I’ve been doing this thing for years, since I started cooking, where I throw spaghetti on the wall to test that it’s cooked. Sure, I use a timer so there’s no need for this, and who knows if this is actually an indicator anyway? I’ve never bothered looking it up, because I don’t want to know. The whole process of throwing spaghetti on the wall is something I never want to stop enjoying. Watching it wobble through the air, giggling when it sticks, then giggling more when I realize I forgot about it and it’s still stuck to the wall … the fun never ends.

I asked my Italian friend, Manuela,  if she does this. Her response: HA HA HA HA HA.

So, no. She does not. Also, she says she’s never heard of anyone doing this. Am I the only person throwing wobbly noodles at my wall, or does every American engage in the noodle-wall test?

Check this out: she says a singular noodle is called spaghetto. A singular penne is penna! I turned into Butt-Head for a moment and was like, “My mind is blown.”

In other news, happy birthday to my mom! It was her birthday this weekend, and my dad bought her an iPhone 5. Hopefully she doesn’t run into the same problem of addiction!

Speaking of which, I mentioned a while back that I was working on some goals, namely, cutting down my iPhone use and focusing on other things like reading, working out and cooking healthier meals.

I’m proud to say I’ve been a success. It started out as a challenge for only a week, but it really worked and I just kept doing it. The biggest thing that helped was putting my phone in my purse and checking it only once an hour. I don’t know why, but this really allowed me to put it out of my head and after a couple days there were many hours where I forgot to check and so I’d wait until the next hour. It’s funny how setting these stupid rules for yourself actually works.

This year already I’ve finished four books. One of them I read half of last year, but I’m still counting it because I sat down and read the rest of it in one sitting on a Sunday! I’ve been reading somewhat in the evenings, but mostly I read for hours on the weekends.

1) The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

2) Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

3) Falling by Christopher Pike

4) My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night Stands by Chelsea Handler

In my hands right now is David Sedaris’ “Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk.”

A note on Christopher Pike: He was my favorite author when I was young. “Falling” was written for adults, and although I enjoyed the story I have to say I was annoyed by his writing! Perhaps I didn’t notice when I was young, but he’s not the best.

Chelsea Handler is another one I have mixed feelings about. Some of the stuff she says is genuinely funny and I really like the premise of the book. However, there are quite a few parts in the book that I felt were totally made up for humor’s sake, and I didn’t like that. I liked the book, but it annoyed me enough that I probably won’t read another one.

The Tipping Point and Freakonomics were both really good and I’d recommend both equally! I generally prefer non-fiction, so this really isn’t a surprise.

I’ve also had time to start focusing on weight lifting since I’m still having trouble running (due to my knee). I’m just getting started on my second week, so I don’t want to say too much at this point, but I will update soon with what I’m doing and how I’m eating.

In the meantime, a bunch of randomness.

Here is a picture of Harris getting annoyed because his brother is throwing off his groove. Harris doesn’t like Oliver, but Oliver thinks it’s totally fine to sit next to him when he’s drinking even though there’s an entire house full of places for Oliver to sit.

We got snow yesterday!

I’ve been listening to a radio station on Tune In that plays classics and jazz. I discovered Peggy Lee. If YOU haven’t already discovered Peggy, here you go: