Item 1: I have been having strange dreams. REALLY strange dreams. You know the kind: when you wake up in that “WTF?” state, and there’s still a little crazy on your face, and you want to tell someone–anyone–what just transpired in the dark abyss of your skull, but you have too much on your to-do list and involuntary committal is just not something you have time for today.
Item 2: My neighbor across the cul-de-sac speaks another language. Well, at least she does when she’s on the phone at 11 p.m. taking her cute dog for a walk within my earshot while I am also taking my cute dog for a walk. I have lived across from this woman for almost four years; we have waved and exchanged hellos on a regular basis. Why, then, have I not noticed until just a few nights ago that she is, as we say here in the South, not from these parts? It is easy to remain oblivious to your neighbors down the street, the ones to the far right and left whose houses you pass each day, and to whom you wave when you drive by them working in their yards, but who do not share a property border or a view of your house. But it’s hard to miss people right across the street, and so I am in wonder that I have never had enough conversation with this woman to realize that English is not her first language. Makes me wonder what else I’ve missed on this quiet little street.
Item 3: I am listening to Sarah Vowell’s Assassination Vacation, and I highly recommend it. But you should definitely listen to it. I’m sure it’s a great print work, but Vowell’s voice is wonderful, her delivery so deadpan, and many of the historical figures who feature in the book are voiced by the likes of Stephen King and Jon Stewart. Great for a long car ride.
Item 4: “Shall We Dance” (the newer Gere/Sarandon version) is an excellent movie. So is “Hitch” with Will Smith.
Item 5: Ice cream sandwiches are SO good. So are tomatoes ripened in the sun, and cucumbers, and raspberries right off the bush, or vine, or whatever. But given the choice–say, I’m on “Survivor” and I can only have one or the other–I think I’d have to go with ice cream sandwiches.
one small corner of the universe 
#s 1 and 5: Yes!
Weird dreams: here’s just a snippet of one from last night. Cait and I discovered a new flavor of Ben & Jerry’s that came in a container with a hole in the bottom, forks (with special directions about how to use them) attached to the container) and the ice cream itself reminded me of playdough that had been put through the playdough squisher and extruded as fat strands. It was kiwi ice cream but had coffee and I think mayonnaise as some of its many ingredients.
Ice cream sandwiches: yum (especially if they’re not made of kiwi/coffee/mayo ice cream).