vegetarian chicken noodle soup

please ignore last post
too pretentious by a mile
also: wrong. and bad.

here are the greatest things in the world as of right now sez me

1. Argentinidad al Palo, Bersuit Vergabarat. The new album by perhaps the world's second-greatest band right now (regular readers know what the #1 band is, duh), oh my gawd, so much canny hard-packed evil* in this group that it's scary. Everything is obscene and permitted to these Buenos Aireian freaks. I'm really sorry I peeled the sticker off the back of the CD, now I have to put it back on.

*Mini-quiz! Email me if you know where this sad little phrase comes from.

2. Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series DVD. I am the best husband in the world because I bought this for my wife for Mother's Day, we watched the pilot episode and I thought I'd die at Millie's wavy hippie dancing to the beginning of "Come Sail Away." There has never been a cooler older sister in the history of TV than Lindsey Weir, and Sam is, well, my son Sammy. When we tried to interest Sammy in the show by pointing out that they were constantly talking about Star Wars and Jabba the Hutt, he Snbusts out with this classic quote: "Freaks and Geeks sucks, and Jabba the Hutt sucks, but Star Wars ROCKS!"

3. David brand Jalapeno Hot Salsa sunflower seeds.

4. Lyle Overbay.

5. Agenda-less Saturday afternoons.

6. Snoop's performance on "Saturday Night Live." He was much better than all the other guest hosts because he took it more seriously and worked harder--no teleprompter!--and because he's just kinda gifted as an actor/comedian. His "Friends" thing was pretty funny, but his rap battle as MC Glide had me dying over here. Oh, and while I'm thinking about it:

7. Rachel Dratch. Holy shit, she's turning into a genius before our eyes.

8. Really really really great therapy sessions.

9. Phone calls from high school friends who came back from Iraq more or less intact.

10. Emails from Brazilian musicians asking me in charming English if I would listen to their CDs. Okay, only one of these, but she sought me out as someone she wanted to have hear her record. I haven't been this honored since being named "El Gringo Chuntaro."

11. The recipe for couscous with roasted tomatoes from Epicurious. This KILLED at dinner on Sunday night.

12. "Popocatepetl," Fey. No better mindless dance song about a volcano was released in 1996.

13. Did I mention that I love Thomas Inskeep? Well, I do. I think he overrates Van Lear Rose and OutKast, but he is a great guy nonetheless.

14. Oh, and just when I think I'm the only mentalist left, the place comes alive!