To me DCwS tastes infinitely better than regular Diet Coke--none of that awful bitterness of aspartame.

Maybe it's Diet Coke for supertasters.

I'm listening to British radio on iTunes.

It's interesting.

It was under the "Top 40 / Pop" section, but I'm pretty sure that it's not. Since "Hey Mickey" and "Build me up Buttercup" were the last two songs to play.

I'm more interested in mortgages when they're advertised with British accents.

We only get the overall standings and scores, so thanks for the Zito details. Is he still a cutiehead?

He is. (Not as cute as Mal, though.) The cutieheads du jour are Harden and especially Huston Street. Lexine could probably give a more thorough update. Also, folks are thinking we flat-out thieved the Cardinals on the Mulder trade. We not only got Haren, who's pitching better than Mulder, and is younger and cheaper, but we got Kiko Calero (who was fantastic as a setup man before his elbow twigged) and the best hitting prospect in the minors, Daric Barton.

More A's-related: Mallory models the latest in "How to Ensure Your Child is a Giants Fan"

Emmett will be more than happy to take Mal to a Giants game, should this occur. Come back to the Bay Area!

Hey Hec, are you on AIM, or can you be?

t edit Or, if not, you may get mail (snail kind, not E kind) from me today. Keep an eye out.

Woo! Lost access for a while but came back to baby cuteness.

I must have stable high speed access at the new mountain home, stat.

Bellydancing is so much fun. My mother and sister took a class. I bought a video but sadly it is on a shelf. If we both practice we show our mad belly skillz next F2F.

Mom just arrived, out boating now....

...sounds to me like Cairo is the obvious choice for the next F2F, then.

...what? IJS. Meara came, Jars came - it's cool, y'all. Everyone's doing it.

t / peer pressure

C2 actually tasted like regular Coke, for the most part, though it had that hint of emptiness that Diet Coke has.

You so need to be paid to write because the minute I read this I thought "hey, that's what I've always thought" even though I don't think I ever actually thought it. (did that make any sense?)

I totally think I should be paid to write! Thank you.

Actually, thank you a lot. Because description of any sort (but especially taste/smell) is one of my major weaknesses. But that's what that Diet Coke aftertaste feels to me, really. It's like the embodiment of emptiness. An anti-taste.

I hope the antibiotics help, Teppy. Summer colds suck and sinus infections are worse.

Whoo-hoo circus boy! That sounds so fun for Emmett, Hec.

You know, even apart from this whole 4th of July thing, I am beginning to think it might be summer. I drove home with the top down, and managed to get a little red from the sun on the way home.

Coming back from Oregon and Washington, I was told I had actually gotten some tan. Now, living in the land of neon white skin, this actually just puts me one step above pale as death, and yet, I was tickled.

He pouts better than any baby I have ever seen.

I might just die of all the cute baby. I actually saw Owen's eyes first, and had to look for the bump. And Mal is just adorable. Usually, when catching up I don't click on all the pictures that take forever to load on my dialup, but it's Saturday and rainy, so I'm getting the full impact of gorgeousness today.

Boo, Alaska! Boo!

Not Alaska! But boo Alaska Airlines all you want. I'll join you. They have gone really downhill the last 5-10 years. Although, I suppose I should be nice to them, as they are my only option for leaving town other than a really long boat ride.

I haven't tried the new Diet Coke yet. I don't drink a lot of pop, and so far have pretty much only done regular, because I'm horribly allergic to aspartame. I really hope that the Splenda stuff works out better.

I hope this week is better than last, Plei, by a significant margin. The whole car thing sounds so stressful. I hope you've found some good dress workarounds.

Hey, P-C, I'll pay you to write answers to my final exam in my Mathematics and Multicultural Education class. I'm finding myself severely undermotivated.

What say you to a shiny nickel per question?