I'm a large medium roast with soy milk and splenda.

Number of possible choices available to a customer at the average Starbucks:

189,520

"Starbucks is one of the most prominent cultural examples of providing people with an opportunity to create their identity by providing practically unlimited choice."

Starbucks, the New Coffee Culture, and Why it Reflects Our Changing World

Perspective

If we can shrink the world's population to a village of only 100 people, keeping all existing ratios the same, that village would look like this:

there would be 57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 14 from the Western Hemisphere -- north and south -- and 21 Africans;

52 would be female;

70 would be nonwhite and 30 white;

70 would be non-Christian and 30 would be Christian.

6 of the 100 people would own 59% of all the wealth in the world, and all 6 of those people would be from the United States.

80 of the 100 people would live in substandard housing.

70 would be unable to read and write.

50 would suffer from malnutrition.

1 would have a college education.

Julian Bond
N.A.A.C.P. chairman
The New York Times: May 29, 2000

In Love with Love

The day Drive105 went away and Love105 took its place was a rough one here in the Twin Cities. I refused to listen to Love, and thought it was the worst premise for a radio station ever, until just a few days ago when I landed there accidentally.


Turns out it's the best mix of summertime music EVER. I think my mom once said something about judging a book... blah, blah, blah. Lesson learned.

This is the best of what I've heard so far:

Frank Sinatra - Beyond the Sea
Bee Gees - More Than a Woman
Neil Diamond - Cherry Cherry
Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
Frankie Valli - Grease is the Word
Bob Dylan - Lay, Lady, Lay

ps- Disco is back.

Mint Chocolate Chip

Best part of being a grown up (hands down):
ice cream for dinner.

I could probably do without the rest of it (business casual, 401k, moral responsibility) but mint chocolate chip anytime I want it makes adulthood a-ok in my book.

Sneezing Panda

This is definitely the funniest part of my week, so far.

Over-stimulated

I mean, really. I have been feeling the strain of it quite a bit lately - maybe because of the season, maybe because work has been crazy (when has it not been crazy?).

Early summer moves slowly. Life (as we are accustomed to living it) moves quickly. And watching a crab apple tree grow leaves and flower over the course of several weeks reminds me how far we have strayed from what seems to be the natural pace of our world.

I just learned that dandelions and tulips close at nighttime. I don't know how I never noticed this. But think how slowly a flower must move - twice a day, every day - to be unnoticed.

Did you know that Americans are exposed to 247-5,000* ads each day?

*Even a measure of over-stimulation is over-stimulating.

Consumption

An American Self-Portrait

Find out if you are living a sustainable life

Happy May Day...

(If I stand on tippy toes, I can almost actually see summertime.)

I ♥ Peeps

I really do adore Peeps. They're so squishy-yummy - and cute to boot! They bring me an inconceivable amount of delight - so much that I'm giving them their very own tag. Check out the Original Pioneer Press Peeps Diorama Contest. I highly recommend viewing the slideshow in fullscreen mode to fully appreciate the cuteness that is the Peep.

The Bank

I was decluttering tonight and came across a list of quotes I kept while working at the Wells Fargo Phone Bank oh-so-many years ago (okay, 3 years ago). I spoke with a ridiculous number of insane customers while I was there and I'm sad I could only keep track of so many. (I had kept track of more, but my first quote list mysteriously disappeared from my triangle-shaped cube after hours one night. I'm still upset about it.)

There were the lonely, chatty customers:

"Can I tell you a story? What do you get when you have a fish and an elephant? Swimming trunks!" (Ha!)

"This is the history of 'me'... let me begin..." (Oh boy.)

The incredibly unintelligent customers from Alaska:

"We live in a bush. The only Wells Fargo is 150 miles away and only accessible by airplane."

"I can walk around with my phone!" (Revolutionary!)

"My husband just hit a moose with his truck. The moose is still alive but it's not doing so well - it was vomiting and then, of course, the bowels let loose." (Wonderful. And why are you calling me?)

And, my personal favorite, the rude customers:

"Wells Fargo fucking sucks and you guys need help!" (Eloquently put.)

me: "Thank you for calling. I was happy to speak with you."
mother in background: "He wasn't happy to speak with yo ass, bitch!"

I can still hardly believe I made it out alive. Every night I thank my lucky stars that I stumbled upon wonderful Tree Trust and am employed in a job I enjoy, working with people I admire, for an organization I appreciate. It's the cat's pajamas. Really.