Ashleigh’s working on the Upper West Side today, and we were discussing our plans to meet for dinner. I said, “I’ll meet you there so we can explore Columbus’s options.”

Immediately I thought, “Discover new world… Don’t discover new world…”

I’m sure his actual options were more complicated, but in the cartoon in my head, everything is quite simple.

Well, today is April 15, which means it’s [what I like to call] Death & Taxes Day.

If you haven’t already sent in your tax return, I hope you know of a post office nearby with a really late last pickup time. When I lived in Long Beach, I always saw a huge line of cars at the 9pm drive-through mailbox on Redondo Avenue on Death & Taxes Day. Apparently there are a lot of procrastinators out there.

It’s funny to me, since I always send in my tax return as early as possible. Then again, I generally plan my taxes so that I will get a refund at the end of the year, and I think it makes sense that when there’s money coming, one tends not to procrastinate.

By the way, the quizzes that Lauren and I wrote a few years ago are back online after a two-year hiatus:

http://randomness.com/quiz

If you never took our quizzes, or if you did but you can’t remember what you got, I highly recommend “What Lunch Meat Are You?” as well as the extremely vague yet mildly amusing “What Are You?“

Anyone from New York City can tell you that the best place to satisfy a pickle craving is at Guss’ Pickles (on Orchard at Broome). I went there for the first time last month, and I became an instant fan of their “spicy half-sour” pickles. So today I ventured down there to get a whole quart of them, and now I get to enjoy them all week.

It was a pleasant day today, and it’s supposed to be rather pleasant all week. It was sunny and warm with a light breeze.

As such, I walked home from work through Central Park. It’s only about two miles, and three-quarters of it is in the park (so it’s a nice walk), but I wouldn’t dare do it unless the weather was amiable like today.

There were even rowboats out on the lake today (seen in the picture above), which reminded me of the proposal scene from The Last Five Years. And there were flowers in bloom, and green grass, and a lot of people just relaxing on rocks and in fields. It was… nice.

Google has a sense of humor, as evidenced by their April Fool’s joke: a “new product line” called Google Gulp.

Think fruity. Think refreshing.
Think a DNA scanner embedded in the lip of your bottle reading all 3 gigabytes of your base pair genetic data in a fraction of a second, fine-tuning your individual hormonal cocktail in real time using our patented Auto-Drink™ technology, and slamming a truckload of electrolytic neurotransmitter smart-drug stimulants past the blood-brain barrier to achieve maximum optimization of your soon-to-be-grateful cerebral cortex. Plus, it’s low in carbs!

Be sure to read “Google Gulp and Your Privacy” at the bottom of the page too.

The weather is best described as “slushy” today, and saying that makes me crave a Slurpee® from 7-Eleven. Unfortunately, the afore-mentioned weather cancels out all cravings for said frozen beverage.

Their recommendations have always amused me. Now with their Watch List feature, apparently Amazon.com has decided that I am gay.

I read an interesting article regarding virginity on MTV.com today:

Study: Teens Who Pledge Virginity Try To Bend The Rules
Poll finds they’re more likely to have tried anal, oral sex.

Teens who take abstinence pledges are almost as likely to be infected with sexually transmitted diseases as kids who don’t, according to a new study that found pledgers tend to substitute other risky behavior for regular intercourse. [Read more.]

I could have told you that just from my own observations, though.

A friend of mine, who shall remain unnamed, was adamant about saving herself until marriage, for religious reasons. One day in class, she approached me and asked, “If I have anal sex, am I still a virgin?” Of course, she’d already done it. And I heard many other similar stories in high school and college.

However, I still wouldn’t argue that saving one’s virginity is a bad idea. Any kind of sexual activity might spread disease, but only traditional sex will get you pregnant. And I remember plenty of people (of both sexes) from high school who were very happy with the additional oral sex encountered while dating dedicated virgins.

It was announced yesterday that Yahoo acquired Flickr. Naturally I’m a little concerned because acquisitions often lead to huge changes, and I like Flickr the way it is. However, I currently use Yahoo for a great many tasks (except, you know, searching the web), and I use it because it has proven to be the most customizable, most reliable tool for those tasks. So I’m glad that my photos will come under the same banner.