1. “You cannot run away from a weakness, you must sometime fight it out or perish. And if that be so, why not now, and where you stand?”
– Robert Louis Stevenson

2. Businesses that donate goods and services for community fundraising events (plug!)

3. There’s a fella I see every few days that’s reading a well-loved hardback copy of Roots by Alex Haley. I remember loving that book when I was young (moving! racey! race-y! angry! strong!) — it’s fun to see someone carrying such an important memory of mine, and important work, around.

4. Friday Eye Candy on MamaPop.  Sometimes you just need a little sugah.

5. Sugarcubes, Birthday

Battle against embitterment and take part in 365 days of Grace in Small Things.

So is there some kind of Metro etiquette I am not aware of?  I know I err on the side of people feeling good about themselves, rather than being comfortable, but what if one’s comfort comes from feeling good about oneself?

Case in point: I get on the train today, and there’s a guy with an empty seat next to him that’s about as wide as me (read: we’re both wide).  It’s a straight shot of about 10-12 stations to my office, though, so I decided to take the seat.  As we zipped along, the seats around us started emptying out.  At one point, the seat right in front of us became empty.  I stayed put, thinking I only had a few more stops, so what’s the hurry?  I am always sensitive to moving away from someone, as if they have the plague or are too big or smelly or something.  Don’t move = don’t make someone feel self-conscious.

Then, this woman who was sitting catty-corner to us (mind you, she was in the handicapped seats and other than suffering from an obvious case of crab-itis, she had no ailments), barked at me “aren’t you going to move?”  I did the whole “you lookin’ at me?” bob of my head, until I realized that yes, she was looking at and barking at me.  The guy next to me hadn’t moved an inch this whole time. He was no help at all.  A whole seat full of No Opinion.

I didn’t say anything.  Nor did I move.  The woman glared at me and rolled her eyes a painful number of times.  Finally, the man next to me seemed to spring to life, but only to clear his throat as if he were going to speak, and then didn’t.  He did this, loudly, three or four times.  What was he saying there?

It was just weird.  And uncomfortable.  I could turn it into this whole P/C thing too, because I and The Barker were two of very few Caucasian people on that car of the train.  Why would I move?  Because we filled the seat?  Because my neighbor was African American?  Or is there some unspoken rule that one is always supposed to scurry into a Seat For One on the train. Can’t we just all sit together and get along?

Your thoughts?

We are the ones who make a better day, just you and me!

Bob Marley, Get Up, Stand Up

1. I love this video.  I forget about it and then every once in a while I stumble upon it again.

2. Then, the inevitable parody of something creative and beautiful.  I especially love the enormous line of coke he does at about 1:20. Holy two-day high, Batman!

3. Leg warmers!  I don’t know who authorized their re-entry into society, but they make me smile.  And Ruby sportin’ around in her black and metallic silver ones just cracks me up.  Girls just wanna have fun!

4. Expressionery.com.  I love all things paper and monogram and pen/pencil and envelope and correspondence and this site makes it even more glamorous and affordable. And, they occasionally have a monster of a sale that makes it a great place for gift shopping.

5. Michael McDonald, Minute by Minute

Battle against embitterment and take part in 365 days of Grace in Small Things.

1. Text message from my spouse that reminds me that “inch by inch, life is a cinch — yard by yard, life is hard.”

2. The existence of Whole Foods when I need a vegetarian entree and don’t feel like making a fancy one. 

3. Seeing the first smile on the face of a person who has been in great pain.

4. New words from a toddler, “frustrated,” “expedition,” “quesadilla.”

5. Justin Timberlake, My Love

Battle against embitterment and take part in 365 days of Grace in Small Things.

Oh. My. Word.

Raise your weak little sweaty hand if you’ve had the stomach flu recently! It took our house down like the Ushers and we’re just up today, yesterday. I said to Shaun that I hadn’t barfed like that since the 80s! Hoooowee!

That said, Ruby caught it on my heels and she wins the coveted Quote of the Flu award. She hurled over the side of the bed (we were sleeping together so we didn’t get the boys sick) and as she flopped back into the sack, a la 3AM, she oozed, “Mama, I feel craaazy.”

Mat Kearney, Nothing Left To Lose