Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space: http://www.morusnyc.org/ Walking tours of the lower east side with the history of squatting and community gardens at a time when landlords were burning down buildings to collect the insurance.

What McGregor needs is a more attractive alternative to the back of your skull: http://www.chewy.com/cat/kh-pet-products-thermo-kitty-mat/dp/46451 Of course I may steal it from him and stick it in my bed the next time I visit during the winter. Or maybe I should just pack my electric blanket. Or would airport security have a problem with that?

Review of Cinderella in The Stranger: http://www.thestranger.com/film/features/2015/03/11/21853218/meet-the-new-cinderella-same-as-the-old-cinderella I think Ijeoma Oluo is my new favorite Stranger writer.

I worked on a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Seth Rudetsky my first semester at Oberlin. I've been so far out of the Broadway loop that I didn't know he'd made it big until I was in NYC a few years ago and happened to see him on TV.

I'm glad you chose the canellini Tic-Tac buttons. And I'm sure it *feels* more snug than it looks, but I can see how you might not have much leeway to move your arms. If it hasn't found a home by August, throw it in a suitcase and I'll give it a whirl.

Before I saw the inscription, I thought the portrait was of Harry Caray. Illinois, you have your assignment.

"The Diva is of the opinion that no one should sing, especially her brother, because he “ruins it.” The Boy believes he should be allowed to sing because a) it annoys the crap out of his sister and b) he likes to sing." Did you crib this paragraph from a Vulcan mind meld with one of their grandparents? Because that was me and Scott *exactly*. If that trend continues, you may have a moment or two of three-part harmony ahead if the right song comes on (I distinctly remember the song "Lollipop"), but mostly just more bickering.

I have a friend in Vancouver who might be up for the Sea Wheeze. Regardless of whether she runs, we could book the guest suite in her condo complex to crash at for cheap. Too bad the Sea Wheeze isn't the same weekend as @#*&%! Seafair. I could use an excuse to be out of town when the Blue Angels go screaming past my house repeatedly.

Nifty! But the 1998 file is playing songs from 1996.

All this has happened before, and all this will happen again. The kids' great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents are buried in a cemetery next to what is now a UU church. It was Universalist back in the day, and I don't know whether they were members, but that could be a fun family history project.

I bet Amazon's matching algorithm was *really* proud of itself. Evite didn't do so well with me. After I sent out the invitations to my upcoming vegetarian anniversary, the ad that came up was for pork :(

I wonder if the uncommon-handedness is a girl thing in our family. I'm what they call "cross dominant." I write with my right hand, but am perfectly happy mousing with either. But don't ask me to shoot pool or a bow and arrow as a rightie, because my left eye is dominant.

Alas, poor Trout. We're running a kitty hospice here too. Junior's cancer may have metastasized and it's looking like he only has a few weeks left. May they both wave their fluffy tails jauntily while they can.

Kicking imaginary butt in slow motion (tai chi).

Did the soup have croutons and grated cheese? Halfway to Russian, I tell you. OK, you probably figured out the crouton part, but did you know they were bread croutons? I'm not sure what other kind of crouton there is, but I suppose there's no harm in being specific. Only four cloves of garlic in a garlic soup recipe? Is that recipe for just one serving?

My Moosewood has a scorched spine, from some roommate of yore. What was the occasion of the unthrilled flag-holding? We were just reminiscing last night about my high school sit-down strike over the daily pledge of allegiance.

A propos of Brazilians, wisdom from a porn star: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/i-love-television/Content?oid=4683778&hp Amen sister, amen.

I happen to know Jeny (yes, she spells it with one 'n') of the surprisingly stretchy bind-off, and I'd been meaning to send you that link for ages now. See, if you procrastinate anything long enough, someone else will do it ;)

My best friend from high school and/or her husband (I forget the details) once got stuck in traffic at that duck crossing because there isn't an actual signal for the ducks, not that they would know how to use it. So the ducks were milling about in the middle of the intersection, and there must have been youngsters among them, or I imagine they would have just flown away, so my friend/s actually got out of their car and herded the ducks to safety, much to the relief of many frustrated motorists.

I still have my Christmas Opus, and the great big one that I put a beret-ish hat that my grandma crocheted on. It looks like he's wearing a shower cap.

The report from Seattle: Borders didn't have their act together as of yesterday. They were waiting for five copies to make their way from some warehouse to the Knitting shelf, which, contrary to its claims, is *not* sorted by author's last name. Barnes and Noble didn't have it on the new releases table, but did have several copies on the shelf. So I used the gift card they gave me when I returned the Spanish-English dictionary I bought that was missing the pages with English words starting with the letters C through F or so. Too bad I didn't discover that until after I arrived in Mexico.

My favorite from the above link: "Make a squirrel excluder of 4" diameter plastic pipe, 18" long, mounted over the opening, pointing down at a 45-degree angle." Wheeeeee! Which reminds me of this manic bit of squirrel-related internet miscellany (NSFW): http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/weeee

Heeeeee! There's never a lone gunman where varmints are concerned. You'll have to call in Oliver Stone to irritate the squirrels into finding a new locale.

I once found such a cake supply store through divine intervention. Seattle was having the freak storm which was to drop a 50-foot Douglas fir on the corner of a friend's house and leave vast swaths of the region without electricity for days, and the local creek had commandeered the road I would normally take home. So on my detour I noticed the Home Cake Decorating Supply Co and decided to wander in. Now I have multicolored dinosaur sprinkles, and little itty bitty candy cane sprinkles that even taste like candy canes. Willy Wonka, eat yer heart out!