we made ... a terrible mistake ...

everybody here at worthy acres has been riding a crazy manga wave the last month or so because msg keeps finding and buying these series. (i'm gonna say he's kinda sorta addicted, in fact. in a cute way.) mostly it has been a super-great time -- we've read a couple dozen manga volumes and only 2 of them have been lame.

but then msg found "the summer you were there."

and now we're all sobbing.

only 5 of the 6 books are out in english, but we read one a few days ago and then read the other 4 that are available today, and it's just ... well, it's so good the whole household is now emotionally crippled.

do not read this series without tissues.

and definitely don't read it before the sixth book is out and you can binge the whole thing if you end up liking it -- we're going to have to wait almost two months before it's published and we know how the story plays out.

agony.

whew.

oh, dang.

i really, really, really like to write thanksgiving posts on this blog, but somehow i end up forgetting to do it maybe more often than i remember.

this year ... totally forgot. like, even heading into thanksgiving, knowing i had decided to go for another record-breaking number-of-posts year, it didn't even tiptoe through the next room over from my brain. absolutely zero plan to write a thanksgiving post, and now here it is a couple of days later and i'm just now realizing i blew it.

but instead of beating myself up too much for it, here's my belated thanksgiving post, okay?

i am more thankful than i could possibly express for the six unbelievably wonderful people i share my life with: msg, elle, sasha, ariel, hettie, and akane. you can look in my blog link list on the left if you want a taste of what a delightful crew we've got around here ... hopefully it will inspire you to be equally wonderful for whoever is in your life, as opposed to making you writhe on hot coals of jealousy.

i'm also thankful for all kinds of great shows and anime and manga and music we've been deep-diving into lately: arcane and silo and frieren: beyond journey's end and bocchi the rock and my wife has no emotion and entirely too much yuri manga and band-maid and mutant monster and hanabie and on and on and on. (that last bit isn't the name of anything. probably there's no real worry someone's going to think "on and on and on" is the title of a show or manga or band, but i'd sure hate for someone to google search each one of the other parts of that list and recognize the total genius in every one of them, then google "on and on and on" and be super-frustrated that they can't find any shows or bands by that name. hmm. although i guess i should probably google "on and on and on" just in case it turns out there is a show or band by that name and it totally sucks. okay, going to do that now ... whew! the first few hits were just about lyrics for "we didn't start the fire" by billy joel and a wikipedia article about an abba song. not a big fan of that billy joel tune, but abba is cool, so i guess no harm no foul if someone googles it.)

i'm also thankful for ... you, whoever you are, reading this. (i mean, odds are you're just one of my yams reading this in the future, because hardly anybody else even knows about this blog, i think, but if you're not one of my yams, this paragraph is more specifically for you!) i really enjoy the idea that people might read things i have to say and find some entertainment or ideas or humor in them, so thanks gobs for stopping in and reading through this. you're the best. seriously!

lastly, i'm thankful for having a large, comfy bed, and people to share it with, because it's getting late here and i'm kinda pooped and there's nothing cozier and happier than snuggling up under the covers with someone (or several someones!) you adore.

xoxo,
claire

navy blue silk pajamas

i really need to get a set of these.

damn, you know what? i think that says all i need to say right now!

(chime in in the comments if you have an opinion on whether the buttons and trims should be pink, white, or teal, please!)

the return of ambition!

okay, guys, so ... some stuff happened this past week that i can't do anything about, and it's crummy, but the fact that i can't do anything about it doesn't mean i can't do anything.

i can put my head on my boyfriend's shoulder. i can hold him and whisper in his ear. i can give every one of my girlfriends a great big hug and a kiss (lots of them, actually!), i can nudge our whole gang of yams into playing games, watching shows or movies together, taking walks and getting exercise and having long, loving, laughing conversations ...

and i by dang can beat my blogging record for the year. jeepers, there's only six posts left to get it done, and that includes this one!

so how about if you do the same, everyone out there? buck up, grab hold of the things that are still there to smile about, and do the things you can do, all right?

we got this!

something not-so-new, unfortunately ...

welp, this week did not go so well, for sure, and now it looks like we're getting a four-year sequel i really, really did not want to see.

i hope all of you out there have somebody to hug and share support with -- or, if you are happy with the election results, that you eventually start to give things a little more thought and understanding, because boy-howdy, did you get snookered.

anyway, whichever group you're in, please put a little extra effort into being kind and helpful to others from here out, because i'm sure most of you have it somewhere in your hearts to do that, and ultimately that's what makes the world a better place more than the way anybody casts their vote.

xoxo,
claire

something new

do you like it when you discover something new?

i love it.

shows i've never seen before ...

music i didn't even know existed ...

sometimes something as simple as a brand-new pen fresh out of the package -- especially if it's a color i haven't ever come across.

but do you know the best new thing?

it's when you do

something

for someone

and it's new beyond new -- 

in a way that makes them so, so happy to be yours.

woohoo, more pictures!

well, the resident photoshopster saw that i'd posted those two pics of ariel yesterday and apparently was motivated to get off his patootie and touch up a few more. enjoy!

i don't know ... is it just me, or can you just really see the beauty in this girl's soul from these photos?