Fat plants.

I think it's ok, SlimCado. The fact that we are even in the produce aisle should be enough for a round of applause. I'll take the regular California and spare the mozzarella sticks or something.

I heart avocados.

As opposed to...

...a Star of David?

"Six Point Star"

Hm. These should make up for the manger cookies that Larry ate, right?

A place to suff my things. Part 2.

So, I now have a cardboard box filled with this and that, trinkets and baubles. I have confirmed with myself that the things in this box—the things that I purposely put here and not in the trash can or recycle bin—have no material worth or practical use.

But, I still keep them.

These are the little things that take me back, remind me of a time, remind me of a place and remind me of a person. I keep them just so that every once in a while, I sit with the box in my lap and dig through the treasures so I can pick them up, look at them and smile.

Now, this is progress. I went from a room filled with this and that all over the place. I now have a concentrated space—a box—that is only overwhelming in the emotions I have by enjoying the little things in life.

A pretty popular price per gallon

That is one worn out button. I am thinking of getting my car washed...professionally? I am using my Caring Club card to get a car wash and such at Golden Touch Car Wash. Anyone have experience at that car wash? I'm pretty set on that though every time I think of it I also think, "What is a green way to wash a car?"

Water?

A place to stuff my things.

I have been called a packrat in more than one way and, guess what? It’s true. I keep. I keep things. But to me, they aren’t just things. They are the memories of things. They are the who, what, when, where and why of my life. I don’t know why, but I’d rather call them “things” than refer to them collectively as “stuff.” “Stuff” has become somewhat of a dirty word to me (thanks to commentary like that of another language lover, George Carlin) in terms of consumerism and such. All the same, it’s not all the same. And I realized that recently when I decided to re-evaluate my things.

I wanted to give away the clothes I promised myself I’d wear for years now. I wanted to streamline my bags and purses since I really only used the same two or three. I wanted to sort through all of my craft supplies that range from markers and paints to stray pieces from flower garlands I bought at Walmart a few years ago. I wanted to shred all of the paperwork that I kept since I started at UNCG in 2003 (the time before I could hoard—I mean, store—all of that info in my email inbox).

I made considerable progress in this not-Spring-Spring-cleaning. Rooms were bigger, brighter, and tidier. I knew what I had and where things were. I made mental notes—a plan—about how to receive and store things I’d get in the future.

And, I started up a treasure chest.

I don’t think that I mean to call it a treasure chest in the first place. As my intention quickly swam through a sea of words and phrases and fond memories of Muppets on the sea, I jumped at referring to this cardboard box as a treasure chest.

And this treasure chest is effective.

Troy!

Add falafel connoisseur to the list.

Maybe my life is just that lame, but I get a thrill out of the little things…like, finding new falafel.

Ok, well that wasn’t really the case, but my word-o-phile-radar went berserk a couple of weeks ago as I was getting lost on Piedmont Parkway. I discovered this:

As soon as I say “Troy” and “restaurant” in the same title, my mind quickly went from anxiety-mode from being relatively lost at the tip of afternoon rush hour to intrigue by the possibility of chickpea variations, pita bread, and the always far-reaching hope of pistachio baklava.

I decided that trying out the establishment would be a service to my fellow Greensborians (though that whole Greensboro/High Point/Jamestown area around Wendover gets me confused enough where I don’t even want to know where I am).

I got the falafel sandwich on pita (not in the wrap) and got the fried zucchini appetizer. The falafel was cut up into bite-sized pieces as opposed to the balls or patties that I often get (and those seem to be harder for me to handle). I think that I actually get offended at bad pita bread (which is… dry?) but this sandwich had the moist and salty bread that I love that is also totally different than the Neomonde pita bread that I also love (that is also…dry).

The zucchini appetizer was the real trial. I only discovered in 2009 that I love zucchini and until I recently went to Carraba’s, I did not know the awesome-ness of fried zucchini. Taste of Troy’s zucchini appetizer was different than what I expected. It tasted more fresh and was made into thick patties and then fried. It wasn’t as crunchy as I hoped it would be. It had less pronounced flavor and was softer than I would have liked, but I suppose the zucchini itself was still present and enough for me to still gobble it down.

Sorry for the Vevo, but...

...did this video come in a styrofoam container?

Ugh. I hate lazy videos. It's all subjective I suppose, but I can't stand when an artist or band makes a lazy video. What do I think a lazy video is? Well, off the top of my head, I can't list the qualifications. But, it's basically a video that seems to exist only because the artist goes, "Ah, what the hell. I've got some time tomorrow. Let's shoot a video for this joint."

I guess that even sadder are the videos that are pretty complex but still suck.

Timbaland's/Justin Timberlake's "Carry Out" song grew on me as one of those songs that have straight-up dumb lyrics/metaphors. It sounded pretty cool and I got over the fact that I can't tell without screen titles whether the song is by Timbaland, produced by Timbaland, or featuring Timbaland. Anyhow, I purposely searched for the possibility of a video for the song today, and I was about 3 ounces of giddy when I realized that one exists.

*Sigh* and it's lame. Honestly, the girls in the video are pretty good and not only relative to T and JT. The "carry out" theme is addressed here but...um, people don't get cake and such like that as carry out. I mean, sure, you can get a dessert with your meal or probably as carry out on it's own. But, until someone steals my business idea (with my pleasure) to open a take-out/delivery service of all desserts, this video missed the "carry out" mark. In my opinion.

Random note: I only recently found out that "opine" is a word. Embarrassing. (And I just spelled "embarrassing" wrong before spellcheck smacked me in the face with some red squigglies. For shame.)

And finally, what are T and JT doing? I mean, Timbaland is no dancer--or, at least, I don't expect him to dance. He and Justin already sort of did that coordinated thing that I don't know how to refer to where they dance side-by-side. I mean, I like the move, but it's very reminiscent of 2006's "Let Me Talk To You/My Love" (which was amaaaazing).

Wow. I'm a complainer. On the upside, I would guess that JT is having the time of his life. Or at least I hope he is!