Hipstamatic

Blogging does gets in the way of my reading goal though. Especially if you can't think of anything to write and you just stare at the screen, which is the case so far this week.

So I'll just take the easy way out and post some pictures. Now I'll buy pretty much anything with "Hip" in the title, so take this with a grain of salt, but I think the Hipstamatic iPhone app is fun. Here are snapshots from this year:

View from my family's lake house in upstate New York, one of my favorite places.

Hipstamatic still life (cake with candles).

Spring seems so long ago, doesn't it?

My friend's adorable baby

Goodreads

Of the myriad things wrong with me, I decided not reading enough is one I can fix easily. I want to read 50 books by my birthday next year. Follow my progress here and friend me if you are on Goodreads!

Being a big fan of the Barnes and Noble "3 for 2" book deal, I picked up "One Day" and read it in one day - give or take. I viewed the title as a personal challenge. I wish it had taken me longer, because I had such affection for the characters. Do yourself a favor, pick this up before you go on vacation.

But though I can read quickly, I often don't retain information for the long-term - like plot details - so I could read this in a year and it might be new to me. Maybe I should reread the books I have, that might be cheaper.

Pinkie and the Brain

My awesome friends and coworkers Amy and Prudence got me something for my birthday that I didn't even know I needed but now I know I can't live without.

A hot pink bicycle helmet.

This is so very me and it looks nice when flung on my bright orange couch. I'm wondering, why is my personal style so heavily influenced by the Dunkin Donuts logo?

They gave me the helmet at work, and I was so excited about it that I wore it while sitting at my desk for a little bit, typing on my keyboard and sending emails. Sure enough, the CEO of our company happened to walk by my cubicle at that moment, as I'm sitting in my chair wearing a hot pink helmet. He looked at me, but he didn't say anything.

Advice for Your Everyday Life

Maybe a good way to get more pageviews would be to write something actually useful for once. Here it goes:
  • The easiest way to take off a paper ID bracelet from a club is to turn it inside out, then rip apart the ends.
  • If you like an album in NPR's First Listen, you can listen to it past the release date if you keep it in your queue - just leave the player up and don't restart your computer. If you add anything to the queue, it will disappear though. *Note: this worked on my Mac, can't promise anything.
  • The Washington Sports Clubs in Fairfax, Glover Park and on Connecticut Avenue are the only ones I've been to thus far that have Bravo on the TVs. If any other clubs have that channel, leave me a comment so we can start a list.

He's a Well-Cared For Dog

My dog Hunter is almost 15 years old. This is very old, especially for a large dog. I've had him since I was in 5th grade, and he's just always been there. My friend Emily recently said, "I can't believe Hunter's going to die," and she said it like she really couldn't believe it. I can't believe it either. I feel he may live forever. Although watch this blog post jinx him. I hope not. If you see my family wearing black for a month, you will know what happened.

My mom asked me to dog sit, but first she had to explain how to prepare Hunter's dinner. She laid out all the ingredients and suggested I take a picture to help me remember.

I've seen Top Chef recipes that had less ingredients. My mom tried to explain all the steps.

Mom: First you measure out 1 and a half tablespoons of this holistic powder. Then, add 4 drops of this and 10 drops of this, followed by 2 pills from this bottle and one from this bottle.

Me: Then, you repeat the incantation...