November 12: "The Dream Dictionary From A to Z" and a Lavender Candle

Given to Heather from Terry.

There's nothing in here about Iron Chef
castoffs marinating me in a garlic herb dressing

I have so many damn reusable tote bags, it's becoming an issue. Half of my available trunk space is taken up by these totes. It's the modern day version of the koozie. Most businesses are about 4 years too late to be novel in passing these out and it seems like I'm getting one nearly every other day. There are ones from Trader Joe's, the bank, the manufacturer of my camera, the place where I bought my camera, a couple of NPR shows, my alma mater, a theater, a Swedish supermarket, a local chicken farmer, several from a yoga-pilates fundraiser, a couple from the hospital, and lined ones that my mom gave me that were originally given to her at a summer raffle. Yeah, it's a lot of bleeping bags.

The thing is, I take them all into the supermarket with me when I go shopping. There's multiple bags in bags, further inlaid in other bags. I tuck them away in bottom area of the shopping cart that's usually reserved for potatoes and crates of bottled water, and I unveil the bags only at checkout time. If I don't get the chance to let the checkout staff know that I'm not OCD, an interesting little social experiment takes place. Either the staffer will put on his little bagger blinders and pack the bags and fill them each with an appropriate volume of groceries or, when I get home, I'll wind up taking out a package of waffles from one bag, a chocolate bar from another bag, etc. He will use every bag! It will be days later, for example, and I'll find a container of ice cream that should have been put immediately in the freezer.

I'm offering my loyal readership a chance for an autographed, gently-used, eco-friendly bag. Please let me know if you're interested and we'll work out shipping and handling.

Heather
-Profession: Biology Masters Student

-Favorite kind of heather: Azalea

-For your Masters project, you are studying moths. Moths are drawn to flame. Much like a moth drawn to flame, what is the stimulus that draws your lead researcher's attention?: Shiny objects--you know, computer screens, a mirror reflecting light in a strange way, etc.

-You have both Viking and Cherokee Indian heritage. Which one do you most identify with?: Probably the Viking. My Grandma was a straight-off-the-boat Norwegian. My mom enjoys all things Viking like Norwegian ships...or hunting in the backyard.

-Girls with curly hair will sometimes straighten it. Girls with straight hair will sometimes curl it. Outside of this straightening and curling nonsense, what do girls really wish they could do to their hair?: Cut it off.

-What do girls wish they could do to their hair that's not possible at this moment in time (i.e. make it 3-D)?: Make it not frizzy. For a short period of time, it can be helped. But Pantene is useless.