Finally! Someone has made a social networking site that I can get excited about! I've poked around at some of the social networking sites before, and I have a couple of profiles out there. I usually forget about them until one of the sites sends me an update email, "We've added wacky new features!"

But, this one I'll probably be on a lot. It's the social networking site for obsessive readers (ie, me!): GoodReads. Find the books you've read, rate them, comment on them, find other people who like the same books you like, organize your books into any categories you like. I especially like that I now have a place to keep track of the books that I want to read someday, but which aren't a good fit for the library's hold list (the wait is too long and I'll fall off the list before the book arrives or the library doesn't have it or I own the book already but it's no longer in the pile of to-reads by my desk).

So, in all shamelessness, come to GoodReads and
be my friend!

Caitlyn: What are you doing?

REI Salesperson: I'm writing. What are you doing?

Caitlyn: Oh, trying to pick my nose.

Caitlyn, on her own, named one of her stuffed animals today, the little mouse with a cookie that Grandma gave her with a copy of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. The mouse is now Jilly Boo, or occasionally Billy Joe.

"Mama, say hello to Jilly Boo's feet."

"Hi, Jilly Boo's feet."

"Jilly Boo goes down the chimney (a hole in the top of a footstool). Mama, Jilly Boo went down the chimney."

"And what did Jilly Boo find down the chimney?"

"An ocean." (The floor.)

"Ah."

"Her mama's going to rescue her. Mama, say hello to Jilly Boo's mama." Caitlyn is standing next to me, with Tinker, a stuffed cat.

"Hello, Jilly Boo's mama. Did you rescue your... Caitlyn, is Jilly Boo a boy or a girl?"

"A girl."

"Did you rescue your daughter?"

"Jilly Boo's mama went in the ocean and rescued Jilly Boo. Now he's resting."

"I see. I thought Jilly Boo was a girl?"

"No."

"Oh, so he's a boy?"

"No, she's a mouse."

I'm quiet. I can't figure out how to respond to this logic.

"Mama, say hello to Jilly Boo's feet."

Apparently, I've missed my window of opportunity.

English is a fun language, being the hodge-podge that it is. We have so many different words that mean more or less the same thing. But there are still some things we have to use lots of words to say. And, wouldn't you know it, there are other languages that have nice, concise ways of getting the idea out there without taking all week to say it. Here are my favorites, but the full list is worth checking out.

• Kaelling (Danish): a woman who stands on her doorstep yelling obscenities at her kids.
• Pesamenteiro (Portuguese): one who joins groups of mourners at the home of a dead person, apparently to offer condolences but in reality is just there for the refreshments.
• Kanjus Makkhicus (Hindi): a person so miserly that if a fly falls into his cup of tea, he'll fish it out and suck it dry before throwing it away.
• Hanyauku (Rukwangali, Namibia): walking on tiptoes across warm sand.
• Tartle (Scottish): to hesitate when you are introducing someone whose name you can't quite remember.
• Prozvonit (Czech and Slovak): to call someone's mobile from your own to leave your number in their memory without them picking it up.
• Shnourkovat Sya (Russian): when drivers change lanes frequently and unreasonably.
• Pisan Zapra (Malay): the time needed to eat a banana.
• Layogenic (Tagalog, Philippines): a person who is only goodlooking from a distance.
• Rhwe (South Africa): to sleep on the floor without a mat while drunk and naked.
• Gattara (Italian): a woman, often old and lonely, who devotes herself to stray cats.
• Creerse La Ultima Coca-Cola en el Desierto (Central American Spanish): to have a very high opinion of oneself, literally to "think one is the last Coca-Cola in the desert".
• Bablat (Hebrew): baloney, but is an acronym of "beelbool beytseem le-lo takhleet" which means "bothering someone's testicles for no reason".
• Rombhoru (Bengali): a woman having thighs as shapely as banana trees.
• Snyavshi Shtany, Po Volosam ne Gladyat (Russian): once you've taken off your pants it's too late to look at your hair.

Two days before Halloween, Caitlyn discovered the dress-up box in her closet and started playing with the scarves, purses, and robes there - including getting tangled up in the pocket-sleeves of an authentic kimono. Today, the day after Halloween, she is right now napping while wearing her Halloween bunny tail (Thanks, Jeannie!).

It took awhile last night, but eventually, she was running to the door when the bell rang. Once someone parental had opened it for her, she would carefully hand out candy to the kids outside. Most kids in our neighborhood don't dress up, probably either religious issues or financial ones, so there was only one moment when Caitlyn seemed a little nervous about the costumes. The teenage girl outside said, "Am I scaring you, baby?" and took off her mask. When the kids would leave and we'd close the door, Caitlyn would say, "More! I want to give more candy to kids in costumes!" Then she'd run around, "I'm a bunny costume! I'm a bunny costume!"

Caitlyn has also reinvented Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?... As we walked to the last farmer's market of the year yesterday, I overheard her:

White car, white car, what do you see?
I see a red car looking at me.
Red car, red car, what do you see?
I see another red car looking at me.
Red car, red car, what do you see?
I see a green truck looking at me...