step one: pants

I'm having a non-productive sort of irritable day. I think it's because the weather ($#% weather!) is shifting, which gives me a background headache, which makes everything (especially me) dumber than it should be. For example, I was extremely aggrieved today while out for a walk because my pants kept slipping down and my shirt kept riding up which left me trying to be inconspicuous while clutching my garments and being mad at every other person out and about who managed to dress themselves in clothes that were STAYING ON. I would put myself together and walk three steps only feel a breeze on my hip that let me know my clothes weren't where I left them. Finally a tiny thought managed to float to the top of my brain and I tied the waistband string on my pants. (!!!) It's been like this all day.

ANYWAY. I'm going to go put a belt on! maybe pants are the problem, even now.

but first, here are some things that make me happy even while I'm crabby:

1. The fluxcast is back! Season 2 has begun -- I love these and missed them during the hiatus.

2. The picture at the top of this post -- taken outside of Ripley's Believe it or Not in Newport when I was at the beach last week. I may not have a lot of use for wax representations of the world's longest fingernails or whatever, but I love how they painted and planted their building and I love this orange crocosmia in front of "BELIEVE IT!" I believe!

3. The Advertising for Love blog. It's not what it sounds like. Well, it is, but maybe not exactly how you'd expect: this is a collection of 19th century personal advertisements. Pam Epstein is using these for her dissertation -- here's her description: I'm a PhD student in history at Rutgers University, on the verge of completing my dissertation, which is about the transformation of love and marriage in the mid-nineteenth to early-twentieth century in America. I'm using old personal advertisements to talk about this transformation, and I've found them so charming and fascinating that I want to share them with anyone who's interested in learning more about the history of personals.

the ads ARE charming and fascinating and illustrate the thing I love the best about history: that even as time marches and mores change and progress happens, people remain largely the same. She provides the text of the ads as well as scans of the originals along with analysis. I never knew there were so many codes and riddles! (via Argh Ink)

4. six year old's call and response: Yesterday marked the start of softball camp (or something that looks an awful lot like softball camp) at the park. The coaches were trying to warm the kids up and get some enthusiasm going. I observed three stages:

STAGE ONE: I say blah blah blah you say "YEAH!"

coach: blah blah blah points at kids

1/2 kids: yeah!
1/2 kids: yeah? (tentative, not confrontational)

STAGE TWO: I say blah blah blah, you say "O-KAY!"

coach: blah blah blah points at kids

kids: okay! (enthused but asynchronous)

STAGE THREE: I say Pokemon, you say "Pikachu!"

coach: Pokemon! points at kids

kids (losing their minds as a unit): PIKACHUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!


Maybe that's all I need today. I need my pants to stay up and I need to shout Pikachu! I put a belt on and do feel much less grouchy -- now I'm going to go outside and yell for a while.