1. You must now click this link to Frog and Toad are Still Friends, and read the series of Halloween-inspired (read: hilarious and creepy) re-tellings of children's stories that Beck is doing. The Goodnight Moon and Clifford parodies are the best. Go read them. You must.

2. I went to Wordstock last weekend, which is a writing conference in Portland. I went to a workshop about improving plot/finding your story, and then an author reading by Sherman Alexie (who was hilarious! And plus I got a signed first edition of his new book, "War Dances," which was really good.)


But most of all, it was just fun to go and be with my kind of people. Nerds. Lovers of books. Writers. People who stand at a booth all day and hand out a copy-editing test to people who might want to take it just for fun. It was nice to go to a workshop and afterward listen as someone raised her hand and asked a question that started with: "Well, my main character is just so..." and see everyone in the audience--dozens of people--all nodding along in agreement, and realize that it's not that weird to have characters living in your head. There are others like me out there!

3. People who are learning a foreign language sometimes say that they have such a hard time communicating because they "have the vocabulary of a toddler." I don't know what kind of words they are learning, but if I were limited to having conversations that used only words my toddler knows, life would get interesting. Here are the things she says most often:
"Shoes."
"Mama."
"Woof-woof."
"Ball."
"Dada."
"Beh." (that means Beth)
"Shoo-see." (that means Lucy).
"Meow."
"Cheese."

Please construct some conversations using only those words and leave them in the comments for my amusement.

4. After my half-marathon last year, I didn't exactly quit running, but I definitely quit training as hard. I did do a 5K last month where I came in first my age group (Wohoo! Although it was a rainy Saturday and only six people in my age group competed, so don't be too impressed), but since then I've hardly run at all. Well, that needs to change, because I've now agreed to run in the Civil War Relay on Dec. 5 (five legs of two miles each); the Hippie Chick Half Marathon in May (13.1 miles!); and the Hood to Coast Relay in August (the relay is 197 miles total; I'll have three legs, which will be somewhere between 3-7 miles long). I'm excited! And I need to get busy.

5. I finally upgraded my cell phone plan to where I don't get charged 10 cents per text message. I have never been into texting and I still refuse to use abbreviations; you will never get a message from me saying "CUL8R LOLOL!" However, I am kind of seeing the beauty of being able to send just a quick little message to someone that they can read and/or answer at their leisure, rather than a whole phone conversation. Texting. Me. I guess I'm moving into the 21st century after all.

6. I'm also thinking of upgrading my cell phone too. To one that can take pictures! I have had my same cell phone for years. I'm thinking of this one:



Pretty, yes? So sleek and shiny! Anyone ever used the Sony Ericsson W518? Is it a good phone?

7. Since I gave up soda I've been drinking a lot more tea. I'm actually liking it! It's cheap, I can have a wide range of flavors on hand all the time, I can easily switch between caffeinated and non-caffeinated, and I add just a little bit of sugar (or Splenda) to it, rather than the tons that are in a can of pop. And if I drink green tea I can actually pretend I'm being healthy, instead of just drinking something because I like to have something to drink that isn't water. (I'm sorry. I just find water boring and unsatisfying). Does anyone have a favorite flavor/brand of tea that is sensational and I simply must try? Please help me feed my new addiction!

You can read more quick takes at Conversion Diary.