I’ve spent the last few weekends holed up in my apartment reading, which has been lovely, but I figured I really should interact with the planet again, so today I wandered my way to the Natural History Museum. Because nothing says “Yay! Weekend!” quite like a bunch of skeletons, a disgusting dead giant squid (it was really gross), and bugs.
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Photo by By Dan Dan The Binary Man
Lion One: That one looks delicious.
Lion Two: The one in blue?
Lion One: No, the one in red.
Lion Two: Oh yeah, that one looks tasty.
Lion Three: You two are idiots. We’re color blind. And they all look delicious.
Lion Two: Shut up, Hank. I can tell that shade of grey is really red.
Lion Three: Yep, you’re an idiot.
Lion One: Oh! Look at that one! Man, I would love to get a taste of that one.
Lion Two: Oh yeah. Check out the legs. So meaty! I bet that one tastes like springbok.
Lion Four: What’s a springbok?
Lion Two: You remember that meat filled ice cube thing we got once? That was springbok.
Lion Three: That wasn’t springbok. That was beef.
Lion Two: Springbok.
Lion Three: Dude, you have never eaten springbok in your life.
Lion Two: Doesn’t matter. I bet it tastes like chicken.
Lion Five: What about that one? The one dangling over the fence. Does that one look delicious?
Lion One: Too small. But I’d eat that anyway.
Lion Two: Are they gonna drop it? They’re gonna drop it! They’re gonna drop it! Aw, they didn’t drop it.
Lion Three: That’s always a disappointment.
Lion One: Someday they’ll drop one.
Lion Two: Yep, someday.
Today I realized that I am far too argumentative for my own good. I always knew I was argumentative – trust me, you’re wrong! – but today it became absurd.
This afternoon my new supervisor and I were chatting, killing time before our [ridiculously scheduled] 5 PM meeting. (Really, what sort of cruel person schedules a meeting to start at 5 PM?) I’d been reading a linguistics blog, and he saw it on my computer screen and asked about it. That then led to a conversation about the Oxford comma. I support the use of the Oxford comma. Turns out he does too.
Here’s where things turn absurd. I started defending the non-use of the Oxford comma. After a couple minutes, I realized what I was doing, wondered what on earth I was thinking, and ended the argument by agreeing with him since, you know, I agreed with him.
Yeah, apparently my default setting is to argue. Just remember, you’re wrong! Even if you agree with me!
The year has two 2s, one at each end. Even though in general I prefer odd numbers over even numbers (and prime numbers are best), I also like the number 2, and a year with a 2 on each end has to be a good one. Maybe. I don’t want to commit.
New Year’s Eve was fun. It involved multiple s’mores. Delish. A friend had a party, a low-key event of food and games. I think she was disappointed that not that many people came, but I liked that it was a smaller group. The games were fun, though I’ve already forgotten their names. Both were language/vocabulary types. The food was good. I contributed spinach dip. A bit common, but I like the stuff. There was this mango peach salsa that was so good. And then… s’mores! We roasted marshmallows over cans of sterno. Worked great. Just before midnight we started watching the New York Times Square broadcast, counted down, and wished each other Happy New Year.
The first day of 2012 was pleasantly mellow. I didn’t even get up until 10:30, and then I made black eyed peas with the leftover Christmas ham. I’ve never eaten black eyed peas on New Year’s Day – never even heard of the tradition until college when a roommate from the South clued me in – but I was at the store on Friday wondering whether I should get anything special to eat for New Year, and it seemed perfect. After cooking them for a couple hours, I left them to cool during church. After church I removed the ham to chop up the meat and toss it back in the pot, reheated everything, and made some rice. It was a tasty meal. And now I’ve got tons of leftovers in the fridge.
Last night I did battle with a centipede. I’m not sure who won. I saw it skitter past out of the corner of my eye and found it chillin’ by a chair. My suddenly increased heart rate was followed by a frantic attempt to plug in the vacuum cleaner. I didn’t grab the cord correctly and it fell to the floor in a jumble. I fumbled and fumbled and finally got to the end. And then the prongs wouldn’t go in the outlet. ARGH! I flipped it around frantically, trying to get the prongs properly aligned. Finally it was plugged in. I took a couple steps back to see if the centipede was in the same location. It was. I dragged the vacuum from the corner, but it got caught in the tangled cords. ARGH! I didn’t have to go far, so got it untangled part way. I pulled the handle out and and connected the… you know… extension… stick… thingy.
Centipede, surprisingly, still in the same spot. Turned on vacuum. Aimed for bug. Missed. It skittered away. ARGH! It skittered behind a couple boxes and bags, so I began flinging things while jabbing the vacuum extension stick thingy towards the last sighted location.
Not sure if I got it or not. Today I twice saw something skittering out of the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t find anything upon searching.
Shudder.
I spent most of today reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I don’t understand its popularity.
I posted last year’s review just a couple hours before heading to the ER for what would turn out to be appendicitis. Definitely an interesting way to celebrate the turning of the year. Tonight’s turning of the year should be much less eventful.
January
Work desk
February
Capital Teas
March
Spring!
April
Air and Space Museum
May
Hospital
June
Motorcade
July
Shore Leave
August
Traffic
September
Palmyra
October
Utah
November
Farewell to the Capitol Hill ward building
December
Christmas
I finally got around to visiting the U.S. Botanic Garden holiday display. It came highly recommended. Conclusion? Overrated but charming. I’d be willing to drop the “overrated” if I could go on a non-holiday weekday. I’m told it’s nice then. But that’s not an option for me, so I went today, and the line to get in wound around the corner and down the block, and once inside the crowds were crowded. Despite that, it was still charming. They have all these little buildings made from plant materials, some DC ones (like the Capitol and White House) and some fantasy ones, and model trains running between them. I quite liked the display. Very aesthetically appealing.
Merry Christmas!
Yesterday I went to see Hugo with a couple friends. Excellent movie. I highly recommend it. After that I headed northward to the cousins’ house to spend Christmas Eve with them. Dinner was delicious, and we watched a few short Christmas themed videos on youtube. When I got home, I watched A Christmas Story before going to bed. I had considered going to Christmas Eve mass – there’s a really cute Episcopal church about 4 blocks away, and every year I think about going, but I’m lazy, and it didn’t happen yet again.
This morning I slept in until after 9:00, then leisurely opened presents. Then I had a delicious breakfast of eggs, toast, and bacon. (I usually have either toast or cold cereal, so this was a more decadent meal.) You know, I’m not a fan of afternoon church, but it turns out afternoon church is actually perfect for a relaxed morning on Christmas day.
Tonight I went to the temple to see the lights and decorations. Seemed like a perfect way to close out Christmas day.
