Thirty Days of Truth, Day 14

So, let's just pretend that there aren't a ton of days in between my last post and today... long story short, I got called on a last minute work trip to California, where I proceeded to get sick, then came back to approximately 6 hours to prepare a brief for our Agency Director. Yeah, its been busy!! But I'm back. And gonna get back on this...

Day 14: A hero that has let you down. (letter)

Dear She-Ra,

Finding out that you are not, in fact, a real person really killed me. I spent so many hours of so many days wanting to be you. I wanted to be blond, and dress like you, and have a flying horse to ride whenever I wanted, and to take down the bad guys. I wanted a brother like He-Man.  I wanted to live in a castle, and be a princess in real life.

All of a sudden, all those hopes and dreams came crashing down. What do you mean cartoons aren't real? What do you mean there's no such thing as a flying horse? What do you mean there are no superheros in real life?? Way to crush a little girl's dreams.

Now that your show is out on DVD, and there's been press about your "anniversary", all of these feelings have been brought to the forefront again. It hurts, She-Ra. It really hurts.

NO love from me,
Rebecca


OK, that's silly, I know. But in all seriousness, I have a lot of people I look up to, but I can't really think of a hero that's ever failed me. I'm sure there are some. But there's not one that truly sticks out in my mind. So, I had a little fun with this one. And hey, what little kid ISN'T crushed when they find out their favorite superhero isn't real??

Thirty Days of Truth, Day 13

Day 13: A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough ass days. (write a letter.)


Dear Ingram Hill, Matt Nathanson, Sister Hazel, Better Than Ezra, Jewel, Sara Bareilles, Anna Nalick, Florez, Aslyn, Tristan Prettyman, and I'm sure more that I am forgetting,


In my life, there have been many tough days. Listening to your music and absorbing your lyrics have helped me through days in many ways - sometimes, just rolling down the windows, and turning it up; sometimes, your lyrics have inspired me to write my own; and sometimes, I've just gotten the reminder that I needed to remind me that it can always be worse, and it really will be OK.


Music has always been a gigantic part of my life, and you, in particular, have continued to write music that I can relate to. Without you and the songs that you have been kind enough to share with the world, I might not have been able to get through those days in quite the same shape that I did. My mental health may not have survived the breakups, the lost friendships, the frustration at sea, the loneliness, and the dealings with a-holes.  Through the years, you've always been there for me. Thanks for that.


Love,
Rebecca

Thirty Days of Truth, Day 12

Day 12: Something you never get compliments on
Oh man... I have no idea. I don't keep track of the things people DON'T compliment me on. Wouldn't that be a bit of a sad way to live?

Thirty Days of Truth, Day 11

Day 11: Something people seem to compliment you the most on
My shoes!! Thanks to my best friend, I got into shoes a few years back. Over the years I've built a bit of a collection, and since I got out of the Navy and have worked in office environments that require conservativish dress, my shoes have been a great way to express myself.  And they're fun! I never wear the same pair of shoes twice in one week, and rarely do I wear the same pair more often than every 2 or 3, and even those are just the simplest pairs. Plus, no matter what, shoes always fit :)

Thirty Days of Truth, Day 10

Day 10: Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know
I did a pretty good job about 4 years ago of removing some of the drama from my life. But there are still a few that I haven't completely let go of yet. One in particular is someone that I wasn't friends with for all that long - or, at least, I've been hanging on for much longer than we were friends to begin with.  This person kept me around as a friend for as long as he did because it was convenient for him. But as soon as it wasn't, he was gone. Yet I still find myself asking our mutual friends about him, or wondering about him. It was only a couple of months ago that I finally deleted his email address from my gmail for good. I hang on to friendships, if you can call them that, far too long, primarily because friends have always been so important to me. That often means they're one sided. So I'm working on it. But I'm not totally there yet.

Thirty Days of Truth, Day 9

Day 9: Someone you didn't want to let go, but just drifted.

This one's easy. Re-read Day 3.  I miss that friendship every single day.

Birthday!!

Yup, I turned 30 this weekend. The big 3-0. My little sister had been waiting for this for years - I'm now officially twice her age. Thrilling, isn't it?

I remember when my Mom turned 30 (I have a very young mom) because she had a really hard time with it. We took that and used it - we decorated the house and yard with over the hill signs. We put a huge sheet poster on the overpass in the small town where we lived at the time. We had a black cake, and everything was over the hill.

I, on the other hand, am not so troubled by 30. I'm not where I thought I would be 10 years ago, but who ever is? And besides, these days, 30 is the new 20. Nowhere near halfway done with life!! I'm happy, I'm healthy, I have a great job, I have friends and family who love me, and I'm in a healthy, productive relationship with a man I love very much.

Of course, none of that stopped my sister (with, I'm sure, much egging on from my Mom) from going all out.

There were decorations for me too

There are actually 4 or 5 of the black ones

Yeah... she had a good time. But it was fun, either way. My Aunt is an amazing cook, and made sushi and cashew chicken for dinner. YUM! And yay for leftovers for lunch! We also celebrated my Dad's birthday (which is today), and my Uncle being home on Rest and Relaxation from his one year State Department assignment in Afghanistan.

On my actual birthday, Molly, Matt and I went over to National Harbor for some margaritas and guacamole, which turned into appetizers (to include guac), one round of margaritas, and tequila flights. Who knew tequila had so many flavor options?? Its like wine! It was quite tasty, although I'm definitely glad I ate first!! We took the water taxi over, got to watch the sunset, and had a nice, chill evening.


Matt and I on the water taxi



Sunset at National Harbor

 It was a great weekend, and I couldn't imagine a better way to end my 20s and start what I keep hearing is the best decade!

Thirty Days of Truth, Day 8

Day 8:  Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like s**t. (I like to keep it family friendlier around these parts!)

In 10 years in the military, I met several people who could fit that bill. I was having a hard time deciding between two in particular, so I think I'll say its a tie. 

The first was one of my Plebe Summer squad leaders, the one from the 2nd half of the summer. It was his job, at that point, to make my life miserable, and I could live with that. He was a little more of what we called a "flamer" (not at all referring to homosexuality - at USNA getting "flamed" was getting yelled at) than most of his classmates. He was the one we all avoided.  He told me I would never graduate from HIS school. He went out of his way to find things wrong with me. However, when, at the end of Plebe year, most of his classmates came around, shook all of our hands, and stopped playing the game, this particular guy continued to be a raging a-hole for the next year until he graduated.  Now, if I ever see him at a football game or other USNA function, I will make sure that he knows that I did, in fact, graduate from HIS school, and turn and walk the other way.

The other person was the Commanding Officer of my 2nd ship.  He made life hell for a lot of people, I wasn't special by any means. His mood could change with the snap of a finger, and he didn't care who was around when it happened.  For me personally, though, the worst of it was when my boss reorganized our division and the CO didn't know it. He thought I was slacking off, and took it out on me passive-agressively, all of this happening at the same time that I found out that my next set of orders had been pulled and we were trying to figure out where I was headed next, with my detailer pushing me to try to leave early. He finally went postal on me one day, which was the first time I realized that he did not know about the reorganization. He never apologized, and while he didn't screw me over on paper, I count the day I detached from his command among the happiest days of my life.

Thirty Days of Truth Days 5, 6, and 7

Still in the single digits and I already fail. Oops! Its catchup day today. (It's also my birthday - 30 on 10/10/10!)  Luckily these are much easier questions!!

Day 5: Something you hope to do in your life
I hope to someday travel around the world. I've been to a lot of places, but there are a ton more that I want to explore. If only money wasn't an issue....


Day 6: Something you hope you never have to do
I know, I know, this sounds morbid. But I hope that I never, ever have to bury my own child.  Its hard enough losing those that are older, that are supposed to go before you. But I do not ever want to have to experience the feeling of outliving my own child.
Day 7: Someone who has made your life worth living for
My family, friends, and Matt. I mean, not like I ever felt like my life WASN'T worth living. But I think that's the point. I've had amazing people around me always, even in the crappiest of conditions. So I'm a happy girl!


We went to a wedding this weekend, and here's a picture of the sun setting on the mountains over the vineyard. It was beautiful, and the wine was tasty too!

Thirty Days of Truth, Day 4

Day 4: Something you have to forgive someone for
Oh man, this one is actually kind of hard!  I generally don't hold grudges, so trying to think of something I've been holding on to is really difficult.  The first thing that comes to mind is the way that someone who I thought was a very good friend basically cut me out.  After spending over a year getting to know each other, all of a sudden, poof! I sort of understand why it happened, but that didn't make me like it or be OK with it.  It also didn't help when, nearly 2 years later, there was a brief reappearance during a difficult time and then poof again.  I haven't spoken to this friend now in I think close to 3 years; I probably never will again.  But I've found, over the years, that its not necessary for the person being forgiven to know that they're being forgiven.  The peace that it brings me is enough. So, I think I'm finally ready to put aside harsh feelings and move along. Obviously the friendship wasn't what I thought, I don't need people like that in my life, and I'm doing just fine. 

Brothers In Arms Buried Together

As so many kids worship pop stars and actors, I wanted to take the time to share a story of two true American heroes.

Travis Manion was one of my plebes my 2nd year at the Naval Academy. He didn't have the easiest time at USNA, but graduated and became a Marine. He was killed in 2007. His best friend and roommate, Brendan Looney, became a Navy SEAL and was killed recently. Travis had originally been buried at his family cemetery in PA, but when Brendan was killed, his parents knew that the right place for Travis to rest for eternity was next to his friend.

The following video showed on CBS News in the last couple of days, and a very similar story aired on NBC Nightly News as well. RIP together, gents. And thanks for your service.

Thirty Days of Truth, Day 3

Day 3: Something you have to forgive yourself for
This one took a bit of thinking about. I try not to have too many regrets in my life, but there is one that I just can't shake, and it's totally my fault. My best friend in high school came out to me about halfway through our senior year. It changed absolutely nothing as far as I was concerned - we went to prom together, and sometime during my first year and a half at the Naval Academy, even though he had begun seriously dating someone, he agreed that if I was single when it came time for my Ring Dance at the end of junior year, he would come up to Annapolis and be my date to that as well. But I screwed it up. I started dating a guy during my sophomore year that was a bit of a homophobe. We got more serious, and started talking about marriage, and he said that he would not be comfortable with a gay couple at the wedding. Of course I thought it was silly, but I made the mistake of telling my best friend. I thought nothing of it at the time. But soon, I noticed that he was not returning my calls. And when the boyfriend and I broke up a few months before the Ring Dance, and I left my friend multiple messages, I never heard back. Sometime during that summer, I finally got ahold of him - I don't remember if it was phone or email now, but he basically told me that he didn't want to be my friend anymore because he felt that it was just too one sided. I was mortified - I had never been called a bad friend before, and always been the one putting the effort into friendships that wasn't reciprocated. Even with this one!! It wasn't until several years later, I think when we became friends on Facebook, that I finally found out the real reason for our falling out. To this day, our friendship has never recovered. We're on good terms now, but we don't talk outside of the occasional Facebook comment. I get my updates on him from Facebook and our mutual friends. I'm thrilled that he is happily married (to that same man), and looking into adoption. He's going to be an amazing father. And someday, I hope, I will be able to forgive myself for hurting him so badly that it ruined our friendship.

Thirty days of Truth, Day 2

Day 2: Something you love about yourself
I am an extremely loyal person - once I've decided you're important to me, I'll do just about anything for you. I love this about myself because I see so many people in the world today who are so focused on themselves, so unwilling to do anything that doesn't specifically benefit themselves. Nobody thinks about anyone else anymore. It makes me feel good to do good things for other people, and to see someone else smile because of something I've done.

Thirty Days of Truth: Day One

I've been sucking at blogging lately, and been trying to think of ways to amp it up. I came across this Thirty Days of Truth project on one of the random blogs I follow, and I think I'd like to try it out. So I should be posting something every day.

Day 1: Something you hate about yourself
I never think highly enough of myself. Whether it be body image, talent, capability, my work... just about anything, I always tend to assume that someone else is doing it better, or, at least, I'm not good enough. I've been working on it, and been trying to do a better job of giving myself the credit I deserve. Its a constant struggle, and always has been. I think a lot of people struggle with this, especially girls. I have to make a conscious effort to give myself a pat on the back every once in a while.

If you want to try it, here are the 30 days:
Day 01 -> Something you hate about yourself.
Day 02 -> Something you love about yourself.
Day 03 → Something you have to forgive yourself for.
Day 04 → Something you have to forgive someone for.
Day 05 → Something you hope to do in your life.
Day 06 → Something you hope you never have to do.
Day 07 → Someone who has made your life worth living for.
Day 08 → Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like shit.
Day 09 → Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted.
Day 10 → Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know.
Day 11 → Something people seem to compliment you the most on.
Day 12 → Something you never get compliments on.
Day 13 → A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough ass days. (write a letter.)
Day 14 → A hero that has let you down. (letter)
Day 15 → Something or someone you couldn’t live without, because you’ve tried living without it.
Day 16 → Someone or something you definitely could live without.
Day 17 → A book you’ve read that changed your views on something.
Day 18 → Your views on gay marriage.
Day 19 → What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics?
Day 20 → Your views on drugs and alcohol.
Day 21 → (scenario) Your best friend is in a car accident and you two got into a fight an hour before. What do you do?
Day 22 → Something you wish you hadn’t done in your life.
Day 23 → Something you wish you had done in your life.
Day 24 → Make a playlist to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just post the titles and artists and letter)
Day 25 → The reason you believe you’re still alive today.
Day 26 → Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why?
Day 27 → What’s the best thing going for you right now?
Day 28 → What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do?
Day 29 → Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.
Day 30 → A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself

Food for thought

I'm a grammar nazi. At least, I try to be. I get really upset when I see things, especially things from senior government employees or military officers, that include the use of 's in a plural, or your welcome, or the like.

Its nice to know that I'm not the only one.

The End of Summer

I remember when Labor Day used to hold some solid significance as far as the end of summer. School starting back up, pool closing... you know, all that. These days, I rarely use the pool, and work goes all year round. The big significance of Labor Day weekend has shifted, for me, to the start of college football and the onset of fall. Not that I don't love summer, but this year was brutal, and even I'm looking forward to some cooler temperatures!!

Yes, the new Kindle. I had been debating it, but recently I realized that carrying around books when I'm traveling is a pain in the butt, as is going to the book store, or ordering books. I love the feel of a regular book as much as the next person, and I've always been a big reader, but I've found in recent years that I'm just not reading as much as I used to. I've been listening to books via audible.com downloads to my iPod for a little over a year now, and that's awesome - at the gym or on road trips it makes the time go much faster - but when I'm just sitting around, I like to read books. I finally decided to take the plunge and order a Kindle. Of course, I made that decision right after they announced the new model, so there was a backlog of preorders, but my Kindle showed up at the house on Friday, about a week before I expected it. So far, I'm absolutely loving it. There's no backlight, so my eyes don't strain while I'm reading. Its small and light, so it tucks right into my purse. And when I'm done with a book, I can get another one from my computer or even right from my Kindle - it connects to my WiFi network so I don't even have to hook it up to the computer. They even have a model that will hook into the AT&T 3G network. Check them out at www.amazon.com, and here's a picture of mine:

A couple of weeks ago Matt and I got to attend a Yelp! event at Madame Tussaud's wax museum in DC for a little birthday bash for Michael Jackson. We had an absolute blast. They gave us free run of the museum - the only thing we didn't get to do was make our own wax hands - AND some local vendors were kind enough to donate some beer, wine, and a few snacks. We had so much fun taking pictures with the wax figures and hanging out with some really awesome people. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the evening:

Ronald Reagan and I are pals, even if his wax figure does have Blago hair.

Johnny Depp is a little intense for me, I think.

We hung out with Morgan Freeman.

I want this sign for my bathroom at home

This Labor Day weekend has been a blast. Between absolutely beautiful weather, the arrival of my new Kindle (YAY!), Texas and Florida State starting out the season with wins, and a little Jammin Java songwriters circle last night, its been a really good weekend. The only thing that could make it any better at this point is a Navy victory over Maryland this afternoon. GO NAVY! BEAT MARYLAND!

Murphy's Law

Wednesday evening, after work, I decided to go to the grocery store. I had been planning to wait until the weekend, but realized that I really didn't have that much food left in the house, especially breakfast or things to take to lunch. So I headed over to Safeway, coupons and weekly circular in hand, and managed to fill up a grocery cart and save 28% on my final bill. I was amazingly proud of myself.

Thursday, I got home from work after the mad thunderstorm that had blown through the area, and the power was out in my building. I didn't worry about it too much, because in all the time I've lived in this building the power had only gone out for longer than a few minutes once, and even then it was back on in about 3 hours.

Oh no. This time, it stayed out for about 28 hours.

See where this is going? When I got home from dinner last night, I had to throw away everything in the fridge except for a few things that don't actually require refrigeration. When I got to the freezer, luckily all of the meat that I had bought and stacked in the back of the freezer was still solid. But just about everything else, in the door or in the front of the freezer, was soft. I should have just waited until the weekend, go figure.

There is some good news out of all this, though. USAA renters insurance will compensate for food spoilage as long as the power is out for more than 3 hours. So I have some money coming to help replace all of that. But it still makes for a pain in the butt!! Thanks USAA for once again taking great care of me!! If you are now or have ever been in the military and don't have USAA, you are totally missing out.

The Catch Up Post

I've been slacking lately!

Matt's here, that's probably part of it. He's back in Atlanta right now recording some more music, though, so I have a chance to update.

The trip up was fairly uneventful. I ended up driving the truck, which wasn't THAT surprising - I AM a badass, you know :)  It was easier than I thought it would be - they didn't have any small trucks left when he picked up, so he ended up with a WAY too big truck. He didn't have all that much stuff, though, so it wasn't heavy. That probably made the drive a little easier. I hooked in my little iPod car transmitter, listened to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (great book, by the way), and we broke the trip up. We left Atlanta around 10am on Friday before the 4th, stopped off in Anderson, SC for lunch at Cracker Barrel with Matt's parents (they're RVing, and had stopped there for the night), and made our way to Chapel Hill, NC.  Matt's best friend's wife is an Economics professor at UNC, and they have a BEAUTIFUL 16 month old daughter, so its a perfect stopping point.

We met up with them at the Durham Bulls game, where we got to see a kid throw a 100 mph fastball. This kid defected from Cuba last year on a National Team trip in Holland, and came to the US to play. He's pretty amazing, and I'm sure will be in the majors soon. Matt got a picture of the 100 miler, I just got this one:

Only a 96er. But in the minors, that's pretty great too. While we were at the game, I also got to see my friend Jenn, who used to live up here but moved down to Raleigh about 2 years ago. She's working home games for the Bulls, and hooked us up with AMAZING seats - thanks to the season ticket holders who didn't show that night!

We were only supposed to stay the one night in Chapel Hill, but Matt's friends invited us over on the 3rd to grill out and just spend the day at their house. We weren't on that tight of a schedule, and Matt doesn't get to see his friend nearly enough, and I get along well with his wife, so we decided to go ahead and stay.  We spent the day on the 3rd just hanging out. Even got a new picture :)

My mom doesn't like it because I have a drink in my hand and he's wearing a hat. But I think it's a pretty good one!

We got back to DC on the afternoon of the 4th, unloaded the truck, and had a nice, quiet evening watching the fireworks from the sunroom.

Its been fantastic having him here. I was a little bummed when he headed back down to the studio so quickly, but at the same time I'm also super excited for him because the things they're working on this week are really exciting. They've had a song placed in the upcoming movie Knucklehead (its a wrestling movie, WWE is involved, but Dennis Farina is in it!), and you can always buy the song, Walking Away, on iTunes and Amazon. That's Matt you hear on all the guitar parts. Here's hoping for big things!

I'll be headed to Colorado Springs again next week, and am hoping to touch base with some old friends while I'm there.

Listen Up!

Yes, I'm one of the 100,000 that heard Christina Perri's song Jar of Hearts on So You Think You Can Dance a couple weeks ago and fell in love. It seriously hasn't left my head ever since. If you haven't heard the song yet, here it is. Go get it on iTunes!

Jewelry Giveaway!

My friend Jaime is hosting a giveaway over at her blog Fried Pink Tomato, from the Etsy store Hiphophippos, owned by a friend of hers named Sara. The jewelry she makes is really cute, and all hand stamped. A couple of my favorite peices:

Seaside Starfish:

Be Free Butterfly:

You can enter to win any peice under $30 by following the directions posted in Jaime's blog. Enjoy!

Hooray!!

The day that I have been awaiting for the last 5 1/2 months is FINALLY almost here!

Matt and I have been doing the long-distance relationship thing since January, when I moved back up to DC to start work and he remained in Atlanta to finish working on some music projects. But this weekend, it's finally going to be over! Tomorrow evening, I will be flying to Atlanta, and Saturday morning, we will start the drive back up here with a truck full of Matt's stuff! We'll be splitting the drive into two days, with a stop at his best friend's house in Chapel Hill, NC on the way up. But by Saturday afternoon, we'll be back up here in time to enjoy the fireworks, as viewed from our sunroom :)

He'll still be heading down to Atlanta now and then to work the music, but he'll be based up here, which makes me VERY happy. Being separated like this is never an ideal situation, and it was absolutely not what we wanted, but the need for a steady income and the fact that I couldn't find one in Atlanta made it necessary. I can't wait to see Matt - we haven't seen each other since mid-March, for a variety of reasons, and I miss him!!

Just keep your fingers crossed that my flight is on time and that we get out of Atlanta early enough on Friday to miss the holiday traffic!

Have you read the Rolling Stone article yet?

If not, get hot.

Seriously. In order to REALLY understand what's going on here, you have to read the article. The media reports are OK, but they're not really getting it. For example, this wasn't an interview with General McChrystal. Nor were 90% of the quotes actually spoken by him. And how the RS guy wasn't supposed to be with them that long. And oh by the way, he got a chance to take a chop on the article before the author sent it to press. MESS. I have one question: Why not just tell the guy, after his original 2 days, to find somewhere else to hang out??

I can't get over this whole business of demoting GEN Petraeus to take over a job that fell under the purview of CENTCOM. The overwhelming thought seems to be that President Obama did this with the thought that it would take him out of the running for a possible Presidential run in 2012, although I'm not sure how likely that would have been. The names that were being tossed around as possible McChrystal replacements are now being thrown around as Petraeus replacements. Personally, I'm cheering for Lt Gen John Allen, who was the Commandant of Midshipmen while I was at USNA. It will be interesting to see where that goes....

There really is no disagreement, at least among those with any military experience, that this was a fireable offense, and President Obama really had no choice. That's not the interesting part here. The interesting part, in my mind, is what comes next.

The Heat Is On

Go figure, just a few months after the most snowfall in the history of DC, its ridiculously hot. Doesn't it always work out this way? High yesterday was 91, and it was supposed to be the coolest day this week. Amazing.

There just has not been much going on in my world lately, just a bunch of little things. Nothing worthy of a big long blog post, so instead of a bunch of little ones, they're all together.

This weekend I got to make a trip down to Suffolk, VA for my good friend from USNA's Freedom Party. Divorce from d-bag is final, and we had a pinata complete with his face to celebrate the occasion. I hadn't seen her in quite a while, and it was great to catch up. And not only did I get to see her, I got to see her partner in crime in about 98% of my plebe year corruption. (It's OK, they freely admit it, and are proud of it even!) Seriously, though, it was fantastic to see both of them, and the rest of the folks that came out for her. I miss that crowd!!

This whole GEN McChrystal thing is a big old mess. 3rd law of the Navy, anyone? Take heed what you say of your seniors, be your words spoken softly or plain, lest a bird of the air tell the matter, and so shall ye hear it again. It was drilled into us Plebe year at USNA; I'd imagine there's something equal to it in the Army that the good GEN learned at West Point. Rule number one in the military - never talk sh*t about your seniors!! It will be interesting to see how it all plays out, and to see how much more politicized this can get. Its already pretty bad, as anything is these days when it involves talking about President Obama.

9 days and a wake up until I see Matt!! Hooray for finally getting him moved up here! I seriously cannot wait to have him back in the same place with me. Its been really difficult doing the long distance thing. Its lasted longer than either of us wanted it to, and I'm glad its finally over.

Quite the shot, if I say so myself

This is what the sky looked like when I left work today. I actually think it looked way cooler in real life, but this isn't a bad picture for a cell phone camera!

Music Recommendations

I went to the Birchmere the other night for the first time to see two ladies that I absolutely love play an acoustic show. It was fantastic, as I had no doubt it would be.

My best friend Molly turned me onto Toby Lightman's music back in 2004 or 2005, when we were still roommates living in Va Beach. She's just put an acoustic CD of some of her fan favorites from over the years, and its really good. She has 3 full band CDs available as well.

I first heard Aslyn on the radio around the same time when "Be The Girl" first came out. I met her for the first time in 2005 after missing her opening for Better Than Ezra, and have since enjoyed following her career and hearing her music evolve. I've also had the privilege of getting to know her a little bit over the years both on The Rock Boat and from my time living in Atlanta. Her latest CD is the best CD I bought in 2009, and not nearly enough people will hear it.
 
I highly recommend you all get ahold of as much of the music these ladies have made as you possibly can. The usual itunes, amazon, etc has them all, or click on the album titles to go to their merch stores to order hard copies.

Aslyn: The Dandelion Sessions

Toby Lightman: Know Where I'm From

Glee

Yes, I am a Gleek. I freely admit that as exhausted as I may be, I've stayed up on Tuesday nights for the last 2 months or so until Glee was over because I couldn't bare to have to wait until Wednesday to watch. I got excited by the guest stars. I wondered which songs were going to be covered this week. I laughed, I cried, I sang along.

So last night, after lots of crying during the episode, I realized that the season is over, and I'm sad. It helps that they're reshowing the entire season, including the episodes already on DVD, all summer. That will get me my fix, for sure. But its not nearly as good as its going to be in the fall when the new episodes start back up.

I know I'm not alone here. What were people's favorite episodes? For me, anything involving Kristen Chenoweth and/or Idina Menzel, with the Neil Patrick Harris episode way up there as well. And any time Brittany got to talk. GENIUS writing. What did you like?

Hello, spring? I think you missed your exit

It's been 90 degrees, hazy, and humid with afternoon thunderstorms this week. About 3 weeks ago I was wearing a sweater. What happened to spring? I think it forgot us.

But that's all OK, because Thursday I bought my plane ticket to fly down to Atlanta and help get Matt up here for good! Hooray! We haven't seen each other in 3 months now - the constantly changing schedule of the move combined with his trips to Tallahassee to help his parents move has made it really hard to plan visits, and I miss him! 4 weeks from now, we'll be on our way. I can't wait.

I'm finally really settled into work. I've just about got the new boss figured out, or as well as I could expect to, anyways, and I'm getting into the groove again. Not gonna lie, it feels good!

Almost as good as the thought of the completely relaxing Saturday I'm about to have. Pool til the storms start, then Friday Night Lights marathon! I recently started watching FNL from the beginning, and I'm hooked. Thank goodness for Instant Netflix.

Oh, and the Arthritis Walk went really well. We're still taking donations until July 1st, so if you can spare a little bit, please head over to my website and support this amazing cause. Here's a picture of my sister Emily with all of us that walked for her - that's me, my cousin Elisabeth, Emily's best friend Caitlin, and my other sister Sophie. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and a great time.

Just needed to share

This is the sky out my window right now. Absolutely beautiful sunset, the picture doesn't quite do the colors justice.

Where's the Grease?

Yesterday was 8 years since I graduated from USNA. It was also Herndon day for the class of 2013. They did it 2 minutes, 5 seconds. Yup. You heard me. Blink, and you missed it.

CDR Salamander, a Navy blogger I've been reading for several years now, had this picture on his page this morning:

Glad to see they were at least a little bit upset about it.

As for the removal of the grease... LAME. Seriously, there are more injuries in FAR more events than Herndon every year. There's something to be said for the tradition of it all, stupid, not all-inclusive, a litany of other arguments against it notwithstanding. I would NOT want to be a part of the first class that doesn't climb Herndon, and I would NOT be happy to be a member of the class of 2013 that had to climb it ungreased. Just sayin.

More Colorado Pictures

I'm still just amazed at the nature I saw while I was in Colorado. Seriously, you don't see things like that in the DC area!! I also got a chance to visit the US Air Force Academy, the first time I've ever visited an Academy other than the one I attended. It was really different looking, but so much the same. The biggest difference: I can't get over how much space they have!! Their cadet area is pretty small, but the base itself is HUGE!! All the things we don't have space for in Annapolis, they have right there. It totally does look like something out of the Jetsons though!!

The Garden of the Gods is this amazing park full of red rock formations. My favorite one, the Kissing Camels:

If you look really closely you can see the camels just to the left of center.

Here are some more shots of the Garden of the Gods:

Absolutely beautiful.

And here are some of the Air Force Academy. SO different than Annapolis!!

Chapel:

Cadet area:

Dorm building:

I think the only thing I'm really kinda jealous of at USAFA is their view. Who wouldn't want to see this on a daily basis:

Colorado is Beautiful

I've been to Colorado twice before. The first time doesn't really count - I had a long layover in Denver when I flew out to Salt Lake City when my niece was born. The second time was a 36 hour visit for a 1 day meeting. This time, I'm here for 3 full days, and I'm staying a little closer to the mountains. I am absolutely floored by how beautiful it is here. I've never spent a lot of time in the mountains - that trip to SLC was the first time I'd seen the Rockies other than from an airplane on the way to California.

I've taken a couple of pictures out my hotel room window, but I think this afternoon I'm going to brave the cold with my coworker who's lived here several times over her Air Force career and go do a little sightseeing. For now, though, here's a view of Pike's Peak from the window:

You Can Call Me Grammar Nazi.

I've gotten two emails today from much older than me Government Employees that said "Your welcome." This irritates the living crap out of me. Did we all not have to take and pass basic English classes for the better part of 16 years, if not longer? I thought so.

Its not that difficult, folks. Figure it out!! That goes for the guys who like to use there, their, and they're interchangeably too.

Disclaimer: A Bit of a Political Rant

I find it extremely amusing that I seem to be the most liberal person in my office. Especially since, as those of you who know me already are aware, I am not liberal. I tend to be just to the right of center - I tend to be fiscally conservative, but socially not so much. I don't like mandatory health care, but having been without while I was unemployed and unable to afford COBRA and therefore unable to get my medication for a while, I agree that there needs to be reform. I agree with the concept of the Arizona anti-immigration law, but until the amendments were signed I had a problem with the way it was written.  I don't necessarily believe in abortion, but I don't believe its the government's place to make that decision for anyone. I absolutely could care less whether or not two gay people get legally married, but I don't see a problem with churches not allowing them to do so in their facilities if they're against it - I see a clear and distinct difference between Church marriage and legal marriage (you still have to get the legal paperwork to get married in a church) and I wish the religious right would leave the legal union out of the religious one.

However, there are folks in my office (who I love, by the way) that are straight up tea party types. I'm not a huge tea party fan. I agree with some of their ideas, but not their platform, as shown by the Founder of the Tea Party, Judson Phillips, in a Washington Post Live Chat yesterday. A commenter made the following statement:

Liberals are just as American as you are and you and your movement has no right to question people's patriotism or Americanness just because they disagree with you.

I think his response speaks for itself:

Yes we do. You folks in the left do far worse. Patriotism is not something that cannot be measured. It can be. And you folks on the left, as a general rule are not patriotic. You do not love this country. You are embarrassed by us.

I hate to tell you this, but those of us in fly over country are the real americans.

Does anyone else see the problem with this? The Tea Party movement tries to make people believe that the media is just being mean to them, then their founder posts a statement like this. I'm a proud Military Veteran that comes from a long line of proud Military Veterans, all the way back to and before the Revolutionary War. And you're going to tell me that because I disagree with you I'm not a "Real American"? I call BS. That's almost as good as an earlier response he made saying that moderates have no values. Awesome.

I'm sick to death of the polarization of politics in this country, and I would love nothing more than to see real live political debate make a comeback over the silly, substance-free back and forths. I think many Americans agree with me. With the two party system in our country consisting of two parties moving more and more to the extreme of either side, I'd love to see a viable 3rd party candidate. But until the time comes where that third party candidate can seriously run without just being a splinter from another party and splitting their votes, I just don't see that happening.
In happier news, I'm wearing a pair of pants today that I haven't been able to wear in months. Yay for master plans going my way!

My cats are nuts

I love my cats.

Really. I do.

I mean, honestly. How do you not love these faces???

(Yes, this is a bit of an old picture, but since my hard drive crashed its one of the only ones of both of them I have until I pay someone to get the rest off)

Here's a recent one of Mattie in her favorite place:

And a not so recent one of Charlie but one that I love anyways....

They're adorable, right? But they DRIVE ME CRAZY!!! Charlie has decided that he likes to play with the carpet. At 3 am. It wakes me up. He also likes to chase Mattie, especially when she doesn't want to be chased. Which would be OK, except she throws a hissie fit about it - growling, hissing, snarling.... they never actually hurt each other, and they DO love each other - they groom each other, they lay together on the bed with me... but holy crap they can make some noise.

I like to think that Charlie will grow out of it - Mattie has always been more mellow, plus she's 13 months older (she just turned 4 in February, he was 3 in March), and she's a girl. But so far he has not. Granted, he relaxes a little bit more than he used to (right now he's laid out on the floor in the middle of the guest room). 

But on the other side, he is the sweetest, most snuggly, loving, lovable little animal on the planet. Don't get me wrong, I love them both - if anything, Mattie is more my favorite (although I hate to say that) if only because I had her first, and Charlie is definitely Matt's favorite because while Mattie is running away from him, Charlie gets excited to see him every time he walks in a room. But Mattie runs away from everyone. Including me. Unless she really wants to cuddle. Which is usually as I'm trying to go to sleep or at 6 am, like it was this morning.

When I first got Charlie, I had a hard time with him. I'd had Mattie for 8 months at that point, and she was so quiet and reserved. I struggled with keeping him, but it was the sweet, loving, cuddly side of him that made me totally melt. I think he's just a typical little boy - he can be a real sh*t sometimes, but he's not destructive - he just wants to play. Now, while I still wonder sometimes if Mattie would have been better off as a single cat, I know that she would probably be as lost without her brother as I would be.

Random Thoughts on a Monday Morning

So, first things first, I've seen the previously mentioned name show up more than once on my chat list since the email exchange the other day, and have heard exactly nothing back. So deletion from the contact list has happened. And probably should have a LONG time ago.

Alpha Rev released their new album "New Morning" in digital version today, hard copy tomorrow. Amazon has it as their Daily Deal for $3.99 until midnight tonight. I highly recommend it to everyone - its really good, and these guys are going places. Look for them opening for Carolina Liar on their May tour dates. Thanks to JrzyGyrl for turning me on to yet another great band!

I really want to start writing again. Atlanta was supposed to be an opportunity for me to get a little bit more involved with music and take advantage of a scene really open to local singer/songwriters. However, being broke meant that I wasn't out and about as much as I had wanted to be, and being in a job I wasn't particularly fond of was extremely draining. I managed to write exactly one song while I lived there - and I wrote it with Matt. So... if anyone's got any ideas on how to get rid of the ridiculous writer's block I've had for a good while now, please share.

Off to Gettysburg tonight for 2 days of meetings at a DOD facility in the mountains. Should be interesting, to say the least...

To Chat, Or Not To Chat?

Last night a name popped up on my gchat list that I hadn't seen in a LONG time. I think this is partially because I told my gmail account not to show him on my chat list and that doesn't necessarily apply on my phone, but either way, its someone I haven't thought about in quite a while, and haven't talked to in probably 2+ years. That part is partially because he has a tendency to fall off the face of the earth for large periods of time, and primarily because I got sick of being the one to initiate all the conversations. What kind of a friend is that? Not one, I decided, and stopped trying. It wasn't really a big loss either. I mean honestly - we met in the military, deployed together, and once we came back I think we saw each other exactly one time, for about 5 minutes in a parking lot. And we came back 5 1/2 years ago.

But, back to the whole popping up on my gchat list. Sometimes, gchat on my phone gets confused and forgets to refresh itself, so he was popping up there as being online. I looked at his name several times, thought about it, wished I hadn't seen it, thought a little more, and eventually decided wht the hell, and shot him a chat - well hello there. That's all it said. Of course, there was no response by the time I went to bed, because, in fact, he was not online. But my phone didn't realize that until this morning when, after seeing an email from him responding to a chat while sent offline, and with him still showing as online, I signed off then back on again. But back to that email - Wow out of the blue! What, where, and how are things?

I replied, somewhat briefly - I'm trying to share too much at this point - and we'll see how it goes. But all I can think as I'm writing this was why did I bother? Its not like it will go anywhere (and I'm talking one hundred percent in the realm of friendship/acquaintance chatter here people... Matt and I are happy and just fine and still together, etc).  And I've worked so hard to cut people like that completely out of my life. So I'll play it by ear, but next step will surely be deleting his information completely out of my system so there's no chance of seeing that name pop up again and tempting me to do something less than intelligent like chatting again.

Rain, Rain, Go Away....

I can't see the window from my desk. Its 3 cubes down, and we have high cube walls. However, I can usually tell by looking in the general direction of the window what the weather is like. When its nice out, that direction is a little brighter. Today, its NOT nice out. And looking in that direction is gloomy. Its amazing what that does not only to my mood, but to my general energy level. I don't really want to DO anything, you know?

But on top of that, the rain is just overall annoying. I can't wear certain shoes because I don't want the material to get messed up, or my feet to get wet and take forever to dry. My hair pretty much goes crazy at the first sign of wetness. My purse gets wet, and if its not a somewhat waterproof material and/or zipped up everything inside gets wet too. I've almost gotten down the science of getting into my car when its parked on top of the parking deck without getting myself wet, but still manage to get the inside part of my door (and whatever happens to be in the pocket on the side) soaked.

And let's talk about the drivers. People, water falling from the sky is not a new thing. It has happened occasionally since the dawn of man. It is not an excuse for you to suddenly forget all the things you've learned over the past however many years you have been driving. It is also not scary. Yes, you need to slow down a little and be careful on wet roads. But you do not need to rush to cut me off because ZOMG ITS TEH RAIN! I promise, if you wait til I pass you'll get to turn because if you look, you'll see that there is NOBODY BEHIND ME.  You do not need to go 39mph on the Beltway. I promise if you hit the raindrops at 55 or even 65 they won't break your windshield. Sigh....

On that note, its almost time to go out and brave said drivers on this rainy afternoon....

The View (No, not the TV show)

The other day I mentioned how much I love the view from my apartment, and over the past few days I've taken a few pictures to share with y'all:

An overcast afternoon, rain on the way:

A beautiful Spring day:

The sun's coming up:

There's just something about being able to look out my window from the comfort of my Lazy Boy and seeing all this that makes me smile.

Help A (Well, My) Sister Out!

 When my sister Emily was almost 3 years old, she was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.  One of nearly 300,000 children under 18 affected by the disease, Emily has been one of the lucky ones. A combination of outstanding doctors and excellent response to her medications, Emily has, for the most part, been able to live the life of a normal child.  Now 18 and about to graduate from high school, Emily is a member of her high school's track team (she pole vaults!), and will be attending York College in Pennsylvania this fall.

On May 15th, I will once again be joining my family in the Arthritis Walk, which is among the largest fundraisers for the Arthritis Foundation. In past years we've held a small walk in Fairfax County, but this year we're combining with some of the other smaller walks to have a bigger and hopefully more visible walk on the National Mall. My goal is to raise $500 for the walk, and I could use any help anyone can give me. I know times are rough, but if you can spare a little, it's going to a GREAT cause. Please click on the website, read a little about the walk, and donate if you can. If you're in the DC Area and would like to participate, please join the team my sisters co-captain, the Flying Pigs.

Thanks for your help! Here's hoping that some day all kids can have the opportunity to have the sorts of results that Emily has had!

I kill myself

I really should have gone to bed at 9 like I wanted to last night. But I just couldn't bear the thought of having to wait until today to watch Glee, and missing all the good stuff / getting the good stuff spoiled by the inevitable tweets / status updates (which usually aren't TOO spoilerish, I just like to be fully surprised). And really, I just love the show and wanted to see it on time. And I still managed to not stay awake all the way through Sue Sylvester as Vogue. Luckily it is on the DVR.

But today... I'm EXHAUSTED. I've been feeling tired all week, well, more tired than normal, anyways. I blame part of it on just plain not sleeping enough this weekend - I couldn't get back to sleep after waking up at 630 Saturday morning, stayed up a little later than I should have on Saturday, and didn't go to bed early enough on Sunday night. Part of it is also due to some emotional exhaustion due to some conversations with Matt. And, of course, a lot of it is due to my sleep disorder. Believe me, its SO much better now that I'm back on the medication.  But it still makes it really hard to be productive at work. So why do I still torture myself by staying up at night? Perhaps some day I'll learn...

I kinda really love DC.

First of all, I have a fantastic view from my new apartment. I look out and I can see, from left to right, the National Cathedral, the Washington Monument, Reagan National Airport, the Capital Dome, and several other DC buildings. Its amazing how the different weather can change how that view looks - when the skies are clear and blue, everything just stands out. When its raining, the whole thing turns gray. This morning, when the skies were cloudy and it was about to rain, it was absolutely breathtaking. At night, everything is lit up, and just absolutely beautiful.

When Matt was visiting a couple of weeks ago, we spent some time walking around Downtown DC and seeing some of the sights, sort of, that I hadn't seen in a LONG time. I guess that with my parents having lived here for so long I've really kind of taken for granted all the amazing things this city has to offer.

Like the Chinatown Arch:

And the White House:

 And cool statues in front of museums: 

And protest rallies :)

I think this summer I'm going to try to do some more touristing - although I promise I will NOT stand on the left side of the escalator, or stop in the middle of the sidewalk, or block all the exits at the Metro :)

There are no words; and, A bit of an admission

Sometimes, I just want to scream.

Its the only way I can think of to release. I want to write a song, to sing someone else's song, to have a good conversation with a friend, to vent to my boyfriend. But no words come. All I can muster up is a loud, generally unintelligible sound that only makes me feel better for about as long as it takes for it to leave my mouth.

Maybe that's where this blog can be really handy. I don't have to worry about whether my words are the right words, or whether or not the person I'm speaking to understands what I'm saying or can follow the story the way that I tell it. People will either read this or not, get it or not, and choose to leave a comment or not. Either way, I can say what I need to say, in some form or fashion, and move along. It's kind of a refreshing thought, and just typing it out is making me feel a little bit better with the pent up frustration and doubt that all sort of came to a head tonight with a heaping dose of family drama.

I think it all comes down to one thing: I am, in fact a tiny bit of a control freak. I'll deny it to most people, especially the ones that accuse me of it. But its true. I hate the unknown. I hate not being in control of my situation. I hate feeling like I'm hopeless, that there's no way I'm going to be able to affect a situation. I like to park in the same spot every day. I like my morning routine to go in a certain order. I like to know that things are going to happen at a certain time in a certain order. This is why I left Atlanta - this is why I made the decision to come back to DC, to come back to the same job and the same apartment building. I like knowing that every other Friday the paycheck will appear, and that it will cover all of my bills without a problem. I like order, and I like stability. And right now, I have that in all but one part of my life, and its driving me absolutely crazy.

Do we ever really grow up?

No matter where I've been in my adult life, be it USNA, Navy ships, bar crowds, message boards... there's always something that happens that makes me think wow, that is SO middle school. It got me wondering today, does anyone really ever "grow up?" Do we ever stop calling people names, going behind our friends' backs... basically, are we all stuck in 13 year old mode?

The things that I see my peers, nearing or over 30 years old, doing and saying just amaze me. The quickness to turn, to put people in the middle of situations, to fail to take criticism in any way other than as a personal insult, or to just be downright fake... its amazing. I don't know if its because of the generation gap (Gen X vs Millennial) that I happen to fall right in the middle of. (friends and I have talked at length about how it seems the generation of entitlement starts right around our year group - two recent articles in the Washington Post talk about Millennials versus their GenX and Baby Boomer predecessors, and the end of GenX vs the start of Millennial is somewhere around the 1980 birth year.) I don't know if its the people I've surrounded myself with - but I can't imagine its that, because its been so many different and diverse groups of people. I don't know if it just human nature, although it seems to me this HAS to be the case.

What I do know is that when I was in middle school and dealing with the stupidity of people at that age, I couldn't wait until I was a grown up and got to get rid of it. I had the same thoughts in high school, and in college. Unfortunately, I've been disappointed at every avenue because it seems as though that time, the time of growing out of middle school behavior, has never come. There always seems to be that one person in life that I have to walk on eggshells around, for whom I have to deliberately calculate and rehearse every word I say for fear of setting them off or losing the "friendship." Luckily, in the past few years I've started weeding those people out of my life, but its never easy - sometimes its people that I've known for years, or that I've had some amazing experiences with. But coming to the realization that those people aren't really my friends has been freeing in many ways. Its like a breakup, you know? I miss the fun times, I miss the sharing. It hurts, especially at first, realizing that someone that was a part of my life is no longer. But, deep down, I know that my life is better off without those people, and it becomes more and more evident as time goes by.

Don't get me wrong - there are parts of being in middle school that I'd love to return to - no bills to pay, no job to get up for every day, no worries about working out or getting old... you know, the good stuff :) But when it comes to my relationships with other people, I'm all about being a grown up, thank you very much. I just wish everyone else was too...

Times, they are a-changing...

Wow, its been a good while since I wrote something on here. Not that I have many readers, especially not these days...

The past year or so has been nothing short of interesting. I got out of the Navy, moved to Atlanta, met the man I'm planning on spending the rest of my life with, got a job, and lost a job. I know, a lot, right? So I'll back up...

In June of 2008, I put on the uniform for the last time and said farewell to the Navy. After about 6 weeks of leave that I had built up, on August 1st I officially became an Individual Ready Reservist. At least, that's what I thought I became. But more on that later. It wasn't as easy to find a job in Atlanta as I thought it would be - unfortunately I got down here just as the job market was beginning its downward spiral. I was working with a couple of military recruiting firms, and Lucas Group offered me a job. I took it, thinking the challenge of sales would be something I could thrive in, especially since I would be selling a product that I was intimately familiar with and helping folks like me. Unfortunately, the rest of the US job market tanked right around that time as well. My boss and coworkers were convinced I could do the job, though, and as I watched other people come and go around me, I somehow managed to still have my job. Until the one year mark approached. There are mandatory numbers for the one year mark, and I just didn't make the cut. The job market being what it is, the recruiting industry is hurting badly. I even had coworkers try to donate billings to boost my numbers, but that would have only kept me safe for another month, and ultimately I made the decision that it was best for me to move along. The stress of this job has been eating at me for a while. Had the timing been better, perhaps things would have been different.

And, the boy part :) I met Matt in May of 2008 when I came to Atlanta job hunting. We have a lot of mutual friends in Atlanta, and it can get a bit confusing, but here goes - my friend Amy Gerhartz, who I have known for several years and is a fabulous singer-songwriter, lived with Anna in New York City, and Ryan produced her first CD. She introduced them several years back, and Anna moved to Atlanta soon after. Ryan and Matt have known each other since middle school. So when I came job hunting, Amy was playing a show, and the whole group was there. We conversed well, but I had just broken up with someone and was preoccupied with job hunting and moving and getting out of the Navy. He started asking them about me, and when I moved down 3 months later, Anna and Ryan facilitated the meetup. We clicked immediately, and have been together ever since. He's a wonderful man who has been extremely supportive of me through everything. We have a lot in common - he's an amazing musician, and comes from a very strong family background. We've broadened each others horizons. His family is wonderful, and treat me like one of them, and while he's only met my family once, they all got along really well.

Oh, and I almost forgot! A few months ago I was looking at going back into a drilling status with the reserves, and found out that instead of making me a reservist, the Navy had completely separated me. So I actually have been a real live civilian since 2008! Of course, I don't have a discharge certificate to prove it, but thats OK... its in the system, and they can't hold me accountable for their screw up. So I'll take it!

So there we are, the updates on my world. We'll see what comes next...

The Omnivore's Hundred

I thought this was kinda neat, so I'm trying it out. How many have you tried? I've got 56...

(from http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk/uncategorised/the-omnivores-hundred/)

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos Rancheros
4. Steak Tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J Sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake