TICFOIFE, Part Deux with Pics!

• I went to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA PS1) today in LIC with Danielle. First off, let me preface this by saying that I absolutely do not intend to offend anyone who considers themself a modern artist or appreciates modern art. I am by no means an artist and have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for anyone who is. Anyway, maybe I'm just not "cultured" enough  (whatever that means) but I'm not quite sure that I understand the genius of modern art. I guess part of it is understanding the artist's motivation but I didn't quite get it. If anyone would care to enlighten me- and I mean that sincerely- I would definitely love to hear your perspective. Below are some examples of the types of exhibits we saw. No actual pictures because photography was seemingly prohibited. 

Concrete pillars

Spinning car wash brushes

Bamboo frame

• I am a Barnes & Noble-aholic as anyone who knows me in the slightest can vouch for. Their journal section, while grossly overpriced, is one of my favorite parts of the store. Something about bound leather and blank pages I guess...Anyway, recently I've been noticing different variations of these- 

The basic premise, according to B&N's website: "This classic memorykeeper is the perfect way to track the ups and downs of life, day by day. The 365 daily entries appear five times on each page, allowing users to revisit previous thoughts and memories over five years as they return to each page to record the day's events." It's actually a pretty genius idea in my opinion- it's both an efficient and practical way to preserve your memories and is ideal for people who don't necessarily have the time/energy/interest/patience to sit down and catalog their thoughts on a daily basis. My question is why the hell would I pay $16.95 + tax for a journal like this when I can employ the same concept in a far more cost-efficient manner? Enter:

Fifty cents at Target. Sticking it to the man!
Bonus points to you if you noticed Michael Scott's head in the upper righthand corner.

Anyway, for all of you people who have ever said to me "I would never be able to sit down and write an entire blog entry" I enthusiastically encourage you to try this! Yeah we have all these gizmos and gadgets and Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and blah blah blah to immortalize the days of our lives, but there's something refreshingly raw and honest about keeping a written record. And it's an excellent way to see how you really do change over the years. For example, the Xanga I kept when I was a 16 year old high school sophomore is positively cringeworthy when I read it now- but I can still smile at how far I've come. Bottom line: if you've got time to play Draw Something or Words with Friends then I know you've got thirty seconds in your day to jot down a line or two. Just do it!

• Kayaking is my new favorite thing to do. I've fun-yaked (inflatable kayaks) on the Deerfield River in Massachusetts and kayaked at La Source in Grenada before but it had been about 2 years since my last venture. So last Sunday, thanks to a stellar Groupon deal, my cousin and I went out to Manhattan Kayak Co in Chelsea and paddled our way around the Hudson.

Not as scenic as Grenada, but still way fun.

It's great exercise, super relaxing, and I did NOT fall into the Hudson. Next week, I'm going out to the Hamptons for a 4-hour solo kayak trip, thanks to this sweet Groupon.

• Lastly, meet Dr. Sheldon Cooper- my new Betta fish. For those of you living under a rock (as I was doing until very recently- thanks for rescuing me, Shruts!), Dr. Sheldon Cooper is Jim Parson's awesome character on the Big Bang Theory. Do yourself a favor and start watching it here. 

Dr. Sheldon Cooper AKA The Coop!

Mom and I were window shopping at Petco last week for some inexplicable reason and I left with a fish. Go figure. He's pretty standard as far as fish go minus the weird thing he does when he eats his food- he chews a pellet, spits it out, goes after it and sucks it back into his mouth, and then repeats the entire process. He does this without fail every time and it takes about three tries for him to keep the pellet down. I wonder if he has an over-active gag reflex or something. Do fish even have gag reflexes? Questions for the ages.