Seeing how long I could go without buying a book lasted all of what, what, less than 24 hours? I popped into Barnes and Noble today after work and bought The Fault in Our Stars.

I also need to snag a copy of And The Mountains Echoed before my next Capitol Hill Reads meeting.

But first, must get through The Thorn Birds, the kickoff book to my literary cocktail club (and the novel that will be in bed with me tonight…is it weird to phrase it like that?). And will continue to read intermittently chapters from The Bully Pulpit and another book about the history of salmon in the Pacific Northwest.

How other people don’t enjoy reading, I’ll never know.

As I type this, I’m eating my first bit of ice cream since I gave it up for Lent for the first time in more than a month (since I accidentally ate some at friend Amy’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration). And it is delightful.

I still haven’t bought a book, which was the other thing I gave up for Lent. Since I’m actually trying to go to the library regularly now, let’s see how long I can keep this long (hint: probably not all that long).

Took friend Hillary to her first MLB game tonight, and I have to say, for first experiences, it was quite the ride. We had my company seats in the Diamond Club, which meant our second straight evening of plentiful drinks and eating  more food than we should. And the weather, sometimes frigid in the first month of the season, was perfectly in the 60s.

But the excitement came during the bottom of the 9th, right after  Nats shortstop Ian Desmond hit a home run off of Angels pitcher Ernesto Frieri. Second baseman Danny Espinosa was up to bat. In the moments before he struck out, he ended up hitting a foul ball, which flew backwards over the netting. I’m guessing it must have arced downward quickly, because the man in front of me tried to make a grab for it. The ball grazed his fingertips and continued to move. Continue reading →

It’s become a tradition for me to host the main Easter meal at my place every year. I usually spend the entire day cooking and cleaning beforehand, but it’s always worth it when everyone arrives with their own dishes in hand and we all end up sitting in a circle, eating and drinking and being merry.

My dad asked how everything went (since he had been following along with my Instagram updates all day). He compared it to how my grandma has dozens of people over every year and cooks more food than all of those people could possibly eat.

“Someday, when you’re the grandma, you’ll do that too,” he said.

This might be one of those self-fulfilling prophecy deals.

Just got home from watching former roommate Rachael perform with the contemporary ballet company MOVEiUS Dance. As a not-very-graceful person myself, I can’t help but admire the beautiful way in which they move.

Exhibit A:

‘ Rachael is the ballerina on the right. Photo from MOVEiUS’s FB page.

Maybe I should use it as inspiration to start this year’s round of dance classes.

Today marked my second foray into the world of book clubs. The first was in Reno during college, shortly after I quit the Sagebrush and suddenly had way more time on my hands. And even then, I rarely finished the books, opting more so to participate for the community rather than the actual book discussions.

I’m making more of an effort this second time around with the new neighborhood group. It’s only the second time the group has met, and it seems pretty promising. According to one of the organizers, there was only one person present who had come to both the first and second meetings, and they’re hoping that number will grow as time goes on.

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I used to doodle a lot when I was younger, mostly out of boredom. So many little sketches, mostly of things that I already liked (Pokemon and Sailor Moon and various Disney characters). It’s a habit that has faded with time, probably simply for lack of time.

That mood struck this afternoon in the lull after I filed a story for our PM edition, resulting in this.

It is now pinned up on my cubicle wall next to a doodle of Thor I did earlier this year (done on a Chipotle napkin).

Guess I’ll have to get through all of the Avengers now.

No one cannot sing what is written.

– Choir director Fred during tonight’s practice. We’re nearly a month into rehearsals for the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (sight reading Georgian music is fun). This will all end with our final concert of the season and the chorale’s first studio recording, which is why Fred’s harping on us about the little details now. The above quote was his way of explaining just how precise we’ll need to be come the first week of June.

Reported from the Chesapeake Bay today, which involved riding on a tug boat, hanging out on a barge and standing inside of a crane. Without giving away anything about my story, the highlight of my day was the ride back to the dock on the tug boat. I climbed up to the second level with the operator, and he proceeded to tell me all about the history of the area.

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