Test 1, 2, 3.

So apparently my postcards are non-machinable and therefore cost an extra 33 cents. But this is definitely a recent development unless people have been getting postage due notices all these years and not telling me. I mean, I did ask when I first started sending them because I thought the thickness might be a problem, but the guy at the Princeton post office said it would be okay, and I have heard tell of people getting them, so it has been okay up until March when mom's birthday card had postage due.
I'm sure it's related to the post office's financial woes (stupid congress), but now I'm wondering what makes them non-machinable. I had a thinner one that I was testing out but it still had my glued on layer bits and that was sort of what she was indicating was the problem, so that would imply that the thickness is not the problem, and I could put one in an envelope and pay letter postage instead of 66 cents. But maybe it's the lack of bendiness (because even the thinner one was made stiff by my gluings) which wouldn't go away with an envelope.
I guess the main reason this is so disappointing is because I have a shoebox full of postcard-sized gray/white board (I don't know why it's called gray/white when the "gray" side is clearly blue), and then all my clothly scraps, and I wanna use them up. I suppose 66 cents isn't too terrible, cost-wise, but 33 cents was so much cheaper and insignificant seeming.

ETA: Okay I found a thing, and it is the rigidity that is the problem, so envelopes are a no go.

...The Bumper Sticker Mobile!

I wound up spending way more on dressy job/interview shoes than I was planning to, but they are super nice and super comfy and Salesdude totally earned his commission because I was extra picky (no heels! no shininess!) and tried on a lot of shoes. As it turns out, I cannot wear ballet flats because even when they are too tight my heel still slips out.
Also the last time I interacted with a salesdude (buying glasses) I was wearing all blue and he commented that I must like blue and this time around I was wearing all purple (I defy you to convince me that my purple striped pants are anything other than awesome) and shoe salesdude commented that I must like purple.

But at least that was a totally practical splurge unlike the Breyer's Ice Cream I got at the supermarket (I had a coupon! it's summertime!). It turns out they have changed the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream. It used to be PB ice cream with chocolate syrupy swirls and chunks of Reese's PB Cups. Now it is basically chocolate ice cream with peanut butter ripple and chunks of Reese's PB Cups. Which is good, but not particularly worth the brand name tie-in? Like, the other one required more effort/creativity and was more peanut buttery.

So of course I forgot all about buying text books or else I might have tried ordering them earlier, so I could get them used.
Fortunately, only one of my classes even has books. Unfortunately, it has six. Five of which I managed to purchase at used book stores around town.

First stop: Murphy-Brookfield Books where I got Journeys in New Worlds: Early American Women's Narratives for $6.50 (as opposed to $17.95) and Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography for $15 (which isn't that much less than the $17.92, but my copy is a hardback from 1951* (and came with a book sleeve/case thingy) with like, marble paper on the covers and illustrations inside, so there).

*Which could get me in trouble since he said he wanted a specific edition, but the prof is my adviser, and based on what I know of him, I think I could be all Flaily Hands Book Nerd (which is honestly what happened) about it and he'd be okay.

Second stop: The Haunted Bookshop which is officially has the best book shopping experience because there is at least one cat in the store and zhe was adorable and let me pet zir. There I got Charlotte Temple for $3.95 (take that $17.54), Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man for 50 cents (only $2.50 new, but I saved a whole $2), and I got The Complete Poems and Stories of Edgar Allan Poe (as opposed to Selected Tales) for $20 (which in this instance is a splurge, but I get more stories for my buck and it's a two volume hardback set, and really, I could get a brand new so-called "perfect" (adhesive) binding and it would fall apart sooner than my 1982 hardbacks and they are prettier besides, and I mean really, it's Poe creeptasticness, what's not to love?)

So of course neither of them had the most expensive book that's also the one I need to have to do reading from in advance of Thursday's class and of course they only have one copy in the library and it's checked out and on hold, so it's too late to order it online and I'll have to pay full (almost $50!) price for Perspectives on American Book History. I hate paying full price.

I started a Valentine's Day tradition of donating to a charity that helps kitties in honor of my beloved Valentines:

The muchly missed Lady & Ringo:


The also missed Monkee (but then I go and visit and he bites me, and I don't miss him quite so much anymore):


And I miss the Bootsie while I'm at work, but then I get to see him when I come home:



This year's charity is EASEL Animal Rescue League

Living.




And Lost.



This year's donation goes to Tabby's Place. It's even located in Ringoes, NJ.

It said "Remember your tradition so that it can actually be a tradition."
So, last year I decided I was going to make a tradition of giving to the American Humane Association on Valentine's Day. Which is not to say that I endorse the holiday in any way because I still think it's a load of crap. I mean, if you love someone, you love them every day, not just on the 14th of February, and yet people make such a big deal out of this manufactured excuse for romance-- but that's not what this post is about.
This post is about these guys:

My Lady love:



My Monkey-face as he imitates Fizzgig:



And in memory of my baby Ringo boy:



And yeah, it doesn't affect them directly, and they don't give a flying rat's ass about it either way, so I guess that while the Valentine is in honor of them, it's really a Valentine to the animals who don't have a family, and need one.

i just got 2 Schick Quatro razors (both of which came with free radios [and batteries!] and a loaf of bread (and not the over processed preservative laden kind, but rather a loafy, rolly from the (Pathmark) bakery kind for {drumroll please} a total of 89 cents. coupons rock! having your own Pathmark Advantage Club card helps too. but seriously, how awesome is that? it's so much fun to get excited, especially when it's cheap excitement. weeeeeeeeeeeee! that was just fun. and awesome. and awesomely fun. also funly awesome. and now i'm just rambling but it's too cool to not ramble about.