I remember watching this on TV! I was five, and for some reason this boy-falls-in-love-with-a-girl-on-the-Haunted-Mansion story stuck with me, but I never knew what it was from until now. It's strange to re-watch something as an adult. I couldn't believe how corny this was!

A Good Way to Get Yourself De-Friended on Facebook

"You may think it is a conspiracy, possibly a coincidence, or maybe a little scary. I know the 'natural' disasters to be an outcry from a JUST God who is calling for attention from those who have TRIED to deny his exsistence."

Sorry, lady, as much fun as my sister and I have laughing about your constant status updates about couponing, I can't remove you from my Facebook friends fast enough after this little tidbit this morning. It's beyond offensive to the people who are actually being displaced by the hurricane.

Besides, if this was true, I would have been struck by lightning years ago.

iLife

Last night I looked for what seemed like hours for this watch commercial from the 80s. I wanted to post the video, but since I have no way of finding it, I'll just describe it:

Business man and business woman start their days at different points, the camera trades time between the two of them as they make their way through a crowded city street, coming from opposite directions. They pass within inches of each other. Rewind to that morning, new scenario. Here we see the man put on one of the watches they're trying to sell. It's so accurate, so precise, that when we watch them walking down the street again, he's a second ahead and bumps into the woman. We are to assume that this is his soulmate and he never would have met her if his watch had been slower. (Side note, this concept terrified me when I first saw the commercial and kept coming back to haunt me in the years that followed. Doesn't it often feel like you've got your timing all wrong?)

I wish I had film-making skills, because yesterday I started thinking about how I want to remake this commercial for the digital age. Instead of the watch thing, he doesn't see her because he constantly has his face in his damn iPhone. He doesn't see anything. The tag line would be something like Life: you're missing it.

Yesterday I went for an evening walk around Greenlake and was thinking that I complain about Seattle a lot, but I really do think it's an incredible city. Inspired by Emily's post (but I was totally thinking of it first, so whatever), here are my top favorite things about Seattle -- in the order I think of them.

1. The pace of life.

Despite a culture chock-full of gourmet coffee shops, artisan roasts, fair trade beans, and espresso-tastings, Seattle is incredibly laid back. People saunter down the street with their dogs, stopping to chat with neighbors; sit around bonfires at Golden Gardens; hang out for hours watching the Seahawks game at local pubs.

2. Pets.

People love their pets here, and I get to benefit from it without having to own one myself. Co-workers bring their dogs to work, you can't walk a block without a neighborhood cat coming to beg for a pet (before I sat down just now, I met a fat tabby outside my apartment I called Gregory. He would not let me go, but kept rubbing back and forth against my legs. When I finally went inside the glass front door, he sat outside looking in confusedly). It's really relaxing and comforting to have friendly animals around. Plus, just go to the Ballard Farmers Market any Sunday to see the cutest dogs you have ever seen in your life -- waddling French Bulldog puppies, shy-looking Akitas, stout strutting Corgis...

3. Seasons.

Those cheeky souvenir postcards would have you believe that the four seasons in Seattle are gloomy, gloomy, gloomy, and gloomy. But it's still better than Southern California. I spent my first fall in a state of shock over all the colorful trees. Winter actually feels like Christmas time in the movies (sans tons of snow). My first spring was also spent oohing and ahhing over all the gorgeous trees that just explode into so many blossoms that I want to just pat them all like a fat baby's cheeks (I get weird around flowers -- keep hydrangeas and dahlias away from me because I have to touch them. They're so poofy!). Summer, when it finally comes, is astounding -- all the colors are brighter, everything practically sparkles, and those perfect sunset hours last until 9pm.

Emily: Harry Potter would be 31 today :)

Me: Whaaaa... so he's supposed to be younger than that in the epilogue? Or does that take place in THE FUTURE? So confusing.

Emily: No, the epilogue is like 2015 or something.

Me: So why did his son have Justin Bieber hair? Don't tell me that's still going to be a thing four years from now.

So sweet. Oh Happy Day blog is giving away a week-long trip to Paris. Pour gagner il faut que je afficher le link ici. I would love to go back someday.

July 2007, the view from our hostel--home of (in my memory) the 2nd best continental breakfast I have ever had! In the morning, I would go down a curving stone staircase into their basement where they had orange juice, hot chocolate, rolls, jam, butter, coffee, and so many croissants that they set dozens of the extras on a chair in the lobby after breakfast had ended (which we loaded into our bags for afternoon snacks!).

A Tale of Two Kitties

Housesitting for two cats, Princess Fluff and Little Woe (but that's just what I call them. Their real names aren't as good). PF eats everything in sight and pushes LW out of the way to eat her food too. Little Woe gives the best forehead butts and kneads my lap. "Woe?" she says, "woe?"