that I'm going to be back in school again... this time I plan on actually studying. I was struck yesterday by the idea that I might be ready to leave Memphis by the time I get done; it will take 3-4 years for me to get my degree, and I'll be at least 30. It will more than likely be baby-making time, unless I inherited my mom's reluctant eggs (that's unfair, could've been my dad's sperm that were reluctant). Do I want to raise kids in the South? Do I want to stay here myself? Etc. etc. Just your normal "Oh jeez, I guess I'm a grown-up now" confusion.

There is a rather complicated debate about navigating to a certain resturant going on in the next aisle of cubicles. It's getting heated. Every once in awhile, you can hear punctuations of "Ridgeway!" and "LAMAR?!" For some reason, I love to hear people trying to give directions, it always ends in a big debate.

Well, I am heading to Decaturville for the weekend. B is still tied up in Memphis Most photography work, so I decided to head to my mom's for some family time. I bought some smoked salmon, cream cheese, bagels, orange juice and champagne so we can have a special breakfast one morning. What a sweetheart, huh?