I'm trying to keep my writing muscles limber and not be overcome with ennui, so here's some bullet points to get me going and we'll see where this leads us.

• Don't forget that Sunday at 5pm eastern is the deadline for our second Living Out Loud project. This assignment is to write an ode to something about your body that kicks ass. Part two of the assignment is to provide a photo of yourself that pleases you, but doesn't necessarily exemplify what kicks ass about your body. You can do it! Have I mentioned how nice you look today?

• Speaking of self-image, I dyed my hair last night. When I showed up, Joseph my pushy Filipino hair stylist met me at the door with a giant book of hair samples and declared, "we're doing something different today." Uh, ok. We did our usual bicker/banter over colors and I eventually closed my eyes and let him do what he wanted. I was shocked at the resulting color and not too sure if I liked it. Then Rich pointed out that it looks like Felicia Day and I think it will fade a bit into Katie West. Since those are two of the hottest ladies on the Internet, I'm suddenly much more pleased with my hair. As a note, it took me about 15 minutes to find a photo of Katie West that was safe for work, so cruise her site and Flickr stream at your own risk.

• Rich and I need to learn to synchronize our music purchases because we both have been buying stuff on Amazon and then don't tell the other about them. I think he might enjoy my Elvis Costello greatest hits and I could use his copy of I'm on a Boat to get that song out of my skull. Yet again, the audio for I'm on a Boat is not work-friendly, but grab your headphones and get it stuck in your brain just like I have.

• I bought one of the Kindle 2 book readers and it arrived yesterday. Amazon has already gotten a chunk of change from me as I bought several books I already had in print so that I might actually read them versus ignoring them around the house. My greatest joy in the Kindle is that it's kitty friendly and I can read it while the cats crawl all over me in bed. No more dropping hardback books and losing my place. It also easily fits in my purse. I bought some yarn to knit a cosey (kozie? kosee? whatever.) for it. I think that makes me a Crazy Kindle Lady.

• I'm cruising through old music on my iTunes. The Beach Boys just declared they were "loading up their woody" for their Surfin' Safari and I snickered out loud. Seriously.

On that note, I've created a mix for you all of songs I had forgotten how much I love. I hope they perk you up as much as they did me. There are several that make me snicker too. I'm looking at you, Ethel.

Well, Hello Old Friend - an OpenTape mix for your listening pleasure