Friday, September 29, 2006

Five under Five

Sometimes, my Friday Five topics come easily, just popping into my head at some unexpected moment. Other times, not so much. Usually, I'll just be thinking about some small, not-quite-postworthy-in-itself thing I want to write about (like how tired I am of people who don't understand time zones or how half the men on eHarmony think The Da Vinci Code is great literature), and I'll realize I can swiftly find four other somewhat related trivial things that sufficiently fall in the same category.

This week, however, nothing's really coming to me. Or rather, everything that's come to me is either too boring to bother enumerating in list form or doesn't prompt enough additional thoughts to make it up to five. (This is kind of sad, actually, as the whole reason I started doing the lists of five is that I didn't think I could make it to thirteen.)

Anyway, here instead then are five ideas that didn't make it far enough to be a Friday Five.

Note: Why do I have a feeling this is going to be sort of like the "Deleted Scenes" section of a DVD? You know, where you watch a couple and then say, "Yep; there's a reason they deleted that"? If that is the case, I do apologize, and I assure you I will try to come up with a better list next week.

  1. Three things that made me smile this week

    • Realizing that the new flavor of my trademark lip balm smells like Strawberry Shortcake's friend, Raspberry Tart. Yum. (Yum to the smell, I mean. Not to the idea of actually eating poor Raspberry Tart.)

    • Seeing, on my way to work today, a bright pink sheet of posterboard proudly advertising the "Sale O' Sales." As a general rule, I'm not much for garage sales (thrift sales, yard sales, rummage sales--whatever you call them in your neck of the woods), but if I were to attend a sale today, I assure you it would be that one. I dig a merchant (amateur or otherwise) with a sense of humor.

    • Walking into Cub Foods yesterday and remembering that it's Honeycrisp season. Whoo! A fruit to get excited about! A fruit for which to wait all year! Apparently I'm not the only one to get behind the Honeycrisp (as if I had any doubt of that). Wikipedia just told me it is, as of this year, the official state fruit. Who even knew there was such a thing? Yay for the Honeycrisp.


  2. Two songs that got unexpectedly yet persistently stuck in my head this week

    • Sisters, Sisters (by Irving Berlin, featured prominently in White Christmas, a movie that has actually always annoyed me, for reasons I can't really explain). I heard this three days ago, during the hit-or-miss morning show on the ever-surprising and unpredictable grab bag that is The Current, and I woke up this morning still singing in my head, "Lord help the mister who comes between me and my sister, and lord help the sister who comes between me and my man!"

    • The theme from Three's Company. Thanks for that, -R-.


  3. Three responses I have recently given to the question "What's new?"

    • "Oh, you know. Same old, same old."

    • "I'm going to New York next month!!"

    • "There's a new Shawn Douglas on Days."

      Anyone want to guess which is the only one of these to garner any additional questions and any reaction other than an eyebrow raise?

  4. Three things that annoyed me this week

    • The fact that it is, as my friend Carrie excitedly proclaimed recently, "Skirt and Boot Season," and yet nobody is selling any damn skirts that I like at all. The gauchos that were everywhere last year have been taken in a bit to become some weird cropped trouser things instead, but I still much prefer a skirt to any damn half-pants. You hear me, designers? Skirts, I say!

    • Gilmore Girls. Two words: Logan. Christopher. Ugh--enough. I'd say, "You're skatin' on thin ice, Palladinos," but even they've washed their hands of this exhausting mess by now, so someone else is to blame for beating these dead horses at the moment. And yet, I will keep watching. We all know that I will. Crack that whip, Gilmores, you've likely got me until the end.

    • The news that the Republicans have picked St. Paul as the site of their 2008 National Convention. On the other hand, today's email from the Minnesota DFL did amuse me, with its subject line "The Republicans are coming. The Republicans are coming." As did Al Franken's response to the news on The Daily Show the other night. So I suppose it's all about perspective and the right frame of mind (and about having two years to come up with appropriate pranks to pull in honor of their eventual arrival in my town).


  5. One reason you should stop by Look at me today

    • (Aside from the usual reasons, of course--i.e., that he's smart and witty and nearly always entertaining) Because it's Darren's birthday today. But since probably at least half my site traffic originally came from Darren and/or Nabbalicious in the first place, I suspect you already knew that. Still, it bears repeating since he deserves to have a fabulous day. Happy Birthday, Darren!


And that concludes my Friday less-than-fives. Have a great weekend, everyone!

10 comments:

stinkypaw said...

Raspberry Tart lip balm IS a good reason to smile, as well as fresh apples (Honeycrisp & all)!

I was in shock (almost!) this afternoon when I saw the new guy, WTF? I want the "real" one back! They already switched Belle a while back and she never came back, they better not do the same with Shawn... Especially that lately they've been bringing back the deads!

I'll keep watching Gilmore Girls as well, because their dialogues is just too much. But the deal with Christopher, enough! BTW, did you know that "Michel" is actually an actor from Montreal, who's actually "faking" that bad French accent?

As for Darren, been there done that! ;-)

Guinness_Girl said...

Would you believe I have never known the joy of a honeycrisp apple? I'd mourn that, except that I'm still grieving over the apparent absence of Jonathan apples from the entire friggin' state of Pennsylvania. Transylvania, I should rename it. Yes, that last "sentence" (har har) is very yoda-esque but I am too lazy to change it. Although not lazy enough, apparently, to not ramble about my laziness. Whatev.

-R- said...

My random comments in random order:
Sorry about getting the song stuck in your head!

I prefer the winesap apple to the honeycrisp, but I have heard many conversations in my office about the glory of the honeycrisp. The people I work with are weird?

You are going to NY? Any special occasion, or just for fun?

I am not looking forward to the Republican convention. It will be good for the Twin Cities as far as incoming money, but ugh.

Anonymous said...

I've never heard of the Honeycrisp. Is this bad? Well, I intend to look for some now and try one! It sounds like a cereal, something I'm very down with.

Hooray for skirt and boot season. But I'm with you: where are the cute skirts this year? I can't find a damn one of them!

And SCREW those cropped trousers. Those things are hideous.

Stefanie said...

Spaw--I haven't even watched Days recently (I've been lazy about the health club the past week or so), and the only reason I even knew who the guy was is thanks to the closed captioning that puts "Shawn D:" in front of all his lines. Otherwise I'd have been like, "Who is that guy?" But I don't really watch "Days"; I swear. I can quit any time!! Oh, and I did hear that Michel was Canadian and it's not his real accent!

GG--Oh, you must try a Honeycrisp. I've heard they're not as good this year, probably due to the long summer drought, but I still can't imagine they're not delicious. I did buy three of them the other night, but I haven't eaten any yet so I can't say for sure.

R--I have never heard of a winesap. Is this something I should investigate? And the NY trip is just for fun. I've been wanting to take a long weekend there for years, and I just finally convinced one of my friends to go with me.

Nabb--Maybe Honeycrisps don't make it all the way to Virginia? I'm really not sure about that. (They were developed in MN, but I'm pretty sure they're shipped elsewhere, too.) And Amen on the cropped trouser thing. It's like they want us all to look like Oliver Twist in the damn knickers or something. I don't get it.

Anonymous said...

Well, thanks for the birthday wishes, Stefanie. That's much appreciated. Although, I have to ask: "[N]early always entertaining"?!

I've never heard of the Honeycrisp either, and I have a book that's nothing but apple pie recipes! How did this happen? I'm a Granny Smith man myself. Just so you know.

Oh, and we call them "stoop" or "sidewalk" sales here in New York.

Stefanie said...

Sorry, Darren. Was that another of those twisted half-compliments for which I'm apparently so famous? Point taken (and adjusted above).

Anonymous said...

Hey! I'm going to New York next month!

Only I'm not nearly as excited about it.

Anonymous said...

Oh those damn Gilmore Girls! I can't even watch it because my "area" doesn't carry the new station they are on, so I'm stuck waiting for the reruns on Family Channel. So upsetting....

Stefanie said...

Jenny--Not excited about New York? Why ever not?? (I shouldn't ask that. There are lots of not-so-fun reasons to go there, I'm sure. But none of those are the reasons I'm going.)

BMC--Oh, that is upsetting news for sure. They condensed two channels into one and you still don't get that channel?? Very weird. I'd say you're not missing much, but as I'm hooked despite the decline in quality, you probably wouldn't believe me.