Stuff and whatnot

State of the Stefanie address: it is humid, I am tired, and my head hurts. It is humid because it's July in Minnesota; my head hurts possibly because this morning I had caffeine for the first time in several weeks (that is just a theory; it could be entirely unrelated, and I haven't even consciously given up the small amounts of caffeine I generally drink, so I don't know why that theory would even occur to me); and I am tired because I stayed up too late last night engrossed in that ridiculous vampire book.

You've heard about the crazy vampire books, right? The whole Internet is abuzz about them. It doesn't matter that we are grown women who have presumably little business reading something sold in the Young Adult section. I was not in the target demographic for Dawson's Creek, either, but that didn't stop me from getting fully wrapped up in the drama of Joey and Dawson and the "will they or won't they?" suspense. There's something momentarily appealing about putting my mind back in the mundane day-to-day details of high school life without actually having to revisit those days myself. In this case, however, it's high school drama and teen love plus vampires. Tell me, who wouldn't revel in the ridiculousness of that?

So. Reading about teen vampire love is what I've been up to lately. That and baking and packing for a couple of days at a friend's cabin this weekend. I shall be contributing chocolate chip cookies and seven-layer bars, as per usual, as well as a couple of bottles of wine likely destined to become ghetto sangria. Yum. (Do you know about ghetto sangria? Mix red wine and cranberry juice in more or less equal measure. Add a splash of lime juice if you're feeling extra kicky. Voila. Instant summer refreshment without all the fuss of slicing oranges and lemons and such.)

As if jumping from possible caffeine headaches to vampire love to sangria recipes wasn't disjointed enough, how about I do this post up Funky Carter style and give you a little Friday Randomness? And since I haven't done a Friday Five in a good long while, how about I do so in five-point form? All right then.

1. Something surprising happened in the checkout line at Target recently. No, I did not run into another former meMarmony date. What happened was the teenaged cashier asked me "Paper or plastic?" and I said, "Actually, I brought my own bag," and instead of looking at me as confused as if I'd just responded, "Hockey puck, rattle snake, monkey monkey underpants,"* she instead said, "Oh! Great! You actually get a 15 5** cent discount for each bag you bring!" What's this? Yay! A store other than the co-ops finally gets it. Thanks, San Francisco. (I can only assume they had something to do with this.) Furthermore, the teenaged cashier saw the reusable mesh produce bags in which I'd stashed two avocados and asked, "Are those reusable vegetable bags?? BRILLIANT!" I'm glad she was as excited about them as I was when I first learned of them. Maybe there's hope for all of us yet. In fact, I am proud to report that I have remembered to bring my own bags shopping so often lately that I am nearly OUT of paper bags in which to sort my recyclables for pickup. Yay me. (Also, note to self: Go ahead and forget your bags once or twice every now and then. You'll actually need a few old paper ones next recycling day.)
   
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   * Bonus points to anyone who remembers where this reference is from. Incidentally, the points cannot be redeemed for anything of value.
   
   ** Whoops. I meant 5, not 15. I saved a whopping 15 cents total by bringing three bags. Just thought I'd clarify for anyone who was jealous of Minnesota's seemingly inordinately generous bag credit policy.
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2. I am well aware that all things old are new again and that I should just shut up already about the ridiculousness that is the return of leggings and bubble tops, but can I still please draw your attention to the fact that American Apparel apparently decided that Hypercolor needed to see a comeback as well? Really, I don't know why this should surprise me. The meeting where that decision was made likely involved the same people as the one in which they decided to start marketing a skirt that I bought last summer as a dress. I actually like this skirt quite a bit (click the "Cranberry" link for a better view), but even if I were 23 and had the AA cup size that the "White" and "Lime" models are sporting, I can see no reason to make it a multi-purpose garment.
   
   
3. Speaking of things I don't need to purchase, did you know you can grow your one "1-up mushroom" right on your desk? You can also make your living room look like a Mario board. I know what my little sister wants for Christmas this year.
   
   
4. I have been mostly ignoring my Sitemeter account lately, but when I reviewed the weekly report today, I saw that approximately three times as many people as usual visited Stefanie Says on July 7. Are people really that interested in hot electricians? Was I linked on some sort of "Sexy Servicemen" site that I'm unaware of? Since the basic Sitemeter account stores detailed data for only the past 100 visits, this is a mystery to which I'll never have an answer, but it's curious to me anyway.
   
   
5. And finally, a poll, if you will. My next-door work neighbor has been in the habit of abruptly moving or minimizing his Internet Explorer window every time he hears me coming around the corner. Apparently my noisy flip-floppy Born sandals aren't enough of a warning for him, though, because the maneuver is never quick enough that I don't see it. My question is, should I tell him, "Listen, buddy, I really don't care if you're on the Internet at work," or should I let him continue to believe I have any sort of power around here and could actually get him in any sort of trouble for that sort of thing and lecture him on the virtues of work ethic? Because we all know that I would never use my employer's Internet connection for anything but the most important and work-related of purposes. (I'm sure none of the rest of you would either.)
   
   

And on that note, I think it's time to fill out my time sheet for the day and shut down and head out of here. Happy weekend, all!