It's better than bad, it's good.

Yesterday while we were out sailing, there was a good stretch of time when there was no wind to be found and we were left just bobbing around in Puget Sound, searching desperately for a breeze.

Eia told me that when out on a sailboat, your mood tends to match what's happening with the weather. If the wind picks up and you're cruising along, you're happy, carefree. If the weather turns sour, everyone gets moody. But if the sky is blue, the sun is streaming down, and there is just no wind to be had - everyone starts to go a little crazy.

And she was right.

We passed this log in our travels that was knotted on one end and just floating along in the sound, a seagull perched upon the end like it belonged there; I remember turning to Eia and saying "I bet he's the mayor of that log." This is a reference to the new(ish) social media tool called foursquare, if you aren't familiar with the terminology.

The idea, for those of you playing along at home, is that if you check into certain locations (actual locations, like the movie theatre or grocery store) more than anybody else, you gain "mayorship" of that place. You have to check in at least twice to become the mayor of a place, so we considered adding the log as a venue on the server and sailing by it a few more times to check in and… usurp the seagull… who has neither a cell phone nor thumbs nor any working knowledge of what foursquare even is… because he's a bird...

Also foursquare works on GPS locations, so adding a piece of driftwood as a venue makes absolutely no sense. It was a hot day, okay?

Anyway, the point of this story at all was that at some point in the day we started talking about old cartoons, and Eia's dad mentioned something about how much he hated Ren and Stimpy. Eia and I instantly both recoiled, insisting that "we loved that show!", but then we stopped.

Neither of us could remember anything about it, aside from the horribly disgusting looking animation (we seemed to recall that Ren's eyes always looked like he was stoned), something about leaving your hair from shaving in the sink for some holiday Yak, and the log song. ("It's log, It's log; it's better than bad, it's good!") After a few minutes of musing, we both said, "Why DID we love that show?"

And upon further introspection, I realized I never loved Ren and Stimpy. I actually hated most parts of it, because it was gross and didn't make a whole lot sense. But it was on TV at a time where in my young, pre-adolescent confusion, I assumed that cartoon = kid's show. It was a cartoon! It must be made for me! Therefore I should watch it! Every day!

This is exactly the same logic I used when I got mad at my dad for covering my eyes during Itchy and Scratchy. "Bart and Lisa get to watch it, it's not fair!" I used to say to him. "We're like the same age!"


We mostly forgot about Ren and Stimpy for the rest of the day (except for singing the log song every time we passed a piece of floating driftwood) until much, much later last night. I was upstairs, getting ready for bed and still generally complaining to Justin about how hot it was, when I heard Eia's voice from down in the living room. "Tina! Come down here right now! Ren and Stimpy is on!"

The timing could not have been better. It was playing at 1 am on that Nicktoons channel, so she and I spent the next half an hour reliving the cartoon we're not sure why either of us ever watched in the first place. It was weird, too. Really weird. Even weirder than I remembered. But I did find myself chuckling at some parts, especially the fake in-show commercials, so I suppose the show wasn't all bad. I think we're going to try to find it on TV again tonight.


Now it's Monday and I have to figure out what to make a tutorial about for fiveawesomegirls. It's how-to week, and I am lacking for ideas. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

If not, then you should tell me what shows you watched as a kid that, looking back, you have no idea why you watched it.

Last google search: "the log song"
Chipotle burritos: 17