"Don't get stuck with the rutabaga. Not real festive."

One of the downsides to moving is not being able to locate all one's stuff easily. Boxes boxes everywhere!

Every year on Christmas Eve I watch a couple of Christmas specials I remember from my childhood. Unfortunately I have misplaced the video they're on.

Behold the wonder of the Internet. I found the Adventures in Wonderland Christmas special on YouTube! Here's part one, part two and part three. It's campy, kooky fun. (That's what the quote is from if you're wondering. It's a Wonderland tradition to hang vegetables...sounds like a very Natalie tradition to me!)

Alas I couldn't find the Under the Umbrella Tree special, but I did find a fan community on the internet... I can't decide if that's awesome or just sad. Oh well. I can recite it all from memory anyway.

And, by far, the most important thing was to find Claymation Christmas, which is now waiting on top of the one VCR we have left. Whee! Egg nog, cookies, and ice skating hippos...doesn't get much better than that.

Happy Christmas all!

Never use one word when you can use ten...

A new set of three-dollar words with which to annoy your family and friends:

imbroglio - n. - a complicated and confused situation

panjandrum - n. - a powerful personage or pretentious official

ludic - adj. - characterized by play; playful

apparatchik - n. - member of a cummunist apparat; an official blindly devoted to superiors or the organization

tog - v. - to dress up in fine clothing, usually used with up or out

hypnagogic - adj. - the period of drowsiness right before sleep

gainsay - v. - to declare to be untrue or invalid

gallimaufry - n. - hodgepodge (...talk about replacing an awesome word with an even more awesome one!)

encomium - n. - glowing and enthusiastic praise

desultory - adj. - marked by lack of plan; disappointing in performance or quality

interpellate - v. - to question (as a foreign minister) formally concerning official actions, policies, or conduct

promulgate - v. - to make known or put into force by open declaration

ersatz - adj. - being usually artificial and inferior substitute

gadzookery - n. - the use of archaisms (as in a historical novel)

recrudescence - n. - a new outbreak after a period of abatement or inactivity, renewal

"A striking display produced by the combustion of explosive or flammable compositions"

"Fireworks." That was the word of the day today on my word-a-day calendar. "Fireworks." Come on calendar people! I mean I know it's December, so it might be harder to find cool words, but who doesn't know what fireworks are?

One of my resolutions for this year was to learn and use 20 words. I've been writing down new words from my calendar throughout the year. Because I'm a procrasinator, I haven't exactly learned them yet. Thus, I'll be posting my list here. That counts right?

Here are 5 to start with. I can guarantee that "fireworks" will not be appearing on this list.

1. Halcyon - adj. - calm, peaceful, happy, golden

"Every Christmas I get sentimental thinking about the halcyon days of yore." (I don't really think halcyon can be properly used without 'days of yore.' It's not nearly as cool any other way.)

2. Coruscate - v. - to be brilliant or showy

"That man was coruscating by drinking Guinness."

3. Comestible - adj. - edible

"My cupcakes are highly comestible; my cooking, not so much."

4. jeremiad - n - a prolonged lamentation or complaint

"When the Amazon seller neglected to fulfill her order, she left quite a jeremiad as feedback."

5. quodlibet - n - a whimsical combination of familiar melodies or texts

"Helen Fielding's work is a charming quodlibet of Austen within a modern setting."

I'm Feeling Lucky

I know some people don't like Google. I'm sure part of this stems from the natural reaction to turn against the big man on campus. It certainly does seem that Google is taking over the world.

The thing is...I'm not sure I'd be totally opposed to that. I kind of love Google. Gmail is the bomb, this blog is apparently associated with them and it's remarkably easy to navigate, their search engine rocks my world, Scholar has saved me on many a paper, and they are truly the masters of the little extra touch. I can't be the only one who gets excited every holiday to see what they've put up on the search page to celebrate. I think the skating penguins were my favorite.

So, yes, Google will always have its haters, and the Google guys certainly don't need me defending them given that they're gazillionaires (googilianaires?) But every now and then it doesn't hurt to think of all that those guys have given us. I wouldn't be able to waste nearly as much time without their help. Cheers to the big G!

(And psst...to the haters: I found your website using Google. Is that ironic or what?)

I could handle the ghetto car, but 12 kids???

Anybody remember MASH? No, not the one with Hawkeye (though how awesome is Alan Alda? Very awesome.) I'm talking about the game you play with the little paper foldy thing. You give five names of guys you know (or girls' names depending on your gender/preference), five colors, five car types, five different numbers, five locations, and five jobs. Then you do the foldy thing and you suddenly know your future. Or something like that. I mean I'm not planning on living in Peoria while driving a green Dodge Dart married to the guy in my third grade class who picked his nose, but it was still always a good time and an excellent way to figure out who was crushing on who. I've long since forgotten how to make the paper thing, but now you can play online. Eric Bana's wife will be very unhappy when she hears he's moving to the Italian Riviera with me. Maybe the nose picker is still available?

"Life is short but sweet for certain."

I love food. Like many women, I have a love/hate relationship with it; I love eating, kinda hate the reminder on my hips. But despite all that, I truly do enjoy the experience of food.

I don't love cooking. I'm learning (slowly.) I just learned how to make mashed potatoes from scratch. Surprisingly easy actually. But other than that, I'm hopeless. I could write a cookbook of recipes for the microwave, but honestly most of them would begin with "Buy a Lean Cuisuine. Nuke it. Eat." If there are publishers interested, let me know.

That said, I looove to bake. (See post on cupcakes.) I've been trolling bread/cupcake/pie/cookie blogs for the past two days and trying to put together my contributions to the holiday menu. I think I've narrowed it down to gingerbread cupcakes, coconut layer cake, mincemeat pies, rum balls, peppermint cookies-n-cream brownies and chocolate kiss cookies.

Please, if you are in the area, come by my house and I will be happy to feed you. Otherwise I will be forced to eat this stuff all by myself and that just can't end well. I think my love/hate relationship with food would be firmly in the hate camp for a looong time.

...At least until I decide to try out the Mississippi Mud Cupcake recipe I have my eye on.

"Shoes! If not now, when?"

Man did Miss Piggy ever have it right. I like shoes (understatement of the year...) I've never felt such kinship with a character in a novel as when Becky Bloomwood confessed her secret that sometimes she takes all her shoes out, lines them up on her bed, and photographs them. Her explanation is that she has all sorts of pictures of people she doesn't like, why shouldn't she have pictures of things she does? Makes perfect sense. Shoes in their best form are art.

That said, I have the tendency to only actually wear a few pairs in my closet. These are usually my cute, but not spectacular mary janes, my practical black flat boots, or my snazzy purple tennis shoes. [Aside: Sometime last year, I was looking through a catalog and they listed a pair of shoes as "snazzy tennies." I don't know why it made me laugh so hard, but it cracked mom up too. Something about that combination...]

.

Anyway, I have a lot of other fabulous shoes that I should be wearing. It's just...I walk a lot. To the point where even my comfortable shoes are all kind of starting to hurt. So I have a mission to find a replacement pair of black flats. They probably won't be spectacular, but that's ok. I'm sure I'll find a few other pairs when I'm shopping that are just crying out to be displayed proudly on my shelves, like the Rembrandt-esque pieces they are. And maybe at some point I'll even wear them.

It's like the disappointment you get when you bite into a bad apple...

So I saw this Library Monopoly game online and totally thought it was library-themed. That'd be so cool! You could have the Library of Congress and the British Library as replacements for Boardwalk, etc and a Book Mobile to replace Baltic! Instead of railroads, it could be book carts...Ooh and jail could be library privileges revoked because you have too many fines! Endless possibilities.

Yeah, well. No dice. This is really just a nice edition of the game for your library. If you're interested, it's discounted at Target and they're offering free shipping.My idea is totally more fun though.

"Sorry. I have to stay home and wash my hair."

Have a holiday party you want to avoid? Here's an excuse generator. It's fabulous. Check it out just for a laugh!

Why can I not produce baked goods for these people?

Yay, it's Jen's 21st birthday! In honor of this very special occasion, I've produced a gallery for her viewing pleasure. I can't say I found the task that unpleasant either.

And since she can officially booze it up now, here's what I would be baking her if I could: Red Wine Cupcakes. You know, if lemon makes red wine sweeter, I wonder what Lyman would do? Couldn't hurt to try!

Also, today happens to be my parents' wedding anniversary as well. Go marriage! Go Mom and Dad! I'm not sure what type of cupcakes would be appropriate; perhaps some that require a great deal of patience?

Man I'm just full of bad jokes today...

"Not all who wander are lost"...but I usually am.

I've got the worst sense of direction of anyone I've ever met. I could get lost walking somewhere 2 blocks away. In fact, come to think of it, I have. It took me at least 3 tries to figure out how to drive to my high school from my house. Did I mention that the school was maybe 10 minutes from said house, factoring in traffic?

But I've actually done surprisingly well getting around London. Part of that is because I'm walking not driving. My lack of hand-eye coordination isn't quite as much of a hindrance when all I'm doing is juggling books and my purse. In fact, trying to avoid getting hit by London cabbies and those terryfying motorcyclists has been the extent of my problems. I even found a shortcut to school.

So why is that? Why am I suddenly able to cross a street without getting turned around? It's because of this wonderful little gem that my Mom got me before I left.

I hate maps. They don't make sense to me. This one miraculously does. It has little visual representations of tourist attractions that I can use to orient myself. It has a tube map. It even has descriptions of some of the famous sites. And all in a package small enough to fit in the outside pocket of my tote. Genius.

If you're even half as bad at directions as I am and you're traveling to an unfamiliar city, this will be the best $6 you've ever spent.

Let them eat [cup]cakes!

You might have noticed that I like cupcakes. They're the perfect little portion-controlled desserty goodness. Plus, you have free reign to pile as much frosting on them as you can stand. And I can stand a lot.

Since I don't really have ample kitchen space here, nor do I have any of my baking supplies, I'm going into pastry-creation withdrawal. So I read a bunch of cupcake blogs and plan what I'll be making when I go home for Christmas.

This recipe looks divine. Sweet potatoes in cupcake form? Sign me up! I'm also looking forward to making these, these, and these. Pictures will follow when I finally have counterspace and sugar.

Sometimes I'm an idiot.

You know what's nice? Simple solutions. People kept telling me they were having trouble posting comments, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. Everytime I made a post, I selected allow comments. Well, perhaps it had something to do with the fact that I had checked on my settings that only I could leave a comment. Duh. Post away!

It's scary that this is one of the least neurotic things I do...

I have been holed up in my room for the past two days attempting to write four essays that are all due next week. That should give you some indication of why there have been nine thousand blog entries posted since Friday. Two of the papers are done(ish), two left to go. Yay for progress.

In all of this however, I have been neglecting certain essential behaviors necessary for human interaction. Such as showering. I'm kinda gross sometimes. Tonight I broke down and finally had to put myself back together. As a little treat, I got to open a new bottle of shower gel. Maybe it's just me, but I take a lot of pleasure in that.

The new soap is this wonderful appley-cinnamony mix that just reminds me of fall. Too bad it's December. This also might just be me, but I try to theme my bath products. I just finished the coconut bottle from August. Note to self: buy smaller bottles.

Despite the mis-matched seasons, it's still a lovely scent. I can't find mine on the Bath and Body Works website, but I've used this before and it's also really nice. It even has winter in the name, so you won't have to pretend it's still November like me.

Did you hear Miss Cleo's in jail?

I will be the first one to tell you that horoscopes are a load of hogwash. If they had any truth to them whatsoever, I would have found true love years ago and would have been promoted 14 times in a career I do not have. And yet every time I get one of my beloved magazines, I scan the zodiac for Taurus and read about things that won't happen. Or might. They're usually just vague enough that you can't tell. Well, if you're tired of reading the trite "you will have a good month if you love yourself, blah blah blah," check out biorhythms (needs Java). It's a whole new way to not predict anything whatsoever. Supposedly I'm having an unhealthy day tomorrow. Hmmm...maybe it does know something about my new dark kitkat obsession?

There's a flavor of candy the U.S. doesn't have?

You know how in school when you study the Greek gods, the teacher always makes you define nectar and ambrosia? What they consumed on Mt. Olympus? I always wondered what that tasted like.

Well. I have found it. It's the KitKat bar in dark chocolate. I'm fairly certain you can't get them in the States, but if you come across one, snap it up. I know what I'm hauling back in my suitcase. That is if I don't eat them all first. Soooo good.

Feliz Navidad

The best parts of Christmas are the traditions.

When I was growing up, we'd always put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. Every year my Dad and brother would get frustrated at the Christmas lights, which every year seemed to get more and more tangled. My mom would lay out all the ornaments and start unpacking the Christmas dishes, and we'd all put ornaments on the tree for hours until the last one was crammed wherever we could find a space. It was always very interesting to see which of the handmade ornaments had fallen apart that year and whether a particular Santa ornament had lost his legs again.

In recent years, however, we finally acquired a pre-lit tree, so the lighting isn't as much of an isssue, it's a crapshoot as to who's actually at home the day after Thanksgiving, and when Nicholas and I were in Prague, we found a replacement for the legless Santa.

But it's comforting to know that some traditions live on. There are still too many ornaments for the available space, Mom was buying more red bowls the other day, so there will certainly be dishes to wash, and we will always have the sombrero on top of our Christmas tree.

...Did I not mention the sombrero? Who knows when that started, but the angel atop our tree has as long as I can remember had the spirit of our neighbors to the south in her dress.

Chocolate caliente, anyone?

Well I'm up for the post-run buffet...

My brother ran a marathon today.

26 miles. 26 miles.

I don't think I walk that much in a week, never mind running it.

For those of you like me who are not completely badass and fit, this couch to 5k program looks totally doable. I've known about it for months and still haven't started, so I can't testify to its results. It does however break things down into managable sections, so maybe I'll actually get around to doing it one of these days.

In the meantime, I'll just be over here staring in awe. 26 miles!

Hey, Publius? You forgot to bring the funny.

Like all good Americans (well perhaps all geeky Americans), I love the Framers. Old TJ was kind of an ass? Yes, but the Declaration of Independence is a fine piece of writing. John Adams was a screechy prima donna? I'd never tell him to sit down. The Constitution is boring? Nah, it really does grab you from the first page.

But I have a somewhat embarrassing confession to make. I've never actually read The Federalist Papers. This fact is only made worse when you consider that I'm a political science major.

Yes I know how important they are. I've tried. Really. Many times. But I just can't get into them. Enter the blogosphere. This man, certainly more motivated than I, has taken on the task of summarizing and analyizing the Papers in a really readable way. He even puts them in a modern context. Maybe now I won't have to bluff my way through elementary political history discussions.

What do you mean Ann M. Martin didn't write all the books herself?

I know many of you were probably the types of people who, when you were kids, read really advanced books for your age. I'm sure there's at least one who was a seven-year-old lugging around Pride and Prejudice and War and Peace.

I was not that child. I read. A lot. But my reading involved Sweet Valley twins, Nancy Drew, and the Baby-Sitters Club. And hey, my SAT verbal was nothing to sneeze at. You can see I get a little defensive when I have to explain that my favorite book when I was nine was not the respectable Giver, but rather Logan Likes Mary Anne! I will forever maintain that I learned loads from Nancy and frankly, as bad as my U.S. geography is, it would be even worse without BSC in the USA.

So just in case you didn't experience the joys of growing up with the Stoneybrook, CT gang, and really have no idea what I'm talking about, here's an amazing link to several of the BSC books in digital form. I also found this website that has the covers of all the books. Ah memories.

(By the way, if you were like me and eschewed the more literary children's tomes...Wasn't Charlie dreamy? And how many ways could they possibly explain that Jessi is black, Mallory is a geek, and Claudia is kind of dumb? Seriously. Every book!)

Random Christmas Products, Part Three

Oh my lord, ya'll. A Playmobile Nativity. Who needs food?

Random Christmas Products, Part Two

I was a sensitive child. Seriously. I cried at the drop of a hat. Anyone remember that commercial for the dryer sheets that would eliminate the need for the iron? The iron was crying as "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" played over it? Yeah. I was crying too.

The fierce city streets of Washington, DC and London have toughened me up. I no longer have to carry tissues in my pocket at all times (though I still do...I was either a model girl scout in my past life or I'm actually an 80-year-old woman.) There is however one thing that will always, always make me tear up. And that is the perennial Christmas classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas.

If Linus's speech doesn't make you a little misty, then I just don't know what to say. At that point, however, I'm already sobbing. Everyone made fun of Charlie Brown and his tree! He just wanted to make them happy! Can't someone think of the children?!

This year I stumbled upon a replica Charlie Brown tree. It has a sign next to it that says "This tree needs you." It needs me! But my inner Lucy fought back and thus someone else will have to shell out the $24 for the sad little sprout.

It does however make me smile every time I think about it. And truly, I think that's what Charlie Brown would have wanted.

Tra la la la laaa la la la la

Let's talk Christmas carols.

Some people hate them. It's true that people have gotten a little trigger happy with the holiday albums. I'm as mad as the rest of you when stores play Christmas music before Thanksgiving. But Black Friday hits and game on. The soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas? Check. Trans-Siberian Orchestra, The Lost Christmas Eve? Check. Bing Crosby's Christmas classics? Check.

I set my ITunes Christmas playlist on repeat, pop in the holiday Partridge Family and N'Sync cds (back off...they're good!), and cheerfully drift off to the strains of the knock-off Jingle Bells, "Yingle Bells." That one actually features the line "I should have worn long underwear in that one-horse open sleigh" sung in a Swedish accent. It doesn't get much better than that. (Oh my god...I just found it online. Experience the wonder...)

But still...Even I tire of my music by the second week of constant play. I sadly start to think that maybe those carol-haters have a point. Well. We can't have that. And this year I've found a solution.

Christmas radio on your computer! Totally free! The ads are a little annoying, but that's a small price to pay for Mariah Carey's Christmas tunes. And you don't have to experience the shame of buying them! Everybody's happy. Well...except that Swede in the sleigh.

"Dwight, you ignorant slut!"

Because I'm in London, I haven't been watching TV. Even before I left I was really only into The Office. So the writer's strike shouldn't be affecting me much. But I love The Office and thus have been acquiring episodes by all means possible. Let me tell you, it isn't nearly as funny when your copy only has every other sentence of dialogue. Even so, the strike is affecting my Saturday morning ritual. So I have been fulfilling my need for awkward and awesome humor by reading the various cast members' blogs. These people are great in real life too!

Check them out:

Mindy Ephron (Kelly) (Full disclosure: I totally got the idea for this blog from Mindy's.)
Jenna Fischer (Pam)
BJ Novak (Ryan)
Angela Kinsey (Angela)

I'm pretty sure Creed Bratton (Creed), Kate Flannery (Meredith), Paul Lieberstein (Toby), and Craig Robinson (Darryl) are all on MySpace too.

Random Christmas Products, Part One

I love Christmas. Possibly in an unhealthy way. The decorations, the presents, the food, the family, the songs...all of it. Love. Thus an excellent way to get me to buy something is to somehow relate it to Christmas.

Enter Mrs. Meyer's Holiday Clean Up Kit. It's gingerbread-scented cleaning supplies you guys. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to resist.

"Red, red wine...Stay close to me"

When you think red wine, a certain image comes to mind. It's sexy, powerful, and a little dangerous. Unfortunately for me, it's also disgusting.

You see, I want to be the girl who drinks red wine. Just like I want to be the girl with the devil- may-care bedhead who hops on the next train to Paris with the clothes on her back (all black and incredibly chic of course.)

Instead I am the girl who when presented with the option, "really will just have the diet coke." Yeah. Not much danger and excitement there.

But! Last night at a wine tasting I found a red I like. It's J. Lohr Wildflower 2005 and incredibly expensive. So I asked for a similar drink and apparently a French Beaujolais is what I'm looking for. Also, a handy little trick I learned was to put lemon or vinegar on your food and the wine will be much milder. Drinkable reds!

So maybe I will always be the girl who buys her ticket in advance and packs carefully two days ahead of time. Only now, I will be doing it all in anticipation of a wonderful vacation dinner complete with that roguish red wine.

Who says "oh, snap" isn't cool anymore?

There are certain phrases I like a lot.

"made of win"

"jumped the queue"

"whatevs"

"hate with the heat of a thousand burning suns"

"death on a triscuit"

And even when everyone is absolutely sick of hearing me say "that's what she said" for the thousandth time, I do not care. Because everytime I say these things I am a little giddy.

"For reals, ya'll."

Opa!

Do you like yogurt? I do. I especially love seeing the strange and wonderful flavors Yoplait and co. will come up with next. For instance, at your local Sainsbury's you can find 'Sticky Toffee Pudding' flavor. There's something vaguely Willy Wonka about it.

That said today's subject is not yogurt. Or at least not what you would typically think of as yogurt. It is technically true yogurt, but given my vast experience with the flavored stuff, I prefer to think of it in a different category all together. That category is yum. Fage 0% is thick, sugar free, totally natural, and kind of disgusting at first. Then it grows on you. And you crave more. And you eat more because it is good for you! Awesome.



Fage. Try it. A little honey or some preserves might help before its cracktastic qualities take over.

"Take care of the luxuries and the necessities will take care of themselves." - Dorothy Parker

I like a lot of things. For instance, I have over 100 links in my favorites menu. That's a little embarrassing. But hey, happy people are supposed to live longer, right?

So I decided to share a little of my happiness. Or be really self-centered and think that of course people would want to read about what I like. Why wouldn't they? I'm awesome.

Whichever floats your boat.

Anyway, if you're interested in things I find that are useful, make me smile, or are just randomly cool, read on.