When you see something everywhere you go, we call it 'plate of shrimp'.
My current plate of shrimp is antlered animals.
I forget why we call it plate of shrimp. It's a movie reference. I forget what movie, or why or where or when.

I have some coins. A bag and a ceramic pot full of coins. The ratio of silver to copper is pretty high I think.

The contest is this: Guess the amount, in dollars and cents, of my coins.

Between now and mid-May, submit your guess to coins*at*lauraholder.com (replace *at* with @). Winner will be awarded a mug from my mug collection. Mug may not necessarily be the mug be pictured. Mug pictured is for scale-purposes, as are the pen and Sharpie and salt & pepper shaker. I'll take my coins in to some coin-redeeming place sometime in May. The official amount will be composed of the total moneys counted before the bank or machine takes its percentage for converting my coins to dollar bills. Rules are not Price-is-Right style, ie: If you are the closest guesser, yet your guess goes over by one cent, you will still win. Ties? I don't know what I'll do with ties yet.

You can browse photos here to help guage your estimate on the total monetary amount of my coins collection. A runner-up sister-contest is this: What should I spend this amount of money on? A trip? An ipod? Bonus points for the person who guesses amount and best-purchase idea, both.

Some more important info which might be of help:
These coins are very heavy. It is not possible for me to pick up the green bag of coins with out using both hands.
The greenbag full of coins is more bulging with coins than it looks in photos.
The first two registered guesses, placed by people who actually held the coins-bag, are:
$617.00 (RA)
and
$368.24 (AP)

This will help you: Click here to view start at the beginning browsing through 17 photos of my coins.
Thanks to johnnyphoto for the contest-idea.

Firstly, thanks to all y'alls for so many nice, nice birthday wishes. 35 started with brunch at the warm and welcoming Diner (cardamom cake), and ended with a spectacular indescribable unforgettable meal at Grammercy Tavern. Thanks to jkh_22, tallulah, clarsen and sxx for helping me celebrate, and a 7-course-thanks to you both, M&D.


Beautiful spring days are the best way to rise-above a cold.
Also, I'm drinking tea called 'breathing thyme'.
Speaking of breathing. Who needs it? Breathing is for suckers. Who needs clean air when you've got a load of money in your pocket? (Subtext: gee, thanks for the shitty air, prez. Subsubtext: thanks for hiring power-plant lobbyists to head the EPA, prez.) Read it and wheeze:
—excerpt from Changing All the Rules, NYTimes published 04/04/04.
(Not sure how much longer this article will be free.)
+ Four-eared kitten finds home
   —CNN

+"Archeologists say they have evidence that a bond between cats and humans was forged thousands of years before previously thought."
   —CNN