first things first, im told bushes apparently CAN catch on fire for no apparent reason. per my friend pete on gchat:

[mulch] ferments, it doesn’t decompose.
well, it decomposes. but it doesn’t dry out per se, it holds moisture very well, and if you were to use a pitch fork to overturn a large pile of mulch, it is not uncommon for steam to arise from it.
if you ever venture into a landscape supply yard and see a front end loader scooping mulch out, there will be a lot, a lot, of heat underneath.
enough to produce a fire, i don’t know. not likely, in my humble opinion. but that’s just me.
in the summer i would say it could happen.
it’s actually why landscape yards or tree service operations have to turn their mulch on a fairly regular basis.

it still sounds like a made-up thing. however, IF this true, i want to take this moment to make a public service announcement: WATCH YOUR MULCH AND BUSHES! THEY MIGHT RANDOMLY START ON FIRE.

there.

in other news, im all achy and feverish and im pretty sure its because i slept like 4 hours the entire time i was in south dakota and my immune system is shot to crap.

also, i ate cheese while i was there.

what?

huh?

ya.

i did.

It’s SOUTH DAKOTA people! have you ever BEEN there? they serve cheese with their gas.

plus i really wanted zesto’s ice cream, which is hands down the best ice cream in the whole freaking world. actually universe. actually in existence.

i want to be clear, i do not in any way think eating the cheese is what shot my immune system to crap.

also, i came back to the land of lincoln and was solid vegan on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

but then Friday came.

and i had some more cheese.

it’s saturday morning now. and im so-far vegan today, one meal in.

i wasn’t even going to write about this here, because im pretty sure vegans around the world will be all “CRYSTAL SUCKS AT LIFE!” but i figure there HAS to be other people out there who struggle at least ONCE in awhile with veganism. i mean they can’t ALL live near whole foods and humas-selling sandwich shops right?

anyway, i still want to be vegan, and im going to try again. i just wish i had even ONE vegan friend who i could go to for support.

oh! and also my friend lyndon, who i actually haven’t seen in person since my undergrad days at WIU, is in mexico doing some sort of research stuff i think. i’d rather he was here, in illinois, hanging out with me. but lucky for us the next best thing is available. he started a blog. and you can read it here. go on. go read it now.

good day. i said GOOD DAY.