There is nothing less interesting than hearing people talk about their dreams but I can't resist sharing this tidbit of a crazy dream I had the other night.

In one part there were these guys in rain slickers parachuting out of a helicopter while fish sticks were being thrown at them.

If you have even a tiny idea of what might be going on in my subconscious, please drop me a note.

According to How-Much-Is-Your-Blog-Worth? this site is worth about $500.

I don't care. It's not for sale. (That's slightly bitter sarcasm, if you weren't getting it.)

I had no idea sunflower seeds were such a problem on the playing field. Especially enough to require a special sign.

When I was younger I liked to drive around just for the sake of driving. I drove around a lot of backroads in Agoura. No doubt they are no longer back of anything and instead traffic choked roads leading between housing developments. I drove to the beach. I drove around a lot in Santa Barbara, too.

I don't like to drive any more. I just like to get somewhere.

When I drive, I like to be freakishly close the steering wheel, as if to embrace it fully, if need be. I think the real problem is my short stubby legs. Not that that's a problem. I'm sure Karuk women were prized for their short stubby legs. But this reality requires that I be close to the steering wheel if my feet are to reach the pedals.

I feel insecure if I have to reach with my feet. Things could get out of control at any moment.

What concerns me is if the day should come when the airbag blows up because I'm pretty certain that's not going to feel good. Sure, if I'm charging forward and collide with something moving at me, the airbag is probably going to be a lifesaver. What I'm worried about it that fender bender that's got just enough force to deploy the bag. WHAM! My face just got that much flatter.

I found it. It was in the bottom drawer of bureau down in the basement. I also still have my middle school P.E. shirt. Why? I throw away everything. I love throwing things away. It relaxes me to get rid of things. Yet I have these 2 shirts, plus my varsity letter from high school and a pair of pantaloons that were part of an actual real dress I wore ... in high school? Sounds doubtful, I can't remember the time frame but I've saved them thinking they might come in handy for a costume someday. Too bad I totally forgot I even had them until just now when I went looking for the band shirt.

I'm using this opportunity to show off my pumpkin harvest. They look great, huh. One of those puppies is going to be a Thanksgiving pie. (Probably about 17 thanksgiving pies. That's a lot of pumpkin there.)

You'd think will all this Photoshop practice that I'd fix the bumps on the pumpkins to make them prettier and make myself look more like Angelina Jolie. I don't have all day.

Here I am on my wedding day. Just kidding. I'm challenging myself to find photos where my sister makes a goofy expression. This one is classic. I can hear my dad behind the camera now, "Erin, don't make such a goofy face."

Those yellow t-shirts were our middle school band uniforms. I still have mine -- I think. I'd run and look but I don't feel like getting up right now. If I find it, and I can fit into it, I'll have Bob take a picture and post it later. Something to look forward to.

The actual occasion of this photo was my 8th grade graduation. Why that event requires a fancy (but very sweet) dress only to be worn once and a crown of roses and baby's breath is beyond me but I remember thinking I was looking pretty sharp.

Meanwhile, back in the present, my appetite is all wonky. I'm not very hungry. Not very many things sound good and when I finally do sit down to eat, I fill up quick. I don't think this is a problem. I don't feel unhealthy. It's just a surprise that the woman who used to be able to shovel down a half a loaf of bread slathered with a bucket of peanut butter in the morning before stopping at the Arbor (little food shack near the library at UCSB) to pick up my ginormous bran muffin (this was all before 9am), would now find herself thinking: oh, I should probably eat something. Then eating a banana and not being hungry again until 3pm.

I have only one more Photoshop class left. Now we're doing stuff with vectors and paths and I only about 50% get it. Today I re-did all the stuff we did in class and it took me all afternoon. But I still like it. I wish the class was another few weeks.

I thought once I started typing I'd come up with more stuff for you but really, I'm empty here. I'm only 6 books away from the 50 book goal, but I'm stuck on the one I'm reading (That Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon). It's not that I don't like it, but it's not impossible to put down. I'm going to crawl in bed in a few minutes and read some tonight.

For xmas I'm going to ask for something that my Dad can get me and will probably be fun for him to buy: a drill. I've gone through my entire life so far without a drill. How can this happen? All kinds of simple home projects are ignored because there is no drill.

My hand towel ring in the bathroom broke and since there is no conformity in the world -- seriously I looked at about 50 towel rings in at least 4 different stores trying to find the same thing -- I had an installation project on my hands. The old ring was configured horizontally. The new ring, vertically. I got sick of my hand towel sitting on the counter or shoved onto the regular towel rack (yes, these are the kinds of things that twist my knickers) so I used hand tools to install it.

Turns out I also need a drywall or wall patch fix it kit -- or whatever one needs to do that stuff. This hand towel ring was installed with those plastic things you chunk into the wall. God forbid should a heavy hand towel cause the thing to pop out of the wall. I covered one in the remodel but there is a giant red plastic thing/hole by my hand towel ring. Must learn to fix that.

I have a couple of wildly unrelated items here that I'm going to lump into 1 post.

First, check out Kiva which enables you to make a loan (like, $25) to a small business in another country. Read about it to get the details but it's a great idea.

By choosing a business on our website and then lending money online to that enterprise, you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive monthly email updates that let you know about the progress being made by the small business you've sponsored. ... As loans are repaid, you will get your original loan money back.

The second item has to do with my two favorite lines heard so far this TV season.

The first was on Smallville where Professor Milton Fine (and I think the character is more complicated than that but I'm not a diehard follower of Superman) the actor who played Spike, major vampire-guy on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, says to young Superman, "Clark, there's no such thing as vampires."

The second was on Greys Anatomy. Cristina Yang was looking for a severed foot and got into it with an EMT and said, "I can't straddle another ego right now. I'm already doing the splits."