Fay, that tattoo is stunning.

I've got to grade exams today. I really don't want to.

Holy WOW, Fay.

That's one hell of a tattoo.

Happy Mother's Day, all you beautiful mothers.

Nice tat, Fay.

Also, David (and meara), I caught your little comments about the moldy bread. Don't think I didn't. I have no defense for possibly eating moldy bread, but still.... Actually, it's a constant fear of mine -- that a loaf of bread or set of english muffins that's over three days old has started to go bad, and is full of mold that I can't see. So I could have just been paranoid about the moldy bread thing. Also, S is constantly bugging me to eat food that I think has gone off, or that I would have thrown out. To save money. Frankly, I can no longer tell which of us is the sane one.

Have you tried keeping your bread in the refrigerator or freezer, Sean? That's what I do. It's not quite as good, but it lasts a long time.

It's a lovely tat, Fay. You've got more stamina than I do.

Last night I added to annals of "kitchens are dangerous" and "gravity is not my friend." It was about 2 a.m. and I couldn't sleep, so I went in the kitchen thinking I'd have some warm milk or something. I had on the floor a box of beer left over from the F2F. I accidentally knocked an empty bottle off the counter. It landed in the box and, while remaining intact, broke a bottle of beer, so I had to rush this soggy, foaming cardboard box full of beer to the sink.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there, and patience to all the people who, like me, end up spending an hour and a half on the phone with your mothers.

Have you tried keeping your bread in the refrigerator or freezer, Sean?

I just asked S why we didn't do this, to which she replied, "I would love to keep bread in the freezer, but you won't let me*, and bread in the refrigerator goes stale."

(*This is totally not how I remember things, as in I personally have no memory of forbidding her from ever freezing bread, but I also sometimes wonder if this isn't exactly how it happened.)

The only response to that is "I've thought about it, and you're right. We should keep the bread in the freezer." She's right; it does get staler in the refrigerator, but sometimes the choice is between stale and mold.

In my house it's the choice between bread in the fridge or bread nibbled on by cats.

Ours is safe from the cat. It's only plants, flowers, and green, leafy vegetables that are in danger from the cat.

Our cat is insane.

a loaf of bread or set of english muffins that's over three days old has started to go bad

I have to keep bread in the freezer or fridge, because I just don't go through a loaf quickly enough. And I was raised on refrigerated bread, so it doesn't bother me in terms of stale/not-as-fresh.

The mold-you-can't-see problem falls in the category, for me, of all the other potentially icky food things that may or may not have happened -- I just ignore them. (Working at McDonald's has led me to just assume that any and all fast-food sandwiches [burgers, chicken, fish] probably had something dubious happen to at least one of the components of the sandwich. Like flies walking across the cheese slices. Yes, the cheese is supposed to be wrapped up when not in use, and yes, the grill area should be insect-free, but in the summer, bugs are going to get in, and when there's a sudden influx of customers and you're hauling ass to get burgers made, you don't stop to re-wrap the cheese, particularly when you know you'll be using it again in 45 seconds.)

So, potentially moldy bread, housefly footprints on the cheeseburger -- I find it best to not think about what I can't see.

I'll just be over here in my apartment, refusing to trim my fingernails and muttering about bugs.