A random collection of thoughts....

It is annoying when you go to the grocery store hungry you end up with nacho fixin's and ice cream, that is not really the intent of your trip.

Cat + laser pointer = Hilarity.

I am really a fan of the "comedy folk song" genre.  (see: Jonathan Coulton, DaVinci's Notebook, Garfunkel and Oates)

I keep thinking that today is thursday, getting excited, and then realizing it is not and getting sad.

There is a giant pile of laundry threatening to overtake my apartment if I don't get to it on friday, when I have my day off.

I hope it doesn't snow this weekend

This blog update is very boring.

the oatmeal

My sister Jackie told me about this fun site: http://theoatmeal.com/quizzes 
with lots of fun quizzes and fun things to do.

I took the following tests:




Created by Oatmeal




Created by Auto Insurance

How did you do on them? take them and let me know!

Also found: some good information to have:

What I'm looking forward to in Japan

There are a lot of things that I am super excited about when I go to visit Japan (in thirty three days!).

Seeing Tokyo at night

picture from here

Eating lots of  Udon

link to pic here

Relaxing in a traditional Japanese Hot Spring  (I am getting over the You Have To Be Naked part)

pic from here

One word: Sushi

pic from here

I am looking forward to hiking and traveling around the country!

link here

and most of all I'm stoked about having a blast with this guy!

watch this:

you're welcome!

Val's no good very bad day

Sometimes the only cure to a bad day is listening to folk music, making yourself a cup of tea, and waiting until Modern family comes on.

(when what I really want to do is get frozen yogurt for dinner, I will resist, because that is not in the budget/good for me.  sidenote: being a grownup sucks sometimes)


Hopefully, this pity party will pass me by soon.

bonus points for people who leave comments that are amusing.

28/28th list update- #12

I put #12 on the list, because I wanted to make it happen, but I wasn't sure I could. #12 is tricky. Because I had my travel planned out for the year, I didn't think I would be going anywhere new. Up to Providence, probably, Down to Virginia, into NYC, down to DC definitely. But none of those places are what #12 is. They're all places I've been before.

12. Visit a city I've never been to before

As I mentioned before, I'm going to Japan.  With my friend Tim, who is wonderful, and generous, and fantastic, and I can't imagine having a better traveling companion in him. Tim won a trip to Japan from Saveur Magazine, and asked me to go with him. (Insert me running around like a crazy person and going eeeeeeee! I'm going to Japan!)

We're going to fly there at the end of Feb/first week of March, a have a night in Tokyo, and then the next day fly to Yamagata Prefecture and spend three days in Ginzen Onsen, then back to Tokyo for a night, then home.  I've been doing lots of reading, and reasearching, and just in general being excited.  I'm excited about the food, I'm excited about the hot springs, and mostly I'm excited to spend a week having fun adventures with Tim, because he's awesome.

Tutti Fruitti in Ellicott City

My sister has been talking about a great frozen yogurt place in Princeton, where she works, that has pay-by-weight frozen yogurts with toppings. They have all sorts of flavors, and an insane amount of toppings- fruit, sauces, and candy,  you load up your little container, and they they weigh it and you pay.

Now Ellicott City has one, Tutti Fruitti on rt 40, near the interchange for 29.  The "regular tart" flavor is my favorite, with a real taste and tang of yogurt. I like that if you can be disciplined,  it is even relatively cheap! (mine today, was three dollars.  Plus, they have free wifi, which I'm using right now.  (also, a lot of high school students, which is... interesting in an anthropoligical way)

Best part? they have a frequent flyer card that you get a free one after you get ten of them.  Which, if I don't pace myself, may be sooner than I'd like to admit.