It's the 4th of July... in case you were wondering what the date was and happen to think my blog might be more accurate than a calendar. So, happy birthday to the US of A. 

I will be celebrating in Durango, Colorado. I hear there will be fireworks tonight. Honestly, I'm not too excited about the crowds or the actual holiday, but I really like the fireworks. There is Coldstone in my future as well. I've heard rumors of a parade and street dance tonight. It's currently 95 degrees outside... so I doubt I'll be attending either of those. 

I hope wherever you are, you are enjoying your 4th of July, spending time outside and have a blast at whichever fireworks show you decide to attend... if that's your thing. 

If you're not from the US and couldn't care less about the 4th of July... well, bear with me, it will be the 5th soon. 

In 2005, my sister gave me a towel in honor of Douglas Adams and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Since then, the towel has traveled with me wherever I go. It started out as a forest green towel... and 6 years of washings later, it is now an odd shade of brown. Let me tell you the story of my towel:

• The towel went with me to the beaches of Lake Superior
  
• It traveled across the pond to Scotland in 2006. 
  
• During that semester abroad, the towel accompanied me to England, Spain, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Italy (twice), Germany (where it provided a lovely blanket/pillow in the airport overnight), Greece, Santorini, and Poland.
  
• When my semester abroad finished, I backpacked around Europe for a little bit and my sister joined me for a couple weeks of it. Whilst in the Temple Bar area of Dublin, I went through a purge of stuff. My backpack was just getting too heavy. My sister urged me to give up my towel. My sentimentality won, and I gave up some shirts instead. 
  
• Once again, the towel went with me to the beaches of Lake Superior.
• In 2007, my towel found itself in Colorado and North Carolina. 
  
• In fall of 2008, the towel traversed many stops and ended up with me in Wonju, South Korea. 
  
• That same year, it made a voyage to Hong Kong. 
  
• I graduated from college in 2009 and spent some time in Odessa, Texas. My towel joined me. 
  
• I left Odessa and moved to Saint Charles, Missouri... so did my towel. 
  
• Again, the towel went with me to the beaches of Lake Superior.
  
• February of 2010 was the farthest west my towel has ever been: California.
• In 2010, it went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on vacation.
  
• That same year, it went to the Dominican Republic, the UP of Michigan and St. Louis.
  
• In September of 2010, it moved again... this time to Austin, Texas. 
  

Where is the towel now? 

It is with me, like usual. I am writing this entry from a hotel room in Roswell, New Mexico. It will continue with me on my journeys. Keep tabs on it... and me by checking out my travel blog.

I would like to take a minute to say "Thank You" to my wonderful sister for giving me this towel!! I would also like to honor the late, great Douglas Adams for making this day possible. Happy Towel Day!!!

Now, for the moment, you have all been waiting for... a picture of my towel!

 As you all know, this is the season of growth and twitterpation (which, according to spell check, is not a real word). Spring is in the air, the groundhog has determined the length of winter, and rivers will soon be dyed green.

I was doing my best to not acknowledge Valentine's Day this year, but I just can't do it. As much as I'm never overly thrilled with Valentine's Day, I can't help but get caught up in it. There is a feeling in the air that is totally contagious (there is a reason I call it VD... Valentine's Day). People are pairing off and giving gifts for the sake of appreciating each other. It's hard to be a humbug about that. I do not, however, appreciate the ridiculous commercialism, the sense of obligation, and the wastefulness of the day. Instead of buying cut flowers this year, perhaps a potted plant would be better? 

Since I'm not in a relationship and am not a mobster, I can't guarantee I will actually be doing anything besides working on Valentine's Day. What can I say? If my job were a person, we would be honorary conjoined twins because we spend so much time together. Maybe I'll buy my job a potted plant... 

So, I was with my sister and her husband at Shop 'n' Save today in St. Louis. We have a game night planned and I was hoping to procure some Leinenkugels Honey Weiss for the festivities. I go to the checkout line, the cashier scans the beer and asks for my ID. I appreciate this, so I give him my ID, a Minnesota ID. I state that my birthday is in the red lettering. He takes it from me, feels it and walks away. He's gone for maybe a minute or two and a woman comes into the line behind me. She puts her things on the conveyor belt thing. I tell her that he had to go check my ID because Minnesota IDs are made of a super flexible material so they don't break. They can go through the washer and dryer and all that and they won't break. The problem is that everyone thinks they're fake. So he comes back over to the line with someone else and says, "Sorry, we don't accept out of state ID." Seriously? First of all, you DO accept out of state ID, you just think this is fake. The woman he brought back to the line was also really rude about it as if she just expected me to leave it at that. No. I brought out my passport. I could have easily had someone else buy it for me, but it was the principle of the matter. So, they call the manager. Turns out the manager was in the middle of decorating a cake so it took a couple minutes. Meanwhile, the woman behind me is asking me about the license so I tell her about all its cool features and let her see it etc. She was really good about the whole situation. So the manager finally comes up to the line, takes my license, says they don't accept passports, takes my passport and disappears for a while. The cashier is just hanging out, offering us candy canes. She comes back, says "The only reason we are accepting this is because the books says Minnesota licenses are flexible." HA! Take that, Missouri! Seriously, I have never had a problem with this before. I've used my license all over the country, but I've never had anyone refuse it before. They said they didn't accept it because they had never seen anything like it before. That says a lot about Missouri... my hopes for the Missouri intelligence have just been dashed against the rocks.

Don't worry, we had a happy ending with this, I got my Leinenkugels and my ID was eventually praised above all other state IDs. Win!!

After much consideration, I decided that I could live as a hermit. I don't require much social interaction to keep me occupied, and I have better conversations with my dog than I do with some humans. If I became a hermit, I could live off the land, I could be nomadic. The only problem with this theory, is that I love to travel, and that requires seeing and interacting with people. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy people. I love my friends and hanging out, but I could survive without it. Most people could survive alone, but very few actually consider it. The problem is, everytime I consider becoming a hermit, I can't help but think of that Monty Python sketch about the hermits all living together. I've included a link for those of you unfamiliar with it.

So there you have it... my fate, should I ever end up being a hermit. Oh well. Maybe I will just be a holiday hermit and never come out for the holidays! I've got a great start already! It's Thanksgiving and here I am writing a blog. Happy tryptophan induced stupors to you all! In the words of the fictional Dr. Sheldon Cooper, "Social relationships will continue to baffle and repulse me."