Mommy, wow ...

I still don't feel like a big kid, really.  Today being my last day of college classes (yikesyikesyikes) is throwing me for a bit of a loop.  You've all heard this, but a little too much Asher Roth (unlike a little too much exposure to sniffles, fever and vomiting) never hurt anybody.

PS On an unrelated note, happy 101st day in office to my guy Barack!  And happy 100th blog post to me.

Ah, young love

Tan Hong Ming is maybe the cutest thing I've ever seen.

via Flavorwire

Shiny happy insects

The happy-face spider, found only on the islands of Oahu, Molokai, Maui and Hawaii, is decorated with an array of color patterns on the back of its abdomen, which sometimes resemble a smiley face!  This cheery camo may serve to hide them from their bird predators, but because it can change according to what food the spider has eaten, it's more likely that they just know you're never fully dressed without a smile.

Life after death

"I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can't see from the center."

Delacorte Press is set to release a collection of 14 never-before-published stories by the late Kurt Vonnegut.  The collection, titled Look at the Birdie, will feature Vonnegut's original illustrations and is set for a November 2009 release.  Better recognize.

via Publishers Weekly

Choco-veggie mobile

Some environmentally-friendly news for the end of Earth Week: a new race car called the ecoF3 will be launched next month.  The car, which is expected to reach speeds of 145mph, is made of vegetables and powered by chocolate.  More on this delicious vehicle here.

Spring Fair wares

For those in Baltimore (specifically Charles Village), it's that weekend of year again when Hopkins seems like a real school and there are smiling, drunken faces as far as the eye can see.  Take a break from the usual routine of eat, drink, sunburn by stopping by my and Dana's booth, where we'll be selling her clothes, my handmade headbands, and some limited edition t-shirts from up-and-coming streetwear company CreateBuildDestroy.  Or just stop by to hang out, 'cause we'll be around all day. 

Good morning, Baltimore

Learning to Be More

This bratty city-rat did not go gently in –
I scrunched my nose aloft to face Fed Hill
and resolutely airborne it has been
for fourmative (alleged) years. The thrill
of Honeyed tones escaped my harsher ear;
I missed the apple’s bite. Professors spoke
in paper verse, so reedy as cohered
to nicknames lent by Charming small-town folks
(as far as I’m concerned, a joke – I can’t
believe that Bawlmerese facilitates
a literary aptitude). The chant
of “Fuck tha Poe-lice” debilitates
a scholar’s ear – I scowl into my book,
look up to see a natty boy who winks
a roguish eye my way. His protest looks
like Mobtown fun, in fact. Can’t help but blink
back at the pUtz. “What have we here,” he asks,
“a snooty type?” “The small-town jam just ain’t
my thing, I guess.” He quietly tsk-tasks,
informs me that it isn’t quite as quaint
as I’ve implied. “I’ll show you, kid,” he drawls.
We tumble down the Avenue, as rows
of multicolored homes approach St Paul.
“I know this joint,” I say. He grins. “I s’pose
you’d show Lord Baltimore himself a grand
ol’ time?” I tell him I hate crabs and guys
who’ve been around, to which he sweeps a hand:
“Too much of a good thing can make time fly.”
“You’re mixing adages,” I say. “But why
be less, you know?” he says. I acquiesce.
He drives me to the Ottobar. I buy
us New York hipster beers. He’s not impressed.
“They brew that on South Charles. Besides, it tastes
like piss.” He’s right. We dance to Scottie B
til three a.m. I let him touch my waist.
Now back at school, I sit at Dunning Tree,
pontificate poetically on hills
and beers and crabs, Examining the Sun
which climbs in neon pinks and greens. It fills
the scraping sky to mark a day begun.

BYO me, baby

I'm a fiend for any restaurant that allows you to bring your own booze - I've literally spent hours scouring NYMag and Metromix to see who still doesn't have a liquor license.  In this economy (sheesh, that phrase is getting tired, isn't it?), a 200% markup on a bottle of wine just ain't gonna cut it.  Here to make things just a little easier for the thrifty diner is GoBYO.com, a site that pulls up all the BYOB establishments in and around your zipcode.  Salud!

Kumar goes to the White House

Comedic genius, dramatic actor, visiting lecturer, and now ... Obama's right hand man?  Not quite, but word is that Kal Penn has been killed off the television show House to move on to his next big thing: Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison.  I can dig it - perhaps an Indian president is next?

Bag Raiders at Zodiac

The Zodiac's weekly No Rule party (a different free show every Monday at the former restaurant next to Club Charles) featured the bombastic beats of the Bag Raiders, an Australian DJ duo.  Their music, which they have blithely dubbed "adventure-electro," is a fun, bop-or-boogieable hybrid - they've remixed the likes of Cut Copy, Chromeo, MSTRKRFT, Kid Sister and more, and it certainly doesn't hurt that they're way hunky.  

Check out the video for "Fun Punch," which features Power Rangers beating up some guys in masks: