The Monkey and Josh-O are sleeping in her little twin bed. She moves. Nuzzles into his chest. Smacks her lips a few times. I giggle to myself. Such a funny sight.

They’re deep in sleep. They don’t know I’m there.

I come back down here to the Rascal. He’s making that hilarious fish face again because he’s hungry. He’s always hungry. Ravenous. Ravenous little creature. I whip out the boooobie for half a second, and he’s out. Like a light.

I’m sitting in front of the TV. Iron Chef America is on. Kat Cora’s going to win. I know because I’ve seen this one.

Oh, and I’m writing this post.

Tonight, while Josh-O and the Monkey slept in her little bed, I watched the movie Shopgirl. You know, the one with Steve Martin and Claire Danes? Who knew they’d have such a captivating chemistry?

I have to tell you, it’s been SO LONG since I’ve sat through a movie and ACTUALLY watched it. I mean, without reading blogs or gossip or running around (as I tend to do) getting little things done. For some reason, this movie gripped me from start to finish. I, like, hung on every word.

I’ve always been fascinated by the human condition. And, most people are, right? I mean, I know there are some people who go through life not thinking about why ON EARTH we’re here. And, sometimes I wish I were one of those people. Would make life a little less dark sometimes. But, if I were one of those people, I probably wouldn’t appreciate life and thoughts and art and ideas and little films with big thoughts as much as I do.

Shopgirl is all about the human condition. It’s about our desire, our NEED, for connection, and the effects the connections we make have on our life’s path. We are who we are, in other words, because of the connections we make. One little phrase — like, when Mirabelle tells Jeremy to “change things” (I can’t remember the exact phrase, my bad) — can alter the entire course of a person’s life.

I wish I’d picked up Steve Martin’s book Shopgirl (on which the movie is based) before watching the movie. But, I LOVED Claire Danes’ performance of Mirabelle Buttersfield. She was brilliantly sad and vexed and hopeful and thoughtful and vulnerable and beautiful — a more refined and mature version of Angela from My So Called Life, the character that made Danes famous. And, the connection I felt to her character — on, like, a molecular level — was enough to compel me to write this post. It had a serious effect on me.

Made me think about the connections I’ve made in my life. My wonderful husband, the kids we’ve created, our friends, families, even our cats (yeeesss!)….

And…my pinkberry. You KNEW I’d bring it up today. With my new, BELOVED-ALREADY, pinkberry — oh and TWITTER — I stay connected.

There’s so much isolation in our culture. People are lonelier and more isolated than ever before. But, at the same time, there’s this burgeoning internet community that accepts us all. It’s not about what we look like, or how much money we have, how old we are, or whatever. It’s all about our words. And, I don’t know about you, but it’s changed my life. I’ve never felt so connected and fulfilled and influenced in so many wonderful ways.

To thank you for this — for connecting with me (with your comments, emails, and even by just READING) — and because I’ve not another DEEP THOUGHT left in this tired brain o’ mine, I give you Minden AFTER HE FELL IN THE BATHTUB. Because we all know it’s THIS that you came for, and not the deep thoughts….


Wet tail….


Mama, I fell in the tub. WAHH.


Sheepish because fell in tub WAHHH. (AKA, BEST PICTURE OF MINDEN EVER TOOK!)


Must clean that WATER off self with my SALIVA….

Oh, can I just ask thee? What happened to Jamie Oliver? Inquiring blogger needs to know. He used to be a cute, dare-I-say hottish, young thing. Now he’s gone all organic and, like, PIONEER on us. His show bites (NO pun intended)….


NOT hott.

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