In case you were wondering what to get me...

Makes a perfect Shanukah gift!

...that's sweeping the nation...

In Ann Arbor:

Did you hear that? Delicious in every sense!

And in Minneapolis:
Check out the photo of my gorgeous sis - she looks way too classy to be associated with a peeps diorama. Go to the slideshow, ours is the fifth one...
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/living/14336520.htm

I, on the other hand, look right at home:


I think I was singing a peeps-related diddy...possibly to the tune of the X-Files theme, which is pretty standard for me.

The text of the article is here:

http://www.mlive.com/features/aanews/index.ssf?/base/features-1/1145182252101640.xml&coll=2

And ends with the quote: "What makes us want to twist, turn and glue the poor Peeps? "It's their squishiness,'' says Greenstein. 'You've just got to squish them.' "

Please note: I *did not* say this. I was at Ulrich's trying to buy a jump drive (they were sold out) while I was on the phone with the reporter (who was fun and funny to talk with), and I believe what I said was: "They look so innocent, it just makes you want to hurt them." What can I say...cellular reception in this town sucks.

More peeps

I spent a hysterical half-hour in the Ann Arbor News's photo studio getting my picture taken with a bunch of peeps. I stopped by Right Aid for props before zooming to the newsroom for my 1.5 seconds of flashbulb fame. I am assuming the pictures will be horrendous, but enjoyed the process nonetheless.

Now that I'm finally settling down for a day of work, I find myself obsessing over, well, peeps. Evindently, there are lots of people who are use peeps as a springboard (Spring, get it) for all sorts of creative weirdness. The peeps linkage is pretty amazing.

This site has my favorite image:



Peepons. Ha!

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod

Those of you who profess to know me may know of my obsession with - the blimp. Actually, it's not blimps, per se, I would never refer to something so majestic with a name so mundane. Nay, these perfect forms are Zeppelins, are dirigibles, are lighter-than-air craft...

You might only imagine my shock and awe when I found out that there is a contest to pick the name of the brand-new Goodyear blimp. The prize? Blimp-master-for-a-day. I don't know if you get to drive, but you sure get to tell it where to go. From inside! From inside! The winner gets to ride in a blimp for a day!

Flushed with the recent peeps-related successes (I think we may have won Ann Arbor too, I have to call and find out tomorrow. Don't ask me how I'm going to make a peeps diorama be in two places at once, I haven't figured it out yet.), I feel that it is possible to win contests such as these, and thus have begun eliciting ideas. The first tries being bandied about our house at this late hour include the "Millennium Falcon" and the "Sky Cigar"... but it needs to be something amazing. I'm thinking "The Global Warmer," in reference to Goodyear's century-long contribution to carbon monoxide emissions (or perhaps the "Glacial Remnant," the "Coastal Shift," or the "Killer Storm"). Maybe "Bread and Circuses" to honor major sports' role in distracting the populace from the democratic process. Or even the "Gliding Genocide" in reference to the first Zeppelins?

So many choices!

I'm serious though, if you can think of something that might win and won't get my phone tapped, tell, tell, tell. I promise I'll let you steer, or at least work the pedals.

Honorable mention...

Who the hell wants to be honorable about it??

*****
As most of you know, you are the winners of this year's highly competitive (more than 400 entries) Pioneer Press Marshmallow Peeps Diorama contest.

For the article announcing the winners to run on April 16, we'd like you to bring your dioramas to the Pioneer Press office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Tuesday, April 11, so they can be photographed in our photo studio. We also will want to take a photograph of the creator.

If you're willing to leave the dioramas here at the paper, we'll then transport them to the Bell Museum where they will go on display next month.

The Pioneer Press building is located at 345 Cedar Street in downtown St. Paul, near the corner of 4th and Cedar. Metered street parking is available. At the front desk, ask for the photo desk, extension 5497.
*****

Note that my poor sister has to take off work to cart this melting, frosting-covered diorama downtown and have her picture taken with it! I've instructed her to knock down the winner and stomp on their entry. Pay no attention to the tears of children, they are whiners.

(Actually, I'm quite tickled that we got an honorable mention. Out of 400+ entries, eh? Not bad. Now, my mom, on the other hand, is *pissed*.)

Happiness is...

SPRINGTIME!

What does springtime mean at our house?

CLOGGED DRAINS!

The upstairs sink has been slooooow for ages now. I finally stopped by Lowe's and got a drain auger after my Bodyrolling class (yes, it is very, very good) on Sunday. After 45 minutes of poking and turning the spring around bends in the pipes (A. said it was pretty much like placing a Naso-Gastric Tube), we pulled out a mass of hair and crap that I'm pretty sure was my parasitic twin I flushed a few years back. Or perhaps the clog of hair was about to achieve the critical mass necessary for sentience, and would soon be coming out and replacing me in my real life.

And the drain in the basement that leads out to the street? Something about the spring thaw and the reawakening of green growing things makes the damn drain back up anytime we wash laundry or use the utility sink downstairs. By back up, I mean a 14' puddle slowly oozes up from the hole in the cement like some prototypical horror being. Eh, it usually passes. This time was different...this time included toilet paper. That's right - I spent part of yesterday crouched in my basement clad only in clogs and a pair of underwear, my hands covered in plastic, pulling RAW SEWAGE from the hole in our basement and shoving the black, stinking mess into a garbage bag.

OH, SPRINGTIME! Tra-la!