the fifty states project #4: IN.

have you ever seen the state seal of indiana? it's f'n crazypants! from what i can tell, it depicts a bison fleeing from an axe-wielding maniac. i'm SO jealous. growing up in NH, all we had on our seal was a picture of the richmond, some warship from the revolutionary war. LAME. here in new york, the seal depicts liberty, justice & a river. LAME. bison + axe-wielding maniac = AWESOMESAUCE. with a state seal like that, it must be the best state in the union, right? well...not exactly. i visited the northwest corner of the state just south of chicago a few years back & even though i only saw that one corner of the state, i'm pretty sure it's not the best state in the union. it's got a lot going for it though. i mean, to the untrained eye, indiana is nothing more than sports & corn, but a closer look reveals that it's actually a land with a rich history full of famous events & people & whatnot. you know johnny appleseed? dude wasn't born in indiana, but he totally died a sudden death one day in fort wayne, IN. history!

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the fifty states project #3: ME.

if there's any state whose people possess a sweet collective nickname, it's the citizens of maine. oh you maniacs! ok. technically people from maine are "mainers," but that nickname's lamer than keyser soze so i ignore it. maine officially came into existence back in 1820, when it seceded from massachusetts & became its own state, one that's almost as big as all the other five new england states put together. it's 90% covered in trees, a fact that makes it the most heavily-forested state in the nation & leads to the state nickname, the "pine tree state." other than its bounty of trees & the fact that like much of northern new england, its population is extremely white (96.1%), what really makes maine special?

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flea at laff #11: brooklyn bangers.

snack: beef brisket hot dog
drink: lemonade

when it comes to sleeping in, i rule. i'm pretty much a world champion at it, especially when my brain whips together yarns that'd make luis bunuel giddy. why wake up when i'm getting a free, private screening of a never-before-seen bunuel film? this past saturday, i was in the middle of a prime sleeping session, making my way through a series of surprisingly hot & steamy dreams. before i knew it it was 1pm, the sun had been shining upon brooklyn for hours already & i hadn't made it further than kicking the covers off...yeah, adulthood. to remedy this, i got the hell out of bed, quickly made myself presentable & headed out the door for the flea. i figured it was the least i could do to get my day started.

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#190 - overthinking snacks.

i listen to a LOT of podcasts. we're talking at least four-five hours worth of them on an average day. most of that listening's done whilst riding the subway & i haven't read a book in at least a year because the time that i used to spend reading books has been usurped by these podcasts. is not reading books good for my health? hell if i know but if it isn't i have dan savage & ira glass & kurt andersen & the moth to blame...& of course, as i mentioned a while back, the folks at npr.

one of my favorite podcasts is the overthinking it podcast, whose tagline is "subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve." overthinking it has been putting out a weekly, hilariously "intelligent," hour-or-so length podcast hosted by a rotating cast of "overthinkers" every week since february of 2008 & they just put out their 147th episode this past sunday. each episode begins with the panel of overthinkers answering a "question of the week" & from there they tackle a few different pop culture topics & meander into the minutiae of those topics, touching on countless other subjects along the way. sometimes they meander so much that they don't even get to the promised show topic. those shows are the best.

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flea at laff #10: the good batch.

snack: birthday cake cookie
drink: hot tea

hey, so the saturday brooklyn flea has finally returned to fort greene. yep. it's true. in fact, they kicked off the 2011 season way back on april 3rd. the weather sucked on that first day, so i wasn't there to experience the opening in all its glory, but on the following saturday i did make it out to the flea for the first time this year. since my last visit to the flea back in late september, the sunday edition has moved to williamsburg & just yesterday the folks behind the flea announced that on may 21st they're launching a saturday food market called "smorgasburg" at the willyburg location. it'll feature over 100 vendors, making it the largest outdoor food market in the city. it'll also be the one with the f'n cleverest name. ch-ch-changes.

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