FREE stuff
some jerk down the street keeps tossing out perfect-ly good things (ice skates, a beanbag chair, a dartboard...) that i salvage and then pass on to freecyclers. apparently there are still people out there who don't know about freecycle, although i'm doing my best to remedy it, with 3 converts this week.
also, i'm hot to trot for the free market. i didn't know what to expect- i figured it'd likely involve cardboard boxes filled with stained, putrid clothing. to my delight, the volunteers fastidiously fold and organize everything, so it looks just like a miniature thrift store. they also have a free food share, with donations from local stores. all they ask is how many people the food's going to feed. AND they give out free energy-saving kits so you can kick up the efficiency of your electrical outlets and windows and doors!
i'm helping with an event that's going down in mid-to-late april, where we'll gather the essentially brand new stuff college students mindlessly purge at the end of the semester, in addition to people's general spring cleaning goodies, and have a huge free-for-all in a field with live bands and free food. hah! so great.

plus, i get to learn all kinds of new skills like how to write a press release.

nudibranchs

at the mere mention of these naked-lung beauties my soul turns to a trembling anemone, awaiting the delicate nibblings of their radulae.
i'll be honest- i can waste extensive periods of time oogling sea slug photos and sighing like a middle schooler with a hopeless crush.
i miss california, where we'd go down at low tide as the sun was setting and find 10 or 12 species in a matter of minutes.
this album is incredible:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/06/nudibranchs/doubilet-photography

vinegar and coconut oil
i have moon eyes for these guys. if they were humans, i would be absoloutely (spelling corresponds with country preference) intimidated by their range of abilities. from cleaning to beauty to cooking, i can't get enough of their effective, safe, inexpensive attributes (independently. although there's undoubtedly stuff you can achieve by combining them). i started listing their uses, but why don't i just direct you to some resources instead:

http://www.vinegartips.com/ the biggest thing i'll push for is the cleaning angle. replace those toxic chemicals with vinegar- hey, give it a try before you scoff. it works.

http://www.coconut-oil-central.com/ poke around here. good god it's great stuff. (although its hydrogenated oil, which is everywhere, is not great. even superhero coconut can't defeat its fierce hydrogenated nemesis.)

this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jETv3NURwLc

brian buckley
this is the band of a good friend of jesse's. i spent my bus rides this week re-discovering why i like them. i prefer the songs where they're tearing it up or brian's destroying it with his killer vocal range, but these clips will have to do:
http://www.myspace.com/brianbuckley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gCndNVWlys

comic relief
certain images can be life-affirming. when you think things are at their worst, stop and rejoice that in a moment's haste (or the significant period of time that large tattoos take) you didn't think that any of these would somehow enhance your life: