The reading by Sawyer-Laucanno on his new biography of E.E. Cummings was interesting, although I was wowed more by the content than his speaking... Appropriately, we focused on the early years, as Cummings grew up right here in Cambridge. I sneaked out afterwards, as I didn't want to buy the book there. In the evening I went over to Jen's for soup & talking & Carnivale. Great show -- some things became a bit more clear by the end. And it was fun just hanging out with Jen, usually it's with the boys in tow, but it seems like we have lots in common. They have the cutest apartment -- it makes me eager to be out on my own, too...

So Monday I was expecting that Andrew would get home around 9:30 in the evening. I got rather ambitious, & bought stuff to make fried rice... And I was sure to simulate "leftovers" with the rice -- combining some I'd made Sunday with a new batch, & keeping it all in the fridge. Somehow there is a huge difference between using fresh, warm rice, and leftover cold rice in fried rice. I think it has something to do with ridding the rice of excess liquid. Anyways, in the evening I realized that I had forgotten the frozen peas. Oops. Freezing trip out for said peas.

I figured I'd shower and then start dinner at around 8... everything in the kitchen takes me longer than normal because I'm OCD and have to wash all the time. [I'm only half-kidding.] It wasn't until 9:15 or so that dinner was sitting warm & waiting, and the dishes were done. I loved it, I so rarely cook, and I surprised Andrew by actually making something edible. We caught up over dinner, & Andrew showed me the fortune cookies he'd bought at a specialty shop (to which I said, cute, but not quite chocolate), and then the yummy cocoa mix he found for me =) He was very clever about not dropping any hints over dinner, even when I reminded him that LAST time he went to San Fran., he brought back a really good chocolate espresso bar. So of course we had to sample the hot chocolate, and it was yummy (you just can't recreate hot chocolate with "just add water" powders).

Today I've been reading, watching some MTV... and I saw something rather disturbing.

Has anyone else seen this commercial? The camera follows this young black man around school, playing sports, etc., and there's this little child in the background with a birthday hat on, and you're wondering, what's up with this child? Why is he stalking this guy? Then it flashes to a scene of the little boy at his birthday party, and you realize they're brothers, and their father is telling the older brother something about the little boy being disappointed if he (the older brother) doesn't stay at the party or something. And it closes with "Don't ever forget the people you hurt when you're high," and flashes "Regret, the anti-drug" up on the screen. So you might be like wow, profound. But it doesn't make any sense. First of all, no drug is named. And the most likely drug for teens to be using is pot, so you're trying to figure out how this fits together. It doesn't... Any number of things might make a teen miss his younger brother's birthday party -- prior plans, embarassment over spending time with the fam, being plain old inconsiderate, not caring, depression, hell even alcohol -- anything, basically. Seems that these people making commercials are scraping the bottom of the barrel.

I'd just like to say, for like the millionth time, that alcoholism is way, way, way worse than smoking pot. Especially if you're living with one or both as a child. Alcohol is addictive (pot isn't), it impairs judgment in a totally different way... and how many times have you heard about someone driving while high and killing a family? Compare that to drunk driving statistics. Makes you wonder why one is legal and the other isn't... I wish we'd just make pot legal and tax the hell out of it & fund education/ social security/ medicare with it.

I'll stop ranting now... but I hate those commercials!