itunes sucks

i have grown tired of itunes limited and inane functionality. i am seeking a shareware alternative to this overprotective and handicapped program. i dig yamipod for its grassroots birth and you can transfer files to and from your hard drive with ease. however, there is no hard drive library conduit and one needs to find an itunes-alternative, such as songbird.

i'm not totally down with this set up, as the two products from separate developers seems to have some communication issues in transference of files. ugh.

dear citizens of the internets... i am seeking an all-in-one shareware music library and ipod manager that picks up the slack where itunes leaves you with a furrowed and frustrated brow.

vitamin s(ugar)

this morning, i had cake for breakfast. almond cake that a. brought home last night. our fridge is bare and that lil' slice of heaven was just staring up at me. then i heard the bill cosby diddy, "dad is great, give us a chocolate cake..." tune dance by. fork to mouth, eyes fluttered in back of head, and sustained sugar buzz through the a.m. run.

hee-hee

"gmail paper is made out of 96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum, and thus, actually helps the environment. For every gmail paper we produce, the environment gets incrementally healthier."

it's a miracle!

sad

baltimore.

a tick off the old wish list

after 7 years of contemplating if i need them or not. i replaced my well-worn axiom norco panniers for a waterproof deutsch-made set of ortliebs.ah, joy. i first learned of ortliebs from a german biker i met at the peak of the climb in glacier national park back on my bike trip from iowa to oregon in 2000. he sung the praises about their watertightness and ease. each morning, as i have tucked my work clothes into a big plastic bag and jammed it into my holey norcos, i have thought about upgrading. then came the rei dividend, and i timed it right with the 20% off anything sale and i managed to knock 35% off the retail price making it pocketbook friendly and satiating my desires.

vegan bake-off

a month or two ago, we had a vegan bake-off contest. the parameters were fairly basic: 1) had to be something that you would find in a bakery and 2) had to be vegan. both qualifiers i can endorse whole heartedly. a. and i both entered our own decadent treats, she a rich chocolate-peanut butter-banana pie with homemade graham cracker crust and i the following labor of love, a mock-hostess cupcake complete with creme filling and signature royal frosting swirl: there were about 13 or so entries all together as we sat in a big room and ohh'ed and ahh'ed as we dove into the various delights. at the end of the day, i took 2nd place and me lady a close 3rd. the sugar high deflated about 3 days following the event when we finally polished off the take-home goodies that we divvied up at the end of the night. good times. christielyn took home the 1st place kitty with her raspberry baklava, and i with my twenty-spot runner-up.

buzz off

the bees go on strike.