i am not missy franklin.

i am not missy franklin. i'm not from colorado,  three years past seventeen, and a little less than a foot short of 6'1. oh, and i definitely can't swim 200 meters in less than a minute. in any stroke, much less backstroke. i don't even know how long 200 meters really is.

i did paint my nails like that once, though! and, this morning, inspired by the girl who won gold at seventeen, i decided i was going to go on a run. because really, if she can get an olympic medal, why can't i run like three miles?

because it's hard, that's why. i made it maybe a half a mile before i decided i should stick to walking. because unlike missy franklin, i guess i don't have the dedication to keep going when i start breathing heavy and getting cramps. long story short, i sucked. i will not be running a 5k anytime soon, much less going to the olympics.

but here's the thing: at least i tried, and i tried because of missy franklin. and maybe the olympics in general, but also totally because she's awesome and i was that excited when i got my license, too. and maybe, if she can get into a pool and win fifteen minutes after swimming a completely different race, i can get up tomorrow morning and go for another run. i mean walk. 

so thanks, missy franklin. thanks for giving me a push off the couch. oh, and thanks for winning gold for our country. that was pretty cool, too, and i hope - no, i know - you'll do it again. 

king charles -- mississippi isabel

i know nothing about this band, king charles, but i absolutely adore this song and the accompanying video - a little hipster, but really cute and catchy. also, how could you not love her yellow dress and that arizona desert? (love lust is another good one)

public libraries

the absolutely amazing blog underground new york public library features a whole selection of photographs i just can't get enough of. they're all of people reading on the subway, totally lost in private world of their books even though they're in the center of some of the busiest public spaces in the world's largest city. aparating to hogwarts on the a train? don't mind if i do. 

smile, by lisa wallace for the say something poster project. 

dear girl who just interviewed me at anthropologie,

please don't think i'm a creeper, but i want to be your friend. i mean, i would also like to get hired at your store, but being your friend is also up there on my list of random wishes.

you see, anthropologie interview girl, there's lots of things i really appreciate about you, even though i've known you for a grand total of twenty minutes. first of all, you are super sweet. i know that's probably part of your job, given that you're in sales and all, but you are just really nice and easy to talk to, so way to be on that one. i mean, we could just sit on the porch for hours drinking mojitos and jabbering on and on like friends do. i bet you make a great mojito.

and, your niceness is even more amazing considering the fact that you are actually one of the prettiest people i've ever seen in my life. okay, that was creepy. but seriously, why are you not modeling? if i was super tall and thin and had your perpetual-tan skin tone and dark brown carrie curls and emerald eyes, i wouldn't be working a day job. i'd be modeling. i'd be walking around the streets of new york, waiting for short, slightly chubby, brown-eyed girls (cough cough me) to walk by so i could just look at them and think, "yep, i know you wish you looked like me," and giggle to myself. i'd just sit around being pretty, in that unique, racially ambiguous, model-esque kind of way that girls appreciate and guys pass over for kate upton. (i would much rather look like you than kate upton.)

but i really appreciate that you're not like that. i think it makes you seem down-to-earth, and that's one of those big qualities i look for in a friend.

and also, you interviewed me. which means that you're pretty high up in the store, like an assistant manager or something. which means that either you've been there a long time (points for dedication) or you're really good at what you do (points for being really good at what you do) or both. you got there, and you climbed the ladder. and i don't care if it's a corporate ladder or the ladder to the white house - whatever! you got promoted! there's no way my 20-year-old self has ever been promoted at anything, so take what you can get.

the point is, i hope i come off as cool, friendly, and professional as you do when i first meet people. and also it'd be cool to be your friend.

or at least your co-worker. i filled out that ethics survey online, and i promise i'm timely and don't do drugs (although that ethics survey did ask me twenty times if i thought it was okay to come to work high), and although i'm not tall or skinny or green-eyed or curly-haired or perpetually tan or super cool or very composed, i promise i work really hard, and i think i'd make a pretty good employee. and a pretty good friend.