1. I don’t consider 13 an unlucky number.

2. I have, however, picked up the habit of knocking on wood to prevent bad thoughts from coming true.

3. That, and making wishes when the digital clock strikes all the same numbers. 11:11 is of of course the most lucrative time*, but sometimes in a pinch I’ll use 12:12.

4. In 5th grade, my best friend and I checked out all of the books on superstitions from our school’s library. We learned that if you want to make a crush love you, you bury his hair in the backyard underneath a full moon, along with a whole onion. How do you collect the hair of a guy whose beautiful flaxen locks put you in a trance? Eventually he just moved to Florida.

5. Also, we learned this: If your palm itches, it means money will be coming to you shortly. Either put your hand in your pocket, or scratch it with a piece of wood. And the thing about burning ears is true.

* I usually publish these Small Things posts on a date in advance, and I always set them to 11:11 AM.

Panties.

Many people claim to hate the word, but I don’t. I think it’s cute. It’s a tiny version of pants! I also don’t dislike the word moist, which is detested by people the world all over perhaps even more than panties. I don’t even hate them together: “moist panties.” Are they so bad? If you’re experiencing wetness along with other signs of discomfort, maybe, but if not, so what?

I can’t wait for Google to pick up on this.

I guess for some, the words conjure up a filthy old man with dirt under his nails and a pervy fantasy. But if you consider a guy like this one, even “fluffy bunnies” wouldn’t pass the grody test unscathed. What do you mean, bunnies? That some kinda euphemism?

1. Tomato & avocado sandwiches.

2. Root beer.

3. Russian Blues.

4. Taking a walk in the hot sunshine while the air is still cool.

5. None of my houseplants (3 aloe, 2 pothos, 1 lavender) have died! They’re all getting a little long in the pot, though.

It’s called Bloxorz. Using your arrow keys, you have to manipulate the rectangular block so that it fits through a square-shaped hole. It’s pretty fun, and there are a few other elements that make it stay interesting, like collapsible bridges and orange tiles that can’t hold the block when it’s standing on end.

It kinda reminds me of that scene in Resident Evil: Extinction where the one zombie that’s becoming tame is playing with childhood games and remembering how to use a camera. He’s putting shapes into one of those hollow blocks with holes and looking kinda happy about it, but then he can’t get one of the shapes into an improper hole, so he turns back into a wild zombie and kills everybody who’s in the room with him. But this game isn’t that frustrating at all. In fact, I feel more like that zombie when I’m playing a little round of Mahjongg Solitaire.

1. Spending all day eating newly-bought groceries.

2. Preparing toes for their first polish of the season.

3. Out-of-town neighbors. (College apartments can suck.)

4. Collecting sewing patterns for the cutest skirts.

5. Finally learning how to sew more than a swatch… I hope. I say it every spring.

It’s my husband (”HUSBAND”: it’s still so weird) Chris’s birthday today! In the style of blog memes and Facebook notes everywhere, I’m going to honor this day by writing a fun list of facts about him as long as his new age:

1. When he was about 4 years old, he had a play-cooking set with miniature boxes of everything. He told me his grandma would say, “Go get your cooking stuff!” when he was over at her house to play, and now I say it to make fun of him when he’s cooking for real.

2. When he was a young teen, he wrecked a Go-Kart into a fence and bit through his bottom lip, losing a tooth and leaving a scar.

3. On a day soon after we’d met, I remember he wore these huge khaki pants with cargo pockets. I’m not too keen on baggy clothes, but then I heard a crinkle sound coming from the pants. I asked him what it was, and he reached into his left cargo pocket, producing… a honeybun, wrapped in plastic!

4. Our first real date was to the zoo. I think this is where my habit of comparing him to cute animals (a baby deer, a scared little rabbit) comes from.

5. The first year we dated, he always had a pack of Juicy Fruit gum in his car.

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1. Wrapping paper that the scissors slide right through.

2. Crunchy cereal.

3. On Monday, I saw about 20 tufted titmice all huddled up in the same tiny tree, round and fat from fluffed feathers.

4. Handclaps and whistles.

5. Toy robots made out of scrap metal.

About a month ago Chris and I started watching episodes of The 4400 online, a show that aired on USA for a few years and eventually got canceled because of the strikes and other things. Anybody else ever see this show? I’d never even heard of it until Chris started watching it. Here’s a description:

“In the pilot episode, what was originally thought to be a comet deposits a group of exactly 4400 people at Highland Beach, in the Cascade Range foothills near Mount Rainier, Washington. Each of the 4400 had disappeared at various times starting from 1946 in a beam of white light. None of the 4400 have aged from the time of their disappearance. Confused and disoriented, they remember nothing between the time of their disappearance and their return.”

There’s a little girl who disappeared first, decades ago, and then there are some people who’ve only been gone for a few months. They seem normal at first but it’s soon revealed that some of these 4400 now have mysterious powers, like the ability to predict the future or kill other people with their minds, or even just be fast like a ninja. “Some” of the 4400 turns into “all” of them, and then later on in the series—I’m skipping a lot here—it turns out there’s been a drug made from the special chemical that gives the 4400 their powers. So, anybody who wants to can take a shot and be like a 4400. (Half of the human population will die upon taking the drug, but forget that.)

What would be your power? Chris liked the idea of being a ninja-fast vigilante like one of the original characters, but I think he’d probably have some dorky cute power, like hearing what chipmunks think. That, or one of the more deadly powers. He’s one of those quiet people you’d never suspect.

MY superpower, if I could be so lucky to choose, would be the ability to heat things up with my hands. Like, superheat. I’ve thought about this a lot. I would use my hands to instantly bake things, like cupcakes, by just holding the pan. I’d also use them to boil water and to keep my hot drinks warm. Another genius use would be to dry my hair with them. Wouldn’t that be AMAZING? I could dry it wavy or straight without needing other styling tools. Because the one thing I definitely can’t ever do is blowdry my hair with a stupid round brush.

Is it dreary where you are? Here are a couple of nauseatingly cute videos to start your Monday off with:

I get that there’s an egg in your hand, but girl, you can skate faster than that.

When does this bus make a transfer?

I love both of these songs and singers, but I’m nearly cringing myself out of my chair here. Really, ladies? You have the tiny piano in the street. Drumsticks but no drum at the bus stop. Geeky guy with balloons. Geekier guy with a laptop. Adorable little girls. A roller skating nurse, with a neck brace? (Okay, that was kinda cool.) You’re cute; you’re singing about hearts and dancing. You’re meeting people and singing the lyrics of the song to them, as if in conversation—definitely always embarrassing.

So I watch a lot of music videos online. What are some more of the craziest/cutest?