Insert Smile Here _____.

I'm crabby. That's all there is to it. No tell-tale rhyme nor reason. Well, there is a reason - the monthly radical fluctuation of hormones that cause me to be depressed one minute and bitchy the next and oh-so-much fun to be around, if I don't say so myself.. but nothing's causing it per se. I mean, there's nothing wrong, but everything seems wrong and more than it rightfully should be cuz when you're feeling like this, as most women can relate to, the things that aren't wrong, become wrong, or at the very least, extremely irritating where no irritation may even exist. Irrational Irritation Syndrome. Or maybe Complex - better acronym - IIC (sounds like: ick). Awesome. I'm IIC'y. Nice to meet you.

In light of said annoyance that my own charming personality is creating today, I'm trying to pull myself out of it and force the happy to come out. I know it's there.. it's just.. um.. hiding. I think I can coax some smiling by finding some cool things to watch or read.. Here are my picks:

This site is a friend of Ironika's and her husband's. Besides being adorable, Cindy's in Antarctica and tho she doesn't post all the time, what she writes is usually lengthy and insightful, funny and quirky (like.. who knew they did marathons there?) and she always has great pictures up, some with the biggest penguins ever! Right in front of her even! But you have to see these videos she linked to within her Donuts of Misery post. This one is about the group she's driven to a spot where they dive to collect sea urchins. A friendly seal (sea lion?) tries to make friends with them.. and this one is a photographer's time-lapsed photography over the course of a year in and around McMurdo Station (where Cindy is) and Scott Base set to music. Absolutely stunning. And it makes me smile by the end, so yay!

And thanks to Ms. Duck, showing me the extra entertaining ways of John Mayer, however VH1 she and Irony both find him, I would agree with her that he's surprisingly a really funny writer as well. Seriously.. his latest post? Wtf is that about? Who else could write a coming out script for the most heterosexual doctor on Grey's Anatomy.. ? Apparently, yes, it's John. Random AND amusing. So many more points.

I'm not sure how I found this one the other day.. clicking around out of sheer boredom when I accidentally found [redacted], or Dan from New York, who is shockingly intelligent AND funny.. and not really hard to look at either. His posts about watching 24 or the Golden Globes cracked me up since Sailor was kind enough to indulge me that evening and sit thru the awards show til 10pm when I saw he was well glazed over. In his defense, he was pretty sick and couldn't really fight much.. and I um.. probably took advantage of the situation most likely by witholding the fact that there was a perfectly good guy's show with things blowing up on another channel. But why would I sabatoge myself when I can make fun of Sienna what's-her-name's dress and what the hell was going on with her Swiss-Miss hair?!

I love This American Life, on NPR, and over the weekend, while catching up on my podcasts, they did a story about things lost and found, which included the founders of foundmagazine.com. The site includes anything found: notes, poetry on napkins, love letters, etc. Click on the 'about' page for the first note that kicked them off. Best damn note ever. Sort of like Joe Apology or PostSecret with that voyeuristic feeling.. but you know.. different.

Also, if you haven't seen the link to the right, you should check out Overheard in New York cuz it's fucking hilarious. I would also deem Overheard In The Office and Overheard At The Beach equally amusing, which you can get to from the original site. Updated every hour it seems... so you could easily find 8 excuses a day for laughing, couldn't you? Let me know if you can't.. cuz I have at least that just off the top of my head. Always happy to help!

Once in a while.. this cracks me up.. but you have to watch the whole thing. Silly.

When I'm in need for lots and lots of laughing tho... my trusty tried and true is always Miss Doxie. Her archives are a kick in the pants and I never get tired of reading them. You probably all know her by now. I only stalk mention her all the damn time.. well.. cuz I'm sure some of you haven't read her.. and you really should. And tho it should feel wrong that one girl should be so funny all the time.. she still is. And she's nice too. She's emailed me before. AND been funny in her email. She's my friend. Ok.. it's not like we're tight or anything.. but she knows who I am and stuff. So there.

So what do you do to get yourself out of your crabbypants?