Post-lets*

* (Not to be confused with Post-its, which are both trademarked and not particularly relevant here.)

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Trading Places

Yesterday I started my lawn mower on the FIRST PULL for quite likely the very first time ever. This victory comes on the tails of my excitement over free wine and free concert tickets, and I am convinced it is a sign that good things are afoot. Not just for me, either, but for those around me, too. My pal Carrie is a finalist in a cooking contest this week, and even my friend Eeyore (not his real name, of course, but a nickname given due to the gray rain cloud of misfortune that persistently follows him) is feeling convinced that his luck is turning. More specifically, he is convinced that his bad luck somehow transferred to the roofer who fell off his house while working on it recently. I saw this happen in a movie once, so obviously it must be possible in real life, too. Of course, in the movie, Lindsay Lohan's luck changed for the worse when she kissed a masked stranger, and as Eeyore assures me he did not make out with his roofer, some other mystical switcheroo must have transpired. Regardless, it's a lovely thing to feel the universe is giving me and mine a gentle pat on the shoulder rather than a swift kick in the rear, and I am hoping it means this August will be decidedly less craptastic and sucktacular than usual. One can dream.

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Analog Girl in a Digital World

That cooking contest Carrie's in? It also includes an appearance on the local news tomorrow morning. I'll be at work by the time it airs, so I set my VCR to capture her TV debut. Yes, I said VCR, which I know is a foreign and archaic gadget to most of you but which still works just fine for me. I didn't even realize until recently how few people still use VCRs, so oblivious and ambivalent am I about acquiring new technologies. Tonight, I had dinner with Steve (you know--my laptop benefactor and car repair consultant) and his lovely girlfriend, and she laughed and said, "You're kidding, right?" when I mentioned programming the VCR. No, I was not kidding, though Steve's girlfriend isn't the only one who thinks VCRs have long gone the way of the laserdisc. I texted Carrie earlier to let her know I'd be taping the show, and it turns out "VCR" isn't in the T9 texting dictionary, either. Of course, the T9 texting dictionary is also missing other key words in my lexicon ("fucking" becomes "ducking" and "Stef" becomes "Puff," to name just two key examples), so maybe T9's vocabulary is what's lacking and not my home technology. Or so I shall tell myself while I'm winding my clocks and hand-wringing my laundry.

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Must Love Dogs (or Rather, the Dog Must Love ME)

I am a huge fan neither of children nor of dogs, and yet, I get an instant warm, happy feeling when someone tells me that their child or their dog likes me. Why? I don't know. Because people who do like dogs and children have told me that dogs and children are excellent judges of character and I want to believe that the dog or child is right? Because I believe that if someone's child or dog likes me, that person is more apt to like me as well? I do not know, but there you go. Thing that makes me smile for no real reason #142. "Stuff you never knew about Stefanie for $200, Alex." Moving on now. Right.

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Backhanded Compliments

Tonight when I ordered my tiki drink, the waitress carded me, which isn't so strange, given that lots of places have a "We card everyone" policy. Hence, no commentary was needed, and yet? The waitress looked at my ID, handed it back to me, and said, "You must have really good skin care. You look a lot younger than you are!" Which, OK, thanks. Lovely of you to say so, miss. Except wait a minute. Did you just call me old? I sort of think she did. Sigh.

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I also like "Interplanetary" and "Poughkeepsie," but those are probably harder to work into a name

In the past year or so, I've noticed a number of bands with one word in their name in common become a band-of-the-moment at essentially the same time. Eagles of Death Metal got fairly frequent airplay around the same time as Department of Eagles entered the scene. Ladytron, Lady Sovereign, and Ladyhawke have all had hits in simultaneous rotation. And lately, I thought I'd found another one: Animal Collective showing up at the same time as Cage the Animals. Except I realized this evening that it's not actually Cage the Animals; it's Cage the Elephant. Regardless, if this isn't a deliberate marketing tactic, then perhaps it should be. It seems to be working quite well. I am wondering what the next word to link two or more band names might be. I am sort of hoping for "Yeti." Record executives, take note.