Overheard at the bus stop.

"Patagonia is, like, J. Crew to North Face's Gap."

Ahh, I think you mean The North Face, preppy post-college kids. Conversations like these always remind me of my suburban high school days.

But those kids turned out to be cool when I dropped my cookie sheet on the bus. "Oh, at least there weren't cookies on it! That's what I was worried about!" It was a nice moment of everyone looking at me (heyyy, attention!) - at least, a nice moment of quasi-community on the bus. A friend and I had a difference of opinion today on riding a crowded bus, and I'm not saying that I love standing on a moving bus or anything, but I think the extrovert in me can't hate being surrounded by so many people.

So, I LOVE THE INTERNET. And if you want to know why, well, it has a lot to do with why I like talking to strangers on the bus. Read "Plug In Better" for a little bit of it.

P.S. Did you know that Mr. Darcy's income, in today's terms, would be SIX MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR? I feel like I don't quite understand these things in old-timey pounds. And, Austen fans, please go immediately to Men of Austen.

strangers, being stalked.

bonus points if you can use my complaints below to find out where i went on public transportation today!

:)

hung out with one of my biggest blogfans this weekend, and he heckled me a little for trying to be "mysterious and anonymous" on the blog. [he also calls me FRB in public. i like it.] i mean, i realize my identity may be obvious to most of you, but i like to think it's not clear to strangers - right?

everything is amazing, part two.

today on the bus, i waved at a baby in the car next to me. the baby did that "i'm going to give you a suspicious look, then i'll smile" thing that babies do, and she said something in baby language. her mom was like, whaaat? then she looked back and saw me jamming on my ipod [to dmb's before these crowded streets - remember THAT album?] and waving at her baby, and she smiled. i smiled back. and just like that, i felt like i was in a liberty mutual commercial.

it's a good thing liberty mutual is my insurance company for real, or i'd feel really awkward about how much i love their commercials.

then i came home and had this picture in my inbox! bus tracker for EVERY route, guys!


and i went for a run!
and i didn't get rained on!
and my favorite blogger is back!

i didn't think it was a great day at first, but man. look at all this cool stuff that happened.

my future?

thanks to the many people who sent me this story about a friendly and interesting cta driver. he's not the guy i heard the other night, but please note this.

He met his wife, Elaine, because she had the same reaction I had: She was a passenger on his train and she was curious about this guy who made the unusual announcements.

can i please, please be that girl who is the only one to notice the cool thing that someone does? i feel like this might be in my future. "hey, i love how you ________!" "really? no one's ever thought ________ was cool before..."

right?! [and one more that wouldn't fit.]

"welcome to the train fantastique. that's the fantastic train."

cta adventure! that's right.

i got on the brown line friday evening and heard, "this is a brown line train to kimballllllaboard." see how he did that? that's clever. but, for those of you who don't know, the cta drivers don't usually talk. they have a recorded voice that can say pretty much whatever. and usually when they do talk, they sound appropriately bored and distant.

so, of course, the excited-sounding driver made everyone nervous.

at the next stop, he said, "will all the people with chocolate sculptures please come to the front? i enjoy chocolate..." some people behind me were like, is he high? what's he talking about? and i sat quietly, admiring the chocolate sculpture the girl in front of me was holding. [not very observant, my fellow passengers.]

when i got off the train, the driver was leaning out the window [i'm not sure how it works other places, but on the el, the driver looks out the window to make sure everyone's on the train] talking to chocolate sculpture girl, all "why didn't you come up?" and she was all, haha, thanks, whatever. now, the driver was cute. i told him thanks for talking. and he was like, "there were chocolate sculptures!" but then he had to go. he was driving a train.

would you all still be friends with me if i dated a cta driver? and, do you think he'd let me drive the train? i'm just asking.

after the train left, i was walking next to the girl with the chocolate sculpture and asked her about it. while we were talking, i ran into a pole. it was one of those incidents where i wasn't like, "crap, i ran into a pole" - more like, "why am i not walking anymore? and what just hit me?" it's always a little embarrassing, though, especially with a stranger who might think i'm crazy.

all googly!

i'm a top hit!


i feel proud. even though it seems like the way to get people to click on my site, then leave immediately [i'm like, stay, guys! look around!] is to name a post with lyrics from a kind of obscure indie rock song. sorry to disappoint you, google searchers.

but look! in a search that people might actually make...


are you looking for a catholic blog about faith and reason? then stay! but, apparently, beware of my sometimes-hatred for catholic bloggers.

an interesting piece on public transportation - kudos for mentions of convenience and people's assumptions of what we can and cannot do if we don't own cars. i remember overhearing a woman [with a baby in a stroller, too] asking if she could interview that day, instead of coming back the next day, because she had taken the bus [in the un-bus-friendly city where i grew up]. and, in chicago, i had a neighbor who walked with a cane who used to walk up the million steps at our non-accessible train station. and, when i scoot to my seat as the bus is already moving or climb over ice piles on the sidewalk, i think there might be other reasons that older people move to the suburbs. city life seems to demand a certain amount of health and ability to get around, especially if you're living on a budget... in a building without an elevator... commuting without a car...

faster! i demand it!

many of you know that i looooove the cta. really love it. but it's made me get used to taking a long time to get places. so i leave really early if it's important, or i carefully bustrack, or i plan on being late. and i bring a book. and my ipod. and a water bottle. and a map.

so, anyway, tonight i was waiting at the bus stop and realized i'd never make it home in time for grey's. and i took a cab. i'm not sorry. but, as is my wont, i was chatty. i breezily told the cab driver that i was taking a cab because i wanted to get home before grey's. and he was like, "i'll do my best!" then i remembered that i was paying him, just as he did some illegal driving maneuvers. and it was awkward, because i was like, "oh, it'll be fine! don't get in an accident, really." but i think he just thought i was being nice about the serious demands i make on my cab drivers.

i just saw a local political ad in which two kids are, supposedly, bickering like the candidates do. [i know, it's like - get it? politicians are childish?] then the local political candidate comes in and says, "i support this message, because as president obama said, it's time to put aside childish things." gratuitous obama-quoting aside, i say - do you know you're quoting THE BIBLE, there, local candidate?

some of you will be proud to know that tonight, i learned that it can be enjoyable to walk a dog. but i also narrated the entire walk, out loud, as if i were talking to a person.

"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.

"if i could FIND YOU NOW..."

got a delicious burrito today. and yesterday. yesterday, they cooked the outside of the burrito on a big grill, the rice was yellow and delicious, and the man said "claaaaaro que si" when i asked him if he had any salsa for me. [i find the spanish language, in general, charming. i think it would be different if i were actually good at speaking it.] today, there was no rice, i got chipotle flavor and fat-free black beans [whatever], and the burrito was really spicy and delicious. i was a little disturbed, though, when the guy taking my order didn't speak spanish. then i was a little disturbed about being disturbed. [i was meta-disturbed.] anyway, did i mention that it was delicious?

as i got off the bus, a neighbor with his dog may have seen me do air drums to this song. am i a fifteen-year-old boy on the inside? maybe.



but THEN, on the way home from the bus, walking got very treacherous. but only in some spots. my theory is that something under the sidewalk is making only some spots melt and then refreeze, but under the snow. [i should have been a scientist.] so, every ten steps or so, i'd unexpectedly and suddenly lose my balance and have to catch myself. but then, all of a sudden, i just BIT IT. it was one of those falls where i didn't even rememeber thinking, "oh, shit, i'm falliiiiiiiinnnnnngggg..." nope, no slow motion at all. just BAM and, "hey, why the hell am i on my back on the ground? and why's there all this snow on me?"

it was unrelated to the air drums, just so you all know. i had already moved on to being distracted by a little kid and his cars-themed one-shoulder backpack.

so i recovered by rocking out to this new find, which i love.



yes, my brother got an electric drum set for christmas and played along with his ipod for like three days straight. why do you ask? does it seem like i've spent a lot of TIME with him recently?

:)

breakstone's fat free sour cream is totally the diet dr. pepper of dairy products. seriously, those guys have CRACKED the diet technology. how do they make it so good? and do you think they'll ever make ice cream?