Laura Valaas

You are currently browsing the Culture category.

Side Project

There is a small side project underway at poohsart.wordpress.com. It will most likely be compiled here at the end of the 100 days, but until then, pieces are being posted there.

Collaborating with miss RJ.

Add a comment

Sourdough Alligator

From a short trip to San Francisco… this picture is entirely for Brian Gregg.

sourdough alligator

sourdough alligator

2 comments

Twix…?

So now that Toko & Swix are owned by the same company, maybe they should try a rebranding strategy…

Toko + Swix = Twix

Toko + Swix = Twix

Add a comment

Chocolate BootBuddy Poll


White Chocolate BootBuddy by Skadi Nordic

White Chocolate BootBuddy by Skadi Nordic

Milk Chocolate BootBuddy by Skadi Nordic

Milk Chocolate BootBuddy by Skadi Nordic

Dark Chocolate BootBuddy by Skadi Nordic

Dark Chocolate BootBuddy by Skadi Nordic

I don’t know what I’ve been thinking this whole time. Why would we make BootBuddies out of plastic when they could be made out of chocolate? Don’t worry, I plan to rectify this situation by the time the weather gets cool enough to safely ship chocolate products.

Add a comment

Chocolate Thermometer

My mother gave me a bar of chocolate earlier this week. (Chocolove Ginger crystallized in dark chocolate, 65% cocoa content, for those of you who think THAT is the most important piece of information in this blurb.)

This is behavior of which I highly approve. I put it in the car door pocket on the way home. And when I got home, I took it out. I am not such an idiot as to leave an entire bar of chocolate in the car on a hot summer day, despite previous evidence to the contrary. The crisis in this story is that my mother had requested to try a square when she gave it to me. (Which leads me to believe that the gift wasn’t entirely altruistic. Gifts of chocolate rarely are.) So she sampled, & I sampled, & my little sister mysteriously showed up right at this time and she sampled too. Two squares of chocolate fell out of the admittedly poorly re-wrapped chocolate and remained, unbeknown to me in the car door pocket. For some reason I had a lot of errands that day, and when I noticed the chocolate remaining in my door I got to watch it solidify as I drove and then melt and puddle in proportion to the length of my errand. I really should clean that out. Or I could never ever put anything else in that pocket ever again.

Hey, I never got around to finishing that chocolate bar. And if I can’t read the love poem on the inside of the wrapper until I finish the chocolate. First things first, I must be going.

Add a comment

Ode to my Gummies

Cherished gummies did meet their end.
Began their life with much promise
In a corner store, I commend,
But all too soon they met demise.

At close of perfect summer day
The warmth lingered ‘gainst the earth’s skin
With my sister, friend, and C.A.
We took gummies to the drive-in.

There we did enjoy and munch most
But one small pack, o’erlooked on the dash
Came home with us like parcel post
And, forgott’n, an auto food cache.

But, lo! we woke too late next morn
And the early morn sun did melt
Those poor sweet gummies, all forlorn
Oh! in agony and pain we knelt!

Good gummies, once distinct as worms
Were now a pool of neon goo
The sad sight our neglect confirms
Bright swirls of loss we had to view.

If you love them, do not leave your gummies!
In your car they will cease to be yummies!

1 comment

Life Ruin-er. (and now i shall ruin yours)

The problem with being on a computer most of the day combined with the super-duper connectivity running rampant through every feature of my computer screen is that every one of my friends has several venues with which to distract me and more or less ruin my productivity. (For the more dramatically inclined, we will call this “ruining my life.”)

And now, because you have voluntarily opened this webpage & you may not have the good fortune of having a certain Mr. Farnand on your gmail sidebar posting inane yet addictive links, I will share the current inane and addicting link that has sucked me into a spiral of life ruin-ing.

http://www.27bslash6.com/

I can’t help it, it’s one short article after another of some inane guy named David mercilessly email baiting friends, colleagues, and whatever poor unfortunate makes the mistake of supplying him with an email address.

At some level I think there may be something sinister in me since I find the suffering of his victims so amusing. At another level I’m impressed by the effectiveness he’s shown at getting what he wants by being completely unreasonably. See, for example the one on Blockbuster late fees or unallowed pets.

Now that I’ve passed on the curse of this stupid website, I feel much better.

Add a comment

McDonalds

I ate at McDonalds today, which I haven’t done in forever. Really, forever measured in years. As I was opening my little silverware packet to get my fork out, I very talentedly managed to slice my finger with the plastic knife. I thought maybe it was a bad omen. And honestly, who manages to cut herself with a plastic knife? I almost deserve a Darwin award for that.

So… fruit & walnut side salad… fresh, delicious… berry smoothie… fresh, delicious.

Oh, McDonalds! I have judged you wrongly these many years. You changed, you grew and I kept you pigeon holed in a greasy, bland cupboard. Now I see, you’ve grown up while I was eating old lettuce at subway. Please forgive me, I will malign you no more.

1 comment