'your ipod keeps secrets'

i'm completely swiping mention of this site from gawker. so fucking funny. and totally SFW, and a great way to make a friday go by more quickly, to boot. it reminds me of when my mom went through her camcording phase and she used to make us pose as if she was taking a still shot. awkward!

when my dad is visiting this weekend, we have plans to get my yard together. it has definite garden potential, but is so not even close right now. i'm really excited at the prospect of level grass with no bare patches, filling in some holes, and maybe just maybe coaxing some tomatoes and kitchen herbs out of my little scrap of brooklyn soil. not to mention practially doubling my total area of personal space, and, dare i even imagine the prospect of having more than two people in my apartment for entertaining? i already invested in a cute little hibachi grill and am daydreaming about actually being able to have people over for cookouts.

living in new york has cemented my adoration of the luscious beverge called iced coffee (not "ice_ coffee, btw - god how i have that particular bastardization of conventional english, nearly as much as "fresh" food). i am so happy that iced coffee can be purchased in nearly any bodega* for cheapity cheap cheap, and that not once asking for it have encountered the blank stare that my request has met so many times in other states, particularly in VA. i remember asking for it once at a VA starbucks and having to explain to the girl behind the counter that no, iced coffee was not the same as hot coffee over ice cubes. total barista failure. the best version i have had so far is at le dolce vita -fancy name for the corner store a block down from me- and i swear it's laced with something more addictive than coca, 'cause i crave it specifically. often.

i don't like starbucks' new "iced coffee beverege" and i resent mcdonald's version for the same reason - my steadfast belief that iced coffee should be black, like hot coffee. any reputable java-selling business would never deign to add cram and sugar to your drink, so why should that be the default for the cold version of the same beverege? i protest!

* i was gonna link the definition of bodega because before i moved to new york, the word was not part of my vernacular. is it in yours? was i just dumb? i think i normally have a pretty good vocabulary. basically it's just a little local store that sells groceries, a couple steps past a newsstand. but i don't think merriam-webster's definition isn't really an accurate representation of the way i use the word. i can see it is a derivation of the third listing for the entry, but i feel it's connotation should be included, as well. is that presumptuous? to be correcting the dictionary people?