rainbow connection

holi colors batman!!!

over the weekend, i made the drive to utah in order to participate in the festival of colors (aka "holi") which is a traditional hindu festival that takes place each year in celebration of the death of winter and the birth of spring. you can read more about it here. the most popular (and most fun) way to celebrate is by throwing colored powder in the air and sharing love by "coloring" friends and strangers.

kinda like this

or this:

taking care to avoid people's eyes, of course. that's just mean. and even though the powder is non-toxic, it doesn't taste very good, so i would recommend closing your mouth too. the festival i went to encourages such encounters, but also has a group throw with a countdown and such. everybody tosses their colors into the air at the same time and the result is pretty spectacular:

 

 after the throwing, you will look something like this:

and you can make new friends

but you might want to rinse your mouth to avoid looking like you don't own a toothbrush

i gotta be honest though, i sort of love that i drove 6 hours to do this

and spent 3 hours looking like this

awesome much?!

 

i just counted...

and i have 8 drafts waiting to become full fledged posts. sorry little guys, my creative juices are needed elsewhere...
sidenote: i have just decided that i hate the term "creative juices." it sounds like there is some sort of liquid that could start oozing out at any moment and leave a huge mess for someone to clean up. not me though. i've had my fair share of hard to identify goo. i imagine it looks something like this:

You know the worst thing about art forgery? You can't take credit for your work.

a friend of mine posted this on facebook today:

and here come the audience participation portion of today's programming...
before i share my response, i want to know what you think. is the deeming of art contingent upon it's being shared with others? please, chime in here and share your thoughts, then share the question (and this post) with anyone and everyone you think might have an opinion on the matter. i'd really like to hear what people think!

Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.  ~Stella Adler

march madness

oh dear, where to begin. once upon a time (about a week ago) my boss handed me a blank copy of the ncaa men's basketball tournament bracket and told me to fill it out for the "office" pool. so i did. now i kinda wish i hadn't. see, the thing is, i really only watch games during the tournament, so going into it i pretty much haven't got a clue. i know who won last year and which teams consistently do well in the tourney, but beyond that i'm relying on instinct. by that i mean that i google the teams and make my selections based on an extremely scientific measure of athleticism and ability. okay, attractiveness. i pick my teams based on their relative level of attractiveness. there i said it. just don't tell the guys i beat in last year's pool, they'll be really upset and i will lose my falsely acquired respect and adoration. so this year, i used the same method, andi thought i had a pretty good shot, but i was TOTALLY WRONG!!!! my bracket is a mess. falling apart right before my eyes. it's really kind of depressing. march madness?! more like march sadness...

"merlin, i'm tired of being a squirrel. it's nothing but trouble."

but mostly i'm tired because sometimes i stay up WAY too late doing things that could totally wait until tomorrow. you know, things like changing the look of my blog.

left right left right left

a friend brought this to my attention and, because i'm awesome, i'm bringing it to yours. FREE MUSIC!!! follow this link to download some free music from coldplay. if you don't like coldplay, check yourself and then go download this album

sleeping beauty

i just counted, and...
i have slept for almost 22 of the last 48 hours. and now i am going to bed, where i will sleep for at least 9 more. don't you judge me! i need all the beauty sleep i can get.

p.s. i absolutely do NOT look like this when i sleep. for one thing, i would never have pink curtains. also, who sleeps wearing a crown? or holding a bouquet? weird.

a fickle friend

do you ever decide you aren't going to do something, and not really have a reason? i do. all the time. sometimes it's because i have a really short attention span (i blame it on my job. the kids are rubbing off on me), and sometimes i really do have others things going on. most of the time though, i'm just not in the mood. i realized today that i don't even know what that means exactly. as in "i'm not in the mood to do the dishes right now." duh. doing the dishes sucks. i hate doing the dishes more than pretty much every other household chore. i am NEVER in the mood to do the dishes. is anybody? how about "i'm not in the mood to go to work today." okay, bad example. i genuinely love my job and have no occasion to utter these words, but you get my point. we often let our mood, a fluid concept in the best of circumstances, dictate our behavior. if that's the plan, i think the mood ring is poised for a comeback (let's just hope it has a better plan than a certain pop star who shall remain nameless). i had a roommate once who told me she didn't date because she wasn't in the mood. she was a genius.
best.
excuse.
ever.
who's gonna argue with that one? no one, that's who. so i hereby inform you that i am officially adopting the phrase, specifically as an answer to any question directly or indirectly relating to my current relationship status. that's right folks, adopting. i think i'll let it call me mom ;)

welcome to my life

some things (most of) you didn't know about me:

1. when i don't feel well i crave really awful, extremely fattening foods. you know the kind i mean; mozzarella sticks, buffalo wings, chili cheese fries, etc.
2. i hate unpainted toenails. this hatred is less pronounced when the nails in question aren't mine.
3. i'm a jelly bean racist. i only like the white ones.
4. i will go without makeup if it means i get to sleep a little longer in the morning.
5. i love new socks. i will know i've made it when i can afford to wear a brand spankin' new pair of socks everyday and never have to wear a pair twice.
6. i have a small collection of greeting cards to be given to any number of people at some undetermined point in time
7. i am an excellent boggle player. i like to say i'm a great boggler.
8. i don't own a skirt that goes more than an inch or so past my knees. i have lovely calves and i like to show them off.
9. i have read the chronicles of narnia (all seven books) about a hundred times.
10. i can pretty much quote the following movies start to finish:
• newsies
• little big league
• empire records
• bill and ted's excellent adventure
11. the number one most played song on my itunes is "the world spins madly on" by the weepies.
12. i love to get mail. junk mail is decidedly less thrilling than the kind from an actual person, but i'll take what i can get.
13. i have never dyed my hair.
14. i love the number 14. i don't know why.
15. i should probably be sleeping right now, but i'm doing this instead.
16. sometimes, when no one is around, i like to pretend i'm being interviewed for a late night talk show. i'm not crazy or anything, i'm just getting ready for when this happens.
17. i'm awesome. okay, so you knew that one already, but now you know sixteen other things about me too!