The Daily Sabs

this morning my friend nick picked up two bushels of oysters for our eating enjoyment. if you're wondering a bushel is 10 dozen, and if you do the math you'll see that yes, that is 20 dozen oysters. there were 8 of us total, so it wasn't an outrageous ordeal, but it was gluttonous. nick and i were there for the big haul, everyone else said they'd do a dozen or two. julie (who was pulled into lifefulfillment oyster edition late in the game) signed up for two, but is pretty sure she ate three.

so why did we do this? well (1) we are gluttons (2) it is pretty economical when you buy them in bulk and (3) -- this is the main reason -- a long while back nick said he'd teach me how to shuck. i've been pretty terrified because of the sharp knife close to your hands and special glove recommended thing (we used dish towels).

but, once i got started, i loved it. i picked it up pretty quickly and it turned out to be a lot of fun. shuck shuck shuck! and best part was, no injuries! julie and jeff both had tiny scrapes, but i walked away unscathed. and i must say i probably shucked at least 4 dozen, possibly 5. i didn't eat quite that many, but i'm sure it was close.

growing up my mom sort of encouraged this sort of thing. in fact, if i didn't get the crab claw (or if she had unhinged it before i had a chance to make a round of bad jokes and demonstrate how the crab claw could move posthumously), i would throw a fit. not like a kicking and screaming fit, but a pouty one. i'm doomed if i ever have kids of my own. mostly because i will probably still want to play and they will fight me for it. good thing crabs have two claws.

and in case you didn't know, lobsters do too.

as a total random aside, we saw john hodgman in an "intimate" conversation with dave eggers today. it was part of the sfsketchfest, and was really quite fantastic. i love his wry literary humor. after all, i don't lol, i just quietly chuckle.

private for friends of nick p: if you see him anytime soon, call him lobot. john hodgman will, and that guy's an expert. you can't really fight that.

i used to be a big reader. i devoured books at an incredible pace, one right after the other. i read so much and so quickly that i barely digested one story before i was halfway through the next. at some point this pace slowed. i blame a job on the internet for this one. now i'm lucky to read one book a year.

this year the book i'm reading is Jasper Fforde's Shades of Grey. I can't really explain the story, but it's pretty fascinating and fun so far. Fforde is really good at creating worlds that are slightly off from our own (okay really off from our own). This particular one threw you into the deep end though. Randall read it first and about 30 pages in I had to ask if it ever calmed down. Luckily the answer is yes, and once it calms down and the story starts to unfold, it's captivating. Here's hoping it ends well.

this evening julie had a bunch of us over for octoballs and vino. now octoballs aren't balls of octopus as much as they are round balls of batter with a surprise octopus center. they're also not really called octoballs, they're called takoyaki and they're absolutely delicious. breaded awesomeness with a delicious tidbit. plus they were super fun to make. once you make them (in the special machine), you then coat them with kewpie mayo, brown sauce, seaweed, and benito flakes.

and if this wasn't enough food, we also ended up making okonomiyaki. i've had this several times and never even realized it was like 80% cabbage.

can't wait for octoballs and vino part two!

i spent this evening at 826 helping my reporter walk through the steps of how a radio works. between his short attention span and my sleepiness, the situation nearly caused my brain to melt out of my ear. teachers, i respect you. i always think kids are sponges who can sop up anything, but as i learned today, that's not necessarily true. still, i had fun, but man my brain is spent.

and ta da a smile, because more than anything else, i'm sick of looking at my pathetic sad face.

ps. in case you missed it, i posted the 100 best songs of the decade yesterday. tell me what i missed.

First, let me just say that I'm often accused of only liking "oddly brooding epic music," (as this picture might imply) but I think this list is going to shoot that theory down completely. Secondly, let me say the picture that is accompanying today is only because it's been a really weird day. It wasn't meant to be this sad or stark, that's just how it turned out. Thirdly, finishing this list was a really nice way to escape from everything.

And I know, these end of the decade lists are supposed to go up before the end of the decade, but what can I say? I needed an extension. Like all favorite lists, this is clearly subjective. These are my songs, my jams, and quite frankly, they're not even always THE best songs. They're just the ones that got a lot of rotation at chez sabs or are "good" for sentimental reasons.

I only let myself choose one song from an artist, so there were some tough decisions. I'm not even sure I'm going to agree with myself a few months from now let alone at the end of another decade. I'm also sure to regret a few newer songs on there, and I'll probably fall in love with a band that didn't even make the list this time around.

And finally, the numbers are just there to prove the list is at 100. The final top ten are in order, but the rest are broken down into categories in no particular order. It was just easier this way.

rule number one, don't cry at work (especially if it's work related, but keep tears away even if it's not work related). rule number two, don't break rule number one.

there are some other personal work rules after that one, but this one my number one. crying at work is for suckers. don't cry at work. it's not very becoming and it makes you look weak. (there are a few exceptions, say a death of a loved one, but they are rare cases).

outside of work, cry all you want. i don't care. bawl in your beer or your cereal. i do. we all do. those that don't are heartless. people who say they never cry weird me out. that's not human.

i feel pretty strongly about these things. go ahead and cry in public, just not at work, or right outside of work either. the workplace is weird. it's best to leave your tears on the commute.

so as you can imagine, it sort of took me by surprise when i nearly lost it today. eyes closed deep breath practically meditating internal cursing and mentally throwing things at a wall was all i could to do control it.

is everyone's family so full of dramz?

this weekend i washed my hair and let it air dry without really combing it or putting in any product. it flipped out on all the edges in a way that was not intended, and each time i passed by a mirror i couldn't help but think, "wow, it's like hipster carol brady." i threw the hipster part in there to make myself feel better about the whole thing. but come on, look at it, it's totally carol brady.

the self-imposed quarantine continued throughout today. it was a pretty good day of vitamin c and video games, that is until the power went out. it wasn't out for long, but sadly the save file for our video game (where we were 70% finished) deleted itself. now i feel like i've accomplished even less. although i suppose if a small power outage (it came back in about an hour) and having to start a video game over from the beginning are my only problems (not to mention the stupid cold that won't go away), then life is actually pretty good.

maybe it was the wine and partying i did on wednesday, or maybe it was when randall forgot to turn the heater on and sat in the damp and cold house all day, or maybe it was just something else, but whatever it was another cold has descended upon our house. there are achey joints, runny noses, and coughs that won't ever go away.

needless to say, it's best to stay away. we've stocked up on orange juice, day and nyquil, kleenex, and video games. there are lots of hours of video games. netflix too. we're solid, and we'll see you when we get better.