things that make me laugh

friends are the best.

the other day i was feeling ok, but not amazing. in an (unintentional) effort to make my day more stupendous my friend told me a story about his childhood.

apparently he was really intrigued by the cacti in his dentist's office. he knew not to touch them because they were prickly... but one looked wooly and soft.

see where this is going yet?

he was convinced the wooly cactus would be soft and nice to touch. so he licked it.

the things i love about this story are: how hilarious little boys are, imagining what his parents must have thought, imagining the dentist retelling this story for years, the fact that this man is my friend and i could still see him doing something like this.

amazing.

the end.


ps- i know you're laughing now too.

this photo is from flickr.

swimming

i've been swimming lately. my friend kate comes with me. i used to swim all the time. it used to be one of my favorite things because in the pool i'm not clumsy or prone to tripping over my own feet. in the pool i can feel the power of my stroke and the momentum of my movements. when i first went back to the pool i was worried that it wouldn't feel natural, or that the swimmer in my mind wouldn't match up with what i was actually able to do.
the pool welcomed me back. a mile is not an insurmountable swim. i am not sore or out of commission the next day. i may not be the athlete i once (thought) i was, but i am still a swimmer.

its great.

this weekend i'll be helping a friend move. she is awesome and i'm really excited to get to spend some time with her. we will be making delicious fall treats and remembering all of our halloweens trick-or-treating together. i can't wait.

this photo is from flickr.

weekends are the nicest ever

i have had some of the best weekends ever this month. despite the fact that summer session finals and looming, and i'm still looking for a room mate for september, and a grab bag of other things that should have left me stressed and grumpy the weekends of july have been so good. better than good.

so far this month i've:
seen amazing friends
visited 2 states other than the one i live in
seen great live music (for free!)
had the best guacamole ever
hunted for delicious veggies at farmers markets
made watermelon sorbet
explored my city
gone for great conversation walks with friends that i could talk to for days
mailed 2 cards that i've had on my to do list for ages

i am so lucky.


my friend lauren took the photo. my favorite part is that she took it while i was mid-hysterical laugh. friends are the best.

friends and (great) food

things have been crazy.... i've been a terrible writer, worse than usual. finals, new classes, maybe a new job.... there is a lot of crazy floating around my life these days, but secretly i kind of love it. at the very least it is a challenge.

i went out to dinner with my friend keith last night. i don't think i've seen him (or you) in ages. we went out to my very favorite Bangladeshi restaurant near davis square and it is impossible to be anything other than content and stuffed with food when you're there. it is the greatest.

for any of you in the new england-y area you will know that the weather lately has been not of the perfect, sunny, delightful variety. i am secretly wishing for hot summer weather more like the picture. despite this it was great to walk out to a homey restaurant with a good friend. keith was only in town for barely any time. he's extremely cool and busy, but i think its awesome when people go out of their way to maintain friendships and hang out even for sort of silly short periods of time. thanks keith!

people who i imagine would totally get me

readers,
you should stop by jasmine's blog an experiment in poverty today. she and her boyfriend seem totally happy and sweet and you can tell from her writing that she makes an effort to be happy and to share that feeling. i love when people are intentionally positive and her good habits post is such an example of a simple way to make someone you care about feel better.
during my year as an americorps volunteer my team and i discovered that we'd gotten really good at congratulating ourselves on our accomplishments and recognizing what each of us uniquely contributed to the group. it made stressful projects so much better. would any of you think about trying to do this in your office? let me know what sort of reaction you get.
i'd love to hear about it.

i think its probably easier to think that nice, friendly, wonderful people are few and far between but maybe its just that we've gotten used to keeping all the niceness inside. so let it out.

i guess growing up can still be fun

so, a couple weeks ago my friend lauren told me she got into a graduate program. i am so proud of her. we've been friends since elementary school and she makes me laugh harder than anyone else i've ever met. she is the kind of person that just makes everyone around her sparkle. i wish i could be more like her in that way.
she's going to become a counselor. i love it when people want to be something because it really interests them rather than because of the material benefits.