ah the sun

Thursday, March 04, 2004, at 06:19AM

By Eric Richardson

It's been a long time since it was nice outside... Finally yesterday and today have brought some sunshine and nice temps. I'm sitting here in the shadow of Annenberg (to prevent glare on the laptop), enjoying the smell of outdoors. I'm listening to Martina Topley Bird's Quixotic, which I'm addicted to right now.

I recently picked up a box of Penguin Reds, and I think I'm getting re-addicted to those too. Way back when (over five years ago now? Crazy) I was involved in a little controversy over these mints. They are good, especially the cinnamons.

Now it's off to Carl's Jr. for my regular five piece chicken strips meal with honey mustard and a bottle of coke. USC's a Pepsi campus, and the Carl's on campus recently switched to Pepsi products for their fountain drinks, but they still carry bottles of Coke products that they'll give you for a little bit more. I can't stand Pepsi, or Pepsi products (Mountain Dew excepted, but I will say that it's not that great as a fountain drink).

Speaking of things I don't like: I don't like Taco Bell. I love Del Taco, though, and I thought it was really funny that Jack Black and Wil Farrell used Del Taco in their song during the Oscars. Of all the national chains or products they could have mentioned, how funny is it that they instead use a very regional chain that most of the country has never heard of? I just found that interesting.