Seen Tuesday on weather.com:
As usual, I found the typo.
links for 2008-03-20
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“Absolutely no religious rites of any kind, relating to any religious faith, should be associated with my funeral,” he wrote. We’ll miss you, Sir Arthur.
links for 2008-03-19
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If I lived in England, or if they took submissions from the States, I’d so be there. As it is, maybe I’ll use this challenge as inspiration to actually use some of that Super 8 film I have in the freezer.
An Open Letter to Joseph, Whom I Met While Walking
Dear Joseph,
After having had some time to consider our random encounter this afternoon, I feel compelled to let you know that I’ll be standing you up on your fifty-second birthday (April 11). I will also make a point of staying away from the meeting spot you designated when my birthday rolls around (April 22). Please allow me to explain why.
Firstly: starting a conversation with, “You’re a pretty girl…” is generally considered creepy by girls everywhere, pretty or no. However, I was willing to engage in conversation with you simply because I’m not good at being rude and ignoring people. Plus, after your comment about how you’d like to grow your hair long like mine and bleach it blond, I thought our conversation would be harmless, brief, and amusing.
Secondly: handshakes are acceptable, even impressive. But please let go after said handshake. Talking at length whilst still holding the hand, then pulling the handshakee into a hug is generally considered improper when both parties are complete strangers. Above all, attempting to kiss a complete stranger on the mouth is highly improper, and attempting to tongue-kiss a stranger after she pushes away from your on-the-mouth kiss is grounds for a knee in the crotch. You should consider yourself ultimately lucky that all I did was give an emphatic “no” and push away.
Thirdly: Smelling like beer is not a good way to get to know a professional who happens to be on her lunch break, even if she has admitted to you that she likes to drink on occasion.
Fourthly: Declaring that you need a girlfriend and then asking your new acquaintance if she is single is not a particularly suave move. Upon her assertion that she is in fact NOT single, it is equally unsuave to answer that your new acquaintance’s significant other “doesn’t need to know.”
So, Joseph, I do apologize if I led you on, but I won’t be meeting you for either of our birthdays. In fact, I will likely take an alternate walking route on both of those days. If you ever attempt to touch me again, please be forewarned that I’ve promised my husband that I’ll call the cops on you.
Best of luck to you, and I hope your Mom and her new boyfriend are doing well.
Most Sincerely,
Diana (the girl with the long hair and the knit kitty hat)
Happy St. Patrick’s Day
I’m always so bummed when I forget to wear my seasonal accoutrements on the one day in the year when they’re appropriate. My Mom had this pin back in the ’80s (and probably earlier), and I managed to appropriate it for my own sometime around high school, and not lose it in all this time.
Truth is, I don’t have any solid proof that I’m Irish. Family lore says I am, and the McLaughlin surname that entered into my lineage around 1844 is the most likely source. Other McLaughlins have done more thorough research than I, and have postulated that this McLaughlin line does indeed trace back to Northern Ireland, and that they came to the New World in the 1730s or ’40s.
Hence, since I could be an entire one-hundredth of a percent Irish, being that my 8x-Great Grandfather was most likely Irish, I felt OK not wearing green today to make myself “more Irish.” (Although, since Wikipedia doesn’t mention anything about this aspect of “the wearing of the green,” I’m now more dubious about whether that’s really why people wear green on St. Paddy’s Day.)