"have you blogged about casseroles yet?"

why, no! i haven't!

i sent an email to my lunch friends [we alternate days bringing lunch for everyone, and yes, it rules] explaining that i'm living out my 20-something rebellion by baking lots of casseroles, because my mom would never let us eat that stuff when we were little. i mean, she would cook chicken. and rice. and vegetables. and more vegetables. and lots of vegetables. but everything was separate, and healthy, and there was NO velveeta or cream of anything soup to be found anywhere. IMAGINE. so now i'm cooking with all those things. in ONE BIG DISH. covered with bread crumbs. take that, mom.

ahhh, rebelling against great parents. what can you do?

but i love the "you should blog about this" compliment. really? you think i'm funny enough to be published instantly online? OKAY! [speaking of which, same friend gave me this, which is kind of weird - it's like a blog, only old-school! because it's a newspaper.]

i'm watching the friends where monica goes to dance class to find the woman who stole her credit card. i don't think credit card thieves actually, you know, go out in public and socialize using the name of the person whose credit card they stole, but i guess this was before the internet and all. i do love the part where the fake monica hates dead poets' society so much that it makes her decide to, you know, SEIZE THE DAY. because she wasted so much of her life watching that movie. well-played, friends.

and, related time-wasters, from nbc local news tonight:
"i look at the governor these days, and all i can think of is britney spears... when she was unraveling... so i just don't know what to expect next..."
speaking of precision of language - ALL you can think of is britney spears? really? and you're afraid he'll unexpectedly release a comeback album?

also, the new head of chicago public schools is the former head of the CTA [since, yet again, someone close to me got hired by obama]. yes, this seems especially relevant to my life. but i still hate the local news.

sorry about all the links to my own blog. i can't stop.

ouch. bad day for polka.

still, this is pretty awesome. my favorite part is how he "chose to face the music."

the word of the day!!

had the most amazing conversation the other day.

c: i love that bus! it stops right in front of this amazing shoe repair place.
s: why would you get shoes repaired? just get new ones.
b: actually! in this economy,* business is booming for shoe repair places. i saw it on the news. [pause] and i'm really glad we're having this conversation, because i wasn't sure when i was going to use that information...

now, some of you may know that i kind of hate the local news. i seriously saw a story recently that used the teaser, "mp3 players may be good for your health! stay tuned." and the story was about how people work out for longer when they listen to music. HONESTLY. this is not NEWS. but i watched it anyway, because i thought it was going to be something NEW and AWESOME. and that's what i hate about the local news.

but! i do remember, from when i was living in middle middle america, that i had a hard time following conversations if i hadn't watched the news. and i certainly used the local news in conversation this weekend. so here's my question - is the cultural zeitgeist** [so to speak] determined by the news, or is it the other way around?

* bonus points for using "in this economy" in every conversation. try it. you'll be amazed at how relevant it seems. i mean, it's certainly relevant in the local news.
** "zeitgeist" is the word of the day.