out with the old and in with the new

Yes, friends, it's true. We have finally replaced the Pathfinder. About two weeks ago, we realized that our car (which turned 21 years old at the beginning of the year), was giving up the will to live. Our fears were confirmed when the mechanic later called to say that the car would cost $1,300 to fix. In addition, the mechanic said, the handle of the driver's door fell off when he tried to get in the car. Poor Pathfinder.

Here are just a few reasons why we decided to abandon the Pathfinder:

1) The seatbelts have rusted away from their anchor in the backseat. No baby car seat will ever be safe.
2) The floor of the car has rusted away underneath the backseat, providing riders with very cold bottoms during the winter months.
3) Carbon monoxide wafts through said rust holes, which is especially unhealthy for pregnant riders/drivers.
4) $1,300 is more than twice the value of the car.
5) We will never be able to drive the Pathfinder to our new home after graduation this year, since the car will never be able to drive out of Salt Lake or Utah Counties.

(This being said, does anyone know someone who wants a great fixer-upper for only $300? If not, we're taking the Pathfinder to the junkyard soon.)

So, we have upgraded. Really upgraded. Meet our Prius 2008. Tired of paying 15 mpg for the Pathfinder, we got a hybrid car that usually gets around 45 mpg. Plus, it's more environmentally friendly. AND we can't smell exhaust anymore while we drive. The only thing that I will slightly miss about the Pathfinder is being lurched from side to side as we drove around - I used to get a really good workout for my core muscles.

I love this photo with the two cars side-by-side in the driveway. Art historians could make all kinds of symbolic interpretations about how the New Testament (Prius) has replaced and fulfilled the Old Testament (Pathfinder). If cars existed during the medieval period or Proto-Renaissance, ancient worshipers would have totally seen the correlation.

when do you stop?

So, when do you cease writing your thesis and decide that your information is sufficient? When do you know if your thesis is being treated like a dissertation? When does one stop themselves? Until you have completely exhausted, trampled, and embraced your argument?

Help. I can't stop writing.

goodbye to fish

Well, it's official. Jeremy and I will never become ickthyologists, or even ickthyophiles. After two traumatic weeks of owning two goldfish, we have realized that we are not cut-out to join the world of pet owners. Our fish died while we were in SLC for Christmas, even though we did everything to ensure that they would be alright.

Who ever knew that owning goldfish would be so difficult? We spent quite a bit of money on fish medicine, aquarium accoutrements, water treatment, etc. In frustration, we have thrown most of the fish equipment away - we don't want to be reminded of our failure. If we can't even take care of goldfish, how are we going to manage with a baby?

savvy advice

Thanks to Quatorze for sending this along...

Christa-Taylor clothes

I have recently become obsessed with this website, thanks to Kelly. I really like how this clothing line is dedicated to making modest clothes for women - AND these are really CUTE clothes. Plus, they are more affordable than clothes from JCrew or Anthropologie, which is good news for a destitute college student like myself. Practically all of my Christmas list has been formed from perusing this site.

new additions to the household

J and I would like to welcome two new members into our home: Tom and Harry. We didn't really think about having pet fish until Sunday night, when we kinda-sorta won Harry (on the left) in a White Elephant exchange at the Maxfield's. The truth is, someone "stole" Harry from us during the exchange, and I must have looked so disappointed that at the end of the party the true winners handed the fish to us. Either that, or the winners decided they didn't want to deal with the hassle of a new pet.

So, after the party on Sunday we took Harry home. Being sans fish care equipment, we filled up a glass pitcher with water and placed Harry inside. He sunk down do the bottom of the bowl, looking like the most depressed fish in the world. More than one time we thought he was dead. He would glumly stare out the pitcher, only occasionally moving a fin as he gave a little sigh (I am now convinced that goldfish can sigh).

We felt like the worst fish owners in the world, and immediately started looking up all of this information about goldfish care. I didn't realize that goldfish were so complex - when I had a goldfish in high school, I just kept it in a bowl and fed it once in a while. Maybe we're subconsciously working out baby care anxieties by obsessing about Harry.

Evidence of our fish care anxieties can be seen in the photo. I've never gone as far as to buy a little aquarium or a filter or an air pump for a goldfish before. You can also see that we bought Harry a roommate (on the right). Harry is officially "my" fish, since I got him at the party, and Tom is J's pet. As soon as we put Tom and Harry in the new tank, Harry completely snapped out of his depression. He's been really animated and active ever since. He must be a people-fish. Either that, or he's just glad to be out of the pitcher.

'led' deficient

Today I wish that I was in London for this concert. One of the greatest moments of my life was seeing Paul McCartney perform live outside the Colosseum in Rome in a free concert. If I had $168,000 then I might be able to see Led Zeppelin play too.

My love for Led Zeppelin began when I was a freshman in college. Katie, my best friend from high school, had been trying to get me to listen to them for a couple of years. I was a little wary. To me, Led Zeppelin seemed to attract groupies that were only "a step up" from the weirdos who wore "Grateful Dead" t-shirts in the school halls. "Stairway to Heaven" was the only song with which I was vaguely familiar, but that exposure was mainly through "Wayne's World" and listening to hopeful-guitarists messing around on their instrument.

But I was wrong about Zeppy. In our freshman bedroom, my roommate Zillah and I often reveled in "the Led" during the day and late into the night (well, "late" for me meaning about 10:00, when I would go to sleep and Zillah would continue to listen to her music with Kelly in the kitchen), thanks to some CDs which were lent to us by Britton Q. I realized the breadth of musicality which Led Zeppelin encompasses, and I began to see why the band was so influential.

My favorite Led Zeppelin songs, in more-or-less an order of partiality:
1. Over the Hills and Far Away
2. Thank You
3. Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You
4. Black Dog
5. What Is and What Should Never Be
6. Dazed & Confused
7. Immigrant Song

It will be interesting to see what kinds of reviews and comments are made about this concert. Part of me hopes that the concert is amazing, so that this band can receive the praise that its music deserves. However, I also jealously wish that the concert doesn't go so well, merely because I'll feel even worse at having missed out.

Addendum: Looks like it was a success. Good for them.