we’ll see in a few minutes.
This weekend, I’m getting my coffee ready, reading the back of the starbucks bag. Apparently, if you buy a bag of starbucks coffee beans, when you bring the empty bag back to starbucks, you get a free tall coffee. So I’m like “cool, fine, I’ll do it. Save the planet or whatever”.
So this morning I go to do that. I go to starbucks, awkwardly hand her my bag, and I also buy another bag of coffee, and without hesitation she begins ringing up my free coffee. (I spent an unusual amount of mental processing time trying to figure out how to best phrase “I’m cheap and spend all day collecting coupons.. Take my garbage and give me free things”.. in the end, I just said nothing).
Then the girl is like “you know, just keep this old bag. Because you get a free coffee anyway when you buy a bag of beans. So just come in the next time you aren’t buying beans, and use it then.” and I’m all “ORLY. So what, do you guys like recycle these bags or something?”
“Nope, we just throw them in the trash”.
BUH!!! It’s all a secret ploy to trick people into coming into starbucks.
So I’ve discovered the secret of the universe.. how to get infinite free coffee from them (sort of). At least 2 a week, anyway.
I got the monitors off my desk today. According to my math-u-lations, hanging the mount between 2 studs should be more than adequate support. It’s much heavier than it looks though.
Toto got me this for my birthday, and I finally got around to installing it.
My new Electric Rotisserie. I even uploaded the most boring 25 second video on the face of the planet, but you KNOW you want to watch it.
I couldn’t believe how easy this thing was to install.. my grill already had all of the holes perfectly bored out, all I had to do was screw it in and let er rip.
I installed my new rain barrel today. That little doohicky going off the down spout diverts water away if the barrel is too full. As well as completely destroying any hope of eensy weensy spider ever climbing up this particular water spout.
I’m expecting this thing to fill up pretty quickly, since this downspout covers about half the roof.
This is as close as they’d let me get. The room was absolutely packed.
He’s the little white dot left of center.
And the place is completely crawling with secret service.
My very first trade show that I actually get to attend, and work the booth, and shmooze. Some of the booths are extremely fancy.
Others, not so much.
And some of them are just completely insane.
There was one booth that was just a giant pile of sand. I didn’t quite get it.

Monday at 11:30 I get to see the keynote, by everyone’s favorite non-economy ruining president, Bill Clinton. Good times.
Last friday, we saw the Counting Crows/Maroon 5 show at the meadows, in the rain, and it didn’t disappoint; it was a great show.
The next day, I just so happened to be sitting outside a vintage clothing store, in NYC, waiting for karen, listening to the new counting crows album on my ipod, watching all the people walk by. The album cover art looks like this:
I just so happened to look up, and to the right, and saw this:

Small world!
Other highlights:
1) Ate rabbit for the first time, at Pamplona’s on E28th st. Tastes like chicken (it really does). Great restaurant, really good food. The menu (spanish cuisine) is completely unpronounceable, but the wait staff was more than patient.
2) Saw filming of “Night at the Museum II” outside of the museum of natural history. yes, there is going to be a sequel. Sorry.
3) Saw Cleopatra’s needle for the first time, in central park. Very obelisky.
Surprisingly easy to find..
Simply load your trunk with fresh cut pine logs, park your car at the airport in the middle of july for a week, and go pick it up. Your car will have the most amazing fresh pine scent imaginable.
This weekend I tried on Daryl’s assault vest. The kind with the ceramic plates designed to stop an AK-47.
That thing is HEAVY. And when you add the side plates? SUPER heavy! Once you actually get it on though, it’s not that bad, it’s actually fairly comfortable, but I bet having to do stuff all day in it would get real tired, real fast.
It also doubles as an effective means of disciplining your children…
It’s not much, but I think it TOTALLY counts.
Exactly 13 months old today.






















