To get an Anya Hindmarch bag.

Not me--especially in this rain.

Especially when a really high fashion bag is just a mouse click away!

How ugly. The handles look too big too.

I had to Google what the heck you were talking about...

Oooooooooh. That line was out of control, it wrapped around to 13th street and the end almost touched University Place.

It's raining here. Rain in California in July- almost unheard of.

Gee, and I just thought the fog was heavy today...

Not raining in LA. Droughtsville.

Well, of course you are.

BTW, those bags are butt ugly.

Went to Sears to buy new underwear. Don't remember last time I was there, but must be a year or two. The store, as I remember it, is gone. The huge bi-level parking lot, except for the tire/automotive section, was empty - - maybe 6-7 cars. The women's underwear section was the biggest and most disorganized mess I have ever seen. No visible merchandising management skills. Racks and racks and racks and racks of jumbled clear plastic hangars of bras with no size sections. And nothing anyone over college age would wear unless you were auditioning for a drag review. One tiny shelf of panties for teenagers (nothing I'd let MY daughter wear). I overheard a lady asking at the checkout stand, "Do you have any dresses?" She was told "I think we have a rack over in that back corner." Basically they just sell tops and bottoms now, casual clothes. Curious, I took the escalator to the second floor to look at appliances and linens (this escalator had stopped working when I tried to exit). Still has the wonderful Craftsman tool department, great variety of washer/dryers, TVs, and kitchenware. Great selection of toaster ovens, vacuums, shavers, anything that plugs into a wall. The cheapest pillow cases I could find were $39/pair. 'Tis surreal that the Sears of my childhood (and my parents' childhood) is apparently gone forever.

Yeah -- plus they are too bulky to fit in a handbag, and the straps aren't long enough to sling over the shoulder for the walk home. Everyone who visits us here from the US ends up taking a few cloth shopping bags back with them. They're great, last forever and on average cost about 1 or 2 euro.

These cost a buck CDN and are made from 85% post-consumer recycled plastic soft drink and water bottles.

Personally, I'd go for the northern housewife look with one of these.

About 100 times better looking and much more functional, too.

Yeah, but your marbles will fall out.

I have a cycling story about that...

Looks like the Jockstrap of the Gods.

there's nothing surreal about this. what's surreal is that not all towns have one.

I'm working on purchasing franchise rights for South Bumblefuck.

In the not-so-quaint town of Windom, MN I drove past the The Guardian Inn and did a double-take. Yes, that's right, private garages connected to your motel room.

The hell with the garage---I was more impressed by the jacuzzi that can by the looks of that photo be entered by jumping off the bed.

And what, please, is a toast bar?

It made me think of a string vest, but then everything makes me think of the Bonzos.

In the canyons of your mind,
I will wander through your brain.
To the ventricles of your heart, my dear.
I'm in love with you again.

'Cross the mountains of your chest (babababa),
I will stick a union jack.
To the forest of your cheek... oh...
Through the holes in your string vest!

(The late great Vivian Stanshall)

i just discovered that aish.com is not an aishwarya rai fansite.

Years ago, I remember seeing something akin to this at motels in Bangkok. They were more like carports with curtains, instead of garage doors. One drives into an empty carport. The attendant draws the curtains behind you and checks you into your room. Privacy was preserved.

I only mention this because my favorite neighbor in the whole world seldom comes to the Tuesday farmers market in Napa. She showed up yesterday with her bag, exactly like the one you've linked to, put peaches directly into it and then had to ask for a plastic bag for the peaches because the mesh was rubbing all her peaches raw before she could get them home. It was, to my amazement, a bit of a mess. I always thought the string bags would be great.

An alternative:

MelonBra
Catch that OK?

I have one of these, and use it all the time. A friend brought me some wooden handles from Italy to use with it. (I don't use them, though, because I'm afraid I'd lose them. Plus I already feel self-conscious enough carrying the giant jockstrap around.)

ETA: I have already lost all of my marbles.

shouldn't this be in the "when complaining is really bragging" thread?

String bags. Like black holes. I remember once, in my youth, stuffing as many groceries as I could in one, just to see how much it would take. It kept expanding.

I would give up my NY Book Fair bag to carry that beauty.

Looks a lot like the german version. Are those for sale on your website? I'm about due for a new order of beans.

Does it say “Bauernhof des prallen Mannes” on it?

Odd. Sears owns Lands End, and in the couple of Sears I've visited in the last couple of years, the Lands End departments were quite fine.

In LA, Sears seems to have gone bilingual in marketing. The equivalent of what Sears used to be is Penny's.

Has anyone figured out how/where/when the bra leaves the upper torso area and becomes a hand bag? I'm struggling with this.

I'd start in the privacy of your own home.

She has two bras. Not fair.

What would Ani do?

Just read my horoscope for today. All you Leo's out there, read up.


Dear Joan,
Here is your horoscope
for Thursday, July 19:

It's not just what you say that matters, but also how you say it. Choose your method carefully; in some cases, face-to-face interaction is much more effective than an email or a text, and vice versa. Think about this.

I'm sure you are thinking carefully

Jupiter passes Orion,
And comes into junction with Mars.
Saturn is weaving through infinite space
To its preordained place in the stars.

And I gaze at the planets in wonder,
At the time and trouble they expend,
All to warn me to be careful
In dealings involving a friend.

--Flanders & Swan

Jupiter passes Orion,
And comes into junction with Mars.
Saturn is weaving through infinite space
To its preordained place in the stars.

And I gaze at the planets in wonder,
At the time and trouble they expend,
All to warn me to be careful
In dealings involving a friend.

--Flanders & Swan

You're brilliant! I think I need to memorize that.

I wish I could find the tune online for you. Donald Swann sang it with this little mystical tinkly piano, it's just great. I neglected to mention the title is "My Horoscope".

Just checked the lyrics, since you're memorizing and all, and I got them a tiny bit wrong.

Jupiter's passed through Orion,
And come into conjunction with Mars.
Saturn is wheeling through infinite space,
To its pre-ordained place in the stars.

And I gaze at the planets in wonder,
At the trouble and time they expend.
All to warn me to be careful,
In dealings involving a friend!

But what are you supposed to do when they won't let you past Security?

I'm pretty sure I see this more often because I'm in LA, but really is it so hard for certain kinds of people to understand that you can't get something for nothing, you want to be swept up with the tide of someone else's success be there for some of the grunt work, and start digging your well before you get thirsty.

There's no fairy godmother!!!

Shoplifting NE Scottish seagull.

PS: I've been in that shop.

Though I fear his legacy is in jeopardy.

It's not 9:30am yeat and on the rooftop nextdoor, someone is repeatedly stabbing a chicken breast with a fork while it is on a hot grill. He seems to be alternating the stabbing with re-reading instructions for proper stabbing off a printed recipe.

That's an assumption. It may not be a recipe but a different kind of intructional manual for correct stabbing procedures. Advice from a Brooklyn boy... avoid this neighbor for awhile

Well, after the stabbing subsided he ran downstairs to do something, leaving the grill on and covered. Hilarity ensued. The chicken breast is now only good for serving at Landmarc.

I saw a hummingbird on Leroy Street this morning. Just flying along.