Procrastination

What should I be doing right now? Lucubration (noun: laborious or intensive study). What am I doing? Eating mini Cadbury eggs, dreaming about an African safari, and working on fun projects, like this: My website.

Another Cap and Gown?

I'm back from the outer reaches of the world, and I have something to say today: I might matriculate (verb: to enroll as a member of a body and especially of a college or university) in January. I've been accepted.

Culinary Concoction

There is no other explanation besides the fact that I had no control over my body. Since when do I have culinary caprices (noun: a sudden, impulsive, and seemingly unmotivated notion or action)? I've known myself for a very long time, and I can give you first-hand knowledge: never (at least that I can remember).

I grabbed the cutting board and became a sous chef out of nowhere. It just happened. I have food left over for tomorrow too. And Milan, a food diva in her own right, gave me a thumbs-up. Jordan said he liked it too. Milestone. (Ahem.)

A Birthday, Unbeknownst to Us

Sunday. It was Tyler's birthday. Of course we had to do something. Good thing Rachel saw the fact on Facebook late Saturday night. Being the laconic (adj.: using or involving the use of a minimum of words : concise to the point of seeming rude or mysterious) person he is, we knew he wouldn't have spread the word about his annual celebration. 

 We trekked to Harris Teeter—risking the crazy squawking noise they installed at the grocery store entrance—in order to buy cake, ice cream, and candles. The gathering was well attended. On his way out the door, he said, "thank you so much. That means a lot." Goal accomplished!

Persuasion

Astonished at his ability to take every potential area of interest to me and use it to prove his point, I sat and listened to the man—with a mentally dropped jaw. His practice of pedagogy was a half an hour of masterfully crafted persuasion. I've decided Andrew is genius. He had a point to make: it is important to have nice clothes. He had a tough audience: me.

What angles did he take? All the right ones. And that blew my mind more than anything he actually said pertaining to his argument. He knew what would have the most impact on me. He talked history, architecture, theory (sartorial morality?!), aesthetics, practicality, parsimony (noun: the quality of being careful with money or resources : thrift), personality, opprobrium (noun: something that brings disgrace) [welcome to your daily double] and vocabulary. (You probably didn't know you could tie all these things into fashion, did you?) Beyond that, he said the most ridiculous, pretentious things, which always make me laugh. I studied his study of me; I am an expert on myself, and I'd have to say, he got it right.

But I guess I knew I would be persuaded since I was calling in a personal wardrobe consultant. It's nice to have friends who know what they are talking about.

Here's what's left of my clothes . . . 

Dinner Group

Thursday. Oh, yeah! It was dinner group inauguration. And I cooked for it. Stop your white horses, it's true. What I cooked looked something like this:

This was really fun, and I can tell that dinner group will serve solidarity (noun: unity [as of a group or class] that produces or is based on community of interests, objectives, and standards) in addition to food.

Boat House

I learned today that people live in house boats on the docks of the Potomac River. Yes. I saw them—tonight, in fact. We were walking along the dock noticing the incredible amounts of flotsam (noun: floating wreckage of a ship or its cargo; broadly : floating debris [we'll use the broader sense here]) on the surface of the water as a result of hurricane Sandy. And then we saw them: houseboat people. They look just like normal people, but they live on the water. There they were, near their houses. And their abodes looked just like houses. Logistically speaking, I could buy a boat and rent a spot on the dock. I bet it's so much cheaper than any rental in the DC area. In fact, I am going to research it.

But before I buy my house boat and live on the dock in order to save millions, I should probably take classes on house boat care. Wouldn't want my house to sink in the middle of the night . . .

Now That's a Question

"Ginette, Aruba or Jamaica in February?"

I like the way these neurological pathways fire. There was no presage (noun: : something that foreshadows or portends a future event), absolutely no clue. And off to Jamaica we go—plans made. Tickets bought.

GMU in January?

A completed goals statement and  nearly completed graduate school application are the result of my day off work. Satisfying. And with another day off tomorrow, I have a resolute (adj.: marked by firm determination : resolved) goal to complete it.

A Montgomery County Cancel

"Chantal, my boss is calling. This must be a big deal. Give me one minute, k?"

"Meghan, how are you? This must be important or I wouldn't be getting a call from you on a Sunday."

"A day off? Yes! Since when does Montgomery County ever cancel?"

That makes for one blissed-out (adj.: experiencing bliss : ecstatic) Polinger employee.

The Obscure DC Cornerstones

There are four of them, and we found the northern most one on Saturday. Occulted (trans. verb: to shut off from view or exposure) by a guardrail from most people's view. Fabulous find.

Important Cause

The Halloween dance on Friday. I was an activist picketer, advocating the important cause of reuniting Pangaea (Geographical Name: hypothetical land area believed to have once connected nearly all of the earth's landmasses together.)