This Spud's for You

There are some ugly foods out there. Would you want to eat this? That my friends is the classic English dish, Toad in the Hole, and, on second thought, don't answer that because I know some of you diehard carnivores would enjoy it.

But that kind of proves my next point. Sometimes the ugliest foods are actually the best. The sweet potato is kind of unnatractive. Like all root veggies, it has the unnatractive dirt spots and sometimes the roots still attached, which frankly remind me of hair. Gross. But the sweet potato is one of my top 5 foods.

Similarly this is a mess, but it is likely the type of mess that after I tasted it, I would want to eat the whole pile of chocolatey goodness.

I guess that old adage, don't judge a book by its cover is true for food too. But there's no way I'm putting this 'spotted dick' English dish in my mouth. Funny name or no, it just looks disgusting.

"When the fall is all that's left, it matters a great deal."

Donna: [terrified] A satellite is gonna crush into the Earth?
Ed and Larry: Yes!
Donna: Why are you laughing?
Ed: We thought it was funny...

Somewhere in the fictionalized world of President Matt Santos, Donna is freaking out.

National "Celebrate A Random Holiday" Day

Hey, it's National Penguin Awareness Day! I believe I will mark the occasion by wearing my penguin pjs. I haven't seen March of the Penguins or Happy Feet yet, but have heard they're both quite good, so if you (unlike me) have access to Netflix or Amazon UnBox, waddle over, grab a seat, and bask in the cuteness.

Don't forget National Observe the Weather Day, coming up on the 25th. Wouldn't want be wandering down the street and become confused at why you're getting all wet. Observe! It's raining. (I forecast rain simply because it seems to rain everyday in London in January. Bah. Good thing I have my GustBuster umbrella. Seriously, this thing is amazing.)

Incidentally, it's also National Soup Month and National Oatmeal Month, both of which I partake of often. Look at me being all festive! By the way, Quaker has a ton of yummy looking oatmeal recipes here if you too want to endorse the "holiday for everything" trend!

Remember my love of two-dollar words?

I generally avoid computer games, mainly because I waste enough time reading blogs as it is. FreeRice.com is a really neat idea, however. It's a vocab game that progressively gets harder as you play. There are tons of those out there though. The unique feature of this site is that every word you get right equals a grain of rice donated to impoverished nations. The site has a FAQ that explains how exactly that works. (Believe me, I definitely didn't trust this one at first look. It seems to be legit though.) This is a really easy way of expanding your vocab and feeling good about yourself in the process. Plus your ego gets a boost when you get the obscure words. Win win!

You can't judge a book by its...title?

One of the things I love to do with a free afternoon is go to used bookstores (or new bookstores...or really any kind of bookstore) and just browse. Often I am swayed by the pretty covers or the texture of the binding. Usually, however, it's an evocative title that catches my eye. I've put so many books on my to-read list based simply on the title alone. Occasionally the book will live up to its appellation, but unfortunately it's just as likely that it won't. Still, I think it's as good a system as any for choosing from the millions of reading options. Here are a few of my favorite titles.

Why She Went Home

We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live

When Christ and His Saints Slept

And I Alone Survived

Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant

I Wish Someone Was Waiting for Me Somewhere
(This is a charming collection of short stories by a Parisian author. I've actually read this one and though it's not in my top ten, it is worth a look. It's especially good for short bouts of reading, such as tube or bus rides.)

"A lot of people are singing about how screwed up the world is, and I don't think that everybody wants to hear about that all the time."- Mariah Carey

In case you're tired of all the press about elections, murders, and death, here's a sweet story about "snow-rain" in Baghdad.

In other awww news, there was a little boy on the tube doing magic tricks for his dad. You could clearly see his hand fisted as he hid the coin he'd later conjure up from behind his ear, but he was so happy to be pulling off the trick. It was clear his dad was eating it up. So cute. I found myself smiling involuntarily.

All you need is love.

I had a whole long post written about religion, faith, etc. I decided however that it was a tad too heavy for a blog that most of the time has the all the substance of frosting.

I will only say this. The following quote describes how I feel about God. And maybe even if you're not religious in the least, it will at least make you smile a bit. I've posted it on my bulletin board and everytime I see it, it makes me feel a little more secure.

"Are you upset little friend? Have you been lying awake worrying? Well, don't worry...I'm here. The flood waters will recede, the famine will end, the sun will shine tomorrow, and I will always be here to take care of you."

- Charlie Brown to Snoopy

"I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy."

Yikes. Two politics posts in a row? But I got my absentee ballot in the mail yesterday, so you'll have to bear with me.

I love voting. The problem is that I have no idea who to vote for. I'm thoroughly uninspired by the Republican candidates. McCain is ok, but sometimes he just seems tired. I can't stand Romney. Ron Paul's personal politics, such as his stance on abortion, are a little troubling. I think that if I say anything negative about Giuliani I'll have to sleep with my eyes open, so I'll just leave it with no comment. Huckabee's interesting. He wasn't a bad governor in Arkansas, but his religious ties are a bit much. (Interestingly, in an online candidate ranking quiz I got Stephen Colbert as higher that Huckabee. That doesn't say good things about either Mike or the quiz...)

My dream is that Michael Bloomberg will run. God that'd be fantastic. That is a man who understands how to run the country like a business. Sometimes you do need to spend money to make money (welfare is not necessarily a horrible thing). Sometimes leaving people alone is the best option, as nobody likes a telemarketer (let states decide on education laws). He's certainly doing a bang-up job in New York.

Anyway, since that's likely a pipe dream and I'm becoming more and more convinced that we're going to be living in Obama-land in 9 months (that is if the media has anything to say about it), I'll just go back to reading my cupcake blogs and think about the voting conundrum tomorrow. Where is Rhett Butler to haul me up my giant staircase?

“The one function that TV news performs very well is that when there is no news we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were.”

I must admit a little part of me was missing the insane news coverage surrounding primary season. CNN's website isn't even working properly, so last night was a tad rough. Then I started to read some blogs about the coverage last night and I was reminded of how incompetent the current cast of cable news commentators is. My favorite blog quote?

"It's a sad day when I find myself agreeing with Pat Buchanan who said that New Hampshire decided to body slam the pundits: 'We practically canonized Obama and said he had been born in Bethlehem. New Hampshire said 'I don't think so.'" Ha!

It is kind of unbelievable how much the mainstream media has seemed to latch onto Obama. I'm no defender of Hillary and generally don't buy into the liberal bias in the media, but come on. I noticed the slant during the coverage of Iowa and it appears most of the pundits had New Hampshire tied up before the election.

Chris Matthews in particular seems to really hate the Clintons. Again from a forum I read: "[Chris] talked about Obama's speech and said he teared up and then looked like he was going to cry while he said Barack must be heartbroken after last night."

Of course this is from someone else's perspective, so it might not be true but I'm going to pretend it is. The great love affair of Chris and Barack. Two men divided by jobs. Distance. Color. But not by Destiny. Dun Dun Dun. Well something has to amuse me during the trainwreck of modern media coverage!

But all of that is negative and this is a blog about happy things! So let's talk about how great Tom Brokaw is. Apparently he sort of laid into Tim Russert and Chris Matthews last night about how reporters need to, you know, report the news and not attempt to create it. That's my inappropriately old news boyfriend. You go Tom! 'O8 won't be the same without you.

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."

This just made my day.

Coming Soon to a Theater Near You

So while trolling Amazon I stumbled upon Neil Gaiman's blog. Though I haven't actually read any of his books (though American Gods has been on my list forever), I did recently see Stardust and loved it. His blog is also awesome.

One particular post discusses the many different trailers that came out for Stardust:

"I saw one trailer that didn't seem to be about anything, but still left you feeling like you'd seen (and not enjoyed) the whole movie, which wasn't any movie that had ever been made. There was even a trailer that gave the impression that this was a film all about Tristan's quest to discover the riddle of his birth, which he solved by becoming a sky-pirate."

In similar vein, here are two trailer interpretations of the classics Mary Poppins and The Shining. Both are quite amusing.

Also, while we're on the topic, netflix Stardust! It's awesome. Robert De Niro is a gay pirate and the male lead gets really hot halfway through the movie. Plus they manage to make Claire Danes not annoying! That alone is worth the price of admission.

Happy 2008!

Well after ringing in the New Year by reading in bed until midnight and then cleaning a bit before going to sleep by 12:30 (wow am I exciting...), it's officially 2008!

I love making resolutions so much that I've been doing a modified 101 Things in 1001 Days list for the past few years. (I do a 101 Things in 52 Weeks; compulsive much?) I've found that by even completing a third of the list I have a better sense of accomplishment than I would not completing one goal.

In interest of space and of not boring everyone to death, here is a selection of my goals for the next year:

1. Learn how to play poker
2. Read War and Peace
3. Recycle
4. Find a go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe
5. Vote in primary and general elections (I've already applied for my London absentee ballot!)
6. Eat more chocolate
7. Go to Florence
8. Celebrate weird "National Days" (i.e. National Talk Like a Pirate Day)
9. Get my palm read
10. Figure out my favorite artist

I think most of it is doable, but even if I don't finish, I aim to have fun trying. The chocolate resolution is first on my list; mmm Cadbury Creme Eggs!

Here's to a fantastic year for all!