Photographic documentation of the proceedings of the Mad Scientist Club Mentos Coke Experiment Picnic can be found here.

ETA: And Erika's comprehensive notes on the experiment here!

It's Moss's birthday, and my cat has given me the gift of peeing! On my new favorite capris! Which had my headphones in the pocket! Did she miss the pocket perchance? No! Of course she didn't! This is Moss's birthday pee!* It must cover as much of Julia's favorite things as possible! I found this out while I was vacuuming in the bedroom, and I picked up the capris to move them out of the way, and they were wet. And distinctly odorous. Eeeewwwww. They are now in the washer. I have no idea what to do with the headphones, though. Bleh. I guess I can sponge them with vinegar and see if they still work later (if the smell is gone).

In any case, today Moss is 31 years old, which I said makes him a grown up because back in the 60s and 70s the word on the street was not to trust anyone over 30, and which he said makes him, "Thirtysomething, just like all the Baby Boomers!" Except of course now all the Baby Boomers are 50 or 60 something, but oh well. No matter what one associates 31 with, it's still a cause for cat pee celebration.

Here's the big plan:

Moss and I will meet up in downtown Boston by his place of employment this afternoon, and there will perhaps be some pictures of Moss frolicking on the Boston Common, because hey, frolicking! And then we will take the T back to our neighborhood and see Son of Rambow at the local movie theatre. Following that we will go grocery shopping, and then Moss will bake a pie, because hey, pie! Then we'll go hang out with our friend Kelly and a bunch of her friends to celebrate her moving on from her current job. I hear there will be pizza and beer. Very exciting.

Then we will come home and sleep, and when we wake up, it will be tomorrow! Tomorrow is exciting because it is Moss's and my independence day Mad Scientist Club Birthday Picnic! We are going to go to a park (well, if it doesn't rain anyway) with all our friends (well, a few friends at least), and drop Mentos into Diet Coke, and Pop Rocks into regular Coke, and all manner of other candies into other drinks. All very exciting. And we will eat Moss's pie, and other assorted picnic foods. Yay!

Unless it rains. If it rains everyone will come to our house and we will forlornly stare at our stockpile of candies and drinks, imagining explosions that might have been if only. Also, we will probably play Sentence Picture.

And now back to getting stuff done.

*I think it is because I neglected to clean her box yesterday. Normally I do it every day, and she is fussy about it. So it's probably my fault, yeah, but does that make me any less bitter about my headphones? No, I can assure you it does not.

Yes, today is my birthday! I have been overwhelmed with the flood of birthday wishes, so here's a little something in return.

I am in a small mix CD exchange group. Each month one of us makes a mix and sends it to the other members. This month it was my turn, and though everyone else had done mixes according to very specific themes, I just couldn't make one stick. Here's my tracklist and commentary. If you would like a copy, let me know. I have the power to get you one!

It’s My Birthday, and I’ll Mix What I Want To!
(May 2008 mix by Julia)

1. “Start As You Mean To Go On” – Black Box Recorder: In this case, I’m taking it literally and starting the May mix with a great song. I don’t have a real theme here, but my birthday is the 28th of May, so I am giving you all the gift of music that makes me happy.
2. “Xavier Says” – The Magnetic Fields: The Magnetic Fields is one of Stephin Merritt’s projects (two more will appear later in the mix, because I really enjoy Stephin Merritt’s stuff), and this is a track from their last album Distortion. The last bit of this song amuses me, “quite a lot.”
3. “Hunter” – Portishead: After many years of silence, Portishead made a new album! Fans around the world rejoiced! I am one of them! This track is from that new album.
4. “Black Mountain” – Isobel Campbell and Mark Langan: This song is lovely and soothing. Isobel Campbell used to sing for Belle and Sebastian, and I always liked her voice, so I was really happy when she got together with Mark Langan to do a whole album of lovely, soothing songs.
5. “Cinco de Mayo” – Liz Phair: When I was a tortured teen in January of 1994, I discovered Liz Phair’s first album, Exile in Guyville, and it helped me through the rough times. Now she’s re-releasing a 15th anniversary version with a few previously unreleased tracks, and I am a squeeing fangirl. This track is actually from her second album, but it seemed appropriate to go in the 5th slot of my May mix.
6. “Give Me Back My Dreams” – The 6ths: This is another Stephin Merritt project, which tends to use different singers for most of the songs. After I chose the song for the 5th slot, it seemed obvious that I ought to put this song by the 6ths in the 6th slot. It’s like a mini theme!
7. “New Soul” – Yael Naim: Yael Naim is French, and has a delightful accent. This song is bouncy and happy, and the video is great. You should look it up on YouTube or something so you can see for yourself.
8. “Hot Chocolate” – Shonen Knife: I think it is impossible not to smile and bounce around while listening to this Japanese punk/pop girl band. I know May is not exactly traditional hot chocolate season, but see the title of this mix? Yeah. Sometimes I alter the lyrics and sing “Mrow mrow mrow mrow mrow mrow mrow mrow, mrowing!” to my cat.
9. “A Little Respect” – Erasure: Mmm, 80s synthpop! This is the third song in our second mini theme of bouncy songs. Once an ex-boyfriend, having realized his mistake, gave me this song on a mix tape a couple of years after he dumped me. We got back together only to have a really messy break up, but NOTHING can kill this song for me because it is just that awesome.
10. “Norvege” – Alexis HK: Okay, we have stopped with the bouncy for a chill song that makes me laugh every time I hear it. Since you may not speak French, I will give you the gist. So there’s this French guy, Alexis, and he has a Norwegian friend who invites him over for Sunday brunch. He goes over and has a beautiful time drinking orange juice and eating cheese, and they talk about how Father Christmas comes from Norway, which is perhaps why every time he goes over to her house, it’s like Christmas time. Then they have a silly vocal breakdown, and he reminds me of my father, who used to do the exaggerated jazz breakdowns because in some ways he was very silly (which is probably part of where I get it from). Anyway, after that, it’s 7:30 in the evening, and the Norwegian chick is like, “Okay, you have to go home now.” and Alexis puts on his sexy voice and is all, “Yeah, but my Norwegian, I want to live with you, and watch DVDs on your sofa.” But then she shuts him down enough times that he agrees to go home, and she says, “Ciao ciao!” Man, I love this song.
11. “Mainstream” – Thea Gilmore: This is from the album Avalanche, which is one of my favorite albums. This song makes me walk faster if it comes up on the iPod while I am out in the world.
12. “Gentle Sheep” – The Ditty Bops: This is really catchy. It gets stuck in my head a lot, but I don’t mind because it’s a great song. I have synaesthesia (which means that among other things, I see music in color), and for me this song is dominated by a really pretty shade of yellow.
13. Choi San Do(?) – Unknown Artist: So this one time, Moss and Cait and I were in San Francisco’s Chinatown, and we heard this amazing music, so we followed the sound into a CD store and asked the clerk what was playing and then bought it. The music we heard was a medley of roughly 6 songs that were all on the CD, each one with at least two different versions. The liner notes are all in Chinese, though, and because we don’t read or speak Chinese, we have no idea what the songs are called. I asked a friend who had studied Chinese, and she said that it looked like a Chinese New Year album, so I guess I am the equivalent of a Chinese person rocking out to “Jingle Bell Rock” without understanding it at all. Now you can be that person, too!
14. Ca M’aurait Plu – Louise Attaque: Louise Attaque is a French band I got into when I was living in France in 2001 or so. Their first two albums were produced by Gordon Gano of the Violent Femmes, and sound a lot different from this song, which is from their third, mellower (not produced by Gordon Gano) album. I like songs from all their albums, but this one seemed to fit here.
15. “Follow the Light” – Travis: I also got into Travis when I was in France, but it was mere coincidence as they’re Scottish. Pretty!
16. “But You’re So Beautiful” – Future Bible Heroes: This band is another Stephin Merritt Project, but he only writes the Lyrics. The Music is by Chris Ewen, and it always reminds me of Final Fantasy video game music. Luckily, I like the Final Fantasy music, so that’s okay. The other day a different song by this band came up on my computer, and Moss somewhat confusedly asked me if I had Final Fantasy music in my iTunes library, so apparently I’m not the only person who makes that association.
17. “Keep the Car Running” – The Arcade Fire: I know [other member of the excahange group] had The Arcade Fire on his CD a couple of months back, but I love this band, and so I must remind you once more of the title for this mix.
18. “Shake It Up” – The Cars: More 80s synthpop! I decided to end on a bouncy note, and to give you one last mini theme: cars. Happy my birthday, everyone!