The Everyday Adventures of Natasha Monalenko and Sasha Von Buren

its been so long since i last wrote that i am having a hard time figuring out where to start. so i have decided to organize this posting using lists. see below.

things that i currently enjoy:

1. podcasts - specifically The Onion's daily news and the Ricky Gervais show
2. ice skating
3. McSweeney's 17 - 'designed to look like it came in the mail'
4. espionage - participating in, not reading about
5. name that tune
6. a centaur named laird hercules
7. penguin mini-books

things that are growing tiresome:

8. a winter of rain
9. the feeling of perpetual hunger
10. my hair and clothes

now i think most of the above are relatively self-explanatory. i mean, if you don't understand "ice skating" than we have issues above and beyond what i can deal with here on my blog.

so lets start with number 6. after breakfast yesterday taryn went to the bank to get some laundry money. i waited outside and got a paper from the box. as i was reading the cover i noticed a man with a mulletous mohawk entering the good bite. it wasn't even a faux-hawk. he had proper shaved sides, short on top, long in the back. i was in love. of course i had to tell taryn, however, she was not as impressed as i imagined she would be. oh no, she was not that impressed because she had just been helped by a teller named Laird Hercules. that was his actual name. we imagine that he would have to be at least part centaur and could thus star in taryn's reality show.

right now i am reading the penguin mini-book "1914: Why the World Went to War." its interesting partially because i find causes of war interesting in general, but also because it is forcing me to reflect on my shoddy public school education. its stunning that i was able to get through elementary school, high school, an undergraduate and a masters degree without ever learning the basics of european historical geography. i had NO idea how big austria was before WWI or its relative importance to the balance of power in europe at that time. and granted, i suppose through my education i have gained all the tools i need to research or learn anything i need to but, c'mon, this is basic general knowledge that everyone should have. especially someone with two political degrees.

anyway, i'm off to help melissa paint her new house. and by "paint" i really mean "taping the edges". i am pretty much garbage at painting (my room at the cottage is proof of this) and i wouldn't want to contribute to making her new house look assy. i will address some more of the above points later.