Meet Sassy Pants
This is Sassafras, also known as Miss Sassy Pants (on days where she’s being particularly sassy)
After playing with one of my friend’s gerbils a few times, I decided I was ready to introduce a little furry rodent into my life. Thus, Sassafras.
She’s pretty fiesty, but surprisingly friendly. Her cage is on my dresser, right next to my desk, and whenever I’m sitting down she always comes running to my side of her cage and peeks out at me. She’ll stay there, watching me, and she comes whenever I make little kissy noises. She’s not too fond of being taken out of her cage, but she’s really interested whenever I open her cage door. We’re taking it one step at a time.
Welcome to my world, Miss Sassy Pants!
A Few of My Favorite Things
I decided to do a happy post. So, in true Sound of Music fashion, I’m going to tell you about a few of my favorite things. Here are seven things that make me smile really really big.
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one) I really really like Valentine’s Day. I think I’ve only actually spent one or two of them with someone I was dating, but that was never the point. My sister loves the holiday, and loves to use it as a way to express love not solely to significant others, but to people who are important. Like family. So we usually pick a day close to the holiday and spent it together with our mom, eating lots of chocolate things that will, as Kyle likes to say, put us in a sugar-induced coma. My mom decorated the table with pink and white and red little lovey things, and filled a pretty white dish with the best candy ever, See’s hearts. They only come out once a year, so they’re very very important
two) I think I’ve spotlighted her enough on my blog, but nothing is better than the cutest puppy in the whole world. Right now my mom would be a little irked to see her sleeping on the couch with its super-cute new cover but I think she’s cute enough to get away with murder. So I let her. Right now, though, she’s snoring. Her favorite things list doesn’t include staying up super late writing happy things, even if mine does. She prefers a reasonable bedtime, but she’ll settle for sleeping in late with me in the mornings. Isn’t that nice of her?
three) I am addicted to art/writing supplies, and my newest favorite things in that department are the new journal, bottom, and sketchbook, top. My cute new journal has neon-colored paisleys on the cover, which is the coolest thing ever, and my classy new sketchbook looks simple and sleek. The inside contains full-paged pen & ink drawings and testings of my new chalks.
four) Rarely do I have the excuse to buy a new cooking book. Especially with my mommy the excellent chef always at hand, I never lack for advice in the kitchen. But we both agreed I need a personal guide to baking, since that’s my favoritest thing in the kitchen. There’s an understood quiet rule that you can only buy aesthetically beautiful cookbooks and this one certainly achieves it. It has full-page pictures of the finished products, as well as about five pages with pictures of “perfect” goods compared to under-, over-, and other -cooked bads. The best part is that the book was seriously discounted and we got it for a steal. Also, it’s pink, which is all I can really hope for in a book. I can’t decide to make madeleines or raspberry thumbprint shortbread cookies first. Such a dilemma!
five) While the person who bequeathed him to me is no longer a person I’m in friendly contact with, I have to include this lil lemur guy on my happy things list. Most find him creepy, others find him disgustingly, childishly “pop” cute, but I find him irresistibly perfect. He is too cute for his own good, but not in a bad way. And in an illogical kind of way, that statement makes sense so shush. He is my friend and I shall tolerate no ill-will on his behalf. If a reader of mine doesn’t understand why he is perfect in my opinion, then I think you’re missing a fundamental piece of information about me. I like the silly, the whimsical, and the creepy-cute. He lives on my bookshelf and guards the cup of tea usually resting to cool next to him.
six) This is my newest favorite happy escape book. It’s by the same author who did my other super happy favorite escape book, City of Dreaming Books. I need this book the same way I need this post, and I like it. It’s full of silly scribble illustrations to show me what’s going on, which I appreciate. It makes me remember how to be whimsical and fantastical which I’m pretty sure are two of the most important things in my world. My author has written another book, as well, so I’ll have something the next time I need a brand new favorite happy escape. Yay.
seven) While reading a good book, I’ve found a cup of tea is essential. It’s very very very important to my sanity to have it readily available to sip on, and over the years I’ve narrowed down my four favorites. I like earl gray in the morning, jasmine and peppermint throughout the day, and then peppermint or chamomile when I try to sleep. I like other brands of tea as well, but this brand I buy for the name. It’s a super silly indulgence, but I don’t much care. I like that my teas, all lined up in a row, say “stash” on them. I’m allowed to have these kinds of indulgences, right?
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This is what my face looks like concerning all these seven things (except less posed, I think). These things are what I think of when the dog bites, or if a bee should sting, or if I’m just plain feeling sad.
I like that all I have to do is remember them, and then I just don’t feel quite so bad.
Also, singing that song should be my not-so-secret number eight. Hush
When I Grow Up
I want to be this kind of grown up
I really don’t know what else I want to. I don’t have a clue what I want to be when I grow up anymore, but I know that I want it to somehow incorporate this concept.
Some would call this a good step. 
Reading List: Fiction
These are the books that were important enough to me to move. At least, most. Of the fiction. This list doesn’t include any of the non fiction, and I think I’ve left some fiction in the car.
The Fountain
Flight 1
Flight 2
Ghost World
V For Vendetta
Watchmen
Fun Home
La Perdida
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Snow Falling on Cedars
The Republic
Selected Poems (E.E Cummings)
Selected Poems and Letters of Emily Dickinson
Collected Poems (Edna St Vincent Millay)
Ten Cents a Dance
Loose Sugar
The Complete Novels (Jane Austen)
Collected Fictions (Jorge Luis Borges)
Eaters of the Dead
House of Leaves
The Inheritance of Loss
* The Brothers Karamazov
Crime and Punishment
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
The Name of the Rose
Jane Eyre
* Lolita
Oliver Twist
Great Expectations
Collected Stories of F Scott Fitzgerald
Madame Bovary
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Everything is Illuminated
Smoke and Mirrors
Interpreter of Maladies
The Namesake
Unaccustomed Earth
The Hour I First Believed
* I Know This Much Is True
A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines
Einstein’s Dreams
One Hundred Years of Solitutde
Collected Stores (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
On Chesil Beach
* After Dark
Kafka on the Shore
A Wild Sheep Chase
* The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles
The Elephant Vanishes
Against the Day
Gravity’s Rainbow
Fathers and Sons
Fancies and Goodnights
The Twentieth Wife
White Noise
Anil’s Ghost
Divisadero
In The Skin of a Lion
My Name is Red
* Anna Karenina
War and Peace
Hearts in Atlantis
The Gunslinger
The War of the Worlds
The Time Machine
Dune
Ender’s Game
Speaker for the Dead
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
Les Miserables
A Barrel of Laughs/A Vale of Tears
Wainscott Weasel
A Rat’s Tale
A Wrinkle in Time
A Wind in the Door
The Neverending Story
The Giver
Dragons of a Fallen Sun
Dragons of a Lost Star
Dragons of a Vanished Moon
Bold means it’s there because it was a recommendation/gift
Italics means it is really high on my priority list
Strike Through means I’ve already read it
* means I have every intention of rereading it in the near future.
Amazing
I love the past hour and a half. It was the most refreshing, renewing, supportive hour and a half I’ve had in months, and it had proves that I know what’s best for me–it included ALL of my favorite things!
I met with a friend for coffee, and we both commiserated how frustrating life can be together. We’re both at our respective ropes’ ends, and we just talked for a little bit about how much it sucks–how it’s hard to watch people you love, or people you used to love, turn bitter and mean, and how frustrating it is when you’re forced to change your plans and when you have to live on someone else’s schedule. And we hugged, long and hard.
And then we went to the swing sets. We swung (I never know what the proper past tense form of the swing set verb should be), we talked about awesome children’s literature (Phantom Tollbooth–it’ll have it’s very own post soon, I promise), some really awesome sci fi/fantasy (Ender’s Game, Hitchhiker’s Guide, etc).
We made up little fantastical stories about men only a millimeter high, and what life would be like, and just really enjoyed ourselves. And he summed it up great at the end.
He sighed, and then laughed and said he likes those kinds of sighs.
“Those deep, full sighs that mean you know you’re going to be upset and sad and frustrated tomorrow, but you can enjoy this moment and know that you’re good and happy right now”
Snow
I love it. I love the snow. I don’t think I love any type of weather more than I love snow. It rocks. Maybe it’s because I grew up in the desert, maybe it’s because I’m just a human being, but I love snowflakes and snow and and and and….
I’m just so sad to hear all the snow-hating that’s going on. It’s a lovely, lovely thing that Seattle doesn’t experience NEARLY often enough and we should all just suck it up and start enjoying it. 
Plus, when you look at the faces of these two puppies, I dare you to not be equally excited about the wonderfully white, fluffy gift from the gods. They loved the snow more than just about anything, and it was just hilarious to watch them bound through it.
Yeah We’re All Going to Get in a Fight!
This post is, in essence, an ode to my sister. She’s great at a lot of things, and I’m sure horrible at some. But this is just about highlighting one of her many talents: comforting the recently single. She rocks at it. She is better at bashing my many exes than I’ve ever allowed myself to be. I’m nice to them–I’m sure some readers of this can even attest to it, how I defend my exes (well, they’ve just heard me defend one, but I defend them all, really).
It got to the point where I had to ban her from even saying Sabina’s name, she could be so wonderfully nasty about her.
People like to joke (at least, they used to. It’s faded as we’ve grown up) that we were like twins–we used to look like it, and we’ve always acted somehwhat like it. If it was true, when it comes to break ups, she’s the bad twin. And I absolutely love her for it.
Because she’s not a mean person. It’s not like she hates everyone I date and just waits for the break up to release it (at least, she’s never let on to me that that’s how she feels!). She’s just really good at letting me know how why I should hate them when it’s an appropriate time to feel hate, becauser I can never come up with enough reasons (sometimes, any).
So about a month ago, we were driving in her hot little car feeling like hot little girls and we were playing the radio loud. I didn’t know the song, but you catch on pretty fast to the lyrics. When I started laughing and singing along, she told me it made her think of me, post-breakup. I think it makes me think of me when I’m around *her* post-breakup!
“So so what?
I’m still a rock star
I got my rock moves
And I don’t need you
And guess what
I’m having more fun
And now that we’re done
I’m gonna show you tonight
I’m alright, I’m just fine
And you’re a tool
So so what?
I am a rock star
I got my rock moves
And I don’t want you tonight”
(the chorus to Pink’s So What song)
We listened to that song really loudly, drove to the place we used to live and then “broke in” to the clubhouse’s hot tub and went skimpy dipping (skimpy= in underwear). We flirted our hot little ways out of trouble with the security guard who checked up on us.
The song just seemed to fit so well. Plus, whenever I get a little grumpy, I hear Pink’s fabulously strong voice shout “We’re all going to get in a fight!” and I just feel a little bit better.
So in the end, I love my sister for being able to hate my exes when I can’t. Because I rarely can.
Enjoy!
A Slight Obsession
Okay, some of my friends and family might disagree on my use of the word “slight”, but whatever. I’m sure I’m not even HALF as bad as other little fanboys and fangirls out there. I mean, it took me like a friggin week to find the new trailers.
But omg omg omg *squeal* Watchmen is going to be so awesome. And if it’s not, well, come two in the morning on March 6, I’ll be crying like the little baby I’ve always feared I am.
It shouldn’t, though. I mean, I know Alan Moore would disagree with me heartily, but it seems pretty faithful to the graphic novel. I’m sure there’ll be some “updates” to make it relevant to current culture, but from all the stills and movie clips they’re releasing (and boy oh boy are they releasing a bunch), it looks like it’ll be good.
So yes, I’ve jumped on the bandwagon (fuck, I was one of the FIVE PEOPLE who recognized the trailer in Dark Knight’s opening at IMAX), but I jumped a while ago. I jumped when the bandwagon was just a couple of tricycles tied together. Okay, maybe not as early as all that, but still. Five people recognized Watchmen during Dark Knight, and I was one of them (I was the one who forgot how to breath, I was so excited).
It’s, if not my favorite graphic novel, definitely top three. The Fountain (I know so many people preferred the movie, but I really really liked the graphic novel better. I know. Shoot me) and Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta are its highest competitors.
Super stoked. Both the European trailer and Comic Con clip are online, and I really liked the Comic Con one. I found it on iTunes, though, which I kind of prefer because then it’s on my computer and I’m not waiting on my internet connection. They show some pretty cool movie shots, and I’d say they’re both worthwhile to look into (if you’re as much into it as I am).
The Best Building EVER
Bellingham beaches hold lots of secrets, if you only walk down them for long enough. My favorite such secret is this building–I have a slight obsession with it. It’s decrepit, it’s falling apart, and it’s going to fall down in less than a year, I guarantee it. Oh what I wouldn’t give to go see it now that the snow is drowning Bellingham.
To get the full impact of this first shot, look for the waterline. Then you can orient yourself properly and see how far this building is falling over. I’m not even sure what this building was originally supposed to be, since it is just a one-room shack about twenty feet from the railroad tracks. The top floor is the base of the building, with the bottom (where the brick ends and the strong graffiti starts, in the picture) being the main foundation. Every inch of both floors of the inside are covered in graffiti.
The top floor, with the huge hole in one of the walls, wa
s scary to walk in–it looked like you’d fall, like the floor wouldn’t hold up. Jeremy walked all over it the first time I went there, and I was brave enough the second time to walk it with Dylan. The slanted floor is pretty terrifying, though. I like that not all the graffiti is something I would necessarily consider “art”, but the colors are so vibrant and varied that it doesn’t really matter.
What looks really cool is the wall with a huge hole in it has an enormous stylized skull painted on it. I could spend forever reading the tiny little messages and signatures on all of the walls.
As further proof that the building won’t last much longer, it’s located right on the water’s edge. As in, high tide puts the water about a foot and a half up the outer wall. You can get into the structure of the building crossing in front of the wall, next to the water, and in through the side. The second time I went, it was high tide so we had to roll our pant legs up (well, I was in a skirt so I just had to hold it up a bit) to cross, and when we got to the bottom floor’s entrance, it was pretty well flooded. Very cool, no?
This is my favorite part of the outer wall, what with the bright colors. The crack going up this part of the wall is bigger than the shot shows, though. The first time I was here, Jeremy tried fitting himself in between it to get into the belly of the building, and very well near succeeded. He was about halfway into it when he paused and mused that there was probably an easier way to do it. That’s when we discovered the huge hole in the side opposite the direction we came from.
This is what the belly of the building looks like, and it is by far the coolest part. When the floor is flooded because of high tide, you have to stay on the cross cuts of stone to stay dry, but when I took the shot (when the tide was out) you could easily walk on the bottom. A bottom which was surpsingly clear of spiderwebs (I didn’t know at the time that it was because high tide would drown the little suckers). They (the spiders) inhabit the top of the bottom floor, though, which was pretty gross.
