The cashier girl at Chop't today wished me a happy Valentines day. Is that coming up already? We just had Christmas! And Kristen's birthday is like directly after Christmas. They should move Valentines day to the summer. Saint Valentine was born in April, they could move it to April.

Watching more Hoarders on tv. They say it's a sentimentality about these random things, and I can kinda understand that. Sometimes I feel irrational about getting rid of things like birthday cards or ill-fitting clothes. These people on the show always seem like they're mostly stable people, and their one vice is hoarding junk. So it's like me, but a little more extreme about feeling bad about tossing things.

The one thing I don't get is how you go from hording stacks of junk to storing jars of urine in the corner of the room. Okay, so the water was shut off. But don't you start making phone calls when the water gets shut off? You get the water back on. Urinating into a bottle would not be something I'd even consider. And then storing the urine? This sounds questionable now that I'm saying it, but why not pour the urine down the drain? I know, I know, different pipes go different places. But it's gotta be preferable to storing the stuff in a bottle on the floor.

These's some hidden element to this disorder that I haven't figured out yet. I need to watch a few more episodes and then I'll be an expert.

I don't know about The Big Bang Theory anymore. Last night I watched the newest episode and it had what seemed like a 10 minute scene of Sheldon saying "I have wood," when talking about his boardgame, and the other two guys snickered and egged him on. It went on for an unbearable length of time. This is material that, back in the earlier seasons, would have amused one of Penny's idiot boyfriends. Then the smart guys would make a joke about him being a neanderthal because of his idiot jokes. But now they're all idiots, and judging by the enthusiasm of the laugh track, the audience is Penny's old idiot boyfriend.

Raj has been de-empahsized because he doesn't have a girlfriend. All Howard really had going for him was his creepy pickup lines and constant rejection, and Bernadette has killed that. She was good for a few episodes, but now she has been hanging around for way too long.

Same with Amy Farrah Fowler. Actually, I never really liked Amy. Maybe it's because I don't know any girls like that. But I also think her flat line delivery and constant smirking isn't very convincing. None of her lines flow out like they're being naturally said by a person. Apparently she's played by an award-winning actress, but someone told her "walk and talk like a robot" and that's exactly what she does. She needs a different role.

At Starbucks this morning both the guy infront of me in line and the guy behind me in line ordered "the usual." My sister Irene used to work for a Starbucks and said that some customers get angry if they come in regularly and you don't remember their drink. But I feel the opposite. I want impersonal service. What starts with them remembering your coffee drink eventually turns into buddy-chats when you stop in. It always happens.

I actually avoid the closer Starbucks because the girl there always asks about my work and weekend plans and I have to be nice to her. It's a hassle. I don't care about her weekend plans; she probably doesn't care about mine. Let's stop pretending already. I should just be real for a change one day. "We're not friends. Just make me a mocha, coffee wench! Please. Thank you." (One should always remember his pleases and thank yous.) But if I said that someone would probably spit in my drink. There's no winning.

I'm watching Extras. That British series with Ricky Gervis from a couple years ago. I know I'd seen the first episode once, and the first few episodes aren't great. But it builds. Season 2 is almost like Curb Your Enthusiasm gold, though I'm not sure you'd appreciate it if you skipped to Season 2. Also last episode of Season 1 is especially good because Patrick Stewart plays an idiotic version of himself.

Today I wanted a chocolate milk. All I could find at the local mini-mart was YooHoo, which I was going to get, until I noticed there was no expiration date on the bottle. And then I noticed they don't even call it milk, it's a "chocolate drink".

I'm watching Hoarders. Mostly because nothing else is on. According to Wikipedia, most hoarders are men, but I think all the ones I've ever seen on this show are women hoarders. (And I'll tell you right now, it's definitely not because TLC is pushing the T&A for the young adult male audience.) Though I've only seen maybe 4 episodes.

I wish I could say that everything I have in my apartment serves a purpose. I have this efficient, minimalist ideal in my head that I think I inherited from my mother, but I also have a hard time throwing out old books I've read, which sounds like my dad's influence. I also tend to save gifts even if they have no use to me. That might be out of guilt. And I find that I can easily throw out any books if I can keep the digital Kindle version, so now my book collection is actually shrinking. It's like I have this fear that I might want to randomly look up something in an old book I've read. Though I don't think that's honestly ever happened. Every quotable thing is already on the internet, and I don't have gobs of time to sit and re-experience old books.

Ha! Now Toddlers & Tiaras is on. Some show about little kid beauty pageants. TLC FTW! It's a little weird to tell your 7 year old kid to be flirty and sexy. But if you don't push too hard, that's probably better for the kid than sitting them in front of the Jersey Shore or other reality tv influences. Most of the kids in this episode at least seem to be fairly happy. Besides, I think Britney Spears grew up doing these pageants, and she used to be well balanced.

I should find something useful to do.

Update. Now watched the whole episode and I take it back. This should be illegal. It's kinda funny and cute or whatever when the parents are practicing with kids at home, but everything changes when they put these kids in makeup on a stage and make them strut back and forth. Something very unsettling about it. And kids grow up in that environment, don't they? There's a 3 year old league, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9... it just keeps going. The 3 year olds are disturbing because they're showing a bare midriff while being dragged around stage by a parent, and the 9 year olds are disturbing because they're like miniature people!

I also tend to think kids should try not get emotionally invested in competition before high school. Kid life should be carefree.

I'm thinking of selling my couch and loveseat and getting one of those light gaming chairs that sit on the floor instead. Something like this one. It may look kinda silly when you walk into my living room and instead of a couch I only have a little chair sitting on the floor. But I rarely get visitors, I almost never sit sideways on the couch, and these couches will slow me down when I look for a new apartment.

Speaking of which, I'm not entirely sure what to do about moving. The new rules at work indicate that they'll let you move wherever you want, but they may adjust your locality pay accordingly. (The DC locality pay is 23%.) I want to wait and see how exactly they're implementing that. But I also want to get out of my apartment. Management has increased my rent by the legal maximum, which I do not appreciate, and is simultaneously offering a $200 discount if you recommend a new tenant. So I would like to get out of here ASAP and hopefully stick it to the man with a pricey apartment they will have trouble filling. Punitive relocation. That's how I roll.

Watching Runaway Train. I started out having no idea what the movie was about. Instantly my expectations were lowered to the ground by over-acting and cliche prison boxing scenes. Then Jon Voight stepped in and saved this movie. And then it was fantastic.