small world

out for a run this morning i saw a guy who i'm 99% sure was one of my college roommates. benjamin. not ben. benjamin.
he was a total jerk. he couldn't stand me, and told me frequently...often in japanese, just because he could. he was lazy. he complained a lot. on the off-chance that he was in a good mood, he'd dance around the house singing japanese songs in a little girl voice. he always wore sweats. always.
i'm very certain the guy i saw this morning was him. i was running up a hill, he was slowly walking down it, in sweats, ha. i actually thought to myself, "typical." and i'd recognize that knuckles first flat-footed gait anywhere. i didn't stop to verify his identity, if it was him, neither of us would have been interested in saying hello.
but this inspired me to do a little internet investigating to see where he ended up, if he's in sf. i don't remember his last name, so all i have to go on is uc davis, benjamin, and japanese (his major). i can find nothing. this made me want to look up my other old roommate, raj, who was totally awesome (christian can vouch for this). i know raj's name, i know he moved back to southern california to be near his aging parents, and still i can find nothing. and i'm a really good internet researcher (rach). this is driving me nuts, but don't worry, i'll get over it.

eeeeeeeeeee!

i'm meeting mikey, this adorable blonde boy, on saturday!

kind of a little excited.
i can't tell if claire cares.

UPDATE:
mikey was bigger in 3d than 2d, a little too big for me. the search continues...

unintentional covert ops

location:
roof

time:
8:30 pm

supplies:
two five-foot plastic gutter segments, with end caps
super fancy swiss army knife, evidence left behind after christian's car break-in years ago
leftover bracket pieces from front window box installation (i knew they'd come in handy one day!)
bucket
dirt
odwalla oj gallon bottle full of water
hammer
nails
hoodie
head lamp

result (in about 6 weeks):
swiss chard
kale
mixed greens
butter lettuce
romaine

i wasn't trying to be sneaky, but up on the roof after dark in a hoodie and a head lamp kind of makes sneaky inevitable. and i didn't end up having to use the hammer/nails. woot! i hate making holes.

monday's pup

here's another cutie i'm after

pup hunting

it's official, i'm in the market for a pup.
don't know how long it's going to take to find the right one, but yay!
i'm looking for someone tiny, i'm not so good at staying put on weekends and i need to be able to bring a dog with me in my bus/train/plane travels. unfortunately i'm not a big fan of small dogs so this could be a long search.
i'm hoping to meet this little italian greyhound mix soon:look at those ears!!

greetings from michigan

what winter looks like
grandma bought bricks at the new otsego library (robert fergusson's my grandpa)
grandma and charles
this one i just liked
valentine made for me by a kid at church
tea ladies
ry gave me nice yarn for my birthday, i had to make something pretty out of it. ma helped, but now i know how to use a pattern!
it was a great trip, i ate so much, almost a full pan of blueberry buckle, and i'm kicking myself for not getting a picture with auntie em!

come on feel the illinoise

winter bikes
it's called the willis tower now
union station
union station warpy stairs (if you look REALLY close, you can see that the stone is all lumpy and worn from 85 years of use, neat)
all aboard!

also difficult

getting 7 miles in before 6am.
i needed until 6:15.

conundrum

go for a run...or continue sitting here rotting my brain watching the bachelor?
run.
but it's sooooooo cold outside.
shiver.
and that allie girl is on the ground crying, so dramatic! what could happen next?
seriously tara? run. NOW.

this is why it's easier to run first thing in the morning, before i'm awake enough to argue my way out of it.

ok, out the door. brrrrrr.

saints!

you're welcome saints fans! i wore fancy gold and black...
and i made red beans and rice. they had no choice but to win.
gamblin'...
and eatin'. another wonderful superbowl party at rodman's!

and i stained my old rocking chair and moved it into the house. my mom used to rock me in this when i was a baby, it got a bit dated, moved outside, got passed on to me when ma didn't have a place for it anymore, got a bit weathered in the sf sea air....
carefully picked green stain on very thirsty old wood turned out to be a good thing. and now i don't need to buy a new chair for my living room, plus claire approves.

the bad thing about compost

compost seems to get picked up a few days a week on polk street, and it's a bit of a sloppy process.
what's grosser than gross?
having to ride through the soggy compost sludge that occupies the bike lane. picturing/feeling it spraying all up my back. so gross!
i really don't think i can take it any longer, i'm going to contact the trash folks and see if there's anything that can be done.

oh, and i almost got doored the other day. i screamed. my heart stopped. i blindly swerved into the traffic lane to avoid my demise, luckily there wasn't anyone driving next to me. i rode half a block with one hand on my mouth and one hand on my heart before i realized i had no hands on my handlebars. car doors are scary. please please please remember to check for bikes before you exit on the road side!! thanks!

janvier!

awkward triplets

happy birthday brie!

yosemite!
idaho!

sundance! (all from wendy)

jackie on a whale! and other fun things (hello sun!) from the lawrence hall of science