it is a known fact that women always have to be prepared.

that is why girls today love big bags. we have to be able to carry everything they might possibly need, without looking like we're carrying a grandmother's old totebag. (and that, i think, is precisely why women go the bathroom in pairs. to have someone to hold their bags for them)

my car is an extension of my bag. it's neat, but it's got everything. waterbottle, granola bars, candy, umbrella, extra quarters, jumper cables, first aid kit, extra hubcap (anyone?) it's a great feeling when i'm with my friends and someone says "i know this is random, but does anyone happen to have....?" and i can pull it out! of course the standard pocketknife is great, because it's got scissors and a knife. when i was in seminary i had a swiss army knife that had much more. i think a rabbi was quite startled when he was teaching us about tying knots, and asked for something to cut it with. out came four scissors and...a viscious looking swiss army knife. i never volunteered its services after that. but the corkscrew came off after my roommate's unsuccessful attempts to open a bottle on shabbos. the and then the plastic casing cracked. and the knife somehow got wedged in somewhere (i don't remember the details, but it had to do with digging a hole, and a cement pipe)

but i still thought i was pretty prepared. i have socks, extra string cheese, more loose change, gum, face wash, toothbrush, toothpaste, pens....and then today i realized what i'd forgotten to replace.

bobby pins

something so small and so seemingly insignificant. i recently got a haircut. or more like a hairchop. i pretend i fell into a food processor so at least i have an adventure to go with my new haircut. either way, it's short. really short. and i was trying to do the green thing and drive with the windows open, but my hair was everywhere. and then it was in my mouth, which had been full of gum, but now my mouth was full of hair, and my hair was full of gum. not a pretty sight.