i take scalding hot showers, all seasons of the year. i've almost never shared a shower with my spouse because the water temp is unbearably hot. if it's tepid enough for him, it's unbearably cold for me. if you can't take the heat, get out of the shower. there's more. i could probably do a top 10 if i had time to think about it. but now it's your turn.

Spouse shares together in a shower? Uhmm sounds kinky... :-P At least, We all knows that your a conservative!

I'm losing weight quite handily now by taking cold showers and baths. For the shower take a normal one up until the last 3-5 minutes, then turn off the hot water and let it hit your neck and upper back. If you're hard core take a bath by starting with about an inch of hot water in the tub, then switch to cold and let it fill all of the way up. Soak and shiver for at least 10 minutes. This is boosting my metabolism like crazy.

i shower in the dark, sometimes twice a day, usually for at least 20 minutes, sometimes for 45+ minutes at a stretch. once in a while fluid buildup, possibly an allergy, causes me to become nearly deaf in one ear. i was almost completely deaf on one side for most of november. the last time that happened was about 2 years previous. the last time i showered with someone else was in february. in all those years of piano study i never mastered or even came close to mastering the 2-fingered glissando or the octave glissando.

I prefer the eleven finger glissando.

i learned fisting from Charles Ives

Mark, did you mean anal fisting from Charles Ives?!

I'm pretty good with my glissando. My mother was a pianist and my father a womanizer. I come by these traits involuntarily. Stupid Capitalists like Palin ought to be targeted. I have a violent political side no one knows.

Not the best day to voice them, Daniel.

Like I heard the shooting in Arizona yesterday.... How sad. Daniel, yeah I know that Elvis Presley was a womanizer.

This probably doens't really count..... but I just fired a bridesmaid. ugh I didnt not want to be THAT person.

"I just fired a bridesmaid." That's unheard of....Ha ha ha!

i want the story, moonit.

actually neither elvis nor his breedsmaid were hurt in the filming of La Travviatatatata. the politics of voilence and likewise its mirror, the violence of politics...convinced me long ago to avoid that which I had been brought up to revel in and trust and participate ...notably the political process in a small town. even with a lot of booze, the pain never left, and I disdain the political process here and elsewhere as the playground of the rich and superfluous. Right, today seems not the right day for much of my rant: targeting healthcare rejection and glissando, the targeting of differently dressed guests in this country in the needless bureacratic invention called homeland security, and especailly well framed insane political chicanery i.e., messages using targets fromthe neo nazi camp of Stormfront, to indicate personal, political, and perhaps in this case very real assassination attempts on hard working (oh please) public servants. If it were someone other than Sarh Palin doing this crap, they'd have us locked up in a heartbeat. No wonder the europeans laugh at us common folk. Somehow insanity of political stupidity excuses all...I see they've scuttled her reality show. Now that will be a loss. Come n git me: I am well armed to say the least, and not the least bit balanced.

argh, it feels so stupid but I know I did the right thing... my friend is great, funny, but we've lived in different cities now for years, and while whenever we see each other we fall back into our old selves, its not who we are anymore. I had a bit of a rant way back before xmas about how I couldn't figure out the logistics of having her miles away and that I needed support and she said she was coming down for a week before xmas and would be here on the 20th and we would catch up and go out for dinner with my other bridesmaid and my mum.... and that she would be here whenever I needed her. In november I asked her for her measurements for a dress I wanted to order from the US.... then in December I reminded her....but heard nothing. I wanted to try and get the dress here so she could try it on when she was down and I told her that. December 20th rolls round I hear nothing... in fact I hear nothing until the 23rd, when I get a text saying 'come over, I'm bored at mums' but I was at work so I said I couldn't. Then the 24th she text me to ask me to come down to a bar for lunch with her sister and some of her work people, but I was still at work; and then of course I got the most awesome xmas present ever, a vomiting and dire rear (thats what we call it) bug so couldnt go. Apparently according to facebook she flew home christmas day. Yesterday I get an email from her saying she could come down late february and sort out anything that needs sorting and if nothing needs sorting then we could just drink margaritas. While I'm a big fan of margaritas (mmmm) late february could be between 3-4 weeks before the actual wedding, like how the fuck am I supposed to 'sort out' stuff with only that amount of time to go.... So I did it, I emailed her back and said, I love you and I hope this doesn't wreck our friendship but this isn't working, I can't sort stuff out for you from here and I hope you still come to the wedding as a guest etc etc etc. She didn't email me back which I fully understand, but I thought the whole point of bridesmaids was to support the bride? This sounds so catty and pathetic now I've typed it out, but there are lots of little things as well that make me worry that she wouldn't be reliable, like after our big earthquake in September she came here and I never heard from her, that the last time I saw her was over a year ago and basically she turned up at my house xmas eve, drunk, with her bro and sister, they ate kfc and then went home - so ten minutes. Every year we throw a party for our mates, she never ever comes, her flights are always scheduled to avoid it, or the one time she did come, she turned up for an hour then she headed off to the airport. She never asks about me. Never. I think she doesn't even know I got promoted. She asks nothing about the wedding except who the groomsman is that matches her. Everyone else asks me, everyone offers help, another friend volunteered her mum to work in the kitchen on the day and to help set up the day before, everyone wants to help except not her. Everyone wanted to come to my dress fitting yesterday, but she's never even asked me about it.

It's hard to trust your gut, but sometimes you gotta do it. Don't second guess yourself now.

I won't, I know I did the right thing, the person I asked to replace her has had her dress ordered and we even found her shoes. Already. I should of gone with my gut orginally and not asked her because I knew something like this would happen where it turns into drama rather than being the fun organised sorted out day I want.

Don't sweat it. You did the right thing.

Sometimes you just have to let go. Breathe. It'll be fine. Sounds like the person who ended up replacing her is a better choice.

I agree with la's comments. Life is hard sometimes, and I have spend many hours waking up each morning always trying to figure out on how to get over with, how to figure the money problems, how to pay off credit card and so on. But I need some opinion from you guys, my supervisor kinda of worry about me, he made a suggestion that I stop(quit)working for a year, then come back. So what do you think? He also told me that if you worked past 5 years, then you are "safe", they may hire you if you wanted your job back. But I never liked my job anyway, I had a years of "hardship", but endured of doing a good job. but the others are just slouching anyway.

Sounds like that was a bridesmaid in need of a firing. Good call.

You did what you had to do,it's for the best. Good for you for doing it! She doesn't sound like much of a friend anyway.

don't worry, moonit. you did what you needed to do. none of that will matter to you on your wedding day. i've only twice been asked to be a bridesmaid, but six or more times have been the friend asked to plan the bachelorette party. knowwhatimsayin? no one gets away without a neon-lit limo.

You know I realised this morning that if she wanted to be a part of it all, she would of contacted me back by now and said so. My new improved bridesmaid has already started planning. She's crazy so this could be interesting!

i sucked my thumb until i was 13 years old.

i am in the process of divorcing a few of my high maintenance friends, as part of a new year resolution to clean out the last little bits of drama from my life. also, i had two friends break up with me last year, and i can't say i blame them. such is life at this juncture.

Me too Sarah, (thumb sucking).

I'm taking long baths in 50f water these days.

When we finally were in a hotel with actual hot water and a clean bathroom in [redacted] I took a bath and then I took a shower. I hadn't taken a bath in years and years. It was so good. So. Good.

I sucked my thumb until I was eight and learned to ride a bike the same year. When my best friend was moving to Seattle (and having the resquite going away party) a little over a year ago (she's since moved back) I made a 5' tall, 6' wide cake out of cardboard. Everything was gathered and transported in a combination of busing, walking and biking. When another friend had a birthday a month later, I patched it up, borrowed a friend's cargo bike, and rode with it, fully assembled on the bike (it came apart in four pieces) through a crowded street fair on the way. I never know if the smell of doughnuts will be amazing or make me sick.

I didn't drink coffee until age 22, and I didn't eat cheese until I was 28.

I ate cheese when I was 5, but I didn't poop cheese until 28.

I only started eating tomatoes in my 20s, I always thought I didnt like them, but I love them... don't like eggs though.

You guys are weird, except if I remember about sucking my thumb until I was 8 years old too...

i outgrew a fish allergy around the age of 26. i had asthma from age 8 until one day i realized i hadn't used the inhaler for over a year, and that was around age 24. this morning i pr'd 3 lifts: shoulder press 95# deadlift 215# back squat 170# i am floating ten feet in the air.

i bite back on my anger more than anybody i know. my relatives tell me i'm more guyanese than my other siblings. i firmly believe cliques are for cocksuckers. i think burningman is for cocksuckers, too. i don't suck cock.

i thought guyanese said gayness

little guyana is right up there on richmond hill. better yet, take the train to crown heights. lots of "gayness" over there. you tell 'em. let me know how that works out.

http://tinyurl.c om/4e45nyd

I just walked alone across town for the last hour and a half, perfectly fine. People leave a lot of lights on they don't need to. Stepped on the cat when I got home. Thought I'd killed her, but she was merely insulted. Planned to be home over three hours ago, but when you're told you can hop in a cargo bike to go along with all your friends, you kinda have to.

mark. would be willing to loan to me my own private space on these boards for writing? i don't want to publish anything more than text and maybe some photos. i'd like to be able to share my space with other people who are going through a similar radical change in their lives. i have not the engery nor the desire for publicity to launch something under my name. but these comic sans words, white on black, they are so much a part of what it has come to mean to write. i could use a spot of my own. and i'd be willing to pay you, or trade for an assortment of exquisite goodies. not joking here.

Sarah, you don't know how to use "HTML" code?

alas, i can't do that sort of thing any more. i used to, as you know, have personal WAYD boards and the like, but today i have not the time, energy, or inclination to manage or deal with that kind of stuff. i mean nothing unkind or annoyed in saying no. i feel like you are asking me to build a tree house in one or both of our neighboring back yards. tree houses were cool once. if, someday, i re-plug in one of the asspensive perpetually-licensed message board softwares i bought for a couple of failed ventures, then private forums and such would be built in. as would all the other annoyances of 21st century bbs software. i don't know... maybe i'll think about it, but you can find lots of other options out and around

no worries, i totally understand. it seems so stupid to register yet another domain name at this point in my life. i mean, what am i going to do, use my *blogger* account and reinstate syrup? hahahaha. shudder. i'm going to have to get over it and throw something up here at home. pen and paper just doesn't cut it anymore. when was the last time someone tried to buy a journal? they all have stupid sayings on the front. or flowers. or paisley patterns. who can write in something like that?

Let see.... help Sarah create a new website: Sarahbji.com , how does this sound?

Oh, Sarah, ever heard of "www.Blogspot.com?" Just sign up and it's free! :-) I had one of my own, but it's a little embarrasing... Ha!

I am wearing heels today for the first time in years. I want to take them off, but I know I need to practice for the wedding. Also, am sick of the wedding. It dominates everything I do - how the hell did that happen?

oh girl. get used to it. wait til marriage. and babies. talk about domination. enjoy these days.

moonit, I can feel your "pain", it is the things that you wanted to get married. remember? Sarah, have you consider www.blogspot.com for your own blogs?

Dr Pepper, do you get commissions from blogger? I really like creating little altars and leaving them in random spots.... on a shelf or in a cute little box. Also my natural state when unengaged is rather meditative.

uh huh. I could not tie my own shoes til fourth grade. If Pamela P. had not taught me to eat paste, I would have not learned even then. I thought there was something Pamelish in it for me. In knots since.

la, if you read the rules and instructions, maybe... yes. but, hey, I didn't said you might makes some commission, just read the instruction ahead before you do this. I just liked my own blog for pleasure and no one knows about my blogspot.

uhm... i don't believe that was the question i asked. two things to add: * i still have a baby tooth * i realized last week that i want to raise children, not just teach them. while in the art museum.

la, I raised my children by paying child support, married for 4 years and divorced for 13 years until my ex-wife's and son's death.

I am having a test tomorrow..... ugggghhh... It is the dilemna that I am having tho.. we had a snow/rain mix up last night. Funny thing was that yesterday, I was on my way to work and noticed a dead deer. Apparently he/she got hit by a moving vehicle, ok? I noticed that the head was missing! And now, I just got a w-2 for I.R.S. last night.

Another thing you don't know: I have always had high anxiety, well medicated with alcohol for years, then remarkably stable most of my single years, and now reoccurring. I dislike California traffic. I dislike panhandlers. I dislike staying with people... so I will be staying in a hotel for next couple nights. There is six/eight inches snow at home, bright blue skies and 60's here, but it is a humid wet cold evening off the San Francisco Bay that chills me to the bone. Anybody round San Fran let me know. Will have next week with little to nothing to do.

My current pulse is 66 and SPO2 is 97.

Never been to California, I was told by few people(especially the Canadian) saying California sucks.. I dunno what it is.

I am going to Washington State next month. I think I want a bunny. Sometimes I mark up the local paper in red pen and leave it anonymously on their doorstep.

I am going to Washington, D.C.; and Providence, Rhode Island; next month, weather permitting. I miss Amtrak. At cunnilingus I sometimes remember graffiti written on a college bathroom toilet stall: "I LIKE TO EAT PUSSY AND GET MY DICK SUCK OFF." Underneath a commentator wrote "SUCKED, NOT SUCK, YOU MORON!" I disagreed with the commentator. I appreciated the ecstatic primalness of "GET MY DICK SUCK OFF". It evoked abstract expressionist imagery of an ambiguous being which could be interpreted as a male human DUDE getting really good fluttertongue on the tip of his cock and losing his ability to articulate his feelings. The first few times I cunnilingused (in college) I remember thinking "Why don't I put this on a plate?" I told that to a high school friend who asked "How could you keep going without laughing?" In 1995 I drove from San Francisco (to Seattle) intending to kill myself. I called my mother from a place that I think was called the Driftwood Motel (off of Route 1 in Northern California), to tell her that this was it, I was going to drive off of Route 1 in the morning, but I never said the words, and never did the deed, but I remember driving up the coast excited but petrified at how easy it would be to jerk the steering wheel to the west and go down. I drove up the rest of California like I was on a highwire, blasting Dvorak cassettes like I'd never heard music before. I felt safer and saner in Oregon, where Route 1 twirled east, away from the coast. I did some suicidal dances along the East River in New York two months earlier, and two months later. I don't do that shit any more. To quote Ronnie Hawkins: "I turned 41, I don't mind dyin'." I wish I could have known Helen Levitt. I know a guy who wrote a letter to Stacy Horn. Stacy Horn sent the letter back to him with spelling and grammar errors circled in red pen. I know someone else who, out of nowhere and for no apparent reason, told me that Stacy Horn could go fuck herself. I do not know why he said that, but at least I never met Stacy Horn. I like to eat pussy and get my dick suck off.

Hi Mark, I haven't ride Amtrak in almost two years.. missed that train...

Is *that* why guys do that fluttering thing? I just always find it creepy and try to make it stop. *cough* I am going to NYC next month. Let's all just change places. Which chair shall we take away. (talk about domination?)

Hi Heather......:-)

Dr Pepper, Are you aware that Heather made some comments about you? I don't think that she likes you. She does not like when you comes on the board every often.

Sometimes I think I'm destined to be fat. I seriously just don't have the willpower to lose it; I'd like to, but I just can't get that mental shit together. I don't know if its because the pcos makes it harder that I give up earlier or what. Sometimes I wonder if counselling would help get my head in the right space for this.

J, Are you aware that I don't think you are J? Regardless, it has nothing to do with like and everything to do with wanting more information, otherwise there really isn't anything to say.

Look at the comment that you made above.. see it for yourself...

What?

Platy, come visit me! I'll show you real good time.

agatha! I'm going to be in Bellingham for a limited time only, and then Seattle...in the airport.

It's my birthday. No school today, so my big plans include breakfast and a pedicure. I've never had a pedicure so a birthday seems like a good day to do it.

Happy birthday Pez!!! It's my 60th birthday on Wednesday. I am in San Fran, Oakland at the Bay Bridge, Woodfin Suites, to be exact, visiting sons and etc. Working and playing on balcony in 60 degree weather. Heather, come visit Carol and me. It's close. Dinner at the least. How awkward would that be? I've eaten Persian, Thai, Japanese, pizza (arrgh), and miscellaneous healthy things now for a few days, detoxing. I am addicted to fried lotus leaves and chili sauce.

So are you in Oakland or the city? No entiendo. I am not all that awkward so I guess it depends on you.

I see. I thought you would be at Jack London Square, but you are in Emeryville. Near what we call the "scary food court." Nothing particularly good is walkable from there that I can remember.

Happy belated, Pez! Mine was the 12th, same day as Howard Stern and Kirstie Alley. Wife's is the 30th. Not sure whom she shares it with. I too, like sarah, love scalding hot showers all year round. Wife is pregnant with twin girls, due in June. Just got the iPhone 4, replacing a crackberry. I don't like it -- that virtual keyboard is made for Audrey Hepburn thumbs. Oh well, at least I have a camera on my phone now. I'm loving this winter -- it's been good as far as winters go, doing what winters are supposed to do. Being cold and snowy.

LOL! Dougie...and congrat for a twin! Double Trouble is coming! Have fun as usuall.

YEA!!!! Dougie,I'm so happy for you!!!!

Actually so but CJ and I are walking it anyway. Had son's car for a couple days, now bereft of transportation. Went toPoint Reyes yesterday (not on foot of course). Tomorrow for my birthday we are going to Korean BBQ place I like somewhere in Berkeley. Would love to hook up and meet sorabjite number two in person. I have only met one before. Not at all awkward if you wish...neither my wife nor I are cannabals or neanderthalic...and meeting you in present of said wonderwife will give her glimpse of my online life. Email me at betnomore at g mail dot com if you have an hour and want to meet up. Easier is my cell 314 265 2440. You ARE in San Fran area right? Today we are staying likely mostly in Berkeley area til evening, not sure where for dinner. Both my boys are foodies, so it is an adventure every meal. Have yes eaten at said scary food court. It's not that bad. I like the Borders and we have gone between Borders and Barnes n Nobles on 4th street. Last nite had wonder burger at Chop House in Oakland. Curried carrot soup creamy and tart, and argula salad and steak tri tips. But i stuck with just burger and skipped the Underarghh bitters at the meal's end as it was 88 proof. With one son in cheese and the other in wine, it is remarkable to visit them. Also made sausage with them a few nights ago. Woodfin is a great little hotel with some good stained glass art in lobby. I thought it was rennovated recently but i am told that it was built in 2001. I think it is an interesting hotel. I picked it b/c only a few blocks from sons' apartment and what I thought was a bart station but it really unfortunately an Amtrak station. Seriously, call us.

why is it that i've been doing website work professionally for 12 fucking years, but i cannot figure out how to work a facebook page or google adsense. this is how it goes, though, doesn't it? the eventual descent into senility cannot be denied. i'm fucking pissed.

it's not you, facebook page controls are a nightmare even when you're young n hip like me. yeah that's what i am...

My people don't like using the phone. At least for that talking stuff. Fb can suck it. “With this technology, we have finally defeated privacy!"

heather - i've read that line a dozen times, but i will say this: when you are trying to use fb to achieve the greater good, you appreciate the others who use fb to do the same. that said, FUCK YOU FACEBOOK.

i've always thought cunnilingus was overrated.

my kitchen counters are Formica faux granite. it would cost about $150 to replace them, but i can't get around to it.

i like to get it up the ass every now and then.

seriously. fuck you, facebook. ctrl-z x100. fuckity fuck fuck fuck.

I am not understanding the "read that line" line.

Anyway, if you mean the one about privacy, it is from Better Off Ted, that I watched because someone told me to. It has nothing to do with fb but has so many applications in my daily conversations that it is hard to forget and gets applied to fb on a regular basis. I think I don't know anyone who works there, at least I have that. What the hell am I talking about? I am not entirely sure. I drank a lot of caffeine at a meeting last night and didn't sleep until 3 despite reading things to myself in spanish that I couldn't understand. Then I woke up at some sane person's regular time for plans that don't seem to be whipping up.

CONGRATULATIONS DOUGIE!!! I am so happy for you. I think I will buy some chocolate to celebrate. If your wife's birthday is January 30th, she shares it with Ian Michael, the wee toddler.

I officially turned sixty at 515am this morning.

my birthday is january 30 i slept until 2pm, so i could wake up to snow. plan worked. when i was in college my mother called to ask me what "fellatio" meant. she pronounced it fell-ott-ee-oh, and said the strange word just inexplicably popped into her head. congrats dougie! i will brush my teeth, eat a pickle, and get a haircut to celebrate.

happy day, daniel

Happy day birth, Daniel!

Thanks all! Happy Birthday, Daniel! My wife shares her birthday with some cool people then!

what are we congratulating Dougie for? i missed it.

"Wife is pregnant with twin girls, due in June. "

oh YAYAYAY! that is so exciting. congrats Dougie. i have another friend due with twins in mid July, and my neighbor five doors down is due with triplets in about a month. holy babies! Dougie, are you have girls or boys or one of each? how is your wife feeling?

Congrats, Dougie! I had a dream last night that Mark redesigned the boards with all this web 2.0 shit, it was awful.

It says twin girls right there. Although, I could be hallucinating that.

I can't imagine three brains inside my belly. Two, maybe, but three? yikes.

no joke. my neighbor is having 3 girls, to boot. two identical. i used to get really creeped out thinking about there being brains and eyes in my abdomen. i can't read. well, really it's that i need glasses. also haven't been sleeping well lately. everything is blurry these days. in any case, yay girls! i love having two girls, it's a lot of fun right now, even though i know there is hell to pay later.

Twins+Gemini's I loves it.Happy Birthday Dan,my oldest spawn's is the 29th of Jan.,busy month it is.

Ah Sarah, Yes three twin! or triplet There was a doctor who is actually a triplet! When I went to the clinic on numberous occasion, At that time, I didn't know that there was triplet doctor who worked there, the first one was "friendly" or assertive person, the other time later, When I saw the person again, I recalled was friendly was a aggravated one! I was puzzled by that and told myself " I thought that dude was friendly" and didn't like him, later on my different visit, guess what? he looks very passive! When my dad noticed my med bottle that shows the Dr's name , he went like "Ah, yes" and he said " Which Dr ?". I told him " What are you talking about?" He said there are triplet doctors, and I went like " No way!" I told him on my several visit, the first one looks friendly, the second one, he doesn't look friendly and the third one, he looks scared of me. He laughed .

Turn your head n cough. thanks for the birthday greetings. Wonderful day and days surrounding said birthday. Spent some time in the books at William Stout's architectual bookstore in San Fran. Good reading.

Yeah, Happy Birthday Old Fart!

Happy Birthday Mark!

Well.. some ppl may forget your Birthday! Happy Birthday Mark..

Happy PepperDay, Everyone!

happy birthday mt

jaq=mt, believe me.

i don't believe you

i don't believe you

pepper, you may be the last person on earth that I would believe about anything.

too slow!

happy birthday, mark. fuck you, you ass. xxooxox.

(-: to heather....... Hi Heather!!!!

Oh, these two guys, jak and jaq comes from the same source....

how strange! they go to such lengths to seem like 2 different people perhaps they have a MPD?!

jac, I am afraid that you have a M.P.D. Cause minutes ago, jak and jaq comes from the same I.P. :-)

everyone in nyc shares the same 3 IP addresses, pepper. you know that. we know you're on to us.

Heather, get yourself a new boyfriend or a hobby!

Prove it!

Happy Birthday Mark!!!!

1 day late :-)

aha, thanks, i slept until 2:30 and spent the remains of day wandering around a blighted area where 2-bedroom apartments go for $1350. i spotted a weird "Sean Bell 50 Shots (fuck)" monument and possibly the worst painting of Barack Obama ever injected into the public realm. and other innnnnteresting things. i noted the 2-bedroom rent because i am thinking of moving to a place half that size that costs more than double that, but i will probably just stay lazy and go nowhere.

Wait? What, what? File under things I should not encourage. Happy birthdays and babies, all. Mine will be in March, the x annual Night Library, feel free to attend. Most of you. Daniel and I had coffee. It was remarkably normal considering the possibilities and the decor of our local cafe. That makes, eight? Damn. You fuckers are like pokemon if I was all crass and shit. Which I am currently. Pardon me, I am a bit cracked out. If everyone could lighten up on the self-deprecation that would be awesome.

i just sucked face with a high school principal

That is awesome. I think.

How how am I or any nominal antecedent like pokemon??? Coffee was good. Heather is real kind.

when using the microwave to cook or heat something, i always set the time to a nonsensical number. soften butter: 13 seconds. heat up fish sticks: 1:07. warm up coffee: 47 seconds. etc. at all costs i avoid even minutes, half minutes, and quarter minutes. been doing it so long it's just second nature. and for no reason except that there's no reason not to.

Mark ΐЅ ǻ ыˉЅеЖцάГ

I usually just use the Micro Express setting on my microwave sarah -- 30 seconds is the default, or press it twice and it's a minute, three times, minute and a half etc. At self serve gas stations, I always pump it to end in a 0 or 5, even if I have to overflow it a bit to get there. Superstitious that if I don't, this tank may be the one that I get into an accident with. If an attendant is filling, it doesn't matter to me what he ends it on though.

isn't it weird how we acquire these habits? i have an obsession with the ice maker. i use a lot of ice every day. on nearly a daily basis i will check to see how much ice is in the ice reservoir. if it gets below half full, i get a little freaked out... even though i realize i can simple walk up to the store and buy more if i need to. just watered and fertilized the plants in the back. now inside surrounded by stacks of paperwork and filing. listening to The Roots on Pandora while i work. later i'm gonna attempt to make strawberry daiquiris, using fresh and frozen strawberries. not for me; i generally don't like rum.

For the last 15 years or so the only button I've touched on any microwave ever is the "popcorn" button.

Yes, very weird sarah. When I take a shower, I just use a bar of soap -- no washcloth. And if I scrub 5 times under my right armpit with the soap, then I have to do the same number on my left (the number is irrelevant when showering, but it has to be an odd number) Also, 3 back and forth swipes of the deodorant stick each day. No more, no less. When I used to smoke, I'd smack the pack 3 times before opening it to tamp down the tobacco so it would light easier.

Shower order: Shampoo hair, scrub face. Rinse. Condition hair, shave pits, shave legs. Wash body while shaving. Rinse. Whenever I can, I use lavender-scented products. And no washcloth either: I lather up my hands. Occasionally I'll stray from the lavender for walnut. I love the smell of green walnuts that drop from the trees in June. They're late this year, the size of peas when they're usually as big as ping pong balls.

I usually shave my beard one time each week, shaved my arm pit bi-yearly. I usually fills my ice cube tray for each time it runs out. I usually pressed "One minute" microwave oven button at work when cooking my lunch. I usually wash my hand before and after I use the bathroom. I usually looks both way before crossing the street to my car. I usually check my lottery ticket before shredding it. That's about it. Ha ha.

Yes la, nothing better than the smell of green walnut skin!

beta, is that because you only use the microwave to make popcorn? or does 2:35 work for just about everything?

i've had fewer than 10 lovers.

Sometimes I cry at ads on tv.

I cry at the ASPCA ad with Sarah McLaughlin singing Angel. Damn, that's the world's saddest commercial.

fewer than 20 lovers...karen1, jill, mary jo, kathy, nameless1, nameless2, rita, dannie, leslie1, karen2, karen3, karen4, carol, leslie2, mary, brenda,

Holy shit, that's the same as my list!!!! Back to the shower: 1. get wet all over 2. engage trictotillamania bar soap from Lush. com and rub head sides of head back of head, and tail of pny 3. soap cheeks with bristly things on them, not the lower bubbly ones, and then shave 4. rinse hair and face and engage soap and pits groin package and one eyed periscope and rinse 5. enagage wash cloth only then, resoap, and scrub everything again within reach 6. pray that allah will forgive me for not washing feet (seldom, very seldom)and things out of reach 7. turn scrupulously hot water on to cold as I can stand cold water and rinse and meditate on the change, feeling the reset of thermostat as Antigone elsewhere has described. 8. turn water off and retreive clean (must be clean, used never before) towel and wrap everything up. Everytime I leave the island (Anna Maria FL) I reflect on the writing of another poem about dying there, which I think takes the place of actually following through on monstrous self destructive urges at the edges of the welcoming gulf of mexico. But maybe you knew all this.

I still don't know how to drive.

I'm peeling a dozen hard-boiled eggs.

i knew that about you, agatha. you're a scooter gal.

sitting here trying to remember, but for the life of me i cannot recall the name of the dude i lost my virginity to! the hell, doesn't that seem weird? british exchange student from surrey... tall, blonde... goddammit. nothing. blank. after that i could name them all.

Marty. Half Persian, half Peruvian. All asshole.

persian and peruvian? wow. he must have been smokin hot.

I had such a crush on/was terrified of him.

My grandma died in the night.

Last one for now: I'm dating a Republican.

WOW, La. Sarah, I sold my scooter. :(

why did you sell your scooter, agatha? what is your primary form of transportation now? why are you dating a republican, la? i was under the impression that republicans aren't even allowed in portland.

Ivan!

He's a local, like me. And he's quite liberal for a Republican. We haven't discussed politics too much, but he's a mentor and volunteers for Yellow Brick Road. I dig that part.

There are plenty of things about you people that I don't want to know.

i have my 13-digit library card number memorized.

for Tig: http://gettingstronger.org/2010/03/cold-showers/

i just wanted to see if tig made it through them damn tornadoes what hit dallas yesterday. talk about stress.

Yep, I'm still here. One tornado was spotted close to where I was (Addison) but it must not have touched down.

Ya, sarah, methinks I overdid the cold habituation thing this year. Showers are probably OK, but the ice baths might have suppressed my immune system too much and gotten me sick. I think the high stress I've been under also did that, so I got hit by a double whammy and was sick for about a month. I'm still trying to kick some upper respiratory ickiness.

sorry to hear that. yeah, and the crazy allergens don't help a bit. a little stress, good. a lot of stress, very bad. but it thought you'd enjoy reading the article in any case.

I did. :) Thanks fer posting it.

Droopy,Antigone, two days ago,it was 6 years ago when a tornado tore through where my late ex-wife and her husband once lived out in a beautiful country outside of a small town, my son was one of those people who got killed. Today is my 13 years with the company. I was hoping for the best that Antigone should be over with the divorce mess. eventually, things should be alright.