It's functional AND good-looking.

Happy late March and belated Saint Patrick's Day! Also, happy early spring-carrythatextrahoodie-sureit'swarmnowbuthaveyoucheckedtheweather-rainbootswouldbebetterthanthosecuteballetflats-goodgodit's30degreesthismorning? Best time of the year. Except summer. And fall.

And now for a little public transit-related public ettiquette- If you are a person who pees on the bus, stop it. You are SO close to actually being out of doors where it would be marginally more acceptable to empty your bladder. Yes? Okay.

Public nose pickers. Even if you are tilting your head so as not to be quite so visible, it's a nose pick. Even if you're using the side of a pinky nail- nose pick. Do not do this.

To the man with your elbows fully extended, drastically cutting into the personal space of the adjoining seat: to you I say cut it out. Excessive girth is acceptable. Excessive elbows are not.

Slightly less offensive but still mention-worthy: the countless individuals whose "neutral" face is, in fact, the scrunched-up, open-mouthed blank gaze of those who have no idea what their face is doing. Anyone with me on this? Gah.

Things that ARE wundy this week: my novella was recently chosen to be in the top ten of the international finalists! The top three will be chosen next week in Los Angeles...where I will also be. (And then Monterey and then San Francisco. Woot!)

Also, my youngest sister Emma is in Chi for the week, getting the grand tour of things I tell people I do all the time but truly only venture out for when people are visiting: brunch at Victory's Banner, thrifting at the VDO, free night at the MCA, watching an Instant Theatre piece of mine at Chi Dramatists (tomorrow night, 8pm!), sundaes at Margie's...and lots of nannying. 

Okay, some of those are done weekly.

And capping off the awesome portion of the week? My recent Village Discount Outlet purchase of a snazzy new mug for twenty cents. (I have such a weakness for their kitsch section, and this one takes the cake. Mmm, cake.) It's a cream colored, squarish, and quite obviously homemade receptacle. What makes it clutch, however, is the clearly hand-drawn scene of a cow, wearing an apron, surrounded by tables and squiggly floor lines. Over her head? The words: ELSIE QUITS HER DAY JOB. 

So great. It's also slightly ironic, as Elsie seems to be very much so still employed. Maybe it's foreshadowing? An inner monologue? Perhaps projection on the part of the creator? (And by that I mean the pottery whiz, not God.)

Photos to follow- prepare to be jealous.