Lines Written Before Lunch

Today I am:

• Trying desperately to talk myself out of going to Main Squeeze for lunch.  I brought a sad little burrito that does not stand up to the tofu salad sandwich (today’s Main Squeeze special).
• Trying to talk myself into walking around the corner to the mailbox because I have a stack of mail on my desk that I failed to remember to put in the mailbox at home this morning.
• Feeling insanely jealous of all the snow that DC has received this winter.  Columbia has gotten a nice amount of it, and DC certainly can’t beat us for cold temperatures, but I would love another couple of feet of snow before this winter peters out in a few weeks.
• Feeling grateful that we are actually getting snow today, though it should only be about 5″.
• Looking back on the weekend with some amount of pride and satisfaction.  I didn’t get my taxes done, but I did get to the bottom of the laundry pile, watched some movies, took the dog to the dog park twice (despite crazy amounts of mud), wrote terribly belated thank-you notes for Christmas presents, paid bills, went to the gym, attended a volunteer meeting, ignored the Super Bowl, got caught up on 365 photos, ran a few (well-planned) errands, and did some cleaning.  Productive!  I am pleased.  I didn’t quite achieve that level of super-cleanliness that I described a few posts ago, but I went to bed with a definite feeling of accomplishment.  I love that.
• Looking forward to volunteering at the True/False Film Fest after the weekend’s volunteer meeting.  600+ volunteers showed up at the meeting, which was really well-organized and smoothly run.  They told us it would be 4 hours, but they managed to get everybody checked in and schedules confirmed and training information imparted and I was out of the door by 1:30pm.  That’s a well-run group.  I am looking forward to the weekend of the festival now!  It will be fun to be involved.  I volunteered at the Reel Affirmations Film Festival in DC a couple of times and have good memories of that.
• Disappointed that the True/False Fest is the same weekend as an event in Chicago that I had been kinda planning to attend, but glad that I’m ultimately choosing the local event over the far-away event.  It was a vintage bazaar, and I don’t need to be buying anything at all, so it’s really just fine.  And I’m looking forward to True/False.  Did I mention that?

And this weekend is Valentine’s Day.  I like Valentine’s Day in Columbia for one reason: chocolate-covered strawberries.  These are sold by a few vendors around town and are kind of a local specialty of the holiday.  They’re not as common in other parts of the country, as far as my limited knowledge goes.  And I’m convinced that they’re healthy.  Well, healthier than inhaling a bag of Lindor chocolate or a Green & Black white chocolate bar or any of the other chocolate-related activities that I’ve been known to pursue.  There’s plenty of strawberry in relation to the amount of chocolate, and it’s fresh strawberry, and, look, I don’t want to hear it.  That’s the pro side to Valentine’s Day.

The negatives of Valentine’s Day are extensive, but they begin with the bullshit TV/radio ads that permeate our airwaves all the time these days.  I am sick of being told that all women require expensive presents, and will mope about if not gifted with jewelry or candy or flowers or whatever.  I am specifically befuddled by the entire business model of the Pajamagram people (who are going overboard with advertising this year), and therefore any actual person who would delight in receiving an overnighted shipment of cheaply-made pajamas in an organza hatbox, especially if it’s considered a romantic overture on the part of one’s spouse.  Pajamas, I get that.  Pajamas are great.  It’s the overnight shipment, the fact that one has no idea about the sizing or quality of the pajamas, and especially the inclusion of the organza hatbox that confuses me.  I refuse to link to that site, but if you go there you will find out that the cost of this kind of thing runs $50-$80.  $50!  And you probably could get a much better deal at Target with the same kind of quality, as long as you’re not dealing with the kind of person who would be disappointed in the lack of the organza hatbox packaging.

Personally, this is the first Valentine’s Day I’ve had in a few years that didn’t involve some kind of inherent household strife, so the fact that I’m single this year is perfectly fine with me.  It’s also Chinese New Year (though my Chinese friends call that holiday Spring Festival), and I think that one of those is far more entertaining to celebrate than the other.  So: chocolate-covered strawberries, Chinese food, and perhaps a nice romantic screening of Lawrence of Arabia.

Wow, thinking about Chinese food and reading this Wiki page about chopsticks (did you know that it is not authentic to eat Thai food with chopsticks, because traditionally they haven’t used them there?), I am now craving Thai food instead of tofu salad sandwiches.  And it’s lunchtime!  What will I do?